Sunday, May 29, 2022 AM

All right, come on in. Welcome to Sunnyside Baptist Church this morning.

Glad that you can be here with us this morning. We can worship together, open the word together, fellowship with one another on this beautiful Memorial Day weekend.

A few announcements as we get started this morning. Obviously, we have the Lord's Supper this morning and our morning service.

Come back, no, I'm sorry, don't come back this evening. Don't come back this evening. No evening service tonight, but instead, in lieu of that, we're going to have flock groups.

Those elder flock groups are gathering together. If you're not sure where your flock is meeting, check with your elder this morning.

Looking ahead to this Wednesday, it's the first of June. We'll have our regular meal at 545 and then prayer for the adults.

TAG is taking a break for the summer for the kids. Looking ahead to Saturday, this

Saturday's June 4th, Mugs and Muffins, that's going to be at the Goulet's house, I believe.

The address is there in the bulletin. You ladies, if you'd like to attend that, that's this Saturday.

Looking ahead to Sunday, next Sunday, our summer Sunday school classes will start.

If you look in your bulletin, if you haven't already picked one of the three sessions, you can go ahead and pick that and put it in the offering plate at the back.

Or find one of the teachers or Mr. Dwight Smoot, give that to him. Dwight, you're good with that?

Okay, give that to Dwight and then they'll get the rosters all set for those classes.

One note that one of the teachers did ask me, Jacob called his class called Rome in the

New Testament. He's not gonna be pulling any punches with regard to the reality of the brutality and I guess debauchery that was present in Rome.

So it does come with somewhat of a parental advisory footnote on that. So if you're a young person in particular, just double check that with your parents and see if that's okay.

But it sounds interesting and exciting. So looking forward to all of these classes.

Just pick the one that you'd be interested in and get those in today if you can. Looking ahead to Wednesday, June 8th.

Again, children's choir is gonna start that Wednesday for the summer. So if you are a child or a parent of a child and are interested in participating in that, that's gonna be their first rehearsal at 6 .30

that evening. All right, if you're not already on the church email list, there's an email that comes out weekly for preparing for Sunday.

It has handy links to songs that maybe you're not familiar with. If you're interested in that, there's a link in the bulletin.

And Jana Brown can get you added to that list. Be sure to check out the

Beacon House outside there. There are things in there, if you are interested in maybe taking some of those, looking through some of those things to clear that house out.

The deadline for that is July 9th. If you're interested in any of that, talk to Hannah Hamilton.

She'll be able to help you with that. All right, any other announcements that I missed this morning?

All right, this week's fighter verse comes from Proverbs chapter 6, verses 22 and 23.

When you walk, they will lead you. When you lie down, they will watch over you.

When you awake, they will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.

We're gonna have a time to prepare our hearts for worship this morning. And then after that,

Brian will come up and open us in prayer. Our Lord's word says, therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there's any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection or compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

We pray, Lord, that this day we would take to heart your command to share our lives, love each other, to humble ourselves, to think of others before ourselves, to show gratitude for life, both unborn and born, to understand that we are not alone in this world.

We have each other, we have the Holy Spirit, we have

Christ, and most of all, Father, we have you. May our heart's desire is to think of you and think of you often.

We keep our eyes on heaven, not on the circumstance of life, which passes quickly away, but on eternal things.

And this day, as we share in this table of remembrance, the remembrance of the death, the burial, and the resurrection, the breaking of the body, and the spilling of the blood of Christ, may it encourage us and spur us on to be more like Christ.

We ask these things in his name, amen. You stand with me for our call to worship.

Continuing on in the book of Psalms, chapter 78, we'll be reading verses 21 to 25.

Read with me together. Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath.

A fire was kindled against Jacob. His anger rose against Israel because they did not believe in God and did not trust in his saving power.

Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven. And he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven.

Man ate of the bread of the angels. He sent them food in abundance.

So if you would, turn to your Psalms for Worship hymnal, page 78D, and we'll sing these very words.

