Turning your Bibles to Acts chapter one. This morning we begin a new sermon series in the book of Acts. And as we do, my mind was led earlier this week to a vision from the prophet Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 47, the prophet has a vision of a spiritual temple that is rising up, a vision of a symbolic temple established in the restored promised land. And from that temple flows a river. Ezekiel describes it in this way, Ezekiel 47, as the man, an angel, went eastward with a measuring line in his hand. He measured off a thousand cubits. and then led me through water that was ankle deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand but now it was a river that I could not cross because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in. A river that no one could cross. Well that river flowing from that spiritual or symbolic temple is a powerful symbol for me. It is amazing because it flows fuller and deeper the further on that it goes. And to me it represents many things. My mind and my heart go back before time and then to the end of time and beyond with this image of this river flowing. When we go to the end of time, we have in Revelation 22, a river of the water of life flowing endlessly from the throne of God. Right from the throne of God flows this river of life. And it's beautiful because in Ezekiel 47, as this river flows from the temple, it results in life. It results in flourishing life, trees and fruit and fish and all kinds of life that comes, Ezekiel 47. But my mind also goes back before the beginning of everything. When there was God and only God, the triune God existed and nothing else existed. And God willed to create everything. And from the mind of God, from the heart of God, flowed creation. In all of its array and complexity and majesty, just flowing and flowing from the heart of God. Every spiritual being, every angel, every spiritual creature flowed from God. the mind of God through the word of God, and then all the physical things as well, the earth, the sea and dry land, the cosmos with all of its stars, and with the sun and with the moon. And then the living creatures, those that teemed in the sea and those that swarmed in the air and on the earth and beasts that roamed on the earth, birds that soared through the skies, and ultimately man in his image. All of these things flowing from the creative mind of God is flowing and flowing by the word of God. God made the universe out of fullness, not out of emptiness. God didn't need anything. It was not out of neediness that God made everything, but out of fullness and generosity, everything flowed. from God. Jonathan Edwards, in talking about the reason or end for which God created the universe, talked about this fountain image. He said, surely there's no argument of neediness in God that he is inclined to communicate of his infinite fullness. Not out of neediness, but out of infinite fullness. It is no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain that it is inclined to overflow. Isn't that great? God is inclined to overflow. So God in his creativity made everything in the universe as a fountain overflows. But how much greater is it for God to cause salvation to overflow from a limitless fountain as well? Salvation through faith in his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to flow forth. It began in one location geographically, Jerusalem. And it began to flow forth as a mighty river As a river begins with a tiny rivulet and just gets broader and stronger and deeper as it goes on and ends up a thousand miles away pouring into the sea. That's the image that I have of this river of salvation. And that river flowing beginning in Jerusalem and spreading out will not stop until the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Deeper and fuller and richer as it goes on. So, this morning as we begin this thrilling journey through one of the most exciting books of the Bible, the book of Acts, I want that image in your mind. Acts tells the story of the beginning of the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. This is, I believe, the purpose of human history, of all history. There's a reason for it, a purpose for it. for the last 2,000 years, far greater, far more important than the rise and fall of many nations and empires that have happened in those 2,000 years. All of those things are as chaff on the scales of God. There is nothing. compared to the building of the glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ, which began at that time and in that place. And we have a role to play, brothers and sisters, we have a role to play. And that's exciting, isn't it? We are called by Christ to serve him while we live in this world, and to gather with him and not scatter. You're gonna do one or the other. You're either gonna scatter or you're gonna gather with him. There's no third option. We're here to gather. and to build, not to tear down, to build a kingdom that will never be destroyed, to win the lost and to celebrate with heaven when that one sheep is recovered, when that lost coin has been found, when the prodigal son returns, to celebrate with God over that. And we're positioned now, geographically, at a place thousands of miles removed from Jerusalem, physically, 2,000 years removed chronologically. I would think of it 2,000 years closer to the return of Christ. How awesome is that? 2,000 years have passed. And the mission that Christ has entrusted to his church so long ago has now become ours in this generation. Book of Acts is