Post by The Ambassador on Jun 22, 2019 19:09:57 GMT
Do We Boldly Stand up for the Truth?
A dictionary definition of wait is to stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens. It is also used to indicate that one is eagerly impatient to do something or for something to happen. It can mean to defer or to delay an action, to remain in readiness for something to happen. A period of waiting.
There is something we can all admit to and that is that we don’t like waiting. Look at the world around us. We have so many fast food chains today. Nobody really likes cooking. We have microwave dinners. And it is all because we do not like to wait. Our society has grown accustomed to immediate gratification due to modern technology with all our conveniences such as cell phones, television, microwaves, fast foods, automobiles, planes, computers. We could go on and on with the many things immediately that are at our fingertips. Look at the way the computers today run at such terrific speeds with the computers of when they first came out. And yet I feel the computers today are slow for me. They seem to never be fast enough.
In our modern age of conveniences, waiting is still a big part of our lives. In spite of our modern age and our dislike for waiting life is still full of waiting. Yet waiting, despite our impatience and our dislike for it is a vital element in life. Over and over again we are told in the scriptures to wait on the Lord. Even though God promises special blessings for waiting, waiting is one of the most difficult things to do. Why is it so hard? Well, because we are prone into taking matters into our own hands and to following our own schemes. However, because the Lord tells us to wait, and since it has wonderful benefits, we need to know what it means to wait and how it is to be done.
Now the primary word used in the New Testament for the concept of waiting means to receive to oneself. Receive favorably. Expect. Look for. Wait for. When you compare its use in the scripture of the use of this word its on the coming of the Lord. The second most frequently used word means to await. Expect eagerly. Again, when you compare its use in scripture, the waiting here is primarily prophetic of the return of the Lord. Another word translated wait in the New Testament is the Greek word “anameno” and it means to await one whose coming is expected with the added idea of patience and confidence. This word is only used one time and again it is used in the return of the Lord. That is in I Thessalonians 1:10.
Let’s go to the Book of Acts chapter 1 and verse 4.
Acts 1:4 And being assembled together with them, He (Jesus Christ) commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
The Greek word used here is “perimeno” and it is derived from the same root word as anameno that is mentioned in I Thessalonians 1 and verse 10. The primary verb “meno” means to stay in a given place with expectancy that something is going to happen. Now let’s go back to Luke the 24th chapter and read the actual words of Jesus Christ who spoke this.
Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.
Mathew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.
Luke 5:3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
John 8:2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
Acts 8:31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
Luke 5:3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
John 8:2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
Acts 8:31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
The aspect of this word in these verses is out of sitting and being taught or teaching. Another aspect of the word tarry is that of sitting in judgment. Let me give you a few more examples.
Mathew 19:28 So Jesus said to them, Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Now other aspects of this word are found in Luke 14 and verse 28 where we are admonished to sit down and count the cost. Acts 14 and verse 13 shows that Paul sat down, “kathizo” I the synagogue on the Sabbath and worshiped. Mathew 24 and verse 36 where Jesus told the disciples to sit “kathizo” while He went a short distance to pray.
Now as we can see from the words used in connection with waiting, we are to be waiting with the expectancy for the promise of the coming of our Lord and Savior. And while we are waiting we are to “kathizo” sit down and be taught and teach. To sit in judgment. To sit down and count the cost. To sit down and worship. To sit down and pray with others.
When we think of waiting, we might envision just sitting back and not doing much of anything. Just kind of waiting on something to happen. But this is not the kind of waiting the Bible is calling for. What were the disciples doing while they were waiting on the promise of the Father? They were teaching and being taught. They were sitting in judgment because they had to choose someone to replace Judas. They were sitting down and praying together and worshiping together.
Now we are going to take a little turn here and look at a few of the characters in the Old Testament and their waiting on the Lord. If we would study the life of David we would find that he spent a great deal of his time waiting. David had to wait something like 15 years from the time that he was fist anointed by Samuel to become king over Judah. It was another 7 years before David was anointed king over all of Israel. This means David had to wait over 20 years or approximately 22 years of his life to become king. David becomes king after a considerable delay and with a great deal of adversity. This period of David’s life can be summed up by two words. Time and trouble. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? The delay in becoming king is not unusual. It is typical of the way God brings about His promises and purposes. God is not in a hurry. He has all the time in the world. In fact, God is not limited in time.
