“Waiting for Pentecost”
5/20/12
Acts 1:1-14; 2:1-13
I don’t think it was easy to be one of the twelve disciples. We see being around Jesus and taking part in miracles and the sensationalism of being a follower as getting the ‘Easy Button’ in religion. We forget that they needed to walk in faith, too. They needed to resist their doubts, too. Not just Thomas, but Jesus often said to them, “O ye of little faith.” Or “Why did you doubt?” Someone wrote a book called, “Love is a Choice” – well ‘faith’ is a choice, too. Believing is a choice. We think of the Children of Israel in the desert, see the miracle after miracle coming out of Egypt; seeing a supernatural pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud by day – and STILL fall into sin. What was their problem! It was unbelief. They choose to believe something other than God; they choose to put their faith in something other than God; they choose to resist the Spirit and follow their flesh. That is all of our challenge – and it was so with the Twelve, as well.
In our Scripture this morning we find Jesus’ little band of believers in transition. They are once again waiting. A few weeks early they had that horrible experience of waiting those three days while Jesus was in the tomb. Hiding behind locked doors; cowering in fear; overwhelmed with doubts – what a time of waiting that was! But Jesus walked through those closed doors and said, “Don’t be afraid!” He gave them hope. He gave them courage. He gave them something on which to build their faith.
But now He was gone again. This time they had seen Him ascend up, up, up into the air and disappear in the clouds. WOW! What an experience that must have been. Can you see them with open mouths, eyes lifted up to where they last saw Jesus – and suddenly there were two angels standing in their midst encouraging them. That is some pretty good material to build your faith on.
But now – they were waiting once again. They didn’t know it – but they were waiting for Pentecost. They were waiting for the Holy Spirit to make His grand entrance into the world. And when He came He was going to ROCK their world! He was going to rock OUR world.
Some of us are waiting for Pentecost, too. Some of us have made a commitment to pray the ten days from Jesus’ ascension to Pentecost for our unchurched family and friends. Some of you may be waiting for a personal Pentecost in your life. You have invited Jesus into your life to be your Savior – but you haven’t reached that place of total surrender where the Holy Spirit becomes Lord of your life. I want to encourage you to do that in these days before Pentecost Sunday. Have you received the Holy Spirit? Listen to the Word.
“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them...” Acts 19:1-6
Maybe you have been baptized when you repented of your sin. But after that you need the power of the Holy Spirit in your life to enable you to live the life the Bible tells you to.
Let’s take a look at what the disciples were doing between Ascension Day, which was May 17th, and Pentecost Sunday, which is May 27th this year. Pentecost, by the way, is the celebration in the Jewish religion of the giving of the law fifty days after the exodus from Egypt – hence the word ‘pente” meaning fifty. Christians celebrate Pentecost fifty days after Easter. So in a sense, our exodus from sin and the world (our salvation) occurs on Easter when Jesus, after paying for our sins or atoning for them, rose from the dead. Fifty days later at the Jewish celebration of the Feast of Weeks the Holy Spirit descends and we are given a new law that is written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We no longer have to follow a demanding code through self disciple – we follow a new and better code through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote:
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
“Christ’s love COMPELS us” “we no longer live for OURSELVES – but for Him who died for us!” That is the heart of the Spirit filled Christian. We are motivated by love – not fear of punishment.
So – Jesus was crucified as the atoning sacrifice for our sin. He rose from the grave three days later. Forty days He walked around on planet earth showing Himself to be alive with many convincing proofs. Then as some of His followers watched – He ascended up into the clouds. Even after the two angels assured them that Jesus would come back in a similar manner – they must have been bewildered, dazed and maybe a little confused. But Jesus had given them some instructions. The first one was 1. Wait.
“On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he (Jesus) 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.” Acts 1:4-5
How are you at waiting? I’m not so good. I’m probably better than most at this stage of my life – but still – waiting in line; waiting at the doctor’s office; waiting at the DMV – it’s not one of my favorite things to do. But that was their instructions. Wait.
