Sunday: Days of Preparation
In the last hours spent with the disciples before His death, Jesus promised that He would not leave them alone. Another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, would be sent to accompany them in their ministry. The Spirit would help them remember many things Jesus had said and done (John 14:26), and would guide them in discovering more truths (John 16:13).
Image © Review and Herald Publishing Assn. Goodsalt.com
On the day of His ascension Jesus renewed this promise. “You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. … You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:5, Acts 1:8, NKJV). The Holy Spirit’s power will be given to enable the disciples to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Read Acts 1:12-14. What did the disciples do during this period of ten days?
We can imagine these ten days as a period of intense spiritual preparation, a kind of retreat during which these disciples share together their memories of Jesus, His deeds, His teachings, and His miracles. They were of “one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14).
“As the disciples waited for the fulfillment of the promise, they humbled their hearts in true repentance and confessed their unbelief. As they called to remembrance the words that Christ had spoken to them before His death they understood more fully their meaning. Truths which had passed from their memory were again brought to their minds, and these they repeated to one another. They reproached themselves for their misapprehension of the Saviour. Like a procession, scene after scene of His wonderful life passed before them. As they meditated upon His pure, holy life they felt that no toil would be too hard, no sacrifice too great, if only they could bear witness in their lives to the loveliness of Christ’s character. Oh, if they could but have the past three years to live over, they thought, how differently they would act! If they could only see the Master again, how earnestly they would strive to show Him how deeply they loved Him, and how sincerely they sorrowed for having ever grieved Him by a word or an act of unbelief! But they were comforted by the thought that they were forgiven. And they determined that, so far as possible, they would atone for their unbelief by bravely confessing Him before the world. … Putting away all differences, all desire for the supremacy, they came close together in Christian fellowship.” – Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, pages 36, 37.
What things do you wish you could do over in regard to your faith? What can you learn from your regrets about the past that can help you make a better future? |
(46)
Before Jesus death he said he had many things to tell them which he couldn't tell them then because they couldn't bear them, but that the Holy Spirit would reveal the things to them. I wonder if that still applies today? Or was everything revealed to the Apostles? I have noticed that the LORD revealed more and more of His character and his Principles of Life to his people down through the ages as they needed them and could bear them. I also noticed that although I believe his Principles of Life never change how he reveals them are appropriate to the age.
As the disciples prepared for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit so we must prepare for the latter rain. As congregations we must be united through prayer, fasting and study to prepare our hearts and minds for what is to come. Maranatha!
A real blessing we have been given insight into how they were thinking and feeling during the 10 days while they waited for the Holy Spirit!
The authors todays parting question is personal. We must not forget how the Lord has led us in the past. And learn from our mistakes, and leave it there. We are doing us harm if we dwell on mistakes of the past...
The Apostle Paul would absolutely agree with you John: Philippians 3:12-14.
The Greek conceptual emphasis for the word translated'forgetting' (epilanthanomenos) is as you have described: to lose from the mind that which would otherwise entangle us in an unhealthy dwelling upon the failures of the past.
A butterfly engaging with a spider's web to the butterfly's ultimate 'paralysis' and loss of freedom to be what a butterfly is capable of being is an example of what unhealthy dwelling results in.
During the 10 days of waiting for the Holy Spirit, the Disciples were in one accord, praying and confessing their sins and unbelief before they could received the Holy Spirit. They were not in any hurry. As it was with the Disciples then, so it is with us today. God will not give His Holy Spirit to those who fall short of His,(GOD) requirement. The problem with modern day Christians is that they think that they must get what they ask from God instantly. They are in a rush, they have no time to wait, they want instant response from God with no regard for God's requirement.
WAITING
A: Hello, Peter. I think we've waited long enough, we should do something.
B: Hello, you remember how just a few days ago I suggested we go fishing and all of you joined me, John 21:3. This was a big mistake because our lord and Savior had already changed us to be fishers of men. This time around I don't want to be a self starter. I don't want to be tempted to take off on my own power. I'm going to look to God for direction, power and wisdom.
A: but why should we wait for the Holy Spirit which Jesus has already given us a few days ago? John 20:22.
B: The Holy Spirit has been there since the beginning but we're waiting for his great manifestation. We can't accomplish anything without the Holy Spirit. We should wait to be clothed with power from on high otherwise we'll be naked, wretched and poor.
A: should we just stay and wait? I hate waiting.
B: l know many of us don't like waiting. We want things instantly but to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecc 3:1-8.
A: Now, can we just sleep and wait?
B: No, waiting on the Holy Spirit should not be an excuse for doing nothing. We're going to be obedient, have fellowship and pray.
I wasn't aware just how upside-down my thinking had been for quite some time after my exposure to the religious community as a pre-teen. I thank God for His Word (Jn 1:1,14) and His baptism in a Gift (Lk 11:13; Act 2:38) that through the Scriptures is still accomplishing a reversion of my upside-down state of mind.
The charismatic Baptist church my mother was a member of, and that I was first baptized into as a pre-teen, taught and led me in the practice of "tarrying". This mandatory practice of staying on the church's premises and sleeping on the floor for several days after baptism in order to receive the "outpouring of the spirit", though well-intentioned, I now know to be a misunderstanding of Scripture.
I accepted the group belief and practice of my former church which misunderstood a key element of the Gospel of Christ (Mt 4:23). The Gospel that He preached requires a change in thinking (Mk 1:14-15; 2:22) inferring the necessity of change in the place where our thinking takes place (Mk 2:6-8; 2 Cor 3:14). Change, for which Christ provided THE PERFECT AGENT in His absence (Jn 14:16-17; 16:7-9; Act 2:38). Christ (Jn 3:5-6) and His disciples understood and declared that this change, or purification, is associated with a particular relationship with Christ's Holy Spirit (Act 15:8-9; Gal 3:6:8; Rm 8:9).
