WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.259 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christchurch. 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:11.580 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:15.439 ! use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christchurch. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:22.640 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at Christchurcheastbay.org. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:33.120 Today's Gospel lesson is from the Acts of the Apostles, Acts chapter 1, verses 1 through 00:00:33.120 --> 00:00:35.140 14, as printed in your liturgy. 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:43.859 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until 00:00:43.859 --> 00:00:49.000 the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:54.880 apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:01.340 convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about 00:01:01.340 --> 00:01:06.680 the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command, 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:12.659 do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me 00:01:12.659 --> 00:01:17.799 speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:23.959 the Holy Spirit. Then they gathered around and asked him, Lord, are you at this time going 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:29.920 to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know the times 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:35.379 or dates the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit 00:01:35.379 --> 00:01:41.879 comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria and 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:46.799 to the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:53.280 cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:58.979 suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. Men of Galilee, they said, why do you stand 00:01:58.979 --> 00:02:05.140 here looking into the sky? The same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:10.979 the same way you have seen him go into heaven. Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill 00:02:10.979 --> 00:02:16.219 called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs 00:02:16.219 --> 00:02:22.359 to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James, and Andrew, Philip, and 00:02:22.359 --> 00:02:28.899 Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James, son of Baltheus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas, son of James. 00:02:29.379 --> 00:02:34.159 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:39.259 and with his brothers. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. 00:02:40.139 --> 00:02:48.519 Good morning, Christ Church. We are beginning a new sermon series today in the Acts of the Apostles, 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:55.400 and before we get into this text, it may not be familiar to some of us, and so I want to give you 00:02:55.400 --> 00:03:05.219 a little bit of context. Who is this book written for? We can see in verse 1 it's written to a person 00:03:05.219 --> 00:03:14.719 named Theophilus, and Theophilus was a guy like many of us. He was well-educated. He was cultured. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:23.040 He is intellectually sophisticated, and we know that because Luke is writing at a very high level of 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:31.719 literary Greek that Theophilus can read and understand, he's likely a high-ranking Roman 00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:38.879 official, an influential Gentile who has been recently converted. He had this Greco-Roman 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:48.379 worldview and pagan life system, but now he's become a Christian, and so Luke's writing to him because he 00:03:48.379 --> 00:03:55.979 needs to be instructed. He needs to be able to understand about Jesus and about the church, and so Luke 00:03:55.979 --> 00:04:01.560 is trying to convince him of the things that he already believes. He's trying to assure him in the 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:09.379 Christian faith, and the name Theophilus means beloved of God or friend of God. It's probably a name that 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:16.199 he took on when he got baptized as someone who's loved by God and who wants to love God. So it's written 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:24.079 to Theophilus, and what is this, who is this book written by? Well, it says in verse 1, in my former 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:31.860 book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, and this is Luke speaking, Luke who 00:04:31.860 --> 00:04:39.099 wrote the Gospel of Luke, and one of the things I love about Luke is that he's the only Gentile author of 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:46.300 the New Testament. Think about that. We have a Gentile who wrote, you know, a quarter of the New 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:55.160 Testament. He was a doctor. He was a historian. He was a highly educated companion of the Apostle Paul, 00:04:55.160 --> 00:05:04.379 and he says, I wrote a former book. I wrote volume one, my gospel, which he says is about what, I wrote to 00:05:04.379 --> 00:05:11.060 you about what Jesus did and what he taught, right? Jesus' miracles and his teachings. Jesus' powerful 00:05:11.060 --> 00:05:15.839 works and his penetrating words. It's all there in the biography of the life and death and resurrection 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:20.939 of Jesus that I wrote for you. But the other thing I love about Luke is that he's the only one of the 00:05:20.939 --> 00:05:26.000 four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He's the only one of the four who gave us a second volume. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:32.600 And, you know, Acts, this book that we're going to be exploring, it's one of the most exciting parts 00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:37.760 of the New Testament. And it's the only part that tells us the story of the first Christians. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:44.980 It's telling us about the beginning of the young church in action, which is actually our history. 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:51.780 It's our background. And so we're going to be studying this book not out of detached antiquarian 00:05:51.780 --> 00:05:57.240 interest, but we're going to be looking at it because it tells us about the power of the Holy Spirit 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:02.260 to reach the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what this book is written for. 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:10.900 And I want to talk about four things today. Educated by history, empowered for witness, 00:06:11.140 --> 00:06:15.360 enthroned in heaven, and engaged in prayer. And some of you are nervous because you usually have 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:19.080 three points, so this is going to be like a really long sermon. It's going to be the same length, 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:23.320 but what I want to talk about is educated by history, empowered for witness, enthroned in heaven, 00:06:23.400 --> 00:06:30.080 and engaged in prayer. First of all, educated by history. Luke's goal is to take a person 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:37.859 and people like Theophilus who've been educated in all the worldviews and life systems from, 00:06:38.339 --> 00:06:44.360 you know, the sophisticated philosophers to the superstitious pagans and a mix of everything 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:50.079 in between. And he's saying to people like Theophilus, he's saying, now that you've come to believe, 00:06:50.299 --> 00:06:54.319 now that you've put your faith in Christ, now that you've been converted, I want to teach you how to 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:59.079 think like a Christian and how to live like a Christian. And so in verse one, he says, 00:06:59.159 --> 00:07:05.500 in my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. And so if you 00:07:05.500 --> 00:07:11.939 want to know what Jesus began to do and to teach, go and read my first book. Go and read my gospel. 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:19.860 But Luke is also saying here that because all of the gospels end with God raising Jesus from the dead, 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:27.560 Jesus did not stop his doing and his teaching on Good Friday, but rather from Easter Sunday onward 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:34.560 until the end of human history, the risen and living Jesus is continuing to do and he's continuing to 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:45.560 teach. His powerful works and his penetrating words are not limited to the time before his cross, 00:07:45.560 --> 00:07:51.759 nor are they limited to the 40 days between his resurrection and his ascension into heaven. 00:07:52.259 --> 00:07:57.879 Luke is saying to Theophilus and he's saying to us now in this second volume, I'm going to tell you 00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:04.439 about all the things that Jesus continued to do and continued to teach after he was taken up to heaven. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:12.279 Theophilus, the life of the church is the continuing teaching ministry and doing ministry 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:20.959 of the risen and exalted Lord Jesus. That's what you need to know. That Jesus is still doing and he's 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:28.159 still teaching today through his body, the church. What C.S. Lewis would say at this point is, 00:08:28.859 --> 00:08:39.600 Theophilus, Aslan is on the move. He's alive and he wants to continue to do powerful works and teach 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:46.879 penetrating words even here in Berkeley, even here in 2026. And so what does Theophilus need to know? 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:52.460 Well, he goes on in verse 3. He says, after Jesus' suffering, he presented himself to them, to the 00:08:52.460 --> 00:08:58.360 disciples, and he gave them many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:06.100 of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. See, Jesus gave his disciples clarity and he gave them 00:09:06.100 --> 00:09:12.200 conviction about the historical event of his resurrection. And he had to do that because 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:21.159 everybody knew that the Romans were really quite good at killing people. And so if the Romans, you know, 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:29.220 put you on a cross, you were not only going to be dead, you were going to stay dead. And so Jesus is 00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:35.820 needing to present himself and to give them proofs, to give them evidence that he's actually alive. 00:09:36.100 --> 00:09:42.420 And that all the claims that he made to be the Messiah, all the claims he made to be the Son of 00:09:42.420 --> 00:09:49.340 God were not nullified by his crucifixion, but rather were vindicated by God raising him from the dead. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:56.220 And he's there saying to his disciples, look, my resurrection is proof. It's not the reversal of a 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:04.019 defeat. It's the manifestation of a victory. And Jesus is having to prove this to them. For example, 00:10:04.019 --> 00:10:09.799 in verse 4, it says he was eating with them. And this is something he continued to do for 40 days. 