Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, redeemed through His infinite goodness, His child and forever I am. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, redeemed through His infinite goodness, His child and forever I am. Redeemed and so happy in Jesus, no language my rapture can tell. I know that the Lord of His presence with me does continually dwell. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am. I'm sorry I can't whistle this morning.

I think of my blessed Redeemer, I think of Him all the day long I sing, for I cannot be silent, His love is the theme of my song. Redeemed, I'm redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am. Thank you for that good song and that truth that we are redeemed.

Good morning to everyone. You all got a little snow up here I see. I was down in southern Indiana for the last week, so a little bit of a shock to get north of Manaqua, but we're getting used to it. I did spend the last week down in Duggar, Indiana. It's where a lot of fine folks live of the redneck variety, my kind of people. We were doing some deer guiding with the Swedes.

Every year I have men from Sweden and Norway come and we guide bow hunting down in southern Indiana. Duggar's a mining community. It's an interesting place. They dig coal. Last year for the election they had signs up everywhere that said, Trump digs coal. They've been mining coal there all the way back to the 1940s and 50s and strip mining. This work has created a tremendous habitat for wildlife and for fish, a lot of lakes, long skinny lakes and what they call stripper knobs where the hills go up and the valleys come down one after another, all man-made, all created from digging coal. 

There's still a coal mine operation in that town. They use this huge equipment that digs coal from the surface, a drag line with a massive bucket. The other morning I was driving past that machine in the dark after taking some hunters to their stands and I looked out and it looked like a city, all lit up, thousands of lights, a machine that weighs 4,000 tons with a mast over 300 feet long and four-inch thick cables supporting a bucket that digs 78 cubic yards every time it goes into the ground. 

As I drove by that machine at that massive mine site, looking at all those lights and all that earth moving potential, I thought to myself, what an amazing amount of power it must take to make that thing work. The light bill must be astronomical. The fuel, the hydraulic fluid, whatever makes that thing run, it takes an amazing amount of power to make it work. 

And this got me to thinking about the book of Acts and particularly Jesus' admonition to the apostles in chapter 1 that we're going to look at today. As we talked about last time, these guys were really not the best of the best. They were rough and tumble fishermen. They were tax collectors. They were, as Paul says in Corinthians, not many wise and not many noble. Yet the task before them, the commission given to them by Jesus, was monumental. It reminds me of the old Mission Impossible movie. Your mission, if you choose to accept it. These guys had an impossible mission given to them. Unfathomable. The power it would take to accomplish what Jesus had given them to do to make it work is incredible to consider.

And that's why we see in our text today a command to stay in Jerusalem. To wait. To wait for that power, the Holy Spirit, to come upon them to accomplish the will of God. Let's look at our text together in Acts 1, 1-8. 

"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 the times or the 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." 

I've given you three points on your outline this morning to frame our text. First, we see confidence. Second, we see a command. And third, we see the commission. 

First in our text, we see an amazing confidence instilled in the disciples in verse 3. If you look at verse 3, we'll start in verse 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, to whom He had also presented Himself alive after His sufferings by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 

Jesus showed Himself to be alive, to have risen from the dead by many infallible proofs, Luke says. The word here means a defining of fact, a criterion of certainty, infallible proofs. There was no doubt in their mind about the resurrection. They had been there for the crucifixion for the entire Passion Week and saw Him suffer and saw Him scourged and saw Him crucified and fled away. They knew that He had died, but they were confident of His resurrection. He showed Himself multiple times to myriads of people. 

I’d like for you to turn over to 1 Corinthians 15 with me please as Paul comments on this. 1 Corinthians 15 at verse 1. "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, by which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. After that, He was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all, He was seen by me also as one born out of due time." 

Jesus gave to the disciples many infallible proofs of His resurrection from the dead. In fact, He showed Himself to them alive at least 10 times before the ascension. We see the first time in John 20 where Jesus showed Himself to Mary Magdalene. And in Matthew 28.1, we see that He showed Himself alive to the other Mary, to Salome, to Joanna, and at least one other woman. We see in Luke 24 as well as the passage we just looked at in 1 Corinthians 15 that Jesus presented Himself to Cephas, to Peter. We also see in Luke 24 at verses 13 to 35 that He was seen by Cleopas and another disciple on the road to Emmaus. 

