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Part 5 of 6
The Origin of the Church and the Assignment Revealed
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Today we're looking at Acts chapter 1, verses 9-26, which Luke presents as a historical record of how the Christian church began. Luke was a doctor and historian who wrote the book of Acts around AD 60, documenting the formation of the church, its first communities, and the movements of the Holy Spirit in full display. The book of Acts preserves for us the origins of the Christian church and the first 30 years of its glorious history.
When future generations look back to understand how this global movement called the Christian church began, with billions of people now worshiping Jesus as God around the world, they will find their answer in this text. As Luke opens his account, he says:
In the first book, oh Theophilos, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
Before ascending to heaven, Jesus gave His followers their final instructions. He had presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. During this time, He commanded them:
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
This wasn't just for the disciples in that moment—it was for us as well. You will be my witnesses in Atlanta, in the state of Georgia, in America, and to the very ends of the earth. The assignment was clear: spread the gospel and make disciples of all nations.
After giving these final commands, the Scripture tells us:
When he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Jesus ascended into heaven on a cloud, which is significant because clouds in Scripture are synonymous with God's presence. Throughout the Old Testament, God led His people by a cloud out of Egyptian slavery. When the tabernacle was built, He sat upon it in a cloud. When He called Moses to Mount Sinai, He came down and spoke to Moses in a cloud. When we see clouds in Scripture, they represent God's presence.
The location of the ascension was the Mount of Olives, a gentle slope just outside Jerusalem's city walls. This detail is profoundly meaningful. At the base of that mountain is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was arrested, betrayed, and shamed. But now, at the top of that same mountain, Christ is glorified. God took a place of former shame and transformed it into a place of glory.
This speaks to something we all experience. Many of us have gone through seasons of shame—things we regret, things that caused us pain. But God is sovereign and powerful. He knows how to vindicate a story. He knows how to take former shame and turn it into future glory.
Personal testimony: In November 2003, I was suicidal. I crawled into a bathroom on my hands and knees, surrendered my life to Jesus, and was saved in that bathroom. The very next day, I went to work at the TSA checkpoint. An officer arrested me for lying on my security clearance application—I had obtained government clearance under false pretenses. I was handcuffed and walked out in shame in front of all my colleagues.
But listen to what God has done. Now I travel the whole country and around the world. And every time I pass through an airport, every time I go through TSA, I am reminded: this is a place of former shame for me, but now God has turned that story into a place of glory. I walk through as a minister of the gospel.
While the disciples were gazing into heaven as Jesus ascended, two messengers appeared to them:
Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.
The Lord didn't leave His followers abandoned in their confusion and emotions. He sent back messengers from heaven to give them hope about the future. When we're dealing with tough emotions, the Lord will lean into those emotions to send us the help we need in that moment. Angels in Scripture are both ministers and messengers—they deliver words from God and help God's people.
The Scripture teaches us that we should never mistreat a stranger because we might be entertaining an angel unaware. Early in my life, I experienced this. During my first year at North Carolina Central University, I was unsaved and living in rebellion. I went into a remote bathroom in the student union basement, and a man—a police officer—appeared at the sink. He turned to me and said:
God is calling you. God has something for you to do. There's a work for you to do for God.
I didn't respond. I was afraid and in rebellion. But something strange happened—as I stood there at the sink, I realized I had never heard him come into the bathroom. I never saw his reflection in the mirror, though he was standing right next to me.
I ran out and asked my friends, "Did you see that cop?" They said, "What color was he wearing?" I described his uniform, and they said, "The cops on this campus don't wear that color. They wear burgundy and maroon." Years later, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I had met an angel in that bathroom.
In the ascension of Christ, we see four powerful things that happened in history:
1. The Exaltation of Christ
Christ is lifted up and exalted to the highest place in all the world. He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, far above all principalities, powers, and rulers—above Satan, above every problem and issue. All things are under His feet. He controls all of heaven and earth.
2. The Delegation of Christ
Christ is no longer on the earth physically. Instead, He delegates the ministry He started to us—to the church. No longer is Jesus on the ground preaching the gospel. Now He says, "I delegate to you, all of you, my brothers and sisters, the responsibility to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth."
Jesus also delegates the administration of the church to the Holy Spirit. He sends the Holy Spirit back to the earth to lead the church. This was His promise in John 14:15-16: "When He comes, He will remind you. He will lead you." The Holy Spirit is a person—not an "it," not impersonal. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit a pronoun: He. When He comes, He will remind you of all things. He will convict the world of sin.
Good leaders delegate. They don't try to do everything themselves. Good parents delegate responsibilities to their children to train them. I have a 13-year-old son, and I'm not taking out the trash anymore. I've delegated that responsibility to him. That's what good leaders do—you raise up other leaders and cast vision.
3. The New Iteration of Christ's Ministry
Christ's ministry has changed. No longer is He on earth as a physical minister. Now He's in heaven being a minister to you. According to Hebrews, He is your great high priest. His ministry has upgraded. He's in heaven making intercession for you and me, so that by His blood you can have access to your Father and come to the throne boldly because of your great high priest.
