“THE PROMISE OF JESUS’ RETURN”
ACTS 1:6-11

I. Introduction
What is a true Christian? How can a true Christian be defined? Or let me ask the question this way: What are the specific marks of a true Christian? In Jesus’ first parable – the sower and the seeds – the Lord speaks of God’s Word going out like seeds that are sown in a field.
• Some people hear the Word with their ears, but Satan immediately snatches it away and it produces nothing.
• Some people hear the Word and accept it, but they are not rooted and grounded in it and they soon fall away.
• Some people hear the Word and like what they hear, but they refuse to leave this world behind and they produce no fruit.
• And some people, a precious few, become true Christians.

Jesus defines them for us in Mark’s gospel. He uses three very definite terms.
Mark 4:20b
20b “…they hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit…”

Do you know someone who claims to be a Christian, but has no proof to support his claim? In James 2:17 the Bible says, “…faith, if it has no works, is dead.” In v. 19 James says that a dead faith is like the belief of the demons. They believe in God, but their belief profits them nothing. In v. 20 James says, “…faith without works (fruit) is useless.”

The faith that saves can never be earned by doing good works. Rather, the faith that saves can be seen by the good works it does. The faith that saves can never be proven by what a person says. Rather, the faith that saves can be seen by what a person does. A so-called faith that professes something but produces nothing is not saving faith. The one who has a faith that produces nothing is not a true Christian, no matter what he or she may claim to be.

So let me repeat Jesus’ definition of a true Christian. He or she is not only one who hears the Word of God and believes it, but receives it by faith, and then begins to produce eternal fruit. This is why we were saved! The old person is dead. The new person is alive in Christ. Why? In Romans 7:4 Paul tells us that it is so that “…we might bear fruit for God.” That’s why God has chosen us for His gift of salvation in Christ. Listen to Him…
*John 15:16a
16a “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain…”

That is why we’re still here. We are called to bear fruit. What is the fruit that Christians are to bear? Well, we are to proclaim the gospel. Those who respond to the gospel with saving faith become the “fruit that remains.”
You and I were not saved to stand idly by and watch as millions rush headlong into hell. We were appointed to bear fruit. But along with that appointment there are two great caveats. The first is that we cannot bear fruit in our own strength and by our own wisdom. Therefore, Jesus has sent us His Holy Spirit. Just a few verses earlier He said…
*John 15:5b
5b “…he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

So it is clear that we cannot do God’s work without the indwelling empowerment of His Holy Spirit. But there is a second caveat. Although we do have the Spirit of God, we do not have unlimited time. Jesus said…
*John 9:4
4 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work.”

Revelation 22:12
12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”

Therefore, we have work to do. And we have a limited amount of time to do it. But the Lord has given us His Spirit and He has given us the time. That is what this morning’s pas-sage in Acts is about.
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II. Review
Last Sunday, in the first five verses of Acts, we saw God’s promise that He would send His Spirit. During the forty days between Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and His ascension to heaven He comforted His disciples and told them what He expected of them. He told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Spirit to come to them.

In Acts 1:5 Jesus draws a contrast between the baptism of John and the baptism of the Spirit. He says, “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” This is no small distinction. John’s baptism was a ritual, a mere shadow of what was to come. But the baptism of the Spirit is a reality, actual proof of what has come. The coming of the Holy Spirit fulfills the promise God made to Abraham two thousand years before Christ.
Genesis 12:2-3
2 “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Jew and Gentile alike)

The Apostle Paul connects Abraham and the church and the coming of the Holy Spirit in his letter to the churches in Galatia.
*Galatians 3:13-14
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us – for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” –
14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gen-tiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

God’s promise was not only to Abraham’s physical descendants, the Jews. It was to Abra-ham’s spiritual descendants as well. Thus, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirt of God would come to each and every believer, regardless of whether they were a Jew or a Gentile. Listen, the Church of Jesus Christ is “all inclusive.” All times, all places, all ages, all races, in short, all who have received Christ are in the church. Rather, all who have received Christ are the church. One of the songs in our hymnal proclaims that very truth.
“In Christ there is no east or west,
In Him no north or south;
But one great fellowship of love,
Throughout the whole wide earth.”

The church is empowered by the Holy Spirit as it waits for Jesus’ return. So I say once more that the Lord has given us the Spirit’s power; however, the time we have to exercise it is limited. Whether God takes us home one at a time at our individual passing, or all together at the Rapture, our time is limited. Only He knows how much we have. King David knew that. He said, “…in Your book they were written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them (Psalm 139:16).” Our time for producing fruit is short!
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III. Text
Now, with that in mind, we come to this morning’s text.
*Acts 1:6-11 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
6 And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them;
11 and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
Are you one of those who Christians who is eagerly anticipating Jesus’ return in power and in glory? That is something we should all be doing. In fact, Paul tells us that there is a par-ticular reward in heaven for all those who love the very thought of Jesus’ return.
2 Timothy 4:8 (Paul speaking to Timothy)
8 …in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Loving Jesus’ appearing is getting easier to do, isn’t it? Does a day go by that we do not see the country we love slip further into the abyss of blatant immorality, embrace evil (and evil-doers), and disdain – even hate – sacred and honorable things?

