Acts 1:1-5 | It's Christ's Church, Not Yours

There were a lot of Theophiloses that ran around. But the Greek that Luke uses in his Gospel as he's addressing it to Theophilles and he says, "Oh, you most excellent one." firstly, the U is singular. So it's actually written to it's not a y'all in modern day English, right? It's a U personal, right? Single word, single person. But that title most excellent was actually a title that was given to a specific person, most likely like a Roman official or a patron or someone with some type of standing where Luke would actually address them with a formal title like that. And why does that matter? It's because Luke is actually naming a specific real identifiable recipient. And that tells us about the nature of what Luke is writing. It's not mythology. It's not a religious narrative. It's not anything like that. This is a historical account written to a real person that includes

Real people and places. And that means that it's open to scrutiny and that the book of Acts can bear the weight of all of that scrutiny. Luke, he tells us from the very first sentence, what I'm about to tell you actually happened. And what actually happened changes everything because look at verse three with me. It says this, he presented himself alive to them after suffering by many proofs. The word Luke uses for proofs here, it's it's a Greek word. It's techarian, which means it's it's a legal medical term, which is a kind of forensic work. That's what it means. And so, it's a word that a physician would use or a lawyer would use. It doesn't mean signs. It doesn't mean wonders. Doesn't mean experiences. It means conclusive proof, demonstrable, like reproducible proof. In Luke, he's being precise. These are not visions. These are not emotional feelings or anything like that. These are real encounters. Jesus, he actually sat and he ate with people after his resurrection. He actually went to Thomas and Thomas was invited to touch the holes in his hands and to put his fingers into Christ's side. It actually happened. He walked with two disciples on the road to Emmas. He cooked fish on a beach and ate with Peter. And we oftentimes think about these post-resurrection appearances happening on like a super chaotic Easter Sunday. But Luke, he tells us that he did these things and he taught these things over a period of 40 days. There were conversations and many of the things we don't even have records of. Most of the stuff we don't have records of, but for 40 days he ate and he talked and he spoke and he touched. And a lot of those people when Luke is writing the book of Acts, they had seen all of these things. They had heard the teachings. They had listened to him speaking and they ate with Jesus.

Jesus's followers are not engaging in some type of hopeful, wishful future event. They're not grieving men who desperately wanted their teacher back, their rabbi. They weren't having mass hallucinations. They saw Jesus. They spoke with him. In Luke, he uses that language to prove it. And what did the risen Christ talk about during those 40 days? Notice this. You need to circle this. He taught them about the kingdom of God. Not comfort, not reassurance. He talked about the risen king. He gathered his chosen disciples and he taught them about his rule, about the kingdom, the risen Christ. T teaching them not about how to be vindicated, not anything like that. He arose from the dead and just as he was teaching about the kingdom of God throughout his entire earthly ministry after he died, he continued teaching them about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God was so important because he didn't just he didn't just die as a teacher, but he rose again proving himself to be the king of glory. John Owen, he said this that the resurrection of Christ is the great proof of the power of God, the foundation of our faith and the spring of all our comfort. And if that is true, if the resurrection is actually what happened, why do so many Christians behave and believe like everything is so fragile? If Christ truly is risen, and he is, and he really is reigning, which he is, then why is it that so many churches struggle with grumbling and complaining and grievances and control? I'm convinced that's because there is a weak view of the resurrection. Why do so many Christians struggle with walking by faith? Why do so many struggle with just things like

