Make Ready

Introduction

Well, good morning and welcome!

This morning we are going to be looking at Acts 1, and will be discussing the topic of “Making Ourselves Ready.”

And if you recall, the Book of Acts, or the “Acts of the Apostles” as it is called by some, which is somewhat of an inaccurate description by the way.

A better description would be really the “Acts of the Holy Spirit, through the Apostles” because the entire focus of Acts is really on how the Holy Spirit moved on the early believers and empowered them to carry out the establishment and work of the church throughout the known world.

And if you really want to break it down, the only two Apostles who carry any significant role in what Luke lays out in Acts is Peter and Paul.

There are mentions of the others but no significant part of their actual ministries is talked about.

But anyway, Acts is written by Luke the Physician, one of the 12, who also wrote the Gospel of Luke.

And Acts could really be called “Luke Volume II,” because in many ways it is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke.

In fact, in the verse verse, Luke says . . .

Acts 1:1 NKJV

The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

The “former account” he is talking about is the Gospel of Luke.

Both books are written to this guy named Theophilus, which means “lover of God,” so in an overarching way, Luke and Acts are both written for the intended audience of all those who are lovers of God.

Which should be all of us.

And that is important because it is the “lovers of God,” who need the equipping of the Holy Spirit, in order to carry out the mission that God has given to us.

And if you are a true, “lover of God,” then you will actually desire to carry out that mission.

And you will also desire all of the tools necessary to do that, which are only provided through the Holy Spirit.

So, as Christians, we need to pay very close attention to the instruction that we are receiving here from the Word of God.

We do not want to miss it.

And here in Acts, after the brief introduction in verse 1, Luke begins to talk about Jesus appearing and teaching his disciples in those 40 days between his resurrection and ascension as many infallible proofs of his being the Son of God.

And Luke is doing this to remind the readers of what Jesus commanded his disciples to do until the Holy Spirit came, which was gather in Jerusalem and wait.

And this is where we find our disciples this morning and where our text will pick up.

So, Acts 1, starting in verse 4, and please stand if you are able, Luke writes . . .

Scripture Focus

Acts 1:4–8 NKJV

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Waiting on God’s Timing

Now, like I said this portion of the passage actually starts out as sort of a recap of what Jesus has already them they need to be doing and some of the questions that the disciples had of Jesus.

Again in verse 4, Luke states . . .

Acts 1:4 NKJV

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;

So, at one—and probably many points, Jesus during his teachings and conversations with the disciples plainly told them that when the time comes, they will be in Jerusalem, and they are to wait.

And what are they waiting on?

The Promise of the Father.

And if there is one thing that I have learned about the God’s promises is that many times God will give you the promise and God will reveal to you portions, but then God says WAIT.

Be patient and wait.

And why does God do this?

Because everything happens in its own season, it’s own timing.

And that timing is not determined by us, but rather that timing is determined by God and God alone.

When God is working on things, God is working on things from both ends and many times things we cannot even see, God is working on it.

And God is moving in that situation.

And what we have to be able to do though is hear the voice of God when God says wait, and then when God says move.

And when God says wait—we wait.

When God says move—we move.

But what we will inevitably want to do is get ahead of God because we know what God has promised and we think we can rush things.

It is like reading a book.

You can only read one chapter at a time.

Now you can skip ahead and skip parts of one chapter and go on to the next chapter, but when you do that you miss a lot of information in Chapter 1 that’s going to inform you on what’s going on in Chapter 2.

So God is saying, “slow down and finish chapter 1 before you move into chapter 2.”

Don’t skip ahead on God.

And this is also important because not only is God working out chapter 2, but in your waiting God is preparing you and God is building your faith, your strength, and your endurance for the journey that is going to take place in Chapter 2.

And if you are wondering why I am talking about chapters and books here is because in Acts 1 we see a transition.

We see the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, which we will get to in a minute, and the beginning of the ministry of the Apostles and the Church age.

But if we don’t understand chapter 1—ie Jesus’ earthly ministry, we will never be able to fully understand and realize chapter 2—the ministry of the Church.

And we see this sort of play out in verses 6-7 . . .

Acts 1:6–7 NKJV

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.

You see what Jesus did?

They wanted to know when the Kingdom of God was going to be revealed and Israel restored to it’s place of power and prominence.

And what does Jesus say?

None ya business!

Seriously though, he tells them that is God’s business and for God to decide.

Meaning, worry about what God has told you to do and do it, and let God worry about doing His part.

You want to know when the King is coming?

