Lechem Panim #115 "You Will Be My Witnesses" (Acts 1:4-8) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim. In today’s message from the book of Acts, we are going to discuss the greatest call that you and I can have on our lives.

Close to Extinction— I remember in one of the writings of the late Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, his asking: [And what is the first call for each one of us? It is to understand God’s primary description of who and what we are. {Ravi Zacharias put it thus:} All the other accolades that people want to thrust at us are secondary at best. The fact that someone writes, another speaks, still others invest or play sports, is merely the means to express the greater end. {He said} Some time ago, I attended a Bible study session with some sports professionals. The speaker that morning challenged the players to leave a legacy they could be proud of. He began by asking them how many knew the name of their great-grandfather. A handful of hands went up. Then he asked how many of them knew where their great-grandfather was buried. Most of the hands stayed down. With each more specific question, fewer hands went up. He then made his point: “Each one of us is just three to four generations away from extinction.” {Ravi said} Silence gripped the room. How sobering to think that, just a few generations down the family tree, no one would even know I had ever existed! Then the speaker challenged these men about the legacy they would leave behind. One after another, the players responded. But then one said, “Really, I don’t care whether or not my great-great-grandson or great-granddaughter knows that I played ball professionally. It really doesn’t matter that much. I just want them to know the God I served and loved.” The words came from the heart, and for a moment, in the silence, {Ravi said} we all knew the truth of both thoughts. Our devotion to God’s call and to his claim on our lives provides the groundwork of all that ultimately matters. Words like those of the professional ballplayer are all the more profound, because many of our youth consider his calling a dream. But the greatest dream of all is to know God and to know what he has intended for your life.] The greatest call upon your life is the call He has given for you to follow Him in radical, world-changing discipleship.

Soldiers of the Cross— And that was Jesus’ ultimate mission while here on earth (aside from the cross); to make disciples who would be world-changers. As someone once pointed out: [He did not want to be just a Bible teacher to a group of spiritually hungry souls who would get their only ration of spiritual food once a week from his sermons. He wanted to train a band of strong, rugged soldiers of the Cross who would then collaborate with him in the work of the ministry in the church.]

No Other Plan— And the man who said that (LeRoy Eims) also shared a personal story in his book The Lost Art of Disciple Making. He said: [I had gone to a Christian conference and in one of the messages the speaker was emphasizing how vital these men were to Jesus’ mission. He told us a story that stirred our imaginations. He spoke of the return of Jesus to heaven—His ascension—and the excitement that it caused among the angels. He painted quite a picture, for he was good with words. He told of one of the angels who asked the returned Son of God a question, “What plan do You have to continue the work You began on earth?” Without hesitation Jesus answered, “I left it in the hands of the apostles.” Another angel asked, “What if they fail?” Again there was no hesitation, “I have no other plan.” The speaker assured us it was only a story, but it got the point across. The future of Christianity, humanly speaking, rose or fell on the ministry of these men.]

Our Responsibility— Now when you think about that, the implications are profound. Jesus has entrusted the success of His Great Commission to you and to me. He has placed the fate of the world in our hands. It is up to the obedience of individual men and women who (daily) have to choose how sold out they are to Jesus Christ; just how dedicated they are to Christ’s mission of discipleship. And that is a choice that you and I have to make as well. Are we going to orient our lives around Jesus Christ and His mission?

The 40-day gap— Now in our passage today, Jesus had recently risen. But the ascension doesn’t happen right away. There is a forty-day gap between the resurrection and the ascension in which Jesus is appearing to the disciples, instructing them, training them, and preparing them for His ministry that they are about to continue in the world. Verse 3 says that He was also speaking to them about the kingdom of God; that kingdom they would soon be bringing people into. And it says in…

Acts 1:4-5 (ESV)— 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Awaiting The Holy Spirit— So we see here that Jesus doesn’t want the disciples to leave Jerusalem until they have received the Holy Spirit. Why? Because He knows that in order for any ministry to be affective, we must have the Holy Spirit go with us (and also “before us”), because it is not ultimately our work. Rather we join in the work the Holy Spirit is already doing. And so Jesus is preparing the disciples for the more immediate event of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit will come down upon them and cleanse them and empower their lives and ministry.

A Time of Excitement— Now just imagine the excitement the disciples had during this time. Their Lord had risen; He was walking and talking with them once again. The hope in Him as their Messiah, that hope they lost at His death, was restored. And they are beginning to get excited about knowing what comes next. And we see that Jesus has led them to [the Mount of Olives (v. 12), at the foot of which lay Bethany (Luke 24:50).] 

My Journey to Olivet— I remember when I went to Israel, coming to the Mount of Olives. And one of the things I remember seeing that I did not expect was a massive number of tombs; white sepulchers all over. And in fact there are an estimated 150,000 graves on the Mount. Tombs traditionally associated with Zechariah, Haggai, Malachi, and Absalom are among them. Numerous rabbis and Jews are buried there even to the present age; though at an exorbitant price. It is very expensive to be buried there. And when I asked why, our guide said it was because of a very interesting prophecy in the Old Testament. It says in…

Zechariah 14:3-4, 9 (ESV)— 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. {And verse 9 says…} 9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.

They Missed It— Now after telling me this, our guide said of many of the Jews then, “They missed it.” And you know, they still miss it even today because they are not being told. But the disciples see what is happening; they see Jesus, their Messiah, leading them up the Mount of Olives. And the whole time their knees are like buckling and shaking. They’re thinking “Is this the moment?” “I don’t know.” “Should we ask the Master?” So verse 6 says...

Acts 1:6 (ESV)— 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 

What The Disciples Expected— And they asked Him this because they had drawn the conclusion from his resurrection and promise of the Holy Spirit that era of the Messiah had dawned and Israel’s final salvation and restoration was at hand. But keep in mind that they were still expecting the Messiah to drive out the Romans and restore Israel to physical, military, and political glory, as God had done numerous times in and throughout the Old Testament. But look at Jesus’ response. He says…

Acts 1:7 (ESV)— 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 

And in that we see that Jesus is not interested in revealing to us the hour of His return. Rather He wants us to focus on abiding in Him in the present, doing the work that He has commissioned us (as His ambassadors) to do in the world. Look at what He says in…

Acts 1:8 (ESV)— 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

“Be My Witnesses”— [Jesus corrected them...but by telling them (Acts 1:8) that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit, not in order to triumph over Roman armies but to spread the good news of the gospel throughout the world.] The disciples wanted to know the hour of the coming of Christ’s kingdom. Jesus says, “Don’t worry about that. It’s in God’s hands. But until then, you are to proclaim my name; be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And then He gives them the Great Commission, which is recorded for us in…

Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)— 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I am with you always— Now that last phrase I am with you always is an intriguing phrase. We often treat it like a separate promise of His presence to be with all believers. And that may be true. But you almost get the sense that this promise is also connected with the commission He just gave. It’s almost like He’s saying, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” as you continue in the work of making disciples. And what this may be hinting at is the reality that you and I are never going to experience Christ more fully or more closely (in our own lives) than when we are bringing somebody to Jesus or into a closer walk with Him. You want to experience Jesus Christ? Go where He’s at work and join with Him. And when you do, you will find that you will have connected yourself with one of the central purposes of your life; and that will allow God to bless you in ways He otherwise would never be able to. And so let us commit to live lives where we are intentionally reaching out to make disciples. Amen.