Acts 2: How to Wait on the Lord
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This is how we wait for the fulfillment of God’s promises - praying constantly and responding obediently
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “ ‘Let another take his office.’ So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
They who wait on the Lord
Development
Development
Introduction
Introduction
Try and put yourselves, if you can, into the shoes of the disciples as they stood watching the Lord Jesus disappear into the clouds.
The last 3 years or so had been completely life changing for them
They were normal people… they had jobs, hobbies and lived fairly normal lives trying to get by just like everyone else
… and then Jesus came into their lives and said “follow me” and nothing was ever the same again.
Suddenly, their priorities changed and following Jesus became the preoccupation
They were there when Jesus was baptized
They were there when he healed the sick
They were there when he fed 5000 with 2 fish and a handful of bread
They watched him walk on water and witnessed him raising Lazarus from the dead
For 3 years they sat under his teaching and followed him - fully convinced that he was the Messiah, who had finally come to deliver Israel from her enemies and lead them as their victorious king
But then, over a period of just over 1 month, their whole world turned upside down again.
The Messiah was arrested
He was brutally tortured, and He was put to death on a Roman cross
.... betrayed by one of their own no less - Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 Jesus himself had chosen to be his disciples
It seemed everything was lost!
Everything they had hoped for was shattered!
But then 3 days later, Jesus rose again!
And what followed was 40 days of joy and walking and talking with the risen Saviour!
As we see in they thought, maybe this is about to happen - they ask him now: Jesus, will you now restore the kingdom to Israel??
Is this really finally happening??
And then Jesus’ response in verse 7:
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts
And now, after all that.... here they stand, staring into the sky, watching their Messiah - their king - ascend on a cloud and disappear out of their sight.
I can just see them standing there in shock - for starters, I mean he has just floated up into the sky in a cloud and disappeared - this is not something you see every day!
And now, after all that.... here they stand, staring into the sky, watching
And what’s more - there are now 2 angels standing next to us!
But more hard-hitting than that - He’s gone.
But more hard-hitting than that - He’s gone.
He was supposed to lead us to victory and restore the Kingdom, but he’s gone!
When is He coming back - we don’t know.
When is the Holy Spirit going to come as He promised - we don’t know.
All we know is, He’s promised us the Holy Spirit and power, and He’s coming back.
When, we don’t know.
But we do know it’s going to happen - we just need to be patient, and wait.
But what do we do until then?
Is there something we are supposed to do until then? What should we do while we wait?
What do we do now?
Application
Application
It is just as appropriate a question for us now.
Some of us have known Jesus for a very long time, some of us only for a few weeks.
In many ways this is
For all of us, knowing Jesus turned our whole lives inside out and everything changed from that moment onward.
Our priorities changed, our reason for living changed, our desires changed
In the beginning everything is especially exciting as consider the realities of living as a child of God....
.... a child of promise, an heir to the promises of God and especially - the promise of eternal life.
We were all excited about the promise of eternal life and living in God’s will,
You know
We know that Jesus is King, we know He has promised to come back, we know that he has promised that we will meet with him in the air and we will be with him forever.
The only thing is.... when will that happen?
We don’t know.
We just need to be patient.... and wait.
But what do we do until then?
What are we supposed to do while we wait?
That is a question that is appropriate for us to ask ourselves this morning - now that we have celebrated Easter, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, the Ascension of Jesus, and the promise of His return.
How should we wait?
Returned to Jerusalem
Returned to Jerusalem
Sabbath Day’s Journey
Upper Room
Disciples names
1. They Devoted Themselves to Prayer
1. They Devoted Themselves to Prayer
After the disciples picked their jaws up off the ground, verse 12 says that they returned to Jerusalem.
If you remember back in verse 4, Jesus told them that that is where they are to wait for the promise.
They didn’t really know what to expect or when to expect it, but in obedience to the Lord that’s where they returned.
Luke says they went straight to the upper room where they were staying.
The upper room would have been the upstairs area of a house which was generally the part of a house which would have been rented out, and the landlord would have the bottom floor for his own use.
The fact that it is referred to simply as “the upper room” seems to imply that this was a well known room and a regular meeting place.
Luke now names each of them by name - and then he says in verse 14:
All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
They devoted themselves to prayer.
The first thing that we see the disciples doing as they wait for the promises of God… is they devote themselves to prayer.
The fact that the room they stayed in is referred to simply as “the upper room” seems to imply that this was a well known room and a regular meeting place.
What’s more, Luke says that were were devoting themselves to prayer
All of which tell us quite convincingly that this was a constant thing
They constantly and regularly met together to pray
In verse 15 the full company of 120 brothers are mentioned, which implies that it wasn’t the disciples only who met constantly and regularly to pray - but all the saints gathered to pray
What is taking place are regular, dedicated meetings where the followers of Jesus are meeting for the express purpose of praying.
