February 4, 2024 NOTES NOT EDITED
Why Jesus Never Had Ulcers!
Acts 1:6-11
Sermon-in-a-Sentence: We cannot avoid difficulties in life, but we
can learn to conquer the anxiety they create.
QUESTION: Have you ever faced a
difficult or stressful situation? Have you ever "worried?"
All of us face stress on a daily basis, but Randy Walters faced a
particularly difficult situation at the bank this past week in Allentown, PA.
For most
people—probably all people—the greatest worry in life is death. Randy
Walters was faced with a completely different situation—one was of the most
stressful situations in his life resulted from “not being dead.” Randy Walters
was faced with the difficult and stressful task of "proving to the bank
and the Social Security Office that he was indeed, “Not Dead.” He had
gone into the bank to open a checking account when he received some bad news
from the clerk: He was dead! The teller told him she checked his
social security number and found that he was indeed deceased. Randy said,
"I told her I was alive and standing right in front of her."
Sorry. . . .the computer says your dead!
Next
step - convincing the Social Security Office he was alive. They said,
"according to our records you died in March and you are going to stay that
way until you contact the local office." Is that a reason to worry
or what!
Randy
Walter produced the evidence necessary to prove he was alive. Then he
opened the checking account.
How
about you? How would you face being told you were dead? I suspect
far too many of us would stomp and fuss and ask to see the manager, which would
do little good because when Social Security says your dead. . . .your dead!
Randy
Walters persevered, pressed ahead, and overcame a very worrisome and stressful
situation because he put his trust and belief in an "alternative
interpretation" of the facts. He knew he was not dead whether anyone
else did or not. He had "faith" that what he believed would
ultimately offer a truer, more real explanation. In other words, his
"belief" gave him assurance.
When
faced with difficult, uncertain situations we must have some over-riding
principle upon which we can rely. We must develop a powerful principle
for life that will carry us through difficult times. We must find
something to put our trust in. Jesus teaches us in our passage, today
just such a principle.
READ
ALONG WITH ME IN ACTS ACTS 1:6-11
6 So
when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going
to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for
you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth." 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and
a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into
the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside
them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here
looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven,
will come back in the same way you have seen him.
America
has been called the "Aspirin Capital of the World". A recent
survey reported that we "consume 97% of the world's aspirin supply!
It appears that the American Dream has become and alarming nightmare for
many people! People are
"stressed-out,
burn-out, and about to blow up!" Many people have completely lost
the ability to cope with life. Crime, drugs, domestic violence, divorce,
suicide, and on and on and on, the list of stress and worry factors go. Our
modern society bends beneath the awful load created by a lack of optimism about
the future brought on by a society that is "full steam ahead without a
rudder" or any moral bearing.
The
situation says we are "dead" and we don't know what to do about it!
What About You and Me?
Are you
worried about the future? Are you feeling the weight and burden of life
in the near 21st Century? Maybe you are coping better than most. . . .but
are you courageously enjoying life. GOD DID NOT CREATE US TO COPE, BUT TO
CONQUER (REPEAT)! GOD DID NOT DETINE US FOR MISERY BUT DESIGNED US FOR
MARVELOUS PROPERITY. Jesus said,
"I
came to give you life, filled up to the brim life!" Jn 10:10
We were
patterned for prosperity, designed for delight, and manufactured with marvelous
potential. Here the Bible as it shouts loud and clear:
GOD IS
ON YOUR SIDE--HE BELIEVES IN YOU!
Jesus
knew the secrets to victory. Today we will examine the very last words
Jesus spoke to his disciples before he "sailed home to glory."
Jesus never had ulcers because:
1. He Never Worried About What He Could Not Change (v 7)
Most
Christians WORRY TOO MUCH, AND WORK TOO LITTLE! "It's not for you to
know" or we could say, "don't sweat what you don't know".
Suppose you did figure out exactly when and how the end would come.
What could you do about it? Instead of reducing your stress, you
would probably worry yourself to death trying to figure out a way to avoid it,
change it, or cheat it!
