← ArchiveSunday, April 27, 2014DateApril 27, 2014Speaker—TextActs 1Passages in this sermonTitus 30:29Romans 12:50Acts 13:15Psalms 248:53Acts 2:132:13TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00If there's anything that we ought to take from this past Easter, it is the privilege and importance that God has given us to remember things. If you remember a few weeks ago, I preached a message from Titus chapter 30:29where Paul is writing to the young preacher and he just says those first two words, remind them, remind them. Well, I just wanted to kind of branch off that to take the opportunity over the next few days, for the next few services, and let's just bring back to memory. Let's be reminded of where we are and how we got where we are, how the apostles did it.0:59How can we get where they got to? Because at the end of last week's message, I shared with you the most awesome story as best could be told by history that each one of those apostles that saw Jesus after the resurrection had something powerfully changed in their life because they saw Jesus after he was dead. Now, we talked a little bit about Peter's struggles before his death.1:30He was even at the Mount of Transfiguration and wanted to build booths there. But then there was that time after that that he struggles in his walk as he finds himself out in the patio area of the temple. And Jesus is in the temple being abused, under trial, being beaten. And they're asking Peter who he is or affirming who he is.1:56And he denies and denies and denies and has an outburst of anger. In other words, he didn't want to be associated with him. But after the resurrection, all that changed. And so we need to be reminded that there was a former life. Now, I'm not talking about Peter's former life being lost or saved. I'm talking about with us. There was a former life for all of us in here that are now believers. Where we walked according to Paul after the lust of the flesh and desires of the eye.2:27We walked after the passions and the things of this world. But my friend, if you are a believer today, you have seen the risen Savior. You have heard his message. Now, how do you say, how have I seen the risen Savior? You have seen him as he has revealed himself to us according to Romans chapter 1. We have seen him in the glory of God that is revealed in his creation.2:55We have seen him, the most vivid picture of all in his word, as he says to us in John, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. We've seen him as he pours himself out in all of Scripture. And so I want you to turn your Bibles to Acts chapter 1. In Acts chapter 1, we have this post-resurrection moment with the apostles.3:19Before a lot of things got started, we have that post-moment between the birth of the church and the coming of the Holy Spirit and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we have in that first few passages of Acts, the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ as he ascended back to the Father.3:48It says in the first book of Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach. You see, Luke's life was changed. He's the author of Acts. Luke's life was changed until the day he was taken up after he had given commandments through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. So he had given these commandments through the apostles. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering4:16by many proofs appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. In other words, it was nothing for Luke to write these passages because he knew that Jesus Christ had been resurrected and that he had come back just as he said he would. And after a while staying with him, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said,4:45you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Now, that's important because what would Jerusalem have been filled with? A hotbed of Jesus haters. Especially if the Romans had been made fools by the fact that they gave their best to guard the body,5:08and yet God calls the body to live again. How might the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the high priests feel, knowing that while they thought they had silenced Christ by having him crucified, now are dealing with the fact that he is risen, and people are talking about the fact that he is risen.5:37So, in reality, it would be a really good time to slide out of town, especially realizing the persecution that may be at hand. So, these apostles have been given a command to hang around. And so, there's got to be good reason for them to want to hang around. And I believe that reason is because they've been spending the last days with the Lord they saw die and raised again.6:02There's a changed life when someone meets the living God. And we're not talking, I'm not, and what I am saying, and I'm talking about the new birth, I believe that when somebody is born again, they meet the living God. I don't believe that you can be born again without meeting the living God. I don't believe you can pray a prayer of any kind of significance6:29without meeting the living God. I don't believe that you can be baptized as many times as you want to be and bring any comfort or peace without having first met the living God. And I believe that's the reality that these apostles are facing. They've met the living God, and they've seen him alive. My friends, I want to tell you something.6:58It's shaking the place up. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, you can imagine the essay, ask him, Lord, when will the time be that you restore your kingdom to heaven? I love it because they're still human. They're still just like you and I. They're still just as human as they can be. We want to hurry up and get this thing over with. Amen. I'm tired of diseases. I'm tired of hurts. I'm tired of people dying that I love.7:26I'm tired of people getting sick. I'm tired of seeing people hurt over drugs, alcohol, abuses. I'm tired of seeing what the world is doing or trying to do to truth. I'm tired of seeing the persecution. I want, just like these apostles wanted, Jesus to hurry up and get back and take care of business. And that's what they wanted, and you can't blame them for that. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?7:51God, we're going to see it now. And he said to them, it is not for you to know these, it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father, I love this, has fixed for his own authority. Nothing going to change that. God's already fixed it. Got a problem with it? Take it up with God.8:20He's fixed it. It's a time fixed. It could be today. It could be in the future. It could be out there in the future somewhere. Not in my lifetime, but that day has been fixed by the authority of God. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. Then he says, you want this, but this is what's going to happen. And in all Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth, and when he had said these things as they were looking, he lifted up, and a cloud took him up out of their sight.8:48Then the earth, Psalm 24, is filled, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. For he has founded it upon the seas, established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend to the heel of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.9:19He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Now, Brother Chris, why did you change to Psalms so rapidly? Jesus has just ascended.9:49That means he's headed up. There's no more of him walking around with the apostles like they had seen him in the last 40 days. There's no more spending time at a fish fry or spending time personally encouraging them. He has lifted up off the earth, and he has ascended back to the Father. And this is what he is doing. When he gets to the Father, he has clean hands and a pure heart because he's faced all of Satan's temptations.10:13He's faced all the sins of the flesh, and he has denied each one of the temptations that could befall any one of us and has befallen many of us today. He's faced them all and not sinned. He lived his sinless and perfect life before God and before all of mankind, before all of glory, before all of the universe.10:35And he has allowed himself to be that ultimate sacrifice that has appeased the Father on our behalf. And so now he's ascended. So what happened? So we see him ascended in Acts chapter 1, and we see him standing at the right hand of the Father receiving Stephen in chapter 7.10:58We see him later on in chapter 9 confronting Paul. But what about that ascension time? What about that time between the time that he went up and the time that he's standing by God? Well, listen to what he says. Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.11:26Who is the King of glory? Now let me quickly paint you a picture of this particular event. Jesus has ascended to the Father, or he's headed that way. He comes to the gates of glory. He stands with the battle scars of earthly sins upon his body.11:54There's the bruised brow. There's the slit side. There's the nail-pierced hands. You see, he'd been in battle. Have you ever seen a man that's been in battle? They don't look like anybody else because they bear all the scars of having been in the battle.12:19You see, they may have bullet wounds. They may have stab wounds. They may have wounds where they've had hand-to-hand combat. They may have all kinds of bruises and battle scars. And so when they make their way back to the lines that they've been out in front of, and the sentry stops them, the first thing the sentry says is, who goes there?12:39Well, you better know how to answer that question, my friend. Because they're not playing. You see, that guard that's standing at the door has a purpose, and it's to guard that door. That no one come through that door but those who have the special setting aside or marking or work of God in their life.13:07So Jesus Christ comes to that door. Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors. The King of glory may come in. And listen to the sentinel. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle.13:35That's the reply. Who is it? It's I, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are my battle scars. Here's the key that I own to this city. My sacrifice, my death. That one who died on Calvary's cross, that one who was bruised and beaten by this world, I stand before you, I love. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.14:04And Jesus went in. Now, what does that mean to you and me? My friend, first of all, we need to remember that we need to pay close attention to the commands of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You see, we need to pay close attention to what God has told us to do. God has left us specific instructions to follow. God did not lead us into a blind future.14:34But God himself promised multiple promises for us, of which he's also promised to these apostles. But before they can even get to the place to receive this great promise of the filling of the Holy Spirit, they need to keep those other commands that Jesus had said. If you remember, I read earlier, the first thing that he reminded him of is that they were to stay in Jerusalem. And as I shared with you earlier, why would anyone want to stay in a city that hated them so desperately?15:03Because that's what Jesus said to do. My friend, sometimes God's word tells us to do things that don't make sense to us. Sometimes God's word challenges us to give when it don't make sense to us. Sometimes God's word tells us to go when it don't make sense to us. Sometimes God's word tells us to stay when it don't make sense to us. It doesn't matter whether it makes sense to you or to me.15:33What matters is that we mind God. And so these apostles show their obedience and the power of their obedience. They're about to embark on the greatest adventure of any man since them. They are about to embark on the birth of the church, the body of Christ on the earth. But before they can embark on that, they must pay close attention to the commands of Christ.16:00It shows us the power of obedience. It shows us the power of obedience. We need to know that when we obey God, God blesses us. God encourages us. God helps us. How is it that we are not encouraged when we're asked to do something that we don't understand,16:24but when we do it, we know and feel the presence of God? I've had several exciting