Transcript: Unstoppable (Part 4) What to do in Times of Transition We are in a series of studies called Unstoppable. We are going through the book of the Acts of the Apostles. And today we're looking at Acts, Chapter 1, Verses 12, through the end of the chapter. Our front page headline today is, “Judas Successor Chosen”. The key verses are, Acts 1:21-26 Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the very day that He was taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness of His resurrection.” So they proposed two, Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who knows the hearts of all men, show which of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, to go to his own place.” Then they cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. So he was numbered with the eleven apostles. And I think of this passage as what to do during in-between times. The Apostles here were in-between the ascension of Christ, which had shocked them, and the day of Pentecost, which had not yet come. There was a ten-day window, a margin of these ten days, between those two great events. I'm not sure why the Lord had a ten-day period marked out for them. It would have been wonderful if Jesus had ascended to heaven and immediately the Holy Spirit had come down on them. But there was some preparation that needed to be done. And it seems to me that sometimes we find ourselves in in-between moments of life. Times when we're sort of stuck, or we are stalled, or things are paused, or something is not happening as quickly as we want it to. And we just have to wait. Well, what do we do during that time? What did the apostles do during that time? Well, this is the subject of our study. And I want to look at three things they did before we consider today’s headline. Let's look at verse 12-13. “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is a Sabbath day’s walk from Jerusalem. When they had entered, they went up into the upper room, where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ This is the 11 surviving apostles. Judas of course had killed himself. But now we have the 11 apostles. We have the first thing they did in this time of transition. 1). They Stayed And it says in verse 14 “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ These people stayed together. They stayed in the same house in the same vicinity. They went back and forth in groups to the temple. They were fellowshiping. They were supporting one another. And when we are in in between times in life, when we're a little disoriented, when we've lost someone, for example, that we love, when we're in between points in life, where we have routines and orientations, when we are in between jobs or in between relationships, then we need a group of people around us that will support us. That's no time to go off by ourselves and be very much alone.” And 2). They Prayed. Verse 14 “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ They prayed together. So this is very wonderful. Here you have not only the 12 apostles. You had others who had been following Jesus from the very beginning, disciples that aren't necessarily mentioned by name in the Gospels, but they were following him. Some were probably married and some had children. You also have a group of women, and these are mentioned, some of them in the Book of Luke chapter 8.” “Luke is very good about making sure that women and the role of women are placed highly in the accounts of the Gospel. And you have Mary, the mother of Jesus. We last saw her at the cross, sadly gazing at her dying son, but now she knows he is alive. And I wonder if he met with her personally after the Resurrection. We aren't told one way or the other, but surely he probably did. And then his brothers are there, and we know one of them, James, Jesus certainly met with. So I think it's possible that Jesus met with his family. His brothers had not believed on him, but now they were believing in him. So something dramatic had happened, and his mother and his brothers are there with the disciples, with other disciples whose names we don't know.” “Maybe with children and young people, it's almost certain that there was a great intergenerational group here, and they were praying together. They had been with Jesus in his flesh and they had talked to them, and they had communicated with him, and now he had gone up to heaven, but they could still talk with him and still communicate with him. And so can we. Now, I wonder what they were praying for. I suppose they were praying that the Lord Jesus would send down the Holy Spirit as he had promised. Lord, send your Spirit in your timing. In fact the Greek supports this. In Greek there’s a definite article in front of the word prayer. They just say “to prayer.” They were devoting themselves to prayer. But what it reads in Greek is they were not just devoting themselves to prayer, but they were devoting themselves to the prayer. In other words, they were praying something very, very specific. And so the issue is, well, what was the prayer? What was the one thing they were of one mind, one accord, praying for? And in the prequel, the Gospel of Luke, I think you have the answer in Luke 11:13, where Jesus tells His disciples what to pray for. “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Luke‬ ‭11‬:‭13‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Lord, give us the Spirit. And I believe that this is something that we can pray for. Now, I believe, as we have talked about, that the moment you receive the Lord Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit who comes to live within you. But we're also told to be filled with the Spirit. So, presumably, we can say, Lord, fill me with your Spirit.” “Jesus said, and Luke put it this way in his Gospel, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will God give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? And during the in-between phases, when we have to reorient our lives or get used to a new routine, this is a great time for us to pray, Lord, give me a new experience with the Holy Spirit, a new anointing with the Holy Spirit, fill me with your Spirit, do something new in my life by your Holy Spirit today. So they were staying together, they were praying, and then thirdly, 3). They weighed a very great decision. They were going to have to chose someone to take the place of Judas. Look at verse 15-16 “In those days Peter stood up among the disciples (the number of people together was about one hundred and twenty), and said, “Brothers, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit previously spoke by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became the guide to those who seized Jesus.” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ And so why mention these 11 names earlier and now say there were 120? Because this is where it all started. What is going to be tracked through the Book of Acts as the birth of the church and its growth. And one of the ways Luke, in the Book of Acts, is going to track its growth is through progress reports where Luke is actually going to give a numerical count concerning the development of the church. We’re jumped from 11, a few verses earlier to 120. And then by the time Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost, the number goes up to 3000. And as you keep moving through these progress reports, you’ll get the number 5000. And by the time you get to the Antioch, the ministry up north, it doesn’t even give you a number anymore. There’s so many people by then. So pay attention to those as we move through the Book of Acts, because Luke is including these for the benefit of his addressee, Theophilus, to show him the birth of the church and the maturity and the growth of the church. The first progress report started with 11 people. And this is going to be developed by God into a world-wide phenomenon.

