Acts 1:1-11

Introduction

We’re beginning a new series called The Messy but Marvelous Church from the book of Acts and 1 Corinthians. I can’t tell you how excited I am for this series. The more I consider the church, the more I am blessed by it. And so when I refer to the church, what am I referring to, Foothill High School? The Worship Band? Axis? Gospel Train? The Men or Women of the church? No. Not at all. I’m talking about God’s people. And the more I live my life, the more I am so thankful for God’s people. And this past weekend’s retreat was just a wonderful example of this affection. To be able to walk down the hill to meet and greet and talk to and share and pray with some of you was a treasure to me and my family. It’s what I believe families do. They enjoy being together. They enjoy life together. But they also struggle together as well.

And like any family, the church family is a messy family. It can go through seasons of tension, rivalries, and conflict. Sometimes people are not so easy to love in the church. Mix in people of different levels of faith, different personalities and quirks, different backgrounds and lifestages, and the church can get, well messy. But in Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit, as we process such times through the lens of the gospel, not only is there forgiveness and healing because of such incidents, there is also growth and maturity and even joy when we persevere to the end. And in this way, we can look back and marvel at what God has done through us during such messy times.

This is exactly why we need to explore Acts and 1 Corinthians and see what we can learn that applies to us. So today we’ll explore three emphases of this church in Acts 1:1-11: 1) The Continuing Work (vv. 1-3), 2) The End of Stargazing (v. 6, 9-11), and 3) The Beginning Mission (v. 4-8, 11).

The Continuing Work (v. 1-3)

So first, let’s look at the continuing work of Jesus in verses 1-3: “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”

It’s very clear from these verses that the book of Acts is a continuation of Luke’s Gospel. It’s written to the same person (Theophilus). And it has the purpose of presenting the second part of the life of Jesus’ ministry. Now you might be wondering, “How could Acts be a second part of Jesus’ ministry when Jesus is only mentioned in ch. 1 (and chapter 9)? But this is exactly what Luke infers in these verses. He tells Theophilus that the first book (the gospel of Luke) has dealt with “all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day he was taken up.” But following this event, Luke implies that the rest of this book (Acts) will present Jesus’ continued work amongst His apostles and His people. And clearly, the means by which this will all take place will be “through the Holy Spirit.”
So what does this mean for us? It means that Jesus’ ministry does not end when He ascended to heaven as we shall explore later. He doesn’t leave His disciples to fend for themselves to somehow finish what He started. After all, how could this pitiful band of ragamuffins accomplish what we have today, over 1 billion people (currently) who profess to believe and proclaim Christ as King? How could 11 men, a few women who had just lost their founder by crucifixion, who had lost one of the original 12 through betrayal, who had no formal education, no training in organizational management and logistics, create a delivery system called the church that would outlast the intense persecution of the Roman government, fascism, communism, and everything else that has been against it throughout history? No my friends, this was not a manmade creation. And this is exactly why Luke wrote Acts. Acts is Luke’s way of showing us that Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit, is still leading His church. Jesus says as much in John 16:13-14: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

So the book of Acts could very well have been entitled, “The Book of Acts of Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit to the Praise of His Father through the Means of His Messy But Marvelous Church,” but I figured Luke probably thought that was too long of a title. The point is this: you must see Acts as a continuation of the work of Jesus, not a new work of Jesus, and not a work without Him. This will help you to understand this text and the church with the right perspective.

The End of Stargazing (v. 6, 9-11)

Luke also emphasizes from this text the end of stargazing in verses 6, 9-11: “So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”…9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

I feel sorry for the apostles. They’re still in the same place they were prior to Jesus’ death. Can you imagine that they are staring at Jesus after He has risen from the dead after a brutal execution? Every moment they look at Him, they are staring into the eyes of the most startling miracle the world has ever known, and yet, they still don’t get it.

Look at the question they ask him in verse 6. They were still stuck on their idea of salvation through political means. John Calvin notes that their question has as many errors as there are words. (Stott, 41) The word “restore” assumes they believed there would still be a restoration of the state of Israel overthrowing the Roman government, a common misunderstanding the disciples had throughout Luke’s gospel. And of course, they assumed that it would be “at this time,” now, despite the fact that Jesus had clearly taught that no one knows the day or hour, except for the Father (Matt 24:36).

For the disciples, they still had hopes of political dominion. I know this might seem a bit abstract for us. But it really shouldn’t be. Think of today’s political climate. Every time we have a presidential election, there is always elation for the victorious party and depression for the defeated party. If you listen to the political commentary of today, there’s a longing by people from every part of the political spectrum to see salvation come in the form of their candidate on their party’s platform. And sadly, Christians today have so quickly fallen into the same trap of the disciples here in verse 6.

