Hey Family!
Before we get too far into Acts this morning I want to remind you of how Luke ended his gospel account, something that Jake was able to share a bit with you several weeks ago. It says in Luke 24:46-48.
“46 And [Jesus] said [to His disciples], ‘Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ 48 You are witnesses of all these things…”
Luke ends his gospel with a declarative statement. “This message will be proclaimed to all nations in the power and authority of Jesus’ name.”
What is the message? There is forgiveness for all who repent.
Luke sees history with Jesus at the center point.
Luke sees history with Jesus at the center point. Everything before His arrival is the age of promise. It’s something to come. Everything after His coming, which inaugurates the age of fulfillment, is one period—the last days. It’s the age of fulfillment. The promise has come.
Luke ends on a declarative statement, but it leaves it as a cliffhanger. This is going to happen. It’s a promise. This message will spread like wildfire from Jerusalem and then throughout the entirety of the world.
Wildfire is something that has been heavy in the news these last couple months as a result of the tragedies in LA. There’s a video of Mel Gibson leaning over to Russel Brand at a symposium of some sorts and he says, “My house is burning down right now.” And Russel Brand is like, “What, in Australia?” And Mel’s like, “No, in Malibu.”
Something I learned about these wildfires, is that when you get that perfect storm of 8 months of draught, low humidity, a concentration of fuel a.k.a dried trees, and 100 mile per hour Santa Ana winds, the result is a wildfire that even Usain Bolt would have difficulty outrunning. Especially now, he’s retired and probably working on a gold medal belly.
This message of salvation, of forgiveness is so desirable to the dried kindling of the human heart that it can’t help but spread. There's a solution? There’s a savior? Tell me more.
Acts begins by repeating this statement, “8 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.”
It repeats the statement, but this time, instead of being simply a declaration with an unknown time or method of fulfillment, it re-presents it, still as a declarative statement, but this time as the introduction to all that is about to happen.
Acts is the unfolding of what the disciples witnessed over the three and half years or so that they were with Jesus. It is the applicational learning of what it means to be the Church, of what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus–a fisher of men.
Acts is the story of the early church continuing the mission of Jesus here on Earth empowered by His spirit.
It’s about what it means to be the Church. Or as I’ve said it, perhaps grammatically incorrect, but it makes sense to me; “We are Church!”
This is the continuance of Jesus’ ministry by the spirit through His Church.
As I teased a bit last week, Church is not a place you attend or an event you sit through, it is a people you belong to–a movement you belong to.
In the Bible, whenever the word Church shows up the authors are typically using the Greek word Ecclesia. In fact, when Jesus talks about His collection of people who will be world-transformers, who will be planet-shakers, He uses this word. Ecclesia.
Last week we read a passage from Matthew 16 where the disciples have a very low moment when they are listening to Jesus’ teaching and they think He’s talking about bread. It is not their finest moment. It’s at this time you’re really starting to feel sorry for these guys.
But, directly following this low, we actually get one of the highest of highs. Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they’re like “John the Baptist.” No. “Elijah.” No “A prophet.” And Jesus is like, “No, what? That’s a demotion from Elijah to just any old prophet.” I thought we were really building to something there.
Then He asks, “Who do you say that I am?”
And Peter makes this beautiful confession. He says, “You are [the Christ] the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16)
I mean, just a second ago we were talking about bread. What an amazing confession.
And “17 Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church…”
Upon this confession, upon this testimony, this witness, I will build my Ecclesia.
“...and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.’” (Matthew 16:17-19)
Jesus could have said upon this rock, this confession, I will build my Synagogue.
When Jesus says upon this “Rock”, I don’t think Jesus is talking about Peter. There’s something going on where there’s a masculine now and a feminine adjective which means the one’s not talking about the other. I think Jesus is talking about His confession. This witness, if you will. Jesus is Lord, God, Savior. Jesus is the Christ. The one we’ve all been waiting for.
So, Jesus could have said, upon this confession I will build my Temple.
He could have said upon this rock I will build my Altar.
But no, Jesus uses a secular Roman word. He says, “I will build my Ecclesia.
The church is a unique entity distinct from Israel. The Church did not replace Israel. God is not finished with Israel. He’s doing a new thing here! He’s doing something new!
Ecclesia is a word that at its simplest means an assembly or gathering. It’s a group of people. Makes sense why I’ve been saying, “We are Church”. It’s a group of people. We want to be real people.
I heard one pastor explaining how in ancient times they would have people run through the streets shouting Ecclesia when there was something important to be announced or a problem to be solved. And the people who heard would rush out of their homes because they knew, “Okay, we’ve got a problem, let’s figure this out together.”
Ecclesia is something important that needs to be announced. It needs to be proclaimed.
As you dig in deeper, it is a word that means something special. It means “called out ones”. Which makes sense right? These people are called out of their homes to gather in an assembly for a shared purpose.
