Grace Chapel Bible Ministries
worship call 1140 Choosing the 12th - 2024/09/04
(light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) Welcome to worship call with Bible teacher Buzz Lullbeck. Buzz is the pastor of Grace Chapel Bible Ministries located in Duncan, South Carolina. This ministry is dedicated to the verse by verse teaching of God's word and discipleship programs aimed at strengthening the faith of God's people. Now, here's today's message. The Peter just, it's Peter just being Peter again as he goes ahead and jumps up to invite to select a 12th one. Was it, since Jesus was the one who selected the 11th, but then deciding that there's going to have to be 12th in the bunch. Is it Peter, is Matthias a disciple or an apostle to come on board or is it just the fact that he is just Peter jumping the gun again? This is the, what is this? This is the fourth day of the week in God's created order. The fourth day of the ninth month, two thousand twenty-fourth year of our Lord, and this is another fine day in the Lord. Let us turn to our Lord and prayer. Father in heaven, thank you for this opportunity of fellowshiping in your word. And we pray, Heavenly Father, God, Holy Spirit, and lightness to the state of things. Well, thank you for getting us back back at the podium this morning, back at the desk that we can continue this wonderful book of Acts. So let us review this morning. Father, open up our hearts to learn your word and Christ's name. We pray. Amen. And again, it's nice to be back and nice to be back. And so I'll have a great, great weekend and a great long weekend. And once again, thanks Mike and Terry for hosting us. And it was a great weekend. Let's turn now to the book back. I hope to get your book bibles open. We're just going to go with the Bible this morning and we've got a few things we can open up. Let's start at the beginning again and just a little bit of review. The first Acts, the first account, I composed Theophilus about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. This is a letter. This is actually, this could be Luke 2. This is the book that Luke wrote under inspiration. This is a letter written to Theophilus. Theophilus is maybe a government official. Maybe he's, we found in Luke that he has an official title. So possibly at this point, but by telling me get to act, we noticed that that title has been dropped and it's just simply Theophilus. And maybe now there are brothers in Christ and new things have come. Verse 2, until the day when he was taken up to heaven and he had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. Very key word here, whom he had chosen. He had spent all night praying for his disciples, praying for the ones, that inner circle, to include Judas Iscariot, which ended up dropping off of course. Verse 3, to these, he also presented himself alive and after suffering, many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days. And speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. So from the time of his resurrection, there are 40 days up to the time he's going to leave them. So there's going to be quite a bit of teaching that's going on in the teaching about the kingdom to come. And the teaching of the kingdom, remember going back to Matthew 633 to seek first the kingdom in his righteousness. And knowing about the kingdom is seeking about the kingdom to get your heart inculcated about the kingdom. And there's so much as he passed off to his disciples, his disciples to become apostles. And those had disciples under them, those early church fathers who studied under the disciples laid down the foundation of the church and the teachings that we have today. Our hearts need to be inculcated. It's not about how to live in the spiritual life in the world in which we live in now. But we need to also, the teaching of the kingdom, the understanding of the kingdom to come is so important to us. It's so important to have our hearts and our minds wrapped around that this kingdom is on the horizon. It gives us a personal sense of destiny, a personal sense of longing for and loving this kingdom that is to come. And so a part of our study is what the... and here it is specifically. It wasn't about the spiritual life, which is important, a study for us. And it is part of our scripture and the epistles, the letters of the disciples. But it's also the fact that there's a personal sense of death and there's a kingdom coming. And it gets us through each day recognizing that this is not the kingdom. This is not what we are to occupy our hearts and our minds with. Yes, we vote, yes, we function in the civil duties and living in the nation in which we live. But this world is Temple, 2 Peter, and 2 Peter, Peter tells us that the world is going to melt away. It's just going to go away and works with it. So what type of people should we be, but holy did people. And he also goes on in 13 that we are looking for a new heavens, new earth where righteousness dwells. Verse 4, "Gathering them together, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised." What was the promise that the Father, not the kingdom at this point, the Holy Spirit. Remember, it was a number of places that Jesus spoke about the coming of the Holy Spirit. I must go that I will send you to paracletos and he will teach you all things that we call to mind. Those things that have, those things that I too have forgotten. The Holy Spirit is the empowerment of the spiritual life. This is also important here. It's empowerment of the Holy Spirit. It is not only the Word of God, the two power systems that we function within our lives is the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Those are the two things that we, that we, that empowers our lives. That keeps us going, that keeps us pressing forward. And