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Acts 1:1-26

Acts of the Holy Spirit

  • Rich Jones
  • Weekend Messages
  • January 11, 2014

The church has flaws, but Jesus loves the church and that’s why He sent the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to transform our lives so that the church can make an impact on the world. In many ways, the book of Acts is God’s playbook. Jesus gave us His heart when He said, “I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” The book of Acts then, is about Jesus doing exactly that, building His church.

  • Sermon Notes
  • Transcription
  • Scripture

The Acts of the Holy Spirit

Acts 1:1-26

Today we begin our study the book of Acts. It’s commonly called The Acts of the Apostles, but perhaps a better title might be The Acts of the Holy Spirit because as we go through this book chapter by chapter that’s what we will see, the Holy Spirit moving in power as the church is born and the word of God is moving throughout the world.

The book begins with a further account of Jesus appearing to the disciples after He is raised from the dead. In fact, we read that He presented Himself alive, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. This book will tell us about the moving of God upon the church after Jesus ascends to the Father.

The Gospels are about the ministry of Jesus Christ here on earth, but the book of Acts is about the ministry of the Holy Spirit that Jesus sends. Jesus said, “It is to your advantage that I go away… If I go, I will send the Helper to you.”

In Matthew 28, before Jesus departs from the disciples, He gives them the great commission, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

I wonder if they were saying to themselves, how are we going to do that? We are just ordinary men living in a messed up world. And in many ways I think we could say the same thing.

We are also living in a messed up world. Look at everything that’s happening in the Middle East, and in Africa, and now it looks like Asia is heating up. Then you see what’s happening in our own culture as it seems that worldliness is having its way. You know it’s a messed up world when a former NBA basketball player with an attitude sings happy birthday to one of the world’s dictators and embarrasses himself and his country.

What do you do when you live in a messed up world? Withdraw? Live in a Christian cocoon? Isolate yourself and your family? No, Jesus wants us to infiltrate, to make an impact on the world around us.

In many ways, the book of Acts is God’s playbook. Jesus gave us His heart when He said, “I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” The book of Acts then, is about Jesus doing exactly that, building His church.

I know many people are quite critical of the church. Some are mad at the church or have been hurt by the church. Some won’t go to church until they find a hypocrite-free church. No, you’ll never find a hypocrite-free church, and if you do ever find one, you most certainly shouldn’t join it, because you’ll ruin it. What you need is a church filled with hypocrites and sinners so you’ll be right at home.

The church has flaws, that’s true, but Jesus loves the church. It’s called the bride of Christ. And if Jesus loves the church and gave Himself up for her, then we should also love the church and strengthen and edify it as well.

Jesus knows the church has flaws, that’s why He sends the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to transform our lives so that the church can make an impact on the world.

I. You Shall Receive Power

  • The first thing Luke focuses on is that the disciples were to wait for the Holy Spirit which Jesus promised.
  • The disciples, however, are focused on the question, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
  • They had asked this question before. The scripture speaks prophetically about a future time when Israel’s golden age would be restored and a great king would sit on the throne of David once again.
  • Now that Jesus is raised from the dead, what an amazing opportunity; you talk about a man to sit on the throne of David, how about someone who was raised from the dead?
  • Jesus gives them a word of correction and then a great promise, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses…”

A. The Spirit is the power to change

  • When Jesus promises the Holy Spirit here, He said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”
  • A good student might ask, “Didn’t Jesus already breath on them to receive the Holy Spirit?” That’s correct, in John 20, Jesus breathed on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
  • It’s important to understand that every believer who receives Jesus Christ is given the Holy Spirit as a seal upon them; by this you become an adopted son or daughter of our Father in heaven.

Ephesians 1:13-14,… having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Illus – Peter had been breathed on by Jesus when he fished all night and caught nothing. Something more was needed and that’s what Jesus was promising.

B. Ask for the power of the Holy Spirit

  • In many ways, the Acts of the Holy Spirit are still being written. God is still moving in transforming and making an impact today.
  • When you look at the content and substance of what was happening in the early church, we should be like that today. The methods and styles may change, but the message of the cross, the love of God poured out, and the power of transforming lives is the same.

