Jesus' Ministry, the Sequel [Part 1]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

If you're going to have a good sequel, you've got to have the same main character. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Unlimited, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I'm going to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Now, more on this later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. Are you ready for some good news? The deeds, the teachings, the miracles, and the ministry of Jesus did not end when Jesus left the earth. His ministry continues through you. We are in a study that we're just starting on the book of Acts, and I want to turn us right into it, starting at the beginning, Acts chapter one, verse one.

A brand new study about the limitless power that we see in the book of Acts that we are reclaiming today, and it's appropriate, and I can't wait to get launched into it. Acts chapter one, verse one. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands to the Holy Spirit, to the apostles whom he'd chosen. He presented himself alive to them after suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So when they'd come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And when he'd said these things as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. And then let's jump forward to chapter 2. We'll be spending more time here in coming weeks, but for today, first four verses, chapter 2. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

And divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Well, I guess it was last summer that I gave a bad report on a John Grisham book. John Grisham, my favorite kind of summertime author for just reading books, easy to read, good stories, knows how to twist a plot. And I think I've read almost every one of John Grisham's books. But the last summer I told you about one called The Reckoning.

It goes from bad news to bad news to worse news, and then bad news and then even worse news. And that's the whole book. And I just came out and I just said, you know, spoiler alert, it's a terrible book. And I said, don't read The Reckoning. And so I feel bad.

I feel bad for Grisham. And so I'm gonna give him a good report on the last two books that I've read of his are a sequel. Camino Island tells the story of a young man who loves books, rare books, has a bookstore and a twisting plot, a narrative about some rare books that get missing and so forth.

It was really a fun, it was a fun, fun read. So I'm so glad he came out with a sequel. I'm not sure if Grisham's done these sequels or not, but this is a sequel.

Camino Winds is also set there on the little island in the northeastern shore of Florida and same main characters in it. If you really like a book, then you're glad for there to be a sequel. I like the sequel because the sequel has the same the same characters. It has the people you, if you like a character and then you want a sequel because you like that character and you want to find out what's next in that character's life. And it also means you like the story and it's a good thing to have the story continue. And so that's what happens to the sequel. You got the main character or characters that continue and then the same story continues with new twists to the plot and different things that are going on. Also in sequels you have the same, in movies especially, have the same theme music, have the same sound to it.

And then in a sequel, what's fun is to often bring in new characters that come alongside the main character in order to make it interesting. Well, what we see at the very beginning of the book of Acts is that Luke, who almost every scholar agrees, wrote both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Luke is saying this is a continuation of what you saw in my gospel account of Jesus. What Jesus began to do and teach, he's saying I'm now going to show you that it continues. In other words, the best way to understand the book of Acts is there's a sequel is there's a sequel to the gospel of Luke. It's about the same main character, Jesus. It is the same story but with new dimensions. It is the same sound of the gospel and it invites in new characters and those new characters, believe it or not, are you and me.

N.T. Wright is an Anglican bishop, a preeminent Pauline scholar, a New Testament theologian, and in his, one of his commentaries on Acts, he says this beautifully. The opening paragraph of the book of Acts declares clearly and solidly that it is a sequel. It even suggests a kind of title, The Deeds and Teachings of King Jesus Part Two. It's all about what Jesus is continuing to do and to teach. The mysterious presence of Jesus haunts the whole story. He is announced as king and lord, not as an increasingly distant memory, but as a living and powerful reality, a person who can be known and loved, obeyed and followed, a person who continues to act within the real world. We call the book the Acts of the Apostles, but we should think of it as the Acts of Jesus Part Two.

That's what it is. It's the Acts of Jesus Part Two. It's a sequel and the reason that is a sequel in the first place, and this is maybe the most important thing I can say to you today as we set up the book of Acts, is that it's a sequel because it's all about the same hero, the same main character the same main character.

It is about Jesus and see that that's essential. If you're going to have a sequel, you got to have you got to have the main character continue or it just it just it just doesn't work. I was trying to think like what were some of my favorite sequels? What's some of the worst sequels in movies? And you know, I think a pretty good sequel, the classic classic movie Home Alone, the first Home Alone. I think it was maybe the like the best gross more than any other comedy up until that that that time. This little boy was his name Macaulay Culkin I think is that and he played this Kevin McCallister character.

He was just hilarious. It was the movie was about this kid and you thought how can they ever do anything nearly as good, but Home Alone 2 that came out and was another story where somehow they found a way to make it reasonable that this little boy got left home again during Christmas vacation and this time in New York and it's it's I think maybe as good as the first one and so they're like man we're making tons of money on this and it turned out I think that that Culkin quit acting by the time they got around to number three and they brought in another kid and at least see him he's not even sure if it's a good movie and it just wasn't any good because the main character isn't there anymore. That's the problem that you know honestly that was the problem with the Jaws sequels.

