ACTS 1:4-11INTRODUCTIONPreparation is terribly crucial in every area of life. I don't learn about you, however when i'm about to go back and forth to a place where i'd spend more than per week, I start my instruction toward the travel ahead of time. The reason is primary. If I don't put together in enhance there's a likelihood that i would depart some thing critical in the back of.
i need the early life in selected to hear a lesson in existence that I discovered from a smart Professor in college. when I attended faculty in Kentucky, I took a class below one Dr. Jerry Hopkins, a graduate from Oxford university. The identify of the direction turned into "Christian Disciplines." Dr. Hopkins requested every student what his/her name into the Lord's work changed into. Then he told us to begin to prepare for our lifetime of ministry whereas we had been in college. He informed us now not to waste our time doing nothing in college, considering that after we go to seminary or full time ministry, we'd have all the time we need to do what we've been known as to do. I took that information severely.
My faculty president, Dr. Laverne Butler gave me a formulation for life that has been my guide in view that then. that you can write it down and use it to ebook your personal life. He observed, "instruction plus opportunity equals success." After His resurrection, Jesus used the rest of His time on the planet to put together the disciples for Pentecost earlier than He ascended again to the daddy. The title of the message is "Precursor to Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit."
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT VV. 4-5The booklet of Acts is the sequel to the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel of Luke closes with Jesus' post-resurrection exhortation to the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they are clothed or endued with vigor from on high (Luke 24:forty nine). Acts 1 recounts Jesus' final message to the disciples earlier than He ascended lower back to the father. The disciples of Jesus urgently vital three issues in the event that they had been to achieve the task that Jesus assigned to them. First, they obligatory the assurance that He changed into alive. The resurrection appearances had been crucial to the work of the disciples of Christ. If Jesus became lifeless, then there become no hope for them and the misplaced and death world. 2d, they necessary instruction from Jesus as to what they should do. Third, they vital the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to be able to do what Jesus has chosen them to do. The recreation of the risen Christ was designed to fulfill these wants and accordingly to prepare the apostles for his or her mission to the area.
Assurance of the resurrection become given when Christ introduced Himself alive (v. 3). at least eleven appearances of our Lord Jesus Christ following His resurrection are recorded within the Scriptures. The appearances we're informed occurred over a length of forty days. The risen Lord turned into no longer at all times considered by the disciples as He turned into earlier than His loss of life on the move. These appearances were no longer optical illusions or hallucinations, however fantastic manifestations of the grownup of Christ.
Verse 4. When Jesus had gathered His disciples, He commanded them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the father. Jerusalem become the remaining place the disciples wanted to be. Jerusalem turned into the region the place their grasp had unjustly been crucified. besides, all the eleven disciples have been from Galilee and if their Lord and grasp who went about doing first rate had been brutally killed, what do you think might occur to them? The disciples had been afraid for their lives, but Jesus commanded them not to run away however wait in Jerusalem for the father's promise. perhaps, you work in a opposed environment, where the americans you work with are opp osed to Christ, Christians, and also you. every now and then you consider leaving that job area. from time to time you actually wish to run away, however the Lord has put you there for a intention. The Lord has put you there for a witness, for a change. Don't give up; don't run away. Don't depart except the Lord tells you it's time to go. (a narrative from Dr. Tony Evan's e-book The combat Is the Lord's).
Jesus instructions the disciples to stay up for the promise of the father. there is something special about this promise of the daddy. The promise became at first given in Joel 2:28ff and turned into repeated by means of each John the Baptist (Matt. three:eleven; Mark 1:eight) and Jesus (John 14:16, 26, and so forth.), but its most fulfilling source is within the Father. it is, the promise proceeds from God the daddy. 2d, the promise finds its recognition in a baptism in/with the Holy Spirit. The imagery of baptism suggests amongst other things, abundant supply. It includes the conception of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit from on high with the aid of God. it is also linked to the forgiveness of sin (2:38). within the ancient testomony, the Holy Spirit came upon the prophets of God and a few of the kings, however they had been no longer baptized with the Holy Spirit. In other phrases, the Spirit of God came across them brief. When the prophets and selected kings accomplished their assigned work, then the Holy Spirit would leave. but within the promise of the risen Christ, the Holy Spirit will abide completely within the lives of men and women of God. The third is that the fulfillment is at hand. The disciples would be baptized within the Holy Spirit not many days from now. To be actual it changed into ten days after Jesus' ascension to heaven.
