What Christ Commanded (Acts 1:1-8)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 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, 3 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. 4 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; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7 And He said to them, ’It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 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.”
Introduction
Why are the church members in America, Europe, and Korea shrinking and churches closing their doors? This was the question that was asked at the conference. The truth is that the churches around the world are closing down. But what is interesting is that there are increasing numbers of churches in South Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. If we think about this personally, God has called me as a church officer but why are my problems not being solved? Why are my personal, business, and family problems not being resolved? In other ways, there are people who are suffering due to their problems and end up wondering. What is the answer to this? We must find the answer. In the book of Revelation, we see the church of Ephesus. Jesus said that He will move the lamp stand. If God moves the light from the church, the churches will close down and churches will shrink. If God moves the light away from us, then our problems will never become resolved. What is the reason for this? God said that we have lost hold of the first message that God has given to us. This is because we are directed towards what we want rather than what Jesus wants. We need to hold onto the direction of the word that God has given to us and set out with this message. What is the direction that God has given to us? It is the bartizan. What is a bartizan? We must look towards the bartizan. The bartizan is a place where we look out of. The bartizan is also a place where we receive messages, have meetings, and send out signals. We must be watchful at the bartizan. We who look out the bartizan, Satan also has a bartizan. We must understand what Satan’s bartizans are.
1. God's Bartizan
1) Satan's Bartizan
Matthew 12:29, 44-45 “Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” - The reason why Jesus said this was to speak to the Jews. Jesus was telling the reason why the Jews were failing. Jesus was telling them that they are bound and they are bound in chains, and unable to solve their problems. They were bound by the chosen people ideology. Even though they were chosen by God, they were bound by the chosen people ideology that they couldn’t do the mission and work of God.
Jesus also said in Matthew 12:44-45 - Jesus was speaking about the state of the Pharisees. Within their hearts, they have no master of God and word of God. Since God is not the master of their hearts, Satan is the master of their hearts.
What is more astounding is seen in John 2:16 “And He said to those who sold doves, ‘Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!’ ” - We must receive God’s word and look up to God in the bartizan but rather, we are running businesses in God’s house. God’s house is referring to the temple that King Herod built. Since the temple that King Herod built, God’s presence was not there, God destroyed that temple. If God is not present, then there is no meaning for that temple. God told them that the Jews threw away the 3 courtyards (healing, prayer, and children). This is how Satan established his bartizan within the temple. We must find God’s bartizan and establish it.
2) God's Bartizan
John 14:16, 26 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” - When the Holy Spirit is with us, we are given power and strength. The Holy Spirit gives us astounding and tremendous power.
John 14:26 - This power will come upon us when the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon us. The Lord God keeps giving us the word of God. The Holy Spirit helps us realize the word of God. When the word comes upon us, we have realizations and joy. What is the role of a bartizan?
Verse 8 - If God’s Holy Spirit comes upon us, we will receive the power to stand as God’s witnesses. This is the role of a bartizan of God.
3) How to establish God's bartizan
Seven bartizans, seven journeys, seven guideposts, and three courtyards.
2. God's Stronghold
1) Satan's stronghold
A stronghold is a place where people stand ready to attack. A stronghold is described in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” - It is describing the warfare between Satan and armies of God. A stronghold is a strong fortress. What does a stronghold do? It is described in 2 Corinthians 10:5. What does Satan do? It is described in 2 Corinthians 10:5. Satan makes us arrogant and rebellious against God and God’s word with Satan’s stronghold. What role is that?
Acts 11:2-3 “And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, 3 saying, ‘You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!’ ” - This stronghold of Satan affected the general assembly of the church here in this verse. These Jewish Christians went to meet with Peter and criticized Peter for giving the gospel to the Gentiles. They criticized Peter for eating with uncircumcised men and preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. Even though these Jewish Christians claimed to have the gospel, they criticized Peter for sharing the gospel to Gentiles. This shows the work of Satan’s stronghold. Peter responds that the Holy Spirit works in that place, then there is nothing that he can do. Satan makes it where people can’t see in the eyes of the gospel.
Galatians 2:12 “For before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.” - Peter fell into the ways of the Jewish Christians. He started avoiding uncircumcised men and Gentiles due to his fear. Why would Peter do this? He was someone who shared the gospel to Cornelius who was a Gentile. This is because there are many times when you have the gospel but you still complete an act of unbelief due to fear. How can we have victory? There is God’s stronghold that can break down Satan’s stronghold.
2) God's stronghold
Acts 11:19, 13:2 “Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. 13:2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” - Because of Stephen’s persecution, many Christians ran away. When we build God’s stronghold, we must understand the importance of the gospel. These Christians who ran away due to their persecution, they shared the gospel to Greeks when they ran away to other lands. God continued to protect and guide these Christians who were persecuted. We can see God’s stronghold here. God commits His word of building up His stronghold on the Christians who continued to share the gospel despite the persecution that was occurring.
