Experiencing God: Receiving the Good News, Part II

Message: Experiencing God: Receiving the Good News, Part II

Text: Acts 2:37-39

Time: October 22^nd, 2005

The topic I’ve been exploring over the last few weeks is having a personal experience with the living God. There is a God, He’s alive, He’s there, why can’t we experience Him in our lives? There is a God, He’s here, but why can’t we experience His here-ness, His there-ness? What’s blocking the way? According to pollster George Barna, two-third of non-Christians would attend church if they could actually experience God there. Isn’t it reasonable to expect to experience God in a church? Of all places, shouldn’t we expect to experience God at least in some way during a church service? Yes, of course. But that is not the experience of most people who attend church services. Why not? Because through custom, tradition, habits and other man-made practices and attitudes, churches have unfortunately built up cultural barriers to experiencing God without even knowing it. These barriers are allowed to stand Sunday after Sunday, leaving people hungry for a genuine experience of God. People come seeking spiritual food and drink and leave without experiencing either. Why? Because churches and church leaders have failed to follow the message of John the Baptist and Isaiah the prophet: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, remove the mountains and barriers, build up the bridges and pathways to God.” People are wandering around in the wilderness and desert of empty spiritual promises in churches, but nobody is preparing a way for them to experience God by removing cultural barriers and building spiritual bridges in the church for people to experience God. That’s the church’s fault. But then there is the responsibility of the individual person to do what John the Baptist and Isaiah say to do also: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare your heart for the Lord’s coming.” It’s not enough for churches to remove all cultural barriers and build all spiritual bridges for people if a person won’t remove all barriers from their own heart and build bridges from their own heart to God. So John the Baptist and Isaiah the prophet speak to individuals as well as churches: “Prepare yourself for the Lord, make a straight path from God to your heart — and from your heart to God. Remove the barriers of sin and distractions from your life, and add anything that is spiritually useful into your life to help you connect with God. So people must take personal responsibility for experiencing God and not just blame churches for not doing a better job of preparing a way for the Lord. And what happens when churches prepare a clear way for people to access God? And what happens when individuals prepare their own hearts, removing sin and other obstacles and adding anything lacking to build spiritual bridges to God? What happens then? God visits people! In the first century Jesus appears. In the twenty-first century Jesus by His Spirit appears. In the first century Jesus came preaching the Gospel for people to believe, in the twenty-first century we believe the Gospel and the Spirit fills us with God’s presence today. The message of John the Baptist can only prepare us for an experience with God, but the message of Jesus introduces us to an experience with God. After the church has done all it can do to prepare people for an experience with God, after people have done all they can do to prepare themselves for experiencing God, then Jesus invites us all to take the step of faith and believe! And when we believe in Jesus we experience God! But we can’t get to the experience until our hearts are prepared. So the gospel is actually double-sided: there’s the repentance side and there’s the belief side. There’s the turning from sin and there’s the turning to God, and unless both are present there will be no experiencing God. Now is this what the early church taught? Let’s find out.

Waiting for the Spirit’s Filling

Title: Waiting for the Holy Spirit’s Filling

Text: Acts 1:12-14

Date: October 28th, 2007

Jesus had given the disciples the seemingly impossible assignment of living the Christian life without his physical presence to help them, and in addition, he had assigned them the near impossible task of recruiting others to join them in the Christian life. How could they ever hope to accomplish their assignment? Jesus’ answer: wait and receive the power of the Holy Spirit. According to Matthew 28:16-20, here again is their assignment from Jesus, “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” Now how would they ever be able to teach people to obey everything Jesus had commanded them, or how would they even be able to obey everything Jesus had commanded to them? Again, the answer: wait and receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice at the end of the Great Commission, Jesus says that he will be with them always, even to the very ends of the earth. How can that be? Again, the answer: through the power of the Holy Spirit; they were to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish what would otherwise be totally impossible in their own power. Now what does this all have to do with us today? Everything, because we too have been assigned the seemingly impossible task of living the Christian life, of following the teachings and examples of Jesus. We too have been assigned the task of recruiting others to follow Jesus and join us in the Christian life. How can we trust in Jesus instead of our own selves, how can we follow Jesus instead of following the way of the world, the flesh, or even the devil? How can we follow Jesus in our weaknesses and ignorance? How can we be an example or witness to others of the truth? There is only one way, only one answer: the Holy Spirit’s power operating in our lives to enable us to rise above our natural human limitations and lift us up to the supernatural level of faith and obedience. That’s the only way can live the Christian life, that’s the only way we can so witness to others so they too will become a Christian. So the key for the disciples as well as us today is waiting for the Spirit, or as Luke 24:49 instructs, to wait until “you have been clothed with power from on high.” Why are some, many, or even most Christians today weak in faith, defeated in living the Christian life, and not much of a shinning example or witness before the world? Because some, many, or most Christians aren’t filled with the Holy Spirit and so they lack the power of God operating in their lives. They are trying to live the Christian life on their own human power instead of waiting for God’s Spirit to empower them every day. So the answer is to wait for the Holy Spirit, but what does it mean to wait for God’s power? How shall we wait to get the power of the Holy Spirit? Let’s see how the original disciples waited so that we know how to properly wait today for the Spirit. Acts 1:12-14 (read).

