Acts Archives - Page 24 of 24

Many Infallible Proofs

Joe Harby on April 4, 2010

Introduction

The last description of Christ’s resurrection appearances is found in the very first part of Acts. As we celebrate His resurrection, we want to take care that we learn everything that the Scriptures teach us about it.

The Text

“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:1-3)

Summary of the Text

Luke is here introducing the second volume of his work. In the first, also composed for Theophilus, he had gathered up the accounts of eyewitnesses of the life of Jesus, and set them out for us in the third gospel (Luke 1:1). He refers to that here as the “former treatise,” and it was about what Jesus began to do and teach (v. 1). What the Lord continues to do, He will do in and through His body, throughout this second treatise. What the Lord began to do, He did in Luke, and what He continues to do, He continues through the book of Acts. Jesus gave us a lived- out example and He also taught until the day of Ascension—which occurred right after He gave His commandments to the apostles through the Holy Spirit (v. 2). After the Lord’s passion, He showed Himself alive, and this showing was by “many infallible proofs (v. 3).” He was seen by them over the course of forty days, and during that time He taught them about the kingdom of God (v. 3).

A Sure Sign

The word translated here as “infallible proofs” is a word that is used only this once in the New Testament. But from the time of Aeschylus on down, it meant something from which a matter is “surely and plainly known”—it points to “indubitable evidence,” and establishes something beyond all reasonable doubt. And Luke here uses the plural, and says that there were many of these proofs.

This was after His passion, after His suffering. He had been taunted, tortured, flogged, and crucified. A spear had been run into His side to ensure He was really dead. Then He was taken down, wrapped in burial clothes, and placed in a cave for three days and three nights. A heavy rock was in front of the cave, and a guard was posted there. He was dead, and if the disciples knew anything, they knew He was dead.

What then, did these proofs consist of? Clearly, if the disciples knew that Jesus died, and they also knew the one in front of them was alive (moving, speaking, etc.), the thing that would need to be proven is that He was the same one who had died. “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39). What is Jesus demonstrating here? What is He proving? Two things—that He is not a spirit or a ghost, and that “it is I,” the same one who had died. They could have touched His back to determine that He was not a ghost, but He shows them His hands and feet—the wounds still visible— in order to show them that the body in front of them was the same body they had seen on the cross. There was true historical continuity—that same body bridged the time between the crucifixion and the resurrection. When they found the tomb empty, it was because the one body that was there had been raised. God didn’t destroy one and create another. It was the same body. Neither did a ghost emanate from that one dead body. Christ’s body was always physical.

Forty Days

Jesus did this for the disciples over the course of forty days. He persuaded them with many proofs. On what basis are we persuaded? If we are persuaded because we are in the Christian line-up, then we are of Christ the same way the Pharisees were of Moses. Once a culture has started, it is pretty easy to stay in the groove—although it is very hard to grasp the spirit of those who made the groove in the first place. But if we are Christians by true, evangelical God-given faith, then two things will be true in our experience. First, we will understand that the resurrection is not so much something that needs to be proven as it is (for us) the proof itself. How do we know that Jesus is the Son of God? The resurrection shows us (Rom. 1:4). How do we know that Jesus will come to judge the world (Acts 17: 31)? We know because He rose from the dead. Add one more thing. The world will know because love has been raised from the dead in us (John 13:35). Resurrection life is here and now.

Words of the Kingdom

What did Jesus teach during this time? Luke tells us that He taught them about the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. This was His great theme throughout the gospels, He taught this after His resurrection, and His disciples taught the kingdom of God all the way through the book of Acts (e.g. Acts 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 28:23).The gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection cannot therefore be separated from a declaration of the crown rights of King Jesus. His resurrection was not ghostly. Why would His reign be?

What is this kingdom? What is it that we should be preaching and teaching? The kingdom of God refers to the rule and realm of the Lord Jesus Christ. His rule refers to His personal authority (John 14:15; 15:17). His realm refers to those places where His rule is legitimate, which is to say, everywhere (Ps. 72:8). The gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection cannot therefore be separated from a declaration of the crown rights of King Jesus. His resurrection was not ghostly. Why would His reign be?

Some Thoughts on Life Together

Joe Harby on January 24, 2010

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Introduction

As you may observe by looking around you, we are now worshiping together in one service, instead of the two services we have had for the last year and half. This was not a decision made lightly, and part of the decision depended upon us having a message dedicated to the various issues surrounding this kind of logistical dilemma. So here we are.

The Text

“And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:1-7).