It’s like when Jesus appoints the 12 from among His disciples. It says in Mark 3, “13 He went up on the mountain and called to Him those whom he desired, and they came to him.”
He called them out of their professions, out of their individuality, out of all that once was and into a family, gathered together for a purpose.
This is Ecclesia.
We are Church.
Our word church doesn't come from this Greek word, as if that wasn't obvious from the fact that they don’t sound anything alike. Our word comes from the German, Kirche, which means a building you go to for sacred worship.
But Church is not a place you attend or an event you sit through, it is a people and a movement you belong to.
“Simply put, the invisible church, the true church, is composed of those who are called by God not only outwardly but inwardly by the Holy Spirit. When Jesus calls someone to discipleship, He is calling that person to Himself, to belong to Him, to follow Him, and to learn from Him and of Him.”
A disciple, you see, is someone who follows Jesus.
Jesus is calling us to Himself to be His people. Not just real people, but a real family bent on taking over the family business.
A disciple is someone who follows Jesus, someone who is being changed by Jesus, someone who is on mission with Jesus–committed to the family business.
Because if Church is a people and a movement you belong to, those who belong to the Church are disciples of Jesus. And being a disciple of Jesus, following Jesus, going where Jesus went, doing what Jesus did, is a greater call on our lives than we could ever imagine.
We know what happened when Jesus called the 12, they immediately left everything and followed Him. But we also know what happened when Jesus called others who didn’t leave it all behind.
Matthew 8 tells us, “18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, He gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to Him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 21 Another disciple said to Him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus is laying it out there. Following Me means actively choosing a life of discomfort. Following Jesus means obedience to Him, even when what He calls you to disconnects you from people and places of security. What is Jesus calling you to?
When the one guy asks to bury his father, maybe he was waiting on an inheritance that would justify leaving everything for a life on the road. Maybe he was trying to set things in order. Maybe he had a list to check off. Maybe he had things to do.
What reasons do we have for not following Jesus? For not going down the street to talk with our neighbors? For not reaching out into our communities? For not having meaningful spiritual conversations with the people God has placed around us?
What are our reasons? Probably a lot of them are pretty good. But what happens if we miss the boat?
For some reason the next verse isn’t ever connected to the previous ones, probably because the headings in our English translations divide them up unnecessarily. But I think it really drives the point home for us.
It says, “23 Then [Jesus] got into the boat and his disciples followed Him.” (Matthew 8:23). His disciples followed Him. And everyone else stayed behind. Did those men get in the boat? Or did they not? Did they answer the call? Where they filled with the power of the Spirit?
Oswald Chambers asked us with regard to this passage, “Are you prepared to let God take you into union with Himself, and pay no more attention to what you call the “great things”? Are you prepared to abandon entirely and let go? The test of abandonment is in refusing to say — “Well, what about this?” …“What about this?” means you have not abandoned, you do not really trust God… You think no more about what God is going to do.
To abandon means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions… The reason people are tired of life is because God has not given them anything…. The way to get out of that state is to abandon to God. When you do get through to abandonment to God, you will be the most surprised and delighted creature on earth; God has got you absolutely and has given you your life…”
There’s a pastor who says, “In every heart there is a throne and a cross.” If Jesus is on the throne that means you are on the cross. We lay down our lives in pursuit of Him and His incredible purpose for our lives. But if we are on the throne that means Jesus is still on the cross, and we, like Peter will accuse in the next chapter, have put Him there.
Jesus' true disciples got in the boat. And they are met with, not only incredible purpose, but also the power to fulfill that purpose.
“8 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.” (Acts 1:8)
It doesn’t matter which translation you pick up. There is very little deviation in this passage.
Acts 1:8 is the heart and soul of the entire book. It’s the power and purpose of Jesus’ mission by His Spirit continuing through His people that is unpacked over the next 28 chapters. Twenty-seven I guess technically.
This is the heart and soul of Acts which is unfolding before us through the continuation of the story. It’s been described as, “the key that unlocks the door of Acts and the gates of Christian history.” Incredible purpose and an all-sufficient power.
Jesus is given authority over all things, in Heaven, on the Earth, and under the Earth. There is nothing that’s not under His authority. And it is that authority, that power which He provides in the gift of His Spirit. Power over sin. Power over the grave. Power over death.
But it’s not purposeless power. It’s not given to fit the whims of those He empowered. It’s not our power. It’s His power. Therefore it’s for His purpose.
Jesus’ purpose–that His followers would be carriers of His message, His message of grace, of forgiveness, of salvation, of the Kingdom of Heaven, to the entire world–to the ends of the Earth.
To be His witnesses.
His power is for His witness.
The main task of the apostles, the mission which He left them, is to bear witness to Jesus’ resurrection and its saving significance.
“You will be My Witnesses,” He says.
Psalm 105 starts, “Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.”
