Looking and Listening for His Return!

Acts 1:15-26

Peter stands up in the midst of the Apostles, taking a leadership position, and realizes the need to find a replacement for Judas?  Why does he recognize such an imminent need?  Did they have to chose another replacement?  Why couldn’t they stay with the original Eleven?  Peter had remember what Christ had said in Matthew 19:28.  Christ tells the Apostles that when the kingdom comes they will sit with him on Twelve thrones and rule over this kingdom.  Consequently, Peter does not know when Christ will return; he doesn’t have the benefit of hindsight like we do.  For all Peter imagined, he thought that Jesus would be returning next week!  Peter was actively look for the return of the Savior...so why don’t we? 

Peter goes on to quote from two Psalms (Psa. 69 and 109), the first explaining what had happened (Judas’ defection and death) and the second what they should do about it (replace him).  Two men were chosen, and after casting lots, God directed the Apostles to chose Matthias.  Some have often asked, why did they cast lots?  Isn’t that an Old Testament practice?  Casting lots was done on this occasion because they Apostles had not received the Holy Spirit yet.  The Holy Spirit would descend on them and indwell them in the next chapter of Acts.  We don’t have a need to cast lots today when making decisions because we have the Holy Spirit who indwells us.  He helps us to make decisions that are both wise and follow with God’s will; but we must listen to His still small voice.  The Holy Spirit is speaking to us, and he often does this in various ways and mediums, but can we hear him?

The Apostles prayed to the Lord and asked him to show them who He had already chosen.  The Lord directed them to Matthias as the qualified replacement.  Now the group is whole once again and ready to be His witness to the entire world.  If we think back to Jesus’ original selection of the Twelve, we see that He did the same thing.  He spent all night in prayer before He went out to select these twelve ordinary men that would turn the world upside down.  The amazing and mind-boggling fact is that even through Jesus know all things and what would happen with these twelve, He still chose Judas! 

God's Master Plan

Acts 1:12-14

This passage in Acts is a portion of the larger narrative in Acts 1:12-26 where the Scriptures inform us that the Apostles chose someone to replace Judas.  And I plan to discuss that in later posts, but the first few verses of this narrative caught my attention in a rather providential way.  I had been thinking of what I wanted to blog about in this passage and nothing really struck me, until, that is, I listened to the Sunday evening message at LMBC.  We had a guest speaker named Joyce Olver, who gave her testimony of how God had providentially protected her on the events of September 11, 2001.  She was a stewardess who was scheduled to be on Flight 11, the very one that crashed into the Twin Towers.  Her riveting testimony explained how God had a plan for her life and how He went to great lengths to show her this.  If she had not listened to God’s plan and went with her original plan, she would have died. 

As I thought about her testimony, I couldn’t help but reflect back to the book of Acts, particularly to the day after Jesus ascended up into the heaven.  The day of the ascension must have been an awesome and glorious day for the disciple to watch, a day that they would never forget!  But what about the day after?  The text says that went a Sabbath’s day journey (roughly a ½ a mile) back to Jerusalem per the instructions of Christ.  They were told by Christ to wait for the Holy Spirit to come and then they were to go out and be his witnesses to all the world (Acts 1:8).  But what if they chose to go out and be his witnesses before the Holy Spirit came upon them?  In other words, what if they chose to fulfill their commission without the power of the Holy Spirit?  Do you think it would have been successful?  I rather doubt it would have been; it probably would have been an utter failure.  Yet, why does this seem to be a growing phenomenon within the life of a Christian?