And in verses 36 to 43, He was seen by the eleven with Thomas absent. Then in John 20, the eleven see Him again. In John 21, seven disciples see Him on the Sea of Tiberias. And then in Matthew 28, the disciples on a mountain in Galilee. Paul told us that James saw Him. And we know from Acts 1 that the disciples were with Him at the ascension. Not only did Jesus show Himself to all these people these multiple times, but they handled Him. He ate with them, broke bread with them. He performed miracles and they walked with Him and talked with Him and saw Him ascend into heaven. 

Paul tells the Corinthians that many of the witnesses were still alive to that day when he wrote these words in 1 Corinthians 15. They could go and talk to them. They could get eyewitness testimony about Jesus being alive from the dead. My brothers and sisters, the apostles had a great confidence concerning the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and was alive. And this confidence would be crucial to their ministry and to their mission.

It's interesting to hear the arguments of the skeptics. One of my favorites is the idea that the disciples stole the body of Jesus and hid it. But as we’ll see in the book of Acts, these guys believed they had confidence in the resurrected Christ. They did not do what they did, they did not suffer what they suffered, and they did not die as they died for a lie. They knew that Jesus had risen from the dead. And it was shown to them by many infallible proofs. So we see that the disciples were given confidence concerning the resurrection of Jesus and this would be the core of their message. 

Next we see that they were given a key command. If you’d look at verse 4 with me please, Acts 1-4. "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. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 

The disciples needed confidence concerning the resurrection if they were going to be effective ministers of the gospel message. But that was not all that they needed. On their own, they were like that big coal mining drag line with no electricity, no fuel, no power. They had no power. But with power, the very power of God living in them, they would turn the world upside down. They were to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father. 

Verse 5 makes clear that this promise is the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. And Jesus also said, which you have heard from Me. Jesus taught them in John 14 and John 15 and John 16 about the Spirit whom He would send. They'd heard this promise of the Father from Jesus directly. In John 14-26, Jesus said, "But the Helper, He's a 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." 

In 15-26 it says, "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. He will teach them about Jesus. They will understand. They never understood. They didn’t understand much until they had the Holy Spirit." 

In John 16-7, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. This is so interesting what Jesus said to them. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send Him to you." Jesus said the Spirit would teach them all things. That the Spirit would bring to remembrance all things that Jesus had taught them as well and He would help them and He would testify about Jesus Christ.

They were so afraid of Jesus leaving. It really wasn't in their plans for Him to ascend into heaven. They had other ideas, but it was clear now that Jesus was going to leave, to go to the Father, and He wanted them to know that it was actually to their advantage that He go. And this was so hard for them to understand. This was so hard for them to believe. Jesus had always been there, always solving their problems, always dealing with the demons and demonic false teachers and the waves of the sea and the need for food. 

Jesus had been their security. He had been their hope and their comfort. But the truth is, it was to their advantage that He go because another Comforter, a Helper, a Guide would come to be with them, to be beside them, but actually to live in them. And they had no idea the power that they were about to receive. 

It made me think of Ephesians 1 where Paul's praying and he says, the very power that raised Jesus from the dead works in you. He lives in you. And what the Holy Spirit would do through them to testify about Jesus and to bring men to faith to Him was an amazing manifestation of that power. We see this work of the Spirit through the disciples throughout the book of Acts. It would come to pass just as Jesus promised. 

And this group of ragtag fishermen who were hiding behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jews would become powerful preachers and teachers of the gospel in Jerusalem, in Judea, and to the ends of the earth. In Acts 2.33 it says, "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear." The Spirit was poured out on the disciples at Pentecost just as Jesus had promised. And the manifestation was power and preaching of the truth. 

