The Full Message of this New Life

[Planning for 2009] 

Acts 1:1-5:42 

Key Verse 5:20 

"Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life."

In this passage we would like to think about God’s direction for the year 2009 based on Acts 1-5. 

First, the Risen Jesus’ priority for the Apostles

Once upon a time Jesus said to his disciples that the people of this world are a lot shrewder than the children of God. So we have a lot to learn from the people of this world. One of the things we can learn from them is the wisdom that says, “First things first.” In the book entitled 7 Habits of Effective People, Stephen Covey says, “Put first things first. That is the key to success.” That is the key to living a fruitful life. 

The question then becomes: “What should we do first?” In Acts 1:1-11 the Risen Jesus answers the question. Let us read this passage responsively. Here the Risen Jesus set the priority straight for the Apostles. The Apostles had in mind the restoration of Israel. Most likely they had already imagined God overthrowing the Roman Empire and establishing Israel as the super-power nation. When this happens no doubt that the Apostles would occupy cabinet positions of the New World Empire with the Risen Jesus being the Newly Elected President. 

So the Apostles asked Jesus, “Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” But the Risen Jesus said, “"It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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." On New Year’s Eve Shepherd William testified to the wisdom the Risen Jesus is talking about here, that is, although he is super busy, so busy as to go crazy, he still goes out for fishing on campus three times a week. From a human stand point this seems crazy. But it is not. It is to go for the wisdom of our Heavenly Father, for our Lord Jesus says, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” 

Second, the vessel of prayer

On my way from S. Africa to LA, I watched a special report program entitled “Family.”  The reporter traveled around the world and interviewed about two-dozen people from different continents. In the interview they shared their opinion on what family is all about. The common idea that runs through the interviews is this: “Family is like a bucket.” If there is a hole in a bucket the bucket will NOT hold water; to ensure that the bucket holds water, you must keep the bucket watertight. An alcoholic mother or father, a prodigal son or daughter, causes the bucket to leak. 

The same holds true with the fellowship among the Apostles. In a recent message, shepherd Jason delivered a message on the Lord’s promise to King David, that is, building a “house” (or home). In the previous Sunday message shepherd Charles talked about the perfected kingdom to come “the home of the righteous.” Here the righteous refers to the body of believers. An unbeliever cannot join the fellowship in the family of God. 

By the same token, unbelievers cannot be used as instruments to preach the good news of God’s kingdom. For this reason, in Acts 1:12-26, as Jesus’ disciples (about 120 of them) were gathered and praying, God revealed to the Apostle Peter the importance of repairing the broken vessel. Acts 1: 20-22 describe what Peter realized and therefore suggested the apostles to do:

"For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms, 'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and, 'May another take his place of leadership.' Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." 

Here “his” place refers to the position formerly held by Judas Iscariot. So they recommended two, and out of the two, through prayer they cast lots and Matthias was chosen. Thus the vessel became “watertight.” 

While I was attending the African directors’ conference I realized that there is a tight vessel of prayer among the coworkers. Despite difficulties and hardships all of them were filled with joy. Look at the two pictures. With great joy they went back to their mission field. I believe God will do a great work in Africa.

In the same way, this year, let us pray to form a tight prayer vessel among those who are committed to serving the blessed message of the gospel of resurrection. 

Third, the coming of the Holy Spirit

The Bible shows us that there is a war going on between two kingdoms: the kingdom of Jesus and the kingdom of Satan. Jesus called the apostles to fight the good fight of faith and build Jesus’ kingdom, for Jesus established them to save people out of the Satan’s grip into the home of the righteous. 

But no one can fight the battles with their bare hands. An army needs tanks and missiles. In the book of Acts, 2:1-13, in order to help the Apostles meet the challenges coming from the enemy’s camp and build God’s kingdom, the Risen Jesus poured upon the Apostles the Holy Spirit. 

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Pay attention to the word “enabled.” The Holy Spirit is the “enabler.” 

