MPC, 6th May 2001.Acts 1 - "A Kingdom for All the World"
Phil Campbell MPC, 6th May 2001.
It's not often you get to meet a genuine WORLD LEADER. But a couple of my friends have.
One friend met Bill Clinton when he was here in Australia a couple of years back. Mark's a young bloke and he works in the Foreign Affairs Department; he said EVERYONE in the department was pushing to get invited to the official functions. He got lucky. And he got to shake the President's hand. Which he reckons was the greatest experience of his life. He's never been that close to power.
Another mate of mine was sitting at Grafton airport eating a hamburger back when Bob Hawke was prime minister. And Bob got of the plane. Walked through the crowd shaking everyone's hand, saying "G'day, I'm Bob." Except when he got to my mate Mike who had tomato sauce and bits of onion all over his hands from his hamburger. So he missed out.
I want to introduce you to a world leader this morning who'll accept nothing less than absolute dominion. But he's not Bill Clinton or George W Bush.
A world leader who we're going to see demolishing national boundaries. Who won't tolerate second place to any other king. But he's not Adolf Hitler.
We're going to meet a world leader who expects not just to be followed, but to be WORSHIPED - by Australians just as much as Koreans; by Americans and by Italians. By the French as well as the Jews. And he's not John Howard or Kim Beasley.
In the book of Acts, we're going to meet Jesus. Risen from death. Ruler of the world.
It's a funny thing in one way, you only really catch a glimpse of Jesus at the start; by the middle of Acts chapter 1, he's GONE. In dramatic circumstances. The book we're looking at is actually called the Acts of THE APOSTLES. It's all about the apostles like Peter and Paul and John, and the things THEY DO. But underlying it all, it's really a book about JESUS.
It's a history book that takes us from the time of the resurrection of Jesus, when there's a total number of 120 Christians. And shows us how the church first grew and spread. To the point where there were THOUSANDS of Christians. Right through the Roman world.
The Acts of the Apostles is written by Luke, the same Luke who wrote Luke's gospel. It's kind of like LUKE PART 2. The sequel.
These days a movie only has to earn a few bucks at the box office, and the next thing you know they're out with Part 2. And Part 3. Crocodile Dundee 3, I don't know if you've seen it. But from the reviews I've read, it's hardly worth bothering. But let me tell you, LUKE PART 2 is a blockbuster.
Well, have a read of what Luke says right at the start in Acts chapter 1 verse 1. He's dedicating the book to a guy called Theophilus; exactly like he did with his gospel. And here are the words of verse 1. Nobody knows exactly who Theophilus was. I reckon my wild guess is as good as anyone else's; and my guess is Theophilus is a LAWYER who's defending Paul in his courtcase in Rome. Which we get to right at the end of the book. Acts ENDS with Paul under house arrest waiting for his trial. And maybe Acts is everything Theophilus needs to know to defend him.
But that's another story. Because ultimately, Luke wants Theophilus and US AS WELL to realise that in the midst of everything THE APOSTLES LIKE PAUL ARE DOING, it's really a book about what the RISEN JESUS IS DOING through them. So look what he says; "In my former book, Theophilus" - that's his gospel - he says "I wrote about all the things Jesus BEGAN to do and teach." And now here's the sequel. Which you have to assume is going to be about what Jesus KEEPS ON DOING AND TEACHING. Except that now it's in a different way.
From the middle of chapter 1, Jesus has gone. He's ascended. And yet as we look at this book of the Acts of the Apostles, we're going to see Jesus at work - BY HIS SPIRIT. Through HIS APOSTLES.
Now can I say a word about these APOSTLES. Because these are the men Jesus has SPECIALLY CHOSEN. As the foundation of the church. These are the guys Jesus has TRAINED. Who he's poured himself into as he taught them for the last three years. More than that, these are the men Jesus has AUTHORISED. He's given them AUTHORITY... to take his GOSPEL to the world. These are the men who Jesus has left in charge. Put in authority over ordinary Christians like you and me.
Now we used to live in a fishing town. And I don't know if you've ever stopped to think about this, but as I looked at the blokes who'd go out on the fishing boats, it used to occur to me. Did you ever think how unlikely it sounds to get together a bunch of 11 blokes from down at the fishing wharf, and say to them, okay guys, YOU'RE GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD. Literally. You're going to be start of something so big it's going to be everywhere. And in 2000 years time there'll be a little bunch of people in a place called BRISBANE; and they'll be getting together hearing about what you did.
But they're the guys Jesus is working with. Ordinary fishermen. A tax collector. A few others. And verse 2 says Jesus spends the days after his resurrection GIVING INSTRUCTIONS through the HOLY SPIRIT to the apostles he had chosen. Authorising them to BUILD HIS CHURCH. To speak and act with all the authority of Jesus himself.
