Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Acts: Enlarging Our Vision
The Beginning Of The Acts Of The Holy Spirit - Part 1 06/08/08
Sermon Series: Acts: Enlarging Our Vision
Message: ‘The Beginning of the Acts of the Holy Spirit’ pt.1
Text: Acts 1:1-5
Introduction:
ILL: In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.
Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, “Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable.” He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the engine roared to life.
For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.
J. B. Phillips paraphrases Ephesians 1:19–20, “How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God.” When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us. (Ernest B. Beevers)
ILL: In many Christian circles the Holy Spirit is either neglected, or misunderstood. The One given to unite the body of Christ is often the center of controversy.
· So often Christian work is so rigidly programmed that it seems we need no longer depend on Jesus
· yet Jesus said, "Without Me you can do nothing." ...
The late Dr. A. W. Tozer, author and pastor, said,
· "If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference.
· If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference." (Alan Redpath)
The Book of Acts is the 5th book in the New Testament and tells the story of how the church began and how the news of Jesus Christ spread throughout the world. The power behind both … is the Holy Spirit.
The first chapter of the Book of Acts is an introduction to the entire book. It reveals to us the essential strategy by which Jesus plans to change the world.
The problem is too many Christians have bought into the idea that the church is ineffective, irrelevant and unimportant in today’s society. Why? Because, all too often we have a loose connection to God and the power available to us through the Holy Spirit is minimal at best… certainly not enough to help us enlarge our vision of God.
Transition: Turn in your Bibles to Acts 1:1 (pg. 830 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) For it’s there we’ll see the beginnings of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the disciples …and later in the life of the church.
I. Acts 1:1-3 Proof from the Holy Spirit
Read: Acts 1:1-3
So…let’s think of Acts as a sequel of a movie…like Indiana Jones or Star Wars. The author, Luke, tells us he’s continuing a letter he wrote to a man named Theophilus.
It’s as if Luke was saying…
· ‘You thought my other letter was interesting, this will knock your sandals off.
· You thought that Jesus dying on the cross and then coming back from the dead was great…that was just the beginning.
· Because Jesus…is alive and he’s still doing even greater things’
Luke briefly tells Theophilus what Jesus did during the 40 days after his resurrection. He did this to further prove that Jesus was God rose from the dead and that the Holy Spirit, sent by Jesus after his ascension, is his official representative here on earth until Jesus returns.
And here’s the hook…the presence and power of the Holy Spirit is further proof of Jesus’ resurrection…as the Book of Acts will continue to reveal.
Luke and the early disciples had a radical commitment to and confidence in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead…because they walked in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Book of Acts will show us that disciples of Jesus today can walk in that same presence…and experience that same power.
How? We’ll get there. For now, I hope your anticipation is as great as I believe Theophilus’ must have been as he first began to read Luke’s 2nd letter.
Transition: So, let’s read what Luke says next.
II. Acts 1:4-5 Promise of the Holy Spirit
Read: Acts 1:4-5
Since the Holy Spirit is proof of Jesus’ resurrection, then the disciples needed to learn more about the Holy Spirit and what their relationship with Him would be like. So Jesus reminds them of the promise God made to them concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit it’s what Jesus had told them, many times.
First, notice that Jesus tells them to wait…to wait. Let me say that again….wait. We don’t like waiting, our time is important, we’ve got things to do, places to go, people to meet…don’t ask us to wait. Yet, that’s exactly what Jesus told his disciples to do.
· There is no substitute for the daily practice of crying out to God for direction, power and forgiveness…then waiting for the Lord to answer.
Read: Psalm 27:14 ‘Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’
Read: Psalm 37:7a ‘Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…’
Read: Psalm 130:5-6 ‘I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.’
· Waiting for God is not being lazy.
· Waiting for God is not going to sleep.
· Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort.
· Waiting for God is trusting in His perfect timing.
