The risen Christ gave a promise to his followers before his ascension back to glory. He promised "you will receive power... and you will be my witness." Jesus promised that his disciples would testify to the work of redemption he had just accomplished and his lordship over all things. While this does not apply to us in exactly the same way as it did to the initial eye-witnesses, we still have this same commission to take the gospel to all people in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The National Center for Family Integrated Churches welcomes John Latham with the following message entitled, You Shall Be my witnesses. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love. We thank you, Lord, for all that we've already been taught this weekend, Lord, just for the way that Jesus Christ has been lifted high and glorified, the way that men have just sought to honor him, to honor you, Father. And we pray that you would continue by your Spirit to sanctify us, that you would indeed give us a love for you that is growing and greater and greater and a love for our neighbors.

That Lord we pray now that you would give us understanding as we study one of the important texts in dealing with evangelism in the Great Commission. That we might rightly understand it, rightly apply it. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. We are gonna be looking at Acts 1, particularly verse eight. If you have your Bibles, you'd like to turn there.

This is one of the seminal passages on the Great Commission on Evangelism, which is why Scott asked me to teach on this. Most of the sermons I've heard, and most sermons I think we've heard this weekend so far, a lot of them deal with the why and the how of evangelism, and those are important. We sing this song, and if you're familiar with it, I love to tell the story. And there's a line in that song, that hymn, that says, for some have never heard. And that's true.

A friend of mine that was on his way to this conference, his family came out of the flu. They turned around and went back to Texas, could not be here. But he shared a story with me about a young lady that he works with, and she is from this country. She's not from a foreign country. She's grown up in America.

And yet he and a coworker were discussing Easter, and they were discussing Jesus, and she finally stopped them, And she said, wait a minute, I don't understand, what does Jesus have to do with Easter? And he was dumbfounded that there would be someone in this country, around the Austin, Texas area, near the Bible Belt that has no idea that Jesus has any connection to Easter. And so we are motivated by the fact that there are those that never heard. And motivation is important. I'm grateful for the men who've taught this weekend so far on the proper motivation of why we share the gospel.

Well, the how is also important. There's a lot in this conference, and was earlier today on the how, whether it's street preaching or whether or not and how we use printed materials, short-term mission trips, this session earlier on going to abortion clinics and evangelizing there and the How we do that, how we go about doing that in a biblical way. And if you heard Jeff Pollard talking about biblical evangelism versus the modern evangelism. So the why is important and the how is important. What we find in Acts 1.8 is really more directed to the what of evangelism.

As we look at this passage today, before we get to the very important step of application for us, what does this mean to us? How do we apply it? How do we understand it? How does it fit into our context? I want us to first look at it from the context that it was written.

It was written by Luke, it was written to a man named Theophilus, and it was first spoken by the Lord to his apostles. So again, if you have your Bibles, let's look at Acts chapter one. I'm gonna begin in verse one. And here Luke writes, "'The first account I composed, Theophilus, "'about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Gathering them together, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, which he said, you heard of from Me. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." So when they had come together, they were asked Him, saying, Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven. Well, let's unpack this for a little while before we get to, again, applying it to our context. Let's look at the context in which it is written, the context in which it is spoken by the Lord Jesus.

I've done a lot of study in the last year on hermeneutics. And hermeneutics is the science of interpretation, particularly of biblical interpretation. And all the books I've been reading all emphasize the same point, is we need to understand the literary context of the passage if we're gonna rightly understand the plot, and we need to understand the historical context of the passage, and we need to understand the redemptive historical context. Where in the history of God redeeming for himself a people do we find this passage? What's the genre of literature?

What are the words that are being said? Well, the historical context of Acts 1-8 is around 30 AD. You ought to know if you're familiar with your Bibles that this is a time where the Jews are under Roman authority. The Roman Empire is the most powerful empire in the world. They control a great deal of real estate and Israel is under their control.

We also understand here that the apostles are in Jerusalem and Jerusalem at this time is still the center of Israel. It's the location of the temple. It's the home of where they come on the different feasts to come and to worship and to gather. And this is around one of those times. It's between Passover and Pentecost is where we find ourselves here in this text.

On redemptive history, where do we find the context? Well this is, as I'm sure you all know, immediately after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, an important time in the history of redemption. All of the rest of the beginning of the scriptures from Genesis on through the prophets, there we're prophesying, talking about this Messiah and the plan of God and redemption, and now that the Messiah has come, this promised one, the promises has been fulfilled and he has come not only to live this sinless life, he's not only done miracles, raised the dead, healed the blind and the lame, he has also been crucified, laid down his life as a sacrifice, a ransom for many. Not only has he been crucified, he has been risen. Now here is the risen Lord, the crucified Savior, speaking to his apostles, and it would seem as Luke records it here, one final time before his sins.

Right here on the heels of Acts 1, we find the ascension of Christ. An incredible time in the history of redemption. The Messiah still incarnates just before he ascends to the right hand of the Father, speaking to his apostles. This is also, we find in the history of church, this is the beginning. This is right before Pentecost, right before the coming of the Holy Spirit, right at the beginning of the book of Acts.