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:14.059 He kept having to come and say, all right, let's sit down. Let's do this one more time. Give me a 00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:19.819 piece of bread. Give me some fish. This glorified body that I have, it's a real body. Look, you can 00:10:19.819 --> 00:10:28.360 see me eat. You can hear me eating. You can touch my body. I'm here. It's me. It's real. It's happening. 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:35.419 And he did this for 40 days. And we have the eyewitness testimony. We have the historical 00:10:35.419 --> 00:10:41.560 record of these 40 days. And we've been trying to talk to you about it in the resurrection 00:10:41.560 --> 00:10:48.139 narratives of the Gospels when Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene. And when he appeared to the two 00:10:48.139 --> 00:10:53.920 people walking on the road to Emmaus. And when he appeared to Peter and John and all the disciples. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:58.959 When he appeared to Thomas. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15. He says, 00:10:59.059 --> 00:11:03.399 Christ was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. And he appeared to Cephas, 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:08.099 that is Peter. And then he appeared to the twelve. And after that, he appeared to more than 500 00:11:08.099 --> 00:11:13.019 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living. And then he appeared to 00:11:13.019 --> 00:11:18.099 James. And then he appeared to all the apostles. And last of all, he appeared to me also. 00:11:18.100 --> 00:11:24.879 So over the course of these 40 days, Jesus is giving them convincing proofs that he was alive. 00:11:25.060 --> 00:11:32.040 And he's grounding them in this great fact of history. He's anchoring them in this evidence-based 00:11:32.040 --> 00:11:39.899 act of Almighty God. And this is so important for us because Christianity is not built on vague 00:11:39.899 --> 00:11:48.000 spirituality or speculative philosophy. Christianity is built on a historical person, Jesus, and a historical 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:55.379 event, his resurrection. And it says in verse 3 that not only was Jesus proving that he was alive, 00:11:55.440 --> 00:12:00.279 but he was speaking with them for 40 days about the kingdom of God. He was speaking to them about 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:06.840 God's rule as king. And this is really the central and unifying theme of the entire Bible. 00:12:07.259 --> 00:12:13.360 It's God's rule over human hearts. And Jesus just spoke to them. He said, 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:20.940 the kingdom of God has come, and the kingdom is coming, and the kingdom will come. The kingdom of 00:12:20.940 --> 00:12:28.560 God was inaugurated in my coming. The kingdom of God will be consummated in my coming again. And you 00:12:28.560 --> 00:12:34.100 all now are living between the times. You're living between the end of the old age and the beginning 00:12:34.100 --> 00:12:38.879 of the new age. You're living between the already of the kingdom and the not yet of the kingdom. And so 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:44.899 I'm here to talk to you about what God's rule is going to look like between now and then. 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:50.779 And we know that this is what Jesus was talking to them about because it's what the apostles went 00:12:50.779 --> 00:12:54.980 and proclaimed, the kingdom of God. It's what they wrote about in their letters, the kingdom of God. 00:12:56.600 --> 00:13:02.080 And so let's just pause here for some application. First of all, we call this book the Acts of the 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:05.340 Apostles, but really we ought to think about it as the Acts of the Living Jesus. 00:13:05.340 --> 00:13:12.120 Or we could maybe call this book the continued doings and teachings of King Jesus by His Spirit 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:16.920 through the apostles. But that's kind of a cumbersome title, so that's probably why they didn't choose 00:13:16.920 --> 00:13:23.980 that. Secondly, a second word of application is that it's a word for those of you who may be 00:13:23.980 --> 00:13:30.400 exploring Christianity or new to the Christian faith. And it is this, that you, like Theophilus, 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:39.199 beloved of God, friend of God, need to get educated. You need to build your life, not primarily on your 00:13:39.199 --> 00:13:45.199 subjective experiences of God, but you need to build your life on the objective work of God in history, 00:13:46.059 --> 00:13:51.720 in the resurrection of Jesus, and the kingdom of God that has already come and been established 00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:58.779 by Jesus. In other words, you need to become educated by the history of the Gospels, the history 00:13:58.779 --> 00:14:05.800 in Acts, the history of the New Testament letters. You need to become literate in the Bible. You need to 00:14:05.800 --> 00:14:13.960 learn the basic truths of Jesus and the church. And like Theophilus, you need to learn what Luke is 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:19.120 teaching him about the historical Jesus who lived and the contemporary Jesus who lives. 