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The Kingdom Mission of Jesus

By Joe Boot/ January 15, 2012

Series  Acts of the Apostles and The Mission of God

Context  Westminster Chapel Toronto

Topic  Kingdom Of God

Scripture  Acts 1:1-11

Jesus ascends in glory, and sits down in total authority over all things. In the work of the kingdom, faithfulness, prayer, and dependence on the Holy Spirit are primary to any considerations of marketing or technique.

Scripture: Acts 1:1-11

Sermon Notes:

  1. Our calling is to work and pray so that God would reveal the arm of His strength, and revive His Kingdom work in our time.
  2. The same power and Spirit of God seen in Acts is working today.
  3. Marcion, a second century heretic, dispensed with the Old Testament and any NT books that were “contaminated” with OT teaching.
  4. Today, the book of Acts again witnesses against any who would challenge the continuity of all of the Bible and invent a false Jesus-only faith.
  5. The history of Acts validates the apostles, and the epistles of Paul.
  6. Acts takes up the story of Luke after the resurrection, and recounts the next 30 years of the Early Church.
  7. Luke shows that the crucifixion of Jesus was a miscarriage of justice, defending the early apostolic work in the early church.
  8. Acts is an apologetic and theological history, defending the apostles and the missional work of the Early Church.
  9. The Holy Spirit's role in the gospel work is front and center.
  10. The book of Acts shows the gospel history brought about by God's overruling providence.
  11. In the work of the kingdom, faithfulness, prayer, and dependence on the Holy Spirit are primary to any considerations of marketing or technique.
  12. The story of Acts is primarily about the defense of the gospel.
  13. Acts introduces the culmination of salvation history, as Christ's kingdom spreads to the ends of the earth.
  14. Jesus foretells the extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 1:4-5,8)
  15. Jesus' ministry established the kingdom of God; Acts records the apostolic expansion of the kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit.
  16. Jesus inaugurates a kingdom that shall never be destroyed (Daniel 7:14).
  17. The present dimension of the kingdom of God is manifested in those who believe and obey the gospel of the kingdom.
  18. The establishment of God's rule on earth became a present reality in the ministry of Jesus.
  19. We are called to make future eschatological hope a present reality in the life and work of the Church, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
  20. Jesus says it's futile to speculate about the end of the world (Acts 1:7). It's none of our business; it's a waste of time. The restoration of the Israel of God in the Church's mission has already begun.
  21. Jesus responds with a command to preach the gospel of the kingdom.  And so our calling is to be witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)
  22. The Church is sent by Jesus with delegated authority; the covenanted authority of Israel was to be God's witnesses (Isaiah 43:6-12).
  23. The cloud of God's visible presence takes Jesus out of sight. Likewise, Jesus' coming will be in the cloud of God's glory.
  24. Heaven isn't up there; it's through there. It's in another dimension.
  25. Jesus ascends in glory, and sits down in total authority over all things; where He is putting all things under His feet.
  26. The very purpose for which Israel was called, the blessing of the nations, is made a reality.
  27. We're in Acts 29; we are His witnesses here in Toronto today.
  28. History is unfolding according to God's providential rule and His salvation purposes.

Application Questions:

  1. Describe the background and themes of the book of Acts.
  2. What are the characteristics of Christ's kingdom? How is it presently manifested? See Daniel 7:14.
  3. In light of Christ's ongoing kingdom power and expansion, what does it mean for us to be His witnesses here in Toronto today?
  4. What is the significance of the ascension of Jesus as the opening narrative in the book of Acts? What theme does it introduce?
  5. How can distractions on end-times be harmful and destructive to God's people?
  6. How is The Acts of the Holy Spirit an appropriate title for the book of Acts?
  7. How does it change my perspective to know that I'm part of the same kingdom power and expansion that is recorded in the book of Acts?

Sermon Notes