That's where we find ourselves in historical context. Well, grammatically or literally, we find that the book of Acts, it's a history. It's a historical narrative, meaning that it's stories, but it's factual stories. These aren't myths. These aren't legends.

These are factual stories communicated to us that we might see God's hand at work, that we might hear also teaching, which is also found here within the historical narrative. There's also prophecy, there are sermons that we've already heard talked about throughout the week, but Luke's account here, like his gospel, is a historical narrative. He is recounting stories, factual events, places, and people. Within this historical narrative in this passage, we find Jesus, Son of God, speaking to his 11 apostles and giving a teaching. Notice also it says here in this passage that Jesus, he's meeting with them, he has given them orders, probably including the Great Commission, he has given them many convincing proofs that he is alive, and he has been teaching on the kingdom of God and things concerning that he's commanded them not to leave Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit till that promise has been fulfilled and so it is out of this teaching out of these commands out of the Lord showing himself giving many proofs that he is indeed alive, that in verse six, the apostles asked this question.

And that is the context from which the verses, the answer that Jesus gives, are gonna flow. So what is the question? Lord, Is it at this time you're restoring the kingdom to Israel? It's an important question. It would seem to me like maybe even a logical question.

Jesus has been teaching on the kingdom both before his crucifixion and after. That's what Luke tells us. But what is in the heart and mind of the apostles? No, we're not sure. All we're given here is the question, but there are some, John Calvin being among them, who really take the apostles to task over this question.

Calvin believes they're still clinging to old ideas about the kingdom. They still believe it's gonna be a political kingdom, a military kingdom, a kingdom of this world instead of a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom for Israel alone and not for the nations. There are others though like John MacArthur and others who believe that no, their question is right and accurate and point that the fact that Jesus does not rebuke them, nor does he really correct them, all he says to them, it's not for you to know that. It's not for you to know epics or times. But they are not wrong in looking for an earthly kingdom, but Jesus will come and establish that at a certain time.

The Davidic throne will be established upon the earth. It's just not their job. That's not to be their concern. Now I'm not gonna take sides one way or the other. Both those men are more godly and brighter than I am, and certainly Calvin has gotta be with the Lord, be difficult to argue with him.

But those are two views on this question. Some see them as still immature, still lacking, still having a very limited and narrow focus of the kingdom of God. Others say no, they rightly understand the kingdom, but their focus is wrong. Well, either way we go, I think there are some warnings here as we get started looking at this passage, and one is that we not become preoccupied with the same kinds of questions. What day do you think the Lord will return?

What season, what year? What will all the signs be? There are many today who write books and get obsessed and can spend a lot of time trying to figure out when it's going to happen, what are the signs, what's happening in Israel, what's happening in Middle East. We've become so preoccupied with these things that we forget that the overwhelming teaching of the Lord concerning his second coming is one, we need to be prepared, and two, we need to be busy until he comes. I believe that's what the Lord is here saying to the apostles, that is not for you to know.

And that's the other warning we might heed from this. Deuteronomy 29, it says, the secret things belong to the Lord, but those things that have been revealed belong to us and our children. God has revealed much in His Word about Himself, His plans, His purposes, His ways, what He would have us to do. He has not revealed the times or epics upon which he will return. So guess what?

It's not for us to know. We waste time trying to figure that out. Believe that's what Jesus is here saying to the apostles, whether you see it as a great rebuke or a mild rebuke, indeed he does tell them that's not the information they need to be concerned with, nor is their job to worry about that, but instead they have a job to do and they need to get on it. Now in my mind, I have a great deal of sympathy here for the apostles because knowing what Jesus has commanded them, particularly the great commission that we've heard exposited so well over the weekend, to see that the scope of it, the largest of it, the difficulty of it, I might be inclined to also ask, Lord, are you at least going to restore Israel to power, to political might, to military might, that our commission might be easier. Again, I can't read into the hearts and minds of the apostles, but I know myself, and I'm thinking that's what I want to know.

You know, this would be much easier if a king like David was back on the throne, if Roman oppression was cast off, and if those thugs in the Sanhedrin who crucified you were gone, this commission would go a lot easier. Things would be smoother. Again, I don't know if that's what they were thinking, but certainly what I would be thinking. Lord, you've told us to go into all the world. Have you seen the world?

And again, I think there might be a warning for us here that we might be tempted, whether they were or not, to think that we lack something, either politically or militarily, something in authority or position by which we need to do our task of fulfilling what Christ has given us to do. Yet the response of the Lord here is that they will be given and we also will have all that we need to do what he commands. That is the message of hope here and the rest of what the Lord will say. Again, whether he rebukes them or not, certainly he encourages them. He does answer to them that it's not for them to know about times or epics, he says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

See, it was not for them to know times or epics, but he did want them to know that all the authority and all the power they needed to do what he'd call them to do, they would have. They didn't need Rome's permission. They didn't need the Sanhedrin on board. They didn't need their man in this position or that position. They needed the power of God.

And they would receive that. You will receive power. This word power, It's where we get our words dynamite or dynamic and carries with it the idea of ability or capability. So you will receive the ability to do what it is I am commanding you to do. You will receive power.

