Christ's Expectations for Believers 06/13/2021

And we have a couple of more sermons to do on r-series and Christ's death and resurrection and and we'll be finished. So we have this Sunday and next Sunday, And then the speaker for The Gideons be here on the 27th and then I will be here on July 4th. We probably won't start another series then I will probably start 11th, July 11th or next series, and I think we're going to do the fruit of the spirit. So I hope you all looking forward to that. Let me hear. I'm going to turn this a little bit.

all right, well, if you have your Bibles this morning, I want you to turn the Acts chapter 11. Or Acts chapter one. I'm sorry extra after one. Hit the first 11 verses. Today, the title of the sermon is Christ expectation for believers and so that would be all of us who are saved. What is his expectations? Now, the reason I say that is because we've been talking about his death and resurrection, and we looked at when he first entered Jerusalem on passion week and we kind of Step through that and went all you up to the crucifixion and then of course, we talked about the resurrection and then the last three or four, we've talked about his appearances after the resurrection and some principles that we could learn from that went today, we're going to look at it today. And next week, actually we're going to look at what Christ expects from us. While he's not here now they he's not here. What I mean is he's not here physically. He is within each of us in the person of the Holy Spirit, but he's not here physically. So what does us to do while we are on this Earth, What is the next week we're going to talk about? What is Christ doing in heaven? Right now, what is he doing at least in having on our behalf in behalf of this world and then that will close up the series on Christ's death and Resurrection. In the middle of the nineteenth Century, there was a man by the name of Henry, Ward Beecher And he went Westward he he was born up in Connecticut. He went Westward and he was trying to win people kind of in what you would call, the American wilderness to Christ and he was a preacher, he was an evangelist and he traveled. And the first three years that he he went around and he preached and he taught the first three years of his ministry. He did not have a single person that come to Christ. Matter fact, not many, but not many people would even listen to him. Now if you want to be discouraged as a preacher, you preached for three years and you an evangelist and nobody comes the cries and actually hardly anybody comes to your camp meetings if you will discourage. He probably was well, he did the right thing when he become the screws, he looked in the Bible. And he started reading the first two to three chapters of Acts. And what he thought to himself was as he read, he looked at it and he saw how the apostles had this tremendous influence in the early time of the church and he tried to explore in the Bible. Why were they so successful? Why? When Peter preached, 3,000 people came to Christ, while I've been preaching for three years and I haven't had a single conversion. He says, what is it? That was different about them? Well, he looked, and he's searched in the Bible with their preaching and all. And he later said that if it hadn't been for the book of Acts that he'd probably quit his ministry. If it hadn't been what he found in the book of Acts, so he studied ever instance of the Apostles preaching and he would ask him sales himself, three questions, who were the people, what were the circumstances and what did the speaker say? And then he would go out and he would do the same thing himself and when he started doing that the first Sunday that he started doing that 17, people gave their hearts to the Lord. Just incredible and he just took the principles from the book of Acts Will D L Moody. I know you've heard him. Probably he had a semblance. This is what he said. I quote, I wrote this now. He says, I have concluded that the nearer, we get to the Apple spirit and message the more power, we will have. So you hear a lot today about church growth and you need to be have this program. You need to do this and you need to do that and I'm not I'm not anti program. I'm I'm not that but sometimes we just need to get back to the basics. We need to go back to what the early church did and how did they turn the world upside down. With no social media. No printing press, no bulletins, no slides, no fake life. No, log off Bible software to study. No commentary. Just just kind of the Bible, how in the world, did they do it? And then why is the days, the church so weak. And we got all these other things out here that we can use to, to reach people. Well d, l Moody and Henry, Ward Beecher. They were two men who turn to the book of Acts. So that's where we going to turn this morning. And I want you to 11 versus just to give us context. But the message this morning is basically coming from through 11 8 through 11. So here it is. Beginning verse 1, the former account, I made old Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and teach and I've been speaking. Until the day in, which he was taken up. And I want you to notice that