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Acts 1.9
July 19th 2015
Alright, we left off at verse 3 of chapter 1 of Acts, which says, speaking of Jesus:
Acts 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
Then Luke speaks of Jesus meeting with the Apostles in the upper room and says:
4 And, being assembled together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Alright, back to verse 4 where Luke says, speaking of Jesus:
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
As a point of interest, Jeromes Latin Vulgate translation suggests that Jesus was eating with the Apostles in this setting but the Greek mss. suggests that He merely congregated with them or assembled with them.
I am guessing He waited for them to get together and then showed up in their midst (as John infers) but some scholars think He called them to come together somehow – since they had scattered when He was arrested outside of Gethsemane.
Whatever the case He used the time to give them instructions on what they ought to do with themselves now that He had resurrected.
And what were the instructions:
“To not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which,” saith He, “ye have heard of me.”
The promise of the Father Jesus is speaking of were made in
John 14:16 where he said
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.”
And in John 15:26 where he said:
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.”
And John 16:7-13 where He said:
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
Then Luke has Jesus add:
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Here Jesus, speaking to his apostles, refers back to the words of John the Baptist.
In Matthew chapter 3 John the Baptist is preaching and telling people to repent. In his presentation he makes a clear delineation between what he came to do (prepare the way for the Lord) and what the Lord came to do – which by John’s own admission was far more powerful.
At verse 11 Matthew has John the Baptist say:
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”
John’s description of what Jesus would do and bring – baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire was utterly prophetic – and will be described in our next chapter of Acts.
When Jesus was instructing the apostles on what to do (go to Jerusalem and wait for the fulfillment of the Baptist’s words) Luke tells us that Jesus said to them at that time that it would not be many days thence.
Really quickly, let me cover the days according to the best chronology I could find.
In 30 AD
APRIL
MAY
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
28
29
30
31
Christ, after preaching his Father’s message to the world for three and one-half years, is illegally arrested, tried, and executed in the spring of 30 A.D.
Three days after he took his last breath God resurrected him from the dead.
So . . . death by Crucifixion on
Wednesday April 5th,
Thursday April 6th,
Friday April 7th.
Then on Sunday April 9th
He Rises – with Mary Magdalene being the first to see Him
(Nisan 18, 3790)
A surprise visit to two men while going to Emmaus
And Christ appears behind closed doors
Sunday, April 9 after sunset
One week later on April 16th
Doubting Thomas is made to believe
Sunday, April 16 after sunset (Nisan 26)
The sometime between April 17 and May 17
Five hundred see Christ alive
(Nisan 27 to Iyar 26)
Then He kept an appointment in Galilee
sometime between April 17 to May 17
Then on the shores of Galilee
Sometime between April 17 to May 17
May 18th
Final instructions and ascension
Thursday, May 18, 30 A.D. (Iyar 27, 3790)
Then Ten days after His ascension and Fifty days after His resurrection on what is called The Day of Pentecost – the Holy Spirit fell and this was
The Birth of the New Testament Church
Sunday, May 28, 30 A.D. (Sivan 8, 3790)
Okay, let’s go back to
4 And, being assembled together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Luke then tells us –
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
This was at the Mount of Olives, where Jesus ascended from and into the heavens.
And while they were there the apostles were curious about something they had long anticipated – when would Jesus overtake all the earthly and temporal operations of His kingdom.
They had so long witnessed His goodness and His miracles and having followed Him three years they were really chomping at the bit for Him to reign.
I mean, they have even seen Him beaten and crucified and now were witnesses of Him OVERCOMING even the grave, for goodness sakes!
Now they knew He was ready to assume the Kingdom and there was NOTHING on earth that could stop Him.
The apostles had chosen right! They had sided with the right person – He was who He claimed to be and they were all-together ready to be part of His earthly reign.
“So tell us Jesus, when will that reign be? When will you knock these Romans off their pedestal and put those who killed you in their place?”
This is our nature toward being dominant. We, in our flesh, long and look to the time when we will have our way or will be part of the winning team that garners the spoils and gets to call the shots.
We are in many ways still vying for this in the Christian church today – to take over and reign and ensure that the ways of our Kingdom will be in place.
