Book of Acts
THE BOOK OF ACTS – Chapter One
WEEK ONE
Acts Ch. 1-11: Empowered For Jesus' Mission - RealFaith
COMMISSIONED
Go to the book of Acts.
The early history of the first Christians, but here’s how we’re going to study it. We’re not going to study it as scholars; we’re going to study it as soldiers. Scholars and soldiers tend to be the ones who study history the most. Scholars want to look at what people used to do; soldiers want to see what remains to be done. Those who are scholars study history for the sake of information; those who are soldiers study it for the sake of mission.
As we come to study the history of the early church, we’re not just looking at what God used to do but what God still wants to do? And we’re invited today to be part of the most important mission in the history of the world. A soldier marches forward so that people may have life. We march forward together as the people of God so that people may receive eternal life.
God has assembled us together. He’s chosen us to be born when we were born, to live where we live, and he has assembled us together to be on a great mission with Him. And the story of the Bible is that God has an enemy, and that he has taken into captivity those who are apart from Jesus—their hearts are hard, their eyes are closed, their life is destined toward destruction. And we have this great news, this great good news, to tell:
“Jesus Christ conquers sin, Jesus Christ conquers death, Jesus Christ is alive and well. And we are commissioned—we are sent on mission into the world—to tell others about the victory of Jesus.”
JESUS’ LIFE
It all begins right here in Acts 1. If you’ve wondered, “How did Christianity start? How did churches come into existence? Why is Pebble Hill Community Church even here?” Here, we read it in the beginning of the book of Acts. So, if you would turn there with me, we’ll start with Jesus’ life in Acts 1:1–3. I want you to see that it’s all about Jesus.
The first eleven verses of Acts that we’ll examine together today—every single one of them mentions Jesus. There is no Christianity without Christ. Here’s how it begins:
“The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit” had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
He talks about the first book. When he speaks of the first book, he’s talking about the book of Luke. Luke was the prequel; this is the sequel. In the book of Luke, it tells us that Jesus gave us his life. In Acts, it shows us how Jesus gave us his power through the person and the presence of the Holy Spirit. And so we have the same author, and he is writing to tell us the history of Jesus and the history of Jesus’ people, the first Christians in the church.
So, that’s the first book that he, in fact, references. And he tells us that back in Luke, he recorded for us “all that”—and he says it right here—“Jesus began to do and to teach.”
So, that’s Jesus’ works and his words. This is very important. John Calvin called this “a holy knot.” All right, next time you lace up your shoes, think, “Jesus’ works and Jesus’ words.” They go together into a holy knot. Some people really like Jesus’ works. “Oh look, there’s Jesus. He’s feeding the hungry, he’s giving sight to the blind, he’s playing with children. We love that.” Where some have resistance is not so much to Jesus’ works but to his words, “I am God,” “I am Savior,” “I am Creator,” “I am the Judge of the living and the dead,” and “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me.” The conflict, the controversy occurs over Jesus’ words.
HIS WORDS AND WORKS
So, as we read, particularly the Gospel of Luke, as he is referencing here, I want you to, as you read the Bible, look at Jesus’ works and say, “That’s amazing that Jesus would love and give and serve so well,” but don’t overlook his words. Don’t just look to his works; listen to his words. Who he says he is and why he ultimately died. He was put to death, not for anything that he did, but for the many things that he said, claiming to be God.
So, he’s saying here that these two knots go together. As we look at Jesus’ character, we see that here is a very trustworthy, honorable, humble, and generous giver. And then, when we hear his words, we have to then realize that he’s making claims that no one else makes in the history of the world, saying that he is the Creator, saying that he is the Sustainer, saying that he is the Redeemer, saying that he is God among us. And then if we disagree with him, we have to go back to his works and ask, “Is this the kind of man who would tell this kind of lie? Does he have the kind of character that causes me to be compelled to not only admire his works but to trust in his words?”
And that’s exactly what he’s saying. He’s setting it up all around Jesus. When it comes to Jesus’ works, it’s his sinless life, it’s his substitutionary death in our place for our sins, it’s his burial in the grave, and it’s his resurrection and triumphant victory over sin and death that constitutes the heart of his works. And then when he tells us that we can turn from sin, that we can trust in him, that in him there is forgiveness of sin, that in him there is eternal life, then his words and his works come together. As we believe his words, we experience his work. And that’s exactly what he’s telling us.