You will not leave them without the ability to do what he has commanded. And when will they receive power? Says when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, not when the Sanhedrin changes their mind, not when Rome gets on board, but they would receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon them. Indeed, we see just the next chapter in Acts, that happens on the day of Pentecost. There, while they're gathered praying, the Holy Spirit descends upon them.

They begin to speak in the tongues of all the people around them who've come from all the different countries in Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. They would be given the ability to speak. In Mark 13, verse 9, here Jesus says, "'Be on your guard, for they will deliver you to the courts and you will be flogged in the synagogues and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake as a testimony to them. The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not for you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.

That is the promise, the promise in Mark, the promise in Acts, and indeed, they would be given the ability to speak, even in a hostile situation. And what a better promise that is, we are still tempted, I think, to believe that you know what we really need, Lord, is a smooth path, is we need people in the White House and people in Congress and people in the State House who are on our side, on our team, not in our way, but instead smoothing the way for us. Yet what Jesus says to them here is, they're gonna flog you, they're gonna beat you, they're gonna drag you into the courts, but even then, even in the worst environment, don't worry about it. It's not you who'll be speaking, but it is the Holy Spirit who will speak through you. That is the promise in Mark 13, it's the promise in Acts chapter one, that you will have ability.

Whatever happens in the Sanhedrin, whatever happens in Rome, you will have the ability to fulfill this commission because I will give you the power to speak. It's encouragement for us, isn't it? I don't know about you, but I am tempted to obsess, to listen to talk radio, to look at this election and wonder which of these two candidates that seems most likely to be elected is going to be the worst for the church. Now I know most people are thinking, who's going to be worse for the country? I'm thinking, who's going to be worse for the church?

Who's going to make the preaching of the gospel more difficult? And I think Jesus would say to us, don't worry about that. Even if it comes to the point that they're dragging you into the courts and flogging you, guess what? You're gonna have the ability to speak, even in that situation. If the government should make it easier for us to preach the gospel, we should praise God and preach the gospel.

If the government should make it more difficult for us to preach the gospel, we should preach the gospel. And the hope that they had wasn't that there was going to be wonderful peace between them and the Sanhedrin because there was not, or that the Roman emperor was gonna certainly declare that he was no longer a god and was now a Christian, it would not happen in their lifetime. No, the hope that they had, the promise of the Lord is that they would receive power and the Holy Spirit would come upon them and they would have the power to speak. There's another way in which this power is manifest in life of the apostles and as we, in a little bit moved to application, this is one of the differences I want us to notice here because the power they were given was not only to speak, but they had the power to perform signs in order to authenticate the gospel. Their commission is so very important.

Their work is different than ours. They were apostles, they were going to write the New Testaments. They were going to testify to Christ. They were going to go not only in Jerusalem, but throughout the world and sharing that. Well, how would it be verified?

How would people believe them? And they were given the power to perform signs. And signs, by one definition, one Bible dictionary says, signs are the finger marks of God, valuable not so much for what they are as for what they indicate of the grace and power of the doer." That's a capital D, power of God. In Hebrews 2 verse 1, it says, For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty.

How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken to the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will." And we see this in Acts 14. An iconium that entered the synagogue of the Jews together and spoken in such a manner that a large number of people believe both of Jews and of Greeks. And this is the apostle Paul's one of these men.

Says, but the Jews who disbelieve stir up the minds of the Gentiles and bitter them against the brethren. Therefore they spend a long time there speaking boldly reliance upon the Lord who is testifying to the word of his grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands. I don't know if you noticed, but in both those passages, it spoke of someone testifying. I don't know if you caught that, but in both passages, it spoke of God testifying. By signs and wonders done by the apostles, God testified, both in Jerusalem and here in Iconium and throughout wherever the apostles went, with signs and wonders, with miracles, the finger marks of God to testify that what these men were saying was indeed the truth, that the Christ has come, that he has been crucified and he is risen.

We think through the book of Acts, we think of all the different miracles. I mentioned Pentecost, they're speaking other language and dialects so much so that the men there are amazed, wondering what is this? We hear them speaking in our own language, our own dialects, aren't these all Galileans? How is this possible? We think of the very next chapter, the healing of the lame man at the temple.

Even taking the sweat claws of Paul and these work claws, he wiped the sweat from his brow and they would take that and the sick would be healed. Even two different times, once by Peter, once by Paul, the dead being raised. These signs and wonders, the finger marks of God, the Lord using them to testify that indeed these are his apostles, they bear his message. They would receive power. Things would not be kosher between them and the Sanhedrin.

Rome would not be on board, but that was not necessary. It was not necessary for God to establish the Davidic throne back in Israel and to raise the king like David over them, and to throw off Roman oppression for them to complete their commission, they would receive power. Power to speak, and power to perform signs and wonders that God himself might testify to their gospel. And secondly, the Lord says to them, you shall be my witnesses. And we heard last night about the great commission in Matthew 28, and there, I believe it was Doug Phillips who spoke of it and said that those were imperatives.

And the main imperative, there is the making of disciples and the going, the baptizing, the teaching, those are participles that because they're connected to the verb also become imperatives. Go, make disciples, baptize, teach. Those are commands. So we read Matthew 28, we wanna apply Matthew 28, we see the Lord speaking there to the apostles, He is commanding them to go. Make disciples, baptize, teach.

