Waiting

Acts 1:4

“On one occasion while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:12

“Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath’s days walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to a room where they were staying…They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”

Acts 2:1

“When the day of Pentecost came they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

Acts is one of my favorite books of the Bible because it is so exciting. This is when the church first began and there were people getting filled with the Holy Ghost and the church was growing and there were being miracles performed and great sermons preached etc. I love it when people ask me about Pentecost because I get to say, well we believe what the church in the book of Acts believed, and it’s just really great.

Acts is the record of really the first revival. In Pentecost we talk about the Azusa Street Revival and around here people talk about the Red River Meeting House Revival and all these times that the church has grown tremendously. However, Acts was the first revival. Acts 2:41 says that three thousand people were added to the church in just one single day. Can you even begin to fathom how crazy that would be? That’s like the entire population or more of Adairville, Ky. I know there are revivals in other countries where that many people are added to the church, but here, for us, it’s almost unimaginable.

The book of Acts is something to get excited about. I want to focus on the first 63 verses though, all of chapter one and part of chapter two.

The point I want to make here, though, is that there was a lot of waiting done in the book of Acts. I know it’s only like the first chapter that they are waiting, but can you imagine being stuck in a room waiting for ten days for something you know is coming? We get upset when we have to wait one hour in a hospital or at the doctor’s office, or in line for something, the disciples had to wait for ten days.

The waiting room is where God prepares us. The disciples were preparing for the promise God had made to them. They were praying, they were taking care of business. After they had waited for ten days, God sent his Spirit.

Now, I’ve talked about promises a lot. We know that all of God’s promises are yes and amen. And he is true and he is faithful. But here in his word, the promise was not that thousands would be added to the church. The promise was that He would send his Spirit to all those who believe in him. The thousands being added to the church came after the Spirit was poured out. So guess what, we don’t have to wait anymore! We have been filled with the Spirit, we have received the promise.

What’s cool about God though is that He always wants to give us more. He made the promise, he fulfilled the promise, but in 2 Corinthians 5:5 we read that “God has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

So yeah, maybe it stinks to wait. But if you are waiting then you know that something good must be coming.

Psalm 27:13-14 says “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart, wait for the Lord.”

Psalm 40:1-2 I waited patiently for the Lord, eh turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock.

Isaiah: 40:31 They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength, thy will soar like eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Being filled with the Spirit, if you are waiting on the Lord, do not weary, do not be downhearted, because those who wait on the Lord will receive a great reward.