powerful to help us do that. So that's why we're beginning this journey. Now it starts in chapter one, verse one, with these words. In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. We see the Christ foundation of the church here. the early stages of the book of Acts. So it starts with what Jesus did and taught. So Acts is the second of a two volume set. by Luke, the first volume known as the Gospel of Luke, is simply summarized here. I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. That's the Gospel of Luke. And he writes it to Theophilus. We don't know if this is an actual person with the name of Theophilus. The name means lover of God. So it may just represent all of us as we love God and we read his books. Theophilus. And Jesus' ministry is summed up simply what he began to do and to teach. He used his mighty deeds and his mighty words. But Luke did not write all that Jesus did and taught. That would be impossible. John himself says that in John 21-25 at the end of his gospel. Jesus did many other things as well, a great understatement. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. The whole world is not big enough to tell all those stories and their ramifications and their impact. Indeed, all of eternity is not enough. That's a lot of what we're gonna be doing in heaven is studying the infinite majesty of the person and work of Christ, what he did, all that Jesus did and taught. But it says began, all that Jesus began to do and to teach. Jesus' life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension to heaven does not by any means stop his activity on behalf of the church. That was just the beginning of it. Began. So, now the book of Acts, often in some editions of the Bible, is written as Acts of the Apostles. Acts of the Apostles. And that's true, we're actually going to be following the activity of the apostles as they lead the church to fulfill its mission at that early stage. So we're going to follow predominantly in the first part, the apostle Peter mostly, but the other apostles as well. And then predominantly in the second portion of Acts, The Apostle Paul, who was as one born untimely, but an apostle. So that's a fair title, the Acts of the Apostles. Some have said really it's the Acts of the Holy Spirit. And I think I would wholeheartedly agree. But based on Acts 1.1, the Spirit would say it's the Acts of Jesus by the Spirit of Jesus in the Church of Jesus. So I think that's good. But that's too long for a title on the page right there. So we'll just go with Acts. all that Jesus began to do and to teach until, verse two, he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. So Christ's ascension ended that phase of his ministry. He was taken up by God the Father. God the Father acted on him directly and physically, defying gravity, lifting him up off the surface of the earth, up into the heavenly realms. So after his resurrection, But before his ascension, there was a period of time of 40 days that he had with his church. He had one final set of works to do, and that was to give final instructions to the apostles whom he had chosen. Wouldn't you love to have been at that seminary? Sitting at Jesus, what a great professor. teach us the Old Testament, teach us the prophecies, teach us everything that is written about yourself in the laws of Moses and the Psalms and the prophets. Wouldn't you love to sit on those seminars? Well, that's what he did, he's instructing the church. He's giving instructions, the text says, through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Now, Christ had to establish the apostles in the foundational doctrines of the church. Now, the apostles were men that he had chosen after spending all night in prayer. and he came down and chose the 12 to be his apostles. By that point, Judas was dead, he was gone, so he was down to the 11, and in the next section we'll replace him, but these are the apostles whom he had chosen. Now, throughout his ministry, Jesus had taught the apostles many things, but they often couldn't grasp these things. Their minds were dull, their hearts were hard, we're told, often. This is especially true of the significance of his death, his atoning death, which they didn't understand the reason for. and then of his resurrection. They did not understand these things. Peter clearly tried to talk them out of it many times. A clear example is Luke 18. Jesus took the 12 aside and told them, we are going up to Jerusalem. And everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He'll be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. Three days later he'll rise again. The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them and they did not know what he was talking about. Well friends, that can't continue. Well they need to understand absolutely why he had to die and be raised again on the third day. And so the time for their dull minds and the darkness of their understanding had to end. And so he's pouring into them and getting them ready. It was essential for them to grasp the doctrine of Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension. And why is that? Because Ephesians 2.20 tells us the church is built on the foundation, the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. They had to get it. Because the church was going to be built on them. So, he gave them these final instructions and the text says, through the Holy Spirit. That's fascinating. This is before Pentecost. Don't think that the Holy Spirit suddenly started doing things at Pentecost. Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters of the deep at creation. Been active all the way through. And he was active throughout Jesus' ministry. He was active there in the apostles before the day of Pentecost. He was active in the teaching ministry of Jesus. This is mind-blowing. Jesus didn't do anything ever, he said plainly, apart from the will of his Father. He didn't speak a word apart from the will of his Father, but he also didn't do it apart from the power of the Spirit. He didn't do any miracle or do any teaching apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. I didn't always think that way as a Christian. It was kind of a new thing. It was like Jesus, and then when Jesus left, then the Spirit stepped in and started getting active. It wasn't like that at all. The Spirit was always active. Everything Jesus did was a display of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Spirit active all the time. So what is he doing? In verse three, he's giving them convincing proofs of his resurrection. 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 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. So foundational to the church that was going to be built was the doctrine of the bodily, the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead. And as I said, the apostles are especially obtuse about Christ's death and resurrection. They had a very hard time believing the resurrection. Again and again, in the post-resurrection accounts, there's an element of unbelief in the part of the apostles. Like right before the most famous of the Great Commissions, Matthew 28, in verse 17, it says, when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. You get the same thing in Luke 24. You get the same thing in Mark 16. Again and again, they're doubting the evidence of their eyes. Clearest example of this, of course, is the famous doubting Thomas. But he wasn't the only doubter. Remember how Thomas said, look, unless I put my finger in the nail marks, my hands in my... I will not believe. And so Jesus comes and establishes Thomas. He says, stretch out your hand, put your finger in the nail marks, put your hand this side. Stop doubting and believe. So that's what he's doing. He's giving them many convincing proofs of his bodily resurrection. So they had no doubt about it at all. Many convincing proofs. Including eating a piece of broiled fish. Do you have anything here to eat? They give him some fish and he ate it. So it's amazing. So from that time, on, they're established. So, by the time that Peter and the other apostles get up on the day of Pentecost, there is no doubt in their minds at all about the facts of Christ's resurrection. And he also, it says in verse 3, spoke to them about the kingdom of God. And this is the doctrinal center of Christ's ministry, the center of his teaching ministry, the concept of the kingdom of God, or often in the gospel of Matthew, the kingdom of heaven. So he's teaching that it's more than just the idea that Almighty God is king. He is the creator of the ends of the earth, rules over all things. His throne is central over everything. That is true. That would be true whether you believed it or not. But we enter the kingdom of God when we become delighted about that rule. and welcome it in our lives, and yearn for it to extend to everything we do, that's when we've entered the kingdom of God. That's why Jesus said, the kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, because the kingdom of God is within you. And so in that sense, right now, the spreading kingdom of God is a spiritual thing in which individual hearts are transformed by the Spirit so they delight in God and in Christ's kingly reign over every area of their lives. So he's talking to them about the kingdom of God and he's getting this across, but it's amazing how difficult even that concept was for the apostles to grasp. They didn't fully understand the kingdom. It was not going to be David's throne politically, geopolitically and militarily extending out and the borders and boundaries of the land extending further and further by military conquest. That's what they imagined. And they themselves in positions of power and pleasure and possessions and all that. That's what they were thinking. Very earthly was their conception of the kingdom of God. No, it's a kingdom of righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. That's what the kingdom of God is, we're told in the book of Romans. That's what we're talking about. Preoccupation with worldly conceptions of a rich life of power and possessions and pleasures dominated everyone's hearts and minds, including the apostles. And I still think, even at this point, they didn't fully understand the nature of the kingdom. as we'll see in a moment by their question. So they are waiting the promise of God, the Holy Spirit, verse four and five. 