THE LAST WORDS OF JESUS
#258 THE LAST WORDS OF JESUS
Scripture Acts 1:6-11, NIV Orig. 10/15/1961
Rewr. 1/1975; 12/2/1988
Passage: 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Purpose: Preaching to my people early in Advent season of the need to commit ourselves to Christ that the world may come to know that He is Saviour.
Keywords: Christ, Saviour Obedience Witness Commitment
Timeline/Series: Early December
Introduction
Of the several history books I have in my library, there is one on the U.S. presidents. It is a paper-back, and the content relative to each of these men is kept deliberately brief, yet some fascinating data is included.
One of the most interesting segments of the book is found in the index, dealing with the last words spoken by these great Americans. It probably revealed the character of these men better than any other individual event. Several used that time to speak lovingly of their wives. Not a few left messages for posterity that addressed some unfulfilled challenge. For them death had come too soon. Others left commentary on their own character by speaking contemptuously of one of their contemporaries.
Many of us carry etched in our own memories “the last thing” someone said to us. It may have been the word of a loved one lost to death. Or, it could be no more than the statement of a friend who has departed on some extended journey. Perhaps few other things draw the intensity of interest like the last thing that someone says.
How can it be a bad idea, then, to examine the last thing Jesus said? That doesn’t make it any more important, but it is deserving of our special attention. If we are interested in “last words” from “important” people, then this text should speak volumes to us.
Jesus’ cousin John advised the people to hear Jesus. He himself baptized only with water. Jesus would baptize with “fire.” A noteworthy doctor named Luke spent much time telling of the miraculous deeds done by Jesus. An angel visitor, finding the disciples fussing over Moses and Elijah, instructed them to “hear” Jesus. His mother said what few mothers would dare to say, “Whatever he says to you, do it!”
So, look with me this morning at the “last” word of Jesus. It is still time to “hear” him.
I. It Was a Word Denoting Privilege. V7f, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But you shall receive [power]. . . .”
There were things that were perceived as not in their best interest. The burdensome gift of foreknowledge for instance: A desire to know the future is still problematic? How much proof do we need that Jesus was all he claimed to be? As Christians, are to walk by sight, or by faith? Indeed, we do know the answers to such questions: Our interest is not eternal, our interest is material—we want what will help outwit the other side. It still is not in our best interest to know what the plans of God are.
We are quick enough to claim our privileges, but on our own terms, which, of course, God has not promised. Psalm 103:17, “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him.” The Hebrews perceived of the kingdom in political terms: God would invade history in a holocaust of power; their people would hold upper hand.
Jesus’ attitude of the kingdom was somewhat different. We know it best from “Lord’s Prayer.” “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” It is for us to yearn for God’s will among men as it surely is among the angels.
It is our privilege, brethren, to receive what God wills to provide. We are to be open and receptive. We must distinguish between preoccupation and privilege. C.S. Lewis depicts the sorrows into which Christ continually comes with his “land of Narnia” where “It was always winter, never Christmas.”
II. It Was a Word Declaring Power. V8, “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you.”
O, for the reality of such power. Need I remind you that electrical energy existed from the dawn of time. Harnessing that power did not arrive until the 19th Century. Atomic power arrived a century later. Brilliant scientists are seeking now new ways to harness the sun’s power. The lights shining so conveniently above us now will be seen as necessities when we return to this place in the evening. The power awaits only the flick of a switch.
Such power in the spiritual plain was always the work of God. It appeared. It vanished; totally at the discretion of God. Say at Gideon’s rout of Midianites; Judges 6:34, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet.” Seen also in its negative aspect. Isaiah 63:10, “They rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit: Therefore he was turned to be their enemy.”
But in this New Testament day, the power has come, and it has come for God’s own people. John 14:16, “I will pray the father and he will send.” John 14:26, “The comforter which is the Holy Ghost, will teach you all things and remind you of what I said.” John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you to all truth.”
You see, it is an intentionally narrow kind of power. Our freedom in Christ is not for what we want. Our freedom in Christ is for what we ought. Through 12 chapters of Acts, the world was virtually untouched by gospel. But Peter’s experience in a dream of clean/unclean food changed all. Acts 11:9, “What God has cleansed, call not common.”
This one concept of power changed the ending of the Book of Acts. Acts 28:31, “Proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unhindered.” Akolutōs [Greek: freely, without hindrance].
III. It Was a Word Documenting Purpose. V8b, “. . . and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
So, we are to be in fact what we are in purpose, witnesses. What the church was not before Peter’s Joppa experience, what they clearly have become according to the text cited (Acts 28:31), we are to be today as well. From the Greek martus, from which comes martyr: A martyr is not so much one who announces some intention, but one who when the time comes, has put first Jesus.
What is important if one would be a witness? We witness to what we know by faith. John Bunyan tells of a time in his adult life when a lack of certainty worried him. He knew Jews, Moslems, who were satisfied that their religion was best. He became a witness when he put away “I think so” and was able to declare, “I know.”
We witness, not only in words, but by deeds as well. The story of India’s Mahatma Ghandi tells of a man intrigued by Jesus Christ, but skeptical because of Christians he had known. The real witness is one who pays no regard to the price that must be paid. On Earlham College campus in Richmond, Indiana,, is a building with a great lobby. Over the fireplace is a quotation said to be from the log of one of the ships which brought Quakers to America. It reads, “They gathered sticks and kindled a fire, and left it burning.”
Conclusion
Man tells of loss of son, and of people suddenly reluctant to talk about him. He wanted friends to talk about this special person.