WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:02.959 Secret Bible and go to the book of Acts, chapter one. 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:05.120 The book of Acts and chapter one. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:17.839 There's something that people don't often talk about the moment after a great thing's happened in your life. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:24.320 Something that you've lived forward to, something that you prepared, something that you've anticipated. 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:27.440 And the day comes when it happens. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:33.039 When all that you prepared for and all you've anticipated has arrived. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:38.799 And then that anticipation's over and all that preparation's over. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:44.799 And the question kind of comes into your mind a little quietly, subtly. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:48.079 It doesn't announce itself strongly, but it's there. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:51.439 And the question is, now what? 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:52.640 Now what? 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:59.520 Royal and I uh got married 41 years ago almost. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:10.480 And I remember just a few days after we were married, we're sitting in our little kitchen in this little apartment that we were renting with this table that had been given to us. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:16.879 And we're sitting there, and after about three days of being married, I just said, I feel like we're just playing house. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:21.680 The now what hadn't really settled in. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:24.719 Now what? 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:26.079 Now what? 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:45.040 It's one of those harder questions about human experience because all that anticipation that's built toward the new house or the new baby or the wedding or whatever it might be settles into the these are the days I'm moving into. 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:45.920 Now what? 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:47.040 Now what? 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:53.840 Well, the disciples here in Acts chapter one are having their own now what experience. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:58.319 They've spent time with Jesus for several years. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:04.879 They've watched him minister, they've seen the miracles that he's done, they've gone out where he's told them to go. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:23.680 And in the last few months, they've watched him move toward Jerusalem and find himself entering into the accolades of the crowds, only to be taken, arrested, tried, and killed and buried. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:26.159 And they all scattered in bewilderment. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:33.280 But before all of that even grew old, he was alive before them, resurrected. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.719 And for the past 40 days, he had been with them. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:49.919 And here in Acts chapter 1, we're about to see one of those bewildering moments in their life where they're watching Christ ascend into the heavenlies, and the angels say, Why are you standing here? 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:54.879 And they're wondering, now what? 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:57.759 Now what's about to happen here? 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:19.840 Luke writes to Theophilus and to the early church in order to help them understand what that now what question's all about, and how the disciples in the very first moments after the ascension of Christ realized what they were to be about and what that now what was about. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:32.479 And so he writes to Theophilus to kind of center his mind and his heart, just like the apostles, as we'll see this week and next week, are also given some understanding that are going to settle their minds and their hearts. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:38.000 And so Theophilus receives this word that's meant to refocus him. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:46.560 And he also receives a ground that's meant to show him that nothing is going to shift in his life. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:51.840 And then a promise that equipped the disciples and will equip him. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:04:04.560 These words, a word that refocuses, a ground that doesn't shift, and a promise that equips us for what we're meant to do, are the very same things that we're going to receive this morning. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:06.800 So let me just look at the first five verses. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:11.759 We'll carry this through into next week, but I want to bring the first part of this into us this morning. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.240 Let's read verses one to five. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:37.519 After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:46.160 And while he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father's promise, which he said, You have heard me speak about. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:53.279 For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:12.319 And they stood in a field wondering what had just happened. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:22.319 And we might today, as a church and also as individuals, wonder, well, what's here for us? 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:24.079 What are we actually doing? 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:25.040 Why are we here? 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:27.199 And does any of it really matter? 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:39.279 And what Luke is giving us here are the ability to be grounded in understanding of what we're included into and what kind of mighty work God is doing through us. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:44.879 And so we have some assurances here, and I want to share those assurances with us this morning. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:52.639 And the first thing I want us to see is we have given to us a word that refocuses us, a word that refocuses. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:55.279 Notice verse one. 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:09.600 Luke writes to Theophilus, the same man that he wrote the gospel to, and he mentions in this one word that reframes his entire first volume, the Gospel of Luke. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:13.600 It's a word that we can easily skip over, but we shouldn't. 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:22.160 I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:29.120 That Greek word began means to commence or to initiate, to begin. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:32.319 And notice what he says it is. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:36.319 It's about all that Jesus did and taught. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:38.959 All that Jesus did and taught. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:43.839 And he chooses that one word began deliberately. 00:06:44.399 --> 00:07:06.879 And here we can take the gospel of Luke in all of its birth narratives and all of its ministry focus of Jesus and all of his miracles and in all of the Passion Week and all of that death, burial, and resurrection account, and we can wrap it up with one word began to do. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:23.519 And what Luke is saying here as he begins to push into the book of Acts with Theophilus is to tell him that the story is not over, it's only just begun. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:32.639 Which means we here in the 21st century are not looking back on something historical. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:37.040 We are in the middle of something that's still happening. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:54.560 And so as we go through the book of Acts together, I want us to lean forward and lean forward into this with a recognition that what we're reading is not history, but something that gives us shape for who we are today. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:08:02.240 I was reading uh some reviews of a book that I haven't yet cracked. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:05.279 And the reviews, it's a book about literary criticism. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.000 Royal looked at it and she said, Why are you even reading that? 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:10.879 I said, Because, well, for one, the guy's a fascinating writer. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:15.360 And two, what he writes about is going to be quite encouraging and enlightening to read. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:25.680 But in the review, one guy said, he said, This man captures you with the very first words that you lean forward so much you turn into an italic. 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:35.279 Well, I want us to be able to look at the book of Acts and lean forward into it so much we turn into italics. 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:38.960 We're so excited about what we're about to look at. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:45.279 And what Luke is doing with this first word is pushing us forward like that. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:47.919 He's making us think about something. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:57.360 And what he's directing us to is not backwards, but forwards to what this Jesus is still doing. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:06.480 And what Luke is saying is that the death, burial, and resurrection, and even the ascension of Christ is not the end. 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:11.200 It's only really the start of his ministry. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:23.279 And when Jesus ascended into the heavens, he didn't rest from his work, he simply relocated the place from which he is acting. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:29.519 He's not on the dusty roads of Jerusalem and Judea any longer. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:37.279 He is relocated to the very throne room of heaven, and it is from there that he's acting. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:47.679 He's no longer perhaps here in time and space as we are, he is, but he is acting over all time and all space as the Lord of all. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:58.480 And so now we'll discover as we go through the book of Acts that he's operating through his spirit that he ascends, through the word that goes out, and through his people who scatter. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:03.200 And as we read the book of Acts, those things will become abundantly clear to us. 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:08.879 Because the Gospel of Luke is simply part one of a two-part story. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:12.720 And we are part three of that. 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:32.799 And I love the title of that because what it's showing is that the people of God are gathered as the next chapter out of the book of Acts. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:36.000 If you don't know, it ends in chapter 28 in your Bible. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:40.720 And so we're not commemorating the memory of Christ when we study this. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:45.200 We're not even commemorating the memory of Christ in his work in the early church. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:52.399 We are reading an account of our story as we enter into what and participate in what's happening here. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.799 And I want us to understand that this is not just something new here. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:00.240 The prophets spoke about these days coming. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:04.000 They didn't just speak about Christ who would come and suffer. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:07.120 And they didn't just speak about Christ who would come and rise. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:15.120 They spoke about Christ who would continue to act and do something in human history even after his death. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:16.960 Listen to these words. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:22.000 We've studied them in the book of Isaiah together in chapter 42 and verse 4. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:24.720 Listen to what it says about the servant. 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:36.639 The coast and the islands will wait for his instructions. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:38.080 Did you hear that? 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:50.480 That's talking about the servant doing something that's moving into the world, and he is not going to rest until he's accomplished all of his good purposes. 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:53.919 Last week I read Psalm 110 in verse 1. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:57.120 I want to read it again and add verse 2 to it. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.360 Listen to verse 1 and 2. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:03.440 This is the declaration of the Lord to my Lord. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:09.679 Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:17.120 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, rule over your surrounding enemies. 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:20.639 Do you feel the forward push of those words? 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:21.840 Until. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:36.320 And so the psalmist here pictures exactly what Isaiah saw, and what we're reading here in the book of Acts is that the Lord is ascending and seated at the right hand of the Father on high. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:47.279 And his posture is not one of rest or repose, it is one of activity in which he is reigning and extending his rule. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:52.879 We read about that in very particular ways that are of great encouragement to us. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:58.799 Hebrews chapter 7, it says that Christ always lives to make intercession for us. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:05.279 But that's only one aspect of the ascension and the continuing ministry of Christ. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:11.039 And so Luke here begins with this word began. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:12.639 Began. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:18.559 Because the servant's work outlasts his earthly presence. 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:23.840 The Gospel of Luke ends, but the mission hasn't. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:32.879 Now, theologically, we call about the ascension this word the session of Christ or the heavenly session of Christ. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:41.279 And the word session goes back to an archaic word, which means the ascension or the seating of a place of authority. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:48.559 And Christ, when he rose into the heavenlies, was sat in a place of authority, in which he is Lord of all. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:14:05.840 And when we get to Acts chapter 2, you'll see him actively working in human history, seated there, exercising his authority, ruling, conquering enemies, and spreading his justice into this world. 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:09.919 The book of Ephesians in chapter one talks about this. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:28.320 Paul writes that Christ is seated at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and has all things under his feet, and he has given his head over all things. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:32.399 What a remarkable statement that is. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:51.600 So when we start our journey through this book of Acts, we need to begin here to recognize that nothing in our life, nothing in this city, nothing in this island, nothing in this world is happening outside the ascended reign of Christ Himself. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:15:00.480 And so when we hear this word began, we are learning about the beginning of the ongoing story. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:16.559 This matters for us as a church, because there's a version of church life out there that acts as if Christ is not engaged in his work whatsoever. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:35.120 That what has to be done in the life of a church, and even perhaps some in this room right now might be thinking this that if the attendance is flat or if momentum stalls, then somehow we need to find something within ourselves to work toward that. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:50.000 That somehow the right combination of personnel and effort and creativity and programming is what we need to do to revitalize ourselves as a church. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:58.480 And when we think like that, what we're saying is the answer lies solely with us. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:17.279 That it lies with our decisions about who we staff the church with, or our decisions about who we motivate volunteers to go toward, or talking about what kind of marketing schemes we might be able to present and put forward. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:22.320 But it isn't about personnel or effort or creativity or programming. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:30.480 Because what Luke is telling us here is that the ascended Christ is working through his people. 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:36.320 And it isn't about us getting into a small room and trying to make some decisions. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:49.840 If there's any lull in our church's vigor, if there's any slackening of our engagement and the mission, the last place we need to be doing is putting our heads together. 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:52.639 Because we're the one that just made the problem. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:17:01.840 What we should be doing is putting ourselves with our knees on the floor and seeking the Lord to do a work. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:08.079 Here we are. 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:12.400 We're not here to try to cultivate our resources. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:18.880 We're here to understand and engage in the ascended Christ who is working until. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:22.720 And that day of until hasn't finished yet. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.680 So we're joining something. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:40.960 And we're joining in something when we can recognize heartily and freely that the growth and development of the church is not about our performance, and it can't be measured by our capabilities and capacities. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:43.359 It exceeds it by far. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:50.960 And so here Luke centers us with a word, just a word, began. 00:17:51.599 --> 00:18:00.000 But I want to go a little deeper in here and see something else, not only a word that refocuses us, but also the ground that will not shift. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:03.039 Verses two and three direct our attention there. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:21.279 He said, until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen, and after he had suffered, he also presented himself alive by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:36.640 Before we get to Pentecost, before we get to Peter's sermon, before we get to the explosive growth of the church, Luke stops and says, wait a second. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:44.160 There's something, Theophilus, you need to understand about what motivated the people as the gospel began to go. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:49.839 And so he grounds Theophilus and he grounds us in this understanding. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:56.720 And notice the word he uses when he talks about the resurrection and the ascension of Christ. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:04.559 In verse 3, he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:10.400 It's a very technical term in the Greek. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:26.160 And this was a very significant technical term within those contexts. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:45.599 And what it's talking about are those things that are demonstrable, those are verifiable, those things that are conclusive, proofs, from which you might be able to derive some inferences, from which you might be able to make some plausible recognitions. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:50.640 But these are concrete proofs that lie there. 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:59.599 And so Luke is using this term to help us understand how strong the ground is underneath the people of God. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:10.799 That Jesus Christ in his resurrection is showing himself alive by these kind of proofs. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:20.480 I lived for several years in England, and I always dreaded reading the newspapers at Easter time. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:41.119 Because at Easter, because England is meant to be a Christian nation and they have a state church that's filled with ungodly leadership, those people who denied the gospel and denied the veracity of Scripture would be given a pen and allowed to write some articles in the newspapers. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:57.759 And they would write about the Easter spirit, the renewed sense of hope and vigor of the human heart, and how we might be able to take times of trouble and difficulty and find ourselves flourishing with new understanding of possibility. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:01.680 And I thought, oh gosh, here we go again. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:03.920 Here we go again. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:08.559 Luke is not writing religious poetry here. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:21.440 Luke is not talking about some sort of impression of spiritual experience in which we might be able to find something joyful rising out of the ashes of difficulty. 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:40.799 And what he's telling us here is that the story of the resurrection of Christ is not to be an impression or some spiritual experience or some community or even country's wishful projection of the future. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:49.519 He's saying this is documented proof of the living Christ who was brought out of the grave. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:51.680 That's what he's saying. 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:55.680 This is documented evidence. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.599 He would put it that way if he were to put it into legal terms and not just. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:05.440 Mathematic and oratorical rhetoric philosophical terms. 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:09.119 The resurrection is not a metaphor. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:12.480 The resurrection is a reality. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:22.160 It's not an experience of renewed hope, a sense that Jesus' spirit lives on, and perhaps ours will too, after times of trouble. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:29.119 If that were the case, the book of Acts would just be a story about human courage in the face of hardship and opposition. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:31.039 And it's not that. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:38.240 And we shouldn't receive it as simply a message of hopefulness and security in the middle of opposition. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:59.279 Because if the resurrection is a historical action, if somebody who really died really came back to life again, then what we're talking about is the most monumental act in human history. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:00.880 Right? 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:06.480 It is that important. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:16.640 And the people that are gathered around the resurrected Christ are the very leading edge of a new creation. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:26.079 That's how significant that act is, and that's how significant the people of God are in the book of Acts and us now. 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:30.559 And the resurrection wasn't just a New Testament idea. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:33.759 The Old Testament spoke of the days that would come. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:40.799 In the next chapter, we'll read about Peter who rises up in front of the Jewish people and quotes their scriptures to them. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:49.359 And he says of David that David wasn't speaking of himself, he was speaking of one who was to come. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:54.559 And he reads from Psalm 16 as he proclaims it to the people in Jerusalem. 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:57.920 And he said, For you will not abandon me to Sheol. 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:02.400 You will not allow your faithful one to see decay. 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:04.960 Who's he talking about, Peter? 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:08.480 Not himself, he says, but Jesus. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:20.960 Forty days after this man was killed, he speaks about him as one who is risen and one who is ascended. 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:23.359 Listen to Isaiah. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:26.079 Isaiah 53. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:29.359 The Lord was pleased to crush him severely. 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:38.480 And when you made him a guild offering, listen, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand the Lord's pleasure will be accomplished. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:43.119 After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:48.960 And by his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many and will carry their iniquities. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:52.319 There's a lot to unpack there, but just listen to it simply. 00:24:52.559 --> 00:25:00.240 The servant suffers, the servant dies, and then Isaiah says, the servant will prolong his days. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.519 He will see the fruit of his soul and be satisfied. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:13.759 Isaiah is talking about the resurrection without even using the word. 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:16.880 He's talking about Christ. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:23.200 How else would you describe it if you talk about a dead man being able to prolong his days? 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:26.240 Unless he's talking about the resurrection. 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:32.160 So let's understand this ground a little better. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:36.799 Like I said last week, we can often take the resurrection and we put it back there. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:38.799 It's something that happened at Easter. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:41.119 We we celebrate Easter every year. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:43.680 It comes around on our calendar every year. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:51.680 And we take we take the resurrection, and somehow it just sort of drifts back there until it shows up again on the calendar again. 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:54.240 Luke is saying, don't do that. 00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:55.680 Don't do that. 00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:06.079 Because the resurrection of Christ is not just one teaching among many, and it's not a secondary question either. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:11.839 And we can have discussions all day long about secondary issues, and not to say that they're not important at all. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:19.519 We just spend some time revising our constitution about something that was really actually, in comparison, quite secondary. 00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:24.079 Not unimportant, but definitely unsecondary. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:34.160 And we might even be able to have a discussion with one another about some eschatological framework, whether you're this or that, pre or post or awe or whatever. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:38.240 But none of it rises to the importance of this. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:45.680 Because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the load-bearing wall of the Christian faith. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:47.599 It is that important. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:51.200 And Paul says that explicitly. 00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:35.759 And it is solid ground, it's unshakable. 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:42.079 The resurrection validates everything that Jesus said and did. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:45.519 The scriptures talk about that. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:48.559 This solid ground is beneath the book of Acts. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:51.359 This solid ground is beneath this church. 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:57.119 This solid ground can be beneath you if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:08.880 And if you're in this room this morning and your life is feeling shaky, unclear, uncertain, and not just your life, but your contemplation about death and what's afterwards. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:11.759 And you're thinking, I don't know. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:14.960 Let me tell you something about the Christian life. 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:23.440 It is not asking you to just believe and then to rest on the quality of that ability to believe. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:47.119 It's calling you to the fact that the tomb is empty, that Christ left it, and that if you go into the grave believing on Christ, you too will leave it one day. 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:54.160 Because it is not about having a religious experience and whether you can hold on to it. 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:56.880 Because let me tell you about religious experiences. 00:29:57.119 --> 00:30:05.440 You can have a great one on Saturday night and wake up on a Sunday morning feeling like all of the air has just been pulled right out of your soul. 00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:08.079 It's kind of how I woke up this morning. 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:10.960 Great time of the movie last night. 00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:16.799 Woke up this morning, had a cup of coffee, sat down to pray and to read, and I'm fighting sleep. 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:18.720 I'm like, what happened here? 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:27.200 It's 12 hours between being all excited after a movie to sitting here anticipating to preach and trying to fight sleep. 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:36.880 If you're going to rest in the power of your religious experience, you're going to find yourself following an elusive dream because you'll never get there. 00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:41.680 There'll be seasons when believing will be hard. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:45.599 There'll be times when your prayers will not seem fervent. 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:54.319 There'll be places where your reading of scripture will feel dry and dull and separate from any of anything that moves your heart. 00:30:54.559 --> 00:30:56.400 Those things will happen. 00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:06.160 And if you rest your Christian life upon those kinds of experiences, it's going to fail you. 00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:09.599 But the scriptures are not calling you to do that. 00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:12.559 They're calling you to a resurrected Christ. 00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:17.519 They're calling you to put your feet on that ground that's unshakable. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:26.640 And if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if you call out to Him for salvation and life, I guarantee you that ground will never move. 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:29.599 It will not move on the very day of your death. 00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:36.720 And it will say, Welcome, welcome to you, the very last breath you breathe. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:40.559 Let's move to the next point, the last point. 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:52.319 Not only do we have a word that refocuses us, but a truth that grounds us, but we also have a gift, a gift in a wait. 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:58.319 Verses four and five talks about Jesus with his disciples on that day. 00:31:58.559 --> 00:32:07.279 And says, while he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father's promise, which he said, You've heard me speak about. 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:13.680 For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days. 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:18.960 Here's Jesus with his disciples in the margin of the CSB and the NIV. 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:20.880 Talk about him eating with them. 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:46.160 The same Jesus who broke bread with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the same Jesus who broke bread on the shore of the lake and fed them fish, is sitting here in the ordinary rhythms of shared life with them, and he's talking to them with a command that sounds quizzical, a paradox, to wait, to wait for the Father's promise. 00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:55.519 And when Jesus says to wait for the Father's promise, he is taking a flag out of the Old Testament. 00:32:55.599 --> 00:33:00.880 And he's moving that flag and he's stomping it down into the ground of the New Testament church. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:07.519 And he's saying, What the Father promised is about to occur. 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:13.039 Wait for that to happen before you do anything else. 00:33:13.839 --> 00:33:19.359 And we're going to unpack that in just a moment, but let's just stop at that word wait for a second. 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:24.799 The disciples were not told to immediately go. 00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:33.200 They were told to wait, to pause until God had moved. 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:36.640 But they were not passive. 00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:41.680 And as we'll see in a couple weeks, they were active in their waiting. 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:44.000 They were gathered together in prayer. 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:46.400 They were devoting themselves to truth. 00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:50.079 They were making decisions that were formative to their life. 00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:53.200 They were in community with one another. 00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:55.920 They were not passive in their waiting. 00:33:56.000 --> 00:34:02.079 They were active in their waiting, but they were waiting for the expectancy of the Father's promise. 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:05.039 Now notice what he says here. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:08.320 He said, You've heard me talk about this. 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:14.400 For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days. 00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:31.599 Again, these men and Theophilus and us are being told about something that's about to occur within the life of the church that reminds us that what's happening is not about human manufacturing of ability. 00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:33.920 It's not about our ingenuity. 