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. So again, he's eating with them, this is a recurring theme, he had many, meals after His resurrection with them. One time in John 21, He even cooked them breakfast. So the eating thing is a marvelous image, but it wasn't just fellowship, it was fellowship, it was physical proof of his bodily nature, the fact that he would eat that broil fish, but he's also taking it as an occasion to teach them and talk to them in a beautiful way. And here he specifically commands them not to leave Jerusalem, but wait, to wait for the gift that the Father had promised and that Jesus had spoken about. Now it was promised by the Father in many places in the Old Testament prophets, especially Isaiah, and Joel. So the gift, the outpouring of the Spirit, like water on a parched land, these are regular and powerful images in the book of Isaiah, but we're going to see at Pentecost clearly predicted in Joel. I find it fascinating, this whole thing was predicted and clearly taught in the Old Testament, the coming of the Holy Spirit fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. It was predicted, and yet, I don't know if that's the right word, maybe, and so, When Jesus ascended, he asked the Father to do it. He says in John 16, I will ask the Father and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever, the Holy Spirit. So Jesus ascends and asks the Father to send the Spirit. And this is very instructive for me in what prayer is. Prayer is not giving God a new idea. Prayer is not persuading God to do something that he wasn't going to do until you gave him that new idea. That's not what prayer is. Prayer is begging God to do that which he has already, before the foundation of the world, determined to do, just hasn't done yet. It's the next thing in his sovereign plan. He's got this whole thing worked out. And the next thing was the outpouring of the Spirit. Now ask the Father to do it. And so he intercedes that the Holy Spirit would be poured out. And the church also has to show its physical obedience by waiting in Jerusalem until it comes. And so they're waiting and they're gonna pray after the ascension that they're waiting in Jerusalem and praying in unity and waiting for the day to come. And it's powerful. Now Jesus at this moment hearkens back to the teaching of John the Baptist. That powerful prophet, the forerunner of Jesus, said, for John the Baptist said in Matthew 3.11, I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. So with electric excitement, I wonder what it must have been like To hear Jesus add these words, not many days from now, or in a few days. It's coming. The baptism of the Spirit is coming. How exciting must that have been? What does that mean, baptism of the Spirit, of being baptized with the Spirit? The word baptized means immersed or plunged as in a vat or a huge body of water. That's what the word means. So there's a plunging or an immersion. and that the baptism of the Spirit is being immersed or plunged and saturated with the ministry and the power of the Spirit. It's kind of an analogy or word picture. We believe now that that happens at the moment of conversion. Every individual sinner that crosses over from death to life, 1 Corinthians 12, we're told, are baptized by the Spirit into one body. Then the water baptism we just saw and we've seen the last number of weeks is an outward invisible symbol of that already immersion that's happened by the Holy Spirit, something we cannot do. Only Jesus can baptize. John couldn't do it. Jesus baptizes you in the Spirit, that immersion in the Spirit. And then the outpouring of the Spirit that's pictured at Pentecost. We believe, I don't like to call that the baptism of the Spirit at that point, because I think that happens again and again. And so we look at that at revivals. You're going to see it again in chapter 4 when they're Their place where they're meeting is shaken and they're all filled with the Holy Spirit and speak the word of God boldly. That's the filling of the spirit. But the baptism I think happens just once at that moment of conversion. We'll have lots of opportunities to talk about that through the book of Acts, God willing. Then Christ gives his commission to the church. Now it starts with the disciples asking a typical errant question. Aren't they great at this? Swinging and missing on our behalf, all right? So if you were there, what bad question would you ask? And so here it is. So when they met together, they asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? It's amazing how stubborn their conceptions of this worldly Jewish kingdom are. It's very, very hard for them to get past it. I love John Calvin's comment on this in his commentary. Their stupidity is incredible. Tell us how you really feel, John Calvin. Their stupidity is incredible. They had been carefully taught for three whole years and yet were as ignorant as if they had never heard a thing. There are as many errors in this question as there are words. The apostles dream of an earthly kingdom rolling in wealth with every luxury. They expect a kingdom to be restored immediately. They want a victory without a battle. They want wages without work. and they set limits to Christ's kingdom. They mean the physical country of Israel which will extend its boundaries to the remotest part of the world, end quote. How difficult it was for them to grasp the spiritual and inclusive nature of Christ's kingdom. All peoples on earth will be blessed by Abraham's seed. All nations on earth, not just the Jews. And so Jesus at this point, Doesn't say, all right, let's start all over, listen. All right, he doesn't do that. He says, all right. He just corrects them on the timing issue. Now, some people believe, therefore, the question of the apostles was appropriate. It wasn't. But he just narrowly says, let's focus on the time. Are you at this time? And he says in verse seven, it is not for you to know the times or dates the father is set by his own authority. There are some things that are given to us and some things that are not. And the exact time of the second coming of Christ is not given to us. As Jesus said in Matthew 24, 36, no one knows about that day or hour. Not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. So that's not for us. Well, what is for us? The Great Commission. That's what's for us. And this is the fifth and final giving of the Great Commission. All four Gospels have a version of the Great Commission, and they're all interestingly different from each other. coming at the exact same mission of the church in different ways. But this is the last one. The fifth giving of the Great Commission, Acts 1A. 