What does that mean? - Acts 2:1-21

Introduction

My grandfather, my father's father, had two birthdays. The reason is quite simple: his father took a while to register his birth, and when he finally went, several days later, the clerk recorded the date the birth certificate was issued. My great-grandfather only noticed this when it was too late to change it. So, he had two birthdays, and when my father forgot to wish him a happy birthday on one of them, he could at least make up for it and wish him a happy birthday on his "official" birthday.

So, I ask you the question…

What is the start date of the Connexion Church?

Some will count the date of the first worship service. Others, perhaps, will consider that's when Jason and his family began working on planting this church, therefore before the first service. Others might mention a meeting of several pastors in the Paris region who identified the need for an evangelical church in central Paris, close to major transportation hubs. Still others will say later, when Connexion was registered as a religious association under the 1905 law…

You see, sometimes there are several foundational events. For the entire Christian church, we can cite the choice of the apostles at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, perhaps the death and resurrection of Jesus, but personally, if I had to choose a date as the date of the foundation of the Christian church, I would choose the day of Pentecost, the episode mentioned in today's text.

We're going to look at this episode by examining three questions. First, we see Jesus' disciples gathered in one place, and this event occurs. So the first question we'll ask ourselves is, "Why were they there?" Then, we'll look at the event itself. What happened? To understand the meaning of the event, we'll ask ourselves, "What does this mean?" This is the question the crowd asks in verse 12.

The context

Why were they there?

First, a little context regarding this passage…

This episode takes place approximately 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus. After his resurrection, there was a period of about 40 days during which Jesus appeared to the disciples, and then he ascended into heaven – the ascension of Jesus.

Before he ascends to heaven, he gives instructions to the disciples, including the instruction to remain in Jerusalem until they receive “power” from on high. We see this in chapter 1, verse 8, where Jesus says:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

So this power is linked to their role as witnesses of Jesus, in Jerusalem but also in other places. Therefore, in the text we read, we find disciples gathered in a large house—we can imagine an event hall like this one. There were about 120 of them, men and women.

They were in Jerusalem because Jesus had told them to wait there. But all those other people who were there were there because it was the Feast of Pentecost. The Feast of Pentecost is a Jewish holiday—the Jews call it Shavuot in Hebrew. In ancient Israel, it was a holiday when all Jews were required to go to Jerusalem, which is why all those people, Jews from everywhere, from the entire diaspora, were in Jerusalem at that time.

So, there you have it, we have the disciples of Jesus, who had been waiting in Jerusalem for about 10 days, praying in the same place, and on that day, the day when the city was full - imagine a mix of the Olympics in Paris, with people of many nationalities, and the Fête de la Musique, with people filling the streets.

It's also a date full of symbolism. The Jewish festival of Shavuot is a harvest festival, a festival that celebrates the first wheat harvests of the year. And here, we'll see that it's the time when the church bears its first fruits. But I'm getting ahead of myself…

The event

What happened?

Next, let's look at what happens. The description of the event is very brief, in verses 1 to 6, but full of interesting little details. First, they hear a noise, a noise like that of a violent wind. Wind, in both Greek and Hebrew, is associated with the spirit: they share the same word. Ruach in Hebrew, Pneuma in Greek—both words can mean either wind or spirit.

The disciples were sitting in the house and they saw tongues of fire. Here too, another important vocabulary detail: the word “tongue” here refers to the shape of these flames, which resemble tongues, but also to languages ​​– the different languages.

These languages ​​separate from one another, as if from a single root they diverge and then settle, establish themselves on each person present in this large room, which resembles our own. That alone is already very impressive!

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. But who is this Holy Spirit? It is not an energy, nor a mysterious force. The Bible presents it to us as God himself: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God. The Holy Spirit is God present and active, here and now. In the Old Testament, the Spirit came upon certain people, for a time and for a specific mission: a prophet, a judge, a king. But the prophets foretold a day when God would place his Spirit within his people:"I will give you a new heart, I will put a new spirit in you… I will put my Spirit in you" (Ezekiel 36:26-27) And Jesus, as we have read, had promised this to his disciples. And that is what is happening here: they are filled with the Spirit.

Then, each person gathered began speaking in different languages, idioms they did not know. Some commentators imagine that at this point the disciples left the room, others that part of the crowd outside entered the room. The exact logistical details are not known.

Imagine a room like this, and lots of people passing by in the street outside. Then, there is a group of Elamite pilgrims who say, "Wait, but I hear people speaking Elamite, nobody told me about this meeting," then the same thing with Arabs, Egyptians, Romans, Cretans, etc.

But when they look among the disciples, among the 120, they are all, or almost all, Galileans—provincials, uneducated people. And yet they spoke a dozen different languages! And what's more, these are languages ​​that no one learns. In those days, as today, there were useful languages: Greek, Latin, Aramaic. Today, we can mention English, Spanish, Mandarin. But almost no one will bother to learn a dialect from southern China or an indigenous language of South America. It's the same here: no one learned the language of Phrygia, Cappadocia, or Parthia… unless it was his mother tongue. So we can understand their astonishment!

'How is it then that we hear them, each in our own language, our mother tongue?' (2:8)

They say, in verse 11: "...we hear them speaking in our own language of the wonders of God!"

Wonders of God! We can imagine, from the context, what these are, the same wonders that Peter will later speak of: the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies, the affirmation of the kingdom of God, the salvation and forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice of Jesus, the establishment of the resurrected Jesus as Messiah and King, etc.

With a large number of disciples speaking about these things in several different languages, and even more people in a crowd trying to understand what was happening, the confusion is understandable. The crowd was astonished, surprised, and didn't know what to think.

Some even prefer to mock: rather than paying attention to the languages ​​they can understand, they will pay attention to the noise they cannot understand, to the enthusiasm they did not understand, and they will say “ah, these people are just drunk”.

But others are interested in having the answer to the key question which is in verse 12: “What does this mean?”

The meaning

What does that mean?

This is precisely what Peter is responding to. What does this mean? We can imagine Peter going out into the street, where perhaps they were already outside. First, he responds to the mockers' accusation: no, no one is drunk; it's still early morning. Then he directly answers the question, "What does this mean?" Verse 16: "This is what the prophet Joel spoke of."

Peter could have spoken about Jesus' promise to send the Holy Spirit to Jerusalem. He could have said, "Well, Jesus promised his 120 disciples he would send the Holy Spirit, and here we are, we received it." But he knows that this promise isn't limited to just the 120 disciples. And he now recognizes that this promise isn't just 10 days old, but centuries old. Certainly, some people in the crowd were familiar with the book of the prophet Joel, which was already centuries old at that time.

“I will pour out my Spirit upon every human being.“—said Joel in the third chapter of his book. Over every human being. Behold, this Spirit of God, he speaks to all languages, to all people, to individuals from many different backgrounds. This miracle isn't just a demonstration of power. It's not God showing off his Duolingo skills. This miracle means something.

He shows that these “wonders of God” and this power of the Holy Spirit are not limited to a small group of Galileans. God will pour out his Spirit on every type of human being, of every kind of native language, background, culture, and country.

He continues:“Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Yes, upon my servants, both men and women, during those days, I will pour of my Spirit, and they will prophesy.”

There are these merisms, these pairs, “threads”, “girls”, “young people”, “old people”, which are there to indicate that the promise is not limited to one gender or age, but to every type of human being.

They will prophesy - If Peter says that this event at Pentecost is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, then it means that those who spoke in other tongues were prophesying. Indeed, they were announcing "wonders of God," and this is, in fact, prophecy.

In the Bible, a prophet is not a soothsayer who predicts the future, like a Nostradamus. Rather, the biblical prophet is a messenger, someone filled with the Spirit of God to announce what God wants them to announce. This echoes what Jesus said: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” This testimony, filled with the Spirit, is a prophecy: a knowledge of God, announced and proclaimed according to his will.

Peter, in his preaching, in his explanation of this event, he is prophesying. The other disciples, who proclaim the wonders of God in other languages, were also prophesying. They have now received power, they have been filled with the Holy Spirit, they are now equipped to be witnesses, and they are.

In the quotation from the prophet Joel, Peter continues by speaking of wonders and miraculous signs. Some theologians believe he is referring to what happened at the time of Jesus' crucifixion, when the day grew dark. Others believe he is speaking of the Day of Judgment, which is yet to come.

In both cases, Peter shows that the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost advanced the timeline of creation. We are in “the last days,” as Peter says. This is the window of time between the resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit, on the one hand, and the complete renewal of all things and the judgment, on the other. The time between these two moments is “the last days”—a time when everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

This “name of the Lord” here, for Peter, is Jesus, the Lord Jesus - he makes this very clear in the rest of the chapter, for example in verses 33 and 36. It is Jesus who pours out the Holy Spirit on his servants and who fulfills the prophecy of Joel.

Meaning for us

What does this mean for us?

This passage is the very beginning of the Church. It's the first apostolic Christian sermon. And I invite you to read the rest—it makes you want to read it to the end, but that would be a bit much for this service.

