It’s what you do during your doubt that actually matters. The disciples are showing us here trust and obey. This is something that’s really powerful to digest, that this is something to try to understand because it’s hard. It’s hard to be faithful when you doubt. It’s really, really hard because you just want to give up. But that’s why it’s so great to learn from the scriptures, to see what other people did when they were doubting. They actually didn’t know how them being perseverant in their doubt was going to impact generations in the future. As you know, I’m the music director, but I’m actually not going to be preaching about music this morning. Can you believe it? I can’t believe it either. But today, we’re going to be continuing in the Ministry of Jesus series. We’ve been in this series, as you know, for the past couple of years, and we’ve been sitting at the feet of Jesus, learning about how can we be more like him. And man, it’s been a wild ride, right? It’s been crazy. Jesus is incredible. This morning, we’re coming to the last scene of Jesus’s time on earth. Let’s Listen, we were talking about the end of the series, I was like, oh, my gosh, what are we going to talk about?
If it’s not Jesus, no, obviously, there’s more things to talk about in the Bible. But this has been such an incredible encouragement to my faith, and I hope it’s been the same thing for you as we’ve been studying this out. And though this is the last scene of Jesus’s time on earth, next week, Tony is going to be right back up here and he’ll close out our series together. We’re really in for a treat this morning because Jesus shares some words in what we’ll be reading that change how we experience a relationship with him and with God forevermore. This is going to be very exciting. If If you have a Bible, I don’t know how many of you have a Bible, but if you have a Bible with you, you can turn to Acts 1. That’s going to be our main text this morning. What I’m going to do, I’ll just set it up a little bit, set up what we’re talking about, and then we’ll break down the passage, and then I’ll give some very practical points at the tail end. So after studying Jesus’s ministry as a church, we could all agree that faith in him is one of the recurring themes of his teaching, right?
He is who who he says he is. He’s proven himself over and over and time after time that he is worthy to be trusted and followed, that he is the son of God, that he is the word becoming flesh, right? We’ve witnessed scene after scene of Jesus putting those around him in moments where they need to exercise faith in him and where Jesus even rewards those who do exercise faith in him. Phrases like, your faith has healed you, or because you have believed, or that he’s never seen such great faith. But we know that faith did not originate during Jesus’s day, but that it was always required by God. The popular passage, Hebrews 11, describes a long legacy of faith-filled people, from Abraham to Moses and Noah, Joseph, David, Rehab, Sarah, and it goes on and on and on, right? What am I trying to say about bringing this passage up? We’re in the Ministry of Jesus series. This is what I gained from this. The Bible is filled with people who were obedient, though it didn’t initially make sense. And to some of these people, actually to all of these people, it never made sense.
It never made sense. And yet after 38 verses, it’s spent describing exactly how great Their faith was, it says this in verse 39, These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. They never saw what their contribution produced. The result of their faith was never revealed. None of them received what had been promised. They simply trusted and obeyed. Doing what God said. And the acts of their faith impacted generations and generations of people, us included. And I love that specifically from this, we can gain that the Bible teaches us that the mark of the best disciples are those who Go without needing all of the info. This, this is faith in action. That you don’t need to see the end result to be satisfied. You just go because Jesus said to you or God said to you. This is faith. It’s the unyielding obedience that speaks volumes. Obedience when you don’t understand, is a definitive marker of faith. But on the contrary, obedience when you’re be fully convinced is not faith. An important note about the men and women in Hebrews 11 is this. They understood enough about who God was to do exactly what he asked.
I’m going to say this again because this is going to be one of the roots for the rest of our time together. They understood enough about who God was, his character, who he is, that they would do exactly what he said. So today we’re venturing into this story where the faith of the disciples that surrounded Jesus are being tested. And we’re looking at specifically, how can we learn from their great faith and how can we become people of great faith? Specifically that if we truly know the character of Jesus, who he is and what he’s done, right? Then how can we respond as people led by faith? Amen? All right. Jesus has been preparing his disciples for his departure, and this morning we’re picking up with Jesus sharing his final parting words with them. All right, we’re finally at Acts You ready? Here we go. In Acts 1, starting in verse 1, it says, In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy spirit to the apostles he had chosen. We’re entering the Book of Acts, and there are some worthy things to note here.
