What’s the Best Way to Wait on God? (Acts 1:12-26)
Today we continue in Chapter 1 in our Acts study, and we’ll cover just a few verses as we answer this question: What’s the best way to wait on God?
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What’s the best way to wait on God?
- That’s what we’ll see the disciples doing in the text
- Last week Jesus got the disciples all riled up
- He told them he would send the HS to empower them
- He told them to wait in Jerusalem (Luke 24:49)
- But he didn’t tell them how long it would take
- The angels caught them staring into heaven while Jesus ascended
Have you ever been there? Waiting for God to act?
- Romance - when will I finally find the “One” - ?
- Provision - in financial struggles or with career opportunities
- Deliverance - from addiction you’ve tried to kick
- Healing - in a relational conflict
- Vindication - you were falsely accused or misunderstood
- Wisdom - esp for new believers who just want to know Bible more
- Anxiety - when will you take this away?
We’ve all been there. Today as we open the Bible we’re going to get a few practical, actionable tips to answer the question: What’s the best way to wait on God? We’re all doing it; we might as well do it right!
So let’s get to it….
Acts 1:12-13a
Acts 1:12-13 (NLT) "12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile. 13 When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying."
- Went to the upstairs room
- Possibly the upper room from the last supper
- May have been like headquarters in early days
- May have been the “home of Mary, the mother of John Mark” that Peter visited after jailbreak (12:12)
- the Mount of Olives
- ie, Jesus ascended to heaven from Mount of Olives
- Makes sense, in light of this OT prophecy:
- Zechariah 14:2-4 (NLT) "2 I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem…. 3 Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem…."
- a place of judgment for nations when Jesus returns
- remember, this was part of the “kerygma” (early message = Jesus + faith + Spirit + return)
- We’ll see this in Peter’s first sermon in ch 2
- Has now become the place of blessing for nations
- He’ll give them a chance to respond to kerygma
- “Blessing on all nations” (Gen 12)
- returned to Jerusalem
- Simple obedience
- Luke 24:49 (NLT) 49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
- They had great expectation, but little understanding
- This is where we are when we wait on God
- What do you do in this case? First answer:
- Obey what you know
- Do the next right thing
- Trust God to open the door when time is right
Acts 1:13b-14
Acts 1:13-14 (NLT) "Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the zealot), and Judas (son of James). 14 They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus."
- The names (let’s cover this first)
- (Pillar New Testament Commentary) The lists of the Twelve in Mk. 3:16-19 and Mt. 10:2-4 differ from Luke's lists mainly by putting Thaddaeus where Luke has Judas son of James and in the order of the names. It is possible that Thaddaeus (or Lebbaeus in some MSS) was a nickname for this Judas.
- Same list as Luke = those Jesus called are still in the picture, minus Judas. 11 out of 12 ain’t bad!
- Think about all the people who have come and gone at church…
- “along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus”
- Final mention of Mary in the Bible
- These women were an important part of the early disciples - that’s incredible if you think about it
- The brothers of Jesus
- At first skeptics Mark 3:21-35
- (Pillar New Testament Commentary) Perhaps Jesus' resurrection appearance to James (1 Cor. 15:7) was responsible for the conversion of Joses, Judas and Simon also (cf. Mk. 6:3).
- (Pillar New Testament Commentary) James became the leader of the Jerusalem church (cf. 12:17; 15:13-21; 21:18) and 'the Lord's brothers' were acknowledged alongside the apostles as a distinctive group in the Christian community (cf. 1 Cor. 9:5).
- They all met together and were constantly united in prayer
- Two of “Big 5” spiritual disciplines from Pursuit #9:
- Connection, community
- Too many believers try to go through life alone. You won’t find this anywhere in the NT
- Luke 24:53 give us more detail about what they were doing “together”:
- Luke 24:53 (NLT) And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God.
- Three environments for connection from L9 in the Pursuit: large (church), small (group), and individual (mentoring)
- How would you grade yourself in each of these areas?
- Prayer
- (Pillar New Testament Commentary) It is striking that at almost every important turning point in the narrative of God's redemptive action in Acts we find a mention of prayer (e.g. 1:24; 8:14-17; 9:11-12; 10:4, 9, 30; 13:2-3).
- Reminder that this is God’s thing, not ours. “You will be my witnesses…” not “you must be” - it’s going to happen!
Close
Connection + Prayer - You need these things when you’re waiting on God - you’re not doing it right if you’re not doing this!
