I had the opportunity to preach at the Fresno Rescue Mission on Saturday, April 12th. It has almost been a year since my last preaching opportunity so I was pretty nervous, but I trust God used the message for His Glory.
I’m thankful for the Fresno Rescue Mission’s willingness to have me and for those who showed up to be an encouragement. I am so grateful for the partners in ministry who were willing to serve with their musical gifts and arrive early for prayer. That was a wonderful blessing.
Here’s the manuscript for my sermon.
Promises of the Risen Messiah | Acts 1:1-8
This morning I want to look at the first 8 verses of the Book of Acts. They show us a picture of the apostles after Christ’s resurrection and prior to His ascension. And their appearance is quite different at the beginning of Acts compared to the end of the book. They transform from timid and confused men, into a group of evangelists who proclaim the gospel “with boldness” (Acts 28:30). How does this happen?
First, we’ll look at how Acts is The Continuation of Christ’s Ministry (v.1-3). Secondly, we’ll notice The Promise of the Holy Spirit (v.4-5). Thirdly, we’ll see The Promise of the Expansion of the Kingdom (v.6-8).
The Continuation of Christ’s Ministry (v.1-3)
In the first 5 verses of the Book of Acts we have Luke reminding his audience, Theophilus, of where he left off. These verses serve as Luke’s introduction—a short summary of the last chapter of Luke (24).
Verse 1 reads, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” That single word “began” contains a wealth of detail. What Luke is saying is that his Gospel account—which contains Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection—was only the beginning of Christ’s ministry. He is telling his reader that this book will contain the continuation of Christ’s work. The Book of Acts is a picture of Christ’s work through the early church.
It should be comforting to know that Christ’s work on earth did not end with his ascension into heaven. While He is no longer present in physical form, He is always present with His church spiritually.
Christ continues to actively work in and through His followers even while He is seated at the right hand of the Father. Paul beautifully declares this truth in Romans saying, “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me.”(Romans 15:18). He couldn’t take the credit for anything he had done because ultimately he wasn’t the one doing it—Christ was working through him.
And in Colossians Paul states that the riches of the mystery of the church is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Christ dwells within His people. He dwells within His church body.
Looking back at our passage in verses two and three, Luke points out that the resurrection has occurred and now Jesus remains on the earth in physical form for forty days. Luke notes three things Christ did during this time.
First, Luke says that Jesus was “[giving] commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles” (v.2). He was commissioning them by the Spirit to preach the gospel. He tells them they will be “witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (v.8). We also know that He commanded them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.
Second, we see that Christ was proving His physical resurrection (v.3a). We know just by adding up the appearances documented in the New Testament that He appeared to His followers on a minimum of ten separate occasions over the course of these forty days.
James Boice, a well respected pastor and author who died in June of 2000, says,
“Some of [the disciples] had stood at the cross. They had heard the blow of the hammers. They had seen the nails driven and then later, when the soldiers came, had seen the spear thrust into Christ’s side. They knew Jesus had died.”
They were convinced of his death and they had lost all hope that Christ was the Messiah. In fact, most of them returned to whatever they were doing before Jesus called them—they went back to fishing. They were not anticipating His resurrection and now they needed to be convinced that He was alive just as much as they were convinced that He was dead.
Back in Luke 24 the disciples are troubled and doubting so Jesus tells them to touch him (v.39). He tells them to notice his hands and feet—presumably referring to his wounds from the cross. He wanted to make it plain to them that he was physically present with them.
He was just as real then as he was before he died. They weren’t seeing a ghost. While they are watching him in amazement he provides them with another proof that he was flesh and bone. He asks them if anyone has some food (v.41). Ghosts don’t get hungry.
John (20:25-28) shows us Thomas’ reaction. Upon touching Christ’s wounds he fell to the ground declaring, “My Lord and My God.” It is unlikely that Doubting Thomas lived up to his moniker after that experience.
Thomas was not alone in his sentiment. All of the apostles became completely confident that Jesus Christ was God. Church historians tell us that every apostle except John was martyred. Having been assured by the resurrection, the apostles could hold fast to the promise that when they died their soul would be in the presence of the Lord forever (Luke 23:43; Acts 7:59; Philippians 1:23) and one day, they too would take part in the resurrection from the dead (1 Corinthians 15).
The other benefit of proving his resurrection so convincingly to his apostles is how much more credible their message becomes to others. How likely are you to believe it if someone tells you they witnessed a supernatural event one time? However, if they told you they witnessed it many times over, the story becomes more believable.
Add to that the fact that Christ appeared before many, many people. At one point Jesus appeared to 500 people at once (1 Cor. 15:6). All of these people would lend greater support to the good news of the Gospel. You can almost picture the apostles preaching about seeing the resurrected Christ and pointing to others in the crowd saying, “he was there, he can tell you the same thing I’m telling you.” It would have been very easy to dismiss their claims had Christ only appeared to a few people on a few occasions.
We can never over-emphasize the importance of the physical resurrection of Christ. Scripture teaches us that without a truly physical resurrection our faith is futile and we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:17-19). Our faith is bankrupt apart from Christ’s resurrection.
The third thing Christ did during these forty days was He spent time with the apostles speaking about the Kingdom of God (v.3b). Luke tells us nothing of the nature of this teaching here, but in Luke 24 we gain some insight.
On the road to Emmaus Jesus appears to 2 of his disciples who are in sorrow because they failed to properly understand the prophecies foretelling of the suffering Messiah. Jesus Christ’s admonishment of their confusion is coupled with a profound revelation.