Which is an important point to notice if you're starting to think your own miracle working abilities are looking a bit shabby. Acts is a bit like one of those TV shows where they say "Don't Try This at Home." Because the essence of what the apostles do, the WHOLE REASON it's written down for us, is because they're UNIQUE. With a UNIQUE POSITION and authority. As they build the foundations that we still stand on today. And even back then, ordinary Christians like us, they'd STAND IN AWE... of the things the apostles were doing. And take special notice of what they SAID. As messengers of Jesus.
The book of Acts is their story. And it's an exciting one.
I'm hoping as we look at Acts over these next weeks we're going to be INSPIRED by what we see. That we're going to be EXCITED to be part of God's church. As we go back to our ROOTS.
Acts is full of great stories, full of incredible events. And it's interesting, HISTORIANS AGREE that in terms of the details; in terms of the picture it paints of life back in the first century; in terms of the little incidental facts of who was the governor here, and who was the chief of public works there; in all the little things that are mentioned in passing, the book of Acts is considered the MOST ACCURATE HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE PERIOD AVAILABLE.
So let's take a look and see what happens.
Now like I said, Luke sets the scene with the Apostles in training. Getting ready. And you'll see from verse 3 there are a couple of things Jesus particularly wants them to get right. An apostle is a messenger. And he's going to SEND THEM with the MESSAGE VERY CLEAR.
After his resurrection for a period of 40 days Luke says Jesus keeps coming back and showing himself to the apostles and teaching them; first of all, you'll see there, it seems like time and time again he has to convince them that he's actually ALIVE. In the flesh. And not just some sort of GHOST. It' s almost too much for them to take in - because they'd seen him dead. And now he's alive.
And we're going to see, the fact that he's actually RISEN, the fact that this is the one man in all history that death couldn't hold, it's going to be FUNDAMENTAL TO THEIR MESSAGE. The RESURRECTION OF JESUS is the key thing the apostles are going to witness to. They haven't just seen a GHOST. They've seen a NEW MAN. And that's the heart of their message.
Take a quick look at verse 22; there's a job vacancy. They're trying to decide who to appoint to take over as an Apostle from Judas, who'd betrayed Jesus and then killed himself.
And if they were putting a job ad in the classifieds, here's what it would say. We're looking for someone who's seen what happened from the beginning, from John's baptism right up to the end. We're looking for someone, they say in verse 22, someone who's seen it all, so they can become a WITNESS WITH US OF THE RESURRECTION.
That's the job. TO BEAR WITNESS to the resurrection of Jesus. To TESTIFY that he's the RISEN ONE. And after they pray and ask Jesus to do the choosing, they draw lots. And it's Matthias.
And so when it comes to his resurrection, Jesus wants no mistakes. Back to verse 3. Time and time again, I guess he does what he did with Thomas. Take a look. Feel me. I'm real. Verse 4, just in passing. It says ONE DAY WHILE HE WAS EATING WITH THEM. Ghosts DON'T EAT.
There are people who want to say the RESURRECTION was just a figment of the apostle's imagination. There are people who want to say the RESURRECTION is just a spiritual sort of way of saying THE MEMORY OF JESUS LIVED ON WITH THEM. And inspired them.
Well, that's not what Luke's saying here, is it? He's alive. He's eating fish and chips with them.
And in the rest of verse 3, you get the other key point in their training course. He SPOKE WITH THEM ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
Now can I take a moment to say that THE KINGDOM OF GOD is an idea we've got to try to get hold of. We're used to thinking about Kingdoms as being patches of ground. Like the United Kingdom. It's marked out by the borders of England and Ireland and Scotland and Wales.
But the Kingdom of God isn't like that. The Kingdom of God's marked out by A PEOPLE. And the geography doesn't count.
Mind you, even after Jesus has been talking to them, the apostles don't quite get it. They ask him in verse 6, they say, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the KINGDOM TO ISRAEL. Are you going to throw out the Romans, are you going to take back the throne of David in Jerusalem. And mark out the borders on the map.
To which Jesus says to them, that's not how it works. He says it's not for you to know the times or seasons the Father has set by his own authority. And he says, IT'S NOT JUST AN ISRAEL THING ANYWAY. It's BIGGER THAN THAT.
Verse 8, he says, you're going to receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes on you; power to be my WITNESSES in Jerusalem. And then wider. The region of Judea. Okay so far. That's Israel. But there's more. AND SAMARIA. Where the Samaritans live. Who the Jews hate. Who they won't even associate with. And further. TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
That's the job description. The Holy Spirit is going to come on them, is going to give them the power and the words to say, to start fanning out from Jerusalem in ever increasing circles. These twelve ordinary guys. Right to the ends of the earth.
