We decided to look at the book of Acts because of its relevancy to what is going on in our church at the moment. We want to be a church whose heart is for God and His love, not buildings and material things. We looked at Acts 1 where Jesus is talking to the disciples about his return from Heaven.
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
(vs. 4-11)
It's interesting that they think Jesus has come back to restore the physical (the land, buildings, etc.). They are missing his whole point. They want some great ruler to come home and reconquer what they believe to be theirs. He's telling them though that he hasn't come back for this. He has come back to fill them with the Holy Spirit and lay before them their mission. After this, he leaves them and I find it comical that they stare into the sky and the angels appear and talk to them as if they are so ignorant. It's almost like they are saying what did you expect?
I really liked this passage because it reminds us that God has a plan and can often be something we don't expect or anticipate. But how wonderful is it that he fills us with the Holy Spirit and wants to use us in the church and outside of the church as part of that plan?
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
(vs. 4-11)
It's interesting that they think Jesus has come back to restore the physical (the land, buildings, etc.). They are missing his whole point. They want some great ruler to come home and reconquer what they believe to be theirs. He's telling them though that he hasn't come back for this. He has come back to fill them with the Holy Spirit and lay before them their mission. After this, he leaves them and I find it comical that they stare into the sky and the angels appear and talk to them as if they are so ignorant. It's almost like they are saying what did you expect?
I really liked this passage because it reminds us that God has a plan and can often be something we don't expect or anticipate. But how wonderful is it that he fills us with the Holy Spirit and wants to use us in the church and outside of the church as part of that plan?
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