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.

Revelation Short 140

Revelation Short 140 - What is the New Jerusalem? Is it a city, bride, or both? Where will it be located? How big is it going to be? How do you become a citizen of this city?

Unstoppable Part 2

Unstoppable is the name of our series from The Book of Acts. And this is the second message. Last time we looked at Acts Chapter 1 verse 1, and particularly at that word began. Our front page headline today is the ascension of Jesus. Acts 1:9-11 “When He had spoken these things, while they looked, He was taken up. And a cloud removed Him from their sight. While they looked intently toward heaven as He ascended, behold, two men stood by them in white garments. 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.” ‬‬ Have you noticed that the earthly life of Christ is perfectly balanced? He entered the world in a miraculous way? He left it miraculously. He came down from heaven and he returned to heaven and think of this. Jesus began his earthly ministry by spending 40 days in the wastelands of Judea where he was tempted by the devil. He ended his earthly ministry by spending 40 days with the disciples before returning to heaven. Jesus began and ended his ministry by a special period of 40 days. He was baptized and then he spent 40 days in the wilderness. He rose from the dead and spent 40 days with the disciples and afterwards they were baptized by the Holy Spirit. There is a symmetry and a balance to the life of Jesus Christ and we can see it in a thousand ways. Well, as I read the first 11 verses of this book of Acts, I think of it as Jesus giving his disciples and all of us five headlines and parting gifts. They are our other newspaper story headlines. We will look at three today. I. Jesus Gave Us Many Convincing Proofs Of His Resurrection. The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commandments through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen, Acts 1:1-2. Verse 3 says, to whom He presented Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, appearing to them for forty days… The reality of the physical and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ was so convincingly proved to these 12 disciples, these uneducated Galileans, these untrained soldiers, unsophisticated fishermen, that they devoted every day of the rest of their lives to this message. They faced the lash, the chain, the prisons, the rigors of travel, the hunger, the thirst, the persecution, the rejection of the Jewish state and the Roman Empire, and they did it without wavering. They never did live again in Galilee. They took their families to the four corners of the earth, Peter to Italy, Thomas to India, Philip to Africa, Matthew to Ethiopia, Simon the Zealot to Persia, and not a single one of them ever expressed again so much as a thin line of doubt. They even died for their faith in the truthfulness of the bodily resurrection of Jesus in Nazareth.” There is no way to explain the existence of the church in this world without the sacrifice of these twelve men, and there is no way to explain the sacrifice of these twelve men without the resurrection. Jesus proved himself alive to them by many infallible proofs. Days before they had all been craven cowards, and now suddenly they were unstoppable. What does many proofs mean? It means compelling signs. There are probably, when you count them up, somewhere between ten to eleven post-resurrection appearances that Jesus made. Many of them to His own hand-picked disciples, showing them that what He predicted happened. And that’s one of the things I’ve always appreciated about the Bible. The Bible has within it built in proofs: it’s historical accuracy. It’s archeological accuracy. It’s transmission down through the ages. One of the great proofs of the Bible is the object of evidence for the empty tomb. The faith that we have in Jesus is not blind, but firmly grounded on verifiable facts. Attorneys like Frank Morrison, who wrote a book called Who Moved the Stone. Simon Greenleaf- would be another- looked into the resurrection, and they found that the case for the empty tomb, only explainable through the Resurrected Christ. It was a case that was more powerful than any case they had ever made before a jury. And they came to faith, as a result. II. Jesus Used These Forty Days To Provide Additional Insights Into The Nature Of His Kingdom. Verse 3 says, 3 to whom He presented Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, appearing to them for forty days, and speaking concerning the Kingdom of God. When Christ is ministering for forty days, they have the question, where is the Kingdom? And that’s why during this forty day period, he’s speaking to them concerning the basileia or the Kingdom of God. Jesus was teaching them about the nature and conditions of the Messianic Kingdom. He was undoubtedly opening the Hebrew Scriptures. A large percentage of Old Testament Scripture is dedicated to the subject of the Kingdom. Ezekiel 36:24-26 describing the kingdom. It says, “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. (That is being fulfilled. That is the regathering part 1). Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. (Regathering Part 2). Zechariah 12:10, which is another kingdom passage. “I will pour out on the House of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit…” and here He’s called the spirit of Grace. Ezekiel 39:28-29, another Kingdom Passage. “Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.” Talking about the regathering of the Jews into their own land and the kingdom age. “I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord.” The teaching ministry of Jesus was progressive. This is so important for us to understand. That is the only way it is fair and balanced. There were some things the disciples simply could not understand until after the crucifixion and the resurrection. They couldn't understand it until the events were behind them. Jesus hinted at some of those things, but even on the eve of his death, they simply could not conceive of the possibility that the Jewish Messiah would be murdered.” After his resurrection, they undoubtedly had a lot of questions. Why did that happen? Why did you put us through the awful trauma of that weekend? Why did you allow yourself to endure it? According to Luke 24, Jesus went back into the Old Testament and he explained to them that the Messiah had to die and he had to rise again to provide for the salvation of the world. Peter and the others finally understood this. In fact, in the next chapter, in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost, this is what Peter said. He understood this. He said this man, Acts 2:23-24. You have taken Him, who was handed over to you by the ordained counsel and foreknowledge of God, and by lawless hands have crucified and killed Him, 24 whom God raised up by loosening the pull of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. Now, just a few weeks before, Peter had been clueless about all of that. Where did he learn about God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge? Where did he learn about the meaning of the cross and the significance of the resurrection? Only after the resurrection could Jesus explain all of that in a way that they could really understand, and he needed 40 days to orient his followers with this new layer of information. It was his 40-day postgraduate course for the disciples, and Peter never forgot a word of it. Many years later, this was still his message. In 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3, we read, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given his new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. III. Jesus Gave Us In This Passage A Global Mission, A Worldwide Work. Verses 4-5 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. 5 For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Now, I want to pause here. There's a little something special about Luke's mentioning of Jesus eating with his disciples. I wonder what they were eating. It really tells us so much about our Lord's resurrection body. And I think about our own future resurrection bodies. The glorified risen body of the Lord Jesus could still do ordinary things, like eat and drink and talk and teach and sit around a table and have fellowship. And I think this tells us something about our future lives in heaven. We get to eat in heaven! So over this meal, Jesus gave them a command. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me talk about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit. I can't imagine what came into the apostles' minds when they heard that, can you? Apparently, there was some curious experience awaiting them in the near future, and Jesus called it the baptism with the Holy Spirit.” But the disciples still had a lot of questions, and there was still so much they didn't understand. Apparently, they still could not conceive of Jesus leaving them again. I mean, here's the way they were thinking. I think that maybe this was what was going through Peter's mind or Thomas' mind. I mean, Thomas, could have been from Missouri, the show me state. Well, I understand it now. Jesus came to establish the kingdom to Israel, but first he had to die and to rise from the dead as a sacrifice to atone for sin. I hadn't understood that before, but now, in the light of the Old Testament scriptures that Jesus showed us, it makes perfect sense. Now that he has provided atonement, now he is ready to take his throne and rule the world from Israel, as we know the Messiah will do. But why is he taking so long? It's been three or four weeks since the resurrection, and he still hasn't done anything to shake things up. The high priest is still in the temple, Pontius Pilate is still the governor of Judea, Tiberius is still the emperor living in Rome. What's taking so long?” So they ask him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? They knew that from what Jesus had taught them about the kingdom from the Old Testament, they Holy Spirit would be poured out in the kingdom age. Did you notice that in the verses we read a moment ago. Ezekiel, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” Zechariah “I will pour out on the House of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit…” Ezekiel again, I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord.” You can see why they thought that. So Jesus says, Verse 7 says, He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or dates the father is fixed or set up by his own authority. In other words, yes, I'm going to do all of that. But the timing isn't what you might have expected. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. He was explaining to them one final thing, that he would restore the kingdom to Israel, but that it would be in the future.” You must understand the two kingdoms or you will be confused. We have to go through a period of transition. Luke the Gospel covers the earthly Ministry of Christ. The Book of Acts records or covers the same Ministry of Jesus through the church. But he just wasn’t on the earth. He continued it from the Father’s right hand as the head of the church. He was advancing in another direction. So Jesus is just continuing a ministry through the church that he started on the earth as recorded in Luke’s Gospel. Particular the ending of the Book of Luke. You know, if you were to read Luke 24 and Acts chapter 1, you would say, Well, it’s obvious that these two books go together. Both the ending of Luke’s Gospel and the beginning of Acts feature the post-Resurrection Ministry of Jesus. Jesus is speaking. And the emphasis in both chapters is the coming of the Holy Spirit. But the book of Acts is also transitional. Historical: From gospels to epistles. Religious: From Judaism to Christianity Divine: From law to grace People of God: From Jews to Church (Both Jews and Gentiles) From kingdom: (The kingdom of Israel to Church) The fact that Luke only uses the word “kingdom” 8 times in the book of Acts after heavy usage in his gospel implies that the kingdom had not begun, but was in fact postponed. 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 ‬After the nation rejected Jesus as the Messiah, He began to focus on building His church. “…I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭18‬ ‭MEV ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ There is great significance to the place Jesus announced this. Peter must have wondered why Jesus had led them to that place. Caesarea Philippi lay at the foot of Mount Hermon and was a center of pagan worship. It had been for centuries. Before the Romans came, it was called Paneas by the Greeks, a place sacred to the goat-demon Pan. The pagans believed Pan was one of the few gods who could travel back and forth between the earth and the netherworld, so the bottomless cave at Paneas, source of the Jordan River, was thought to be the literal entrance to hell. No one knew how far down the cave went because no one had ever been able to measure it. The site had been sacred to the gods of the pagans for centuries. Their shrines were all over. Why would Jesus take his disciples there? The ancient city of Dan was also nearby, just two miles west. Its status as a cult center was also well known. The tribe of Dan had been the first in Israel to fall back into paganism in the time of the Judges, and when Jeroboam split the northern tribes away from Judah after the death of Solomon, he made Dan one of the two approved centers of worship in the northern kingdom of Israel. The fact that Dan and Caesarea Philippi lay at the foot of Mount Hermon was significant. The mountain had been considered sacred since at least the time of Abraham nearly two thousand years before Jesus walked the earth. The book written by the Prophet Enoch, before the flood, told of how a group of powerful angels, called Watchers, descended to the summit of Mount Hermon and brought destruction to the world by teaching humanity forbidden knowledge and joining themselves with women, spawning the monstrous giants called Nephilim. The occult teachings of the fallen Watchers were still practiced by the sorcerers, magicians, and oracles of the pagans. Their shrines dotted the slopes of Hermon. Inscriptions at the cult sites hinted that some of the sacrifices offered to the gods had been human. This mountain was where the father-god of the Canaanites, El, was believed to hold court with his consort, Asherah, and their seventy sons. That number, seventy, was a symbol representing “all of them”—in other words, the pagan neighbors of Israel had believed for more than two millennia that their creator-god was the father of all the gods of the nations. And there, on the mountain’s summit thousands of feet above where Jesus and the disciples stood, was the threshing-floor of El. Threshing floors in general, and perhaps that threshing floor in particular, had associations with the spirit realm and the underworld. The mountain where fallen angels assembled loomed above them and the entrance to Hades gaped just a few yards from where they stood. In short, Paneas was an evil place. And yet Jesus had made a special trip to bring his disciples to it. Paneas was a two-day journey from the Sea of Galilee, thirty miles away from the base of Jesus’ ministry. This journey was specifically to bring his disciples to Paneas, a center of idolatry and pagan worship. During his ministry, Jesus had healed the sick, walked on water, fed crowds of thousands with nothing but a few loaves of bread, and driven demons out of so many people. Even the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman—a Gentile!—had been delivered from an evil spirit. Had they come to Paneas to tear down their temples? Was this to be the beginning of a war in the heavenly realm? Would Jesus drive the gods of the pagans out of the land here before turning south to take his place in Jerusalem? More important: Would Jesus destroy the hated Romans and assume his rightful place on the throne of David? And then the teacher asked Peter and the disciples a question: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” What? Was this a test? The Son of Man was the prophesied savior first mentioned by the prophet Daniel in Daniel 7:13-14. Centuries before Jesus walked the earth, Daniel’s vision had introduced “one like a son of man” into Jewish prophetic thought. In the Hebrew of Daniel’s day, that phrase meant “one who looks like a human,” in contrast to the supernatural glory of the Ancient of Days. But in the years just before the time of Jesus, a new teaching had emerged. A prophetic writing, also attributed to Enoch, foretold the coming of a character in the Last Days called the Chosen One, the Anointed One, and, most frequently, the Son of Man. This prophesied savior would execute the judgment of God on evil kings, wicked landowners, and even rebellious angels who had corrupted the earth for thousands of years. Although this teaching was not found in any of the scriptures read in the synagogue, Jesus had applied the title “the Son of Man” to himself dozens of times in the hearing of Peter and the disciples. Jesus’ followers struggled to find the answer they thought Jesus wanted to hear: “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asked, “But who do you say that I am?” He’d connected himself to Daniel and the Book of Enoch’s “Son of Man”—essentially claiming to be the promised Messiah. Without thinking, Peter blurted out, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus turned to him and replied, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Peter must have been stunned. The “rock,” Mount Hermon, dominated the scene in front of him. It was a place sacred to pagan Canaanites, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans. The tension between El and Yahweh, and by extension their sacred mountains, was ancient. One of the Psalms declared Zion superior to Hermon, the “mountain of gods,” because Zion was “where the Lord will dwell forever”. And the gates of hell—Peter and the disciples stood before it, the bottomless cave from which the Jordan River emerged. The place of the gods. It was there, in front of the entrance to their domain, that Jesus had promised the infernal powers from that nether realm would not prevail against his ekklesia—his congregation. Peter couldn’t have known what the future held, but he must have understood that Jesus had just declared war on the rebellious spirits in the unseen realm. And he’d done it right in front of the gates of hell. Jesus will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. There is no scheme of man, no power of hell that can stop it. It is unstoppable. Why ? Because Jesus is doing it! He has declared the end from the beginning. And then, to add insult to injury, Matthew 17:1-2 says, After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother and brought them up to a high mountain alone, and was transfigured before them. His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the light. The transfiguration of Jesus takes place on a high mountain just a few days after His announcement in Caesarea Philippi. The mountain near Caesarea Philippi, can only have been Hermon. Think about that! Jesus literally stepped onto the threshing floor of El, declared his divinity by transforming into a being of light, and then proceeded on to Jerusalem to fulfill his mission—which, as you know, culminated with his resurrection from the dead. The Son of Man also veiled the glory of the Ancient of Days! Peter focusing on this night of transfiguration later said, 2 Peter 1:16-18. For we have not followed cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice came to Him from the majestic glory, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we ourselves heard this voice, which came from heaven, when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