within the Gospel of John sixteen:7, Jesus had instructed them that it turned into expedient for them that He leaves. If Jesus had stayed in the world, His actual presence would have restrained the spread of the gospel, as a result of bodily he could be in only one region at a time. After Christ is taken into heaven, He would be spiritually latest all over in the course of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:20). The Holy Spirit changed into sent so that God could be with and within believers after Christ back to heaven. The Spirit would consolation them, guide them to grasp His actuality, remind them of Jesus' phrases, and provides them the correct words to claim, and fill them with vigor. incidentally, if you are saved the Holy Spirit will do the same thing on your lifestyles. The simplest implication is that you are to cooperate with the Holy Spirit with a view to event His work and power for your life.
have you ever taught your babies or a class some profound truths and are available to discover that they didn't remember what you taught them? All that Jesus has spent His lifestyles educating the disciples conc erning the Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God; they haven't understood Him. They have been too preoccupied with the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. They were concerned with their national identity. at this time in background, the Jews had been marginalized. therefore, Jesus' words woke up their nationalistic feelings and recommendations. due to the fact 63 B. C. their land had been under the dominion of Rome, and greater than 600 years the Israelites had regularly occurring no precise independence. The disciples thoroughly expected Jesus to affect a restoration of Israel's political sovereignty. They wondered if it had been at the moment that He would do it. the error that the disciples made changed into that they'd misunderstood both the character of the kingdom and the relation between the kingdom and the Spirit.
Jesus might were dismayed at their question. had been the disciples nonetheless missing in belief? Jesus corrected their mistaken notions of the character of the kingdom, its extent, and arrival. Jesus talked about that it turned into now not their enterprise to grasp times or seasons. Jesus talked about that God has reserved the competencies of those choices to Himself. the kingdom of God is spiritual in persona. The apostles had perplexed the kingdom of God with the dominion of Israel. anytime you confuse the kingdom of God with a secular kingdom you distort the be aware of God.
The 2d a part of Jesus' answer to the disciples consists of both a promise and a command (v. 8). The promise is of power (dunamis), that's the dynamic mandatory for efficient service (Luke 21:15). the arrival of the Spirit is to deliver this energy. The energy became to be for a specific goal: witnessing. The energy that the Holy Spirit brings is not to scare or intimidate people. basically, the vigor is not to make you and me prevalent in the sight of americans. The energy of the Holy Spirit isn't to draw attention to self. fairly, the energy that the Holy Spirit brings is to witness to Christ. The witnessing has to do with each our culture and testimony of Christ pointing others to Him. A witness tells of what he knows, what he has viewed and heard. You inform americans what Jesus has accomplished for your lifestyles. Your lifestyles then ought to be in line with your words. You live what you profess. You reside what you preach. The promise of power become for all the disciples, and it was unconditional. this is what I all the time are attempting to get across to you. The energy that the Holy Spirit gives is not for just a few or some elite Christians. if you are a genuine Christian, the energy of the Holy Spirit is accessible to you. hence, cease letting americans treat you such as you are a 2nd-category Christian. nobody has a nook on the Holy Spirit. The present and power of the Holy Spirit are unconditional. The simplest circumstance is that you are saved and washed by means of the blood of Jesus Christ. Lack of educatin g and preaching of the certainty of God's be aware, and lack of expertise of the person and vigor of the Holy Spirit have made some Christians ineffective and spectators as an alternative of positive members within the explanation for Christ.
The command is found in the remark: You will likely be My witnesses. here's a reminder that the disciples, you and that i are sent into the area now not to make predictions about the future (v. 7), but to bear witness to Christ—to testify to what you've got considered, heard, and prevalent of Him. This certainly, is the fundamental assignment of each Christian. for this reason, if you don't seem to be witnessing of Christ to others then you definitely are defying His command. The keynote, the overarching theme of the entire book of Acts is witnessing. I consider I have found the motive church buildings are weak and not experiencing signs and wonders today as they did within the New testomony. The cause is lack of witnessing in contemp orary church buildings. should you go domestic examine the book of Acts. The healing, the casting out of demons, and the miracles happened as the Apostles and disciples moved about sharing Christ with the americans they encountered. today, many Christians reveal their Christianity best within the pews on Sundays. but Jesus talked about that the signs and wonders are to observe us as we go and share the gospel with the lost people.
vigor in God's kingdom is diverse from energy in human kingdoms. The reference to the Holy Spirit defines the nature of this kingdom. the dominion of God is His rule deploy within the lives of His people by the Holy Spirit. the kingdom is spread by means of witnesses, not by using troopers. it's spread via a gospel of peace, not a declaration of battle, and with the aid of the work of the Holy Spirit, no longer by the force of palms, political intrigue, or modern violence. at the same time, in rejecting the politicizing of the kingdom, we have to b eware of the opposite extreme of tremendous-spiritualizing it as if God's rule operates only in heaven, and never on the earth. The reality is that, besides the fact that children the kingdom of God have to now not be identified with any political ideology or program, it has radical political and social implications. In other phrases, we are not to be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly first rate. We have to hold a balanced viewpoint. Kingdom values come into collision with secular values. And the citizens of God's kingdom steadfastly deny to Caesar the supreme loyalty for which he hungers, however which we insist on giving to Jesus alone.
