And if you've got a Bible, turn in to Acts chapter 1.
If you've not got a Bible, I'd really encourage you to go and grab one from by the table just outside.
And we're going to dash around the Bible a little bit this morning.
Acts chapter 1.
It's a real joy, isn't it, to people who are part of the church family and are now serving the Lord in different places.
It's really great to have Will and Marianne and Jonathan and Michael serving the Lord in the far north in Dundee.
And Jordan Saturov, who's with us, who's serving the Lord with London City Mission in East London.
So we're really, we're so glad to see you and we're going to pray for you now.
Let's bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father, we thank you that the gospel that we love and believe, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
is being proclaimed all around the world.
And we thank you for the saints in every place that are calling on your name.
And we thank you, Heavenly Father, for Will and Marianne and Jonathan and Michael serving you in St. Peter's Dundee.
And we pray for encouragement for that church family.
And we pray that your word would continue to go forth faithfully there.
And we thank you, Lord, for Jordan and Colina.
And we pray for blessing in their work with London City Mission as they seek to train and equip others in the work of evangelism.
Heavenly Father, we thank you that Jesus Christ, your son, is unstoppable.
And his kingdom has come and is coming and will come.
And he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
And we pray that this series in Acts would fill us with that confidence.
That we would recognize that Jesus Christ, by his spirit, is still at work today.
He is still speaking today.
And he is building his church.
And we pray all these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I've never preached on my way through the Book of Acts.
And this summer I've spent a bit of time while I was on sabbatical kind of reading around it and trying to think how best to approach it.
I'm convinced that I've got the main message.
And I'm pretty sure how we're going to get into it.
I'm not really sure how we're going to get out of the Book of Acts.
Because it's a long old book.
And as you well know, I'm not brilliant at preaching big chunks.
So we might be in this series for the next five years.
The Book of Acts is far more than the birth of the church.
It's far more than the spread of Christianity across the Roman Empire.
The Book of Acts reveals to us God's purpose for this world.
But specifically the place of the church in the purposes of God.
And the Book of Acts is tailor-made for a church which is half asleep.
And finds serving Jesus a great inconvenience.
And doesn't have much heart for mission.
And is in danger of forgetting who she is.
And the Book of Acts is written for a church that has turned inward on itself.
Where the worship is predictable and routine.
And where the ministry is relegated to paid professionals.
Where compassion fits around the busyness of my daily life.
The Book of Acts is written for a church that is under risk and in uncharted waters.
None of which, of course, is relevant to us today.
That was a joke.
It's a terrible thing when you have to say that.
I find myself having to say that more often.
I thought it was because people didn't get the joke.
But actually, it's more to do with me, isn't it?
That is a joke.
Let's go back to the Bible.
There's no other book in the Bible like the Book of Acts.
It functions as a bridge.
It forms a bridge between the first half of the New Testament.
And the Gospels.
And the second half of the letters.
It forms a bridge between the Jesus Christ of the New Testament.
And the Jesus Christ of the Church today.
It forms a bridge between Jew and Gentile.
And so the Gospel goes out from Jerusalem to Samaria to the ends of the earth.
To the heart of the Gentile world.
And in the first two verses, the writer introduces himself.
The writer is Luke.
And he reminds us of this bridging purpose.
He introduces the book to us in this way.
He says,
O Theophilus,
I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.
Until the day when he was taken up.
And after he'd given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
The first book that he's speaking about, of course, is the Gospel of Luke.
That's volume one.
And Luke was an educated man, a physician.
He writes some of the finest Greek in the New Testament.
He's widely travelled.
And we discover in later chapters that he travels with the Apostle Paul.
And he goes back into Palestine, into Israel.
He interviews the eyewitnesses to write the Gospel.
My theory is that Luke spent quite a lot of time with Mary, Jesus' mother.
And because at the beginning of Luke's Gospel, you've got the tenderest details, haven't you?
Of the annunciation of the coming of Jesus, his birth and his early life.
But the point is more important, and Luke in verse one wants us to know that the subject of volume one was Jesus.
And the subject of volume two is Jesus.
The key to this, he says, I dealt in the first book of Theophilus.
I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.
In other words, volume one was what Jesus began to do and teach.
Volume two is about what Jesus continues to do and teach.
Some people think that the Gospels are about Jesus and the Book of Acts is about the Church.
