THE GREAT REBUKE – Why Are You Standing Looking Into The Sky?

 

THE GREAT REBUKE

“Why Are You Standing Looking Into The Sky?”

These words from Acts 1:1-10, and particularly verse 10, are usually overlooked or at least marginalized. But this is one of the most important instructions and warnings for the Christian, over the ages and up to this day.

Background:

Acts 1:1, Theophilus, in the first book and account that I (Luke) composed, was about all that Jesus began to do and teach, verse 2, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had given orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. Verse 3. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of things regarding the kingdom of God.

Jesus’ Instructions:

Verse 4. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; verse 5, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Apostle’s Self-Centered Inattention:

Verse 6. So, when they, (the apostles), had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus’ Rebuke and Instructions:

Verse 7. But He said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by His own authority; verse 8, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”

The Apostle’s Focus:

Verse 9. And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were watching, and a cloud took Him up, out of their sight.

The Angel’s Rebuke:

Verse 10. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, then behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them, verse 11, and they said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

And so it is today. Ask just about any Christian what they think about Jesus’ return, and most will say something like, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!” (Apparently a rendition of Revelation 22:20, and usually uttered as a frustration with the condition of our world or the condition of the life of the person speaking and the desire to escape to a paradise or a heavenly utopia). Either way, their attention is focused on the skies and a ‘future hope’. (see Matthew 24:30, “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky”.) But our Hope has already come to seek and to save the lost. All of Jesus teachings and commandments to His followers, that is to His Church, have been about what we are to be and to be doing now! He never once said (or suggested) that we should stand idly by gazing into the heavens, just hoping for and waiting for His return.

Two Things We Are To Be Doing NOW:

(#1). Jesus final and greatest commission is found in Matthew 28:16-20, “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated to them. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

And just in case you might think, “well, I am no Apostle. I can’t do such things”, then think again. You contribute to the cause; you assist in this Great Commission by utilizing the Spiritual Gift(s) that God has given you for this very purpose. “Some as Apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, pastor and teachers”. Whether through your gift of healing, giving, administration, faith, mercy, exhortation, helps, or discernment and the likes, you are called to go and do!

(#2). And when that day of His return does come, the very thing you do not want to be found doing is standing idly, staring skyward, for He will ask, “Why do you call me Lord when you do not do what I say? I do not know you”. (see Luke 6:46-49 and Matthew 7:21-23).

You see, the day is coming, and is very near, when “every eye will see Him” (see Revelation 1:7 and Matthew 24:30), and as Paul said, it will happen “in a twinkling of an eye” (see 1 Corinthians 15 :52).

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet-call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”. (Matthew 24:29-31).

There will be no time to catch up on the things you have left undone, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But, be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you must be ready as well; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will come… then, when the master of that slave comes on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, He will cut him in half and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…He will answer saying, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you’…He will throw those worthless slaves into the outer darkness, and in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”…Be on the alert because “then comes the judgment”. (see Matthew 24:32-51 through Matthew 25:1-46),

The time to prepare is now. The time to act is now.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young.

(Next:  Please continue here, for more detail on what it means to get ready for His return and what we are to be doing: A STRONG MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH – In This Year, 2025).