Christchurch, please turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts as we continue our study of this marvelous early history of the early church. Please stand with me for the reading of God's Word. This morning we will look at chapter 1, verses 6 through 11. I've entitled this message this morning, Gospel Witnesses Reaching Out to Neighbors and Nations. Reaching out to neighbors and and nations. Please hear the word of the living God. So when they had come together, they, that is the disciples, asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Here ends the reading of God's Word. Let us pray. Our Father, as we come once again to your Word, we ask that you would teach us from it, that you would build up our faith, that you would strengthen our conviction, that you would humble us, and that you would once again point us to Christ. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. The church is commanded to go forth into all the world and to make followers of Jesus Christ. Every able Christian believer is called to go forth and spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's our greatest privilege. We are to seek first the kingdom of God and its advancement, using our time and our treasures and our talents for this aim. It's what our Lord Jesus commands us to do. It's what we are privileged to do, to go forth with a spirit-empowered courage, proclaiming this amazing gospel of God to our neighbors and to the nations, both near and far away. It's what we hear in the Great Commission. It's what we see modeled here in the book of Acts. We are called to be outward facing. The worst thing that could happen to a church is for a church to become inward and ingrown. We used to call them in college a holy huddle. We don't want to be a holy huddle, locked arms and not seeing the people that are outside of our fellowship. but always, even as we are cultivating strong friendships and relationships within the body of Christ, we are always concerned and mindful of those who are outside of the body of Christ and who need Christ and who we want to be in the body of Christ. We want to be outward facing even as we grow and mature under the word as a congregation and as individuals. And can I say this? There is no greater evidence of maturing in the Lord than a growing heart for the lost. Let me say that again. There is no greater evidence of maturing in the Lord than a growing heart for the lost. Last week, while ministering in Vitoria, Brazil, I had the privilege of meeting many extraordinary Brazilian believers. One of them was named Ronaldo. No, not the famous footballer, in case you were wondering. And actually, in Portuguese, you would pronounce his name Hanaldo. I never got used to that, all week long. Their R's are pronounced like H's. And so, a Hanaldo is a man who is making an eternal impact. Up until recently, Ronaldo worked among the unreached peoples in Ghana, northwest Africa. He did so for nine years. Finished there, he has gone on to work in the Amazon, and he's working with over 50 missionaries. He is leading this team of missionaries among the unreached peoples in the Amazon up in northern Brazil. There are hundreds hundreds of tribes, and tens of thousands of people, now listen, who have never heard the name of Jesus, who have never heard anything about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are living in darkness. They are animists. They are worshiping creation rather than the Creator, and they need the gospel. A majority of these tribes have no written language. Therefore, the strategy of this missions team is to get to know the people, to learn their language, to get their language down into a written language, and then to translate the scriptures into their language. Rinaldo has gone through this process before in Ghana. And he has some extraordinary stories about how these peoples, these new Christians in these tribes love the word of God and treasure the word of God. They are laboring in the deepest parts of the Amazon jungle, four days travel down the Amazon river and many miles into the unknown. Renaldo and his team have witnessed the Lord moving powerfully amongst these unreached people groups, bringing salvation to the lost and planting churches, not simply doing diaconal type works, but actually preaching the gospel and leading people to the Lord and planting churches and raising up and training new leaders. Renaldo is carrying out the Great Commission. He's taking the gospel to the lost, to the unreached tribes of the Amazon. And dearest Christ Church, lest we think that those kinds of people only live in the jungles who do not know the gospel, we need to recognize that thousands of people, dare I say tens of thousands of people in our own area, do not know or understand the gospel. They don't know about Jesus Christ. If they often do, they understand him in a way that is full of conjecture and misunderstandings and misinformation. Indeed, it's not an exaggeration to say that many of them would be worse off than those who are in the Amazon because they are filled with erroneous views about who Jesus Christ is and what Jesus Christ came to earth to do. And also they are in a context where wealth and leisure and entertainment and comfort are insatiable idols, always seeking to consume them and to consume all of us. But the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. And we must take it to our neighbors here in the low country. and we must take it to the nations as the Lord gives us opportunity. Paul writes to the church in Rome in chapter 10, verses 12 through 15, he writes this, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all. He's telling the Jews that Christ the Messiah did not come just for Israel, he came for the whole world, which we're going to see again here this morning in our text. For the same Lord is Lord of all, Paul writes, bestowing his riches on all who call upon him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, what? Will be saved. Everyone, whether you are young or old, will be saved. Whether you are black or white, whether