From Jesus on this was never meant to be in the physical sense.
The Kingdom over which He reigns is spiritual – and the fruits of the Spirit by which He has victory is love.
He did NOT come to earth to condemn and destroy it but to save it.
When those He came to rejected Him – put Him to death – and then continued to reject the message of His apostles – he came back to that PHYSICAL WORLD and THAT PHYSICAL ECONOMY of a very Physical earthly kingdom – and wiped it out.
Allowing another Kingdom to continue to thrive – one where He reigns – FROM AN INVISIBLE THRONE spiritually.
In this Kingdom His reign is over the hearts of His constituents. And the sure-sign that they are part of His Kingdom are, according to scripture:
That they would follow Him.
That they would die to their flesh’s reign over their lives.
That their Kingdom was NOT of this world.
That they would forgive.
That they would serve the needs of others over the needs of themselves.
That they would take up their cross to walk to death.
That they would suffer (as Christ suffered) and above all things . . .
that they would love with agape love, which means they would
(borrowing from Ephesians 5 and 1st Corinthians 15) possess:
“joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance” and their love would be longsuffering, and kind, and it wouldn’t be envious, or boastful, nor proud, nor full of misbehavior, nor seeking the good of self, nor easily provoked, nor quick to think evil, or a someone that loves evil but loves truth . . . scriptures says that those who are of His Kingdom have a love that “bears all things, and believes all things, and hopes all things, and endures all things and that their love never fails.”
His is a VERY, VERY different Kingdom then what men and women want to make it.
In Mark chapter 10 Jesus has been teaching His apostles that He was going to die.
I don’t think they were catching on to what He was saying at this point even though His words were pretty straight forward.
In any case we then read at verse 35
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.
In our language this would be akin to us saying, “Lord, we have a favor to ask of you.”
36 And he said unto them, “What would ye that I should do for you?”
37 They said unto him, “Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.”
In other words they said, “We want to be put in positions of Power in your Kingdom once you come into glory or into power.”
At verse 38 Jesus says unto them,
“Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
In other words, Jesus is telling them that in His Kingdom the position of authority and leadership came at a very high price – one which He describes as having to drink from a cup (a very bitter cup) and to be immersed in pain.
Blindly, possibly even arrogantly, they said back to Him, “We can.”
Speaking of their coming trials as Apostles, Jesus said unto them, “Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:”
Then He adds
40 But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.
In other words, God knows who will be His right hand man and Jesus was not about to try and guess who these would be. Interestingly enough, we have to note that Jesus doesn’t say that those spots will be vacant – so that’s an interesting discussion over pretzels and beer isn’t it?
In any case James and John were vying for a place in what they probably believed was the physical Kingdom that would arrive when Christ came in His glory.
Listen to what happens next:
41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John.
This response is the response you get in physical kingdoms built on flesh – envy, seeking your own, boasting, and the like.
It never has been and it never will be a kingdom run by flesh in any sense – but and invisible one where members are there from the heart by the Spirit.
Jesus knew that James and John’s request was based on the assumption that He would be reigning over a physical kingdom – and He seems to have sensed that the apostles response to their request was also coming from the flesh.
So we read in verse 42
42 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, “Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.”
In other words, in the fallen, fleshly Gentile world of man, you guys know that those who actually rule over others act as Lords over them, and the greatest in those kingdoms exercise great authoritai upon them.
But listen to what He adds!!
43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:
The Word MINISTER there is diakonos – where we get deacon but all it really means is someone who runs errands, someone who is like a waiter on tables – asking, what can I give you, “how can I serve you?”
These shall be GREAT in His kingdom. Then He adds to round the thought out:
44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.
John and James were looking to take positions of power at the right and left of Jesus – but Jesus says the greatest will be servants, waiters, hostesses, those who run errands for others – THOSE WHO LOVE AND OUT OF LOVE SERVE THE NEEDS OF OTHERS.
45 For (Jesus adds) even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
And the story brings us back full circle to Him – our King – the King of the Kingdom to which we seek to belong to – who came to give His life for many, NOT be served.
A VERY, VERY different Kingdom.