So, this is so incredibly important because what tends to happen is that some love what Jesus did but disagree with what Jesus said. And here, he tells us to listen to what Jesus said—his words—and to watch what Jesus did—his works. And the most important work that Jesus did was his resurrection from the dead. All of his claims are confirmed through his resurrection. No one beats death—except for Jesus Christ.
He beat death. He died and was buried, and he rose. And he tells us here that he appeared for how many days? Forty days. And he says he offered many convincing proofs. This includes having breakfast with people. OK, that’s pretty convincing proof. You’re there, a guy dies, you go to his grave site to leave flowers, you realize that it’s open, he’s not there. Where is he? What happened? Oh, he’s in town having breakfast. You go have breakfast with him. You say, “Were you the guy that got crucified?” “Yes, here are the scars.” True or false, convincing proof?
Very convincing proof. You don’t even have to go to college to get that one right, all right?
So, there are the kinds of convincing proofs that Jesus offered. He hung out for forty days. He had breakfast with people the Bible records. People came up and gave him a hug to see that he was actually, physically, literally resurrected from death. Guys like Thomas came up to him and said, “I won’t believe unless I see it for myself.” He sees the crucifixion scars in Jesus’ hands and side, falls down, proclaims, “This is my Lord; this is my God.” Jesus rose from death, and he evidenced this for forty days. It was obvious to all. It’s why his tomb was never enshrined. People would enshrine a tomb to go visit someone they loved or memorialized. People don’t go to Jesus’ tomb, why? He’s not there.
And then after forty days, he’s going to tell us what happened. Now, before we get into that, let me tell you a little bit about our author. Who knows the author of Acts?
Luke. He was a physician or doctor. It says in Colossians 4 that he was Dr. Luke.
Colossians 4:14 New King James Version
14 Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.
How many of you have heard that Christianity is for poor people and that it was led by uneducated people? How many of you have heard that?
That’s not entirely true. Luke is a more affluent person. I don’t know about you, I don’t know a lot of really poor doctors, right? A poor doctor’s still doing better than most of us, right? So, he was not poor, he was more affluent. And he was not uneducated; he was very well educated. He originally wrote Luke and Acts in Greek, and those who are scholars would say that he indicates a very high intellect and a very competent education. He writes as one who’s been very formally trained. He’s a very articulate man. There were some leaders in the early church who were poor, and some were rich. Some were uneducated, and some were well educated—because Jesus is for what people? All people. All people. All people.
REPORTING ON JESUS’ LIFE
Dr. Luke is an amazing man. He was not an eyewitness to the life, death, burial, resurrection of Jesus. He was more like an investigative reporter. He was more like a historian. He was like an Indiana Jones or CSI type, OK? He was a guy who would go out, and he would investigate. So, he would go talk to those who knew Jesus, kids who grew up with him, family members who were still alive. He would go to the places that Paul preached and that Peter preached and where churches were assembled, and he would do the work of an investigative reporter: he would talk to the eye witnesses, he would gather the oral tradition, he would look at any evidence that was there, and he would try to collect and amass the story of Jesus in the book of Luke and Jesus’ people in the book of Acts.
I’ll tell you a couple things about him. He probably was not Jewish. He’s only mentioned three times in the New Testament. He was very close friends with Paul. As we read together the book of Acts, you’re going to see certain passages where Paul says, “We went here, and we did this, and we did that,” and you wonder, “Well, I know who Paul is. Who’s Mr. ‘We’?” Mr. “We” would be Dr. Luke. Dr. Luke is the traveling companion of Paul. They worked together. He’s friends with Paul. I think that he might have actually also been Paul’s personal physician. As Paul’s getting beaten, shipwrecked, homeless, imprisoned, a doctor would help, amen? And he’s got with him Dr. Luke. These two guys worked together. They worked together as friends.
And so, he’s there traveling with Paul, and he’s seeing what’s happening, and he’s recording what’s happening. He is the investigative reporter, who’s doing the work of going back to look at what Jesus did, and also an eyewitness, recording what’s happening through the Holy Spirit with leaders like Paul.
Now, Luke and Acts are two books of the New Testament, but together they constitute the majority of the New Testament. Just by sheer length, Luke writes the majority of the New Testament. The largest number of books in the New Testament are written by Paul, who, again, is a friend of Luke. And so, Luke is involved in, to some degree, the vast majority—almost the entirety—of the New Testament.
And he stayed faithful to Jesus. There is a record of him outside of the Bible in church history, and here’s what it says. It’s written about a hundred years after he lived. It says, “Indeed, Luke was an Antiochian Syrian, a doctor by profession, a disciple of the apostles. Later, however, he followed Paul until his martyrdom. Serving the Lord blamelessly. Faithful, godly man. He never had a wife, he never fathered children, and he died at the age of eighty-four, full of the Holy Spirit.”