But the contrast is not between Jesus and the Church.
The contrast is between two different phases of Jesus' ministry.
The first phase, which is in the Gospel of Luke, is the earthly ministry of Jesus.
Until he was taken up.
And Luke has talked about all those things that Jesus did and taught.
But now there's a second phase of Jesus' ministry where he still teaches and he still works.
He works from heaven through his Spirit and the Apostles.
And he bears testimony to the words written in Scripture.
And that is really important for us.
It's important that Jesus didn't just go back up to heaven and forget about it.
He spent three years creating the Church.
And now he's about to send his Holy Spirit upon them.
And he continues to work through his Spirit.
The whole of this passage, the first eight verses that we're going to look at today,
tells of the incredible importance of the Christian Church in the plans of God for his world.
In every other religion, when the religious founder dies,
the followers do their best, don't they, to keep the flame fanning.
The flame burning, I mean.
The followers do their best to practice that religion because the founder is now absent.
But it's the opposite in the Christian Church.
We are not, this morning, trying to do our best because Jesus is gone.
We are a Christian Church precisely because Jesus is here.
And it's very important for us who call ourselves Reformed Evangelicals.
Or Reformed Presbyterians.
We are rightfully disdainful.
We don't want anything to do with deism.
That philosophy that says that God is an absent creator,
that he wound up creation like a clock and set it going,
but he doesn't have any direct or personal involvement with it now.
Everything just continues along according to his immutable laws.
That's clearly unbiblical, isn't it?
And we're right to dismiss it when it comes to our Christian lives.
And when it comes to the life of the Christian Church.
But I worry sometimes, actually, are we closet deists?
Very often, we are very uncomfortable with God interfering with our lives.
Except, maybe in the case of an emergency,
and even then, in specific terms that are set down by me,
we plan and we strategise,
as if Jesus finished acting 2,000 years ago in our own lives.
We maybe hoard possessions,
as if this life is all that there is.
And there isn't really a life to come.
And we invest our time in ourselves,
to alleviate our fears and our anxieties.
We act as though Jesus wound up the Church 2,000 years ago.
But this book tells you that, no, Jesus really is directly
and personally involved with us now.
And right at the heart of the Book of Acts,
the first thing that we have to be clear about with the Church
is that Jesus Christ remains Lord of the Church
and He is here with us now,
by His Spirit.
Active now.
He continues to work with us now,
by His Holy Spirit.
He is very much engaged with us.
And I wonder what IPC would begin to look like
if we really believed that.
This is what this book is all about.
It's going to show us
what it's like to believe it.
The second verse,
we're told that one of the things it looks like
is a group of people
trying to live under the command of Jesus,
dependent on the Holy Spirit.
Verse 2 is the first of about 60 references
to the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts.
Right from the outset,
we are being prepared for the fact that this organism,
the Church,
is unlike anything that the world has seen before.
It's a place, yes,
where Jesus is present and active,
but it's also a place where the power of the Holy Spirit exists.
Where people are indwelt by God's Spirit.
Enabling them to love and serve
and proclaim Him to the ends of the earth.
And I hope you listened
as we read those words from verses 1 to 8.
And you hear this new thing that is about to happen.
We are on the precipice of a new age.
In these words.
And every word of verses 1 to 8
trembles with anticipation
and expectation.
As Jesus prepares the world
and His disciples for this new thing
before He's taken up into heaven.
There are two sections in verses 3 to 8.
And I want to look at them in reverse order.
Because I want to.
And so let's look at the second half.
And I'm going to call the second half,
verse 6 to 8,
the turning point for God's world.
Verse 6,
the turning point for God's world.
So when they come together,
they ask Him,
Lord, will you at this time
restore the kingdom to Israel?
He said to them,
it's 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 ends of the earth.
Jesus has been raised from the dead.
He has spoken to them
about the Holy Spirit.
And this question from the disciples
wonderfully shows
that they still don't get it.
They don't understand it really.
They are looking for
the restored kingdom of Israel.
And Judea's answer to them is stunning.
He doesn't kind of castigate them
for their narrow political ambitions.
Instead, He lifts their vision
and their desires
to the worldwide purposes of God
and to their place
in His purposes.
He says,
yes, the Spirit is coming.
But He's not coming
to make you powerful.
He's not coming
to make one nation
in a particular place powerful.