You see the simple fact of the matter is that it’s easier to do things our own way, and then enlist the power of God when we need it most.  Our western mindset of individualism often influences our thinking more than we would like to admit.  We think that our methods are better, and we will let God take a break from helping us on this matter.  God is the first place we need to go; He is not a last resort!    We all know that this is not a new concept; the roots of this deception goes back to the Garden of Eden when Satan tempted Adam and Eve by saying, “there is a better way...”  Man has always wanted to control his own destiny, and if we were to survey history we would soon realize that it has caused immense and irreversible problems when man takes that destiny into his own hands.  God’s plan is far greater and better; his providence is leading us in the right direction, but are we listening to him?  It’s the simple truth of being “in Christ” that really puts us in our place.  When we become a believer, we are literally placed into the family of Christ.  Our identity is now wrapped up in who He is, not who we want to become.  Our last name is changed, we get new brothers and sisters, we now have a father who meets every need; and best of all, we will be moving someday!

God’s plan for our life needs to be our plan; rather that trying to change God’s plans into our plans.  Sometimes I wish that God would pull back the curtain and give me glimpse of my life and all I would do for him, but in the same breathe I think I would be terrified because I would not want to see how He gets me there.  God’s ways are far above our ways, but thank God He has a master plan He wants to work out in the life of every believer.  Your life is valuable to God and He has a plan for it!  

9/11: How Do We Respond?

Acts 1:9-11

Acts 1:9-11 is the major passage in the New Testament that describes the ascension of Christ into heaven after His resurrection.  The disciples are staring at Christ as He ascends into heaven, wondering when he will return.  Just then two angels who are sitting near the disciple speak up and ask the disciples why they are continuing to stare at Christ ascending into heaven.  It seems the angels knew that the disciples where thinking about when Christ would return.  The angels encourage the disciples by telling them that Christ will come back in the same way that he left.  Those words from the angels are very significant for it proves that Christ will come back one day in a visible and physical form.  However, the point of the text is that the disciples where loosing focus and the angels had to pull them back to the earth.  Christ had just given them instructions; He had commissioned His disciples to be His witnesses. 

Now, reflecting on the events of 9/11, events that forever changed America.  From the news footage and statistics, there were more than 400 first responders that died responding to the crisis at the World Trade Center.  What was truly amazing was that people were running into the building, into the very place that was hazardous, dangerous, and deadly.  Many lost their lives for running back into the building because the thought of saving one person was worth the effort.  And we all know and heard today the countless stories of heroic efforts of so many ordinary people that sacrificed in a variety of ways.  But what if these people, and these first responders, decided not to respond.  What if they chose not to help, not to sacrifice, not to pitch in wherever needed?

I am so grateful that these first responders decided to go and sacrifice, just like I am so grateful that the disciple chose to respond to the command of Christ and go and sacrifice.  What if the disciples, watching Christ ascending into heaven, decided not to go and just sat, waiting for Christ to return?  The first eight chapters of the book of Acts show example after example of people who sacrificed for the cause of Christ, who did whatever it took to get the Gospel out to as many people as they could.  Countless people were reached with the Gospel, and are still being reached with the gospel today, all because twelve disciples decided to sacrifice and go!

So what’s our excuse?  We’ve been given the same commission as the disciples were given.  What if we decide not to respond to that still small voice?  I wonder what God has in store for those who do respond, and I wonder what we miss when we don’t respond?   Why is it that we have to pull teeth to get people to serve in ministries, but they are willing to sacrifice anything for sports and other hobbies?  People ran into the world trade center without thinking for a moment about their well-being to help people they did not even know.  Yet people cross our paths every day and what kind of thought come to our mind??

We will never forget the events that happened on 9/11 and I hope we will also never forget the commission that Christ gave to all believers: go and make disciples!

The Power of the Holy Spirit

Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 is a very important verse for the study of the book of Acts because it not only gives us a theme but it also gives us an inspired outline to the book.  You see Jesus prophesied to his disciples that they would be witnesses for him starting out in Jerusalem, then moving into Judea and Samaria, and finally to the uttermost parts of the earth; and this is exactly what happens.  The Gospel slowly progresses outward from Jerusalem and travels some 1,800 miles to Rome.  The mission of the Gospel is not a static one, nor is it stagnate, but it is moving and it is powerful.  However, the Gospel’s progress is only as powerful as the people who are surrendered to taking it to the ends of the earth.