Act like He’s coming today.

Act like He is coming tomorrow or the next day.

Act like every day could be the day He comes.

Because it could be today, tomorrow, next week.

We don’t know, but what I do know is we need to be living as citizens of the Kingdom, EVERY SINGLE DAY OF OUR LIVES.

The Promise Revealed

So, what exactly are these disciples waiting on anyway?

Well, glad you asked.

In verse 8, we are told.

Luke says . . .

Acts 1:8 NKJV

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

They are waiting on the promise of the Holy Spirit to be poured out into their lives.

They are waiting on the power and the authority of God—the anointing of God to flow into their lives.

The equipping ability to be KINGDOM BUILDERS.

And the reason is, we must first be equipped by the Holy Spirit, before we can do any work for the Kingdom of God.

Otherwise, the only thing we are doing is operating under man’s authority and power, which is flawed, incomplete, and ineffective.

The only way we are effective in the ministry of the Church is when we are anointed by the Holy Spirit to do the work.

That is it.

And if we want this anointing.

If we truly want to be anointed by God to do His work for His Kingdom, then we have do a couple of things.

First, we have to ask God for it.

God is not going to force Himself on us.

Then we have to expect it as well.

And a big part of expecting it is preparing for it.

So, how do we prepare for the anointing of God to flow into our lives?

Well, first we have to prepare the vessel to hold the oil to begin with.

The vessel has to be sanctified—or set apart for God’s special use.

Which is a problem because many times we don’t want to be sanctified or set apart.

We want a Sunday morning anointing where we come to church and get some goosebumps but when we leave we want to go back and be just like everybody else.

Well, it don’t work that way.

When you are set apart—sanctified by God, then there ain’t no going back.

And you won’t want to anyway.

But you have to willingly give yourself over to God in order for this to happen.

It don’t just happen on accident.

And once the vessel is set apart, God has to clean that vessel out.

You can’t put the anointing of God in a filthy vessel.

And hear me here, you can’t do it on your own.

God has to do it, but again, you have to allow him.

And then finally, the vessel has to be presented to God for Him fill.

Total consecration and giving of yourself over to Him.

James 4:7–10 NKJV

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

But you have to want it.

And so many in the church do not want it.

And I will tell you right now, if you want a healthy, growing, effective church—this is the way.

You can take it or leave it but it is the truth of God.

Well What Do We Do While We Wait?

But I’m getting ahead of myself a little.

Our disciples are still waiting and still preparing.

So, what do they do while they wait?

Well we start by setting the scene . . .

Acts 1:9–11 NKJV

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

So they are all standing there gazing at the heavens watching Jesus ascend into heaven with their mouths gaping open.

And then two angels show up and ask them, “why are you boys just standing around doing nothing?”

He’s leaving but he will be back, so you had better get busy doing what he told you to do until he does come back!

So go and get ready.

So they . . .

Acts 1:12–14 NKJV

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

So the very first thing they did was go back to the upper room and pray.

They didn’t go running around telling everybody what was going on.

They didn’t make a bunch of plans.

They gathered together in agreement and prayed for God’s will.

They prayed for the Holy Spirit to move.

And if we want to understand God’s will and do God’s will then we must also pray.

If we want to receive the download from heaven from God, then we have to ask God for it.

We have to engage in communication with God concerning it.

But once we get the download, then we have to make preparations for the fulfilling of what God is telling us He is getting ready to do.

Which is exactly what we see happening in verses 15-26.

Their biggest issue was replacing Judas, which is the discussion they have.

They end up casting lots and choosing Matthius to carry out this role.

They needed another Apostle for God’s work so they did it.

Altar/Challenge

So, how do we prepare?

Well, we begin to put the people in place that are necessary to carry out the mission—first we have to have the people though.

We also begin to prepare the facilities in expectation of what God wants to do.

And then we train the people to do what God has called them to do.

It all basically boils down to living in faithful anticipation of a move of God and the promised harvest.

And too many times we get it completely backwards.

We know we need to make changes but we say, “well let’s wait and see if more people come before we do anything.”

That is not faith at all.

That is not believing God for anything.

That is only trusting in human wisdom.

That is operating under human authority and not under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

And because of it the Church is choked out and stifled.

If you want to build anything ministry wise, you have to build on faithful anticipation.

You have to fully trust and believe in God’s promise much more than what you can see and hear in the moment.

Everything has to be taken by faith.

But, do we have the faith to do that?

That is what you have to decide in yourself.

Let’s pray . . .