Let’s talk about a subject specifically for this time of the year
Yet it will start at a seemingly strange place
Stick with me though as we will see scripture come to life
Define kathizo
sit, sit down,
for us
sitting there like a bump on the log
You tell someone to sit in English and it does not imply anything else;
However, in Greek this word is quite different and has more meaning to it
Sit and Teach
Acts 8:30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
Acts 8:31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
Acts 18:11 And he [Paul] continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
John 8:2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them
Sit and Hear the Word of God
Acts 13:14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.
Sit and Fellowship
Acts 16:13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.
Paul and others were not at synagogue; led to baptism of Lydia
Sit and Discern (judge by separation)
Matthew 13:47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind,
Matthew 13:48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.
Matthew 13:49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,
Matthew 13:50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Sit and Judge
Sitting and Judging Improperly
Not in the Church
John 19:13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
Acts 12:21 So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them.
1 Corinthians 6:4 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?
KJV 1 Corinthians 6:4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
In the Church
1 Corinthians 10:7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND ROSE UP TO PLAY.”
Failing to Sit Properly
Timeframe: After the last Passover supper/ Mount of Olives / garden of Gethsemane to pray
Mark 14:32 Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
Mark 14:33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.
Mark 14:34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”
Mark 14:35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.
Mark 14:36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”
Mark 14:37 Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour?
Mark 14:38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Mark 14:39 Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words.
Mark 14:40 And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.
Mark 14:41 Then He came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Timeframe: Not much later…
He Began to Work with the Main Disciples
When Jesus Christ appears to them for the first time as a group
Luke 24:45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Luke 24:46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
Luke 24:47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luke 24:48 And you are witnesses of these things.
Pivotal point of this message
Luke 24:49
Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.“
What does “tarry” mean
Some have the mistaken notion that “tarry” in Luke 24:49 means merely “wait.” It is much more than that. The Greek word is kathizo, and everywhere else is translated “sit” or “sit down.”
Take your position and do what you are supposed to be doing
That is what they did
They understood it to mean this:
Luke 24:52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
Luke 24:53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
Acts 1:6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Acts 1:7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.“
Acts 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
They were to be sitting and teaching and listening and expounding on the word of God. They were to be fellowshipping and discerning and judging properly Thou Shalt Judge
Endued
Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.“
Acts 1:4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
Acts 1:5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.“
To be fully engulfed (ie clothed)
This should give us a vivid picture of what they were to be doing at this time of the year and what they were looking forward to
What does this mean for us today?
Where do you sit today?
In other words Where Has God Set You?
1 Corinthians 12:18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
1 Corinthians 12:19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
1 Corinthians 12:20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
1 Corinthians 12:21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
1 Corinthians 12:22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
1 Corinthians 12:23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty,
1 Corinthians 12:24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it,
1 Corinthians 12:25 that there should be no schism in the body [in this regard], but that the members should have the same care for one another.
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
1 Corinthians 12:28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.
1 Corinthians 12:29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?
1 Corinthians 12:30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
1 Corinthians 12:31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
1 Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If God has placed us in a position to sit and teach or sit and listen or both it is God that does it. When it is time to sit and fellowship we do that;
When it is time to judge and discern – we do that within the purview that God has decreed.
And we all continue with prayer and supplication and praise
God puts each of us where He wants us; in a position where we are to be about our Father’s business
Of course the main difference between us now and them is that we have God’s spirit within us, so there is a greater responsibility on us now to do these things.
Acts 2:3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
Is it to just “sit”
No we are to grow it; grow in grace and knowledge
Increase in understanding
multiply the talents, pounds, minas that God has put within us.
What are we to “Put On”
We are to continue to become endued; clothed fully with the things of God and not this world
Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Ephesians 4:24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
Colossians 3:11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
Romans 13:11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. [Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.] [armor of righteousness]
Romans 13:13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
He is our ultimate example we are to become like Him
This is what Christ is doing now
Acts 2:30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
Hebrews 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image [character] of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Ephesians 1:20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
KJV Ephesians 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Matthew 19:28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
What does it mean for the future
A promise for the future
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
Joel 2:29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
Joel 2:30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
Finally “put on”
1 Corinthians 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.”
Finally sit
Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
This is what is depicted by us now and the ultimate fulfillment of Pentecost – firstfruits
Biding our time
Just like the disciples were told to do
Counting the Omer
Leviticus 23:15 ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
Leviticus 23:16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.
This symbolizes the time from the death of Christ until His return – from His ascent to His descent.
we are to be counting the days until His return
We are to tarry and become endued looking towards the final fulfillment of this time