But wait... there's more.

Acts 1:1–9 NIV

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Next week PSam

Introduction

This past week was the Book Fair at my son’s school. How many of you have fond memories of the Book Fair? Parents how many of you have not so fond memories of the Book Fair at school?

So I show up at my sons school to drop off money with my boys.

Jude, who is such a competitor, didn’t want to leave the football field to come get money and go to the book fair. It was just lunch, but to Jude it might have well as been the Super Bowl.

But my little guy comes out and he grabs the money, and he’s flapping it around, he’s playing with the cash like it’s a toy. I asked the Admin, “May I please help my son?” Because he has no concept of money.

if I asked him, “do you want this bag with these 4 quarters, or this $5 bill?” He would definitely take the quarters…

Do you get what I’m saying this morning?

He will settle for a lesser amount because he doesn’t understand the value of what he is holding.

Transition

And today, that’s exactly what I want to talk about. Iwant to once more look at another one of Jesus’ appearance to his disciples. This is a discourse on Mt. Olives just outside of Jerusalem.

Into the Text

Today we are looking at the last appearance, and Jesus’ miraculous ascension. And this wasn’t just an awesome exit, this was a flex. Jesus might have come to the earth in underwhelming fashion, but his exit was the stuff of legend.

But what happens here in the text and what does it mean for us today?

The writer Luke, is writing to Theophilus, which is a covert name for someone who hired Luke to investigate this man named Jesus.

Wow, that’s a mouthful, so let’s break it down.

Luke is a physician. That’s what his day job was. He is hired by someone of affluence, someone who had some money, to investigate who Jesus was.

This person who hired Luke is unknown by his real name, but we have his code name. His code name is Theophilus. Such a cool name!

It means, Lover of God.

The Gospel of Luke was written to Theophilus and the letter of Acts is a continuation of that Gospel.

A little pastoral advise here, you should read Luke and Acts as a Part 1 & 2. They complete each other, like peanut butter and jelly!

So Luke is hired to investigate this man named Jesus, and something cool happens along the way… he gets converted! He was on an assignment to investigate Jesus and along the way he gets converted and he becomes a Jesus follower! Isn’t that awesome!

So, some people in earnest make the mistake of thinking that Luke was one of the 12 Disciples, but that wasn’t the case. I think we get there becuase Matthew, Mark and John were part of the 12, and becuase Luke’s gospel is grouped with them people think, “ah! another disciple!”, but that wasn’t the case. He was an investigator who was writing a report to this person Theophilus.

So when we get here to the letter of Acts, we get Jesus’ final words. And listen to me, have you ever heard the saying, “famous last words”? Well, it’s cliche but it makes the point that final words matter. If you knew the last words to your wife would be your last words you would make them count! You probably wouldn’t tell her something meaningless like, “don’t forget to take the trash out.” That makes no sense, and so I approach this passage with this sort of reverence. These are the last recorded words of Jesus before his epic exit.

And what does he say? What’s the point of his words?

Wait for the Holy Spirit. Wait for the Holy Spirit.

Someone say Holy Spirit.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit

Now this isn’t new to the disciples, becuase Jesus has talked about the Holy Spirit before.

This is what he said in John:

John 14:16–17 (NIV)

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—

the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

He goes on to say later in that same chapter:

John 14:26 NIV

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

As a matter of fact, your required reading for the week is John 14, becuase Jesus drop some incredible teaching within this chapter, but here is the take way.

God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all one. Anyone who loves the father and obeys his teachings will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

So write this down, the Holy Spirit is our helper.

The bible will use words like helper, counselor or advocate, and it’s making the point that the Holy Spirit is God’s promise to everyone who loves him and is following his word.

Because here is what I know and want to share with you today, we all need help!

Can I get a good amen this morning.

We need help!

We are living in a time where you shouldn’t want to do it alone. You shouldn’t want to make decisions alone. You shouldn’t want to try and make it in this crazy world alone.