Yet he still they sent, and lested

God, demanding food, and all the earth he supplied.

Behold, he struck the rock, and he bore bread, and furnished them with meat.

Because his wrath was kicked on into flame, on Jerusalem Israel his indignation came.

For they did not believe in God, nor trust his saving law.

But still he opened heaven's doors, commanded skies above.

And rained his manna down on them from heaven in the bread.

And men partook of angels, as he was said.

And then our regular hymnal, page 10, O Worship the King. And that's what we're here to do today.

Worship Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. O sing of his might,

O sing of his grace. Whose throne is the light, whose canopy space.

His chariots of wrath, the deep thunderclouds pour.

And dark is his path, O dust pour.

Thy bountiful care we cite, it breathes in the earth, it churns in the light.

But it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain, and sweetly distills in the dirt and the rain.

O frail children of dust, and feeble and frail, in thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail.

Thy mercies, how tender they hand, our

Maker deep in death and prayer.

Don't take it for granted. Memorize it. Study it.

It contains the words of life. Through Jesus Christ.

Our scripture reading this morning is from Isaiah chapter 25. One who pointed to Christ.

O Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you.

I will praise your name. For you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin.

The foreigner's palace is a city no more. It will never be rebuilt.

Therefore, strong peoples will glorify you. Cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.

For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place.

You subdue the noise of the foreigners as heat by the shade of a cloud.

So the song of the ruthless is put down. On this mountain, the

Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wine, of rich food, full of marrow, of aged wine, well refined.

And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.

He will swallow up death forever.

And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. And the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth.

For the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day,

Behold, this is our God. We have waited for him that he might save us.

This is the Lord. We have waited for him. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain. And Moab shall be trampled down in his place as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.

And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim.

But the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands and the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down.

Lay low and cast to the ground to the dust.

Let us pray. Father, I thank you and I praise you for your great love and mercy and for your word, how you've given us your word and made it so readily available to us in our language that we might understand the words that you've given us, that we might come to know you in a deeper way, that we might come to know your

Son, the Lord Jesus, and the salvation that you have for us through your Son.

And that you will bring us to yourself and that you will destroy all your enemies and the last enemy, death.

And you will bring us life, life abundant and life forever, life with you.

We look forward to what you're going to do in the future.

And we thank you and praise you for all your works. And I pray that we might bring you glory and honor by our lives and by what we do this morning.

Help us to worship you in spirit and in truth.

And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. You may be seated.

Our next two songs is going to be, we'll start with a chorus, Seek Ye First, the kingdom of God. And then in your little black hymnals, hymns modern and ancient, page 132,

Worthy of Worship. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Alleluia. Ask and it shall be given unto you.

Seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.

Alleluia. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Alleluia. Worthy of worship, worthy of praise, worthy of honor, worthy of all the glad songs we can sing, worthy to bring the anointing of fear,

King of kings, Lord to thee,

King of lords, true and true,

King of all kings, and Redeemer, King of kings, and Redeemer ,程, and sorcerer, life without end,

King of all kings, Lord to thee,

King of all kings, Saviour, Savior, King of kings,

Lord to thee.

Let's go to the

Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you today and we have confessed together how worthy you are of all of our praise.

We ask that you would receive our praise by your grace, that you would receive it favorably by the ministry of your

Spirit and the intercession of your Son, that it would be pleasing to you. And I pray that you would bless us today as we commune together in the

Spirit with your Son and through your Son with you at this table in which we rejoice in the completed redemptive work of your

Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ, as we remember his sacrifice and we proclaim his death knowing that he is alive forevermore at your right hand and we know that he will return victorious.

So we ask you for these mercies, that you would bless our time in your

Word, that you would give us the grace of the Amen, that we would wholeheartedly agree with the truth of your

Word and that we would know the joy of abiding with you in like mind. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Well, I invite you to open your Bibles to the New Testament book of Acts. This morning we're going to be reading chapter 1, verses 1 -11, which serves as an introduction, an excellent introduction to the whole book of Acts.

