Acts 1:1-3
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Acts 1:6-8
The Ascension
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 times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.
Acts 2:1-3
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
Acts 2:5-13
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine ( there are always those who will mock the gospel and or the works of God).
In the first group of verses, Luke says, “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during (for a full) forty days and speaking about the Kingdom of God.” Testimony of witnesses is how we establish a fact. We believe in the existence of Lincoln, Washington, Julius Cesar, the Roman Empire etc. though we have personally have never seen any of them. Yet we have not only the testimony of Luke of Jesus ascension but of the other 3 Gospel writers. Imagine being there with them, after you witnessed Jesus being beaten and whipped and then seeing him nailed on the Cross, then hearing him say “Father into thy hands I commit my spirit” and then seeing him die. Then knowing that He said in 3 days he would rise, but would he? No one has ever done that but then no one has ever walked on water, healed the blind, raised the dead, Jesus was unlike anyone we have ever know. However in all these instances he was alive, now he’s dead. How could he raise himself? (Now talking in the first person).
This would be the greatest miracle ever, and now it’s the third day, and our women came back early this morning saying the stone was rolled away and they saw angels? Peter and John, upon hearing this, left to see, and they have yet to come back. Now fast forward all these events to the evening when all of us the are now gathered together in a home, and we hear “Peace to you!” At once we turn to look and it’s Jesus, but is it Jesus or his “ghost”? And the account continues in
Luke 24:38-40
And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ”
And he even asked for something to eat, and he ate before them.
From believing that Jesus could overthrow the Roman tyranny, to now seeing him crucified, to now being alive, touchable, and able to eat, the last days have been a rollercoaster of emotions. What man is this, the truth of his Divine nature is beginning to dawn on them. From the God of the Old Testament that if you saw Him you were dead, to the God of the New Testament who could actually be touched and handled. The concern I have with this part of Christ’s story is we read it “flat,” like a textbook with no thought to the emotions, the fear, the marvel; you are blowing my mind, how can this be!! To do this part of scripture justice we must try to see it and feel it through the disciples. To do so is to become changed men and women as they became. Peter was never Peter again, John though most endeared to Jesus became mighty and so true with them all, they were changed forever. And that change in them is how they shared Christ and how it was said of them,
Acts 17:6
And when they could not find them( Paul and Silas) they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
Can this be said of us? We have the same Lord, and we have the same Holy Spirit? Until we breathe life into these passages and stop reading them as a nursery rhyme or textbook the benefit of this profound truth will not benefit us, or change us into the men and women we could be.
We are called to the same. We are called to be Jesus to our world and a changing life is the greatest proof of that. Our speech, our ambitions, our person play a huge part of demonstrating that. For example, and speaking to my brothers, do we talk more about sports, our jobs, or our hobbies than we talk about Jesus? Which topic gets more attention? Is there more enthusiasm in our voice when we are talking about our favorite team or hobby than when we talk about the Lord? And for my sisters, is there more attention given to talking about the kids or family life than when we talk about our Lord? Our speech, body posture and tone of voice and the longevity of the topic all speak to its importance in our life. Sometimes I feel that the Sunday morning message doesn’t even sink in. Like the parable of the sower that Jesus spoke of our hearts are like the path the seed is thrown on and then its eaten by the birds. Just as soon as we step outside the church it is dismissed. The very next topic is where are we going to lunch? We could say, that was such a good message let’s go to lunch so we can talk about it.
Desperation has been the motivator of many movements, and unless we feel or have a sense of desperation for Christ the depth of the message and its impact on us will be limited. We need to see the precariousness of our situation. How the flesh can so easily deceive and fool us into thinking we are right with God, or that we don’t need God. We absolutely need the Risen Savior in our life and we absolutely need to be on a quest know Him better and to be filled with His Holy Spirit DAILY. If we do not take an aggressive stance we will not have the where with all to endure and push forward. Sadly people who I know who were on fire for God when they were younger, have traded their faith for materialism. The success of their life has interfered with their hunger and need of Christ. Though the scripture does not say it I am assuming that this is exactly what happened to Asa King of Judah. From a God fearing King who seriously trusted in God in his early years to a man who took money out of the house of God to pay his enemy to be his friend defend him from Israel. Such a huge fall. Read 2 Chronicles 14 – 16.
Paul put it this way.
Philippians 3:3-6
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
To the Jewish mind Paul had all the accolades to be great, maybe even the next High Priest. He had every reason not to seek the Lord and to trust in his accomplishments. However, The Lord gave him his sight back and in so seeing again he became a changed man. He speaks of this change in his letter to the Philippians.
Philippians 3:7-9
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
We do not use this same terminology but we say the same thing when we say “I think I am good enough, or I’m a good person, God should let me into His Kingdom, or worse yet, I don’t need Him. Paul verses need to be our verses. This is to rightly relate to Christ. When our view of Him is high and lifted up ( Isaiah 6:1) we are on the right track. Therefore whatever accomplishments or rod of confidence we may have in ourselves, if it diminishes even one degree and our desperation for Christ increases, we are growing and we are on the right path. We need to consider our accomplishments as “rubbish,” why, because only faith in Christ brings us salvation, everything else becomes an obstacle to our salvation( salvation in the complete sense, from salvation, to sanctification to glorification).
Like Paul, extremely accomplished in the Jewish ways, but these things became a hindrance to him seeking Christ. So he took it all and threw it in the trash. Then and only then was he free to fully set his heart, mind and soul on seeking, serving, growing and knowing Christ. This is not easy, but if we continue to know Jesus, read His Word and pray we will gain a greater love for Him and those things that we have trusted in we can begin to discard because our love for Christ has grown..and the catalyst for these changes is the Resurrection of our Lord.
A pivotal verses out of the life story of King Asa
2 Chronicles 16:1-3
Asa’s Last Years
In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the LORD and the king’s house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, “There is a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.”
2 Chronicles 16:7-9
At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong to those who trust in Him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.”
Aside from this being a cool verse don’t miss what the verse is screaming out, God is a relational God. He searches the whole world looking for INDIVIDUAL HEARTS that want a relationship with Him. That’s what trust is, it is wanting a relationship, whether it be with God, your wife or your neighbor, without trust there is no relationship. Here’s another example,
Deuteronomy 11:18-24
“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the LORD your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea.
When you consider these words, take them to heart you cannot but understand and see what a relational God, God is. He speaks to us on how to teach our children…and that’s how He wants to be with us. He wants to procure a Godly seed, a remnant in the land that will be strong towards Him, a remnant that He can work through and combat and defeat the works of the flesh and save the lost THROUGH US! To not see His heart in these verses is to miss the Cross, “For God so loved the WORLD that HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life! That is so relational it is literally out of this world! To have a relationship with God that lasts for Eternity!!! What more could a soul want? Anything else is so inferior that there are no words in the English language to describe it.
Father God,
Thank you for these impactful words. Work in us, change us as only You can. Place in each of us a passion and an awareness of our need of You. Help us to see ourselves as You see us, yet at the same time with so much mercy, forgiveness and love for our weak state of being. Grow us up Father so we can be Jesus to our work, community and place of worship. In Christ name,
Amen
Go in peace and in the fullness and strength of the Lord.
Arthur Navarrette