Okay, I want you to turn with me this week to the Acts of the Apostles. Just so you know, I'm not intending to do any one series, but just for a little while, to dot around from three or four different books, and this week, the Acts of the Apostles in chapter one.

God's people waiting and watching. There are all sorts of questions. about the purpose of life in this life. Are there not? Yes, there are. Philosophers down the ages have mused over what is it all about. Scientists constantly put forward their theories about what the purpose of life is, that it's just some random explosion and that we are what we are because of no particular reason. Poets talk about the purpose of life. Those of you that were around and have memories to remember the 1960s, he'll remember that Burt Bacharach song sung by Cilla Black.

What's it all about, Alfie? Which was asking the question, what's the purpose of life? What's it for? And religion, religion is always talking about the purpose of life. So if you read the book of Job, and it's the interchange between Job in his suffering and his three miserable comforters, as he calls them, who are always proffering their opinions, and a lot of it in it is true statements, but nevertheless, It's their take on the purpose of life and the purpose of God in that life.

And then ordinary folk all around us, even in these days, what's it all about? What is it for? And we see the result of it in the suicide statistics, which are absolutely horrendous in our society. People taking their lives because they see no point, they see no hope.

You see, true purpose in life is only found in knowing God. You know what it says in John 17, in the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ. before he returns to his father. This is life eternal. What is life eternal? That they might know thee, the only true God. That's life. And Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent, that is life, is to know God. It's only found in him. And some do know God. Some do know God. But the majority do not know God. It's God that makes the difference as to whether you know him or you don't.

In Exodus, in the middle of the plagues and about to come to the final plague on Egypt, in Exodus chapter 11, and verse seven, it says this, the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. The Egyptians represented the unbelieving world, the godless world, and Israel was the people set apart by God for himself. The Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel, between the world that, as we saw last week in Psalm 4, the world that turns God's glory to shame, Psalm 4, verse two, the heathen, the unbelievers, that turn...

What is God's glory? It's gospel grace. It's the gospel of salvation. It's the gospel of sovereign grace and particular redemption, that God has saved his people from their sins. And yet they turn it to shame. They turn it to a disgraceful thing. They turn the glory of God to a shame.

But he's made a difference because he has set apart for himself a people that he's made holy in him. He's made them the righteousness of God. And why has he done that? Because he has a people from all eternity that he's chosen to populate the kingdom of God. God will have his kingdom. And Christ came preaching the kingdom of God. God will have his kingdom populated with people made the righteousness of God in him. People who were chosen. People who were chosen as Exodus 33 verse 18 says.

Let me remind you. Mentioned it last week. What is it? The glory of God. Show me your glory. This is the glory of God. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. This is the revealed will of God concerning his kingdom and those who will populate it.

He's chosen a people to know God. He's chosen a people to know him. The natural man doesn't, all around. The natural man doesn't. But God has chosen a people to share the secrets of eternity. For why? He's made those people his friends. What do friends do? They share. detailed, intimate secrets. They share their secrets. God, our friend, Jesus said, I call you no longer servants, I call you friends. Why? Because I've shown you all that my Father has revealed. He's shown the secrets of eternity. He's shown those secrets to that people whom he chose to be qualified for God's kingdom. It was Jesus who chose his disciples.

He said, I have chosen you. You haven't chosen me, I have chosen you. I have called you out of this world. I have chosen you in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Who has he chosen? This is what he's chosen. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 26. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh Oh, we put such store by the wisdom of the flesh, don't we? But not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his sight.

You see, he took fishermen, didn't he? Not nobles, not people from the palace court, not senior people in the Roman Empire. He took fishermen. And he took them, why? Because he said, I'm going to make you fishers of men. Fishers of men. Why? To gather guests for that eternal marriage supper of the Lamb.

And they spent three and a half years watching him. hearing him and learning of him and then they saw him taken and crucified and they saw him risen from the dead because it says here in verse 3 of chapter 1 of Acts it says he he showed himself alive after his passion after his crucifixion how did he do it by many many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And if you look in 1 Corinthians 15, you'll see the testimony again there.

In verse 3, Paul says, I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, And he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. And he was seen of Cephas, of Peter, and then of the twelve. After that he was seen, look at this, of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. passed into eternity. But 500, the greater number, remain until this day. And after that he was seen of James, and then of the apostles, and last of all, he was seen of me also as one born out of due time."