The Promise of the Spirit

Title: The Promise of the Spirit

Text: Acts 1:4-5

Date: October 7^th, 2007

Last week we learned how impossible it is to live the Christian life in our own power, and how we need the power of the Holy Spirit in order to live the Christian life and be a witness to the reality of God in the world. Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father concerning the Holy Spirit to empower them. But that raises the question, “What exactly were the disciples to wait for?” And, “What was the promise that Jesus spoke to them about waiting for?” And, “What does it mean to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?” It’s no wonder that the disciples were a little confused. It’s no wonder that they started wondering what this “promise” might be. It’s no wonder that they thought that perhaps the promise had something to do with the restoration of Israel to a free nation once again, since the Jews at that time were all waiting for the Messiah to fulfill all the promises of the Old Testament concerning Israel. But Jesus wasn’t talking about those promises, which were to be fulfilled at Christ’s second coming during the end times. Jesus was talking about the fulfillment of some very specific promises made in both the Old and New Testament periods concerning the Holy Spirit. Here are Jesus’ exact words in Acts 1:4-5, “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’” We’ll be talking about the famous prophetic promise in the Book of Joel in the Old Testament concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit in a few weeks, so I won’t take the time to cover that today. But I’d like to go back over the New Testament promises of the Holy Spirit in order to help us understand what is so special about the promise for which Jesus told his disciples to wait – and what that same promise means to us today in our lives as well. The promise that Jesus talked about to his disciples was important enough for them to wait for instead of simply starting in to their Christian lives and ministries. If it was important enough for the disciples to wait for, might it also be important for us to wait for as well? If so, what is it that we are supposed to wait for before we attempt to live the Christian life and minister in Jesus’ name? These are important questions that require we get a context for the prophecy and promise Jesus is speaking about in respect to the coming of the Holy Spirit. Rather than simply jump ahead to the promise, let’s take the time to back up and hear the prophecy concerning the promise, which will help us understand things better. First, let’s see what John the Baptist says. Second, let’s see what Jesus says in the gospels. Third, let’s see what the promise means to us today in our lives.

The Spirit’s Power

Title: The Spirit’s Power

Text: Acts 1:4-8

Date: September 30, 2007

Jesus appeared to his disciples off and on again over a period of forty days after the resurrection, preparing them for the time when he would be physically gone from their presence. He also assigned them the near impossible task of living the victorious Christian life and recruiting others to join them in living such a life. But he cautioned them to not rush out and immediately start trying to fulfill their mission, but rather to wait for the supernatural power from heaven that would come to enable them to do what he commanded them. This whole scene is depicted in Acts 1:4-8, “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ he said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’” Now we have to remember that before Jesus was crucified, he had been with the disciples for three years, teaching them, guiding them, and directing them in how to live according to the will of God the Father. Even then, they had still gotten themselves into trouble and constantly needed his intervention to save and rescue them from failure. We remember on one occasion, Jesus told them to go out and among other things cast out demons while they announced the kingdom of God. They found themselves unable to cast out a particularly entrenched demon, so they turned to Jesus to help cast it out. Of course he did and the victim was delivered. But the disciples were amazed and perplexed as to why they couldn’t do it. This is just one of many examples where Jesus had to rescue them while he was with them in the course of three years. But now, Jesus would be leaving, never again to be with them in his immediate, physical form they had learned to rely on. How would they ever succeed in their Christian lives and ministries? We might ask the same question of ourselves today: how can we possibly succeed in our Christian life and ministry? If the disciples struggled so with the actual presence and power of Jesus with them for three years, how would they hope to succeed with his physical presence and power gone? And if they could expect to have trouble succeeding – at least they had been with him for three years – how can we have any hope of success in our Christian life and in any ministry we might attempt to do today, not having even the advantages the disciples had with Jesus? The answer for us is the same answer as to the disciples: additional supernatural power would be needed, given by God for the purpose of helping both them and us succeed in Christian living. Let’s explore this exciting possibility more.