There on the Mount of Olives His disciples asked:
“Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
They were STILL under the impression that He was at some point in the future going to RESTORE the Kingdom to Israel.
I’m telling you when we get a notion in our heads it can be really really difficult to remove it – as proven by these mens refusal to let the idea go that He was NOT going to come and restore Israel to power.
In years prior Judea was governed by its own kings and its own laws – but now it was subject to the Romans.
When are you going to restore us back to the days of David and Solomon seems to be the question.
Jesus reply?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
From Jesus response we might think that their question was valid – that a physical Kingdom WAS coming – but they just wanted to know when.
It was similar to the question they asked Jesus in Matthew 24:3 when they said to Jesus, “Tell us when shall these things be?”
When they asked Jesus this he described to them certain signs which should precede his coming and added:
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
And this is the same response Jesus is giving them here. He was speaking of His coming and He was saying that He was not privy to reveal the time but that was up to God – but that there were signs and if they watched they would be able to see when and be prepared for it.
However, Jesus, in the face of this question that they have asked Him there on the Mount of Olives, does give them something to look forward to in their very near future and he begins by saying BUT . . .
8 But . . . ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
The way the King James writes it is off a little comparted to the literal translations which read:
“ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you.”
I think Jesus said this to console them.
They couldn’t know the times or seasons when God would act and bring all the signs Jesus had explained their way but in the meanwhile (while they were waiting on His return and the signs that He told them to look for that would foreshadow it) He told them to patiently wait in Jerusalem because they would be endowed with power from the Holy Spirit which would enable them to be witnesses of Him throughout the whole region.
We discussed (last week) that this passage (due to the Greek) means the whole region and not the whole world. However, in and through their recorded words I think today we could say that their witness has gone out to the whole world.
And then Luke tells us (verse 9)
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
So after telling them to wait in Jerusalem and they would receive power from the Holy Spirit Luke says that “While they saw him (or while they were looking at Him) he was taken up and that a cloud received Him – out of their sight.
These apostles were certainly special witnesses and would perform a tremendously important role in the nascent church – they would witness of Him.
I think this is why Luke wrote this this way – “and while they beheld him He was taken up.”
They had witnessed Him establishing His witnesses – He had called them and then began working with them witnessing His works and words and miracles.
He had taught them and told them to write what He had taught them by the Holy Spirit and all that it had brought to their remembrance.
They watched the temple guard remove Him from Gethsemane, some witnessed his trial and crucifixion. News of His death was in all of their ears.
They witnessed Him appearing and disappearing, they touched His resurrected Body, spoke with Him as a resurrected being and now, while talking with Him, watched as He was taken up and disappeared into a cloud.
Now they would be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and take all that they had witnessed and boldly proclaim all they had seen – even to their martyrdom – with the exception of John.
Central to their message was that He resurrected, for the house of Israel to believe on Him, and to get ready for impending destruction.
All of their writings speak earnestly of these things.
In some ways it’s interesting that the New Testament does not say that they saw Him actually rise from the dead.
It only tells us that they saw that He had risen from the dead – which could be established by the fact that He was there with them.
But His ascension had to be witnessed by them completely and I think this is why Luke says that their eyes were upon Him.
In other words the truth of His ascension to heaven could not be confirmed in any other way. They had to see it actually happen. So He did it in broad daylight and in the presence of the Apostles and not when they were asleep and had just woke up or that it happened in any tricky or secret manner.
They were talking to Him and He ascended up into a cloud.
There were no helicopters hovering above the clouds with invisible wires attached. No CGI.
They were looking at Him and whoop! Up He goes. Very important.
Hand in hand with the resurrection, His ascension was a heavenly confirmation of the truth of this faith we embrace.
Think about this seriously for a moment – we embrace a faith that says our King and Lord and Savior rose from the dead and then ascended into heaven before the eyes of these men.
IF this is true we are the most fortunate people to possess faith in it for it is our saving grace and we can trust in His promises, His grace, and a future with God after this life.
Additionally, His ascension showed to the apostles and to us that He reigns from on High.