He was seen alive, and they heard him speak. What did he speak of? He spoke of the things, verse 3, pertaining to the kingdom of God. but he's now leaving them in the world. He said in that same prayer in John 17, I pray not, Father, that you take them out of the world, but that you leave them in the world for a while. Why? Because he's going and leaving them in the world. Well, where's he going and what's he going for? John 14. John 14, verse 2.

Well, he says in verse 1 because Peter had just proudly and boastfully said that if everybody left Jesus for him to be crucified, if everybody left him, he said, I won't leave you. And Jesus had said, I tell you the truth, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me three times. But he said, don't let your heart be troubled because of that. You believe in God, believe also in me.

Now listen. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. Where are you going, Lord? I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. He's going to prepare a place. It's beyond human comprehension. We cannot understand it.

In 1 Corinthians chapter two, He talks of this in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9. Paul says this, as it is written, and he's quoting Psalm 64 in this. So these words were written 800 years before Paul quoted them here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. He says, as it is written, I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man.

What? the things which God has prepared for them that love him. There are things that God has prepared for those that love him because he first loved us. There are things that he has prepared that we, from our position here in this flesh, in these bodies, cannot understand. We know not, says John in his epistle, we know not what we shall be, but we know this, that it's going to be glorious, for when we shall see him, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

What a prospect the child of God has in this life. What a hope the child of God has in this world of sickness and of death and of disappointment. What a glorious hope. Eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those that love him.

It's a state attained by God's people, either when we die or when he returns, for in verse 11, Angels that appeared to the disciples watching as Jesus was taken up into heaven Why stand ye gazing up into heaven this same Jesus which is taken up from you as you've just seen He shall come in like manner as you've seen him go.

He'll come again. He is coming again It says in Revelation 1 verse 7. It says behold he cometh behold he cometh this is the Motto that we have as we live this life as believers that our God in the person of his son our Lord Jesus Christ our glorious Savior He's gone back to heaven. He's prepared a place and he's coming for us behold. He cometh, but what now? What now? What's our purpose? What are we to do? tells us in verse 4 This is the words of Jesus to them.

Being assembled with them, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait, but wait for the promise of the Father, but wait, wait. Scripture counsels many times for men to wait upon the Lord, as we read right at the very start in Isaiah chapter 40.

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Of course, it's all spiritual. The wings of eagles is faith that God gives for us to live in this world. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall walk and not faint. They won't get weary with it. They shall walk and not faint.

Now, it's hard if we're naturally impatient. And who isn't? And some more than others. If you're waiting for a delayed train You know, you monitor. your app as to where it is. And then all of a sudden the announcement comes, it's delayed, but they don't tell you why, and they don't tell you where. And you're wondering, well, how am I going to get to what I've got to do next? You're waiting for a delayed train, but you're desperate for information. And one of the biggest complaints is that they don't tell you what's going on. Why is it late? I'm not going, you know, we get very anxious about it.

Often believers feel the same about when will Christ come again. But before Jesus sends, he leaves instructions with them about the state of believers in the world waiting for the kingdom. And I've got three points this morning. The first is this. There's information, you know, we want information while we're waiting. Why is the train delayed? We want information.

But there's information that is denied to the people of God, but it's in the Father's power. Look in verse seven. They, well, verse six, they said to him, they asked him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? They were thinking very earthly. They were thinking very much of the kingdom of this world. They were thinking in very materialistic terms.

Will you restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father hath put in his own power. Do you believe that Christ is coming back? Do you know that you will inherit eternal glory? So when will that be? And what are we to do in the meantime?

The answer is, it's not for you to know. It's not for you to know. Why not? Why not? Here's three points. Firstly, it is better for us not to know. It's better for us not to know. We would abuse the information that we got about what would happen when.

And we'd start to live more by sight than by faith, for we're to live in this world by faith. What does that mean? We live trusting God to order every step, and not being anxious or concerned about it. But if we knew what was going to happen next Tuesday, or what was going to happen in six months' time, or what was going to happen in five years' time, we'd live more by sight than by faith. You see, God doesn't leave his people in this world to be prophets, but to be witnesses, as we'll see shortly. Secondly, If we knew these seasons and these times, it wouldn't improve us. It wouldn't make us better.

If we knew, then people would start to revere us. If the people of God knew that whatever's just happened in Iran with the missile strikes on Iran and the attempt at regime change, and all of those things, you know, we've seen it all before, we've seen it all go round and round. But if we knew how it was going to unfold in the next days and weeks, people would start to revere us if it came true, wouldn't it? We'd become complacent about each passing day, before whatever event we knew about. You know, knowing things and prophesying about things can seem very impressive, but it doesn't mean a good spiritual state. Do you remember that Old Testament prophet in Numbers 21-ish, that sort of area?