But He's coming
so that you would take
my purposes
to the ends of the earth
when the Holy Spirit
comes upon you.
You shall be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, Judea
and the ends of the earth.
And if you've read
the book of Acts,
which I hope you'll do,
you will know that
that verse functions
like a table of contents.
So chapters 1 to 7
is about the apostles'
ministry in Jerusalem.
Chapters 8 to 12
is their ministry
in Judea and Samaria.
And chapter 13
to the end of the book
is their ministry
to the ends of the earth.
Now I can't tell you
how many sermons
and talks I've heard
on Acts chapter 1
that have been treated
and demanded
and commanded
that we become witnesses
and get out there
and do evangelism.
One of the commentaries
I've got
has six sermons
on this verse
telling us
how to be great witnesses
for Jesus.
There's an awful lot
of truth
in those sermons
but I want to tell you
that this verse
of Jesus
is not a desperate plea
for him
not to be forgotten.
This is not
a hurried strategy
from Jesus
that he hopes
might work out
in the world
that you and I
have somehow
got to fulfill.
The scene
of verse 8
is not a motivational
rally.
It is a law court.
It is a cosmic
law court.
And each of the
three pivotal phrases
in verse 8
are all taken
from the prophet Isaiah.
when God
the Lord of Heaven
and Earth
announces
a lawsuit
against all the idols
and against all the
false religions
in the world
because he says
to the false religions
you're guilty
of false advertising.
You promise salvation.
You promise life.
And God says
I want to have a lawsuit
in fact
to see who is
the true God.
And both sides
Lord God Almighty
and the false religions
call witnesses
to be presented.
But there's a problem.
The problem is
God's witnesses
are blind.
They've seen
the mighty acts
of God
but they've closed
their eyes
and they've shut
their ears.
And therefore
they are blind witnesses.
And I want to show you this.
So keep a finger
in Acts chapter 1
and turn to Isaiah
chapter 43
and verse 8.
Isaiah 43
and verse 8.
I'll give you
a bit of time
to get there.
Isaiah 43
verse 8.
I would give you
the page number
but someone
will shout it out.
603.
Isaiah 43
verse 8.
It's important
you see this.
And so what Jesus
is doing in Acts
is he's deliberately
taking these phrases
from Isaiah
so that you and I
will understand
what Isaiah is saying.
So verse 8.
When God
the Lord
of heaven and earth
announces a lawsuit
against all the idols
and against all the
false religions
in the world
he says you're guilty
of false advertising.
43 verse 8.
Bring out the people
who are blind
yet of eyes
who are deaf
yet of ears.
All the nations
gather together
all the peoples
assemble
who among them
can declare this
and show us
the former things.
Let them bring
their witnesses
to prove them right.
Let them hear
and say it is true.
You
are my witnesses
declares the Lord
and my servant
whom I have chosen
that you may know
and believe me
and understand
that I am he.
Before me
no God was formed
nor shall there be
any after me.
I am the Lord
and besides me
there is no saviour.
I declared
and saved
and proclaimed
when there was
no strange God
among you
and you
are my witnesses
declares the Lord.
But the problem is
they're blind.
How is God
going to heal
the blindness
of his witnesses?
Well Isaiah
says two things.
The first he says
I'm going to send
a special person.
I'm going to send
a servant
the servant
of the Lord
whose ministry
will be
what will he be
what will he do
he will bring light
to the Gentiles
to the nations
to open the eyes
of the blind.
That's chapter 42.
And the second thing is
he promises
to pour out
his Holy Spirit
and when the Spirit
comes he will
open eyes
and open mouths.
So turn over
to chapter 44
and let me read
to you from verse 3.
Where Isaiah says this
for I will pour water
on the thirsty land
and streams
on the dry ground
I will pour my spirit
upon your offspring
and my blessing
on your descendants
and they shall spring up
among the grass
like willows
by flowing streams
and what will be
the result?
This one says
I am the Lord's
and another will call
on the name of Jacob
and another will write
on his hand
the Lord's
and name himself
by the name of Israel.
Thus says the Lord
the King of Israel
and his Redeemer
the Lord of hosts.
I'm the first
I'm the last
besides me
there is no God
who is like me
let him proclaim it
let him declare
and said it before me
since I appointed
an ancient people
let them declare
what is to come
and what will happen
fear not
not be afraid
I've told you
from of old
and declared it
and you are
my witnesses.
