This is the sermon for the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The sermon text is Acts 16:6-10. The sermon theme is: Holy Spirit, Lead Us. Here is the Written Sermon

Holy Spirit, Lead Us.

It’s scary to be lost. I remember when I was a tiny child. And my mom and I were in the grocery store together. I had this habit of running off. And I didn’t think it was that big of a concern at the time. Because, after all, mommy is always right there, right? That’s her job. She is supposed to be wherever I am. Well, I wandered off a little. And when I looked up, she was gone. Even though I was a tiny little boy, still to this day I remember the panic I had at losing mommy. Of course, all that had happened was that she just went around the corner. But it was scary.

Even as grown-ups we are still scared when we get lost. When we first moved here I printed out a massive map of Pittsburgh. And when I went to a hospital I got lost coming back. And, I admit, it was scary. But, maybe even more scary than that is not being lost on a road, but instead feeling lost in your life. Keep that thought in mind as we read the first verse in our section this morning. In the book of Acts, chapter 16, Luke tells us, “They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia and were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia” (Acts 16:6 HCSB)

If you look at the front of your bulletin, you’ll find a map. And you’ll see what Luke is speaking about. Paul and his companions were travelling through the middle of Asia Minor. And they knew why they were travelling through Asia Minor. It was Paul’s call to share God’s word to the gentiles.

And we are told that they went through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia. And you can see where those are on your map. Notice what Luke does not say. He does not say that they went off the road to the towns and villages. He does not say that they went to the big cities and preached there. No, instead they went through the middle of these regions.

Then Luke answers a question for us. If we ask the question, “Paul, why didn’t you stop and share the gospel with the people in that area?”, notice what the answer is. They were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message.

This is a very important detail that we shouldn’t glide over quickly. Notice what this shows us. First, it shows us that Paul couldn’t be everywhere and do everything. Second, it shows us that the Holy Spirit didn’t need Paul to get his work done. The Holy Spirit could send out other people just fine on his own to share God’s word. At the end of the book of Acts we see another example of this. Paul goes to Rome. But there’s already a Christian church there.

What was true for Paul is also true for us as a church. First, as a church we can’t be everywhere and do everything. Second, the Holy Spirit can get his work done just fine without us.

This is important for us to focus on today. For, in my time here as a pastor I have heard people inside of this church and outside of it speak as if they hadn’t heard or thought about this passage. One false statement I’ve heard is that we don’t need to do evangelism, because, after all, the doors are always open here at 10:30 on Sunday mornings. Notice that those sorts of statements are just the opposite of what we see here in the book of Acts. Jesus said “Go and make disciples. GO.” And we sin when we forget to plan, work and carry out this command of Jesus.

But the other false statement I’ve heard is really just the opposite. It’s the voice that says, “We’ve tried that. And we’ve tried so many other ways of reaching out with the gospel. But our church isn’t growing.” So what do you do when you are planning the work of evangelism and then working the plan, but it doesn’t pan out? What do you do when, despite the hard work, your church doesn’t grow?

The answer is here in these words. The Holy Spirit kept them from preaching in these provinces. And it is true today that there are times when we toil in evangelism, but the Holy Spirit just doesn’t let us go into some places with the gospel. And so, it’s a sin to be lazy in doing evangelism. And it’s also a sin to be despairing when we have done evangelism.

And just what is it exactly that the Holy Spirit does with us when we think these thoughts? He tells us that we are expendable. And, my brothers and sisters in Christ, that’s good news. Imagine if you were the one God needed to save you. Imagine that Jesus didn’t do all the work, but instead said that you had to help a little in taking away your sins. You would never know if you had done enough. You would never know if your sins of laziness and despair were forgiven. But because Jesus was faithful in your place, you know that they are forgiven. Imagine that you were the one who had to do the work in turning yourself from unbelief to belief. You know what that would look like. You’d still be an unbeliever.

So it is good news that we are expendable. Our Triune God is the one who does the work. He is the one who does the work in our salvation. He is the one who does the work in our conversion. And he is the one who brings others to faith as well.

And with this realization there is a prayer that we can say. We say “Lead us, Holy Spirit. Lead us to see that we are expendable. Lead us to see that you don’t need us. Lead us to see that your work is silent and your church grows without our power or permission.”