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:36.159 It's not about what we can produce. 00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:46.239 It's about God operating within his people in a way that cannot be explained by human experience and human power. 00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:53.039 Because what he's talking about is the arrival of divine presence that was promised in the Old Testament. 00:34:53.599 --> 00:35:01.199 That's what we'll read about when we go to the book of Acts in chapter two is the promise that God had given in the Old Testament. 00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:07.119 And then the Old Testament speaks with the deepest sense of longing of what's about to happen. 00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:12.480 And there's a lot of misunderstandings that's behind all of these words. 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:20.639 And sadly, the most significant thing about it gets passed over without a word, without a thought. 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:28.400 Because we have been so programmed to think of it in very, very internal, individualistic ways. 00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:31.119 But this is something extremely important. 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:36.000 Listen to what the Old Testament says about this coming day. 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:48.559 It says in Isaiah, until the Spirit from on high is poured out on us, then the desert will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest. 00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:58.159 There's this figurative language of the day that's going to come when the things that look barren are going to flourish in this poetic flourishing of prof. 00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:11.199 It's a remarkable sense in which we are told that barren things will live, and they will live so abundantly, it will feel like an orchard and a forest, this desert. 00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:14.800 Ezekiel 36. 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:21.840 I will place my spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances. 00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:47.119 Ezekiel speaking to people who were being taken away into bondage, into Babylon, because of their absolute disregard of God's statutes and commands, are told of a coming day when the spirit would come, and those things that they despised and rejected and ignored and played around with as if it was simply toys in a toy box are now going to be the very things that are in their hearts, that they're going to treasure. 00:36:48.239 --> 00:36:52.639 In Joel chapter 2, I will pour out my spirit on all humanity. 00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:10.159 No distinctions. 00:37:11.599 --> 00:37:14.079 What is Jesus describing here? 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:20.400 What is he wrapping up in a phrase, the Father's promise? 00:37:21.599 --> 00:37:29.840 All of those things in the Old Testament I've only given a sampling of that come into that phrase that Jesus says, wait for that. 00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:34.719 What does he say? 00:37:36.880 --> 00:37:43.039 Well, many people in our day would say, well, it's meant for individual religious experience. 00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:48.000 It's to reboot the level of intensity of your devotion. 00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:57.039 It's uh meant to give you a private prayer language or give you some sense of assurance of God's closeness. 00:37:58.400 --> 00:38:02.079 No, no, no, not at all. 00:38:03.039 --> 00:38:06.719 It is immensely larger than that. 00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:14.719 What we're talking about is a cosmic event, not an intimate, personal, private event. 00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:31.119 This is an epical event because it is the inauguration of an age that the prophets spoke about, that Jesus had lived and taught and died and rose again to inaugurate. 00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:48.320 It is this momentum in which God is not merely visiting his people from outside, but he is now going to dwell among his people, and his people are going to be reaching the absolute ends of the earth in this new day. 00:38:48.719 --> 00:38:52.400 This is the fulfillment of the Old Testament's deepest longings. 00:38:52.719 --> 00:39:02.079 That promise back in Genesis chapter 12, when one man as good as dead was told that he would be the father of many nations. 00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:14.079 That promise, the father's promise of the time when these people who were ignoring God would be said to be the very place from which the word of God would spread. 00:39:15.280 --> 00:39:23.920 And that the spirits indwelling and moving among those people would be the very force that would make all of that happen. 00:39:24.239 --> 00:39:26.400 That's what it's talking about. 00:39:30.559 --> 00:39:50.960 The Apostle Paul talks about this distinctly, this epical age in which we live, in which we as God's people are part of a new creation, that we're enfolded into something that is going to move beyond time and space as we know it. 00:39:51.199 --> 00:39:58.159 It's going to enter into the heavenlies and it's going to be called a new heavens and a new earth as part of a new creation. 00:39:58.880 --> 00:40:06.559 And all the people will know the Lord and holiness will be at home for once in human existence. 00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:13.039 And the Spirit is part of all of that. 00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:23.519 Paul writes to the believers in Ephesians 1, he said, The promised Holy Spirit, you were sealed by him on the day you believed, the gospel of your salvation. 00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:31.199 The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the possession to the praise of his glory. 00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:33.440 What does he say? 00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:41.679 The Spirit just doesn't come for momentary personal private moments. 00:40:43.199 --> 00:40:46.079 He doesn't give himself in measure. 00:40:51.199 --> 00:40:59.760 And he's united with the risen Christ to accomplish the good purposes of the rule and reign of Christ of people all around the world. 