WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.439 Just take our Bible and go to the book of Acts, the book of Acts in chapter one. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:24.320 I read an excellent biography of uh Ernest Shackleton by Ralph Fiennes a few years ago. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:26.239 It was an amazing book. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:30.640 It was uh an absorbing read, one of the books, one of those books you don't want to put down. 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:43.280 And one of the most gripping moments uh in the book came when Ernest Shackleton and his crew, 27 others, uh saw their ship endurance broken up by ice. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:53.600 And with only a small lifeboat, uh they made shelter on a small little outcropping called Elephant Island. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:01:07.920 And realizing that they couldn't just stay there, Ernest Shackleton took uh five other men with him and left on a long journey to try to find rescue by going to the island to South Georgia. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:15.040 And he left there 22 men on Elephant Island to wait for his return. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.040 And so they did. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:21.840 He told them that he'd be back as soon as he could. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:29.599 And under a man by the name of Frank Wilde, those 22 men waited for 126 days. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:39.040 For 126 days on this barren rock, they waited, waiting for Shackleton and that crew to come back. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.840 It was a biting, cold, desperate place. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:48.239 No place to hide from the wind, no place to shelter from the cold. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:50.799 They had to shoot seals to feed themselves. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:58.879 They rationed their food, they dealt with despair and frostbite and all sorts of difficulties. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:03.200 And they clung to survival with that question raging in their mind. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:05.519 Would Shackleton return? 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:07.439 And when would it be? 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:12.159 And will we be alive when he gets here? 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:19.599 That question when is a question we all face too in many different places of life. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:31.360 Maybe not on a piece of barren rock like they were, but we face that wind question with the same sense of intensity sometimes. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:37.439 We might be asking the wind question, when is the results of that test going to come back? 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:41.360 When is this season that I'm in going to turn? 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:46.639 When is the difficulty that my loved one is going through going to be better? 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:51.439 That wind question can really drive deep into our souls. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:57.039 Sometimes the wind question is not quite so significant, but we check it a lot. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:58.960 We check it like I do, the forecast. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:00.080 What's the weather tomorrow? 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:01.280 What's the weather tomorrow? 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:02.479 What's the weather tomorrow? 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:10.080 We're always asking about the future, what is that going to be, and when am I going to see things different? 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:17.360 An obsession with the wind question often speaks of something underlying there. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:26.000 That if we did know the answer to the wind question, then we might be able to rest our soul. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:38.000 That having the answer before the thing happens is what will give me the rest and the freedom that I'm longing for. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:42.319 But God doesn't always do that. 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:49.520 We would love for God's trials and difficulties to be on our app, our calendar app. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:54.960 And we'd like to be able to open our phone up and go, hey, in 13 days, I'm gonna have a trial. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:58.719 And it's going to last six months. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:00.560 That's pretty difficult. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:02.639 But it's six months. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:07.280 I I think I can get through that with God's help. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:16.160 God doesn't put our trials and troubles on an app and schedule them with us ahead of time to tell us when they're coming. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:23.360 And so he leaves us often with just the question, when. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:34.480 And the reason I bring that up is because the very first question that we find the risen Christ asked as we enter into the book of Acts here is that question. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:36.079 When? 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:44.560 The disciples are standing with him, and they're, it's the last day they're going to see him here on earth. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:49.360 And the question that's driving their mind at the moment is when? 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:51.120 When? 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:55.439 They want to know the timing of a question we'll look at in just a moment. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:03.759 But I want us to see what the risen Christ does with that one question and what he does with these disciples after they ask it. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:16.639 Because as we come into this passage today, we're coming into the moment of the ascension, in which Christ himself is risen into the heavenlies and received into his glorious throne. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:25.439 And we're going to watch the king go up, and we're going to hear him speak to his disciples about their win question and see what he does with it. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:33.120 And we're going to also see those disciples themselves asked a question by the angels who are there. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.000 So let's look at these verses, verses six through eleven. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:37.839 Let's read them together. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:48.000 So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time? 00:05:48.959 --> 00:06:05.759 He said to them, It's not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set in his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:12.000 And after he said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:18.079 While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:23.279 They said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:33.199 This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come in the same way you've seen him going up into heaven. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.959 Jesus here is not leaving in order to be absent. 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:39.920 He's leaving in order to reign. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:46.000 And the clouds are not going to carry him off into retirement, they're carrying him off into enthronement. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:52.959 And I want you to hold on to that because that's going to spread through all of this message this morning. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:58.959 And because the king is reigning, he gives three things to these men here and three things to us. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:03.600 The first thing that he does is he takes the win question out of their hands. 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:08.319 And the second thing that he does is he puts something into them to do. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:14.800 And the last thing that happens here is he shows us that this reigning king will return. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:16.959 So let's look at these three points. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:20.639 So the first is this that the king redirects their question. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:24.160 The king redirects redirects their question. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:30.800 In verse 6, the question shows up: Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time? 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:34.079 That's not a foolish question. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:40.959 The whole Old Testament has been promising a kingdom, and they've been looking forward to that. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:47.360 The load-bearing words in this sentence, though, are Israel and at this time. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:54.000 They want a national kingdom and they want it now. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:56.399 That's really their emphasis. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:03.279 And the Lord takes that question and doesn't answer it the way that they would like it answered. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:10.800 He doesn't even correct their hope or even enter into the discussion of the clock that they want. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.600 Look at what he does in verse 7. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:21.439 It's not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:35.759 He takes that one word that they're reaching for, when, and he takes that when question and he puts it into the Father's hands, not theirs. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:40.159 It's a very interesting way to answer that question. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:47.679 And what he's telling them is that it is God's determinations of this question. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:50.799 It's not for you to hold on to them. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.600 It's the Father's business. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:55.440 And it's always been that way. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:09:03.039 In Deuteronomy 29, 29, it says, The hidden things belong to the Lord, and the revealed things belong to us. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:12.639 There are matters that only God Himself knows, and God Himself will accomplish, that He hasn't given to us. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:20.799 And in Daniel chapter 2 and verse 21, it says, It is God who changes the times and the seasons. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:22.720 Listen to those two verses again. 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:29.919 The secret things belong to the Lord, and it is God who changes the times and the seasons. 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:34.000 The revealed things belong to us. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:44.320 And so he's driving a wedge between that win question and who they are and who God is. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:54.320 Because when we are obsessed with the win question, underlying that is this thing, I want to know things the way God knows them. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:01.120 It's almost as if there's a hunger for us to sit in the Father's chair. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:08.480 Not just to know so that we might be quieted, but know so that we might feel in control. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:24.159 And for a lot of folks, that is a real challenge of the heart to let go of the wind question, to let go of the times and the seasons, to be obsessed with what might happen. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:39.360 And people are often driven to anxiety because of that, who live their lives fearful of what might happen because they don't know what will happen or when things will transpire. 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:46.080 Afraid of releasing themselves to God in trust. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:50.720 Now notice what the Lord does with these men. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:10.159 He reassures them that the God who watches over them is the God who holds those things in his own hand. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:16.080 And he makes the determinations of how everything will unfold. 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:21.440 I like a story from Corey Tenboom with her father. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:29.600 She and her father were on a trip, on a journey, on a train journey, and she had asked her father a rather heavy question. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:33.440 And her father didn't answer the question. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:38.960 He simply took the baggage that he had had that were next to them as he asked the question. 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:43.759 And he he asked her if she could pick up the piece of luggage. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:50.639 And she was a little girl and it was a heavy bag, and she grabbed it and she pulled with all of her might and she couldn't lift it. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:56.799 And he said, The question that you're asking is like this heavy bag. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.440 It's too heavy for you right now to pick up. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:10.000 But there'll be a day later in your life when you'll be able to handle this luggage and you'll be able to pick up that luggage. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:14.240 That question is an answer only for another day. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:20.960 And so the Lord, when we have our wind questions, is acting like a good father. 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:27.360 He's saying, for you to know these things is too much for you at this moment. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:36.879 I'm holding on to you, and I will carry the burden of the wind until the day comes when you enter into my moments. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:39.440 That's how God works with us. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:42.639 And this is what the Father is doing here with them. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:53.519 He's helping these men to understand that he's not hiding things from them, but he's redirecting them away from their question. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:02.720 And I want to think about that for a moment, just how obsessed they might have been with that when question. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:07.039 Because it's a question they had asked Jesus before. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:15.200 They had longed for themselves to be on that throne, in that place of authority, ruling over the nations. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:24.720 They had looked for that for a long, long time, and yes, there were many in the land at the same time who were looking for the same kind of rule and reign of the Messiah. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:34.240 They were pouring energies into a question that wasn't going to be answered at the time and in the way they thought it would. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:43.279 How often do we spend time and energy and strength asking and worrying over when questions? 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:54.639 How much energy we spend sitting at the window wondering when things will happen when there's actually something else in the room for us to do. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:29.679 Turn around and look at the room. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:32.879 There's something for you to do inside the room. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:43.279 Now, the Cain might king the timetable, but he doesn't keep himself from these men. 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:49.679 The Lord of glory is with us, even if he's not answering all of our questions. 00:14:50.399 --> 00:15:04.799 And so let me encourage you: if you're wrapped up with a when question and worrying over it day and night, take your when question and yourself and put yourself and that question into the Father's hands. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:11.120 He holds the times and the seasons, and as one of his children, he holds you as well. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:21.759 Let's move through this because he's not only going to redirect the wind to the father's hand, he's also going to put something into their hands. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:24.159 In verse 8, he talks about this. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:44.000 And it begins with that adversive word, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit is come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:49.600 They were asking a when question, and he answers with a task. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:59.360 And he tells them that they're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on them. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:02.960 The power and the spirit are joined together. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:07.759 And what they are about to do is not going to be done in the power of human capacity. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:17.440 What they're about to step into could only be done by the power of the Spirit who's going to be working in them and through them in a very short time period. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:23.120 And what he gives them is not a program, but a purpose. 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:31.120 A witness. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:33.120 Now, what is a witness? 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:37.279 A witness is a person who testifies about what they've seen. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:39.360 That's what a witness is. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:46.399 And so here he is giving them that task, but he also gives them a roadmap. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:51.440 Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:57.440 And in one sentence, Christ has laid out the outline of the whole book of Acts. 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:11.039 In Acts 1 through 7, Jerusalem, Acts 8 through 12, Judea and Samaria, Acts 13, all the way to 28, the uttermost parts of the earth. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:18.640 But notice he's also answered their question in a way they didn't expect. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:53.119 And Jesus is lifting their eyes to the prophets who spoke centuries before about how God was actually going to rule over the nations. 00:17:53.680 --> 00:18:01.759 And it wasn't by setting Israel over the people, but by sending the servant into the nations. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.359 We went through the book of Isaiah and we saw that together very, very clearly. 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:15.759 That term servant is used several different times about several different people in the book of Isaiah. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.319 The people of Israel were called the servant. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:20.720 Isaiah himself was a servant. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:26.319 Cyrus was a servant, but there was also another servant, a coming servant. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:33.119 And he was given the task of bringing salvation to the ends of the earth. 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:39.920 And the people Israel in Isaiah chapter 43 were called, You are my witness. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:45.440 But at the same time they were blind and they were deaf. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:53.039 In Isaiah 42, 19, they were unable to speak, unable to hear, unable to see. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:19:10.640 And so Isaiah spoke of another promised servant who would come, one who would not fail like the people were doing in Isaiah's day, one who would be able to represent the truth of God to the nations, like the people of Israel were not doing in that day. 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:19.759 A servant who would be the light to the nations, a servant who would carry God's salvation to the ends of the earth, as it says in Isaiah 49, 6. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:27.759 That servant that Isaiah speaks about is this servant who's about to be brought up into the clouds. 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:37.839 And this servant, the true servant, the true witness, is now saying to his disciples, You will be my witnesses. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:40.400 Do you see what's happening here? 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:58.480 Jesus, the true servant, has come and has fulfilled all of the Father's commands and is completing all of the Father's purposes, extended through those who are believing on him. 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:04.559 And he's saying, You now will be my witnesses. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:17.119 And so he joins his people to the true witness, the true servant, Jesus, who did always the things that pleased the Father. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:22.640 The one who said, I can say nothing but from what I've received from heaven. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:29.839 And the things that he saw, as John said in John chapter 3, that he witnessed in heaven, he brings to us here. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:35.440 And now that servant is saying to his servants, here, you are my witnesses. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:41.200 You are extending the work of the servant of Isaiah as you go forth. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:44.960 So I want us to travel a little bit through the book of Acts together. 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:48.480 Let's just take a journey very quickly through this book. 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:58.240 Take a look at verse 8 again and pick up that word, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:00.640 And now move your eyes over to verse 22. 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:06.160 Beginning from the baptism of John until this day, he was taken up from us. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:12.240 From among these it is necessary that one become a witness with us of the resurrection. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:18.799 So there is this idea that witness of the resurrection of this Christ has to be accomplished. 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:21.680 Let's go over to chapter 3 in verse 15. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:28.960 Here Peter is preaching. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:33.519 He said, You denied the holy and righteous one and asked to have a murderer released to you. 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:38.480 You killed the source of life in verse 15, whom God raised from the dead. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:41.440 We are witnesses of this. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:48.480 By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you now see and know. 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:54.079 So faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of you all. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:59.119 Now turn over to chapter 5 in verse 32. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:07.440 Peter and the apostles replied in verse 29, We must obey God rather than people. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:12.480 And the God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging him on a tree. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:19.119 God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:22.640 We are witnesses of this thing, of these things. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:27.519 And so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:30.880 Now flip a few pages over to chapter 10. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:35.839 In verse 30. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:38.720 Well, I'll start in verse 37. 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:44.960 Let me start in verse 36. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:52.640 He sent the message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all. 00:22:52.880 --> 00:23:10.079 You know the events that took place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy Spirit, and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil, because God was with them. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:17.759 We ourselves are witnesses of everything he did in both Judean country and in Jerusalem. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:21.200 And yet they killed him by bringing him, hanging him on a tree. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:25.599 And God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen. 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:36.319 Not by all the people, but by us whom God has appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:38.640 Now turn to chapter 22. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:43.599 This word gets pushed deeper and deeper into the whole book. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:52.000 And here the Apostle Paul takes it up in verse 15 of Acts 22. 00:23:55.200 --> 00:24:10.000 In verse 14, he said, The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his will, to see the righteous one, and to hear the words from his mouth, since you will be a witness for him to all people of what you've seen and heard. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:13.920 And then take a look at verse 20 of that same chapter. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:24.559 There it says, And when the blood of your witness, Stephen, was being shed, I stood there giving approval and guarded the clothes of those who were killed. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:29.680 Now turn to chapter 26, in verse 16. 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:40.799 Paul here is recounting his testimony in verse 20, verse 15. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:42.799 He begins by talking about it. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:44.480 Who are you, Lord? 00:24:44.720 --> 00:25:05.599 But then in verse 26, or no, chapter 26, verse 16, he said, The Lord replied, I am Jesus, the one you're persecuting, but get up and stand on your feet, for I've appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you've seen and what you will see of me. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:10.880 Now let's go back to Acts 13 for just a second before we head back to Acts 1. 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:15.519 I want you to bring your eyes on Acts 13 and verse 47. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:31.599 Paul in verse 46, and Barnabas boldly reply, It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:37.759 Since you reject it and judge yourself unworthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.799 For this is what the Lord has commanded us. 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:48.240 I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:50.559 What is Paul doing here? 00:25:51.039 --> 00:26:05.279 He is taking that very word about the servant of Isaiah, in which the suffering servant of Isaiah would be the light to the Gentiles to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:21.920 And he's saying that in the gospel proclamation, he has been given the mandate of bringing that same salvation message to the ends of the earth through the missionary effort that's going to the ends of the earth. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:28.079 And he brings that very word given to the suffering servant to himself. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:32.000 This is what the Lord has commanded us. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:37.279 And he takes up the very words given to the servant. 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:42.160 Do you see what is happening in the book of Acts here? 00:26:43.119 --> 00:27:09.839 The people are given the command in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, but the rest of the book are all of those men being obedient to the very charge given them as they go in Jerusalem, as they go into Judea and Samaria, as they reach out into the ends of the earth, as they end up at in the book of Acts in 28 in Rome itself. 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:18.160 And this tells us something, that this is the drumbeat of the whole book of Acts. 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:22.480 When we get to Acts 1 and verse 8, this is the drumbeat of the whole book. 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:27.440 Everything is beating to the march of this score right here. 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:28.559 Everything. 00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:24.960 And he is ruling the nations not in power like those men expected, but with the power of grace and the power of forgiveness, and the power of the gospel. 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:30.720 He's not conquering these people with a rod of iron. 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:39.680 He is conquering their hearts by making them his own through the forgiveness of sins. 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:44.319 And this is how he is ruling the nations. 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:50.079 One day, as the angels say, this very same Jesus will return. 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:56.880 But until he returns, this is how he's ruling the nations. 00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:02.079 He's ruling them through the gospel, he's ruling them through the work of grace. 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:11.279 He's ruling them through the messengers who are witnessing and testifying about the Lord Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:16.880 This is the kingdom of grace that comes before the kingdom of glory. 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:22.400 First the witnesses, and then that visible throne. 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:25.119 Now feel this mission. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:27.440 And what it's going to cost these men. 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:33.279 Jerusalem, the very city that crucified Christ, they're going to return to. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:39.519 Judea, the country that had rejected Christ, they're going to enter into. 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:46.240 Samaria, the country they would avoid even going into, they will now enter. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:59.279 And the ends of the earth, well, the outsiders, those other people, the ones who are not belonging to the covenant, they will now give a message of hope and life to in the same Messiah. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:06.160 You see, the king means to walk as Lord in Christ over all people. 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:10.960 And he's now beginning to commission his servants to do just that. 00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:13.519 But it's going to cost them. 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:15.759 It's going to cost them. 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:22.319 Because hidden in that word witness is another English word. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:25.279 The Greek word martus. 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:29.039 We transliterate it martyr. 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:36.160 Some of these men and women are going to be martyred. 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:40.079 But they're all going to be witnesses. 00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:43.920 Many of them are going to suffer for the name of Christ. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:58.960 And God is going to extend his gracious rule of the gospel through the martyrdom and the witness of these people. 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:08.400 As one church historian said, the blood of the saints is the seed of the church. 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:12.559 And they were going to go forth in the name of Christ. 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:16.079 And it wasn't going to be an easy journey for them. 00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:21.359 But it was going to be the means by which God would extend his kingdom. 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:27.039 Now think of these men, what they're told here. 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:32.640 They're told that they are to wait, they're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:43.920 And when that occurs, they would begin to become the kind of witnesses that God has for them to be in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:52.400 He's not telling them that the things that are going to happen are going to come because of their collective abilities or their ingenuity or their creativity. 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:56.799 It's going to happen when the power of God rests upon them. 00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:08.720 And so he's not going to send them off into a journey without also providing them the means by which that task is going to be fulfilled. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:11.200 Just think about it for a second. 00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:19.359 When you see a sailboat in the harbor and you see it moving out of the harbor, you don't see a bunch of people underneath rowing away. 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:24.160 A sailboat lifts up the sail and catches the wind and it moves. 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:28.160 And what moves that sailboat is the wind itself. 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:42.799 And what the Lord is telling these men is raise the sail, let it be filled with the wind, and watch yourself move as you're carried by God into the places He wants you to go. 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:50.640 Their job was not to generate the power, their job was to wait until the power came. 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:52.559 And then they would go. 00:32:53.599 --> 00:33:00.720 This is what it means for them to be a witness, to go the direction that the Lord wants them to move. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:07.519 And he wants them to be in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the outermost parts of the earth. 00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:14.160 And they don't have to convince everybody of every single question that they might have. 00:33:14.559 --> 00:33:19.039 A witness is a witness that testifies of things that they've seen. 00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:28.799 And one of the best examples of a witness is that man in John chapter 9 who was born blind, that God heals and Christ heals him, and he can see. 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:33.759 And he's surrounded by a bunch of religious people who are demanding an answer from him. 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:38.880 And they're saying, We know that the man who healed you was born a sinner. 00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:42.160 And I love the I love his response. 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:47.039 He said, Well, whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. 00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:51.519 But one thing I can tell you was I was blind, but now I see. 00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:05.759 Explain why I can see now. 00:34:06.720 --> 00:34:10.079 Explain why I'm completely transformed. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:18.480 And nobody, we've nowhere in history have we ever read of a man being made sightful like this. 00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:22.000 Who do you think this guy is? 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:24.719 Do you also want to be his disciples? 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:27.440 I love that account. 