You know, he was paid by Moab to come and curse Israel. And he tried, but he couldn't, for God wouldn't let him say those things. And he prophesied great things, but it never changed him. He himself was a corrupt man. He was an evil man. He led Israel. into terrible things we read in other parts of scripture. So being a great prophet doesn't guarantee a blessing as a man.

And then thirdly, it's impossible for us to know details of unfolding history. We know that Christ will return. We know that we'll be with him and he'll take us to be with him where he is. But the path is hidden. The path ahead is hidden. Why is it hidden? As I've already said, that we might walk it by faith. And who is it hidden from? Now this is why it's impossible.

You and I are just mere sinners, we're mortal beings. But even Jesus, the man, in whom dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He said that in that state of him, a little lower than the angels for a little while, Mark 13, Mark 13 and verse Thirty-two. But of that day, said Jesus, of that day when things will come to an end, of that hour knoweth no man. What?

No man? No! Not the angels which in heaven. They don't know it. Neither the Son. God the Son, he says, doesn't know it, but the Father. In his, in his, in his person as the Son of God, made a little lower for a little while than the angels, Yet in him dwelling the fullness of the Godhead bodily, but he says, He didn't know when these things were going to be. If he doesn't know, Jesus the man, how can we expect to know?

We are commanded, we're told to watch and wait for the promised return. But we're not told what's going to happen in between. You see, apart from him coming back, virtually everything has already happened. You can put different interpretations on the things that are going on, but virtually everything has already happened. We're waiting and not knowing. Waiting for him and not knowing would be frustrating, except for the comfort that all that we don't know is all in the power of God.

It says it there, doesn't it? He says, which he's put into his power, verse seven. The Father has put in his own power. You see, we get frustrated by not having information and not knowing, but it's all in the power of God. His sovereignty rules over everything. He's omnipotent. He is able to do everything, is what that means. He is omniscient.

There isn't a detail. Why are you not able to do everything? Because there's so much you don't know. But he knows everything. And why can't you sort things out over there? Because you're not there. But he is everywhere. He's omnipresent. He is sovereign. He is our God.

And the power as to what happens down that hidden path is in the hands of himself. To know this, as we know it from Romans 8, 28, all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. To know that and to rest in it cultivates what Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, verse 6. It cultivates godliness with contentment, which is great gain. Living a life in this world, knowing I can't do anything about it, it's all in his hands. Godliness with contentment.

Believer, your future path to the celestial city, its length, its root. the obstacles, your companions on the way. It's hidden from you, but fear not, it's entirely in the power of your Heavenly Father. And that confidence, that confidence is mediated to us by the Spirit of God. For here's the second point. He gives promised power for the journey.

Verse eight, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me in both Jerusalem, et cetera. There's an old proverb that says knowledge is power, and it's true. In my time at work I often used to say that the management layer in the companies I worked for generally divided into two sorts of people. There were those who prospered the company by the knowledge that they shared with others, And there were those who maintained their position by virtue of the knowledge they denied to others.

Knowledge is power. It would not be power to God's people to know the details of the hidden path ahead. So it is not for us, as it says here. It is not for us to know the times and the seasons. But he gives knowledge that is power. What is the knowledge that he gives that is power? Or rather, what is the power that he gives that is better than all knowledge?

The answer is, he gives his Holy Spirit. He gives his Holy Spirit to his people. Then the apostles had to wait to receive him. He said, go and wait and you shall receive the Holy Spirit. But now all believers have the Holy Spirit of God. There are those charismatics, Pentecostals, who say that you are converted to Christ And then sometime later there's a second experience, a second blessing when you receive the Holy Spirit. That's not according to the scriptures. For Romans 8 verse 9 says, if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he doesn't belong to him. He is none of his.

All true believers have the Holy Spirit of God. That's what the new birth is all about. The new birth, when you're born again of the Spirit of God, when you believe, when you're born again, the Holy Spirit comes upon you. All believers have the Spirit of Christ. in differing measures, of course, but all of them have the Spirit of Christ.

And he gives the power of the new man of God's Spirit within. He gives... What does that power consist in? It's power to understand the Scriptures. Do you remember in Luke 24 on the Emmaus road to those two disciples and then again on a couple of occasions in the upper room before you get to the end of Luke's gospel, power to understand, he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, to understand. That's the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you.