Illus – When my kids were little I used to play and sing the song, “House at Pooh Corner,” by Kenny Loggins. I first heard that song when it came out on a vinyl record, then an eight track, then a cassette, then the CD, then the MP3 that can that can be played from an iPod. It’s been through many methods and formats, but it’s still the same song. My girls still love to hear me sing it, and it was that song that played when my middle daughter did our father/daughter dance at her wedding.

  • The early church was given the same Holy Spirit that is given to us and we have the same message, the same content and substance.
  • But the church that only grows because of the style or fashion or format may grow numerically, but will never grow spiritually. That’s the power of God by the Holy Spirit to transform lives.

2 Timothy 3:1-5, In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied his power; avoid such men as these.

Illus – One of the television stations called a few weeks ago asking for a comment about the recent trend of atheist churches. I can certainly understand their need to gather for fellowship and enjoy each other’s company, but I can’t imagine what message of hope an atheist church might say to someone struggling with addiction, or a broken marriage, or a broken heart. The message of hope is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is sent by the power of the Holy Spirit.

  • When Jesus spoke of the promise of the Holy Spirit, He also encouraged us to ask to receive Him.

Luke 11:9-13 How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

Illus – In the book of James, he makes an interesting comparison to the prophet Elijah…

James 5:16-17, The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

II. Be Busy until He Comes

  • In other words, God will surely fulfill His Word, but restoring the kingdom to Israel is not what God is doing now.
  • God was then and is now establishing His rule and reign in the hearts of men.
  • I think many people today asked the same question, wondering when Christ will return and establish His kingdom here on earth, and while He gives us the signs of the times so we can discern that we’re living in the latter days, He wants us to be about our Father’s business until He returns.

A. “Well done, my good and faithful servant”

  • Those are the words we should long to hear.
  • Jesus told a parable because the disciples supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

Luke 19:13, 17, “He called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I return.’… “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’”

  • What is Jesus asking of us to do with our lives until He returns? That’s Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses…”
  • I think that many people hear that word ‘witness’ they get a picture of being a witness in a courtroom, testifying to something they may have seen.
  • I see it much more relationally.

Illus – If hadn’t met my friend, Pastor Matthew, I can tell you about him, because we’re friends and I know him very well. I can tell you about his heart and his character and I know he has a heart to serve.

  • I can also tell you about God’s heart and character because we have a relationship. But more than that, I can tell you that He has transformed my life and if it wasn’t for Him, I would have been destroyed.
  • It’s the power of the transformed life that is unashamed because of the joy you now have and the confidence of faith.

Illus – When Jesus healed a man born blind he was brought before the Jewish leaders and they tried to trap him into saying that Jesus was a sinner. I love his response…

John 9:25, He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

B. Godly people will lead

App – Well, Bartholomew wasn’t mentioned either. You don’t have to be mentioned to be effective; just available.

Acts 1:1-26 
The Acts of the Holy Spirit

January 12, 2014

The longer name for this book is the Acts of the apostles, although I suggest a better name might be the Acts of the Holy Spirit. This is because as you go through the book, verse by verse chapter by chapter, that’s what you see. The Holy Spirit is moving in power; the church is born by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is moving throughout the world.
Chapter 1 with a further account of the Lord Jesus appearing to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. In fact, we’re going to read in just a few verses that he presented himself alive, with many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days.

For 40 days he appeared to them with many convincing proofs. In fact at one point he appeared to more than 500 people at one time. Convincing proof. Absolutely. And when he appeared he spoke to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. So you look at the book of Acts and it’s really God on the move upon the church after Jesus ascends to the father.
The Gospels are about the ministry of Jesus Christ here on the earth, but the book of Acts is about the ministry of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sends. Jesus said, “It’s to your advantage that I go away. If I go away, I will send him, the helper, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth.”

In Matthew 28 we read some of the last words Jesus spoke to his disciples, this is called the great commission. Here’s what he said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you even to the end of the age.”

Now when they heard that, I have to wonder, do they say to themselves, “How are we going to do that? How are we going to go and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to observe all the words of our Lord? How are we going to do that? We’re just ordinary men living in a messed up world, how are we going to accomplish this?”
In many ways we can say the same thing, we’re just ordinary men and women living in a messed up world, too. All you have to do is look at what’s going on today. Look at what’s happening in the Middle East, look what’s happening in Africa, look what’s happening right now in Asia, that’s starting to heat up. And then you look at our own culture and you see what’s happening here. Worldliness seems to be having its way. It’s a messed up world when a former NBA player with an attitude goes to North Korea and sings happy birthday to one of the world’s worst dictators. I’m sorry, that’s a messed up world.

