Scripture: Acts 3:11-20; Psalm 4; 1 John 3:1-7
Title: Post-Resurrection Reactions
This sermon shares what can happen when a person reacts to the infilling presence of God’s Holy Spirit
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
I want to talk to you today about reactions. That’s right – reactions.
We all know a little something about reactions:
For example - you may remember these words:
*“For every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Those words were written by Sir Isaac Newton back in 1686 and are called Newton’s Third of Motion.
And we know about the reactions that we get from certain things that we eat, drink or are put in our bodies like a vaccine shot.
Recently, I received my second dose of the Moderna Co-Vid 19 vaccine. The nurse that gave me my shot told me that there was a chance that I might experience some unpleasant side effects. She was right. I did experience some unpleasant side effects.
After the initial shot things went pretty good. I had experienced some pain where they gave the shot and had a little low grade fever. Nothing that stopped me from doing anything I wanted to do the next day or two.
The second shot was quite different story. I experienced most of the things that Moderna puts on their side effects list:
• Injection site pain
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Joint pain
• Chills - High Fever - 102.5 - 103.5
For about 48 hours it was quite uncomfortable to say the least. I was stopped in my tracks. About the only thing I could do was to endure it. I slept a lot and just waited for the next few hours to go by.
Now, that is not to say that you should or should not get the vaccine shot. It is to say that you might want to give yourself a day or two off after you get the shot. You might want to rethink your schedule so you can give yourself some down time (rest time).
Let’s think for a moment about that word – Reaction and the idea of experiencing a reaction. We know that reactions happen (when things move – Newton’s Third Law) and when we put things like certain foods or medicines in our bodies. We know we can have reactions to certain pollens; grass, tree or flowers. We know we can have reactions to certain foods like peanuts, ghost peppers and gluten laden products.
But is it possible for us to experience a reaction when we allow the Blood of Jesus into our hearts and lives?
Do we experience a reaction when we allow the Holy Spirit to infill us with His Holy Presence?
I believe we do!
This morning I want to share with you three wonderful reactions that we can experience as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us. Three wonderful reactions that we can experience as rescued and redeemed people through the blood of Jesus Christ.
In our passage, the Apostle Peter is preaching in the temple. He has just left the crippled man who has been healed in the name of Jesus. He is now sharing with all those who will listen that when we encounter the Risen Lord we can expect certain reactions. That is to say, when we repent of our sins and receive God’s Holy Spirit there are certain reactions that we should expect to take place in our lives.
I. First Reaction: The Disciples became Helpers rather than Just Takers
It wasn’t by accident that Peter and John went to the Temple that day and it wasn’t by accident that they stopped by that crippled man.
I personally think it was all a Holy Spirit set up. I think it was a Holy Spirit set up so the Lord could show out. I think the Holy Spirit led Peter and John to the Temple that day and the Holy Spirit had the crippled man there at the right place and at the right time.
I think it was all to show what happens when we allow the Lord’s Holy Spirit to react with our spirit. It causes us to go from being takers to being helpers.
It is easy for us to think about our own pain, our own troubles and our own little worlds. It is easy for us to get a little self-centered about our own issues.
However, one of the great reactions we experience when we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit; when we are Born Again – rescued and redeemed by the Blood of Jesus we become helpers and givers.
We become people who focus not only on our own needs but the needs of others.
You see this happening in the Early Church time and time again.
For example in Acts 4:32-37 you see where the Early Church made it a part of their DNA to be helpers/servants. They gave what they had so that others could have their needs meet. They took from their resources and gave to those who didn’t have any resources or who had limited resources.
One of my friend’s church has such a helping ministry. Each month the church gathers together to make up about 30+ food boxes to help out others. They fill boxes loaded with food and other things to help those who are living on limited funds or who have lost their job or have suffered some dire emergency.
Now, why do they do that?
Is it because they have nothing else to do?
Is it because they have nothing else to spend their money on?
No, it’s just a supernatural reaction of having the LORD JESUS CHRIST in their hearts. It’s a reaction of knowing and loving Jesus. It’s a reaction of having the infilling presence of God’s Holy Spirit.