This is the beginning of a story we are part of today. The beginning of the Book of Acts, a book which, if you look at the end a few pages later, you will see that it doesn't really have an ending, and no one wanted to create an ending for this book because what begins at Pentecost is not finished. On the contrary, it continues to unfold.

Here, the miracle of the Galileans, who testified to God's wonders in several languages, foreshadows a near future where people of many nationalities, ethnicities, and native languages ​​will testify to God's wonders in multiple languages. If you have ever wondered what the sacred language of Christianity is—whether it is Greek, Latin, English, or French—well, I can tell you that the sacred language of Christianity is your native language, for God has sanctified it by having the Holy Spirit prophesy God's wonders in your native tongue.

This is not only the fulfillment of the prophecies of Joel, but also of other prophets, such as Micah, who speaks of God’s people present among all nations.

Therefore, no nationality, gender, or background allows us to say, “Oh, but that person can’t receive the Holy Spirit,” or “Oh, but because they are X or Y, that person will never be a Christian.” You cannot say that about someone. You cannot say that about yourself. No culture, no background, no gender, no age, no past experience, no physical or psychological condition excludes anyone from the possibility of receiving the Holy Spirit, insofar as everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved and receive the Spirit of Christ.

In this community you have the typical example: people from many different backgrounds, origins or life stories.

And sometimes we may be tempted to seek the comfort of a church with people who are like us, who have the same profile, the same age, the same culture. This is a natural reaction, and sometimes it's wise (for example, it's important that everyone in a service can understand the language being sung and preached), and sometimes, it must be said, it's a shortsightedness that fails to see the richness of the powerful work of the Holy Spirit being poured out on people who are not like us.

I invite you, I invite us, to see the church of Christ, here and wherever it gathers, in the same way that Peter sees it here: as a fulfillment of God's prophecies; as a community of people who can prophesy the wonders of God in Jesus Christ; as a community of all kinds of people who are living in the last days, who call upon the name of the Lord, and who are therefore saved.

We should be able to look at the church, ask ourselves the question "what does this mean?", and find the answer in the work of God and his word.

This foundational event, on the day of Pentecost, may seem much more impressive than our daily life in the church, but we still bear the same witness and we are still the fulfillment of the same promises, and I dare say that they are all the more concretely fulfilled now than at the time of Peter's preaching.

Fake news or foundation ? (Acts 1.12-26)

Do you remember this photo? President Macron with the German and British heads of government, on a train in Ukraine.

On the table, an object that looked like a small white bag.

Within a few hours, the ‘cocaine scandal’ had spread around the world.

It was a handkerchief!

We live in an age where fake news is rife.

Hence our question this morning: whose word can we still trust?

We ask ourselves this every day, without even realising it.

Your child comes running in: “There’s a huge tarantula in the bath!”

The phone rings. Unknown number. You hesitate to pick up. A sales call? A scam?

On Le Bon Coin, this message: “I’m interested in your advert.” A genuine buyer, or an attempt at fraud?

It’s about everyday life. But it’s also about life’s big questions.

Who should you trust to guide your life? What should you believe when faced with death? Is there a God or not?

There are countless answers… and they’re often contradictory.

Perhaps you’ve just arrived in Paris or at this church. And you’re looking for answers. We all need a solid foundation on which to build our lives in the face of life’s uncertainties.

Who should we believe in this age of fake news and ‘alternative facts’?

***

Last Sunday, we began a new series on the Book of Acts. Jesus, the risen Lord, continues his work from heaven. He sends his good news to the ends of the earth. This good news has reached us. Here in Paris. In 2026.

***

Why should we trust this message? That is the question we face.

We have never seen Jesus. We rely on what others tell us about him, starting with the authors of the Bible.

Can we believe them?

The world is full of religions, philosophies and people ready to pull the wool over our eyes.

How can we know that the message about Jesus is a reliable foundation, and not just another piece of fake news?

That’s not all: we are called not only to believe in this message, but also to share it with others. Last Sunday, we sent around ten people to plant the Oberkampf church to proclaim Jesus in the 11th arrondissement.

How can we be sure that we ourselves aren’t spreading fake news?

The Acts of the Apostles is the second volume of the Gospel of Luke. Luke was a doctor. He had spent years investigating Jesus before writing his account. He states his purpose right from the very first page.

Luke 1, page 659 – Luke 1:3

Luke, who had spent years researching Jesus, says in verse 3:

It therefore seemed good to me too, having carefully investigated all these matters from the very beginning, to set them out for you in writing in a coherent manner, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may recognise the certainty of the teachings you have received.

Through his Gospel and the Book of Acts, Luke wants to give us certainty. :-) :-)

Certainty regarding the good news of Jesus.

So, if we were to make a film of the Book of Acts, the passage that Cédric has just read might well be cut during editing. The scene from last Sunday, with Jesus ascending into heaven, we’d keep. The one from next Sunday, Pentecost and speaking in tongues, we’d keep that too.

This one, apart from perhaps Judas’s entrails spilling out for a bit of gore, might seem a bit boring.

In fact, it’s crucial. It tells us that certainty is possible …

because the message about Jesus …

comes from witnesses …

…who are worthy of our complete trust.

Jesus’ witnesses remain unchanged

Jesus’ Witnesses remain upright

Jesus’ witnesses are qualified to establish a new people

1. Jesus’ witnesses remain unchanged

First of all, our faith rests on the witnesses, each of whom was chosen by Jesus for this role.

Acts 1:12

So they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, about one kilometre away. When they arrived, they went up to the upper room where they usually gathered; there were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot and Jude son of James.

Why is this list important?

It can be tempting to see Jesus’ disciples as not very different from us.

They make mistakes. We make mistakes.
They sin. We sin.
They struggle to believe. We struggle to believe.
Sometimes they do the right thing. Let’s follow their example.

In many ways, the disciples are like us.

But it’s easy to forget that they also play a unique role in history. Jesus chose these men not only to be his disciples – that is, his pupils – but above all to be his apostles, his witnesses.

‘Apostle’ means ‘one who is sent’ — in the strongest sense. Like an ambassador, who speaks with the full weight of the authority that sends him. When the French ambassador speaks, it is France that speaks.

To be a witness is to be able to recount what one has seen and heard. Sometimes Christians talk about bearing witness to mean sharing what one believes.

But we are not witnesses to Jesus in the same way as the apostles. None of us has seen and heard Jesus as they did.

These apostles therefore play a vital role.

Their words will be the words of the risen Lord himself.

Their testimony will be his testimony.

To listen to them is to listen to Jesus, and therefore to God. To reject them is to reject Jesus, and therefore God.

Nowadays, we sometimes hear of people who present themselves as apostles in certain Christian circles. What is certain is that there are no longer any apostles like those mentioned in this passage – direct witnesses to Jesus.

What we have today is their testimony in the Bible.

The books of the New Testament were either written by apostles or by people writing under the guidance of an apostle.

Perhaps you came here this morning wondering: where do I start to get to know God?

Through the apostles! What they wrote. You could start with the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John — the accounts of Jesus’ life.

For all of us, to see the Lord Jesus at work from heaven, we must listen to their testimony.

To have a church that will stand firm against all odds, that will offer a place of fulfilment for everyone and that will shine out into the world, we must listen to the apostles’ testimony.

But what Luke wants to emphasise first and foremost is that the men who gathered after Jesus’ ascension were indeed the men whom Jesus had chosen.

Quite simply. There are no impostors! It’s not as though Jesus ascended into heaven and then just anyone could proclaim themselves an apostle!

You may have read Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code, or seen the film. Dan Brown believes that once Jesus had gone, it was a free-for-all. Lots of people told different stories about him, and it was only centuries later that the Church decided: we’ll keep some stories and discard the others.

No. The men who began to speak in Jesus’ name – and whose words were recognised as authoritative from that very moment – were indeed those whom Jesus had chosen.

Let’s check that out.

The list of names in verse 13 is the same as that found in the Gospels when, a few years earlier, Jesus had chosen his apostles. No newcomers in the meantime! It is indeed the team that Jesus had selected and trained.

Note the level of detail. Luke knew that certain names were common at the time — two apostles are called James, for example. So he specifies: one of them is James, son of Alphaeus. He knows exactly which James he is referring to.

There appears to be a discrepancy regarding the last name: Jude, son of James. Matthew and Mark refer to him as Thaddeus instead. But this is hardly surprising: having two first names was common, and a Christian named Judas (Jude is Judas in the original) may well have wanted to use his other name!

If all this has gone over your head, just remember this: the first people to bear witness to Jesus were not impostors. They were not self-appointed. They were the ones whom Jesus had chosen and trained. We can trust them.

Problem.

There’s a name missing from this list. Have you guessed it?

Judas Iscariot. The traitor.

And that’s a bit of a problem.

A friend compared the situation to that of the cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Winner of the Tour de France seven years running. Unprecedented.

But in 2012, his titles were stripped from him: he had been doping. The whole of cycling was discredited as a result, not just him. Today, ‘Tour de France’ is often synonymous with ‘they’re all on drugs’.

