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December 6, 2020
Jason Meyer (Downtown Campus) | Acts 1:7
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”—Acts 1:7
Outline
Introduction
Application
Introduction
This is the second Sunday of Advent. If you were with us last week, you may remember that we talked about what Advent means. Advent means “coming.” It is a time when we prepare our hearts to celebrate the coming of Christ. Advent is not four weeks of celebrating Christmas. Advent does celebrate that Christ has come. But it also is a time of longing and mourning and groaning and lamenting. We see all that is broken—around us and within us. And we recognize that we cannot fix it—we cannot make all things new. Only Jesus can. And he will when he comes again. Advent is a time when we join with the groaning of all creation and long for the day when it will be set free from its bondage into the glory of the freedom of the children of God. That day is coming. But it is not now. So we long and mourn. And we remember his promise: blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
The question this week is “when?” How long do we have to wait? We are on a journey to the celestial city and there are dangers and toils and snares everywhere. And like children on a journey, the most natural question that bubbles up is: “Are we there yet?” It is the question the disciples asked, and now we get to hear Jesus’ answer.
He says, “No.” You can all remember that answer. But Jesus says more.
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”—Acts 1:7
Here is the outline: (1) the timing is not for you to know, (2) it is fixed by the Father alone.
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons.”
It is hard to think of a stronger reason to not fixate on the timing of the kingdom than what Jesus gives. They ask if the kingdom is going to be restored to Israel now. Jesus still has to correct so much of what they mean by “kingdom” and “restoration” and even the term “Israel.” But he starts by correcting their sense of timing. It is not now. And furthermore, the timing of all this is not even something for you to know. This is not your jurisdiction. You need to get out of the timing business altogether.
When Jesus refers to “times” or “seasons,” it is very difficult to know what the precise distinction is between these two terms. No one really knows for sure. The first word times (kairos) can refer to specific points of time and the second word seasons (kronos) can refer to specific intervals of time, but it is difficult to find a hard-and-fast rule for how to distinguish them. We want to avoid over-reading the nuances.
It is interesting that Jesus puts both of these words into the plural “times” and “seasons.” One commentator correctly noted that it seems the question deals not only with the beginning of the restoration of the kingdom, but the steps in the process or the chronological development that will bring it to pass (Eckhard Schnabel, Acts).
When Jesus tells the disciples point-blank that the timing of the kingdom is not their jurisdiction, he also tells them whose jurisdiction it is.
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”
Jesus says, “It is not yours to know. The Father knows. It is his jurisdiction. He fixed it by his own authority.”
This fits so well with what Jesus already told them.
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.”—Mark 13:32–33
Could there be a stronger way to tell them? It is not for you. It is not for the angels. It is not even for me, but only the Father. This door is locked. Only the Father has the key.
Therefore, they should stop looking for the door, and even if they found it, they would discover that it is locked to everyone except the Father. This journey will always lead to a dead end and a locked door.
It appears that the disciples got the message loud and clear because they did not bring this up with Jesus again. We should hasten to add that it is almost unbelievable that we could have such a strong, clear, firm response from Jesus to the disciples that would be so constantly ignored by later disciples.
“It is not for you to know,” says Jesus. But others seem to think it is for us to predict. And, of course, we can firmly report that all such predictions have been wrong. There was the New England farmer, William Miller, who studied his Bible and determined that Christ would return April 23, 1843. A whole group followed him and sold all their possessions because they believed they would not need them anymore. Obviously, the prediction was wrong and the so-called Millerites disbanded. Pat Robertson guaranteed that the end of the world would come at the end of 1982. Someone wrote a book giving 88 reasons Jesus would return in 1988 by looking at the Feast of Trumpets. Harold Camping said Jesus would return in September 1994. Someone recently said we are living in the sixth seal of Revelation and the end of the world will happen here in 2020.
All of these predictions came through studying the Bible. I always want to ask why they didn’t study Acts 1:7 or Mark 13:32. I want to say to everyone here and listening online who hears my voice, please never write a book or read a book like 88 reasons Jesus is coming back in 1988. It is not only useless to do so; it is disobedient to do so. It should be titled 88 reasons why no one can know when Christ will return. Please do not claim to know more than Jesus!
He never said, “Predict when I will come.” He said, “You must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Luke 12:40).
I want you to feel how merciful this correction is. Their question reveals their focus and Jesus says, “Do not fixate on what the Father has already fixed. You cannot know. The angels cannot know. I have all authority in heaven and earth, but even I do not have jurisdiction here.” The timing of Jesus’ return is part of the secret things that belong only to the Lord our God.
Jesus is not saying that we should ignore all the teaching in the Bible on the end times. He is simply warning us that some things do not belong to us and we should trust the Father to take care of it. We can know many things about the end times, but the specific day or hour is not ours to know.
