Acts 1:9-26

Sermon Notes

Acts 1:9-26

The Lord Reigns

Pastor Tommy Bailey

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach…
Acts 1:1

“…[We] treat the ascension as little more than a dazzling exclamation point for the resurrection rather than as a new event in its own right.”
Michael Horton, People and Place

1. Why The Ascension Matters

The Nature of Christ’s Reign

2. What The Ascension Does

The Transforming Power of Christ’s Reign

3. What The Ascension Promises

The Hope of Christ’s Reign

1. Why The Ascension Matters

The Nature of Christ’s Reign

…what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 1:19-23, (emphasis added)

“A man can eat his dinner without understanding exactly how food nourishes him. A man can accept what Christ has done without knowing how it works; indeed, he certainly won’t know how it works until he’s accepted it.”
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“There is one political maxim which comforts me: The Lord Reigns.”
John Newton

2. What The Ascension Does

The Transforming Power of Christ’s Reign

“And He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.”
Luke 24:50-53

“One glimpse of the King and you are consumed by a desire to see more of Him and say more about Him. Pew-warming is no longer an option. Junk religion will no longer suffice. Sensation-seeking is needless. Once you have seen His face you will forever long to see it again.”
Max Lucado, God Came Near

“The gospel pulls us into community. One of the immediate changes that the gospel makes is grammatical: we instead of I; our instead of my; us instead of me.”
Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Romans 8:33-35, 37, (emphasis added)

“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million of enemies. Yet the distance makes no difference; He is praying for me.”
Robert Murray McCheyne

3. What The Ascension Promises

The Hope of Christ’s Reign

“In Him I have an offering, an altar, a temple, a priest, a sun, a shield, a Savior, a Shepherd, a hiding place, a resting place, food, medicine, riches, honor, wisdom, righteousness, holiness; in short, everything.”
John Newton