Acts 1:1-11: A Mission and a Promise

Acts 1:1-11: A Mission and a Promise

This morning’s message will be based on Acts 1:1-11. It reads as follows:

1 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. 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.” 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.” 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.” 

 This morning, we’re starting what will probably be about a year-long journey through the book of Acts. That’s typically the way we like to do things around here—preaching passage by passage through books of the Bible. And the reason I chose Acts as the next book for us to study is actually related to COVID. For a lengthy period of time during COVID, virtually everything in our church came to a screeching halt. I mean, our church was pretty much reduced to a Facebook video once a week. Now thankfully, the Lord provided us with the opportunity to begin meeting again on Sundays last June—about a year ago. But even throughout this past year of in-person worship gatherings, things haven’t really been normal. There’s still been that mentality of isolation and distance and sort of an awkwardness that’s characterized our social interactions pretty much everywhere. 

However, we now seem to be gradually coming out of that—with the vaccine now widely available and the withdrawal of mask requirements for many of us. So what I believe we as a church need right now is essentially to learn to walk again. Kind of like someone who’s been in a really bad car accident. A lot of times, when someone’s in an accident like that, they, at least temporarily, lose their ability to walk. And what they need—once their injuries have been sufficiently tended to and they’ve begun to recover—is physical therapy so they can learn to walk again. And that’s sort of where I see our church being at right now. We’ve had several months of no face-to-face interaction followed by an entire year of interaction that’s been hindered in various ways. So what we now need is essentially to learn to walk again when it comes to our ministry to one another and especially to our outreach to those outside the church. I mean, if there’s any area in which we really need help, it’s in reorienting ourselves around the mission Jesus has given us of reaching the world with the gospel. And of course, that begins with having gospel conversations on a regular basis with people God puts in our lives. And it’s my hope that studying the book of Acts passage by passage will help us with that. 

Now one thing that’s helpful whenever you first approach a book of the Bible is to know a little bit about the background of that book. And it’s pretty nice for us today since, as we look at Acts chapter 1, a lot of that background information is conveniently supplied in the first three verses. So let’s look at Acts 1:1-3: 1 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. 

Now what these verses don’t tell you is that this book was written by a guy named Luke. Luke was a physician and also a close associate and frequent traveling companion of the Apostle Paul. And we see here that he’s writing Acts as volume two of a two volume series. Notice the reference in verse 1 to “the first book”—which is what we call The Gospel of Luke. So understand that even though, in our Bibles today, there’s a book that’s inserted between the books of Luke and Acts, Luke and Acts actually belong together as volumes one and two of the same series. Not only that, but we also see in verse 1 that Luke addresses this volume to a guy named Theophilus. Now, we don’t know for sure, but Theophilus was probably either someone whom Luke was trying to persuade to become a Christian or a new convert to Christianity whom Luke was trying to teach. And he was probably a high-ranking official in the Roman government since, at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, Luke refers to him as “most excellent Theophilus.”

And way these volumes are organized is that the Gospel of Luke focuses on the earthly ministry of Jesus—namely his life and death and resurrection. It teaches us how Jesus entered this world as a real human being and lived a life of sinless perfection. Nobody had ever done that before, but Jesus did. He walked in perfect righteousness every day of his life. And then, he died on the cross not for any sins he had committed but for our sins. You see, our sins deserved God’s judgment. And typically, of course, we would have been the ones to bear that judgment. But the beauty and wonder of the gospel is that Jesus endured that judgment in our place.  He was punished as our substitute. And ever since he did that—and then rose from the dead three days later—this world has never been the same. Now, instead of facing God’s condemnation, we can experience God’s salvation—meaning that we can be saved from our sins through Jesus, as we put our trust in him. So that’s the Gospel of Luke. 

Then Acts picks up where Luke leaves off. It focuses on the early church—both how the church was established and how it grew. And here in Acts chapter 1, we find Jesus speaking with his followers after rising from the dead. And he tells them, skipping ahead a little bit to Acts 1:8, “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.” That’s the central verse of this passage—and not only of this passage but really of the entire book. You see, we find in this one verse an outline of the entire book of Acts. First, we see Jesus’ followers being witnesses in Jerusalem, which was the city where Christianity started. That’s chapters 1-7 of Acts. Then, we find the early Christians bearing witness in Judea and Samaria, which were the surrounding regions around Jerusalem, in chapters 8-12. Then, lastly, we follow the Apostle Paul as he bears witness about Jesus “to the end of the earth” in chapters 13-28. So that’s what the whole book is about—the spread of the gospel. And we see Jesus announcing that mission to his disciples here in Acts 1. 