Obedience? It's because they have a weak view of Jesus risen, resurrected reigning. And so there is a functional denial of the Lord's authority over his church in the way that so many Christians live today. When we act like everything depends on us, when we behave like everything depends on our influence, our plans, our preferences, we live as though the tomb is still sealed. The resurrection is not just part of the Christian experience. It's the foundation of everything. And because the resurrection actually happened and because God is still working, it's his church, the bride of Christ, it will stand. Luke tells us in verse two that Jesus gave commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Now this is how God works. He works through people. If you are serving, whether you're an elder or a deacon or a teacher or a greeter or you're on the AV or leading worship or helping out in a Sunday school class or writing cards to people doing those different things, you are being used by God. And there is no small ministry. Amen. >> Everyone is a part of the body if you're in Christ. That's the ordinary pattern that God uses through chosen servants, not through accidents or circumstances. One thing Christians do not believe in is coincidences. We don't believe in that. Things don't just happen. God is at work. And since God works through his disciples in Acts, he still works through his disciples today. I recently saw a beautiful picture of a wood carving that Oh, man. That's so dark. Can you bring down like the main lights that way people can see this just real quick because I just think that this is Yeah. Take them all the way down. There we go. Yeah. Now we can see.

That's awesome. Look how beautiful that thing is. Four feet tall. It's huge. And the guy that carved this, his name was James Muriel. Okay. And I mean it took him something like a year and a half to make this family crest. It's for it says Richardson underneath there. You can't really see it. You can bring up the lights now. And it's so beautiful. And no one walks looking at that and go, "Man, that is one great chisel. I wonder what kind of hammer he used." That is one sharp saw. No, no one says anything like that. Who do we talk about? We talk about the wood carver. We talk about the carpenter. The credit belongs to the one who wields the tools, not the tools themselves. And you know what else is true about tools? They don't get anxious. I've never seen a nervous hammer or an anxious drill. When Christians begin to believe that everything depends on them, that the success or the failure of the church rises or falls on their efforts and their preferences and their plans, then they feel the crushing weight of anxiety. And guess what? You as a human, as a follower of Christ, were never designed to bear that kind of weight. Jesus is the one who holds the church. Jesus is the one that died for it. He holds it all together. The tools don't carry the weight. The carpenter does. And he is present. He is present with every Christ professing church just like First Baptist Church of Camden. He's at work here. He is the Savior, not anyone else. And because he's the carpenter, we can stop not white knuckling the tools. Listen to this. The reigning Christ commands patient obedience. The reigning Christ commands patient obedience. Look at verse four. And while staying with them, he ordered them not

To depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the father. Jesus, he commanded his disciples to stay in Jerusalem. And that's that's something that we should actually maybe take a h at and really stop to think to consider because Jerusalem is not a safe place. Not for the followers of Jesus. Sanhedrin's still there. Caiaphas is still there. The men who orchestrated the crucifixion, they're still in power watching, probably being pretty critical of anyone talking about Jesus. We know in John 21 that some of the disciples, they already went back to Galilee. They were like, "Well, I'm going to go back to what I know. I'm going to go back to fishing, back to something I can manage." But Jesus, he tells them to what? Go back to Jerusalem, to stay in a dangerous place, to wait in an uncomfortable city. Not because the comfort was unimportant, but because God had chosen Jerusalem to be the place that he had appointed to bring his Holy Spirit. Regardless of how it feels, the disciples, they could have had some pretty good, reasonable sounding arguments. I wrote down a few for here. Well, Jerusalem is dangerous. That's a really good reason not to go to Jerusalem. How about this? This one sounds super spiritual. The spirit of God is not limited by geography. That sounds really spiritual. Jesus did most of his ministry in Galilee. Surely that is where the movement should be headquartered. That's where it should all start. Those aren't necessarily foolish arguments. They almost sound wise, but it is never wise to disobey what God has clearly commanded. Regardless of how sensitive our or sensible I should say our arguments may be. And what are they to do while they are

