Acts 1:1-11 "The Coming of the Kingdom" March 25, 2007 Every week we pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What does it mean to pray for the coming of the kingdom? As we went through Luke's gospel, we saw that the coming of Jesus was the coming of the King. The disciples now called the apostles understood that, and so after the resurrection of the King, they asked a question. And this question is the driving question of the book of Acts: Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel. What does the coming of the kingdom mean for the life of the church? That is what the book of Acts is all about. 1. Speaking of the Kingdom (1:1-3) Luke opens his second book by referring back to his first book. 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. (1:1-2) He is writing to Theophilus whose name means "lover of God." Theophilus is likely the real name of a real person, but Luke cannot have missed the double meaning here: after all, he is not just writing for one person! He is writing for all those who love God and want to know what Jesus has done. But this reference back to Luke's gospel reminds us that Luke thinks of this book as a continuation of his first book. The first book dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, the second book will now deal with all that Jesus continues to do and teach through his apostles. But we should expect to see continuity between Luke and Acts. At the end of Luke's gospel we saw that Jesus taught his disciples how to understand the OT: 'that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Propehts and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them: 'Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.' (Luke 24:44-47). Luke assumes that Theophilus remembers this, and now he tells Theophilus that Jesus' teaching at that time was "speaking of the kingdom." Jesus spent 40 days "speaking of the kingdom" to his apostles. If you want to understand the kingdom of God, then you need to understand how the OT scriptures speak of Jesus. Because that is what Jesus taught his disciples. As we go through the book of Acts we will hear from the apostles how the OT speaks of Jesus. Their sermons are full of OT references after all, the NT had not been written yet, and their hearers were largely either Jews or Gentiles who were curious about Judaism, so the Law, the Prophets and the Writings -- the OT scriptures -- were the only scriptures that existed at that time. The way that you explain the coming of the kingdom is by understanding the Old Testament scriptures. After all, how do you understand what "the kingdom" is if you don't know who David is? So the first thing we need to see from Acts 1 is that the theme of the chapter and indeed of the book of Acts is the coming of the kingdom of God. But how does the kingdom come? When Jesus talks about the kingdom with his disciples, what does he talk about? The heart of our chapter, in verses 4-8, is Jesus teaching about the Holy Spirit. In verse 3 we hear that Jesus is speaking about the kingdom, but the only words we hear from his lips are in verses 4-5, where is talking about the Holy Spirit. Likewise, in verse 6, the disciples ask him about the kingdom, and Jesus responds by telling them about the Holy Spirit. In other words, If you want to know how the kingdom comes in the book of Acts, watch the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Spirit is the coming of the kingdom, because the coming of the Spirit is the coming of the exalted king to be with his people. We see this in two ways in verses 4-8 first in verses 4-5, Jesus explains that the promise of the Father is baptism with the Holy Spirit. Then in verses 6-8, Jesus explains that the power of the Holy Spirit will prompt them to be his witnesses. 2. The Promise of the Father: Baptism with the Holy Spirit (1:4-5) In verses 4-5, Jesus speaks of the promise of the Father. In fact, he orders them not to leave Jerusalem, but to "wait for the promise of the Father." And he does not leave them to wonder what he's talking about he says that this is what he was referring to when he said, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. What does this mean? Theophilus would remember that Luke had talked about this in his first book. In Luke 3, John had been asked if he was the Christ-- in other words, if he was the one who would bring the kingdom of God. In response, John said I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. (Luke 3:16-17) John baptized with water. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. What does that mean? What is this Spirit and fire baptism? John says that this Spirit and fire baptism is a baptism of judgment. Now, judgment can be either good or bad. This Spirit and fire baptism will result in the wheat being gathered into his barn, and the chaff being burned with unquenchable fire. Of course, baptism is always a matter of judgment. Think back to the baptisms of the OT? The flood was a baptism of judgment, in which Noah and his family were saved, and the unbelieving world was condemned. The Red Sea was a baptism of judgment, in which the household of Israel was saved, and the army of the unbelieving Pharaoh was condemned. But both of those baptisms were baptisms with water. The progression in scripture is from water to fire. In