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. Our task is to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything Christ has commanded us, Matthew 28. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit can this happen. Now the immediate focus in this verse is on the job description, you will be my witnesses. To witness is to give evidence as in a court of law we could imagine. To give a testimony. The apostles are gonna do that again and again. They're gonna be standing before tribunals and judges and courts and they're gonna give testimony again and again courageously at the risk of their lives to Jesus. Now, beyond that, they would be eyewitnesses of physical things that they saw concerning Jesus, His life, His death, His bodily resurrection in ways none of us can be. They are unique, first-level eyewitnesses to the historical reality of Jesus, and the rest of us are all dependent on that, because we're not eyewitnesses. Yet the concept of witnessing must extend to the end of the age. So we have a different kind of witness to do than they did. We cannot say we saw Jesus bodily and put our finger in the nail marks and all. That's not given to us. That was given to the apostles. But their eyewitness is essential. That's why Paul says in Ephesians 2.20 the church is based or built on the foundation of the apostles. The New Testament came from their testimony. and from their eyewitness. Our job is to witness to what God has done in our lives and to the truth of the gospel. So that's that witnessing we do. But this concept of witness comes again and again. Peter to Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2.32. God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact. Even more powerfully, Peter to Cornelius in Acts 10, 39 through 41. sums up or finishes his gospel presentation to that Gentile, the Roman centurion, he says, we are witnesses of everything Jesus did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen, by us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. You see that uniqueness of their witness that we don't partake in. Not everyone was chosen for that, but the apostles were. And then again, Jesus' call to Paul on the Damascus road, Acts 26, 16. He said, I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. What had Paul seen? Not all the things the other apostles had seen, but he had that encounter with him on the Damascus road. Witnessing. And what would be the extent of the witness? Well, the geographical extent is right here in verse eight. to the ends of the earth. Chronological extent is in Matthew's Great Commission to the end of the age. To the ends of the earth and to the end of time, that's our role, that's the witnessing. So I picture that Ezekiel 47 river just flowing and getting broader and deeper and more powerful as it goes on. So clearly, the kingdom of God is not gonna appear at once. It is not. There's a journey that has to be traveled. And the gospel had to start in Jerusalem, as Paul would say, to the Jew first, and after that to the Gentiles. It was gonna start there in Jerusalem. But Jerusalem and Judea were vipers' nests of enemies of Jesus, but also harvest field, ready to be harvested so beautifully. And then Samaria filled with people who hated Jews and would not have wanted a gospel that began in the city of Jerusalem. But there would be harvest, beautifully in Acts 8, in Samaria. And then to the ends of the earth, how could Rome be one for Jesus Christ? But by the end of this book of Acts, Paul will be there, physically there. So the journey in Acts, just in the 28 chapters, is from Jerusalem to Rome. And so it's already moving out, and it's a beautiful thing to see. But how could Rome, this mighty pagan empire that worships Caesar as a god, come to faith in Christ? But that was the calling. And then what about the other Gentile nations beyond, like the Scythians, who are terrifying mounted archer warriors. Very terrifying people. How could Scythians be one to Christ? The ends of the earth for Alexander the Great was the Indus River. That's as far as like from here to the Pacific Ocean, further actually. Long journey that they went. But then there was teeming millions beyond the Indus River into modern day China. There was just the ends of the earth, all of this. But the ends of the earth, dear brothers and sisters, have been promised to Jesus. Acts chapter, sorry, Psalm chapter two and verse eight. God the Father says to his son, ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. Well, Jesus has asked and the Father will fulfill that promise. The ends of the earth belong to Jesus, or again, in Psalm 22, which begins with the words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And then clearly depicts his agonies on the cross, but then his victory, the victory of Christ to the ends of the earth, it says, all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. Or again, Psalm 72 in verse eight, he will rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. And then finally Isaiah 66, 19, to the distant islands