“Getting Into Shape: When you Feel Powerless”
Acts 2:1-21 & 4:23-31
When have you felt powerless? When the doctor said “There’s nothing more we can do?” When the boss said, “We have no choice but to let you go?” When the Counselor stated, “I can’t help her?” When you said, “It’s impossible! I can’t handle this?” When your personal battery was drained and you said, “I just can’t go on; I can’t do it anymore?” To feel powerless is to feel helpless – and it’s not a good feeling. Imagine, for example, how the disciples and other followers of Jesus felt. After Jesus died, they were powerless, hopeless, and helpless – then Jesus rose from the dead! But then He left them again as He ascended into Heaven, leaving them with the words (Luke 24:49) “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Just what does this ‘power clothing’ look like? How do we put this ‘power clothing’ on? Let’s look at the activity of Peter for an answer.
First, we are to RELEASE UNQUESTIONABLE POWER. Think about what had been happening since the arrival of the Holy Spirit: (2:41) “Those who accepted (Peter’s) message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” (2:47): “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Then (Acts 3) Peter and John healed a middle aged man, crippled from birth, and gave Jesus Christ all the credit. Verse 4 of chapter 4 then states, “But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.” Society was experiencing, as Paul would later put it (Rom. 1:16), “…the gospel...is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes...” The word Paul used for Power, by the way, is dunamis, from which we get our word dynamite! It is an explosive power!
The take home for us is that this POWER IS RELEASED WHENEVER WE GIVE WITNESS TO JESUS. The religious leaders were frustrated. They were the learned, the powerful, the molders of society. There was no way this band of common men should be able to take the crowd away from them. Peter and John had no diploma from the school of Gamaliel, no letter of recommendation from the High Priest, no preaching license from the Sanhedrin. This was really David versus Goliath, the plain man versus the theological “Who’s Who.” But as Peter and John preached, these power brokers could not deny the resurrection of Christ, they could not refute the miracle; all they could do was try to put the brakes on Peter and John’s preaching. They knew it was the preaching that was doing the harm and causing the ruckus.
And it still does! THE OUTPOURING OF GOD’S SPIRIT IS FOR THE OUTGOING OF GOD’S PEOPLE! Wherever, whenever the Gospel is preached, wherever and whenever a witness is given, an explosive power for salvation is released.
It’s important to notice that this POWER COMES FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT. The religious leaders asked the apostles the wrong question; they opened the door for the sermon which followed. Verses 7-8: “They had Peter and John brought before them: ‘By what power or what name did you do this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them...” It’s not that Peter and John had missed out on Pentecost and lacked the Spirit; this was a special filling for that moment in time. The Holy Spirit never refuses an invitation or opportunity to witness with power! As Jesus had promised them Luke 12:11-12): “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” The significance here is that Peter and John were standing in front of the very persons who had condemned Jesus to death! Their lives were on the line yet rather than cower in fear or wither in uncertainty they relished the opportunity before them because they knew the Holy Spirit’s power. Always remember that THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN TO US BRINGS OUT THE BEST THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS TO GIVE.
That leads me to ask: what are you, or we as a church, attempting that cannot be accomplished without the Holy Spirit? Do we trust the Lord enough to speak up – at work, in school, at City Hall, in front of our peers? The Holy Spirit’s power is released whenever when we witness.
Notice, too, that this POWER COMES FROM THE NAME OF JESUS. Verse 10: “then know this...It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you completely healed.” The apostles simply told of their experience of Jesus! The Holy Spirit activates power at the name of Jesus! The Church needs programs, worship, a variety of ministries, Day Care centers, mission trips, and so much more; but the power that makes any of it effective comes only in and through the name of Jesus! As Paul explained to the Philippians (2:6ff.), because Jesus died on the cross God “gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” It’s the name of Jesus! WE ARE NOT TO SAVE JESUS FOR THE SANCTUARY – WE ARE TO SHARE HIM WHEREVER WE ARE! To release unquestionable power we must witness to Jesus.
The second way we put on this ‘power clothing’ is to RADIATE AN UNMISTAKABLE PRESENCE. Just a few weeks earlier Peter and John had feared the religious leaders, had tried to keep their worship quiet and their preaching non-existent. But since then they had seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit had experienced the power of the resurrected Christ – so much so that when the religious leaders (verse 13) “Saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” In other words, these leaders were hearing and seeing Jesus all over again. As Yogi Berra would say, it was ‘de ja vu’ all over again!
THE GREATEST EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS IS RESURRECTED LIVES. Verse 14: “But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with (the apostles), there was nothing they could say.” Remember Jesus’ response when John the Baptist asked Jesus if Jesus was the Messiah? Jesus told him to look at the changed lives! People can preach the most magnificent sermons, write the most powerful dramas, produce the most moving films and videos; but the greatest testimony, the most effective witness is a life radically altered because of Jesus Christ. Such a life cannot be denied!