Summary of the Text

First, notice that their problem was caused by growth (v. 1), and their solution to it resulted in growth (v. 7). Growth brings about growth problems (v. 1), in this case a particular group being overlooked. Consider how ordinary and how predictable such a problem would be. The apostles responded with a proposal to delegate responsibility for this particular problem (vv. 2-3). They, for their part, were going to keep their focus on the ministry, that which was causing the growth (v. 4). And so the congregation chose seven godly men (with Hellenistic names, note), and they were set before the apostles, who ordained them (vv. 5-6). The end result of this godly solution to a dispute was godly growth (v. 7). The early church did not float through the book of Acts, never quite touching down. They were real people, with real irritations, and, we may assume, with real comebacks that could have set off a real quarrel.

Growth and Growth

The initial thoughts are taken from this text, but we are also going to assemble some biblical principles from elsewhere. First, we must distinguish growth problems from wasting disease problems. Growth is good compared to the dull as dishwater ministry of the scribes (Matt. 7:29; Acts 13:45). Growth is not an automatic good, but it can be a great good. So we also need to distinguish growth blessings from growth curses. Not everything that grows is good. Cancer grows. Morning glory grows. False teaching grows (2 Tim. 4:3; 2 Tim. 2:17). And when growth problems occur, they don’t solve themselves (Acts 6:3). When godly leadership of one sort causes a difficulty, godly leadership of another sort is needed to address it.

Organized Solutions

A balance must be maintained between focusing on the main thing, and solving the distracting problem (Acts 6: 4, 3). Giving ourselves to one or the other is foolish. This is why a godly approach must be applied both to the spiritual side of the ministry and the practical side of the ministry. In this place, the men they appointed to address their practical problem were “full of the Holy Spirit.” They didn’t appoint the impractical sky-pilots to the spiritual stuff and then appoint “realistic” worldly men to the practical side of things. Godly principles apply to everything, everywhere, and they must be applied by men who understand this.

Basic Orientation

Koinonia fellowship is the work of the Holy Spirit. As we gather to worship God, He knits us together, and we glorify Him together. This can be intimidating to outsiders, and we should not try to make that go away (Acts 5:12-14; 1 Cor. 14:25). At the same time, in the growth of God’s community, a clear priority should be placed on welcoming visitors and outsiders (Dt. 26:11). There is a real difference between the clannish and sectarian exclusion of outsiders and the scary prospect of real community. This is why our deacons, for example, have set aside two rows for visitors.

Seating, Parking, and the Hellenistic Widows

And a balance needs to be maintained between provision for those you are responsible for (1 Tim. 5:8) and adaptability in the light of larger concerns (Heb. 13:17)—and the needs that those who are responsible for those larger concerns have. So if the deacons ask you to do something, an appropriate response would not be, “This ain’t Russia, pal.”

The Whole Point

And last, but also first, the task before us in establishing a worship service is to worship God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear (Heb. 12: 28-29). Just as we want to sing songs that God wants to hear, and not those which we want to sing, so also we want a service that is acceptable to Him in the first place, and our convenience occupying a subordinate place. This does not mean that two services dishonor Him (it depends, right?), but simply means that given our particular circumstances at this point in time, we should be largely focused on what would glorify God the most. Then we labor to make that happen. We want to do this across the board—with the fellowship, with the music, with the energy, with Word and sacraments.

The Temple Pulled Inside Out

Christ Church on May 31, 2009

Introduction
We are all generally familiar with what happened on the day of Pentecost. But we also need to take note of where it happened . . . and where it did not.

The Text
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language” (Acts 2:1-6)

Summary of the Text
Jesus, crucified and risen, ascended into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father. From that exalted place, He had promised to give gifts to men, a promise that was fulfilled in the Church on the day of Pentecost. We of course rejoice that it has happened, but let’s look a bit more closely at how it happened. The followers of Jesus were gathered together, it says, “in one place” (v. 1). In the next verse, when it describes the sound of the Spirit coming, it says that it filled “all the house” where they had been sitting. Cloven tongues like fire came down and rested on each of them (v. 3), and as the Spirit filled them they began to speak in many different languages (v. 4). There were devout men in Jerusalem at that time, as it says, “out of every nation under heaven” (v. 5). They were there in Jerusalem because of the Temple, about which more in a minute. When word of this great miracle got around, the multitude gathered at this house, moving away from the Temple, and heard the disciples speaking the wonderful works of God (v. 11) in their own languages.