When we come to Acts 1, 8, although most of my life read it as command, it's not. These are indicative, These are statements of fact, or really, I believe these are promises. The Lord says to them, you will receive power. That's a promise. A promise He fulfilled very quickly.

And the next, He says to them, you will be My witnesses. That's a powerful statement. It's one thing for the Lord to command it, and certainly they ought to obey it. He is the Lord, the risen Lord. It's another thing for it to actually happen.

We look at our own lives and know how many things has God commanded that we know we ought to do, and like Paul and Romans said, we say, oh, but I don't do it. And the things I hate, that's what I do. But oh, the Lord here gives such a sweet promise. Not only will they receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, but they will be His witnesses. It's a promise.

It's a statement of fact. It's not a command. That command is in Matthew 28 and other places, but here it's a promise. And who is he speaking to? He's speaking to the 11.

Where Judas is gone, he's betrayed the Lord. He's hugged himself. This is before they bring in Matthias to replace him. He's speaking to the 11. He's saying to them, you will be my witnesses.

Now, why do I make that point? Why do I say so specifically who is he speaking to and point out to you that he's speaking to the 11? Well, for one reason, because Luke points it out to us. And I don't believe those words are idly there in the New Testament. We know there are other disciples.

Apparently the Lord appears, as Paul says, more than 500 before he ascends. We know there's more than the 11. We know in that chapter there's 120 or so gathered praying on the day of Pentecost. So we know it's not just the 11. But yet it's the 11 he's speaking to.

Why is that significant? But it's significant because of what he says to them, you will be my witnesses. The word witness here in the Greek, it means one who has information or knowledge of something, and hence one who can give information, bring to light, or confirm something. And the New Testament has a particular meaning of those who announce the facts of the gospel until it's tidied. Now in some way that applies to us, we're gonna talk about that a little bit later, but in the way Jesus, I believe, is saying it here to the apostles, it does not apply to us, not in the same way.

Because this word used throughout the book of Acts and really primarily in the New Testament, it has the idea of being eyewitnesses. You and I are not eyewitnesses of the risen Lord. We did not see his suffering on the cross. We did not see his miracles. We were not there.

If you think you were there, we need to speak. You are delusional. You were not there. They were there. So I believe when he says to them specifically, you will be my witness, as He's speaking of their eyewitness testimony that they will give and the signs that will accompany it to verify it.

John Gill says this, commenting on this very verse, he says, witnesses, they would be of the Person of Christ, of His deity and sonship, of His incarnation, His ministry, and His miracles, of His suffering and death, of His resurrection from the dead, His ascension to heaven. This was to be their work and what belonged to them, and not to inquire about a temporal kingdom and the setting up of that and the times and seasons of it. Their business was to testify of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that followed, and to preach a crucified Jesus as the only savior of lost sinners. Another passage that we've looked at in which the Lord again gives his great commission to his apostles is Luke 24. And again we see there as he speaks specifically to them, it's the same idea he gives them that they're going to be those who give eyewitness testimony.

Luke 24, 44 says, Now He said to them, These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He said to them, thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day. That repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

Behold, I am sending you forth, behold, I am sending forth the promise of my Father upon you, but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Sounds very similar to Acts chapter one, doesn't it, written by the same author, by Luke. And yet here The Lord again says to them, you're going to be my witnesses. He has very specific, these things that I'm talking about, these things that have been fulfilled, Moses, the law, the songs of prophets that I have come and fulfilled, you saw them, you're witnesses, and I'm sending you forth except you need to stay here until you have power. You cannot go until the Spirit comes.

They were eyewitnesses of the risen Lord. And if we go back a little bit earlier in the passage in verse three, that's what Luke tells us, that he had spent this time, these 40 days, presenting himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs. What has he been doing? He's been giving them commands, been talking about the kingdom of God, he's been telling them of the material Jerusalem, he's been giving them instructions, and at the same time, he's given them many convincing proofs that indeed He's not a ghost, he's not an apparition, they're not deluded that indeed he is risen. Here Thomas, come, put your hands where they put the nails.

Stop doubting, believe. So by many convincing proofs, he has demonstrated indeed he is not only the Christ who suffered, but the Christ who's risen. And their job would be to testify to that, not only if the Christ has come, not only to his sinless life, not only to his atoning death, but to his glorious resurrection. They would bear witness to that. How important is that to the church?

If all we had was the sinless life, the atoning death, and not the resurrection, I don't know that we have hope. It's a great story. First Corinthians 15, Paul tells us that without the resurrection of the dead, that not even Christ is raised, and we have no hope, and really we're to be pitied more than all men, because we're great fools to live and suffer for what? No hope after this life? Well, the hope that we have is not only that our Savior died, but he lives.

And they were to testify, to bear witness, that they were indeed eyewitnesses of the resurrection. A little bit later in chapter one, when they go to pick the replacement for Judas, here's what they say the qualification needs to be. It says, therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that he was taken up from us. One of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." This was their job. This was their calling.

They were going to bear witness. They were going to be eyewitnesses of the resurrection. Look in chapter 2, if you want to flip there quickly. In chapter 2, verse 29, here Peter in the day of Pentecost says, regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day. And so because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke the resurrection of the Christ that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay.

