Curiosity Killed the Cat

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 1:6

Curiosity Killed the Cat

by Robert T. Cooper

In 2009 I spent nearly the entire year preaching through the book of Revelation. The congregation wanted to do it again. After prayer, I decided that if I was going to preach through it again, I would do so in more depth. So I spent nearly all of 2010 – 2011 preaching through it a second time.

I first became aware of Revelation in the mid-1960’s when my mother listened to programs on the subject on the radio. When I was in college the big book was Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth. In seminary I spent some time examining the various -isms of interpretation of Revelation. In more recent days we have had the Left Behind series of books and related materials. And so on until just yesterday a Facebook friend said she was reading through the book of Revelation.

Folks are simply curious about what the future holds. We cry out, “Maranatha! Lord, come quickly!” In many ways we are anxious for the fullness of Christ’s reign to come.

The Twelve (or in this case, the Eleven) were like that. Their culture had driven into their minds the expectation that the Messiah would conquer the Romans and bring back into existence an independent Jewish state such as during the Maccabean period. Perhaps it was the realization that Jesus had no intention of doing so, at least not immediately, that drove Judas to betray Him. Yet after the Resurrection the Eleven were back to their earlier expectation of a literal earthly Kingdom with Jesus as monarch.

It is an issue. Whether it be the Millennial Kingdom or the Eternal State that comes next in history, we want to know, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom?”

When I was a child there was a cartoon called “Peeping Penguins.” I had forgotten the cartoon featured penguins, but I did remember all these years later the song sung by the mother, “Curiosity Killed the Cat.”

Perhaps having an interest in whether Christ will establish His Kingdom in the near future will not necessarily kill a disciple. Yet a person can become so fixated on the Doctrine of Last Things that one is not very well tuned into living for Jesus today or into the real-life ministry needs of those around us. I was once in a store in which an Adventist tried to engage me in conversation. All he wanted to talk about was Last Things. I had other things I wanted to discuss.

Indeed, as we will see, Jesus had something else He wanted to talk to the Eleven about before His Ascension. He wanted to talk about getting the lost into His spiritual Kingdom.

But God is like that. There will be plenty of time to think about whatever physical Kingdom will be established at the time of its establishment. Meanwhile, let us be faithful to the task of living for Jesus and ministering to people in this moment.

Questions: What proportion of your time do you spend contemplating Last Things? What would Jesus rather you be doing with at least some of your time? Will you start living according to His agenda for your life?

Don’t Forsake the Assembly

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 1:6

Don’t Forsake the Assembly

by Robert T. Cooper

I’ve been hurt at church and by church people. It seems that many of the people I talk with have had hurtful church experiences. There are even those who say the election of President Obama to a second term is the direct result of so many having been hurt by church people. When we began the church of which I am a part, one of its distinguishing characteristics was (and is) that it is a church for people who have been hurt by churches.

Lots of people will not attend church services because of those hurts. Others will not attend because they have simply allowed themselves to become too busy with other things in life they deem to be more important. Some people don’t see what the big deal is; they believe one can be a fine Christian, or at least a fine person, without the commitment.

Acts 1:6 deals with a special time in the lives of the Apostles. Jesus had risen from the dead. He was meeting with them frequently to give them final instructions. The Apostles didn’t realize the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth would not take place in their near future. They didn’t realize Christ’s Ascension was to come before Pentecost. They were simply fixated on continuing to meet with Jesus and with one another as often as possible.

After the Ascension, 120 disciples set up an around-the-clock prayer meeting. They kept the meetings they had with Jesus before His Ascension going. Jesus was no longer meeting with them in the flesh, yet they knew they were supposed to keep on meeting. After Pentecost, the meetings continued. Many of the meetings were regularly scheduled meetings—at the Jewish prayer hours and at set times between the prayer hours. Many of the meetings were spontaneous as they kept inviting one another to spend time with each other—for the Teaching of the Twelve, for fellowship, for meals, and for prayer.

As the decades went by it became evident that some people were not keeping up with the meetings. Perhaps they were hurt. Perhaps they were overscheduled. Perhaps they were frightened by the persecution that came their way. In fact, the unthinkable happened. Some people were getting to where they didn’t attend any of the meetings at all. Using the terminology of the author of Hebrews, they forsook the assembly.

I know how it is. The situation is such that if something were to happen to my current church or if the politics there drove me away, I don’t know that there is any congregation left in our county I might attend. It would be hard to find a place where I might fit in with the fellowship.

And yet I need to continue meeting with believers. There is a special sense in which “where two or three are gathered” Jesus continues to participate in meetings of believers in ways beyond the manner in which He meets with individuals. It isn’t just me; all believers need to participate in the life of a local congregation.

Questions: Have you ever been through a period of your life in which you didn’t meet regularly with a local church congregation? Why do you think it is so important for disciples to meet together? What can you do to prevent yourself from dropping out?

Ordinary Days, Extraordinary Days

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                      Acts 1:6 – 11

Ordinary Days, Extraordinary Days

by Robert T. Cooper

That morning I got up and got dressed as usual. It was a Sunday, but it was an ordinary Sunday. The family went to church. I went to my Bible Study group. What I had not counted on was being gripped by the idea of what it means to be a Christian, a person who has placed his faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. When we went home, we had lunch. It was a Sunday dinner, but it was an ordinary Sunday dinner. But after dinner, I asked my mother about this idea of what it means to be a Christian. I figured she would be able to answer my questions. And did she ever! But more than that, in the course of the conversation with her open Bible on the dining room table, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart as well. That day I placed my faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It was an ordinary day, but it was an extraordinary day as well!

The Sunday the Jesus met His disciples at the summit of the Mount of Olives, it was a rather ordinary day. They had met there many times. Of course, this was the resurrected Jesus. It had been 40 days since Jesus rose from the dead. But He had met with the disciples enough times now that this was in one sense an ordinary meeting with them, or at least so they thought.

Suddenly, their ordinary teaching, questioning, conversing interaction with Jesus was interrupted. Something extraordinary happened. Jesus was answering a question and telling them about what would happen when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Suddenly, He “was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid” Him so that they could not see Him anymore. The ordinary turned extraordinary.

Isn’t that how God works a lot of the time? We are going about our ordinary, daily lives as though time will continue forever. Then, bang! God does the totally unexpected. Or it may be that we were expecting something, but we never realized it would be quite the way God finally brought it to pass. Extraordinary!

Enoch had been walking with God for a long time. He walked with God every day. He went out to walk with God on a particular day. It was an ordinary “walk with God” kind of a day. But that day, Enoch did not come home to his earthly home because God had translated him, taking him on to his heavenly home without going through death. So far as we know, besides the ascension of Jesus, Enoch and Elijah were the only ones to go straight to heaven without dying. It was an extraordinary day!

Noah and his family had been building on that boat for decades. They moved into it. But for the folks around him, it was just an ordinary day. Work, eat, sleep. Births, deaths, weddings, funerals. Ordinary days. Only on this one day, God does something extraordinary.

And at the end of time (could it be just any day now?) it will be like it was in the days of Noah. Work, eat, sleep. Births, deaths, weddings, funerals. Two will be working in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two will be in the bed; one will be taken and the other left. An ordinary day, but an extraordinary day.

But before then, God may do something else extraordinary in you, around you, through you, or with you. There is just no way of telling. We just live our ordinary lives. We live them for Him. We walk with Him today, and then we walk with Him again tomorrow. And just when you least expect it, bang! God just may do the extraordinary! He really might, you know?

Question: Have you ever had an extraordinary day because God did something totally out of the ordinary? If you don’t mind, please tell us about it. Be sure to give God the glory.