“YOU HAVE A MISSION.” ACTS. 1: 1-14
ACTS 1: 1-3, 4-8, 9-11, 12-14.
Do you remember the first time you sat behind the steering wheel of a car? Of course you do. It’s a rite of passage. As a child you observed how your parents drove and what they did to operate the car. You had an idea of what you had to do when you were first allowed behind the wheel, even then (I hope); someone sat next to you giving patient instruction.
And then that day came, the day every adolescent longs for---the chance to drive solo with no one else in the car.
The disciples had watched Jesus for three years, but He was about to hand over the mission. It would be their turn to “drive.” But unlike a teenager set free with a Buick, the disciples would never go solo. In this week’s lesson we will see how Jesus prepared the disciples for His departure and for the Spirit’s arrival. Their task was to lead all people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
This is the season for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. This offering goes to help support the domestic mission organization of the Southern Baptist Convention and their work. The objectives of the North American Mission Board include sharing Christ, starting churches, volunteering in missions, sending missionaries, impacting the culture, and equipping leaders. About 316 million people live in the U.S.A. and Canada. It is estimated that about 224 million have no personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
As Southern Baptists we support over 5,100 domestic missionaries and send more than 400,000 volunteers from our churches to take part in short-term mission projects.
Luke wrote that his former book (the Gospel according to Luke) had described what Jesus began to do and teach. After His resurrection Jesus spent 40 days helping His followers become certain of His resurrection and become ready for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
The disciples asked Jesus if He at that time would restore the kingdom of Israel. Jesus told them not to speculate about that but to concentrate on being Spirit-filled witnesses to all people.
As Jesus ascended to heaven, two angels told the disciples that Jesus would come back as they had seen Him go. Jesus’ followers returned to Jerusalem and prayed continuously and in one accord while they waited for the next stage of their ministry to begin.
The book which we call “The Acts of The Apostles” may be said to complete the Pentateuch of New Testament history. Four of the books present the Person of our Lord; while the fifth gives the first page of the history in power. With the power of the Spirit.
1. PLEASE READ ACTS 1: 1-3.
The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles were dedicated to Theophilus. He is called in the introduction to Luke “most excellent Theophilus. The words translated “most excellent” were used only in addressing a Roman official, generally one set over a country. So that this man Theophilus was evidently an official of the Roman Empire, who had an interest in the story of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Acts he is no longer addressed as “most excellent Theophilus, but simply as a brother in Christ. Theophilus means “a lover of God.”
Luke referred to his Gospel as the former treatise or his first narrative. He wrote that the Gospel described all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. The word began implies that in this second book Luke would describe what Jesus continued to do and to teach. This is a good way to think of the Book of Acts.
It picks up the story of Jesus after His incarnate work and continues it during the early crucial years of the Christian movement. Jesus did this through the power and present of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit magnifies the redeeming work of God effected through His Son Jesus. Thus the work of the Spirit is the continuing work of Jesus Christ.
Here Luke did not describe the beginning of the Gospel, which went back before Jesus was conceived by the Spirit in Mary, but he identified the end of Jesus’ incarnate life as the day in which he was taken up. The ascension ends the Gospel of Luke and begins the Book of Acts.
The Book of Acts is the story of early day Christianity. This Book gives us a great many principles that should guide us in Christian effort at the present time.
It is always well in the beginning the study of any book, to have an outline of it in mind. The Acts divides readily into two main parts. In ch. 1-12 we have the activity of the apostle Peter in which God was still largely occupied with His earthly people Israel before the Word began to go out to the Gentiles; in the chapters 13-28 we have the activity of the apostle Paul.
In the first seven chapters we have the transitional period. Actually there was no transitional period in the mind of God. At the moment the work of Christ was accomplished, salvation was ready to be offered to all men everywhere, and we shall see in this portion that before He ascended into heaven, our Lord bade His disciples to go to the uttermost parts of the earth with the Gospel.
In Luke’s preface to the Gospel in Luke 1:4 he said that he wanted to show the certainty of the things Christians believe. One way of doing that was Luke’s emphasis on infallible or convincing proofs.
Only Acts 1: 3 tells us that the time between Jesus’ resurrection and His ascension was 40 days. Just as Jesus had spent 40 days preparing to begin His ministry in Luke 4: 2, so He spent 40 days preparing the disciples for the next stage of redemptive history and their ministry in it. During this time He was speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
When we come to the study of this book, therefore, we must understand that it is not a merely mechanical story of the journeying of Paul, or of the doings of Peter. It is intended to reveal to us the process through which Christ proceeds in new power, consequent upon the things He began to do and teach, toward the ultimate and final victory, which we see symbolized in the mystic language of Revelation.