They devoted themselves to it
All the disciples, followers, men, women, all of them, desperate in prayer - and resolute in prayer.
They were probably thinking back to Jesus words back in Luke 18
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
Luke
The first priority for us to do as we wait on the promises of God is to devote ourselves to prayer.
We don’t just sit around and do nothing.
Waiting for God involves activity.
The first priority for us to do as we wait on the promises of God is to devote ourselves to prayer.
Waiting for God’s promises to come cannot be a kind of idle laziness.
We don’t just sit around and do nothing.
Waiting for God involves activity.
We need to be devoting ourselves to prayer.
When I say this I mean we need to be constantly, regularly, intentionally, always, without ceasing, devoting ourselves to prayer.
How many of us can honestly say that we are doing that?
Now you might ask, why, Nick? Why should we be constantly bugging God in prayer?
Surely He heard us the first time?
I mean, how many times should we pray for something? How long should we persist?
It feels like we are just nagging and nagging at God, hoping he will eventually get sick of hearing us ask for it and reluctantly give it to us...
But we don’t pray to change God’s mind or bend His will to our own...
The purpose of prayer is not to change God… the purpose of prayer is to change us.
The purpose of prayer is to bend and conform our will to God’s will.
The purpose of prayer is to pray “God - not my will, but your will be done. And prepare me Lord to receive and to do what you will”
What do you think they might have been praying for?
Do you think that it might have had something to do with what they had just been promised?
Probably, they had in mind Jesus’ promises to them not just right before he ascended, but back in where He said...
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
They were praying in one accord - that means they were all praying in agreement for the same thing...
…they were praying for the Holy Spirit to come which the Lord had promised would come!
They were praying, come Holy Spirit!
You might ask, but why pray for something that God as already promised.... but better still I ask, why pray for something God has not promised.
But what confidence we can have when we are praying for what God has promised to give!
Art Azurdia - who has been a great help to me in preparation for this sermon - gives the example of a sailing boat.
If you are floating out in the ocean on a windless day, and you want to get home, you need a strong wind to come and blow you home.
And what do you need to do while you wait for the wind to come?
Sleep???
No…you prepare the boat for the wind… you hoist the sails in readiness for when the wind comes.
You hoist the sails in readiness for the wind to come.
Praying is hoisting the sails, it is getting ready for the wind of God to come
It is aligning our desires with God’s desires, and preparing ourselves to receive that which God has promised will come.
And we can do that with confidence brothers, because God will do what He has promised to do.
God has promised that we will receive eternal life when we believe,
and He promised that we would receive the Holy Spirit as our guarantee,
but He has also promised that with the Holy Spirit we will receive POWER....
.... Power for what?
--- to fall on the floor or speak gibberish?
Power to be His witnesses
Power to make Jesus name known and to proclaim the gospel.
How are we waiting for
How are we waiting for Jesus to come?
How are we waiting on the promises of God?
Are we devoting ourselves to prayer for the Holy Spirit to come and blow on our neighbourhood, and on our city, and on our country and on the rest of the world?
Are we praying for power to be His witnesses? Are you praying for that?
Are we praying for God’s help to overcome the barriers that are preventing us from being his witnesses?
Because we all have barriers!
There isn’t a single one of us that doesn’t feel tension within us pressure, or thoughts of failure...
but are you praying for God to help you to overcome those barriers?
We need to pray!
Not just because we are commanded to in Scripture - but also because we can do so with the absolute confidence that He will grant what we ask!
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:
Friends to one degree or another, this is something that requires a repentance
Not because God is reluctant and we need to bug him
A constant thing - regularly meeting together to pray
waiting for God is not lazyness - it is activity
Devoted, dedicated meetings
desperate people - resolute in prayer -
Not because God is reluctant and we need to bug him
we aren’t ready to receive
prayer doesnt change God, it changes us
Hoisting the sails
why pray for something God has already promised to give?
How can we pray
God’s promsies are the awarrant to pray - we pray with confidence
Prayer aligns our desires and thoughts with God
How are we waiting?
by praying with persistance?
Are we devoted to prayer
2. They Responded with Obedience
2. They Responded with Obedience
Now Prayer is relying on God to intervene, and we are called to rely on Him constantly in prayer.
But that is not all we are called to do while we wait for God’s promises.
If the purpose of prayer is to conform our hearts and desires to the Lord’s will, then there must also be an obedient response from us to the Lord’s will
Look now at verse 15:
Peter now stands up and addresses the gathering of around 120 Christians
Why Peter?
