Introduction - waiting
I’ve been going through a very busy and confusing time of ministry and I’m very glad to be here with you to share the love of the Lord together and to speak about all He has done for us since we last met face to face.
That you so much for your fellowship in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But because life has been so busy, and honestly pressurised, for quite a while, travelling here by plane has been a most frustrating privilege.
You have to get up and get out of the house, travel across London to the airport by a certain time, queue and push ahead through the baggage drop … and now you have to just hang around for an hour or two.
I NEVER get to hang around for an hour or two … I’ve forgotten how to do it.
But you are through the first part of the process and now you have to wait roughly where you are.
Then eventually a message goes up on a display board that you’ve been standing and just staring at for some time waiting for something to change and when it does you rush off to the next stop … airport security.
And then you get through that and now you … WAIT again.
And then finally you get called to the gate, but the aircraft isn’t ready … the last lot of passengers ate all the sandwiches or something and they’re rushing around the airport looking for who’s got the key to the butter cupboard … or whatever.
And you wait.
Hurry up, then wait.
Hurry up, then WAIT.
And in Acts 1:4 the disciples have been going through an intense time of dramatic experiences, but now everything seems to have started going really, REALLY right, with things and then Jesus says …
- 4 “wait for the gift my Father promised”
There’s the really big challenge of the situation after the resurrection.
It was a fantastic time!
They’d seen Jesus killed and they’d seen Jesus raised from the dead JUST as He’d said He would be …
Jesus has paid the debt of sin we couldn’t pay and CONQUERED death and hell … so the guys are ready: ‘HALLELUJAH, the Kingdom of God is here let’s GO!’
And Jesus says: ‘No’.
After all the testing of those last days in Jerusalem at the feast.
After that tortuous but precious time at the Last Supper.
After the betrayal and the trial and the torture of the Saviour …
The tomb was sealed, the stone was rolled, and their hearts were strangely warmed within them as He walked amongst them and talked with them on the way.
Their minds and their emotions have been going around and around in the washing machine (as we read about all of this in the Scriptures we’re watching them through the little round window in the door) and now with what they are told in v. 4 the machine has dramatically and unexpectedly dropped their hearts into the spin cycle again.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a situation of high pressure where the command is to hurry up, to make great effort at it, to finally GET there … and suddenly the word comes: ‘WAIT’.
When you’ve battled through and you’ve weathered the fiercest storm and the command comes to wait … that can be so very disturbing it messes with your mind.
And that’s what we see in these emotionally exhausted, spin-cycle-souled believers here in Acts 1.
The experience of turmoil, but then as things start to get resolved the command to wait … leaves the disciples of Jesus here with disturbed minds and challenged hearts.
But the Lord says ‘wait!’
1) Disturbed minds, vv. 1-10
Now the disturbance is directly caused by the context.
Check that out here in Acts 1:1-10.
Here are just the highlights of the disturbance …
A) Danger, v. 4
I don’t know if you have ever had to pass through a dangerous place or situation.
I have to walk through places sometimes that are dangerous … high risk areas … even at the airport I have to go through security.
I have a pacemaker and there can be machines there that are NOT good for me.
The machines are meant to stop terrorists but they can also stop Simons because I have a pacemaker and certain magnetics can stop pacemakers doing their job.
So I’m very careful.
For me that’s a high risk area and I am NOT going to be told to stay still and stand there!
But look what Jesus says here to His disciples:
V.4 “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised …”
No WAY!
Way back in Luke 13:34 Luke quotes the Lord Himself on the dangers of Jerusalem for the faithful:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
Stay there says Jesus.
The place where he’d set His face steadfastly to go along the road … to the great concern of His disciples …
And we know what happened there, the Lord was betrayed and crucified.
STAY there, says Jesus, in that same city and this is now just about six weeks since the Lord was crucified there.
Stay THERE and wait, says Jesus.
Will they TRUST Him to wait there?
B) Disappointment, vv. 6-7
Vv. 6-7 “Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”
This is their big question.