There is a soliloquy of Jesus contained in the Gospel of Luke 12:49, 50. In the midst of our Lord’s teaching of the crowd He seems suddenly to have paused, and in these two verses we have what must be descried as a soliloquy.
“I came to cast fire upon the earth; and what do I desire if it is already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished.” This is Christ’s own word; it is something He said of Himself, in the midst of His strenuous life and ministry; “I am constrained; I am imprisoned; I cannot yet do My mightiest work.” What was His mightiest work: “I am came to cast fire upon the earth.” So His herald had declared.
John’s voice had rung out over the mountains and plains, saying: “I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in Fire.”
Christ uttered the same thought when He said, “I came to cast fire.” That was the purpose of His coming, but He said: ”I cannot cast it yet; I am straightened; I have a baptism to be baptized with; and I cannot realize the fulfillment of my mission save by the way of that baptism—the baptism of My Passion and My Cross.” That is the whole story of the Gospel.
We come to the Acts of the Apostles, and we find the same Christ, but no longer straitened. The baptism is accomplished, the whelming is over. He has passed into the infinite morning, and the larger life, and He is about to scatter the fire. He could not cast that fire until His passion was accomplished. On that side of the Cross, He was straitened; but on this side He is no longer straitened.
Jesus said, “It is better that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter, the Paraclete, will not come.” The better thing, then, is the presence of the Christ, by the Spirit, in the heart and life of the disciples. Supposing for the sake of argument, that He had stayed in the world, living an eternal life on the human level merely, and in physical presence. How we should have been straightened! If He were in Judea He could not be in America. If He were in New York, and had gathered with His people in one place, He could not be in another. But now, in the great cathedral; in the church; in the chapel, in the Salvation Army citadel; in the cottage; with the two or three gathered together, everywhere is the Christ.
He came from the tomb and was not straitened, was not limited. The geographical limitations were ended, and the spiritual presence began. Paul, that man who saw so clearly into the heart of the Christian way, wrote---and we now begin to understand the meaning of his exulting writing—“Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh; even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know Him so no more.”
In this book of the Acts of the Apostles then, we see Christ with all human sympathy, and Divine power, everywhere present by the Spirit, beginning to live and work, not in Judea only, but also in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. He is seen, being completed in His Body, the Church; and His Church is seen, becoming the instrument through which the Spirit of His life moves forward in salvation and to the world.
We might, therefore, call this book which we are studying, not the Acts of The Apostles, but “The Book of the continued doing and teaching of the living Christ by the Holy Spirit through His Body, which is the Church.” The study of the Acts of the Apostles will have a two-fold effect upon us; --it will fill us with hope; it will fill us with shame.
2. PLEASE READ ACTS 1: 4-8.
There is a closeness, an intimacy in the phrase “He was together with them.” The phrase means to gather together, to lodge together or to share salt. “Sharing salt,” meant to eat with, and it was a mark of hospitality. We get the impression that this was the continual practice for Jesus during these 40 days.
On one such occasion Jesus commanded them not to leave Jerusalem. Apparently the disciples were still leaving the city, coming and going, perhaps as their custom had been with Jesus during the week prior to His crucifixion. Instead, they were to wait, or literally “to keep on waiting.” They were not just to wait once; they were to keep on waiting until the promise came.
Jesus had told them, in John 14: 15-26; and 16:5-15 of the Father’s promise on His last night with them before His arrest, and He continually reminded them of the promise after His resurrection in Luke 24: 49 and John 20: 21-22.
The beauty of the promise is that, as the word signifies, it was a free promise. Some promises are given when a request is made, out what God the Father promised was given without any solicitation. It’s a gift promised purely out of His grace.
The promise was the baptism with the Holy Spirit. The first mention of the Holy Spirit is in the second verse “and the Spirit of God, moved upon the face of the water.” Reference is made to the Holy Spirit through the O.T. Scriptures, and is usually in connection with the bestowal of some gift or power. In Ex. 31: 3 He endowed a man with wisdom and skill. He empowered another for special work. He inspired the prophets to speak God’s message. Peter declared that the Holy Spirit guided the men who wrote the O.T. Scriptures. But it is in the N.T. that we find the full doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist set the stage for this. He talked of baptizing with water, but he proclaimed in Matt. 3: 11 that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire
Baptism means immersion, and as Jesus was fully immersed in the Spirit of God, John and Jesus both said that we would also be so immersed. The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the indwelling Spirit of Christ. Peter promised in Acts 2: 38 that God would give the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who repented.
Paul wrote in Romans 8: 9 “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Sprit, since the Spirit of God live sin you.” At Christian conversion the Spirit of God is given in such a way that the Spirit lives in believers as a permanent gift. Many centuries before the coming of the Holy Spirit, it was foretold in Joel 2: 28-29.