Leviticus, when seeking to cleanse an unclean garment or house, the first remedy is to wash it with water. If the mold or rot comes back, then you must burn it with fire. (It's a good thing that the ceremonial laws have been fulfilled in Christ! Otherwise we'd have to burn just about every house in Indiana!) Likewise, God first destroyed the world with water in the flood, if the rot of sin comes back, then he will destroy it with fire! It did. He will. Jesus has come to bring the Spirit and fire baptism that will destroy the rot and mold, the leprous disease that has rendered the creation unclean. Jesus has come to bring the eschatological judgment, the last days judgment of God against sin. In Luke 3, John spoke of a single baptism in the Spirit and fire. Spirit and fire baptism is one baptism, not two. Here in Acts 1, Jesus only speaks of the Spirit he doesn't mention the fire but that is because Spirit and fire baptism is truly one baptism. In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, both the Spirit and fire are plainly present, so it is clear that when Jesus says "baptized in the Holy Spirit" in verse 5, he is referring the same Spirit and fire baptism as John. Spirit and fire baptism is a single baptism that has two outcomes: Jesus has come to pour out the Spirit and fire upon all the earth. Those who repent and believe in him will experience this Spirit and fire baptism as God's blessing; whereas those who do not repent and believe will experience this Spirit and fire baptism as God's curse. The prophet Malachi had said, "For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings." (Mal 4:1-2) The fire of that judgment will refine the righteous, but destroy the wicked. Isaiah 4:4 said that God would wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Jesus came to pour out this Spirit and fire baptism. So why can't we move straight from Luke 3 to Acts 2? If Jesus came to baptize with the Spirit and fire, why doesn't he do so immediately? For one simple and hopefully obvious reason! If Jesus poured out the Spirit and fire baptism in Luke 3, what would happen to us? We'd all be toast! The rot and mold of sin had not yet been washed away. At his baptism at the Jordan, Jesus receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. He was anointed by his Father at the Jordan. In order for Jesus to baptize us with the Spirit, he must first receive the Spirit himself. That Spirit and fire baptism must fall upon Jesus, so that when it falls upon us, it falls upon us in blessing, rather than in cursing! Luke 12:49-50 is crucial for understanding this: I came to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished. You think that I have come to give peace to the earth? NO. I say to you, but division. Jesus says that he came to cast fire on the earth. He came to bring judgment. But he cannot bring judgment until he first falls under that judgment himself! Jesus has endured the Spirit and fire baptism of the Father in his suffering. And because Jesus has endured that baptism, now he baptizes us with the same Holy Spirit and fire that he himself received from the Father. Do you want to know how we can be assured of our salvation? Because the final judgment has been declared in advance in Jesus. Jesus has endured the last days (eschatological) wrath of God. And Jesus has been vindicated. Therefore God has proclaimed his last days (eschatological) verdict in Jesus. And those who trust in Jesus share in that verdict. That's what justification is! Justification is God's declaration of his final verdict in Jesus which he has now declared of you! Those who believe in Jesus are judged with him. So Jesus says in verse 5 that the same Spirit and fire baptism which vindicated him will now poured out upon his apostles. 3. You Will Be My Witnesses: the Power of the Holy Spirit (1:6-8) It is in this context that they ask, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? This is a good question. After all, John the Baptist had been asked if he was the Christ, and John had said no, the Christ is the one who comes after me. So if Jesus is the Christ, then Jesus must be the one who restores the kingdom to Israel. What does Jesus say? Notice that he does not say either yes or no. Because while it is a good question, it is a question that reveals that the apostles still do not understand the point. So they ask about the kingdom. And Jesus answer is the Holy Spirit. 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. The coming of the Holy Spirit will signal the coming of the kingdom, not only to Jerusalem, not only to Israel (Judea and Samaria together equal the kingdom of David), but to the end of the earth. The apostles are thinking too small. They think that God's promises were limited to Israel though Gentiles could convert to Israel! But Jesus says that the kingdom is going to extend to the ends of the earth. And the way the kingdom expands is by the witness of the apostles to the ends of the earth. Indeed, this is the programme of the book of Acts. There are three basic parts to the book. Chapter 1 is the introduction. Part one is chapters 2-7 where the apostles are Jesus' witnesses in Jerusalem. Part two is chapters 8-12 where the apostles are Jesus' witnesses in Judea and Samaria Part three is chapters 13-28 where the apostles