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.”
Acts 1:6-8
The question that Jesus’ disciples ask is very
interesting, given everything that they have gone through. Jesus’ answer to the question is even more
interesting, since Jesus does not attempt to explain anything in relation to
the His disciples’ intention and motivation or even understanding of the
meaning of the Kingdom of Israel. If we
look at the disciples’ question, it certainly gives an indication that their
understanding about the Kingdom of God that is at the center of Jesus’ ministry
has not changed from what is commonly held by the Jews. They are still stuck with the understanding
of the earthly kingdom, just like other kingdoms on the face of the earth. They are still living in the past. Their imagination is fixed on the glory of
the days of David and Solomon. They have
not grasped the concept of the heavenly Kingdom of God inaugurated by
Jesus. So they ask whether Jesus will at
that time restore the kingdom of Israel to its former glory.
And Jesus does not bother to explain about it
either. He, sort of, cuts off their
train of thought with the first part of His answer. His answer is full of authority, and no one
dares to debate Him. With the first part
of the answer Jesus is firmly saying: “It is not your business, period.” Then Jesus proceeds to uncover what it is they
are supposed to do, which is their real business.
Now, let us pause there for a moment and imagine that we
are Jesus’ disciples at that time. We
have lived with Jesus for about 3 years up until His death on the cross. We have witnessed all the miraculous acts
Jesus did in those 3 years. And more
importantly, we have heard His teaching with our own ears and have been
instructed in the true way of God by the Messiah, the Son of God Himself. Our emotions have been a roller coaster ride,
especially the last five weeks or so.
Seeing the death of the great person that they have been following
wholeheartedly is devastating. All hopes
are dashed. But then three days later He
rose from the dead, just like what He told them. And in these 40 days they have been seeing
the resurrected Jesus with their own eyes.
Not only seeing, but also touching, talking, and even eating
together. This is not an illusion. Nothing like this has ever happened
before. And so, right in front of them,
this Jesus, the same Jesus they knew was dead on the cross, now standing before
them alive and so majestic, glorious and powerful. All hopes are up again.
Are you with me?
This is what I think they are thinking.
For the disciples, this resurrected Jesus is like a superpower Messiah
that can do anything He wants. So mighty
that nothing can win against Him. Aha,
this is it! This must be the right time
for Jesus to do it! He brings us all
here on this mountain in order to witness Him flicking His fingers and the
kingdom of Israel is going to be restored right there and then magically. The Romans will be destroyed and Israel will
once more be on top of the world. Oh
what a glorious day it is today! So, the
disciples have this urge to confirm their creative imagination of the magical
event of kingdom restoration: “Is now the time?
Is now the time to restore the kingdom of Israel?” They then ask Jesus: “Lord, will you at this time restore the
kingdom to Israel?”
Brothers and sisters, they could not be more wrong. Yes, they fail again. They do not see things according to God’s
perspective, but they insist on their own perspective. John Calvin commented about the disciples: “how bad scholars they were under so good a
Master.[1] Therefore, Jesus must put a massive break on
that train of thought: “It is none of your business!”
Just like us, we too often fail again and again. We often fail to see things according to
God’s perspective; thus we insist on our own imagination and desire rather than
persisting on obeying the Lord. We too often
fail to restrain ourselves from desiring to peek into the unrevealed mysteries,
in which God has preserved solely for Himself unless it is revealed according
to His own purpose. With focusing too
much on the things we are not authorized to know, we then fail to be effective
in the things we ought to know and do.
We often ignore Deuteronomy 29:29 that warns:
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that
are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the
words of this law.
Do you know that from time to time many Christians are
always trying to interpret the “prophetic” materials in the book of Revelation
according to the events of the world they live in at the time. For example, many have attempted to interpret
who the antichrist or the beast of the Revelation 13 is. During World War 2, some claimed that the
antichrist was Adolf Hitler. Others said
that the beast of Revelation 13 was Josef Stalin of the Soviet. And many other names were picked up to match
the imagination of the antichrist or the beast of Revelation 13. They picked up Hitler or Stalin because they
experienced and heard and saw how horrible their acts were. Through them tens of millions of people died
and the world was in utter chaos. But,
then history proved that they were not the antichrist. A new era unfolds, a new name is picked up to
match the imagination of the beast of Revelation 13. 2000 years ago, Emperor Nero was thought to
be the antichrist due to his cruelty toward Christians. Surely such thought was proven wrong. Christians have wasted their time trying to
figure out things that God has not disclosed.