The Temple Complex
The Temple complex was huge. Picture a rectangle running north/south, covering about 35 acres. The east side was Solomon’s Colonnade (John 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12). Part of the retaining wall for the western side still remains today—the famous Wailing Wall. There was a large Pool of Israel outside the north wall, and at the northwest corner was the Antonia Fortress, where 600 soldiers were garrisoned. This was named for Mark Anthony, and Paul gave his impromptu sermon from the stairway up from the inside Temple court (Acts 21:40). The south wall was the Royal Stoa, the most ornate part of the complex—where Jesus as a boy had discussed the things of God with the rabbis of Israel (Luke 2:46). The Temple sanctuary and restricted courts butted out from the west wall, and did not quite reach the east wall. Everything inside the walls and outside the central Temple area was the Court of the Gentiles.

A sign was posted in the Court of the Gentiles that said, “No foreigner is allowed within the balustrades and embankment about the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will be personally responsible for his ensuing death.”The accusation that Paul had violated this law was not a trifling accusation (Acts 21:28). Paul is probably referring to this when he says that in Christ the wall of partition has been torn down (Eph. 2:14). As you entered the central Temple area from the east, you went through the Beautiful Gate (Acts 3:2), and came into the Court of the Women. There were also four gates on the north and four on the south side of this court. This is the court where the treasury was (Mark 12:41-44). Proceeding west, you then entered the Court of the Priests. Then came the Holy Place, and after that the Holy of Holies. The internal Temple was plated with gold, and when the sun was shining on it, you could not look directly at it. It was glorious. The disciples were not rubber-necking for no reason (Matt. 24: 1).

A Strange Inversion
Now if the Shekinah glory were to reappear in Jerusalem, where would you expect it to appear? You would expect it to appear the same way it had for Moses at the Tabernacle (Dt. 31:15), or for Solomon at the first Temple (2 Chron. 7:1). But that is not what happened. In order to get to the nondescript, no-name place where it had happened, the multitude had to leave the Temple in order to get there.

Not only so, but when the multitude gathered at the new center, the place where the Spirit now was, the new Holy of Holies, what did they hear when they got there? They heard the babble of languages from all over—they heard at the center what they had been hearing only at the periphery before. God had reached down inside Israel, inside the Temple, and pulled everything inside out. The Spirit “got loose” from the Temple, and away from His official handlers and representatives. God had now placed Gentile chatter at the new center. Fire rested on each of the disciples, as though each of them were an altar. And the power of the Lord was there.

Your House Is Left Desolate
But this was not done arbitrarily or capriously. The Court of the Gentiles was the place where Jesus had dealt with the moneychangers twice, and where He drove the clean animals (representing Jews) out of the area reserved for the Gentiles (Acts 10: 11-17). What did Jesus say when He did this? He said, “My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer” (Mark 11:15-19). Jesus had visited the House of God twice, the same way a priest in the Old Testament was to visit a house with leprosy (Lev. 14: 33-48). But if the lesser measures did not suffice, then it was necessary to dismantle the house entirely, which the Romans came and did. Now when Jesus described the streaks of this particular leprosy, what were the characteristics that He mentioned? There were two—refusal to let the Gentiles approach God in order to pray to Him (for all nations), and secondly, there was grasping avarice and theft (den of thieves). This is why their house was left to them desolate (Matt. 23:38). And what did God accomplish in the new Temple, assembled out of living stones? How did the new Temple answer the dual indictment of the old Temple? The praises of God in every tongue were now at the center, and the people of God were characterized by overflowing generositry (Acts 2:44-45 ). Of course the Temple was still in the picture (Acts 2:46), but it was one of the places where believers would go with the Word, and not the anointed place from which they would come.

Pancentralized
We, living as we do in the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8) might think that the application is obvious— build churches that are as diverse as a random sampling taken from the Court of the Gentiles. But that is not quite it. This is certainly true of the Church, but all those people were in one place because of the old system. When the first missionaries got to Hawaii, they were not welcomed by a committee of Swedes, Jews, and Eskimos. The message of Pentecost does not reduce to a spiritual quota system. But at the same time, we need to recognize that the Holy of Holies is now everywhere (1 Cor. 3:16). The sanctuary has not been decentralized, but rather pancentralized.

The State of the Church 2008

Christ Church on December 28, 2008

Introduction
As we consider God’s ongoing kindnesses to us as a congregation, we need to be sure to grasp more than just the “facts.” We need also to have a biblical paradigm for processing those facts—otherwise we will radically misinterpret what is happening to us.

The Text
“But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets” (Acts 24:14).