ILL: Warren Wiersbe wrote ‘The ability to calm your soul and wait before God is one of the most difficult things in the Christian life. Our old nature is restless…the world around us is frantically in a hurry. But a restless heart usually leads to a reckless life. (Jason Jones)
Why wait? Why be patient? Why trust God’s timing? Because there’s great reward.
Read: Psalm 40:1 ‘I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.’
Think about it, the disciples
· were few in number
· were without their leader, Jesus.
· were wanted by the religious authorities for their relationship with Jesus.
· were still afraid and clueless about much of what was going on, even though they had seen the risen Jesus.
They needed a BIG vision of God. They needed to once again experience Jesus’ presence and power in their lives…and God heard their cry for help. And friends, God will hear your cry for help too.
That’s one of the reasons we read about this in Luke’s letter, so that we too can have the same assurance that God hears our prayers, wants to be near to us and empower us to serve him.
· God promised the Holy Spirit to these disciples so they would not be alone in starting the church of God.
· This same God promises the Holy Spirit to disciples today whose desire it is to further the work of God and participate in the building of His church.
· Same God, Same Holy Spirit, Same Power.
Do you believe that? Then say amen!
Second, God has promised something really BIG! HUGE! He has promised the Holy Spirit…the third member of the Tri-unity of the Godhead, to dwell in us.
Read: Romans 8:9-11 ‘You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.’
Read: Joel 2:28-29 ‘And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.’
This pouring out of God’s Spirit will be like John’s baptism with water but even better. The text can literally be translated ‘in a few days you will be drenched with the Holy Spirit.
· Ever been drenched? I mean really wet…soaked to the bone? It’s like every part of your body is dripping with water. I felt that way often on our recent motorcycle trip to Myrtle Beach and Maggie Valley.
· Ever been drenched by the Holy Spirit? I mean filled to the brim…soaked to the core? Like every part of your life is under control of the Holy Spirit? I have felt that way many times in my life…my ordination and installation services here at CBC, many times on Sunday mornings and at the Lion’s Fair when I was too tired and in too much pain to move…the Holy Spirit rained down upon me and moved me to action.
We enlarge our vision of God when we walk in His Spirit and are filled with His comforting presence and awesome power.
That’s what I hope we will see in the Book of Acts…that’s what I pray we’ll experience in our lives.
Third, I believe what Jesus is talking about here is a baptism of power…the Bible uses another phrase to describe this re-occurring event…it’s being ‘filled with the Spirit.’
· The initial Baptism of the Holy Spirit unites us with Christ.
· The subsequent and recurring filling of the Holy Spirit empowers us to serve Christ.
But because of the special historical significance of Pentecost, I think baptism is a good choice of words.
· The disciples were saved when Jesus told them to ‘receive the holy Spirit’ in John 20:22.
· Jesus told them to wait…wait for a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit that is available to all who follow Jesus and seek to build his church.
Sidebar: I’ll talk more extensively about the baptism of the Holy Spirit when we look at Acts 2 and the Pentecost event.
Conclusion
So….let me end with this.
· Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead and is at this very moment alive and seated at the right hand of God the Father?
· Or, do your believe that his resurrection is a cleverly invented story?
It has to be one or the other. There is no third option.
Many people come to church and are somewhat committed to Christianity. They believe in God, they like the teachings and miracles of Jesus but they’re not wholeheartedly committed to his resurrection.
· It’s too strange
· It’s too unbelievable
· It just can’t be true.
But, Luke’s emphasis here at the beginning of Acts shows us that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the single most important doctrine that holds everything else in the Christian life together …without it we’re lost. Hear what the Apostle Paul has to say about the resurrection:
Read: 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
BUT…he continues in verse 20
Read: 1 Corinthians 15:20
Seeing God’s people do what only God can do, is proof that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that he sent the Holy Spirit to be with us and to empower us.
· Have you experienced Holy Spirit Power?
· Have you been drenched, immersed, filled, baptized with the Holy Spirit?
I pray you have and will continue to experience the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in your life.
As we continue our journey in the Book of Acts we’ll get a glimpse of what that kind of life looks like. And, I pray we’ll enlarge our vision of God.