are Jesus' witnesses to the end of the earth. And throughout the book of Acts we'll see how the work of the Holy Spirit is primarily the work of empowering the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus. Over and over again, the work of the Spirit in the book of Acts is all about preaching. When the Spirit fills someone in Acts, the next thing they do is preach Jesus! Because of course, that's what Jesus had said the Spirit would do! You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses... In the 2,000 years after Abraham, the gospel barely survived among his own descendants. In the 2,000 years after Jesus, the gospel has gone forth to every nation under heaven. What is the difference? In the OT the temple was the place where the Spirit dwelt in the midst of the people. But now we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The people of God have been filled with his Spirit, and so now all the Lord's people are prophets and we are called to proclaim boldly the gospel of Christ to the nations. The difference is the Spirit. Jesus has taken the Spirit and fire judgment of God upon himself. And therefore he has now poured out that Spirit and fire baptism upon his people, so that we might be his witnesses to the ends of the earth! 4. He's Coming Back (1:9-11) And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. (v9) In other words, Luke wants you to understand that these were the very last words that Jesus spoke to his disciples. Verses 7-8 are the very heart of the church's mission. This is what we are to be about bearing witness to Jesus. How was Jesus lifted up? On a cloud. What does that mean? Daniel 7:13 spoke of how one like a son of man came to the Ancient of Days with the clouds of heaven. Do you know what happened in Daniel 7:14? When one like a son of man came to the Ancient of Days with the clouds of heaven, what did the Ancient of Days do for him? And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Jesus is the son of man, who ascends on the clouds of heaven, coming to the right hand of the Father. Indeed, in chapter 2:30-33, Peter will say that Jesus has been seated on the throne of David, exalted to the right hand of God. In other words, all of a sudden, the question of whether Jesus has come to restore the kingdom to Israel has become rather beside the point! Jesus has just ascended to the right hand of God. His kingdom is the everlasting kingdom. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. (v10-11) As he ascended to the Father on the clouds of heaven, so also he will descend on the clouds of heaven, when he comes for us. Conclusion The coming of the kingdom is the coming of the king. The king has now come to the right hand of the Father, and he has poured out his Holy Spirit upon his church, so that we might be empowered to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. So that means that for us, the coming of the kingdom is the coming of the Spirit. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there the king is present with his people. When we pray "thy kingdom come," we are praying for the power of the Holy Spirit to fill us, so that we might proclaim the glory of Christ the glory of our King Jesus. This is why the idea of the Kingdom is bigger than that of the church. The Kingdom of God is the rule of our Lord Jesus Christ over all things as he sits at the right hand of the Father. The church is the manifestation of the kingdom on earth. The church is where we see the power of the kingdom and what is the power of the kingdom? The power of the kingdom is no one and nothing else but the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power of the kingdom as the kingdom is proclaimed in the church. What does this mean for you for you who have been baptized into Christ? for you who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit? It means first that you have passed through judgment into life. God's final judgment has been declared in you because you have been united to Christ in his death. Therefore you have nothing to fear at the final judgment. And second, it means that you are witnesses to Jesus. The Spirit will empower you to testify to Christ in your homes, in your neighborhoods, in your workplaces in every place you go, the Spirit will prompt you to bear witness to Christ. This is a witness that includes both how you live and what you say. It is not just a matter of being an ethical person. There are lots of ethical people out there. Rather, the Spirit will prompt you to live a Christ-centered life a cross-centered life. The reason why your co-workers will ask you for the hope that is in you, is not because you are ethical; rather, they will ask you for the hope that is in you because you lay down your life for others. It is because you cheerfully endure unjust suffering. It is because you deny yourself and endure the cross patiently. It is because you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself. It's not because you never sin. Rather, it is because when you sin, you repent and ask them to forgive you! We have passed through the judgment of God. We have been crucified with Christ, and now we live by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us therefore bear witness to Christ as those who are filled with the Spirit of our exalted King!