Luke 24:25–27 “And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Later on in verse 45 of the same chapter we read that Christ “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” In all of their knowledge of the Old Testament they lacked understanding because they didn’t see it as foreshadowing Christ.
So at least part of what Jesus taught His disciples about the kingdom of God included the revelation that all of the Scriptures point to him.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit (v.4-5)
“You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (v.5). The disciples were baptized by the Spirit in order for their witnessing to be effective. They needed the power of the Holy Spirit in order for there to be any fruit in their preaching. It is not the preaching of the Word that converts a person’s soul. Only God can breathe life into dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-6). Only God can cause a person to be born again. Without the coming of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of the apostles would have never taken root.
Once again we should remember that the Gospel is not the end of Christ’s work. Once He ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit came, Christ did not cease His work. They did not replace each other; rather they began to work together in ways the world had yet to see. He continued to be active throughout the life of the early church and He is still active today.
This is the mystery of the Trinity. That one God exists in three distinct persons. So we see them as separate entities at times (as at Jesus’ baptism), and then at other times we see them as one (Jn.14:16-20; Acts 16:7). The Father is called the Creator (John 4:21), yet it is through the Son that everything was created (John 1:1). In the same way, Jesus Christ is working in us through the Holy Spirit.
The Promise of the Expansion of the Kingdom (v.6-8)
As they all gathered on the day of the ascension, the disciples asked Jesus a question. Verse 6 reads, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” John Calvin in his commentary says that there are as many errors in this question as there are words.
The disciples were still caught up in the earthly reign of Christ. Even after forty days of sitting under the teaching of the risen Messiah, they were still struggling to see God’s bigger picture. They were still waiting for him to claim the throne so they could rule alongside Him. How did the apostles so soon forget what Jesus had already told them?
They had been taught their whole lives one way of interpreting prophetic passages from the Old Testament. And they were told over and over that God would one day re-establish a political kingdom. They thought the Messiah would bring about a Theocracy, a time similar to the Davidic Kingdom, where God would rule with Christ on an earthly throne.
Throughout the Old Testament the restoration of Israel is often associated with God’s Spirit. Jesus had just informed them that they would be baptized by the Spirit so their question is not completely out in left field (Ezek.39:28-29; Joel 2:28-3:1; Zech. 12:8-10). But nonetheless, they seemed to have missed what Jesus had been teaching them.
They were expecting the Messiah to sit on an earthly throne when in reality the only throne Christ was prepared to sit on was seated at the right hand of His Father in Heaven. And it is from there that He would rule in the hearts and minds of His children.
Jesus makes two corrections to their misguided theology in his response. First, in verse 7 He tells them that the “times and seasons” were not something they should be concerned with. God was not going to reveal this knowledge to them.
Secondly, He tells them what they should be concerned with. Namely, that they would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses beyond Israel. Their vision for the kingdom of God was too narrow. Jesus breaks their vision wide open.
Look down at verse 8 with me, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Later on in Acts 8:1 we read, “And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Then in 8:4, “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.”
The apostles remained in Jerusalem during this time, but those who were scattered began to preach. Witnessing about Jesus wasn’t a job reserved solely for the apostles. One of the reasons why Christianity spread so rapidly was the belief that every believer is called to take part in the mission of the Church.
God’s chosen people had expanded from the nation of Israel to include “all nations” to the “end of the earth”. There was no longer the need to convert from one’s own culture to Judaism in order to be a part of God’s Covenant Community. Jesus Christ had broken down the wall of separation.
God has reserved a place before His throne where people from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” will gather to worship Him together (Revelations 7:9). And it is here—in the beginning of the Book of Acts—that we see this expansion beginning to take shape.
Christ promised that the kingdom would advance and it did. And the best thing is—His promise applies to us too! We—as the Body of Christ—are called to share the Gospel (the Good News) in our home, to our neighbors, to strangers, and to the world. And His promise is that all will hear it, to the “end of the earth”.
Sharing the Gospel is not a task reserved for the pulpit. While it should always be found there, it should not be left there.
If you are filled with the Holy Spirit you will be His witness in this world. It’s a promise! It doesn’t matter what level of understanding you are at. It doesn’t matter what kind of background you have or how articulate you are. We already know from the Old Testament that God spoke through a donkey. He can speak through anyone. What matters is whether or not you are filled with the Spirit?
How do you know if you’re filled with the Spirit? Quite simply—do you believe the Gospel? Have you repented of your sin and turned to Christ as your only hope for salvation? Scripture tells us that when you do so, you immediately receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; 19:4-6).
If you have believed the message of the Gospel, you didn’t do that of your own accord. It took a supernatural work. You were drawn by the Father as someone shared the Gospel with you. Now you are to go and do likewise! And you can go in the confidence that Christ’s promise of the Kingdom’s expansion applies to you too. You can trust that when you witness to others it is God accomplishing His work through you.
Conclusion/Application
I mentioned that the apostles begin in Acts as a completely different bunch than they appear at the end of the book. Upon receiving empowerment from the Holy Spirit these men were transformed into bold witnesses who proclaimed Christ at all costs. But in the end, they did not glory in their own accomplishments but gave all the glory to Jesus Christ for doing the work through them.
2 Cor. 1:19-20 says in reference to Christ, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him.” I think that’s an excellent summary of this section of Acts. Every promise in Scripture finds its fulfillment in Christ. If we have anything to glory in, let it be in Christ and Him crucified.
We’ve read of a promise to receive the Holy Spirit. We’ve read of a promise of kingdom expansion. Let us never forget in whom we trust and owe all of our gratitude for securing these promises for us. As the ancient hymn says, “Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling.” Amen.
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