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May 23, 2021
God of the Gap // Part 4
From Promise to Fulfillment: Waiting on the Lord
(Acts 1:4 – 23)
- Wait for the Promise.
- (Acts 1:4 – 5) While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”
- The Promise of God looks different than the Promise we think is from God. So, wait on the right thing.
- (Acts 1:6 – 8) So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
- Waiting for the fulfillment of the promise does not mean standing around, doing nothing. Waiting on the promise means being faithfully and prayerfully obedient.
- (Acts 1:9 – 11) After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”
- You don’t have to wait alone.
- (Acts 1:12 – 14) Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem – a Sabbath’s day’s journey away. When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. They were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
- There is work to be done in the waiting.
- (Acts 1:15 – 17; 20 – 23) In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters – the number of people who were together was about a hundred twenty – and said, “Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was one of our number and shared in this ministry. . . For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling become desolate; let no one live in it;’ and ‘Let someone else take his position.’ Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us – beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us – from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.
Action Points:
- Seek God.
- Plug into Community.
- Be active in Your Waiting.
- Move when it’s time to Move.