So, Luke died for Jesus, Man, that we would all have that last line on our gravestone. “They died full of the Holy Spirit.”
This man actually lived and what he records are historical events. I need you to get this: Christianity is about history; it’s not about philosophy. There are certain religious systems, like Buddhism, that are not based on a founder but a system of ideas. There are other religions that are based on a place—a holy location that we have to travel to. The center of Christianity is not a philosophy. The center of Christianity is not a place. The center of Christianity is a person. His name is Jesus.
So, we don’t adhere to a philosophical system. We don’t travel to a sacred place. Instead, we get to know a living person named Jesus. That’s his big idea. If you take Jesus out, Christianity ceases to exist. If Jesus is dead, then Christianity is dead. If Jesus is alive, that explains why Christianity is alive. Ultimately, it’s all about Jesus. The center of the Christian faith is the living, ruling, reigning, resurrected King of kings, Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. And that’s what Luke records for us in the Gospel of Luke, looking at the life of Jesus.
JESUS’ POWER
Then he continues in the book of Acts, showing the implications of the resurrection of Jesus and what the living Jesus does to and through his people. So, he begins by telling us about Jesus’ life, and then he transitions to telling us about Jesus’ power.
Acts 1:4–5
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.”
Jesus’ life and his power are not just to be admired; they’re also to be experienced. A non-Christian can look at Jesus’ life and Jesus’ power and admire it. Only a Christian can look at Jesus’ life and Jesus’ power and experience it. How many of you have looked at Jesus’ life and thought, “That’s an amazing life. That’s an amazing life.” He said no to sin; he said yes to God. He never took advantage of anyone. He never stole anything. He never was inappropriate with any woman as a single man in his thirties. He was always generous. He always told the truth. He suffered nobly.
How many of you have looked at the life of Jesus and admired it? OK, that’s good, but that’s not enough. Jesus doesn’t want you to just admire his life, he wants you to experience his life through the person, the presence, the power of the third member of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit.
So, after Jesus rises from death, everybody’s excited. “What do we do now? What do we do now?” Wait, because the Christian life cannot be lived apart from Christ’s power. Jesus is not just an example for us; he’s one who empowers us to follow in his example. You get that?
Let me explain this to you. He talked about “in his former account (or book),” right? We just read that in Acts 1:1, So, what tends to happen is—some of you won’t know what this means; just hang in there.
—How many of you are from Pentecostal, Charismatic backgrounds? What tends to happen is when you go to a Charismatic or a Pentecostal church, they’re gonna talk a lot about the Holy Spirit, and they’ll usually start right around the book of Acts. And they’ll say, “Oh see, Jesus says we’re gonna get the Holy Spirit.” And then you go a little bit forward—we’re gonna get there in the next few weeks—the Holy Spirit drops on God’s people, they’re filled with the Holy Spirit, and then everybody starts talking about the Holy Spirit.
Luke just told us—where should we start our study? “In his former account.” If you want to understand the person of the Holy Spirit, you don’t start in Acts; you start in Luke, which sets up Acts. They’re actually one book in two parts, and Luke starts Acts by saying, “Don’t forget my former book. These go together. Read that one first. Get this all-in order.”
Then, down in Acts 1:8, he was very clear. He says,
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.”
So, let’s follow Luke’s instruction. Jesus tells us, “You will receive”—what? “Power.”
There was a Swedish chemist many years ago. He was working, and he discovered a very powerful substance. And so, he had to call it something because he had discovered it. He called a friend of his who was a Greek scholar. I don’t know if he was a Christian or not. He may have been a New Testament scholar for all I know. And he asked, “What’s the Greek word for ‘power’?” It’s the same word here. It’s dunamis. What is that? It’s dynamite. Our word “dynamite” comes from the biblical word for “Holy Spirit.”
All right, when he shows up, boom!
Stuff happens, right? You don’t have to ask, “Was there dynamite there? I couldn’t tell.” No, you know right?
When the Holy Spirit shows up, you know it. There’s power. Things happen. Things change. The Christian life is about that kind of power, that kind of supernatural, God-given power. But you need to be careful with this, because apart from Jesus, we could misunderstand this power. We could misuse this power.
So, we go back to his former book and we ask, not first, “How should we use this power of the Holy Spirit?” but “How did Jesus use this power from the Holy Spirit?” One of the things I love about Luke’s Gospel is that it is the Gospel that explains in the richest detail the relationship between God the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ.