Someone
tells about a woman who for many years couldn’t
sleep at night because she worried that her home would be burglarized. One
night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to
investigate. When he got there, he found a burglar. The husband said to the
burglar, "Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to
meet you." A real burglar can steal from you once; worry can steal from
you night after night, for many years. Worry not only steals our sleep, but
worry also steals our health and our abilities to cope with life productively.
I like
what one man said to his friend. . . ."I will give $1000 a year to anyone
who will do my worrying for me." The money hungry friend quickly
snapped back, "I'll do it. I'll start right now doing your worrying
for you. Now where's the $1000 bucks?" The man replied, "That's
your first worry!"
Friend,
your shoulders are not big enough to take on the burdens of the world.
Jesus said, "My yoke is EASY and my burden is LIGHT!" DID
YOU HEAR THAT MY STESSED-OUT BAPTIST FRIENDS? God did not save us to do
His worrying for us. He did not call us to be busy, but to be a blessing.
(Listen, Don't Miss This). We can't be a blessing to others if we
are burnt out and broken down by the pressures of church. [REPEAT]
How could Jesus say my "burden is easy, my yoke is light?"
Aren't we as Christians called to die for the world?" LISTEN:
NO WE ARE NOT CALLED TO DIE FOR THE WORLD - JESUS ALREADY DID!
JESUS
BORE THE PAIN. . . .SO WE COULD SHARE THE PROMISE! Probably
the most stress-beating, burden busting words Jesus ever spoke were from the
cross when he said, Teletelestai : "IT IS FINISHED!"
Here are
two important lessons we must learn about the situation of sin in our world:
a difficult, disastrous disease which we can do nothing about:
#1:
God has not called us to
ELIMINATE
SIN, but to ENLIGHTEN SINNERS.
#2:
God does not expect us to
ERADICATE EVIL, only ALLEVIATE PAIN
We
can—and we should—participate in the political process to help bring about a
more just and merciful society, but in reality, this is only a “stop-gap”
effort that offers little meaningful change.
Our society is on a collision course with destruction and all the
political maneuvering in the world is not going to stop it.
God
wants us to make the best of a bad situation until He comes.
Contrary
to what the “positive thinkers” and what one preacher called “The Joy Boys”
(referring to prosperity preachers) are saying: the world is going to continue to get worse no matter
what you and I, or anybody else does. As I said, our primary mission is
to Enlighten Sinners and Alleviate Pain.
Political involvement is a small part.
Some people accuse those who believe in the premillennial, pre-tribulational plan for the future as “ignoring this world and all its problems. We are often called “reactionary” or “escapists.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Those of us who truly believe in the world will get worse before the coming of Christ are busy preaching and teaching and warning so that people can escape the wrath to come. We are not REACTIVE – TRUE BELIEVERS ARE PROACTIVE.
In verse 6 Jesus describes two
different aspects of the future by
using
two synonyms for “time.” Jesus used the words, “chronos” and “kairos” to
describe the future. Chronos refers to the ticks of the clock – the
simple passing of time. This describes so many people. They are
simply passing time, and life is passing by. The other word Jesus uses
was kairos. The word has a slightly different meaning when describing
“time.” In Classical Greek prior to the N.T. period this word referred to
a “strategic, decisive point in time.” Kairos translates better as “an
opportunity” as in Eph. 5:16 which says
“Make
the most of every opportunity (kairon) because the days are evil.” We are living in days of great
opportunity – the darker our world, the more effective and needed is our light.
We need to get busy!
In LK
19:13, which we examined last week, Jesus said, "Occupy til I come!"
The word
He used was PRAGMATUEMAI, which means "get busy, invest, conduct
business." We get the English word, "pragmatic."
Don't worry about what you can't change -- get busy changing what you can!
"It's not for us to know all that God’s plan entails—our duty is to
“work the plan." (7,8).
7 He said to them, “It is not for you
to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority…. 8
be My witnesses.”