And in verse 32, listen to what Peter says next. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. And we could go to chapter 10, and we could go on, and we could go to Paul speaking in 1 Corinthians 15, where he talks there about Cephas and James, the 500, and last of all, himself, he witnessed the Lord risen, exalted, ascended into heaven. These are the men that God calls forth and says, you will be my witnesses. You are going to be eyewitnesses to my resurrection.

This word in the Greek is very similar to how we use it in English. We talk about witnesses in the courtroom and what kind of witnesses do we typically think of, those who saw something happen. So you were at the bank that day, what did you see? Well, I saw a man come in. What was he wearing?

Well, jeans, a jacket, a hood. OK, what else was going on there? They don't want to talk to the guy who was in the bank to his aunt sister's cousin's brother who heard the story. They want the eyewitnesses. What happened?

What did you see? Tell us. These are not men who are rumor mongering. These are not men who are telling things that they heard may have perhaps happened. These are the men, Lord is saying, not only am I commanding you to be my witnesses, but indeed you will be that.

And they understood that calling throughout the book of Acts. That's how they refer to themselves. They are his witnesses appointed by the Lord himself to bear witness not only to his suffering, but to his resurrection. And then he says where? The promise of power of the Holy Spirit coming upon them, the promise that indeed they would fulfill his commission, be his witnesses.

The last part of this must have been perhaps a little shocking, that they would be his witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. I don't know which of this would be most surprising for the apostles. Now, Jerusalem makes sense in some ways. It's the home of Israel. It's the place of the temple.

It's a logical starting place with only one small problem. The people in power don't like them. They just crucified their Lord, this one they're gonna proclaim they don't like. They brought false witnesses. They had him put to death.

Not exactly a friendly audience and a great place to start. Yet in Luke, that's exactly what Jesus said. If we go back to those verses I read just a moment ago, he said that repentance for forgiveness of sins be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. If you remember Luke 24, that's after the crucifixion, the resurrection, just as this passage is. They were to remain in Jerusalem till the Holy Spirit came upon them to give them the power to speak and to act and to do what God had called them to do and they were to begin in Jerusalem.

That's where their mission began. On the one hand, it makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, it seems like a tough place to start. Let's remember, these are indicative, not bearatives. Indeed, the Lord had command, they stay in Jerusalem and they begin in Jerusalem, but this is a promise, this is a statement of fact.

Guess what, you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem. But not just there. And Judea, a little friendlier place, again, Jews, people that ought to be a receptive audience, people looking for Messiah, people who have the word of God, that they're not starting from scratch with those people, certainly the gospel should go there. And the Lord goes on, and Samaria, who are these Samaritans. Well, Adam Clark says the Samaritans are a mongrel people who worship the God of Israel in connection with other gods who had no kind of religious connection with the Jews.

Even there, Lord, even there, we're going to be effective witnesses. We're going to proclaim the gospel there. Again, this is a statement of fact the Lord gives. This is a promise, you will be my witnesses, not only in Jerusalem, not only in Judea, but even among those mongrel people who the Jews do not care for, who the Jews view as compromisers of those who really forsaken the Lord, even there you will be my witnesses. We also see the Lord goes on, He speaks not only of Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, but also to the remotest part of the earth.

And there it would seem He means the Gentiles. Not only to those in Jerusalem, not only to the Jews in Judea, not only to the Samaritans or at least half Jews, but to those who have no knowledge of the word of God. They're not even looking for the Messiah. Even there, you will be my witnesses. The book of Acts, we continue to read it and look at it.

You would see that it begins to be the fulfillment of the promises of the Lord here. What he says in chapter 1 begins to be fulfilled in chapter 2. They begin in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit comes and they preach the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the signs and testimony of God, drawing men to himself, and 3, 000 souls are added in Jerusalem. So the Lord says this is what's going to happen.

You're gonna receive the Holy Spirit, you're gonna get power, you're gonna be my witness, you're gonna begin in Jerusalem, and that's exactly what happens. Very shortly after that. We read on in Acts, we see the Gospel does not stay in Jerusalem, it continues to spread out into Judea and Samaria. In Acts chapter 8, we see the disciples are scattered by the persecution. As they go, they go proclaiming Christ.

See, Philip and Samaria are preaching the gospel and their people believe. In Acts chapter 10, we see that Peter preached to the first Gentile convert to Cornelius, his household, and people come to the Lord and they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The rest of the book of Acts, we see after that, the missionary journeys of Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Silas. We see people going out into the world, taking the gospel, proclaiming Christ, and nothing stood in their way. Language differences didn't stop them there in chapter two.

Cultural differences could not stop them. The Roman Empire could not slow them down. The Sanhedrin threatened them, flogged them, demanded they stop preaching Christ. That would not stop them. The gospel indeed, as the Lord has said, would be preached to all nations.

They would indeed be witnesses, eyewitnesses of his resurrection, both in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the remotest part of the world. So how does this apply to us? Well first let me tell you how I do not believe it applies to us. What are the key differences? One, we're not apostles.

