Sermon Dan Neary

Waiting for Pentecost

It seems like we are just getting started… the 2^nd of 19 sermons in The Book of Acts that will take us into February of 2005.

Waiting for Pentecost… Pentecost, the event that launches the Church into existence and effectiveness.

Christian began the series well… very well.

I appreciated the point he made regarding the title of this great book. We may understand it as simply Acts or The Book of Acts or The Acts of the Apostles. We’ve chosen as our title The Acts of the Holy Spirit… but more words, although not as catchy, do reveal the more full meaning.

· The is the continuing work of Jesus (Luke-Acts) – hence the Isaiah passage this morning… we are talking about Jesus

· But now… through people: the Apostles, the Church, His People

· With a new dimension… manifest in a way unique to the Church: by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is a fascinating historical account, a powerful book of theology, and a pattern for us to follow.

The passage we have today is vitally important to our understanding of this continuing work of God and His people. In my view, this passage contains the hinge…

Our approach to the text (Acts 1), following Stott’s outline:

· Commission: (4-8)

· Ascension (9-11)

· Perseverance (12-14)

· Appointment (15-26)

The Commission by Jesus

The Promise: For the sake of continuity, I’ve dipped back a little into last week’s passage. Jesus gave a directive regarding the Holy Spirit.

Note that He refers to the “gift my Father promised.” The Promise was given:

· Throughout the ages, recorded in our Old Testament

· Through John the Baptist

· By Jesus Himself (Assurance Passage John 16:13-15)

The Dumb Question: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Calvin: “there are as many errors in this question as words”

Powerful Answer: Jesus focuses-in on the error-words, turning what could be an exasperating moment into a teaching moment.

Good teachers don’t merely blurt out the answers, proving how smart they are, they show consideration to the question and the questioner and gently bring the pupil around to learning the right answer.

· At this time: God is in control of the schedule.

· You: God is going to use these people

· Kingdom: not the power that comes from warfare… Holy Spirit power that builds a spiritual kingdom through witnesses

Stott: “The kingdom of God is His rule set up in the lives of His people by the Holy Spirit. It is spread by witnesses, not by soldiers, through a gospel of peace, not a declaration of war, and by the work of the Spirit, not by force of arms, political intrigue or revolutionary violence.

· Israel: Not limited to any one people or any one place. Acts 1:8 is a sort of Table of Contents for the book.

The Ascension of Jesus

Jesus left: This is the hinge I was talking about. This is the point of demarcation between The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. The account appears in both.

Here Jesus makes the transition from doing His work here on earth to doing His work in the presence of the Father, in heaven, through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Ascends

· Doesn’t fade from the scene… weaning the Apostles

· Doesn’t vanish… mysteriously retreating to the Father

· He leaves, with His body, and a point

Apostles wondered: Jesus was leaving, with a point, but it seems that the Apostles were prone to miss the point. The were wondering… and waiting… and possibly wishing.

It could be that they were fantasizing again. First they were preoccupied with the earthly Jesus, expecting Him to assemble an earthly army and establish and earthly kingdom… a false fantasy disassembled by Jesus. Now, could it be, that they were preoccupied with the heavenly Jesus? Maybe now He would dramatically rule from heaven… or show-up with an army of angels.

The Angels reminded: So rather than an army of angels… a couple of angels… not even particularly scary ones, show-up to remind the Apostles.

· The Apostles would become the army… so stop standing around

· Jesus would return… like this in His glory, to receive them, and all believers, in like manner

The Perseverance in Prayer

The all joined together:

· Unity

· Women

· 120

Constant:

· Busy, persistent, work of prayer

· Receive what was promised

The Appointment of the 12^th

Fulfillment of Scripture

· Peter makes the point… the student of Jesus is beginning to catch-on

The Choice

· Qualifications – there was work to be done

· Spiritual Selection – room for God’s selection

So What?

1. The pattern is being established

o 100% Our Work

o 100% His Work

o Jesus => All God and All Man

o Church => All Spirit and All Human

2. Putting ourselves into the story

o Blurt-out our dumb questions – you can’t steer a parked truck

o Move in and anticipate the unknown
Courage is not no-fear; courage is action in spite of fear.

Jesus said “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit”
The Apostles had no idea what that meant… but they could assume that it would be overwhelming… they should have expected it to be overwhelming since the faced an enormous task.

And we, each of us individually, and as this church, this expression of the Body of Christ, face together enormous tasks… do we have the courage not only to meet the challenge of the task… but do we have the courage to step out and willingly receive the Power that Jesus has for us to be His hands extended?

Will we wait, like the Apostles… not the Apostles of verses 10-11 who are waiting around looking into the sky? There are already plenty of well-meaning but impotent Christians sitting around waiting… looking into the sky, fantasizing about what God might do for them. We need to be like the Apostles at the end of the chapter, going about the work that needed to be done, persevering (all together) in prayer that they may be ready to receive all that Jesus has for them.