Just one man. But the scandal has tarnished everyone else’s reputation.

What if the same were true of the apostles? If one of them was untrustworthy — Judas Iscariot — why should the others be any different?

2. Jesus’ witnesses remain true

The second thing to understand is that Judas’s betrayal, death and replacement were all part of God’s plan.

There is no need to worry about the credibility of the other apostles.

Acts 1:15

At that time, Peter stood up among the disciples; there were about 120 people gathered there. He said: ‘Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit had foretold through David concerning Judas, who became the guide of those who arrested Jesus. He was one of us and shared in the same ministry. This man bought a field with the wages of iniquity; he fell headlong, burst open, and all his entrails spilled out. All the inhabitants of Jerusalem learnt of this, which is why that field has been called in their language ‘Hakeldama’, that is to say, ‘the field of blood’. Now it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his house become desolate, and let no one dwell in it!’ and: ‘Let another take his office!’

Peter hides nothing. He does not sweep Judas under the carpet. In front of 120 people, he addresses the problem head-on.

Jesus had chosen Judas. He had brought him into the group. He had the same ministry as the others. And yet, Judas betrayed Jesus, then took his own life.

If one of the apostles ends up like that, why should we believe the others?

See how Peter responds.

V.12 again – it was necessary that the Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit had foretold through David concerning Judas

V.20 It is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his house become desolate, and let no one dwell in it!’ and: ‘Let another take his office!’

It was written centuries in advance.

That Judas would betray him, that he would die, that he would be replaced – it was all foreseen. It was part of the plan.

For Jesus to die on the Cross, Judas had to betray him.

Think of Lance Armstrong. Now imagine that the organisers of the Tour de France had announced, well in advance, that they were going to conduct an experiment: allowing a cyclist to take performance-enhancing drugs to observe the impact on his performance. Doping would no longer be a scandal that tarnishes the whole of cycling. It would be part of the plan. Known in advance. And the credibility of the other riders would remain intact.

This is what Peter says about Judas. His failure was part of the plan.

That does not mean that Judas was not responsible for his actions. In the Gospels, Judas plots, negotiates and acts of his own free will, and when he realises what he has done, he is overcome with remorse. He bears responsibility for his actions.

God’s sovereignty and human responsibility are not mutually exclusive.

God carries out his eternal plan through evil acts freely chosen by human beings.

How exactly does that work? It’s a bit mind-boggling.

But the example that illustrates this best is the cross: the worst crime in history, committed by those truly guilty, whilst at the same time being God’s eternal plan for salvation.

End of digression. Luke wants to show that we need not doubt the integrity of the other witnesses on whom our faith rests.

Some people sometimes say that the early Christians had bad intentions. They made up stories to get what they wanted.

I had a flatmate who used to say that.

The disciples told all these stories about Jesus to ‘invent a religion’ … in which they would be the gurus.

This passage answers that: yes, there was one person with bad intentions amongst the apostles. Just one. And his failure was part of the plan from the very beginning.

***

I wondered why there are so many gory details about Judas’s death.

His entrails spilling out. Not exactly appetising before lunch.

But I don’t think it’s just a trivial detail.

Think about what happens when an ambassador betrays his country. He isn’t simply sent home discreetly. The case makes the headlines, the trial is public, the punishment is severe — because the role of ambassador is too serious to be treated lightly.

That is exactly what God does with Judas. His death is not discreet. It is public, remembered to the point of giving its name to a field.

Why? Because the office of apostle is too precious for his betrayal to go unnoticed.

These men are Jesus’ ambassadors. His spokesmen and witnesses.

Their word is his word, and it serves as the foundation of our entire faith.

The fact that Judas met this end underlines the importance God attaches to the credibility of that word.

The aim is to encourage us!

Look at the weight God places on the reliability of his apostles!

He doesn’t want us to hesitate. ‘Can I really put all my eggs in one basket? The basket of the Bible?’

He wants us to have complete trust.

_____

It is this same concern that explains the care taken in choosing a replacement for Judas.

3. Jesus’ witnesses are qualified to establish a new people

One might ask: why must there be 12 apostles?

Eleven men who could bear witness to Jesus would have been quite enough. Why a twelfth?

Numbers in the Bible are often symbolic.

4 represents the earth. 7 represents creation. 12 is the number of God’s people.

Just as blue, white and red represent the French people, the number 12 evokes the people of God.

The 12 sons of Jacob.

The 12 tribes of Israel.

In the Old Testament, the high priest wore a robe with 12 precious stones, one for each tribe.

And at the end of the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem rests on 12 foundations — this time bearing the names, not of the 12 tribes, but of the 12 apostles.

A twelfth man was needed, because Jesus establishes his new people through them. One becomes part of God’s people by believing their message.

It is important to make this clear.

This summer, I was invited to the christening of a little girl in a Roman Catholic church.

The person officiating explained that the ceremony begins outside, in front of the entrance, because they believe that it is through baptism that one enters the church.

I understand the reasoning, but the Bible says otherwise! We join the church by believing the Good News as taught by the apostles. Baptism is then the means of publicly professing that faith.

Amongst us, there may be all sorts of ideas about how to be part of God’s people.

My family are Christians, so I must be one too.

I’ve had a supernatural experience, so I must be one.

A pastor prayed for me once, so I must be one.

No. You become part of God’s people by believing the message of the apostles.

***

Hence the need to be sure that they were qualified.

Verse 21: Look at the criteria for replacing Judas

‘We must therefore choose a man from among those who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was with us, from the baptism by John until the day he was taken from our midst.

We needed someone who had been present throughout Jesus’ ministry.

Not someone who had merely crossed paths with him from time to time.

Not someone who could only pass on hearsay.

Not someone who had not seen the risen Jesus.

Someone capable of recounting what he had seen and heard. Someone who could testify to having met the living Jesus after his crucifixion.

This may come as a surprise to some: the Christian faith is fundamentally historical.

It is not, first and foremost, a philosophy, nor an ideology.

We are not dealing with legends invented long after the events took place.

It’s not a man who went into a cave and came out saying, ‘God spoke to me’, as in Islam.

It’s not just a feeling: ‘I feel that it’s true. But if you feel something else, that’s what’s true for you.’

No, it is an eyewitness account. What a group of men saw and heard from Jesus.

A testimony that could be verified, cross-checked and was close enough to the facts to be refuted if there had been any errors.

The other day, a rather serious incident took place in one of my children’s classes. The school was able to establish the facts because a headteacher came to take statements from the pupils who were there, who saw what happened, and who gave their accounts straight away, before they’d had time to forget.

The Christian faith is just like that.

It is based on what people have seen, heard and recounted.

Quite simply! Except that what they saw and heard was extraordinary! It was Jesus! :-)

***

The method used to choose the twelfth apostle may come as a surprise!

They put forward two candidates, Joseph and Matthias, who both met the criteria.

They prayed. Then they drew lots, as was often done in the Old Testament. They chose Matthias.

In your group, you may have wondered whether this is a method worth using again. Two job offers. Two people you’re considering marrying. Do we pray, then flip a coin?

There are far worse ways to make a choice! Two equally good options: we pray, we choose, and we stop agonising over it.

But is it worth spending one’s time poring over the signs?

But the point of this passage is to show something else: the apostles on whom our faith rests were chosen by Jesus, according to his own criteria. Jesus appoints his team of witnesses to establish his new people.

***

So, what are we to make of all this?

Let’s return to the original question: which word can we still trust?

Luke offers us a clear answer: the word of Jesus, passed on by those he chose to be his witnesses.

This certainty changes everything.

Without it, we’re all over the place.

We don’t know what to believe, who to believe, or which way to turn.

Jesus, the risen Lord, invites us to build our lives with confidence, serenity, joy and zeal upon the sure testimony of the men he chose.

As individuals and as a church, we will often face instability.

When we seek stability, we may be tempted to cling to all sorts of things: often to people, figures of authority or even gurus.

Jesus offers us his word as the sole source of stability and comfort. But we need to be convinced that this word is true.

Jesus is wonderful, but is the message about Jesus fact or fiction?

Luke says in this passage: don’t worry. This word is true.

Twenty years ago, when I was a student, I struggled with anxiety and depression. Had I chosen the right course of study? Where was I heading in life?

Peace came when I discovered that the words in this book were true.

Perhaps others are going through difficult times. Where can they find security? In the sure words of Jesus.

***

And it is precisely because they are true that we can pass them on to others.

If you’re like me, when talking about Jesus with someone who isn’t yet a Christian, there’s sometimes that little voice: Are you sure about what you’re saying? Are you really going to tell this person they need to believe what you believe? Are you going to force ‘your thing’ on them?

When I was a journalist, I remember a colleague who took offence at the arrogance of Christians who dared to tell others to abandon their beliefs and believe in Jesus.

What nerve!

But according to Acts 1, all we’re called to do is share our testimony.

Sharing a testimony is not arrogance.

