BY Argie Simonis
When the Lord rose from the dead, He stayed for a time with His disciples before He ascended:
"Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:" (Acts 1:2)
"To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them FORTY DAYS, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:" (Acts 1:3)
We all like the fast food mentality, meaning I want it here and now, but life teaches us that for some people or some things in our life we have to wait.
How many of us have learned to wait on God or the timing of the Lord until certain things are done?
God doesn't have an alarm clock to remind Him when to do something. And yet, God is NEVER late.
The day of Pentecost came 50 days after the Resurrection. For 40 days we saw that the Lord continued to be with His disciples, which means that after the Lord was taken up, they had to wait for 10 more days before they received the promise, that is, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Today, I will talk about these 10 days. We will see what happened and what lessons we learn from the Scriptures.
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After the Resurrection, the Lord stayed for another 40 days on earth. What were Jesus' last words, what did He tell His disciples to do just before He ascended?
I'm sure many of you will be thinking the words we read in Mark and Matthew:
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16)
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (Matt. 28:19)
"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matt. 28:20)
So the word you are thinking of is the word "go". But is it so? In the last chapter of Luke, chapter 24, and in the first chapter of Acts (of which Luke is again the author), we see clearly what were the last words spoken by the Lord shortly before He was taken up. His last words were not "go", but "SIT", and "WAIT". The Lord said this because if they tried to go before they got strength, they would accomplish nothing:
"And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke 24:49)
"And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them." (Luke 24:50)
"And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." (Luke 24:51)
"And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:" (Luke 24:52)
"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." (Acts 1:4)
"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." (Acts 1:8)
"And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight." (Acts 1:9)
Nobody likes to wait. How many times have you made a reservation at a restaurant and are in a rush to get there on time, but once you arrive you sit on hot coals while you wait to be given your reserved table? You ask and complain, is the reservation made? Why are they late coming? Did something go wrong? Did someone else take our table? Where is the person in charge to talk to?
Is this happening only to me?
I will explain this in the message. Why does God make us wait? Why did Jesus not stay all 50 days with His disciples who were to receive the promise of the Holy Spirit? Why did he only stay 40 days and make them wait for the next 10?
We will also see where they had to wait and how they had to wait. In other words, if you expect a promise from God,
- where should you wait,
- how should you wait and
- why should you wait?
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1. WHERE DID THEY WAIT?
In this question, most people believe that the disciples were waiting in the upper room for the fulfillment of the promise. This is not wrong, but it is partially correct. And I will explain it.
The disciples waiting in that upper room were 120 in number. They were Jesus' first twelve disciples, the 70 whom the Lord sent (Luke 10:1), as well as the women who followed Him:
"Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey." (Acts 1:12)
"And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James." (Acts 1:13)
"These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." (Acts 1:14)
"And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)" (Acts 1:15)
Of course, this does not mean that they waited there in the upper room for all those 10 days without going anywhere else. Look at what Luke describes to us:
"And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:" (Luke 24:52)
"And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen." (Luke 24:53)
This means that they were neither in the upper room, nor in the temple 24 hours a day, but simply that they were constantly visiting the temple "glorifying and blessing God". That was their priority.
~~ This is how the first Church was born. In the Temple and in the upper room. And this is how it still works. In the home and in the temple. If you only have church on Sunday in the temple, but you don't have church in your home the rest of the days of the week, know that you are definitely missing something. We need both. And our personal time with the Lord in our home, but also communion with our brothers and sisters in the temple. ~~
There are disagreements that often lead to disputes about when we should worship the Lord. Some say that the worship to the Lord should be done on Saturday and others on Sunday. We get the answer from the practice applied by the first Church:
"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart," (Acts 2:46)
"Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." (Acts 2:47)
"And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." (Acts 5:42)
"Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:" (Rom. 16:3)
"Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ." (Rom. 16:5)
But beyond the fact that they were in the temple and in the houses, there is a deeper truth. When they asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, He told them:
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." (Μatt. 22:37)
"This is the first and great commandment." (Μatt. 22:38)
"And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Μatt. 22:39)
~~ In other words, what the Lord told them was to have a relationship with God and with godly people. ~~
I answer the original question: Where should I wait for God's promise? And I'm sure ALL of us are waiting for some promise of the Lord to be fulfilled in our lives, for our health, our marriage, our children, our finances, our work, our future. So where should we wait?
~~ We saw this a little above in the verses we read. We wait by staying in relationship with God and with godly people. This is very important, and if you don't do it you risk giving up and missing out on the promise. ~~
ILLUSTRATION:
When you open your mobile phone, it usually shows some dots and a search signal at the top of the screen. And what does it say; "Searching For Connection".