I'm a pastor. I'm not an apostle. I know there's some today who believe what's really wrong with the church is we don't have apostles and we need apostles. I believe that office did not exist after those who are eyewitnesses. I'm not aware of anyone raising the dead or doing these things the apostles did or having those kinds of signs and wonders accompanying their testimony.

Certainly, we're not looking for any additional revelation from the Lord. That season has ceased. So we're not apostles. Those things do not apply to us, they did to him. We do not have the ability to do signs and wonders.

Now here's the good news. We don't need it. It was necessary for them that the gospel might be authenticated. It was necessary. It's not necessary for us.

Why is it necessary for us? Because we're not eyewitnesses. We're not going anywhere saying, believe me, I was there, I saw it, and I'll prove it by doing a miracle. We point back to the apostles and say, you know what, they saw it, they were there, they were eyewitness, and look what else they did. The very sweat rags were taken from Paul.

The very shadow of Peter would fall upon people and they were healed. I can't do that, but I don't need to do that. God forbid that we ever get the idea that we can't be effective witnesses because we can't raise the dead. We don't need to Because our testimony points back to their testimony. Our gospel is their gospel.

And so they were apostles, they had the ability to do signs and wonders. And so the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit that they had is not the same for us. It's the same Holy Spirit. Those manifest in a way that does not apply to us. Again, we are not eyewitnesses.

They were. But everything that we do in evangelism must be built upon the foundation of exactly what's happening in this passage. This is not merely historical narrative. Luke does not record this to Holy Spirit, does not put it in the pages of scripture that we might read it as a story and believe, yes, it's true, it actually happened, and doesn't that warm our hearts that Jesus was with them and he spoke to them and he gave them a promise? Although we're not a policy that doesn't apply exactly the same way, we know though that all scriptures God breathes.

And it's useful, teaching, correcting, reproving, and training righteous, the men of God might be thoroughly furnished for every good work. We know that because Paul says that. We know because it's in the word of God. So we look at the context, who's speaking, who's he speaking to, what's he saying, we try to understand that, And now how does it apply to us? Let me give you a few ways that it does.

First, we have the same commission. I'm not gonna belabor this because you've heard it all this weekend and we're gonna continue to hear the rest of the weekends. The great commission is given to the apostles and through them to the church. Doug Phillips spoke last night. The historians record the apostles going far throughout the world.

I'm not aware he even made it to the Americas. But the gospel has come here. To Take the gospel to the remotest part of the world, to every tribe and tongue and people and nation, is a mission that has not been finished. The commission through the apostles comes to the church. In Jude 1, verse 3 here, Jude writes, "'Beloved, ' He's speaking not to the apostles, he's speaking to the church.

Says, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. This gospel has been handed down to us, and it is the gospel of the apostles, of the eyewitness, and we carry that forth to continue the work that Jesus has given to the church. And we see that in Acts 8. There were persecutions broken out, and it says that Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death, him being Stephen. And on that day, a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem.

And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles noticed that. They're still in Jerusalem. The church is scattered. Judea, Samaria, does that sound familiar? Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria.

The church is scattered, not the apostles. This is some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him, but Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Therefore those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria began proclaiming Christ to them." So what happened to the church when it was scattered? They preached the word.

There's no understanding here in the early church that this mission, this great commission, is limited to the apostles. Well, Jesus said that to the 11. Doesn't apply to us. The great commission, that's only to the 11. Doesn't apply to us.

Luke 24, that's the 11. Doesn't apply to us. Early church doesn't have that understanding. The understanding is, yes, the apostles are the eyewitnesses. The gospel comes through them.

The signs and wonders come through them, not through every ordinary believer, but still the church is given the commission. And so as they go, what do they do? They proclaim Christ. They preach the word. And Acts 11, it says the same thing.

And those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch. So now we are beyond Judea and we're beyond Samaria. The church is moving out into the remotest part of the world. What are they doing? Speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

I praise God it doesn't stop there. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And The hand of the Lord was with him, a large number who believed turned to the Lord. So what does the early church do? Well, the apostles remain in Jerusalem, continue their work there, they're scattered to Judea and Samaria.

So what do they do? They proclaim Christ's. And they go beyond that, They go to Cyprus and Cyrene and Antog and then go and what do they do? They proclaim Christ. The Messiah has come and they preach to Jews and they preach to Greeks.

So the promise of the Lord, what he says to the apostles was fulfilled not only in them and through them but to the church also being fulfilled. So how does it apply to us? Well, one, we have the same commission. The mission of the Lord is still given to the church that we would go and we would proclaim Christ. Two, we have the ability to carry out the mission.

I've already said we're not apostles. We don't have the ability to raise the dead, but we have the Holy Spirit. We have the ability to speak. In 1 Peter 4.11, Peter writes, whoever speaks is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." And Peter here is speaking to the church.

He's speaking to believers who are scattered throughout Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. He's not speaking to the apostles. He is an apostle. He's one who he says a little bit later in the letter in chapter five that he was an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ. They were not probably.

Maybe even very few of them had ever even seen the Lord, but they had believed on Christ. So what does he say to them? If you're going to speak, do so as you're speaking, the very utterances of God, and wherever you serve, however you serve, do it in the strength in which God supplies. We have the same Holy Spirit, the manifestation is different, and yet our hope is the same, that we will have the ability, the dynamite, the power. We have the ability to do what God calls us to do.