Peter was hiding behind locked doors a couple days before this. And then he stands up and he says, "You crucified your Messiah." Directly to their face. And he told them what they needed to do. And he told them the truth about the gospel and the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

We noted this last time we were together, but it is clear in the book of Acts that when the Spirit was working, when a man who had the Spirit living in him was being filled or controlled by the Spirit, the result of that was that he spoke. He spoke the truth. The truth about who? About Jesus. Because the Spirit's role is to testify about Jesus. This is what we see immediately after the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost in Peter's sermon in Acts 2. 

Paul wrote about this in Galatians. Turn over to Galatians 3 with me please. In Galatians 3, Paul is explaining an important, tremendous truth about the sons of Abraham. And if you look in verse 12, let's start in verse 10. "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident. For the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. 

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." Now look at verse 14. "In order that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." It's so important for us to understand, and we'll see as we progress through the book of Acts, this New Testament truth that salvation through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, was a promise not just available to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. To every man who hears the gospel truth and turns to Jesus in faith.

This was a lesson that Peter learned in Acts 10. In Acts 10 it says there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius. You know that story, a centurion. And he had a vision. He was a devout man and prayed to God and gave alms. And he had a vision to call for Peter, and the men went for Peter. And while he was waiting, a sheet came down. And it had all kinds of different animals, clean and unclean, under the Jewish law system. And God said to Peter, "Rise, kill, and eat." 

And Peter protested and said, no Lord, nothing unclean has ever entered my mouth, has crossed my lips. And God said to him, "Peter, do not call anything common that I have made clean." It was a lesson about the Gentiles that salvation was through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for Jew and for Gentile. 

And we see in verse 44 of chapter 10, while Peter was still speaking these words in Cornelius' house to him and his household, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished as many as came with Peter because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. The Holy Spirit is a promise for all who believe Jesus, who believe the gospel of grace through faith. 

Paul explains this also in the book of Ephesians, writing to Gentile believers. Listen to Ephesians 1.13, such an important verse. "In Him you also," he's speaking to Gentiles, "you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." It’s such an important verse for us to understand because it makes clear how a man is saved. 

It actually describes the mission that the disciples would have. A man must hear the word of truth. He must hear a clear message about Jesus Christ, and having heard that message, he must believe. He must take it for himself. He must turn from idols, turn from whatever he was trusting in, religion, self-righteousness, whatever. He must repent, which means to turn to Jesus in faith and trust Him alone. Romans 10.17 tells us that faith comes by hearing a message about Christ.

Turn over to Philippians 3. I want you to see just one more passage as Paul describes his conversion in this same way. Philippians 3, beginning at verse 3. Paul says, "For we," he's talking about the Jews, "beware of dogs, beware of the mutilation he calls circumcision. For we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus. Now look at this, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law, a Pharisee. 

Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss, for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God, by faith." 

What an important truth for us to understand. Jesus said in John 5, 24, "Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life. He has passed from death unto life. He will not come into judgment. He who hears my word and believes, he is saved. He has passed from death unto life." And Paul says those who have heard, those who have believed, are sealed with the Holy Spirit. He is our guarantee. He is our earnest payment for the glory that will be revealed in us. 

The Holy Spirit of promise indwells us permanently, Jew or Gentile, when we believe. And the manifestation of that indwelling is a new life, a new creation, a new purpose and passion, an expression of great and amazing power to point to Jesus, to testify of Him and to live for Him. And this is what we see in the book of Acts. 

And just as I saw that massive machine all lit up and moving like a city on tracks and turning the earth in massive bites, pulling out the rich coal beneath, so we see a manifestation of great power in the lives of the apostles and every believer as they turn the world upside down by the preaching of the dynamite, the dunamis, the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. 

So we see the confidence that Jesus gave them by many infallible proofs of His resurrection. We see the command He gave them to wait for the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, which He had told them about. And finally, in our text, we see the commission that Jesus gave to His disciples. Something so foreign to their thinking and understanding, bringing a new kind of kingdom. 

Look at verse 6 with me, please, in our text. "Therefore when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" This was their focus. This was what they’d hoped for. This was what they thought about. This is what they were raised with. Verse 7, "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 Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." 