That is the point of this verse. It is already contained in the outline: the timing is not for us to know; it is fixed by the Father alone.
Application
Why spend a whole sermon on this verse? After all, Jesus tells the disciples where not to focus in verse 7 and then tells them where they should focus in verse 8. And the disciples obeyed. This question does not come up again. Acts 1:8 sets the agenda for the rest of the book. Shouldn’t we just skip to that verse now? No.
Here is the reason why: there are so many ways to get this verse wrong. I want to correct some of those before we get to verse 8. Let’s just pause and remember how often Jesus had to correct flawed expectations of what his coming would be like in the Gospels. He often referred to the mystery of the kingdom. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, there would be two comings of the King, not just one.
Take Luke 4 for example. Jesus goes to Isaiah 61.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.—Luke 4:16–20
We often focus on what Jesus read, but we sometimes do not look at what Jesus did not read. Look at Isaiah 61:1–2.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God.
Jesus stops reading at “the year of the Lord’s favor” and omits “the day of vengeance of our God.” Why? Everyone read those as one thing. The mystery of the kingdom is that those will be separated by more than 2,000 years.
It is like the difference between seeing something in the distance or seeing something up close. From a distance, you may think that you see one mountain. You get closer and you see that they are actually two distinct mountains that look really close together. You get closer and you realize they are actually miles apart.
No one read Isaiah 61:2 as two different events separated by thousands of years. But they are distinct. We are in the year of the Lord’s favor. Mercy is being extended to everyone. The day of vengeance is coming with the second coming.
A Word to Unbelievers
I want to begin by speaking to those who are not followers of Jesus and frankly wonder if all of this “return of Jesus” stuff is just a fable, myth, or fairy tale. You might be saying, “It has been over 2,000 years. If he has not come by now, then he will not come.” It may surprise you to discover that one of the disciples who heard Jesus’ words on this day had to address this very question.
The disciple Peter writes to believers and calls them to “remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires” (2 Peter 3:2–3).
It may surprise you to see that the Bible not only speaks to Christians. It also speaks to skeptics. It even speaks to scoffers. It tells scoffers, “We see you and we were already expecting you.” While you are here doubting the prophecy of his coming, please be aware that your mocking of prophecy is actually a fulfillment of prophecy.
Then Peter speaks to the substance of their scoffing: “They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:4).
It is easy to look at the delay of 2,000 years and say that it is not a delay: The fact that he has not come yet proves that he is not coming at all. But Peter gives a different answer.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.—2 Peter 3:8
So why the delay? The first thing we need to say is that God does not count time the way we do. “One day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). We look at this and say it has been 2,000 years; the Lord looks at it and says it has been two days.
Are we surprised that God uses different measures than us? He is so much greater than us. “Neither are my thoughts your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).
When humanity scoffs and says, “I see no good reason for this delay,” God says, “I have a very good reason and it is good news for you.”
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness [i.e., the false teachers], but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.—2 Peter 3:9
God wants you to know his patient heart. The reason why Christ has not returned is that some of you still need repentance or you will perish. I call upon you: be reconciled to God! Do not use the “delay” as an argument against God. See it as mercy. See it as his patience. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.
A day is coming in which every mouth will be closed and there will be no more mocking. One day God will turn the tables on the mockers. He will say, “Why did you use the time I gave you to repent and use it against me?” They are in the pit of sin and despair. God gives them time as a rope so they can get rescued and pulled out of the pit. But they use the rope and hang themselves with it. Do not do it, dear friends. Use the time he gave you and repent. Turn to him. Call upon him. He will save you and not cast you out.
A Word for Believers
Here is an application for believers. First, receive the comfort from these words. There is so much comfort here for the people of God. Have you ever tried to fix something yourself and you are not very good at it? You just end up messing it up more. It is easy to fixate on something and try to solve it or fix it in your head. This text says you do not need to fixate on the timing because the Father has already fixed that by his own authority. We do not need to worry about it and strain to figure it out.
Second, receive the warning from these words. Do not pretend to know more than Jesus. Do not tread on something that is the Father’s territory alone. Get out of the timing business. I find something that Elisabeth Elliot said so convicting: “Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future, I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now” (Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart). Do not strain to know what cannot be known; trust what the Father has fixed. Don’t try to know what you cannot know about tomorrow. Focus on doing what you know you need to do today.
But third, let Jesus’ words inform your expectations. The gap in timing between his first coming and the second coming is so helpful for explaining the reality we face every day. Why believe the Bible? It explains so well the world in which we live.
We can all identify a gap between what we have and what we hoped for, where we are and where we thought we would be, our experience and our expectation. The distance between what we expected and we are experiencing is called disappointment. The greater the distance, the greater the disappointment and disillusionment. I do not want to set you up for failure as a preacher by having you expect more than you should and or expect less than you should.