Different manifestation, the same hope, the same Holy Spirit. Number three, we carry the same message. This is the eyewitness testimony of the apostles. What else do we have to carry to the world? In Galatians, Paul says, if there is any other gospel that anyone else brings, including an angel, let them be accursed.

We have no other gospel. There is no other good news. All we have is the testimony of the Apostles as recorded here in Holy Scripture. The eyewitness testimony not only of the life of the Messiah, his atoning death, his glorious resurrection, his victorious ascension. We didn't see it.

I wasn't there, you weren't there, but we have believed on it, and now our job is to communicate it to others. It's to preach the gospel. That is the great commission. That is the commandment. We carry not only the same commission, we have the same Holy Spirit, but we also carry the same message.

Again, if we go back to the definition of what is a witness, it's those who announce the facts of the gospel and tell its tidings. We are not eyewitnesses, but we are witnesses, and our job is to tell the facts of the gospel as delivered by the apostles, delivered once for all to the saints. It has been delivered to us, we are to continually deliver. Our witnessing is dependent upon the eyewitness testimony of the apostles. Our duty is to tell the story of Jesus Christ as delivered by them.

Now why is it difficult today? We live in an age that has been described as postmodern. Postmodernism really detests a couple of things. And one thing postmodernism detests is meta-narrative. Now, what is meta-narrative?

Well, narrative is a story. We kind of already talked about that. Meta means big, large, huge. So postmodern culture really does not care for big stories, stories that would define reality, stories that would be overarching stories that would apply and affect every culture. Let me give you a quote from one philosopher, Jean-François Lyotard, postmodernist philosopher.

He said, simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity towards metanarratives. So here is a postmodern philosopher saying, you want me to define it for you? You want me to define the spirit of this age? We hate metanarratives. We don't like big stories.

We like little stories. Here's a story in Papua New Guinea, and here's a story in Russia, and here's a story in America, and here's a story in Israel. Aren't they great stories? Let's all tell our stories. But no one story can be superior.

No one story can transcend every culture and time and people. We hate that. And guess what we have to deliver? The meta narrative. The story.

That's the calling. And yet we're doing so in a culture that says, we don't want to hear that. How dare you stay up and say your story, this American story, we're going, no, no, it's actually a Jerusalem story to begin with. No, no, your American story of this Jesus, that that would transcend my culture and their culture. How arrogant of you.

How unenlightened of you. And so we have difficulty. So what is the temptation? The temptation is that we would be swayed by the spirit of our age, and we would make Jesus' story just one of many. That we might turn back a little bit, not from telling the story, but from telling it as the story.

Yet the gospel as presented by the apostles is the meta-narrative that defines all of reality. Everything in the Old Testament, everything in history before Christ pointed forward to Christ. That's why Luke 24, he takes them back to the law, the prophets, the Psalms, says, all this pointed to me and I fulfilled it. And you're witnesses of these things. Everything in history before Christ pointed forward to him.

Everything after the coming of Christ, his death, resurrection is going, pointing back to him or flowing from him. All things have been created for him, by him and through him. He holds all things together. That's a metanarrative. Our culture says we don't wanna hear metanarratives, we don't like them, we don't like big stories.

The temptation is we would shrink back and we would tell it as maybe just one of many stories. Here's another thing that postmodernism does that's difficult for us, and that is that because they not only love stories, they also love feelings, and they don't really care for facts. We live in a culture that increasingly if you notice any advertising at all and I'm gonna encourage you to notice it but if you notice that it's changing. I noticed a couple of car commercials recently and they're talking about a driving experience. They're talking about the kind of people that want to drive their cars.

Not talking about gas mileage, not talking about safety, not talking about how many they've sold, they're talking about a driving experience. You know why they're doing that? Because it resonates with this culture, it resonates with this postmodern philosophy. Postmodern philosophy, we don't care about facts. Again, there are no meta-narratives.

There are no absolute truth. Facts, what facts? They don't care about news, they don't care about facts. They don't believe in facts. Oh, it's truth as you understand it, which of course is not true for me, therefore it's not an absolute fact.

It's a fact for you, it's not a fact for me. We like feelings, we like experiences. So the temptation here is that we would, in a desire to share our experience again, we would focus on our testimony and our experience and not the gospel. I'm not downplaying the importance or the place of sharing your personal testimony, what God has done for you, what God is doing for you, and the process of sharing your faith with someone else, but I will tell you that sharing what God has done for you is not necessarily the gospel. If you say that I once was blind, now I see.

Now you tell me your story, that's not the gospel. If your gospel does not include the life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you are not preaching the gospel. Yet we live in a culture that might say to you, yes, please tell me your story and I'll tell you mine. Tell me your grandmother's story and I'll tell you my grandmother's story. Oh, isn't this fun?

What, didn't this make you feel good? You go, I'll go, we've told our stories. Not that we shrink back and we act like our story is not the big story that defines all reality, or we make our gospel presentation more about our story and our experience and how we feel, and not about the facts of the gospel. So the reality is the gospel, it is fact, it's about facts. And we're not opposed to the subjective.