They had, possibly all their adult lives, been living under Roman occupation, facing Roman force, brutality, no citizens’ rights … growing up seeing tax collectors exploiting their people and projecting force to make their parents and then themselves work harder and harder to make the rich Romans richer …
And they and their people had LONGED for how they thought the Old Testament promises would work out, to relieve the oppression of their people.
Day in - day out it had gone on.
And then the Lord Jesus had appeared on the scene.
He preached that the Kingdom of God was at hand.
He went about doing exactly what the Old Testament prophets said that the coming King - the Messiah - would do.
Isaiah 35:5-6 “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.”
Now, obviously, they were all too well aware that they had NOT yet seen the fulfilment of Isaiah 35:10, for example.
“They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
But … they had seen Jesus do so many of the works of the Messiah and they knew there was more to come so at this point in time, which must have seemed to them like the absolutely climactic point in their journey with Him, they asked:
Acts 1:6 “Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
So IMAGINE their immense disappointment when the Lord replied:
Acts 1:7 “He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”
This is NOT the sort of answer that they, His insider crew, the people close to Him Who had remained close through everything that had happened … every danger and every crisis … and then they get an answer like that at the decisive moment!
Danger, disappointment …
C) Disruption, v. 9
And when He’d disappointed them, He just … left.
- 9 “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”
All they had been through, all they had witnessed, all they had hoped and longed for and then …
Firstly He says: ‘I’m NOT going to answer the biggest question of your life’.
And then He says: ‘Bye!’
And He was gone.
I don’t know if you have this here but in the UK there’s this thing called: ‘Ghosting’.
It’s not a great feeling to be ‘ghosted’.
When I was a lad you’d meet a girl who was out with her group of friends and she seemed lovely and she seemed interested in you as well, so you’d find a way to strike up a conversation and be impressive and then maybe after a bit you’d ask her for her phone number and you’d ask her out, just the two of you and …
Well, you can see where this is going?
But maybe it wouldn’t work out.
Maybe she’d decide you were too much of a bad boy, or not enough of a bad boy, or just not ‘the one’ … you know?
So you’d find a way to say: ‘it’s not you it’s me’ … or something similar … and you’d let them down as gently as you could and then there’d be tears and feeling bad and you moved on.
Your friends might be there for you … and you’d get over it.
As you can see, my memory is good even after all these years!
But these days, there’s this thing called ‘ghosting’.
They just disappear.
They block you on social media, they don’t answer your calls … maybe they block your number … there is no conversation, no letting you down gently, they are just gone: ‘I’m telling you nothing’ … and they’re gone.
Now, in the old days getting ‘dumped’ was really very socially and emotionally disruptive.
But to be ‘ghosted’ must be horrible.
Acts 1:7& 9 “He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority … After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”
But it was even more disturbing than that, because with the event came both fresh promises and fresh demands …
Danger, disappointment, disruption …
D) Demands,
i) Promise, vv. 4-5
Acts 1:4-5 “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Now, of course they had little idea about being baptised with the Holy Spirit.
How could they have, really, until it happened?
But here they have to face the challenge of living on a promise they don’t understand which comes accompanied by a dangerous task.
ii) Promise, v. 8
Acts 1:8 “(He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.)
- 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The promise to these guys who are no doubt feeling weak and vulnerable in the sea of not knowing that they had been dropped into is that they will receive power, strength, ability … maybe MIRACULOUS power when the Holy Spirit came on them but this is NOT what they had been asking for (the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel) and they knew very little of what Jesus was saying about the Holy Spirit coming on them and here were what must have looked like huge demands being made of them alongside a promise they couldn’t really get hold of.
And then they are reminded to get back into the danger zone accompanied by a promise which must have seemed even more vague …
iii) Promise, vv. 10-12
Acts 1:10-12 “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.”
So there are two things there:
- They were just looking up to the sky for the Lord Who had already been taken up to Heaven out of their sight … feeling the immediate pain of separation and looking forth experience of His close presence which was a thing of the past.
And then there were suddenly two ‘men’ dressed in white who said …effectively … ‘what do you think you are doing standing here gazing up int Heaven after the One Who has prepared you for this, told you it was going to happen, what would come of it AND what to do when this very thing happened?