moments with individuals that said, you know, I didn't know God was going to do this, but I got to this certain place and God pointed this certain person out to me and I knew I had to go share the gospel with them and I really didn't know what to say or what to do, but I went over and as I began to talk with them, God began to fill the moment with his presence16:54only to see a life changed and a life converted. My friend, when God says do something, there's power in obedience to what God has asked us to do. You know, there are so many things that we need to be reminded of this morning. Jesus said, go ye therefore, and we need to be going therefore. Jesus said, don't go ye therefore into America and build the American dream. He said, go ye therefore into the nations and share the gospel.17:21He said, go ye therefore to your neighbor and tell them the truth. He said, go ye therefore and glorify the Father by being obedient to me. It shows us the necessity of spiritual matters. I want you to know what they were doing at this time. They returned to Jerusalem, which is what the Lord asked them to do after he had taken them over to the Mount of Olives and ascended into heaven, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey.17:48And when they had entered the city, they went into the upper room where they were staying. That is Peter and John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, the zealot, Judas, the son of James. 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. My friend, God had done such a work that his mother,18:17who did not understand fully all that he was about, and his brothers, who had also denied him in their own life in times past, have now come together with the apostles, and now they're obeying the command of God, but they're doing the one thing the church does less than anything else that it has the opportunity to do. Pray. We'll meet here in the morning at 6 o'clock to pray. We invite you to come.18:47There's nothing that you'll do more important than the time you spend with the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer. You can listen to all the sermons you want to listen to. You can get all the knowledge you want to get. But I want to tell you, to me, all the knowledge that you have without the power of tracks to run that knowledge on is like a train trying to get around town without railroad tracks. We can be big and good in everything, but we need to be about what God has called us to do.19:18We, you know, and I say this, I talked to Brother Rick today, and you know, I don't know anybody that his disease hasn't affected anymore than I'm sure it has his parents, his wife, and his son, and those close friends and family, and you as a church member, if you've seen him so full of life. But he has definitely been diagnosed as adult acute myeloma leukemia.19:43And there's nothing that's more horrifying than to think about that disease. I remember Pam a few days ago saying the one thing that scared her the most is when the doctor came in and he used the word cancer. My friend, I want to tell you, we have an answer to adult acute myeloma leukemia. We have an answer to cancer.20:13We have an answer to disease. We have an answer to sickness. We have an answer to whatever may befall us, and it is the power of prayer. I mean, I appreciate and I believe in all the works that the doctors do. I thank God for those precious nurses that are out there taking care of of all those patients. But my friend, we have access to the very presence of God because the King of Glory has gone through the gates,20:42and he's opened them up for us to go through as his church. And we can go and we can take our heartaches, and we can take our concerns, and we can take our needs, and we can trust that God knows best how to deal with those matters. So the Bible says that what the apostles did was they went back to the upper room. They went back to Jerusalem, which was a very unpopular place for them to be.21:10They went back to that upper room, and we see those few apostles, the mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. We also see the brothers of Jesus that were there. And, man, they took turns preaching. They took turns testifying. No, that's not what the Bible says, is it? It says they got together in one accord,21:38and they began to pray. I want to tell you, they shook the upper room because they did that, which is one activity that no matter where you are, you can always do. And they say, well, no, that you can't pray. Oh, yes, you can pray anywhere, anytime, for anything. If there's one thing Satan, the world, can't stop you from doing,22:08it's praying. The only person that will slow you down in your prayer life is you. So let's remember the attention that they gave to the commands of Christ. Go back. Stay. Till I come. Also remember the attention they gave to God's word.22:36Notice, as we read these passages, that Peter goes on to say, in verse 15, and at this time, Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, a gathering of about 120 persons was there to gather and said, brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. Now, I don't want to get into a theological debate over as to whether or not23:06the apostles acted too quickly because the Lord had already selected Paul to be that apostle born out of due time to fill the position that Judas had left. But I want us just to focus on the fact that all of a sudden, Peter, who had told Jesus, you won't go to the cross, I won't let them arrest you. I won't let them abuse you. I'll die first. All of a sudden, the scripture comes back to him23:35where he begins to understand and he begins to see this enormous picture of God's picture of redemption. And Peter understands that there are scripture in the Old Testament that are foretelling right where he is in the New Testament. Up until this time, he had no real desire to understand or know that knowledge. You go back and you read all you want to. But even when Peter confessed Christ as the Lord,24:05Jesus told him flesh and blood had not revealed that to him, but God. But now the scriptures are coming to life. Friend, I want to tell you something. I believe the next thing that as