04.27.08    “HE CAME, HE LEFT, HE’S COMING BACK” – Acts 1:1-11- 

 Have you ever tried this?  You and a few friends are standing on a busy street corner, and you look up.  You are not looking at anything really, but you notice after a while that other people stop and begin looking up to see what you and your friends are looking at.  I believe this is something like the scene that day when Jesus was taken up into heaven, and his disciples must have stared into the sky, watching, with mouths wide open. 

The ascension of Jesus into heaven is a CRITICAL aspect of understand the full implications of LIVING for CHRIST today.  It concluded the earthly ministry of Jesus, allowing eyewitnesses to see both the risen Christ on earth and the victorious, eternal Christ returning to heaven to minister at the right hand of the Father. The ascension expanded Christ's ministry from its geographically limited earthly dimensions to its universal heavenly dimensions.

 

His ascension bridged the gap between the earthly work of Christ on the Cross, and His heavenly ministry as our great high priest.  The Word of God says that “Christ entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. …He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself…and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:24, 26-28)

 

In Acts 1:1-11 we read:    1—In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2-- until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.  3--After his suffering, he showed himself to these men 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.  4--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;  5--For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

 

6--“So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore thet kingdom to Israel?”  7--He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.  8--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.”

 

9--After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.  10--They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11-- “Men of Galilee,” they said, “Why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

 

I.             THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST IS BOTH FINISHED AND UNFINISHED

 

 A.   Luke wrote of this in verse 1, when he uses the word “BEGAN…”

     1.  Christ finished the work of salvation on the cross for us, and nothing can be added to it--we are saved through faith in Him.  Yet it was not the end of God’s plan for Christ’s followers.

 

II.          WHEN CHRIST’S WORK FINISHED & HE ASCENDED, THE CHURCH’S WORK BEGAN

A.    An important transition took place.  Now Christ passes the BATON to those who know Him as Savior & Lord.  (In v. 2 -3 – Luke reports that Jesus gave them “INSTRUCTIONS” about the KINGDOM of GOD before He ascended)

B.    Were they ready for such a task?  Not yet.  They had knowledge but NO POWER.

 

C.    They needed the HOLY SPIRIT, while equally needing to fully understand the WORD of GOD.  The Holy Spirit would be their teacher.

 

III.        TWO MAJOR FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO THE CHURCH’S POWERLESSNESS TODAY:

A.    Ignorance of Biblical Truth – knowing God’s Word  .    Paul the Apostle wrote:  “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of God’s calling, and the riches of the glory of His inheritance, and the surpassing greatness of His power for all who believe.” (Eph. 1:18-19).

 

B.    Failure to Live by Biblical Truth—living God’s Word

   A holy life is an AWESOME WEAPON in the hand of God!   But living by this world's standards often contradicts God's Word.

 

IV.        FROM A HUMAN STANDPOINT THE APOSTLES WERE NOT READY FOR THE TASK JESUS GAVE THEM (verse 8)

A.   They didn’t understand many things

B.    Their faith was weak

C.   They had all failed their Lord when had needed them most (sound familiar?)

 

V.            THE KEY TO THEIR EFFECTIVENESS:  “The Kingdom of God”

A.    The realm where GOD RULES!

1.     God rules over all CREATION

2.    God rules over all spiritual and human AUTHORITY

3.    But they needed to live where God ruled IN THEIR HEARTS!

 

B.     God rules by means of the WORD of God and the presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit (Gal. 2:20).  We need both.

1.     It means living in close communion with the Lord—this is the KEY!  Jesus said, "without me, you can do nothing."

 

VI.         THE POWER BEHIND THEIR MISSION FOR GOD:  THE HOLY SPIRIT (v. 8)

 

A.    DYNAMITE! this is the Greek word used to describe the Holy Spirit. 

B.    All true believers have this power which is nothing less than GOD IN THEM (“enthused”)

C.    Yet the truth is, we can hinder the FLOW of God’s Spirit---

1.     When we YIELD—the Spirit fills and leads and empowers us.

2.    When we TURN AWAY to do our own thing---we GRIEVE the SPIRIT

3.    Paul prayed:  “that God would grant you , according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being…because He is able to do so much more than we can even imagine..”(Eph. 3:16, 20)

 

VII.       WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED:  SO WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH IT?

 

Some of you here today are facing obstacles of your own.  They seem so difficult, so insurmountable.  You can’t figure out how to get through them.  You are discouraged, depressed, disheartened, and ready to QUIT!  God’s word assures us that Jesus can sympathize with our weakness and temptation.  He’s been here and done that.  He understands---He’s not some distant, angry God.  He’s the God who cared enough to come into our broken world and “fix” all who would receive Him.

He came, and in his death accomplished everything necessary to save us. After He arose from the grave, He went back to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  From that heavenly throne, Jesus rules as the Lord of the Church, and has all power and authority over the entire universe.  But the BEST PART is that He is coming back one day to rule in glory and peace; but also to Judge the living and the dead.

We now live in the MIDDLE PART.  We are in this world with all its problems.  We live in these bodies in which we go through a daily “tug of war” between the spirit and the flesh.  But here is the awesome and unbelievable news:  

We who know & serve Jesus have been saved so that we can SHOW JESUS to the WORLD!    Isn’t that great?   Right now you may be cringing, saying: “Not me.  I’m not good enough.”  Well you’re right, that’s why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live within us.  That is how we can show Jesus to the world.  His love, his goodness, his Truth, his forgiveness, and the difference He is making even in our failings and shortcomings!

Listen, He is right here with us right now. The invisible spiritual life is imparted to us by the Holy Spirit who came as a result of Christ’s leaving this earth.

Because Jesus ascended into heaven you and I can have all of Him right now. HERE IS WHAT WE NEED TO HEAR:  It doesn’t matter what you are going through as a Christian—or how difficult or impossible it may seem.  Trust in and rely upon the POWER of the Holy Spirit in your own DISABILITY---and you will experience God’s ABILITY.  

 

 In your weakness, He will show Himself strong.  Give it to God, surrender your control of it.  Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and then trust Him to do it. 

 

This “power” is offered only to those who yield to the Lord.  You must examine yourself to see if you truly are following Jesus your LORD. 

 

If you are trying to “do your own thing” and not following what God says, you are only deceiving yourself.  Don’t play “Games” with God.  The risen, ascended and glorified Christ is Lord OF ALL, or he is not Lord AT ALL.  His will is going to prevail in the end, so why not submit to Him now and serve Him?  Seek the Lord while He may be found.  Let us seek Him today as we bow before Him in full surrender.