who have not heard of my fame or seen my glory, they will proclaim my glory among the nations. So that is the theme of the entire book of Acts and of all of church history, Acts 1-8. Any chance we're gonna be hearing it again and again and again and again and again through this series in Acts? Yes, because it is the summation of what the book of Acts is all about. You receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses. in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. Now these were Jesus' final words on earth. It's the last thing he said. Verse nine, after he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes. There's a poignancy to the final words. He's gonna come back and see if we were faithful. Like the parable of the menace, he entrusts riches to us and he's gonna come back and see what we did with it. We're accountable, these are his final words. We have Christ's ascension for the church. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. The ascension is a vital doctrine. Jesus said repeatedly he would do it. I came from the Father, he said in John 16, 28, and entered the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father. It's also a very practical issue. By him doing it physically in front of their very eyes, ascending higher and higher, they knew he's gone. You remember the story about Elijah and how a chariot of fire came down and took him up. No chariot of fire came for Jesus. The Father reached down directly by his power and lifted him up. But part of the problem was the school of the prophets back then were worried that maybe the Spirit had, you know, Left Elijah on some hill somewhere, you remember that? So go look for him, maybe he's somewhere else. And Elisha said, don't look, he's gone. Well this time they knew. Jesus is, he's gone up to heaven. You don't need to go search for him physically. And then that cloud, the cloud hiding him from their sight, it's like the curtain is drawn to that stage of Jesus' ministry. That's over now. He did say that the days would come, he said this to his own apostles, when you would long for one of the days of the Son of Man and you're not going to see it. So those days are over now. But then the angels make a promise. Verse 10, 11, they were looking intently into the sky as he was going when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 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've seen him go into heaven. Now I know they're not called angels, but that's what they were. They're dressed in white, they have a supernatural message, and they just appear there. and they address them with familiarity, men of Galilee, they said. And they're gonna tell them to stop standing there, gawking into the sky. You have a job to do. So don't just continue to physically look up into the clouds. And so this is very important. We Christians should be spiritually constantly looking up to the clouds. while our feet are taking us to the mission fields that God has for us. We've got a job to do. but we need to be continually waiting for his son from heaven, 2 Thessalonians 1.9, or 1 Thessalonians 1.9. We need to be waiting for Jesus to come back. We need to be saying Maranath. We need to be thinking about the second coming of Christ all the time. John Calvin said this, a wholehearted waiting and looking for Christ's coming must affect the way we live. It must control physical passions. It must give patience in all troubles, and it must refresh us when we are weary. But all of that goodness only comes to those who faithfully believe Christ is their Redeemer. To the wicked, his coming return will bring nothing but dread, horror, and terror." End quote. That is true. Now Christ's ascension was predicted in many places, but probably most significant is Psalm 110 in verse 1. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And in that very Psalm, the next verse, he said, the Lord will extend your scepter from Zion. So from Zion, Jerusalem, out, his reign is going to extend. Psalm 110 and verse two. So Christ ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God and then allow God by his sovereign power to extend his kingdom to the ends of the earth. And that he does by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so his ascension is not into the heavenly realms, but above or beyond the heavenly realms. They are a created realm. He's above the heavenly realms, we're told in the book of Hebrews and also Ephesians 4.10. Jesus ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe. Finally, Christ's power for the church. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses. The power of the Spirit is essential to the spread of the gospel. And there are many aspects to the Spirit's power I could talk about. I could talk about His sovereign control over the minds and hearts of His enemies, kings, governors, rulers. orchestrating decisions they make so the gospel can spread. His sovereignty over people who hate him. We could talk about that. We could talk especially, and this is important, of the power of the Spirit to convict sinners of sin. Only the Spirit can do that. Only the Spirit can give the gift of faith. Only the Spirit can take out the heart of stone and give the heart of flesh. Only the Spirit can give spiritual sight to the soul, the eyes of their hearts being enlightened, give the gift of faith to see the invisible Christ. Only the Spirit can guarantee the success of the gospel. And the Spirit has been very successful for 2,000 years. I love to consider this, that the third