And in the book of Acts, we're going to see it happen. Chapter 1 verse 8 here, it's like a table of contents. The rest of the book spells it out, stage by stage. Jerusalem. Judea. Samaria. And then by chapter 22, Paul's way off in ROME. The centre of the civilised world. And he's preaching the same gospel. Of the RISEN JESUS.
Now can you see, that's what the KINGDOM OF GOD IS ALL ABOUT. It's not about ISRAEL any more. Or national boundaries. It's all about CALLING PEOPLE EVERYWHERE TO SUBMIT TO THE RISEN JESUS. Because HE'S KING.
Now that's not immediately obvious. But the thing that happens next is a pretty broad hint. And I don't know whether or not you've heard this bit of the story before, but sometimes it's just brushed over in a way that's a little bit GLIB.
It's an ASTONISHING thing. It's the sort of thing that would make the hair on the back of your neck stand up and go prickly. It's something that makes the even the X files look pretty lame.
Here they are on the slopes of the Mount of Olives just out the east side of Jerusalem; Jesus is talking to them; he tells them they're going be his WITNESSES TO THE WORLD. And then get this.
Luke's very economical with words at this point. Verse 9. After this, he was TAKEN UP BEFORE THEIR VERY EYES; and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Now I've never actually seen a person float up into the clouds before. How would you feel watching it? I reckon you'd be terrified. Luke doesn't say whether there was a whooshing noise, or whether there was thunder and lightning, or what. Just a sentence. He was taken up before their eyes.
But if you've had a look at the bible study on this during the week, you'll know that here's an event with some very special significance. In the bible study we looked at an Old Testament vision. A vision of Daniel, that's in Daniel chapter 7; and it's printed on your sheet. You might like to have a look at it.
In his vision, Daniel saw a CORONATION. Now I'm way too young to remember the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. But I do remember when Charles was invested as PRINCE OF WALES. And there it was on TV; all the pomp and ceremony, the flowing robes; he parades down the aisle in front of crowds of people, he kneels down, and he's crowned.
Well, Daniel's vision was a bit bigger than that. It's a coronation. But the throne room's in heaven. And in his vision he sees this figure who he calls ONE LIKE A SON OF MAN; and instead of walking down the aisle like Prince Charles, he's coming on the clouds towards God, the ancient of Days; and he' s crowned KING OVER ALL THE NATIONS. Daniel says, men of every language praise him. And honour him. And it's a Kingdom that's never going to end.
Now you don't have to be too bright I reckon, when you pick up on the fact that Jesus always called himself THE SON OF MAN, you don't have to make to big a jump to see he's making a link with Daniel's vision.
And when he's finally finished training his apostles, when he's told them they've got be his witnesses to all the earth; what's he telling them when he's taken up on the clouds?
See, it's not that heaven's literally just up above us somewhere. It's that Jesus is playing out Daniel's vision. Saying to them, I'm on my way - to the throne. I'm about to be crowned as King over every nation.
And they're seeing Daniel's vision fulfilled with their own eyes. It's happening right in front of them.
Jesus is crowned as King of Every Nation. As God's appointed ruler not just of little Israel. But everywhere. And this little bunch of guys have got the job of announcing it. And telling the world.
How do you reckon they're going to do? I reckon it's a scarey job. I mean, I reckon it's scarey enough just having Mitchelton to worry about. They had the world. And they're just ordinary guys.
Jesus says they're not going to do it alone. That his SPIRIT is going to be there to help them do it. And we're going to see that happening next time.
But for now, that's the opening scene of the book of Acts. A huge job to do. Proclaiming a King who rules from heaven. Calling people to turn from their sin and submit to him.
Which is exactly the same job those first apostles have passed on to us.
We're going to watch how things unfold. And it's exciting stuff. But let me just make one comment to close.
You know, if you're a Christian, there's a phrase you say, and I wonder how much you really mean it. I wonder it for myself as well. We say JESUS IS LORD.
And we mouth the words very easily. But what do we mean?
There's one thing as we read Acts that I reckon is very, very clear. And that's the fact that these Apostles, when they talk about Jesus being Lord, when they talk about him being KING, they REALLY MEAN IT. LITERALLY.
When they go round talking about him, the reason they keep getting in trouble is they're talking about another AUTHORITY. Over and above CAESAR. Who really does have the authority to tell them how to live their lives. In a way that no governor or Emperor or prime minister of politician ever can.
When they say JESUS IS KING, THEY MEAN IT. And they live it. And it changes their lives. They lived, they made their decisions, they shared, in a way that said, JESUS REALLY IS THE BOSS OF ME.
As we wind back the clock over these next few weeks and look back, let's pray that it will be the same for us.