I think it's so important that we understand the thinking, the mindset of the apostles at this point. We need to remember that they only understood the kingdom in a literal, physical sense. The kingdom for Israel, the millennial kingdom of Christ on this earth. It was not that the Old Testament scriptures didn't teach about the suffering Messiah, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God for our sins, which we will see that the disciples came to understand clearly after Pentecost, quoting those Old Testament scriptures so frequently and applying them to Jesus. 

But at this point, even after they understood the resurrection and saw Him and spent time with Him and His resurrected body, the apostles did not understand these things. All their lives they had been taught about the physical kingdom on earth and the ruling and reigning Messiah of Psalm 2. This is what they looked for. It's what they longed for. It's what they hoped for. 

And so now, after the disappointment of the cross and the death and burial of Jesus, after the sadness that had filled them, the despair that Jesus told them would come for a little while when He was gone, and then the great joy experienced over these 40 days after the resurrection, where Jesus had presented Himself to them at least 10 times and had taught them concerning the kingdom of God, the disciples were now more hopeful than ever that He would take over the world and deliver them from the oppression and exalt them to their positions in the kingdom on this earth. They thought they had come to the crescendo. They thought they were confident that He was the Messiah now and they thought that He would bring the kingdom. 

They had their command to wait for the great moment of the coming of the Spirit with great power and now we see their anticipation that Jesus would deliver the kingdom to them at this time. They believed the time had come. They were sure that this was it. But they did not understand. Not yet. Not having the Spirit. That there would be a new kind of kingdom. An intervening time between the ascension and the second coming. Not a physical earthly kingdom, a kingdom that would come for Israel. 

That will be fulfilled. God will keep His promise to Israel. But now, for this time, in this church age, we live in a different kind of kingdom. And what would this kingdom be like? We should clarify that the kingdom of God can be defined as the rule of God. Where God reigns. And certainly in one sense, God is reigning over all things. He is working by His sovereign will to accomplish His purposes. 

But in His sovereignty, I think this is so important to understand. In His sovereignty, God has chosen to allow Satan to act as the God of this age. As ruler over this world. God has chosen to allow men to choose to accept or reject His Son. And men in this freedom allowed by God most often choose to live in sin. To reject Jesus. To act in evil ways. And we see this result in our world. God chooses to allow this to persist, Peter says, because He is long-suffering, patient. He's not willing that any man would perish. He desires that every man would come to the knowledge of the truth and believe Jesus and be saved. 

He is working out His plan to bring men to Himself through the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ in this age. In this new kind of kingdom where God is not ruling, reigning in a physical kingdom on earth. But in a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of those who believe. In the church. 

He's left us in this world so that the world may know that Jesus is the Christ. But He's not left us alone in this age. He has given to us the Holy Spirit. He has given to us power to carry out the mission. And we see that mission in verses 7 to 8 in our text. "It's not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority. We don't know when He's coming back to set up His kingdom. We don't know when the rapture of the church is coming. It's imminent. It's hanging overhead. But Jesus says, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And that power would be for the purpose of being witnesses." 

Witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. He would give the disciples and all believers power. The power of the Holy Spirit. That we might be witnesses. To go out into the world and save men out of the world. 

And this verse really frames the entire book of Acts for us. It's our outline for the book. "You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem." We'll see that in the book of Acts. "Then in Judea and Samaria." We'll see that in the book of Acts. This is the end of the earth. This is the Great Commission. This is our ministry in the world now where God is ruling and reigning in our hearts and empowering us through the Holy Spirit, His life in us, to take the message of the power of the gospel to the whole world. 

The apostles began that mission. Even Paul making it to the heart of the pagan world in Rome. And now we continue that mission. To bring that message to the ends of the earth, to every creature that men might hear, that men might believe, and that men might be saved. The apostles were expecting the physical kingdom on earth. The times like they'd experienced during the earthly ministry of Jesus, like back in Matthew 10, you remember that passage where Jesus sent them out? 

Who'd He send them to? To the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And what message did He give them? The message of the kingdom, the physical earthly kingdom. The kingdom of God is at hand. It was given only to the Jews, forbidden to go to the Samaritans, forbidden to go to the Gentiles. And they did not preach the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They preached the kingdom of God. 

