IT IS NOT FOR YOU

ACTS 1:6-7                                          

 

Pastor Rick Jackson

 

You ever come in the house and your mother or your wife is cooking something that smells really good and just as you reach for one, she says, “Those aren’t for you! They are for the church ladies” or some other such thing? Or perhaps you see a present near Christmas or your birthday and pick it up only to see that the tag has someone else’s name on it. Not everything is for you. Not everything is for me. The disciples had to learn that and so do we.

 

I. THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE NOT YOURS TO KNOW OR HAVE [v. 6-7]

 

1. There are Things that are God’s [v. 7, Dt. 29:29] Let God be God.

 

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

 

2. There are Things that are Wrong [Mark 6:18, 2 Timothy 2:5]

 

For John had said unto Herod , It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.

And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

 

3. There are Things that are Delayed [John 13:7]

 

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

 

II. THERE ARE THINGS YOU CAN KNOW [v. 7, Matthew 13:11]

 

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

 

1. The Works and Words of Blessed Son of God [v. 1, 3]

 

2. The Works and Words of the Sweet Spirit of God [v. 2, 5]

 

3. The Works and Words of the Eternal Father [v. 3-4]

 

III. THERE ARE THINGS THAT SHOULD BE CLAIMED AS YOURS

 

A preacher friend of mine wrote to his friends this past week, “We are privileged to live in perilous times.” It may not be the privilege we would have thought to ask for, but it is the privilege God has given us. It reminds me of the attitude of the Apostles in Acts 5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

Or the words God gave us in Philippians 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake ;

 

1. We Should Claim as Ours the Power of the Holy Spirit [v. 8]

 

2. We Should Claim as Ours the Responsibility to be a Witness [v. 8]

 

3. We Should Claim as Ours the Word of God [v. 1-4, 8-9]