Acts 1 - Commencement

Judges • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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Pray

I came across a story about Linda, a first grade teacher at a nearby elementary school. And On the first day of school, Linda had an interaction with her young student named Ryan. You see, Ryan, was Accustomed to going home at noon in kindergarten. And so, at 12 O’Clock, Ryan was getting his things ready to leave, when he was actually supposed to be heading to lunch with the rest of the class. Linda then asked him: “what are doing Ryan”, "Well, I'm going home," he replied. To which she explain, “now that you’re in first grade, you’ll have a longer school day…” "You'll go eat lunch now, "and then you'll come back to the room and do some more work before you go home." Ryan looked up at her in disbelief, and hoped she was kidding. Convinced of her seriousness, Ryan then put his hands on his hips and demanded, "Who on earth signed me up for this program anyway?"

We here this story this morning and many of us can relate with Ryan. There was a moment in life in which where you were before, is not where you are today. For some of us, this took place as we left kindergarten and went into first grade. For others of us,it was the transition from grade school to middle school, or from middle school to high school.

But there’s the moment of realization… that high school or college is over… now what? (Have you ever been there?) I mean you’ve spent the last twelve years or more attending school… but now that’s over… now, we’re onto the next chapter. Or maybe you go on to college, you obtain an associate’s degree or bachelor's degree… great… but now what? (Can anyone relate with that?)

What moms no longer going to make my lunch and read me a bedtime story?!

How about this… Has any of you ever said: “If I knew now, what I know now…” (that’s probably most of us in the room.)

And so, with this in mind, whether you’re graduating soon, or even if you graduated 52 years ago… the message is the same for all of us… there are 3 things that we must do as we go through life… And this applies to those graduating. This applies to major decisions we’re making. This applies to every day…

Before you go…

1. Wait. 2. Pray. 3. Stay (the course.)

If you have your bibles, turn with me to Acts chapter 1. And as you turn there. I want to let you know that over the next 6 weeks; we’re going to be in the book of acts. We’re going to look at the early church and much of our focus is on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We’re going to see how he teaches us, and instructs us, and helps us…and one of my hopes and prayers is that we each will have a deeper knowledge of the Holy Spirit at the end of these 6 weeks.

1. Before you go… Wait

Acts 1:1-9 tells us: 1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 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, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

6 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. 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.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

So, as we look at the scripture.

We find Luke addresses Theophilus, the same recipient of the book of Luke. By the way, the name Theophilus in Greek means, “friend of God.” We don’t know much about Theophilus, many scholars believe that he was the person who financially sponsored Luke’s research and writing.

But after a brief introduction, Luke explains: “3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”

Now it’s important to remember that Jesus has previously told his disciples that he would be crucified and then rise from the grave.

So, this shouldn’t be a surprise that he rose from the dead. But over the course of 40 days, although he wasn’t with them continuously, he would go on to appear to them at different key points.

In Luke 24 for instance, he would show his disciples his hands and his feet, his crucifixion wounds, in John 20: he would enter a room where the doors were locked, and in John 21 he would appear to his disciples as they are fishing, and there would be another miraculous catch of fish, similar to when Jesus first called his disciples. So, there are a number of signs over the course of 40 days. And Jesus is ultimately giving these disciples convincing proofs that he rose from the dead.

But the key is this. By Jesus appearing to the disciples, they would not only be completely convinced of the Lord’s physical resurrection. But also, they would be emboldened to go out and preach and share the gospel.

You see here’s the point. The disciples, figuratively speaking, have graduated. They’ve learned from their master, they’ve walked with him, they’ve talked with him, they’ve observed their rabbi, or teacher for over 3 years as he has instructed them and prepared them for this great moment. And he would go on to not only be crucified, but rise from the grave… and for them, in their lives… it’s like everything has been leading up to this moment.

I mean, now is the time where they’re supposed to go out. With excitement! And share, and witness and testify to everything that Jesus has told them to do… This… is their momentin life!

I mean Jesus had just told them to Go… Matthew 28:19 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

But then in verse 4, there is a major setback… 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, which you have heard me speak about.

Now I don’t know about you… but if my whole life had been leading up to this moment… and I was supposed to go… I would have a hard time staying… I think of a grey hound ready to run around the racetrack… I mean this is my job in life. This was I was built for… and yet. In this moment, although previously the word was GO… Now the word is wait. Like if I was a grey hound, at a delayed race, I’d probably be looking at all my other dog friends, with kind of a sideways look, and being like are we just supposed to sit around and wait.

You see I don’t know about you… but that word in my vocabulary, is one that I really don’t like. Like Go… I Can do… I do really good at go… but sit, wait (roll over) … and stay… that’s tough.

Church, in life… there are many decisions, many choices that we will make, you make 35,000 choices a day.

Here's the key this morning. Jesus’ hold told the disciples “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about… but here’s the key… 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” You see the disciples were going to receive the Holy Spirit, the gift was coming. And Jesus would tell them…

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.” You see power was coming… emboldened faith was coming… courage, increased commitment, these things were coming… but they had to wait on God’s timing. Car without the keys.

You see, God has great things in store for your life… but sometimes, the timing isn’t right.

Matthew 16:24 tells us: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Church, we’re told to follow after him. We not told to get ahead of him, to run ahead of him… we follow… How’s that going this morning?