In this time, they did not need to take extra clothes. They did not need to take extra sandals or money. But God provided for their every need. The time where they had power over demons, were raising the dead, healing the sick, doing works befitting the kingdom. They were expecting the physical earthly kingdom for Israel with Jesus reigning on David's throne. 

But Jesus explained to them that there was a new time coming, a different kind of kingdom for a time where they would need to plan. They would need to take a money belt and even a sword. And they would be persecuted and killed. They would become martyrs, witnesses for Jesus on this earth. 

I'd like for you to see that verse where Jesus explained that in Luke 22. Turn to Luke 22, verse 35. Luke 22, verse 35, "And He said to them, When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything? And they said, Nothing." This is a time in Matthew 10 where Jesus sent them out offering the physical kingdom to the Jews and Himself as the Messiah. Now look at verse 36. "Then He said to them, But now, But now," he who has a money bag, let him take it. And likewise a knapsack, and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 

"For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me, and He was numbered with the transgressors, for the things concerning Me have an end." And so they said, "Look, Lord, here are two swords." And He said to them, "It is enough." But now, the change, the contrast, things were going to be different in this age, in the church age. 

It would not be a time of ushering in the kingdom, but a time of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and saving men out of this world through faith. Where we see the institution of the new covenant promises in the church where men would receive a new heart and a new spirit and the Holy Spirit of God, Jesus Christ, and the Father would come and make their home in us, come and live in us and rule and reign in our hearts and give us amazing power to do greater works than Jesus, is what He said. 

"You will do these works and greater works than these." The greater works is the salvation of souls through the preaching of the gospel. This was the mission. This was the commission for the apostles to begin in the church age after receiving the Spirit at Pentecost. And as soon as Peter received the Spirit, what did he do? He stood up and he preached the gospel. 

And my friends, this is our mission today. We are to go into all the world and preach the gospel, to bring the message, to tell men the truth about their sin and their need and the salvation that Jesus has provided that He has completed at the cross. They need to turn to Him in faith alone to be saved, to be regenerated and to receive the promise of the Spirit that they too might become witnesses to the ends of the earth. 

And God has given us power. He has given to us the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself lives in us, working to produce fruit through us as we abide in Him by faith. Paul explains this new covenant life in Ephesians 3. Turn to Ephesians 3, please, at verse 14. I just want to look at a couple passages to reinforce what we're saying here. 

Ephesians 3, 14. Paul's praying again for the believers in Ephesus. "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Now look at how God works in us by His Spirit to accomplish His will in the new covenant. That He would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. 

That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Look at verse 20. To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." 

Jesus explained this in John 15 as He gave the illustration of the branch abiding in the vine. "Abide in Me and you will produce much fruit." And then He said, "without Me you can do nothing." Paul summarized it so well in Galatians 2.20. "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." 

The physical kingdom for Israel is still yet to come. God will keep His promises. His unconditional promises made to Abraham in Genesis 12, He will keep to Israel. You better hope He'll keep them. Because if He doesn't keep His unconditional promises to Israel, then what hope do you have that He'll keep His promise to you in Christ? God keeps His promises. 

But now, as Jesus said, but now in this time God's plan is to save men by faith, to regenerate them, to make them new in their spirits on the inside, and through faith one day at a time in Jesus, believing, trusting Him, to see the manifestation of His power and His life in us. Working out through us as we live new lives because we're new men. As we speak the truth in love, as we bring the gospel, the power, to a lost and dying world. 

And we do this so that God will be glorified in the church. This began at Pentecost when God gave the promise of the Holy Spirit. And by His power, the apostles began with Peter's first sermon on that great day to fulfill the great commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And we continue that mission today for the salvation of men and for the glory of God. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful that You tell us the truth and we thank You for this book of Acts that's a historical account of the beginning of the church as You tell us how You worked through the apostles to found the church. And Father, we thank You that we have the same promise of the Holy Spirit today. That Your power works in us as You live in us to accomplish Your will. Help us to trust You, to believe You, to abide in You, to obey You in fulfilling that great commission that Jesus gave to us. It's in His name we pray. Amen.