That was a reminder that they were doing the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time … so as to say: ‘Why are you just lolling around here when you were told that when this happened you were to get back to Jerusalem and wait for the Spirit to come?’
And with that came this incomprehensible, vague-sounding promise:
- “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
It was hard enough to believe what they had just seen … which is possibly a large part of the reason why they were just stating there staring up into the sky … but now they are being asked to believe that the One Who had disappeared in that way would come BACK the same way!
So it is a VERY big thing when we read in v. 12 “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.”
The city that historically persecuted snd killed the prophets.
The city Jesus had longed to gather to Himself as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings “But”, He said, “you WOULD NOT”.
Back they went into the ‘Red Zone’.
2) So what do we learn from this?
We learn to wait for God to do what He says He’ll do.
Specifically here we learn the way to wait and the way NOT to wait.
A) The Way to wait, vv. 12-14
Vv. 12-14 “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”
Briefly, what is going on here?
i) In the danger zone, v. 12
They go straight back into the danger zone.
Why?
Because they enjoy the thrill?
There is NO evidence to suggest these people were a bunch of thrill-seekers.
Quite the reverse.
Because they had no other option?
They precisely DID have other options … they were away from their homes and families and businesses to follow Jesus!
And now He had gone, and He’d gone where they very definitely were not able to follow - straight up into the sky!
No.
They went back into the danger zone because, although they did NOT understand the promises that came with it very well, Jesus had told them to go back there … NOT yet to do something that looked very meaningful, but to WAIT there.
ii) In an upper room, v. 13a
And when they got there will you look at what they did?
They went back into a place set apart for the ability to quietly wait on the Lord.
The Upper Room (top the stairs) where they were staying.
We don’t know for sure but is this the same place that they stayed while in Jerusalem where the Lord taught them on the night He was betrayed, where He’d broken bread with them and prepared them for what was to come … for all the things that had now taken place?
It seems reasonable but we cannot be sure.
But they definitely, we know, went back to wait obeying the hard thing the Lord had instructed them to do.
And they did it, v. 13 …
iii) In fellowship, v. 13b
- 13b “Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”
They were faced with dangers and with challenges and with things they didn’t understand but they stuck to the instructions from the Lord that they’d received … even though they didn’t immediately make much sense to them … and they did it TOGETHER.
The Lord intend His people NOT to tough it out alone, but together … when they have to wait and it is HARD and what they’re called to do is puzzling … they’re very wise to do this together.
In fellowship with one another … and of course together WITH GOD!
iv) In prayer, v. 14
- 14 “They all joined together constantly in prayer …”
Here is a very serious point.
When you are called upon to follow the Lord in waiting, or doing things that seem risky or senseless to you, it is easy to become disappointed, disillusioned … even just fed up with God … and turn away from practising His presence while you can only wait for His purpose or His power.
Please notice that they did not turn away from the Lord Who appeared to have left them, leaving nothing but danger, disappointment, disruption and demands that they should behave as if His poorly understood promises were true.
In circumstances like that web learn from these people here today that the LAST thing you do is turn away from the Lord or from His people.
They met together and they prayed, until He came.
But.
Sadly.
While this is all extremely good and wise.
There were those for whom the waiting became too much.
We HAVE learned the way to wait, but now we’re shown how things can go wrong … with a classic illustration of how NOT to wait.
B) The way NOT to wait, vv. 15-26
This was all getting off on the right foot, but the waiting … Oh the waiting … it was so tough.
Now, waiting can be difficult for all of us but we are all different and some of us have a personality that finds waiting for God difficult.
We all know which of the Twelve is going to find it most difficult, of course.
It is going to be Peter, isn’t it?
Looking around the upper room Peter starts counting to pass the time … (counting pipes on church organ behind the preacher during the sermon) …
And as he counts he realises that they are short of one disciple.
Before the famous night in the Garden of Gethsemane where the Lord was betrayed by Judas they’d had twelve disciples.
There’d always had twelve.
They had ALWAYS been the Twelve.