a church that we need to consider the importance of is where is the word of God in our life? Where is God's word in my life? Do I spend more time reading or looking at other things than I do focusing attention on God's word?24:30Do I know what God's word says about what's going on in my world today? Do I know how God's word can be encouraging to me about what's going on in the world today? Do I know what God's word says about life, about death? Oh, that book's out. Oh, the book. Everybody just loves to go and read the book. And I love what David Platt said I'm talking about as the one on heaven.24:59What's the name of it? Heaven is for real. He didn't have to come back and tell me that. I knew already that heaven was for real. Let me tell you something. There are a lot of people that are hinging their lives on things that are not necessarily biblical. And so how do you know? Well, I want to find out. I'll listen to it, but I want to line it up with scripture.25:28David Platt said he's glad to have the conversation because the conversation about heaven needs to be written and needs to be shared. And we need to understand what God's word says about heaven, about the beauty and the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't have to tell me that Jesus was there. I knew he was there. My friend, there is so much that's happening in our world today that garners our attention when in reality we already knew it because this book right here already told us.25:52And if you haven't read it, I want to tell you it tells you. It tells you what awaits you in heaven. It tells you about the perfect peace. It tells you about a Jesus who wipes away all tears. It tells about a God who has established a perfect place for us.26:21You know, I read a little bit about where I'd be going if something happens to me in this lifetime and before Jesus comes back. And I have a custom-made abode. Jesus said, if I go, I go to prepare a place for you. Jesus didn't need to prepare a place for him. He don't need anywhere. He's got everywhere. So he's custom-made a place for me.26:50How do you know that, Brother Chris? Because it's written in his word. Well, how do you know that? Because I've read it. And if you're going to understand it, we've got to pay attention to the word of God. And finally, they remember their attention to the immediate matters. Have you ever tried to pass over the immediate matters? They didn't like, and I'm sure it was distasteful for them to recognize some of the things that they were going to have to do in replacing Judas.27:13And as I said earlier, some people felt like they reacted rather hastily and probably should have waited. But Peter is leading the group, and they've been praying. And so I'm like the commentator that I read. He said, you know, if they've been praying and they've been seeking God and they've been with the Lord Jesus, who am I? And the only argument that we really have is we don't know really what happens to those men, that one man that they select.27:43But I want you to listen to the qualifications that they declared beforehand that these men should have before they could be chosen to fill Judas' place. He must be one who had been at Jesus' baptism. So he must back his time up to Jesus' baptism. He must be one who had seen the resurrected Christ. He's the one who had personally seen the Lord Jesus Christ.28:13He must be one who had seen Jesus ascend to the right hand of the Father in heaven. He was on the Mount of Olives the day that he ascended. These are the three things that they noted that this man must fulfill. And when they got down to it, then they decided on two of the men. And those two men came to a vote, and then they prayed. Justice, it says, so they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justice. Judas and Mattathias.28:43And they prayed and said, you, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place. And they drew lots for them. And the lot fell to Mattathias, and he was added to the eleven apostles. Now, what is it of me that I should even bring that up? I want to tell you something. Sometimes, we let the smallest matters slide by, and they are there to help us build a foundation of surety in our faith.29:12For instance, some people have said this before. I don't know how the Lord's going to come back. I just want to make sure I've got my bus ticket, and it's punched. Well, you know, that's good. But I want to know that he's going to come back as a thief in the night.29:39I want to know that he's going to come suddenly, powerfully. I want to know that the dead in Christ are going to rise first. I want to know that there's going to be a shout, a voice of an archangel, the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ are going to rise. And then we who remain are going to get caught up. I want to know those things. I want to know that one day I'm going to stand in the presence of God and give an account of myself. But I want to know that because I'm a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, that Jesus is going to defend this sinner because I've trusted in his shed blood.30:04I want to know those things. And it's not so much that we need to worry about all the attention placed on getting mattathized. But what we need to know is that they didn't let anything slide by. And isn't it interesting that here in the first chapter of Acts, that not only are we seeing this beautiful passage about the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ and how he was with the people,30:28but we actually see the minutes from the first meeting of the apostles and how they're taking care of business. They're moving right along. What I'm thinking is Mattathias is going to go, wait a minute, boys. I'm not sure I won't fill this position. I mean, y'all ask way too much of somebody that's going to fill this position.30:55I mean, he's somebody, I know I was there when Jesus was baptized. And maybe he saw and heard the Holy Spirit descend upon him and God the Father say from glory, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased. Maybe he was there when Jesus rose from the dead and he saw him and his life has been changed like no other time or no other event could