Unstoppable part 2

There are five major headlines in the first eleven verses of Acts. Today we look at three of them. And why did Jesus go to Caesarea Philippi to announce He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it?

Revelation Short 139

Revelation Short 139 - WE have finally made it to heaven. We look at the creation of a new heaven and earth! What happens to the old creation?

Revelation Short 138

Revelation Short 138 - What is the verdict? if guilty, what is the sentence? WE also learn what death is in the Bible. This may surprise you.

Revelation Short 137

Revelation Short 137 - In this podcast we find out who the defendants are, and the evidence against them.

The True Grace of God transcript I Peter 5:12 With the help of Silas, whom I consider to be a faithful brother to you, I have written briefly, exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. It always been about grace. Grace predates the law. How do I know that? Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world. William Tennent Jr. had become the pastor of the Old Scots Presbyterian Church in Freehold, New Jersey following the death of his brother, who had been the previous pastor. The church’s location was strategic—situated in the heart of the Middle Colonies—and Tennent served the church for forty-three years. He was a fiery champion of the mighty revival known as the Great Awakening and the ensuing drive for religious liberty and American independence. One day as Tennent was talking to a friend, he collapsed and, from all appearances, died. In those days it was difficult to gauge the moment of death. But Tennent seemed to be gone, so his body was prepared for burial, and his funeral was announced for the next day. When his physician friend returned from a trip and heard the news, he went straight to Tennent’s body and examined it carefully for any possible sign of life. Convinced the young scholar wasn’t dead, the doctor moved the body to a warm bed, and the funeral was postponed. Tennent’s brother, certain his sibling was gone, grew angry. For three days and nights the two men engaged in an ongoing debate about when the funeral should occur. The doctor sat by the bedside unwilling to declare the man dead. Events finally came to a climax when the brother came to take Tennent’s body for the funeral. We left off with a call to Christian arms. Now being armed, we are ready for the end time battle. 1 Peter 4:7 “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” 1 Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭KJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ The end of all things is at hand or is near. So we are talking about end time events. Only those who believe in a pretrib rapture (that God will remove the church from Earth before the tribulation, the time of judgment that shall fall upon the world in the last days), can truly say Jesus could come at any moment. In all the other views, other things have to happen first. I have heard it all, “There is zero evidence for a pretrib rapture!” “No verse in the Bible teaches a pretribulation rapture. “There are not two comings! The rapture and the second coming are the same thing!” “J.N. Darby invented the pretrib rapture!” “J.N. Darby got the pretrib rapture teaching from a false prophetess by the name of Margaret McDonald who got it from a deceiving spirit pretending to be the Holy Spirit.” “Why should the last generation of the church get a free pass from suffering and tribulation?” “Those who follow only the Bible and refuse to follow men never find the pretribulation rapture in the Bible.” But such claims are attacks, not sound arguments. They boil down to an accusation of ignorance, of recklessness, of evading duty, of being mere followers of men. I want to answer the objection, “There are not three comings, there are two.” One of the most striking evidences for making unity between the rapture and the second coming is found in Paul’s well-known rapture passage, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Here, in verses 15-17, Paul draws a distinction between the parousia and the apantesis of the parousia. The parousia is the King’s royal entrance (the second coming) and the apantesis is his subjects going out to meet him (the rapture) so they can accompany him in his royal entrance. Let’s examine this passage and glean the precious truth that it offers on this matter, truth that many overlook. The word coming in verse 15 is the Greek word παρουσία (parousia). It means “coming” and “presence”. The word translated meet in verse 17 is the Greek word ἀπάντησις (apantesis). It means “meeting”. Both of these terms were used for the arrival of kings, a fact which sheds light on the correct understanding of this passage. Parousia in Koine Greek was used of a king coming to visit a conquered land or a new emperor entering Rome. In such instances it is typically translated coming, though entrance is a suitable paraphrase because the emphasis is on the moment of arrival. This word is the most common term used in the New Testament for the second coming. Its usage implies the royal entrance of the King of kings. Apantesis, though often used in a general sense for simple meeting, was used when of loyal subjects going out to meet the approaching king so they could join his train and accompany him in his royal entrance. It wasn’t uncommon for folks to make a journey of one or two days to share in this privilege. Theodore of Cyrus described this practice in his handling of this passage in his work Interpretation of the Fourteen Epistles of Saint Paul. So also with a king entering a city. The most worthy go out to meet him somewhere distant with outlay (personal cost). Those guilty of harboring internal complaints wait for the coming (entrance) of the king. These senses are the senses that apantesis and parousia bear in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. When we grasp this, we will understand this passage in the same way that the average Koine Greek speaker in Paul’s day did. We will see a time span between the second coming and the rapture, that is, between the parousia, which is the King’s royal entrance, and the preceding apantesis, which is the church going out to meet their King and join his train so they can accompany him in his royal entrance. This doesn’t itself argue for a pretribulation rapture, but it does argue that the rapture must precede the second coming, which strengthens the overall case for a pretribulation rapture. And you see it is one coming with two phases of that coming. It’s important to remember that there were multiple aspects or phases of Christ’s first coming: His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension. These events were all part of the first coming and were separated by periods of time. In the same way, I believe there are two aspects of the Lord’s second advent: the rapture, which takes place in the air, and the return, which begins in the air but ends with a return to earth. 