Waiting for God

Based on Acts 1:6-14

(Before reading this please read Acts 1:6-14)

One thing I really like doing is taking photos of unusual or beautiful things. In Burma, I took a series of photos of bees gathering pollen from Opium poppies in the early morning sun. I was always suspect of the line each bee flew after they left the opium poppy. 

Some of the most enjoyable photos I have taken are from Tassie, and on a couple of occasions, I have gone to the Tulip farm at Table Cape.  Table Cape is a beautiful spot at any time, but the Tulip Festival adds a splash of colour like no other time of year. 

After seeing these photos, I am sure you will agree that the splashes of colour here are amazing, but all is not as it seems to be.  As you get closer to the tulips you will see small anomalies, such as odd tulips of a different colour growing in an unexpected place.

This reminds me of the Scriptures, sometimes when we read the Bible and we think about what we are reading, we see in the ebb and flow of the story we are reading a certain word, phrase or verse and we wonder, why did the person use THAT word? Sometimes, when people in the New Testament quote the Old Testament, you go to the Scriptures that they are quoting, and you wonder how they got there. But all Scripture is inspired by God and God-breathed, so it is true, so it is never an issue of truth, it is an issue of sometimes I wonder, why.

 

I think that these scriptures that remind me of the out-of-place tulips at the tulip farm are often pointers for us to see what God is doing behind the scenes or is going to do in the future. Jesus told the Pharisees that,

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. John 5:39-40

You see the Pharisees searched the Scriptures so hard, that they overlooked what was there in plain sight, pointers in God’s Word that spoke of Jesus. 

20/20 Hindsight

From where we stand, we have the gift of 20/20 hindsight. Each Christmas we quote some of these pointers that we have recognised in retrospect. For example.

In a discourse with King Ahaz, In Isaiah chapter 7, God tells Ahaz to ask for a sign, Ahaz refuses and God says He will give Ahaz a sign.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.  Isaiah 7:14

The event and circumstances of Jesus’ birth, which is the sign God gave to Ahaz, who lived in the time of Isaiah, took place 700 years later. So, it would be safe to say that King Ahaz never saw this sign eventuate in his lifetime, yet this pointer appears in His conversation with God!

Today, in retrospect, we see Psalm 22 as describing Jesus' crucifixion, however, prior to that event a reader of that Psalm would have seen it as a cry of anguish from a troubled soul. In verse 18 we read these words. 

They divide my garments among them,

And for my clothing they cast lots.   Psalms 22:18

However, we see this event actually happen at Calvary!

Pointers in the New Testament

Not only do we have these hidden pointers in the Old Testament, but Jesus Himself also planted some pointers in the NT Scriptures for His disciples to find but prior to the Resurrection, they did not understand them either.

Here are some pointers we see in the Gospel of John.

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.  John 14:16-17

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.  John 14:26

“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.  John 15:26-27

But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. John 16 7:14

So, these pointers were there for the Disciples, but prior to Pentecost, when the Spirit of Truth made clear to them the things that Jesus had spoken, they too missed them, and in Luke 24:45 we read that just before the Ascension, Jesus, opened the disciples' minds to understand the scriptures.

But even though Jesus opened their minds to the Scriptures. The disciples had not fully grasped the importance of what was about to happen. We know this because of the reading in Acts 1. They ask about the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel, not about the coming of the Helper who will lead them into all truth.

A message from Luke

One thing we need to consider here is the author. Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts in the final verses of his Gospel, Luke touches on the events he uses to launch the Book of Acts.

And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49

So, Jesus is telling them to wait, wait in the city until they are clothed with power from on high. In Acts 1:8, we read a little more detail that they are to wait, and they will receive the power of the Holy Spirit that will empower them to be Jesus’ witnesses.

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:6-8

I think it is at this point the disciples' thinking began to change. They now understand that something BIG was about to happen, and because they had faith in Jesus and believed the words, He had spoken expectations began to grow in their hearts and they began to wait with purpose. 

Waiting with purpose

So, how did the disciples wait with purpose? Well, firstly according to the Gospel of Luke, they spent time praising and worshipping God in the temple. 

And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God.  Luke 24:52-53

Secondly, the book of Acts tells us that they continually devoted themselves to prayer. (Acts 1:14) 

These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. Acts 1:14

I would suggest that this did not mean endlessly reciting the Lord's Prayer, but that this was an interactive process of “PRAYERPARATION” and as they prayed God prepared them for the arrival of the Holy Spirit. 

We can only presuppose what happened as they waited for the Promise of the Father. But I think we can be sure that they were not waiting as if they were looking at the Bus timetable and tapping their foot with impatience. They were fully engaged in the process of PRAYERPARATION.

Expectations. 

                                 

Expectations of what was about to happen made them consider whether they were personally ready for what God was about to do. 

Let’s look at 4 ways that disciples could have prepared for Pentecost.

1. They settled their differences and forgave each other for their past offences and past sins. 

(If you are going to have unity, you have to have forgiveness.)

What makes me say this? Because without unity they could not effectively serve God with His whole blessing.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

For brothers to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious oil upon the head,

Coming down upon the beard,

Even Aaron’s beard,

Coming down upon the edge of his robes.

It is like the dew of Hermon

Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;

For there the LORD commanded the blessing—life forever.   Psalm 133.

Jesus himself said,

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. Mark 3:24-25

That is why I believe God would have been unifying them in their hearts.

2. They confessed long-forgotten or secret sins and asked God’s help to be clean and pure vessels. 

If there were secret sins that they had, perhaps this was the time when God addressed those sins. Perhaps there were those who had to deal with issues of lust, or envy. Who knows!

Jesus said,

For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.  Luke 8:17

The Apostle John, who was in that room at the time would later write,

but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.       1 John 1:7

3. They had a revelation of their own inadequacy and were crying out to God for His help. 

To realise your inadequacy and your need for God to carry your load is to be humble.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

4. They thought about their time with Jesus or meditated on the Scriptures. 

What we think about affects the way we behave. In the not-too-distant future the Apostle Paul wrote; 

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.   Philippians 4:8

They would have thought about things that encouraged them and built up their faith. 

There is no more excellent, honourable and true document that we can access, than the Scriptures.

What we can learn from this.

No matter what we speculate, those in the upper room were being prepared empty vessels that would be ready to receive the Helper when he arrived. 

At a minimum, we can say that the disciples and the others who were gathered together were expectantly waiting on God

Yet those who wait for the LORD

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.   Isaiah 40:31

In the lead-up to Pentecost, there were a lot of things that were happening as people prepared themselves for the next thing that God was about to do.

Personal application

Perhaps we need to ask the question, what is the next thing that God has the agenda for me? 

How are you preparing for it? 

Are you at the Bus stop tapping your foot as you look at the timetable, or are you waiting with an expectant heart for the good things that are yet to come?

How are you praying for what is about to happen? 

How are you preparing your heart for what is about to happen? 

Are you moving together in unity with others? 

Are there hidden sins that you need to deal with or people, that you need to forgive?

We can learn a lot from the disciples as they prepared for Pentecost. So, let’s take what we have learned and let’s put it into action.