Call to be Witnesses (Acts 1:1-8, Psalm 9:1-20)
Rev. William L. Barron, March 23, 2025Part of the Morning Worship at North Greenville Church series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
This passage acts as a sequel to the gospel of Luke, who authored both books. It gives Christians our marching orders. This was 40 days from the resurrection, and Jesus appeared to the apostles, who did not understand. They appeared to be looking for a restoration of the political kingdom. But no, Jesus presented to them a spiritual kingdom, one that was more real than the physical kingdom and which was eternal. He told them that when the Holy Spirit would come in power, they would understand. The disciples were nobodies, yet God would use them as church planters. God is working through the process, making witnesses to the gospel. They presented the bad news and the good news—bad, that we are all condemned; good, that in Christ we are not only saved, but will be living for Him as witnesses. The apostles and we ourselves tell what we know, what we have seen and heard either in person or in the inspired scriptures that the apostles wrote. How are we to build the kingdom and witness? By money, programs or big shows? No, by our witness; how we speak and how we live. The apostles were told to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit, not in our own strength. Moses went back to Egypt to free his people from slavery, but only in God’s power. In this God turned the world upside down. So it is with us. What are we witnesses of? The power of the resurrection. In John 17 Jesus told the disciples that as He was sent, He is sending them in the power of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses and walk in newness of life. There are two temptations that we face in this mission. One is idleness. While we are not to run ahead of God, we are not to wait idly by. A second temptation is relying on methodology. This can be by political means or in church inventing novel means of worship. The gospel flourishes by preaching and the witness of the people.
| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « Freed From the Law | None | Feeding on Christ » |
Acts 1:1–8 (Listen)
1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
(ESV)
Psalm 9 (Listen)
To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
9:1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
their cities you rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.
9 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O LORD!
See my affliction from those who hate me,
O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail;
let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O LORD!
Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah
(ESV)