So our text this morning comes from the book of Acts. We're going to be looking at verses one through 11, but because it's Easter and also acts as a transitional book, we're actually going to start in Luke.
We're going to look at Luke 24 verses one through 12, and then I'll have you turn to Acts and we'll read the first few verses in Acts. So Luke, 24 verses one through 12, and then we'll jump to Acts.
Let's go to Lord in in prayer before we read, let's pray Lord. We thank you for the power of your word that it is sharper than any two edged sword, and I pray that by it and the power of your Spirit, in which we just confess that we believe that you would cut deep into our hearts, and as the master surgeon, you would have your way with us, and that you would cut out everything that is not yet fit for heaven, Lord, I pray that at this moment, you would open up more our blind eyes, that we might Behold The power and the glory of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ, that you would unstop our deaf ears, that we might hear of him who lived, who died, who is risen and reigning and yet coming again in glory.
Soften our hearts this morning to receive your Word.
Lord, let not Satan fly in and snatch the seed away, but let the seed of your word sink deep into our hearts to not be even distracted about what's next for lunch and time with family and all those wonderful and good things. But let us focus now and on eternity and what you would have for us, bless your people this morning through the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's in his name we pray, Amen.
People of God, hear God's word this morning, beginning in Luke chapter 24 working through one through 12, and then jumping over to Acts.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared, and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they went, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel, and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.
Remember how he told you why he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and on the third day rise, and they remembered his words. And returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest. Now it was Mary, Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women who were who with them, who told these things to the apostles, but these words seem to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in, and he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves, and he went home, marveling at what had happened. If you would now turn to Acts one, I'll read verses one through 11 in the first book O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, He presented himself alive to then, 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.
So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you, at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed, but by his authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven, as he went, behold two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven. He who has ears, let him hear the Word of God. You may be seated.
Many of our seniors will soon put on.
A cap and gown and receive a diploma. And it's a time of celebration, right? It's a time of rejoicing, and many of them are nodding their heads, anticipating and look forward to that day. They have put much time and effort and are about to cross a significant finish line in their life, and many of them might just want to sit back and relax for a little bit. But as any senior will know, the question that everyone comes up to you and asks is, what's next? What are you doing next? There's no time to relax. You have to be thinking of what you're doing next. What's next for your life?
It's the end of an era, certainly in your life, but it's not the end of your life, and people will certainly remind you of that. It's a new chapter in your story of life that is going to begin, and that's very similar to the resurrection. We celebrate the resurrection every single Sunday, and certainly on Easter, as we should, the resurrection is a vital aspect to our redemption, to our salvation.
But it's not the end.
It kicks off a new era, a New Testament, maybe, if you will.
And the old era, or the Old Testament, with its types and shadows, are then finally being realized in the Redeemer, the Christ, who is risen from the dead. The church ages and grows of its Old Testament infancy and its understanding of God's redemptive plan, and it grows now into a more mature, fuller and clearer understanding of God's plan of salvation in the New Testament. And that's what I want us to consider this morning, today, as we actually are beginning a new book and a new series through the book of Acts, not only what has Jesus done, these are your three points, by the way, not only what Jesus has done. What is Jesus doing right now and what's Jesus going to do next? What's left for Jesus to do. And I think as we look even at those first few verses in Acts chapter 11, all of that is being summarized for us, what Jesus has done, what Jesus is doing right now, and what Jesus actually has left to do now. Acts is short for the Acts of the Apostles, but I think it could be rightly named the continuing acts of Jesus, or the continuing acts of Jesus by the power of his Spirit through the apostles. That's a little longer, and we just like to call it acts, but it really is the continuing acts of Jesus. It's not the end for him. There's more that he's doing right now, and there's more even yet to come for Jesus. And I think it's unfortunate that when the Canon was being put together, that they put the Gospel of John in in the middle of Luke and Acts, because they're really meant to be together, like an intermission of a story. You have Luke and Acts, but it would be as if someone put a book between first and second Corinthians or First and Second Thessalonians. It wouldn't really make as much sense. I know why they did it, because John is written in the last of the Gospels, and they're keeping all the Gospels together, but Luke and Acts are really meant to be read together, and Luke starts this book again as he started his gospel by writing to Theophilus, which means lover of God, or those who are loved by God. And that's certainly true for us, that we are lovers of God and those who believe in Christ. But Theophilus was also most likely an actual person, and as the theologian, Pastor, dr, R, C, Sproul said he had the awfulest name that one could have supposed to be funny.