Okay come back
with me to Acts chapter 1.
And so here is
the servant
of the Lord
Jesus Christ
and what is he doing?
he's taking
on his lips
the words of God
the Lord of Israel
the words that God
had spoken
700 years
before Isaiah
you shall be
my witnesses
and now Jesus Christ
announces to his people
you shall be
my witnesses
and it's a challenge
to the world
the point is not
that Jesus
is devising a strategy
for church growth
the point is this
Jesus
he is God
and Lord of Israel
it is Jesus
who is the first
and the last
and besides him
there is no God
what I want you
to see from this
passage
and I want you
to see this
when your eyes
are opened
you are a witness
it doesn't matter
whether you want
to be or not
I was in the co-op
in Greenford Avenue
about three years ago
all of life
is in Greenford Avenue
co-op
and I noticed
that there was a guy
shoplifting
and he went to the till
but he only paid
for one thing
thankfully the guy
behind the till
kind of pointed it out
caught him
and they tried
to kind of
stop him going out
he was confronted
the guy started
threatening the staff
and I was there
looking on
and there was CCTV
but I was a witness
I was a witness
I had to go to court
in the end
as a witness
I was a witness
whether I liked it
or not
I had no choice
about that
I saw what happened
and so I was a witness
I had no choice
and when the Holy Spirit
opens our eyes
to see in Jesus Christ
the glory of God
and the wonder
of our salvation
we are witnesses
Jesus doesn't say to you
in Acts 1 verse 8
you must be my witness
you've got to try hard
to be my witness
he says you are
you shall be my witnesses
the real problem of course
is hostile Christians
there are times
aren't there
in civil cases
where eyewitnesses
will not testify
hostile witnesses
and you can understand that
but why be a hostile Christian
when what we are witnessing
is the glory
of Jesus Christ
and again
the issue
is not our witnessing technique
or our evangelistic programs
the issue
is simply this
whether our eyes
are open
to the person
of Jesus Christ
and part of the essence
of seeing him
and worshipping him
is bearing witness
to him
and saying
I'm Jesus' person
I belong to him
I have a friend
who for the first years
first couple of years
after he became a Christian
he used to write on his hand
on the back of his hand
every day before he went out
three letters
H
I
S
his
and it was there
to remind him
throughout the day
who he belonged to
you see the great issue
in our world
is not the issues
that come up in the headlines
as important as they are
the issue is that
every man
and woman
every boy
and every girl
comes to see
the majesty
and the love
and the grace
and the mercy of God
in the face of Jesus Christ
and to bow to him
and call him saviour
and Acts 1 verse 8
it's not a polite invitation
for you to show your faith
if you're feeling
particularly gregarious
and outgoing
it's a summons
from the Lord of all the earth
for the world to bow
and it's a promise
that he is going to give
his spirit
to open our eyes
and when our eyes
are opened
whether we like it or not
we are his witnesses
and that is why
it's a turning point
for the world
the great contest
the great
prosecution
the great issue
in our world
is Jesus Christ
and the power
of the Holy Spirit
and he is here
by his spirit
in church this morning
and in every Christian
for the opening
of our eyes
and the paying
of our testimonies
so briefly
let me turn to the
second part of the passage
which is verses 3 to 5
if it was a turning point
for the world
now it's a turning point
for the church
and the question
that we should ask
is
how on earth
do you prepare
disciples
for this ministry
verse 3
he presented himself
alive to them
after his suffering
by many proofs
appearing to them
during 40 days
and speaking about
the kingdom of God
and while staying
with them
he ordered them
not to depart
from Jerusalem
but to wait
for the promise
of the father
which he said
you heard from me
for John baptized
with water
but you will be
baptized with the
Holy Spirit
not many days
from now
a great deal
can happen
in 40 days
but here are
some of the
40 most important
days in all
of history
Jesus has risen
from the dead
and in a few days
he's going back
to heaven
and will pour
out his spirit
what does he do
how does he
equip his church
for this new
ministry
he does three
things
first of all
he establishes
the reality
of his resurrection
it's very important
to Jesus
that you
as his follower
are fully convinced
and fully
persuaded
that he has
bodily risen
from the dead
he presents
himself to them
by these many
proofs
many convincing
proofs
because you see
we are not
witnesses to
a teacher
or to a
teaching
who died
years ago
we are witnesses
to the living
and risen
Christ
Christ has
died
Christ is
risen
Christ will
come again
that's the first
thing he does
the second thing
he does
is he clarifies
the gospel
he clarifies
the gospel
the good news
he speaks to
them about
the kingdom
of God
so let's
go to the end
of the book
of Acts
keep your finger
in Acts
1
and this
time go to
the other
direction
go to the
end
the last
verse
of the book
of Acts
and I want
you to see
that Luke
brackets
the start
of his book
and the end
of his book
with a reference
of the
ending
there is none.