Revelation Short 143

Revelation Short 143 - We are looking at the last section of the book of Revelation. Jesus is coming! We find here the last words of Jesus. Last words are lasting words.

Revelation Short 142

Revelation Short 142 - We continue our guided tour of heaven. You will be amazed by its size. You will also discover what you will do there.

Presidents and Hymns

Presidents and Hymns - Did you know many of America's presidents had favorite hymns? In this episode, we explore incredible stories of how great hymns influenced president's lives and as a result, impacted the country. Resources: "Then Sings My Soul" and "100 Bible Verses That Made America" - both by Robert J. Morgan. "Presidential Praise" by Edward Spann and Michael E. Williams. Pastor Mannon's blog: pastorsfodder.blogspot.com

Transcript Unstoppable Part 3 In His final 40 post-resurrection days on earth, in the book of Acts, Jesus gave his followers five parting gifts: 1. Many Convincing Proofs of His Resurrection 2. Insights into the Nature of His Kingdom 3. A World-Wide Work 4. An Ascended Lord 5. The Promise of His Return We started number 3 last week. Today, I want to continue that and then cover both 4 and 5. III. Jesus Gave Us In This Passage A Global Mission, A Worldwide Work. Verses 4-8 Being assembled with them, He commanded them, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, of which you have heard from Me. For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the dates, which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The commission changed from only going to Israel (These twelve Jesus sent out, and commanded them, saying, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭MEV). … to be His witness throughout the whole earth. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Jesus gave them a world wide work to do. The Commission, the sending out has been expanded.The focus is not just on Israel but is to be global. And the focus is not the kingdom but to preach the gospel and make disciples. ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Matthew’s purpose 1. To explain that Jesus was the long awaited Jewish Messiah 2. To explain why the kingdom had been postponed even though the King had arrived. 3. To explain the program of God in the King’s absence.‬‬ And only God the Father knew when in the future, but between now and then there would be a special age, a period of time in which his people would take the message of the gospel to the very ends of the earth and after he said this he was taken up to heaven and that brought to a finish our Lord's earthly teaching in the flesh. This is what happened. Scope of 29 years. Jerusalem: Acts 1-7, A.D. 33-34 or 2 years Judea, Samaria: Acts 8-12, A.D. 35-48 or 13 years Remotest part of the earth: Acts 13-28, A.D. 48-62 or 14 years And that is still where we are. We are still in the process of living in the church age, taking the gospel to the world. But during this age the kingdom (Messianic) is on hold. This present age is not the development of the Davidic form of the kingdom. It is postponed until the nation of Israel turns to Jesus in repentance. Until they say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. “For I tell you, you shall not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Matthew‬ ‭23‬:‭39‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ If the kingdom was not going to be literal like the Apostles thought it was, Jesus would have said at this time, it is going to be a spiritual kingdom. It is only in the heart. If the kingdom was going to be transferred to the church, Jesus would have said that right here. This is a personal command to be a witness. Dr. Orr explained in one of his sermons how he had come to realize the personal command that we have in verse 8. He said that when he was a student at Purdue University, his best friend, Lloyd, had mentored him and discipled him and was helping him to grow in the Christian faith. One day he said, Lloyd, ask me, how would you like to share this message with someone else? I said to him, you know, I'm enjoying my Christian life, but I really don't want to share it with anybody else. Loyd said, well, just come with me. I'll do the sharing. And so they visited a friend and Loyd patiently explained the Gospel. But the young man didn't want to give his life to Christ. But Loyd kept saying, well, here's some information. If you do want to make that decision, this would be good for you to know. And the experience of seeing his friend sharing the Gospel deeply impressed Dr. Orr. And he prayed, Lord, if there's anyone you want me to talk to, just let me know. Well, a few days later, they were sitting in the cafeteria.” And one of the students, he said, stood up and said to those around him, you know, I would kill myself if I didn't think that this school and this society would be glad to have me gone. And the students around him sort of laughed and told him to sit down and shut up. But Dr. Orr, he wasn't a doctor then, but Rodney, felt that he should go over and talk to him. He went over to the young man and he said, Can I share my testimony about Jesus with you? And the young man said, Yeah, yeah. So the fellow listened, and that day he received Christ as Savior and began growing in his faith. Dr. Orr said, I began looking at my friends and my classmates and I began wondering, is the only reason that they're not accepting the Lord Jesus because no one has taken the time to share a