1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,320 I'm going to ask you to open your Bibles with me to Acts chapter 1. 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:12,000 Now you know why I haven't been talking this morning. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,840 And you know why the sermon probably will be a little short. 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,720 Now don't get too excited. 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:26,000 I prayed about that. 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:31,680 Few experiences in life produce anxiety like change. 7 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:40,920 The reality of change, however, in this world is it's one constant. 8 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:47,120 Because of that, lots of people have lots of anxiety most of the time. 9 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:52,240 We face anxiety when we move to a new location. 10 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:58,760 We face anxiety when we go to a new school, as some of you will be doing next fall. 11 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:04,640 We face anxiety when we graduate from one program and we're not sure what step is coming 12 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,520 next and some of you are in that case today. 13 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:14,040 We face anxiety when we're about to undergo a marital change status. 14 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:20,760 We face anxiety when we lose our jobs or we're going to have a new assignment in our work. 15 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,680 There are lots of reasons for anxiety. 16 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,320 They all relate to change. 17 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:30,720 A change for some people is like a new pair of shoes. 18 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,640 It can be very uncomfortable until you get used to it. 19 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:42,280 The problem is that just when you get used to it, there's another change before you. 20 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:47,320 We as a church are facing some sort of change in upcoming months. 21 00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:52,680 Your participation in the process that begins tonight will help define what that means for 22 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:53,680 us. 23 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:59,360 I hope that you will participate and be a part of it. 24 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:03,800 It is good as we face change to realize that that's part of life. 25 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:11,000 Abraham Lincoln back in 1859 was speaking to the Agricultural Society in Wisconsin. 26 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:16,240 He was talking about change and the fact that we face it in life. 27 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:21,800 He told the story about an Eastern monarch who wanted his wise man to go throughout the 28 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,200 world and find the wisest statement they could find. 29 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:29,800 A statement that would be true in all times and all places among all peoples. 30 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:36,520 They came back with this statement, all this too shall pass away. 31 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,720 It is good for us to be reminded that change is a part of life. 32 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:46,840 The disciples as we go to Acts chapter 1 were about to face some change too. 33 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:51,120 Jesus had told them that he was going away. 34 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,660 What would that mean for them? 35 00:02:53,660 --> 00:03:01,360 They had left everything to follow him and now he is going away? 36 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:06,600 Acts chapter 1 beginning in verse 1, Luke the beloved physician is writing here by the 37 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:13,800 inspiration of the Holy Spirit and he says, the former account I made, O Theophilus, of 38 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,800 all that Jesus began both to do and teach. 39 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:19,680 We're not sure who Theophilus was. 40 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,000 He may have been a Roman official. 41 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,920 His name means dear to God. 42 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:32,680 So he may have been a Roman official who had been converted to Christianity and who had 43 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:40,400 sought for some record, some written account of Jesus' life and Luke being Roman and being 44 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:47,760 a gifted historian as well as physician took up the assignment by God's will to write down 45 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:59,160 the history of Jesus' life and now more than that the history of the early church. 46 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:04,840 We'll begin in verse 2 again, until the day in which he was taken up after he through 47 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:11,540 the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he 48 00:04:11,540 --> 00:04:20,640 also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs and being seen by 49 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:28,440 them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God and being 50 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:33,600 assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to 51 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:41,720 wait for the promise, the promise of the Father, which he said, You have heard from me. 52 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,240 For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not 53 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,520 many days from now. 54 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,560 Therefore when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this 55 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,080 time restore the kingdom to Israel? 56 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:02,640 He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put 57 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,640 in his own authority. 58 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:10,080 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. 