When a journalist faithfully reports what they have seen and verified, they are not accused of being arrogant, especially when it concerns matters of life and death.

How much more so when it comes to Jesus: his crucifixion, his resurrection, his reign, and the eternal life he offers.

We can share this testimony without the slightest hesitation.

Perhaps you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian this morning. We are very pleased that you are here to explore these questions.

Let me say that one cannot simply dismiss the Christian faith out of hand: ‘It’s not for me!’

Any rational person should take the time to examine this testimony so that they can form an informed opinion.

We’d be delighted to help you.

Perhaps you’ve just joined Connexion and are wondering: what sort of church is this?

A church that puts the word of Jesus at the centre – to do anything else would be to stray from what it means to be a church – and which expects Jesus to do great things through that word.

Jason said last Sunday that the Book of Acts tells us what Jesus continued to do after his ascension.

The title ‘Acts of the Apostles’, given later, is misleading. It should be called ‘The Acts of Jesus, Volume 2’.

How are we going to experience the deeds of Jesus?

Luke wants us to be certain: Jesus will act from heaven in our lives … if we allow the words of this book to take effect within us.

If we do this, we can expect Jesus to work powerfully within us and in our Church this year.

Let us approach them with joy and also with reverence!

With great expectations.

For it is the Lord who speaks!

PRAYER

Only one thing is necessary

“You Will Be My Witnesses” (Acts 1.1-11)

The beginning of September is the time of year where it feels like everything resets. School has started again for kids, vacation is finished, life returns to its normal rhythm. And we start asking all of the questions that come with that: What do I have to do? What priorities do I need to change? What do I want to do differently this year?

It’s the same for the church: we start thinking about all the new things that are going to happen this year, the new opportunities and challenges, and we ask ourselves, What does the church need? What’s working well, and what do we need to change? What’s coming on the horizon that we need to prepare for?

Nearly all of the questions we could ask ourselves at the beginning of a school year are good, important questions—but they’re not the most important questions.

The most important question is, What is Jesus doing?

We’re going to begin a five-week mini-series on Acts chapters 1 and 2 to kick off the school year, and this is exactly how the book of Acts begins—by asking, What is Jesus doing?

The book of Acts was written by Luke, who was the apostle Paul’s physician and collaborator, and who spent a long time collecting as many eyewitness testimonies as he could to what Jesus had done. When we begin the book of Acts, we’re starting in the middle—the book of Acts is essentially “The Gospel According to Luke: Part 2”. But Acts is not the story of what happened after Jesus finished his work. It is the story of Jesus continuing his work from heaven through the Holy Spirit.

And that simple fact changes the way we think about what we do as a church. When we plant a church, when we live the life of the church together, we are not trying to create something for Jesus. We have been caught up into something Jesus himself is already doing.

We’ll be looking at the first eleven verses today, and we’re going to see four very basic truths about the church:

1. We have a living Lord to proclaim;

2. We have a power that we cannot produce;

3. We have a mission that is bigger than ourselves;

4. We have a King who reigns and will return.

1. We have a living Lord to proclaim (v. 1-3).

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

That little word “began” in v. 1 is enormously important. Luke’s Gospel told the story of Jesus’s life, ministry, death and resurrection. Luke’s gospel, like all the gospels, told about what Jesus began to do and teach. And we’ll see in a moment that about forty days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. It feels like a passing of the baton, in a way—Jesus is gone now, and leaving the responsibility of his ministry with his apostles.

But that’s not what’s happening. The gospels tell about what Jesus began to do and teach; the book of Acts tells about what Jesus continues to do and teach.

Jesus has ascended into heaven, but he’s not sitting on a beach under an umbrella doing crossword puzzles; Jesus has not retired. He is still doing what he did all along—he’s just doing it in a different way.

So how is he doing it? He’s doing it, first of all, through the testimony of the apostles. This group of men don’t come with a philosophy, or a moral program, or a political vision, or with heartwarming stories about Jesus. They come with their own eyewitness testimonies of a crucified and risen Lord.

V. 3:

He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

The mission of the church rests on an objective event: it’s not based on an idea, or an ideology, but on something that happened. Christ lived the sinless life we should have lived; he died for the sins of his people, in our place; he was physically resurrected from the grave. Jesus is alive.

And when he appeared to his followers, for forty days he taught them about the kingdom of God. That’s been Jesus’s message since the beginning, and it’s still his message. The kingdom of God has come. The King that God promised to send his people has come. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has inaugurated the kingdom of God.

This is really good news for us—it’s really good news for me. I am painfully aware of my limits as a pastor. I’m not particularly innovative, and I have as much difficulty living out the gospel as anyone. But I don’t need to be perfect, and I don’t need to be innovative—we don’t need to come up with a catchy message capable of drawing people in, because we have something infinitely better than a catchphrase.

We have a true story to tell about Christ, who is alive.

The question is never, How can we get people interested in coming to church? The question is always, How can we faithfully proclaim the reality that Christ lived, died and was raised to save us?

We have a living Lord to proclaim.

Secondly:

2. We have a power we cannot produce (v. 4-5)

Luke picks up his narrative during these forty days after Christ’s resurrection, and he tells of the orders Christ gave his followers. It’s a surprising command.

V. 4:

4 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; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The apostles have just spent three years with Jesus; they’ve heard his teaching, they’ve seen his miracles; they’ve seen him raised from the dead; and they’ve received their marching orders from him. Surely after all that, they’re ready to go out and preach the kingdom of God.

But Jesus says, “Eh—hold on. Wait here for a while.”

Why? Because knowledge of Christ isn’t enough; knowing everything there is to know about Christ doesn’t make them sufficient for Christ's mission.

What will make them sufficient? He says in v. 5: you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

We need to realize really quickly that the mission of the church—the mission of being disciples of Christ who live faithfully for him and who teach other disciples to do the same—is humanly impossible. We can do a lot of things. We can organize; we can plan (I say “we”, I mean “a lot of you”). We can preach; we can invite; we can lead Bible studies; we can improve our structures.

We can’t give sight to people who are spiritually blind; we can’t raise spiritually dead people to life; we can’t bring people to repentance; we can’t give people faith; we can’t take hearts of stone and make them become hearts of flesh.

Only God can do that. And if you’re a Christian, you know that, because one day it happened to you, and you didn’t do it, and neither did anyone else.

God is the one who saves, and as he decided the salvation of his people, he also decided the means by which we are saved. He saved us through the gospel proclaimed in the power of the Spirit.

Acts is going to show this over and over again, and though I know so much talk of the Spirit may make some Christians uncomfortable, it’s unavoidable: the work of the Holy Spirit is not an add-on to the life of the church. Some Christians talk about the Holy Spirit like the weird uncle who comes around on holidays and won’t stop trying to do close-up magic for people. Like, “Yeah, he’s strange, but what can I say? He’s family.”

We never hesitate to talk about Jesus, to emphasize Jesus, and we should not hesitate to speak in the same way of the work of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ: without the Spirit, there is no church, there is no salvation, there is no power in the gospel.

The Word and the Spirit belong together—the apostles proclaim Christ, and the Spirit opens hearts to believe in Christ.

I remember the first time I ever preached, this would have been about eighteen years ago in our little church in Normandy. It was awful—just awful. I listened to the recording afterwards, and it was just atrocious.

But surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous. And it wasn’t because I was used to speaking publicly; I wasn’t, at least not in French. I wasn’t nervous because I knew what Jesus tells his disciples here: that the power of their ministry wouldn’t be coming from them. I knew that it wasn’t up to me to make something happen through my preaching. The Spirit would do his work; all I had to do was be as faithful as I could with the tools God had given me.

We have a living Lord to proclaim; we have a power that we cannot produce. Next:

3. We have a mission that is bigger than ourselves (v. 6-8).

V. 6:

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

This is what the Jews had been waiting on for centuries. They’re still living under the occupation of the Roman empire, and most of them are still interpreting all of the prophecies of the Messiah as being political in nature: the Messiah will come and throw out the intruding nation and give the kingdom back to Israel.

It seems like the disciples are still imagining that Jesus is about to do something like that: something relatively national and immediate.

But Jesus enlarges the scope of their vision: he wants them to think way bigger than that.

V. 7:

7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

V. 8 is essentially the summary of the entire book of Acts. The apostles receive power from the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, and they are Christ’s witnesses in Jerusalem (Acts 2-7), in Judea and Samaria (Acts 8-12), and to the end of the earth—in other words, the rest of the known world at the time (Acts 13-28).

And again, Jesus chooses his words carefully—he doesn’t say, “You will be my marketing department.” He says, “You will be my witnesses.

A witness tells what he knows to be true.

The apostles have a unique, foundational role as eyewitnesses of the resurrection. The church does not possess their apostolic office; we weren’t there. But their testimony has been preserved for us in Scripture, and the entire church now bears witness to the Christ that the apostles proclaimed.

So the church’s mission necessarily involves speaking. The idea that you can merely “show” Christ is nonsense. The Christian witness is more than talking, but never less. Our lives, our holiness, should make the gospel credible, should help show why the gospel is beautiful. But eventually we will have to say who Jesus is and what he has done.