And so, with this opening verse we pray that the Holy Spirit would lead us to realize that we are expendable. But there is more to learn from these words. For Luke tells us: “⁷ When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸ So, bypassing Mysia, they came down to Troas. ⁹ During the night a vision appeared to Paul: A Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰ After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to evangelize them.” (Acts 16:7–10 HCSB)

The Holy Spirit kept saying “no.” He kept telling them they couldn’t go here and preach the gospel there. And that makes us ask another question: Why did Paul keep going? Paul kept going because he had received a promise. As we saw several weeks ago, Jesus came to Paul on the road to Damascus and told him that he would be his chosen instrument to the Gentiles. Paul knew this promise and held on tight to it. And his patience and persistence was rewarded. He received a vision in the night to go over to Macedonia. And they all came to the obvious conclusion that they should go across the water to Macedonia.

Here too we pray that the Holy Spirit would not leave us lost, but instead would lead us in the right direction. We pray not only that he would lead us to realize that we are expendable, but that also he would lead us to rejoice that he is dependable.

If it were up to us to make the people here in the valley Christians, how lost we would be! We know this is true. For if we can’t even make ourselves Christians, then how in the world we be able to make other people Christians.

So, my brothers and sisters in Christ, just as Paul held onto the promise given to him, so also, you, hold onto the promises that the Holy Spirit has spoken to you through his word. And let me conclude today with just one of them: Where God’s word is, there the Holy Spirit gets his work done.

This is true when it comes to what happens in our church. If you want our church to grow here on the inside, then there is one way, and only one way for that to happen. Be in God’s word. Through his word the Holy Spirit brings to you Jesus’ forgiveness. Through his word he tells you that your sins of laziness are forgiven. Through his word he tells you that your sins of needless despair are forgiven.

And this is also true when it comes to what happens to those on the outside of our church. Would you like others to be Christians and grow in their faith? Where God’s word is there growth is. Simply share God’s word with them. Show them their sin. Tell them of their Savior’s love for them too. Tell them that their Savior Jesus forgives their sins of laziness and despair too. There is where that growth starts and grows.

We say these two prayers to the Holy Spirit knowing that he will hear them. We pray that the Holy Spirit would lead us to realize that we are expendable. And we pray that the Holy Spirit would lead us to rejoice that he is dependable. Amen.

This is the sermon for The Ascension of Our Lord. The sermon text is Acts 1:1-11. The sermon theme is: What are you waiting for? Here is the Written Sermon

What Are You Waiting For?

What are you waiting for? When was the last time you heard those words? Maybe you were in line at a store. And it took so long for the person ahead of you to move ahead that you found yourself staring at other things off in the distance. And then the person behind you says, “Hey, what are you waiting for? Move up.” I heard those words a couple of months ago. I did that little, mini-triathlon. And we started out in the pool. And when the lady shouted, “go,” everyone could see me there at the wall still playing with my watch. I was trying to start the stopwatch. After a second or two, a guy yelled at me, “Steve, go! What are you waiting for?”

Waiting is not easy. And in these words that the Holy Spirit speaks to us this evening we see that this is very true. Luke begins the book of Acts with these words: “¹ I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach ² until the day He was taken up, after He had given orders through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. ³ After He had suffered, He also presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:1–3 HCSB)

So notice what Luke says. Jesus appears to many people over 40 days. And what was he doing over those 40 days? He was proving to them that he was alive. And he was teaching them the things they needed to know about the kingdom of God. Then Luke tells us: “⁴ While He was together with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “This,” He said, “is what you heard from Me; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”” (Acts 1:4–5 HCSB)

Jesus was teaching them about the kingdom of God. And finally then, on the fortieth day, what did he do? He tells them that they will receive the promise given from the Father.¹ And then, if they were in doubt about that at all, he tells them what promise he means. You see, way back at the beginning of Luke’s gospel we hear John the baptizer saying this: “¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing shovel is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with a fire that never goes out.”” (Luke 3:16–17 HCSB)

Now notice how amazing and surprising these words would have been for Jesus’ disciples to hear. John predicted and promised that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. But they did not know that Jesus would fulfill that prophecy through them. That was the surprising part of Jesus words here.