59 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:16,120 And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end 60 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:17,600 of the earth. 61 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:22,160 When he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up and a cloud received 62 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,920 him out of their sight. 63 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:29,720 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them 64 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:37,680 in white apparel, who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? 65 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:43,600 This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as 66 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,560 you saw him go into heaven. 67 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:53,480 So we have Luke's account of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, the most full account 68 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,040 that we have in the Bible. 69 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:05,840 The ascension of our Lord brought change to him and to his apostles. 70 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:09,120 That's what I want to talk about this morning. 71 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:13,000 This is not without application to you and to me because the changes that we're going 72 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:22,580 to see make a difference in who we are and what we are to be about in the world also. 73 00:06:22,580 --> 00:06:30,480 Years ago when covered wagons were the main transportation to the west, one of the problems 74 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:38,200 on the trails was the ruts that were created by the wagons, especially when the ground 75 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:39,200 was wet. 76 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:45,200 It is said that there was a sign put up at one location that said, Avoid this rut or 77 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:47,640 you will be in it for the next 25 miles. 78 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:55,240 Well, if you've ever driven on a dirt road or a gravel road that has collapsed through 79 00:06:55,240 --> 00:07:01,360 the frost and thaw process of the winter, you know that ruts can be bad. 80 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:10,560 Well, Jesus is going away and believe me, there are no ruts for these apostles to follow. 81 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:16,640 The first change that I see in our text is a change of work. 82 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,640 His work on earth was finished. 83 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,760 His work in heaven now began. 84 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:28,840 This was a change that took place at the Ascension. 85 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,440 His work on earth was for sin. 86 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:38,440 It was a work that was fully accomplished at the cross when he paid the price through 87 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:46,160 the shedding of his blood as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 88 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:52,600 Hebrews 10 tells us that once for all Christ died. 89 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,920 It never needs to be repeated nor can it be repeated. 90 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:03,420 Because once for all of eternity at that moment in time, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished 91 00:08:03,420 --> 00:08:06,400 the work he was sent to do in the world. 92 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:08,560 A work for all time. 93 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,560 But it happened at one moment in time. 94 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,160 And it's a work that was finished. 95 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:19,440 He never needs deal with sins penalty again. 96 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:30,660 He will execute his full judgment on sin and sinners and Satan one day, yet in the future. 97 00:08:30,660 --> 00:08:32,320 But the price was paid at the cross. 98 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,120 The judgment was accomplished there. 99 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:38,100 And his work was finished. 100 00:08:38,100 --> 00:08:44,040 But now as he returns back to heaven from the Mount of Olives, his work changes. 101 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:49,520 Now he is going to work in heaven for saints. 102 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:54,160 Turn with me to the seventh chapter of the book of Acts and we will see a text that tells 103 00:08:54,160 --> 00:09:00,520 us for sure that Jesus arrived in heaven safely. 104 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:07,440 In Acts chapter seven we have the record of Stephen's tremendous sermon delivered on the 105 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:17,520 occasion of his death, the first martyr of the church. 106 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:23,760 When he had said certain things, verse 54 says, when they heard these things, his hearers, 107 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:29,380 they were cut to the heart and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 108 00:09:29,380 --> 00:09:35,500 They were so filled with rage and anger that they literally gnawed their tongues. 109 00:09:35,500 --> 00:09:37,500 They ground their teeth. 110 00:09:37,500 --> 00:09:41,760 They could not wait to get their hands on this man. 111 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:49,040 But he, Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God 112 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:56,480 and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 113 00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:01,280 And so we have an account of a man who was alive on earth and who looked up into the 114 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:08,680 sky and heaven was opened and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 115 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:14,240 I did this speculation with some of you on a Sunday night a number of months ago, but 116 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:18,720 my speculation is that heaven is not far away. 117 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:24,460 I don't believe that heaven is beyond the moon, beyond the sun, out there beyond the 118 00:10:24,460 --> 00:10:26,920 edge of the universe. 