Throughout the Bible we find God promising things people must wait to receive. God promised Abraham and Sarah a child. Yet they had to wait 25 years to get him. He promised Noah there would be a flood. But it was a long time a coming wasn’t it? 120 years. Could you imagine the ridicule this man went through after about 100 years? They must have thought Noah was crazy. Jacob waited 14 years for His wife Rachel whom he wanted. The Israelites had to wait 430 years in Egypt before returning to the promised land. And for nearly 2,000 years Christians have been waiting for the return of Jesus Christ and the coming of His kingdom. How many of us have been waiting for this promise since being called? Are we really still waiting like we should?
Waiting is a part of the divine design of things. Waiting is no accident. It is purposed. But, it is in times of waiting for God that many have failed in their faith and obedience. Waiting is a test of faith and endurance. Many of the failures we see in the Bible are failures relating to waiting. And do you know when it all began? At the very beginning with Adam and Eve. The knowledge of good and evil is not in and of itself a bad thing. If Adam and Even would have become like God in knowing good and evil, then how can knowing good and evil be bad? Is being like God bad? Is this not what God is doing in us right now? Conforming us to His image. That is the image of Jesus Christ which is also the image of God.
Will we not be like Him when we see Him as He is? We Christian’s, by our obedience to God’s word are to have our senses trained to discern between good and evil. It was not wrong to know good and evil, it was wrong to know it in a way God had forbidden. I believe God had a better slower way, but they chose a shortcut. They refused to wait on the Lord for such knowledge.
Abraham and Sarah had to wait for the promised heir. One of their failures was in the area of patience of waiting on God to fulfill His promise. Is this not why Abraham gave in to Sarah’s suggestion that they have the promised seed through Hagar her handmaid? He just went and took matters into his own hand. The Israelites couldn’t even wait 40 days for Moses to come down from the mountain before taking matters into their own hands. So what happens when we fail to wait? We sin.
In times of waiting Satan wants us to doubt that God’s promises will ever be fulfilled. He seeks to have us act independently from God to obtain these things on our own rather than to wait for God to give them to us. He seeks to raise doubts about he goodness of God always withholding something good from us out of His pettiness. He works at promoting distrusting God and especially in His promises. He promises to disobey God and follow our own judgments.
In times of waiting on the Lord are designed to be those times of when our faith is stretched and our intimacy with Him is enhanced. Waiting on the Lord is good for us. It helps us to develop patience and endurance. It calls upon us to exercise faith in God’s promises and to act on the basis of what God has said rather than what we see.
We just celebrated Pentecost. Pentecost is a day of redemption. We are waiting for the promise of our Redeemer. And while we wait for His return we should be doing the same things that the disciples were doing on that Pentecost while they were waiting on the promise of the Father. Sitting down and teaching and being taught. Sitting in judgment. Counting the cost. Worshiping and praying together.
Let’s close with Psalm 27. This psalm goes very well with this subject matter that we have just gone through. The title I this psalm says a jubilant declaration of faith-a psalm by David. In this psalm David actually touches on some of the things that we should be doing. Worshiping. Praying. Being taught. Being faithful.
Psalm 27:4 One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
He is speaking of worship. In verse 7 he is speaking of prayer.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
In verse 11 he talks about being taught by God.
11 Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
It was David’s faith that pulled him through. When he actually received the promises. And in verse 14 there seems to be an urgency about David.
14 Wait on the Lord; (That is wait in faith)
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
It is this last phrase that I pictured David as being so intense as though he wants to reach out grab you and shake you. He is saying listen to me I trying to shake some sense into someone.
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
This is what we need to be doing in our lives in waiting for the return of Jesus Christ to set up His kingdom on this earth and to bring His rewards with Him to give to those who have patiently waited for His return and preparing ourselves by doing what He has given us to do in becoming like Him. If we falter in His promises, we lose faith and begin to sin which will continue to keep us separated from God and become blind to know what is really going on so that we will drift away so that we may not enter the promised land that has been set before us.
So wait and do what is necessary to be prepared for the return of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ worshiping. Praying. Studying. Meditating. Counting the cost. Teaching and being taught. Conforming to His image and He who is coming will not tarry but will come quickly as a thief in the night when we least expect Him.
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