Asking the Right Questions

Title: Asking the Right Questions

Text: Acts 1:3-5

Date: September 23, 2007

One of the keys to getting the right answers in life is asking the right questions. If we don’t ever ask the right questions we can’t ever get the right answers. That’s why in the historical Christian church there has existed something called catechism classes, using different kinds of catechisms. What is catechism? It’s simply a teaching method that uses the question and answer format. It isn’t something Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, it’s also something Protestant too. All the great Reformation churches used the teaching method of catechism to instruct new converts and church members. Martin Luther wrote many different catechisms as did John Calvin and other reformers. The catechism method for teaching uses a series of questions in order to instruct the student in how to ask the right questions. Then, the catechism provides the correct answers to the questions. The students memorize both the questions and the answers, and in the process learn about the Christian faith. Why has Christianity used the catechism method to teach its students the faith? Because early on in the church it became clear that people needed help not only in learning the Christian answers to important questions in life, but they also needed help in asking the right questions of the Christian faith. For example, there are clearly wrong questions to ask Christianity. If a person comes into the Christian church and seems interested in becoming a Christian and then asks, “Now when do I get the gold? When do I get rich?” That is clearly the wrong question to ask the Christian faith. Why? Because Jesus did not come to make everyone rich and wealthy in the material sense, but he came to make us all rich spiritually with God. Or in other words, Jesus came to satisfy our deepest heart’s desire for meaning and purpose in life, not to set us up with the best things of the world in life. This is just one example how in many instances that people not only need to get the right answers but they need to know how to ask the right questions. Christianity has tried to supply both, by teaching us how to ask the right questions and then how to find the right answers from the Bible. Now catechism can be a boring learning process if our hearts are not into it, but it can be a rewarding process if we approach it with an open mind and heart. Well, there are times when it looks like Jesus needed to give his disciples a catechism lesson in order to teach them how to ask the right questions, because it is painfully obvious that they didn’t have a clue as to what questions to ask. In Acts 1:4-11 (read), Jesus tries to explain to his disciples what the coming of the Holy Spirit means but they had trouble hearing his answer because they were asking the wrong question. We are like that at times – we bring to the Bible and to prayer the wrong questions, the wrong issues, and then, we are disappointed with the answers we get from God. We, like the disciples, have to learn how to ask the right questions of God in order to get the right answers.

Relating with Jesus

Title: Relating with Jesus

Text: Acts 1:3-5

Date: September 16, 2007

One of the greatest benefits of the Book of Acts is that it not only teaches us but it gives us examples of the early church disciples obeying God. Or in other words, the Book of Acts isn’t just another book of the Bible that teaches us what to believe, what to think, but it also shows us how to live and how the early Christians lived in obedience to Christ. It gives us an account of normal people – for example, Peter was a fisherman from Galilee – who were transformed in their lives from living ordinary, mundane lives, into living powerful spiritual lives through the power of God. The Book of Acts starts out with the risen Christ appearing to the disciples and preparing them for life without His visible form. They were being trained to live with the invisible yet powerful presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit – the very same way we are expected to live today. But before Christ left them to the Holy Spirit, He made sure that they were prepared and that everything was completed in the way of their training. Acts 1:3-5 (read) describes some of the important points of Christ’s preparation for them. First, they had to experience the risen Christ personally in order to be convinced that He was alive. Second, He had to instruct them concerning the coming Kingdom of God. And third, they had to obey Him not only in thought and word, but also in deed – with their lives, in their actions. Now that same order applies to us today as we relate with Christ Jesus today. First, we must experience Jesus personally in our lives as a reality beyond mere thoughts or words. Second, we must begin to receive God’s Word of instructions for us how to live the Christian life as a result of experiencing Christ. And third, we must be motivated to obey God’s Word of instruction for our lives in all we do. The Book of Acts gives an account of the early Christian Church doing these three things. They were people who experienced the risen Christ, not just nice sounding words or inspiring thoughts about him as a philosophy might teach. They experienced Jesus and were utterly convinced that he was alive. Next, they dedicated themselves above all things to learning God’s will for their lives in light of their relationship with Jesus Christ. With Jesus, God was not just an abstract idea or philosophical concept to ponder or contemplate, He was a living reality who could be experienced and from whom they could be instructed. So they dedicated themselves to the Apostles’ teaching in addition to the Old Testament writings of the Jews. Finally, having experienced the living Christ and eagerly seeking after His instructions for their lives, the early believers went about living out their faith with peace, love and joy. Let’s see what we can learn about imitating their example.