We note that when all the signs that Jesus promised of His return were heaped upon Jerusalem that Jesus did NOT make an earthly home at that time – but continues to reign on High.
His is truly a kingdom ruled, reigning and residing in the spirit and from heaven.
TO watch Him rise into the clouds was a sure sign for those apostles that His Kingdom was there, and not hear – which probably allowed them to endure martyrdom in a much more accepting fashion.
There are certain rhetorical words and phrases that get bounced around in Christianity that take a long time to really sink in and have meaning in my head.
Some are man-made and never really find a place but every now and again there is a concept that I hear over and over again – especially one that is confirmed by scripture – that suddenly takes hold.
One of these (of late) is the idea that we are aliens here and that we are NOT of this world.
How seriously have you thought of this principle?
Because the more we consider the implications the better equipped we will be able to handle the disconnect that comes with it when it is truly lived and experienced.
All of us have a tremendous capacity – almost an innate capacity to rationalize and justify and create exceptions to why we need to dig deep into the soil and make our claim.
But the biblical principles prove to us that our kingdom, our home, our glories and our future is NOT here – but afterward.
This can be a brutally difficult thing to embrace.
We can take almost any principle upon which this world thrives and discover alternatives to the principle in the Word.
We make a HUGE thing today out of retirement and finances and saving up for a rainy day – I used to be in that business. But what did Jesus say:
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
We make a HUGE deal today out of our food. It’s a freaking religion. I mean there is a growing industry geared wholly to what we eat. Fashion? Forget about it.
But listen again to the Lord and King who said:
Matthew 6:25 Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
You name it, our Kingdom is on high and does not appeal nor operate by the ways and means of the Kingdoms here.
Physical fitness? We know where that is headed (and has been) but listen to Paul in 1st Timothy 4:8
“For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”
Going all the way back to Daniel we are given insight into the Kingdom of God where in Daniel 2:44 we read the prophetic words:
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Are we part of that Kingdom. If so, in what way? How extensively?
In Daniel 7:14 we read again:
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
The writer of Hebrews says some utterly profound things about His Kingdom in chapter 12 and due to time I can only cover one little bit but in verse 27 he says:
And his word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain (meaning the things that are NOT made – meaning things of the Spirit).
It’s our nature to believe that “this” Kingdom is like “that” Kingdom – and that our participation in this Kingdom (our successes in it, etc) play a role in our standings in “THAT” Kingdom – NOT SO IN THE LEAST.
So the more we live for that Kingdom and its principles here the greater our standing in it there.
Here the Kingdom says be served.
There is say did you serve.
Here the Kingdom says save.
There the Kingdom says lose.
Here the Kingdom says amass.
There the Kingdom is about giving away.
Here the Kingdom is on the self.
There the Kingdom is about others.
Two ABSOLUTELY DIFFERENT PLACES.
Let me just wrap it up by appealing to the Word.
In John 8:23 Jesus said: “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”
In John 18:36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”
In John 3:31 John the Baptist, speaking of Jesus said: “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.”
In John 15:18 Jesus said to His disciples:
“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Let me ask you – who was it that put the Lord to death – the most religious people of His day.
Who persecuted and put the Apostles to death – the most religious of their day.
Who put the people to death in the Reformation? The most religious people of that day.
Those who will do those who are of His Kingdom the most harm in this life will be those who in the name of God appeal most to the things of this world to govern what they think is HIS Kingdom.
In Luke we read:
(Luke 12:13) And one of the company said unto Jesus, “Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
14 And Jesus said unto him, “Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?”
Showing us that in the things of this fallen material world Jesus doesn’t dabble. He deals with things of the Spirit, and of the heart, and of His Kingdom and the things that thrive and matter there.
In John 8:15 Jesus said: “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.”
In His name we think we ought to judge men, that this is part of His kingdom – HA! When HE WAS HERE HE JUDGED NO MAN!
His Kingdom is not religion. It’s not judgement. It’s not material. It’s not doctrinal. It’s not physically fit. It’s not in what we eat and drink or what we wear.
His Kingdom is spirit, and light, and faith, and love.
And each of us are constantly presented with each as a means for us to see whom we will choose to serve.
Questions?
PRAYER.