Some of you this morning are in seasons of waiting. You’re waiting for the good news; you’re waiting for a specific word. And sometimes we don’t like wait… but you know what… In the wait, you get the rest!

Isaiah 40:31 those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Church, will you wait on him this morning?

2. Before you go… Pray

Explain Acts 1:12-14 Continues 12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[c] 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.

As we look to the scripture, we see that the remaining 11 disciples have returned to Jerusalem from the mount of olives as Jesus has now ascended into heaven. And here the disciples will go to the upper room, where they were staying. And just so you know this upper room is likely the same location where the last supper would take place. And also, this is likely a large house as 120 people could meet together in this upper room. But here’s what I want us to notice for a moment.

Verse 14: “14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

You see when we look at the word constantly, by definition is a strong expression. It carries this idea of persistence, and never giving up.

And I want to remind us of something this morning. You see, for the disciples, there would have been a sense of pain, and hurt, and trying to make sense of things. I mean verse 6 just explained to us that they had gathered around Jesus, and they were asking him: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

And as you know, Jesus told them It is not for you to know the times or dates. But in this moment, as Jesus has left, and one of their friends, Judas has recently sold Christ out and committed suicide. I mean these are tough times. Yes, there’s excitement, this is the first century church. and the Holy Spirit is about to do some awesome things… but these are men, these are humans. Jesus has just left them.

And so, in their prayer, they’re praying because they’re physically separated from the ascended Christ, and prayer was their way of communicating with Him.

But don’t miss this point. You see, Jesus told them to wait for the Holy Spirit. But what did they do while they waited? They prayed.

You see, I came across an article this past week that explains In a New York Times article, journalist Alex Stone tells the story of how executives at a Houston airport faced and then solved a cascade of passenger complaints about long waits at the baggage claim. They first decided to hire more baggage handlers, reducing wait times to an industry-beating average of eight minutes. But complaints persisted. This made no sense to the executives until they discovered that, on average, passengers took just one minute to walk to baggage claim, resulting in a hurry-up-and-wait situation. The walk time was not a problem; the remaining seven empty minutes of staring at the baggage carousel was. So, in a burst of innovation, the executives moved the arrival gates farther away from the baggage claim area. Passengers now had to walk much farther but their bags were often waiting for them when they arrived. Problem solved. The complaints dropped.

For the same article Stone interviewed MIT operations researcher Richard Larson, the world's leading expert on waiting in lines to discover the psychology behind our waiting. What happened at the Houston airport makes for a perfect illustration. According to Larson, the length of our wait is not as important as what we're doing while we wait. "Often the psychology of queuing is more important than the statistics of the wait itself," says Larson. Essentially, we tolerate "occupied time" (for example, walking to baggage claim) far better than "unoccupied time" (such as standing at the baggage carousel). Give us something to do while we wait, and the wait becomes endurable.

The disciples are waiting on God, they’re waiting for the Holy Spirit… but they’re not just wasting their time away…no… they’re making the most of their time. They’re praying.

Graduates, church, If I could encourage you with one thing this morning It would be to pray more often. Could I encourage you to make prayer a daily posture for you. Whether things are going great in life, or not, no matter what the season, Could I encourage you to pray. Pray for your circumstances, pray for your family, pray for the church, pray for me… Church pray without ceasing.

3. Before you Go – Stay (the course)

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, “Brothers and sisters,[d] 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. 17 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.)

20 “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: “‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and “‘May another take his place of leadership.21 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, 22 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.”

23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

Won’t spend a ton of time on this last point. But as I was reading this scripture, there was a part of me that was deeply saddened by the choices of Judas. Now don’t get me wrong, the bible makes it clear that Judas was never saved. But his choices lead to his downfall.

I think about us this morning. Whether we’ve been saved for years or not… we all have the capacity to sin. For each of us, sin desires to have us… it’s waiting there.

And I guess what I would say is for those of you who are graduating, or for us as believers this morning… stay the course… one day to the next, do the right thing. Peter is preaching, the people are receiving, this early church is praying, they’re doing the right thing… and you know what God absolutely blesses them. He shows up in a miraculous way.

Friends, stay the course. Give careful thought to your ways… be steadfast in all you do… don’t waiver… stay the course.

I’m going to call Lisa up at this time.

And as she comes forward, I just want to share briefly about my son.

You see, Carter’s graduated on Thursday night. And if you know anything about Carter, he’s a sweet 6 year old little boy.Whose really just starting out in life… but as a dad, my greatest desire for him is to know and love the Lord… like he can do anything else in life, occupation aside, whether he gets married or not, where he lives all these things… I pray he submits to the Lord… but most importantly, Love Jesus.

You see we look at Judas, he had every opportunity, and I’m sure his parents when he was born, never imagined what would become of him… and yet, so many of our friends and family, they’re just as lost. Church, we need to point them to Jesus.

Speak to a few groups:

1. Those who are in a season of waiting. Life is hard… Challenging…

2. Prayer life. I was in prayer on Friday and God told me that there are some in here that are just way to wound up and stressed out this morning… anxious…

Cast all your anxieties on him. For her cares for you. 1 peter 5:7

3. Maybe you have a loved one who is a long way off. Prodigal son or daughter…