It’s interesting that every time the disciples are named, the order of the names differs slightly but Peter is always named first.
And that is because Peter was the leader - the first among equals
Not because Peter had any specific abilities or intelligence that the others lacked, but simply because Jesus chose Him.
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Peter is now doing exactly what the Lord prayed He would do.
In the midst of all this uncertainty - the depression - the anxiety - the loss that the Christians are feeling at this point...
… I mean their world has been turned upside down yet again, and they don’t know what is going to happen or when…
But now up stands Peter...
Peter now does
but
His faith has not failed. He is standing up to strengthen his brothers and sisters.
And they needed it.
Did you notice that there was a name missing from the list of disciples?
Just like Peter is always the first name when the disciples are listed, this name is always and without fail given last - Judas Iscariot
Why isn’t he there?
Luke breaks momentarily away in verse 18 from his report of Peter’s sermon, for the sake of bringing old Theopolus up to date on Judas Iscariot’s fate.
After selling out on Jesus, and betraying him for a rich reward - as Luke puts it - for his wickedness, Judas acquired a field - a small farm.
A combination of all accounts of Judas in the gospels and Acts tells us that Judas hung himself, and eventually he fell through and his insides spilled out.
Where does his betrayal and the subsequent events leave the disciples and the rest of the Christians?
“How could this have happened?”
How could Judas have done this to our Lord?
And you can imagine all the emotions? Can you imagine how they must have been feeling after everything they had been through, and to top it off, betrayed by one of their own?
So Peter takes the lead and begins to preach a sermon to strengthen them and strengthen their faith.
And how does Peter lead them?
According to the Scriptures.
He quotes Scripture
Peter has been reading and meditating on Scripture and praying through the Scriptures, and now he leads the church in accordance with what he has found in the Scriptures
This is how a man of God leads - he studies the Bible, knows the Bible, and seeks to apply what the Scriptures say to every situation, every problem, every crises, every question
CBC, pastor Barry was such a pastor.
And if we are to find another pastor, we need to look for a pastor who places the highest priority on this question: What does the Bible say?
We need a pastor who is not going to lead us according to what the latest polls say, or what the church growth experts say, or what anybody else says for that matter - except that which agrees with scripture.
You see Peter remembers how in when the risen Jesus met them on the road and walked and explained to them how to read the Scriptures Christocentrically.
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Jesus told him that the Scriptures, the prophets, everything was pointing to him the whole time.
The whole Bible is all about Jesus.
So Peter has now during this time in the upper room back in Jerusalem, been going back and studying the Scriptures again - only this time he is reading them with a new understunding - a new perspective
He now sees how it is all pointing to Christ
Noah
Moses
the Exodus
David
the prophets
all of it foreshadowed and pointed to Jesus
So Peter begins to see things in a new light.
So he stands up and he says to everybody:
“The Scripture had to be fulfilled”
Nothing that has happened was an accident… God has not been caught by surprise.
Jesus did not make a mistake when he chose Judas ....
in fact, He deliberately chose Judas in the beginning because he knew Judas would betray him and the Scriptures would be fulfilled.
Peter quotes 2 particular Psalms to make his point: and and ...
In David is praying for vengeance on his enemies and says in “May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents”
Now in this Psalm David is writing about himself - he has no idea of the prophetic nature of what he is writing.
But Peter is recognizing that David was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit - he says in verse 16 of - “the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas”
Peter is now seeing that David’s life served to foreshadow the Messiah - God was using David to point to Jesus.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Peter is now seeing that David’s life
So Peter is applying this Psalm to Judas’ now empty field, referring to Judas as Jesus’ enemy.
But that’s not all Peter finds in the Scriptures...
Peter also finds , another Psalm pointing to an enemy of Jesus...
When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin! May his days be few; may another take his office!
May his days be few; may another take his office!
Ps 109:
So Peter has studied the Scriptures in their hours of desperation, and he has come to 2 conclusions:
This was all part of God’s purpose - there is no way that this couldn’t have happened
It is God’s purpose and will that another should take Judas’ office as the 12th apostle...
And their response is immediate and obedient...
They know there are 11 of them now, there needs to be 12
So they put forward the qualifications - the 12th man needs to have been with Jesus from start to finish, he needs to have been an eye witness to all that Jesus did and said
And so they put forward 2 witnesses: Barsabbas and Matthias
Because they have come to understand the bigger
How do they decide between the 2 of them? They cast lots...
Now we need to understand the special circumstances under which these men use the casting of lots to help them with this important decision
Firstly, they are doing so with a Scriptural basis - there are occasions in Old Testament history where lots were cast to determine the Lord’s will
there are occasions in Old Testament history where lots were cast to determine the Lord’s will
they have read scripture, and are responding to
And then specif
They may have more specifically read and applied
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.