Now just imagine, for a moment, how overwhelming that must have been for this rag-tag band of Jesus-followers. I mean, remember that these were just ordinary guys. How in the world were they supposed to lead a gospel movement that would reach the ends of the earth? I imagine they felt much like I would feel if someone handed me a scalpel and told me to perform brain surgery on somebody and then walked away. I wouldn’t have a clue what to do. Operating on somebody’s brain is a task that’s totally beyond my abilities. So, I’d obviously feel completely overwhelmed. And I imagine that’s how Jesus’ disciples felt in this passage. Yet that’s why Jesus doesn’t just give them a mission—he also gives them a promise. And that promise is summed up in three words: the Holy Spirit. So that’s what we’ll be looking at this morning. The main idea of this passage is that Jesus gives his disciples both a mission and a promise. 

Jesus Gives His Disciples a Promise

So let’s start by looking at the promise. We find it first stated in verses 4-5: 4 And while staying with them he [Jesus] 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.” So notice here what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t tell them they have a mission and that he’s going to send the Holy Spirit to help them with that mission but that they should just do the best they can in the meantime before the Spirit comes. No, he tells them, don’t even try this without the Holy Spirit. The text even says that he “ordered” them not to depart from Jerusalem. Many other translations say that he “commanded” them. That’s pretty strong. Yet that’s how essential the Spirit is for the mission Jesus has given us. It’s not even worth trying to accomplish the mission without the Holy Spirit. 

Yet, sadly enough, many Christians today don’t seem to be very familiar with the Holy Spirit. I appreciate the comparison J. I. Packer makes when he says that many Christians these days aren’t really all that different from the disciples of John the Baptist in Acts 19, who said, “We haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Obviously, that comparison is a bit hyperbolic, but there’s certainly some truth in it. It seems like a lot of Christians, for all practical purposes at least, live as though the Trinity consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Bible. They barely even know who the Holy Spirit is or appreciate his role in the Christian life or in our mission. That’s why Packer elsewhere refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Cinderella of Christian doctrines.” You remember the story of Cinderella, right? Neglected, forgotten, obscure, unappreciated. That’s, according to Packer, the way Christians often treat the Holy Spirit. 

Yet as we go through the book of Acts, we’re going to see that it’s the Holy Spirit who’s moving things forward. The official full title of the book is “The Acts of the Apostles,” but we’re going to see that, really, a better title for the book might be “The Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles.” That’s how central the Spirit is to everything that happens in the church. In Acts 2, it’s the Spirit who enables the apostles to speak in other languages and who empowers Peter to preach his famous sermon at Pentecost. In Acts 4, it’s the Spirit who empowers Peter to boldly testify to the Jewish religious leaders about Jesus and his mission. Later in Acts 4, it’s again the Spirit who enables the early Christian community to continue sharing the gospel even in the face of persecution. In Acts 6, it’s being full of the Spirit that’s considered to be a key qualification for serving as a deacon. In Acts 7, it’s the Spirit to enables Stephen to testify about Jesus to a hostile crowd and literally preach the gospel to his dying breath. In Acts 8, it’s the Spirit who guides Philip to initiate a conversation with the Ethiopian eunuch, which ultimately results in the eunuch’s conversion. In Acts 9, it’s the Spirit who enables Saul to regain his sight and gives him a totally different outlook on life, essentially transforming him from Saul into Paul. In Acts 10, it’s the Spirit who falls upon the first Gentile converts, making it clear to the Jewish Christians that the Gentiles are indeed legitimate followers of Jesus and should therefore be welcomed into the Christian community. In Acts 13, it’s the Spirit who prompts the leaders of the church in Antioch to set apart Barnabas and Paul to become missionaries throughout the Roman Empire. And then throughout Paul’s missionary journeys throughout the rest of the book of Acts, it’s the Spirit who continually shows him where he’s supposed to go and what he’s supposed to say and who gives him the boldness to say those things. So you literally can’t go two steps in the book of Acts without bumping into the Holy Spirit. He’s everywhere. He’s the one moving things forward every step of the way. As Packer correctly observes, “Were it not for the Holy Spirit, there would be no gospel, no faith, no church, no Christianity in the world at all.”

And that applies just as much today as it ever has. Brothers and sisters, understand that if the Holy Spirit didn’t exist, we might as well call it quits as a church. It wouldn’t matter what kind of programs we had or how nice we were able to make our new building or how hard we were prepared to work toward our mission. Without the Holy Spirit, it would all amount to nothing. As Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “If we have not the Spirit which Jesus promised, we cannot perform the commission which Jesus gave.” Spurgeon then goes on and reminds us of how impossible it is to convert a single soul without the Holy Spirit. He observes that we can’t even create a fly, much less create a new heart in someone. That’s how radically dependent we are on the Holy Spirit for everything. And returning to our main passage, that’s why Jesus tells his disciples not even to try to engage in their mission until the Spirit comes. 