So Acts is a book that is written by Luke, who was one of the disciples who followed very closely to Jesus during his time on Earth, Jesus’s time on Earth. And Luke tells us in verse one that he also wrote another book. He has a former book, and this would be… That’s right. You guessed it. The Book of Luke. Surprise. And that Luke is about everything that Jesus began to do until the day that he was taken up to heaven. And a little bit of a spoiler alert here. In a few verses, he’s taken up to heaven. Sorry if I spoiled that story for But now we’re entering the sequel of Luke into the Book of Acts, which is all about what Jesus continued to do after his resurrection. So let’s continue in verse three. After his suffering, this is Jesus suffering on the cross, Jesus presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the Kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command, ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait.
‘ So over 40 days, Jesus is making a experiences to show that he did what he said he was going to do. He’s alive, he’s resurrected. And so he’s going throughout these weeks, appearing to the disciples and teaching them about this new revamped upside down kingdom that there’s a new creation that he’s launching through his death and resurrection. Imagine being the disciples during this day, right? You’re with your teacher who teaches you everything and totally recorrects how you understand faith. And then he died and you experience agonizing pain, agonizing sorrow. And then he’s alive again, and he’s teaching you about how to do things now. What an emotional roller coaster. These These disciples are being pulled and emotionally, they’re all over the place. Now Jesus is right back with them in the flesh, teaching them about what is to come. I imagine that the disciples are likely feeling pretty charged up, right? This is right after the great commission. They’re ready to share the word all over the world. But then Jesus gives this command. What’s the command? Do not leave Jerusalem, but Wait. Listen, if I were them, I’m like, Jesus, I believe I’m ready.
Why am I waiting? And honestly, why would Jesus want them to wait? It feels counter more intuitive, right? Jesus might as well have just said, Good things come to those who wait. You’ve heard this phrase, right? Whatever you’re hearing when you think about this phrase is probably what the disciples felt when Jesus said this, right? Where Thomas might roll his eyes, suck his teeth, and Luke is like, Wow, Amen, Lord. It’s something like that. But Jesus wants them to stay in Jerusalem until they receive a new power so that they can be faithful witnesses to Jesus’s kingdom. But they have to wait. Now, this reminds me of a time when I was a little kid. And as I grew up, my parents took us to a bunch of different amusement parks, theme parks. And we had these season passes to some parks because you know how it is. You go three times, you basically have a season pass, right? And so we have these season passes. And by the way, I’m from New Jersey, so this is not Disney level theme parks, just so we’re clear. I know some of you all got your Disney and credit passes and whatnot, but it’s not that level.
We didn’t have it like that. But Anyway, we go to places like Six Flags. I know. Some of you all know that. Six Flags or Bush Gardens in Virginia. And one of the places that we go to, If you never heard of this place, I’m putting you on. But if we went to this place called Sesame Place. Oh, boy. Some of you all know we’re getting excited. I like that. As a kid, I felt the same way. I’m like, I cannot contain my energy. That was the spot. Sesame Street vibes only. I was the first in the car. I had my little sun visor on. You know what I’m saying? I’m dripped out. I got my jorts on, my hand me down jorts, my jeans shorts. And I don’t have a picture of that, but I do have something like that. That’s me in the yellow. That’s also not at Sesame Place. That’s Epcot. And I’m also not wearing a sun visor or that outfit, so I’m just going to skip past that. I don’t even know why I showed that. I like embarrassing myself. That’s honestly why. So Sesame Place is like an hour from where we lived.
So there’s all this anticipation. And we pull up, we park, we get through the gate. And I’m telling you, every single time that we got through that gate, I’m ready to run laps around that place. I’m ready. My mom was the one who she walks up and she’s grabbing the maps. You have someone like that in your family, they’re grabbing the maps and you’re like, Come on, let’s just go. Let’s just explore. And she’s passing them out. All right, let’s chart our course. I’m like, Okay, Mom. Thanks. But you know what else happened without fail when I got to these theme parks? No matter how excited I was, I was stuck right by my parents the whole time. I was never going anywhere else. I was a kid. And so being told to wait when you’re very excited is literally the worst thing ever. They go to the concession stand to get Dippendots. I’m like, oh, my gosh. Come on, come on. Let’s go. They want to go to the zoo to look at the animals. I’m like, oh, my gosh. I do not want to be here, but I’m right by their side. And you know this feeling of being excited and you’re just told to wait.