You see they were not casting lots to help them make a decision - they prayed beforehand and asked Jesus to reveal the one He had already chosen.
And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
Acts 1:
The choice between Matthias and Barsabbas had already been made by Jesus - Jesus chose him the same way Jesus chose the original 12
The lot was not to make a decision but to reveal the decision Jesus had already made
Does that mean that we should now cast lots to decide on our next elder?
Does that mean we should cast lots to decide which of the 2 cars we have been looking at we should buy?
Does that mean we should cast lots to decide which of the 2 cars we have been looking at we should buy?
Not in the slightest.
These were special circumstances where the These were special circumstances where theThese were special circumstances where thThese were special circumstances where tThese were special circumstances where These were special circumstances whereThese were special circumstances wherThese were special circumstances wheThese were special circumstances whThese were special circumstances wThese were special circumstances These were special circumstancesThese were special circumstanceThese were special circumstancThese were special circumstanThese were special circumstaThese were special circumstThese were special circumsThese were special circumThese were special circuThese were special circThese were special cirThese were special ciThese were special cThese were special These were specialThese were speciaThese were speciThese were specThese were speThese were spThese were sThese were These wereThese werThese weThese wThese TheseThesTheThTou will notiThese were special circumstances where that this was the las t time that the casting of lots is mentioned in the Bible - they never did it again
dd
You will notice that this is the last time that the Bible mentions anyone casting lots - the apostles never cast lots again after this
Why?
Because shortly after this they received the Holy Spirit
d
The point is, Peter read the Scriptures to know God’s will, and when He learned God’s will, he immediately responded in obedience to God’s will.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Is that what we are doing, while we wait for the Lord to come?
Are we spending our days praying earnestly for God’s Spirit to come?
Are we spending our days studying the Bible to know and understand God’s will, and having done so, are we responding obediently?
praying earnestly for God’s
We have already been reminded last week that Jesus’ last words before He ascended up was that it is His will that we should be his witnesses....
....to make His name known to the ends of the earth.
We have discovered again that this is our primary occupation while we remain here...
Are you an insurance salesperson? No you are a witness for Jesus Christ who also sells insurance.
...
This is our primary calling.
We are the adopted sons and daughters of the returning king...
We are not meant to be waiting for his return in lazyness or preoccupation with other things.
How are we meant to be waiting?
We are to be busy preparing ourselves for his return...
Devoting ourselves to prayer in preparation for His Spirit to come and work powerfully through our ministry here in Cambridge and beyond...
and...
Responding in obedience to God’s will for us, that we should be His witnesses until He comes.
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in those days Peter stood up
Why Peter?
He was the leader
Always the first name mentioned in the list
Not because of Peter’s special talents but because Jesus chose him
He is leading them according to the Scriptures
He quotes Scripture
He’s been praying and reading Scripture
This is how a man of God leads - he knows the Bibles and applies the Bible
Jesus showwed them how to read the scripyures Christocentrically
So now Peter has gone back and reread the Scri[tures and discovered some things
All these OT prophecies had to be fulfilled - and they founf their fulfillmnet in Christ!
It had to be fulfilled
Was it unexpected? Did Jesus make a mistake?
No- there is no way this could not have happened
“The scripture had to be fulfilled” - this was God’s plan from the beginning
So he points out 2 particular passages
and
David was writing about himself, his own context
David’s life served to foreshadow the Messiah
David doesnt realise, but God used his life to point to Jesus
Human author and divine author
Jesus was fulfilling God’s plan by choosing Judas
2 quotes - 1 has been fulfilled, the other hasnt
Peter knows that so...
Not Peter’s idea - it is God’s purpose that we have a 12th
Why 12?
much bigger story
from Genesis to revelation
Israel has 12 tribes
Reestablished Israel - needs 12 men
Jesus chose 12 by design
The church doesn’t replace Israel - it is Israel
We are the children of Abraham - true circumcision
Why a man?
Though gender barriers had been broken down, there are still gender distinctions
Paul wouldn’t have qualified
he wasn’t there from the beginning
had to be credible eye-witnesses from the beginning
Paul refers to himself as one untimely born
So it was no mistake
So they nominated 2 men
Jesus chose the apostles
- show us which of these 2 you have chosen
language shows the choice was already made
lots was not to make the decision but to reveal the decision Jesus had already made
This is a unique situation
this is a reponse to the scriptures that a 12th must be added
they were being obedient to the scriptures
there was due diligence and biblical qualifications
they prayed -
they trusted Jesus to make his choice known to them
This is the last time lots were cast - after that they received the Holy Spirit