What do you do when you live in a messed up world? Withdraw? Live in a Christian cocoon? Isolate yourself and your family? No, that’s not what Jesus said. He doesn’t say to isolate, we are called infiltrate. Make a difference, make an impact on the world. That’s what God’s heart is.

Look at the book of Acts and you see it. The book of Acts in many ways is God’s playbook. We need to take a page from God’s playbook and understand his heart.
Jesus gave us an insight into what he desires to do when he said, “I will build my church, I’m going to build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” You see, there is the heart of the Lord. That’s what the book of Acts is about; Jesus building his church.

I know people are often critical of the church. Some people are mad at the church; some people have been hurt by the church. Some people the church is full of hypocrites and won’t go to church until they find a hypocrite free church. I know. Actually, they’re never going to find a hypocrite free church. And if they ever do find a hypocrite free church, most certainly they shouldn’t join it, because they’ll ruin it. No, they don’t need a hypocrite free church what they need is to find a church that’s filled with hypocrites and sinners, that way they’ll be right at home. Isn’t that true?
Look, we know the church has flaws. We know that. The church is filled with people with flaws, therefore the church has flaws. What we need to understand is that while yes, this is true; Jesus loves the church. Now if Jesus loves the church, which is called the bride of Christ, shouldn’t we love the church and edify and build up and strengthen the church as well? Hey, Jesus understands, he knows the church has flaws. That’s why he sends the Holy Spirit, that’s why sends the word of God to transform the church so that it will make an impact on the world.

God changes the world by impacting the lives of those who have taken hold of the truth. That’s what he wants us to take hold of and understand for our lives. Let’s read this first part and then look and see how God would use it in our lives. Beginning in verse one…
Acts 1:1-2 The first account I composed, O Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen.

The author of the book of Acts is none other than Luke, the writer of the gospel of Luke. So who’s Luke? He’s actually a physician, a medical doctor. How did he get into the story? He was a convert through the ministry of Paul and he traveled with Paul on his missionary journeys. He became an eyewitness to the things that we’re going to read in the book of Acts. He put together an account of the life of Jesus which we have as the gospel of Luke. It’s interesting that Luke is the only Gentile writer of Scripture.

So Luke writes the book of Acts to Theophilus. So who’s Theophilus? Many have suggested this or surmise that or proposed an idea. We really don’t know for sure, but it’s interesting that the meaning of his name is “friend of God." Theos means God; phileo is a Greek word we spoke of recently and it means “friend.” So it’s interesting for us that he’s writing to this man whose name means “son of God.”

Acts 1:3-5 To these he also presented himself alive, after his suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. And gathering them together, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the father had promised, (speaking of the Holy Spirit), “Which,” he said, “you heard of from me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

That’s what he’s telling them, “Wait, you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit of which John spoke. John baptized with water, but you’re going to be baptized by the Holy Spirit.” That’s what he wants them to understand, but the disciples focus on something else… Continuing in verse six.

Acts 1:6-11 And so when they had come together, they were asking him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (He then corrects them and brings them back on point) “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the father has fixed by his own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” And after he had said these things, he was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; and he also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking at the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven.”

I. You Shall Receive Power

We will look at the other verses, but I want to just stop and go back over this because these verses at the beginning here in the book of Acts are in many ways the theme of the entire book; especially when he says, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Now the first thing Luke is focusing on here is the power of the Holy Spirit which is poured out. The disciples however, focus on this question, “Is it at this time that you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

This is not the first time they have asked this question. This is on their heart. They have been assuming and hoping that this would be the case for quite some time. What are they hoping for? The Scripture speaks prophetically that there will be a time when the golden age of Israel is restored and there will be a great King who sits upon the throne of David. So when was the golden age? That was when David was King. Israel was a rising power. David’s son Solomon sat on the throne of Israel and it became one of the great powers in the world. Israel was a great nation and there was a powerful king sitting on the throne. The Scripture says there will be a day when the golden age of Israel is indeed restored and there will be a great king sitting on the throne of Israel again who will be called the Son of David.