00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:36.559 The man couldn't enter into some deep, convoluted theological discussion, but he could certainly testify about what had happened to him. 00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:43.199 Just like the woman at the well said, Look, just just come see a man. 00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:45.280 Just come see him. 00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:51.360 Now you may be here saying, I, you know, I just don't know the scriptures well enough. 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:52.719 I can't argue with people well enough. 00:34:53.039 --> 00:34:56.079 They've got questions that go beyond my ability to answer. 00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:03.119 One thing you absolutely do have as a believer in Christ is you can say, I was once blind, but now I see. 00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:04.239 Right? 00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:05.599 I can you can say that. 00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:08.559 And there's nobody can disrepute that at all. 00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:16.559 Because the transformation that the gospel does in your heart is such where they're looking at you going, what happened? 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:19.119 What happened? 00:35:20.719 --> 00:35:22.559 Just tell them what happened. 00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:24.000 Just tell them. 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:34.719 And so here he is, filling them, as we'll see soon, and sending them. 00:35:35.760 --> 00:35:46.880 And he's put us into this same equation because the uttermost parts of the earth, the ends of the earth, we're still reaching those places. 00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:57.119 We're still partnering together with people in places around this world where there are those who have never ever heard the name of Christ. 00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:00.079 And we're bringing that message to them. 00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:01.599 We're partnering together. 00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:15.039 We're sacrificing our very own, who would be sitting in this pew otherwise, and sending them around the world so that they might do exactly what these people are doing here. 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:21.039 Testifying to the grace of God found in Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:46.239 To think this week, perhaps, of one person that maybe you can't argue with, that you can't answer all their questions for, but one person this week you could say, Can I share how I was once blind, but now I see? 00:36:47.119 --> 00:36:49.360 And tell you just who did that for me. 00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:52.400 And be a witness. 00:36:52.639 --> 00:36:54.159 And be a witness. 00:36:55.519 --> 00:37:04.079 So he takes their win question out of their hands, and he puts it into the Father's hands, because that's where it belongs. 00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:21.920 And then he takes from the throne room of heaven a promise that the day would come very shortly in which heaven itself would come to earth and send them off to places to be a testimony of Christ. 00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:28.719 Let's wrap up this section of scripture by looking at the third part of the king ascending. 00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:39.519 In verse 9, after he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him up out of their sight. 00:37:41.599 --> 00:37:43.760 Now, notice the wording here. 00:38:21.679 --> 00:38:35.360 And uh, you know, it was a fair, fair spring day and you know, in this area, and a little bit of cloud there floated in, and Jesus just disappeared into that partly cloudy day. 00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:37.840 That's not what it's doing here. 00:38:40.320 --> 00:38:46.880 The cloud in Scripture is always associated with the presence of God. 00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:56.480 The cloud on Mount Sinon, the cloud that filled the temple that the priests couldn't stand in. 00:38:58.239 --> 00:39:05.199 The nation of Israel who were, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 10, who were under the cloud. 00:39:05.679 --> 00:39:09.360 They were encompassed by the very presence of God. 00:39:09.599 --> 00:39:11.119 That's what it's saying. 00:39:11.920 --> 00:39:17.360 These are the men who went up into the Mount of Transfiguration into a cloud. 00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:23.039 And in the cloud they heard, This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. 00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:25.360 The cloud. 00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:30.719 The cloud that's receiving Christ is the cloud of glory. 00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:40.400 The cloud that's receiving him is to signify that he's being brought welcomingly into the presence of God, the Father. 00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:50.880 And these men, like we would do, are just staring up into the sky, amazed at the whole thing. 00:39:51.840 --> 00:39:57.599 And the Peter of the Mount Transfiguration is not far from the Peter of this mountain. 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:01.440 Just staring. 00:40:02.079 --> 00:40:08.239 And his Peter said there to Jesus, Jesus, it was really good for us to be here. 00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:16.559 And uh, we should set up three booths here, and we should just memorialize this moment. 00:40:18.480 --> 00:40:25.760 And Jesus doesn't answer their question this time, the angels do. 00:40:26.719 --> 00:40:27.920 With a question. 00:40:28.159 --> 00:40:30.960 They ask a question and then they give a promise. 00:40:31.599 --> 00:40:38.320 Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up into heaven? 00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:46.159 Uh, because a guy just went up into heaven, that's why. 00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:51.599 It's not a cruel question. 00:40:52.320 --> 00:40:57.119 It's meant to turn to something better. 00:41:00.639 --> 00:41:08.079 This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, there's that word again, taken, right? 00:41:08.719 --> 00:41:13.840 Will come in the same way that you've seen him going into heaven. 