"Many Proofs" Sermon: Acts 1:1-5

“Many Proofs”
[Acts 1:1-5]
May 17, 2009 Second Reformed Church

This morning, we begin our look at the book of Acts. The book of Acts is Luke’s second volume – the continuation of his Gospel. We remember how Luke opens his Gospel: “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:1-4, ESV).

Luke addresses both his Gospel and the Acts to Theophilus, who was likely a high-ranking official of some sort, given the way Luke addresses him. Theophilus is a Christian, and Luke states that he has written these accounts of the Work of Jesus Christ for Theophilus that he would gain certainty – assurance – about the things he has been taught. How would he gain assurance? By hearing the eyewitness testimony of those who saw and heard all that Jesus did and taught. The Holy Spirit saw to it that the Gospel and Acts were written down, recording the eyewitness testimony of scores of people, that we who believe in Jesus would have additional certainty and assurance in Jesus through reading them.

As Luke open Acts, he tells Theophilus, and us, that the Gospel dealt with everything that Jesus began to do and teach. The implication is that Jesus is still working and teaching in His Risen and Glorified State. Jesus is still working for us and He is still teaching us. Though Jesus is not physically on the earth, He is ministering to us through the reading and preaching of His Word and through the right administration of the sacraments. And, He is working and teaching us and working and teaching through us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

As Jesus said, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:7-15, ESV).

Jesus has ascended back to His Throne, as we mentioned last week. He is sovereignly reigning over all things right now. Do we believe that? Do we have assurance that Jesus is in control of all things? That He is carrying out His Plan, just as it was intended from before the foundation of the world? If we have any doubt, may God the Holy Spirit instruct us and assure us through His Word – through Acts – as we look at it. May He be pleased to increase our faith that we might be better witnesses to Him and His Salvation.

The author of Hebrews wrote, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through his flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:19-25, ESV).

We are to encourage one another – to build each other up in the assurance of the faith – reminding each other that, through Jesus Christ, we have access to God – we can come before Him boldly – confidently in prayer – and in the sanctuary. As we pray – and pray together – often – we will become all the more certain of the Truth of God’s Word. As we gather together for worship – as we read and hear the Word of God preached – as we receive the sacraments – and do so as often as we are able – we will become all the more certain of the Truth of God’s Word. Jesus continues to work and teach us and work and teach through us, through the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.

If the Lord is willing, we’ll talk about that more in a few weeks, but let’s understand, this morning, that God the Holy Spirit dwelt in the apostles and dwells in all those who believe in Jesus Christ Alone for salvation. That means when God calls us to faith and belief in Jesus Alone for our salvation, He changes us and gives us work to do. We, Christians, are not the same people we were before we believed in Jesus: we have been forgiven for our sins, we have been credited with Jesus’ Righteousness, we have been indwelt by God the Holy Spirit – by God Himself, and we are now – all – witnesses to Jesus and His Salvation.

We cannot say that we have not be called to be Jesus’ ambassadors. Not all of us have been called to be pastors, but all of us have been gifted by God, and we are to use the gifts that God has given each of us to glorify God – by employing them the best we can – and to show His Salvation to others. Let us rejoice that God equips us and let’s love each other and encourage each other in those ways each of us have been gifted that God would receive the glory and others would desire Jesus and His Salvation through our witness.

After the Resurrection, Luke tells us that Jesus spent forty days on earth with the apostles before He ascended back to His Throne. During that time, He proved the fact of His Resurrection to them – and many others – by showing them His Wounds and allow them to touch Him – to see that He is not a ghost, and by eating with them. Also, during this time, He taught them about the Kingdom of God.

Paul records these words about Christ and the number of eyewitnesses there were to His being raised from the dead: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the very least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed” (I Corinthians 15:3-11, ESV).

Many people talk about faith and belief as though it is something we do and have but have no proof – no reasons – for having. In the show “All in the Family,” Archie tried to defend faith by defining it this way: “Faith is believing in something that no one in their right mind would believe” – and many people think like that today. But that’s not what we see in Luke. That’s not what we see in Paul. They say we believe and have faith as a gift from God and through the proofs of the eyewitness testimony of hundreds of people. We have believable eyewitness testimony of the life and teachings of Jesus.