~~ Every human from the moment they are born comes into the world with this need for connection. God has created us with an innate need to seek Him and other people. ~~
The Lord said:
"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Μatt. 22:40)
Do you want to see the whole Bible summarized in one sentence?
"Have a relationship with God and His people."
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2. HOW DO I WAIT?
How did the early believers wait?
"These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, ..." (Acts 1:14)
Prayer means to ask, and supplication means to ask fervently.
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16)
Prayer is a big part of the Church. We do not pray out of obligation, but when we pray we communicate with God, we present our request to Him and as we speak to Him we give Him every burden and problem that weighs on us. When we do not pray, burdens remain upon us and continue to put us down.
So that's what prayer does. It carries our burdens to the Lord:
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28)
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." (Matt. 11:29)
"For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:30)
Now look at some characteristic examples of how prayer continues in the book of Acts:
-- Acts 7:55-60: Stephen prays before being stoned.
-- Acts 8:14-17: Peter prays for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit.
-- Acts 9:11: Saul (Paul) prays after his conversion.
-- Acts 9:36-43: Peter prays before raising Tabitha (Dorkas) from the dead.
-- Acts 10:1-4: Cornelius prays to God.
-- Acts 10:9: Peter prays and the Lord shows him to go to Cornelius to answer his own prayer.
-- Acts 12:1-11: believers pray for Peter who was in prison.
-- Acts 13:1-3: They pray and fast before sending Paul and Barnabas away.
-- Acts 16:13-14: They pray and the Lord opens Lydia's heart.
-- Act. 16:16-18: While Paul is praying, he cast out of a woman the python spirit.
-- Act. 16:25: As Paul and Silas pray, God opens their prison cell.
-- Act. 20:36 and 21:5: Paul prays for his friends before leaving.
-- Act. 27:35: Paul in the midst of the storm prays for God's blessing.
-- Act. 28:8: Paul prays and lays hands on someone and he is healed.
~~ Do you see how prayer was a very important part of the life of the early Church? The more we persevere in prayer, the more we will see God's promises come true in our lives. ~~
~~ You know, apart from the one and only time we accept Jesus Christ as Savior in our life, we continue to accept the Lord everyday in our life, not for salvation, but as the answer to our problems! ~~
There is the initial baptism in the Holy Spirit, but also our daily filling of the Spirit to deal with whatever problem comes into our lives. This is what Paul meant when he wrote:
"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;" (Εph. 5:18)
How do we do this? Watch the very next verse:
"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;" (Εph. 5:19)
"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;" (Εph. 5:20)
Watch how the Holy Spirit comes upon us:
"Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened," (Luke 3:21)
"And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." (Luke 3:22)
"And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:31)
God's Spirit comes when we pray! If you are wondering,
"But as a believer I have the Spirit of God".
Yes, you have it and you receive it at the moment you got born again:
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (Rom. 8:9)
~~ But when there is a need, we need the Holy Spirit from within us to manifest outside us so that we can face what comes before us. This is what I mean by the Spirit of God coming when we pray.
In other words, the Spirit of God, the Advocate, is waiting for us to pray so that He manifests in the physical as well! The whole heavenly army is waiting for a believer to pray and agree with Heaven so that Heaven will come down to earth!~~
The Lord is waiting for us.
"Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months." (James 5:17)
When we receive a promise from the Lord we do not sit passively and wait for it to manifest. We trust the Lord, but we also pray fervently putting active faith in this promise.
"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..." (Prov. 23:7)
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So in summary:
-- Where did they wait? In the Temple AND from house to house.
-- How did they wait? With prayer AND supplication.
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3. WHY DID THEY WAIT?
Why did Jesus only stay 40 days? Why did He let them wait the other 10 until the promise was fulfilled?
And don't forget that we know it today because we read it, but the disciples then didn't know it would be 10 days.
The Lord did not tell them how many days they had to wait until the day of Pentecost. So why did he tell them to wait? And by extension, why does God ask us to wait?
Many times we come to the Lord with all these questions:
Why, one, why the other,
-- why did my wife get sick?
-- why did my husband die?
-- Why Lord did this happen? Where were you when this happened? Why did you allow this to happen?
These are questions that all of us may wrestle within ourselves.
So why does God make us wait? It's a difficult question, but the answer is simple. You may not like the answer, but you'll understand once I explain it:
~~ The Lord makes us wait because He is God. He is God and knows more than we do. ~~
But apart from the fact that the Lord knows everything, He is also a God of love. That's why he makes us wait because he loves us. He does it for our good, to help us grow in our faith.