Not only that—according to 1 John, He is your advocate, always defending you against the lies of the devil in heaven. When the devil comes accusing you, when he's listing all your failures and mistakes, the Lord is right there saying, "Yes, I saw that. But they're covered in My blood. I saw the mistake they made. But they're covered in My blood."
4. The Prophetic Declaration Concerning Christ's Return
The angels told the disciples: "This same Jesus who went up on a cloud will return the same way you saw Him leave." This speaks of Revelation 19. The baby in the manger season is over. When He comes back, He has eyes like a burning fire. He has a tattoo on His thigh that says KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. He is in a robe dipped in blood and riding on a white horse. His name is Faithful and True.
The Scripture says in Revelation that when He comes back, He comes back to make war, to destroy the armies of those who reject Him. He commands the armies of heaven. He's the rider on the white horse of Revelation 19, and behind Him is the army—all of us.
Now let's look at what Luke records as the very first movements of the Christian church in its embryonic form. After the ascension:
They returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives... and when they had entered, they went up into an upper room where they were staying.
Luke lists who was in that room: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew (the former outcast Jew), James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot (who used to be radical and crazy but became a young disciple), and Judas the son of James. All these were with one accord and they devoted themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Think about who was in that room. Peter had denied Jesus three times. Thomas had doubted Jesus until he felt His prints in his hand. The other disciples had fled and left John by himself at the cross. Simon the Zealot was a wild man turned into a disciple. The brothers of Jesus were there—the Scripture says they called Him crazy and out of His mind and did not believe in Him until He was raised.
There was enough baggage in that room for them to have strife, discord, slander, and to tear each other down. I could see John talking to Peter: "You denied our Lord three times. You shouldn't be in here." I could see the other disciples saying to those who ran: "You don't belong in here. You all ran when John stayed." I could see the brothers of Jesus saying: "You all weren't even raised with Him. We were raised in the same house with Him." I could see them challenging Matthew: "We don't know why you're here. You're a traitor. You worked for Rome."
But they were in one accord. Why? Because they understood the gravity of what Jesus had called them to do was far more important than their differences. They knew they were about to be persecuted. They were about to face hardship, trial, and difficulty. The gravity of the calling was greater than their differences.
We need to learn this in the body of Christ. Look at this room right now—I see Black faces, white faces, brown faces, Asian faces. Imagine how foolish it is for the white brother to sit next to the Black sister and for him to be condemning her, or for her to be judging him based on appearance, when they've been saved by the same God, covered by the same blood, and given the same assignment.
We are more powerful when we are united. We are more powerful when we love one another. This is why we should pray more than we judge. All we do is slander, gossip, and beat down people created in the image of God. Instead of saying we may be different and we may not agree about everything, can we agree on the essentials? Was Christ dead? Did Christ rise? Yes. Christ taught. Christ died. Christ was raised. Christ is coming back. Christ gave us a Great Commission. Can we agree about that? Let's change the world.
Imagine how it grieves the Father that we spend all day on social media crucifying each other when we should be coming after the real enemy—the devil.
What's the first thing we see the early church do when they gathered? They devoted themselves to prayer. Prayer was the foundation of the church.
A prayerless church is a powerless church. A prayerless believer is a powerless believer.
You want to see a woman with power? I'll show you a woman that prays. You want to see a man with power? I'll show you a man that prays. Too many sermons with no prayer. Too many songs with no prayer. Too much ministry with no prayer. Too many churches with no prayer.
Prayer is the foundation. Prayer is our secret source. Prayer is our power.
When Jesus was gone and the disciples immediately found themselves seeking Him in prayer, they understood something critical: the Lord is not down here. Jesus has a physical body and is seated at the right hand of the Father. So when you feel something telling you not to go somewhere, something telling you not to marry that person, something telling you to take that job or to come to Atlanta—who do you think is doing that? The Holy Spirit.
Maybe you come from a background where the Holy Spirit seemed spooky to you, and you didn't want anything to do with Him. But you can talk to Him. You can ask Him questions. You can say, "Holy Spirit, should I take this deal? Should I marry this person? Should I sign that contract?" And He will respond back to you in your heart. He is your Helper.
Now comes a powerful moment:
In those days, Peter stood up amongst the brothers. The company of persons was in all about 120.
Jesus had been seen alive by over 500 people. But only 120 gathered in that upper room. There were 380 others who weren't there. Where were they? We don't know. Maybe following Jesus became too much. Maybe they only followed Him to the point it was no longer convenient. Maybe they were fans of Christ and not followers of Christ. Because it's easy to be a fan. It's another thing to be a follower.
Fans of Christ hear stories. Followers write stories.
These 120 followers of Christ were about to write a brand new story that would change the whole world. That's why you have to be in the room, in the kingdom, on the team, in the squad. You have no idea what you're going to miss when you're not in and amongst.
Now Peter stood up. Jesus wasn't in that room anymore—He was in heaven. There was no leader. But Peter, who had always had a big mouth, sensed the moment. He understood what needed to happen. This is what I call "when preparation meets opportunity." Peter had been preparing for three years by being a leader among the disciples. And now opportunity had come. He stood up symbolically, accepting his calling.