Just wait. Wait a moment. And so the disciples are at this point, and yes, I’m comparing Sesame Place to the disciples. The disciples are so excited. They have so much energy. They’re like, We were just great. We have this great commission. You told us to reach the world for your glory, and you tell us to wait. Just wait. So let’s look at this. Why does Jesus tell them to wait? He says, Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait. And he gives us a little bit more of clarification of what he wants them to wait for. But wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. So they’re waiting. And what are they waiting for? A gift. And specifically the gift that the Father has promised. And so Jesus is making this interesting addition at the end where it says, Which you have heard me speak about. Which you have heard me speak about. So that’s not the first time that the disciples have heard about this. And so when did this happen before? But before we get there, our first question to answer is, what is the actual gift? What is the gift?
But wait for the gift. Okay, Let’s figure out what the gift is. It says in verse 5, For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy spirit. Listen, that’s powerful. That’s a great gift. But I want you to put yourself in the shoes of the disciples where Jesus is like, I know you’re excited, but wait. And they’re like, Wait for what? What are we waiting for? For the gift that has been promised. It’s like, Okay, what’s the gift? It’s the baptism of the Holy spirit. And by the way, I’ve already told you this a number of times. It’s like, oh. If I was in their shoes, I’d probably panic a little bit. When did he tell me this before? And just to be clear, stepping out of this and considering this, this is important, that this is the first time that Jesus has talked specifically about being baptized with the Holy spirit. And so, yes, he has told them about the Holy spirit, but the conversation is packaged a little bit differently than what they’ve heard in the past. So instead of being baptized with water, they were going to be baptized with the Holy spirit.
So I can imagine the confusion after all of this. They’re like, You told us about the spirit, but was it about this? I’m not sure. And And so now we’re at the point where we need the answer to, Where else does Jesus tell them about the spirit? John 14:26, But the advocate, the Holy spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you. Also in John 15:26, where it says, When the advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And also in John 16:13, But when he, the spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. So there’s been a number of times where Jesus mentions the Holy spirit. In each of these moments, the context surrounding the disciples’ response suggests that they just don’t get it. They don’t understand fully fully. They don’t fully grasp what he’s saying. I mentioned earlier, wow, what an amazing gift, the Holy spirit. It’s because us as readers, we have the vantage point of having seen the Holy spirit in work or in action.
But the disciples at the time had yet to experience the full impact of this gift. We know that this happens later in Acts in chapter 2, And so they haven’t even got the full effect of the Holy spirit. And yet, and this is important to know, yet they were still making decisions to trust Jesus and go wherever he went. They didn’t understand what the Holy spirit could even do for them, and they still followed him wholeheartedly. They chose to be believers, and they had no clue how great their impact was going to be for generations and generations, that it would be written and that we would be literally here reading their words about their faith. Let’s get back into Acts. This is verse 5, what we read before. For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy spirit. And then what happens next? Then they gathered around him, around Jesus, and asked him, Lord, are you at Are you this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? What? What? Us as readers, we’re like, You’re about to receive the greatest gift ever. And they’re like, Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?
They’re talking about politics, right? They have no idea, and this confirms that they have no idea, right? And if you recall, it’s possible that they They could have maintained their old interest in the hopes of seeing the kingdom realized in the restoration of Israel’s national independence, right? They had, at an earlier time, been captivated by the thought of such a restored order where they have positions of authority. You guys remember that in Luke 22, when they got into the argument, which one of us is the greatest? And it’s evident that this is obviously following them. This desire is still with them. And so they’re hearing their master speak of this coming gift, this sign of the new age, and they’re met again with this former desire of theirs. And listen, we’ve been there, right? When things start getting a little uncertain and fuzzy, where you’re not sure where God is trying to take you, that we start going back to our former way of thinking or going back to old ideas that once gave us excitement, that we found our hope in and dreamed of. And that’s exactly what’s happening with these disciples. Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?
But then Jesus helps to correct their vision and gives us some insight if we find ourselves in that same situation. So we continue in verse seven. He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. So the disciples, they’re asking for a little slice of the power pie, right? And they’re like, We want authority. We want to be on your right-hand. We want to do this and that. Jesus could have just plainly said no without any explanation because he’s Jesus. Just to be clear, he does say no, but instead, he says it in such a Jesus way, where there’s inside and there’s depth. It should cause them to ponder, what does that even mean? It is not for you to know the times or dates. It has nothing. When things happen, who gets appointed, when things are charted across history, that is none of your concern. In fact, Jesus is also alluding that it’s none of his concern either, because that business is solely for the Father. This thought that Jesus is also agreeing that he himself, it’s not his business, is echoed in Mark 13, where he mentions that even the Son did not know the day or hour of his second coming.