phrase taken up because it's used three or four times in the 11 verses after he threw the Holy Spirit, commandment to the apostles whom he had chosen. To whom he also presented himself. Alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, and I'll preach The Sermon on the Mount, the proofs of Jesus's resurrection. And then he says being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So this is how about when Jesus was crucified, he arose, and he was on Earth for 40 days after the resurrection teaching. And speaking to his Apostles, what we're going to read here in the next few verses. And then the Bible says he was just taking up. Was that talking about? He was taking up where to go, he went to hell. He ascended back to Heaven. Alright, verse 4 and being assembled together with them he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father which he said you. So there's a promise. He's telling those disciples that they need to look for. And basically he says this is what I've been telling you about first 5 For John truly baptize with water. But you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. So he's saying I'm going to be taking up. But you learn about the Holy Spirit. Now they probably didn't understand that. Like, we understand that. Now I'm sure they didn't understand that cuz if it had been me, if I'd been there, I would have said, the Holy Spirit. What is that? Not what, what are you talkin about here? Look what they said. And verse 6, therefore when they had come together, they ask that Lord. Will you at this time restore the Kingdom of Israel? Lord, are you going to come set up your kingdom and do away with wrong? Let's just forget about this Holy Spirit stuff you talking about. We don't know what that is. You going to set up your kingdom now but he said I'll be taking up. They didn't understand what that was. Are you going to store? You can't even stay here with us and you going to set up your kingdom here and we going to roll with you forever and ever. That's what they were worried about. Now, watch what he says in verse 7. He said to them, it is not for you to know, times or Seasons which the father has put in his own authority.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and Judea Samaria and to the ends of the Earth. Now, when he had spoken these things while they watched he was taking up, there it is again and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they look steadfastly toward Heaven, as he went up the whole two, men stood by them and white apparel, probably angels. Who also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven. Will so come in like manner as you saw him go, Into heaven. Now, the writer here, of course, is Luke and he understood the Lord's Ministry. He understood that his ministry did not end on the Mount of Olives. So in verses 1 and 2, it says all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day he was taken up. And all with all the disciples are going through on Earth. You see the books theme extended right here at Birth 6, they asked him where you restore the Kingdom of Israel. Now, those Cycles were wondering, if Jesus now that he had died and he had risen from the grave. Well, I'm sure it's time for you to set up your kingdom. I mean, you've done what you said you died for the sins of the world you were buried. You walked out of the Tomb. So now it's time for you to set up your kingdom. I mean that would just obviously make sense all of us if we were there at that time but then Jesus said, when I know it's not for you to know Only God knows the time that I will be coming back. But you will receive power. When the Holy Spirit comes he says, in verse 7 & 8 and he's going to come upon you. And he says, you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem is like the Lord is saying. Don't set your mind on the future so much so that you forget that there's things that need to be done now. So now let's fast forward to Thousand Years. You still haven't come. He still hadn't set up his kingdom. So what's it, what is he telling us hear what, what? A resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven, but the story doesn't end there he still alive and he has left his followers on Earth for work to be done that we see here in verse 8 there's three things I want to share with you this morning that we ought to do. Don't get so caught up in Prophecy. and I all that we never get anything accomplished on Earth that let us and care for, I love to study prophecy. And if you've been here often since I've been here preaching, you know, every year, I'll preach something on Prophecy. And reason I do that is because the Bible is full of prophecy about 30% of the Bible prophecy. So, you ought to preach on Prophecy but we don't want to get so caught up trying to figure out when is Christ's coming. When is his kingdom going to be set up? I want if we can add these numbers together and do this, do that. If we can figure out when he's coming, no, no one knows when he's coming Christ. Didn't even know when he was going to come back. When he was on Earth, he said only the father knows he didn't even know. Course he knows now in heaven, but we said we get caught up in