person of the Trinity is every bit as good at his job as the second person of the Trinity was. Jesus finished all the work the Father gave Him to do, and the Spirit will most certainly finish all the work that the Father gave Him to do. And so, isn't it beautiful? Every generation, every generation for 2,000 years, from that point when the gospel started spreading, from that point on, Jesus has been the most famous human being on earth, living or dead. And no one is born in the world knowing anything about Jesus. Every infant comes home from the hospital not knowing Jesus. How is it then that hundreds of millions in every generation not just know him but love him and worship him and want to serve him? Because the Spirit is that effective and powerful. But I want to talk about specifically two aspects of the Spirit's power. The Spirit's power in giving us the scripture which gives us Christ in the gospel. And the Spirit's power on us to deliver the message. The first we see in Romans 116, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because why? It is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. You know the book of Romans hadn't been written yet. And the Holy Spirit came on the Apostle Paul to write that magnificent description of the gospel doctrine that we have in the book of Romans. How many conversions came out of that book? The power of the word of God. The New Testament didn't exist when Jesus ascended. It is by the power of the Spirit on the apostles, on the authors of the 27 books of the New Testament, we have this powerful word that gives us Christ. So the power of the spirit came to give us the scripture. But I also want to focus on the power that we need. Do you not feel it? Do not our hearts quail and are we not weak? And do we not tremble when it comes to being witnesses? We are fearful, we're selfish, we're cowardly, we're lazy. This is our nature. And it's not like God didn't know that. He knows all that better than we do. And so we tend to be like the priest and the Levite, spiritually, walking by in the parable of the prodigal son by someone who's spiritually dying by the side of the road and we're not concerned, we just keep walking. We just don't care very much. We've proven that again and again. The church is often worldly, distracted by physical things, distracted by wealth and other things. We're into things that will not matter on judgment day. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you'll be transformed from all of that. And you will be my witnesses, Jesus said. And it's beautiful to see that even the greatest evangelist in history, in my opinion, there's been no greater evangelist than the Apostle Paul. What did he say in 1 Corinthians 2 about his preaching mission to Corinth? He said, I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling. What does that tell you? We all struggle with that. But then he goes on to say, my message, my preaching were a demonstration of the Spirit's power. How is that? If you're with them in weakness and fear and much trembling, I preached anyway. I shared the gospel anyway. So the power of the Spirit comes on us weak witnesses to enable us to do it anyway, even though we're fearful and selfish. And so I'm yearning for the Spirit's power in this church. that we would be faithful to the calling we have to be lights in this dark place. So, applications. You're here today in a place where the gospel is being preached. You've heard the facts of the gospel already. I don't assume that everyone listening to me right now was converted when you walked in here. Are you still in your sins? Flee to Christ. Flee to Christ. His blood was shed for sinners like you and me. Sin is like invisible chains on your soul. Jesus can set you free. Let him set you free. He can take all of that guilt that is weighing you down and take it off of you, putting it on himself and dying under the wrath of God. Why should you die under the wrath of God when Christ already offered to free you from that? So flee to Christ. And if you already did that, you already fled to Christ, The application here is your purpose. Why are you here? Why are you alive? What is your reason for being alive on earth? Jesus told a parable of a fig tree that hadn't borne any fruit yet. And he said, for three years now I've been coming looking for fruit and it hasn't borne any. Cut it down. Why should it use up the soil? I don't want in my life to use up the soil under my feet. I want to be fruitful. I wanna be fruitful. So the power of God comes on us to give us a purpose. What is our purpose? The power of God coming on you to change you and make you more like Christ, that's sanctification. And the power of God through you to witness winning lost people to faith in Christ. Well, we're coming now to a time of the Lord's Supper. And by faith, we get to have a meal with Jesus, to feast with him. I know all of us would prefer to have been there physically feasting with Jesus, but we get to do this now by faith. So I'm gonna close our time in the word and then we'll go to the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. Father, thank you for the time that we've had to study the beginning of Acts and to understand its message. Father, I pray that you would please strengthen us by the words that we've heard. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Hi, this is Andy Davis. I hope that you've enjoyed this sermon. For more of my resources, please go to twojourneys.org. And may the Lord Jesus Christ bless you as you continue to serve Him.