A lesson by Pastor John Skaggs

Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

P.O. Box 1447, Claypool, Az. 85532

520-425-8345 or 520-402-9134

Web Page: www.oocities.org/heartland/plains/3364

Email: pastorjohn@gila.net

Date: 11-14-99

Sermon Number: 001

Text: Acts 1:1-11

TOPICS ADDRESSED IN THIS LESSON

(The beginning of the Church, The office of the Apostle, Baptism of the Holy Spirit)

You recall the name Theophilus from the concluding message of our series on the Gospel of Luke. That book is the "first account" referred to in these opening words. In that Gospel Luke wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach. He spoke of our Savior’s birth, much of His life, His suffering, death, resurrection, and concluded with His ascension into heaven. This was essential information for Theophilus and for men of every generation. It was and remains essential because truth matters more than anything to the Christian. Luke intended that his friend receive the exact truth about Jesus.

This is necessary for all individual Christians and it is essential for the Christian church as well. A church cannot bring honor and glory to God or do good to men if it does not know and teach the whole counsel of God. Truth matters for the individual and for the church, it is the heart and soul of Christianity. Without the truth we cannot fulfill our mission as assigned to us by Christ. It is important that we understand this, especially since the book of Acts begins with the establishment of the New Testament church. The church’s foundation was and remains the truth about Christ as taught by the apostles. This truth must be learned and guarded by all who name the name of Christ. The following texts will refresh our minds as to the practical importance of truth.

A word to ministers. (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB) "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth." This truth is found in the Bible and must be carefully and accurately taught.

With the exact truth of God the Church, corporately, as well as its individual members, has all it needs for the preservation and extension of the kingdom of God. But without it, a so called church must resort to human reason and resources which may build an organization but it will never build or sustain the church of Jesus Christ.

This is why Luke so carefully composed the books of Luke and Acts. And this is why Jesus spent forty days after His resurrection instructing His apostles in how to continue His work when He had returned to His Father’s side. The importance of this instruction in preparing these men for finishing the Lord’s work cannot be overemphasized. Our Lord was passing on to them the teaching that is later called "the apostles’ doctrine," (Acts 2:42), the organized body of truth that established the church.

In the following verses we gain some insight into our Lord’s actions during those forty days. {3} "To these (the apostles) He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, BY MANY CONVINCING PROOFS, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God."

The apostles needed "the exact truth" if they were to establish the church and take the Gospel to the farthest parts of the earth, (verse 8). But they also needed boldness and confidence so they could proclaim their message effectively. This is exactly what they did not have when they thought that Jesus was dead. You remember how despondent, depressed, and confused they were. They were even hiding indoors for fear of the Jews. But then Jesus appeared and convinced them that He had really risen from the dead. What were these convincing proofs? Well they were things like, entering a room where the doors were locked (John 20:19), showing them the wounds in His hands and feet (Luke 24:39), and eating and drinking with them (Luke 24:41–43). Most convincing, though, was His appearing to them over a period of forty days, beginning with the day of His resurrection. He wasn’t with them every moment but He appeared often enough to convince them He had risen and to embolden these men for ministry. The apostle Paul tells us, in summary, about these visitations. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NASB) For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, {4} and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, {5} and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. {6} After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; {7} then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; {8} and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also."

The result of these appearances was that the apostles became absolutely convinced of the reality of their Lord's resurrection. That assurance gave them the boldness to preach the gospel to the very people who crucified Christ. The transformation of the apostles from fearful, cowering skeptics to bold, powerful witnesses is in itself proof of the resurrection.

What a change took place in these men when they realized that they had not believed in Jesus for nothing. They were eager to get to work. They wanted to tell the world about Jesus, the Messiah, the Lamb of God, who has taken away the sin of every kind of human, not just of the Jews. But still they were not ready. Eagerness and boldness were not enough they must have supernatural power. Where would that come from? From the Holy Spirit, of course.

{4} And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; {5} for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." {6} And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" (Earlier they had thought Jesus would set up an earthly kingdom and liberate them from the Romans. It appears by these words that they still entertained that hope.) {7} He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; (You can’t know when this will take place. Jesus immediately turns their attention to something they can know, to something that will take place very soon.) {8} but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

To the apostles, who were no doubt eager to begin their work, our Lord’s command to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the power that would come from the Holy Spirit must have seemed strange. They had truth, they had zeal, but still they had to wait until they were equipped with supernatural power. This would come with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Knowledge and zeal without the power and blessing of the Holy Spirit will not produce a true ministry. They must have the Holy Spirit.