that. I was so we just quit doing what we need to do on Earth and we're just sitting around looking up in the sky all the time. Waiting for Jesus. Come back where we ought to wait. We'll talk about that on the third point. But what I'm saying is let's not be so Heavenly minded that we're no earthly good. We don't want to be that way. We want to have a good balance. So with all this information available to us it's good to go back to the blueprint of what Christ told us that we ought to be doing after he leaves. And that's what I want to talk about today. I want to give you three things that we ought to be doing right now as individuals and as a church, 3-step of what he gave these disciples right here. Here's number one. We are to witness with power and I look at it in verse 8, he says, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea Samaria and all the Earth. The foremost job while waiting for Christ to return, is to tell others about him. That's the number one job that is your number one job. That is the Church's number one job. He intended his disciples to witness the others after he was gone, but not just to witness to do. So powerfully, you say why I don't like to talk to people? I don't like to do that. I don't, I don't, I don't meet strangers and I'm not good at that. I'm just not a powerful witch wear you out, to be you say, what, why is that? Because you have God living on the inside of you, that's why you're not doing it in your own strength. He says, I will give you the words to say So you're not doing it in your own Lighthouse, that everyone can see sitting up on the hill, but when the church bowling, what happens is the church is put into bondage. Churches today are growing, but a lot of times, they have forgotten what the purpose of the Lord. Is the purpose is to go into all the world and do what and preach the gospel. In other words to be a powerful witness for Christ, there was a southern baptist, preacher's name is Bailey Smith and he talked about how certain things had crap into the church to take the place of evangelism. He said, we have all these fancy programs and he said, we have these complex discipleship classes and what he called the Deeper Life movement. And you know, how can I experience a Deeper Life and how can I do this? And how can I do that? What has happened? The church has become nice entered. The church has become all about me. How can I grow? How can I raise my children? How can I have a happy marriage? How can I make more money? How can I get a job? How can I do that? How can I? I, it's all about me. That's why so many people go to church and then they'll leave, you say, why did you leave? Why didn't like the pro 95% of the People in southern baptist churches On Any Sunday morning. Had a last one year. Think about that 95% of Southern Baptist, Christians that set in churches have not witness about Jesus to anyone in one year. I just think about that. So local churches out to be the nerve center for evangelism because that's what God has called us to do. We reach out and share the good news of Christ with as many as we can. And we are to witness with power with power because we have the Holy Spirit and I know that says he didn't say, go out witness about the church. It says, we are to witness to Jesus, or of Jesus. And other words, we are to talk about Jesus. There's nothing wrong with going out and say what I want to invite you to my church or Pastor is there. So that we have, this has come upon you. You shall be witnesses to me. So we need to be telling others about Jesus, and you see Think of it like this, we witness to his life because his life is our righteousness. We witness to his death because his death is our atonement. We witness of his resurrection because the resurrection that is our power, and we witness about his being taken up his Ascension because that means that we are accepted in the Beloved Ephesians chapter 2. That's why we witness about Jesus, because of what he has done for us. I was reading a biography one time about a man by the name of Charles Finney and he was an evangelist and they said he just had the power of the Holy Spirit upon him. They said anytime he would walk down the street sometime, people would drop to the knees and start confessing sins when they saw him. They said he had that much power. They said he would go around and he'd visit some of the work places, and he went to a machine shop and when he did, it said they would cut off the machines and all of them or just stand there, and listen to him talk because he had the power of the Holy Spirit upon him. In other words, it seemed like Revival. Followed him and pray for that matter. The power is in you. In the person of the Holy Spirit, he lives in you and he will Empower you to witness. If you will only take the first step and that is to witness with power. Number two, not only did we witness with power, but when he left us he wants us to walk by faith. Now, look at verse 9. It says not when he had spoken these things. Talkin about the Holy Spirit coming upon them. And being witnesses to me. Now, when he had spoken these things while they watched he was taking up and a cloud received him out of their sight.

