Key Truth – Jesus is “UNLIKE” in His
Acts 1:3-11
After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs
that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about
the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them
this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised,
which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few
days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to
restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by
his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and
you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends
of the earth.”
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from
their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two
men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you
stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into
heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
At the UNLIKE Ascension of Jesus, we receive:
1. Life Changing Directions
• “Wait For It”
Acts 1:4
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have
heard me speak about.
When we wait for it, we are:
a. Acknowledging God’s Sovereign Control of
Ecclesiastes 7:13-14
Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has
made the one as well as the other.
b. Seeking
Psalm 33:20
We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Psalm 31:24
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.
c. Refraining from Needless
Psalm 56:3-4
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust
and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 46:1-3
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will
not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
• “Go”
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
2. Assurance of Relationship
3. An Unbelievable Promise
Acts 1:9-11
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from
their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two
men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you
stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into
heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”