Jesus had been speaking to His disciples about the kingdom of God, but they still had questions.
They asked and kept asking until they got an answer. This could mean that several disciples asked the same question, one after the other.
Their question centered in the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. Jesus had been instructing them the last 40 days about the kingdom of God, but they still could not separate the kingdom of God from the physical kingdom of Israel. These were Jews who had been ingrained in the belief that God’s Anointed One would free them from the domination of Rome and restore Israel to its former glory. Jesus had gained a great victory through His resurrection, and maybe that victory meant that other victories were to follow. Such a question only underscored the great need for the promised Holy Spirit. How tragic it would have been for these disciples to have taken on the mission given to them in their own power, guided by their own misunderstanding of the kingdom they were to preach. Not only would the Holy Spirit empower them, but He would also illuminate their understanding.
Jesus did not reject their idea of a physical kingdom. Jesus directed their attention away from thinking about the times or periods related to it. It is our natural human curiosity that we want to know the details of the future, but Jesus did not cater to that. Furthermore, He had earlier told the disciples in Matt 24: 36 and Mark 13:32 that He had even denied Himself the very information they wanted.
Instead of focusing on the future physical, earthly kingdom, Jesus redirected them back to the role they were to play in the kingdom of God now. He de-politicized their question by directing them to their worldwide mission. Their question in vs. 6 is closely tied to vs. 8. We are to focus on the task God has called us to in this interim period.
God said, “Your task is to be My witnesses; My evidences; My credentials; My arguments.”
They were to be more than just eyewitnesses, saying they had seen the risen Lord. The word carries almost a legal sense—they were to bear their full testimony. They were to tell not only who Jesus is and that He is alive, but they also were to tell why Jesus came, died, and rose again.
Anybody can retell something they saw. But to get at the deeper meaning behind these events, to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ, and to do so without fear would require something far more. The power to do that would come when the promised Holy Spirit came on them. This would not be—could not be---a power the disciples manufactured on their own. It would not be the type of power they had in mind---political. It would come from outside them selves, from God Himself. This would be divine power, the same power referred to in describing Jesus’ miracles.
The future tense of Jesus’ promise---you will receive power---also carries an imperative tense. You must receive power; also carries and imperative tense. You will be my witnesses. Their witness would be an ever-increasing witness.
The witness would begin in Jerusalem—right where they were. In God’s eyes the guiltiest city one earth, where they cried in Pilate’s judgment hall in John 19: 15 “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him.”
But the witness would not end in Jerusalem. Jesus ministry had led Him to Jerusalem, but the ministry He was calling His disciples to would lead them away from Jerusalem. The circle would widen to all Judea and Samaria. Previously they had been commanded in Matt. 10: 5 to avoid Samaria, but no more. From there, the circle widened to the ends of the earth.
No one place was to be left out of this worldwide mission. We know this is just what the early Christians did. In fact, Acts 1:8 serves as an outline for the remainder of the Book of Acts. Ch. 1-7 record their witness in Jerusalem. Ch. 8-12 record their witness in Judea and Samaria. And Ch. 13-28 record the spreading of the gospel to the ends of the earth. This is our assignment now.
God does not leave us alone to carry out this mission. He empowers us with His Holy Spirit. Yet now, nearly two thousand years after, we have not reached the uttermost part of the earth. We need cast no reflection on past centuries; but if we catch vision of this Christ, and feel the tenderness of His yearning heart, and are brought by the study of this Book under the compulsion of His great demand, before the generation passes, the whole earth will have heard the witness.
3. PLEASE READ ACTS 1: 9-11.
Luke ended the Gospel with an account of the ascension of Jesus in Luke 24: 50-52 and He included it near the beginning of the Book of Acts. What was the purpose of the ascension?
For one thing, the ascension provided a clear break between Jesus’ earthly life and His presence through the Spirit. He had appeared to the disciples off and on over a period of 40 days. The ascension marked the end of the 40 days. Second, it was the crowning evidence of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead as the Son of God. None of His followers witnessed the actual resurrection. They saw Him alive after the resurrection. But they did witness the ascension of the Lord.
Third, the ascension exalted Jesus to God’s right hand. When Stephen was dying, he said in Acts 7: 55 that he saw Jesus at the right hand of God. It was a good thing that Jesus had just told His followers the Holy Spirit would be with them because it was at that moment that He left them. Four times in this chapter we notice the expression, “He was taken up.” Let us never forget.