119 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:31,840 I believe that heaven is right up there. 120 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:33,120 It's invisible to our eyes. 121 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:34,440 We cannot see it. 122 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:36,960 You say, well, where up there? 123 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,160 Well, I'm not real sure. 124 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,480 You can't point to something that's invisible. 125 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,520 But my point is this, that Stephen was standing on earth and all he had to do was look up 126 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:50,880 into the sky and he was given the vision to see heaven. 127 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:57,280 Heaven was opened for him and it was close enough that he could see Jesus and recognized 128 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:03,680 him and saw him standing at the right hand of God. 129 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:06,800 Our Lord Jesus Christ's ministry changed. 130 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,800 His work changed when he went back to heaven. 131 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:11,320 His work on earth was finished. 132 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:13,640 His work in heaven began. 133 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:22,080 His work in heaven is essentially two offices that he now fills for you and for me, advocate 134 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:23,800 and high priest. 135 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:30,840 Now, I need an advocate and I'll tell you why if you won't tell anybody. 136 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,520 It's because I sin. 137 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:37,640 It's because I blow it. 138 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:42,400 It's because there are times when I think things and say things and do things that are 139 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:44,120 wrong before God. 140 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:48,720 Now, I know you won't tell anybody so I don't mind telling you that. 141 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:56,260 But I need somebody to stand as a defense attorney before me, before God on my behalf. 142 00:11:56,260 --> 00:12:00,060 And that is the work of our advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ. 143 00:12:00,060 --> 00:12:05,880 When the accuser of our souls, Satan, accuses us, we have one who stands before God to say, 144 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,880 I paid the price. 145 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:14,680 I satisfied that claim against your child when I died on the cross. 146 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:21,240 So that Satan never has a just basis for an accusation against me. 147 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:26,000 Because the Lord Jesus Christ is the satisfaction for my sins. 148 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:33,160 Therefore, he stands as my advocate before God and never can I be accused by Satan before 149 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:34,880 God. 150 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:37,140 Justly. 151 00:12:37,140 --> 00:12:41,200 Because I have a defense attorney who is there to say, just a moment, your honor. 152 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:42,680 Father, just a moment. 153 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:43,680 I paid the price. 154 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:47,160 See my hands? 155 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:52,200 I have paid for that penalty. 156 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,440 And then I need a high priest too. 157 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,660 A high priest is a little different. 158 00:12:57,660 --> 00:13:05,040 And that a high priest is one who understands sympathetically the needs of his people. 159 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:10,520 And therefore he goes before God to pray on their behalf. 160 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:15,080 It's not dealing with sins so much as it is their weaknesses. 161 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,880 Their trials, their pains, their hurts. 162 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:22,980 I need somebody to go before God on my behalf. 163 00:13:22,980 --> 00:13:25,920 I've been sick enough the last couple of days, I haven't felt much like praying. 164 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,440 I know some people get very spiritual when they get sick. 165 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,200 I'm not one of them. 166 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:32,520 It's hard for me to pray. 167 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:36,680 It's hard for me to read the Bible when I'm sick. 168 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:44,240 I was comforted this morning as I was croaking out the few words that I could in prayer that 169 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,640 I have a high priest who stands before God on my behalf. 170 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,000 I said, Lord, you know what I always pray for on Sunday morning. 171 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,840 Take care of it. 172 00:13:53,840 --> 00:14:00,080 This saved me about a half an hour. 173 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,120 I have a high priest who knows what's on my heart. 174 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:05,800 He knows the burdens that I have. 175 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,560 He knows my weaknesses. 176 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:12,760 If you don't ever need mercy or grace, then don't worry about it. 177 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,400 But if you're like me and you need mercy and grace in your pilgrimage in this world, 178 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:22,200 be thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven today as your high priest. 179 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,960 And he sympathetically understands what you're passing through. 180 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:35,280 And therefore is able to take that concern, that burden, directly to God on your behalf, 181 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:38,180 perfectly intercedes. 