And we’ll have to go outside to do it. You’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem (where they are), in Judea (a little further), in Samaria (even further), and to the ends of the earth (as far as you can go).

The natural tendency of every church ever is inward—we tend to focus on our people, our challenges, our meetings, our needs. And while that’s not bad, it is incomplete: Jesus continually pushes his church outward.

This outward trajectory, if we’re faithful, will play itself out in multiple ways. One way is when the church multiplies. If you’ve been with us for a while you know that l’Église Oberkampf is in the process of being planted out of Église Connexion—essentially, a group of people from Connexion will be leaving our church and beginning a new church in the 11th, not far from here. In two weeks, they’ll be celebrating their official launch service, and today is their sending service—we’re going to be hearing from them and praying for them at the end of the service today, because we won’t be seeing them on Sundays after this; they’ll be assembling weekly in the 11th.

Why do we do this? Because the most effective way to reach different parts of the city with the gospel is for churches to be planted in these different areas. People who live in the 11th will walk down rue Amelot and see that there is now a church there; people from the church will invest in their neighborhood and have a place to welcome their neighbors when they have the opportunity to invite them.

The church, as a whole, is an outward-moving body—planting churches is just one way that we do it.

Another way is through the individuals who make up the church. If you’ve been coming to the church for a while, you can look around today and see new faces. (If you’re new, we’re glad you’re here!) So we could be tempted to ask, Who is coming to us? That’s a good question to ask, because we want people who are new to the church to know that they’re welcome.

But that’s not the question we should start with. Rather than asking, “Who is coming to us?” we should begin by asking, “To whom is God sending us? Who has God placed around us?”

I am terrible at this, because I have pretty severe tunnel vision and strangers frighten me. It’s an area in which I constantly need to grow. Who has God placed around me? Neighbors; colleagues; classmates; parents in front of our kids’ school; people in cafés or on the bus; friends; family.

The mission of the church always begins very close to home.

And it’s also important that we see that what Jesus says here isn’t an order; it’s a promise. “You will be my witnesses,” he says—and the apostles will be. He doesn’t say, “You will be welcomed.” The apostles will be opposed, and persecuted. Christians will be imprisoned, many of them martyred…

But the gospel keeps moving forward. Even in the face of opposition, the gospel keeps moving forward.

This should give us enormous confidence, because the future of the kingdom of God doesn’t depend on the strength of any one church, whether it’s a huge, well-established church or a tiny, local church in the middle of nowhere. The future of the gospel depends on Christ: he has promised to gather his people from every nation, and he will.

We have a living Lord to proclaim; we have a power we cannot produce; we have a mission that is bigger than ourselves; and lastly:

4. We have a King who reigns and will return (v. 9-11).

V. 9:

9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

In case it’s not clear, this isn’t meant as metaphor or symbol; Jesus is actually lifted up, disappears into a cloud, and is gone. But one thing I love about the Bible is seeing how God works throughout history, to make actual events mean something more than the events themselves.

When Jesus is lifted up and disappears into the cloud, that isn’t simply Jesus leaving; it’s his enthronement. The cloud is used many times in Scripture as an image of the presence and the glory of God. When Jesus goes up into the cloud, that’s God saying, “What I promised about the Messiah has taken place.” Jesus, the Son of God, is now seated at the right hand of God, where he has received dominion and a kingdom—Daniel 7, Psalm 110, these Scriptures have been accomplished.

To put it another way, the ascension of Christ into heaven means that Jesus Christ reigns over this world right now.

Acts is not the story of a vulnerable church trying to keep Jesus's memory alive. It is the story of the reigning Christ advancing his gospel.

Which means that we do not enter our neighborhoods wondering whether Christ has any authority there. Every street belongs to Christ. Every nation belongs to Christ. Every person will ultimately bow before Christ. So we can proclaim him without embarrassment.

And we must proclaim him—the ascension doesn’t just give us assurance; it keeps us from becoming spiritual spectators. V. 10:

10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 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.”

These two men in white robes are angels, in case that wasn’t clear; and I love that the angels ask such a dumb question. If any of us had just seen a person be lifted up and disappear into a cloud before our eyes, we’d be looking for an awfully long time.

But I don’t think the angels ask this question because they don’t know the answer; they ask the question to prod the apostles to action.

Why are you still standing here? Jesus will return. And between his ascension and his return, there is work to do.

The reflex of the Christian, if we understand the gospel, should not be to escape this world and stare toward heaven.

It should be faithfully bear witness of the gospel because our King is returning.

To put it another way, the mission of the church has an expiration date.

One day evangelism will end. Christ will return. Every Christian will have been gathered. Every enemy will be defeated. The kingdom will come in fullness.

Until then, we have work to do.

Conclusion: What kind of church should we be this year?

Acts 1 gives us four convictions:

We have a living Lord to proclaim. So we speak about Jesus.

We have a power we cannot produce. So we pray for the Holy Spirit's work.

We have a mission bigger than ourselves. So we deliberately turn outward.

We have a King who reigns and will return. So we go with courage and urgency.

And notice where all four of these convictions are focused: not on us. On Christ.

The mission does not begin with: “What amazing things can our church accomplish this year?”

It begins with:

“Jesus Christ is alive, Jesus Christ is reigning, Jesus Christ is building his church, and he has chosen to use ordinary Christians like us as his witnesses.”

At the beginning of this year, perhaps every Christian in the church could ask two very simple questions:

1. Who has God already placed in my life who does not know Christ?

2. What would it look like for me deliberately to bear witness to Jesus among them this year?

We don’t need a grand strategy.

Just a name. A relationship. Prayer. Hospitality. A conversation. An invitation. The courage to speak about Christ.

The church in Acts did not change the world because it discovered an extraordinary technique. The risen Christ poured out his Spirit upon ordinary believers—and they became his witnesses.

That’s still how he works today.

Acts 12 - The Unstoppable gospel

Hello! I hope you’ve been enjoying the summer despite the heatwaves. I’ve taken a two-month break. Which means we haven’t seen each other since the World Cup. I’m not going to rub salt into the wound by mentioning England’s 6–4 victory over France in the third-place play-off.

In fact, at every tournament I ask myself the same question… is it worth supporting England this year?

Sixty years without a trophy. That makes you Frenchies laugh. So many disappointments, missed opportunities, heartache. Is it worth backing them if the chances of winning are so slim?

The start of the new term is a time when so many things get back into full swing.

Perhaps you’ve been a Christian for a long time. Perhaps you’ve been part of this church for years. Perhaps you’re here for the first time this morning. Perhaps you’re not even quite sure yet what you think of Jesus.

So I’d like to start with a very simple question: is it worth taking Jesus’ side this year?”

Perhaps you’re not sure what you think about Jesus; you’re here to explore the question. Why would it be worth taking his side?

In other words, to follow and serve him.

For Connexion Church, this is a special start to the new term. In a year’s time, God willing, there will be three churches!
A year ago, we planted a new small church, the Oberkampf Church, which meets just across from Place de la République.

In a few weeks’ time, they will be officially sent out and established as a church meeting every Sunday.

In a year’s time, we aim to have another new church in eastern Paris.

Thank you, Lord, for these plans, but there will be many challenges; the workload will be heavier if people leave, we’ll need more people to serve, and there are still many unforeseen circumstances.

So I’d like us to ask ourselves: why is it worth taking Jesus’ side and serving him this year?

Here is this morning’s message:
King Jesus is in control. He causes his word to triumph. So let us stand on his side.

We’ll be studying the Book of Acts throughout September.

We’ll return to 1 Corinthians in October.

Before returning to the passages in 1 Corinthians that deal with our activities in the church, we wanted to reflect on Jesus and His work in the world.

The Book of Acts tells us some very important things for the start of this year.

It is the second volume of the Gospel of Luke.

Luke says at the beginning of his Gospel that he is writing to give us the assurance … that we are not wasting our time by following and serving Jesus.

The Acts of the Apostles pursues the same aim: to show us that it is truly worthwhile.

The first thing to note this morning is that often …

1. We are weak and the opposition is strong (vv. 1–5)

If we sometimes feel as though we’re completely fragile or even on the losing side as Christians, welcome to the club!

We’re in Acts 12.
A famine has struck Jerusalem. The Christians in the city of Antioch send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to bring aid.

At the end of this chapter, Paul and Barnabas will return to Antioch, from where, in Acts 13, they will be sent on the very first missionary journey to non-Jewish lands. A grand, ambitious and unprecedented undertaking.

Whilst they are in Jerusalem, King Herod launches an attack.

Acts 12:1

‘At that time, King Herod began to persecute members of the Church, and he had James, the brother of John, put to death by the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he had Peter arrested as well. – This was during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. – After having him arrested and thrown into prison, he placed him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each; he intended to bring him before the people after the Passover. Peter was therefore being held in prison, and the Church was offering fervent prayers to God on his behalf.”

