Today we begin a new study on the book of Acts (page 1156 in your pew Bibles). Acts is one large story but a lot of little stories inside the big story. The book is simply exciting and it leaves you saying, “WOW!” so many times. We will be going chapter by chapter and verse by verses in the months to come.
Acts is unique. 1) Acts is unique in what it accomplishes for us inside the New Testament. While there are four gospels that narrate for us Jesus’ life, there’s only 1 account of what happened next. This book tells us how Christianity began to spread throughout the world. Acts answers questions for us where we would scratch our heads if Acts didn’t exist. There would be great gaps in our knowledge of the Bible between the Gospels and the remainder of the New Testament if it were not for the Book of Acts. Now if we had no book of Acts we would pass in our New Testaments from the last page of John, chapter 21, to the beginning of the letter to the Romans, and countless questions would crop up.
2) Acts is also unique because it is the second-longest book in the New Testament, behind only Luke’s gospel. If you were to sit down to read the book in its entirety, it would take you about 2.5 hours. But this is the big reason why Acts matters
3) Acts teaches us how to make our lives count. The truth when your experience of Christianity is stale and it feels like your drinking a flat Coke … Acts shows a robust, Christian faith that energizes us. There is such a thing as Christianity lived out like it’s displayed in the book of Acts.
Today’s Scripture
“In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 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. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 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” (Acts 1:1–8).
Acts is the second volume of Luke’s two entries to the New Testament. For those of you who’ve been around with us for a couple of years, you’ll know we went verse by verse through Luke’s Gospel (volume 1) for the better part of three years. In fact, I want you to see the connection between the two. The first four verses of Luke’s gospel, which you almost have to read in order to get started with Acts because it’s really a preamble to the whole two books: “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:1–4).
Who is Theophilus? We know a few things about him. He might have been wealthy and a person of nobility, because in Luke 1 he’s called, “…most excellent Theophilus …” which is probably a title. One thing we almost certainly know is he was a cultured man. He was intellectually sophisticated because, unlike the other books of the New Testament, Luke begins both Luke and Acts with a preamble & is almost identical to the preamble of other works of literature in history at that time. Luke is actually making a case to him about why Christianity is true, because (again) in Luke 1, he says in effect, “Theophilus, I want you to be convinced. I want you to be absolutely sure in your mind that these things are true.” Theophilus is probably some kind of Roman official because of the title "most excellent" which Luke uses only for Roman officials like Felix (Acts 23:26) and Festus (Acts 26:25), the governors of Judea. “Though Luke surely intended his work for the whole Christian community, Theophilus may have received the special dedication for being a patron who helped defray some of the costs of Luke’s writing.”
Luke loves history and he loves accuracy. Acts is a sequel to Luke’s story of Jesus portrayed in His Gospel.
1) Are You Identified by Jesus’ Presence?
“And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5)
“A Christian man should so shine in his life, that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel.”
1.1 Jesus Made Real
The Holy Spirit Makes God’s Presence Real. Christianity is where Jesus is made real and He is evident even though Jesus is in Heaven. Is your Christianity more like a dull habit or raging fire? “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)
For believers, we desperately need the Holy Spirit in all of our lives. Just as the Holy Spirit is personal, His ministry is personal to you. For the Holy Spirit makes things alive. Are you alive with His presence today?
Here are two Signs to Deepen Jesus’ “Realness”
1) The Holy Spirit Offers Jesus’ Realness
The people of God had a thirst for the living God. There’s a hunger for God’s presence. If you want to deepen your experience of Jesus, it’s nearly always because of times of extraordinary prayer. There is a difference between “maintenance” and “frontline” praying. Maintenance prayer meetings are short, mechanical, and focused on physical needs inside the church. In contrast, the three basic traits of frontline prayer are these:
1. A request for grace to confess sins and to humble ourselves;
2. A compassion and zeal for the flourishing of the church and the reaching of the lost;
3. A yearning to know God, to see his face, to glimpse his glory.
2) An Increased Sensitivity to Sin
Whenever you see the presence of the Holy Spirit, you see people crying out to God in confession of sin. You will begin to notice a deepening burden on the minds of people whether they are old or young, rich or poor, man or woman.
1.2 It’s What Jesus Continues to Do
“In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach…” (Acts 1:1)
Circle the word “began” in verse 1 because this is highly significant. Every other religion tells us the founder of their religion completed his ministry in their lifetime. Luke tells us Jesus simply began His ministry but there was much more to come after He left the earth. Caution: God at Work We need to continually hear that – God is still working. Luke writes to Christian believers in order to reassure them that God is still working. “This really is the work of God,” Luke is telling us. Luke says, “Christianity is not about being good. It is not at first about anything you do at all. It’s about what He’s done. God is at work beside us and before us. He works behind, beneath, below, and beyond you. God has a plan and He is at work advancing His plan in your personal life and in our church’s life. Even now, Jesus is speaking and acting. He is alive, and He is building His church. All of Acts is a continuation of what Jesus began to do.
