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You Shall be My Witnesses

Last Sunday I started a new sermon series on the Book of Acts, after nearly 2 years of waiting for this moment. I am excited at the prospect of learning about how God moved in the past using a tiny group of largely uneducated peasants to bring profound transformation to the world as we knew it then.

Granted Acts is a history book written by a human author, but unlike other history books, the divine Author of the book continues to work until this very day bringing the same kind of revival in many places. Imagine reading the New Testament without the book of Acts, and we will be confused as the critical bridge that bring the Gospel from Jerusalem to the world is absent.

Chapter 1 of the book summarizes the sequence of God's plan of salvation (a Lucan theme) into fruition. There are four main strands that emerge: Jesus returned to heaven (ASCENSION) – The Holy Spirit came (PENTECOST) – The Church goes out to witness (MISSION) – Jesus will come back (PAROUSIA). 

The book of Acts started with the Ascension but its theme never ends until Parousia. In the opening chapter of his commentary on this book, Derek Thomas suggested that we should compare the first and last chapter of the book. In Chapter 1 we will find a small ragtag band of disciples anxiously waited for the Lord, not knowing what to do with the message of the kingdom of God that they have heard in the last three years when Jesus was still living and walking among them. But in Chapter 28, we find quite a different scene. The Apostle Paul was waiting for the verdict of his imprisonment in Rome (yes, Rome in Italy) to proclaim the exact same message, the kingdom of God, the truth of Jesus Christ, the Gospel. 

The Church of Jesus should know that Acts does not end in Chapter 28, so to speak. But every church should be an Acts 29 church, carrying on the continuing words and deeds of Christ who by his Spirit working through his redeemed communities. 

That's why the book, wrote John Stott, should not be named Acts of the Apostles (too human-oriented) nor Acts of the Holy Spirit (too divine), but Acts of Jesus Christ who continues to teach and work by his Spirit through the Apostles and every post-apostolic church thereafter.

We unfinished business to do. Stop gazing at the sky, withdrawing from the world to be close to God. That is an unbiblical posture. The Christ who has ascended to heaven has given us a mission for us to do, and He will be with us in His Spirit until He returns to earth. The mission is to be His witnesses to those in our neighborhood (Jerusalem), city (Judea), and to those who are of different backgrounds and orientations (Samaria), and those who live far far away from us (ends of the earth). The words of the prophet Isaiah popped up in my mind:

It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
but I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
(Isaiah 49:6)