And our time this morning, an introduction to the introduction.

So, these things are necessary. When we look at the book of Acts, either in our table of contents or the title that we see at the top of the book in our

Bible, you may notice that the word Acts all by itself is very large or in bold print.

But the whole title is there somehow, given the Acts of the Apostles, which is a title that has been handed down to us from ancient church history and does very well to help us anticipate that we're going to read about the doings of the

Apostles. Yes, we're going to read about the life and times of Peter and the life and times of Paul, the things that they did.

And while we are ready for an action book, we should also recognize that anywhere between 25 and 33 percent of the book is talking.

And there are sermons, and there are conversations, and there are defenses of the faith and rebukes of those who would teach false doctrine.

And there is a great deal of talking that goes on in the book of Acts. Also, we ought to remember that Jesus promised he would not leave his disciples orphans, but that he would give to them another comforter, the

Holy Spirit, and that he would be present with them in whatever they were doing, wherever they were gathered.

And I think that as we go through the book of Acts and read what is there, we will see that the acts of the

Apostles are in the best light of Scripture, really the acts of the risen

Lord Jesus Christ, by his Spirit, through his

Apostles, through his Church. And in this way, I think the word Acts prepares us for what we are going to see.

Well, I invite you to stand with me now as we read the introduction to this very important book of the

Bible, Acts. This is the word of the Lord, verses 1 -11 of Acts chapter 1. The former account

I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after he, through the

Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the Apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

And being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the

Father, which, he said, you have heard from me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the

Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying,

Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them,

It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the

Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all

Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said,

Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? The same

Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. The kingdom is all about the king.

The kingdom is all about the king. Life in the kingdom is all about living in the king.

Understanding the kingdom is all about knowing the king.

The power of the kingdom is all about the authority of the king.

There was one thing that Jesus stressed during his time of ministry, where he taught and worked compassionate miracles and traveled from one part of Canaan to another part, is he preached the good news, the gospel of the kingdom.

He called it the kingdom of God. He called it the kingdom of heaven. He told parables time and time again, the kingdom of heaven is like, the kingdom of God is like.

This was his message. It was vitally important that everybody know this good news, the good news of the kingdom.

As we begin the book of Acts, we are again focused upon this theme.

We're looking at the kingdom. We're looking at the king in his kingdom. And he makes this a most central theme for the lives of his followers after his resurrection regarding his ascension in hopes of his return.

So we would do well to also pay attention to the king in his kingdom.

As we think about the book of Acts, it is much like the gospels. It is about the kingdom of heaven.

It is about the work of God, the power and authority of Jesus Christ made manifest in the world.

It is different, however. We have four gospels that are filled with the acts of Jesus Christ, filled with his teaching, with his discussions, with his rebuke of false teachers, focused upon the person and work of Jesus.

Well, Acts is much the same way. But we don't have four accountings of what happened after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

We just have one accounting. And it is written, it is given to us by Luke, Paul's companion, the physician

Luke, who wrote the gospel Luke, and here is continuing his work.

What we have in verses one through three, the introduction to the introduction, is the presentation of the kingdom.

Verses four through eight, we will look at another time, at the progress of the kingdom. How does the kingdom spread?

In verses nine through eleven, as we have opportunity, we will examine the preeminence of the king.

For now, there are five themes about the king. For the kingdom is all about the king.

There are five themes about the king that we are compelled to consider in verses one through three.

The first is that of the king's ministry, the ministry of the king.

Here's verse one again. The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.

So Luke is writing to his patron, Theophilus. It was undoubtedly a most expensive proposition to write these works, volume one and volume two, of Luke.

The gospel of Luke is the longest book in the New Testament. We have some books in the

New Testament, we call them the epistles, they were letters, and they are written on sometimes quite a few sheets of papyrus, sometimes like 2

John and 3 John written on just one sheet of papyrus, because, hey, it was expensive, and ink was expensive.