182 00:14:38,180 --> 00:14:42,200 The second change that I see in our text is a change of presence. 183 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:47,720 He was with his apostles occasionally. 184 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:54,240 Now he is with his servants continuously. 185 00:14:54,240 --> 00:15:00,640 Usually there were ten times over the forty days from the resurrection to the ascension 186 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:05,720 when Jesus appeared to his disciples. 187 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,780 Five of those times were on the first Easter Sunday. 188 00:15:09,780 --> 00:15:14,480 The other five times were spread over thirty-nine days. 189 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,520 We're reading here about the last time that he appeared to them. 190 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:25,320 So he was with his apostles before his ascension occasionally here and there, in Galilee as 191 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:30,160 we've seen, there at the seaside where he fixed breakfast for them. 192 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:33,480 He was up on the mountain where he gave them the great commission that we studied last 193 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:34,480 week. 194 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,040 And now they're back down at Jerusalem. 195 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:41,160 And they're out on the Mount of Olives near Bethany, which is just a little ways outside 196 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:44,720 of Jerusalem. 197 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:49,960 He is with them again as he has been over the last thirty-nine, forty days occasionally. 198 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:51,320 But now he is going away. 199 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:52,600 He's going back to heaven. 200 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:56,920 By the way, if you go to the Holy Land, you can see the rock that his foot last touched, 201 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:01,280 according to somebody. 202 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:07,080 There's a rock there that has a footprint in it, more or less, which is said to be the 203 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:08,760 rock that Jesus left from. 204 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,140 Now whether he did or not leave from that rock, I don't know. 205 00:16:12,140 --> 00:16:14,480 But he left from that mountain. 206 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:15,480 He went back to heaven. 207 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:20,640 And one of the reasons he did was so that from that point on, I should say from Pentecost 208 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:27,160 on, he could be with all of his people continuously in a spiritual sense. 209 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:28,600 You say, well, that's not real. 210 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,600 Yes, it is real. 211 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:38,600 It is spiritually that Jesus is with us all, all the time. 212 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,200 It is very real. 213 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,880 Spiritually he is in heaven, but spiritually he is with all of us continuously. 214 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:49,040 Let me give you an example of that right here in the book of Acts. 215 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,960 Turn to chapter 9. 216 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:53,320 My the Lord is answering prayer. 217 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:58,800 I'm going to be going past time here this morning if I keep this up. 218 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:06,860 Acts chapter 9 verse 1 says, Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples 219 00:17:06,860 --> 00:17:13,240 of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus. 220 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:15,200 Now notice that. 221 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:20,400 He is breathing out threats and murder against whom? 222 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,480 The disciples of the Lord. 223 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:31,400 Now he wants official authorization to go to Damascus and continue his work there. 224 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,100 Now look on down to verse 4. 225 00:17:34,100 --> 00:17:35,880 This is after Jesus has appeared to him. 226 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:42,880 There's this flash of light that stuns him, that blinds him on the road to Damascus. 227 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:50,240 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting 228 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,480 me? 229 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:58,000 Notice not why are you persecuting my disciples. 230 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,000 Why are you persecuting me? 231 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:01,000 He said, who are you Lord? 232 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:05,840 He said, I'm Jesus whom you are persecuting. 233 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,800 I want you to notice that. 234 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:13,240 To strike out against the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ is the same as striking 235 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:17,640 out at Jesus himself. 236 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:22,880 Saul was persecuting the disciples, but Jesus said, Saul, you're persecuting me. 237 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:24,240 Why is that? 238 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:29,080 Because his presence was with them continuously. 239 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:35,000 He was there in a spiritual sense, a very real sense, and it's so real that to attack 240 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:42,680 a child of God is to attack the Lord Jesus Christ. 241 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:47,640 So wherever you go and whatever you do, he's there. 242 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:54,040 And never in a true sense are you ever alone because he is with you and with all of us 243 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:55,840 who know him continuously. 