you are rich or poor, whether you are educated or uneducated, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. That is good news. And that's what we must be mindful of as we go into our neighborhoods and into the nations. Verse 14, Romans 10, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. Christchurch, my prayer for my own life, for the elders, for all of us as elders, as for the deacons, for Every member of this congregation is that our time in the book of Acts would put a fire under us and put a love within us that would compel us, if we are not currently doing so, would compel us to be evangelistic, to be outward facing. to really think about those who are in our lives and in our sphere of influence who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray that our congregation in increasing measure would have this heart for the loss, that we would have beautiful feet. faithfully proclaiming and sharing the good news with our neighbors and with the nations. May we have the heart of the psalmist in Psalm 67, that great missionary psalm, when the psalmist wrote, let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy. The last time we were together in Acts, we unpacked the prologue in chapter one, verses one through five, and we learned that this is Luke's second volume. His first volume, of course, was the Gospel of Luke. The second volume here is the Book of Acts. And after writing this, he wrote this, after writing the Gospel of Luke to Theophilus, this Roman officer of some kind, this official, He also writes Acts and he addresses it to Theophilus. This man was probably a recent convert or was very curious and on the brink, as it were, of becoming a Christian. And so Luke wanted to make it clear that Jesus was alive. We see this in verses 1 through 5 over and over again. We see Luke making this point that Jesus was alive and he showed himself to many people with many convincing proofs. And he wanted to make it clear that after his suffering and death on the cross, for 40 days, he showed himself. He made appearances to his disciples. He taught them, it says in verses one through five, about the kingdom of God. He taught them about the kingdom of God. He directed his disciples to stay in Jerusalem and not to flee, not to flee persecution, because in not many days from now, the Holy Spirit would be sent from heaven by the Father and the Son to the church and to the apostles, empowering them for witness, empowering them for ministry, empowering them for Christian living. In our passage for this morning, we have what is the last appearance of Jesus to his disciples during this post-resurrection ministry. It says in verse six, look there together, in verse six, it says that they had all, that is all the disciples, they had all come together. And this would be the last time that Jesus would appear to them before ascending into heaven and until his second coming. Now, there are three movements to this marvelous text of scripture here, this very well-known text of scripture among Christians, verses 6 through 11. There are three movements. Today, we are going to look at just the first one. for time's sake. We will continue looking at the other sections next time. But here we see, first of all, you'll see in your bulletin, a little outline there, we have first of all a foolish and speculative question, verses 6 and 7. a foolish and speculative question, number two, a mission's imperative, which is verse 8, a mission's imperative, and thirdly, a glorious and instructive ascension. A glorious and instructive ascension. So, a foolish and speculative question, a mission's imperative, and a glorious and instructive ascension. We're going to get through the first point this morning. A foolish and speculative question. Look with me again at verses 6 and 7. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority. What are we to think of this question? Some commentators believe it was a good question, a fair question, a reasonable question. Others believe it was rather foolish and uncalled for, an exercise in curiosity and speculation rather than in humble faith. I tend to agree with the latter assessment of this question that it was indeed foolish and speculative. John Calvin comments, quote, there are as many errors in this question as words. The disciples asked if the kingdom would be restored to Israel, and if it would be restored at this time. So even after all the instruction the disciples had received over the past three years, it appears that the disciples were confused about the nature of the kingdom of God. They, like most of their countrymen, were looking for a restoration of national political, geographical kingdom of Israel. They were looking to be freed from the tyrannical rule of Rome and return to the glory days of David and Solomon under a unified kingdom. At this time, with Jesus reigning as king over his people, John Stott commented that they had national aspirations. National aspirations. And when did they want all of this to happen? When did they want this kingdom to come? Well, immediately, at once. We know that they had confusion about this because way back in Luke chapter 19, verse 11, Jesus actually told a parable, the parable of the 10 minas, in order to make the point that Jesus would first go away before he came. There in Luke 19.11, it says, because he was near to Jerusalem and because they, that is the disciples, supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. Again, Luke 19.11. There are a few things that we learn here from this question and from the disciples' approach. First one is this. The disciples were looking for an earthly geopolitical kingdom when they should have understood that Christ was and is building a spiritual kingdom. They were looking for an earthly geopolitical kingdom when they should have been looking for a spiritual kingdom with visible embassies of grace called churches. With visible embassies of grace called churches. Now, when you think of the church as an embassy of grace, we need to think of the kingdom being the kingdom of heaven. Our