I have another friend that when they go out to eat they give their waitress a tip that matches what their meal cost. They don’t do it every time they go out to eat but on different occasions decide that is a way that they can help someone one.
It is one of the ways that they have learned how to be a helper. It is one of the ways that having been filled with God’s Holy Spirit reacts in their lives.
This morning, in Christ we all can be helpers – helpers with our resources and in particular helpers with our prayers.
When I was growing up there was a group of ladies that would come to our little church one day a week to do two things:
+Clean the church – we could not afford a janitor so these ladies volunteered
+Pray for the church – church members, family members and friends
My mom was one of those ladies.
She didn’t have very much money because she was not working. She was taking care of her children (four of us) and didn’t have the time to go out and get a job. My dad worked so we lived on what he brought in at the time. It was just the way people lived in Eastern Kentucky during the 60’s and 70’s.
Dad didn’t go to church nor did he believe in helping the church very much so there was little mom could do to help the church financially. So, she decided along with some other women that they could clean the church and be prayer warriors.
I cannot tell you how many times she would take one or two of us children to help clean the church. Then she and the rest of those ladies (plus us) would spend quality time around the altar crying out to the LORD for people’s salvation, for their health, for their families, their marriages and whatever else they might need.
Why did they do that?
It was a natural reaction to being filled with the Holy Spirit. It was a natural reaction to being in a deep relationship with the Risen Lord.
Only heaven knows how many lives were changed because of those prayer times. Maybe the best help the church ever received was their prayer time. I believe that prayer was more important than their cleaning or what little money they could give.
II. Second Reaction: The Disciples Became Open Witnesses rather than remaining Silent Witnesses
The Apostle Peter we find here in our passage (Acts 3:12-20) is a long way off from the Disciple Peter we find in Luke 22:54-65.
Peter was a witness in Luke 22:54-65 but not the kind that anyone would want to have as their friend or have serving in a Church Leadership position.
That Peter is one who is loudly denying the Lord. That is one who wants to be as far away from Jesus as possible. That is one who wants nothing to do with Jesus.
But in our passage this morning we find Peter eager to share who was behind the miracle. He doesn’t take credit for it but uses the miracle as a way of sharing the Good News about Jesus. His whole focus in on Jesus and what it means to be rescued and redeemed.
Now, think about this for a moment. We all know that Peter could be a little self serving, arrogant and braggadocios. We all know that Peter like it when the attention was centered on him, especially when it was in a good situation.
And what could have been any better situation than to heal someone on the way to prayer?
I mean can you imagine coming to a prayer meeting and seeing a crippled man being healed?
Talk about having the perfect opportunity to focus all the attention on yourself. What better opportunity to start your own ministry or to have all the crowds focuses on your ability to do miracles? But that is not what we see happening here.
Peter focuses on Christ. Peter focuses on those around him hearing the Gospel of Jesus. Peter focuses on them coming to faith.
What happened? What caused the change in Peter?
I believe it was because he had been filled with the Holy Spirit and as a result he reacted differently. Instead of the focus being on him – the focus was on sharing Jesus.
It is the same way in another story that we find in the New Testament. This story is found in Acts chapter 8 (8:26-40) and it involves a deacon by the name of Philip.
By the time we get to Philip we see that he already a transformed man. He is a man who is obediently reacting to the infilling presence of God’s Holy Spirit. He is a man who has Jesus in his heart and life.
As a result (or in reaction) Philip is living life on a whole new level. He is experiencing a life that as we read his story is simply amazing.
+We find him being led by one of God’s Holy Angels.
+The angel takes him down the road that a certain Ethiopian eunuch is traveling who is trying to read a portion of the book of Isaiah.
+Isaiah chapter 53.
In the natural Philip should never have approached that chariot. The man was from a different nationality, is extremely rich and is a eunuch. Either one of those things would have made him a highly unlikely candidate to either read the Bible or to accept Jesus as Savior and LORD.
But Philip breaks all the barriers and shares Jesus with the man and as a result the man’s life is forever changed. This Ethiopian treasurer repents and becomes a follower of Jesus. He then seals his repentance with water baptism.