simple message with them? Well, that's the question posed to us by Acts chapter 1 verse 8, this great, great commission missionary verse. Notice that Jesus prescribed his command according to concentric geographical zones. The Gospel was to begin in Jerusalem, spread to the surrounding areas of Judea and Samaria, and then progress on to the furthest corners of the earth. And that verse also, incidentally, gives us the progress of the story as it unfolds through the Book of Acts. Now just think with me, think with me how remarkable all of this is. Jesus of Nazareth, a carpenter, a stonemason, knowing full well that his kingdom's work was planned in advance in the deepest councils of the Godhead, appeared for three years in a small impoverished mountain region with villages dotted around a lake. And he preached and then he allowed himself to be killed and afterward he told his twelve traumatized followers to take what had just happened and to use it to change the world and then he left. And today, two thousand years later, we're still at it and we're closer to finishing the task than any generation since then, all because of the foreplanning of God the Father, the sacrifice of God the Son, and the empowerment of God the Spirit.” IV. Jesus Gave Us An Ascended Lord. Verse 9 says, When He had spoken these things, while they looked, He was taken up. And a cloud received Him from their sight. This is the second time that this writer, Luke, has described the ascension of Christ. He ended his Gospel and he began his Book of Acts by describing the ascension of Christ. So at the very end of the Gospel of Luke in chapter 24 and verse 50, he said, When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them, and while he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they stayed continually in the temple praising God. I've come to believe that the ascension of Christ has been badly overlooked in our Bible studies and sermons. On this particular day, Jesus returned to heaven. Oh, the applause he must have received, the fanfare, the happiness, the joy among the angels as he resumed his place on the throne. He rose physically and bodily from the grave. And so I think that we can infer that the throne in heaven is physical and real, not just a symbol or a visualization. And there's a lot in the Bible about this. In John 10:28, Jesus simply put it this way. I came from the Father and entered the world, and now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father. And the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians, Chapter 1:19-22, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, 20 which He performed in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principalities, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet and made Him the head over all things for the church, Ephesians 1:19-22 Boy, there is a lot there to unpack. And there is an incredible verse in Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verse 10.” “He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe. Colossians 3 tells us to set our hearts on things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Hebrews Chapter 1 says, after he had provided purification for sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven, and so he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. Peter, who saw the ascension with his own eyes, said in 1 Peter 3:22, 22 He has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him. And in Revelation Chapter 5, we see the Lamb upon the throne, being worshipped by every living being in the heavenly realms and getting ready to unleash the events of the last days. So Jesus is our ascended Lord. What's he doing in heaven? He is overseeing the universe. He is overseeing and guiding and directing and accomplishing the work of his church. He is interceding for us. He is our advocate before the Father. He is preparing a place for us and preparing to unleash the events leading to his return. So Jesus returned to heaven not to rest or to retire, but to engage in activity directly affecting the affairs of this world and the affairs of his church and the course of history. And that leads us to the final thing. He not only gave us convincing proofs of his resurrection, additional truth about his kingdom, a worldwide work to do, and a heavenly advocate for us at the right hand of the Father, he finally left us with V. Jesus Gave A Promise Of His Return. 10 While they looked intently toward heaven as He ascended, suddenly two men stood by them in white garments. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why stand looking toward heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you to heaven, will come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:10-11 Now notice those words, in like manner or in the same way. He went up, he will come down. He went up into the clouds of glory, and he will come back in the clouds of glory. He went up from the Mount of Olives, and according to the Book of Zechariah, his feet will again stand on the Mount of Olives. Zechariah 14:4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is to the east of Jerusalem. And from east to west the Mount of Olives will be split in two halves by a very great valley so that one half moves to the north and the other to the south. Let me share some history about the Mount of Olives. The demon god Molech influenced Solomon to build a high place for him that overlooked the Temple Mount: “On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.” 