right now, in this age, this is still, this is going to be a crossover age. Right now we can consider at this period of time that these disciples, that these 11, plus the women and those believers at this time, they're still in the Old Testament period. They're still in the old, the prior to coming to Holy Spirit, new things are coming. New exciting things on the new dynamic spiritual life, the Christian way of life is coming, but it's not yet. And there's going to be a, this transition from the old to the new. So gathering them together, first work gathering them together, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem. And to wait for what the father had promised, which he had, you heard from me. And that's Luke 2449, John 14 16 and 26. First five, for John the Baptist, with, for John baptized with water. But you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. John the Baptist, his baptism was a water baptism, a water, it was a ritual. It was a ritual, as I've often said, is a physical manifestation of a spiritual reality. It is the, it portrays what goes on, what we cannot see. We can see a person going into the water. We can see that the declaration by the ritual that that believer has, that he is trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. That he identifies, and that's what baptism is, it's identification. It identifies one with the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For John it was a baptism of repentance. It was, again, it was a declaration. It was a baptism of repentance to turn away from this world and to start baptism in that way. It is also for us, I do believe that there is a place for baptism in our time and the ritual baptism to line a deep markation. It's still a time, people were getting baptized in this period of time. It is a time of identifying themselves with Christ in a public proclamation. As I believe that marriage should be a marriage between a man and woman, should be a public proclamation. Now that's an opinion, but that is a ritual, but the real baptism is the baptism of the spirit. When the spirit comes and the age in which we live, and this day, then anyone that believes, the moment that he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and he's born again, he receives the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is with him, and there's nothing we can do to lose that. We become new creatures. There's no way. And part of that being new creatures is the fact that we have the Holy Spirit in dwelling us. Now we may be quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit. That is when we're walking in cardinality, when we're walking in sin, certainly we are suppressing the ministry of the Holy Spirit, but he's still there. But when we're walking in the light, as he is in the light, we are being our lives. Our Christian lives are being empowered by that. We are gaining new understanding every day of the scripture through the Holy Spirit. But they do not have this yet, and this is going to be important coming up to understand this. Okay, to know this. The John baptized with water, it's a ritual baptism. But you will be baptized, identified, with the Holy Spirit. John's baptism with the water, but the Holy Spirit is going to be the one that's going to identify. You know, John's ritual, yours is going to be a real, it's going to be the Holy Spirit. It's going to not going to be, this is not going to be a ritual. This is going to be the Holy Spirit that actually does the empowerment here. Not many days from now. Okay, I like this, you know, Jesus doesn't say this day. Okay, this day, this time, this period, be ready for it. No, he gives him a, not many days from now, he, soon, soon. Okay, just trust me, it's coming. All right, is it day? I don't know if it's day, is it tomorrow? I don't know, but Jesus said, and so we're going to wait. Part of our faith is waiting, okay, in our prayer life. Part of our, part of our, you know, we are to pray. And the Lord answers prayers, it may be no, it may be not yet, it may be a yes. Whatever the prayer is, but we are to pray, and it may be tomorrow. Our prayers may be answered next week. It may be answered next year. We don't know, but our prayers will be answered. Those prayers that are rightfully prayed. And then maybe the Lord will shut you down, like he did with Paul. He said, hey, Paul said, I prayed three times, but the Lord finally shut me down on that. My grace is sufficient for thee. All right, first six, so when they had come together, okay, and they were asked and said, Lord, is it time, time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel? Okay, they still haven't, they still haven't recognized that they still don't know yet. They know that Jesus is going away. And as far as they know, they have come back and see their hearts are, they are recognized. The kingdom isn't here yet. The kingdom has not yet been established. Into whom is the kingdom going to be established? It's going to be established to Israel. They are looking back at Daniel, Daniel 7 and Daniel 9, I think Daniel 9 actually. But there is a, they're looking at the prophecy, they're looking for that kingdom to be restored to Israel. Israel is the centerpiece. The United States of America is not the kingdom. The United Kingdom is not the kingdom. There is the centerpiece in the world, and that centerpiece in the world is when, as we spoke of last night, when the literal king is going to be sitting on his little throne in Jerusalem. And it's from there that he's going to rule the world. And the nations of this world is going to pay homage to him. This is what they're asking for. This is what they're looking for. This is, this is that established kingdom that they are anticipating. He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times