Power

Text: Acts 1:6-11

Focus: Evangelism

Function: The Power of the Holy Spirit to Evangelize.

Form: Bible Study

Intro:

I want to take this passage section by section in a form of Bible Study, because there is a lot to it that refers to current events. So, let us look at verses 6: ⁶So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

ASK: What are the disciples wanting from the Lord at this time?

(right, they want power).

ASK: Do you remember what Jesus said to Pilate when Pilate asked Him if Jesus was indeed, a king?

(right, the Kingdom is not of this earth)

Is this the time to restore the Kingdom?

ASK: Why is this the wrong question to ask?

(right, verse 7)

⁷He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.

ASK: Why do we want to know the time?

I believe there is an important concept in Jesus' answer: the Kingdom is already here. It isn't important to deal with that issue. Don't get sidetracked with dates and issues, that belongs to God. Be faithful here and now.

The Kingdom is here, and that leads us to verse 8: ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

ASK: When your hear this verse, what sticks out the most to you?

(Some -power, others -go out and others, after the Holy Spirit comes)

Right, three things: 1). the Holy Spirit is coming in a new way 2). We need to wait for the Holy Spirit to do the work, 3). The Holy Spirit's call is to go out into all the world.

1). When Peter realizes who Jesus is and confesses that He is the Messiah, Jesus tells him that God has revealed it to him. When Jesus gives his final instructions in John 13-17, He tells them that there is still a lot for them to learn and that the Holy Spirit will reveal it to them. He calls the Holy Spirit the comforter, the advocate and the source of our wisdom. He tells them that if His physical presence is away from them, His Spirit will come and dwell in them.

The Power of the Holy Spirit is what the Church bases its power on.

2). He tells them this is going to happen in the future. Behind this is the theology behind the filling of the Spirit and the seal of the Spirit. When Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to the disciples and He breathes on them and tells them the Holy Spirit is in them. But at this point, He is telling them that the Holy Spirit is coming in a new way. When we trust Christ, we are given a measure of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 tells us that it is a seal, a witness, a sense inside of us that we truly belong to God.

But there is also the infilling. It happens at the day of Pentecost, it happens again in Chapter 4 and it happens at different times throughout the book of Acts.

This is important for us to remember. We cannot do anything in our own strength. We must trust and depend both the work and the timing of the Holy Spirit.

There is an OT concept behind this. When the Children of Israel were wandering in the dessert, they were commanded to march 600 feet behind the Ark of the Covenant. They never knew where they were going to camp, and for how long. But, God's presence showed up in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day. Whenever the pillar moved, the people would follow.

Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, The Holy Spirit moves like the wind. God chooses His own direction.

Throughout the book of Acts, we read phrases like: “It seemed good to us... …we felt a strong urge to go to Macedonia... ...Paul had a vivid dream about a certain place.... These men learned to depend on the leading of the Holy Spirit.

ASK: So, how is prayer linked to all of this?

We pray, sense God's leading and then act. If we act in our own time, and in our own power, then we may seem to be trying, but we aren't really faithful.

Prayer is the way forward.

3). Go out, this is an addition to the great commission, to make it .

The great commission is for us to GO, preach, teach and baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We often emphasize the three elements, preach, teach and baptize, but the operative word is to Go.

And the Lord wants us to think globally. His one plan for changing the world through the Church. And the Church is not to wait for people to come to it. In the book, “Reclaiming the Great Commission” the author reminds people that the Church, since this day has almost always worked in cycles. It doesn't seem to be important to the world, so it works on its mission and outreach, and then it gets to a place of dominance and it works on maintenance. I submit that God's plan is for it to always be in mission and outreach.

When the church focuses on itself, and its own preservation, it isn't focusing on its mission and outreach. I believe that if we focus on the outreach, then the maintenance is left to God.

The maintenance of the Church is important.

In Acts 2, the church grew 300% in one day. It went from 120 people to over 3,000 people.

We read about Acts 6 a few weeks ago and the time when the apostles choose deacons to manage the church. The scripture says that they kept themselves involved with preaching, teaching and prayer.

Now think about it what would happen if all of a sudden 3,000 more people joined our church. Where would we put them? How would we organize them? Where would the Sunday School classes meet? Who gets elected to the board?

All of those details needed to be worked out then. But the focus, was not, and never will be on maintenance, it is on mission. The Church that focuses on maintenance will die.

Keep in mind what is important to God.

Now, let us change gears once again:

⁹When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. ¹¹They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

This is about ascension, which was celebrated on Wednesday.

I appreciate what the angels are saying.

As if to drive home the thought about what is the most important.

I love the angels statement: “Why are you staring at the clouds?”

They tell the disciples that Jesus will return.

But they warn them: “Stop skygazing, get busy.”

So look at this passage. It starts and ends with the disciples focusing on the wrong thing.

It starts out with speculation about Jesus restoring an earthly Kingdom and Jesus warns them to focus on witnessing about Him instead of politics. This is a big distraction for the church.

Now, at the end of the passage, the angels warn the apostles to stop looking for the return

The principle is the verse we spent the most time on this morning, verse 8. Be faithful planting the Kingdom of God. Here and now.

Every believer in America had egg on their faces May 22 when Jesus didn't return May 21. It happened because of a false prophet. If we keep our eyes on what is important right now, we don't get into that kind of embarrassment.