OPEN: Back in the 1800’s there was a group of believers known as the Millerites, who were led by a man named William Miller – a Baptist preacher who had predicted (in 1831) that about 12 years later - sometime between March of 1842 and March of 1843 - Jesus would come ….
His announcement caught the imagination of the nation and many people became his followers.
When Jesus didn’t show, there was widespread disappointment. The followers were disillusioned… until August 12th of 1844, during a camp meeting in New Hampshire, one of the men stood up and declared that he had received a message from God:
Jesus was coming…and He was coming that year… on October 22nd.
It was like somebody lit a match. The entire movement exploded with excitement. As the day approached, one Philadelphia store window displayed a sign which read: “This shop is closed in honor of the King of Kings who will appear about the 20th of October. God ready, friends, to crown Him Lord of all.”
A group of 200 people left the city to prepare for His coming.
Most of the Millerites gave up their occupations during those last days. Farmers left their crops in the fields, workers left their work unfinished in their shops. October 22nd came… but Jesus didn’t.
APPLY: (…pause…) These people meant well… but they fell into a trap. They are a cautionary tale to us to remind us of the truth Jesus told us 2000 years ago: "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Matthew 24:36
So… when someone comes along and tells you he/she knows the exact year or day that Jesus is coming back, smile gently and just walk away.
NOW, JESUS IS COMING AGAIN. Maybe in our lifetimes. Maybe today… maybe tomorrow.
Peter wrote: “…the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.
That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” (2 Peter 3:10-14)
Jesus IS COMING AGAIN… and we should live our lives looking forward to that day. Living holy and Godly lives that will please Him when He comes back.
I. But… what we want to be careful of is falling into a trap.
What trap am I talking about?
Turn with me to Acts 1:6-8
“So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’
He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.’”
These men were concerned with dates and times. They had questions. They wanted to fill in the gaps of their theology. BUT Jesus told – you don’t need to know that stuff. What you NEED to know is:
You’re going to receive a special gift… My Spirit/ My power
And when you receive that Power/ that Spirit… you’re going to be my witnesses to the world.
THAT’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW. Everything else is window dressing.
And when Jesus had said all this… He left them. He ascended into the heavens.
Now, understandably… that would have been awesome. One moment Jesus is talking to His followers… and the next, He’s rising up off the ground. Ascending into the air and floating out of sight until He was hidden by the clouds… awesome.
So you can appreciate the fact that His followers just stood there for a while. I don’t know if they expected to come back in a couple of minutes. Or if they were so shocked by the experience that they didn’t know what else to do.
But they hadn’t been standing there long “… when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’” Acts 1:10-11
In essence… the angels were asking the disciples… what are you standing around here for? He’s coming back! But there’s work to be done.
You see, the angels were warning the Disciples about the trap that many Christians can fall into… just standing around. (let it sink in for a minute or so).
ILLUS: One man observed that many Christians are so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good.
That’s what happened to the Millerites. They got so excited about the idea that Jesus would come on October 22nd that they left their fields and their shops and they went out to wait for Him.
The went out into the fields to just STAND AROUND.
And, it’s possible the disciples would were in danger of falling into that very same trap.
II. Well, it happened to the Millerites… and it could have happened to the Apostles
… could that happen to us?
Oh yeah. You don’t have to be someone sitting out in the field waiting for Jesus to come to fall into the trap of “just standing there.”
ILLUS: How many of you have seen that commercial for Disney’s cruise lines?
There’s a family of four (they’ve probably paid about $3000 to $4000 a piece to go on this fabulous cruise)
– the kids go off by themselves and have fun
– the wife goes off by herself and has fun.
– And the husband goes off by himself… sleeps
He sleeps in his stateroom, he sleeps in the pool, he sleeps in his deck chair, he sleeps in a hammock by the seashore.
Everybody is out having a wonderful time… and this guys idea of a great vacation is to do NOTHING.
Now, that’s supposed to be funny – and it is. But, there’s something pathetic about the idea of a man spending such a huge amount of money on a dream vacation and then just… does nothing. He doesn’t even bother to open his eyes… he just sleeps.
There are a lot of Christians – who have come to Christ who behave just like that.
They get all excited about what God can do in their lives.
They receive the greatest gift of all history – at great cost to God – their salvation by the blood of Jesus Christ. And then they live as if they think that God will be pleased if they just stand around and do nothing.
Inherently… we know that’s not true.
Throughout Scripture we’re told the stories of great men and women.
Men and women who have made tough choices; made difficult sacrifices; and have stood tall in times of hardship.
All those stories tell us of the strength and character that God wants to see in our lives.
In our heart of hearts, we know that “Just standing around” isn’t going to cut it
III. So… how do we avoid this trap of just standing around?
I’ve given this an immense amount of thought.
I have read commentaries and books by great learned men.
I have spent a long period of time in prayer and deep thought.
And through all of this I’ve come to a deep theological conclusion.
The way to avoid the trap of “just stand around” is (pause) “do something”
I realize that is a hard concept to grasp, so let me repeat it:
The way to avoid the trap of “just stand around” is “do something”
Now, one of the reasons a lot of people don’t “do something” is that they don’t know what to do.
