Latest revision as of 01:19, 15 May 2022

Theological Proposition/Focus: God is the one who can revolutionize and so we must follow his recipe.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: In order to see change, we must allow God to guide change, have a truth to base our change on, and be a team that is convinced.

Introduction:

We need change.

Example: in 2018 1.2 million people visited the E.R. for assult, 24,576 were murdered

Example: in 2018 the CDC reported that 619,591 babies were killed in abortion

Example: Divorce rates 2020 saw 1,676,911 marriages, 630,505 divorces (37%)

Pew Research claims that protestants have a divorce rate of 51%

Setting the Stage:

After the Ascension of Luke 24 we ask Now what?

Recall that the books of Luke and Acts were likely written as a two-part volume with Luke outlining the story of Jesus and the Gospel to Jerusalem from birth to resurrection and Acts covering the story of the Gospel from Jerusalem to the World as the church moves from birth to maturity. The book of Luke ends with Jesus ascending into Heaven and the disciples returning to Jerusalem rejoicing. The reader of Luke Acts is left with a question, now what? Will the disciples just return to life before Christ?

The answer is no! In fact I love the ESV translation of

Acts 17:6

“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, (ESV)

And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,

So then,

how do we go from twelve seemingly unimportant individuals in a relatively minor city to turning the world upside down?

The answer is obviously God but I want us to dig deeper, to that end we are going to turn to Acts 1:1-15.

What we will see is that God had a recipe for change that he was about to begin. But this was no ordinary change, this was nothing short of revolutionary change.

Preview: In Acts 1:1-15 I want you to see that God's recipe involves the work of God, a truth to base our change upon, and a team that is convinced of the value and ability to change.

We want to see God work in a powerful way in our church and our community. I believe that we are poised for such work to take place but

Need: We need to employ God's recipe for revolution

Body

Let's begin by looking at Acts 15:1-5

1 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.” ^[1]

What I want you to notice is that here we see

Revolution should only come from the work of God (1-5).

Recall that Acts and Luke together form a two-volume set. Luke here reminds his reader that he has already spoken of the Gospel of Jesus. The man Theophilus was probably Luke's patron, the individual who financed the writing of this two-volume set.

For any reader who reads the book of Acts Luke is making an assumption that they have already read through the book of Luke.

The book of Acts only makes sense after one has understood the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Only once one knows Christ's perfect sinless life, his death, and his resurrection can the church make any sense. Luke has already presented that trusting Jesus as Savior is absolutely critical but he reminds his readers that nothing in Acts can happen without first looking at Christ. We live in a fallen world and we have a sin problem.

Jesus provided the ability to change

In the Gospels, we see that people had tried and failed to solve the sin problem with rules. More rules accomplished nothing. The solution to sin is Jesus. The Gospel of Jesus definitively shows that

The Gospels show that mere rules cannot solve the problem

His death was the payment for sin, the result of a universal problem

However, significantly, the solution to the sin problem is not to just stop sinning. The solution to the sin problem is Jesus. The solution to the sin problem starts with personal revival, personal dependence on God, and personal faith in the risen Savior.

His resurrection was proof of the solution, he defeated sin.

Luke highlights convincing proofs of the resurrection of Jesus. These proofs affirm the validity of what Jesus did. In fact

The word τεκμηρια is a hapaxlogomena -that which causes something to be know in a convincing manner (BDAG)

Jesus is alive and that fact alone should convince us we need to change, we need to be like Jesus.

God provides the opportunity for change

The command to wait in 1:4

Charles Spurgeon said Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are as ships without wind. We are useless.

The disciples waited (2:1)

The Spirit moved (Acts 2-28)

In verse 5 we see the ultimate potential for change. God himself.

The Holy Spirit will βαπτιζω

each individual. Traditional translations have failed us. The word baptize is too littered with bad definitions that we can hardly read this passage and really understand what is being said. The idea here is to immerse in water. John immersed people in water and the metaphor is one for What God is about to do. God will take his people and he will flood them with his own Spirit. He will change his people radically.

The first element of our recipe is a situation that needs changing. So I want you to

MTR: Allow Jesus to change you

What does this look like? Look deep, do you need to change some habits. Do you get angry, anxious? Is personal prayer and devotion time a challenge? Perhaps you need to do a better job loving others, or a better job serving. What about as a church? Here is where I want to challenge you. Don't just state our church needs better small groups, or fellowship, or more musicians,... No make our corporate change personal. Our church needs... and I can help by ...