Jesus is telling these men, he’s recorrecting these men who are falling off of track, and he’s telling them that God’s purpose is not here. What your attention should lie is not here. In fact, to go back to the great commission that he just gave with them to reach the lost. That’s it. And so after Jesus redirects the conversation, he continues by affirming something that they were going to participate in. Let’s check this out. Verse 8. But… I love that the phrase starts with but because it’s like something greater is about to happen. But you will receive power when the Holy spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. That gives me chills. I literally just got Why? Because the disciples won’t necessarily get what they ask for, but Jesus still gives them a great deal of authority. Instead of political power, which had once been the subject of their desires, he offers something that is far, far greater. And again, they don’t even understand how significant this gift of the Holy spirit would be. And yet both Jesus and Can God trust them to yield it responsibly?
That’s powerful. Jesus is really amazing. I am blown away by his tact in these situations and how he redirects us to consider things that are actually for us to consider. I imagine that these followers of Jesus at this moment are coming face to face with a hard or wonderful reality that they, again, had no idea that this would be the greatest gift they have ever received. And there’s a point that I love to pull from this, which is that God gives better gifts than we could ever imagine. He’s the best gift giver. And how would these men have known that this gift was going to be so powerful and so profound? They had no clue, yet they were faithful. They walked with him every single step. James 1:17 says, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights. There’s an interesting tension that I want us to wrestle with for a moment. God God might be trying to give us a great gift, but we might miss it if we lack faith. Can you imagine if the disciples were like, Yeah, Jesus, that sounds good and all, but it just doesn’t make sense to wait here.
We could be proclaiming the good news. Why wouldn’t we just go, No, I’m just going to go ahead and get started on that? Or they were like, Wait, Holy spirit, what’s the Holy spirit? When’s it going to come? How’s it going to happen? How do I know when I have it? They could have just asked all these questions, but instead, they just follow up with simple obedience. And yet I find myself, and maybe you find yourself, wrestling with both of those responses, berating God with questions. When’s it going to happen? I’ve been really praying about my situation. When is it going to happen? When is it going to come to fruition? I think that this is a clear marker for me that that’s not faith. That is not faith. I’m not being faithful in that moment. Because, again, faith is being obedient without needing to know what comes next. It’s right for us to consider this fact that maybe the disciples are obedient not because they know what’s coming next, but because they know who said it. Jesus is who he said he is. After everything, Jesus said he was going to die, and he died.
He said he was going to then raise. He raised, and our risen king is before them. Of course, they should trust everything that he said because they know who he is. It’s important for us to consider, can we trust God because we understand who he is? Can we simply trust Jesus because we understand his character. As I was unpacking this point, it reminded me of growing up in my home church in Philadelphia. And what a blessing it was to have done so. It was great growing up in the church. It saved me from a lot of dumb decisions. I did make a lot of dumb decisions, actually, but it was, I don’t know, whatever. It was dumb. I made a lot of dumb decisions. And in the team ministry, There was a surge of my friends getting baptized, and everyone was just falling in love with God. Honestly, it was such a pure time. It was beautiful. I was baptized my sophomore year of my high school and just on the coaptail details of the trend. And here’s a picture of the year that I was baptized. Mercy. Was this the day that I got baptized?
No. Does it prove any point? No. It’s just showing you what I looked like. Then I’m clicking past this. Again, I like embarrassing myself, so there we go. And so there was a surge of my friends who were getting baptized, and it was awesome. And fast forward to now, not even a fourth of my team ministry is still faithful. Not even a fourth. And I’ve wondered, why is this the case? Why does this happen? And And then I realized that there was this common thread amongst those friends of mine that they didn’t want to obey if they didn’t understand the implications. They didn’t want to obey if they didn’t understand what was being asked. They would spiral from the gray area into, why should we just blindly trust? And why should we just listen to our teen leaders? And why should we even read the Bible every day? Everyone’s forcing us to read the Bible, right? And And so that was just the thread that everyone fell on and latched onto and just took them away from the faith. Listen, I know this feeling of doubt. I’ve experienced this, and I’m sure we all have experienced doubt at some point, and I think that’s normal, right?
