Now What

Luke 24:49 “And, behold, I send dthe promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, euntil ye be endued with fpower from on high.[1]

I.   See

     A.  Promise

     B.  Person

II. Stay

     A.  Permit

     B.   Prepare

III.     Secure

      A.  Provided

      B.   Power

Introduction:   What a wonderful beautiful day it must have been that first Easter morning.  The first to arrive were expecting to do the thing that they were not able to do the day before because yesterday was the Sabbath Day.  They were there on that first Easter Sunday to prepare the body that they expected to have been there from Friday afternoon through Saturday and now it was after sunrise on Sunday.  Now it was permissible for them to touch a dead body.

The women had an important role.  Notice that there were no men with them to assist in the preparation.  Peter had said earlier that he would not allow anything to happen to Jesus and yet here on this day when they were about to ready Jesus’ body, where is Peter?

You might say that it is easy for me to find Peter’s weakness.  Maybe he was in such dread of what he had done that he couldn’t look at the body of Christ.  Truth is though, back then, women had certain roles to perform and men had other roles.  It was not a man’s place to prepare a body for burial so there were none there that day.  When Jesus’ body was discovered as missing the men came then.  Peter and John had a footrace to see who could get there first.

Howard Crutchfield was much younger than I am now when I went to work at the power plant.  There was a younger fellow called Wayne that was to apprentice with Howard.  Wayne thought it was so funny calling Howard “Old Man.”  Howard would ride up the elevator to do whatever had to be done and would train Wayne in the process.  Wayne would run up the stairs and laugh at Howard about being too old to keep up.  On day they came into the control room and Wayne was still laughing and picking on Howard.  Howard said, “I’d rather be old and slow because it gives me time to think about what I am going to do when I get there.  That’s much better than what you do with your running and then having to wait for me because you don’t know what to do when you get there.”

Peter and John were in a footrace that day to get to the empty tomb but neither had any idea of what they might find when they got there.  Peter had denied Jesus after claiming that he would let nothing bad happen to Him.  John referred to himself as the one whom Jesus loved but now Jesus was dead and even His body was missing.  What to do what to do!

Scripture:  The scripture is Luke 24:49.  When you have found it please rise for the reading of God’s word.

Prayer: Please be seated

Message:  Consider Luke chapter twenty-four.  They came to the sepulcher to do the embalming and found the tomb unsealed.  As they stood there wondering what to do two men showed up in shining garments.  The two explained that though they were looking for a dead man there was nobody dead there.  He is risen!  Then they explained the scriptures.

The women left and told the apostles or the eleven as verse nine states.  Luke’s gospel is written from Paul’s point of view.  Surely it was not Luke’s intention to leave John out of the footrace to the tomb.  Maybe it was to emphasize that Peter’s love for Jesus had not wavered even though he had denied Jesus in those fearful moments.  Luke described Peter as having jumped up to run to the tomb.

Verses thirteen through thirty-five account what happened on the road to Emmaus when two other disciples encountered Jesus.  Cleopas’ wife may be one on those three Marys mentioned that went to prepare the body that first Easter morning.  After Jesus explained Himself to those two, Luke accounts Him showing up where more were assembled.  In that time it says that Jesus shared a meal with them.  In John chapter twenty-one we find that account of Peter and the others on the beach with Jesus at the fish fry.

Here in Luke’s account Jesus is explaining the gospel message to these others including Peter.  To get the full feeling that Peter must have felt being there again with Jesus we must consider John’s gospel accounts of this event as Jesus gave Peter three times to tell Him that he loved Jesus.  Three times Peter denied Jesus.  There at the side of the sea Peter expressed his love to Jesus three times.

They all no doubt felt terrible for not understanding.  I know how I felt and still feel when I am brought back to the day when I finally realized truly who Jesus was to me.  How could I have been so stupid?  Why didn’t I see before?  I had heard all these things since I was a kid in Sunday School.  I memorized all the appropriate verses.  Why did I not know in my heart?

Peter wasn’t the only apostle there that day thinking this.  One wasn’t there anymore because Judas Iscariot didn’t trust Jesus to forgive him.  Even though Jesus was there with them in His resurrected body, Jesus knew that they had to have it explained one more time.  Jesus knew that they still really wouldn’t understand until they allowed the Holy Spirit into their consciences.