This is not to say they had no knowledge of or presence of the Spirit at all. This would be a lie. For, like believers in all ages, they had been saved by the working of the Holy Spirit, and, He continued to help and influence them. We know this for when Jesus sent them out two by two on their preaching mission, He told them, "It is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you," Matt. 10:20. Then in Luke 12:11-12 we find these words, "And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not become anxious about how or what you should speak in your defense, or what you should say; {12} for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

In John 14:17, Jesus told the apostles that the Holy Spirit "abides WITH you, and will be IN you." Like believers in the Old Testament and throughout the ages, they experienced the Spirit’s power for salvation and living, as well as His provision for special occasions of ministry. In this new age, however, the age of the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit would become even more involved, and intimate, with the believer. He was to permanently indwell and empower them in a way that apparently had not been experienced by the people of God to date. What the difference was and is between Holy Spirit’s relationship to Old Covenant believers, and Christians since Pentecost, is hard to determine and even harder to clearly explain. It seems to be the difference between being "with" and permanently "in" a person. In the Old Testament the Spirit is described as being with or upon a person. And sometimes we find language that speaks of His leaving an individual. There’s not a lot of emphasis on the idea of indwelling. In the New Testament Jesus speaks very specifically about the Holy Spirit living in a Christian in a permanent way. He speaks of an "outpouring" and a "baptism" which terms describe the new way in which the Spirit will relate to the people of God from the time of Pentecost onward. We cannot say that these men were without the Holy Spirit. Take note of John 20:21-22.

Jesus therefore said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." {22} And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." What does this mean? Weren’t these apostles saved by the work of God the Holy Spirit? Of course they were. No one has ever been saved apart form the work of God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they had to have the Holy Spirit in some way, some measure. Why then does Jesus breath on them and say, "Receive the Holy Spirit?" I believe that it has to do with a special enablement of the Spirit that would make them capable of identifying true and false believers. Notice the text that follows. (John 20:23 NASB) "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." These men would have the right to and responsibility of declaring a ministry or a person Christian or non Christian. Of knowing whether or not a mans sins had been forgiven. The Holy Spirit would enable them to make the call. Jesus gave them this ability when He said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whether I am right about this or not the point is made, these men had the Holy Spirit before Pentecost.

But then as our text reveals in Acts chapter one verse five, Jesus promises a further intensification of this holy relationship between the apostles and the Spirit, "not many days hence." The fact is, ten days later on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit would "baptize" them. They would be swallowed up by, immersed in, or enveloped by the Spirit so that they would lack none of His presence, influence, or gifts. The Holy Spirt was about to come to the apostles once for all and without measure or limit. Further He would come to all subsequent believers "without measure or limitation." Since the day of Pentecost each and every Christian not only has the Spirit with him to help him in time of need but He is in him all the time, everyday. He will never leave us or forsake us.

We will speak of the Spirit’s work in the lives of ordinary believers as the lesson develops, for now let’s think of the Apostles. They had the message, the confidence, but they needed the power. Not just the power and strength to stand unafraid of the many enemies of truth they would face but power to do signs and wonders, to heal the sick, and raise the dead. Why? Because they were in the unique position of establishing the Christian church under the New Covenant. They were responsible for convincing the masses that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of sinners, that He had died, and risen from the dead. They must convince men and women that they spoke for God, infallibly. They would need an extraordinary relationship with the Holy Spirit. They would need extraordinary gifts and power for all these reasons. So, while we see in the book of Acts the baptism of the Holy Spirit becoming the ordinary experience for all believers we must not forget that the Apostles were in and by this baptism gifted and empowered like no one else in their day or this. The apostolic experience was unique to the transitional period associated with the birth of the church. The sign gifts that accompanied the baptism of the Spirit, that is, the ability to speak in languages unknown to the speaker, the ability to heal on demand, and even raise the dead were special signs and seals which validated the apostles word and ministry for the establishment of the church. Further, their ability to speak, teach, and write infallibly, by inspiration, was unique to them and was temporary. As soon as the church was established and the New Testament completed these extraordinary gifts ceased to exist. They died with the apostles. They had served their purpose and they passed away.