It’s obvious who seems to be on the winning side and who’s on the losing side!

This Herod is the grandson of the man who had the boys killed at the time of Jesus’ birth, and the nephew of the man who had John the Baptist killed.

He is continuing the family tradition. James dies on his orders.

He realises this is boosting his popularity ratings. He thinks to himself, ‘Great.   Let’s target the boss, Peter. That’ll go down a treat in the polls and it’ll quieten those little Christians down.

He pulls out all the stops: four squads of four soldiers each.

Perhaps he remembered that in Acts 5, Peter had already been freed from prison by an angel.

‘If I opt for a high-security prison, no angel will be able to get through.’

Faced with Herod’s apparent omnipotence, the Christians, feeling helpless, can ‘only’ pray.

In the service of Jesus, we often feel helpless in the face of obstacles.

What might be the equivalents of this opposition for us today?

Perhaps politicians, intellectuals or influencers who seek to discredit the Christian faith.

We may fear that this could undermine our faith.

Imagine that the Oberkampf church was growing and looking for larger premises… but rumours quickly began to circulate in the 11th arrondissement that people should be wary of this intolerant evangelical church with its backward customs that had set up in the neighbourhood.

A campaign begins on social media: ‘Beware of this cult!’
And no one wants to let them hire a hall.

It’s incredibly unsettling. Is it worth persevering with the project?
Even when we’re not being persecuted, we constantly come up against things that remind us of our own insignificance.

Many of us would call ourselves Christians today. Perhaps not all of us.
There’s one thing we all have in common, whether we’re Christian or not: we don’t have much control over life.

• our health

• what others think of us

• how our careers or relationships develop

• what happens to our family

• what happens in politics

• and even how long we’ll live

For my part, I often feel powerless and overwhelmed by life’s circumstances.

I am weak, fallible and a sinner – I often do things that displease God. When I try to live for Jesus, the obstacles often seem insurmountable.

It’s easy to get the impression that the forces which determine the course of our lives are not forces that have our best interests at heart.

***

But Luke wants to encourage us.

We are weak and the opposition is strong, but …

2. The true King opens doors (vv. 6–17)

Often in ways and at times that are completely unexpected… King Jesus opens doors so that his word may spread!

Let’s savour the humour in this story.
I love how the Lord Jesus sets Peter free on the evening before his trial, just to spoil Herod’s party!

Did you spot that in verse 6?

He’ll get up in the morning and knock on the door of his cell: ‘Peter!’
‘Peter…’

“Peter… …”

I love how obstacles are nothing to the Lord!
Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers; sentries posted at the door were guarding the prison.

The angel arrives. “Come on, Peter, let’s go! Get up. Put on your sandals.”

The gate swings open like the automatic doors at the supermarket.

I love how all the Christians in the passage find what’s happening too good to be true!

Verse 9
Peter went out and followed him, not realising that what the angel was doing was real: he thought he was having a vision. They passed the first guard post, then the second, and came to the iron gate leading into the city. The gate opened of its own accord before them; they went out and walked down a street.

Peter goes out thinking: I know this is a dream … [he pinches himself] but when am I going to wake up!

I would have loved so much to have been there when he arrived at the house where people were praying!

Look at verse 13

The servant girl Rhode sees him and leaves him standing at the door. She can’t believe her eyes.

And just imagine that prayer meeting.

Rhode arrives: “… !?#% It’s… him!”

“Rhode, we’re in the middle of praying here. Go and make some herbal tea.”

“No, but … really … I promise you … it’s … him”
“Rhode, Rhode … it must be … his guardian angel.”

Too good to be true … when God opens doors.

Infinitely more than anything we ask for or imagine.

It’s not as though, if Jason or Romuald were to be locked up, we could expect the same miraculous release.

Even though … Jesus promises that all things will work together for their good and that, in the eternal sense, no one can do them the slightest harm.

Yet James did not escape Herod’s sword; tradition tells us that Peter and Paul were eventually executed, and many Christians around the world today spend years behind bars – in Iran or North Korea.

What Luke wants to show is that, however much harm is done to the messengers, the message itself cannot be imprisoned.

Look at verse 24 at the end of the passage. It is the refrain that structures the Book of Acts. It appears in chapter 6, here in chapter 12, and again in chapter 19.

As for the word of God, …
… it continued to spread more and more.

King Jesus opens doors for his word with ease and often against all odds!

In the 1950s, the communists in China expelled all the missionaries in order to wipe out the small Chinese Christian church.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and after decades of persecution, there are perhaps 100 million Chinese Christians

King Jesus had, against all expectations, opened doors for his word.

Jesus is doing the same thing amongst us today.
He is unleashing his power, not to spare us all suffering, but so that his word may advance … first within us … and then through us.

This is Jesus’ great plan today: to open doors so that his word may advance within us and through us.

First within us.

His number one priority is that his word should transform us, and he opens doors so that this can happen.

Perhaps you have already experienced moments of great vulnerability.

A bereavement, an illness, a period of unemployment or stress.

Horrible times! But times which, in Jesus’ hands, become open doors for his word to take root within us.

Jesus teaches us lessons we could never have learnt otherwise.

In my family, we’ve had to face illness. Jesus turned it into an open door to teach us that as long as we have him, we have everything.

Perhaps some of you are going through one of these moments of vulnerability right now.

Without wishing to minimise the suffering, these are doors opened by Jesus so that his word may take root within us.

That is our number one priority.

If you’ve just joined Connexion, this is what drives us! May the word of Jesus take root within us.

A great way to experience this would be to join one of our community groups, where we listen to Jesus in the Bible week after week.

***

But he wants his word not only to take root within us, but also to flow through us to others.

Here too, he opens doors!

My wife Anne-Sophie and I left the 9th arrondissement five years ago, feeling discouraged because we’d been trying to share our faith with neighbours and other parents, but nobody seemed interested.

Today, God is opening doors in our neighbourhood in ways we didn’t expect. We’ll see where this leads.

Perhaps there is a group of people – colleagues, friends – amongst whom you would like to see the word of Jesus make a breakthrough.

Perhaps it seems unlikely. But the measure of our ambition should not be the size of the obstacles, but the power of the King who opens doors for his Word!

A few years ago, Connexion tried to buy premises. So far, God has kept that door closed. But he is opening others in the 11th arrondissement and in eastern Paris.

We’ll see where this leads us, but we can move forward with confidence.

The end of the text shows us why.

Why we are certain we are on the winning team when we commit ourselves to the word of Jesus.

Jesus is the only true King

He always has the final say

We are weak and the opposition is strong, but the true King opens doors and …

3. The true King prevails (vv. 18–25)
   

One can imagine Herod, after this setback, wanting to restore his reputation.

There’s no question of dwelling on a defeat. I’m going to show everyone who’s boss!

Herod rules over the Jews but also over the non-Jewish regions of Tyre and Sidon in Lebanon.

He is in conflict with them, but he knows they depend on him for food.

So he convenes a large gathering so that they might come and publicly beg him to grant them peace. That way, everyone will see that he is the king of the Jews, of the non-Jews – of everyone.

Notice how Luke describes Herod’s efforts to show that he is the king, in verse 21.

He arrives with great pomp, dressed in his royal robes.

The historian Flavius Josephus, who recounts this same event, says that this robe was made entirely of silver and that it was so dazzling that it instilled a sort of dread in those who gazed at it intently.

He sits on his throne, delivers a grand, bombastic speech, and the people shout: ‘The voice of a god, not of a human being!’

It’s just like North Korea!

Who’s in charge?

Herod’s problem wasn’t just that he was a bad leader. His problem was that he wanted the position that belongs to Jesus alone.

The place of supreme leader.
What makes Herod a bit uncomfortable is that sometimes we humans are a bit like him.
Not because we want to kill Christians or pass ourselves off as gods! But because, like him, we quite naturally like to be in control.

If you’re like me, we like to make decisions. We like to know where we’re going. We like to build our lives as we see fit, to see things go according to plan.

That might be one of the reasons why you came to Paris. We’ve got plans: studies, work, friends, perhaps a relationship, a fresh start. And it’s a good thing to have plans.

But there’s a small question underlying all this that leads us to a choice we all have to make: who’s really in charge?

Who has the final say?
Me or Jesus?

This passage makes it crystal clear who is really in charge.

Look at verse 23

An angel of the Lord struck him down immediately because he had not given glory to God. He died, eaten by worms.

Notice how easily Jesus deals with him.

[Snap of the fingers]

Herod dies … eaten by worms.

Enjoy your meal!

The King who opens doors without difficulty is also the King who triumphs without difficulty over all those who oppose him.

It’s not that Jesus immediately wipes out anyone who harms Christians.

There are plenty of examples in the world that prove the opposite.

What this story shows us is that Jesus is the only one … who reigns.

Jesus is the only true king.

All other kings, however powerful they may seem, are mere figureheads.

They have only the power that he allows them to have, for as long as he allows them to have it.

To oppose him, to seek a leader for oneself, is always to put oneself on the losing side in the end.