In Jerusalem? They are supposed to wait not to strategize, not to organize, not to elect leadership or to draft mission statements. They are to wait for the promise of the father. And waiting is one of the hardest things that God asks of his people. We want action, don't we? We want results. We want movement right now in our fast food culture. Thomas Watson, he understood something that we easily forget. He wrote this. He said, "God's delays are not denials. He waits that he may be more gracious. Think about what happens if a gardener cannot wait. Okay, they plant their seed and the next day they say, "You know what? I'm going to just check on the progress of that seed. I'm just going to dig it up real quick." So, they dig it up. They look at it. Nothing yet. So, they reberry it. And the next day comes and they're getting really anxious. They're like, "There's no sprout there." So they take it, they dig it back up, and on and on and on it goes. You see, the checking actually destroys what was meant to take time. The gardener's impatience kills everything that he was impatient for. God, he brings growth in his time, not ours. The gardener's job is to plant, to water, maybe get rid of a few weeds and wait. And when Christians take matters into their own hands, then waiting on God can be like gardeners foolishly digging up the seed before it can take root. Many of the deepest conflicts in churches have impatience as their hidden root. A person or group, they want to force an outcome and it may be a good outcome. It may even be the right outcome, but because they're not willing to wait on God to bring it about in his time and

In his way, like they might have great intentions, but good intentions do not sanctify disobedience. An act of waiting is not passive resignation either. It is trust in the Lord expressed in continued faithfulness. You wait on God by praying, by serving, by doing what he has already made clear. We look later on, and we'll get here in a few weeks in Acts chapter 1 verse4. They're not just sitting around. What are they doing? It says that all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer. They were spending time with each other praying, but they weren't forcing the outcome. They were obeying the command to stay and to wait. And here's what this passage teaches us about God's work is that God often works in the very place that you are very uncomfortable in. May even want to leave. Jerusalem, the place of the crucifixion was also the place of the resurrection and it was the place that the Holy Spirit would fall. The disciples, they wanted to flee where Jesus had been killed. Totally understand that. But God sent them back because the most important thing in the history of the world was about to happen there. He was obedient. The disciples were they were waiting on the Lord. And sometimes that means staying in difficult places that God has appointed. And it exposes something in us. It reveals whether we trust God or whether we trust ourselves. It's easy to stay say that we trust the Lord, but it's harder to stay in Jerusalem. Third thing, the promised spirit empowers what Christ commands. Look at verse five. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Jesus, he draws a very sharp contrast between these two baptisms. John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. It was a public symbolic act of

Washing and it signified that they were turning away from sin in anticipation of the kingdom of God. You remember John the Baptist, his whole s sermons were all about repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, which is exactly what Jesus was preaching. But John was the forerunner of the Christ. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a different kind. Not just a degree, it's a different kind of baptism. It's not just an intensified version of John's cleansing. It is a fulfillment of God's covenant promise that he was making something new and better. I want to share with you guys three passages here. There's a bunch in the Old Testament, but I just wanted to do three because that's all that we have time for. It says this, "And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone and from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to call walk in my statutes. Be careful to obey my rules. Joel 2, which this is directly tied to acts by the apostle by Luke here says, "And it shall come to pass afterward, thou will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants, in those days I will pour out my spirit. Here's a final one in Jeremiah. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. What God promised through Ezekiel and Joel and Jeremiah is not an upgrade to the old covenant. It's a new covenant, an internal transformation, not an external code. God, he doesn't just give Christians a better set of rules.

He changes the heart of the believer and he puts his spirit within us so that we can walk in his statutes. Not reluctantly, not by our willpower and grinning and bearing it, but because he has transformed us into living bodies that are now partakers in the covenant promise. We've been transformed by his work. And I think that Baptists in particular, they can really struggle and be confused about this. We can treat the spirit as kind of a divine bonus, something that we receive at salvation and then try to supplement through our own strategy and effort. Say, "Yes, I was saved by grace alone, but I continue by my own willpower." But the new covenant promise is so much better than that. The spirit is not a supplement. It's not your potassium or magnesium that you take or whatever it is that you take as a supplement. He is the source. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no Christian life. There is no power in your walk. Not slightly less power, no power. The power of the early church was not found in facilities or programs or budgets or buildings or branding. The church had none of that. What it had was the spirit of God dwelling in people that were committed to Christ. And God used them to change the entire world, all of civilization. See, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you at the moment of your salvation, he gives you power not to do your own will or to live according to your own agenda, but power to abide in Christ, to grow in him, to bear fruit for him, to live for his glory, to obey his commands. The Mark of the spirit's presence is not through spectacular signs and wonders. The Mark is faithfulness and love. That's that's the transformation that works its way out in how we actually