Nobody’s told them what to do, and so they’re afraid to do something. They’re afraid that they’ll mess it up all by themselves.
Now, take a look at what the took place right after Jesus ascended & the angels appeared:
TURN WITH ME TO Acts 1:15-26
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus— he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."
(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
"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.’ Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 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."
So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.
Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Now… who gave Peter the authority to select a replacement for Judas?
They haven’t been filled with the Holy Spirit yet…(Pentecost is a couple days off)
As far as we know Jesus didn’t tell them to do this. Jesus didn’t say that He needed someone to replace Judas.
And… when we look closely at Peter’s words– we find that Peter doesn’t claim that God revealed this to him.
Peter quotes a couple passages of Scripture, and he says let’s have a 12th man to take Judas’ place.
In addition… Matthias name never occurs ever again in Scripture (In fact, this is the only place his name is mentioned).
So, there are scholars that believe that Peter and the Apostles acted without divine guidance when they selected Judas’ replacement.
So, did they make a wrong choice here? - I don’t know.
But it doesn’t make any difference… God honored it.
While it is true that Matthias isn’t mentioned again in Scripture… God’s Word DOES include Matthias when it refers to the Apostles.
Acts 6:2 tells us: “So THE TWELVE gathered all the disciples together….
Again, in 1 Corinthians 15:5 we’re told that Jesus “… appeared to Peter, and then to THE TWELVE”
In both of those instances, Judas had been dead for days. So, there was only one way that the Apostles could have been called “the 12” and that is – if Matthias was included in their number.
Now… what I’m saying is this: Peter saw a need for someone to replace Judas. And he did what he felt needed to be done. God honored it. Whether there was divine guidance or not… God made it right.
You see… God has made us a promise: “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
So, if we decide that we’re going to “do something” for God, God is basically saying… I can make it right. I can make it work. Because “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
There’s only three stipulations on that. If you’re going to do something for God and you want it to succeed, you have to do these 3 things:
1st: Make sure that what you want to do doesn’t contradict the teachings of Scripture.
However, a lot of times, the decisions you want to make aren’t covered by Scripture. The Bible won’t give you a command to do something, or not to do something. So what do you do then?
Well, you apply the 2nd stipulation to your decision: “…whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17).
If you’re going to do something… make sure you’re doing it for God. Make sure you’re doing it for His glory… not your own. I have observed many people who have great religious zeal for one project or another. But, there goal is obviously to exalt themselves and say “look at me!” They’re not in it for God… they’re in it for themselves.
How do you make sure you’re not hogging the limelight from God? Ask your spouse. Ask your friends. Ask anyone who’s opinion you think you can trust. If they give you an “all clear” you’ll probably be ok.
3rd - Whatever you do for God… make sure you do it for the benefit of others. not yourself.
“… not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.” (1 Corinthians 10:23-24).
So… if you’re going to do something for God make sure you’re not doing it out of selfish motives.
If you do those 3 things… then you can be assured that God will bless your efforts.
IV. Now… just as an example of how this works
In your bulletin, you’ll find an insert asking if you’d like to be involved in an experiment
We’re talking about starting a 2nd service at 8:00 am on Sunday Morning
Experts tell us that a normal church maxes out at about 80% of its seating capacity
For example, if a church has 180 seats, the highest average attendance they’re going to have (on a regular basis) is about 144 people
Now… 180 seats in this sanctuary is about the maximum we can comfortably set in here
And – over the past 3 years – we’ve bumped 140 in attendance several times
In fact, at the beginning of this year, we had three successive weeks at or near that #
So, the Elders & Brad & I have sat down and talked this out… and we’ve come to the conclusion that – if we’re going to continue to grow we’ve got to do something.
We’ve not rec’d divine guidance on this matter. There is nothing in Scripture that tells us how we should deal with this situation. So… what are we going to do?
Ideally, the best solution would be build a new sanctuary that would have more than enough seating for our needs. How many of you think that would be a great idea (a great mass of people threw up their hands). Great! Now if those of you who put up your hands will write me out a check for about $10,000 or so a piece, we can get started this next month.
But, of course, that’s the problem. We don’t have the money to start building right away.
So, we’ve decided that we’re going to experiment with something that has worked for other churches we’ve observed.
Now… we’re not sure it’s the BEST solution but it’s the best solution we could think of and we really want this to honor God.
CLOSE: Still, people might ask: I’d like to do something for God… but I’m so afraid I might fail. Well, in the hands of God, even our failures can make a powerful difference:
ILLUS: Years ago, there was student at Kentucky Christian College who loved music. He enrolled in one of the classes that dealt with Music in Worship. One of the assignment was to compose a song that could be used for congregational singing. He completed the assignment and handed in his song, but the teacher was unimpressed. He said: “It’s a nice enough song… but people will never sing this in worship.” The teacher went on to explain that he had failed to do the assignment as it was explained, but since the student completed the task… he would receive at least a “C” grade.
The student’s name was Rich Mullins…
And the song he wrote goes like this:
Our God is an Awesome God
He reigns from Heaven above
With wisdom power and love
Our God is an Awesome God
We don’t need to be successful by our standards… but we do need to be faithful by His