It's also interesting, in the book of Acts, that Luke will transition his pronouns from they to we, because in the middle of Acts, we start picking up the stories of Paul more than the 12, and that's also indicating to us that Luke is actually in this story himself. He's a companion of Paul traveling and Paul's missionaries, Luke, as a doctor, had some resources available to himself and and probably paid for many of Paul to be Paul's way to be able to be on these missionary journeys. Also, it's very likely that when Paul is shipwrecked and beaten, it is Luke, the doctor, the author of our text, who's taking care of Paul in his missionary journeys.
In verse one, Luke writes, I've dealt with all that Jesus began.
Do and teach, and he's summarizing in that verse his entire Gospel. I've already dealt with what Jesus has began to do, but for us, what has Jesus done?
Well, Jesus the God man, he lived, was born as we celebrated in Christmas. He was born the God man, born God with us, and then he lived a perfectly righteous life.
His miracles were all signs directing us to the validity of his claims to be the Way, the Truth and the Life by which no man will come to the Father apart through Him, Jesus lived, and he merited salvation. He did what Adam failed to do, that is he perfectly obeyed. He fulfilled that covenant of works that God made with Adam in the garden that Adam failed to do.
Remember, God told Adam, if you don't eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and you'll have life, but if you fail, death. And that's how Adam brought us. Adam failed, and he brought death all of mankind, but Jesus lived perfectly, not only dying for you, but living perfectly for you in our stead.
But God is just, and he will, by no means clear the guilty. And as Romans 623, tells us, The wages of sin is death, and that creates a great problem for us, because we are guilty sinners.
But Jesus went to the cross and he died, taking all of our sins upon himself. You know my favorite Bible verse, second, Corinthians, 521, for our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God, Christ, taking our sin, we getting Christ's righteousness, and then from the disciples perspective. Now on Easter morning, many of us woke up as my kids woke me up, very excited for Easter, but the disciples, it's important to remember and the women who are with the disciples, they did not wake up excited. It was a very sad morning. Still, for many of that they aren't happy.
They thought Jesus was powerful and wonderful, but they are not expecting him to get arrested and then certainly die. How can Jesus rule and rule over Jerusalem and establish a new kingdom. If he is dead, then the news somehow gets worse before it gets better. On Easter morning, the women go to the tomb, as you know, and as we read and they're told they find it empty, and we see the women, especially Mary Magdalene asked the question over and over and over, where is he? Where have you taken him? Where is he? I we just want to honor him.
We just want to show our respect to our dear friend and teacher.
No one is showing up to the grave with anticipation and hope or to worship, although Jesus had told them, the Son of Man, must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. But the resurrection was just just too much to believe.
Certainly must mean something else. They were showing up to anoint a corpse, a dead body.
And then all Rome had to do, and all the Pharisees had to do, or anyone would have to do, to completely destroy, utterly destroy Christianity, once and for all, is just simply produce that dead body of Christ, but it will never happen.
It will never happen, will it?
Because He is not dead.
He's risen. He's risen, indeed, isn't he? And that's what the angels declare that Easter morning, he is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee, the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. Our faith revolves around the fact that Jesus is indeed risen and alive. The resurrection is the seal of Christ's accomplished redemption for us. It is the proof that the father accepted Christ as the atonement for our sins. And therefore all of our sins, not in part, but the whole, are nailed to the cross, and we bear them no more. Jesus has conquered death for us, and death again is not just physical, but spiritual and eternal. And Christ has conquered it all for you, the resurrection is also the proof that we can trust every single word that Jesus has ever said, everything Jesus says, All comes.
True. There is not a single syllable that Jesus utters that is a lie. It is all true. His words are trustworthy.
And so Luke writes all that Jesus began to do.
Jesus reveals Himself, then a lie by many proofs over a period of 40 days. But Jesus doesn't just retire after the resurrection by the lake and start collecting shells or shark teeth down in Venice Beach, which would be very nice. So what's next? What's next for Jesus? And that's the question you see that the apostles are asking Jesus here in our text, what do we do now? See, this is great, but what now if you see they say, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?
