Watching, Waiting, & Working
(Don’t Just Stand There!)
Acts 1:9-14
Intro: Have you ever seen something really spectacular? Have you ever seen something that just caused your jaw to drop and your eyes to bug out as you stood there and gazed at it? If you’ve ever watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition, you’ve seen some pretty exciting reactions to the incredible work that was done to provide a new home to some needy family. You hear things like, “Oh my goodness! Wow! Oh I can’t believe it. It goes beyond my wildest dreams!”
-Well, I don’t know exactly how the disciples reacted when Jesus ascended to His Father, but I do know that they stood there staring up into the sky- at least for a few moments. I can only imagine the excitement that we will feel when we see Jesus coming back the same way He left. I’m sure there will be laughing, shouting, and weeping with joy and excitement. But as exciting as it will be, there is something else that needs our attention while we are eagerly awaiting His return. That leads us to the main point of this message.
Prop: Christ’s work is finished, but He left us with important work to do.
Interrogative: How do we know this to be true?
TS: We will examine 3 basic insights that show us we have work to do.
I. Christ’s Ascension Signaled the Completion of His Work (1:9)
- "But from now on the Son of man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God." Luke 22:69
-“He [God] raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20).
-“After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Heb. 1:3).
-These verses show us that Jesus’ work of atonement was finished. He had come to do His Father’s will and had successfully completed everything the Father had asked Him to do. When we finish our work we usually sit down and rest. Well, Jesus had worked the greatest work ever. He had lived a sinless life, even though He was tempted in every way that we are tempted. He helped people by teaching, preaching, healing, caring, touching, warning, and even rebuking. Then, He accomplished what only the perfect Son of God was able to accomplish. He took the sins of the world on Himself when He died on the cross, so that everyone who believes in Him and receives His forgiveness can live in peace and have eternal life!
-So, after His resurrection, He made several appearances to His followers over a period of 40 days. Scholars tell us that day 40 was a Thursday. He met with His disciples and reminded them of the promise of the HS. He also reminded them of their task to take the gospel into all the world, after receiving power from the HS to do so. Then, since His work was completed, He left. It must have been pretty amazing as He defied gravity, and began to rise up into the air. No wonder the disciples were staring after Him, trying to catch one last glimpse of Him. I would have been doing the same.
-While they were straining their necks to see where Jesus had gone, two angels appeared and asked them what they were doing. Now, I don’t know if maybe the disciples expected Jesus to come back down, or if perhaps they were kind of in shock at what they had just seen. Maybe they were even grieving the fact that this was the last time they would see Jesus this side of heaven. Have you ever watched a helium filled balloon go up into the sky until it was so far away you could not see it anymore? They may have been doing that, or just savoring the moment. Nevertheless, the angels brought them back to reality. Christ’s work on earth was done for now. However, they reminded them of a promise Jesus Himself had given them. What promise was that? Well, Jesus had just talked to them about the promise of the HS. However, the promise the angels spoke of was to be in the future, more than just a few days away.
-Let’s look at this promise- the promise of Christ’s return.
II. Christ’s Return Will Signal the Completion of our Work (1:10-11)
-The exciting word from the angels was that “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."
-That in itself is reason enough to rejoice and to get excited. However, as history has shown us, the expectation of Christ’s return can create problems if we lose perspective. Zeal for Christ’s return should never hinder the work God has for us to do on this earth. In times past, there have been groups of people who thought they knew when Jesus was coming back. So, they sold all they had and gathered together on top of a mountain, waiting for Jesus to appear. Not so many years ago, the church saw a booklet called “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Occur in 1988.” It was rewritten again for 1989. Let me just say that when we try to put dates or even years on when Christ will return, we are out of focus. Jesus said, “It is not for you to know. But it is for you to receive power from the HS and be My witnesses in your own communities and around the world.”
-Our work is not done yet, and if we do not do our work, who will? God has chosen to use us as His messengers to a lost world. Are you getting the message out? Are you offering hope to a hurting, dying world?
-Jesus is coming! We don’t know when, but we do know He will come.
-Peter talks about hastening the Lord’s coming. He says, “Since we know the Lord is coming, we ought to live holy and godly lives, looking for His coming and hurrying it along.” How can we hurry it along? By receiving the HS and being effective witnesses for Christ. The more we share our faith and live godly lives, the more people will find forgiveness and eternal life. Peter indicates that God keeps waiting a little longer because so many people still need to be saved. He won’t wait forever, so we do have a lot of work to do.
-TS: In our final point, let’s take a look at this work we have to do until we go to Him or He comes to us.
III. Until Jesus Comes, Christians Must Continue to Work Diligently (1:12-14)
A. Work to Maintain Christian Community
-V.12 says “They returned….” V.13 says, “They went….” V.14 says, “They all met together continually for prayer….” (They, they, they.)