00:41:15.920 --> 00:41:24.719 They might have thought about Christ leaving as a departure, but Christ was being received. 00:41:25.280 --> 00:41:29.519 It was a coronation, not a departure. 00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:35.519 He was brought into the place of rule and authority. 00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:50.559 Daniel in Daniel 7 said that one like the Son of Man, coming with clouds of heaven, was brought before the ancient of days and given dominion and glory in a kingdom that will never pass away. 00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:58.159 Jesus wasn't going up and disappearing, he was going up and receiving a kingdom. 00:41:59.199 --> 00:42:11.280 And this is why in Acts chapter 2, when Peter preaches to the people in Jerusalem, he says, This same Jesus has accomplished what you see and hear today. 00:42:11.920 --> 00:42:25.280 Because he's acting from the throne room of heaven on earth as they proclaimed the gospel, and as the Spirit is manifested to all of those people who had come for the feast of Pentecost. 00:42:27.519 --> 00:42:35.199 And so they're asking the question Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel at this time? 00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:41.360 And the answer, in a way, is yes. 00:42:43.360 --> 00:42:45.199 It's just about to happen. 00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:53.679 Because the true Israel just sat on the throne, the true servant just sat on the throne. 00:42:54.000 --> 00:43:07.679 The true one, the righteous one, who is now sending the edict of the gospel of grace and forgiveness of sins to the nations, is issuing his command. 00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:11.599 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. 00:43:12.639 --> 00:43:13.280 There. 00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:16.239 And he told his servant Elisha that if Elisha stayed with him and continued with him until the day of departure, a twofold spirit would fall upon him. 00:44:17.519 --> 00:44:29.840 And he watched Elijah go off into the heavenlies, and he received the mantle of Elijah and walked in the spirit in a two-fold manner of Elijah. 00:44:30.079 --> 00:44:43.280 And Jesus said to these disciples before he went into the passion of his suffering, his death, his burial, and his resurrection, he said, Greater things than I you shall do. 00:44:45.360 --> 00:45:05.760 And here they are, these men are now about to receive the Spirit in such a way that they would not just be witnesses like Jesus was in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, but they would be witnesses of Jesus in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. 00:45:06.400 --> 00:45:10.400 They would see the dead nations come to life. 00:45:12.719 --> 00:45:17.280 All because of the enthroned Jesus Christ. 00:45:26.480 --> 00:45:29.199 The angels have been asking them questions. 00:45:30.159 --> 00:45:35.360 At the empty tomb, why are you looking for the living among the dead? 00:45:35.679 --> 00:45:36.960 He's not here. 00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:41.519 To these men, why are you gazing up into heaven? 00:45:41.840 --> 00:45:43.599 You have somewhere to be. 00:45:44.800 --> 00:45:52.639 And they're sitting at the window with the wind question wasn't where God wanted them. 00:45:53.519 --> 00:46:19.119 He wanted them to realize that there was a place for them to go, and that there was an empowerment for them to enter into that, and that there was a task that was ahead of them, and that was to be their focus, energized by this reigning, risen, ascended king, until the time came when he, in his own times and determinations, comes back. 00:46:20.559 --> 00:46:42.960 That is the commission to the church, and that is the commission to us, to be the extension of the message of the true servant, the true Israel, as recipients of that message and as witnesses of it in our generation, continuing to bring it to the very ends of the earth. 00:47:00.079 --> 00:47:07.679 And suddenly two men in white clothes stand by them and they say, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? 00:47:08.159 --> 00:47:20.079 This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come into the same way in which you've seen him going into heaven. 00:47:20.960 --> 00:47:22.719 This same Jesus. 00:47:38.559 --> 00:47:40.159 This same Jesus. 00:47:42.719 --> 00:47:55.840 And the hands that were still scarred by the nails, and the side that was still marked by the spear, that same Jesus. 00:47:58.960 --> 00:48:07.599 You see, he's not ascended into the throne room as a distant emperor who never knows our trouble. 00:48:08.480 --> 00:48:20.000 He is the same Jesus who lived this earthly life and knows in every place in which we ourselves are put into testings and trials and troubles. 00:48:20.880 --> 00:48:32.719 And he now sits on the throne and issues from there not just a command to go, but a work that he continues to do of interceding on behalf of his own. 00:48:33.119 --> 00:48:34.880 This same Jesus. 00:48:35.519 --> 00:48:48.960 And this same Jesus who brought himself and laid down his life on the cross, brothers and sisters, is the same Jesus who is working now and going to welcome you into his presence. 00:48:49.360 --> 00:48:50.960 This same Jesus. 00:48:52.719 --> 00:48:59.119 And if you're here this morning and you don't know Christ as your Savior, I want to say something here. 00:48:59.599 --> 00:49:11.599 This same Jesus came for undeserving people, gave his life up so that by believing on him you might have eternal life. 00:49:12.239 --> 00:49:26.639 This same Jesus, he stepped into your guilt, he stepped into your failure, he stepped into the consequences of your sin that you could never pay for. 00:49:28.880 --> 00:49:33.519 And he says, by the blood of Christ alone you are forgiven. 00:49:34.639 --> 00:49:41.599 And the scriptures issue in this message of the king that we are to declare around this world. 00:49:42.159 --> 00:49:43.519 Believe on him. 00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:08.800 It is a cry and a command to all, believe the gospel and live. 00:50:09.599 --> 00:50:12.320 It is a call to everyone. 00:50:12.639 --> 00:50:15.039 This is your only hope. 00:50:15.760 --> 00:50:25.280 And if you're here this morning and you don't know Christ as your Savior, while we still breathe this air in this room, there is hope for you. 00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:28.239 Believe on Jesus Christ. 00:50:28.639 --> 00:50:31.679