Sermon Tone Analysis
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Text
This is how we wait for the fulfillment of God’s promises - praying constantly and responding obediently
They who wait on the Lord
Development
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:
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
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
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:
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
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?
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