Upper Room Lockdown
Notes
Transcript
We are caught smack bang in the middle of The Passion of Christ and Pentecost (which this year is on the 31st of May). It is a date I can easily remember based on the fact that the next day, the Minister of Education has announced the tentative date for children to start going back to School. So what has happened to prepare the Disciples for Pentecost? We like Pentecost…the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the 120 in the Upper-Room. The ushering in of the church, many people coming to Christ! The world of the nation of the Jews changing the way that they knew it to be. Pentecost, in the context of COVID-19 is a good thought. I have young children (4 to be exact). To be in lockdown for over 37 days is tough. Like many Facebook posts, I can see myself with a new-found freedom. I dont know about you, but when we eventually get to Level 0…life will have a new free liberated normal. The Disciples
But before Pentecost, it was Upper-Room Lockdown…well not 37 days but, as scholars would tell us, 10 days of LOCKDOWN with 119 other people. The disciples in the Upper-Room, and the Disciples at Acts 2:1 were different people
1 AND WHEN the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place,
So what happened....
They became PURPOSE-DRIVEN people
They became PURPOSE-DRIVEN people
What made them to be so driven, so purpose driven? When we look at these disciples, they were driven by Christ, he had to coach them all the way. Jesus had to check them a few times…don’t you get it, don’t you still not understand? It reminded me of Biblical Characters like Isaiah, Moses, and Paul. It always started with an intentional encounter with God. Isaiah encountered God in the temple in Isaiah 6, Moses encountered God at the burning bush, Paul encountered God on his way to Damascus. So it starts with an encounter. But I believe that there is something else that God does…is help us to connect the dots.
Growing up, I use to do drawings. One of the drawings was what some people call DOt-To-Dot. You have an outline of a drawing and you have to connect the dots or go from one number to the the next. When you get to the last number, the picture is complete.
Yes, Jesus is spending 40 days with his Disciples, speaking to them about the Kingdom of God, showing himself alive. But something is inserted in Acts 1:10-11
The Disciples were with Jesus for 40 days, they had just had a 40 day revival. I can see them nodding and Amening to the words of Jesus. I can see them all pumped up like many people being at a blessed Revival or a Campaign or a Church Camp. I have been there…excited, and we are all excited....been there, done that...
But verse 10 and 11 tells us something where we probably all are/is. We just heard an amazing sermon, but like many of us, we can get stuck after that...
10 And while they were gazing intently into heaven as He went, behold, two men [dressed] in white robes suddenly stood beside them,
11 Who said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, Who was caught away and lifted up from among you into heaven, will return in [just] the same way in which you saw Him go into heaven.
But God has a way of keeping us going…reminders, pointers. I am reminded of a story in Joshua
10 The Lord said to Joshua, Get up! Why do you lie thus upon your face?
Get up and move Joshua....did you forget about what I did.
This is what is happening in this story...
10 And while they were gazing intently into heaven as He went, behold, two men [dressed] in white robes suddenly stood beside them,
11 Who said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, Who was caught away and lifted up from among you into heaven, will return in [just] the same way in which you saw Him go into heaven.
Two men in white...
Sounds very familiar…listen to this.
4 And while they were perplexed and wondering what to do about this, behold, two men in dazzling raiment suddenly stood beside them.
5 And as [the women] were frightened and were bowing their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among [those who are] dead?
Luke further tells us...
9 And having returned from the tomb, they reported all these things [taken together] to the eleven apostles and to all the rest.
So it starts with an encounter. But I believe that there is something else that God does…is help us to connect the dots.
Growing up, I use to do drawings. One of the drawings was what some people call DOt-To-Dot. You have an outline of a drawing and you have to connect the dots or go from one number to the the next. When you get to the last number, the picture is complete.
These guys would have heard from Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women what these two guys told them. They then saw Jesus and could track back to what was said....these guys told them the truth and now two guys, fitting the description of the 2 guys in the tomb was addressing them again.
It is important as we are going to the upper-room, that we make sure that we live a Purpose-driven life. A book written many years ago by RICK WARREN....what on earth am I here for? As we encounter God, God in turn makes sure that He helps us understand our purpose in life. We use the word PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. Warren quotes Paul’s letter to the church in Colossians to give power to this concept:
16 For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.
It starts with an encounter with God, continues with encounters with people, circumstances…helping to connect the dots. The difficulty of the Pandemic time we are living in, can be made made worse if lack a Purpose and we don’t live a Purpose-Driven Life. Job would more than likely have echoed the following said about a man named Victor Frankl.
Viktor Frankl is the founder of logo-therapy, a form of psychotherapy that he developed after surviving Nazi concentration camps in the 1940s. After his experience in the camps, he developed a theory that it is through a search for meaning and purpose in life that individuals can endure hardship and suffering.
The meaning of life according to Viktor Frankl lies in finding a purpose and taking responsibility for ourselves and other human beings. By having a clear “why” we can face all the “how” questions of life. Only by feeling free and sure of the objective that motivates us will we be able to make the world a better place.
Their posture was right.
Their posture was right.
I am reminded that before Moses found his purpose, before Isaiah found his purpose, before Paul found his purpose…there was a posture of total submission.
6 Also He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
The Prophet Isaiah was almost in total standstill and in awe when he encountered God…He was in total submission to God
4 And he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me [harassing, troubling, and molesting Me]?
The Disciples’ posture was…straight to the temple....on their knees. Posture of total submission to God. There are various postures we can maintain when we pray (Kneeling, Standing, Sitting, Walking, etc but listen to this:
Postures are important in the sense that they are the external expression of reverence, inner feelings, and commitments to the Lord, but one of them was not large enough to encompass all of those experiences.
PLACE:
PLACE:
So…Jesus gives a command to go to Jerusalem and wait....wait for the gift of the Father which was promised. Go to Jerusalem and WAIT. Why WAIT and how long and where in Jerusalem do I wait?. We find the Disciples in verse 12 not concerned about these questions and straight to the UPPER-ROOM! I have to ask myself the question....what made these guys go to the UPPER-ROOM and wait there?
Many scholars say many things about the URL. The UR is mentioned 9 times in Scripture. It is referred to as a place for the elite. King David showed plans to his son, Solomon…and UR was included in the plans and some scholars would say that the UR would signify the presence of God.
1 Chronicles 28:11 AMP
11 Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner rooms, and of the place for the [ark and its] mercy seat;
The UR signify a place for the presence of God. It also signified a place of miracles. Elijah and Peter performed miracles in URs. But I believe it is what happened before in A/THE UR that is significant!
1 Corinthians 11:24–25 ESV
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
The Disciples understood that NOTHING can be done if it is not done in the presence of God or where they are constantly reminded of Christ.
Moses would remind us about this when he says:
Exodus 33:14–15 The Message
14 God said, “My presence will go with you. I’ll see the journey to the end.”
15 Moses said, “If your presence doesn’t take the lead here, call this trip off right now.
Another way of saying this...
Acts 17:28 The Message
28 We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’
The Psalm writer said it this way:
Psalm 27:4 AMP
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.
Pentecost took place....because the Disciples became PURPOSE-DRIVEN, POSTURE was right and they were in the right PLACE. This Upper-Room Lockdown, may it find you finding Christ, Reconnecting with Him, finding your purpose in Him, total have a posture of total surrender to him and Encounter Him…in the PLACE He commands.