Just within the last few days we have seen two Supreme Court rulings that will have drastic effects upon our culture – a culture already rushing to reject and remove every principle and standard that America was founded upon to celebrate, promote, and protect. While the one political party is brazenly and systematically dismantling our Constitution, the other political party sits back, plays the impotent fool, and watches it happen.

And now our Bill of Rights and the individual protections it affords – protections like (1) freedom of religion, (2) the right to bear arms, (4) protection from unlawful search and sei-zure, and (10) the right of each state to govern itself – are all under constant attack. Today even the freedom of speech is assaulted by the radical left if they don’t like what is said.

And now, by man’s law, we have changed the very definition of the word “marriage” to something that it has never meant anywhere else – ever – in recorded human history. And we are all expected to call such changes “good.” More than that, we are called to embrace and even to celebrate them – and woe to you if you do not. But we stand on God’s Word, on His laws, not on the laws of men that ridicule and defy the laws and standards of God.
Isaiah 5:20-21
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight.

Do we think that if we just put the right person in the White House everything will be fine? Do we think that a good ruler will solve all of our national problems and restore our national morality and return America to national sanity? There is only One who can do that, and the fact is that He is not going to come to Washington, D.C. He’s going to come to Jerusalem. His coming is the one the disciples are asking about in Acts 1:6.
*Acts 1:6
6 And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is
it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
Is this a foolish question on the part of the disciples? No, it really isn’t. In fact, it’s a per-fectly logical and reasonable question. These men had been trained in the OT. They had always believed that the Messiah would bring in the kingdom of God upon this earth. And since Jesus’ had been raised from the dead, and since they had spent the last forty days with Him, there was no longer any question in their minds as to who He was.

When you consider the fact that the interval between the Messiah’s two comings – though certainly implied – was not explicitly taught in the OT, it’s easy to see why the disciples thought the earthly kingdom was about to begin. Additionally, both Ezekiel and Joel made clear connections between the coming of the Spirit and the coming of the kingdom.
Ezekiel 36:27
27 “And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

Joel 2:28a
28a “And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all man-kind; and your sons and daughters will prophecy…”

But those prophecies were for Jesus’ Second Coming, not for His first. Those prophecies were for the end of the Church Age, not the beginning. The kingdom of God on earth would come – but it would be a while. Jesus was going to use these men to begin the church. In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus he tells us that Jesus is the corner stone of the church, but the apostles (and the prophets) are its foundation. (Ephesians 2:20) What the disciples do not yet understand is that The Church of Jesus Christ must be built and completed before God’s promise to the Jews of an earthly kingdom will be fulfilled. And that is going to take some time.
*Acts 1:7
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority…”

If I may paraphrase, Jesus is saying to them, “Guys, trust Me. It is going to happen, but not yet. However, you can be sure of this: My Father has set the time. Every detail of the king-dom of God is already determined. And at the right time, He will bring it to pass.”

It may help us to think of this as one of those “secret things of God.” Listen to Moses.
Deuteronomy 29:29
29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, (so) that we may observe all the words of this law.

In Matthew 25 (the Olivet Discourse) we can see clearly that Jesus will return to establish His Millennial Kingdom. There is nothing “secret” about that. However, just when that will take place is one of those secret things that “…belong to the LORD our God.” Jesus speaks about that very thing in Mark’s gospel.
*Mark 13:32
32 “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”

Listen, Christian, it is precisely because we don’t know when the Lord is returning that we are always to be working for Him and we are always to be ready for His appearing. This is true regardless of how long God chooses to leave us here. Not one of us has any guarantee of our next heartbeat. Whether He comes for us or we go to Him, the result is the same. Our time is limited. Jesus said, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; (because the) night is coming, when no man can work (John 9:4).”
*Mark 13:33-37
33 “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.
34 “It is like a man, away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the door-keeper to stay on the alert.
35 “Therefore, be on the alert – for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, at cockcrowing, or in the morning –
36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
37 “And what I say to you I say to all. ‘Be on the alert!’” (back to Acts 1)

The Bible is filled with prophecies about the last days, Jesus’ return, and the coming king-dom. Starting in September the men’s group is going to be studying the last days in general and Revelation in particular. Personally, I am fascinated by biblical prophecy. Prophecy is compelling. Prophecy is important. Prophecy is biblical. Therefore, I do not minimize the value of studying prophecy. But it’s far more important for us to know that Jesus is going to return than it is for us to know when Jesus is going to return. But this we do know. He is coming soon. The time is short. That’s why we focus more on the Great Commission than on the order of events of the last days.