Jesus knew that the disciples were about to face incredible pressure in the months and years following his crucifixion and he told them, I am not leaving you alone.

Aren’t you glad that you are not alone today?

Aren’t you glad that he said that a helper is coming, and that helper is here!

Come on tell your neighbor, I need help!

Tell your other neighbor, I need the Holy Spirit!

Now for those of you who are the independent type, let me show you this verse here about how even Jesus got help from the Holy Spirit.

Luke 4:1 NIV

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

How did the Holy Spirit help Jesus?

The Holy Spirit gives us Direction.

Look at how Jesus was dependent on the Holy Spirit. Look at how the Holy Spirit moved Jesus onto what was next for him.

Lighthouse, let me tell you that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, is here for you to help you, and to direct you. You are not alone. You don’t have to go at it alone. God said that he would give you His Spirit, and that’s here for us today!

So What About This Spirit?

So, what was so special about what Jesus said here in Acts 1? And why is it new information?

Look at the language that Jesus uses here;

Acts 1:5 NIV

For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:8 NIV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

OK, so now we have something different going on here. It wasn’t enough for the disciples to have received the Holy Spirit, it was Jesus that was now telling them that they now needed to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Someone say baptized.

When we receive Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit. It’s the helper, the advocate, and he gives us direction for our lives. He’s working in us to produce the fruit of the spirit.

But Jesus is talking about something different here. He’s now saying that I don’t just want you to have help, but I also want you to have power.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit gives us power.

OK preacher, what are we talking about here?

The word Jesus used for power is the Greek word dunamis.

Power - manifesting influence over reality in a supernatural manner.

Now there are some that shy away from this type of teaching becuase they don’t understand it, or they don’t seek to understand it.

I get that.

But I grew up around it.

I grew up seeing the power of God healing people, breaking addictions, setting people free from spiritual oppression, and so to me, this is normal.

So with that experience I sought understanding. Here’s what I’ve come to realize.

Jesus didn’t just show us miracles so that we could marvel at his works, but he was giving us a guide.

Jesus was spiritually natural - meaning, he was full of the spirit of God, and yet people liked being around him. He was a friend of sinners. Non religious people were attracted to him becuase of the way he made them feel.

But Jesus was also naturally spiritual - and in a very quick minute he could flip the switch from enjoying a gathering to praying for the sick.

And, it wasn’t weird to them. They continued to enjoy his presence, and they continued to follow him.

Now, just becuase you encountered a weird person full of the Holy Spirit, it doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit made them weird. They were weird before the Holy Spirit. They are just a weird person.

But there is nothing weird with being Baptized by the Holy Spirit so that not only would we have direction, but we’d also have power.

There’s days you need help, and then there’s days you need power.

There’s day you need direction, and there’s days that you need to break strongholds.

And Jesus has given us both. It’s not one or the other, but it’s both.

He’s given you the power to walk into a business meeting and be used by God to make game changing corporate decisions, and yet be so full of the power of the Holy Spirt that you can pray for your co-work and break the stronghold of the enemy.

As a matter of fact, I think the church has kept the power of the Holy Spirit on the shelf for just a bit too long. In the name of not offending people we’ve taken this aspect of the Spirit of God and put it in the back room, but I believe God wants to break out once again. I believe He’s done watching you try to do it your way, and try to do it through your means, and He’s wanting us to step aside so that He can start to do what we can’t do.

He didn’t baptize us with miracle working power for us to live out stale and cautious faith. God is raising up a fearless church that knows that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the word.

Conclusion

Hear me Lighthouse, you cannot read this book and treat it simply as information. There is so much more than just information in this book. This book points us to Jesus, and we read all about His promises in this book.

But too often we settle for a lesser version than what God wants for us.

God wants to fill you with his Spirit, and then Baptize you with his Spirit, and in the name of playing it safe we don’t Grab a hold of everything he wants for us. We miss out of everything that God has for us.