Live. Now, look at what Luke doesn't mention. And I've already hit on this. He doesn't mention a budget. He doesn't mention a facility or a curriculum or a denomination or committee structure or anything like that. Doesn't mention anyone lobbying for their preferred direction or withholding participation till they get what they want or the early church was not concerned about any of that. They were focused like a laser on knowing Christ, declaring his goodness, ministering to the needs of people around them. Their power came from the spirit of God and that's it. And that was enough. And here is what the presence of the spirit produced in that church. A spiritfilled church looks like Acts 2, doesn't it? Acts 2:42-47. You can just turn over there if you need to. Acts 2 42-47 says, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship and the breaking of bread, prayer. They were generous with one another. They're adding to their number day by day. That's that's how a church living in the spirit looks. What does a church living in the flesh look like? Oh, looks like complaining and gossip and division. Looks like leveraging whatever influence that they have, their relationships, their resources, their history in the church in order to force outcomes that God has not ordained. And here's what I want you to understand. Theologically is that it's not about behavioral observation. Complaining and gossip and controlling and making decisions, those aren't just personality quirks. They're not interpersonal friction. They're a functional denial of the Holy Spirit's sufficiency. When Christians live in complaints, they're saying with their actions that Christ's governance is not enough. When someone, you know, gossips or

Something like that, they are taking authority over a situation that belongs to God. Someone tries to control situations, they through pressure, they're doing the Holy Spirit's job, but they're doing it in the power of the flesh. As I said before, Thomas Watson, he said that God's delays are not denials. But our flesh doesn't believe that. Our flesh believes that if we don't act that nothing will happen. Our flesh believes that the church actually depends on us. And so we grab the steering wheel, we insert ourselves, we apply pressure, and we withhold. And in doing so, we reveal that whatever we may say about trusting God, we are functionally living as though the tomb is still sealed and Jesus is still dead. So what does a Christian need when they find themselves in that pattern? It's not more opportunities to exercise influence. It's not a platform, not being heard. They need more dependence on the Holy Spirit that already dwells within them. The spirit doesn't need our help in managing the church. He needs our surrender. And remember that wood carving the carpenter does extraordinary work through ordinary tools. And when the church grows, it's because of Jesus. When lives are changed, it's because of what Christ does. When a ministry bears fruit, lasting fruit, it's God's work. The tools don't receive the credit. The curriculum isn't the one that receives the glory. Rather, here's the truth. The tools aren't designed to bear the weight. They're not responsible for the outcomes that belong to God. You know what we are called to do is to be faithful, to stay in Jerusalem, to wait for the spirit, and to trust the

Carpenter. Head, heart, hand, head. God, he wants you to know that Jesus Christ is risen. He is reigning and he has given his spirit, his Holy Spirit to accomplish everything that he commands. So before anything happens in the book of Acts before Pentecost, before preaching, before mission, and musicians, my head, heart and hand is a little longer. Okay, we cut a song and we're adjusting things because I knew it would be a little longer today. But anyways, yeah, but what happens is that before the mission or anything, Luke, he anchors everything into what is already true. The resurrection is a historically certain event and not spiritual experiences and visions and mysticism and stuff like that. They're real encounters with a living man. Jesus actually appeared. He spoke. He ate. He taught for 40 days. And that risen Savior is reigning right now. He has not lost control. Jesus did not ascend into heaven to step away from his bride. He ascended to rule over his bride. And Acts is not the story of what the apostles accomplished for Jesus. It's the story of what Jesus continues to accomplish through his chosen people. He governs his church by his word, through his spirit, and through the servants that he has appointed. He hasn't left his people without power. Christ, he commands and he empowers. He promises the Holy Spirit and he delivered on that promise. The power of the Christian life is not built on our effort or our strategy or our control but in the presence and the work of the spirit of God. And if that is true, if Christ is risen, if Christ is reigning and if his spirit actually is sufficient, then the greatest problem in the church is not weakness, it's unbelief. Heart God. He wants you to believe that

