After The But. . . The Here Near And Far Series

t’s a small word, only 3 letters, however when I looked up its definition in Collins English Dictionary, I found not one, but eight different ways the word could be used.

It can be a conjunction, a preposition, an adverb, a pronoun and a noun.

The word of course is “But” and if you have been at Cornerstone for any length of time you’ve heard me say, “After the but comes the truth.”

Now, I’ve used that phrase so long that I’m not even sure where I first heard it. So, I googled the phrase to see if that would provide a clue to its origin. And I got eight hits. Three of those hits were for a review of a restaurant in California, that had been posted in Trip Advisor, and they read: “They mean well, no doubt, and as far as Mexican food is concerned it's the best in Marbella... But (and after the "but" comes the truth), the staff can be slightly arrogant.” Ouch.

And then there were four of my sermons where I had used that expression and the last post was from a church in Missouri where the pastor had used an entire portion of one of my messages, verbatim, including the phrase.

So, I guess I’d be safe to say, “As I’ve always said, after the but comes the truth.”

The theme of my preaching over the next couple of months will be “After the but. . .” and we will be looking at various places in the Bible that the word “But” is used and the truth that follows.

And so, for our purposes we will use this definition from the Collins English Dictionary: But: conjunction (coordinating)

1. contrary to expectation

I.e. he cut his knee but didn't cry

Or, after the but, comes the truth.

This morning I want to take you to an afternoon forty days after the resurrection.

Jesus’s apostles had watched him die on a cross on Friday and then saw him after he rose from the dead on Sunday. And they spent the forty days after the resurrection with Jesus. They ate with him, they talked to him, and they listened as he taught them.

We are told in Acts 1:3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

And they still didn’t get it. After all they had been through together, after all they had heard him say, after the crucifixion and resurrection they still didn’t get it.

If we keep reading we hear them ask Jesus: Acts 1:6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

It was like they just saw the entire Easter weekend thing as a prelude to Jesus overthrowing Rome and setting up his kingdom.

And this isn’t just a one off. It doesn’t say they asked him, it said they kept asking him. Knock, knock, Penny. Knock, knock Penny. Knock, knock Penny.

If it had of been me, I’m sure I would have said, “seriously guys get a clue, haven’t you heard a thing I’ve said?”

Instead he tells them, Acts 1:7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.”

Maybe it would have been a good time to remind them of what he had said in Mark 13:32 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.”

“Seriously guys get a clue, haven’t you heard a thing I’ve said?”

And while this might be a good time to segue into a discussion on end times, I’m not. Instead we are going to move on to the next verse which is one of my favourite verses.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

And there’s our but of the week.

Jesus had spent three years with the apostles. Three years that they watched him teach and they watched him heal. They had seen him crucified and they had seen him after God had raised him from the dead and now the future of the movement that he had started comes down to these words.

It’s here that Jesus defines what His Church will do.

And so he tells them, You May be Comfortable Where You Are, But . . .

They were just ordinary men. They had been tradesmen, fishermen and bureaucrats. Some of them were nationalists who longed for Israel to return to her glory days, and others just wanted to go along to get along.