00:40:59.920 --> 00:41:01.280 That's what it's about. 00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:06.639 The early church was wondering what is this? 00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:08.639 What has happened? 00:41:09.039 --> 00:41:15.199 And they they tie it back to what Luke says here: the Father's promise. 00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:26.239 And what he promised was not just a psychological release or to give us some feeling of confidence or even closeness to God. 00:41:27.840 --> 00:41:34.320 Some extra boost to become a better person than what we were before we had an experience. 00:41:35.519 --> 00:41:53.039 No, that the church would be brought into the realm of God's presence in them and through them to accomplish the glorious work of proclaiming the gospel and seeing people around the world believe. 00:42:12.719 --> 00:42:16.559 And he says, Repent and believe the gospel. 00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:28.960 And that many people on that day are baptized and join themselves to the church, and they commit themselves to the apostle teaching and to fellowship and the breaking of bread and prayer. 00:42:29.679 --> 00:42:34.159 Peter didn't walk out of there and go, hey, that was a great sermon, wasn't it? 00:42:34.960 --> 00:42:37.519 Boy, I finally got eloquent today. 00:42:38.960 --> 00:42:55.920 He's saying the Spirit of God has done something in the hearts of unbelieving people who had just a few days before it crucified this man, but are now bending their heart and giving their life to him as Lord and Christ. 00:42:56.800 --> 00:42:59.280 That is the work of the Spirit. 00:43:00.639 --> 00:43:04.480 And so here we are, just at the very start of the book. 00:43:04.639 --> 00:43:12.000 And I hope you're starting to turn into italics, starting to lean forward, say, what are we going to receive? 00:43:12.320 --> 00:43:14.639 What is this that we're about to understand? 00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:16.800 What does it show us? 00:43:17.119 --> 00:43:20.960 Not only about what's done then, but what's happening still? 00:43:22.559 --> 00:43:27.440 Well, Luke begins with a word to focus us, began. 00:43:28.079 --> 00:43:31.360 He gives us ground that knows that none of it's shaking. 00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:33.679 And he gives us a promise. 00:43:33.920 --> 00:43:48.159 It gives us a sense of understanding of how God is operating through his spoken word, dwelling among his people and securing their proclamation with the power to transform dead souls into living believers. 00:43:48.400 --> 00:43:49.840 That's what we have. 00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:53.280 And I'm excited for what we're going to journey through. 00:43:53.519 --> 00:44:05.840 If you're here this morning and you've been a believer for a long time, I do pray that all of this does refocus and And reignite within your heart a sense of joy and understanding of who we're who we are as God's people. 00:44:06.320 --> 00:44:17.679 If you're here this morning and you've been sort of backing, backing away as a believer, maybe just settling in, or as someone said, you know, Baptist, he said, This is how I define Baptists. 00:44:18.239 --> 00:44:22.719 They come into the church, we get them wet, and we put them in the pew and they dry out the rest of their life. 00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:25.280 Ouch. 00:44:26.719 --> 00:44:36.079 And if you're in that drying out phase, I pray this reinvigorates your heart, help you understand who we are and what we're doing as God's people. 00:44:36.480 --> 00:44:48.559 And if you're here this morning and you don't know Christ as your Savior, go back to that ground and ask yourself: is my life really on that stable of a ground? 00:44:50.400 --> 00:44:55.760 Can I say that I can walk into death securely and with hope? 00:44:57.920 --> 00:45:09.760 If you can't, there's an offer that's gloriously presented in the gospel that tells you that you don't have to find some strong religious experience. 00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:17.039 You don't have to sort of invigorate yourself to turn over a new leaf or try to change your habits. 00:45:17.440 --> 00:45:31.360 It's about fleeing to the one who rose from the dead and calling him Lord in Christ, believing that he died for your sins and that he is the means by which your forgiveness is secured before the judge of all. 00:45:32.159 --> 00:45:37.360 And you resting everything that you are on him, fleeing to Christ for salvation. 00:45:37.760 --> 00:45:40.880 That is the only solid ground. 00:45:41.119 --> 00:45:44.079 And if you believe on him, you will be saved. 00:45:44.320 --> 00:45:55.519 No matter what your background's been like, no matter what your history has been, no matter what you've done, where you've gone, who you've hurt, who's hurt you, all of that gets washed away in the blood of Christ. 00:45:55.840 --> 00:45:56.639 All of it. 00:45:57.920 --> 00:45:59.039 Believe on him. 00:45:59.519 --> 00:46:01.199 Let's pray together. 00:46:03.360 --> 00:46:12.159 Father, thank you for a book that makes us aware of ourselves, makes us realize who we are. 00:46:13.119 --> 00:46:21.440 And what we are realizing and understanding is more about who you are and what you're doing in this world. 00:46:22.159 --> 00:46:26.719 We're grateful to be able to stand on the solid ground of the resurrection of Christ. 00:46:27.280 --> 00:46:36.239 We're grateful to be able to be acting and serving within the realm of Christ who began a work and is continuing it still. 00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:53.119 And we're grateful to be among a people who are filled with a secure hope of a future inheritance, but also of an abiding presence and power that takes the gospel message and makes it live in hearts. 00:46:53.440 --> 00:47:03.840 And so, Father, we do not live and move and work based upon our strength and the power of our prayers as though it was simply a formula. 00:47:04.639 --> 00:47:07.280 No, we rest in you, the living God. 00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:24.960 And so, Father, as we journey through this book of Acts, may we be increasingly a people who turn our hearts and praise to you, the risen Christ, the acting spirit, and the promise fulfilling Father, God in one. 00:47:25.679 --> 00:47:28.159 And so we pray this in Christ's name. 00:47:28.480 --> 00:47:29.119 Amen.