It was a difficult challenge to write all of these things out. Luke is a massive work.

It is the longest book in the New Testament. When we look at the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, and we put them together, we find that Luke wrote more of the

New Testament than even the apostle Paul. And we see that he addresses Theophilus, oh, excellent

Theophilus, as the one to whom he is writing. It is easy to understand

Theophilus as the patron of Luke, the one who is funding this project, buying all that paper, supplying all of that ink, and making sure that this work is completed.

If we want to know the purpose of the book of Acts, we must remember that it is volume two.

And all we must do is go look at the introduction to volume one. And in the introduction to volume one, we are given the purpose of Luke's writing.

So in Luke chapter 1 and verses 1 -4, this is what we read. Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent

Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

So Luke writes this two -volume work, because the Lord has accorded him, has gifted him, and has blessed him with a perfect understanding of all that had occurred by the testimony of the eyewitnesses.

And so he, though undoubtedly supported by Theophilus in this work, delivers to this man a priceless work, yes, the very

God -breathed, faultless scripture, the testimony of Jesus Christ in the

Gospel of Luke, and the reality of his kingdom spreading by his

Holy Spirit work in the lives of his people in the book of Acts. That Theophilus not only would have an orderly account, a well -arranged account, an accurate account, but that Theophilus himself may know the certainty of the things in which he had been instructed.

To know the certainty, to have assurance, to have a bedrock, clear understanding of those things in which he had been instructed concerning the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

Now, when we look at the book of Acts, we see that Luke is clearly continuing his writing.

He wants us to think, he wants Theophilus to remember, to recall that which he has already written.

He says, the former account was of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up.

We are to think, we are to meditate on the ministry of the King. The ministry of the

King. What is it that he did? What is it that he taught? These are the thoughts that should be in our mind as we begin reading the book of Acts.

We are not to separate the life and times and the ministry of Jesus Christ from the working out of his gospel in the book of Acts.

We remember that Jesus Christ healed the sick and restored the lame, delivered the demon possessed, forgave sins, raised the dead.

He traveled throughout Galilee and Samaria and Judea, teaching parables of the kingdom of heaven, clarifying the good news that had been in the

Old Testament from the beginning. The good news that announced the arrival of the

Messiah. He rebuked the covenant breaking idolaters who were stewarding the old covenant into judgment.

We find these are the doings and the teachings of the

King. We remember that he suffered and he died upon the cross and he rose from the dead the third day.

These are the things which he did. And prior, prior to his suffering and death and resurrection, he took his disciples aside and he said to them, he taught them that he would suffer, that he would die, that he would be raised from the dead, that this was according to the scriptures, that all these things should take place.

And he instructed them and he sat with them and he broke bread and gave it to them and said, take, eat.

This is my body. And he took the cup of wine and he shared it with them. He said, take, drink.

This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for the remission of sins. These are the things that he did.

These are the things that he taught and these should be our focus here today as we begin the book of Acts and commune at the

Lord's table. The book of Acts is such a helpful book. So often a complaint, a valid complaint is made about romantic novels.

And I read this in a book somewhere. I forget who it was who made the complaint. But he said, the problem is that when you leave the last page,

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy are living in their mansion, happily married. But you don't hear about anything that happens next.

What happens when Mr. Darcy's friends come over and stay up late and make a mess? What will

Mrs. Darcy do? And what if Mrs. Darcy begins to get bitter and gripe and complain that these drapes have been here for a hundred years?

What will Mr. Darcy do? The whole lead up of the romance was for them to be married.

But then at the critical moment, at the most pivotal moment, at the climax of everything, it ends.

What happens next? When we read through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we come to the end in which

Jesus Christ is raised from the dead to die no more. He instructs his disciples.

Things are looking very bright indeed. And then they end. What happens next?

There is a glory in ending on a climax. There is an attraction to that. And yet there is still the need to consider what happens next.