We're not opposed to feelings. There are incredible feelings and experiences that come from being born again. I was once dead and I've been made alive by God. That's an incredible experience. But if that's all I tell someone, I have not preached the gospel.

I can tell them my experience, I can tell them the joy that I have, I can tell them the close to the Lord, I can tell them, but I also have to tell them the gospel. I did not raise myself from spiritual death. I was raised by God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the gospel, it's the facts. It's the eyewitness testimony of the apostles to the facts of the sinless, perfect life of Jesus Christ.

To his death that was an atoning sacrifice the Father said, it's sufficient, to his glorious resurrection when the Father said, he's vindicated, death could not hold him, he is indeed my son. And our gospel presentation cannot be about feelings and experiences alone. It must be about the fact if you're going to choose one or the other leave out the feelings experiences and stick to the facts. We live in a culture that really could care less about facts does not care about absolute truth and really denies the idea of a big story that defines reality that transcends culture and time. And yet we have the same message as the apostles 2, 000 years later.

Yes, we have not evolved. We are not enlightened. We are sticking to the 2, 000 year old story of Jesus Christ crucified and risen. There is no better story. There is no other gospel.

It's the fact that's delivered by the apostles. We have that same message. And then finally, we have the same assurance that the Great Commission will be fulfilled. As I mentioned earlier in Matthew 28, it's commands go, make disciples baptized, teach here in Acts, it's you will be my witnesses, you will receive power. This is promise, this is hope, this is, I know things look grim, I know Rome's in charge, and they'll say, he doesn't care for what we're doing here, but guess what, you're gonna be my witnesses, this is going to happen.

And even with more certainty, in Matthew 24, Jesus says, this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. That's a promise. It's a promise of the Lord. This gospel will be preached. We're not defeated.

It doesn't matter who wins the following Tuesday. It's important. It's historically significant. Guess what? The kingdom will march on.

This gospel will be preached. And if I'm lazy and sloth on the side not doing anything about it, guess what? The gospel will be preached. This is the promise. This is the hope that we have.

The apostles saw this in their lifetime. The gospel started being preached in Jerusalem and many believed, thousands. And then it went to Judea and then it went to Samaria and then it began to go to Antioch, and again it went to Corinth, and then it went to Ephesus, and then it went to Rome, and apparently even beyond that in their lifetime, what Jesus promised here when he says them, they did receive power, they were his witnesses. The gospel was proclaimed and began to spread. And we have this hope that the promise of the Lord will be fulfilled.

He hasn't been wrong yet. The gospel will be preached. One final passage in Revelation, how to fill our hearts with joy and hope that indeed the promise of the Lord, his plans will come about, this gospel will be preached. We have in Revelations here a picture of the one who sits on the throne in the Lamb, Jesus Christ being worshiped. In verse nine it says, they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, For you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

You have made them to be a kingdom and priest to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And a number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and glory and honor and blessing. And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever and the four living creatures kept saying, Amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped. Did you notice all of the participants there?

We have creatures, we have the elders, and then in verse 13, every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and on the sea and all things in my heart saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be glory and dominion and honor and all in all." I believe what John here has in this revelation is a picture of the fulfillment of the promise of Christ. He laid down his life to purchase for God men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And that death was not in vain. The Great Commission was not given in vain. The apostles were indeed given power, and they were his eyewitness, and their testimony is recorded even now for us to study and learn from, and the gospel continues to be preached and poured out and spreading even in places we have no idea about.

And the hope that we have as we see it being fulfilled in the book of Acts, the hope that we have in our lifetime, seeing the gospel continue to spread, and the history of the church, and the hope that we really have here in Revelation is that at the end of the day, the gospel will be preached to all nations. The Lord has purchased for God, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, how will they be saved? By the preaching of the gospel. By the fulfillment of what God has commanded, by the work of the Holy Spirit in and through them. We have the same commission.

We have the same Holy Spirit. We have the same message. And we have the same glorious hope that this gospel will be preached. May we preach it. Let's pray.

Oh Father, how glorious is your word. I thank you for the stories and the scriptures because we love stories. We love to hear of what Jesus said and how His apostles respond and the questions they asked and we can relate to them in ways. We love to hear the stories of Christ and His life and His ministry and His healings. We love to hear the stories of the early church and their work and their suffering and their difficulties and their victory.

But Lord, we just acknowledge today, these are not mere stories. This is truth, absolute truth. And that your story, the story of your redeeming for yourself a people throughout history, through the coming of your son, through his death and resurrection, is the metanarrative. This is the big story. May it define our reality.

May it be the message not only in our hearts but upon our lips. Lord, may we be encouraged today that the victory is certain, that our hope will not be dashed, but Christ the great King will be victorious, and those whom He has purchased from every tribe and tongue and people and nation will be saved. And may that hope fill us with the joy, the purpose of preaching the gospel. We ask this in the precious name of our Savior. Amen.

The National Center for Family Integrated Churches is dedicated to proclaiming the sufficiency of scripture for church and family life and to the establishment of biblically ordered churches. For more information, resources, and products, please visit our website at www.ncfic.org. Thank you. Thank you.