SOME THINGS JESUS LEFT HIS CHURCH

TEXT: Acts 1:1-11

INTRODUCTION:   Acts 1 records for us the ascension of the Jesus Christ after His resurrection.  Can you imagine a man in a human body defying the law of gravity and slowly but surely ascending upwards to the sky? 

        The spiritual significance of that ascension must not be overlooked. It means as a believer we have now  an advocate with the Father, a mediator in heaven, a great High Priest, touched with the feelings of infirmities, able to minister on our behalf.

        With His ascension Jesus took some things with Him:

                * The prints of His sufferings

                * The authority  to send the Spirit

                * The plans of our heavenly home

                * The desire to come again.

        Now though He took some things with Him, He also left some things. He left some things for His church.  Things that should be precious to us.

I.           Jesus left His church an unquestionable passion (love) - 3

Ephesians 5:25 states that Christ “loved the church and gave himself for it.”

Ephesians 5:2 States that that Christ ‘hath loved us and hath given himself for us”

Romans 5:8 At Calvary, Jesus expressed His love to us and for us.

Acts 20:28 Jesus gave Himself up for the church.        

A.       It was love that took the Son of God from the heights of Heaven and the throne of the universe to that cross of shame and woe, on a skull-shaped hill called Calvary, to die on our behalf. 

1.      We never know how much one loves till we know how much he is willing to endure and suffer for us; and it is the suffering element that measures love. 

2.      The measure of God ‘s love for the church is seen in the suffering of Calvary.

3.      Gaze upon the cross and speaks it of substitutionary love.

4.      The whole environment of Calvary is filled with vicarious suffering.

a)      The heart of Christ bleeds in death to cleanse us

b)      The hands are wounded to heal us

c)      The feet of Christ are nailed to release us

d)      The side of Christ is pierced to assure us

e)      The body of Christ is stripped to clothe us

f)       The lips of Christ are parched to bless us

g)      The head of Christ is cursed with thorns to crown us

h)      The cross of His love is shameful to enrich us

i)        Christ’s death  is awful to quicken us.

5.      The great demonstration of love in the whole universe is the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

6.      There is no greater proof of love than for a person to lay down his life for the object of his love.        

1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

    Once there was a young soldier who had committed some offence and was condemned to die.  The time of his death was fixed “at the ringing of the curfew.”  This would naturally be a great disappointment to some who was young in years, but it was a double sorrow because he was soon to marry a beautiful young woman whom he had loved for a very long time. The young woman who loved him tried several ways to save his life, but her efforts seemed to fail.  She even tired to bribe the old sexton so that he would not ring the bell but to no avail. 

    The hour for his death drew near.  The preparations were made.  The prisoner was brought forth.  They waited for the signal, but to the astonishment of everyone, the bell did not ring. Unknowing to all, the girl who loved the young man so much had rushed unnoticed to the belfry and seized the tongue of the bell. At the fatal moment when the old sexton threw his weight upon the robe and the bell reeled to fan from in the tower, the brave girl kept her hold although her position was dangerous.  Old and deaf the sexton had not noticed that the bell gave no sound.

    The brave girl hurried from the church to the place of execution and arrived just as someone was being sent to demand why the bell did not ring. The young girl who only a day ago was white with sorrow, glows with hope and courage now. She falls down on  her face  and tells her story as her hands all bruised and torn are seen.  Touched with sudden pity, the general says, “Go, your love lives. Curfew will not ring tonight.”

    The Bible tells us of the greatest story of Love.  Christ died for us so save us from our sins.

II.         Jesus left His church  an unlimited power - 8a

A.       He did not leave His church without power.  The Holy Spirit is the power by which the church is to operate. There is no power in us apart from the Holy Spirit.

1.      Observe Romans 15:19 - “the power of the Spirit of God”

2.      Micah 3:8  -“Truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord”

3.      The greatest used power in the world is the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

4.      Ephesians 3:16 “strengthened with might by his Spirit”

B.       Substitutes for  power

1.      Some have tried separation - negative holiness

2.      Some have tried organization

3.      Some have tired exertion (busyness and activity)

4.      Some have tired attraction

C.       Source of Power

1.      It cannot be separated from the Holy Spirit. It is foolish to attempt to do anything without the power of the Holy Spirit.

2.      The word translated power here is the Greek word “dunamis.”  The Greek word “dunamis” entered the English language in the late 1800's when the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Bernhard Nobel made the discovery that became his fortune. He asked a friend who was a Greek scholar what the word for “explosive power was in the Greek. His friend answered, “Dunamis.” Nobel said, “Well, I am going to call my discovery by that name.” So he called his explosive power “dynamite.” 

D.       Secret of power

1.      S-U-R-R-E-N-D-E-R

2.      Queen Victoria once questioned General Both, “Sir, you are not the most educated preacher in my realm nor the most talented.  You do not have the largest church. Why is it then that you are being used so mightily of God?” Bowing before her majesty, the general said, “Your majesty, I guess, it is because God has all there is of me.”  

3.      D. L. Moody once said, “Pentecost is simply a specimen case of what God can do when people are controlled with the Holy Spirit.”

III.       Jesus left His church an unchanging program - 8b

A.       The very last words Jesus spoke before He left for heaven were these: “the uttermost part of the earth.” This is the Great Commission.  The church is to tell the gospel story to the untold millions.

1.      We are not called to be lawyers, not called to argue the case before the minds of men.

2.      That is the work of the Holy Spirit.  We are called to be witnesses. 

B.       A witness simply tells what he has seen and heard. 

1.      In Jerusalem - evangelize their own community

2.      All Judea - evangelize their own country

3.      In Samaria - evangelize their own continent

4.      Uttermost part of the earth - evangelize all creation

C.       Note the word “both” - means at the same time.

1.      “GO ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

2.      We are to be witnesses unto Him!

IV.     Jesus left His church an unfailing promise - 11

A.       Christ promised He would come (John 14:1-3)

1.      Angels promised that Jesus would come in our text.

2.      Paul promised Jesus would come (I Thessalonians 4:16)

B.       It is a certain promise

1.      May not now when He will come, but we can rest assured He will come

C.       It is a comforting promise

1.      I Thessalonians 4:18

2.      When He comes there will be no more sickness or suffering, no more tears or trials, no more wants or worries, andblue  no despair or death.

D.       It is a cleansing promise

1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

E.       It is a constraining promise (I Thessalonians 1:9,10 ..... turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus.....”)

 Ulysses was returning from Troy, but he experienced discouraging delays.  Then years passed before he returned.  In the delay many men tried to win his wife’s hand in marriage.  They gathered at her home an insisted that her husband was dead.  They begged her and attempted to persuade her to marry one of them.  However, she refused courageously.  Ulysses’s wife was true to him.  She waited and watched for his return.  When Ulysses did return, he dealt harshly with those who tried to seduce his beloved wife.

        The church, the bride of Christ, is in just the same position. Our Lord is absent, but He has promised to return.  The world seeks to win and woo us. Are you keeping yourself unspotted from this world while you wait for His return.

Conclusion: Jesus died, was buried, and arose the third day.  For forty days, those of the early church were taught some valuable truths of the kingdom of God.  Afterwards he ascended into heaven for His task on earth was finished; however, before he did He left His church several valuable things. What are you as a member of His church doing with those valuable things?