00:14:21.019 --> 00:14:27.100 And so my encouragement to you is to get educated by history. And we've actually have two groups that are 00:14:27.100 --> 00:14:32.960 starting up. One is a Gospel of Mark group for people who are exploring Christianity. If you've never 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:38.820 opened the Gospel, never read a Gospel, Gospel of Mark group would be for you. The second is an Essentials of Faith 00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:44.020 group for people who are newer Christians. If you want to just learn the basic things that you need 00:14:44.020 --> 00:14:52.300 to know to be a Christian, we would encourage you to become part of that group. Third point of 00:14:52.300 --> 00:14:56.700 application here is a word for those of us who may have been following Jesus for a little while, 00:14:57.300 --> 00:15:03.940 and that is this, that if Jesus is alive, if Jesus is a living and powerful reality among us now, 00:15:03.940 --> 00:15:09.900 if Jesus is a person who can be known and loved, if he's a person who can be obeyed and followed, 00:15:10.040 --> 00:15:16.300 if he continues to be active and on the move, directing and speaking and performing deeds of 00:15:16.300 --> 00:15:21.040 power in and through his church, then you shouldn't allow yourself to get too comfortable. 00:15:24.140 --> 00:15:28.740 Right? Some of us have our routines. We sit in the same place at church and we kind of think it's 00:15:28.740 --> 00:15:33.900 going to be the same every week. But this says, no, you should be alert. You should be awake. You 00:15:33.899 --> 00:15:38.740 should be ready and prepared. You need to be responsive because there are probably new things 00:15:38.740 --> 00:15:43.659 that Jesus is wanting to do among us. There's probably new things that Jesus is wanting to teach 00:15:43.659 --> 00:15:52.980 among us in this season ahead. So don't get too comfy. Are you with me so far? Okay. Educated by 00:15:52.980 --> 00:16:00.659 history. Secondly, empowered for witness. Empowered for witness. Jesus' two main topics of conversation 00:16:00.659 --> 00:16:06.740 between his resurrection and his ascension were the kingdom of God and the spirit of God. 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:12.319 And he's talking about these two things because the spirit of God, the power of God, 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:18.659 is what makes the rule of God and the reign of God a living and present reality among his people. 00:16:19.819 --> 00:16:26.259 And we preached about the Holy Spirit a little bit ago when we preached on John 7 and John 14, 00:16:26.259 --> 00:16:32.039 if you want to go back and review what we said there. But I'm going to add on to that now because 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:34.419 Jesus says in verse 4, he says, 00:16:34.580 --> 00:16:39.679 Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift of my father that he's promised, which you have heard me 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:45.799 speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:55.659 All three persons of the Trinity are spoken of here. Jesus, the Son of God, says that God, the Holy Spirit, 00:16:55.659 --> 00:17:03.339 is the gift promised by God, the Father. And he says that, you know, just as the Father gave us the 00:17:03.339 --> 00:17:11.720 gift of his Son, so he will also give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus says this gift is not 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:19.100 going to be in a small and limited amount. It's not like you're going to be gifted a few drops of 00:17:19.100 --> 00:17:26.240 the Holy Spirit or that you're going to be sort of lightly misted by the Holy Spirit. No, what does 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:31.839 Jesus say? He says you're going to be baptized. You're going to be immersed. You're going to be 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:39.460 plunged into the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not just going to come in a gentle rain. The Holy Spirit's 00:17:39.460 --> 00:17:45.799 going to come like an atmospheric river and flood you and saturate you with the presence of God, 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:53.120 the Holy Spirit. And then he goes on in verse 8, and Jesus says, but you will receive power when the 00:17:53.120 --> 00:17:58.420 Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the 00:17:58.420 --> 00:18:05.539 ends of the earth. Now, what does Jesus mean when he says you will receive power? Well, the word he uses 00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:15.180 here is dunamis, which is where we get the word dynamite. And he's saying that when a person has 00:18:15.180 --> 00:18:21.980 the Holy Spirit of God come into their life, when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside of you, 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:27.720 he will give you individually, he'll give us collectively, not just like a little boost, 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:37.180 but he says, I'm going to give you the dynamic explosive power of God. And my highly charged, 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:43.360 my easily combustible power, the same power that raised me from the dead on the third day, 00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:49.460 it's going to come on you, and it's going to come into you, and you will be operating in power 00:18:49.460 --> 00:18:57.940 beyond your natural strengths, abilities, and resources. And now, why does Jesus emphasize the need to be 00:18:57.940 --> 00:19:05.900 connected up with this power source? What is it that we are supposed to do with the power of the Holy 00:19:05.900 --> 00:19:15.380 Spirit? Well, Jesus says, actually, I'm giving you all a massive job to do. I'm going to make you a part of 00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:24.380 my global rescue operation. And Jesus says, in verse 8, he says, you will be my witnesses to the ends of the 00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:30.720 earth. So that's the mission of the church. The mission of the church is to bear witness to Jesus. 