But there’s a point that I learned from my doubt, or that we can all learn from our doubt. And And really, it’s just what you do during your doubt matters. It’s what you do during your doubt that actually matters. The disciples are showing us here trust and obey. Trust and obey. Be faithful and submit. I think that this is something that’s really powerful to digest, that this is something to try to understand because it’s hard. It’s hard to be faithful when you doubt. It’s really, really hard because you just want to give up. But that’s why it’s so great to learn from the scriptures, to see what other people did when they were doubting, and to see that they actually didn’t know how them being perseverant in their doubt was going to impact generations in the in the future. Go in faith. Be obedient. Over to verse 9 of Acts. After this, he said this, and he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid them from their sight. Jesus literally ascends into heaven. Like, what? That’s wild. You’re having a conversation and imagine, I just levitate. That’s crazy. And scary, too.
And this is echoed in Luke, because Luke actually… He says it twice. I think he was really spoofed by this. In verse 51, he says, While he was blessing them, Jesus was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So I think what we can… I mean, it’s weird, but The next thing that happens is miraculous, in my opinion. What follows this verse is something that we could learn, especially when we’re not sure, when we’re in that gray area of our lives. Then they worshiped him. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they stayed continually at the temple praising God. They worshiped him. In their doubt, they worshiped him. I’m inspired by this thought because the question that I was asking myself personally that now I want to ask to you all is, can you worship while you wait for God to do what he said he was going to do? Can you worship while you These disciples were worshiping while they waited, and they had no clue what was happening. They didn’t know when the timing was. Jesus corrects them. They don’t know what the timing is, and why would they need to?
Trust in God and their hearts remained in a state of praise. It said that they remained in Jerusalem and they stayed at the temple. Jesus said, wait to not leave Jerusalem, and that’s exactly what they did. They waited in Jerusalem, and while they waited, they praised him. Can you praise while you wait? Can you offer him wholehearted praise while you wait? In the presence of uncertainty and in the presence of whatever your circumstance is, can you worship? There’s a song that I love that the chorus goes, I’m going to wait on you. I’ve tasted your goodness. I’ll trust in your promise. I love that because they know who he is. No need to fret, no need to worry. I’ve seen what you’ve done, and that’s good enough for me. I’m right here. Church, can we learn to wait, to be people of faith, that though we have no clue what’s going to happen, can we patiently wait? And to be people who just trust and obey. This is hard. This is hard. As I was literally typing this, I’m like, Oh, this is hard. And I find myself in that wrestling, in that season of back on my knees.
I’m praying again. I’m singing again. I’m up here. I’m helping the people of God worship with the music we are going to worship while we wait. A question that I want to ask you as we close our time here is how can we be a part of this legacy of faith? From Hebrews 11, describing the long lineage of faith-filled people to the disciples that were literally in the presence of Jesus, and then to you and me. How can you be a part of this legacy of faith? God did amazing things through the faith and obedience of the disciples that we just looked at. Imagine what he could do for you 2,000 years later. My ask is that we would be faithful people who are obedient to the word of God. Amen? Amen. One of the ways as a church that we exercise some obedience to Christ is that we spend time every Sunday One day, meditating and remembering who Jesus was. And so I just want to read Luke 22, where it says this, And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me. ‘ In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup saying, ‘This is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. ‘ Let’s pray for the Lord’s Supper this morning. God, what it is to be amongst your people, to be able to glean from your scriptures. God, we have such an incredible vantage point of seeing your word in action. God, of learning what did it actually look like to be people who wrest through doubt and remained faithful. God, what a privilege it is to learn from those people. We very well could have been those people in the passage with no additional resources like what we have today. And yet you’ve given us so much Much. You’ve given us so much, God. And really, it’s our desire to be led by faith because we see generation after generation of faithful people choosing to be with you and simply just because they know who you are, because they see Jesus in action, that they just obey. God, we spend this time thinking about your son, Jesus, and We want to just spend some time remembering how great Jesus was.
Jesus is such a great leader. Thank you for allowing him to suffer such a gruesome death, for us to be relieved of our sin. God, thank you that we get to spend this time every week going back and considering what does that actually mean for us. I pray that this time is powerful, that someone could have an experience of just connecting with your son powerfully. God, thank you again for the example of Jesus and that we can learn from the faith of those that surrounded him. It’s in your son’s name that we pray. Amen.