The disciples watched as Jesus ascended. They saw a cloud receive Him out of their sight. Apparently they continued gazing upward for a while, until two men stood beside them in white apparel. These two angels gave the disciples a rebuke and a promise. They asked, “Why stand ye gazing up into heaven?” Obviously the disciples’ response was a normal human response to what they had seen, but the angels were calling them to do what Jesus had told them to do.
Then the angels reassured them that this same Jesus would come again in the same way they had seen him go into heaven. This means that Jesus’ future coming will be visible and in His glorified body.
This promise of His coming should have been no surprise to the disciples because Jesus had promised to come again. He had said in Luke 21: 27, “Then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
But He also in many parables told them that the best way to be ready was to remain faithful to their assignments. This passage reinforces other passages about how to live in light of the shortness of life and the certainty of Jesus’ return. We do not know the time of our death or the time of His coming: therefore, we ought to be ready for either.
The way to be ready is not to gaze into the sky but to serve Jesus faithfully in witness and ministry. In vs. 6-8 and vs. 9-11 we see Jesus rebuking the disciples for speculating about times and seasons and the angels rebuking them for gazing skyward. In both cases the disciples were told to concentrate on their mission, which Jesus spelled oust clearly in vs. 8.
What would you want to be doing when the Lord comes again? We should be doing what He has given us to do. This includes going about our daily work, but it also includes witnessing for the Lord as we go from place to place.
A pastor was visiting a church member who knew he was dying. As they talked and prayed, the man assured the pastor of his faith in the Savior. He was sad, however, because he had not been a witness for the Lord.
4. PLEASE READ ACTS 1: 12-14.
Jesus ascension took place from the mount called Olivet. The group returned to Jerusalem, which was less than a mile away. Luke 24:52 says that after the ascension they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” A few weeks earlier they had thought that all was lost. Now even though Jesus was no longer with them in visible form, they had great joy. Let’s now consider their intervening 10 days of waiting for the coming Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
In Jerusalem the disciples assembled in an upper room. Some of the larger houses had an upper room that was large enough for a gathering of people, such as the upper room where Jesus ate the last supper with His apostles. This room was evidently large enough to accommodate 120 persons. The group include the Eleven, this is, the original 12 apostles minus Judas Iscariot. The group included women. One was Mary, the mother of Jesus. All were continually in prayer. Through prayer God prepared their hearts for the great gift they were able to receive and the great task they were about to undertake.
Luke listed the names of the 11 apostles who gathered there. Judas Iscariot being gone. This is the only place in Acts where the names of most of these men were mentioned. Thus to call this book the Acts of the Apostles needs to be qualified. This doesn’t mean that most of the apostles didn’t do anything; it means that Luke’s purpose was not to tell what God did through each apostle. The book is more about what the Spirit did. In fact the last half of the book tells of the work of an apostle who was not one of the Twelve----Paul.
Also in this upper room were the women; the godly women who had helped support Jesus’ work in Galilee. They also were the ones who witnessed His crucifixion. They were the first to hear that Jesus was alive.
Luke specifically mentioned Mary the mother of Jesus as being among the gathered disciples. You will notice they wee not praying to Mary, nor were they burning candles to her; but Mary, the mother of Jesus was kneeling with the Eleven and the women, and all together they prayed to the Father. This is the last time in the Bible we read of Mary.
Early in his Gospel Luke told how Mary became the mother of Jesus. The Bible shows that Jesus loved Mary and obeyed her as a child, but he did not allow her to influence His mission as an adult.
Also present in the upper room were Jesus’ brethren. These were other children of Mary and Joseph. They are named in Mark 6:3: James, Joseph (Joses), Judah (Juda), and Simon. They did not believe in Jesus during His earthly ministry. As we have seen, on one occasion they and Mary came to Jesus apparently trying to get Him to come home. Now they were all believers, praying with the other disciples. James and another half brother, Jude wrote two of the books in the New Testament. One of the appearances of the risen Lord was to His brother James. James later became the leader of the Jerusalem Church.
These people were having a great time of prayer and supplication as they awaited the coming of the Spirit. Their prayers had certain characteristics. For one thing, all of them prayed---apostles and others, men and women; Jesus’ human family and His family in the faith. Jesus taught in Matt. 18: 19 that the prayers of two or three have great power if those praying agree in what they ask. And this diverse group prayed with one accord. Too often God ‘s people fail to pray for the same thing together.
A third characteristic of their praying was that they continued in prayer. Jesus had taught them to keep on praying. These believers practiced persistent praying, not to convince God to answer their requests but to be spiritually prepared for the fulfillment of His promise. We should be prepared for the Lord’s coming, not by gazing into the sky but by faithful witnessing. As followers of Jesus we are all His witnesses. Next Sunday from Acts 2 we learn that we have the power to witness as the Holy Spirit can and will empower us to do so. A.V. Daugherty