And what happens next is given to us in the book of Acts. And we read about the outworking of the significance of the life, death, and resurrection, and ascension, and reign of Jesus Christ in the real world, in the lives of the followers of the way, the

Christians, in the lives of the church, in the impact that the gospel of the kingdom had on the empire of Rome.

This is why Acts is so helpful for us as we consider and put our attention upon the king's ministry, the ministry of the king.

We are to remember what he has accomplished. And as we look at the book of Acts, we see the significance, the outworking of all that he has done.

We are to do homage to the king. We are to kiss the sun and find refuge in him. And because of the king's ministry, we gather here together at this table to remember, to meditate, and to embrace the significance of all that he has done.

But also, the king's majesty is to be our focus, not only his ministry, but also his majesty.

And we see this in verse 2. Again, verse 1 says,

The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until, notice, the day in which he was taken up.

The day in which he was taken up. Now that refers to the majesty of the king.

This speaks to his coronation. This references his ascension to the right hand of the father, where we are assured that he received glory and honor and dominion, and sat down at the right hand of the father, having been given a name which is above every name.

This is the testimony of the scriptures. And we hear about it. We hear about it in the gospel of Luke.

And in many ways, we are to read the gospel of Luke, come to chapter 24, finish it out, and skip

John, go back and read it later, skip John, and just keep reading in the book of Acts.

In many ways, that's how we are to read these two volumes together. But listen to the end of the gospel of Luke, Luke 24, verses 51 through 53.

Now it came to pass, while he blessed them, that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven, which means that he was brought up into the very throne room of God, where we discover from various passages of scripture that he was, again, coronated.

He was seated. He was given glory, a kingdom, a name above every name.

He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. Notice the response of the disciples.

And they worshipped him. They worshipped him. Jesus, of course, is worthy of worship as God the

Son, a full divinity united to a full humanity in one person.

He is worthy of worship. He is worthy of worship as well, for he is the

Son of Man, as he identified himself time and time again throughout his ministry that he was the

Son of Man, and he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven.

We are not left in doubt of what he was saying. We spent a year in the book of Daniel. We know what kingdom he was proclaiming, and we know who the

Son of Man is. And he is worthy of worship. And then they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing

God. Amen. And that's how the gospel of Luke ends. On a climax. A glorious light.

And then the book of Acts continues the story with important details.

This phrase that he was taken up, this is not some narrative device to explain the absence of Jesus upon the earth after he was raised from the dead.

This is vitally important doctrine. Why do we not see

Jesus here among us today? Where is he? He is where he belongs.

He is at the right hand of God. He is where he deserves to be. And our attention is to be upon him and his majesty.

Because he is absent from us, let us not think that he is inactive among us.

Because he is invisible to us, let us not think that he is passively doing nothing.

Colossians chapter 1 gives us an understanding of the majesty of Christ.

Colossians chapter 1 verses 12 through 18. This is what we must believe, what we must give an amen to.

Verse 12. Giving thanks to the father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

The father has qualified us. We do not qualify ourselves for the inheritance. Verse 13. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love.

This word conveyed is a technical term for forced relocation in the

Roman Empire. This is an extraordinary rendition where we were plucked out of the rebellious darkness and we were delivered into the kingdom of the son of his love, the kingdom of Christ.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Now about Christ.

He is the image of the invisible God. The firstborn of all creation. The firstborn is the status, the state, the condition, the position of power.

For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.

We must confess this. Whatever power and authority that we see in the world today, the things that are visible upon earth, and whatever powers exist today, whatever authorities and dominions that exist today that are invisible to us and that we cannot see, whether they are rooted in heaven or they are rooted upon the earth, they were all created by Christ, through Christ, and for Christ.

For he is king of kings and lord of lords, and there is no rogue molecule in the universe and there is no rogue empire in the universe.

There is no demon doing whatever he wants. He is under the lordship of Jesus Christ and accountable to him for all of his evil.

Let us recognize the majesty of Christ.

All things were created through him and for him, and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.