citizenship, Philippians chapter 3, our primary citizenship is where? It's in heaven. We are citizens of heaven. And we live on the earth. We also hold citizenship in our earthly kingdoms, in our country, say, as Americans. Some of you may not be American, but you hold a citizenship somewhere. But our greater and ultimate citizenship, our eternal citizenship, is in heaven. And down here on earth, there are embassies of that kingdom in heaven, and they are called churches. And the churches, those faithful embassies, are those which hold the proper marks of a true church. That is, the faithful preaching of the word of God, administration of the sacraments, and proper oversight of the churches through elders. And so the disciples were looking for something different than what they should have been looking for. There was much work to do in the reaching of the elect of the nations with the gospel before the consummation of all things and before Christ's return. But the disciples, it seemed, wanted victory before the fight. They wanted a trophy before the contest. They wanted a reward before the battle. But Christ was calling them. just as he is calling us to engage the world, to engage the world, not with earthly armies, not with earthly weapons of war, but with prayer and with faithful gospel proclamation. And that which is evident even in our own lives as our lives are adorned with the fruit of the gospel of grace. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, Paul teaches us in Ephesians 6, but against the cosmic powers and spiritual forces of wickedness that is against Satan and all of his demonic armies from hell who are seeking to kill and to steal and to destroy. We spent some time talking about the disciplines of grace, and we considered a big rise in secularization in our culture, and how Satan is at work trying to destroy our marriages, and to destroy our families, and to destroy the very conception of marriage and family. To ruin education, to wreck any kind of coherent political process. Satan is at work to destroy all things, and certainly to destroy our churches, to bring in error and falsehood, to get us to negotiate the truth. But we are called to fight against this, not with weapons of war, but with spiritual weapons, prayer, the preaching of the word, faithful Christian living by God's grace. And before we throw tomatoes at the disciples for their misunderstandings and errors about the kingdom of God, we need to make sure we are not making some of the same errors. Sometimes we can put so much focus and trust in politics and civil religion that we forget that Christ's kingdom is not of this world. The church's mission The church's mandate and mission is not to Christianize governments or nations, but to take the gospel to all peoples and to plant and strengthen churches near and far. Amen? That is the call upon the church. Not to Christianize governments or nations, but to take the gospel to all peoples and to plant and strengthen churches. Sometimes, those who sometimes many get caught up in the political fervor of our day. We have elections coming up this week. In two years we will have another presidential election. Soon there will be lots of campaigning going on in the 24-hour news cycle which more than anything just likes to hear themselves talk. and likes to stir up controversy, and is always giving the very worst, extreme example of everything, all the time. All of these things are happening, and we can sometimes get caught up in it, in thinking that, you know, the church is really not going to prosper unless so-and-so gets elected. And that is such a nonsense. Because the church prospered under Nero in the first century. The church has prospered under communist Chinese government. The church may prosper more in America with bad government. Now, we're not going to pray for bad government. Obviously, we're going to pray for good government, as we did earlier. But we don't put our hope in it, do we? We don't trust in it. Beautiful prayer was prayed in the prayer meeting about this very thing. We don't want to trust in government. And we don't want to mix political fervor with Christian doctrine. Because when you do, you get the Washington Chapel at Valley Forge. Where I was a couple of weeks ago, And all of my Two Kingdoms sensibilities were just firing. Fireworks. And my brothers, my fellow PCA pastors as well who were there. Because you walk into the Washington Chapel, which is absolutely stunningly beautiful, this gothic chapel at Valley Forge. And you walk in, and immediately there's a bust of George Washington to the right. And then, In the front of the church, there are two statues of George Washington kneeling down and praying. And then the back panel of stained glass are pictures of George Washington. And then from the docent, the tour guide, as it were, who was in there giving some lectures on the windows and the building and so forth, he proceeded to tell us uh... for about five minutes the story of the building and of our last great hope which is america and he seamlessly tied together the american dream and hope with the christian church and with christian worship and uh... it was extraordinary but i i think that while that's an extreme version of it we need to be careful that we don't politicize the Christian message. It must be kept separate. And then as we preach the gospel and as we live out the fruits of the gospel in our neighborhoods and in our workplace and among our families, then we will be salt and light and we will have a wonderful impact on even governments, for the glory of God. And we want to have that. But we must be careful. Sure, a strong gospel witness in the community will impact politics and politicians, but our faith isn't in American democracy or how many Christians we can get into office. Our faith is in Christ. who through his means of grace is building his church, a spiritual kingdom, which is manifested in a visible way through the gathered church, believing the promises of God fulfilled in Christ and clearly communicated through word and sacraments. You must remember these things. Secondly, secondly, What do we know about the mistake, the errors that the disciples had on this question? They were focusing on the nation of Israel alone. And that was too restrictive and small-minded. Do you notice what they say here? They asked him, Lord, when will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? to Israel. They wanted to see Israel restored. They wanted the good old days. They wanted the unification of Israel and for there to be one king and for it to be Israel. But Christ didn't come for the nations. Christ didn't come into the world just for Israel. He came for both Jews and Gentiles. Praise God. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Jesus came into the world, sent from a loving, merciful Father, who sent His Son into the world to do that which we fail to do every day, namely, to obey God's law. He perfectly fulfilled the requirements of God's law. He perfectly satisfied every jot and tittle of the law. for us. And then as a perfect, sinless sacrifice, He laid His life down on the cross at Calvary. And He bore our sins, every single one. And for our sins, He bore the wrath of God. And the full weight of His justice and wrath was poured out upon Him on Calvary. That's why He cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And then he breathed his last, and he went into the grave for three days. And then he rose again from the dead on the third day, because he did nothing wrong. He was innocent. And so he was raised from the dead. And he showed himself for 40 days to his disciples and others, and then ascended into heaven, where he now rules and reigns, and all authority in heaven and on earth is his. And one day he will return. But Christ came not simply for Israel, but for the nations. so that we see the picture in Revelation 7 of every tribe, tongue, and nation surrounding the throne and giving glory to the Lamb. That is the aim. We'll talk more about that next week. The third thing we see in this question is that we shouldn't speculate on the timing of Christ's return. We shouldn't speculate on this. Jesus had already told his disciples back in Matthew 24, 36, that of that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Even with these words, even with these words here in Acts 1, many pastors and theologians and self-proclaimed prophets have declared that they know the day of Christ's return. We saw it in Harold Campion. Harold Campion, who not once, not twice, but several times named dates. Oh, I know I was wrong that time, had my calculations wrong. This next one is the one. So keep giving to my ministry and so I can drive my Mercedes. It's so much, so many charlatans out there that are doing this. I've seen many, even in more conservative circles, speculate on these matters and spend more time speculating and wondering about the future rather than getting familiar with what God has revealed to us. Satan loves to keep Christians speculating about what we cannot know to keep us from what we can know in the Word of God and all that will be beneficial to our growth in grace and to our witness as believers. So let's be mindful of what Moses wrote, Deuteronomy 29, 29. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of God's law. Let us take the advice of John Calvin, the Geneva Reformer, quote, where God has made the end of teaching, we must make the end of learning. Fourthly, we see here, The mystery and unknown time of Christ's return is for our own sanctification. The question is asked in the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 33, third paragraph, very final paragraph of the Westminster Confession. It's asked, now why is it important that we don't know the day of Christ's coming? So we'd be ready. So we'd be on our spiritual toes, as it were. Kids, if you're in the classroom and your teacher says, I'll be back soon, and they leave the room, then you're probably going to mind yourself. You're probably going to behave until the teacher comes back. But the teacher says, I'll be back in 25 minutes. What's going to happen for the first 24 minutes? Yeah, we all know, a bunch of craziness. God in his wisdom has not told us when Christ will return so that we will live in holy, zealous expectation of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, which could be at any time. Again, in the final paragraph, the Westminster Confession of Faith, it says, as Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity, so will he have that day unknown to men that they may shake off all carnal security and be always watchful because they know not at what hour the Lord will come and may be ever prepared to say, come Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen. I think that's becoming more and more of the prayers of God's people. Lord, come quickly. How much more can happen in the world? How many more technologies can be discovered and acted upon in the world in which we live? where things don't spiral out of control as it looks to us. Lord, come quickly. Come quickly. Usher us into glory. Fifthly, the Father has fixed the time of Christ's return by His own authority. We see that in this question as well, in the answer to this question. Again, Jesus says, The disciples asked, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Verse 7, Jesus said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. Here we are reminded that the calendar of world events from the smallest events to those that change the course of civilizations is in the hands of our Heavenly Father. from what you will have for lunch today to who will be elected this Tuesday. It's all in our father's hands. He is not being swept along by world events. He is, by His Spirit and His providence, working all things together for the good of His redeemed children. All things. Ephesians 1.11, God works all things, not some things or most things. He works all things according to the counsel of His will. And dear Christian, because this is true, because your heavenly father is sovereign and in control of all the events of history, because he is