John MacArthur in his commentary on this section of Acts says this, "Despite the claims of many, the apostles’ and early disciples’ experience is not the norm for believers today. They were given unique enabling of the Holy Spirit for their special duties. They also received the general and common baptism with the Holy Spirit in an uncommon way, AFTER their conversion. . . They were in the transitional period associated with the birth of the church. In the present age, baptism by Christ through the agency of the Holy Spirit takes place FOR ALL BELIEVERS AT CONVERSION. At that moment, every believer is placed into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13 NASB) "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." At that point the Spirit also takes up His permanent residency in the converted person’s soul, so there is no such thing as a Christian who does not yet have the Holy Spirit, (Romans 8:9 NASB) "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him."

The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not a special privilege for some believers, nor are believers challenged and exhorted in Scripture to seek it. It is not even their responsibility to prepare for it by praying, pleading, tarrying, or any other means. . . . It comes, like salvation itself, through grace, not human effort. Titus 3:5–6 says, "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior." God sovereignly pours out the Holy Spirit on those He saves. (End Quote) We will no doubt return to this subject many times during the course of our study in Acts.

That which was about to take in an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem was designed to empower the Apostles for a humanly impossible mission at a unique time in history. The establishment of the church, the evangelization of the world, and the writing of the New Testament would require supernatural power and uncommon gifts. Let’s consider the apostolic mission.

"you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (1:8b)

Each of these four areas contained its peculiar challenge to the disciples. Jerusalem had the blood of prophets on its hands and now it had added the blood of Jesus of Nazareth. Would the disciples be expected to follow Christ to their deaths by bringing the gospel to their fellow Jews? Judea was the home of Judas Iscariot, the betrayer. The prospect of going there could not have been a welcome one. Samaria, with its traditional hostility toward Jews, was not likely to be welcome the followers of Jesus to whom it had refused a simple resting place. The remotest part of the earth was the home of the Gentiles whose spiritual and moral uncleanness caused the Jews to call them dogs. Must they go to the Gentiles? That would not be easy! Yet Jesus says you shall be My witnesses in all these places.

Witnesses are those who see or experience something and tell others about it. That is what the evangelist does. He tells others the truth about Jesus. But these witnesses were unique. They were all working from first had knowledge. They actually saw, touched, heard, and experienced Jesus. Consider 1 John 1:1–2, where John writes, "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life … we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you." The apostles, as Peter points out, "were eyewitnesses of His majesty" (2 Peter 1:16). Not only were they first hand eye witnesses of Jesus and His work they had been personally commissioned by Him as apostles. This is why there are no apostles today. No one can meet the qualifications. All the eyewitnesses are dead. No man can stand in the flesh and blood presence of Jesus to be called as an apostle today. Therefore, those who claim to be apostles do so out of ignorance or arrogance and should not be followed or listened to. The apostles were unique in history, they were eye witnesses, they were called and gifted to bear witness like no other men in all of time have been. Were they effective? Indeed they were, so much so the pagans once said they had "upset the world," (Acts 17:6).

Beginning in Jerusalem, the apostles carried out the Lord’s command. Their witness spread beyond the confines of Jerusalem to all Judea and Samaria and finally even to the remotest part of the earth. They did not, of course completely finish the work.

Today, believers have the responsibility for being Christ’s witnesses throughout this world. We do not have, nor should we seek, the extraordinary gifts and powers that the apostles were given. The work of Jesus Christ that continued with the apostles continues with ordinary Christians through the ordinary ministry of the church of Jesus Christ. And it does so by the power of the Holy Spirit by the proclamation of the finished word of God.

Let’s consider now the closing words of our text. {9} And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. {10} And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; {11} and they also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

The disciple’s Savior died and they naturally grieved. He came back from the dead and they rejoiced. They were filled with excitement and zeal but now, He is leaving them again. Surely their happiness will once again be replaced with despair. No, for God sends the angels to encourage them. "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, WILL COME in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." He is not dead He is risen and now though He Has ascended He is not gone forever, "He will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." So, there is still not cause for despair rather there is every reason to rejoice. So, what do they do now? They obey the Savior’s instruction.

{12} "Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. {13} And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. {14} These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers." They were all there, waiting for the promise of the Father and of Christ to be fulfilled. They were waiting for this new relationship with the Holy Spirit to begin. Ten days later the whole world changed. In a spiritual sense Jesus came back to live with all His people fulfilling His promise to never leave us or forsake us. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have the Holy Spirit, you also have Christ in you and with you at all times in all circumstances. There is no reason to despair. For He will never leave you or forsake you, never.