Because Christ is present and ruling, you can trust him instead of trying to take control yourself. Jesus, he said, "I am with you always to the end of the age." Writer of Hebrews tells us that God, he promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Those are not just comforting words. Those are realities. And those realities demand faith. So here's the question. Do you actually believe that Christ is present and ruling right now? Not just in doctrine, not just in theory, but in the way that you respond when things don't go your way. In the way that you think that people should handle tension and disagreements and uncertainty. Imagine for a moment a group of servants in a home arguing about how to arrange the furniture. One wants a certain chair, the other one wants that it should be a love seat couch combo, and then another one says, "No, no, no, no, no. I think we should all just put down pillows everywhere for everyone to sit on." And voices start to rise and preferences start to harden and each one begins to act as though they're the ones in charge and they start to press their views and they're trying to shape the outcome. All the while, the master of the house is standing in the room. They haven't even turned to him and said, 'What do you want, master? That's what it looks like when Christians be complain and try to control outcomes when we refuse to wait. Not about personality preferences or personality or preferences. We are living as though Christ is absent from us. But he is not. He is not absent from us. He is present. He is ruling and he is sufficient. And faith means that living like that is true. It means trusting his timing. And God, he wants you to stop trying to control what belongs to Christ and instead faithfully obey him by praying, waiting, and

Serving where he has placed you. If you believe that Christ is present and sufficient, it will show up in how you live this week. And so three different categories here for the complainer. Complaining means that we trust our own assessment more than we trust the Lord who governs his church. The early church was not marked by grumbling. It was marked by devotion to the word, to fellowship, to prayer. So this week, identify one complaint that you have with a brother or sister. Take it to God in prayer and bring a and stop bring it to God in prayer. Yeah. Instead of bringing it to someone else and lay it before the Lord and leave it there. For those that are prone to control, the disciples, they did not force Pentecost. They waited and they prayed. They trusted the timing of Christ. So controlling behavior, leveraging relationships, pressure, all that stuff. This week, identify one outcome that you have been trying to force and give it to the Lord. Take your hands off of it because it doesn't belong to you. It doesn't belong to me. Trust the one who actually governs this church. The seeds grow faster when we leave it alone. For the impatient, the disciples, they were told to stay in a dangerous city and to wait for a promise that they couldn't see. And that was obedience. So, where is the Jerusalem in your life? Where is the uncomfortable place? Maybe it's a work environment that you're struggling with, ministry that you know that you're called to, but it's just been full of drama. Stay in the uncomfortable place because that decision could change everything. Let's pray. Father, we do ask that you would watch over us, God, as we consider your word this morning. The words are heavy, Lord, but

Sometimes your word can be Lord. For myself, Lord. This sermon has just completely been wrecking me all week and for several weeks now. And I pray that you would wreck others because of your word, God. We want to be faithful. That's all that we want. And so Lord, correct us, teach us, lead us, God, because we need more and more of you each and every day. Lord, if we struggle with complaining, which Lord, you know, I've complained, or controlling, Lord, you know, I've tried to control or whatever. Lord, we just we pray that you would deal with our hearts and help us to walk faithfully before you. We love you, God, in Jesus name. Amen. Let's all stand. Let's worship together. >> Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my life. I once was lost in darkest night. Yet thought I knew the way. The sin that promised joy and life had led me to the grave. I had no hope that you alone a rebel to your will. And if you had not loved me first, I would refuse you still. But as I read my help and race indifferent to the cause, you looked upon my helpless state and led me to the cross and I beheld God's love displayed. You suffered in my place. You bore the wrath reserved for me. Now all I know is grace. Hallelujah. All I have

Is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my life. Now Lord, I would be yours alone and live so all I see. The strength to follow your commands could never come from me. Oh father, use my rank of life in any way you choose and let my song forever be my only is you. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my life. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my life. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my Lord.