The Mission If You Accept It: Transformation Series

Tim Hansel in his book “When I Relax I feel Guilty.” Writes some insights of what most people want from God. “I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please.” If we would be totally honest, the idea of transformation really scares us. That is because we know that such a radical change would be quite uncomfortable. We realize that with transformation comes a major overhaul of our lives and priorities. I have to wonder what the disciples felt when the Holy Spirit transformed their lives in such a radical way. The Spirit arrived on the Day of Pentecost and these twelve men would never be the same again. In fact, the people were blown away when the saw the change that had taken place in the lives of these twelve ordinary men. Today, we want to take a look at the disciples before and after the transformation. As we look closely at the lives of these twelve men hopefully we can begin to see what the Holy Spirit can begin to do in our lives.

I. Getting better acquainted with Jesus’ disciples.

A. Getting a true picture of these twelve ordinary men.

1. We often have great difficulty relating to these twelve men because we often view them as almost super heroes.

2. None of these men were Levites, rabbis, or men that were prominent in the community or synagogue.

3. These men lacked formal education and vocational training. They were common blue collar workers with the exception of Matthew who held a government job.

4. The majority of them were raised in the poor back woods area of Israel known as Galilee.

5. These men were impulsive, rough around the edges and usually wore the feelings on their sleeves. You have to wonder how Jesus was able to use people like these.

6. These men were an excellent example of the everyday ordinary people of Jesus’ day.

B. Before the radical transformation these men were confused and felt as if their worlds were falling apart.

1. Jesus has stunned them by announcing that one of the twelve men closest to Him would soon betray Him.

2. Jesus shatters their dreams of Israel’s restoration by telling them He would be returning to the Father soon.

3. Jesus speaks words to Peter one of the three who were closest to Him that probably felt like a knife through his heart.

4. Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! (John 13:37-38—NIV)

5. When you read John 13 closer we see that the disciples really wanted to go with Jesus but don’t understand how to get where He is going.

6. If you were one of these twelve men who had placed all your hopes and dreams in Jesus you would be pretty disheartened. You might feel like Jesus was about to leave you high and dry.

7. These twelve men also did not grasp the message that Jesus was trying to get across to them.

8. So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6—NIV)

9. These guys are literally a mess before the Holy Spirit comes upon them on the Day of Pentecost.

II. Twelve men and a miraculous transformation.

A. The Day of Pentecost will be a major crossroads in the life of Jesus’ twelve disciples.

1. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4—NIV)

2. The Holy Spirit came into the lives of the Disciples in a very dramatic way just as Jesus had told them.

3. If you read further in Acts 2 you also see that all the weaknesses and shortcoming of the Disciples have been overshadowed by the miraculous power of the Spirit.