Acts 1:1-11 – Jesus Prepares the
Disciples
After Jesus
resurrection and before He ascended to heaven He taught His disciples and
prepared them for their work to come. He
offered many convincing proof that He was alive. He talked with them instructing them through
the Holy Spirit. He appeared to them and
others over a 40 day period. (The number
40 is used several times in scripture - 40 days, 40 years, etc.) He explained the scriptures to them and
opened their minds so they could understand.
He told them not to leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift God
promised - the Holy Spirit. They would
then be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (verse
5). Then, when the Holy Spirit comes
they are to be His witnesses in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:1-4, Luke 24:25-27, 36-53)
Why did Jesus
spend 40 days with the disciples? The main reason was to tell them they should
wait on the Holy Spirit to come to them.
Then the Holy Spirit would empower them to be witnesses throughout the
world. I also think He spent this time
with them so there would be no doubt that He was resurrected just as He had
promised He would do and so they would be eye witnesses that He was alive. This grew their faith.
Before He
ascended they had Jesus to teach and guide them, but since He would no longer
be there with them physically they needed the Holy Spirit to be their
guide. By being “baptized with the Holy
Spirit”, the Holy Spirit would be “in” them and they would remain connected to
Him.
How are you
being prepared to do the work of Jesus?
The Holy Spirit
is “with” us all – even non-believers.
He’s convicting non-believers of their sins and to believe in
Christ. The Holy Spirit is “in” you when
you accept Jesus and become a believer. Being
“baptized with the Holy Spirit” happens only once – at the time of conversion. Baptism is an outward sign that you totally
identify with Christ. As believers we still need to be continually and
repeatedly “filled with the Holy Spirit” as we mature as Christians, as we
allow God to be in control letting Him work in our lives, and as we listen and
obey yielding to Him. We need the power
of the Holy Spirit to live holy lives.
We need the Spirit’s power for witnessing and speaking boldly and
clearly to others about the gospel.
Verse 8 tells the disciples were to be Christ’s witnesses. Every Christian is a witness. The word “witness” occurs 39 times in
Acts. Since this is God’s command and we
can’t escape being a witness. We are all
a witness of some sort. The question is
“what kind of witness” are you?
What
difference does the Holy Spirit make in one’s life?
He comforts and strengthens us in difficult times. He shows us how to pray. He intercedes for us when we can’t seem to
find the words to pray. He guides us and
gives us wisdom. We are not controlled
by the sinful nature anymore (Romans
8:9). He gives us the His seal of
ownership guarantying our eternal life (2
Corinthians 1:22). He also produces in
us the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians
5:22-23.
It was necessary
for Jesus to leave the apostles so the Holy Spirit could come and give them
power and so they could be witnesses to the ends of the earth. Jesus couldn’t be everywhere at the same time
because He was limited in His physical body, but the Holy Spirit is not limited.
The apostles
were ordinary men and were charged with an impossible task, but they were never
asked to do it on their own and neither are we.
They were called just as we Christians are called. We have the Holy
Spirit who empowers and encourages us.
We are sealed as His and He will never leave us. Our God is unstoppable.
Principles:
God provides
evidence for believing and serving Him.
When God gives a
person a command, He always gives His power to perform it.
After Jesus
command and promise to the apostles, He ascended into heaven. He promised He would return in the same
way. An interesting fact is that the
Lord’s return to earth is so important that one in every twenty verses in the
New Testament refers directly to it. Now
the duty of all Christians is to look daily for Him to come and to live as we
want Him to find us.
Acts 1:12-26 – Jesus Re-Establishes the
12 Apostles
Judas bought a
field with the reward he received for betraying Jesus. There he tried to hang himself, but
apparently he failed and fell and was killed by the impact. His body burst open and all his intestines
spilled out. The people called this
field “field of blood”.
Since Judas was
no longer part of the ministry, they needed to replace him. The disciples met together along with the
women, Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers. The first thing they did was to pray. Then they discussed it before making a
decision and settled it by voting. This
shows they were in unity and willing to work together. Our churches today should take a lesson from
this.
This teaches us
that we should gather together with fellow Christian and pray before selecting our
leaders. Titus 3:9-11 and 1 & 2 Timothy tell us to choose leaders who
are kind, holy, honest, and teach God’s message accurately. Even Jesus prayed when he chose His disciples
– Luke 6:12-13.
Do you pray
as to who you should vote for in government elections?
Do you look
at the candidate’s loyalty to the people and not to personal or party
priorities?
Are they for
unity and not division of the country?
Do they hold
to Biblical standards instead of their own personal gain or what is popular?
We are living in
a time where there seems to be no unity.
Everyone seems to be for themselves.
Some of our government officials, those we elected into office are not
looking to unite our country, but to divide it.
They vote on party lines, not what is best for everyone. It’s all about power and making a name for
themselves. The words they use about
others are mean, hurtful, hateful, and down-right evil. They lie and some are caught in their lies,
but still get away with it. Satan is
loving this! We need to wake up and see
what is really going on. Satan is behind
all the lies and deceptions. He knows
he’s running out of time and he’s working very hard to divide and conquer.
Principle: Prayer
is important part of waiting for God to reveal the next step of obedience.
God wants us to
know that our Christian faith is credible.
It’s not based on religious speculations, but on the historical
resurrection of Jesus from the dead. We
know this is true because these 12 apostles said so as well as many
others. They didn’t profit from being
witnesses, but laid down their lives for the sake of the truth. Don’t ignore the evidence. Don’t be like Judas and follow selfish
desires that lead to destruction. Accept
and follow Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
He is waiting.
Have you come
to know Jesus personally?
Has He changed
your heart from being self-seeking to being subject to Him?
Are you
welcoming the Holy Spirit into your life?
Will you ask
God for a “filling of the Holy Spirit”?
What might
change in your life if you were filled with His Spirit?
Join me here
next week for our study of Acts 2. -- I
encourage you to trust in Jesus.
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