Giving Instructions Through the Holy Spirit

Title: Giving Instructions Through the Holy Spirit

Text: Acts 1:1-2

Date: September 9, 2007

Last week I talked about the fact that Jesus did things and taught things during his ministry, and that was a pattern for our lives to follow: we believe in the teachings from God, and in addition, we live these things out in our lives. It’s not enough to simply believe in God or believe in what God teaches; we must also live out what we believe by our actions. The last thing I said was that it is impossible to both believe in God’s teachings and live out those teachings without the help of the Holy Spirit. The Book of Acts is the story of how God the Holy Spirit helps Christians to believe and live the truth from God. Today, I’ll talk about one of the ways the Holy Spirit helps us believe and live out truth from God: the Holy Spirit guides us if we listen closely enough. Acts 1:1-2 states, “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.” Last week I talked about verse 1, today I’d like to talk about verse 2, particularly the phrase, “after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles.” What does that phrase mean? To set the context, we have to remember that the Book of Acts is a history of transition, from the time of Jesus in visible form, to the time of Jesus in invisible form. When Jesus was with them, he taught the disciples directly, he instructed them, he encouraged them, he trained them how to be Christians, how to live, think, and speak. But after the resurrection, Jesus would only appear to them from time to time for a period of some 40 days, and then after that, he didn’t appear any more visibly, but lived with them invisibly through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. So the Book of Acts is an account of the transition time, from the visible Jesus to the invisible Jesus. We live in the time of the invisible Jesus, but when the Book of Acts starts Jesus is still visible from time to time, then later, Jesus ascends to heaven and the invisible Jesus period begins. How are we to live with an invisible Jesus. There’s the story of the little girl who was praying to God and all of a sudden stopped and asked her mother, “Where is God anyway?” Her mother told her that God is invisible, “Even though you can’t see Him, He’s there.” To that, the little girl replied, “I think I like it better when someone has skin on.” We might like it better if Jesus were visible to the eye and with skin on like he was when he taught his disciples, but for now we must accept the fact that he exists today in Spirit not flesh. After the resurrection, Jesus had 40 days to prepare the disciples to transition from his visible presence to his invisible presence. That’s the key to understanding the little phrase, “after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit.” Why is this important to us today? Because we like the disciples have to get used to Christ’s invisible presence in our lives. How are you interacting with the invisible Christ in your life? Most people today almost totally ignore Christ because they can’t see him with their eyes. Others acknowledge that he is there, but don’t relate with him very much, only occasionally. Is it possible to relate closely with the invisible Jesus today? Let’s explore further what the phrase, “after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit.”

All Jesus Began to Do and Teach

Title: All Jesus Began to Do and Teach

Text: Acts 1:1-2

Date: September 2, 2007

Today we start a brand new sermon series on the Book of Acts. As you know, the Book of Acts is a history of the early Christian church, the early years of Christianity. Acts is important because it gives us today a glimpse of what true and authentic Christianity really is or should be. Think about it: it’s been 2000 years since the time of Jesus, 2000 years of Christianity, 2000 years of the Christian church. How do we know what we call Christianity today or what we call church today is what it’s supposed to be? There is only one way to know that: compare what we do today with the Book of Acts, early Christianity, the original and authentic church, and wherever possible bring today into conformity with what was taking place back then. We must make the assumption that since Jesus is the source of Christianity and the Apostles are the original heirs of the faith, that their faith, their Christianity, their church would be closest to what Jesus taught. So we need the Book of Acts as a standard by which to guide all of our Christian life and the life of the Christian church especially. Acts is no theoretical book; it not called the Thoughts of the Apostles, it’s called the Acts of the Apostles, because it emphasizes what early Christians did in living out their faith, as opposed to merely what they thought or believed. Of course, it also describes what early Christians believed too, because it’s impossible not to act on what one believes. In fact, the early church acted the way it did because it believed the way it did. So we can’t separate the acts and the beliefs of the early Christians. Today, unfortunately, there is a large separation between what people say they believe and what they actually do or act upon. Today, in most of the lands where Christianity spread the farthest, lands such as Europe, North America and South America, there is a widening gap between what professed Christians say they believe and how they live, or how they act. It’s even that way in many or most churches in these same lands, where the original moral and ethical standards of Christianity are many times forgotten or completely neglected, all the while the doctrines or beliefs of Christianity are affirmed in some intellectual way. That’s not how the early church lived their Christianity, as the Book of Acts describes. We can learn much from Acts, much that would help us all live true and authentic Christian lives. I expect that we’ll be moving through Acts up to the holiday season, where we’ll break to celebrate Christmas for a number of weeks, and then continue in Acts after that. Rather than talk about everything the Book of Acts describes I’d like to ask and answer a number of key questions that come up as we move verse by verse through it. It’s my prayer that by hearing what God says in Acts we could be more thoroughly Christian in our lives and in the church. We’ll start by looking at Acts 1:1-2 (read).

