Acts of The Apostles (#1)

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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In the Bible there are around 100 titles of the Lord Jesus Christ. So far we have studied only 5 titles: the Messiah, the Advocate, the High Priest, the Son of man, and the man of sorrows. These 5 titles describe various aspects of the Lord’s character and his work, what he has done for us. I hope you will not treat these studies simply as Bible stories, by which you feel good about yourselves for accumulating more and more biblical knowledge. Rather these studies are meant to encourage you to imitate the Lord: the more we know him, the more we want to live for him and to live like him. Today we are going to study the book of the Acts of the Apostles, but from time to time I may still come back to talk about the other titles of the Lord Jesus.

A bridge between the Gospel account and the preaching of the Gospel in all the earth

Why do we study the book of Acts? What is the importance of the book of Acts?

The life and teaching of the Lord Jesus are recorded in the 4 gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. After the Lord had been resurrected from the dead, he appeared to his disciples and gave them the commission to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. The disciples carried out the Lord’s commands, and their activities are recorded in the book of Acts. Acts is a bridge between the Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ and the preaching of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

The Lord Jesus commanded the apostles to stay in Jerusalem to wait for the promise of the Father

^NASB Acts 1:1-8 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.” (Acts 1:1-8 NASB)

Right from the start, verse 1 says, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach”; it is addressed to a person named Theophilus (“Theophilus” means “someone who loves God”), who is the recipient of the composition. Here it says that the first account (or first book) is about all that which Jesus began to do and teach. It means that the book of Acts is the second book. What then is the first book?

^NASB Luke 1:3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus (Luke 1:3 NASB)

This verse Luke 1:3 shows that the Gospel of Luke was also written to the same recipient Theophilus; hence the first book is the Gospel of Luke, and the second book is the book of Acts. Both were written by Luke for the same person called Theophilus.

This passage Acts 1:1-8 says that the first book, which is the Gospel of Luke, was about the Lord Jesus’ teaching and his work among the people. After the Lord was crucified and then resurrected from the dead, he appeared to the 11 apostles (minus Judas, who had betrayed the Lord). For forty days he taught them many things concerning the Kingdom of God. (Please refer to my earlier series of sermons on “The Kingdom of God and Eternal Life”.) The Lord told them to stay in Jerusalem to wait for the promise of Yahweh God the Father. What is the promise about?

Acts 1:5 says : “for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” The promise is about the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

“Baptism with the Holy Spirit” is very important, and is something that all Christians ought to seek and experience. Usually we must not seek spiritual experiences merely to satisfy our pride and our curiosity, but this one particular experience we should seek – “baptism with the Holy Spirit”.

My testimony: Some time ago I shared with you my own experience. Here I share it again in case you have forgotten and overlooked it. I was baptized in 1983 in Ottawa Bible Church. According to the practice of the church, all the newly baptized will share his or her testimony at the pulpit one week after the baptism. I was very timid by nature. When I was studying back in Vietnam, I didn’t dare say a word to answer the teachers’ questions even though I knew all the answers; and that made the teachers very angry. Not only that, my English was very poor during my time in Ottawa because had I learned English on my own by self study; I didn’t have a teacher to guide me. (Please refer to my testimony “Goodness and Lovingkindness Will Follow Me All The Days of My Life” at my website http://www.GospelAndSalvation.com.) After the baptism, I prepared my testimony in Chinese, writing down every word. The pastor arranged a sister to be my translator. When I walked up to the pulpit, my whole body was trembling, but I kept on walking. When I stood at the pulpit, and once I opened my mouth, suddenly I felt as if a big bucket of water was poured down on my head. I got quite a shock, but all my fears were gone. I looked at my testimony and read every word carefully with clarity. From that day on, I was transformed, and have since been very eager to share the word of God and about my experience.

The Lord Jesus will come in the same way as he goes into heaven

^NASB Acts 1:9-11 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.” (Acts 1:9-11 NASB)

Here this passage talks about the Lord Jesus being taken up into heaven. After the Lord had finished teaching the apostles, he was lifted up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. Two men in white appeared, and they told the apostles that the Lord Jesus would come back in the same way as he had been taken into heaven.

This is a prophecy, and a very important one. The Lord had been warning us again and again that many false Christs will appear in the last days, and they will deceive many people and lead many astray. But here it says:

Acts 1:10-11 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.”

Here this passage clearly says that the Lord Jesus will come back in the same way as he had gone into heaven. Today the global communication via the web is so advanced and effective that the whole world will see his coming in real time. That means anyone who does not descend from heaven is not Jesus Christ coming back! That is the clear sign to discern who is the real Christ, and who is the false Christ!

Conclusion

Now let’s sum up everything we have studied today:

• The book of Acts is a bridge between the gospel accounts about the Lord Jesus and the preaching of the gospel to the whole earth.
• The Lord Jesus told his disciples to wait for the baptism with the Holy Spirit. That’s the one important experience all Christians ought to seek.
• The Lord Jesus will return in the same way as he ascended to heaven; that’s a clear sign to discern the true Christ from the false Christs.