On Monday I said Ascension Day was the end of the beginning.   The curtain came down on Act 1, the earthly ministry of Jesus, and after a ten-day interval, Act 2 began, and it was curtain up on the birth of the Church at Pentecost.   But whilst Ascension and Pentecost are the end of the beginning, in another way they’re the beginning of the end. 

The distinguishing features of the early Church as set out in the Book of Acts are the working of the Holy Spirit and mission.  Do you agree that the distinguishing features of the Church today should be the same? The working of the Holy Spirit and mission? Is that happening? Is the Holy Spirit still directing things? Is he still working? Are we still seeing churches (plural today, sadly) reaching out to bring folks into the Kingdom? Are there still people deciding to follow Jesus?

At UCB we hear about the outreach and witnessing that’s going on around the country.  We get news about all sorts of camps and rallies and concerts and meetings, and then there’s Spring Harvest and New Wine and Soul Survivor, and Grapevine and Mandate and FocusFest, the Ultimate Event and Frenzy and New Day, and many more - all the festivals where music and ministry meet.  And we also hear about the things that have gone on in the past. About 10 years ago, Hugh Black came to UCB.  He had been involved in the Lewis revival in 1949, and he was telling us about the times when prayer meetings would go on for days at a time, sermons would last anything up to four hours, people would give their lives to the Lord in their hundreds, and the meeting halls would be full to bursting; so much so that on one occasion the preacher turned up half an hour before the meeting was due to start and he couldn’t get in, so he had to preach standing in the street. 

So the answers to all those questions about whether the Spirit is still working, whether there are people still coming into the Kingdom,  whether the churches are still reaching out, must be yes.   So we are still in the Age of the Church, but not, I fear, for much longer.  I believe that we are almost at the end of the beginning of the end.  Jesus was asked in Matthew 24, "What will be the signs of your coming?"  What did he reply (and how many of these things are coming true as I write)?  Countries will fight each other, nations will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere. Many will give up their faith; they will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people, and such will be the spread of evil that many people’s love will grow cold.  But, the good news is, whoever holds out to the end will be saved, and the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all mankind.  The Great Commission has not been repealed as far as I know - go into all the world, make disciples of all nations, in the name of the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit.  But it’s significant that in Matthew 24:14, Jesus says, "This good news about the Kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all mankind - AND THEN THE END WILL COME" (emphasis mine).   Jesus also said, "You must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come when you least expect him."

Are we ready for the end to come? Are our lamps trimmed and burning? Our light must shine for a witness, until the whole world has heard the Good News, that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ is coming again.  Hallelujah!

THE CHURCH MOVED OUT

So we have a natural progression, the Spirit comes down, the Church moves out - out in response to the great commission, to go into all the world and disciple all nations, to go tell everyone the news that the Kingdom of God has come.

And notice I said the Church moves out - not individuals, not a few people, but the whole organisation - organised by the Holy Spirit;  they prayed, they fasted, they met together frequently, and the Spirit directed them. They found themselves in situations where they were able to witness and by so doing, they extended the Kingdom. Peter and John healed the man at the Beautiful Gate; they drew a crowd, Peter gave them a short message, and even when he was interrupted by the Temple Guards and he and John were carted off to the Council, Luke records (Acts 4:4) "Many who heard the message believed." 

Then the seven deacons were appointed, Stephen and Philip, and Timon and Nicanor and the others.  After Stephen’s death the church suffered persecution, thanks to Saul of Tarsus - but in spite of the persecution, even because of it, the Church went out: Luke says in Acts 8, "The believers who were scattered went everywhere, preaching the message".  Philip found himself in Samaria, demons were cast out, many people were healed, there was great joy in the city; then the Spirit said "Go down to the desert road to Gaza, there’s someone I want you to talk to" - the result: the baptism of a new believer and the founding of the Ethiopian Coptic Church.

And then, shock horror - a Pharisee got saved!!  And not just any old Pharisee, it was the Chief Persecutor, who became the Church Planter, and the All-Nations Crusade started with Paul.   But behind everything, pulling all the strings, giving the orders, was the Holy Spirit. "Set me aside Barnabas and Paul, I have a job for them" (Acts 13) - next thing they knew, they were in Cyprus and Paul’s travels had begun.

The natural movement of the early Church was out - despite the persecution.  The Spirit came down, the Church moved out - and things happened.

THE SPIRIT CAME DOWN

Ten days later, the thing that Jesus told them to wait for, happened - he had said, 'I will not leave you alone, to fend for yourselves, I will send you another helper.'  They’d had Jesus’ physical presence for three years. now they would have his spiritual presence for the rest of their lives.  And not beside them as Jesus had been - but inside them, as a fundamental part of them - just as in the hymn "God be in my head and in my understanding, God be in my eyes and in my looking - God be in my mouth and in my speaking - God be in my heart and in my thinking " - he would be an essential part of their very being. 

Rev Richard Bewes, of All Souls Langham Place, once asked, 'What if the world had somehow stopped after Ascension Day?  A few blind people had their sight, a few lepers and lame and similarly afflicted people had been healed, lots of burdens had been lifted, Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus and the widow of Nain’s son were alive again - but within one generation all these people would be dead and there would be no visible sign that Jesus had ever been here.'

But then came Pentecost.  Three thousand new believers from one sermon, now there’s productivity! Three thousand new believers on Pentecost Day was a more important and more significant event than the feeding of the five thousand - the five thousand would be hungry tomorrow, but the three thousand would never be hungry or thirsty again.  

Luke’s Gospel account demonstrates that everything that Jesus did was through the inspiration and the instigation of the Holy Spirit.  Throughout the Book Of Acts, Luke shows that all the things that the Apostles did and were asked to do were also through the inspiration and the instigation of the Holy Spirit.  What Jesus did, they could do, and greater things than Jesus did, because Jesus could only do one thing at a time and could only be in one place at a time (at least, in his earthly body).   However, thousands of Spirit-filled followers in thousands of different places could achieve thousands more things. Because the apostles weren’t to keep the Spirit for themselves - he was for all believers.