1 Peter 4:7 “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” 1 Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭KJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ One does not watch, wait, and look each day for something that cannot happen until the coming of the Antichrist or the end of a seven year tribulation period. There has to be a coming of Christ that could happen at any moment. If this is not a silver bullet, I think it is close. “Therefore watch always and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke‬ ‭21‬:‭36‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Revelation 3:10-11 Because you have kept My word of patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation which shall come upon the entire world, to test those who dwell on the earth. “Look, I am coming quickly…(True grace) The two main timings of the rapture are pretrib or post. Here is a simple explanation of the difference between the two. In Revelation 3, the Lord’s promise of deliverance from the tribulation period is very specific: “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. I am coming quickly.” (Revelation 3:10–11a) Notice two important things about this promise. First, the Lord promises to keep His people not just from the hardships of worldwide testing but also from the hour of testing itself. What is the hour of worldwide testing? Since John only mentions one period of worldwide testing in the book of Revelation (chapters 6 –19), he must mean the tribulation period. The hour of trial comes upon all the world. This is critical. This is quantitatively distinct from the entire gamut of trials that the world faced in the church age. No visitation since the flood has engulfed the entire planet. The flood destroyed the world that then was and resurfaced the entire planet. So it will be at the end of the age. The visitations of the hour of trial, which climax with the great day of God Almighty, will turn the world to rubble and ash. Now if the hour of trial comes upon the entire planet, then there will be no way for mankind to escape that awful hour except for supernatural removal from the hour. This implies that the Lord must and will remove the church from the planet before this hour starts. This trial falls upon those that “dwell upon Earth,” in other words “the earth-dwellers.” This is a theological term that refers to those humans whose hearts and lives are wrapped up in Earth and its concerns, in contrast to those who are pilgrims and strangers on it. It refers to the exact same group of unsaved humans as terms like the unbelievers, the unrighteous, and the ungodly, but it focuses on their earthiness. Their lives are completely wrapped up in what the world has to offer. They have no interest in matters eternal or divine. The hour of trial, then, is intended to try the earth-dwellers, not the body of Christ. Any theory that claims that this hour of trial pertains to the church has tossed the plain statement of the verse. Second, notice the means of this protection: “I am coming quickly” (v. 11a). If we put these two points together, it seems that the Lord will protect His people from the time of worldwide testing by coming for them at the Rapture. True Grace Theologian Charles Ryrie provides a helpful illustration of the timing of the rapture in relation to the testing mentioned in Revelation 3: 10: As a teacher I frequently give exams. Let’s suppose that I announce an exam will occur on such and such a day at the regular class time. Then suppose I say, “I want to make a promise to students whose grade average for the semester so far is A. The promise is: I will keep you from the exam.” Now I could keep my promise to those A students this way: I would tell them to come to the exam, pass out the exam to everyone, and give the A students a sheet containing the answers. They would take the exam and yet in reality be kept from the exam. They would live through the time but not suffer the trial. This is posttribulationism: protection while enduring. But if I said to the class, “I am giving an exam next week. I want to make a promise to all the A students. I will keep you from the hour of the exam.” They would understand clearly that to be kept from the hour of the test exempts them from being present during that hour. This is pretribulationism, and this is the meaning of the promise of Revelation 3: 10. And the promise came from the risen Savior who Himself is the deliverer of the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1: 10). Think about how we use this phrase in English. Keep from a train wreck does not mean preserve in a train wreck. Keep from hell does not mean protect in hell. Keep from a trial does not mean keep safe in the trial. Keep from wrath does not mean kept safe in the wrath. God does not pour out His wrath upon his children; He chastises His children. But, His wrath is for the unsaved. And, before God pours out wrath, God takes His children out. It doesn’t make sense that God would pour out His wrath on His bride for whom He died. God’s wrath toward us was already poured out on Jesus while He was on the cross. Jesus bore God’s wrath for us. True grace. Romans 5:9 How much more then, being now justified by His blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him. True grace. God’s wrath is always directed to unbelievers. God removed Lot before He destroyed Sodom. Abraham asked God, “Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked? (Genesis 18:23.) The angel told Lot, Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (Genesis 19:22) So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. Genesis 19:29. Mercy, grace always preceeds judgment. God rescues the righteous from judgment of the wicked. Before a kingdom declares war on another kingdom, first of all, what does it do? What does that kingdom do? They call the nationals home before they declare war. Remember how upset we were when we did not protect our ambassador in Benghazi or when Americans were left behind in Afghanistan? And we think God will leave His soldiers behind to face an evil antichrist much worse than radical Muslims. Our citizenship is in heaven, Paul tells the church at Philippi. We are ambassadors of Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:20). Therefore He will call us home before He declares war. Philippians 3:20, But our citizenship is in heaven, from where also we await for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the Scripture ties citizenship in heaven with waiting for the Savior’s return. Peter began his letter by informing us of our living hope. He introduced the possibility of peace in the midst of difficult times as we embrace God-given hope, walk in holiness, and grow in our faith (1:1–2:12). Peter then exhorted his readers to hopeful living in spite of their strange life of suffering. By humbly submitting to earthly authorities and arming ourselves with endurance, we will glorify God and bring a light of hope to our otherwise dark world (2:13–4:11). In the final section, Peter comforts us in the midst of our fiery ordeal (4:12–5:14). The dramatic climax of his letter sounds like a general rallying his troops before leading them into battle. He began by reminding them of the fiery ordeal that will test and strengthen their faith (4:12-19). He then turned to the elders of the churches—and exhorted them to lead their battalions as noble examples of Christlike leadership (5:1-4). Peter then addressed those who are younger in the faith, urging them to submit to their commanders’ authority and leadership. They need to follow their examples with humility, entrusting themselves to the great Commander-in-Chief, in whose service the battle can never be lost (5:5-7). Finally, Peter sounds the battle alarm (5:8-14). He draws the army’s attention to their spiritual opponent who is planning his evil strategy behind their fiery trials (5:8). He tells the soldiers of Christ how the adversary can be defeated (5:9). He reminds us that the fierce conflict will soon