If a person were on trial for murder, and the prosecution brought twenty eyewitnesses forward who saw the defendant commit the murder, it would be practically certain that the defendant would be found guilty – would it not? Luke and Paul had access to over five hundred eyewitnesses – who were all in agreement – to the life and teachings of Jesus.

Now, we cannot interview those eyewitnesses today – now they have all died. But we have the record of the Bible. Sixty-six books written by forty-some different authors, written over two thousand years of time, and there is complete agreement on all things among them. I am often told, “The Bible is full of contradictions,” but I have been challenging anyone from this pulpit for ten years to show me one, and no one has every taken me on. Because they can’t. There are mysteries in the Bible. There are things God did not think we needed to understand. But what we can understand – what God saw as necessary for faith and life – is clear.

So, we might wonder: if the Gospel is clear in the Scripture, why don’t all people believe when it is preached to them? Because “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV). Because of the sin of our first parents, every mere human being is born unable to receive the Gospel – everyone is born a sinner, with a will inclined toward evil. We are born doomed, unless God, Himself intervenes and changes our heart – changes our will – so we can believe. Salvation is the Work of God; our work is to spread the Gospel. God has chosen to use us to spread His Word, but it is only by His Will and Power than anyone can come to faith and belief. The problem is not with the mind or the understanding – the problem is with the heart. God must change a human heart in order for him or her to receive the Gospel.

So God has equipped us, just as He equipped the apostles, by changing our hearts and bringing us to faith and belief in Jesus Alone for our Salvation. He has gifted each one of us in ways that we can glorify God and show His Salvation to others. And He has given us the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, through Whom Jesus continues to teach us, work in us and through us, to His Glory, and as He brings others to faith and belief through us.

Notice that after giving this call to the apostles and promising the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to them, Jesus does not give them the indwelling of the Holy Spirit immediately, and He does not send them right out to witness to His Salvation. Instead, He tells them to stay in Jerusalem and wait. Why?

One reason He told them to wait was so they would be in Jerusalem for what would become the Day of Pentecost – and if the Lord is willing, we’ll talk more about that in a few weeks.

Another reason He told them to wait is due to the fact that being God’s people – His ambassadors – His witnesses – is not just about action: sometimes God calls us to stay, to wait, to pray, to listen, to be still. There are times when God calls us to wait on Him quietly – that is not wasting time or being lazy. Jesus often went away by Himself to pray and commune with the Father. We need to do that as well. We need times of quiet waiting and worship before Him, as we pray and read the Scripture and meditate on what He has said and done. Sometimes that is not easy, given the frantic lives that we live, but it is necessary if we are to be healthy and grow and be right before God and useful to Him.

God has given us different gifts and abilities to use for Him, but there are times for us to wait and be still before Him as well. And there are times to gather together with our brothers and sisters and to lift each other up and encourage each other in love and to come before the Throne of God in worship. Let us not neglect all the varieties of our service, because it is for our good.

Luke begins Acts by explaining that he wrote his Gospel and Acts so that the reader would have greater assurance in Jesus and His Salvation through reading them – through knowing the many proofs that Jesus gave of His Resurrection, through the recorded eyewitness testimony of more than five hundred persons who were all in agreement about what Jesus did and said, through the knowledge that Jesus is reigning now, over all things, and continuing to work and teach, through the gift of the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit that everyone who believes receives, and through the call that is given to us to employ the gifts we have received, both in times of quiet waiting on God and times of action for God.

Let us read the testimony of the eyewitnesses and believe it and find assurance in it as God convinces us of its truth. And let us renew our commitment to use the gifts that God has given to us for Him in every way He leads us.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that You have not left us to our own devices, but You have saved us Yourself for Yourself. We thank You for giving us the Scripture and the testimony of eyewitnesses, so we can know what really happened. We thank You for the gift of God the Holy Spirit, so we can continue to be taught and live out all that You have said. We ask that You would help us to recognize our gifts and use them for You. And we ask that we would be obedient when You call us to wait and when You call us to act. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.