He gives, he manifests himself in love, love for God and for his people. The person who once had no thought for the things of God comes to love God and to love God above all else because all other relationships only have new and true meaning in the context of that love for God. Love for God and his love for his people. I will be their God and they shall be my people.

He gives power, he gives gift, he gives an ability, he gives faith, the sight of the soul, to see God revealed in Christ. That's what he gives. He gives faith to rejoice in accomplished redemption, to see what Christ has done for his people, to see how Christ's blood When I know that I must die and face the judgment seat of Christ, and it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, he gives sight of the soul to see that the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.

And he gives hope that we're not just here. that we have a hope for the kingdom to come. That we have a hope, we have a good hope. Be ready always to give a reason for the hope that is in you. We have a hope of that which is to come. Whatever they might do, whatever might happen to us, whatever might, if a World War III comes about and don't think for one minute that it's not possible, it might well do.

But those that are in Christ fear not. for we'll be taken straight into his presence. He gives hope for the kingdom to come. So what do we do now while we wait? What do we do now while we wait with this power of the Holy Spirit that he gives to his people?

Answer, whatever time we have, whatever time we have, the pinnacle of it all is to spend that time exploring. You know, I'm sure most of you have been to the British Museum and sometimes it's a very fleeting visit, but you know there are people who live not far from it who spend all of their time and they never ever plumb the extent of what's in there. There is just so much in there, it's just absolutely colossal. in a light way, spend whatever time you have, believer, exploring the unfathomable museum of spiritual delights in the revealed purposes of God. This book that we have, The Power of the Holy Spirit to interpret this book, The more you dig, the more you discover that there is that you didn't know that was there beforehand.

It's like space. Space is a creation illustration of the truth of God. What is it that we know about space? We know this, that the more we know, the more we know we don't know. It almost sounded like Donald Rumsfeld, didn't it? But the more we see, and the more we delve into it, the more we discover that there is that we cannot possibly ever know. The museum of spiritual delights revealed in the purposes of God.

You see, the natural man, without the Holy Spirit of God, can't. For it says the natural man doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they're foolishness to him. Neither can he know them. Why? Because they're spiritually discerned. But you have divine power, believer. You have divine power within. You have divine power to interpret and interact wisely with the world. you have transforming power read these verses in Romans chapter 12 verses one and two I beseech you Paul says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present in this life you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service you're bought with a price it's it's your it's your Privilege to serve God and he says in verse 2 and be not conformed to this world Don't be don't line up with this world Don't don't find your pleasures and your delights with the people that are in this world be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. That's the call to the believing people of God.

Peter denied three times, didn't he? After that John 14, he denied three times that night that he knew anything about Christ. But a few weeks later, with Holy Spirit power, the Holy Spirit had come upon him on the day of Pentecost And 3,000 souls, we read in chapter 2 of Acts, were saved. Has Holy Spirit power transformed you?

This is not a bragging opportunity, but John Newton says this. He said, he said, I'm not what I should be. He said, I'm not what I want to be. He said, I'm not what I hope to be. But thank God, I'm not what I was. I'm not what I was. Has he changed you? Has the power of the Holy Spirit come upon you and changed you? There are many poor specimens of fallen humanity who've been amazingly transformed by Holy Spirit power.

I think of two just came to mind. John Warburton, who we've mentioned once or twice recently, that poor weaver, poverty-stricken weaver in Lancashire, and barely had two pennies to rub together, he didn't even have two ha'pennies to rub together, and yet God took him. and by his spirit transformed him into a powerful preacher of the gospel. And just not many miles up the road at Trowbridge, a chapel was established, well, one in Lancashire as well, but then they called him to Trowbridge, and it was filled with people delighting to hear the gospel. And then another one, William Huntington, you know what they called him? The coal heaver. He was a labourer whose job was to carry coal, and yet God took him. And you look at the profundity and the knowledge of the gospel of Christ, that that was Holy Spirit power that did that. That was what it was.

We can't all be preachers or writers. But we can interact with this world in the power of the Holy Spirit, because Christ tells us to be something while we're here. And we have this here in verse 8. Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Witnesses.

In an unbelieving world, if you have experienced the reality of the truth of God, Henry Mahan used to use a phrase which I liked. You're not all the time going around with a lectern in the streets and proclaiming on the street corners, but he said, let it leak out, just let it leak out.

