Message

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Happy New Year! We really want to have a Happy New Year 2019. How can we have a Happy New Year? It is nice to hear the “Happy New Year” greeting from people. However, we want to hear from God, “Happy New Year.” We believe that God wants to give us this greeting through his word. May we indeed hear his word as we start a new year, 2019. 2019 is the last year of this decade and can be seen as the preparation year for the new decade. At this time in each one’s life and in Gods ministry, may God really speak to us. At Christmas time we thought of the birth of Jesus, the Son of God coming into this world. In Acts chapter 1, Luke wrote about the ascension of Jesus, his going back to heaven and the promise of Jesus’ coming again. This message, however, is not focused on his ascension or the promise of his second coming; rather, it is about the last words Jesus gave to his disciples just before his ascension, the promised coming of the Holy Spirit, and the power of the Spirit. Acts 1:8 was our key verse of 2018. However, as we look back at the past year, 2018 seemed to be a warm up year to this word. We want to hold to Acts 1:8 again in 2019 and really press into this promise of Jesus’ last words. Todays passage is about what Jesus did after his resurrection and before his ascension. In verses 1-2, Luke writes, “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.” After briefly mentioning the contents of his former book, Luke said in verse 3, “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” Through this verse, we come to know that Jesus lived on earth around forty more days after his resurrection. Forty days are not a short time. During those days he could have done many things in this world, manifesting his power and glory and thus impressing the people of this world. It could have been such an opportunity to do the mighty work of God for the glory, power, and honour of God. In fact, Jesus left such powerful and glorious work to his disciples. What he mainly did over a period of forty days, was give his disciples convincing proofs that he was alive and speak about the kingdom of God. Actually, from the beginning of his earthy messianic ministry, Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God. Jesus also spoke about his coming purpose in his earthly messianic ministry, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because this is why I was sent” (Lk 4:43). When his disciples asked him about prayer, he taught them to pray, “Your kingdom come” (Lk 11:2). Even just before his death on the cross Jesus invited a repentant criminal to the kingdom of God, saying, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43). Even after his resurrection and before his ascension, during such a precious time of over forty days he still had to speak about the kingdom of God to the apostles he had chosen, after giving many convincing proofs of his resurrection. Definitely, Jesus’ resurrection and the kingdom of God are linked together. His resurrection is a token or the door of the kingdom of God. Through the resurrection of Christ Jesus one can be assured of the kingdom of God. Apostle Peter expressed it this way in 1 Peter 1:3, 4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you.” Those who believe in Jesus’ death for their sins and his resurrection have new birth into a living hope of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the ultimate hope of all mankind. Nowadays many people feel that the world becomes more and more unsafe, not only politically and socially, but also in a moral and religious sense. They seek to go to a better and safer country, especially for the sake of their children. But eventually, no country will be safe and secure in this global age. According to the Bible this world is crumbling and perishing, not at all progressing. The people of the world should have the hope of the kingdom of God. Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God to his disciples unceasingly and intensely so that they might have the assurance of the kingdom of God and become kingdom workers as apostles. They would truly be the hope of the world. Jesus had a great expectation from them to do the great work for the kingdom of God. For this, Jesus knew what they had to be equipped with. Verses 4-8 describe a conversation Jesus had with his disciples. Let’s see this. 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.” How did the disciples respond to this great command and promise? Perhaps they thought of it for several days. Verse 6 says, “So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’” They seemed to have other concerns, particularly restoration of the kingdom of Israel. Humanly it was understandable, since they had been under the rule of Rome. In light of the Old Testament it is Judaism that God’s chosen nation Israel should stand over all other nations in this world with God’s exclusive blessing. Broadly speaking, the kingdom of Israel refers to each one’s own kingdom under which there is not even a thought of the kingdom of God. We remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” However, here what did Jesus say to them? In verse 7, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” Jesus wanted them to entrust all those matters to the sovereignty of God. Subsequently, he said, “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.” Here, three words draw our attention: “my witnesses”, “power” and “the Holy Spirit.” Let’s think about these words. First, “my witnesses.” Witnesses are important. In the Old Testament, judgment of an issue was determined by the evidence of witness testimony. In today’s legal system, witnesses are still very important for evidence gathering. Witnesses are those who have directly observed an event at issue. False witnesses are terrible people in Gods eyes. Because of fear and desire to keep others recognition, people often cannot witness truthfully. The False witness makes others suffer tremendously. The ninth of Ten commandments is, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour” (Ex. 20:16; Dt. 5:20). Witnessing truthfully is not easy, because sometimes it costs a lot, even ones life. The word “witness” is in Greek μάρτυρες (pronunciation: mar-toos), containing the meaning of martyrdom. Jesus came into this wold as a witness of God the Father and of heavenly things. He said in John 3, “I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen…No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man” (3:11-13). He came to witness and reveal God the Father. According to 1 Timothy 6:13, Jesus made the good confession while testifying before Pontius Pilate. He said to Pilate in John 18, “My kingdom is not of this world…my kingdom is from another place…I came to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (18:36-37). When Pilate threatened him, saying, “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” meaning, “Your power is not your own but given, so it can be taken away any time.” In Revelation, Jesus is described as the faithful witness 1:5 and the faithful and true witness in 3:4. He is called Faithful and True in 19:11. Even his name is the Word of God in 19:13. In the Old Testament God raised his servants as his witnesses (Isa. 43:10, 12; 44:8). Particularly in Isaiah 43:12, it is written, “‘I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘that I am God.’” Jesus also said to his disciples in Matthew 10:18, “On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.” After his resurrection Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 24:48, “You are witnesses of these things.” When apostle Paul made his defence before King Agrippa, Paul clearly spoke of what the risen Jesus had said to him in Acts 26:16, “Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and what I will show you.” There are various kinds of witnesses in this world. What can be better than witnessing for Christ Jesus, who died for our sins, was raised from the dead, and will come again as King of kings and Lord of lords. “You are my witnesses” is God’s wonderful calling and our glorious identity in this world, though costly. S. Ian’s company seems to prosper selling software programs for lawyers throughout the world. As a salesman in his company, Ian does his best to speak of the company’s product on the phone. In God’s blessing, he can be an excellent salesman in his company. As witnesses of Jesus, we are to speak of Christ Jesus truthfully and passionately. As for Apostle Peter’s expression, it is to declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. “You are my witnesses.” May this be our clear life direction in Christ Jesus. May witnessing to Jesus be our daily spiritual habit in the place where we are and at U of T campus. Second, power and the Spirit. In verse 8, power is in Greek δύναμιν (pronunciation: doo-nam-is) which is related to dynamite. We can say that history is the history of power. Those who have power rise up and rule. Powerful people lead and make history. As you know, the Babylonian kingdom was destroyed by the more powerful kingdom of Media and Persia, which then was destroyed by the kingdom of Greece. It is written in the book of Daniel: “I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power” (8:4) This ram with two horns represented the kings of Media and Persia (8:20). The description continues, “As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. He came toward the two-horned ram…I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power” (8:5-7). This goat is the king of Greece (8:21). There are various kinds of power, political power, money power, military power, atomic power, intellectual power, muscle power, etc. There are also forces of evil in the heavenly realms which are demonic powers; there is also power from God.

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