Generation Of The Church

This Generation

Acts 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive powera, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.[1]

I.   Witlessness

     A. When

     B. Why

II. Willfulness

     A. Who

     B. What

III. Witness

     A. Where

     B. Who

Introduction:  When are things ever going to be OK?  How is all this that is wrong now going to be made right?  That is a question that we all wonder about.  Everybody thinks about it whether they admit it or not.  Some may act like they could care less about how this is going to turn out and some would make others believe that this here now is all that really matters but they are not even fooling themselves.  It is the thing that causes confusion wars and bloodshed.

The really crazy thing about it is this; nobody on this planet knows the answer.  People with much education have attempted to make would be followers believe even to the point of those people giving up their own lives for ideas that they have been brainwashed into believing.  To me, that must be the definition of crazy.

Jesus had left the place that was right.  He emptied Himself of divine knowledge when He came here so that He could be as we are, helpless without God.  I this our focus today, Jesus is going back home to be with His Father.  Yes it is Fathers’ Day but that was our Heavenly Father’s Day.  His Son was coming home.

Instead of focusing on what they had been told by the most reliable source, the disciples that day were still concerned about earthly things.  Though they had been with Jesus, they still were missing the point, and they would until they received The Holy Spirit.  Many today are led into the wilderness of ignorance only to go through life miserable and lost.  My question is this, when will they ever learn?

Back in the late 1950s there was a group called The Kingston Trio that made a Bob Seegar song popular.  It’s called “Where have all the flowers gone?”  This is the compiled lyrics:

Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing. Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago.  Where have all the flowers gone? Young Girls picked them every one. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

The song repeats about the young girls, where have the young girls gone.  To young men everyone.  Where have all the young men gone?  Gone for soldiers everyone.  Where have all the soldiers gone?  Gone to graveyards everyone.  Where have all the graveyards gone? Gone to flowers everyone.  When will they ever learn?  When will they ever learn.

To wonder when this existence will finally be to that place that is perfect is the question that the disciples asked Jesus many times.  It is the question that politicians are basing their platforms on even today.  How do we get back on track?  When will this world end and what can we as the inhabitants of this planet do to make it like we think it should be?  It’s been a long time coming.

Scripture:  The scripture is Acts 1:7-8.  When you have found it please rise to your feet for the reading of God’s written word.

Prayer: Please be seated

Message:  We have been reminded of the events following Jesus’ ascension as we have also been considering the Revelation to John from Jesus while John the apostle was exiled to the island of Patmos.

Here in this text we find Jesus in His glorified body with those eleven who had known and followed Him.  Even here in this place as He was about to leave, their same old question was ever present.

When is our nation going to be restored to what we think it should be?  It is really the same question that is causing confusion in our nation as in all nations.  When are things going to be like I think they should be?

Witlessness is a good word here I think.  That is what we are without knowing Jesus.  No idea of right or wrong.  No care whether to commit to anyone else.  No desire to obey the plan that was laid out for us.  Witless!

The disciples, after following this man Jesus during His ministry and hearing so many times that He was about his Father’s business, all they could say as He was about to leave was to ask when is this earthly existence be what we think it should be.  Perhaps they did know that He was about to leave.  Why had He not done what they expected Him to do and now He’s leaving?  Witless!

Jesus was not and is not about making this world what we want this world to be.  When will they ever learn!  He gave them a no answer.  It is not for us to know about those things.  Over and over Jesus said that to them and here at this place at this time as He was leaving, instead of asking if He might give a word to Our Heavenly Father from them, they were asking about worldly things.

It is not for you to know but…  That is a great big word in the Bible.  But this is what is important.  Your willfulness is about to change!  What and how you think about things is about to change.  Who you are and what you are about is going to be completely changed and oh by the way, you are going to be given power that you have not had until you receive The Holy Spirit.  Wait!  Wait!

If you decide to make up your mind about what you are going to do before you receive The Holy Spirit, you are going to continue to mess up.  Up until now you have considered what Jesus can do for you and how and when He would do that which you have for Him to do.  This is His reply, now it is not your life anymore because I gave up my life so that you might live.  But now I am leaving.  So now it is up to you.  When, Now!  What, tell them.  Who, Whosoever will.

Tell them what?  Tell them that Jesus is whom Jesus said He was.  Tell them that you have witnessed the Lord Jesus Christ.  Where do we do that?  For the disciples that day, they were to start right there where they were.  What about us?  What is our Jerusalem?  Right here in Merry Oaks a little suburb of Moncure North Carolina.  Right here right now this is where we are witnessing to the truth that Jesus is.

But we are not only witnessing here in this place.  We are supporting missionaries, evangelists, and yes even chaplains who are going into the uttermost parts of the earth.  Who knows where each of us right here in this place might go to witness, only God knows that.

We all have opportunities now unlike the early apostles.  We might find ourselves in another state or country, who knows?  God knows.  I don’t.  Wherever God leads you follow and witness.

Witness to who?  Whosoever will.  Do not worry about which one will accept the truth.  That part is not up to you.  Do not worry about having the power to overcome those who will, and they will, oppress your witness.  It is not for you to find the strength within yourself.  If you have accepted Jesus, you will receive the Holy Spirit unless you refuse Him.  That is the power!  There is no other way to witness Jesus without the Holy Spirit.

There is no other way to be in God’s will without The Holy Spirit.  There is no God if there is 2/3s of God.  God The Father, God The Son, God The Holy Spirit.

Prayer:

Invitation: You might be here today wondering about this Pentecost thing.  And you might be here wondering when God is going to restore Merry Oaks Baptist Church to her former glory.  There is no way for me to know the things that are in your minds.  There is one thing for certain; God knows that thing that is in your mind.  If you are truly a Christian then you have truly received the Holy Spirit and He is truly placing things in your mind that coincide with God’s will.

What is it that we expect from Jesus?  He told us what He expects from us.  Is that what you are doing?  Are you experiencing God or are you still insisting that God experiences you?  Keep this in mind, that day as Jesus was saying His goodbyes; they did not ask the right questions because they had not been enabled to ask rightly by the Holy Spirit yet.  That came later at the Pentecost.

Has that come to you yet?  Do you want to be in God’s will or do you want God in your will?  Jesus made His Father’s Day a special day to The Heavenly Father because He came home.  Are you ready to come home for Fathers’ Day?  Consider that here on your knees this morning or there where you stand as we sing…

a power...: or, the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (1995). (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version., Ac 1:7–8). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.