The other trouble is more devastating because Christians
have failed to see things according to God’s perspective. This trouble is actually more subtle and
often goes undetected. For example: many
in the church today are so adamant about getting more people attend worship
services, or crusades, or seminars. They
believe so strongly that numbers is the indicator of success. Thus if ministry’s success is to be measured,
the numbers of people attending is the indicator. Say a worship service is attended by 20,000
people, then the worship service is considered to be more successful than a
worship service that is attended by a mere 70 people. So a church with 50,000 members is considered
to be more successful than a church with merely 100 members. Based on this logic, many churches are racing
to gain more members, to increase worship service attendants, or to get more
people coming to their church and ministry.
What do churches do in order to increase numbers? By doing church according to business
marketing strategy. In other words, by
giving in to the market demand. If the
market demands prosperity gospel, then the church gives prosperity gospel to
the people. If the market demands LGBT
to be approved by church as non-sin, then the church will give LGBT approved as
non-sin. You see where this is
going? The teaching of the church no
longer follows the words of God, but instead it follows the market. Do you remember what Paul says to Timothy in
2 Timothy 4:3-4?
3 For the time is coming when people will
not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for
themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth
and wander off into myths.
The reason I say this is devastating is that when the modern business
strategy is used as standard, then what such church is doing is not wrong. Rather it is considered smart and wise. Because such marketing strategy is proven to
be “successful” in which those churches successfully attract many people
because they are happy to hear the message that they like. These churches grow from 100 members to tens
of thousands of members in such a short time.
Their budget has increased from USD 10,000 to USD 10 million. Business-wise, such increase in numbers is
considered a success. But unfortunately,
that is not always an indicator of success in the eyes of the Lord.
In John 6, Jesus’ followers were reduced super drastically
from around 20,000 to a mere twelve. But
Jesus was not worried. In John 6:67 He
said: “67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want
to go away as well?””
Jesus is never worried about numbers, about how big His ministry budget
is, or about how many people like Him or follow Him. But today’s church is often worried so much
about numbers, money or membership or attendance, that they no longer see
things according to God’s perspective, and therefore getting busy on things
that God does not approve, to the detriment of the important duties that God
has charged His church to do. The
disciples worry about the restoration of the earthly kingdom of Israel that
they have lost sight of the teachings and vision of the Lord Jesus that they
have experienced for three some years.
In that critical moment,
Jesus puts a stop to their wild imagination and unauthorized push for the
earthly glory. This is God’s marvelous
grace for the disciples and for all who would believe in Him after. People who think that God is like a
watchmaker who does not care about the world immediately after the creation are
completely ignorant of the fact that God cares even for the tiniest
detail. Here we witness that Jesus cares
so much that He has to intervene and redirect the disciples’ minds into the
things that are really substantial. So,
what Jesus does to misguided thoughts is twofold: 1) He shuts down the false conception,
and 2) He leads the fragile minds into what is true and right. Jesus shuts down the false conception by
saying firmly and authoritatively to the disciples: ““It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has
fixed by his own authority.”
And He leads them into the truth by telling them: “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.”
With the leadership of
Jesus, the disciples are brought back to the right path. They are like these ignorant sheep who wander
around following their simple impulses and super limited vision. So Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has to bring
them back to the right trek. And so they
are. Their focus ought to be on becoming
His witnesses. This is the main
task. In the world that rejects who
Jesus is, what He is doing, and His message, the disciples main duty is to
channel this most important information that carries the consequence of life
and death into the world. Not an easy
task in any era. And that is why Jesus prologues
His redirection by assuring and promising them that they will receive the
heavenly power from the Holy Spirit.
This assurance and promise thus eliminate any excuse that might come up
as they face challenges and difficulties.
Now, I do not have time
to retrace the origin of the three main duties of God’s church as elaborated
wonderfully in the Book of Acts, but I will plainly tell you of the big three
that all theologians of all ages have agreed for God’s church to have:1) Marturia
or To Witness, 2) Koinonia or To Have Fellowship, and 3) Diakonia
or To Serve/Minister. Koinonia and
Diakonia are part of Marturia. Suffice
to say at this time that you can look at Acts 2-7 in order to find the
development of Marturia to include Koinonia and Diakonia. Thus when Jesus gives the disciples this main
duty to become His witnesses (Marturia) in all the world, such duty does not
stop at merely proclaiming His message of the Kingdom of God and Its Truth, but
it extends into all believers fellowshipping together in the name of Christ
Jesus and for God’s church to minister to all who are in need.
Jesus’ assurance and
promise are fulfilled as Jesus sends the Holy Spirit ten days after He ascends
to heaven, Acts 2:1-41 tells all about it.
Peter and all the other disciples become so bold in becoming Jesus’ witnesses
to the world. Pay attention here, that
the Holy Spirit in their hearts gives them the courage and wisdom they need to
witness for Jesus Christ. They open
their mouth even when the possibility of death is very high given the fact that
only 50 days ago the citizens of Jerusalem shouted “Crucify Jesus” in unison as
they were thirsty for blood. Peter
speaks so boldly that the message pierces the people’s hearts. And many repent that day as Acts 2:41
testifies:
41 So those who
received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three
thousand souls.