The things that he just told those disciples to do. They had to do by faith. Now, why you say, why did they have to do it by faith? because of what verse 9 says that he was taking up out of their sight, he was no longer with them. I want you to think about this. Jesus is no longer here physically, he's here with Ennis in the person of the Holy Spirit but he's not physically walking this Earth. Can you imagine the disciples who were accustomed to getting up every morning? And there's Jesus and they just following him alone like little ducklings everywhere. He went they would follow along and he do a miracle here and he would teach them bad and he would teach a parable here. They saw his miracles. I saw his healings, I saw his his strong preaching. Every day they got up, they followed their Mentor, he was with them physically. And then the last thing he says is You going to receive the Holy Spirit and they didn't know what he was talking about, you going to receive power and I want you to witness to me in Jerusalem, so the marriage and Dia and all over the world and all the sudden, the very one, they followed, the very one, they looked up to the very one who taught them. All this, it's taken away out of their sight. It'd be like a little child with a mother and father Hood raise them for 9 months, a year, 2 years or something. I almost had you take them away, they're just lost. What do they do? What do they do? Cuz this is me what the disciples were thinking. So Jesus had told them. When I leave, you will do Greater Works than I did. That's what he told him. What course they didn't understand that. I'm sure but just think of it like this. Let's think of it as if Jesus had not gone back to Heaven. What if he was still on Earth? Would I be a stronger Christian with Jesus on Earth, or Jesus in heaven? Or I can tell you Jesus in heaven. You say, why is that? Because Jesus is in where he's probably in Jerusalem. Well, I'm in Granville County, North Carolina. I can't learn anything. I can't walk with him or somebody going to get on plane flying to Jerusalem and everybody going to follow Jesus around. We couldn't do that. So if he's on Earth, the only the people closest to him with him, wherever he is, because he was constrained by space and time. Because in his Humanity, he was like us. He couldn't be it. He wouldn't omnipresent in his Humanity. He'd be in Jerusalem. Would be in North Carolina. No, Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wouldn't have, cuz Jesus is still here. Just think how miserable our life would be like that. You see what he's teaching them is. Cuz I'm going to heaven, you must live by faith. I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. He will strengthen and encourage and Empower, you Jesus is still with us, but he's with us through the spirit, not physically. And when we recognize that fact and apply. That's when we begin to walk by faith. Everything we do, we have to do by faith because Jesus is in heaven, we have to walk Not a Bible says that we don't walk by sight. We're under a special blessing, I think in this age because we're forced to walk by faith. What did Jesus say to Thomas? Look, we can put it on the screen here. John chapter, 20 verse 29. Look what he said to Thomas. Wayne, said oh I don't believe unless I see him. Jesus said to him Thomas because you seen me. You have believed Blessed. Are those who have not seen and yet still believe what is he saying? Blessed are those who walk by faith. Blessed are those who believe that? I'm alive, even though they can't touch me. They can't measure me. They can't eat with me or whatever like that blessed. Are those who have not seen me yet? They still believe in other words. He saying blessed are those who walk by faith? 40 saying to Thomas so after the Lord returned to heaven. I'm sure some dark clouds hung above the disciples. They had to adjust by living by faith because he was no longer with them. Well, I think we have to learn the same lesson today. Christ went up in a cloud and he was hitting And sometimes dark clouds come upon us and our life. God seems like he's hidden from us but we know who Jesus is we know that he walked this Earth. We know that he died for our sins. We know that he resurrect, we know that he has said it, we know that he's coming back, we can walk by faith. We can walk by faith because we know those things and we have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. He called us to walk by faith and trust that the spirit is with us. And that's exactly what he told. The disciples hear. What did he say? Witness with power walk by faith. And now we have one more and thirdly what he told them to do was wait in Hope Nokia verses 10 and 11. And while they look steadfastly toward Heaven, as he went up. The whole two men stood by me and white apparel. You also said many gallons, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same. Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven? Will so come in like manner? As you seen him go in to heaven, the disciples were promised. That the Ascension of the Lord was not the end of the Lord. The one that they saw go up one day, we'll come back. We can wait expectantly for his return. Now, I want you to look at what Paul reminded the Believers in thessalonica 1st. Thessalonians 9:10. For they themselves, declare concerning us. What? Manner of Entry we had to you and how you turn to God from Idols to serve the living and true God. And to wait for his son from Heaven, whom he raised from the dead. Even Jesus, who delivers us from the Wrath to come. This is talking about the end times, the great, the Great Tribulation. He said, we are to wait for his son, whom he raised from the dead and Jesus will Deliver Us from the Wrath to come. You're not a great description of the Christian Life. We turn from our