1 Kings‬ ‭11‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ “The king also desecrated the pagan shrines east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, where King Solomon of Israel had built shrines for Ashtoreth, the detestable goddess of the Sidonians; and for Chemosh, the detestable god of the Moabites; and for Molech, the vile god of the Ammonites.” 2 Kings‬ ‭23‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Note the name given to the Mount of Olives by the author of 2 Kings: The Mount of Corruption. Molek was worshipped there. He was the god of necromancy and child sacrifice. He was the most detestable pagan god in the Old Testament. He was called, “The Destroyer”. Molech’s first appearance in the Bible is in Leviticus 18, where God told the Israelites that they were forbidden to give their children as an offering to the dark god. Molech was associated with the darkest of sins—the sacrifice of human beings and, in particular, the sacrifice of children. Even darker, Molech is associated with the sacrifice of children by their parents. The Bible speaks of the act as the most grievous of “abominations”. There were two major aspects of Molek’s death cult. The first was child sacrifice and the second was consulting the spirits of the dead. “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Again, you shall say to the Israelites: Whoever from the Israelites or from the foreigners who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him.” Leviticus‬ ‭20‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ “The person who turns to spirits through mediums and necromancers in order to whore after them, I will even set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.” Leviticus‬ ‭20‬:‭6‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ A similar passage is found in Deuteronomy 18. The true meaning of the name Molek was “King of the Underworld.” This entity was the god worshiped by the Moabites, and perhaps by the people of Sodom in the days of Abraham and Lot, as Baal-Peor, a name that may mean “lord of the gates of hell.” The connection between this entity, necromancy, and the cult of the dead, not to mention the sacrifice of children, establishes this entity as one of the great enemies of God. Jesus paid special attention to the Mount of Olives—especially during the final days of His ministry. Jesus met Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus at the village of Bethany on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives. It was there that he raised Lazarus from the dead, which certainly got the attention of the spirit realm. John notes that when Jesus learned of Lazarus’ illness, He deliberately “stayed two days longer in the place where he was” so that He arrived at Bethany when “Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.” This was not a coincidence. Jesus deliberately waited so He could glorify God by raising his friend from the dead on the fourth day. Why? Besides there being pagan rituals associated with the third day after a death, there was a Jewish tradition that the spirit of a dead person lingered in the tomb for three days, hoping to rejoin its body. Jesus delayed to show the assembled crowd that Lazarus was well and truly dead, and that He had power over death. When Jesus returned to Jerusalem for the Passover from Caesarea Philippi and the Transfiguration, as they neared Jerusalem Jesus sent two disciples into Bethphage, a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, to obtain a donkey and her colt. The meaning of his gesture was clear in that time and place: Jesus signaled to all who watched that He was the true and rightful king. (And note that He acquired the donkey on the Mount of Olives!) In the modern world, we assume that kings rode horses—noble steeds worthy of their riders’ royal image. But that wasn’t true in the ancient Near East. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey was a clear message to the principalities and powers behind the Amorites, who’d dominated the culture. Amorite kings never rode horses. In their world, as odd as it seems to us, donkeys were the symbol of royalty. Horses were for soldiers, who were usually commoners. Around the time of Isaac and Jacob, an Amorite official in the kingdom of Mari, based on the Euphrates River near the modern border between Syria and Iraq, offered advice to his king, Zimri-Lim, which was still understood in the time of Jesus: “May my lord honor his kingship. Since you are the king of Hanean (tribesmen), and also are the king of the Amorites, may my lord not ride horses; instead, he ought to ride a chariot or mules, so that he could honor his kingship.” Therefore, when Christ entered Jerusalem on a donkey, the population, as well as the authorities, knew how to read the symbolism at stake. The Bible tells us that Jesus will ride a white horse when He returns, but that’s because He comes back as a soldier. And He’ll lead the greatest army in the history of the universe. From His triumphal entry, Jesus proceeded to the Temple Mount and chased the moneychangers from the Temple, which, despite being rebuilt by the wicked King Herod, was still His Father’s house. After the events of that day, which no doubt had all of Jerusalem (if not all of Judea) talking, Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives and lodged at the village of Bethany. It was during the week between the Triumphal Entry and His