And beloved, he is the head of the body, the church, but the king of kings, who has power over all authorities and dominions, is also our head, the head of the church.

He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence.

We are to consider the majesty of Christ. He was taken up into heaven.

We are to do homage to the king, to kiss the sun and find refuge in him because of the king's majesty.

In light of the king's majesty, we gather here to his table to honor and celebrate him in the perfections of the glory of his work.

But also, given his authority, given his majesty, we are to pay attention to the mandates of the king.

In verse 2, we read that through the Holy Spirit, he had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen.

He gave commandments. This too is no mystery as we look back in Luke chapter 24, and we read some of the commandments that he gave to his apostles by the

Holy Spirit. Luke 24, beginning in verse 44. Then he said to them, these are the words which

I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the

Psalms concerning me, the Torah, the Kethuvim, and the Nevi 'im.

This is the language of the Old Testament in the Hebrew. The whole Old Testament must be fulfilled concerning Christ.

And he opened their understanding, verse 45, and he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures.

So we see that Jesus says, don't you understand what the scriptures are about? And he opens their understanding that they may see the scriptures in light of him.

Then he said to them, verse 46, thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.

And notice it is thus written. It is thus prophesied in the scripture.

And that, verse 47, repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.

Jesus declares that the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed to all the nations of all the earth.

And that his disciples, his followers, have a vital role in that. They're going to have to go, but wait, no, don't go, wait in Jerusalem for the power of the

Holy Spirit. That the work, that the acts of the apostles will be done by the power of the

Holy Spirit accomplishing the work of Christ in the world. So we see the mandates of Christ.

Do we take seriously the lordship of Jesus Christ, that he has all power and authority, and that what he says we must do?

Do you remember that his commandments are not burdensome? That when he says to love

God supremely and love others rightly, and steward the creation righteously, that this is not burdensome?

Why not? For he says, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

That when we come to Christ and follow him, we find rest, even in the labor, even in the wearing of the yoke, even in there being a burden to be moved about, that it is rest because we are in Christ.

For the faithfulness to the commandments, our faithfulness to the commandments, our obedience to the mandates of God in his word, is not the nail upon which the covenant hangs.

For the righteousness of Christ, the obedience of Christ, the worthiness of Christ, is the nail upon which everything hangs.

And so we follow him. We deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him because Christ is the end of the law, the fulfillment of the law, the goal of the law unto righteousness for all who believe.

And this is why his mandates are not burdensome. In fact, his commandments are all about abiding with him,

John 14. So we do homage to Christ, we kiss the sun, find refuge in him.

According to the king's mandates, we hear what he says, and he says, take, eat, this is my body, do this in remembrance of me.

Take, drink this cup, do this in remembrance of me. Recall that Christ was broken for us, recall that Christ shed his blood for us, that we might have life and acceptance with God, forgiveness of our sins, and the joys of the new covenant.

We are also to pay attention to the manifestation of Christ. Verse 3 begins this way, to whom, to these apostles, he also presented himself alive after his sufferings by many infallible proofs.

What confidence do we have that Jesus Christ is even now reigning at the right hand of the father?

We have many assurances in the scripture, but here's one assurance. It is an undeniable fact, no matter which way you look at it, that Jesus of Nazareth is the son of God, he is the

Christ, and he has risen from the dead. By many infallible proofs, we are given assurance of the current reign and majesty of Jesus Christ because of the emptiness of that tomb, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Many infallible proofs. Some of these are listed for us in Luke 24. Luke 24, verse 36, now as they said these things,

Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, peace to you, but they were terrified and frightened as opposed they had seen a spirit and he said to them, why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

Behold, my hands and my feet that it is I myself handled me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see

I have. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet, but while they still did not believe for joy and marveled, he said to them, have you any food here?

So they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb and he took it and ate in their presence.

Just one instance of many infallible proofs that he was risen from the dead.