Do not focus on the large numbers.
But focus on the repentance. The
fact that they repent by the mere proclamation of the apostles is
stunning. This phenomenon shows that the
Holy Spirit is working. The work of the
Holy Spirit is not only in the preaching of the apostles, but also in the
hearts of those who hear the words of God.
In John 16:8-11 Jesus says:
8 And when he comes, he will convict the
world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning
sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning
righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of
this world is judged.
The Holy Spirit, working in their hearts through the words God has given
to the apostles to preach, convicts the audience that day of their sin, which
results in their remorse as written in Acts 2:37:
37 Now when they heard this they were cut
to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what
shall we do?”
And Peter, in vv. 38-39 responds to such remorse saying:
“Repent
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is
for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the
Lord our God calls to himself.”
And right after their baptism, they gather together every day
fellowshipping by devoting “themselves
to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the
prayers” (v. 42).
Now, this fellowship is
important that they now are to learn the way of Christ. And in turn they will also witness for Jesus
Christ. Without this fellowship, in
which they can learn the truth and the way of life in Christ, they cannot
witness for Jesus Christ. I hope by now
you can catch the importance of having fellowship. Now, the right Koinonia consists of the true
teaching of Jesus Christ. For Jesus has
charged His disciples right before He ascends to heaven: “20 teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew
28:20a). Jesus’ command includes also
the Baptism and the Lord’s supper. This
is what the church should focus on, not on how to get more members or how to
increase attendance. The church growth
in numbers must occur naturally through real repentance just like what happens
in Acts 2. Unnatural increase in numbers
just because a church is successful in implementing a business marketing
strategy that manipulates people’s desires is a recipe for disaster. Focus on the true Koinonia, then the new
converts will be trained in the way of Christ, so they will live according to
God’s will and naturally witness (Marturia) for Christ. This then will naturally increase the numbers
of the believers.
The third main duty can
be found in Acts 6 as the need to minister to those in need begins to
surface. Without going into the details,
I shall tell you that the apostles make a decision to appoint deacons in order
to handle this duty. Seven are chosen to
be deacons that day. And the result is
written in Acts 6:7:
7 And the word of God continued to
increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem,
and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
Again, do not fix your eyes upon the numbers, because you can easily lose
the vision of Christ that way. But it is
true that because of the church handles the duty of Diakonia very well, many
more people believe. Rodney Stark did an
extensive research into the history and sociology of the explosive growth of
Christianity in the first to third century in his book “The Rise of
Christianity.” Stark found a stunning evidence
that the Christians act of kindness result in many people persuaded to believe
in Christ. Christians’ Diakonia at that
time was expressed by taking care of those who were neglected by even their own
families. It was a historical fact that
2000 years ago, plagues ran rampant because of the terrible living conditions
in the cities. Plus there were many
earthquakes happening in that region, which caused many to suffer. At that time medical technology is not as
advanced as today, so a lot died because of diseases, especially of contagious
diseases. So when someone got sick,
especially if diagnosed with a contagious disease, the would be abandoned in
the street. To these abandoned people
Christians ministered (Diakonia). And
God blessed this Diakonia. Many were
healed through the care of the Christians.
Once they got back on their feet, they became believers for they were
truly touched by the Christian witness that was powerfully demonstrated in
truly caring for them even when their own family did not want to. For this reason, we should never abandon
Diakonia. Through Diakonia God blesses
the church, so that the proclamation of His message can touch the hearts of
those in dire need of physical help, thus witnessing (Marturia) for Christ is
augmented many times over.
Brothers and sisters,
Marturia, Koinonia, and Diakonia are the three pillars of the church, in which
through them we truly witness for Christ Jesus our Lord. The Holy Spirit has been given to us all,
individually and collectively as God’s church.
There are no excuses. Do not
focus on things that are not for us to know or do. Do not follow the way of the world. Today, many churches have fallen into the
world’s trap and thus lead many people astray, and worse, they then obscure the
image of Christianity. God will judge
those who lead His people astray. But
you, be witnesses of Jesus Christ in all that you do, wherever you are,
whenever it is, however the situation is, according to the true teachings of
Christ.
This is a huge theme to cover in one sermon. It is impossible actually to talk
comprehensively about this theme in one sitting. But hopefully this sermon would touch your
heart and open your mind of the reality of God’s church and its main duties in
this world. Marturia, Koinonia, Diakonia
are our duties to do as God’s church. Do
not neglect it! Be vigilant! Be diligent!
Amen!
[1] John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible
Software, 2010), 43.
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