The idea that getting the right Christian politicians into seats of power to take over the government is certainly not a new one. The disciples wrongly believed that government can change the world and Jesus needed to take up His rightful throne now as an earthly King. It’s not that there is no place for Christians to step into the political arena. But we must not fool ourselves into believing that human governmental rule produces true change. The reality is that laws do not change hearts. Human hearts are far too hardened to be changed by mere rules and laws.

To understand this, all you need to do is look at children. You can always threaten your children to obey rules. And give enough fear of punishment, they will obey them. But that doesn’t necessarily mean their hearts will obey them. A mom can scream at her teenage daughter, “You will not leave the house dressed like that.” She can threaten all sorts of punishments. But when that daughter changes wearing a sweatshirt and then leaves the home only to take off the sweatshirt to wear what she was originally wearing, you begin to realize that rules cannot regulate the heart. No law or governing authority can force people to love someone and desire to obey the law with a joyful heart.

And no government or law or even fear of reprisal will ever get people to truly love Jesus. The other day, Shua and I were driving down the 680 when we saw this white van littered with all sorts of Christian slogans. It had huge words all over the van telling people to repent, warning them of the dangers of hell. It also listed all of the sins that people commit. It’s possible that van could scare someone to come to trust in Jesus. But one thing that van will never do is to give a person delight and joy in knowing Jesus.

And so Jesus doesn’t answer their question about restoring Israel with what they want to hear. Instead, if you look at Jesus’ answer in verses 7-8, you might think Jesus sidesteps their question. But He really doesn’t. Instead, He’s telling them, “If you think being the Roman emperor who can change laws and force people to live the way he wants them to do is powerful, you ain’t seen nothing yet. When the Holy Spirit comes, He will show you what real power is. Government might be able to force people to do things temporarily, but the Spirit will bring about real change and transformation, and they will do it with joy.” Only Jesus by His Spirit can cause someone who has no love for Him to not only love Him, but give such a person so much delight in Jesus, that he or she would be willing to do whatever it takes for others to have that same type of joy. We explore this reality in the last emphasis.

But let me add one more thing, and it’s the very reason why I am calling the second point the end of stargazing in verses 9-11. The disciples had this view that Jesus was going to restore a political kingdom. And so, when Jesus actually leaves them and the two angels tell them to stop stargazing, I can only imagine what the scene must have been like. Their mouths are probably open in utter shock because they not only saw Jesus floating up to heaven on a cloud, but for the second (third, fourth, twentieth) time, their understanding of His mission had been completely overturned. They were standing stargazing not knowing what to do, and so the angels responded to them: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

The angels’ words are not just for the disciples, but for all disciples of Christ. We can’t merely stand around stargazing, waiting for Jesus to return. Christians are not called to a life of comfort, of remaining stagnant. The church must never be a church that is simply satisfied with being saved. The gospel is not sedentary. No, the gospel by its very nature must be proclaimed and shared and declared to others. The disciples, up to this point, had simply gathered together. But Jesus’ whole post-resurrection mission was to prepare them for something far greater, a sharing of the news of Jesus. And He knows full well how weak and timid they are, which is why this last scene of Jesus’ earthly mission is a reminder of his continuing work by his Spirit. Jesus doesn’t leave the church, us, to fend for ourselves. No. He is with us in our homegroups, during Sunday worship, in our retreats. And He doesn’t want us to merely enjoy His presence, to be looking to heaven for Jesus.

This past retreat was special. It was important. It reminded me that we’re a church, God’s people. But we can’t merely be satisfied with ourselves. And the retreat can’t merely be about being “fired up for God” or spiritually refreshed. If so, then we’re merely looking up to the heavens. No, it has to lead to our desire to tell people about Jesus. It has to empower us to say that we will not only live differently, but we will delight to tell others about Him. I am more convinced than ever before that building Christian community is absolutely essential to our faith. I also believe it’s essential to our witness. We need to be so drawn together in order to feel supported to share our faith and possibly even receive persecution for such proclamations. And to that end, let us do all that we can to grow in community. Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. Let’s grow in God’s Word. Let’s pray for one another. Let’s disciple one another. Let’s be God’s family so that you can always run home when you’re in trouble. But we must go out again and tell the world that they need Jesus Christ. We must not merely gaze at the sky, bask in our fellowship, be happy home groupers who are so excited about our small group that visitors and non-believers are not welcome. We must not merely gaze at the sky believing that our fellowship on Sundays is good enough as it is and that we don’t want “that kind of people” to ruin the good thing we have. These, my friends, are the deadly pitfalls of stargazing.