be over and that we will one day emerge as victors (5:10). Like Bullet points Peter rattles off the commands. Verse 5, Clothe yourself “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. ”‬True grace‬ Verse 6, Humble yourself “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,” True grace Verse 7, Free yourself “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” True grace Verse 8, Control yourself “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Verse 9, Strengthen yourself Resist him firmly in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. Verse 10, Get restored “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” True grace Finally, he points to Christ, who will ultimately triumph and exercise dominion over all (5:11). To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. For three days and nights the two men (Tenant’s brother and doctor friend) engaged in an ongoing debate about when the funeral should occur. The doctor sat by the bedside unwilling to declare the man dead. Events finally came to a climax when the brother came to take Tennent’s body for the funeral. As they quarreled, suddenly the “corpse” opened his eyes and uttered a loud and dreadful groan. Plans for the funeral were hastily scrapped and the mourners sent home. Tennent recovered and later gave this testimony: As to dying—I found my fever increase, and I became weaker and weaker, until all at once I found myself in heaven, as I thought. I saw no shape as to the Deity, but glory all unutterable! . . . I can say, as St. Paul did, I heard and I saw things all unutterable; I saw a great multitude before this glory, apparently in the height of bliss, singing most melodiously. I was . . . about to join that great and happy multitude, when one came to me, looked me full in the face, laid his hand on my shoulder and said, “You must go back.” . . . Nothing could have shocked me more; I cried out, Lord, must I go back? With this shock I opened my eyes in this world. Paul heard great and inexpressible words, which encouraged him for the rest of his earthly life and enabled him to press onward with the gospel, despite suffering and difficulties. The same was true for William Tennent Jr. and his fellow evangelicals. They turned the world upside down because they focused on eternal realities. The Bible plainly states, “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). We don’t think of ourselves as citizens of earth going to heaven but as citizens of heaven passing through earth. The history of America—and the testimony of our own lives—reveals an incredible secret. Those who most anticipate a future in glory are the most likely to change the world here and now. I’m told the pretrib rapture doctrine causes apathy and does no earthly good. Rick Warren, a prominent pastor who led a huge church and is a best-selling author, characterizes prophecy as a “distraction” and says that anyone who lets himself get involved in distractions like studying prophecy “is not fit for the kingdom of God.” Another well-known advocate of re-envisioned Christianity, Tony Campolo, said, “Rigid Christians who believe in the possibility of Jesus’ soon return are a real problem for the entire world.” Clearly, these men express a hostility toward Bible prophecy that is disturbing. First of all, I am more concerned about doing heavenly good than earthly good. Second, the most spiritually minded workers are those who hearts, not just heads, are saturated with not just the doctrine, but the expectancy of their Lord’s near return. How could believing that the Rapture could occur at any moment cause "apathy in the church, resulting in the deterioration of our society"? It does the opposite. It tells us to work day and night, spread the gospel far and wide, oppose apostasy and awaken the church because our opportunity to do that could end at any moment! It was after this experience that William Tennant fiery champion of the mighty revival known as the Great Awakening and the ensuing drive for religious liberty and American independence. Surely the church, which is Christ’s bride, ought to be living in an attitude of expectancy and longing to be caught up to meet Him in the air. I would like to hear His return spoken of among Christians with that kind of anticipation! That must characterize any genuine spiritual awakening! Peter is his second epistle says this: 2 Peter 3:14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these things (the end), be diligent that you may be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless. The implication is that we do look for these things. This should give us a new perspective on life as we realize where everything is headed. The last words in Revelation are a spattering of admonition, commands, warnings, etc. They seem kind of disconnected, but they are held together by one repeated phrase. Look in verse 22:7. Behold, I am coming quickly! Verse 21:12 And behold, I am coming quickly, Verse 21:20 Surely, I am coming quickly.” These are the last words of Jesus to us. The final words of Jesus to His church are, Yes, I am coming quickly. The question for all of us is, Are we ready? The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.” Amen means “let it be.” The Bible ends on the note of grace. True grace. Do you think Jesus maybe has a final message for us in these verses. I take this word “quickly” to be a term, not how He will come but when He will come. I think it speaks of imminence, not immediately. Imminence means at any moment. It could be soon or it could be far away. It is a call to be ready. From our vantage point Jesus could come at any time. Notice two other related things. And the end of verse 6, things which must shortly be done or take place. And verse 10 for the time is at hand or the time is near. Five times in these verses you have the emphasis on the imminency of our Lord’s return. That Christ could come at any moment. And every generation that has read these words have been struck with that truth. There is always an excitement to visit a place we have never been to before. I think we are pre-wired this way. This is true of heaven. The Bible says God has set eternity in our hearts. There is something in us that longs for something greater than what we have in this life. I like the story of the little boy who was flying a kite. A man walks by and saw him holding on to this string. But it was a cloudy day and the kite had disappeared up into the clouds. The man looked up there and said to the little boy, “What are you doing?” The boy said, “I’m flying a kite.” The man looked up into the sky and says, “Well I can’t see it up there. How do you know it’s still there?” The little boy said, “I can feel it’s tug.” I like that because in the same way you and I know there is a heaven. We can feel it’s tug and pull. There is something in us that pulls us heavenward. Colossians 3 tells us to set our minds on things above. That is what I want to do. Our feet are on earth but our hearts are to be in heaven. Heaven should be at the core of our world view as believers. It should have a prominent place in preaching. There are nearly 300 direct references to the second coming of Christ in the gospels and epistles. That is more than double the references than salvation through the blood atonement. If God put it in His Word, it is wrong to ignore it. The message is: Jesus can come at any time. Make sure that you know Him and you are obeying His Word. A simple message but a great climax to the Bible.