“Be My Witnesses”
A witness is someone that has seen something take place and is there to tell of all that they saw, heard, and experienced. But with regard to Jesus, a witness doesn’t just mean to see and observe. There is a decisive action with severe consequences. Just as His call to be His disciple is a decisive action with severe consequences.
In this passage, the word for witness is the word martyr.
Probably because what is a martyr but one who refuses to relent from their witness whatever the cost. One who would voluntarily suffer death than recant their witness. As the apostles themselves will say later in this book, ““Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge (ESV)”, “20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard (NLT)”.
To see Jesus, proclaim what you see, and accept the consequences. That’s what it means to be a witness. As Christians, we are called to be witnesses for Christ who present a testimony about the truth that we have experienced and heard.
Being a witness requires two things. (1) A witness must have seen that about which he or she seeks to bear witness. You have to have experienced Jesus. You have to be changed. And (2) A witness must tell others what he or she has seen. When you are changed, you begin to live your life to see others changed. You order your life around it.
So the natural question to ask yourself is, “Am I changed?”
Does my life demonstrate that? Is my life about that?
Is my life changed?
How would anyone know?
Hello… I’m here right now aren’t I? That doen’t mean you’re changed. It just means you enjoy Christian karaoke.
How would anyone know if your life is changed?
For the Church in Acts, this was not a part-time experience. It was their entire lives.
In the Church’s life, the spirit provides power and it’s demonstrated in witness. It is the story of empowered witness.
Some of you struggle to believe that there is really power. It’s because you’re not involved in the witness. The Spirit exists to empower God’s people to be His witnesses.
Anytime the Spirit fills a heart in Luke or Acts it pours out of their mouth. It may start here :point to heart:, but it overflows from here :point to mouth:–every time!
Pentecost, Acts 2. Stephen, Acts 6. Philip. Paul. Barnabas. John the Baptist. And Jesus Himself. Anytime the Spirit fills a heart in Luke or Acts it pours out of their mouth.
And if it’s not coming out of here :point to mouth: then you're just talking out of your…
One pastor said, “The fundamental meaning of being filled with the Spirit is being filled with joy that comes from God and overflows in song.”
I love Psalm 119. Verse 54 says, “54 Your decrees have been the theme of my songs
wherever I have lived.” Or, “54 Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.”
Joy that comes from God and overflows into song. Power that enables witness to the very ends of the Earth.
There’s another fine moment by Jesus’ chosen vessels. After these incredible words Jesus ascends into the sky until a cloud obscures Him from view. But they’re still looking up-dumbfounded. Some real mouth droolers.
It says, “10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven?” (Acts 1:9-11)
They still didn’t get it. They wouldn’t get it until the Spirit came.
Why are you still looking up?, the Angels ask them. What do you think will be gained from staring into the clouds? Why are you looking for what once was? What you’re looking for won’t be found up there.
It’s time to look around you. Jesus will be among you. You will see His face in the poor and the helpless, in the downtrodden, in the broken person sitting in the chair next to you.
In Jerusalem. In Judea. In Samaria. And to the ends of the Earth.
You know, there’s a sense in which this mission is accomplished at the completion of Acts. Luke sets these parameters at the start and by the time it’s finished we are left with Paul bearing witness in Rome. And as the proverb goes, “All roads lead to Rome”. The gospel made it to the place where all the world goes. It says nothing about Paul returning alive from this first trip to Rome. It says nothing about his potential fourth missionary journey. It says nothing about his return to Rome and eventual beheading. It ends where it does to finish the story Luke began all the way back here in chapter 1 verse 8.
However, though potentially complete, it is presented intentionally in a way that remains unfinished.
I remember a creative writing assignment back in elementary school where we were reading short stories. One particular story called “The Lady or the Tiger”, by Frank Stockton leaves the reader with a question mark. It tells the story of a kingdom where violators and offenders were put to a test. They are presented with two doors. One door conceals a woman who the offender would marry should he open the door regardless of his past relational obligations. The second door conceals a tiger. Which is all fine and well, although potentially questionable, until the princess’ lover finds himself before two doors.
The last line of the story reads, I quote, “And so I leave it with all of you: Which came out of the opened door - the lady, or the tiger?”
The reader is invited to write their own ending.
Luke orchestrates the book of Acts to operate in much the same way. We are invited to write our own ending with the stories of our lives. Which will we choose? Will we get in the boat and be His witnesses?
Our increasingly post-christian world is looking more and more like the pre-christian world in which the missionary witnesses of acts operated.
So we are left with a decision.
It’s a decision between many good things and the best thing that we could give our life to and structure our lives around.
And so I leave it with all of you:
Which will you choose?
Will it be many good things?
Or will it be the best thing?
Not to tip the scales, but I want to leave you with this encouragement…
“33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV)
Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):
Raising everyday disciples - What does it mean to be a witness for Christ?
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