00:19:32.180 --> 00:19:36.820 And these disciples are to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit to go out and bear witness 00:19:36.820 --> 00:19:43.900 to Jesus. And they're going to do that in a really unique way because they're the eyewitnesses of the 00:19:43.900 --> 00:19:48.759 resurrection. They're the ones who are going to go out and evangelize the Roman Empire. They're the 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:52.380 ones who are going to go plant the first churches. They're the ones who are going to write the New 00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:57.540 Testament under the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus says they're going to go out 00:19:57.540 --> 00:20:02.420 into these spheres of mission to Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and then to the ends of the earth. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:08.160 And they're going to go out in all these ever-widening circles with the power of the Holy Spirit and the 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:16.980 power of Jesus and the power of his gospel to people who do not believe it. Now let's pause here for a little 00:20:16.980 --> 00:20:24.980 application as well. Most people think about, when they think about being a Christian witness, we tend to 00:20:24.980 --> 00:20:34.940 think in individual and subjective terms, right? We think about witnessing as going to a friend or a neighbor 00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:43.200 or a colleague and giving them the testimony of our own personal journey out of a life of sinful self-centeredness 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:49.480 and into a life of faith in Jesus. And that's not necessarily wrong. It's a really good thing. It's a sound and 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:57.320 important instinct. But let me encourage you to think about this in more corporate and objective terms. Jesus says, 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:07.519 you all, plural, are my witnesses. Y'all are my witnesses. And witnessing is something that we do 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:13.039 together as a collective unity. It's something we do as a church family. It's something we do together as the 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:24.200 body of Christ. And then Jesus says, you all are my witnesses. You all, y'all are to witness about me and my work 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:32.580 of saving the world. So what I'm empowering you to do is to go out and take the content and the message 00:21:32.580 --> 00:21:38.660 that I've outlined for you at the end of Luke's gospel. This is what Jesus says in Luke 24. He said 00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:44.779 to his apostles, he said, this is what is written, the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the 00:21:44.779 --> 00:21:49.740 third day and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations. 00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:59.500 You are witnesses of these things. So this is the objective content of the church's corporate witness. 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:04.460 The apostles were not going out and saying, I've had this subjective experience and I want to tell 00:22:04.460 --> 00:22:09.400 you about my personal testimony and let me share with you my private truth so that you can think about 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:14.339 your private truth and whether or not you want to accept my private truth. That's not what the 00:22:14.339 --> 00:22:24.480 apostles were doing. The apostles were going out and we know that we've communicated and borne witness 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:29.779 by the power of the Holy Spirit when we say the same kind of things the apostles said. They went out 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:36.159 and they said, number one, Jesus is God's Messiah. He's his only chosen king of this world. Number two, 00:22:36.220 --> 00:22:41.819 he suffered and he died on a cross. Number three, he rose from the dead and he is alive today. And number 00:22:41.819 --> 00:22:48.579 four, if you repent, if you turn and you trust in Jesus as the true king and the rightful Lord of this 00:22:48.579 --> 00:23:01.019 world, your sins can be forgiven and you can be free. The church's witness is to collectively speak 00:23:01.019 --> 00:23:09.720 about the objective content of the gospel that Jesus has given us. So that when we are bearing witness in 00:23:09.720 --> 00:23:13.940 the power of the Spirit, we're saying things like we hear in the Acts of the Apostles like this, Acts 00:23:13.940 --> 00:23:20.420 chapter 4 verse 12, they say, salvation is found in no one else other than Jesus for there is no other 00:23:20.420 --> 00:23:26.980 name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Or they say in Acts chapter 14, they say, 00:23:27.339 --> 00:23:32.819 you need to turn from your worthless idols, your counterfeit gods, and you need to begin to serve and 00:23:32.819 --> 00:23:39.639 worship the living and true God. And you see, the result of the church's spirit-empowered witness 00:23:39.639 --> 00:23:45.679 is that people were saying things like this in Acts chapter 17. They say, these men have turned the 00:23:45.679 --> 00:23:50.179 world upside down and they're saying that there's another king, there's another Lord, his name is 00:23:50.179 --> 00:24:01.200 Jesus. See, while you and I are not capital A apostles, we are very much like the ordinary and everyday 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:07.880 Christian men and women that Jesus empowered with the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses, except that we 00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:10.880 don't have to go to the ends of the earth. We already live here at the ends of the earth. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:18.299 He's put us here on the edge of the continent where east meets west, where all the nations have come 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:28.480 together to live here in the Bay Area. He's put us here in 2026 when our social fabric is fraying 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:39.039 and when our institutions are weakening and when people's counterfeit gods are no longer working 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:44.980 for them and people are at one another's throats in culture wars. And he's put us here in this time 00:24:44.980 --> 00:24:51.000 and in this place where people are waking up with spiritual hunger and spiritual interest. And that 00:24:51.000 --> 00:25:00.099 same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is in us. The same spirit that came and pierced the hardened 00:25:00.099 --> 00:25:06.200 hearts of those who are listening to the apostles with the subjective content of the gospel, that spirit 00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:13.420 is still in us and that spirit is present in the church. And what Jesus wants to do is to carry on the 00:25:13.420 --> 00:25:21.620 apostles' witness through us to this generation. And so what we need to do is stay alert to all the 00:25:21.620 --> 00:25:26.380 unplanned and unexpected opportunities for witness because we know of all the things that the church 00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:35.220 could be doing, this surely is the one priority. This is the one job we've been given to do. Amen? 00:25:35.220 --> 00:25:42.900 Amen. Okay, so we're called to become educated by history and we're called to become empowered for 00:25:42.900 --> 00:25:50.280 witness. But the third thing I want to say is that we are, well, this passage is about enthronement in 00:25:50.280 --> 00:25:56.640 heaven. It talks about how Jesus has been enthroned in heaven. What happens next is one of the most 00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:03.380 truly puzzling things in the New Testament. It's one of the most visually unexpected miracles that the 00:26:03.380 --> 00:26:08.880 disciples have seen firsthand. And you can see it down in verse 9. It says, after Jesus said this, 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:13.720 he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. And the disciples are just 00:26:13.720 --> 00:26:19.900 staring like deer in headlights. They don't know what to do. They do not understand what is going on 00:26:19.900 --> 00:26:25.500 right now. And so verse 10, it says, they're looking intently up into the sky as he was going. And 00:26:25.500 --> 00:26:31.160 suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand here 00:26:31.160 --> 00:26:37.500 looking into the sky? The same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same 00:26:37.500 --> 00:26:45.440 way you've seen him go into heaven. Right? So these angelic messengers of God, they come and they give 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:53.480 a gentle rebuke to these disciples and they say, hey, snap out of it. He left and he's going to come 00:26:53.480 --> 00:26:59.940 back. But until then, there's work to do. So you got to get moving. And the apostles are puzzled. 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:04.920 You know, they're completely puzzled from day one about what the ascension is all about. And it's puzzling 00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:10.960 for us too. Why did this happen? And what difference does it make for our souls and our lives that Jesus 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:20.880 is ascended into heaven? Well, I want to convince you right now that the ascension can, if you 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:27.860 understand it, it can become an irreplaceable important resource for living your life in this 00:27:27.860 --> 00:27:33.880 world. And it's a resource that no other religion and no other philosophy of life holds out for us. 00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:43.360 And here it is. The ascension is not a change in altitude for Jesus. It's not like Jesus is now 00:27:43.360 --> 00:27:49.440 with God the Father in outer space somewhere. He didn't go out to the stars and the planets. This 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:54.780 is not interstellar. This is not Project Hail Mary. Great movies. But that's not what's happening right 00:27:54.780 --> 00:28:02.540 here. What's happening right here is a coronation. Right? Because when someone becomes king or queen, 00:28:02.539 --> 00:28:08.019 there's a ceremony in which authority is officially transferred. And if you've ever watched one of 00:28:08.019 --> 00:28:15.220 these ceremonies, the person literally walks up onto a podium. And then from there, they go up 00:28:15.220 --> 00:28:20.920 onto steps. And then from there, they go and they sit up on a throne on this higher chair. 00:28:21.960 --> 00:28:26.039 And when that happens, we say, well, she has ascended to her throne. 