OK, we believe in one God, three persons—Father, Son, and Spirit. It’s called the Trinity. Within this, the second member of the Trinity comes into human history as the God-man Jesus Christ. And he lives a perfect life—no sin of any sort or kind. The question is, how did he do that?
How many have looked at the life of Jesus and said, “Well, of course he didn’t sin. He’s God.” It kind of looks like he’s cheating, right? “Oh, God didn’t sin? Well, shocking, that is. Oh look, God’s waterskiing without a boat. Kind of expected that,” right? “Oh, God took a little boy’s Lunchables and fed a stadium of people. Well, that’s the stuff that God can do; I’m not God, so I don’t expect to do anything really interesting. God said no to temptation, God did not tell a lie, but that’s God; I’m not God, so I have very little expectation for any explosive power of change in my life.”
JESUS DIDN’T CHEAT
Let me tell you this about Jesus: he never cheated. This is very important. How many of you watch the old Superman episodes and you’re like, “I know it’s not Clark Kent. I know it’s not.” He looked like Clark Kent, but underneath, who was he? Superman. He had the big S on his unitard. He did, right? Which meant when someone was against him, they really weren’t against Clark Kent; they were really against Superman. Some people have that perspective of Jesus.
“Oh, he looks like a mild, humble, Galilean, peasant carpenter, but underneath, he’s really Savior—he’s Lord. So, when he’s tempted, he’s not really tempted. When he’s hurting, he’s not really hurting. When he’s suffering, he’s not really suffering. He’s cheating.”
Did Jesus cheat? No.
While on the earth, Jesus remained fully God and had full access to all of his divine attributes, but he did not avail himself to the continual use of those divine attributes. He didn’t cheat.
Luke 2:40 NKJV
40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
This means that he actually had to memorize Scripture like we have to memorize Scripture. He didn’t just get to go, “Oh, I know it because I wrote it,” right? He had to memorize it like we do. It means that as Jesus was preaching and teaching, he had to learn how to use his abilities like we would have to learn to use our abilities. It means when he was tempted, he did not lean into his divinity to cheat, he lived out of his humanity, and he was tempted,
Hebrews 4:14-16 New King James Version
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
What this means is that Jesus could have leaned into his divinity.
All right, he’s one person, two natures, fully God, fully man—but he didn’t cheat. As I read the Bible, the only time I see Jesus leaning into his divinity, into his deity, is never for his own benefit but for the benefit of others. So, when someone needs their sin forgiven, he forgives them as God, but that’s for their benefit. Any time that he is being tempted, any time that he is being tested, any time that he is being opposed, he doesn’t lean into his divinity, his deity. He lives out of his humanity. Jesus gets hungry like we get hungry. Jesus gets tempted like we get tempted. Jesus gets exhausted like we get exhausted. Jesus has to learn like we have to learn. Jesus has to labor like we have to labor.
So, how did he do it? If he didn’t cheat and lean into his divinity, how did he do it? How did he do it?
By the power of the Holy Spirit. So, Jesus shows us what it’s like to live a perfect, Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered, Spirit-led life.
Now, some of you didn’t grow up in Charismatic and Pentecostal homes, and when I start talking about the Holy Spirit, you get a nervous eye twitch, OK? You’re like, “I’ve heard about those churches. It’s where they collect seven offerings and the pastor wears a white suit and his wife looks like she lost a paintball gun war and people run around with flags. You’re freaking me out,” right? Hey, I’m just telling you what happens, right? And you get a little—you’re like, “Oh man.” As soon as they hear “Holy Spirit,” it’s like happy hour, right? Everybody gets a little loopy, and things get a little out of control.
JESUS LIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The key is, you cannot understand the power of the Holy Spirit apart from the life of Jesus. There’s no example of what it means to live a Spirit-empowered life unless we look at the life of Jesus.
And so, that’s what Luke is telling us. He says, OK, Jesus lived by the power of the Holy Spirit. He lives without sin, he dies for our sin, he rises for our sin, he evidences it for forty days, and he tells his people, “Don’t go do ministry yet. Wait. You need power. The Holy Spirit’s coming to cause you to be like me.” That’s why the former book and the latter book go together.
So, in the book of Luke, we have already went over some of these. God is something else.
1. The relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit—Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in his mother, Mary. Jesus’ conception, his entrance into human history as a man, was by the power of the Holy Spirit.
