Sunday June 29, 2008

Acts 1:4-11
6/29/08
“Power to Go”
Pray for Peggi??

Acts_1_4-11
I. The book of Acts as we said in our introduction is a historical record of the birth and early progress of the Church.
A. It is the historical record which testifies of the success of Jesus' earthly ministry, by showing how the risen savior is at work in the hearts of men.
B. An interesting breakdown of the NT to help us get a grasp on how the book of Acts fits into the whole of the NT might look like this.
Gospels are the - Proclamation of Jesus
Acts- is the propagation of Jesus Christ, the spreading of the good news, the sewing of the seed.
The epistles - are the explanation of Jesus Christ
Revelation - is the consummation of Jesus Christ.
II. As I mentioned in our last study we want to come back today and revisit verses 4-8 and look at what the Baptism of the Holy Spirit means.
Acts 1:4-8 (NKJV)
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
A. We made note that in verse-4 we see a glimpse into the doctrine of the Trinity in that God the Son (Jesus) is speaking, and He refers to the promise of the Father (God the Father), which is the Holy Spirit (God the Holy Spirit).
1. In the book of Acts you see the role of the three persons of the Godhead at work to begin Christianity.
a. By the Fathers design world-wide evangelization began.
b. Through the Holy Spirits power and a new manifestation of the Holy Spirit
c. Made possible by The Son's provision of redemption, the outworking of the resurrected Christ
d. The result is the Beginnings of Christianity.
B. As we noted last time we met Jesus gave them (disciples) two commands to "GO" and to "WAIT".
1. They were to GO ultimately into all the world with the Gospel that is the propagation of Jesus Christ the spreading of the good news or the sewing of the seed (God's Word).

2. But before they could do that they were to WAIT in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father which is to be baptized with (in) the Holy Spirit.
a. John truly baptized with water, it was a baptism of repentance
Luke 3:3 (NKJV)
3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,
(1) Christian baptism is an outward show of an inner reality i.e. that the old man has died and is buried, and the new man, the born again man, who now lives in Christ, rising out of the water (grave).
Colossians 2:12-13 (NKJV)
12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

1 Peter 3:21 (NKJV)
21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
(a) Repentance born out of faith in the finished work of Christ on your behalf.
(2) Repentance is the first step in regeneration, but the Christian life is so much more, it truly is a walk, walking with Jesus.
(a) There are some here today, that need to repent, that is they need to turn and follow Jesus.
b. "but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
(1) The word baptized here is the Greek "bapteedzo" and it means to be immersed or submerged in something.
(a) When you pickle a vegetable such as a cucumber first you dip (bapto) it into boiling water, it is immersed or submerged temporarily in the water, but then it is immersed (bapteedzo) in vinegar and left there.
i) The first is temporary, the second produces a permanent change, it takes on some of the characteristics of the solution it is submerged in.
(1) While the word does not reflect this, we understand that in the process the vegetable becomes marked or identified with the vinegar.
(2) Similarly those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit in some way identify or are changed by Him.
(a) The ministry of the Holy Spirit by the way is to point to or glorify and honor Jesus, thus when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit our lives will draw attention to Him and not to us! (more in a minute).
C. The disciples pipe in with a question in verse-6 "Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
1. Really it is a great question, Jesus often talked or taught about the kingdom of God, and we need to be reminded that the corruption in this world will not always be here, and the world will not always be under the power of darkness.
a. Jesus is coming again and He will establish His kingdom here on earth, and it will be a righteous kingdom, and men will no longer be in bondage to evil.
(1) And I believe that day is soon approaching.
2. All though it is a great question and wonderful to think about God's kingdom here on earth, that is not what Jesus is talking about, He is talking about God's power to be witnesses concerning Him, so He brushes the question aside in verse-7
7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
a. He says it's not for you to know:
(1) they were constantly anticipating through the course of His earthly ministry that He would march into Jerusalem, overthrow Rome and establish His kingdom
(2) And when He was crucified and died there on the cross they were extremely disappointed, but here He is risen from the dead, so now is surely the time, but He brushes the question aside, "It is not for you to know" and instead He says in verse-8.
D. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
1. Receive power (dunamis), natural ability, general or inherent:
a. The dynamic for ordinary people to do extraordinary things
b. If you compare the lives and ministry of the disciples before they were baptized with the Holy Spirit to after, you would find that they are radically different. Boldness, discernment, skill with the scriptures, ability to effective in their witness.


2. Jesus said they would receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, this word upon is the Greek preposition "epi" and it is used here to describe a new relationship they were to have with the Holy Spirit.
a. In John chapter-14 verses 16-18 we see a two-fold relationship with the Holy Spirit
John 14:16-18 (NKJV)
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
(1) Para = with, and the Holy Spirit is here with us in the world to convicte us of our sin and show us our need to come to Christ, that Christ is the answer to our need or problem.
(2) En = in (He will be in you) that is when we become "born again" God's Spirit begins to dwell in us.
b. But now Jesus says you will receive power when the Holy Spirit "comes upon (epi) you",
(1) So now a new or different relationship from the (para and the en) relationship. ( it is an empowering experience)
(2) The purpose again is to provide the power or dynamic to be a witness to Jesus (about Jesus)
(a) Say we bought a new car we could sit in the car and make noises with our mouth and pretend we were going somewhere, or we could push the car, jump in and coast for a few feet, or we could start the engine put it in gear and let the power of the engine move us forward.
(b) Baptism of the Holy Spirit is to be overflowing with the Spirit of God
John 7:37-39 (NKJV)
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
III. Verses 9-11
Acts 1:9-11 (NKJV)
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
A. The ascension of Christ is important.
1. He had to go away in order to send us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
John 16:5-15 (NKJV)
5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
2. Secondly we know that because Jesus ascended to the Father that He is now interceding for us as our great High Priest.
3. We also see that He will come again just as He ascended.
a. In the clouds.
b. Unannounced or at any time...
c. With this in mind will you bow your heads and be in an attitude of prayer (God speak to and move in our hearts right now) we are here and in so many ways we are needy people.
B. This morning some are here and you really don't know where you stand with God, and while the focus has not been evengelistic God is dealing with your heart, they are pounding or you are arguing about your need, and it is God dealing with you, calling you to turn from your own ways and to walk with Him His way...
C. Now others of you know that you have been born again it is like your in a car but it isn't running properly the engine is running but the wheels won't turn, and it is because there is sin that you are caught up in, and you need to confess it and turn away from it, raise your hand and acknowledge that describes you and you want to let go of it.
D. Others of you your sitting in the car, the engine isn't running and you can't get the car going and what you need is for the Spirit of God to come upon you and empower you.
Luke 11:11-13 (NKJV)
11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
1. After this closing song if you want to be prayed for and ask for the Father to give you the Holy Spirit, to give you power or dynamic to be a witness for Jesus, come forward and let us pray for you.
a. Not so we jump around and act weird; or be knocked down, but simply to say God I want all that you have for me, I want my life to be empowered by you so that I can tell others what Jesus has done for me, what He means to me.
Come up after this song and we will pray for you.