I'm having amnesia and déjà vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before.
A Stormy Transformation
Text: John 20 & Acts 4; Luke 16
A man named Carl and his wife were ready to get a divorce. They had each had affairs and had completely destroyed their trust in one another. Carl sincerely wanted to reconcile, but every attempt failed, and he and his wife just created more distance between themselves. She drove him away with her anger; he drove her away with his jealousy.
During this time he received an email advertisement with the subject line: "Revitalize Your Marriage." He was interested, so he clicked on it. It was an advertisement for Viagra. He laughed when he told me this, saying, "The last thing my marriage needed was for me to start taking Viagra!" He and his wife also saw marriage counselors, together and separately. In a private session, his counselor told him that he should start making plans to "begin a new chapter in his life as a single father."
Carl's wife had scheduled an appointment with an attorney on a Monday morning. As a last ditch effort, she talked Carl into going to his parent's new church. Desperate for anything, he agreed. Of all the subjects a pastor could preach on, his topic that morning was "How to Revitalize Your Marriage." That morning, when the pastor gave the invitation, Carl and his wife gave their lives to Jesus, and Jesus gave their marriage new life.
From Laugh & Learn by Jim Hammond [laughnlearn@vvchristianchurch.net]
God miraculously resurrected what was dead!
Focus: God demonstrated resurrection power to His disciples but their immediate response did not reproduce His power in them. It was only when they followed in obedience that they too received that power. God is still in the miracle working business today. How do I know that? Just from what Jesus said in Jn 14:12-14
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
The impact of the resurrection is where my thoughts have been this week. I have been questioning “what they (the disciples) were doing and thinking during the time Jesus firsts appeared to them after the resurrection and the time the Holy Spirit came and endued them with power from on high in Acts 2.
I tried to think what I would be doing if the Roman Army and the Jewish leaders were after me. That’s like the whole world coming down on you. Certainly there was some moral support, some comradely, and as Jesus appeared to them there was hope for the future but He kept leaving them alone. You read the accounts of His appearing and He’s there and then He’s gone. I think they felt excitement but it was a stormy excitement. I also think the uncertainty of life must have taken over every time Jesus left. Every time we read of His appearing to the disciples, they’re still hiding.
What really puzzled me this time was after he breathed on them and gave the Holy Spirit according John 20, they all just decide to go back to their old jobs. I can’t say how many times I’ve read that but when I read it this week I said to myself, self, wait a minute, they just received the Holy Spirit! What’s going on here? They just went back to fishing.
Of course we know the other side of this story. But, to get the impact and the application we need to put our minds on their side of history. We can see how God was working to get into their hearts and minds in a manner that would be permanent and life changing. But we have to let God help us with what it means to be on the south side of this life changing event so that we can see what it takes to walk in victory.
There decision to fishing in John 21 tells me that they believe Jesus has life changing power, they believe in Jesus, but not enough to follow Him in obedience. At this point, in their concept of their future, there is nothing for them but to just go back to fishing.
Now, in a few months Peter and John, will stand before the Jewish counsel and boldly defy the very ones who put Jesus on the cross. Think about this! Within a few months they will move from fear, from dread of future events, from cowardice to show their face in public to death defying boldness preaching the Gospel no matter what the Jews want. That’s what happens from John 20 to Acts 4. There’s something powerful and miraculous taking place because in Acts 4, John and Peter boldly stand with enthusiasm before men who hold the power to have them literally put to death. There they emphatically state that nothing will stop them from speaking of what they had seen and heard.
But, what was the difference? They had already received the Holy Spirit. In the 20th chapter of John vv 19-31 the Bible tells us that Jesus appeared to the disciples and the breathed the gift of the Holy Spirit. In verse 22 John says that Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He came back to them and demonstrated the power of God in so many ways that John said the world could not contain enough books to report them. Yet, after firsthand knowledge of the power God, John and Peter and the rest just went fishing. The way I see this, just my opinion, they believe but they don’t believe enough to follow, or they just don’t see anything here for that fits in their life now that Jesus is gone. Jesus is gone we might as well go back and live the way we were before we met Jesus.
But, something takes place between the time Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on them and the time when the Holy Spirit came to them in Jerusalem
Let’s read the passage and look briefly at the events that moved these men and women from petrified post resurrection status to the Daring Heroic Proclamation of the Gospel status.
1st Look at John 20:19-31
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
A. I’m calling this a Bizarre Response
Just compare the response of the Jews and Romans to the Disciples after they had seen and touched the Risen Savior.
1. The enemies Tried to Annihilate Him
2, The Disciples Went Fishing
But both went their separate ways. Now I’m not going to concern myself so much with the enemies because the Lord did and will take care of them. Suffice it to say lightning wouldn’t move them they’d just fry in disbelief. And for that matter some people aren’t going to be moved by the miraculous no matter how phenomenal it may be. Take for instance the story of the Rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16:19-31 but focus on vv 27-31.
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’
29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”
I think if my Grandfather showed up from the grave at my house to tell me something from beyond the grave, I want to believe he’d get my attention.
The truth to that is that it makes no difference what you see. It’s what you are willing to do with what you believe.
James tells us that the devils believe and tremble, but look where they are.
But the disciples are a different story. They believed! They witnessed, they worked with Christ then they touched the Risen Christ and the mind blower for me is they went back to the life they knew before Christ!
How can that happen? How can you see the power of salvation, the power of the resurrection and then decide to go about business the way you’ve always done before Christ?
That brings me to the second observation:
B. Jn 20:29 The Level of Your Belief Determines Your Direction
Think about this, the only one we know who believed without seeing up to this point is John and that’s because he tells us so. We often speak of doubting Thomas, but the rest of these people got the “seeing is believing” treatment from Jesus. But even seeing Him didn’t get them to the point where they were following Christ. Yes they believed He was alive but they went right back to fishing.
How many times do we have struggles in this life and instead of choosing to follow Christ we choose to go about life like we’ve always done. We know what Scriptures says but we choose to just go fishing.
Of course the Disciples didn’t stay fishing long. Jesus wasn’t going to have that. So, my question is what brought them to the point where they could come out of hiding and face down the evil that wanted to put them in the grave with Christ. The reason I bring this us is because the action, the event that took place here is what anyone needs to bring their Darkness to Dawn. Doing what these people did brings an answer to whatever challenge, problem or darkness we face. Just think about it, God can raise the dead; just think what impossible thing he can do in your life.
So what was it? My third observation:
C. Obedience Determines Power
In Acts 4 we read about Peter and John being brought before the Council; the “Rulers of the People.” This was serious, they should have been in serious trouble. Thoughts of beatings, imprisonment and death had to be going through their minds. But listen to this:
8. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,
10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Wow! They go from “there’s nothing in this for me” to “I can’t help myself, this is too real, to powerful not to tell.” They can’t help themselves anymore. The power of God is flowing like a river out of them and nothing short of death will stop them. What happened? Their belief changed to faith and not just lip service faith but obedient faith. Jesus gave them the marching orders and they followed them. When the time was right God showed up and ignited a flame that is burning out of control even today. No one can stop it.
There is unlimited power in obedience. Jesus said in John 14:
21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.
That’s resurrection power! That’s death defying power to overcome whatever challenge, problem or darkness you face. It’s yours if your belief leads to faithful obedience. If you will love God enough to live in faithful obedience, He promises to fill you with resurrection power to live life to the fullest. God has an answer. I pray that God's miraculous Power to bring Resurrection to dead things will bring the DAWN of hope that you need today. Where there is darkness in our lives we need that resurrection light.