Jesus knew!  Jesus knows!  Jesus loves me enough to be patient with me.  He loves you that much too!  Until He knows you are ready to accept that which He expects from you, He will wait.  He will watch.  Finally when He sees that you are ready to truly understand He will tell you what to do next.  He is not in a hurry.  He knows what to do when you get there.

“48 And cye are witnesses of these things.” [2]  You have seen these things.  And behold!  In other words don’t just stand there and witness the thing but really see!  Behold!  Hold in your understanding the thing that you have seen.  Own it!  See it!  It is the promise from our Father in heaven to you!  You are the person for whom this belongs so own this!

Can you think back to a time when you witnessed something that you let pass by only to be brought back to that thing years later wondering what you missed?  Jerry talks about a radio station in Dunn that he listens to.  After quitting my job as a radio announcer because of personal disagreements, I went to work at CP&L.  Met a little blond haired girl and made a home of my father’s home.  I traveled a bunch and left off things that might have been different.

One of those things was a job at WCKB in Dunn, North Carolina.  I can’t remember exactly when but they called and asked if I was still interested in the announcer job.  I’d probably have still married Rachael and maybe everything else would have fallen in place.  WCKB became a Christian station.  I had heard the call to preach when I was fourteen years old but somehow I was able to evade it for a long time.  What did I not see?  Have you got any of them???

I especially appreciate what Jesus said next.  Run up the stairs and don’t wait for the elevator?  No!  Stay where you are!  Really???  “But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem” [3]  Why Jerusalem?  Stay where you are until I have prepared you for the next step.  If you are in Moncure, North Carolina then stay there until I am ready for your next thing.

Stay until you have the permit required for you to move on.  Who give the permit?  God does!  When does He issue you the instrument certificate that allows you to fly without seeing in front of you?  Only after God is sure that you are instrument rated will you be permitted to use that which He has instructed and equipped you for.  It is God who prepares and it is God who permits.  It is you who goes when He knows you are prepared and ready.

There is an old saying, “It’s much better to be on the ground wishing that you are in the clouds than to be in the clouds wishing you were on the ground.”  Being secure waiting in your Jerusalem until Jesus is ready to move you to the next place is much better than wishing you had stayed until He said it is time to move on.  He provided you a safe and secure place.  Why be in such a hurry to go on to the next thing until you know what the next thing is?

How long?  “Until ye be endued with fpower from on high.” [4]  He provided that heartbeat that you just now experienced.  He will provide power from the Holy Spirit when you are ready to use it.  Otherwise the power that you receive might come from a source that you do not want to accept.  Is there another source of power?  Yes, but there is only one source for love.

Prayer:  Let us pray

Invitation:  If I said that I am not getting apprehensive about Merry Oaks Baptist Church it would be a lie.  We want those who are not attending to return and worship with is again.  We want those who once walked in the door that were here for a visit to come back and visit again.  We want the funds to allow us to fund more missions and have enough to make necessary repairs on the church buildings.  I know that some are having these thoughts because they have been shared with me and I was already thinking the same way.

What are we waiting for?  When is God going to move?  Now what?  When am I going to be able to feel vibrant again knowing that He is using me in His kingdom’s work?  What’s next?

50 "And he led them out gas far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and hcarried up into heaven. 52 And they iworshipped him, and kreturned to Jerusalem lwith great joy: 53 And were continually min the temple, praising and nblessing God. Amen." [5]

On this Easter Sunday we are doing just as they were doing that day.  We are continually in the temple praising and blessing God.  What is next?  He is…  Amen???

Let’s praise Him as we sing…

d Acts 1:4. So Isai. 44:3. Joel 2:28. See John 14:26.
e See Judg. 6:34 marg. Comp. Acts 2:4.
f Acts 1:8.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 24:49). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
c Acts 1:8, 22. & 2:32. & 3:15. & 5:32. & 10, 39, 41. & 13:31. 1 Pet. 5:1. So John 15:27. Acts 4:33.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 24:48). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 24:49). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
f Acts 1:8.
[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 24:49). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
g See Matt. 21:17. Comp. Acts 1:12.
h Mark 16:19. John 20:17. Acts 1:9. So John 20:17. Eph. 4:8–10. Comp. 2 Kin. 2:11.
i Matt. 28:9, 17.
k Acts 1:12.
l ver. 41. See John 16:22.
m Acts 2:46. & 5:42. So Acts 3:1. & 5:21.
n See ch. 2:28.
[5] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 24:50–53). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.