Witnessing is a great remedy
for worrying!
Aren't
You Glad, You Don't Have To Have ALL THE ANSWERS?
We need
to take a lesson from the little boy, Jimmie. A mother was frustrated
with her eight years old son. He was always getting into something.
All day long as the mother tried to get the chores done, Jimmie would run
in-and-out of the house for one reason or another. Each time the screen
door would shut with a loud "BANG!" After what seemed like the
1000th time the mother screamed in frustration, "Jimmie, how do you expect
to get into heaven acting like that?"
WEEELLLLLL
that's a big question for a little boy. Certainly that would give Jimmie
plenty to worry about in life. That may have cause a stress trauma so
great he would have to see a counselor to "reprogram." Oh, but
little children have a way around worry. . . .little Jimmie thought for a
moment (his mother I'm sure never expected an answer). Then Jimmie
blurted out, "Well, No Problem! I'll just run in and out, in and
out, in and out and keep slamming God's door until he says, "For heaven's
sake, Jimmie, either come in or stay out!" The first secret to
beating stress is: DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN'T CHANGE! Jesus,
happily and merrily busied Himself with the will of God, leaving Himself
completely in His Father's hands. He didn't sweat the details, he did the
deed!
Sure. .
. .that's a great idea! But, where can the average Joe (or Jane) find the
POWER to live a life like Jesus? Is the same power that helped Jesus
endure the cross available to us today? Can we find the same power over
difficulty that Jesus did? The answer is a resounding YES! Jesus
never had ulcers because:
2. He Never Wondered
Where His Help Would Come From (v 8)
"But
you will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit has come on you.
“Power”
is exactly what the disciples were looking for – exceptnot in the sense that
Jesus was speaking. The disciples were looking for the kind of power that
Rome now had and Israel once had – political power.
Look
back at their question in verse 6:
"Lord,
are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
The word
the disciples used for restore was a double-compound word which meant, “to restore to a
former state,” that state being when the King
of Israel held absolute political power. But that was not – and is not –
the power that Jesus offers Christians indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The
power Jesus is speaking about FAR TRANSCENDS mere political influence and
control. Jesus was talking about “Spirit power” that could, and did raise
the dead. This is the power Jesus displayed in the Passion.
Totally, absolute trust in the power of Almighty God. We’re
talking: GRAVE-BUSTING POWER!
Jesus
lived, breathed, died, and rose again trusting in the power of God.
LISTEN TO THIS FANTASTIC STATEMENT OF FAITH:
"And
if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who
raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies THROUGH
HIS SPIRIT, who lives in you" (Romans 8:11, repeat)
Jesus
explains the consequence of what He meant when he said, "You
will receive "dynamite" when the Holy Spirit comes on you!"
The word
translated “power” refers to the ability to overcome challenges, or the power to make significant,
even miraculous change. The word “dunamis”
would later come to be transliterated into English as the word, “dynamite.” Just as
dynamite has great explosive power in the natural
world to remove challenges—like a mountain—so too, a spirit-filled believer has
great explosive power to overcome mountain-sized challenges.
The disciples wanted power – and
Jesus did not disappoint them.
Real power is not political influence, but a supernatural indwelling.
Even death is not strong enough to keep the Christian. WOW! God wants us to pack the punch of dynamite and so often we cannot even must the pitiful snap of a 10 cent firecracker!
Jesus never WAIVERED because Jesus never WONDERED where His help was coming from. How many times in difficult days do you suppose Jesus reflected on the words in Psalm 121:
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth!" (v 1) With So Much Hurt, Despair, and Need In The World How Can We As Christians Not Despair and Worry?
The
answer is POWER! THE MOUNTAIN MOVING "DYNAMITE" POWER OF
ALMIGHTY GOD THROUGH HIS HOLY SPIRIT!
Did you
ever think to yourself. . . ."How can I change anything? I'm just
one person, rather ordinary at that. What power do I have to change
anything?