244 00:18:55,840 --> 00:19:01,040 There's a third change, a change in venue. 245 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:05,860 The center was in Jerusalem. 246 00:19:05,860 --> 00:19:09,880 Now the commission is to the world. 247 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:16,000 Up to this point, the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ and his disciples focused on 248 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:17,600 Jerusalem. 249 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:23,300 He had come to Israel, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 250 00:19:23,300 --> 00:19:26,600 He offered himself to Israel as their king. 251 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,840 He was rejected by Israel. 252 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:37,080 He told his disciples, wait in Jerusalem until the promise of the Father comes to you. 253 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:42,760 For 10 days they prayed and did what seemed necessary, which was basically to appoint 254 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:47,440 someone to fill the role of Judas, 1 Matthias. 255 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:48,920 They waited in Jerusalem. 256 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,180 Everything is focused on that city. 257 00:19:52,180 --> 00:19:57,200 But now he sends his followers beyond Jerusalem, beyond Israel. 258 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,240 He says, begin in Jerusalem. 259 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,240 It starts here. 260 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:09,880 But it also means to go to all of Judea and Samaria, that place of the outcasts. 261 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:14,120 And then to the uttermost parts of the earth, I commission you, I send you there to be my 262 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:15,120 witnesses. 263 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:18,360 There's a change of venue here. 264 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:20,240 Up to this point, everything's in Jerusalem. 265 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:21,240 Now it's the whole world. 266 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,240 There's a change. 267 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:30,760 It brings me to ask this question, are you a Christian who is world conscious? 268 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,560 Are you a world Christian? 269 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:42,500 Do you look at the events in other parts of the world as to how they impact God's work? 270 00:20:42,500 --> 00:20:45,360 The advance of the Gospel? 271 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:50,560 What's the breadth of your interest and your vision in world events? 272 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:52,360 What is your burden? 273 00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:54,760 How do you pray? 274 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,480 Jesus has accomplished a change of venue. 275 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,800 We're no longer to be centered on our own Jerusalem. 276 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,120 We start here. 277 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:10,040 But our interests are to go beyond here to the whole world. 278 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:14,600 A fourth change, the change of enablement. 279 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,440 The Holy Spirit was present. 280 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:24,560 The Holy Spirit now indwells and empowers His people to witness. 281 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:28,600 The Holy Spirit was present before the day of Pentecost. 282 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:30,040 The Holy Spirit is deity. 283 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:35,000 He is omnipresent. 284 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:43,480 And in some special sense, Jesus had given the Holy Spirit to His disciples on Easter 285 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:44,480 Sunday. 286 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:50,160 He said to them that evening, He said, receive the Holy Spirit, and He breathed upon them. 287 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:57,800 So that there was some temporary kind of infilling that they experienced on that occasion. 288 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,120 But now Jesus is returning back to heaven. 289 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:05,880 And the reason He's going back is that He might send the promise of the Father, which 290 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:12,720 is the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. 291 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,840 So now you and I have one who indwells us. 292 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:20,680 He doesn't just come upon us occasionally for temporary periods. 293 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:27,320 But we have a Spirit from God, the Holy Spirit, who indwells us and who empowers or enables 294 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:32,080 us in our witness in particular. 295 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:35,680 But also in our living, our godly living. 296 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:43,880 Divine enablement is essential to do anything that will pass the judgment of God. 297 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,400 So there's a change of enablement. 298 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:51,960 The Holy Spirit, who helped some of God's people sometimes in the Old Testament, now 299 00:22:51,960 --> 00:23:00,360 indwells all of God's people all the time to enable us, to empower us. 300 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:05,800 That ought to really encourage us. 301 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,920 Even the little things that we do, God uses those. 302 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,840 They're done in the power of the Spirit. 303 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:20,240 There's a great Scotsman by the name of James Haldane, who joined the Navy when he was still 304 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:23,280 a teenager as a matter of fact. 305 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:27,720 But he rose quickly through the ranks and eventually was given command of a warship. 306 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,880 It was called the Melville Castle. 