Illus: The largest library in the world is the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., which has over 173 million items as of 2024.
. Such as:
• Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?
• Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing?
• Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?
• Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game", when we are already there?
• Why do "overlook" and "oversee" mean opposite things?
• If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it?
Our libraries are filled with books. But with all these un-answered questions, I guess we need some more books to tell us the answers to these mind-boggling questions.
When we think of all the many millions of books that have been written, the BIBLE stands out above all of them!
The Bible is referred to in many different ways. We speak of it as:
• God's Word,
• The Good Book,
• The Holy Scriptures ,
• The Sword of the Spirit,
• The Book,
• The Book of Books,
• The Living Word, and
• The Miracle Book.
All these are fitting titles for the Bible, but I like to think of it as our personal library that God has given to us to help us with the questions in life.
For example, the book of Acts is different from all the other books of the Old and New Testament.
One of the unique things about the book of Acts is that it is the only book in the Bible that tells us about the LAST APPEARANCE OF THE LORD JESUS BEFORE HE ASCENDED BACK INTO HEAVEN!
Generally, we know that when someone only has a few minutes left to live on this earth, they choose their words carefully.
For example, if I knew I only had a few minutes left on this earth I would:
• Want my wife beside my bed and I would want to hold her hand one more time and say, “Thank you for being such a wonderful wife and I love you!
• Want my two boys and their families beside my bed.
• Want my friends who have stuck beside me through the good times and bad times and to tell them how much I have appreciated their friendship through the years.
The point I am trying to make is that when we know we only have a short time to be here on earth, we choose our words carefully.
With this in mind, when the Lord knew He would not be with His disciples very much longer before He ascended back to heaven, I believe He chose His words carefully!
We want to focus on those last words He spoke to them.
For example, one of the things He said to them:
I. WAIT PATIENTLY
Look at Acts 1:4-5. We read: “And, being ASSEMBLED TOGETHER WITH THEM, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
Notice, the Lord is saying they are to WAIT FOR THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY GHOST. The Lord is telling them to WAIT!
I have heard people say:
• I love to fish;
• I love to hunt;
• I love sports;
• I love to read;
• I love shopping at the mall
But I have never heard anyone say, “I LOVE TO WAIT!”
Illus: A common practice for us husbands we do not like having to wait on our wives to get ready.
Humor: I am convinced that the reason women live longer than men is because God knew it would take them longer to get ready to meet Him than us men.
Illus: We men do a lot of waiting. In fact, when our children are born, they give us a WAITING ROOM!
But none of us ENJOY WAITING! None of us!
Illus: Even when we pray for PATIENCE we want the Lord to give it to us RIGHT NOW!
The only people that love to wait is some drivers.
Illus: Now I could be wrong about that because I have noticed some drivers on the highway speed up to pass everyone on the highway so that they can get to the next red light first and wait for it to change green. And when it turns green they rush to the next red light to be first and WAIT for it to change. These drivers seem to love to wait.
It certainly seems like some drivers have this red and green light stuff all mixed up. But most of us know that red means we stop and we patiently wait for it to turn green.
But generally WAITING is not something we enjoy doing!
Jesus asked the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the promise of power to meet all that lay ahead of them
The disciples were obedient to the command of Jesus, though, and their obedience was rewarded with power.
It had been 50 days, nearly two months, since the Resurrection had taken place.
But they waited in Jerusalem as Jesus had commanded them to do as we read in Acts chapter 1. And because they waited, they experienced the power of God in their lives like never before.
Waiting is often like a pressure cooker experience.
One of my favorite Bible verses is Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
• But they that wait upon the Lord - The word rendered 'wait upon' here means in the sense of expecting.
• It does not imply inactivity,
One of the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT we as Christians are expected to bear is the fruit of LONGSUFFERING!
There is nothing any more unbecoming to us as Christians than IMPATIENCE!
Illus: A woman was waiting in the check-out line at a shopping center. Her arms were laden with a mop and broom and other cleaning supplies. By her actions and deep sighs, it was obvious she was in an extreme hurry and was not happy about the slowness of the line.
• When the cashier called for a price check on a box of soap, the woman remarked indignantly, "Well, I'll be lucky to get out of here and home before Christmas!"
• The clerk said, "Don't worry, ma'am, with that wind kicking up out there and that brand new broom you'll be home in no time.”
One of the most becoming things to us as Christians is to bear the fruit of patience before a lost world.
Illus: One day a friend saw the great New England preacher, Phillips Brooks, pacing the floor like a caged lion.
• He said to Phillip Brooks, “What is the trouble, Dr. Brooks?”
• Dr. Brooks said, “The trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!’”
In a society where time is often a more valuable currency than money, being kept waiting often feels like we are being robbed of something we can’t ever get back.
We can all relate to that assessment!
Remember we choose our words carefully when we know that we are not going to be here much longer. One of the last things the Lord told the disciples was to WAIT!
WHY WERE THEY TOLD TO WAIT?
The Lord knew He was not going to be around much longer and he had a going-away present for them.
Look at Acts 1: 4-5. We read: “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
• The Lord told them to wait and not leave Jerusalem until they were baptized in the Holy Ghost.
• They knew about John’s Baptism, but this was a baptism they did not know anything about!
• It pays for us to learn to wait at the feet of Jesus.
The reason that a lot of folks do not wait is because they feel they have more important things to do than wait.