So the disciples are thinking, “Hey, could this be the day?” You want to talk about a king sitting on the throne of David, how about a man raised from the dead? What an impact on the world. This is it! “Now is the opportunity, right, Lord?" Jesus is essentially saying, no, and corrects them, bringing them back on focus. No. It’s about this, you wait and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses, that’s what God is doing right now.

A. The Spirit is the power to change

The Holy Spirit coming in power is an awesome thing to consider because of the impact it will make on the whole world. The Holy Spirit is the power to change, to be transformed; He is the Spirit of God, the power of God poured out. You will receive power, he said, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

Now, a good student of the Scriptures might say, “Didn’t Jesus already breathe on them to receive the Holy Spirit? I think I read that somewhere.” And you would be correct. We read it recently in John 20, after the resurrection, when Jesus appeared to the disciples. They were gathered together and he breathed on them to receive the Holy Spirit. Not it’s important to understand that every believer who receives Jesus Christ is given the Holy Spirit. Every believer who receives Jesus Christ has the Holy Spirit as a seal upon them. By this they become adopted as a son or daughter of our Father in heaven. The Holy Spirit is given to all who receive Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:13-14,… having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Please realize that when Jesus breathed on them in John 20 and they received the Holy Spirit, that is when Peter went up to the Sea of Galilee with the disciples and went fishing. He fished all night and caught nothing. An absolute failure. No, Jesus here in the book of Acts is speaking about something yet greater.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus said they would receive power and you see that in Peter himself. Peter went up to the Sea of Galilee, fished all night and caught nothing and then the next morning Jesus appeared on the shore. It was the presence of the Lord that changed everything. The same Peter who fished all night and caught nothing is the same Peter who denied the Lord three times, but now is the same Peter, under the power the Holy Spirit, who stands in Jerusalem, declares the gospel of Jesus Christ and thousands come to faith in one day. Now we are seeing the power of God transforming lives; taking hold of what God is doing is an amazing thing. “You will receive power,” Jesus said, “you will be my witnesses unto the remotest part of the earth.”

The book of Acts covers a period of about 30 years. Approximately A.D. 33 to about A.D. 63. You see all the amazing things going on throughout this book, but this was over 30 years. If you summarized 30 years in one book, there will be many amazing things. But here’s what we really have to see, you start with these disciples and then a few verses later there are 120 disciples, then in the next chapter there are thousands of believers, and then within 30 years, the world itself is impacted. How is this done? And all without the modern advantages we have today. They didn’t have airplanes or cars. The disciples didn’t have a cool website. Peter didn’t have a Facebook account and Thomas never tweeted. How is it possible that without all those things they make such an impact on the world? Although, we have to admit, Moses did have a tablet… although he broke the operating system. Eve had an Apple and look how much trouble she got into. Okay let’s move on, shall we?

You look at their world and you realize their world was as bad as ours, or worse. I would say it was worse. Their world was worse in many ways. They lived under the cruel hand of Rome. You can say all you want about the government of the United States, but we are not living under the cruel hand of Rome. They had it worse in many, many ways. Idol worship was everywhere. It was common. Prostitution and sexual immorality was right in the streets, it was everywhere. When they moved with the gospel, they were ridiculed, opposed, even assaulted for their faith. Yet, they impacted the world. How? The Holy Spirit transforms lives.

Transformed lives transforms the world. That’s what we see in the book of Acts and that’s what we need to understand for our lives as well. When you look at the Gospels, and then you look at the book of Acts, one of things we need to see is that God wants us to ask for the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to ask, he wants us to seek and to desire it.

B. Ask for the power of the Holy Spirit

In many ways the Acts of the Holy Spirit are still being written. You might say the book continues on today. God is still moving, God is still impacting; God is still transforming lives. When you look at the content, the substance of what was happening there in the early church, we should be like that today.

It’s the same content, it’s the same substance, it’s the same gospel, and it’s the same power of transforming lives. The methods change. Styles change, format changes, that’s true. But it’s the same word of God, it’s the same gospel, it’s the same content, the same substance. Transforming lives is still what God is doing.