Hold onto Acts 13:2 - We can see they fasted in the field. They understood the importance of the life saving movement. We can see the work of the Holy Spirit. They laid down their own thoughts and motives, and only were moved by the work of the Holy Spirit. That is why they fasted in the field. That was how God worked through the Holy Spirit. God commits His great works through them. From here, we can see something else.
Acts 16:7-8 “After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.” - They were led by the Holy Spirit to come here. They risked their lives to share the gospel. They were about to go and share the gospel, but the Holy Spirit stopped them. They couldn’t tell if it was the work of God or the work of Satan. We may face problems where we can’t discern if it is the work of God or the work of our unbelief. But at that time, they decided to pray. When problems come, we must pray in concentration. At that time, God will absolutely give us great answers when we pray.
Acts 16:9 “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' ” - They wanted to go to Bithynia but God stopped them so Paul realized that this was not part of God’s direction. So Paul changed his direction. What is most important is that we discard of our own thoughts and are lead by the Holy Spirit. This is how we can receive the correct guidance. We need to ask for God’s guidance through the direction of the Holy Spirit. How can you establish God’s stronghold?
3) How to establish the stronghold
The Age of the Three-day Weekend - When the 3-day weekend starts, there will be more people wanting to go after carnal entertainment. When that day comes, Satan will rejoice and will work through that. When we pray for the 3-day weekend, then this is what God rejoices in. We need to hold onto the covenant to establish God’s stronghold. What is absolute is we must enjoy what God gives us. Let us hold onto God’s covenant to establish God’s stronghold within our church and household. We will have a healing ministry take place on Fridays. For those who are ill or sick, we will have the healing hour on Friday. We will also help remnants discover their talents through the 3-day weekend. We have tutoring on Saturdays and we see this as an answer from God. We realized that we need more prayers. Through the 3-day weekend, God will give us great answers. This is just the start. We know that God will continue to give us the answer of the remnant. We need to take God’s word and armor ourselves with God’s armor.
3. God's Kingdom
1) Satan's kingdom
God’s kingdom is a place where Satan cannot enter. We need to discover what the kingdom of this world is.
Satan’s kingdom is spoken in John 16:11 “Of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” - Satan is the prince of this world. He acts like he is the king of the world. What does he do?
We can see in 2 Corinthians 4:4 “Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” - Satan has established his rule onto this world and makes people blind so people cannot see the light of the gospel. What is more astounding is that Satan tries to challenge Jesus.
Matthew 4:8-9 “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ ” - Satan saw that Jesus was fasting so Satan challenges Jesus by trying to tempt Jesus. Satan brought Jesus to a tall mountain and told Jesus that he will give the entire kingdom to Jesus. Satan has made many idols of this world and that he has received so much glory because of these idols. Satan was showing that many people are worshiping him and if Jesus bows down to Satan, that Satan will give the entire kingdom of Jesus. We can see that these forms of idols have no power or strength at all. So many people are being deceived because of these idols. Even believers have fallen into these schemes of Satan. We must establish God’s kingdom.
2) God's kingdom
Hold onto Exodus 6:7 “I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” - This was what God told Moses. What is most important is for us to enter into God’s rule. When we enter into God’s rule, then the power of the heavenly throne comes upon us. When we go under God’s reign, all of our burdens are lifted. Then the great blessings of God’s kingdom will come upon us.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” - This is God’s law and the power of the gospel. If we hold onto the gospel, then power will be revealed to us. We will be freed from the chains and burdens of the world. We can receive strength and power from the gospel. Then, who can become God’s people?
Look at Isaiah 6:13 “But yet a tenth will be in it, And will return and be for consuming, As a terebinth tree or as an oak, Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.” - What is important is that we must enter into the blessing of the remnant. God works through the remnant for the sake of His people. Those who protect and hold onto God’s word. Those are the remnants. Then, God’s kingdom will be established. What method does He use? He uses the method of the remnants. We must save the TCK and NCK. When we hold onto the covenant then God will work through us. Then, how can God work through us? How can we establish God’s kingdom?
3) How to establish God's kingdom
WIOS, OURS, 777S - We have to be oneness with God. When that is systemized, then works will take place. Then, we can hold onto the blessing of OUR. Then, enter into concentration prayer while holding onto 7 bartizans, 7 guideposts, and 7 journeys. Then, the answer and works of creation of heavens and earth will come upon us. Our church has to do something. On Fridays, we must establish the healing house. We must build the TCK house. We need to establish the Holy Mason and Holy Temple. Hold onto this and pray about it.
Conclusion
Hold onto Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” - Through today’s sermon, hold onto it. May all the answers come upon us.
Comments