I will explain this better because we need to understand some basic things about faith.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1)
In other words, faith is hope that you CANNOT see.
"For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" (Rom. 8:24)
"But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." (Rom. 8:25)
Here is the key word: WE WAIT
"It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD." (Lam. 3:26)
~~ If you get EVERYTHING you want, there will be nothing left to hope for. Those who have everything, or think they have everything, have nothing to hope for ~~.
That is why the most unhappy people in the world are those who have a lot, and in fact they are the ones who commit the most suicides, because they no longer have hope for anything.
That is why the Lord makes us wait, so that we can have hope and grow in faith. But the key here is to understand that in order for the Lord to increase our faith, He first increases our relationship with Him.
~~ This is very important. It is the heart of the whole message.
God gives you a promise, but you are not yet able to handle that promise. That is why the Lord first builds your relationship with Him, so that when the promise comes you can handle it. ~~
Do not forget that the promise fulfilled on the day of Pentecost was the power and person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the Helper, came with power that day.
The reason God is not giving you power yet is because that power will destroy you if you are not ready to handle it.
The reason the Lord made His disciples wait 10 days was because He wanted to push them into a deeper relationship with Him through prayer, so that when the power of the Holy Spirit came, they would be ready to handle it.
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---- ABRAHAM AND SARAH: ----
God made them wait 25 years until they saw the promise.
-- First, because they were not ready to manage the promise unless they waited 25 years. And we know this because in the 11th year Sarah gave her handmaid to Abraham to sleep with her in order to "help" God fulfill His promise. Neither Abraham nor Sarah were ready for the promise.
So every time you think that the Lord is increasing your faith, know that what the Lord is actually doing is building your relationship with Him. He prepares you to trust Him to such an extent that when the time of the promise comes you can handle it properly.
~~ If you pray to the Lord for a financial blessing or a promotion in your job and the Lord gave it to you immediately without preparing and maturing you in your relationship with Him, that blessing will destroy you because you will not know how to you manage it. Wealth and promotions without proper maturity destroy a person. And the Lord knows this very well. ~~
That's why He keeps you waiting.
Here is another question:
If the Lord knew it would take 25 years for the promise He made to Abraham and Sarah to be fulfilled, why did He give it to them 25 years earlier? Was he evil for doing this? Why didn't He tell them 1 year ago?
He did it precisely because he knew that they needed 25 years of waiting and hoping until they were mature enough and ready to handle this blessing.
This is one reason God is waiting.
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---- THE SECOND REASON GOD IS WAITING ----
Although the Lord does not keep a watch, the times He acts are always at the right time. Their son's name was Isaac. One day Abraham sends his servant to find a wife from among his relatives. On the very same day, this servant goes to the well, and Rebecca, on the same day, also comes to the well to get water. If Isaac had been born 25 years earlier, Rebecca might not have even been born.
Do you see this? God knows much better than we do, He has plans and He also has a way of bringing His plans to fulfillment. He already has a plan for your life:
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." (Jer. 29:11)
So, Isaac was born at the right time to meet his wife Rebekah, so was Jacob to meet Rachel, and Rachel's womb opened at the right time to have Joseph, and this continues until a virgin girl , Mary, the mother of Jesus.
And you know what the good news is? This continues to this day!
With your children and grandchildren! God already has a plan for their lives! The Lord is the One who does it, and be assured that this plan is perfect!
So for Mary, at the right moment the angel of the Lord came to her, many scholars and theologians believe when she was very young, around 13 to 16 years old, and so Jesus was born on a certain day, to begin His ministry In His 30s,
and at the age of 33 to die on the day of Easter, so that 50 days later the Holy Spirit would come exactly on the day of Pentecost.
And it all starts with Abraham and Sarah having to wait 25 years for the promise to be fulfilled!
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In summary:
I am sure that all of you are waiting for the fulfillment of some promise that you got from the Lord. The place to expect this promise to be fulfilled is in your relationship with the Lord and in your relationship with His people.
How you will wait is by prayer and supplication.
The reason you should wait is because everything the Lord does is for your good!
All of us are waiting for God to move His Spirit in some area of our lives.
Be sure that the Lord loves you and never stops working in your life. And rest assured that He has a good plan for you. Stay close to Him, and keep your relationship with Him strong, and with His people. In the Temple, but also from house to house. Stay in prayer and supplication. Trust Him.
"And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform." (Rom. 4:21)
Amen!
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