You might remember that we have three natural girls and two adopted sons. When our girls were young, I would pick up my guitar and sing a song for them. Many of you might remember it, it was called, House on Pooh Corner. It was just a little father daughter, moment… “Winnie the Pooh doesn’t know what to do; got a honey jar stuck on his nose…” I would just play that song, you know, and they loved it. They were beautiful father daughter moments.

I first heard that song when it came out as a vinyl record. Many of you don’t know what a vinyl record is. It’s kind of like a CD but a lot bigger. It was made from petroleum; did you know that? It had grooves on it and it went and round. There was a diamond needle that would ride in the grooves. I remember when I first heard that song on a record player how amazing that was; House on Pooh Corner, wow, it was just beautiful. And then it came out on eight track. That was revolutionary. You can’t take a record player into your car, but you could put an eight track player in your car. Now I could listen to that song driving down the road, wind blowing through my hair, “Winnie the Pooh doesn’t know what to do, got a honey jar stuck on his nose…” That was so cool. And then it came out on cassette. It was even smaller and you could actually rewind it, well, that was amazing. And then it came out on CD in digital quality. Yes, it was so improved. Finally, it came out in MP3 and you can listen to it on your iPod. You can order it digitally for your computer. So amazing.

Here’s my point, it’s the same song. It’s the same song as when it came out on a vinyl record. Sure, it’s improved; now it’s in digital quality and it’s awesome, but it’s the same song, the same content, the same beautiful message and my girls still love it. In fact, when my middle daughter got married, that was the song we danced to for our father daughter dance. It’s the same beautiful song. That’s the point.

You see, the early church was given the same Holy Spirit that was given to us. It’s the same message, the same gospel, the same Lord, the same content, the same substance. It’s still transforming lives today. You can find a church that’s just focused on the style, on the fashion or the format. They’re not concerned about the content, they just want the crowd. You can grow a crowd numerically based on a lot of things, but it will never grow spiritually unless the power of God by the Holy Spirit is there transforming lives.
2 Timothy 3:1-5, In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied his power; avoid such men as these.

A few weeks ago one of the television stations called wanting a comment about a recent trend of atheist churches. Maybe you’ve been following in the news that there’s been this recent trend of atheist churches in America. I can certainly understand their need to gather together and enjoy one another’s company. I can understand that. I can understand their desire to gather together for fellowship, but I can’t imagine what message of hope an atheist church might say to someone who is struggling with addiction. Or what message they would say to someone struggling in a broken marriage or broken heart. What message of hope are they going to give to the one who needs assurance of eternity? The message of hope is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is sent by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is the power that God sends to heal the broken heart, the empty one, the one who needs hope of eternity for the promise of God is now. For us. It’s impacting the world, transforming lives, taking hold of the broken one and bringing the transformation that comes from the power of God that is still here today.

When Jesus spoke of the promise of the Holy Spirit, he said, “Ask; I’m encouraging you to ask.” In fact, would you turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 11. In these verses Jesus encourages us to ask.
Luke 11:9-13 I say to you, ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you will find, knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it shall be opened.”

And then it’s interesting because he gives an illustration that in many ways shows God’s sense of humor. He continues on…
One of now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish. He would not give him a snake instead of fish, would he? (You can imagine a smile coming on to the faces of those listening.) Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? (“Dad, I’m hungry, can I have an egg?" "Sure, son, just open the lid on that box right there…” Snicker, snicker). No, you wouldn’t do that… Jesus continued, “If you then, being evil (meaning, of the world) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

Jesus wants us to ask, in other words. Because he wants to move in power in your life. Interestingly, in the book of James he brings up the prophet Elijah. You might say, what is the prophet Elijah doing in the book of James? That’s an interesting question.