-One thing that marked the apostles and the people of the early church is that they did things together. Each one didn’t return and go off and do his or her own thing. No, they stuck together. If we want to make it to the end and finish well, we must work at developing Christian community. How often do you get together with other believers to encourage one another or just to be together? We can’t really be a very close family if we only see one another once a week. Don’t wait for someone to invite you over, you invite someone else over. You be the one to fan the flame of hospitality. You be the one to stir up love and good works by getting together with other believers. If you are already doing all you can, then great! However, I have a feeling we all could do a little better. Maintaining Christian community will help provide fellowship, accountability, encouragement, spiritual growth, comfort, and so much more. Maybe you are doing pretty good in these areas, but what about those who aren’t? Who will make the effort to go to them and be a family to them? Let’s all commit to doing better in this area.
-We read in Hebrews 10:24-25 24”And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” That may be referring to meeting weekly in the synagogue, but literally all it says is meeting together. Christians should meet together often to encourage one another toward godly living and spiritual growth.
B. Work at Prayer
-Along with this, we need to work at prayer. We need to have regular times of personal prayer, just being in the presence of Jesus. We also need to spend time interceding for people and needs the Lord puts on our hearts. We need to pray with and for one another. We need to have times of corporate prayer as we all seek God together.
-Do you know what the 120 were doing when they were baptized in the HS? They were praying together. God’s power is available through prayer. Prayer aligns us with God’s will. Prayer changes reality in the spirit realm first, and then we see the results in the physical realm. Something happens when we pray that does not happen when we don’t pray.
-Most of us agree that prayer is important and we believe every Christian should pray regularly. However, it doesn’t happen by itself, does it? It takes work, discipline, follow through, and perhaps accountability. If you haven’t been spending any time in prayer, then start somewhere. Take 5 minutes in the morning and talk to the Lord. Talk to Him when you are in the shower, or when you are driving to work or to the store. Let’s commit ourselves to becoming people of prayer. Along with that, let’s get in the word. How can God speak to us if we cannot recognize His voice? We can learn how He speaks to mankind as we read the Scriptures and get to know the God of the OT and the NT. If you don’t have a plan, use the reading schedule on the back of the bulletin. In addition to working at Christian community, prayer and the word, we must work at reaching people with the gospel.
C. Work to Obey the Great Commission
We are great commission people! The apostles received this commission from Jesus: Preach the good news! He used the apostles to start the Christian Church from Pentecost on; now He wants to use you and me to reach the world. Looking back to last week’s sermon, we need to receive the baptism in the HS so we can be effective witnesses of Christ. How are we doing at sharing our faith? I know I need to work on it more. I need to get out of my familiar routines and out of my comfort zone, and tell more people how wonderful Jesus is. If we only hang out with other Christians (which we do need to do) we will never have much opportunity to reach those who do not yet know Christ as their forgiver and leader. We may need to find creative and nonthreatening ways to share Christ with members of our own family who have not received Him yet.
-Notice in v.14 that the family of Jesus did come to embrace Him as the Messiah at last. The resurrection (and perhaps his appearances after the resurrection) were enough to convince them that He was not just their older brother. Rather, He was their Savior and King. John 7:5 tells us that even His brothers did not believe in Him. His brothers names were James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude. James and Jude each wrote a book in the NT.
-Maybe you have family members who do not yet believe that Jesus is who He said He is. There is hope! Keep on praying for them; keep on loving them! Keep on sharing the gospel with them in understandable, relational ways. We find in Acts that when people received Jesus and His forgiveness, their entire household was often saved. I don’t think that is too much to ask for, is it? Do you want your family to know God’s forgiveness and to have peace in their hearts? Do you want them to be in heaven with you? Hang in there and keep on living for Jesus. Let Him love them through you!
Conclusion: As we close, we know that Christ’s work on this earth was done when He ascended into heaven. We also have heard that Jesus is coming back. What an awesome day that will be when Jesus appears in a cloud of glory and brightness! That will signal our retirement. The work of this life will be over and we will be with Jesus forever! However, we must not stand around looking at the sky, waiting for Him to appear. We must be working, doing God’s will and reaching the lost. We need to work at being the body of Christ, God’s family. We need to work at prayer and the word. Most importantly, we need to work at being witnesses for Jesus, through the power of the HS.
-Maybe you sense the Lord nudging you in the ribs today. If it’s the person next to you, then consider that the Lord might be using them to motivate you. Seriously, if you sense the Lord speaking to you about your work for Him in whatever area, I encourage you to get alone with Him and let Him talk to you about it. I don’t doubt that most of us want to do more for the Lord and be more effective at the work He has for us. However, the difference between a wish and reality is often commitment. Make a commitment to the Lord to change the areas He is asking you to change. He will help you. It may also help you to list some simple things you will do to see those changes happen. Bottom line: let’s bump it up a notch! Let’s surrender the stuff of our lives to God and start making a godly difference in the world around us. If you would like to spend some time praying about this, I would encourage you in just a few moments to come and pray.
-Maybe there is someone here today, and you are not in right relationship with Jesus. Maybe you’ve never prayed and asked Him to forgive you and to become the leader of your life, or maybe it has been a long time since you’ve had anything to do with God. There’s one person who can change that today – you. If you are willing, the Bible says if we confess our sins, God will forgive us and cleanse us. We can become clean before God, regardless of what is in our past. He loves you so much! Are you ready to give your heart to Him? If you are, would you raise your hand to show that you are ready for a new beginning? I would love to pray with you in just a moment.
[Come Just as You Are]