2. At Jesus’ baptism, God the Father speaks from heaven. The whole Trinity is there. “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Here’s Jesus, the Son of God, the second member of the Trinity coming up out of the water. Who descends on Jesus? The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. This is to show publicly that Jesus is anointed by the Holy Spirit, that he’s indwelt by the Holy Spirit, that he’s filled by the Holy Spirit, that he’s empowered by the Holy Spirit, that his whole life is by the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why this was public, so everybody could see it. See, Jesus already knew it. This wasn’t for Jesus’ understanding; this was for our understanding.
3. The book of Luke, then, goes on to say that Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit.” How many of you have heard, “You should live a Spirit-filled life.” That’s true. You know what that looks like? Jesus.
Any time we lift someone else up and say, “Well, there’s the Spirit-filled person, be like them,” wrong person. None of us sinners are perfectly, continually full of the Holy Spirit. We grieve, we quench, we resist the Holy Spirit at times. But Jesus was, “full of the Holy Spirit”—continually, perfectly.
4. The Gospel of Luke says that he was “led by the Spirit.” So, Jesus goes here because that’s where the Spirit is directing him. He teaches these people, he leads these people, he casts out these demons, he prays over this crowd. Why? Because he’s led by the Holy Spirit.
5. We read repeatedly in the Gospel of Luke that he came “in the power of the Spirit.” How did he teach? In the power of the Holy Spirit. How did he cast out demons? In the power of the Holy Spirit. How were those who were blind given sight? Because he was empowered by the Holy Spirit. He came with, by, for, through the power of the Holy Spirit. See, ministry has programs, but it does nothing without power.
6. The Gospel of Luke says that he “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.” When Jesus had joy, when he celebrated, it was because the joy of the Lord was his strength. It was the Holy Spirit in him, causing him to glorify, to worship, to enjoy, to adore, to thank, to bless God the Father.
7. Luke also says repeatedly in the book of Acts that the hand of the Lord was upon him. That’s language for the Holy Spirit. It’s a metaphor. God the Father’s in heaven, and God the Son’s on earth, and God the Father puts his hand on God the Son. He’s the One. In fact, that’s what it means to be the Christ.
“Christ” literally means “the anointed one”
—the one whom the Father has put his hand on and said, “He’s the chosen one. He’s the perfect one. He is the sent one.” Jesus indicates this for us as well.
8. Early on in Jesus ministry, he walks into a synagogue, he opens to the book of Isaiah in Luke 4:18-21, and he reads it. Do you remember what he reads? He reads this:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Isaiah wrote seven hundred years prior and said, “There’s one who is coming, and the Spirit of the Lord will reside on him so that he could preach good news and set captives free from sin and death.” And Jesus says, “I’m here. That’s me. I’m the one you’ve all been waiting for, and the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”
That’s either true or one of the most arrogant statements ever uttered in the history of the world. Jesus was led by the Spirit. He was empowered by the Spirit. He was filled with the Spirit. He suffered by the power of the Holy Spirit. He endured by the power of the Holy Spirit. He loved by the power of the Holy Spirit. He engaged in spiritual conflicts with the demonic realm by the power of the Holy Spirit. He prayed by the power of the Holy Spirit. He trained leaders by the power of the Holy Spirit. He honored and obeyed his mother and father when he was a little boy by the power of the Holy Spirit. He humbly, for the first thirty years of his life, went to a job as a carpenter, humbly serving, obscurely serving in a small town, in a poor family by the power of the Holy Spirit. He died still filled and led by the Holy Spirit.
So hear this: to be Spirit-filled is not to avoid suffering but to suffer well. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will not get you around suffering; he’ll get you through suffering. That was the case with Jesus.
Romans 8:11 NLT
1 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
So we don’t just admire Jesus’ life; we experience Jesus’ life. When we look at Jesus, we don’t say, “Well, that’s God cheating.” No, that’s God humbling himself to live by the power of the Holy Spirit and then sending us the Spirit so that we could live by Jesus’ power, so we could follow Jesus’ example by Jesus’ power. You get that?
JESUS’ MISSION
All of this, friends, is for mission. It’s not just so that you can be a better person. This is not modified self-help. This is not so that you can achieve your potential. This is not so that you could showcase your glory to the world. This is not so that you would meet all of your objectives. This is not so that you would be all you can be and do all you can do. This is exclusively for the mission of Jesus.
And we read of this in Acts 1:6–11.
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—there’s our mission. to Me in Jerusalem—where they were, and in all Judea —the region and Samaria—extended area, and to the end of the earth.”
