A surgical stapling instrument, comprising: a handle; a shaft extending from said handle; an end effector, comprising: a first jaw; a second jaw rotatable relative to said first jaw; and a staple cartridge; an articulation joint, wherein said end effector is rotatable relative to said shaft about said articulation joint; an articulation drive operable to rotate said end effector about said articulation joint when said articulation drive is in an activated operative state, wherein said articulation drive comprises an articulation actuator; a closure drive actuatable to perform a closure stroke to move said second jaw into a closed position, wherein said closure drive comprises a closure actuator, and wherein said articulation drive is shiftable into a deactivated inoperative state by said closure drive during said closure stroke; a control system; a closure sensor in communication with said control system, wherein said closure sensor is configured to sense when said closure actuator is in an unactuated position and a partially-actuated position, and wherein said second jaw is in a partially-closed position when said closure actuator is in said partially-actuated position; and an indicator in communication with said control system, wherein said indicator is configured to indicate a first display state in response to a first input from said control system and a second display state in response to a second input from said control system, wherein said control system supplies said first input to said indicator when said closure actuator is between said unactuated position and said partially-actuated position, wherein said articulation drive is in said activated operative state when said closure actuator is between said unactuated position and said partially-actuated position; characterized in that: said control system supplies said second input to said indicator when said closure actuator is in said partially-actuated position, and wherein said articulation drive is in said deactivated inoperative state when said closure actuator is in said partially-actuated position. a handle; a shaft extending from said handle; an end effector, comprising: a first jaw; a second jaw rotatable relative to said first jaw; and a staple cartridge; a first jaw; a second jaw rotatable relative to said first jaw; and a staple cartridge; an articulation joint, wherein said end effector is rotatable relative to said shaft about said articulation joint; an articulation drive operable to rotate said end effector about said articulation joint when said articulation drive is in an activated operative state, wherein said articulation drive comprises an articulation actuator; a closure drive actuatable to perform a closure stroke to move said second jaw into a closed position, wherein said closure drive comprises a closure actuator, and wherein said articulation drive is shiftable into a deactivated inoperative state by said closure drive during said closure stroke; a control system; a closure sensor in communication with said control system, wherein said closure sensor is configured to sense when said closure actuator is in an unactuated position and a partially-actuated position, and wherein said second jaw is in a partially-closed position when said closure actuator is in said partially-actuated position; and an indicator in communication with said control system, wherein said indicator is configured to indicate a first display state in response to a first input from said control system and a second display state in response to a second input from said control system, wherein said control system supplies said first input to said indicator when said closure actuator is between said unactuated position and said partially-actuated position, wherein said articulation drive is in said activated operative state when said closure actuator is between said unactuated position and said partially-actuated position; characterized in that: said control system supplies said second input to said indicator when said closure actuator is in said partially-actuated position, and wherein said articulation drive is in said deactivated inoperative state when said closure actuator is in said partially-actuated position.