You know those are my generation I grew up with Jaws you know it made you scared to ever go in the ocean ever again you know just it just it was just crazy and it was a groundbreaking Spielberg movie and all and they're like boy this we got to make some more Jaws movies. The other Jaws movies were just terrible and the reason is they thought that whoever the guy was that was out there trying to catch Jaws I can't even see I can't remember his name you know but he wasn't the main character the shark was the main character and they blew him up and so when they came back with Jaws 2 we got a different shark we didn't like the other shark we liked the first shark by the time they got to Jaws 3 this is Jaws 3d they're desperate the third dimension is terror it's a Jaws 3d and he's gone down to the Orlando Florida the Sea World and and the shark can remember the people that he doesn't like how did I don't understand how the shark got from the ocean over to Orlando anyway it was just terrible what I'm saying is if you're gonna have a good sequel you gotta have the same main character and what Luke is saying is that Jesus is just as much the main hero of the story I'm telling in Acts as he was in the Gospel of Luke go back here to verse one and look at this in the first book O Theophilus I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he'd given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen and it starts with this beautiful name Theophilus in the first book O Theophilus which Theophilus means beloved of God Theo like Theo that's God Philo is the word for love so it means either beloved of God or lover of God he's writing most scholars think to some maybe imminent citizen of the time but I also think that you could not just think of the specific probably real person Theophilus but anyone who is beloved of God this book is for you he's saying that's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series if ever we've been ready for a new year this is the year as you start planning and dreaming for a great new year we want to help Alan Wright Ministries has produced a beautiful inspiring wall calendar with you in mind each month not only depicts the month in a heart-stirring image but also includes a specially crafted blessing for the month from Pastor Alan as Pastor Alan explains in his new book The Power to Bless which releases February 2nd and is available from Amazon for pre-order now blessing is a biblically based faith vision over your life God blessed Adam and Eve and then told them to be fruitful and multiply blessing isn't the reward for your productivity it's the fuel for it the 2021 blessing wall calendar gives you space to write down all your important appointments and make plans for a wonderful new year and most importantly each time you see the beautiful image for the month your heart will be strengthened by the empowering blessing statement from Pastor Alan this year don't just organize your life bless your life with the 2021 blessing calendar it is our gift to you when you make a donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries contact us today and start your year out right by the power of blessing call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastoralan.org today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan Wright and when he comes to this verse so go back to verse one and two and you'll see here again that what he's saying here is all that Jesus began to do it was it was about what he began to do let's show that slide up there where he began to do and teach this is what verse 11 says this Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way so what what Luke is saying here is that I've already written about what Jesus began to do and now I'm going to write about what he continued to do it is a continuation of the story of Jesus we're going to learn a lot about the Holy Spirit the third person of the triune God as we study the book of Acts but let's start with this the Holy Spirit is the spirit of Jesus if we go look at Romans chapter 8 there are three there are three references to the Holy Spirit here you however not in the flesh but in the spirit if in fact the spirit of God dwells in you anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him but if Christ is in you although the body is dead because of sin the spirit is life because of righteous go ahead and look at this there the spirit of God the spirit of Christ and the spirit are there three different spirits no no it's just three different ways of speaking of the person of God so the Holy Spirit is the spirit of God the father and he is the spirit of Jesus and he is the spirit of Jesus who is with us now this is what Jesus promised in John chapter 14 to his disciples he said I'll ask the father and he'll give you another helper he's speaking of the Holy Spirit who will be with you forever even the spirit of truth there's another name for him the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you and I will not leave you as orphans I'll come to you now he's not talking about his final coming he's talking about I'm going to come to you but it's going to be in spirit yet a little while and the world will see me no more but you will see me because I live you also will live and in that day you will know what day is he talking about I believe he's talking about pentecost day in that day you will know that I am in my father and you are in me and I in you well when peter after he preached the pentecost sermon and three thousand people came to Christ and then they began meeting at homes and people were being added to their number daily as we've seen in a recent sermon he he's walking by a man who's lame as begging and god heals the man and people start thronging around peter as if he's a god and peter at acts 3 12 it wants to make clear that this isn't about him at all when peter saw it he addressed the people said minut visual why do you wonder at this or why do you stare at us why why are you looking at us as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk he's saying this has nothing to do with me this is entirely a story about Jesus so he preached Jesus in the first Christian sermon and then as soon as a miracle happened he said you just understand this doesn't have anything to do with us it is by faith in his name he says at verse 16 in fact I love this phrase as I've pointed out before the faith that is through Jesus has given this man perfect help all of this explains why the lord told the disciples to wait until the holy spirit came before they started spreading out in the mission of Jesus Christ wait why it's like Jesus is saying don't try to start the sequel without me I am the main character it will be a flop if Jesus is not the main character beloved Christianity is not a recollection of what Jesus did it is a fellowship with Jesus and what he's doing now Christianity is not merely an attempt to think about what Jesus would do and try to do that Christianity is the presence of Jesus with us now continuing his ministry through us it has always been about one hero Jesus and the story Luke says started in the gospel and it continues in the book of acts it's a sequel because Jesus has been and always will be the main character he is the king from the beginning and he is reigning now and he is reigning forevermore he is the king of glory I tell you he is the hero of the story and he always will be it's a sequel and it's a sequel also because it is Luke is saying it's the same story that's the key to any kind of series right has it got to be the same the same story I tell you I don't know sometimes I'm just willing to share the most embarrassing things in my life because I like to model the humility of it all and the candor but this one I don't think I've ever told anybody publicly and when I was but I'm going to tell you when I was I've just got to get off my chest get on my chest and I can get on with my life when I was a senior in high school I my second semester I had enough credits to graduate without going to school the full day and they let us they let us just go home early and so I finished my day at noon and I would come home to eat lunch and fix a sandwich hopefully do a little bit of homework before I go back over for tennis practice that's what I did my second semester senior year and y'all in that day if I cut the tv on when I got home at noon and ate my sandwich there are only there are only three channels that were available to us and the only thing on any of those three channels were daytime dramas okay I'm just gonna get off my chest my senior year of high school second semester I got hooked on days of our lives I watch the days of our lives every day those stupid crazy stories that I mean how does nobody ever sit down and go wait a minute this one family has had 42 divorces seven people of mistaken identity four people presumed dead who came back and it just goes on you know I went back and googled the thing this way there some of the people I saw when I was in high school there's a couple of them are still on the show this story just keeps going and going and going and once you get hooked into the story you just want to keep going in the story you can't change and have a whole different story with all different people and call it a series or a sequel you just you have to keep the story going I guess my favorite tv show of all time if I had to pick out one got to be the Andy Griffith show got to be got to be and I think I've seen all the episodes but I go back and I re-watch them all the time but I but I realize that once they had the show and Barney had left the show when Barney was gone I just don't watch anymore I just don't watch anymore I mean and what I realize is because the story wasn't about Andy Griffith taking care of of the town of Mayberry the story was about Andy Griffith and his friendship with Barney and and once that was gone the story wasn't there anymore the problem with the disciples that it's on on the one hand frustrating on the other hand almost comical watching them is that though they had spent three years with Jesus that they had seen his miracles even been used by him and it hurt everything that he had taught even though they knew that from the beginning Jesus said that the message is to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand and even though Jesus had foretold his death and resurrection even though he had promised I'm going to send the spirit to you all of these things their problem was I didn't they didn't understand the story. Alan Wright today's good news message Jesus's ministry the sequel from our series Unlimited. Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio sharing a parting good news thought for the day in just a moment.