So, how does one prepare to receive this MOST IMPORTANT, inherited, Gift? What kinds of mildly, moderately or grossly wrong-headed ideas regarding preparation for the reception of the Holy Spirit arises in us as individuals, or is presented to us by other individuals? Well, I've now personally ruled out sleeping on church floors! But how about congregating in an upper room...in Jerusalem...in prayer, like the disciples did (Act 1:12-14)? Would this sound like a better preparation strategy? Is there a guaranteed strategy? Well, based on Peter's (Act 2:17) and Paul's (Gal 3:8,14; Eph 3:14-17) declaration of God's intentions, no doubt should be harbored regarding God's global outlook. So, I'd strike the gathering-in-an-upper-room-in-Jerusalem approach as well.
The good news regarding God's global outlook is that it is also local and VERY PERSONAL! God desires each reader who, through the convicting ministry of His Spirit (Jn 16:8), becomes aware of their personal vulnerability to wrong-headedness--their's (Mt 16:22-23), and other's (Mt 16:6,11-12)--to just accept that truth. However, after accepting God's truth about the self, the individual is also urged to reject the "wrong-teous" self, powered by the faith from God's provided Inheritance (Act 1:4; 2:33; Gal 3:3,5-6; 2 Pt 1:3-4).
Our responsibility, as taught by Christ, is to simply ask (Lk 11:13). Ask, for His Inheritance who invisibly, mysteriously, but Oh, so perfectly cuts away "wrong-teousness" from the place where we think and decide our every action (Php 3:3; 2 Cor 3:8,14-18). No sleeping on church floors, no gathering in upper rooms--anywhere, everywhere across the face of this Earth the "wrong-teous" may lay hold on their Divine Inheritance (Jn 16:7), thereby accessing the "righteousness of God" (Rm 3:21-23) simply by asking--guaranteed (Lk 11:10)! This global Gospel, foreshadowed in Abraham (Gen 12:3; Gal 3:14), is now real because of Christ (Gal 3:29) and free for the asking.
Hi Lynrol
Thankyou for recounting your experience and learnings. I would affirm what you have said and I would add a little further to it from my recent learnings that I gained from a theologian that I respect greatly and from insights via Ellen White, if I may.
In your last paragraph, you make reference to "accessing the 'rightousness of God' simply by asking - guaranteed" and then you reference Luke 11:10.
Luke 11:10 nests within an interesting passage (Luke 11:5-13) and is also conceptually linked to a similarly interesting passage in Luke 18:1-8. Ellen White also devotes an entire chapter in Christ's Object Lessons (Ch 12) to the Luke 11 passage.
Jesus teaching in these passages seems a little bizzare in that He seems to be upholding the actions of shady characters. However, Ellen White points out that Jesus is teaching in this instance via the use of contrast to point out that if even a shady character will respond to persistence, how much more will God respond to persistent prayer.
So the key theme in these passages is the necessity of praying for as long as it takes until the prayer is answered. There is typically a tendency to expect prayer to be answered more quickly and while it is sometimes, at other times the answer may be years, decades or even lifetimes in the answering.
There are likely many and various reasons as to why some prayers take a long time to be answered. One factor appears to be the necessity of both our character and our faith development. Paul (Rom 5:3,4) and James (Jas 1:2-4,12) both emphasise the key role that perseverance - when it seems like nothing's happening or that God is silent - plays in our growth.
I had not noticed the strength of emphasis on persistence in prayer, regardless of how long it takes until last week. It has been a very eye-opening awareness.
And Luke 18:8 is particularly interesting when it asks the question "when the Son of Man comes, will he find (this kind of persistent) faith on the earth?" It appears that Jesus foresaw that perseverance would be in short supply amongst Christian's at the close of earth's history.
Hence the necessity of encouraging the need of development of perseverance in our Christian walk and especially in our prayer life.
Phil, I appreciate your concern that my post might mislead a reader into the belief that short, superficial or casual praying should be their regular practice. So, thanks for the opportunity to clarify what I wrote.
Luke 11:1-4 records Jesus' response to His disciples request in Lk 11:1. Yes, in Lk 11:5-8 He does address persistence in prayer.
However, in Lk 11:9-13 He instructs them specifically regarding prayer for the Father's Holy Spirit. The point of my original post was really to contrast my former church's belief and practice with Christ's revealed attitude of His Father (Lk 11:13) and His assurance when we do as He instructs (Lk 11:9-10). Again, this is specific to the reception of the Holy Spirit--in line with the day's lesson of "Days of Preparation".
I've heard vestiges of my former church's understanding on this specific matter expressed among us, that we should "agonize" for God's Spirit, but I think we're safest embracing Christ's instructions.
The goal of the Gospel is to effect change in the individual by the death of self, replaced by Christ in us (Col 1:27; Gal 4:19). The Holy Spirit's responsibility for the formation of Christ in Mary (Lk 1:35), and which parallels our experience (Eph 3:16-17; Rm 8:11), required no importuning on her part. Like that foreshadowed in Abraham (Gen 12:3; Gal 3:14), Mary's was the prophesied will of God (Mt 1:22-23). When she became aware of her specific call, she simply surrendered (Lk 1:38).
Hi Lynrol
Rest assured that I did not write because I thought your post "might mislead a reader into the belief that short, superficial or casual praying should be their regular practice".
I added further to what you had raised in your post only because that belief already exists and the corresponding awareness of the role and necessity of perseverance within the Christian walk (prayer included) is rarely talked about.
God bless you...