working out all things together for your good, even the hard things. And because Christ is on His throne, and all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him, and you are united to Him by grace through faith, never to be forsaken. And because the Holy Spirit has been sent into the world and into your believing hearts, serving as a guarantee for that eternal life to come, a deposit. Because of these things, you have nothing to fear. You have nothing to fear. You can let go of your fear and your anxiety. You can trust God. You can rest in Him. You can put your faith in Him. He is good. He loves you. You're secure in Him. I believe that one of the biggest problem that Christians face in their hearts when they're constantly dealing with fear and anxiety is that there is a kind of lack of belief that God has really accepted you for who you are right now, not who you will be, but who you are right now in Christ. you've been fully accepted into the beloved. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It's grace full and free. That's why we sing. Christ is coming again, but until then you can trust God. He's got it. He's got it. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. And so as we close, let me ask you a question. How big is your God? How big is your God? Have you conceived or believed in a God who is mainly concerned with the political outlook of the United States and also really focused on your own physical and spiritual wellbeing and comforts? Or is your faith in the God of the Bible? Is your faith in the God of the Bible who through Christ is saving and sanctifying his elect all across the world? from the low country of South Carolina to the deepest jungles in the Amazon, from the American suburbs to the Brazilian rainforest, from the urban sprawl to the rural countryside, from the sea to the highlands, among people of every color and language and ethnicity, is your faith in the God who calls you to use your time and talents and treasure as part of this missionary effort to reach our neighbors and to reach the nations. The disciples seemed to only have their eyes on the restoration of Israel and wanted victory before the battle and wanted to be comfortable. You can't blame them in some ways. We all want to be comfortable, don't we? and yet we see this is wrong-headed. They placed the comforts of heaven before the sacrificial call to ministry and to reach the lost. They were staring into the sky, and the angels told them to stop. What are you looking at? Get to work, the angels said. So how big is your God, Christ Church? I ask myself the same question. Do we really believe that God can save our unchurched friends, neighbors, and family members? Are we willing for a lifetime to be a faithful, ongoing, regular, continuous witness to friends, neighbors, coworkers, not giving up on them? but praying for them, asking God to save them, sharing with them as the Lord gives opportunity. May we not be those staring up into the sky just waiting for heaven to come, but may we, by God's grace and empowered by the Holy Spirit, respond to this great commission and have a missionary heart, a missionary heart like our loving and merciful God. I have two practical points of application. Number one is next week. It's called Friendship Sunday. Friendship Sunday. It's really an opportunity to invite friends and neighbors and coworkers and family members who you've been meaning to invite to church but just haven't lately. Invite them. You may invite 10 families or 10 couples or 10 individuals and maybe only two come It's okay. Maybe none of them come, but in six months, one of them has a difficult time and calls you and says, you know, I think I'm ready to come visit your church now. These are the things that happen when you plant the seeds in evangelism. Secondly, we are going to have a Christmas outreach. What does this mean? It means that we are encouraging families from Christchurch to identify neighbors neighbors next door, next door to next door, next door to next door in your neighborhood to invite to a Christmas drop-in in your home and to have some good food there and to maybe even have a devotion and to invite them to church. We are creating a little pamphlet with a former Christmas sermon I've preached to be able to give to them when they come visit. with the address of our church there and information. And what we want to do is we want to see maybe a dozen, maybe more families in our church do this so that we can have a real concerted evangelistic outreach to our community and to our neighbors and be thinking more intentionally about outreach. We'll learn more about that. The third practical step is prayer. Make these things a matter of prayer. The disciples asked a foolish and speculative question about the establishing of Christ's kingdom. Let's learn from it. Let's be faithful in the power of the Holy Spirit with the strength of Christ to cultivate a heart for our neighbors and for the nations. Isaac Watts wrote this wonderful hymn that we are about to sing. Jesus shall reign where'er the sun, doth his successive journeys run. His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more. And then a verse we typically don't sing in our hymnals. Where he displays his healing power, death and the curse are known no more. In him the tribes of Adam boast more blessings than their father lost. Let every creature rise and bring peculiar honors to their king. Angels descend with songs again, and earth repeat the loud Amen. Let us pray. Our Father and our God, as we come before you now, as we look to come to the Lord's table, we do pray that our hearts will be filled with love for you and your love for the nations. And we pray, Lord, that this would be a new chapter in the lives of our families and in the life of our congregation here at Christ Church, that we'd be more intentional, more focused, more passionate about reaching out to the unchurched, to our friends, to our neighbors, to our family members who do not know you and who need the Savior. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.