Summary of the Text
In this place, the apostle Paul is giving a defense of his behavior before the Roman governor Felix. I want to draw our attention to one phrase that Paul uses in passing. He says that he is a follower of the Way, which they call a heresy. A better translation here would be sect.
In the early uses of the term in Scripture, the connotations of the word emphasized the distinctiveness of the group, and its separation from the mainliners. As the early history of the Church unfolded, the word came to include the damnable doctrines that “heretics” would use in order to bring about that kind of separation (2 Pet. 2:1). Certain men want to draw off disciples after themselves (Acts 20: 29-30), and what better way to do this than to emphasize “your distinctives”?

Sects and Churches
Assuming basic orthodoxy, and an absence of false teaching, we can still have a proplem with sectarianism. There is a fundamental difference between the concept of a sect and the concept of a church. The sect has tighter discipline, and is of necessity smaller. In fact, in many cases, the point is to stay small (and pure). The church has a tendency to take people as they come, and work with them there. The church therefore functions more as a people, while a sect functions more like a volunteer organization or a military unit.

Keeping Us Honest
A sect has a natural tendency to veer into various kinds of perfectionism, and the first thing you know, folks are being excommunicated for taking the pastor’s parking spot. A church has a natural tendency to give up on the demands of Christian discipleship that baptism confers, and the first thing you know, they are ordaining homosexuals. Sects struggle with rigorism; churches struggle with laxity. But as you have been reminded many times, God draws straight with crooked lines. God uses “heresies” or “sects” in order to establish who is actually approved by Him (1 Cor. 11:19). One of the ways He does this is by allowing the challenge of a rigorist group with fruitcake theology apparently living at a higher level of moral discipline than is present in an orthodox church. God is not above using a wingnut group as a goad.

Ideas and Children
Sects tend to cluster around rules and ideologies. A church, a people, are defined by generations, by children. In order to police his boundaries properly, sects usually have to limit their membership to those who voluntarily joined them as adults. In a church, people grow up in the church, and cannot remember a time when it was not “their” church. In a sect, everything depends on what you know. In a church, everything depends on who you know. When a sect is not around the bend, what you need to know is the gospel. When a church is not around the bend, who you know is Jesus . . . and the God of your parents. But obviously, temptations to gross sin are present no matter which way you go.

The Halfway Covenant
When the New England Puritans settled here in America, one of their great desires was to establish a pure church, and it has to be said that they began with a strong sectarian bias. They had a very clear set of criteria to determine who was converted (and who could therefore come to the Lord’s Supper). But they also baptized infants, which meant that children growing up in the church felt that they had some stake in it, even if they were not converted. They grew up, got married, and started having kids, without ever being admitted to the Table. But they believed the truth of the Christian faith, and they wanted to have their children baptized. Now, do you baptize the children of folks who are not communicant members because they haven’t been “converted,” but who have never been excommunicated? They are willing to make a statement before the congregation that they believe in the truth of the gospel, will bring their kids up in the faith, and so on. The Halfway Covenant said okay, and reveals as few other things could, the tension between sects and churches.

Without using either term pejoratively here, baptist theology tends to be sectarian, and paedobaptist theology creates all the pressures that a church undergoes. And paedocommunion takes all those pressures, calls, and raises them ten.

Christ Church
We have been practicing infant baptism for about sixteen years now. We have a congregation with many hundreds of members. Stated in bald terms, this means that children I baptized as infants are now old enough to drive drunk, use drugs, get pregnant, get somebody pregnant, refuse to do their schoolwork, run away from home, and so on. They get old enough to meltdown at some point. They are also old enough to be honoring their parents, learning a trade, progressing well in their studies, and so on. This is what the great majority are doing. But in the early years of our congregation, we didn’t have to deal with any of this—this was because we were much more like a sect than a church, and secondly, ninety percent of the children were under three feet tall. When children grow up in a church, as the next generation grows up in a people, it can create very interesting pastoral roblems. Churches have to deal with the problem of generational faithfulness.

As we are dealing with this stage in our congregational sanctification, keep certain principles in mind. The first is that while we do not want to be on a sectarian hair trigger for discipline, we do practice church discipline, and this discipline must include the next generation growing up in our midst. Secondly, be aware of the fact that God is not mocked, and that a man reaps what he sows. This is no less true within his household than it is out in his barley field. Many times it is not possible to address the spiritual needs of a troubled young covenant member without addressing the state of the family. Third, the sowing is often visible to others at the time of sowing, but some just won’t listen. And fourth, be grateful that the church, even with all these troubles, is a profound engine of social and cultural change. When we contend with our enemies in the gate, we want our sons to stand there with us, and not just random volunteers.

We have spent a good bit of time considering the applications of the prophet’s words to his original audience, to the Israelites in the northern kingdom of Israel. Lord willing, we will spend two weeks considering how those words may legitimately be applied to us as Americans. This is not a topical sermon so much as it as a topical application.