307 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:36,800 On one occasion he was fighting an enemy in a fierce battle. 308 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:46,200 And he looked around and saw many of his experienced sailors who were dead or wounded on the deck. 309 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:56,120 And so he ordered some of his newer recruits to man the guns and to fight the battle. 310 00:23:56,120 --> 00:24:00,440 He began to swear violently at them. 311 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:08,600 They were not as capable as the men who were first wounded and were rather inept. 312 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,960 So he wished them all to hell. 313 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:18,000 When the battle had ended, one of the survivors, who was a Christian, stepped up to him and 314 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:23,560 said to him, Captain, if God had answered your request a little while ago, where would 315 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:28,600 we all be now? 316 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:35,560 Then the man followed that gentle rebuke with a witness, which the Holy Spirit used. 317 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:44,600 The Holy Spirit took those simple words and brought conviction to the heart of James Haldane. 318 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,100 He became a believer. 319 00:24:47,100 --> 00:24:51,400 And sensing the call of God upon his life, he abandoned his career in the Navy and became 320 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,200 a preacher in Glasgow. 321 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:59,400 His brother Robert, who was a very wealthy man and a commentator on the word of God, 322 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:06,640 a remarkable Christian, built him a tabernacle to preach in with a seat of 3,000 people. 323 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:10,100 This would have been 200 years ago. 324 00:25:10,100 --> 00:25:17,360 And for over 50 years James Haldane preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in Glasgow. 325 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:24,160 During his ministry he led many to Christ, including his brother, who eventually built 326 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,440 a church for him. 327 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:32,960 One of the men that came to Christ was a man named Felix Neff that God used to spark a 328 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:37,880 revival in Switzerland some decades later. 329 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:39,200 Now how did all of this begin? 330 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:45,200 By the way, Robert Haldane, who was led to Christ by his brother and who was wealthy, 331 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:53,400 paid for the seminary education of more than 350 men that they might go into the ministry. 332 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,760 He just paid for it. 333 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:58,000 You think of all of that fruit. 334 00:25:58,000 --> 00:25:59,000 Where did it all begin? 335 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:04,560 It began back with one sailor who in the power of the Holy Spirit talked to his captain about 336 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:12,480 something he had said in blasphemy against God in wishing all of his men to hell. 337 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:18,640 The Holy Spirit empowers us so that even the simple words and the witness that we have 338 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:24,400 can be used of God to do great things and even impact the history of nations, as is 339 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,200 the case I just told you about. 340 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,680 Then there's the change of perspective, finally. 341 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:33,880 Christ went away. 342 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:36,800 Christ will come again. 343 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:42,280 His leaving the way he did was a public act of God demonstrating the uniqueness of his 344 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:52,520 Son and his acceptance of his Son into his heavenly ministry. 345 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,520 Wouldn't it have been something to have been there on the Mount of Olives that day as Jesus 346 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:04,200 was speaking with them and suddenly he began to rise up from the ground where he was standing? 347 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:10,800 The disciples saw him being lifted up and up and up until a cloud. 348 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:20,040 It could be a cumulus cloud or some other sort of natural cloud made out of water vapor. 349 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:25,240 It may also have been the Shekinah of God, the glory of God that appeared as a cloud 350 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:27,640 in the Old Testament. 351 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:33,080 The point is that when Jesus got to a certain point there was this cloud-like thing that 352 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:39,000 took him away from their eyes and at that moment he entered into the heavenly dimension 353 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,640 of things, the invisible realm. 354 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:49,600 They waved goodbye to him and they stood there wondering, looking. 355 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:54,720 Then there were these two angels who appeared dressed in white beside them. 356 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:58,880 The angels said, fellas, what are you doing here? 357 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,280 Didn't you hear what Jesus said? 358 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:02,460 Get busy. 359 00:28:02,460 --> 00:28:04,880 Do what he told you to do. 360 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:10,640 This same Jesus who's taken up from you is going to come again just as you saw him go 361 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:12,000 away into heaven. 362 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,160 You see, there's a change of perspective here. 363 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:22,360 Up to this point the disciples have been looking at Jesus as one among them. 364 00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:29,280 He had come in answer to the prophecies of the Old Testament and now he's going away. 365 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:32,920 What would we do without Jesus? 