James 5:16-17, The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
I love the way the King James version puts it, The effective prayer of a righteous man availeth much. God wants you to be spiritually effective and he wants you to ask. Prayer is asking. It’s seeking and knocking. Elijah was a man just like you and me; he eats and drinks, he walks and talks, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the earth for three and half years. God is encouraging us to ask, to seek, to knock, God is wanting to move in power. In another Scripture James wrote, “You have not, because you ask not. But if you ask with wrong motives, you will have not.” We need to have the heart that says, “God, I want you to move in my life. I want to glorify you. My heart is to honor you with my life.” That is what he’s saying to us. Let’s now go back to our study in the book of Acts. Jesus told them to wait for the Holy Spirit. But what we need to see that he wants us to be busy until he comes…

II. Be Busy until He Comes

Jesus was ascending to the Father and he wanted them to be busy about the father’s business until He returns. He then promises the Holy Spirit so they will receive power to do it. Their response, “Lord, is it at this time that you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He corrects them, “It’s not for you to know times or epochs which the father has fixed by his own authority.”
Yes, God is going to fulfill his word, yes, God is going to restore the kingdom to Israel. That’s true. But it will be in his time and his right day. But this is not the time. As to what God is doing right now; God is establishing his kingdom on earth, but in a different way. He is ruling and reigning in the hearts of men. He was then and is now establishing his rule and reign in the hearts of men by transforming lives.

I think people today ask the same question, wondering when Christ will return and establish his kingdom here on earth. We even pray for it, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. I see what’s happening in the world today and I say, Lord, come quickly.” He even gives signs of the times so we can discern that the time is near. Now is the time to be about our father’s business until he returns so that we would hear those wonderful words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” We should long for those words. Those are words we will hear when we walk faithfully on this earth and then step into the presence of God in heaven, “Well done, you have lived your life well. Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Don’t you want to hear those words? Think about those words from his perspective, “I’ve given you this life, I have given you an opportunity to live as honor unto Me."

A. “Well done, my good and faithful servant”

Those words really come from a parable Jesus taught the disciples. They supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately, so he gave a parable that they could put it in perspective. He said, “There was a great landlord who went on a long journey, but before he left he gathered his servants together and he gave instructions to them…”
Luke 19:13, 17, “He called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I return.’… “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’”

So in this parable Jesus told of a landowner who gives something valuable to his servants and told them to do something with it until he returns. We can see the comparison to ourselves, God gives our life, the Holy Spirit poured out upon us, the transformed life, the power of God to move, and then he says, “Do business with this, be about your father’s business until I return.”
Now in the parable Jesus said that the landowner returned and called his servants before him to give an account. The first servant came and said, “Master, your mina has made ten minas more.” He was certainly about his father’s business. He was faithful. The master says in response, “Well done, good servant because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.” In other words, there is a great result that comes about for being faithful while we are waiting for his return. “Be about your father’s business,” Jesus is saying.
What is Jesus asking the disciples to do until he returns? He said to them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses…” That’s what Jesus wants them to do, they are to be a witness of the resurrection and the power of God.

When many people hear that word ‘witness’ they get a picture of perhaps a courtroom scene and someone as a witness giving their testimony of something they heard or had seen and you get the impression of something official and perhaps cold. No, I think it’s much more relational than that. Maybe a way to illustrate it would be this, many of you know my friend, pastor Matthew, but if you didn’t know him I could say to you, “Hey, do you know my friend pastor Matthew? You don’t? I know him really well, let me tell you something about his heart, I know his character and I know his heart’s desire is to serve and to bless you. I know him, let me tell you about him, you’re going to love him.”

See, in many ways it’s relational. In the same way, I can tell you about God’s heart; I can tell you about God’s character. I know him. I have a relationship to him and I want to tell you about him. “Oh, you don’t know him? Then I need to tell you something, this is great news, you have to hear this. I want to tell you what he wants to do for you. I want to tell you about his promises for you. Do you know what he wants to do in your life? I have to tell you about this. Not only that, I want to tell you what he’s done in my life. He’s transformed me. If it wasn’t for him, man, I would have been destroyed a long time ago. What he’s done for me, he’ll do for you. I have to tell you, this is good news. You need to hear this.”

It’s the power of the transformed life that is unashamed. It’s the power of the unashamed life that has joy and confidence of faith. There’s an interesting account in the Gospels of when Jesus healed a man who was born blind and then healed by Jesus. He was brought before the Jewish leaders to give an account of what happened because the man was healed on the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders tried to set a trap, trying to get the man to say that Jesus was a sinner. I love his response…

John 9:25, He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
They were trying to trap him to say that Jesus was a sinner and the man responded and said, “Whether he is a sinner, I don’t know anything about that, but there is one thing I do know, there is one thing I know for sure, once I was blind, but now I see.” That’s a powerful declaration.