The Beginning Mission (v. 4-8, 11)

Therefore, Jesus makes it clear that knowing who He is and what He has done for you should and must lead to a mission, which Jesus tells us is the beginning of the church’s mission in Acts 1:4-8, 11:

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” The Ascension 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.”

And then verse 11 again: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

As we saw, the disciples could have been very content standing there waxing nostalgia. They could have simply sat around the campfire sharing Jesus stories. They could have had disciple reunions where they reminisced about all the miracles they saw. They could have sought comfort and a life of ease. Or maybe they could have formed their own little Jesus’ disciples religion. But the whole point of this chapter, of Jesus’ words in Acts 1:8, and of the angels words in verse 11, is to tell them Jesus is with them always by His Holy Spirit. And to simply stand there enjoying Jesus and what He had done for them without proclaiming to others of what He had done, would be no different than starting a Christianity without Christ. You see, it wasn’t “For God so loved the 12 disciples that He gave His only Son.” It was, “For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only Son.”

When Jesus tells the disciples that when the Spirit comes, they will be His witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and to the ends of earth, He’s telling them that this is how it must be. The Holy Spirit will make this happen. They can’t simply settle for anything less or else it really undermines whether their faith really is in Christ, and it questions whether the Holy Spirit truly is with them. The Spirit empowers believers to be WITNESSES. Again, as Jesus said in John 16:14: “He [the Holy Spirit] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

So what does this mean for us my brothers and sisters? It means that Jesus didn’t merely die for Wellspring Church so that we can enjoy each other’s presence while keeping outsiders out because they ruin our friendship dynamics. No, the gospel proclaimed and lived out by Jesus and empowered by His Holy Spirit is inherently a good news that by definition is proclaimed. It means that in our homegroups we MUST be ready to be uncomfortable. Yes, we need to grow in community and faith. But may I say that unless we reach the lost, we will be missing a key component of our growth as Christians? Jesus makes the witness an integral part of the apostles’ mission. This wasn’t a side thing to their growth. This was essential to it. And so, I believe that the Lord is calling us to a new place when we think of homegroups. He’s asking us to consider making these groups a place where we can invite neighbors, non-believing family, co-workers so they can see the gospel lived out. We need to create new groups for the purpose of growing in community AND so that we can invite others to join a group that is not so insular. So many families in our society are broken. In my neighborhood, there are very few families that have a marriage intact. My friends, you would be surprised how much of a witness it is simply for people to see your family, as sinful as it is, to still be together in a broken world. The world will know we are His disciples when we love one another. But Jesus never said that it would be flawless love. They need to see our messiness. And they also need to see that that is exactly why we savor Christ, because He makes us whole through His work in the midst of our messiness. And so my dear friends, please consider inviting the lost to HGs, maybe as an entry point to church, and of course, to the gospel.

This then also means that we need to continue to see the church as a whole take every step necessary to see this gospel spread. I love Jesus’ promise in verse 8, “BUT you will receive power when the HS has come upon you.” Remember, this is in response to the disciples strategies and vision for the advancement of God’s Kingdom, which was a completely weak and false hope. Power will never come from earthly power. BUT there is a true alternative, the power of the Holy Spirit and that comes through the advancement of the gospel. There has to be a witness. But as we learned in Luke, witness always has a cost. Jesus’ witness, His desire to see us trust in the Father and come to be received as sons and daughters, cost His life and therefore, Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 10:24: “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.” If He suffered for His witness to God’s goodness and glory, how could we avoid such a thing? So perhaps our suffering might come in the form of persecution, rejection by peers in the workplace or being labeled by neighbors as the “weird Christian family” or fellow parents of your son’s basketball team. Perhaps it might come in the form of discomfort, joining a new homegroup or being part of homegroup launch that is filled with people you don’t “connect with” or who aren’t in your life stage. Maybe it might mean one day if we should plant another church, you might leave the comfort of this church to join a new church making new friends and fellowship that is quite different. Maybe it means going overseas to share the gospel to the unreached, or starting a ministry to the poor in our neighborhood, etc. But know this, witness though it always comes at a cost, some cost, also always comes with POWER. You will never be left alone. NO, quite the contrary, you will have the power of the Holy Spirit with you. And Jesus paid a costly price not only for you to have power, but to be freed to live with what Peter calls a “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3). I love how he describes life in Christ in 1 Peter 1:8-9: “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” This is His promise!

Conclusion

So my friends, get ready to examine the church through the lens of Luke in Acts 1-2 and 18 and through the lens of Paul in 1 Corinthians. I hope you’re challenged. I hope you wrestle with the mission. I hope you’re able to empathize with the messiness of it all. But I hope you marvel that God by His great Son’s work through His powerful Spirit should use even this messy church, sinful and broken as we are, for His fame. And by doing so, you will find your joy ever increasing forever more.