Stick with us. If ever we've been ready for a new year this is the year. As you start planning and dreaming for a great new year we want to help. Alan Wright Ministries has produced a beautiful inspiring wall calendar with you in mind. Each month not only depicts the month in a heart-stirring image but also includes a specially crafted blessing for the month from Pastor Alan. As Pastor Alan explains in his new book The Power to Bless which releases February 2nd and is available from Amazon for pre-order now blessing is a biblically based faith vision over your life.

God blessed Adam and Eve and then told them to be fruitful and multiply. Blessing isn't the reward for your productivity it's the fuel for it. The 2021 blessing wall calendar gives you space to write down all your important appointments and make plans for a wonderful new year and most importantly each time you see the beautiful image for the month your heart will be strengthened by the empowering blessing statement from Pastor Alan. This year don't just organize your life bless your life with the 2021 blessing calendar. It is our gift to you when you make a donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. Contact us today and start your year out right by the power of blessing.

Call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastoralan.org. Back here now in the studio with Pastor Alan as we kick off this new series and the title is unlimited in today's teaching we're placing the bookmark here Jesus's ministry the sequel. The best way to think of the book of Acts where we are going to be write much this month and then some a little bit later on we're going to come back to it. The best way to think of the book of Acts is to think of it simply as the sequel to the gospel of Luke. Luke wrote both Luke and Acts and so it's a beautiful thing to think that it's the ministry of Jesus in the gospel of Luke that we see and then the sequel is the ministry of Jesus in the church. So we think of it as the acts of the apostles but it's really the acts of Jesus continuing through the early church and so when you read the book of Acts you're really reading a sequel and if you look at it that way then it becomes an even more glorious journey to walk with the early church and see Jesus continue his ministry through them. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.