Acts 1:1-11 "The Establishment of the Church"

                If I were to hand you a manuscript or book that was some twenty-eight chapters long and told you that it contained drama, action, near-death experiences, epic scenes of destruction, violent storms, boats crashing, numerous prison scenes, villains being transformed into heroes, and a whole host of other suspenseful items, you might would think that you were looking at the script for the newest summer blockbuster movie coming out of Hollywood.  Well, what if I told you that what you were looking at was actually the story of the establishment of the bride of Christ, the story of the establishment of the Church.  Beginning today and continuing into the foreseeable future, we are going to be looking at the book of Acts.  The book of Acts is in essence, the continuation of the gospel accounts, particularly Luke’s gospel account.  After all, this book is the second volume of Luke’s historical account of events.  We know that it’s Luke’s work from the literature itself, which we will see in just a moment.  The first eleven verses of the book of Acts are the bridge between the completion of the gospel accounts and the next 30 years of the history of the church.  So, let us look upon God’s word this morning…. (Read Acts 1:1-11)

Now, as I see it, there are three very important things that these verses provide for us both in our interpretation of the rest of the book and our understanding of how we are to live in light of all that has taken place thus far in the narrative of Jesus.  After all, there are those throughout history who have given the book of Acts the alternate titles of “The Acts of the Holy Spirit” or “The Continuing Ministry of Jesus Christ” just to name a few.  The first thing that these verses (as well as the rest of Acts) provide for us is an emphasis on the history of what has and will take place.  Luke tells Theophilus (which is either a person with that name or the general Greek title which means lover of God) that he has “dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.  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.”   These proofs were his various encounters and appearances before the disciples in the days since his resurrection.  We so often overlook this fact, and to a certain extent it goes without saying, but all of these events are historical.  All of the events of Scripture really actually happened.  James Boice, on this matter very accurately says in his commentary on Acts that, “Christianity is a historical religion.  It is a religion that is not based primarily on an idea or a philosophy.  Most of the religions of the world can exist apart from their founder…however, if you take away the history of Christianity, it evaporates.”  In essence, the moral teachings of Jesus are worthless without the historical events of the cross and the empty tomb; a battle that unfortunately is being fought this very day in some circles of Christendom.  We have to remember that as we read and discuss the book of Acts (and for that matter the rest of Scripture as well), that it is history.  This is the establishment of the Church.  It’s the historical account of how the power of God worked through a small group of men (who as we will see in a moment were just as lost as ever) and established a continent-wide (and ultimately world-wide) faith.  As Derek Thomas says, “The principal reason for the church’s growth must lie [outside of men]—in the supernatural activity and sovereign power of God.”

                A second thing that these first eleven verses of this book give to us is an expectation of the return of the Lord.  We’re told in verse 9 that as Jesus was speaking to the disciples that “he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes.”  Now I want all of us to try and imagine this scene here.  Keep in mind that a cloud was a common sight at the time of God’s coming to His people.  Think of the pillar of cloud in the wilderness, the cloud descending upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud that came down upon Jesus at the time of his transfiguration.  I have to think that Peter and James and John, who were all present at Jesus’ transfiguration, had to be looking at the other disciples and saying to them, “Alright, y’all (they had southern accents) have to watch this.  Y’all won’t believe what comes next.”  Then, all of a sudden, Jesus doesn’t come back.  Then, two men appear and say 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.”  It sounds very similar to our resurrection text from last Sunday when the two men/angels said to the women, “Why do you seek the dead.  He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24).  Jesus is gone from here.  He has left, but we are given information now about his return.

                You see, all the predictions about how Christ will come again are useless.  We’re told very specifically that Christ’s second coming will take place exactly as this ascension took place.  Now, for as long as any of us can remember, we’ve been taught that Jesus would come again.  When we were children, we were taught that in a very elementary form, and as we have gotten older, we have learned more and more what it might look like and what it means for us today.  However, I want all of us, if we can, to try and put ourselves in the mindset of the disciples.  “We know that the Lord Jesus Christ is returning to judge the world, because we are told about it elsewhere in the New Testament.  The disciples also had been told that one day Jesus would return to render judgment.  But when the disciples were told that ‘this same Jesus’ would be coming back, they thought of the Jesus they loved, not a judge.” (Boice, p. 20).  You see, the disciples would not have simply wanted to work hard and fulfill Jesus’ commands because they feared his judgment at the time of his return.  They would have wanted to please him so that he would be joyful over their efforts during his absence.  When I give my children a task to do like cleaning their rooms, they don’t rush through it while I’m gone hoping that when I get back I don’t judge them harshly.  No, they want to please me.  They want me to be proud of the job that they have done in my absence, and that’s the way that we are to labor until such time as Jesus comes again.  We’re not to work in an effort to escape punishment, but in an effort to bring about joy to the one who has given us the task in the first place.

                The third and final thing that these verses give us is a missionary mandate.  These verses give us the way that we will bring about joy to Jesus when he comes again.  Not only that, but it gives us a hint as to how we are to go about doing that.  Verses 6-8 read, “So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’  He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.  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.”  You see, these words about being Jesus’ witnesses to all areas, even to the ends of the earth, are not just the theme of the book of Acts, but they are a mandate for use as well.  This is a call to take God’s Word, the good news of the gospel, out into the world for everyone to hear.  However, I want you to see the process here that the disciples go through in reaching this.  It’s not as if they just hear these words and immediately take this message out into the world.

                First, we find in verses 4 and 5 that Jesus told them how they were going to be able to accomplish whatever task they were to do; he told them that they were soon to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  We’ll look at this a little more closely in a few weeks, but for now we will just say that the disciples know that it is coming.  So, they’re feeling joyful knowing that they are soon to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  So, they ask the question that we just read about when they are going to see the restoration of Israel.  They ask when they’re going to re-establish the kingdom of Israel.  They’ve waited for years since the Messiah was born.  They’ve waited out three years of earthly ministry.  They’ve now waited out three days of thinking that their Savior was dead and gone.  Now, they feel that things are about to quickly change (which they are just not how the apostles are thinking).  Jesus tells them that it’s not their place to know when he will establish his kingdom.  All that they need to be concerned with is taking the good news of the Risen Lord out into the world, and that is where we still find ourselves today.  We are to continue with this same missionary mandate that the apostles were given in Acts 1.  Now, there are two wrong approaches to this that I see in today’s world that I want to briefly mention.  The first is to sit back and do nothing and wait for Christ to eventually establish the new heavens and new earth.  This is really just using Christ as an excuse for not fulfilling his commands, which ultimately makes no sense at all.  The second reaction is the urge to be downtrodden that Christ’s return hasn’t happened yet.  It’s to sit and wonder what is taking so long.  However, we have to remind ourselves that Jesus’ words to the apostles here are just as applicable to us.  It’s none of our business to know when Jesus will come again.  All we need to be concerned with is taking the good news of the Risen Lord out into the world. 

                The church doesn’t exist to provide programs.  The church doesn’t exist for networking.  The church doesn’t exist to give us Christian friends.   The church doesn’t exist for many of the common reasons that we might think of today.  The Church exists to proclaim the Word of God.  The Church exists to shout aloud to all those who have ears to ear the good news of the gospel.  It doesn’t matter how great and wonderful the worship of a church might be, if the ultimate result isn’t the taking of that message out into the world then it isn’t operating as the Church is intended to.  Friends, don’t let this church or any church or any Christian that you know be one who doesn’t serve the purpose for why we exist.  We exist, first and foremost, to proclaim Christ and him crucified and resurrected.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.