Preaching the kingdom
is speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Have you ever noticed that throughout the Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
the kingdom of God is used frequently.
Something like 120 times in the Gospels.
But after the death and resurrection of Jesus,
the kingdom is only used occasionally.
Why is that?
The reason I think is this,
that during the 40 days when Jesus taught his disciples,
the big plan of God
and the rule of God
is fulfilled in Jesus.
It's fulfilled in his life
and his death
and his resurrection.
One last cross-reference, alright?
We don't normally have many,
we don't normally have any.
We've got loads today.
Luke 24.
Come with me.
Stay with me.
Luke 24.
And if you want to know what happened in the 40 days,
you need to know this verse.
Luke 24
and verse 27.
So Jesus is speaking to some followers.
What happened between Jesus being raised from the dead
and ascending up to heaven?
Verse 27,
speaking to some followers,
beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself.
And then verse 45.
Then Jesus opened their minds
to understand the scriptures
and said to them,
thus it is written,
thus it is written that the Christ should suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins
should be proclaimed in his name
to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
And you are witnesses
of these things.
Yes.
When Christ first came into this world,
he brought the age to come
into our own evil age.
The age of the spirit.
And when he comes again,
he will do away with this present evil age.
And so you and I find ourselves living in the overlap.
We live in the overlap of those ages.
We participate in the age that's to come
by the Holy Spirit and through Jesus Christ.
And so that's why everyone who knows
the Lord Jesus Christ
knows that life is not about food and fashion
and finance and fun.
But we know because we belong
to the age of the spirit,
that life is about righteousness
and peace and joy
through the life and death
and resurrection of Jesus.
We begin to know now in part
what we will know wholly
when Christ comes again.
And your affections,
which are changing now
as you follow Christ,
will one day be fully changed.
And you come to value strange things
like repentance from sin
and the glory of Christ
and prayer
and giving.
And so here is what Jesus does
to prepare us.
First of all,
he assures us of the resurrection.
And then he clarifies the gospel
and then thirdly and lastly,
he charges them to wait
for the Holy Spirit.
Verse 4 and 5.
I think this is the only time
in the New Testament
where he stops his followers
from preaching.
He taught them the gospel.
They believed in his resurrection,
but they still lacked one thing.
Without which,
whatever they did would be useless.
the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
And we're going to see this
over the next few weeks.
The church of Jesus Christ
is made up of people
who have been washed
and drenched
and submerged
and flooded by the Holy Spirit.
Who have been born anew,
who have been born from above to God.
And we know that we are
completely dependent
upon God's Holy Spirit.
Without him, we can do nothing.
individually
or as a group of people.
And so here is the great
turning point for the world.
And here is the great
turning point for the church.
And the Holy Spirit reminds us
that it's not about our efforts
and our cleverness
and our endeavours
and our schemes
and our witness.
But our membership
in the kingdom of God
and the progress of the faith
and all these are
spiritual realities
that are carried forward
by the Holy Spirit.
And there is but one thing
to take place
before the Spirit
is poured out
on his church.
And you'll have to come back
next week to find out
what that is.
My hope,
this should have been
my introduction,
my hope is that
this series on Acts
will remind us
that Jesus Christ
is unstoppable.
And it will remind us
that Jesus Christ Church
is growing
and will grow.
and it will give us
a confidence
in God
and his purposes.
My prayer is that
this room
will be full to overflowing,
that we'll have to have
the difficult discussions
of how do we church plant,
when do we church plant,
do we do a second service,
do we put a balcony in,
because
Jesus Christ
is unstoppable.
And his church
will grow
and is growing.
And his kingdom
has come,
is coming,
will come.
And we are indwelt
by God's Holy Spirit.
Let's pray together.