The apostles were uneducated people. Yet the Holy Spirit empowered them to overcome language barriers. Like all of us the apostles were afraid of persecutions. But the Holy Spirit clothed Peter with the spirit of love and power. Filled with the Holy Spirit the Apostle Peter boldly challenged the people to repent and turn to God. In this way the Holy Spirit enabled the early apostles to build a church and the membership grew from 3,000 to 5,000. Let me show you a picture. The man in this picture is Msn. Peter Park of Nigeria. He failed his college entrance exam 8 times. But he deeply repented. Then the Holy Spirit enabled him to go to Lagos, Nigeria. There through the power of the Holy Spirit he made disciples among the students of the University of Lagos. Here is a picture of the Nigerian students growing under his leadership.

The power of the Holy Spirit has not decreased nor changed in any way in our generation. He is God among us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. As we turn ourselves to his leadership and follow His will, he will empower us to fulfill God’s will, the will to make disciples of all nations. 

Fourth, the message of new life

According to Genesis 1 God created the beautiful universe and everything in it with His Word. So in order to build God’s kingdom in a fallen man, we need to proclaim God’s Word. In the book of Acts the Risen Lord empowered Peter to serve five sermons. Of the five sermons, the first sermon (or message) that the Apostle Peter served on the Day of Pentecost is the most important. 

What then is the point of the message? We find the answer to this question in Acts 2:36. "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." This passage constitutes the full contents of “the full message of this new life”. 

Let us pay attention to the three expressions: 1) “this Jesus”; 2) “you”; and 3) “both Lord and Christ”. 

The four gospels describe in detail who “this Jesus” is. “You” refers to the literal “you.” Let us turn to our neighbor and say, “You crucified him.” This Jesus rose again, and God has made (it is in the present perfect tense) this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. You might say, “I never crucified Jesus,” “I never did it.” But people crucify Jesus more by sinning than by physically driving a nail through his body. A lot of people sin continually, never anticipating that they will be hit with consequences. But the Bible clearly says that Jesus will come again, not as the Savior but as the Judge. And when you do not repent and turn to God through Jesus, you will be hit with the judgment. You will be thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Let us rise and read Revelation 21:5-8. 

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

There is a lot to say about the meaning of the title “Lord and Savior.” But the key to understanding this expression is found in v. 7, which reads, “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” Who overcomes the world? It is only those who accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior.

Fifth, the fellowship of believers

As the number of believers grew, how did they fellowship with each other? Let us all read 2:40-47. Verse 42 draws our special attention: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." This verse is important because it shows us how young students in attendance as well as long-timers can build up one another, grow up, and bear good fruit. In addition to the Holy Spirit and gospel messages, we should devote ourselves to Bible study and to one another (the fellowship). And if Bible students are going to be meaningful participants in this work that God is carrying out today they must eventually devote themselves to the fellowship and not remain on the fringes.  

Sixth, troubles are opportunities to advance the gospel

In Acts 4-5 as the Apostles preached the message opposition arose. When our enemies file oppositions we easily get unsettled. We become uneasy, get anxious and even get sick. But we can easily avoid these when we understand why people playing enemies try to disrupt the gospel ministry. So let us think about the challenges the church was faced with. 

Categorically, the church was confronted with two problems: 1) the trouble caused by the religious leaders (like the high priests, the captain of the temple guards, the Sadducees), and 2) Ananias and Sapphira telling a lie to the Holy Spirit.

Let us think about these two problems. Firstly, why did the religious leaders behave the way they did? Why did they play God’s enemies? The Holy Spirit who sees what is inside of man reveals their problems. Would someone rise and read Acts 5:17? Notice the word “jealousy”; they were supposed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But since they did not believe in Jesus, they were instead filled with jealousy! Let us also read Acts 5:28. In this passage we find the word “guilty.” They felt “condemned.” This reminds us of what Jesus said in John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only son.” In the year 2009, as you serve the gospel, expect that people might cause some troubles to you. When this happens though think about why they do what they do, remembering especially the two words ‘jealousy’ and ‘guilty.’