Jesus Gives His Disciples a Mission

So that’s the promise Jesus gives to his disciples. Yet, as we’ve said, he gives them not only a promise but also a mission. And we find that mission in verses 6-8: 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.” 

Now, looking at verse 6, we see just how little Jesus’ disciples understood about the mission Jesus had for them. They ask him if he’s “at this time” going to “restore the kingdom to Israel.” They apparently still thought—even after Jesus’ death and resurrection—that Jesus had immanent plans to overthrow the Roman government and win a political and military victory that would restore Israel’s national sovereignty and elevate the nation to an unprecedented level of worldwide influence. And Jesus doesn’t deny that the Father will bring that about in the future, but he makes it clear to them that that’s not what they need to be thinking about right now. Their mission for the present is to be his witnesses. That word translated as “witnesses” is a courtroom term that refers to someone who testifies in a court of law. Like if you see a crime take place, they’re going to want you to describe or bear “witness” to what you’ve seen. And that’s the mission Jesus gives to his disciples here. He wants them to bear witness to his resurrection and to what they’ve experienced because of his resurrection. 

Not only that, but we again see that this mission is inseparable from the Holy Spirit. Jesus assures them that “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses….” It’s the Spirit who empowers them for their witnessing ministry—and obviously the Spirit who also empowers us for our witnessing ministry as well. It’s the Spirit who helps us see opportunities to witness both in relationships that we have and in specific conversations that we find ourselves a part of. It’s also the Spirit who gives us wisdom in what to say. Perhaps you’ve experienced that before—where an opportunity to share the gospel presents itself and you find yourself somehow saying things that are beyond what you’d naturally be able to say. It’s like someone’s putting the perfect words in your mouth. That’s the Holy Spirit. 

Yet I believe the chief way in which the Spirit empowers us for our witnessing ministry—or at least the way that seems to be most emphasized in the phrase “you will receive power”—is by giving us supernatural boldness. That’s the primary idea I believe the word “power” here refers to and what seems to be emphasized throughout the rest of the book of Acts as well. And guys, the reality is that we need this. Because I don’t know about you, but I know that the greatest thing I struggle with when it comes to sharing the gospel is worrying about what people will think of me. What will they think when I turn a conversation toward Jesus? I appreciate the way Rico Tice describes it in his book Honest Evangelism. He says that no matter how thoughtful and natural and sensitive and diplomatic you try to be in sharing the gospel with someone, there’s always going to be what he calls a “pain line.” There’s going to be a moment in that conversation when things become really uncomfortable and when it’ll require straight-up boldness to say what needs to be said. Because you can’t share the gospel without talking about sin and judgment and the need for repentance. And in case you haven’t noticed, those aren’t exactly the most popular topics nowadays. So there’s always going to be a pain line that you have to cross whenever you share the gospel with someone, and crossing that pain line will require boldness from the Holy Spirit. 

And by the way, don’t think this is something unique either. Don’t think that this is the first time in modern history that sharing the gospel might result in us being despised or ridiculed. Like, I’m aware that our country is moving in an increasingly secular direction, but understand that sharing the true biblical gospel has never been easy. Like Jesus says in John 3:19, darkness hates the light. It always has and always will. I was reading a bit about George Whitfield recently—the man whom God used mightily in a revival movement of the 1700’s known as the First Great Awakening. And you would think that back in the 1700’s, people would be generally friendly to the gospel, right? But it turns out that that wasn’t the case at all. Much of Whitefield’s ministry involved preaching in the open air—in fields—to crowds of thousands and sometimes tens of thousands—remarkably without amplification. And again, some might assume that because of the times and also because of Whitefield’s international fame that he’d be highly regarded wherever he went. And he was highly regarded by many, but he was also despised by many others. It wasn’t unusual for people to throw dirt clods or even stones at him as he preached. They would also bang drums during his sermons to try to drown him out or they might drive cattle through the crowds of his listeners. One time, someone even climbed the tree under which Whitefield was preaching that day and urinated on him as he preached the gospel. On another occasion, Whitefield almost died because people in a crowd started throwing rocks at him and one of those rocks hit him in the temple and resulted in what he describes as “a gore of blood” so that he says he expected each breath to be his last. Thankfully, though, a surgeon was able to tend to him so that he ended up being okay. So don’t imagine that sharing the gospel was easy in previous generations. It’s never been easy. There’s always been a pain line. That’s just a part of it. As Whitefield himself stated, “If you are going to walk with Jesus Christ, you are going to be opposed…In our days [the 1700’s], to be a true Christian is really to become a scandal.” And yet, Whitefield said elsewhere, “The more I am opposed, the more joy I feel.”