The story continues.
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
The presence of God in the Bible is often accompanied with a cloud.
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.”
See, this explains to us where Jesus is today.
I don’t know how to explain this. Jesus not only went up to a physical place, he then entered into another dimension, all right? Some of you say, “I don’t understand this.” Hey, ask a guy who watches Star Trek. Maybe he’ll help. I can’t fully explain this, OK? Now we’re into the supernatural, now we’re into the miraculous, now we’re into another dimension. But Jesus is alive today, and he’s a King who ascends to sit on his throne and rule over all of his creation.
3 THINGS ABOUT JESUS’ MISSION
Now, here’s the deal: it’s not about your mission. It’s not about my mission. It’s not about our mission. It’s about his mission. A lot of people have a mission, and they want to use Jesus for their mission. Grow my business, make me healthy, fix my family. Sometimes this can even be noble causes, noble organizations. Not necessarily even bad things, maybe even things that Jesus would approve of. But we’ve got to be very careful. We’re never allowed to use Jesus for our mission. It’s Jesus’ mission, and we’re a part of it.
So we ask the wrong question when we sit down with a whiteboard and ask, “What’s our mission?” We have no right. In fact, we’re supposed to open the Bible and ask, “Jesus, what’s your mission?” And then we’re supposed to be on his mission.
See, organizations and businesses can sit down and put together their mission statement. Jesus is the head of the church. Every church belongs to him. Every church has the same mission, and we have no right to come up with our own mission or to try to use him for our mission. In fact, the church doesn’t even have a mission. Jesus does, and the church is a part of his mission. So, our mission is simply to do what Jesus told us to do. Makes it simple doesn’t it? And he said that we would be his—what? His witnesses. That’s the mission. That’s the mission.
So, let me tell you a couple things about Jesus’ mission.
1. IT’S UNDER HIS SOVEREIGN RULE
Number one, Jesus’ mission is under his sovereign rule. He ascended into heaven. Right now, he’s seated on a throne. So, Jesus entire mission is under his sovereign rule. I’m not in charge; Jesus is. You’re not in charge; Jesus is. The whole mission on earth is under the ruling, resurrected, reigning Jesus, seated on his throne right now.
2. IT’S KINGDOM EXPANSION
Number two, Jesus’ mission is the expansion of his kingdom through the church. There’s no mission apart from the church. You’re going to see that coming up in Acts 2 and 3. He doesn’t start a whole bunch of organizations. He starts one organism called the church, and Jesus’ mission is the expansion of his kingdom. He says it right here. “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way you saw him go into heaven.” He’s coming back. Between the time of his ascension and the time of his Second Coming is the time for our witnessing as the church for the expansion of his kingdom. The Old Testament would say this a lot: “God was seeking a people for his own possession.” In the New Testament, the language is, “to make disciples”—which are people for his own possession. The goal is always people meeting Jesus. That’s the mission.
The more we work together, the more we pray together, the more we walk in unity and in humility and in generosity the more disciples are made, the more the church grows in spirit and yes numbers, the more Jesus’ kingdom advances, the more the Holy Spirit pours out grace and blessing. The Holy Spirit wants you and me to become like Jesus and to continue the ministry of Jesus. He’s glad to empower us, he’s glad to show up, he’s glad to help—but not to people who are on their own mission.
3. IT’S FOR ALL NATIONS
Number three, Jesus’ mission is for all nations. “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth.” And at this point, they couldn’t grab a map. There wasn’t a map. Peter couldn’t say, “Hey, grab the globe.” There was no globe. Most of these guys had never traveled more than thirty, forty, fifty miles from their home, and it was on foot.
And what Jesus says is, “OK, the earth—we need to get it.” That’s kind of a big ask, right? That’s a big request. The earth—that’s the mission. “The people on the earth, wherever they live, we need to get to them and tell them that I’m alive, that I’m God and I conquered death.” True or false, those people already have their own religions? Do they? They do. And we’re going to go there and tell them that they’re worshiping a false God and that their demonic false God is telling them lies and it’s going to lead to eternal damnation.
See, today, the first thing that would happen was, there would have been a committee that would have met to ask whether or not that was hate speech and intolerant. The most loving thing we can do is tell people about Jesus and tell them that everything that is contrary to Jesus is wrong.
We support as a Church…here, we have paid staff here, then we support Cords of Three, we support Israel, and finally we support missionaries all over the world.
*study derived from Pastor Mark Driscoll from Real Faith and Book of Acts by Chuck Smith