ever change him. And maybe he was there when you see him ascend, but he also saw all the enemy around him.31:23And, you know, Peter at one time focused on the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of the storm and was willing to step out of the boat only to begin looking at the lightning and the thunder and to sink in the water. My friend, I'll tell you what, I believe God's looking for some men that'll step up. I believe God's looking for a church that'll quit playing. I believe God is looking for people who are not so much worried about what things look like, but are we doing what we are called to do as the church?31:49And I want to remember, I want to look one more, I said I was through, but there is one more point. I want you to remember how God kept his promise. In Acts chapter 2, verse 1, When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.32:17Same, just like they were in chapter 1. And suddenly there came from heaven, now can you imagine Luke is writing this? There came from heaven a noise, like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as a fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance.32:45How does something like this happen? Well, first of all, they were where they were supposed to be. Are you?33:08They were where they were supposed to be with God. They had been praying, they had been studying the Word. Their focus no longer was on their own lives, but their focus was on God. They were where they were supposed to be. They were in the upper room in Jerusalem. Yeah, but where were they spiritually? They were in tune. They were together. They were unified. They were ready. They were waiting. They weren't being impatient.33:37They weren't moving about. They were praying, and they were waiting. And the Spirit of God fell upon them. They were where they were supposed to be. They were doing what they were told to do. Are you? Are we? You see, we want that New Testament movement of God in the church today. But if we want that, we're going to have to be doing what God wants us to do. We can't be about what we think is important.34:06We've got to be about what we know is important. My friend, I want to tell you, there's nothing more important than we can be about than praying right now. People ask me all the time, I know about so-and-so's sickness. I know about this. I know about how can I help them. I said, pray. Oh, I have been praying. Oh, I trust that. Pray harder. Pray more. Could you imagine a church being so unified that on any given night, we could call a prayer meeting, and it would be packed with people believing in prayer?34:33We've got testimonies of men and women alike who have struggled, but because of the power of prayer, they're still with us. They were doing what they were told to do. And finally, folks, I want you to hear me. God kept his promise. God kept his promise.35:05And he came that day in the upper room. And he filled them like at no other time in their life. And it was with a fire that did not soon burn out, but blazed in such a way that each one of these individuals and those that followed them took it all the way to their own death. God, how can this happen?35:35We've got to pay attention to the command of Christ. We've got to pay attention to the Word of God. We've got to pay attention to our actions in taking care of those petty sins, those little sins that nobody cares about. You know, I know I cuss a little bit, but that's okay. Why don't you ask God if it's okay? I know I do this, but I think it's okay.36:05No, why don't you ask God if you're doubting if that's okay? You see, we've got to pay attention to the little things as God reveals them to us so that when he's preparing us for the big thing, we're ready. We're ready to live for him. We're ready to die for him because we believe he's going to keep his promise.36:30Now, he's kept his promise thus far. My friend, I believe he's going to continue to keep his promise. And one day, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, the dead will rise first, and we which remain will be caught up together in the cloud, and we will forever be with the Lord. I longed for that day.36:58I longed for that day. You see why? Psalms chapter 24. The Lord of hosts came to the gate, and they said, Who? Show me you've been in battle. And all he had to do was raise his hands, and the gate swung open because he was mighty in victory. Let us pray.37:29Father, Lord, today I pray for each and everyone that's in this building that, God, today we will understand that the work that has gone on in our life is not a work of man. It is a work of God. That the resurrection wasn't a work of man. The resurrection wasn't a hoax put on by a bunch of fishermen and followers, but it was the power of God that raised Jesus back from the dead. That no matter how many guards or sentinels that Rome had put in that temple,37:57you would have still, or in that tomb, you would have still raised your son, and he would still have been seen by those that loved him and those that he loved. And God, today as we look to you, may we understand that we've got to be in the right place, spiritually, physically. Lord, we've got to be doing the right things. And we've got to trust the promise.38:29Father, I pray if there's anyone here today that's struggling in that, you'd speak to their heart, and you'd challenge their life, and that you'd change them. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'm going to ask you to stand for a hymn of invitation, and as you stand, I simply invite you, if you don't know Christ as your personal Savior today, if you have doubts, if your life's filled with uncertainty, I want to invite you to come. Just simply step out from where you are and come.38:58Today, if you believe that the Lord's brought you to this church, and you want to be a part of the fellowship of this church, a lot of times people ask me, well, what do we do? You just step out and come. You come forward, and we'll send you out. We've got people that will get information, and we'll present you to the church next week. So you do what God has laid on your heart to do today, that you might be right and ready in the event He returns.More sermons on Acts →
