The Advent Part 6
Acts 1:4-5, “And being assembled together with them, He command 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.’”
Toward the end of the forty days in which Jesus was among His disciples after His resurrection, while they were all assembled together, Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem. From this commandment we can conclude that it is likely the disciples had planned to leave Jerusalem after Christ’s ascension to the Father. From a logical viewpoint they really had no reason to remain in Jerusalem, there was nothing keeping them there, this was the selfsame place that received them with stones and tortures, the selfsame place in which the Lord Jesus Christ had been crucified, so why would they remain?
Although from the prism of human understanding it would have been better for them to leave Jerusalem, since it would have most likely spared them troubles and tribulations, Jesus commanded them to remain in the city, and wait for the promise of the Father.
The life of a servant never revolves around what the servant thinks is best for him, but what his Master thinks is best for Him. Our opinions, our feelings, our thoughts are irrelevant when it comes to the will of God, because His will must be preeminent in us throughout our journey here on heart.
‘But I feel it would be better if I went about a certain task this way rather than the way God instructed me.’
And that is where the descent into disobedience begins, that is where the descent into rebellion is birthed, because we place our own feelings and emotions above the will of God, and attempt of our own volition to make it easier on ourselves. There is only one right way to go about the work of God, and that is the way in which God instructed you to go about it.
The disciples were commanded to remain in Jerusalem, and because they were true servants, because they were true followers of Christ, they didn’t present Jesus with a list of why it would be best if they left the city, of why it would be more advantageous to find another place wherein they could gather and fellowship, they simply obeyed and remained.
In His command to His disciples Jesus highlights two Persons, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. He commanded them to wait for the promise of the Father, which would be fulfilled in the Person of the Holy Spirit, and through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In essence, Jesus was entrusting His disciples into the hands of the Father, and to the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the journey they were about to embark upon, and the work they were about to begin.
Once again we see that there was no specificity to the command of Christ, He simply told them to wait, until they received the promise. Often times we want details when God commands us to do something, we want to know every step of the journey, but just as often God simply tells us to wait, or to go, or to do. The disciples didn’t start asking how long they would have to wait, or what they should do while they were waiting, they didn’t start inquiring as to how the baptism of the Holy Spirit would feel, or what the experience would be like, it was enough for them to know that Jesus commanded them to wait, and that they would receive the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy Spirit not many days from then.
When God promises a certain thing, we must trust in the promise of God. We ought not to grow agitated, we ought not to grow impatient, we ought not to check our watches and tap our feet, and find other distractions to occupy our time with, but prayerfully, hopefully, joyfully, and peacefully wait until that which God promised will come to pass.
The disciples were now called to begin their work, the training wheels had come off, and the work they were about to begin would be very public. Jesus chose Jerusalem as the most visible place, the most appropriate place for the burning torches that would be His disciples after advent of the Holy Spirit to burn brightly for the glory of God. Beginning at Jerusalem, the gospel of salvation would be preached throughout the world, and countless souls would come to know the love, the grace, the mercy, and the saving power of Christ Jesus.
The fulfillment of the promise, the advent of the Holy Spirit was the last piece of the puzzle, the last thing that needed to be done that the disciples might be thoroughly equipped for the work they had been called to.
One last thing I wanted to emphasize today is the fact that the Holy Spirit is not only the promise of the Father, but also comes from the Father. Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit, but He attributes this sovereign power to none other than God.
John 16:26, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father He will testify of Me.”
Throughout the life and ministry of Christ we see the interconnectedness between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, realizing that all that Jesus had He had from the Father, all that He spoke, the Father gave Him to speak, all that He did He did in accordance to the Father’s will.
John 12:49, “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.”
John 5:19, “Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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