Now there were just eleven and they weren’t ‘the Eleven’ they were supposed to be ‘the Twelve’!
The thing was BROKEN!
Peter was the sort of person who found it very hard to sit and do ‘nothing’, of course they’d started WELL and they weren’t just sitting and doing NOTING they were sitting waiting and praying and TRUSTING TO THE PROMISES OF GOD that He’s given them.
This needed FIXING!
So Peter stood up and put in motion his plan to set to and fix things for God.
Now that is impatience for you!
In the face of clear instructions to go back to Jerusalem and WAIT for the things promised along with the instructions to take place … Peter gets going to fix the situation for God.
i) The trauma that Peter hasn’t processed yet, vv. 16-19
“Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”
18 (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)”
You can hear and you can feel the sense of betrayal there.
And of course, the facts of the situation are very much as Peter states them.
But he has already thought of a solution to the problem that the Twelve are now the Eleven and he has come up with a plan.
The Lord’s instructions were to stay in Jerusalem and wait, but Peter’s idea is to stay in Jerusalem and come up with a plan.
Here’s the plan … THEY will appoint another to join the Eleven to go back to the old days when they had Twelve.
When was the choice of the Twelve EVER in the hands of the other disciples?
Peter has decided they will seize an initiative that NEVER was theirs but ONLY the Lord’s on the basis that the Lord can’t manage perfectly well unless He has help.
Help from them.
Is this now beginning to sound like not SO great an idea?
Not to worry.
Peter will find a verse to justify his solution … two verses in fact.
And this is all happening because whilst he IS prepared to go back to Jerusalem He is NOT prepared to wait there until the Lord DOES fulfil His plan and promise to send the Spirit to them as they wait.
ii) Finding a verse for your solution, vv. 20a&b
- Psalm 69:25
Psalm 69:25 is in a prayer of David that God would bring down vengeance on David’s enemies.
- Psalm 109:8
Psalm 109:8 is in a psalm where David prays that God will send someone evil to oppose David’s enemy …
Both of these verses are being torn from their context and used in a totally inappropriate way.
But Peter appears to claim to have a verse for it.
Really, he hasn’t.
iii) Swaying the crowd to his solution
- False premise, vv. 21-22
“Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us …”
Well Peter might think so but the Lord has given NO indication He was looking for such help from Peter or the 120 people listening.
But He HAD said ‘stay in Jerusalem and wait’.
- False criteria for selection, vv. 21b-22
“one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us
beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
Well, there does appear to be some appearance of truth in that … the replacement for Judas, in the providence of God WOULD be an eye-witness of the Lord’s resurrection, in fact of the GLORIFIED and resurrected Lord in Glory, but that man didn’t need to be one of their in-crowd and the Lord didn’t need Peter’s help with either the selection or the appointment process.
The whole lot of them had been told specifically they must wait in Jerusalem for the Spirit to come
Conclusion -
- Jesus had said to go back and wait
- Jesus had said to wait for the Spirit
But they went right back to the Old Testament method of discerning the will of God ... before the Spirt came.
- Jesus had said NOTHING about replacing Judas
But on their own initiative they couldn’t wait but started to try to run the Lord’s business for Him.
- What became of Matthias?
All we are really told about him comes from a very late source (Nicephorus, 1256-1335) and is, frankly, very dubious.
There is a mention of ‘the Twelve’ in Acts 6:2 which presumably means he was around with the Eleven a the point but that really is about it … and it is in Acts 9 that we meet Paul Saul of Tarsus who is made a new-witness of the Resurrection and directly commissioned by the risen Lord Jesus to be an Apostle.
So here is the challenge:
There are times when the Lord says ‘hurry up’.
These times in my experience are easy, and whilst they look dramatic and faithful, these can really be the easy times.
But when ‘hurry up’ is followed by ‘wait!’ … wait for the Lord’s clear signal, His clear initiative in a dangerous, disappointed, disrupted and demanding place where all we have to do is wait while trusting to the promises of God (which can honestly seem at the time to be rather unrealistic) … those are the times that call hard on us to trust in Him, to act in faith, to WAIT and trust in the promise of our God.