The True Grace of God

In this message Pastor finished the book of 1 Peter and talked about the true grace of God. Included in this message is a defense of the imminent coming of Jesus.

Revelation Short 136

Revelation Short 136 - We move to the Great White Throne judgment. It has the drama of a courtroom scene. In this podcast the courtroom is described. We find out who the judge is.

Revelation Short 135

Revelation Short 135 - In this podcast we discuss why we need a Millennium, and what it will be like.

Revelation Short 134

Revelation Short 134 - In this podcast, pastor gives his reasons why the premillennial view is best.

Revelation Short 133

Revelation Short 133 - In this podcast we define the Milennium.

Revelation Short 132

Revelation Short 132 - After looking at the advent, we are finishing this section by looking at the armies that come with Jesus when He returns. We also will look at Armageddon, which is happening on earth as Jesus returns with His saints.

Revelation Short 131

Revelation Short 131 - We continue to look at the return of Jesus at the Second Coming.

Revelation Short 130

Revelation Short 130 - This week we will look at the differences between the rapture and the return. What does this Advent look like?

Unstoppable: The Birth, Growth, and Progress of The Church Today, I want to begin a series of messages analyzing the book of the Acts of the Apostles. A lot of people feel discouraged right now about Christianity and about the state of the church around the world. In some areas, there is intense persecution. In Switzerland seven churches have closed over the winter due to climate change. Here in the Western world, including America, there is attempted marginalization. And not all the statistics about the church right now are not as encouraging as I would like. Churches are faced with empty pews and are fighting to keep their doors open, while former houses of worship are being converted into bars, clubs and luxury condos. In the late 1940s, nearly 80% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue, mosque or temple, according to Gallup. Today, just 45% say the same, the analytics company noted, and only 32% say that they worship God in a house of prayer once a week. But I am not discouraged, not a bit. And it's because of what a particular man said long ago. Now, this man was not himself a believer, although I hope that he came to faith in Christ before he died. I don't know whether he did or not. His name was Gamaliel, and he was a Pharisee and a teacher in Israel during the time of Jesus Christ. Gamaliel came from a long line of rabbis and teachers. We know that from other historical sources. Among his students was a certain Saul of Tarsus. In Jewish tradition, Gamaliel is considered one of the greatest teachers of all time among all of the Jewish teachers in history. Gamaliel shows up in the New Testament in the fifth chapter of the Book of Acts, when the twelve disciples were hauled before the Jewish ruling council, which was called the Sanhedrin. They were hauled before the council because they had been preaching the Gospel. The Jewish leaders were just beside themselves. They were enraged by the growth of Christianity, and they said, what shall we do with these men? I think that's one of the most interesting questions. What are we going to do with these Christians? They are filling Jerusalem with this teaching and some in the Sanhedrin wanted to execute them. But the Bible says there in Acts, the fifth chapter, but a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was honored by all of the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and he ordered that the apostles be put outside for a little while. And then he addressed the Sanhedrin.” “Men of Israel, he said, consider carefully what you intend to do with these men, for if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men. You will only find yourselves fighting against God.” What a statement. He said, if the spread of the gospel is from God, the world will not be able to stop it. In other words, the world will not be able to stop us. They will not be able to stop the church. It is unstoppable. Now I know some will say that this was some sage advice but not biblical truth. I understand that. And we do need to be careful when the Bible expresses people’s opinions. At the same time, I believe this is a true statement. Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I also think it might have been prophetic. It’s really interesting how some people in Jesus’ time unintentionally uttered prophecies in his favor—even though they were his enemies. One well known example is Pilate, the Roman governor, who had a sign fashioned and nailed to the vertical post of Jesus’ cross. The sign was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, and stated, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (Mt 27:37). In Jn 11:45-56, it was is the high priest Caiaphas who unwittingly utters a prophecy about Jesus. “Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.” John‬ ‭11‬:‭49‬-‭52‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ So the church is unstoppable. And that's the title of the series of messages, Unstoppable, A Study of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. So if you're ready, and if you have a Bible handy, turn with me to the Book of Acts, Chapter 1. And I just want to deal today with verses 1 and 2; but really just with that one surprising word in verse 1.” “So the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, and the very first verse. Luke the writer says, In my former book, Theophilus, referring to his Gospel of Luke, in my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.” I want to emphasize the critical importance of that verb that Luke used, that little word, began. The sentence would have flowed just fine if Luke had said, Theophilus, in my former book, The Gospel of Luke, you can read about all that Jesus did and said. But Luke did not use those words. He said, My former book. The Gospel of Luke, is all about what Jesus began to do and what he began to say. And in that one word, we have an entire philosophy of ministry. Let's begin here with some background. The Gospel of Luke and the Book of the Acts are written by the same man, and he was not a Jewish man. He was a Gentile. The only Gentile writer of the New Testament. Luke was a medical doctor. He was an intellectual, one of the most brilliant men in the Bible. And he also became a missionary who traveled with the Apostle Paul and a historian and an apologist who interviewed the individuals related to the events in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts. He would apparently take meticulous notes and out of those notes and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and from the perspective of a historian, he created a two-volume set of books that we call the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. Both of them are addressed to a man named Theophilus, who may have been a wealthy Christian who underwrote the expenses involved in the writing and the publishing of these two books. The name Theophilus means lover of God. So there is also a play of words involved in that. Because in a sense, these books are addressed to all of us who are lovers of God. Now compare the two books. The Gospel of Luke tells us how the Gospel began, when the Virgin Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The Book of Acts tells us how the church was born when the followers of Jesus were overshadowed and overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. The Gospel of Luke tells us how the Gospel spread from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, and the Book of Acts tells us how the Gospel spread from Jerusalem to Rome. Both books cover a period of about 30 years, and so we have an unbroken history of the first 60 years of Christianity from the pen of this one great academic historian, Luke. As to when and where the books were written, I have a theory about that.” You may remember from the Book of Acts that after Paul was arrested at the end of his third missionary journey, he was arrested in Jerusalem and then taken to Caesarea, Caesarea by the sea, where he was imprisoned for two years, and then he and Luke were shipped to Rome by government officials, and Paul was under house arrest there for another two years. So my theory is that Luke wrote his Gospel during the two years of Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea, and he wrote his Book of Acts during the two years of Paul's imprisonment in Rome. A man named TD. Bernard, Thomas de Haney Bernard, was an Anglican priest in the 1800s. In 1864, he gave a series of lectures at the University of Oxford, and they were subsequently published under the title The Progress of Doctrine and the New Testament.” He points out “that we would be absolutely lost in reading the New Testament without the