John Calvin, the theologian, famously said there are more errors in this question as there are words even after the resurrection, they are still thinking that Jesus has something great for ethnic Israel. They are still thinking Jesus is risen. We're going to get back to those days of David Solomon. We're going to make Israel great again. That's what they're thinking. Christ is going to do it. He's going to usher in this new Israel. They also have a mindset a little bit like Jonah, and many of you who are with us through our series of Jonah, that God's kingdom and goodness is really specifically just for Israel, but not known so much for those Ninevites and Gentiles over there, they're thinking for us, but Jesus responds to their question verse seven, he said to them, it's not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and To the end of the earth, the Gospel has greater purposes than just for Jerusalem, but for the entire world, the disciples are about to have their horizons expanded.
There was one member, I won't say, who in tongue in cheek there. And as you know this, there are many people who just spend their entire lives in South Tampa.
Once you go north of 275 it's like a distant land. Where are we now? And in the interview in tongue in cheek, they, you know, spending so much time in South Tampa. And, you know, we get up to 275 and then it gets a little bit fuzzy. And somewhere then Georgia begins.
And we can feel like that living in South Tampa, and maybe that's how the disciples have felt about Jerusalem and and the area that they live in. But Jesus is going to now expand their horizons, and the gospel is going to go further the places that they've never even heard of, and places that even they don't want to go, but they will be empowered by the gospel to be witnesses toward the Lord, for the Lord Jesus Christ. And what does Jesus call them to do? And what does he call us to do? It's right there in verse eight.
What is your calling and their calling? You will be my witnesses.
This is the purpose of the church and why Christ has kept us in this world to be witnesses of Christ's resurrection, His ascension, and the proclamation that he's coming again.
This is the verse acts one, verse eight, that has inspired countless missionaries to risk their lives and even give their lives and leave it all that they might be witnesses of Christ.
It's this verse that inspired Betty green to be a pioneer missionary pilot and found the mission aviation fellowship so she could fly Bible translators to remote places all over the world.
She said, You will be my witnesses. Kept bringing in my ears.
I also want to note here in Jesus' response that it's more important of our focus to be witnesses than it is for us to know the future. Jesus actually doesn't tell them what's going to happen in the future. He simply says, What do I want you to focus on?
Be my witnesses?
In fact, Jesus prohibits the guessing of the future and tells them to focus on their task. In Luke chapter 17, Jesus says and they will say to you, look he there and look here. Do not go out and follow them.
You turn on the radio or TV.
We can guess.
So what's happening in the Middle East, and are they going to make a temple and gas prices, and, you know, China and climate? And it must be time, what's, what's your focus? Be witnesses. Be witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But how are we to make any difference? And I'm sure that's what the disciples are thinking.
You think, you know, they got fishermen, and we have a tax collector and the Pharisee, okay, we're not starting out great. And even if we look around our congregation, we're not a many people. We're not a grand people. And even, as Paul mentioned, too, you know, are many of us wise according to the worldly wisdom? Maybe some, but not many are many powerful, no, not many are many noble here? No.
But what does Jesus tell them there in verse eight, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the end of the earth. The power again, is not from us, but it's the Holy Spirit which has empowered the Word of God. The Holy Spirit will be poured out in chapter two. If you stay with us, we'll hopefully get the chapter two not too long from now. But this is what changes the apostles from being locked in and afraid to then going out and Peter, who is just a moment ago denying Christ, will stand before all and declare Christ crucified and now risen for sinners. And what changes them and what changes us is not us but the Spirit of God.
It's not our boasting that we can we can look in or our gifts or abilities, but it is all of Christ who has given us His spirit as First Corinthians, one says, For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, that's the power of God, and it's a spirit that dies its way wherever the word goes, the spirit goes and then we're told, as Jesus is saying these things, and as they are looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him up out of their sight. When we finish, Luke, you might remember this is one of the hard things for us to believe about Christianity.