and the epics which the Father has fixed by his own authority." Not even a son knows when this established. And it's been 2,000 years. Now should we be a little bit discouraged? They had to wait. They're in the people of this early church. They're going to be anticipating in that first period of their lives. They're going to be anticipating the coming of the, the coming of the return of Christ in that time to set up his kingdom. And people are going to die off and they're going, that whole generation is going to die off. And generations after that die off. But those who are, those who know the promises of God knows that it's for sure even to this day. It's for 2,000 years. But what does Peter say that don't count the Lord as slow? For one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. All right. Verse 8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest parts of the earth." See there's going to be evangelism. There's going to be time. The door of the ark is open. Salvation is available. And that gospel is going out. And the gospel is not going to do two things. First of all, it's going to call. It's going, it's going to be the call to believe and trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ. What is the gospel that Jesus Christ provides eternal life for anyone that trusts in Him for? And that by believing in Him, you have eternal life. This is the invitation. It goes back to a one that Jesus talks about, the parable of the king, who's throwing a wedding for his son. And that no one wanted to come. They got busy. And then he sent out his disciples. He sent out his slaves and they mistreated and killed them. And the king was enraged. And he sent his servants all to the highways and byways to bring and know all those who would come. And the salvation is available to this day. Time is a great commodity. Time is ticking. And every day brings us closer to the time when that door of the ark. I love going back to the ark and telling you about the ark because it's before the flood. And both Jesus Peter uses the flood as a picture here. But both, there came a time. And the Lord at the very beginning said, "My spirit will not dwell with man, but his years will be 120 years." The important point at that important point is the fact that there was a time that was a set time. And that ark was a billboard by the which to announce that judgment was coming. That open door was an invitation. That anyone who stepped through it, there was only one door in the ark to step through it. But the point here is the fact that the time is going to run out. But while that door of the ark is open, there is availability of salvation. There is the availability. There is the spread of the gospel. And we are responsible to share that gospel with others that they might hear that gospel, respond to it, and be saved. And that's going to be all out there in the world. It's not just going to be Jerusalem. That's going to be throughout all the world. And those that respond will be grafted into the promises of that kingdom. Thank you, Tim. All right, the ascension, verse 9. And after he had said these things, he was lifted up while they were looking up on the cloud and received him out of their sight. And that's also Luke and Luke 2450. Let's see what Luke 2450 backing up. Luke 2450. I know what it says. It talks about that. Some of those who were with him, with us, went up to the tomb. Is that what it is? Okay, and after I see 2450. No, okay. I'll throw it. The ascension. And Luke speaks of the ascension in 2450. And he had led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he parted from them, and there he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continuously continually in the temple praising God. Wouldn't you be? And shouldn't you be? I asked that two questions. If you were there, wouldn't you be worshiping him? After all you have seen and praising and knowing that the extraordinary things you've already seen. And if we believe scripture, shouldn't we in our day be wholly excited, especially in the time in which we live? And again, I believe that we are in that day that we will be seeing the returning of our Lord. There's a lot of us who are excited, you know, or maybe excited. Maybe it's the wrong word about the election coming up in November. Should we even be more excited? I mean, we can be ringing our hands or any, all kinds of motions about November. But any given day, we could be taken from this earth and be reunited with our Lord. So you have the ascension and after he said to them these things, he was lifted up while they were looking on. And a cloud received him out of their sight. And here we talked about a singular cloud. And I believe that this is the cloud of glory. We went over the last class that we had was that cloud. There was at times when that cloud covered the tabernacle. It was certainly a pillar of smoke that by day that they followed and it represented the fact that the kind of glory was in the Holy of Holy. We also seen that the cloud was that the father spoke out of the cloud at the mountain there at Sinai. It also spoke out of cloud to the three on the Mount Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John. This is my son whom I'm well, please listen to him. So when I don't think this is an atmospheric cloud that we know of cloud, but a singular cloud that took him and he was received into an upward. What's interesting is when the Lord is going to return, he's going to return in the clouds. And the angel said he'll come back in the same way, but this is what Jesus is received into a single cloud, but the Son of Man will return in clouds with great power. And a ponder disc with my brother, and what is this clouds and he thinks it's the same, he thinks it's a believer, which