If you are sharing with someone about Jesus Christ and they said, “Can you tell me the theological implications about this or that?” You could respond, “I don’t know about all the theological implications of everything you’re asking, but this thing I do know; once I was blind, but now I see. He’s touched my life. I can tell you about his heart. I can tell you about his love and his character and I can say that he wants to touch your life as well. That much I know.”

The power to change the world is the power of the transformed life. The message of the gospel, what he would do with a broken heart, what he would do because he is looking to move. What God would do with those who are available, with those who are willing, those that are desiring. In fact, in the rest of the chapter of Acts chapter 1, you see this great point…

B. Godly people will lead

Godly people will lead. Godly people will move. Godly people respond. Godly people will be available and they will say, “Yes, Lord, I desire and I’m asking you to pour out that same Holy Spirit on my life. God I want you to move; I want you to use me, I want you to use me, Lord.”
Here’s what’s interesting, we see it from verse 12 and following…

Acts 1:12-26 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath days journey away. When they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying: that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the zealot, and Judas the son of James.
These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. And at this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about 120 persons was there together), and said, “brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas… (Here he is bringing up Judas Iscariot. Why is he bringing Judas up in the conversation? You might ask. Because Judas, as you know, betrayed the Lord and then took his own life and so they want to find a man who would take that position and be a witness.)

Concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus, “For he was counted among us, and received his portion in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. (This is a very graphic depiction, but this was a well-known event at the time) and it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama , which means, field of blood. “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead be made desolate, and let no man dwell in it'; and, ‘His office let another man take.' It is therefore necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us – beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that he was taken up from us – one of these should become a witness with us of his resurrection.” In other words, they want someone who’s walked with them, who had been with them during that time, they want someone to fill the place of Judas Iscariot. So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. And they prayed, and they said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was numbered with the 11 apostles.

Now, I’ve read many who suggested this was a mistake, the whole thing of selecting Matthias was a mistake. After all, you never hear from Matthias again. They say, “It should have been Saul, later known as Paul.” But wait a minute, he wasn’t even a believer at this time. No, it wasn’t going to be Paul. He would later make an impact, that’s true. We never hear from Matthias again. And so some suggest they must have made a mistake.

But I submit to you that we don’t hear from Bartholomew either. Here’s the point; you don’t have to be mentioned to be famous. You have don’t have to have a name and acclaim, saying, “I want to be known. If I’m going to make an impact, I want to have some kind of fame out of this.” No, you don’t have to be mentioned to be effective. God is looking for those that are available; that are willing, that are humble, that are willing to say, “Lord, you get the glory, you get the fame, I just want to see a difference, I want to see an impact, Lord I’m asking, I’m asking, would you move in my life?"

What about you, do you have a story? Do you have a story of how God has moved in your life? Has he touched you? Has he transformed you? Has he taken hold of your life? Has he moved in any way? I tell you what, there are people who need to hear that. There are so many people who are broken today, they are empty and lost and desolate, needing to hear something of good news, of hope. How are they going to hear? You are in their world. Jesus said they should start in Jerusalem. That means right there in their own home, start in Jerusalem, and then in Judea, and then Samaria, and finally the uttermost parts of the earth. But start there in Jerusalem. You are in their world. Maybe God put you in their world for a reason. Maybe God put them in your world for a reason.

So many people are hurting and lost. You might say, "You don’t understand, you’d understand, I’m not perfect, who am I? I’ve got nothing to say." Actually, that is what you need to say. Tell them, “He took a sinner like me. You know my life, I have been a sinner. I’ve made so many mistakes in my life, yet he took hold of a sinner like me, he took hold of someone who was lost in empty and did something with it. How about you? Are you available? Ask, just say Lord, I’m asking.
Let’s pray…

Acts 1:1-26      NASB

1 The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. 3 To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. 4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,”He said,”you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
 
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
 
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
 
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas theson of James. 14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

 

15 At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said, 16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. 19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms,

‘Let his homestead be made desolate,
And let no one dwell in it’;
and, ‘Let another man take his office.’
 
21 Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us- 22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us-one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” 23 So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen 25 to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
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