And, dear friends, that joy and the boldness Whitefield exhibited day after day after day is a work of the Holy Spirit. It’s the Spirit who gives us the all-consuming passion for God’s glory that drives us to talk about Jesus regardless of the consequences. It’s the Spirit who causes us to care more about people’s souls and their eternal destiny than we do about our social reputation or comfort. It’s the Spirit who helps us overcome our pitiful, self-absorbed cowardice and speak boldly about Jesus even when we’re not sure how that message will be received. And it’s the Spirit who—equally as important—puts a joy in our hearts that’s so great that it just has to come out in our conversations. So ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with that joy and that boldness. That might be a good prayer for you to pray this afternoon even. 

And then, finally, notice the scope of the mission that Jesus gives to his disciples. He says, “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Of course, we already discussed how Jerusalem was the city where Christianity started, Judea and Samaria were the surrounding regions, and the ultimate goal was the end of the earth. But just try to think about how radical this must have sounded to these early disciples. Now, it’s true that the idea of God having a heart for the nations is certainly present in the Old Testament. But now, it’s front and center. And in addition to that, there’s also been a radical shift in methodology. Up until now, the nations were expected to “come and see.” But now, God’s directive is for his people to “go and tell.” And not just to go on a one or two day journey but to literally go to the farthest corners of the earth as witnesses. Talk about getting out of your comfort zone! 

So what about you? Where is God calling you to get out of your comfort zone when it comes to spreading the gospel? What risks is he calling you to take? What conversations is he calling you to initiate? What outreach ministries might he be calling you to start? And could it even be that God’s calling you to pack up and move to a different country as a cross-cultural missionary? Listen: there’s no question that God’s calling you to use your life for the sake of the gospel. There’s no question that he’s calling you to be a missionary somewhere—even if it’s right here. The only questions are where does God want you to live and what does he want your missionary ministry to look like? 

You know, one of the things that I’ve become increasingly convicted of recently is how insulated we are from risk. For example, several months ago, I came across this picture of a vintage playground. Now, I don’t know exactly how old this is—probably from the early 1900’s I’d imagine—but…look at this. People actually let their kids play on this playground. And if you do a Google image search for “vintage playground,” you’ll see that this was actually pretty normal. Some of you mothers are probably feeling your heart beat faster right now just at the thought of your kids playing on a playground like this. Apparently, though, people back then just had a higher tolerance for risk than we generally do today. Now of course, I’m not suggesting that we should let our kids play on things like this. But I am suggesting that we need to be very careful not to let what can only be described as our extreme aversion to risk keep us from being obedient to Jesus and from prayerfully taking risks for the sake of the gospel. So again I ask, what risks is God calling you to take? Is he calling you to do something that some may even view as reckless for the sake of the gospel? Or at the very least, is he calling you to have a gospel conversation with someone that you’ve been hesitant to have? Acts 1:8 should be a challenge for us to step out of our comfort zones and do what William Carey so famously said: “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” And of course, if you know anything about Carey, you know he didn’t just say that—he lived it. “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.”

And remember that you’re not alone. For those who are Christians, you have the Holy Spirit. And that means you already have everything you need to be a faithful and fruitful witness for Jesus. You don’t have to grow to a certain point in your Christian life before you’re ready to be a witness. You don’t have to get some sort of certificate or have a certain number of years of experience under your belt. You already have everything you need—the Spirit of God and the Word of God. That’s it. That’s all you need. You’re ready to be a witness from day one of your Christian life. 

So I know that we’ve all been through COVID and that being a faithful witness has been even more difficult because of COVID than it usually is. But hopefully—again, just like a physical therapy patient—we can learn to walk again with that. And hopefully Jesus’ words to his disciples here in Acts 1 are a helpful reminder for us that this is why we’re here. This is the reason why God doesn’t immediately snatch us up to heaven the moment we become a Christian. He’s left us here for a reason—and that reason is to share with the world about the joy and the wholeness and the hope we have in Jesus.

Now before we move forward in our service, here’s what I’d like you to do. If you have a bulletin, you’ll notice on the sermon notes page that there’s space at the bottom with the heading, “How I need to grow and change.” Please locate that and grab a pen. And if you don’t have a bulletin for whatever reason, feel free to do this in your head if you need you need to. I’d like to invite you to spend a few moments thinking about how you need to respond to this message. How can you make sure God’s Word has its intended effect not just of increasing your knowledge but of shaping you to be more like Jesus? How, by God’s grace and through the power of his Spirit, do you need to grow and change? I’ll give you a few moments to write something down, and then we’ll move forward with our service.