That’s why Jesus tells His disciples in Acts 1:7 not to worry about the “times or the epochs which the Father has fixed…” Here is what they (and by extension what we) need to know:
*Acts 1:8
8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Here Jesus expands on something He has said before.
Luke 24:47-49a
47 “…repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His (Christ’s) name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
48 “You are witnesses of these things.
49 “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you…”

In Acts 1:8 Jesus expands upon what He told the disciples in Luke. He is saying, “My gos-pel will begin here in Jerusalem. But from here you will take it out to the whole world.” If that sounds familiar, it should. We usually call what Jesus said at the end of Matthew’s gos-pel His “Great Commission.”
Matthew 28:19
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Something else regarding Acts 1:8 – we are all Jesus’ witnesses. And if you cannot go to the ends of the earth with the gospel you can pray for and otherwise support someone who can. Think of Zhenya in Siberia, the Beakleys in South Africa, and Chuck Sweetman right here in Walworth County. Think of the Bransons, the Horsmans, and the Tolivers. Or think of “Jews for Jesus” or the radio ministries that take the gospel to every corner of the world. You can have a part of their witness for Christ.

And remember, “witnessing” is not limited to telling someone about the Lord and spreading the good news of the kingdom. Since we profess Christ the world is watching us. As such we are “witnessing” every day by how we live our lives – everything we do and everything we say. What kind of witnesses are we? How is your witness?

Listen, every great witness is found in a great hope. And our great hope is found in a great Savior. What is that hope?
Titus 2:13
13 (We are) looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus…

That’s it! He’s coming in glory. In the meantime, while we await His return, we are called to be His witnesses, “…even to the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1:8b).” Those were Jesus’ final words to His disciples on the Mount of Olives, and they’re His final words to us.
*Acts 1:9-11
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them;
11 and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

In v. 9 that’s no rain cloud that received Jesus. Throughout Scripture the word “cloud” is often used as a synonym for the glory of God. In Hebrew it is called the “Shekinah glory.”
It was the Shekinah glory (a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night) that Moses and all of Israel followed when God led them out of captivity in Egypt. It was the Shekinah glory that hovered over the mercy seat in the tabernacle and later in the temple. It was the Sheki-nah glory that surrounded Christ at His transfiguration. And later it was the Shekinah glory that blinded Saul of Tarsus when he was converted and became Paul on the road to Damas-cus. The point in Acts 1:9 is that Jesus is wrapped in the Shekinah glory, the glory of God, as He returns to heaven.

In v. 10 the disciples are so amazed by what they are seeing that they don’t notice the two angels (appearing to them as men) standing alongside of them. And in v. 11 the angels speak and snap the disciples back to attention. They say, and again I paraphrase, “You don’t need to look up in wonder. The day will come when this same Jesus will come back this same way.” This reiterates the prophecy of Zechariah 14, to my mind one of the most compelling and fascinating in all of the OT prophecies. It speaks of the very moment of the Lord’s return when He comes to establish His kingdom on the earth.
*Zechariah 14:4
4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.

Daniel also speaks of Jesus’ return in power and glory.
*Daniel 7:13-14
13 “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven (the Shekinah glory) one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days (God the Father) and was presented before Him.
14 And to Him (Jesus Christ) was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His domin-ion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

Not only will it be this same Jesus returning in this same way, it will be to this same place. Not only will He come to the same place, He will be wrapped in the same glory, the glory of God. But during the intervening years, the years between His departure and His return there will be work to be done – work to be done in preparation for His return. The gospel must be preached. There will be no Second Coming until it is.
*Matthew 24:14
14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.”

It is only by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit working through God’s own peo-ple that He will accomplish the task of preaching the gospel to the whole world.
Do you see how important you are to the completion of the work?
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IV. Conclusion
What is it that enables us to obey the Lord and be His witnesses? It is the presence and the power of His Holy Spirit who indwells every Christian. What compels us to obey the Lord and be His witnesses? It is the fact that He is coming for us. He may come for us one at a time as He has recently done with Troy’s dad, Dick Bruley, and our friend John Brady. Or He may come for us all at once at the Rapture. But in the end it really doesn’t matter. He’s coming!

When Jesus spoke of His imminent return He said this…
*Matthew 24:42-44
42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
43 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
44 “For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”

Are you doing His work? Are you anticipating His return? He’s coming!

~ Pray ~