Idols. We turn from our sinful ways, we serve God and then we wait for his return and other words, we witness what power, we walk by faith and we wait for him to come by. That's exactly what he told. The disciples to do. You see, we serve him in light of his coming. We keep one eye on the cloud and the other on our ministry, we are busy serving the lord, we are working. We are witnessing willpower, we're walking by faith and we expectantly look for his return. What did Paul tell Titus? Titus 2:13, I think it is looking for that blessed, hope and the Glorious appearing of our great God and Savior. Jesus Christ friends, when you talk about Hope in scripture talking about a coin, flip is not talking about a mic wish up wish could have would have should have its talk about a confident expectations. Are you confident that Christ is coming back? Are you confident in that or do you just wondering flip flop back and forth? I don't, he hadn't been here. Yeah, I can come back yet. I don't think he's going to come by. You see in the Angels promise that Jesus is coming back. He gave some Clues as the way he's coming back, he says this same Jesus who was taking up will come back in like manner. In other words certain things about his coming back is going to marry his Ascension. Well, what are those things? Well, look at 1st Thessalonians 4:16 at what it says. Who's coming back for the Lord, himself will descend from heaven with a shout. The voice of arc angel, trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise. First, the Lord who himself, not a replica, not a spirit, the same Jesus that you just saw go up in clouds will come back in like, like manner it is the same. Jesus, he will return in body just as he left in body. Not only that, it'll be visible. What were they doing? They will just stand there. Staring up watching him go. What's going to happen when Jesus comes back and says every eye shall see him. Every I will see him, it'll be visible. He went up in the cloud. The Book of Revelation says he's coming back in the clouds. The same way that he went up. The Lord laugh from the Mount of Olives. When he ascended up, the Bible says, when he comes back to this earth, he will set foot on the Mount of Olives. He's coming back to the same place that he left. He's retarded. And we need to be awaiting his return. So I'm going to say something here that I've never said before preacher. And this is, this is it. I believe that the Lord's return It really, really close. I've never said that. I've heard preachers say I believe the Lord is coming back in my lifetime. In the first thing that I used to think. When I heard that is they shouldn't say that. The Bible says, no one knows how in the world. Can you tell people that the Lord is coming back in your lifetime? It's been two thousand years, he hadn't come back. You don't have about 10 or 15 years anyway, to live how, you know, he's coming back in 10 or 15 years. I would never say that from the pulpit while I'm saying it. I think he's going to come back. I think it's going to be soon. I think he's coming back in my lifetime. You say why in the world would you say that for one reason? Because I don't want to be a sloppy Christian.

I don't want the, I don't want to live my life thinking and it may be ten thousand years you know. If I think it's going to be ten thousand years, you know what? I'm going to do, I'm going to be sloppy in my preaching. I'm going to be sloppy in my witnessing. I'm going to be sloppy in my working. I'm going to be sloppy and walking by faith. You know how it is? If you go to, if you go to work. And the boss is not there and he's not going to be there for a month. You know what the people do? They slack off, when you know that, he's not going to be there forever and if you think the Lord is not returning, we will slack off in our Christianity. That's why I tell everybody, here's the way we ought to look at it. We have to live our life as if Christ Christ walked out of the room this morning and he's coming back this evening, that's how we should live our life thinking like that. Because if you think like that, you going to live your life with fervency and urgency and you going to walk by faith. You will witness will power and you will wait and hope if not you going to get sloppy in your Christianity. So that's why we do that. He's coming back soon. In the more Earnest we out to be in doing the work, which is called us to do. No knowledgeable, Christian is going to waste his wife wife away with the Lord's return. So Close. You can't, you can't waste your life with his return soclo because we serve the King of Kings, he's coming back. Today is the hour today is the day of salvation. So what are we to do? We are to witness with power. We are to walk by faith, and we are to wait in Hope. Why? Because the coming of the Lord is near. Amen. All right. Let's pray. Father, we do, thank and praise you in. Love you today. Lord for your word. Lord today. We've gotten back to the basics. Or there's so much information out there that we can do this and we can do that for personal growth in personal discipleship and growing a church. And this program and Dad and spend this money here and do this. Lord just help us to get back to the basics. Help us to be like Henry, Ward Beecher, and D L Moody Search the book of Acts. What did the first church do? What did the first believers do? How did they do this? The Lord, will we see? We see that they witnessed with power. They walked by faith And they waited and hope Lord help us all to do that. Help us not to be sloppy, Christians, just to live our life as if the Lord is never coming back. When people ask us, let's tell people, I'm living as if he's coming back today. And let's have a sense of urgency in fervency in our Christianity forcing Christ name. I do pray, amen. All right. What