Listen to Paul’s description of this power (Ephesians 1:19-20 & 3:20): “I pray … that you may know … his incomparably great power… that power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms…Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” This is a power that enables, energizes, and equips us – far more then we can ever understand and know! Someone has aptly described this infusion of power as ‘the electrifying of tissue in our inner being.’ This power radically changes us – it is intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and physical. It is a power that regenerates us. It is a power that enables ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Jesus is more than our center of attention – He is our center. He is within us. Remember what this power did for the disciples? They changed from a timid, confused group of followers into a powerful band of world-beaters
who turned their world upside down.
Has Jesus had an impact on your life? What is there about your life which demands an explanation? What about your life convinces others that you have been with Jesus? Is there something about you that the world cannot deny?
The religious leaders knew their options were limited so they threatened Peter and John again and told them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name. Now, that’s like trying to reverse a hurricane by blowing at it or to stop a train by standing in front of it! The edicts of humankind are no match for the decrees of God! That’s why radiating the presence also means that THE GREATEST RESPONSE TO OPPOSITION IS RESURRECTION AUTHORITY. In response to the edict of silence Peter and John replied (19), “Judge for yourselves whether or not it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” When we are privy to the resurrection we can no longer be private with our testimony. Those who have truly been with Jesus cannot help themselves – they cannot be silent. Dr. William Temple wrote: “If what you have gained from your religion is something that you could possibly hold to yourself without wanting to impart it to other people then it is not God’s best gift in the Gospel and it is not salvation...The fact that you are not passing it on proves that you haven’t got it; and if you have got it, it will make you pass it on, because of what it is.”
BY WHOSE AUTHORITY DO YOU LIVE? Under what authority do you speak? By whose authority do you make your choices and decisions? Is your life and testimony such that God can lend His authority to them? Adoniram Judson was a renowned missionary to Burma. For 7 heartbreaking years he suffered hunger and privation. During this time he was thrown into Ava Prison, and for 17 months he was subjected to incredible mistreatment. As a result, for the rest of his life he carried the ugly scars made by the chains and iron shackles which had cruelly bound him. Undaunted, upon his release he asked for permission to enter another province to resume preaching the Gospel. The godless ruler indignantly denied his request, saying, “My people are not fools enough to listen to anything a missionary might say, but I fear they might be impressed by your scars and turn to your religion.” Does your life call forth such authority? We must radiate an unmistakable presence through living resurrected lives of authority.
The third way to put on this ‘power clothing’ is to RELY ON UNBELIEVABLE PRAYER. Verse 23: “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this they raised their voices together in prayer to God.” If it became a crime to witness in Michigan, would the authorities need to arrest you? If you were warned and threatened, what would you do? The leaders of the early church prayed. They understood that PRAYER LINKS US WITH THE POWER OF GOD. Verse 23-24: “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God… (29-30) Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” They did not pray for protection but for power, not for fire from heaven to destroy their opposition but for power to preach and to heal. They knew power was available.
And what a power it is! E. M. Bounds wrote, “The more praying there is in the world, the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil everywhere. Prayer, in one phase of its operation, is a disinfectant and a preventive. It purifies the air; it destroys the contagion of evil. Prayer is no fitful, short-lived thing. It is no voice crying unheard and unheeded in the silence. It is a voice which goes into God’s ear, and it lives as long as God’s ear is open to holy pleas, as long as God’s heart is alive to holy things. God shapes the world by prayer.”
We need to rely on unbelievable prayer not only because it links us with power but also because PRAYER FILLS US WITH COURAGE. Verse 31: “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” I wonder – how often have we experienced such power? Could it be that we have not witnessed enough? Or our lives have not radiated enough? Is it possible that we’ve not prayed enough?
Notice the source of their courage was the “sovereign Lord.” They were willing to place their lives and the response in His hands; the issue was His, not theirs! That’s why they did not ask for God to wipe out their opposition, or to make it disappear, or to relieve them of pressure and conflict. WHEN WE GAZE AT OUR SOVEREIGN GOD WE NEED ONLY GLANCE AT OUR PROBLEMS! Verse 29: “...enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” They asked for the very things that had gotten them into trouble in the first place! And then they went out and preached and healed again! Listen: (4:33): “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was with them all.” (5:12-16): “(They) performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. ... more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some off them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.” The point is there is a connection between what they prayed for and what happened as a result! PRAYERS WENT UP, POWER FLEW DOWN, PEOPLE CAME IN; lives were changed.
Where in your life do you need boldness? Where do you need to speak up and out? Where do you need to act and witness, to take a stand? Where do you need to confront evil? If you know it, are you doing it? Have you been willing to pray even as the apostles did? Are you willing to join with others in prayer? Do you really want to be endowed with such boldness and experience such power? It is exciting – but it is also frightening. PRAYER DOESN’T NEED PROOF – IT NEEDS PRACTICE. Are you willing to rely on unbelievable prayer?
Can you imagine what would happen if we actually put on this ‘power clothing? These words of unknown origin would describe us: THERE IS NO PLACE ANYWHERE NEAR THIS PLACE LIKE THIS PLACE SO THIS MUST BE THE PLACE! This will be the place if we are truly willing to dress up in ‘power clothing’ and release unquestionable power, radiate an unmistakable presence, and rely on unbelievable prayer. May it be so!