IN
OREGON ABOUT 7700 YEARS AGO THERE WAS A MOUNTAIN. In fact,
it was the largest mountain in N. Am. It was called, "Mt.
Mazama." It's twin peaks danced in the clouds as it spiraled out of
sight into the heavens. But, if you go to Mt. Mazama today, and I've been
there, you don't see Mountain Peaks jutting up thousands of feet into the
sky. YOU SEE ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CRYSTAL-CLEAR LAKES IN THE WORLD.
At 1900 feet deep "Crystal Lake" is the 7th deepest lake in the
world. This lake holds over 4.6 trillion gallons of water. But,
where is Mt. Mazama? Mt. Mazama was a volcano and in one horrific display
of awesome power, this great Mt. exploded and formed Crater Lake. It
erupted with the force of 20,000 bombs like the one dropped on Hiroshima.
FRIEND. . . .THAT'S POWER! BUT THE "DYNAMITE" POWER OF
GOD'S SPIRIT IS FAR GREATER STILL!!!
Jesus
Never Worried About What He
Could Not Change. Jesus
Never Wondered Where He Would
Find The Power To do God’s Will, and Jesus never had ulcers because
3. He Never Wasted Time
Wishing Things Were Different (v 11)
"Why
Are You Standing Here With Your Heads In The Clouds?"
There's
much we cannot change. There's some we can change. . . .
We CAN continually involve ourselves in
ministry to outsiders.... We CAN
involve ourselves in local, state, and national politics....We CAN contribute cheerfully to the work
of missions locally and worldwide....We CAN
participate merrily and heartily in our local church....We CAN pray without ceasing. There
is MUCH WE CAN DO!
Too Many
Christians Are Angels....Always Up In The Air Harping About Something.
Anyone
Can Curse The Darkness---For God's Sake, Someone Light A Candle!
Dreaming
About Ministry Is Not Good Enough!
I recall
a little boy named, Billy. Billy was not a "scholastic sort of
guy." He had little interest in school. During class he would
drift off to sleep and dream of far away places. Many times the teacher
would abruplty bring Billy back into session. It happened one day during
"geography" class. Billy drifted off to dreamland. The
teacher spied him and shouted, "Billy, I'm ashamed of you! Sleeping
during geography class. What do you have to say for yourself?" In
defense Billy answered, "Well, I was sleeping Ma'am, but I was
dreaming about geography!"
Too Many
Christians Are Asleep At The Wheel Dreaming About Ministry.
WE NEED
TO GET OUR HEADS OUT OF THE CLOUD, AND OUR
HANDS ON THE PLOW!
Or, as one brother said a few years ago – we have the sand, we havethe gravel, we have the water – if we want to build a great church we need to start making concrete!
A few
years ago a survey was taken (shortly after the success of Desert Storm).
According to the survey the most honored and respected man in America was
Gen. Colin Powell, the Chairman of the Armed Forces Chiefs of Staff.
Success did not drop into Powell's lap. As a yound man he set out
to make some-thing of himself. He didn't dream about success, he worked
at it.
He tells
the story of three "ditch diggers." One digger leaned on his
shovel all day and dreamed about owning the company. A second digger
complained about the work wished things were different. The third digger
kept on digging.
Years
passed. The first digger was still leaning on the shovel dreaming about
owning the company. The second digger faked and injury and retired on a
small pension. The third digger, who kept on digging now owned the
company.
You
won't beat the stress of life "wasting time wishing things were
different."
You've
got to get out of the clouds and get into the ministry.
Gen.
Powell held the highest military position in the most powerful nation on earth.
He began his climb up the ladder of success "mopping floors in a
bottling factory." He said, "I set out to be the best mop
wielder in the company."
"FAITH
THAT IS IN THE CLOUDS WON'T HELP MUCH WHEN YOUR IN THE TRENCHES!"
ST.
FRANCIS HAS A WONDERFUL PRAYER:
GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO
ACCEPT WHAT I CANNOT CHANGE.
COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN,
AND WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.