If the mist of the truth of God has cleared for you, I don't know if any of you remember my book on Revelation and the first chapter I described when Christine and I went to the Alps, to a beautiful place, but the first two days there, you couldn't see a thing, you could barely see a hand in front of you, it was just thick mist. And on our beautiful hotel room, you'd open the curtains in the thick, thick mist. You couldn't see the trees across the street at the back of the hotel. And then the third morning or whenever it was. the mist had cleared and we opened the curtains out onto the balcony and there was the Alps in all of their magnificent, beautiful snow-capped peaks. If the mist has cleared for you, tell folk you've seen the alpine peaks of the truth of God. Testify to the truth of God's word.

It's the impossibility of man's life paradigm. You know, they think that they know how this... Tell them about the impossibility of it, because you've seen the truth of God. You know, take that phrase to heart. Let God be true and every man a liar. Tell them the truth of God. Witness regarding holiness and sin and separation from God. Witness that you have been saved by a substitute whom God has revealed to you. Testify of your life of peace and of hope regarding your mortality, which is all the gift of God. Tell of the new creature that he's made you.

Not that you are now fundamentally better than everybody else, but that he has made you a new creature, that he's put a new spirit within you. If any man be in Christ, He is a new creature. Wherever that is, yes, there it is. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Do those that you associate with know that you're a new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ?

And then why do this? Because God has decreed his people will be gathered from the world of sin by what did I say right at the start about those fissures? those fishers that Jesus called. They were fishers of fish, and he said, I will make you fishers of men. God has decreed that people will be gathered, ordinary people will be gathered from the world, from Egypt, into his kingdom, into his Israel. the world of sin into the light of gospel truth by the net of gospel preaching and witness. It says, as I often quote in Acts 13, 48, as Paul preached there in Gentile communities, the Jews rejected him, but Paul preached there, and it says, and those that were ordained to eternal life believed.

When Paul was in fear and trembling about to go into Corinth, what did God say to him? Don't be troubled. I have much people in this city. It was to start in Jerusalem, it says here in verse 8. It was to spread to Judea, which is the countryside around Jerusalem. It was then to go to Samaria, which was the northern tribes of Old Testament Israel, and then throughout the world. In Mark chapter 5, We read of a dangerous, demon-possessed man whom Jesus met in verses 15 to 20. He went across the sea and he came to this place and Matthew's gospel says that there were two men. Mark focuses on one of them. That doesn't mean that they're telling contradictory tales. Mark just focuses on one of them.

And he cast out the legion of demons that were in that man. No man could constrain him, no man could do anything about it. And the people came out, you know, a herd of swine went down into the sea and drowned. And the people of that area, they come to Jesus and see him that they knew, that was possessed with the devil and had the legion.

And how was he? He was sitting, this is verse 15 of Mark 5. He was sitting and clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. You know, in an age like we're in today, there's so much, so much disturbance of mind, and yet how powerful is the message of Christ in that. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil and also concerning the swine. And this is what the people said to Jesus. They began to pray him, to depart out of their coasts. We don't want this here. Heard that anywhere? We don't want this gospel here. We don't want any more of this.

They began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. And you know something? He answered their prayer. Yes, okay. I'll go. I'll leave you. And when he was come to the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed. Those people prayed, leave us. And he said, okay, I'll answer that. Yes, I'll go. And the devil, he that had the devil prayed him that he might be with him. How be it? Jesus suffered him not. Jesus said, no, you're not going to come with me.

But this is what he said, go home to thy friends. and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him and all men did marvel. What's the purpose of this remaining life on earth, that man's remaining life and the life of all believers? It's to tell those he met daily what the Lord had done for him. It's not easy. It's not easy.

Friends will ridicule you. Friends will ostracize you and have nothing to do with you. Some might even persecute you. Believers down the ages have lost family. I told you before, we met a dear man in Australia, and he was a true believer, a lovely man, but his family had deserted him. He was entirely on his own. Believers have lost family. They've lost friends. They've lost jobs. We know people that have lost their job because of this. And martyrs down the ages, and even in this day in some societies, have lost their lives.

But as Peter said to the Jewish rulers, he said in Acts 4 verse 20, they told him that he had to shut up and they weren't to say any more about this. He said, we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. For how long? How long is it going to go on? until the time that God, in his sovereign power, has determined to take us to his kingdom. Or, as it says, regarding what we're about to do next, which is the communion service, when we eat bread and take the cup in remembrance of him, he said, for as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. Amen.