Acts (Part 3) – Acts 1:8-11

Click here for the entire series and outline.

Click here for previous sermon.

Click here for next sermon.

Acts (Part 3) – Acts 1:8-11

Act 1:8 – But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

1. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
   1. Jesus had promised the apostles that after He ascended to heaven, He would send them the Holy Ghost who would teach them all things and bring all things that Jesus taught to their remembrance (Joh 14:26).
   2. Knowledge brings strength and power (Pro 24:5).
   3. The apostles went from being immature (Mar 9:34), weak cowards (Mat 26:56) to bold and fearless preachers (Act 4:13, 29; Act 5:29; Eph 6:20) after the Holy Ghost came upon them on the day of Pentecost.
2. and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
   1. The apostles would begin preaching in Jerusalem (Act 5:28) and then branch out into Judaea and Samaria (Act 8:1, 4-5) before going into the uttermost part of the earth (Mat 28:19; Mar 16:15).
   2. The apostles did as Jesus commanded and preached the gospel unto the uttermost part of the earth to all nations (Rom 16:25-26), all the world (Col 1:5-6), and to every creature (Col 1:23).
   3. The uttermost part of the earth doesn’t necessarily mean the north or south pole, the Americas, or Japan, as the queen of Sheba (modern day Yemen) was said to have come from “the uttermost parts of the earth” (Mat 12:42).

Act 1:9 – And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

1. Jesus ascended to heaven in a bodily, audible, visible form (Mar 16:19; Luk 24:39, 51; Joh 20:24-29).
2. He went to heaven and is seated on the right hand of God in His resurrected body (Eph 1:20).

Act 1:10 – And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

1. These two men were angels.
2. Angels appeared as men in white apparel at different times in scripture (Mar 16:5 c/w Mat 28:1-3 c/w Luk 24:4-5 c/w Joh 20:12; Act 10:30 c/w Act 10:3).

Act 1:11 – Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

1. This verse proves that the second coming of Christ will be a visible and public event, not an invisible and secret one.
2. Christ will return in like manner as the disciples saw Him leave (Act 1:11).
   1. Like – 1. Having the same characteristics or qualities as some other person or thing; of approximately identical shape, size, colour, character, etc., with something else; similar; resembling; analogous.
   2. Manner – 1. a. The way in which something is done or takes place; method of action; mode of procedure. b. in like manner, also like manner: in a similar way, similarly.
   3. The disciples beheld Christ ascending into the physical clouds of the sky (Act 1:9).
      7. Behold – 7. trans. a. To hold or keep in view, to watch; to regard or contemplate with the eyes; to look upon, look at (implying active voluntary exercise of the faculty of vision).
      8. The first six definitions were not cited by the OED after the 1400s.
   4. Christ departed into heaven in a physical body (see comments on Act 1:9 above).
   5. Therefore, since Christ will return in like manner as He left, if Christ was physically seen leaving this earth in a physical body in the clouds, He will be physically seen returning in a physical body in the clouds.
   6. This is exactly what the scriptures teach.
3. Jesus Christ will appear and “they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven” (Mat 24:30).
   1. Appear v. 1. To come forth into view, as from a place or state of concealment, or from a distance; to become visible.
   2. Jesus will appear the second time without sin unto salvation (Heb 9:28) and we will see Him (1Jo 3:2).
   3. Every eye shall see Him coming in the clouds, just as when He left (Rev 1:7).
   4. All tribes of the earth and all kindreds shall mourn and wail when they see Him coming (Mat 24:30; Rev 1:7).
   5. It’s possible that Christ ascended to heaven with a shout and the sound of a trumpet, though it is not stated that He did (Psa 47:5 c/w 1Th 4:16 c/w Act 1:11).
4. Acts 1:11 gives the lie to the false doctrines of Premillennial Dispensationalism and Full Preterism.
   1. Premillennial Dispensationalism teaches that Christ will return secretly and silently to rapture the saints to heaven before the tribulation, seven years prior to His visible return.
      1. This is patently false because Christ is only going to return once, and His second coming will be “in like manner” as He left.
      2. See the “Millennialism, End Times, and the Reign of Christ” series for a full refutation of Premillennial Dispensationalism: https://pastorwagner.com/millennialism.
   2. Full Preterism teaches that Christ came back spiritually in 70AD.
      1. This is patently false because Christ will return in His physical body “in like manner” as He left this earth.
      2. See “Preterism Refutation” series for a full refutation of Preterism: https://pastorwagner.com/preterism.