How did they do at Jesus’ simple instruction? Not so good. Since they were waiting they decided to elect someone to take Judas’ place. They had a little board meeting, nominated a couple of good men – then elected Matthias to the position of Apostle. Seemed like good common sense – but they forgot to wait on the Lord for HIS leading. Oh, they prayed a little superficial prayer – then did ‘ennie, meanie, minie, moe’ – at least that’s what it amounted to. They cast lots. They rolled the dice. It came up Matthias. And that is the pretty much the last we hear of Matthias. I’m sure he did many good things and fulfilled his calling – but I don’t think he was who God had in mind for the position. I think if the Apostles would have waiting on the Lord a little longer – God would have made Paul the 13th Apostle. I think he was God’s choice. The fruit seems to bare that out. The lesson is – wait! When the Lord says wait! His plan is always better than ours. Plan ‘A’ is always better than plan ‘B’.
When new Christians, so full of fire; so full of zeal, so anxious to get out there and start serving, get ahead of the Lord – it often ends in frustration and disappointment. Have you learned to wait on the Lord? Jesus said we are to ‘watch and pray’. In other words, we are to wait for Him. Daniel was a great example of this. Listen as the angel explained to Daniel why his prayer was delayed.
“Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.”
Daniel 10:12-13
Many scholars believe the angel was held up by the demon prince of Persia until help came in the form of the archangel, Michael. Seems that way to me, too. But what would have happened if Daniel would have given up? What if he stopped praying because he wasn’t getting any results? We and he would have been cheated out of a great blessing. I wonder how many blessings we miss because we do not wait. Wait on the Lord! Wait until the Holy Spirit falls on you.
Secondly, the Disciples fellowshipped. After the ascension of Jesus the disciples joined together in fellowship. Fellowship is defined as ‘two fellows in the same ship”. The Apostles joined together and were of one heart and mind. Listen.
“Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 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. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” Acts 1:12 -14
So right after the ascension they got together with Mary and the rest of the women – and now they had some more believers – Jesus’ brothers. James, I’m sure, was one of them. He was to become the head of the church in Jerusalem and the writer of one of the books in the New Testament.
One of the traits or characteristics of the New Testament Church was fellowship. Right after Pentecost the Bible says this:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all” Acts 4:32
“The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.” Acts 5:12
“You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.”
Acts 20:20
“Publicly and from house to house”! Someone called that the 20:20 vision of the New Testament Church. I think that is an important vision to have. We need to not only have our public services – but we need to meet in each others homes for Bible Study and fellowship. In Hebrews it says,
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:23-25
We need fellowship. We need each other. When one gets a little weak – another can encourage him. To hold unswervingly to our hope, our expectations, – we need that fellowship. We need to spur each other from time to time. In our day we might say, “We need a good kick in the butt to motivate us to love and to do good deeds. And certainly, it is to our peril if we neglect meeting together. If we cut ourselves off from the church and the fellowship – it is only a matter of time until Satan has us in a death hold. Do not give up meeting together – both at church and in each others homes.
Lastly, between Ascension Day and Pentecost, the disciples prayed. They began to pray and pray and pray some more. How hard it is for us to pray like that. But they prayed for ten days. Why? Was it to change God’s mind? Was it to beg God for something they wanted but He didn’t want to give? No. I think it was to change their hearts. Someone said, “Prayer moves the hand of God.” And that is true. But it also changes us. As we pray, the Spirit leads us, and moves us, and gives us insight and ideas. He illuminates any darkness in our hearts. He heals. He forgives. He empowers. He regenerates us. And after we have prayed through – we can go out in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Since YOU have believed – have you received the Holy Spirit? Some will tell you that you received the Holy Spirit when you believed. The disciples didn’t. Sure the Holy Spirit ‘works’ in our life even BEFORE we believe. That is called ‘previent’ grace. Or ‘the grace that goes before’. He convicts us of sin and draws us to Jesus. When we ask Jesus in our hearts- the Holy Spirit teaches us and guides us to Truth. But He cannot empower us; He can not fill us – until we completely surrender to Him. The Word says the Holy Spirit is ONLY given to those who OBEY Him. (Acts 5:32) We must come to a place of complete surrender – radical obedience – before we receive this divine gift. Are you ready to receive Him? Some may need to wait. Some may need to surrender some things in their lives first. Some may need to eliminate or initiate something in their lives. You know what I mean. It is something very personal between you and God. And when you yield that to Him – you open your heart to be filled. And when you do – you pray a prayer like this.
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for dying for me and paying the price for my sins. Please forgive me of my sins. Cleanse my heart. Renew my mind. Help me to die daily to myself. I no longer want to be in control. I give you control of my life. Make Your will known to me and I will do it. Right now, Dear Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit. Give me the power to live as you want me to.