Secondly, why did Ananias and Sapphira tell a lie? Why did they hide some of the sales proceed? Again the Holy Spirit revealed to the Apostle Peter why. Let us read Acts 5:3-4. 

“Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.’ ” Notice the question Peter asked, “What made you think of doing such a thing?” What made him to tell a lie to the Holy Spirit? What was the culprit? Of course it was Satan who had so filled their hearts. Of course it was the mouths of Ananias and Sapphira that had told a lie. But what made them do it? Peter explains the cause with two questions: 1) “Didn’t it [the proceeds] belong to you before it was sold?”; and 2) “And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?” The first question talks about the ownership, and the second question describes the attributes of ownership. If you own something you can do whatever you want with it. But here is the problem: the couple “owned” the money, and therefore the money was at their “disposal,” yet what they actually did indicates that they were not “able” to do whatever and however they wanted to do with the money. Why? In my humble opinion they were not the “master” of the money; they were “mastered” by money. It is one thing to “have” money, it is another to be set free from the grip of the love of money. This love of money causes man to commit sins such as telling a lie or stealing. So the Bible says, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1Ti 6:10).

In 2009 people might cause troubles as you present the gospel. When they cause troubles, consider the love of money. When they cause troubles to you, it is so easy to say, “What is wrong with me?” Not knowing where your trouble makers are coming from, you keep eating your heart. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, He will give you the spirit of wisdom and understanding so you can protect the ministry and bear fruit more effectively than ever.  

Finally, let us think about the key verse: “ ‘Go, stand in the temple courts,’ he said, ‘and tell the people the full message of this new life.’ In this passage we learned that the Risen Lord empowered the apostles to proclaim the message of new life. This life is called “new” for it is the life that comes from our Lord Jesus Christ who died on a tree and rose again. He is Risen! He is with us and is working with us. 

According to the Bible the believers in the U.S. have dual citizenship: citizenship in God’s kingdom and citizenship in the U.S. As citizens of this world we have many things to do: work at home, work at work, etc. But, as citizens of God’s kingdom we have God’s work to do. And our time is limited. The most efficient way to live a fruitful life is to focus on the first priority, that is, to share the gospel of this new life. And we must serve the full message of this new life through the power of the Holy Spirit. If we try to do it on our own, we will easily burn out. Plus, we will run the danger of causing troubles among fellow soldiers. In serving the word of God, then, we do not want to lose the point: “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." So through devotion to Bible studies and mutual fellowship in the Lord, we must help our Bible students until they confess Jesus as both Lord and Savior. Oppositions might arise. But when we overcome them by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit, these obstacles will turn out to be opportunities to grow the ministry. So this year, whenever the Lord offers us such opportunities, may the Lord empower us to share the full message of this new life! May the Lord strengthen us to serve the full message of the new life fully at our home, at our work, and in college campuses. 

One word: Tell the people of the full message of this new life

 The book of Acts consists of 28 chapters. We can divide the book into two parts: 1-5 and 6-28. The first part describes the birth of a “church” which consists of the body of believers. When the Holy Spirit came, the apostles were emboldened to speak the gospel. Thus officially the church was born. This incident is in parallel with the birth of Israel as a nation when the Lord came down from heaven to Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19. The remainder of the book of Acts, 6-28, depicts the way the church was organized and expanded, for as the number of membership in the church grew they got themselves organized by appointing seven people to handle offerings, and as the ministry grew the church expanded from Jerusalem to the Gentile world, reaching all the way to Rome. Chapters 1-5 touch upon the 6 major factors related to the growth of the church: 1) the priority; 2) the vessel; 3) the means; 4) the message; 5) the fellowship; and 6) the oppositions. 

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