Acts written by Luke is the only biblical book that chronicles the history of the church immediately after Jesus’s ascension. It provides valuable truths about how the church grew and spread out from Jerusalem into the rest of the Roman Empire. In only three decades, a small group of frightened believers in Jerusalem transformed into an empire-wide movement of people who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ.
Acts can be neatly divided into two sections, the first dealing primarily with the ministry of Peter in Jerusalem and Samaria (Acts 1-12) and the second following Paul on his missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire (Acts 13-28).
Acts ends abruptly with Paul imprisoned in Rome, waiting to bring his appeal before Caesar. It is worth noting that Luke doesn’t mention Paul’s death (AD 64–68) nor the persecution of Christians that broke out under Nero (AD 64). That’s why it’s believed, Luke completed this book before either of these events occurred, sometime between AD 60 and AD 62, while Paul sat in prison, awaiting the resolution of his appeal.
Matthew 28:16-20 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Luke 24:44-53 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” 50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Acts 1:1-11 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
In Acts 1 Jesus is saying goodbye. For 3 years they’ve been intimately intertwined, thru good times and bad! He had changed their lives! They’d never be the same.
They spent 40 incredible days together after He rose…and now, He’s leaving, He’s going home… He has given them His great commission, to go into all the world with the gospel.
As He left the earth ascending into heaven He left behind some things.
This morning I want to point out some things that Jesus left behind when He ascended to heaven. Jesus said in John 19:30, “…it is finished…” He was saying that the atonement for sin was finished. That tells us that nothing more needs to be done. Salvation is complete in Christ. But the first thing He left behind was:
1. AN UNFINISHED TASK
Acts 1:1 “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach,” His Task Was Not Finished.
He Left The Task To Be Finished By His Church. (Mat 28:19)
Weatherford cry’s out, “unfinished”—The voices of our neighbors cry out, “unfinished.”—You have some loved ones who cry out, “unfinished.”—Perhaps your own soul is crying, “unfinished.” (We have been given the ministry of recon)
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2. ABSOLUTE PROOF
Acts 1:3 “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 15:5-6a “..he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time,..”
Man can’t disprove it… Cults can’t disprove it…Satan cant disprove it
Counterfeit Gospels (4K)
Galatians 1:6-9 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
The Gospel lives on. We have an eternal Gospel in: Revelation 14:6 “Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.”
3. AN UNQUESTIONABLE LOVE No one can question the love of Jesus.
Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross
Jesus, who was innocent took upon Himself the sin of mankind
Jesus gave His body and shed His blood at the whipping post of mankind.
Jesus, who left His home in heaven and came to a world of sinners who rejected Him and nailed Him on a cross.
Jesus, who in love cried out to the Father, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Jesus, who gave His life as a ransom for many, who restored the path back to fellowship with God that you and I might have eternal life.
That’s unquestionable love. He died for you. He loves you. (John 3:16)
4. AN UNMISTAKABLE PLAN
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” A witness is sworn to tell the truth of what he/she saw or experienced. It is an unmistakable plan. We are to be witnesses- We witness to that which has happened to us.
2-7 Jerusalem—8-10 Samaria—13-28 Roman World
5. AN UNSHAKABLE PROMISE
Acts 1:10-11 “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.” 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
1 John 3:1-3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
If you are looking for Him to come soon, you will cleanse yourself.
Those who have no thoughts toward the return of Jesus are not living testimony for Him.
Christians, let’s not live like the world will go on forever. We are sitting on a ticking time bomb. It could go off at any time.
Jesus left behind an unfinished task, absolute proof, an unquestionable love, an unmistakable plan, and an unshakable promise.
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