The disciples, like some of you cherished slender nationalistic aspirations. They requested Jesus if He turned into about to restore to Israel her country wide independence. In His response, Jesus broadened their horizons. He promised that the Holy Spirit would empower them to be His witnesses. In other phrases, the dominion of Go d is overseas and ordinary in its membership. How do you see the kingdom of God? Do you see the dominion of God as parochial or provincial in focus? the kingdom of God is time-honored without any racial obstacles. Jesus pointed out that the disciples will begin certainly in Jerusalem, the countrywide capital in which He had been condemned and crucified, and which they were now not to depart before the Spirit came. but then the Christian mission will radiate out from that center to all Judea, to the despised Samaria, after which a ways beyond Palestine to the Gentile nations, certainly, to the ends of the earth. The risen Lord's mandate to the little flock concerning world missions starts to be fulfilled within the booklet of Acts. The uttermost a part of the earth shows that Christ's parting difficulty was for the complete world. in addition, the words presuppose that salvation is not confined to Israel. Salvation isn't limited to your certain ethnicity. Salvation eliminates you r racial boundaries or prejudices.
Jesus promised the disciples that they would get hold of vigour to witness after they obtain the Holy Spirit. The energy of the Holy Spirit involves courage, self belief, insight, means or spiritual presents, and authority. The disciples will need all these gifts to satisfy their mission. if you are a real believer in Jesus Christ, that you may journey the vigor of the Holy Spirit for your lifestyles. note the progression of the reception of energy to witness: (1) you'll receive the Holy Spirit (2) The Holy Spirit will give you the power, and (three) you are going to witness with superb effects. commonly, we try to reverse the order and check out to witness through our own power and authority. Witnessing is not showing what you could do for God. it is showing and telling what God has accomplished for you and the rest of the human race. God has essential work for you to do for Him, however you have to do it by using the power of the Holy Spiri t. We regularly want to get on with the job, however it ability operating forward of God. but ready is once in a while a part of God's plan.
III. THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST VV. 9-11It become vital for the disciples to see Jesus taken up into heaven. Then, they knew absolutely that He was God and that His domestic was in heaven as He had told them. The significance of the ascension may also be summed up as follows. First, it is a integral corollary of the resurrection. that is, it is the abiding proof that the resurrection of Jesus changed into more than a temporary resuscitation. To accept the bodily resurrection of Jesus, but deny the ascension, you should confirm both that Christ remains an inhabitant of earth or that He later died again. 2d, it conveyed to the disciples that the length of forty days became at an end. The ascension relieved their tension, put their minds at ease, in order that with the advent of each and every new day, they didn't ask yourself even if their L ord would once again exhibit Himself. Third, it suggested that Jesus become not to be perceived by means of physical sensation however with the aid of religious perception. Fourth, the ascension became symbolic exaltation to the appropriate hand of God. Fifth, the ascension changed into indicative of His entrance upon His heavenly priesthood.
both guys dressed in white (v. 10) have been angels who proclaimed to the disciples that at some point, Jesus will return in the equal way He went—bodily and visibly. heritage isn't haphazard or cyclical because the Hindus and Buddhists would have us to accept as true with. history is relocating towards a specific point—the return of Jesus to judge and rule over the earth. You and i should be competent for the sudden return of Jesus (1 Thess. 5:2), now not by way of standing around searching into the sky, however by means of working challenging to share the gospel so that others would be in a position to share in God's extraordinary benefits. The angels gave two the explanation why the apostles should still no longer be sky-scanners. First, they spoke of that Jesus would return. Jesus will return in His personal time and in the equal method. The angels didn't mean that Jesus would return to the equal spot, donning the equal clothing. "The equal Jesus" indicates that His coming will be personal, the eternal Son nevertheless possessing His glorified, human nature and body. "in the identical way" indicates that His coming will be visible and glorious. second, the angels implied that except Jesus returns, the apostles must get on with their witnessing, for it is their mandate.
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