So we all face a choice. To seek to be like Herod: to build our own kingdom, to control our lives, to gain admiration, to ensure that others recognise our importance.

Or to recognise that we are not kings, that we were never meant to be, and to submit ourselves to Jesus, the true King.

If we choose this second option, we discover that Jesus is not only the only King but the best King!

_____

For many of us, we have already made this choice to have Jesus as our King. But it has very practical and potentially radical implications.

If we acknowledge that Jesus is King, it fills us with courage to attempt things that will resonate for all eternity.

I said that all this takes place whilst Paul and Barnabas are in Jerusalem.

They are mentioned again in verse 25. They witnessed Peter’s deliverance.

Why is this important?

Because they are about to set out on a mission. The first mission outside Israel.

There will be many obstacles. Many doors will seem closed. They will be summoned before the authorities. They will certainly wonder whether it is worth it.

Luke wants to show that yes, it is worth it, because if Jesus reigns, if he opens the doors, if he prevails, then verse 24 will always be true

Let’s read it again – ‘As for the word of God, it continued to spread.’

Opposition is inevitable, but the word of King Jesus is unstoppable. The team of God’s word is the winning team.

At the start of this new year, Jesus wants to show us the same thing.

Yes, it is worth taking his side, following him and serving him, because King Jesus is in control. He ensures that his word triumphs.

It is worth telling those around us about Jesus, seeking to make him known where he is not known, and planting new churches, even if there are obstacles … because King Jesus is in control. He ensures that his word prevails.

The way we live always depends on our convictions about who is in charge of the world.

If I believe the world is governed by the forces of chance, I would live as though everything depended on my ability to anticipate chance.

If I believe it is ruled by a god who is not really on my side, I would live as though everything depended on my ability to win that god’s favour.

Much of our anxiety in life and in Christian service stems from the fact that we do not truly believe that Jesus reigns.

Is it a coincidence that a society like ours, which seeks autonomy at all costs – putting oneself on the throne – is also deeply anxious?

I am naturally anxious.

That is why I have recently changed my daily Bible reading and prayer routine to start each day by reminding myself that Jesus reigns!

Nothing happens that He has not permitted.

Everything that happens, happens because He has allowed it.

In all things, He acts for the glory of His name, the good of His people and the advancement of His word.

When we grasp this, there is peace.

It also brings perspectives, priorities and plans infinitely better than anything the world can offer us.

***

It’s the start of the new term.

Perhaps you’ve just arrived in Paris. Welcome to the most beautiful of cities.

Don’t just ask: ‘What am I going to build in Paris?’

Ask: ‘How am I going to build my life on the word of Jesus here?’”

***

Perhaps you’re a student or just starting out in your career.

Your work or studies are not just a temporary interlude before your real Christian life.

This is precisely where Jesus reigns and where he wants his word to bear fruit in you and around you.

***

Perhaps you have been a Christian for a long time.

Jesus is the great King seated on the throne of heaven, but when he looks down on us from heaven and decides how to exercise his almighty power in our lives, he does not say to himself: ‘How can I give him the easiest and most pleasant circumstances possible?

He says to himself: ‘I will do everything I can to ensure that my word spreads more and more within him and around him.’

***

Or perhaps you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian just yet, but you’re giving it some thought.

You don’t need to pretend to be convinced. But I invite you to give serious thought to this statement from Acts 12: Jesus is the true King. If that’s true, then it’s the most important thing you could discover this year

With the World Cup, nobody could have known who was going to win before the final whistle.

I honestly thought it would be France. (Michael Olisé is clearly English and we need him back!)

Jesus leaves us in no doubt as to the ultimate outcome of his word. It will unfailingly fulfil the purpose intended for it.

The progress of Jesus’ word, led by King Jesus, is a bit like the rising tide.

We went to the beach several times during the holidays.

When the tide comes in, you can’t tell just by watching for two minutes.

The waves ebb and flow…

In some places, it advances more quickly; in others, there are obstacles, such as rocks.

But… the trend is unstoppable and irresistible.

When I used to go to the beach as a kid, we’d try to build sand barriers to stop the tide from coming in.

It was madness.

The spread of the word of King Jesus is just like that. You wouldn’t guess, just by looking at a single moment in time, that it’s advancing.

But the trend is unstoppable and irresistible.

We don’t know what this year has in store for us. There’s one thing we can be sure of: King Jesus is in control. He ensures that his word prevails. He invites us to be part of the team that wins in the end.

I’ll leave you with three questions.

“Who is the King of our lives?” Jesus or someone else?

Secondly: “Do we truly believe that Jesus is in control, and that the first thing He wants to do is to advance His word within us?”

Thirdly: “If Jesus is in control and He ensures His Word prevails, what does it mean for us to make His priorities our priorities?”

Psalm 8 - Over All the Earth

Introduction

What is the glory of God? We talk about glory constantly in the Bible. You know, "the glory of God" is one of those automatic answers to most of the questions that come up in a Bible study. Just take any question that begins with "Why did God...", and the answer is very probably "for the glory of God." And it really is such a central subject in the Bible. So what is the glory of God?

Why am I asking this question? Because this psalm revolves around the glory of God. Psalm 8 begins and ends with the same sentence: "LORD, our Lord, how magnificent your name is over all the earth!" The Hebrew word translated "magnificent" (addir) goes further than beauty alone; it also means "majestic," "powerful," "grand." A whole field of vocabulary that is ultimately tied to the glory of God in all its complexity. In fact, glory is the very word the BDS [one Bible translation in French] uses here: "how admirable your glory is over the whole earth." So let me ask my question again: what is the glory of God? Let us take a moment to meditate on that.

Human glory

On 20 December 1998, a certain footballer was born, and not a minor one: I am of course talking about our dear Kylian Mbappé. He went from unknown player to young prodigy very early on, and he made his debut for the French national team at only 17. He was already becoming known before the national team, but the national team in particular propelled him onto the international stage, especially with the 2018 World Cup that France won (a proud moment for France!).

Here is an example of human glory that we know well. His glory started to shine everywhere. Glory here, for Mbappé, is the fact that people all over the world watch him play, that they started taking a closer interest in him, betting on his performances, buying his jerseys with his name on the back of course, playing with him in all sorts of video games, seeing him appear in countless adverts, and even writing songs about him (good ones and bad ones)... In short! Whether you like him or not, Mbappé shone, and he still shines today in the eyes of the whole world.

He is at the center of attention. The spotlights are pointed at him. That is what glory is. Something grand that stands out from the crowd, something you cannot fail to see.

The glory of God in this psalm

As I said a moment ago, this psalm also speaks about glory. But a glory that is not based on the ability to kick a ball around; it is based on other things. It is based on what God has done, and on the characteristics of his person. This sentence, "LORD, our Lord, how magnificent your name is over all the earth!", wraps around the psalm like a sandwich, and as is often the case when we find sandwiches in the Bible, we must never read the bread and the steak separately. The two are closely connected. Here is what the sandwich contains:

• The bread: a truth announced: "LORD, our Lord, how magnificent your name is over all the earth!"

• And the steak: a kind of demonstration, a justification of the truth that has just been announced. The steak describes why the spotlights and the eyes of the world should be fixed on God.

I suggest we divide the contents of this sandwich into three major demonstrations of the glory of God.

1. The praise of infants

(v. 1-3) "To the choirmaster, on the gittith. A psalm of David. LORD, our Lord, how magnificent your name is over all the earth! Your majesty rises above the heavens. Through the mouths of children and infants, you have founded your glory to confound your adversaries, to silence the enemy, the man greedy for revenge."

This verse is not easy to understand. Why does it speak about children and infants? Why do they have enemies? And why does God found his glory through their mouths? "Founded your glory," which the Greek in fact rendered as "established praise." How does that justify our guiding verse (the bread)? How does it justify the claim that the name of the LORD is magnificent over all the earth?

So I started reasoning backwards, a proof by contradiction for the mathematicians among us. I asked myself what it would look like if we replaced children with strong men. Strong men victorious over their enemies, well... that makes sense. They are strong! They know how to defend themselves, they know how to attack, it is even normal. It is so normal, in fact, that there would not be any praise in their mouths at all. Or if there were, it would be praise directed at themselves. The glory here would go to the strong man, because it is his strength that leads to victory. Yet the psalm clearly says that you, LORD, have founded YOUR glory to confound your adversaries, or "you cause praise to spring up" as the BDS translates it. Hence the proof by contradiction: replacing children with strong men would prove nothing about the glory of God, and nothing about his name being magnificent over all the earth. His name would be hidden here behind the name of the strong man.

QED, in a way. The best way for God to make his glory shine, beyond any possible doubt, is for him to choose to give victory to people who are clearly weak. And honestly, what is weaker than an infant? I have a 4-month-old daughter, and after 4 months (and 4 months is not nothing), I find myself delighted that she can at least hold her head up! Suffice it to say that this particular skill is not what will help her triumph over her enemies... What is weaker than a human infant! A baby is enormously dependent on adults for several years, otherwise it dies! A human child cannot be fully autonomous before the age of 12, 13, 14, 15! That does not exist among animals, that many years of dependence before becoming autonomous. And in the few rare species where late dependence can be observed, it never reaches the level of a human child. And yet it is through their mouths that the LORD causes praise to spring up against his enemies. They are the ones he supports and makes victorious.