Peter’s reaction to the infilling presence of the Risen Lord makes him a witness of Jesus. Philip’s reaction to the infilling presence of the Risen Lord makes him a witness of Jesus.
You and I are here this morning because someone took the time to share with us the message of salvation. Someone took the time to allow the Holy Spirit to react with their mind, their heart and their soul and they shared Jesus with us. It might have been a pastor, a Sunday School teacher, an evangelist, a parent or a friend. But it happened because someone reacted to the infilling presence of Jesus and shared the message of Salvation with us.
We are a time in history when we need to all have more of those reactions. We need to do the best we can to be led by God’s Holy Spirit and share the Good News of Salvation with our family, our friends and others.
The Good News is not a message of condemnation but a message of salvation. It is not a message of doom and gloom but a message of how we can be rescued and redeemed and then how we can live this abundant life in Christ.
III. Booster Shots of the Holy Spirit
One of the things that has come out about the Co-vid Vaccine studies is they are trying to determine how long the vaccine will last.
Will we need to get a booster shot every year like we do with the annual flu shot?
Will we only need to get a booster shot every 10 years like we do with the tetanus shot or every five or so years like the Shingles shot?
One of the things that you notice very quickly in the Bible is that we need our booster shots of the Holy Spirit. We need to be constantly infilled with more and more of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Why?
Well, life can be hard. Even life in Christ. Life can throw a great deal at us. Sickness. Heartache. Money issues. Family problems. Work issues. Persecution.
We need to remember we are not home yet. This earth is an amazing place but in its current condition it is not our everlasting home. This earth is not the New Heaven and New Earth. We are still waiting for that day when Jesus will come again and time shall be no more. We are still waiting for that day when all evil will be removed forever and forever more.
The power of sin has been broken but not removed. We still live in world where we all have free will. We still live in a world where people can listen to evil and participate in evil things. We still live in a world in which the Devil even though he has been defeated, he is still trying his best to lie, kill and destroy.
That is where the Early Church found itself in Acts chapter four. Peter and John had been arrested by the Temple authorities. They had been told to never speak about Jesus again. They were threatened that if they did continue to speak about Jesus, they would be harmed and anyone else that spoke about Jesus would be harmed as well.
Boy, was the Devil working over time.
+He could not stop Jesus.
+He could not stop Jesus from coming to earth.
+He could not stop Jesus from teaching the Gospel.
+He could not Jesus paying the penalty for sin.
+He could not stop Jesus from destroying the power of sin.
+He could not stop Jesus from the Resurrection, the Ascension or Pentecost.
+He couldn’t stop the disciples from gathering together.
+He could not stop the disciples from praying.
+And he could not stop them from being infilled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
But he could do everything he could do to make them afraid. He could lie to them and tell them that he still controlled the earth. He could lie to them and tell them that he was still more powerful than the LORD and that after the Resurrection nothing had really changed; them nor creation.
That is when the church did the smartest thing any church could ever do. They immediately went to the LORD. They held a prayer meeting. They re- connected themselves fully to the will and way of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In effect, they allowed the Holy Spirit to give them a booster shot.
And as we read that passage the Bible tells us that the place was so full of the Holy Spirit that it shook the place; that it shook them and the ground around them. They were filled with power and courage.
They were ready to go out and allow what happen to them affect their world; the very atmosphere they worked in, live in and shared.
Today, we can ask for Holy Spirit booster shots. We can ask the Holy Spirit to infill us anew. We can ask the Holy Spirit to shake our lives and the places where we live, we work and we share. We can ask the Holy Spirit to make us a difference in us that we can always be known as people who
+Share – A people who share our resources, our prayers and our hearts, minds and souls
+Are Active messengers of Jesus – people bold enough to share with others who is Our Savior and LORD. People bold enough to tell others about Jesus and the way to Salvation
+Are infilled with the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit. We can be People who are actively enjoying living the Abundant Life here on this Good Earth. We can be People who are being led and guided by the Holy Spirit. People who are experiencing a life filled with God’s anointings, miracles and the wonderful presence of God’s Holy Spirit!
Let us pray/invitation/blessing
