Two Missions

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will 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.” Acts 1: 1-8

Today, we are going to begin a look into the book of the Acts of the Apostles.

Here is where we find the beginnings of the Church of Jesus Christ.

We can see in the Book of Acts of the Apostles, how the Church began – how it operated – how it grew – and how it progressed.

It is here that we see the Apostles going on with the work that Jesus began and commissioned them to continue.

We see the Church – then, continuing where Jesus left her to the believers in the first century.

The Church of Jesus Christ now carries on the life of Christ – and has now for more than 2000 years.

There is no body nor any kind of organization, which has withstood the centuries of time as has the Church that Jesus Christ has established.

In Luke’s writings in the Acts of the Apostles we see the Apostles going on with the work that Jesus began and commissioned them to continue.

We see the Church, then, beginning where Jesus’ earthly life ended.

The Church now carries on the life of Christ on earth.

In this first section of his writing, Luke reminds us of what Jesus has done, and of what Jesus expects us to do as we continue His work in the church.

So, this morning we will look at two missions:

1.   The mission of Christ while He was here on earth, and -

2.   The mission that the church has today, as we continue His work.   

The Mission of Christ moved forward in three separate areas.

1.   Miraculous Works – verse 1 – “all that Jesus began to teach and to do.”

His deeds were those of purely doing good.

His deeds always were acts that were called for by the present circumstances that He observed among the masses of people.

He saw a need and fulfilled it immediately – not putting it off until a more convenient time.

We read of His acts of healing – He saw a need and acted upon it at that time.

2.   A second area of Jesus’ mission is Teaching.

Jesus’ nature is the same as the nature and disposition of God.

Including His attitude toward guilty souls. That is --- He hates sin, but He loves the sinner.

Jesus knew the real nature of man – humanity is corrupt - how could he return to God?

Jesus taught that the way to return to God is to give up ourselves and follow Him.

A great part of following Jesus and His teaching is maintaining a life of moral excellence. That is – excellence in God’s sight – not excellence in the world’s sight.

Excellence and acceptance of sinful practices are changing drastically in today’s world – anything and any kind of behavior or practice is accepted as we are encouraged to “do our own thing.”

Remember, the Pharisees had a problem with their sight. Jesus rebuked them for their legalistic acts.

Another major issue Jesus dealt with in His teaching was about the future of those He taught.

He taught that there is a certain way of life that is required to inherit eternal life in that future world.

3.   A third area of Jesus’ mission is Endurance.

We need only to go back and look at Jesus’ life here on earth to see the endurance He maintained.

It was His passion for the lost and dying humanity that caused Him to endure the trials and the temptations that came into His life as He ministered to the masses of people.

His passion for the lost and dying humanity was evident in the supreme and culminating event as He endured the beatings, and finally the crucifixion – ending His earthly life.

Everything else was unimportant to Him personally. He came to fulfill a mission and that required these trials and His eventual death on a cross.

So, what was the true fulfillment of His mission on earth? It was the sacrifice of His life.

Look at John 18:37 where Jesus stands before Pilate.

Pilate asks Him: “Are you the King of the Jews”?

Jesus answers: “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

This is why He came.

For all of humanity – our real nature is that we are corruptible.

That is our true heritage. And because of that, we needed a way to return to God.

 And Jesus became that Way.

So, Jesus fulfilled His mission here on earth. And He left His Apostles – and now us, His followers – to continue that mission, which has become our mission.

So, the vital question comes to us.

What does that require of us – to accept our mission on earth as we await Jesus’ return to take us home?

As I began a few minutes ago, I said we would look at two missions. The first was the mission of Christ, which we have looked at here.

Now, we need to look at Our Mission.

OUR MISSION – Acts 1:4-8  

Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will 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.”

Verse 4 tells us that we are to wait for what God has promised – the message Jesus had been preaching during His time here on earth.

“Wait for the promise of the Father.”

And, as we wait for the promise, Jesus has commissioned us as His followers. He has called us into active duty.

He asks us to not be impatient to receive the promise – He knows when and He knows How.

Sometimes we are an impatient people. We are used to having what we want – in many aspects of our lives – when we want it.

Our mission also includes:

Receiving His promises gratefully (vss. 5 and 7) 5 – “not many days from now” and,

“it is not for you to know times God has set by His own authority.”

Do you know what would happen in the lives of so many people in this world today if we actually knew the day and the hour Jesus was going to return to the earth?

So many would wait until the last minute to get ready. But as we know in our daily lives, if we wait until the last minute --- we are usually too late. The opportunity is gone.

Our mission also requires that we submit cheerfully to God’s will.

Again, His reply to our curiosity or our impatience – “it is not for you to know.”

God imposes limits on our actions and on our knowledge. There are issues and truths that we, in our human form, cannot bear.

So, He says to us --- Learn to be content. Trust me - Understanding will come.

Finally, Jesus tells us – while He is away – that we are to faithfully testify about Him.

Acts 1:7-8:

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will 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.”

Some great promises are found here:

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

You will be My witnesses – where? Speaking directly to the Apostles: “in Jerusalem, all Judea, and Samaria ---

but to us, today – to the remotest part of the earth.”

What does all of this mean to us as Christ followers in 2025?

The message is still the same – the commandment is still the same.

The truth of the matter is this:  There is no more noble work than to bear witness to Jesus Christ.

A witness does not say: “I think this is true. A witness says: “I know this is true.

We must proclaim His truth without doubt, but with the assurance that He is our Lord and Savior and that He is returning to take His people home to be with Him throughout eternity.

Are you ready?