The disciples then put these two pieces of the puzzle together, but arrive at a horrible conclusion. For forty days they have heard speaking about the kingdom of God. And then they hear that he will baptize them with fire. They conclude that in a few short days Jesus will bring fire on Israel’s enemies.

And here is where we need to speak about that phrase “baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.” To baptize simply means to ‘put water on’ or ‘apply water to.’² So John the baptizer put water on the people coming to him at the river Jordan. But Jesus would put both the Holy Spirit and fire on the disciples in a few, short days. And so, as we will find out in a few short days, the disciples will have torches of flames and billows of smoke rising above their heads, showing and proving that the Holy Spirit is with them and in them.

But the disciples didn’t understand this. So, in their own way, they ask Jesus, “what are you waiting for?” They ask him, ““Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”” (Acts 1:6 HCSB) And Jesus gives them a very piercing response. He tells them: ““It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority” (Acts 1:7 HCSB)

These words are strong and piercing. He is telling them in very strong language that it’s not yours. It doesn’t belong to you. It’s none of your business to know the times and moments. Now notice three details about this sentence. First, the times are none of their business. There are things that God does. And the words that Luke uses here is the ordered, counting down of a clock. ³ For so many things God has set his clock. And he’s watching it as it counts down. You don’t get to know that. Second, Jesus tells them, “you don’t get to know the moments either.” The words Luke uses here is the opportune moment.⁴ You set a clock to get up in the morning. But there is one moment when it goes off. That’s the sort of word we find here. Finally, Jesus tells them that they don’t get to know any times and any precise moments.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, when you ponder that, even a little bit, notice how powerless you are. You don’t know. You don’t know when you’re hair is going to turn grey—if it hasn’t already. You don’t know when your parents are going to die—if they haven’t already. You don’t know when you are going to die. And like the disciples here, you don’t know when Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead.

When we let our sinful nature take control of that fact we end up sinning. We sin when we panic over times and dates, when we complain over times and dates, when we grow lazy over times and dates. And so what Jesus says to them, he also says to you: the times and precise moments are none of your business. They belong to our Father.

Now, after preaching some stinging law words, Jesus follows up with some gospel preaching. He tells them, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” (Acts 1:8 HCSB)

These foolish disciples asked Jesus what he was waiting for? And with that they revealed their sin. How thankful Jesus didn’t wait to forgive them. The foolish question is forgiven and then forgotten. And then, to show them how forgiven and cherished they are he tells them what their future holds. They will receive the Holy Spirit. And then they will be his witnesses.

Then what happens? Luke tells us, “⁹ After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. ¹⁰ While He was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. ¹¹ They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”” (Acts 1:9–11 HCSB)

Jesus goes up into the sky and the clouds take him away from their presence. And this is a sight you have to picture. Picture the disciples staring up at Jesus as he rises and then disappears. And then, when he is gone, they keep staring.

Then, the Holy Spirit gives them a nudge in the right direction. He sends two angels. The angels ask “why are you standing here?”⁵ Notice the context. It’s strange and maybe a little bit funny that they keep standing there staring into empty clouds.

Then, after asking them this question, they tell them, “This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven like this will come back in the same way you saw him go to into heaven.” Notice the good news the angels are telling the disciples. They are telling them, “you’re not going to miss it.” Jesus will come again in the exact same way you saw him leave. He will come again in the clouds.

These are some beautiful words. The angels are telling the disciples, “what are you waiting for? You don’t need to stand here staring in the sky.” And with that they invite the disciples to soak up God’s word, serve their neighbor and share their Savior.

And they give the same promise and invitation to us this evening. The promise is so very clear, isn’t it. You will not miss Jesus’ second coming. It will be obvious. It will be everywhere. So then, get busy. Study God’s word. Serve you neighbor. And share God’s word. What are you waiting for? You do know the times or precise moments for so many things in your life. But you do know God’s promises to you in his word. Amen.

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¹ “τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πατρὸς” (Acts 1:4 NA27-T)

² cf. Mk 7:4; Lk 11:38

³ “χρόνους” (Acts 1:7 NA27-T)

⁴ “καιροὺς” (Acts 1:7 NA27-T)

⁵ “τί ἑστήκατε” (Acts 1:11 NA27-T)