366 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:40,160 Their perspective changes as they say, yes, he went away, but he's coming again. 367 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:45,880 A whole new perspective, a hope was created in their hearts. 368 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,800 We're to be an expectant people as the people of God. 369 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:55,160 We have a lot to look back upon with gratitude, but listen, we of all people in the world 370 00:28:55,160 --> 00:29:01,020 ought to be looking ahead with a positive, joyful attitude about the future. 371 00:29:01,020 --> 00:29:05,720 Not because we expect great things out of Washington. 372 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:12,320 Not because we expect great things out of any government in the world, but because we 373 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:14,760 expect the Lord Jesus Christ to come again. 374 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:17,880 That is our perspective. 375 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:22,900 It was a perspective that came on this day of the ascension. 376 00:29:22,900 --> 00:29:29,920 I believe it can be argued that the ascension is just as important to the ministry of the 377 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:34,120 Lord Jesus Christ as was Calvary and his resurrection from the dead. 378 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,960 I don't know why we don't have more hymns that talk about the ascension. 379 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:42,940 I don't know why we don't hear more about the ascension than we do. 380 00:29:42,940 --> 00:29:51,440 This event is a significant event in the world history and it brings tremendous change. 381 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:57,840 We've talked about how those changes impacted the disciples and how they impact us. 382 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:03,880 One thing that doesn't change though is the relationship we have with the Savior. 383 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:11,360 Once it is established, it is a solid, it is a rock solid, unchanging relationship that 384 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:17,400 takes us right through all of the changes of life. 385 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:23,440 That relationship doesn't change, but at the same time we change, God does things in our 386 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:25,960 lives to make us new people. 387 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:29,480 I wonder today if you have that relationship with God. 388 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:34,760 If this Christ who ascended and went back to heaven who is coming again is one that 389 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:41,080 you know personally because you believed on him. 390 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:50,000 Do you have a relationship that carries you through the change of this week and next year? 391 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:58,920 Has that relationship been demonstrated by change in your life? 392 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:06,360 You see this Christ who is changeless himself changes us when we believe on him. 393 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:14,120 It does really no good to say, well I've changed, I go to church a lot now. 394 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:16,160 That's not going to affect your eternity. 395 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:21,880 Not that it's bad, but the thing you need is a relationship with God, not come to church. 396 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:27,360 You say, well I've gone through all the sacraments, I've done all of those things. 397 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:30,360 Does that mean I've changed? 398 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:34,560 Well that may signify change, I don't know, but the real change is the change of character 399 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:38,120 and attitude and heart. 400 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:44,120 The old is passed away and you're a new person and your wife knows it, your husband knows 401 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,960 it, your children know it, the people at work know it. 402 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:54,120 Not that you're perfect, but there's been a change because Jesus is there. 403 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:59,760 The Lord Jesus Christ today is here with us spiritually. 404 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:07,880 He is in this place and his great desire is that he might have a relationship with you, 405 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:14,640 that he might change you on the inside and by his changeless power take you through life 406 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,640 and one day to his presence in heaven. 407 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,880 Let's pray together. 408 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:24,800 With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, I wonder if there's someone here who says, 409 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:29,780 pastor, today I need Christ, I need to be saved. 410 00:32:29,780 --> 00:32:34,700 God knows that my tongue doesn't show any change. 411 00:32:34,700 --> 00:32:40,080 God knows that my thought life doesn't show any change at all. 412 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:47,800 Outwardly I have trimmed off some of the rough edges, but in my heart I'm not a new creation, 413 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:49,000 but I want to be. 414 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:56,000 I want to have that relationship with Christ that will change me and make me a new person. 415 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:04,120 Would you by the uplifted hand say, pastor, pray for me because I need to be changed? 416 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:06,560 I will pray for you. 417 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:13,320 And ask Jesus Christ to come into your life for you to believe on him. 418 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,560 I'll pray for you. 419 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,280 Is there someone? 420 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:35,720 Let's stand together.