Book of Acts. It's a vital link between the Gospels and the Epistles. First of all, the Book of Acts links to the Gospels so naturally that we turn from the last page of the last Gospel to the first page of the Book of Acts without skipping a beat. And then we turn from the last page of the Book of Acts, which describes Paul being in the city of Rome, to the Book of Romans without missing a beat. Without the Book of Acts, we would have to go immediately from the Gospel of John to the Book of Romans. And we would say, who is this fellow, Paul? And what have you done with Peter? At the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus is recommissioning Peter. But when we look at the Book of Romans, suddenly there is this new fellow, Paul, who is giving the Gospel. And we would say, what have you done with Peter? Who is this man?” Nothing would make sense. Acts is the crucial historical link that tells us what happened after Jesus returned to heaven, and which provides for us the historical foundation and the context for the Epistles and for their teaching. Let me tell you something else that Bernard taught. The four Gospels tell us what Jesus did, what Jesus did embryonically, and what. He said embryonically. According to Acts 1, verse 1, there were two aspects of our Lord's ministry on earth. What He did and what He said. “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach” Now, what Jesus did was very underdeveloped in the Gospels. His influence was largely limited to a remote, hilly area of one tiny nation under foreign occupation. His primary work was really done in Galilee, which was an impoverished, small area with a few side trips to Jerusalem, where He was executed. At one time, He had several thousand followers, but by the end of His ministry, eleven. His own twelve hand-picked disciples had either denied Him in one case or deserted Him in the other eleven. And He didn't have a whole lot in one sense to show for His ministry after three short years. Now, yes, in retrospect, we know that He died and rose again for the sins of the world, but in the real time of the moment, without the benefit of hindsight and without the record of the Gospels and without the teachings of the epistles, the works of Jesus are embryonic. But what did He tell His disciples in John chapter 14 and verse 12? He said, There is coming a day when those who believe in Me will do greater works than I have done. One day you, He said to the disciples and to all of us, will do greater works than I have done. Now, that's involving His doings, what He did. Now let's think about these things and what He meant. First, His teachings. By and large, Jesus did not give us established systems of theological doctrine. His teachings were embryonic. They were germinal. He spoke in parables and proverbs. He used signs and symbols. He said He was the bread of life, the light of the world, the good shepherd.” His words were simple and His teachings were basic. But what did He tell His disciples on the last night of His life? This is such an important passage. You may want to jot it down. John the 16th chapter, the 12th verse in the Upper Room Discourse, on the night before His crucifixion, He said, John 16:12, I have much more to say to you. This was on the last night of His life and the last teaching that He gave before His crucifixion. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you unto all of the truth. He will not speak on His own. He will speak only what He hears and He will tell you what is yet to come. In other words, I have so much more teaching to give to you. What I've given to you so far is embryonic. I'm going to fill it out and it's going to be by the Holy Spirit and He's not going to speak on His own.” I’m going to tell Him what I want you to know and He's going to give it to you. And look down at verse 25 in the same chapter, John 16. This is truly amazing. Jesus said, Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father and the things having to do with His Kingdom. This is truly remarkable. Jesus came to the end of His life, His last hours with His disciples, and He said in effect, I have much more to say to you. You cannot bear it now. You cannot understand it now. You cannot comprehend it now. It involves things not yet even done. But in a short time, I will send the Holy Spirit and I will give these further teachings to the Holy Spirit and He will see to it that they are recorded for you in the Epistles. There is nothing in the Epistles that Jesus did not previously mention embryonically in the Gospels. And there is no point of truth in the Gospels that isn't developed fully and completely in the Epistles. When you read Romans through Revelation, you are reading the words of Jesus just as truly as you read the red letters in the four Gospels. When you think of it like this, it changes the way that you read the writings of Paul and Peter and John and Jude and the writer of Hebrews. In fact the writer of Hebrews said, God, who at various times and in diverse ways spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son… Hebrews 1:1-2a In the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17) where Jesus is telling them He has much more to teach them, there are at least 25 by my count, seed truths. The Upper Room discourse is the seed plot of many forms of doctrine which are later developed in the Epistles. It is not strange that the New Testament writers take up these truths for greater explanation and clarity. Scripture has to be read as a whole. Some want to read only the gospels. Some say only read writings of Paul. In other words, when Jesus came to the end of his ministry, he had much more to say, and he wasn't going to do it through parables and proverbs. He was going to do it plainly and thoroughly and theologically and practically. He had much more to say, but the method through which he would speak would change. And so he died on the cross and rose from the dead. He ascended to heaven, and the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. And what did the Holy Spirit come to do?” He came as a channel through which Christ Jesus would continue doing the things he had been doing, and saying the things he had been saying just as truly and authentically as he did in the days of his flesh. What Jesus continued doing is recorded in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. It is the ongoing continuing ministry of Jesus Christ. And what he continued saying is recorded in the Epistles. The Holy Spirit of Jesus came upon Paul, and Peter, and John, and Jude, and James, and Jesus filled out in theology, doctrine, and in behavioral instruction what he had begun to give in embryonic form in the Gospels. For example, Jesus gave us John 3.16 in the Gospels, but later he explained it all in the Book of Romans.” He spoke embryonically of his return in Matthew 24, but later he expanded it to the Book of Revelation. He told us in Matthew 16, I will build my church, but he then explained to us how the church was to function in the pastoral epistles. He told us he was the fulfillment of the law, but he explained his relationship to the Old Testament in the Book of Hebrews. So with that in mind, let's go back to Acts 1, verse 1. In my former book Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and began to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven. When Jesus ascended to Heaven, He was not retreating. When Douglas McArthur left the Philippines he said, “I will return.” And then he said,”We are not retreating, we are advancing in another direction. When Jesus left earth He made the promise,”I will return.” He could have also said, “ We are not retreating, we are advancing in another direction. That was true because He sent the Holy Spirit. So what does all of this mean to us? It means everything to us. It means everything to me. I can tell you that the philosophy of ministry that I was taught and which I've tried to pursue all of these years springs from the truth and the reality that comes from this one word and this one verse. Let me sum it up in three phrases. The first phrase is Jesus is continuing his work. He is continuing his work today. Some are teaching today that when Jesus came to earth, He gave up the use of His divine powers and worked all His miracles as a mere man, through the power of the Holy Spirit. So, contrary to what Christians have believed through the centuries, His miracles were not evidence of His deity. Jesus did seven, really 8 signs proving His Diety. The final being His resurrection. Such teaching that Jesus did all His miracles as a mere man (though not necessarily heretical) are rather subtle, which compounds their dangerous effect. As one person said, Let’s face it, if Jesus did all His miracles as God, I’m still impressed. But that is an impossible example for me to follow. . . . When I see that He did what He did as a man following His Father, then I am compelled to do whatever I need to do to follow that example. I’d still like to see someone raise themselves from the dead. John explained what the work of God is in his gospel, prior to John 14:12. John 6:29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." The miracle of the new birth is still the greatest. When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and 3,000 souls became believers in Jesus, that was a greater work than Jesus ever did on this earth. Jesus saved those people through the preaching of Peter who was empowered with the Spirit of Jesus. Jesus channeled His power to Peter through the Holy Spirit. We are advancing in another direction. It also about what Jesus did. John calls the miracles of Jesus signs because they point to Jesus and His divinity. Signs follow those who believe. There are plenty miracles in the book of Acts. Jesus was continuing His work. They are miracles today. Jesus is continuing His work. How does this flesh out. John’s gospel taught us it wasn’t about holy places, but the Holy person Jesus. The book of Acts teaches us it’s not about holy places, but holy people letting Jesus gift them and work through them. Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing.” …John 15:5 The work that we're seeking to do for Christ is not our work, but his. It is not our doing it, but it's him doing it. It is still his work, and that's why it cannot be stopped. If it were my work, it could be stopped, or if it was your work or the work of some particular individual church, it could be stopped. But because it is our Lord's work, it is unstoppable. When those in the upper room on the day of Pentost were filled with the Spirit it was the work of Jesus baptizing them with the Holy Ghost and fire. When Peter stood on the day of Pentecost, it was Jesus continuing his work. When the three thousand were saved and baptized, it was Jesus continuing his work. When Saul of Tarsus was transformed on the road to Damascus and became the evangelist that he became, it was Jesus continuing his work. When St. Patrick went to Ireland as a missionary evangelist, it was Jesus expanding his work.” “When William Carey went to India and Adonarum Judson went to Burma, and Hutson Taylor went to China, it was Jesus taking his message to the lost. When William Wilberforce campaigned for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, and George Muller built his orphanages in Bristol, England, it was Jesus. When George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards unleashed their great awakening, it was Jesus working in this world just as truly as in the days of the Gospels, When missionaries send the Jesus film to every corner of the globe, when the growth of the Church exploded in China, it was Jesus continuing his work. And whenever you read your Bible to your children, or teach a Bible lesson, or share the Gospel with a friend, or invite a neighbor to church, or support a missionary, or sing, or preach a sermon, it is Jesus himself continuing his work. It is his work on earth. I don't know how to fully visualize this, but try to think of something you've tried to do for the Lord in the last week. Take a mental photograph of yourself doing it, and then somehow substitute the form of Jesus standing there, doing it through you. I don't quite know how to see, or how to imagine, or fully how to understand it, but that's the reality of it. And when the reality of it hits you, it changes about the way you think, even about your life on this planet. And that leads me to the second phrase, through his people. Jesus is continuing his work. He is doing it through his redeemed people, like you and me. When the Apostle Paul would give reports to others about his ministry, he would tell them, as he put it, what the Lord has done through him.” He didn't report what he did for God, but he said, this is what Jesus has done through me. We have that terminology repeatedly, but just notice, for example, Romans 15, verse 19, when Paul said, I will not venture to speak of anything except what God has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done. He said, it's not me saying it or doing it. I am just a channel. It is Jesus doing it through me. And it's not you singing for Christ on the worship team. It's Jesus doing it through you. It's not you teaching the children's class or whatever it is you do for the Lord. It's not you taking that missionary trip to Africa. It's Jesus who wants to do it through you. And that leads to the third phrase. How does this happen? How can it be? Jesus is doing His work today through His people and by His Spirit.” And that will unfold as we study this book of the Acts of the Apostles. As we'll see in Chapter 2 on the Day of Pentecost, Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to be with us and to be among us and to be around us and to be within us and to work through us. Now that really presents us with an obligation. We need the fullness and the anointing and the power of the Holy Spirit on everything we do and say. The moment we receive Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit comes and resides within us. But the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit involves much more than a passive dwelling in our hearts. He wants to fill us with the personality of Jesus and to anoint us with the power of Jesus. The New Testament screams, not I but Christ. The Holy Spirit wants to fill you with the personality of Jesus and anoint you with the power of Jesus. I'm going to keep saying that over and over again, but we need to be yielded to. Him, surrendered to Him, utterly and absolutely and willing to give Him everything that He might have full clearance to work through us. And I believe that we need to ask for it. And I believe we need to claim it. And I believe the Bible indicates this when it tells us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I've read so many accounts of people who, while in the service of God, received a fresh anointing and understanding and empowering by the Holy Spirit. And I just think sometimes the Lord gives us a fresh anointing and a renewed filling of the Holy Spirit. After the famous 19th century evangelist D L. Moody, Dwight Lehman Moody had been in ministry for a number of years, he had a special encounter with the Holy Spirit which he later described in this way. He said, I was crying out. This was after the Great Chicago Fire and he was still going about his work, but he had been through this traumatic experience. He said, I was crying out all the time that God would fill me with his Spirit. Well, one day in the city of New York, oh, what a day, I cannot describe it. I seldom refer to it. It's almost too sacred an experience to name. He said, Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for 14 years. I can only say that God revealed himself to me and I had such an experience of his love that I had to ask him again to stay his hand. He said, I went to preaching again and the sermons were the same, and yet hundreds of people were converted every time I preached. I think sometimes, somehow, God just gives us an anointing.” There's an old song that says, Jesus, fill now with thy spirit, hearts that full surrender know that the streams of living water from our inner self may flow. Full surrender…holiness. It is about holy people. And that's referring to what Jesus said. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them and by this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. So don't misunderstand me. The moment you receive Christ, you are indwelled with the Holy Spirit. And yet the Ephesian Christians were all believers who were indwelled by the Holy Spirit, but Paul told them to be filled with the Spirit. And in the Book of Acts, as we'll see, the Apostles in the early Church are filled with the Spirit, not just once, but again and again. Jesus, fill now with thy Spirit hearts that full surrender know, that the streams of living water from our inner self may flow. In recent days, I've been praying and wondering if God wants to give me some kind of fresh anointing and empowering for His service. And there's nothing wrong with asking God for a fresh anointing of His Spirit's presence and power on our lives for this season that we're in, for whatever it is that we're facing, for what is next, because what is next is often greater than what came before and how we need a revival, a fresh anointing, a fresh filling, a fresh effusion of the Holy Spirit in our world and this nation and in our church today. We are still living in the 29th chapter of the Book of Acts, as it were, the story of what Jesus is continuing to do through His people, by His Spirit, and that's the role He wants to play in you and me. And that work, because He's doing it, cannot be stopped ever. He is building His church, expanding, bringing this world to Himself as He sees fit through us. And that work is unstoppable.