How is it good that Jesus ascended and went to heaven and didn't stay with us, right? I think I rather have Jesus right now with us in our service, rather than the Holy Spirit, right? If we have the option of having Jesus right here, right now or the Holy Spirit. I'm going to say Jesus pretty much every time, but Jesus says it's good that I go away, as Edmund clowning said, Jesus went not to retire, but to reign.
Jesus ascended. Is good because he's going to his coronation.
He's going to receive the crown.
And also it's good to remember that Jesus is also still man in his resurrection. He is God, but he also remains man. And as being man, just as you are man, you can't be everywhere at once as you would like to be.
So if Jesus was here, we would have to wait in line to see Jesus. We'd have to wait a very long line to probably talked to Jesus, or prayed to Jesus, and on Easter morning, what services Jesus go to? I mean, certainly he'd come to be Haven, right?
This would be his first, probably not.
And so Jesus wouldn't even be here on Easter morning with us.
But yet he is here now. How?
By the giving of His Spirit, He is present now with His Spirit.
And so it is better, not only for us, but all churches, that Christ is everywhere, and we can pray everywhere and be with Jesus. And not only that, but Jesus is with us, not only externally, but internally. His spirit is now indwelling with us. We have Jesus wherever we are, and he's preparing a place for us to bring us home, and we long for that day.
Now, the book of Acts is also preparing us for Jesus's final act. Not only what Jesus has done risen, what Jesus is doing right now, reigning, but what is Jesus going to do? And we see that in verse nine, and when he had said these things, and as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven, as he went, behold two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven. This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.
Jesus just didn't evaporate into heaven. He ascends in his glorifying, perfected body on the glory cloud.
Lifting them up. And the promise that is given is that Jesus has one more thing left to do. He is not yet done.
And what is it? The one thing that Jesus has left to do, He will come again.
This is a reminder that there is an end to history. History is not circular. It is linear, and it is all going to the single moment of Christ's return. And each day, every breath, every moment, is a step closer to that end of history where Jesus will bring in full His kingdom.
And at that time, there will be no more missionaries. At that time, the gospel will no longer be declared to the ends of the earth.
There will be no more people brought into the kingdom of God.
Remember, the people who ridiculed Noah were just ignored. Noah, people went about their business as we go about our business today, drinking, getting married, and doing all things that you and I do. But there was a day of judgment coming, and the people were doing busy, busying themselves, doing everything except the most important thing that they ought to have been doing, and it cost them their lives. And what should they have been doing that would have saved their lives, repent and believe, because then one day, suddenly, the door of the ark was shut, and the rains came down and the floods came up and they all drowned, who are not in the ark.
And as the story of acts begins, it's a reminder to all of us that Jesus Christ is the ark that we must be found in for that day. The time of preparation, just like Noah has, this time of preparation is now.
Jesus did not tell us today when he was going to return to come again. He says it's not for you to know, but what you are to do now is to prepare. And how are you to prepare by being witnesses, but living your lives by repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus, Christ. We must be found in Christ on that last day, as j, c Ryle said, however terrible the signs of Christ's Second Coming may be to the impenitent heart of the true believer, need not fear. They all rather to fill him with joy.
They ought to remember him that his complete deliverance from sin, the world and the devil is close at hand, and he shall soon bid an eternal farewell to sickness, sorrow, death and temptation. The very day when the unconverted man shall lose everything, shall be the day when the believer shall enter on his eternal reward.
You might be finishing an end of an era right now, whether that is school or college or job, and starting some other chapter of your life as we are finishing, as we finish Jonah starting acts, but we will all have an end.
And how will your story end?
Will end in glory with Christ or destruction in hell forever. Let today be the new beginning for you and devotion to Christ. Let today be the day where you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and are saved.
But don't just end there. Don't just stand there gazing, go now and be witnesses of Christ's resurrection for you, His ascension for you, and His coming again for you. Let's pray father. We thank you for giving us your word, and we thank you for Jesus, Christ, our Savior, our Lord, who lived for us, who died for us, who was risen for us, who ascends for us, and is one day coming again for us.
Let this day be the day where we again and forever, put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and rest on Him and hold fast to him, for he is our hope and our only hope.
Lord, help us to wrestle and consider to hear these things, to not only just be hearers, but to be doers. Lord, let the seed of your word sink deep into our heart. Let it bear much fruit.
We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.