Experiencing God: After Conversion, After Baptism, Church Membership

Title: Experiencing God: After Conversion, After Baptism, Church Membership (long version)

Text: Acts 2:41-42

Time: October 1, 2008

We are talking about experiencing God. It starts when we turn from our sins and turn towards God through faith in Jesus Christ. That’s conversion. Then comes baptism. Last time we saw how the Apostle Peter connects baptism with the conversion experience, links it closely together with repentance and faith, and doesn’t separate it like many churches do today. Today in many churches we discover many Christians who have never bothered to be baptized. That never would have been allowed in the early church. To be a Christian is to be baptized, to not be baptized casts doubt on one’s Christianity. So a new convert is checked to see if their heart is right for baptism, they are checked to see if they have truly confessed their sins and repented of sins generally and specifically. They are checked to see if they are sincere in their turning from sin and turning to God. They are checked to see if they understand Christ and the Gospel, and if they have properly believed from the heart not just the head. If there are no doubts as to their true and genuine conversion, they are baptized. But even before new converts are baptized they are already being prepared to join the local baptizing body of believers in church membership. Why else would a local church baptize someone other than to take on the responsibility of raising that person up into a mature Christian? If the person receiving baptism made it known that he was not interested in continuing on towards membership in the local church, but was actually thinking of moving on to a church down the street, why would the baptizing church even continue the process of baptism? If the new convert desired to go to another church, let him go there immediately and be baptized in that other church and continue on as a disciple in that other church. But if the convert desires baptism at the church it should also be assumed that he will be staying and making his spiritual home at the church for ongoing discipleship. Again, that is the only true, Christian, biblical pattern. Look at Acts 2:41-42, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” We see the phrase, “and about three thousand were added to their number.” Added to what number? These new converts were added to those who were already numbered as Christians, which from Acts 1:15, we know was around one hundred fifty in number. So three thousand were added to one hundred fifty. The numbers are not important, yet only in as far as showing that the new converts were added to the already existing body of believers. That is the pattern for church membership then and now.

The Acts Example

Title: The Acts Example

Text: Acts 5:12-16

Time: July 20th, 2008

Anybody who reads and studies of the Book of Acts quickly realizes that supernatural and miraculous things are happening left and right. This is interesting and exciting to read about, but it also raises the question for us today: how much of this is supposed to be happening now, today? If we simply want to be entertained by tales of miracles and the supernatural, we don’t have to look just to the Bible, because we can read about such things in fairy tales, classical literature, and in contemporary books such as Harry Potter for example, and watch them in movies such as The Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia. There always seems to be some novel or some contemporary movie coming out that includes the supernatural. So if it’s just fascination we are seeking, we don’t need the Bible for that; we can find it in other books as well. But in the Bible we are reading history, reading accounts of what really happened, not made-up stories. But the question for us today is: ok, so now what are we to do with these historical accounts of miracles found in the Book of Acts? Are they there simply to give us an account of what happened so we can understand what took place way back when? Are they given to give us an appreciation for the special time period in which God worked mightily among his people? Or is the Book of Acts given to us in order to be an example for us of how real, authentic, supernatural Christianity is supposed to operate? We have to decide what the purpose of the Books of Acts really is, or else we won’t be able to read it correctly. If we are seeing it as purely history – something that gives an account of what happened in the past, period – and that’s all, then we can certainly be inspired by it, but we won’t use it as a guide for living the Christian life today. But if we see it’s purpose as something more than history, if we see it as given by God as an example for us today in order to teach us how to live out the Christian faith, we’ll read it carefully in order to copy its pattern as closely as possible because it describes how Christianity and the Christian church should be today. If we take this approach, we’ll realize that the Christian church today is hardly anything like what the Book of Acts describes, and so we’ll realize that we have a lot of work to do in restoring authentic Christianity to the world. In other words, if we see the Book of Acts as an example of Christianity for us today, then it sets the agenda for our faith and church in a way that straight history wouldn’t. Acts isn’t just a description of what did happen, it’s a prescription of what should happen today. We should be seeing the supernatural miracles of Acts happening today, just like they did back then.