Last week we called out the need for our expectations to be corrected; this week we name the corrections and explain them. We live in the in-between time. Christ has come. Christ will come again. We live in what is called the “already, but not yet.”
Even though Christ has come, we still live in a fallen world. There are so many things to lament. So many reasons to lose heart as we face all the things that a fallen world has to throw at us. Sickness. Pandemics. Sin. Suffering. Betrayal. Abuse. Disappointment. Loss. Loss of job. Loss of health. Loss of friends, loved ones, and family. Death.
But because Christ has come there are things we have right now that we can stand upon and rejoice in. Christ died for our sins. They are forgiven. Removed as far as the east is from the west. They are buried in the sea of forgetfulness. Jesus has defeated death. He is risen. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us now. I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live. Christ now lives in me. We are not left as orphans. Jesus sent his Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit as our comforter and advocate. “In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart: I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The reasons to take heart are always greater than the reasons to lose heart. He is Emmanuel. He is with us in this darkness. He is with you in that trial, in that heartache, in that sickness, in that dark valley. And he promised that he is not going anywhere. He is with us always, even to the end of the age.
Hallelujah, what a Savior. Hallelujah, what a friend. Saving, helping, keeping, loving. He is with me to the end.
Some of you have the voice of condemnation ringing in your head and heart. There is a cumulative condemnation you hear from others in your past. Sometimes our inner dialogue is also the place of condemnation. Please hear me this morning. You can say to all these accumulated voices that condemnation is not their jurisdiction. It belongs to Jesus alone. Who will condemn? Jesus alone. And he died for you, rose for you, is seated on high for you, and is interceding for you (Romans 8:34–35). The only one who has the power to condemn you is speaking for you! Be free. Be free from all those voices from the past and present so you can see the door marked “now” and focus on what God has for you with his smile upon you.
Thank God that what we have is enough to endure what we will face. But thank God there is more coming. God is not done. He is still working. And there is a day coming when there will be no more sickness, no more suffering, no more calamities, no more pandemics, no more sin, no more death, no more Satan.
These truths help us navigate our present sufferings. The fact that we live in a fallen world means we are not surprised when we are touched by it. Christians get COVID-19 and cancer and disease. We do not believe in the prosperity gospel—which is no gospel at all. It falsely promises that things will go well with you if you have enough faith. Your job will succeed, marriage will succeed, and finances will prosper, and you will live like a king here and now—because you are a child of the King.
But Christians know not to borrow too much from the world to come into the here-and-now. We do not hope for what we see, but for what we do not yet see. And Christians also avoid fatalism and cynicism. We do not say, “I’m sick. Guess it is what God wants. I won’t bother praying for healing.” Sometimes God answers that prayer. But we know he will answer that prayer fully and forever at death—we will be finally healed and never become sick again.
Conclusion: Communion
Jesus experienced all that we face. He knows what it was like to be slandered and rejected. He endured all that this fallen world could throw at him. Yet he was without sin. And he became sin for us that in him we might become the righteousness of God. And he was crushed for our iniquities. He suffered in our place. He was forsaken so we would never be. He purchased God’s presence with us forever.
The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead for our justification. The death of Christ is good news because his death as a sinless sacrifice of atonement was a substitutionary death that accomplished a perfect righteousness before God because Jesus suffered in our place and bore in his body a perfect condemnation from God. The good news of what God has accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ can only be received by faith. If we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead we will receive eternal salvation. The gospel is the good news that Jesus purchased our final and full enjoyment of God’s glory. He purchased our seat for the feast at heaven’s table. As long as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes and we will feast in the house of Zion together forever.
And the gospel reminds us that all of the promises are yes in him. Everything you are longing for in the world to come has already been purchased. I’m still old enough to remember the layaway program at stores like K-Mart. There was something about seeing that toy brought to the front of the store and then knowing it was set aside and stored away for me. It was mine. I would sometimes daydream about what it was going to be like to play with that toy. It didn’t matter that I did not have it in my hands. It was mine.
It is like the child who asked to borrow money from his younger sister. She said, “How much do you need?” He asked, “How much do you have?” She got out her little girl purse and pulled out three dollars. Then she said to her brother, “I have four dollars.” He looked at her with scorn and said, “No you don’t. You can’t count. You have three dollars, not four.” She said, “No. I have four. Dad gave me three this morning and he said he would give me one tonight, so I have four. Daddy doesn’t lie.”
Our Father does not lie, dear brothers and sisters. We have all of these promises. Purchased by the blood. Promised by the Father. Kept in heaven for us who are being guarded by God’s power for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
These promises are just as real and true as the cracker and the juice—just better.
Main Point: The timing of the kingdom is not for us to know; it is fixed by the Father alone.
Outline
Discussion Questions
Application Questions
Prayer Focus
Pray for a grace to trust our Father’s sense of timing and the certainty of his promises.