Many times, we make plans that we can’t keep or plans we shouldn’t keep. For example:
A boy approached a lady in his church and promised, “Lady, if you give me a quarter, my little brother will imitate a chicken,” The lady was not impressed, and she replied, “So, what will he do for this quarter, cluck and flap his arms?” “No,” the boy replied, “he wouldn’t do a cheap imitation like that. He’ll eat a worm!”
Another fellow knocked on his neighbor’s door. When his neighbor answered his knock, he said, “I’m so sorry, I just ran over your cat with my car. I want to do the right thing and replace him.” His neighbor said, “O.K. then, there’s a mouse in my kitchen. Go get it!”
A final example of this comes from the personal ads of a newspaper: “If Jack Smith, who deserted his wife and baby twenty years ago will return, the aforementioned baby will knock the socks off of him.”
As we have noted before in both Matthew 16 and Acts 1, Jesus had a plan for the church to be the focus of ministry in the world after His Ascension to Heaven. A major part of that plan was for His church to receive power for its work. Today we will see how that power came and what it helps us to do. Let’s begin by reading Acts 2:1-4,
When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.
The Plan for Power:
Jesus knew that the task given to the church was beyond our human power to accomplish. That’s why His plan included giving the church power from heaven. He had told His disciples in Acts 1:6-10 to go back into the city and wait for power, and now it had come.
One of the most transforming events in the lives of rural Americans was the Rural Electrification Act (REA) which provided funding to extend electricity to the famers and other residents of rural America. That process, as well as Rural Free Delivery (RFD) brought a power to integrate with society to rural people that they didn’t have before.
The power experienced by the Apostles was unlike anything ever experienced before or since. There was an unearthly sound that filled the whole house. Something appeared that look like fire. The Apostles were filled with the Spirit of God. They began to speak in other, unknown to them, human languages. Many missionaries have prayed for the gift of tongues while trying to learn a difficult foreign language!
To imagine the impact on the Apostles, try to think back to the first time you ever tasted coffee. It was strong and probably bitter, and you didn’t know what to think about it. Another way I think about this experience is when I had an injection in a nerve in my hip. It was like an electric shock went down my leg. I squealed like a little girl, and I almost came off of the examination table! The impact on the crowd was also dynamic, as we read in Acts 2:12-13,
They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But some sneered and said, “They’re drunk on new wine.”
Those who witnessed this power were amazed. Many just sat and watched in awe and wonder. Others tried to blame what happened on sin. People often attribute good things to sin or Satan. Even Jesus had this happen to Him. The fact is that God’s power is far beyond what we understand. We shouldn’t try to explain it or scoff at it.
This was the awesome and life-changing power that Jesus had promised. This was power from God Himself which was both the power to supernaturally relate to God as well as power to work outside our own strength in God’s Kingdom. The church had a gift and a power that the Old Testament saints never had. We must be grateful for it and we must allow it to empower our lives for God.
This is like the story of a Hunter walking through the jungle who found a huge dead elephant with a pigmy standing beside it. Amazed, he asked: "Did you kill that?" The pigmy said, "Yes." The hunter asked, "How could a little bloke like you kill a huge beast like that?" "I killed it with my club." The astonished hunter asked, "How big is your club?" The pigmy replied, "Let me think. There's about 60 of us." With the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do ministry together that we could not have done before He came to us!
God’s plan for the church required that He give us spiritual power beyond ourselves, but it was more than that. Let’s read Acts 2:5-11
Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts), Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.”
The Plan for Relationships:
The church is about people. God created this world for people, and He loves to relate to us. Jesus died for people, and the Holy Spirit was sent to people. We need to be about people too. We all know that the church is not the building, but the congregation. In 2 Samuel 7, David wanted to build God a temple. But God rebuffed him, telling him that God does not need buildings, even if people do. That is why we have church buildings, so we can house our ministry and for our church buildings can be a springboard to take the Gospel into our community. One Christian writer has called local churches circles of light, bringing the Light of the World to their neighbors so that they can have the Light of Life illuminate their hearts.
Our problem is that our sin not only separates us from God, but it also divides people from each other. One of the first sins mentioned in Bible after the fall was murder. Half of the Ten Commandments dealt with how people are to treat each other. In our own time, very little political moderates in the USA today and even within churches, conflict is a serious issue. One state Baptist denominational leader once told me, “We start most of our new churches by splitting old ones.”
We need help to relate to people, and God gave it to us at Pentecost! Every person present on that day from over 14 nations heard the Gospel in a way that they could relate to effectively. This is the task of every missionary. They use tools like the Jesus Film or the Storying Cloth to share the Gospel It is also the task of every Christian. We can use our personal testimonies or invite people to Sunday School or church.
A long-time denominational leader recently told me that the secret to evangelism in the 21st Century is through developing relationships. This is not always easy, but the Holy Spirit will help us if we live in the Light of the World. What is the Gospel message we are to share? Let’s read Acts 2:14-18,
Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them, “Fellow Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning. On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy.”
Let’s also read Acts 2:22-23,
“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used[e] lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.”
And, let’s read Acts 2:32-35,
“God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’”
The Plan to Preach:
Relating can be hard, but it is easier than preaching! However, if we relate without preaching, we are simply not doing the job. A missionary once told us that she spent so much time being culturally sensitive that she found she wasn’t witnessing. Churches often try to attract people by adapting to culture surrounding them, but as the old preacher said, “If you get with a hotdog you have to keep them with hotdogs.” The offense of the Gospel must take place. God’s truth must be revealed, and He has chosen us to do it!
How do we do this? The same way that Peter did! Peter was an uneducated fisherman. He had run away from Jesus and denied Him with a curse. After the crucifixion, Peter went back to fishing and yet, now, he preached the first Christian sermon. How did he do it? By letting God empower him. By using the Scriptures. And by sharing what God had done in his life through Christ
God empowered Peter’s human nature for supernatural ministry! Peter was bold, but now his boldness was directed properly. Loose cannons are dangerous, but when aimed properly, they are effective! Peter was a rough man, but now God used that roughness to witness for Himself. Peter was a die-heard Jew, but now the Spirit interpreted that Jewishness properly. God will use effectively what we have when we submit it to His will!
God gave us the power to relate to people and to preach the Gospel for a purpose. Let’s look at what that purpose is in Acts 2:37-47,
Then they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt[k] generation!” So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
The Plan to Grow:
From the beginning, God’s plan has been for the church to grow. The church is the Body of Christ, and so the church is an organism, not an organization. Organisms must grow and develop or they will die. God did not buy us from slavery to sin to have us wither and die. We are divinely appointed to grow!
This passage tells us several ways that God wants his church to grow:
* Growth by salvation (V.V. 40 & 41).
* Growth in doctrine (V. 42).
* Growth in fellowship (V. 42).
* Growth in prayer (V. 42).
* Growth in our awe of God (V.V. 43)
* Growth in meeting peoples’ needs (V.V. 44-5).
* Growth in our worship together (V.V. 46 & 47).
* Growth that happens regularly (V. 47).
So, in light of this passage, we must ask ourselves some hard questions: Are we growing effectively? Are we growing consistently? Are we growing in all of these areas and more? The answer is that we should be, because we have the power!
Conclusion:
God doesn’t believe in wasted effort. According to His plan, He has given His church his church the power to relate to people, preach the Gospel, and grow in fellowship, outreach, and ministry.
Are we being faithful stewards with the light God has given us?
Every blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
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