I remember when Jesus said, "On this rock, I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." He was saying, "On the revelation of who I am and you, Peter, you will be the pastor of the first church."
In America, we need men to stand up. We need men to accept their leadership role. We need men to stand up as leaders in their homes and stop being passive and cowardly. We need men to stand up on teams. We need men to stand up in church. We need men to stand up on social media.
Too many boys and passive little boys that won't lead, won't take responsibility, won't take accountability. You can't keep hiding behind your wife and your girlfriend. At some point, men have to stand up.
Where all the men at? A praying man is a sexy man. A man who takes accountability is a sexy man. A man who takes responsibility is a sexy man. A man that reads, prays, leads, and shivers is a sexy man. A man of character is a sexy man. A man of integrity is a sexy man. A man pursuing holiness is a sexy man. A man pursuing purity is a sexy man. A man who learns to hate sin is a sexy man.
Peter stood up. He stepped into his role as a godly leader. Our daughters need to see that. Our sons need to see that. Our girlfriends, fiancées, and wives need to see that. The women in our church need to see that.
Jesus wasn't soft, worried about getting His nails dirty. He was rough and rugged. Would the real men please stand up? I'm trying to help all you sisters. Can I proceed?
Peter's first order of business was clear. He said:
Brothers, the scriptures had to be fulfilled.
The very first pastor's first action was to preach the Word of God. Not his opinions, not his dogma—the Word of God. And he preached about Judas, explaining how Scripture had foretold these events.
Peter referenced the Old Testament:
For it is written in the book of the Psalms: "May his camp be desolate and let there be no one to dwell in it; and let another take his office."
The second thing we see the first pastor doing is encouraging people to obey the Scripture. Not just be hearers only—hear and obey. Come to church and obey. Read and obey.
Judas had become a guide to those who arrested Jesus. He was numbered among the apostles, allotted his share of the ministry. But he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver—blood money. Instead of repenting and turning to God, he ran away, tied a rope around his neck, and took his own life. His body fell, his insides gushed open.
He threw away his whole life, his calling, his opportunity, his ministry as an apostle for 30 pieces of silver. He compromised his whole life for material gain. And watch this—everything he compromised for, he lost. He lost the money. He lost his position. He lost his apostleship. He lost his community. He lost his life. He lost Jesus.
He kept nothing in compromise. We only lose when we compromise.
Peter said they couldn't start the ministry with only 11 apostles. It must be 12. They had to fill the office. The requirement for the replacement was that this person must have been around Jesus from the very beginning.
They presented two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also called Justus) and Matthias. You've never heard of either of them. You've never read the Gospels and encountered their names. Yet they met the criteria—they had been around Jesus from the very beginning.
They prayed:
You, Lord, know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.
And they cast lots. The lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the 11 apostles.
Here's a powerful truth: You don't have to be famous and you don't need a stage, even if no one knows your name. What opened the door for Matthias and Justus? Faithfulness.
You don't have to force yourself into a role. You don't have to force yourself into a position. You don't have to force yourself to be seen. Your faithfulness will speak for you. When you are faithful, do you know what follows? Favor. Favor follows faithful people.
When you are faithful, favor will open up doors. Favor will create relationships. Favor will put you in places you had no business being. Favor will put you on the hearts and minds of people you don't even know are thinking about you.
We never hear of Matthias or Justus again in Scripture. But what we know about them is that they were faithful. They were there all along. They were chosen not because of nepotism, not because of connections, but because of their faithfulness and Peter's faithful leadership seeking God's direction.
What do we see in the first church? A church that is obedient to the scriptures. A church that is unified. A church that is serious about prayer. A church that is seeking God for decisions.
This is the embryonic form of what we should be as the Christian church today. This is what we should be as the Bride of Christ in America and around the entire world.
While we will have problems and struggle in the flesh, if we are focused on the calling God has given us—to spread the gospel to the whole world, to make disciples, to be His witnesses—we will be a powerful church.
If we are following Scripture, if we are fighting for unity, if we're pushing back against discord and strife, if we're watching together as one, if we're obeying the things we're hearing and trying to live this out (not just coming and hearing sermons but actually living them out), and if we're seeking God for our major decisions—this is what we need to see in the Bride of Christ.
This is what I want to see in 2819. A people striving for obedience, surrender to Scripture, seeking God in prayer, making decisions by seeking God, fighting for unity—not fighting to get into positions.
If we do this, we will be a powerful Bride in Georgia, in America, on every continent on the planet.
Father, in the name of the Holy One, I pray for the Bride of Christ in the whole world that a spirit of obedience would fall on her. A spirit of prayer would fall on her. A spirit of unity would fall on her. A spirit of seeking You for guidance and direction would fall on her.
And that in these last days, globally, we will be serious about the spread of the gospel, the multiplying of disciples, and being witnesses for You in every sphere of influence. Help us to do that in these final hours of the church age.
We have not come to play around. This is my prayer for the Bride of Christ in the mighty and majestic and matchless name of our soon-coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