The list of evidence is very large and although the proclamation of the cross and the resurrection was a stumbling block to the

Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, the amount of evidence that was given was entirely, mercifully arranged for just those folks.

According to the scriptures, according to the scriptures, according to the scriptures, Jesus suffered and died and was raised from the dead.

Look at the fulfillment of the prophecies, oh Jews. Look how many witnesses, how many eyewitnesses, how many various events where people testified to say, yes,

Jesus of Nazareth has risen from the dead. Everybody was given all the proof that they need that Christ was risen from the dead so that all would know what?

That he is king of kings, that he is lord of lords and that we all live in the light of his authority.

We are to do homage to the king and with the assurance of the king's manifestation that he is risen from the dead, we eat this bread and we drink this cup proclaiming the

Lord's death for he is alive and reigning and he will return.

And finally, we are to consider the king's meaning in verse three. Notice that he had appeared by many infallible proofs.

Verse three says, being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Now we have to consider the time between his resurrection and ascension was a very short time, a very short time compared to the three and a half years of ministry he had had with them prior.

In this unique, precious slot of time, what does

Jesus prioritize with his followers? He spends his time speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Wasn't that how he began? Wasn't that how he began? In Mark chapter 1 verse 15,

Jesus came preaching, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.

He begins his ministry by preaching the kingdom and after his resurrection from the dead, before his ascension, he comes straight back to that and preaches and teaches and clarifies the kingdom of God.

Now, this should orient our expectations about everything else we're going to see in the book of Acts.

This should solidify to us that this most important theme that Jesus teaches on and preaches on must be defined by him.

That the disciples, the apostles don't get it in and of their own selves, based upon their own experiences, based upon their own background of being

Jews and a familiarity with the Old Testament scriptures. All of this was not enough. What they needed was the light of Christ himself, a light he provided when he was with them and a light he provided for them by his

Holy Spirit in his reign over them. So the meaning of the kingdom is the meaning that Christ himself brings to the kingdom and we're going to see more about that in the next passage.

But let us do homage to the king who is in his kingdom. Let's adhere to the king's meaning and how he has brought about his reign through his own death, his own suffering in our place and for our sake that he may be raised from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the father.

We are to remember this morning as we commune together with Christ and one another at this table that we are to remember that the king is in his kingdom and that we are in Christ.

Consider that we have not gathered here together because we're all just alike. We have not gathered here together because we all think the very same thoughts all the time.

We are gathered together to hear by the grace of God. As you read the text in verses one through three, we are reminded of the grace of God when we read that he gave his commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen.

The apostles whom he had chosen. You might be aware that an election is coming up.

I don't know if you've got anything in the mail, maybe some phone calls. Very often in the scripture and in theology, we translate the word for God's choice as election and the elect.

I find it very interesting that the Greek word is actually eklektos, which should remind us that the style of heaven is eclectic, based entirely on the desires of the chooser.

That we are brought together here today at this table, not because of our own merits and our own qualities or because we're all just alike, but it's entirely upon the desire, the merciful desire of the one who does the choosing.

Praise be to God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you today and we recognize the majesty of our king and we rejoice that he is in his kingdom.

I pray that you would help us to have that focus so that our attention, even though we come from so many different angles and experiences and have different ways of looking at things,

Lord, it is your glory and your desire and your mercy that you bring us into unity as we all look at Jesus.

So I pray that you would help us to do that today. In his name we pray. Amen. It is not death to die.

That's in your HMA hymnals, page 64. It is not death to die.

Leave this weary room. Saints, you dwell on high.

You found their home with God. It is not death to close them by tears.

And waken joy before your throne.

Depart from our misery.

We'll in your mercy find. That it is not death to die.

It is not death to flee.

Aside this earthly dust.

And rise with strong and noble wing.

To live among the just.

It is not death to hear the key unlock the door.

That sets us free from mortal years.

To praise you evermore. Oh Jesus conquering the grave.

Your precious blood has power to save.

Those who trust in you. We'll in your mercy find.

That it is not death to die.