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:33.059 And that word ascended gets across the fact that this is more than just about a change in elevation 00:28:33.059 --> 00:28:39.279 for the queen. No, she's not just physically higher than everyone else. She has a new relationship to 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:46.079 everyone else. She has new powers and new privileges. She is going to go up on that throne. And from that 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:53.319 throne, she's going to exercise her authority. And you see, when Jesus is rising up to heaven, 00:28:53.319 --> 00:29:01.159 he's tracing out physically what's actually happening cosmically and spiritually. He's going into God's 00:29:01.159 --> 00:29:07.119 dimension of reality, which intersects and overlaps with ours. And he's taking his place as the new king 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:15.399 and the head of the human race. And he's going into that control room of the universe. And from there, 00:29:15.460 --> 00:29:21.099 he's going to run everything. From there, he's going to cause the kingdom of God to come from heaven 00:29:21.099 --> 00:29:27.539 down to earth. And this should, frankly, give each and every one of us a deep sigh of relief this morning. 00:29:28.519 --> 00:29:35.879 This should give us a fresh burst of courage. Because if the Christian life, if the Christian 00:29:35.879 --> 00:29:44.639 mission is run by this person who's sitting on this throne, then we can trust him. We can trust him to 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:51.660 get the job done. Right? If Jesus is seated on the throne, then I can trust that he is utterly competent. 00:29:52.440 --> 00:29:59.100 If he's sending us out to be his witnesses, then he's utterly competent to go and take the unconvinced and 00:29:59.100 --> 00:30:06.040 convince them. Jesus is absolutely able. If he has this kind of authority, he is absolutely able to take 00:30:06.040 --> 00:30:12.640 someone who's doubting and disbelieving and turn them into a disciple. That Jesus absolutely, if he said, 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:16.840 I'm going to build my church, that that's exactly what he's going to do. He's going to build his church. 00:30:18.180 --> 00:30:25.980 And he's, the apostle Paul puts it this way. Ephesians 1. He says, God raised Christ from the dead and 00:30:25.980 --> 00:30:32.200 seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:37.820 and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. 00:30:37.819 --> 00:30:41.419 What if we lived as if that were true? 00:30:45.119 --> 00:30:54.639 My life would look so different on a daily basis if I lived as if this were true, that he is far above 00:30:54.639 --> 00:31:00.500 all rule and authority, all power and dominion, and every name that is invoked. Some of you would like 00:31:00.500 --> 00:31:05.399 for me to preach more about our president. Some of you would like for me to preach more about the heads 00:31:05.400 --> 00:31:09.240 of state and current events. Why would I do that if I can preach about this? 00:31:11.019 --> 00:31:14.700 He's on the throne. I want to talk about the one who's on the throne. 00:31:15.380 --> 00:31:15.740 Right? 00:31:17.380 --> 00:31:21.200 So, we talked about the fact that we need to become educated by history, 00:31:21.960 --> 00:31:24.560 and we're called to be empowered for witness, 00:31:25.140 --> 00:31:28.900 and we need to look up to the one who's enthroned in heaven, 00:31:28.900 --> 00:31:32.759 and finally, we need to be engaged in prayer, and I'll make this short. 00:31:33.860 --> 00:31:36.480 Engaged in prayer. We can see in verse 12, it says, 00:31:36.780 --> 00:31:38.940 then the apostles, who were completely bewildered, 00:31:39.540 --> 00:31:43.720 but now they're returning to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, 00:31:43.820 --> 00:31:46.620 the Sabbath days walk from the city, and it says in verse 14, 00:31:47.100 --> 00:31:49.880 they all joined together constantly in prayer. 00:31:51.640 --> 00:31:54.160 They all joined together constantly in prayer. 00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:59.420 We didn't print the next verse, but it says there's 120 men and women there, 00:31:59.540 --> 00:32:00.900 probably about a group this size. 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:03.759 And think about that. 00:32:04.540 --> 00:32:09.279 Every person in that room has just been convinced over the course of 40 days 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:13.000 by convincing proofs that Jesus is alive. 00:32:14.180 --> 00:32:18.259 Every person in that room knows that they've just been given the most important task 00:32:18.259 --> 00:32:19.259 in the history of the world. 00:32:19.340 --> 00:32:22.660 That is, that you are going to be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. 00:32:22.660 --> 00:32:27.620 And every single person in that room has just seen Jesus enthroned 00:32:27.620 --> 00:32:30.019 with all authority in heaven and on earth. 00:32:31.220 --> 00:32:34.259 And what they realize as they go into this prayer meeting 00:32:34.259 --> 00:32:38.400 is that they have the ear of the king. 00:32:40.279 --> 00:32:44.779 What they realize is that Jesus, even though he's in heaven, 00:32:45.480 --> 00:32:49.420 he's accessible to us here on earth through prayer. 00:32:49.420 --> 00:32:54.060 You see, as long as Jesus existed in the world of space and time, 00:32:54.380 --> 00:32:57.100 he could only be at one spot in one moment. 00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:01.460 And so if you wanted to hear Jesus, if you wanted to relate to Jesus, 00:33:01.580 --> 00:33:04.000 if you wanted to experience Jesus, you had to go, 00:33:04.320 --> 00:33:07.539 and you had to be at that place, and you had to be there at that time. 00:33:07.539 --> 00:33:13.899 But you see, in the ascension, Jesus leaves the space-time continuum, 00:33:14.180 --> 00:33:17.700 and he passes into the presence of God, and he's elevated to the Father's throne. 00:33:17.799 --> 00:33:19.180 And do you know what that means for you? 00:33:19.259 --> 00:33:24.319 Do you know what that means for your life this week, Monday through Saturday? 00:33:25.500 --> 00:33:29.039 It means that you have access to that throne. 00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:34.480 And it means the ascension does not mean a loss for us. 00:33:34.879 --> 00:33:37.240 It doesn't mean a loss of the presence of Jesus. 