Let me illustrate…
Illus: Remember those two sisters, Mary and Martha? Martha had the attitude in life that it was a waste of time to patiently sit at the feet of Jesus. But Mary did not see it that way at all. When Martha complained to the Lord about Mary waiting at the feet of Jesus, the Lord told her that Mary had chosen that good part.
Listen, we are never wasting time when we sit at the feet of Jesus. It is one of the most important things we can do.
This is why the Devil does not mind you:
• Reading all kinds of books,
• Reading all kinds of magazines,
• Playing on the computer,
• Talking on the telephone, or
• Watching television.
But he will do everything he can do to keep you from sitting at the feet of Jesus. As we live in this fast-paced life, rushing through life, we must learn to recognize the value of waiting at the feet of Jesus.
One of the last things the Lord said to the disciples, He tells us to WAIT PATIENTLY, but also, as we wait we are to…
II. WORRY NOT
Acts 1: 6-7 “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
The Lord told them to WAIT, but instead of just WAITING, we can WAIT AND WORRY!
The Lord could tell that the disciples worried about the TIMES AND THE SEASON, when Israel would be restored.
And the Lord told them there were some things NOT FOR US TO KNOW!
We are forced to WAIT, but this matter of WORRY IS A CHOICE WE MAKE!
Illus: Someone wrote their view on worry and expressed their view in this crude way…
There are only three things to worry about:
• Either you are well, or you are sick.
• If you are well, then there’s nothing to worry about.
• If you are sick, there are two things to worry about:
• Either you will get well, or you will die.
• If you get well, there is nothing to worry about.
• If you die, there are only two things to worry about:
• Either you will go to Heaven or Hell.
• If you go to Heaven, there is nothing to worry about.
• But if you go to Hell, you have a lot TO WORRY ABOUT!
The Lord could tell the disciples were worried about restoring the kingdom of Israel.
It is amazing the number of people:
• Who are worried about the things they do not know the Bible teaches;
• Who have no worries about what they know it does teach.
Worry has never solved a problem! NEVER!
Illus: Someone said, “Every evening I turn worries over to God. He’s going to be up all night anyway.” Worry not.
Before we move to the next points, I want to remind you that the Lord chose to speak these things before He ascended back to Heaven.
We are to
I.WAIT PATIENTLY,
II.WORRY NOT
and . . .
III. WITNESS EVERYWHERE
Another thing the Lord wanted us to know before He ascended back to the Father was that He was concerned about the lost. He knew He would no longer be here to witness to them, so he sends us in His place.
Look at Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
There is a lot of debate about what constitutes being filled with the Holy Spirit. There are many who claim they are filled with the Spirit because they…
• Shout
• Speak in what they call tongues
• They have all these visions
But there should be no debate what constitute being filled the Holy Spirit means.
Look at verse 8 again, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
God’s word tells us what constitute being filled with the Holy means, “Ye shall receive and ye shall be witnesses unto me”.
The modern day church is concern about:
• Buildings
• Programs
• Activities
• Entertainment
But the church today that is filled with the Holy Ghost is a church that is concern about WITNESSING TO A LOST WORLD.
The Word of God says they were to WAIT to be filled with the Holy Spirit!!!
The Lord wanted the disciples to know before He left that He was concerned about a lost world and He wanted us to be a witness to them.
THAT IS OUR BUSINESS AS A CHURCH!
Illus: A woman of wealth in Boston was somewhat overwhelmed when a complete stranger approached her on the street and talked to her about Christ and invited her to accept Him as her Savior.
• When she got home, she told her husband what happened and he replied, “Well, if I had been there, I would have told him very quickly to go away and be about his business.”
• The wife said, “If you had been there and heard him, you would have realized that he was going about his business!”
Brothers and sisters, if anything, our business in this world is the witnessing business!
Illus: Robert Speer said it well. “Any man who has a religion is bound to do one of two things with it:
• If it isn’t true, he must give it up.
• If it is true, he must give it away.”
In the short time the Lord had left with the disciples, He told them to:
I.WAIT PATIENTLY,
II.WORRY NOT,
IV.WITNESS EVERYWHERE
and:
IV. WONDER NOT
Look at Acts 1:9-11. We read: “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward Heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven.”
Have you ever been in deep thought and someone said, “Penny for your thoughts”?
Sometimes, however, it’s best if we do not know what some people are thinking.
Illus: One night a wife found her husband standing over their infant’s crib. As she watched him looking down at their very first baby, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: disbelief, doubt, delight, amazement, enchantment, skepticism.
• Touched by this unusual display and deep emotions, with eyes glistening she slipped her arm around her husband. "A penny for your thoughts," she said.
• "It’s amazing!" he replied. "I just can’t see how anybody can make a crib like that for only $46.50."
There are some amazing things in life and one of them has to have been watching Jesus ascend back into Heaven.
Here’s the really amazing thing.
Jesus had just told his disciples that they would be His witnesses to the ends of the earth, but there they were, standing in amazement, looking up into the sky wondering where He went!
And suddenly two men dressed in white, whom we assume to be angels, stood beside them and asked, “What are you doing, standing there looking into the sky?”
It’s like God is saying, “Don’t worry. I’ll be back. Get busy. You have work to do. Let’s get on with the program, my program of reaching the lost.” Don’t stand there in wonder and amazement, go to work! Wonder not.
Conclusion:
Before the Lord ascended He wanted these disciples to:
l. WAIT PATIENTLY
ll. WORRY NOT
III. WITNESS EVERYONE
IV. WONDER NOT
