WHEN GOD GETS LOOSE
Acts 2:14-39
• When we lived in Biloxi, we got a dog & our daughter named her "Dutchess." I’m not so sure whether “Dutchess” was the dog’s name or position!! For me, dogs belong outside, but not Dutchess. When we lived on Lakeview circle, she lived in the small "Washing room." When we moved to a house with a fence, she lived in the house. Dogs really don’t like to be kept in a pen. When she was let out, she would run like crazy.
• All animals are like this until they get ‘broke.’ They run, jump, and enjoy their freedom.
• Not long ago, I was thinking about this & wondered, “If we treat God like we treat our pet.” Do we try to keep Him from getting loose? Because if He gets loose, He may get out of control, He may have a mind of His own, & He may do things that have never been done before. In other words, if God gets loose, He may actually takes over.
• I have actually been in services where I’ve heard people & preachers say, "We saw what God can do last night." Really? Seriously? Do we think that we have ever seen in one service “ALL” that God can do? When I consider parting the water, bringing water from the rock, calming the storm, and walking on the water – to say nothing of raising the dead – I would say not. But wouldn’t you love for God to fall right now & show us EXACTLY what He can do? Why? Because wonderful things happen when God gets loose.
Let me suggest 4 OR 5 to know when God shows up, begins working, and gets loose.
1. EVERYONE KNOWS SOMETHING UNUSUAL IS HAPPENING - Rarely is a movement of God manifested. Rather that is a sound and sense that God is doing something.
• I think of the parting of Red Sea. Most people envision this as Moses throwing up his rod & like ‘magic’, the dry path through the water appeared, but the Bible says, “The wind Blew all night.” Living on the coast, we know about wind. You can tell something is happening when you hear the wind.
• I think about the story of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones found in chapter 37. The words says, “The hand of the Lord was upon me and brought me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.” The passage goes on to say these were not JUST bones, they were DRY BONES. (I wonder how many Baptist pastors feel like Ezekiel. Pastor, can these bones live? O Lord, Only YOU know. – that is spiritual talk for “I have no idea.”) As Ezekiel was obedient in preaching God’s truth, there was a sound, which developed into a rattle, followed by a shaking, and then the miraculous happened as the bones became an ARMY! What a vision!!
• Here in Acts 2:2, we read there was a ‘mighty rushing’ which means “violent Wind” & it filled the place. When God arrives, people know it! And it’s not just the believers. In fact, it was this sound that attracted the attention of the other people
• In Acts 4:31 they prayed for the Lord give them courage to continue to proclaim Jesus in the face of governmental persecution and the Lord came & shook the place. Can you imagine the noise of the house shaking? People KNOW when the Lord is present!!
• Have you ever wondered why God shook the building? One time I saw a teacher take my sister & just shake her while saying, "I want to shake some sense into you." Could that be it?
• If God would shake this place, would it make a difference in us? Would He then have our undivided attention? You see, God expects us to be the "display" of His plan, to demonstrate His love, His light, and His life to this world. So that the world will know & see Him working.
• One Sunday on their way home from church, a little girl said to her mother, “Mommy, the preacher's sermon this morning confused me." The mother said, "Oh? Why is that?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that's true, honey." And he also said that God lives in us? Is that true, mommy?" Again the mother replied, "Yes." "Well," said the little girl, "If it’s true that God is bigger than us & that he lives in us, wouldn't He show through?" OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES.
• When God gets loose, people know it because something usual happens?
2. SCRIPTURE BECOMES IMPORTANT – It should not be lost on us that, in course of ten minutes, Peter quotes scripture 3 times. We find his quoting Joel & the Psalms. The reason this is so important is that the only authority we have in this world is the WOG. To read 2 Timothy & Hebrews (Old Testament) is understand the paramount importance of God’s word. When God gets loose in our life, His word is everything we need and want. His word is like fresh water to our parched souls. It like a refreshing cool breeze in the midst of a heat wave.
• Peter had no idea that not only was he ‘speaking scripture,’ but making scripture as he address people in this this new era of God’s work. But what he did know was that God’s word was to be center of it all. When God gets loose in our lives & our church, the Bible is the centerpiece.
• The Bible is not just a ‘good idea,’ a ‘nice suggestion’, or even just for the ‘spiritually elite,’ the Bible holds the answers for all of life & when God gets loose the Bible, His word, is paramount!