00:33:38.019 --> 00:33:41.119 It doesn't mean that we've lost intimacy with Jesus. 00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:44.139 It doesn't mean that we've lost the leadership of Jesus. 00:33:44.259 --> 00:33:47.000 It doesn't mean that we've lost the advocacy of Jesus. 00:33:47.139 --> 00:33:52.500 What the ascension means is the magnification and the infinite availability 00:33:52.500 --> 00:33:55.720 of all of these things to us all the time. 00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:58.440 And that should make us excited. 00:34:00.240 --> 00:34:06.500 That's why the apostles are engaged in prayer to this risen king who's now ruling from heaven. 00:34:07.940 --> 00:34:11.019 And this takes all the pressure off of us. 00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:13.280 Right? 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:15.340 We can relax. 00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:19.860 If this is true, we can smile and we can laugh 00:34:19.860 --> 00:34:27.500 because we know that the risen king is available to us all the time 00:34:27.500 --> 00:34:31.120 for loving communication and loving fellowship. 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:41.780 You know, you may wonder like, okay, how were these disciples praying 00:34:41.780 --> 00:34:45.740 for 10 days between the ascension and Pentecost, 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:49.000 between the enthronement of Jesus and the giving of the Holy Spirit? 00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:50.360 How were they praying? 00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:54.719 Well, it says in verse 14 that they were praying together. 00:34:56.639 --> 00:35:00.840 They were praying together in united prayer. 00:35:00.920 --> 00:35:03.019 And if you don't have people that you pray together with, 00:35:03.559 --> 00:35:06.719 that should become your first priority this week 00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:10.880 to find people with whom you can pray together. 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:13.280 And it says also that they were praying constantly, 00:35:13.420 --> 00:35:14.300 that they didn't give up. 00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:16.820 They were praying in persevering prayer. 00:35:16.820 --> 00:35:20.500 And I imagine in this prayer meeting, 00:35:20.760 --> 00:35:24.680 they were remembering back to the teaching of Jesus 00:35:24.680 --> 00:35:26.580 in the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 11, 00:35:26.660 --> 00:35:27.360 where Jesus said, 00:35:27.820 --> 00:35:31.680 friends, ask and it will be given to you. 00:35:33.019 --> 00:35:34.720 And Jesus said, your Father in heaven 00:35:34.720 --> 00:35:36.480 will give the Holy Spirit 00:35:36.480 --> 00:35:40.260 to those who just go and ask him for it. 00:35:40.260 --> 00:35:44.480 And I imagine them on that basis praying like this, 00:35:44.580 --> 00:35:50.100 Lord, if we try to go out and be your witnesses, 00:35:51.220 --> 00:35:54.840 we are going to experience the utter futility 00:35:54.840 --> 00:36:01.200 of human effort apart from the mighty manifestation 00:36:01.200 --> 00:36:02.520 of your divine power. 00:36:02.760 --> 00:36:04.560 If we just try to go out there on our own, 00:36:04.760 --> 00:36:05.760 it's not going to work. 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:09.400 But you told us, Lord, 00:36:09.480 --> 00:36:11.580 you told us that you would clothe us 00:36:11.580 --> 00:36:12.920 with power from on high. 00:36:13.980 --> 00:36:16.920 You told us that you would baptize us 00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:18.540 in the Holy Spirit. 00:36:18.680 --> 00:36:21.620 You told us that you would come 00:36:21.620 --> 00:36:24.660 and enable us to do things beyond our ability. 00:36:25.700 --> 00:36:28.940 You told us that you would transcend our ability 00:36:28.940 --> 00:36:30.840 and that you would transform our inability. 00:36:31.060 --> 00:36:33.300 So Lord, we're praying that you would send us 00:36:33.300 --> 00:36:34.039 the Holy Spirit. 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:36.400 We're praying, Holy Spirit, 00:36:36.460 --> 00:36:38.280 that you would come down among us. 00:36:38.340 --> 00:36:39.980 We're praying, oh Lord, 00:36:40.060 --> 00:36:42.280 that you would give us more and more 00:36:42.280 --> 00:36:44.360 of your power. 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:48.160 Is that how we pray? 00:36:49.740 --> 00:36:53.080 Have you prayed together with some other friends 00:36:53.080 --> 00:36:54.640 in this church like that recently? 00:36:56.160 --> 00:36:57.840 Have you prayed not just once, 00:36:57.940 --> 00:36:59.940 but continued in prayer constantly 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:03.340 until God grants you what you ask? 00:37:05.260 --> 00:37:06.019 See, friends, 00:37:06.139 --> 00:37:08.619 the victory has already been won for us 00:37:08.619 --> 00:37:09.800 in the resurrection of Jesus. 00:37:11.000 --> 00:37:13.300 The King has already taken His throne. 00:37:14.380 --> 00:37:15.740 The power of the Holy Spirit 00:37:15.740 --> 00:37:18.659 for our mission is available to us. 00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:21.480 But what we have to do 00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:24.420 is we have to take hold of that power. 00:37:25.320 --> 00:37:27.260 We have to take hold of the Holy Spirit 00:37:27.260 --> 00:37:28.960 in prayer together. 00:37:29.060 --> 00:37:29.920 And I hope and pray 00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:31.980 that's what this next season ahead 00:37:31.980 --> 00:37:33.080 will be about. 00:37:33.520 --> 00:37:34.440 In the name of the Father, 00:37:34.560 --> 00:37:35.320 Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:36.160 Amen.