When Jesus Says "wait" Series

When Jesus Says Wait

Acts 1:4

(A Message for pastors, preached at a recent pastors conference)

Every man in this room possesses the honor of having been called into the Gospel ministry. We have been chosen by Christ to be His ambassadors in this world. We have been given specific instructions as to what He would have us to do while we are here. However, knowing the task that has been assigned, we often try to “make things happen” when we should actually be waiting upon the Lord to move.

Each of us wants to see lives changed, souls saved, backsliders restored, and Believers grow and mature in their faith. We want to see our churches grow. We want the budgets to increase and for the baptistery and the pews to be full. We all want to see revival & revitalization.

When we go through seasons when these things are not happening, we have a tendency to take control and implement processes that we think will be a catalyst for progress. Many times, even after much planning and great effort, nothing changes. When we fail to see the fruits of our labor, it isn’t long before discouragement comes.

There is an important lesson that we can learn from the Apostles during that period between Christ’s ascension and the arrival of the Holy Spirit. These men of God did something that was absolutely vital to the success of the early church. What did they do? They waited!

Waiting is not easy for those of us in ministry; we don’t want to wait, we want to work and we want to see results! Without a doubt, there is much work to be done, but there are times when God would have us to wait. Waiting does not mean that we are inactive or unproductive; in fact sometimes waiting is what is required for us to be obedient to the Lord.

Very often we reference Jesus’ command to His followers in Acts 1:8 where He says “you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." But we overlook the command that He gave them in verse 4; there He “commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me”. Jesus didn’t simply suggest that they wait in Jerusalem, He “commanded them not to depart” and He commanded them to “wait for the Promise of the Father”. Church history would have been much different if these men had not waited on the Lord.

After giving the Disciples these final instructions, “while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up…

Have you ever stopped to consider the emotions of Christ’s followers as they watched Him ascend to Heaven? After He departed, two angels confronted the Disciples and said “why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

I think there were several reasons that these men stood there gazing into the clouds. One reason was sheer amazement! Trust me, if you saw someone take flight into the Heavens, you would stand there in amazement as well. They also were likely overwhelmed by the Majesty of their Savior ascending to His rightful place in Heaven. But I also think that these men were filled with sorrow.

Just over a month earlier, Jesus had gone to the Cross and died. These men grieved and mourned for three days after His passing. Then, they were reunited with Him and had the great privilege of spending many days with the resurrected Christ. Not only was Jesus their Savior and Master, He was their friend. Can you imagine the sorrow they must have felt seeing Him ascend back to Heaven, leaving them behind? Though Jesus assured them that He would be with them, that He would not leave them as orphans, and He told them about the coming of the Holy Spirit, these men were certainly sad to see Him go.

Soon though, they would be filled with His Spirit and they would perform many wonders. The miracles that they had seen Jesus perform, they would perform themselves. The sick would be healed, demons would be cast out and the dead would be raised through the ministry of these Apostles. Even more important than the physical miracles was the fact that these men would be used to spread the Gospel and advance the Kingdom of God. However, it was not yet time for these things to take place. Before these marvelous things would occur, there was to be a period of waiting. I don’t think that waiting was easy for the Apostles, but it was necessary.