 “But” you will receive power is how Acts 1:8 starts out.  The “but” is contrasting the thought of verse 7.  You see in verse 7 the disciples were concerned with the coming kingdom that Christ had promised, and Jesus tells them that they don’t need to worry about that at this time.  They rather need to focus on being his witnesses on earth.  “Witnesses” becomes an important term in Acts, used some 19 times in the book of Acts alone.  When our Western minds kick into gear some of us have fond memories of witnessing to others about Christ; or we might say that were going out soul-winning. Then others might say that our memories of soul-winning were much more discouraging and frustrating.  We’re going out to wins some souls for Christ – a command from the very pages of Scripture.  But, does the term “soul-winning” really catch the essence of what the early church was supposed to be?  You might say it’s a matter of semantics, but I think there is more to it than that.   

“Witnessing” means to testify of the person and work of Christ; it’s where we get our term testimony.  But according to the words of Scripture the disciples were to do the witnessing and then the Holy Spirit was to do the saving.  Soul-winning sounds like we (the believers) are the ones who do the saving.  Some like to major so much on the methodology of soul-winning that they forget to give the Holy Spirit room to do his convincing work.  Believe you me, I think some methods are better than others and I am not condemning any one type of method.  What I am saying is that some magnify their methodology over the very message that they preach.  Sound familiar?  Do the Pharisees and religious leaders ring a bell?  They were guilt of magnifying the oral law (their traditions, codes, and laws) over the very written words of Scripture.  Their traditions and laws could not save, but God’s Word can! 

We are not the ones who do the saving, the Holy Spirit does.  The early church, and the church of today, is given a task of witnessing or testifying to others of what Christ has done; leave the saving part to the Holy Spirit.  Because, really, if it were up to us, we could not save a single soul from the punishment and fires of hell; but the Holy Spirit can and He still does!   

Getting the Big Picture by Narrowing Your Focus

Acts 1:5-8

One would expect the above question to have an obvious answer, but does it?  Sure there were times when the Apostles did not fully understand why Christ came; there are many examples.  Mark 1:35-37 speaks of one such occasion.  After healing many people Jesus went off to a solitary place, but the people would not leave Him alone.  Simon goes to look for him and tells him that the people are looking for him.  Jesus speaks up to Simon and says the reason why I have come is to preach the good news.  Sometimes even the closest people to Jesus did not really understand His purpose for coming.

In Acts 1:6-7 the disciples ask Jesus when he will be coming again to restore His kingdom.  Did they miss the big picture again?  The word “restore” is Acts 1:6 carries the concept of a political restoration.  So the disciples were asking Christ if He was coming again to restore his political kingdom, when Jesus did not come to set up a political kingdom but a spiritual one.  However, the Jews rejected Christ and it seems that they would have rather had a political kingdom than a spiritual one.  What is interesting though is that when the disciples asked Jesus if He was going to restore his kingdom, He did not deny it; rather He told them that it wasn’t for them to know the future.  The point is that they were concerned more with the future rather than the present.   

This concept is carried over into the realm of prophecy and study on end times events.  People want to know when these prophetic events will happen; some even become obsessed with it.  Why?  Personally, I think that people want to know when prophetic events will happen so that they can wait until the last minute to get their affairs in order.  But Christ spoke of end times events from a different perspective.  He tells his disciples in Acts 1:8 that they need not worry about the future kingdom, they need to focus on the present expansion of Gospel to the kingdoms of this world. Truly one can be too heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good. 

In a sin-cursed world where the prevailing focus is on self, it’s easy to focus on the future and the glorious restoration of all things.  However, Christ has called us to be salt, to influence and effect his world.  He has given us that same command He gave the disciples – be my witnesses.  Be my light in the dark world, show them that there is hope, and that hope is only found in Him!