• When something is important to you, it gets your time, your attention, & all. Were I to ask "how important is God’s word to you" what would you say? Many say "it means all to me" while the time they give it suggest something different. When God gets loose, the Bible becomes important. Not just as reading it as a book, but as a source of strength & answers.
3. THE FOCUS IS ON JESUS – Our text tells us this; when the Spirit fell in our text, the disciples didn’t focus on Spirit! Rather, the Spirit caused them to focus on Jesus. From Peter's first word, it was about Jesus. Why? Jesus is centerpiece of God’s word, God plan, & God’s work. He is the Lamb, the Sacrifice, God's only Son, the savior, deliverer, & soon coming King.
• Look at Peter’s invitation in Acts 2:38. Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”
• In Acts 3:6 read, “Then Peter said, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth”.
• In Acts 9:27, “How in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.”
• Acts 10:48, “So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”
• Phil 2:10 “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven & on earth & under the ear
• Acts 5:40 Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
• What do you learn from these? Jesus is the dividing point. The only thing we, as God’s Church, have to offer this world which no one else can is eternal life through Jesus. Too often people walk into a church service & never hear the name Jesus. He’s the one who lived, died, rose, ascended, and one day is returning. When God is in the house, we focus on what He focuses on, and what the Spirit leads us to focus on, and that is Jesus.
• Jesus is the sweetest name I know. There is power in the name of Jesus. Focus on Him.
• Years ago there was a commercial for a local garage which said, “Pay me now or Pay me later.”
• We can focus on Jesus now as our Savior or Focus on Him one day as our eternal jailer.
4. CONVICTION & REPENTANCE ABOUND V37- These 2 Biblical truths are not often spoken of these days. Sadly, often we are so given to an ‘easy’ gospel that these essentials are left out. Yet, when God shows up, they are center stage. Look at verse 37.
Did you hear that? They heard the gospel and their hearts were cut, pricked, pierced, or deeply moved by the truth. I submit that when they heard the words of Peter & the Spirit of God empowered that message, they knew, they knew who God was & what they were. There were sinners in need of a Savior. They were emotional, like getting caught or being found out. When this happens you feel a heaviness in your chest or a weight on your shoulders, as God’s Spirit begins to reveal to you your need. God’s Spirit will cut you in the heart. A cuts hurt & hurts gain attention & demand medication. This is conviction & the only medication is repentance.
Years ago, a teenager named Scott Urlocker stated it this way, “It’s not repentance if you intend to do it again.” A Sunday School teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word "repentance." A little boy put up his hand and said, "It is being sorry for your sins." A little girl also raised her hand and said, "It is being sorry enough to quit."
When God gets loose in our hearts, the altar will be filled, the carpat stained with tears of repentance. When we see our sin in light of Savior's holiness. When God gets loose, we won’t look at the preacher, neighbor, or someone else, we will look at self! It will be life altering.
5. PEOPLE GET SAVED- The text say, “Those who accepted were about 3000.” The two human requirement for people is saved are: 1) lost people, 2) the gospel message. In our text the message was told. If we don’t tell, they don’t know.
Have you ever asked why is this culture going to the dogs and believing the lie of the world? One answer might be that the only message which is being told clearly & regularly is the message of secularism, humanism, and paganism. People outside of Christ don’t know they are lost until they hear God’s message of love clearly articulated & lived out.
One of the main ways we can know when God gets loose is that people get saved. Here the message is given, the spirit empowered & 3000 were saved. You keep reading Acts and discover that more & more people are being saved.
Do you know what the answer for our moral dilemma is? People being saved & discipled!
Do you know what the answer for the family is? People being saved & discipled!
Do you know what the answer for youth violence is? People being saved & discipled!
Do you know what the answer for the church is? People being saved & discipled!
Do you know what the answer for the nation is? People being saved & discipled!
Do you know what the answer for it all is? It’s Jesus. Jesus being lived out & shared with others. It is God getting loose in our hearts, in our homes, in our church, in our community, and in our culture, like He did in Acts 2.
Do you want God to get loose? Do you want Him to help you, as a church, make a difference (an impact) in this community? It begins with you, laying aside pride & meeting Him on His terms. “If My people” – that is the key.