arrest that Jesus shared with His disciples key information about the last days. The Olivet Discourse, recorded in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21, contains Jesus’ most detailed descriptions of the signs of the end times and His return. Matthew and Mark specify that these prophecies were delivered on the Mount of Olives, hence the name of the sermon. The gospel accounts agree that after the Last Supper, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem to Gethsemane, a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives within sight of the Temple Mount. It was there that He was betrayed by Judas to the authorities. Understand what this means: Jesus spent the final week of his life living and teaching in two places—in the Temple and on the Mount of Olives, where almost a thousand years earlier Solomon built a high place for the “king-god” of the pagans, Molech. Jesus died, was buried, but on the third day He rose again. Then one day He took His followers back to the Mount of Olives and ascends to heaven right in front of their very eyes. You have to go further in Acts to 1:12 to see that this place of ascension was the amount of Olives. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is a Sabbath day’s walk from Jerusalem. Jesus did it from the very mountain on which Solomon erected a sacred place to this being: And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. (Luke 24:50–51) Yes, Jesus Christ departed this world from the Mount of Olives. And to put an exclamation point on His message to that fallen gods, it’s where He returns on the Day of the Lord: If Jesus hadn’t called attention to it, we might not have given the Mount of Olives and Solomon’s high places there another thought. Jesus emphasized the point He’d made at Caesarea Philippi just a few weeks earlier: The gates of Hell will not prevail against His ekklesia—His assembly—and the mountain where it will gather after His return. Until then, we have a lot of work to do. It is an unceasing work, and it is unstoppable. The only one that can stop it in your life is you. I want to make an application before I let you go. The word “witness” The Greek word for “witnesses” in verse 8, is where her get our word “martyr.” There’s a story about a man who dreamt he was carrying a heavy cross on his shoulder. He was exhausted; he wished that his cross was lighter. In the dream he saw a woodsman with an axe, so he asked that a good part of his cross be chopped off. After that, the man happily resumed his journey, thankful that his cross was so much lighter. On his journey, he came to a chasm between two mountains. He wanted to continue but found that he couldn’t bridge the gap; if only his cross had been longer, he could have laid it down and used it as a bridge. But the cross was short—by just the length that had been chopped off. When the man awoke, he was glad this was only a dream. He now realized that only those who are willing to carry a heavy cross are able to scale the next mountain. Those who are constantly in search of a lighter cross will never go far in claiming territory for Christ. At some point, they will conclude that the price of obedience is too high. The obstacles too formidable. Have we, as Christians, forgotten that we are asked to gladly bear the full weight of the offense of the cross? Sometimes we hear Christians say things like, “I have cancer. That is my cross.” Is this what Jesus was referring to when He asked us to take up His cross? I don’t think so. To carry our cross means to accept the trouble that comes along with believing and following Jesus. This means the willing acceptance of ridicule, shame, and often the persecution that comes with being identified with our Savior. In short, it means we gladly identify with Jesus at the points of tension where we conflict with popular culture and even with our friends. Often, the heavier our cross, the more powerful our witness. Unfortunately, we often prefer to make our cross lighter by bowing to cultural pressures. We carry our cross into to the world when we witness to our faith. “Evangelism,” someone has said, “is one beggar telling another we have found bread.” Let us invite a hurting world to the table where we ourselves have found food for our weary souls. There we will find those whom God has already prepared for our witness. I hope the first 11 verses of the Book of Acts have motivated you. In His final 40 post-resurrection days on earth, in the book of Acts, Jesus gave his followers five parting gifts: 1. Many Convincing Proofs of His Resurrection 2. Insights into the Nature of His Kingdom 3. A World-Wide Work 4. An Ascended Lord 5. The Promise of His Return They set the stage for the entire Book of Acts, but they also set the stage for our work and for our labor for him. They send us into all the world to share Christ with the nations and with our neighbors in the power of the Holy Spirit until he returns again in the clouds of glory.

Unstoppable part 3

In His final 40 post-resurrection days on earth, in the book of Acts, Jesus gave His followers five parting gifts: 1. Many Convincing Proofs of His Resurrection 2. Insights into the Nature of His Kingdom 3. A World-Wide Work 4. An Ascended Lord 5. The Promise of His Return Let's unwrap the final three in this message.

Revelation Short 141

Revelation Short 141 - We are taking a guided tour of heaven. We look at the source, the splendor and the sights of the city of New Jerusalem.