A TIME FOR PREPARATION

Acts 1:12-26

Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

May 1, 2005

“Don’t just stand there, do something!” This is a familiar line to us, isn’t it, for after all, we are a people of action! We are largely a people on the go, regardless of age or circumstance. I can’t tell you how many retired people have told me over the years that their lives are so busy, they wonder how they ever found time previously to work!

We are a people of activity, and this includes the Church. We are a congregation engaged in so many activities – as our bulletin insert testifies this morning - while we seek to be good stewards of all the many resources we have.

Sometimes, however, the Lord places us – individually or collectively – into a period of preparation for that which is to come. My sister, for example, wrote an unpublished book, based upon the lives of people in the Bible. It was entitled, Wait-Lifting, and it spoke in depth of many in the Bible who found themselves in a period of waiting.

Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years after the promise of God for a son was first given, before having a son at the age of 100 and 90, respectively. Moses waited 40 years before being called by God to lead God’s people out of Egypt. Israel wandered in the wilderness, waiting 40 years before being allowed to enter the Promised Land. David waited for years before the promise of becoming the king of Israel was actually fulfilled.

In all of these situations, we find that a wise God has His reasons for such waiting periods … one reason being that He uses them to shape His people for that which is yet to come. Such times of waiting are times of preparation for what God is about to do.

We often feel uncomfortable with such periods because again, we are a people of relentless activity. But when God has you, or the church as a whole, in a waiting period or a time of preparation, this does not necessarily mean inactivity. It should mean a purposeful and intentional turning of one’s complete attention to the Lord, in seeking to be obedient, watchful and patient. And this is precisely the case for the apostles and the believers in Jerusalem.

During the 10 days between Jesus’ ascension and the great and powerful Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came in fulfillment of the promise, these believers found themselves in a time of preparation, and we may well take note that they used that time wisely.

THEY USED THIS TIME AS A TIME FOR CONSTANT PRAYER.

Following Jesus’ ascension, they all went to the Upper Room. They knew they had to wait, as Jesus had made it ever so clear to them. Again, it would be 10 days before the promise of the Holy Spirit would be fulfilled. But note how they used this time fruitfully. They didn’t assemble in that place merely to pass the time away together.

Luke tells us, “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” In the original Greek, it becomes quite clear that the believers were “devoted” to prayer, in such a way that they were of one mind in going together, and in going often, before the Throne of Grace in prayer.

Now, the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what they prayed for at that time. Perhaps it was prayerful adoration and worship, and rightfully so following what they’d experienced! Perhaps it was a time of prayerful confession, for all of them had been unfaithful to the Lord; Peter was not the only one who had denied and deserted the Lord. They all had.

Perhaps this was a time of prayerful thanksgiving, marveling as they did at all God had done for them, for their sake and for their salvation. Or perhaps it was a matter of prayerful supplication and petition, entrusting everything into God’s hands. Perhaps it was all of this and more. But the point of the matter is, when God places us in a time of preparation, a time when we cannot and should not move forward, that is certainly a time for prayer.

A number of years ago, Dr. Samuel Moffett addressed a large gathering of Presbyterians, of whom I was one. Dr. Moffett spoke of prayer as a prelude to God’s power unleashed out into the world, based upon this passage before us this morning.

Let me give you the opportunity of hearing in part what Dr. Moffett, a retired missionary, had to say:

Prayer, says the secular world, is the Christian’s escape from reality, a cop-out. Not long after my wife and I returned from missions work in Korea, one woman asked her, ‘What did you do for the people unjustly imprisoned by the government there?’ It was a good question, and it was not asked unkindly. Eileen paused and answered, ‘There wasn’t too much we could do. We visited them when we could. And we prayed for them regularly.’ That was when someone audibly whispered, ‘Cop-out.’

I admit, there are times when I am more tempted to revolution than to prayer. And apparently it was revolution the disciples were thinking about when they asked Jesus, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ But remembering how Jesus had answered them, they prayed instead of revolting.

Here is the paradox. Revolutions make the headlines. Prayer doesn’t. But the world has forgotten about the plot against Tiberius that set tongues wagging in Jerusalem. It has forgotten the border raids across the Rhine. What it has never forgotten is that leaderless, outcast little band that trudged down the hill into Jerusalem - and took the time to pray. [i]

As we think of this, we should note well that whenever God is about to do something, He so often calls His people to special seasons of prayer. It is true for individuals, and it is true for the church as a whole. All the great periods in history of spiritual awakening and revival, for example, have been preceded by special seasons, times of preparation, when God called His people to pray.

THEY USED THIS TIME AS A TIME TO STUDY THE WORD OF GOD.

During this time of preparation, Peter addressed the 120 believers who had gathered together in that place. As he does, it becomes quite apparent to us that Peter had considered what the Scriptures had to say about such a time in which they had found themselves.

Peter had deliberately sought to understand the counsel of God through the Scriptures for much-needed wisdom and insight. Here, he spoke of divine inspiration, of the fact that “the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas.” Then he quoted pertinent references that led the believers to understand what had happened, and furthermore, what they were now to do - that being in finding a replacement for Judas Iscariot as the twelfth Apostle.

Note that as important as it was that they were all together, this was no time for a “brainstorming session.” They were not using this time to collectively come up with some good ideas. They were not asking one another, “What do you think about this?” or “What do you think?” Under Peter’s leadership, the counsel of God’s Word was instead consulted, so that they might understand the present, and prepare for the future.

Similarly, be we an individual or a group or a church in waiting, finding ourselves in a time of preparation, the Word of God is surely to be “a lamp to (our) feet and a light for (our) path.” (Psalm 119:105)

For myself, my time of preparation is at the very start of the day in the Word and in prayer. Now, I’m fully aware that not all are able to prepare for their day in this way. Some schedules are too full at the very start, and yet I am also sure that once committed to the Lord, such quiet times in some form or fashion could surely occur. The Lord Himself, after all, desires to meet with us!

George Mueller housed thousands of orphans during his 19^th century ministry, at a time when the conveniences of our day were virtually unknown. Yet he deliberately sought the time daily to prepare his heart and mind for the challenges of the day.

Mueller commended this practice to others in saying:

… God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing a child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for his inner man. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man. We should take food for that, as every one must allow.

Now what is the food for the inner man: not prayer, but the Word of God: and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts…

… How different when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon one! [ii]

We would all do well to heed this wise counsel, in preparation for the day and for what God has in mind for us. Again, I personally can speak for such a practice, one that I have had for many years. It is a time of preparation in which the Lord prepares my heart and my mind for the joys and the challenges of the day that lie ahead of me. I hope and I pray that you have no less than the very same conviction!

For the 120 believers, that time of ten days must have seemed very long. It wasn’t 25 years as it was for Abraham and Sarah, nor was it 40 years as it was for the people of Israel wandering in the wilderness. Yet it was a time, like theirs, which God had assigned for them as a time for preparation.

May I ask you a question? Has God placed you in such a time of preparation? Has God placed us in such a time? In either case, if so, then let us use this time well. Let us use this time well!