And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. (Acts 1:4-5 KJV)
The first two previous messages were the brief introduction of the Book of Acts. Again, the original title of this book had been Acts of the Apostles. In the sequel to his first book, Luke wrote about how the Christianity had been populated throughout the world, began in Jerusalem. The word church is not about the building, as we see in verse 4, but have assembly with other people together to encourage and have fellowship each other. As I said in the previous message, Jesus began the church movement and not Peter.
After Jesus ascent to Heaven, the eleven disciples stayed at Jerusalem band wait for the Holy Spirit to come to them. Wait a minute. Have we forgotten one person here? There were eleven disciples, because Judas Iscariot decided to suicide himself after he arrested Jesus to Pharisees. Even though he made a bad decision, we want to give him a credit. If Jesus didn’t die on the cross, the first messianic prophecy (Genesis 3:15) wouldn’t come true. But, mostly, our faiths in Christ would become useless.
Why Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit? In John 14:26 says, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” The word for Comforter, it means one’s aid; one who pleads another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate (Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon). The disciples cannot be witnesses to the world without further assistance. So, Jesus promised to send Helper for their advanced training. So that they can witness to the world about Jesus the Messiah. Luke 24:46-49 says, ”And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Also, Matthew 28:18-20 says, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
The Great Commission, Jesus left, didn’t end at Acts 28. It still goes on until Jesus would return to the world. In the meantime, we need to be in workforce by building godly relationship each other on a regular basis. We are called to be children of God and He is our Father, who created us. We need to be connected with God and other people. We can’t do that until our willingness is involved. We need to encourage and assist each other; let the Holy Spirit assists us; and let God works in us.
Do you have your relationship with the Heavenly Father? If not, I like to encourage you to develop your personal relationship with Jesus Christ today. First, confess your sins and invite Jesus Christ to your life. Paul said in Romans 10:9-11, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” There is no sinner prayer formula. Instead, you just talk to God at where you are now. Secondly, I’d like to encourage you to find a good solid biblical teaching church and Christian friends. They can help you to build strong relationship with God. If you’d need further assistance, you can email me at or visit my ministries website at www.mgjcweb.org for further resources.