And when David wrote this psalm, he was very well placed to write these words. He is, after all, the one who, while still very young, walked toward the giant Goliath and said to him: "You come against me with sword, spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD." Infant that I am, I am literally coming at you with stones, but above all I come in the name of the LORD. And in giving David the victory over Goliath, the glory that bursts out is not David's glory but God's.

1 Corinthians 1:28-29 "God chose the low and despised things of the world, the things that are nothing, to reduce to nothing the things that are, so that no one may boast before God."

This is what moves us once again to repeat the refrain: "LORD, our Lord, how magnificent your name is over all the earth!"

Let us continue reading the psalm.

v. 4 "When I contemplate the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars that you have set in place,"

The sentence is incomplete, but I am stopping here on purpose. Because looking at the sky is in itself enough to prove that the name of the LORD is magnificent over all the earth. Before moving on to verse 5, which puts the greatness of God in perspective with the lowliness of man, let us first take the time to observe the greatness of God.

2. Contemplating the sky

What I love about this verse, "when I contemplate the heavens," is first of all how accessible it is. Contemplating the sky requires no effort at all; you simply step outside and look up. It is easy, and anyone with eyes is meant to be able to see the sky. And when we look at the sky, what do we see? Let us talk a little astronomy (nothing advanced, I promise, just simple observation):

During the day

• The thing that jumps out at you, that you cannot fail to see, is obviously the sun. Quite simply the brightest thing our eye is capable of seeing, and in fact so bright that you must not even look at it directly, at the risk of burning your retinas. I am one of those people who did not have glasses during the eclipse, and please do not try this at home, but I still tried squinting at the sun in short bursts, and nothing worked. Even though the sun is so far away, its power is felt instantly. But in observing the sun we do not only see a ball of power, we also observe the benefits that flow from it: a source of light so that we do not bump into every obstacle, and a source of heat so that we can live.

• Looking at the sky during the day also lets us see something surprising, or rather lets us fail to see something: the end. We see an expanse of sky whose end escapes us. Our poor little brain cannot even conceive that there might be no end, and to this day, with all our advanced astronomical tools, we have not found the end. A small aside: today we are able to see galaxies so distant that the light coming from them had to travel more than 13 billion years (at the speed of light!) before reaching us. And still there is no end in sight. It is dizzying!

At night

• We observe another heavenly body, the moon, which takes over so that we do not sink into total darkness even without the sun.

• We also observe a countless number of shining stars, beyond counting with the naked eye. A painting that is spoiled today by human light pollution in our big cities (ironically), but that reveals itself perfectly once you are far from any other light. An XXL painting of breathtaking beauty!

What this teaches us about God

Just by lifting our eyes to the sky, we see a work of art that speaks about its author. Whether you are a Christian or not, whatever your nationality, here is what contemplating the sky teaches you about God:

• God is powerful, powerful enough to be able to create such things.

• God is not restricted by any limit.

• Whatever his reason may be, he provides for our needs, in light and in heat, by day and by night.

• And finally, we observe that God is quite the artist. He could have made things purely functional, but we do not only have a God who provides; we have a magnificent God, worthy of contemplation.

"LORD, our Lord, how magnificent your name is over all the earth!"

Now that we have admired the glory of God in his greatness, here is yet another aspect of that glory:

(v. 4-9) "When I contemplate the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars that you have set in place, I say: 'What is man, that you should remember him, and the son of man, that you should care for him?' You have made him a little lower than God and you have crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands, you have put everything under his feet, sheep and oxen alike, and even the wild animals, the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, everything that travels the paths of the seas."

3. The reign of man

Here David mentions the creation mandate that God gives to Adam: to multiply and to reign over his creation, in Genesis 1. And so David contemplates the sky, as we have just done, and sees how great God is, and how beautiful and complex his creation is. And naturally David ends up comparing man to all of that, and he says to himself, "Really? You are entrusting your creation to us? WOW!" Glory to you, our God, for entrusting us with such a beautiful and great responsibility, and with a dominion over your creation that we are not worthy of. "LORD, our Lord, how magnificent your name is over all the earth!"

The reign of man is not very glorious

But if I want to be honest, there is still a "but" in this story. We could rightly say to ourselves that watching men reign has rarely been a beautiful sight, and has rarely been an occasion for magnifying the name of God. We can see clearly through history what very poor kings men have been, and even today what very poor leaders they are (naming no names). And quite simply, we see how men on a large scale mistreat this creation and push it a little further toward its ruin. How does letting man reign over creation magnify the name of God?

In reality, what would magnify the name of God is if we reigned the way he reigns, in his image! And that was in fact the whole purpose of the creation mandate in Genesis 1: "Then God said: 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness! Let him rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky [...]'." That was the goal, that we would reign in his image.

But as you know, the fall of Adam and Eve entered history, and from then on this image of God that we carried within us has never stopped deteriorating, never stopped turning into a caricature. We who are supposed to represent God dishonor him. Watching man reign, you could even say that the name of the LORD is not magnified but, on the contrary, insulted, because we are supposed to be his image.

Of course, God is not indifferent to this. His anger toward us accumulates again and again and again, like a cup of wrath that fills up and that will one day be poured out on everyone.

A model of reigning is given to us

But God, even faced with the bad reign of men, still manages to make his glory burst out over all the earth. This is what the Bible calls the "good news," the gospel. God raised up, from the line of man, a man who carried within himself far more than the image of God. In Jesus, we were able to see what God looks like in all his perfection! No one else has ever radiated the image of God as powerfully as Jesus, for the simple and good reason that Jesus is not merely an image of God, he is God. Consequently, through his ministry on earth, we have been given a faithful example of what the reign of God looks like.

To see Jesus reign is to see the creator Father reign. A king who serves his neighbor and not himself, a king who lifts up rather than puts down, who washes the feet of his disciples rather than the other way around. Jesus says it himself to his disciples in Matthew 20:25-28:

"Jesus called them and said: 'You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and that the great ones hold them under their power. It will not be so among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you shall be your slave. This is how the Son of Man came, not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.'"

And indeed, Jesus ended his ministry by drinking that cup of God's wrath entirely and unjustly, in the place of his people. Hanged on the wood as the ultimate act of service toward his own.

Jesus takes the throne

Through this cross we are given the solution to the problem: through this cross it is Jesus who takes the supreme throne, and it is to him that all things are subjected. It is his perfect reign that will be applied, and that, for its part, glorifies God. From his first coming we have been able to watch his kingdom grow and grow, and at his return Jesus will display his reign perfectly, for eternity. Great, problem solved! But it does not stop there, it goes even further. In his grace, Jesus chooses to share his reign with those who overcome, with his people, as Daniel 7, Luke 22 and of course Revelation 2, 3 and 22 tell us, among many others. How can that be? We do not know how to reign in the image of God; the image of God in us is completely twisted. And yet even there, through the reconciliation that Jesus offers us, he also sends us his Spirit, who transforms us and who brings to birth in us a new man, now capable of striving toward his image.

And one day, when we join our creator, we will then be perfectly capable of reigning in the image of God, fully filling the role for which God created man. In this way we will glorify him for eternity through the reign of Jesus Christ, which he, the King of kings, will share with us.

And knowing all of this should produce something in us. Not the pride of such a privilege, of having been chosen for such a destiny, but rather praise in the mouths of the children that we are: "LORD, our Lord, how magnificent your name is over all the earth!"

Conclusion

To finish: as you have understood, this psalm highlights several aspects of the beauty, the power and the glory of God.

• His name is magnificent because it is his strength that makes the weak victorious.

• He is magnificent to the point that the infant praises him for it.

• He is magnificent in his power, in his greatness, and in his beauty visible in the sky.

• He is magnificent because he does not keep the enjoyment of his creation for himself, but creates man in order to share it with him.

• He is magnificent because even when man fails, and insults such a generous creator, he also plans a way to restore him and to enable him to fulfill his role.

So when we meditate on this psalm, I hope that what naturally rises up in us is wonder toward God! Let us do our very best to remember these things, so that we can always say "WOW!" So that we can always rejoice in being his children, and grasp what is at stake in our role. Our role, after all, is to contribute in our own turn to magnifying his name wherever he places us!

But also, when we meditate on this psalm, I hope that what rises up in us is humility as well, a heightened awareness of our dependence on God. Let us lower ourselves like children; that is what God wants! Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:3: "Truly I assure you: if you do not change and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."

We must be like children, aware that we are completely powerless and dependent on God for absolutely every aspect of our life. And may that dependence drive us to plead for his help. Let us pray without ceasing that he would help us to fulfill such a great role, and that he would transform us deeply, in small things as in great ones, so that we resemble him more each day.