may be. And I got the ponder a little bit and it may very well be the cloud. One thing the characteristics of clouds is they just obscured a sky. They just covered a sky. Sometimes they're spotted and there's a few, but sometimes you have cloud cover that covers the whole and it actually obscures the sky. It hangs between earth and heaven and it obscures the sun at night, it obscures the stars and the sun. But thinking about it, and this is just a little bit of conjecture here, but when the Lord returns, and I think this specifically, and Scripture tells us that he's going to return with his holy ones. And that's a reference to his angels. And what it is that the angels are set out into all the four corners of the world to gather up the saints or his elect. I've always, I never considered how many, how many of his holy ones? Two, three, four, five, maybe a little squadron. When he returns back, it's going to be a, it's going to be an awesome event. So when he returns back in the cloud, I think it's the Merit, how do you say that word? My words? Merits? I mean, angels, so many angels that you cannot count. I mean, they are just going to come in like a squadron. We've had, I was on a base one time, what they did, a military fly over to every plane that could fly on the base flew over. And those planes practically shaded the, the earth as they were, as they were flying by. And I also think of Braveheart. You remember when, when they did the arrow volley and all those arrows, they actually, when they, when they came over, they actually shaded the, the ground. I believe that the, the massive amounts of angels, the whole, his holy ones that he's coming back with, that, that's the reference to the clouds. And, and after trumpet sound, they are going to split off and they're going to go to their assigned missions, whether it's to gather the elect, is it to, to bring judgment down upon the nations, whatever they are going to do. But he's in charge and he's setting up his, his kingdom. This is what I think the clouds are. And again, if you have a better idea and if you want to add to that, let me know because I, I thought, I just a very picture of that is very, very exciting. Exciting to me. I think it is. So the, um, coming back to acts one nine. Okay. So after, after you said these things, he was lifted up and looking on it and, and a cloud received him out of the site. And as they were gazing, intently into the sky, while he was going to behold two men in white stood beside them. And they said, they said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up in the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven. I'll start with, uh, on this, we'll, we'll pick this up again tomorrow from verse 11. Two angels, um, often you, and I don't know what's, are these the same two angels? What, what was the first time that we sang two angels up here in scripture? They seem to come up in the pair. We saw it back in, um, in Genesis. I, I believe this is the first time where, where Jesus will be our preincarnate Lord Jesus Christ shows up before Abraham, along with two, two of his angels. Those two angels later on went down to, um, to sod them to check that out. So you had the two angels there. Um, and then you've got the two angels here. I think there's some place I'm missing it. There's two angels shows up someplace else as well. But these pair of angels, I wonder if they're the same angels. If they're, if they are the same messenger angels, or are they, um, or is it a significant two? Maybe, um, any, there are two witnesses, just like there's two witnesses on the street. So I don't know. That's a question that I'll send up to you at this point. Um, what, what's the significance of two of these angels? We don't know who the angels are. Um, but they come up and they're just there. It's kind of funny there. You can imagine they're looking up into the, uh, they're looking up into the sky, waiting for Jesus to come back. Okay. He's gone there. Maybe he's going to go there and he's going to come back with it. And what's their mindset? Okay. He's there. They're in awe. Of course. They just saw somebody with any, without any jetpacks or helicopter or any, any type of device. He just lifted up into the sky. Okay. There you go. Okay. You must be going to go get something. He's coming right back. But no, the angels, uh, and all of a sudden they hear a voice and they have a look down. And here, there's two angels. And when angels show up, they show up as men. They don't show up as babies. They don't show up as there's no baby angels. There's no women angels. They show up as men. Sorry about that, ladies. But that's just the Bible. And, um, and so they give them instructions. Hey, listen, men of galley. Why, why are you looking up in the air? You know, it's, you know, listen, he's going to come back. He's going, he is going to come back, but you've got work to do. And Jesus is going to come back for sure. And blessed is those who, blessed is the servant that is watchful for the master when the master returns. Let's close that prayer. Father, in heaven, thank you for this opportunity of sharing your word this morning. I pray Heavenly Father that God the Holy Spirit will open our hearts to the study of this study as we continue to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in whose name we pray. Amen. All right. It's another fine day. The Lord, keep your armor on. Keep fighting a good fight of faith. Lord, will, and Spirit guide. Raptor pending. We're going to be back here in the A.M. and we'll continue on with starting with Acts 1, verse 11. Thank you for joining us. You can hear this message again as well as previous lessons and get notes by visiting us online at www.gchapel.org. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]