Salvation

-anger, anxiety, habitual sin, faithfulness, tithe

corporate change - love, -service, ?

Let's move forward and look at verses 6-10.

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.” ^[2]

What I want you to see in these verses is that

Revolution comes from a truth that is captivating (6-11).

The first truth I note here is that

Truth: Jesus is King

What I want to point out is that

Captivating truth is based in fact

After having witnessed all that occurred the disciples were faced with a clear reality. Jesus was unquestionably their king. Notice what the disciples are not asking. The disciples are not asking "who are you?" The disciples are asking if the kingdom is coming now. Jesus is alive and that fact changed these men.

Jesus mentioned the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Throughout Old Testament prophecy Isa. 32:15–20; 44:3–5; Ezek. 39:28–29; Joel 2:28–3:1; Zech. 12:8–10 the spirit of God was associated with the coming Kingdom.

Here the disciples start putting together the puzzle, recognize that Christ is King, and believe the earthly kingdom is about to begin. The issue is that prophecy is a lot like looking at the mountains from a distance. Hills that look close together are separated by great distances. The kingdom had in fact been inaugurated but not yet realized.

The second truth I want you to see is that

Truth: The Spirit is Active

You see, it is the case that none of us here today have seen the risen Christ face-to-face. However, we have seen the Holy Spirit at work. The fact is

Captivating truth is based in experience

In modern society, we hear people say things like "well that is true for you..." Let me tell you something, the third truth here is that

Truth: The Gospel is Universal

We see the command to share the Gospel widely. Why? Because it is universal. We all need it. This is a good thing because a

Captivating truth is widely applicable

The fourth truth I want you to see is that

Truth: Jesus is Coming

There are truths that people don't really care about because it either doesn't affect you, or offers you no real hope. Let me give some examples. If I tell you that the price of a new car is going to go up you probably are not captivated. Why? Because it offers you no hope and there really isn't anything you can do about it. It simply isn't captivating. If instead, I tell you we are going to remodel this building I hope you are captivated by that truth. It is a truth that offers you hope, and expectation. We are captivated by the Gospel because part of the Gospel is that Jesus is coming again and he is going to make everything right. You see, a

Captivating truth is based in expectation

So, I ask you to

MTR: Focus on the truth of the Gospel.

What is that truth? Jesus is King, he has won our salvation, he sent his Spirit to guide us, this message is universal, and we expect him to come again. Don't let the challenges and false truths of life drag you away from the real truth, the captivating truth, the Gospel.

Let's move to verses 11-15.

12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. ^[3]

Here I see that

Revolution comes from a team that is convinced (12-15).

What strikes me is the contrast. Recall back in the Gospels,

Where were the disciples when Jesus was crucified?

The disciples were cowering in fear. In fact, Peter went so far as to deny Jesus. But now notice,

Where are the disciples now in the absence of Jesus?

With Jesus gone the disciples return to Jerusalem and join together. The sense is no longer that they are cowering. They walk what is described as

A Sabbath day's walk which was about 3000 feet

And they enter into prayer

What were they doing?

The disciples are praying.

How many were there?

In verse 15 we see that there was a large group, about 120.

What happened next?

The result of this team of disciples praying together was the coming of the Holy Spirit and amazing church growth. Look at these steps of growth.

Acts 2 - Pentacost

Acts 3 - Peter and John heal in the temple and end up preaching in the temple

Acts 6 - Appointing Deacons

Acts 8 - Sending a Missionary to Samaria

Acts 10 - Peter Preaches to the Gentiles

Acts 13 - Paul's first missionary Journey

Acts 28 - Rome, the church reaches the ends of the earth (at least metaphorically)

So how long did this take? About 30 years.

AD 30 or 32 to AD 62

I want to emphasize that these individuals who had previously missed almost every point Jesus was trying to make went on to turn the world upside down. These individuals who previously cowered in fear boldly preached the Gospel and gave their life for the Gospel.

I want you to note what it was that the disciples were doing. They were praying. They joined together and prayed.

So, what should you do?

MTR: Join the team.

Conclusion:

Part of my task this week is to talk with you about vision. This week we are committing financially to our Together We Grow campaign, but the physical campaign is just a representation of an internal change.

Image: faith+promise+foundation+team -> A faithful, confident, dynamic church with a recipe for revolution.

1. ↑ The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ac 1:1–5.
2. ↑ The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ac 1:6–11.
3. ↑ The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ac 1:12–14.