Join me in a moment of prayer for God to continue His work among us even now: Father, we pray that your very presence will come down on us today. We need your Spirit to make yourself known and to make us feel your authority over us. Cause your word to come home to us. Open our very eyes so we properly see your Word. Then, we pray that your holiness would be evident. Turn our hearts away from worthless things. Instead, turn our lives over to the very things that can give life (Psalm 119:36-37). Lastly, make your people come alive. Amen
The early Christians were recognized for having been with Jesus – are you?
2) Are You Energized by Jesus’ Promise?
“And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5)
2.1 A Promise Made
Jesus refers to a promise He made the Disciples. Let me show you something of the magnitude of this gift: “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7).
Did you hear what Jesus said? It was to the Disciples' “advantage” that Jesus goes away. Pause and consider this for a moment. When Jesus is around, the Disciple had His power near them to raise the dead, heal the sick, and walk on water. Yet, Jesus tells the Twelve Disciples it was to their “advantage” that He go away because the Helper will come. Given the immense power and abilities of Jesus, the Helper must be a substantial gift to Jesus’ followers. Can you imagine how unbelievable this sounded to the Twelve? Having the Holy Spirit is better than if Jesus were alive and walking the earth today. We could say it this way: Having the Spirit in you is better than having Jesus beside you. The Father loved you so much that He gave you two great gifts: the Son for you and the Spirit to you.
2.2 Baptism in the Spirit
There are seven texts where “baptized in the Spirit” is found in the New Testament. “for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 11:16). All Christians are baptized in the Spirit at the moment of the new birth, not after it. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). To be filled with the Spirit is different from being baptized in the Spirit. There is one baptism, but there are multiple fillings. Remember all Christians have the Holy Spirit: “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9).
You are baptized in the Spirit when you experience the new birth in Christ. Yet, to be filled by the Holy Spirit is to be energized and controlled by the Holy Spirit. Nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to be baptized in the Holy Spirit after our conversions. The “secret sauce” to the Christian life is the Holy Spirit. The reality many of us are forced to concede is that our lives are missing the real, transformative power of the Holy Spirit.
A pastor was trying to dramatize the coming of the Holy Spirit for his church. For his grand finale, he secretly put a small boy up in the ceiling rafters. He put a dove in a cage and toward the end of his sermon, the preacher was going to shout for the Holy Spirit to come down and the boy was supposed to release the dove. As he got to the climactic part of his message, he looked up to the rafters and said, “Holy Spirit, come down!” Nothing happened. He raised his arms again to the ceiling and cried out even louder, “Come down Holy Spirit!” Still, nothing happened. Finally, exasperated and getting angry he said, “I'm not going to tell you again, Holy Spirit, come down!” Then, everybody heard that little boy shout down from the rafters, “Pastor, a yellow cat just ate the Holy Spirit. Do you want me to throw the yellow cat down?”
Dr. A.C. Dixon, said, “When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do. When we rely upon education, we get what education can do. When we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do. But, when we rely upon the Holy Spirit, we get what God can do.”
Here’s my second question: The early Christians yielded their lives to the Holy Spirit – have you?
Father, we thank you for the tremendous gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for loving us so much that you have sent the Spirit to make your presence real to us. We pray that you would cause us to receive His counsel for our lives. We pray you would fill our lives with the Spirit’s presence. We pray that you would bring tremendous beauty and grace into our lives and so empower our witness for Christ that those outside of Christ are attracted to the source of this beauty: God Himself.
2) Are You Energized by Jesus’ Promise?
3) Are You Captured by Jesus’ Message?
Take note that these early believers had a message to share and a mission to fulfill. Here we have the last words of our Lord: “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” (Acts 1:8). These early Christians were taught that their central role was to be a witness. Not a weak witness. Not the kind of witness where you’re subpoenaed and dragged into court. Not the kind of witness where you’re forced to say what you know. But you are to be an effervescent witness. Your witness is to be energized around one event - the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christianity is a historical faith built around an historical figure named Jesus Christ, substantiated on a historical fact - that he is no longer in the tomb. Jesus Christ is risen! Today, 2,000 years later, we have the same mission and the same message and the same might that can literally set this world ablaze. Because Jesus Christ is alive and since the Holy Spirit is here we ought to be ignited and excited to fulfill this mission of taking this message to the entire world. Lord set us on fire and let our light shine as bright and our faith burn as hot today as it did 2,000 years ago.
Here’s my third question: the message of the gospel captured the early Christians’ hearts and minds – has it captured yours?
