About 350 years before Christ was born in Bethlehem, there was a man they called Alexander the Great.
Over a period of 15 years Alexander the Great was in almost constant warfare and conquered most of known world. He never defended a walled city, almost always met his enemy in the open field, and he never lost a battle because - he knew his enemy, and he knew his men, and he was always in the very thick of every battle. In all the wars and battles that he ever fought, Alexander was pretty much was outnumbered 95% of the time. In fact, he fought two major pitched battles against one of the most powerful nations of the day – the Persians – and the Persians outnumbered him by at least two to one with approximately 10,000 more men than he had (Pete Feigal, quora.com)
But his army always won, because whenever they went to war Alexander the Great always right there… fighting alongside his men.
This is the last in our series of sermons called “Thinking Outside the Walls.” I’ve repeatedly said that Jesus has called us to go to war against Satan. We are not called to defend the walls of our church building, but instead we are to storm the very gates of Hell. It’s a battle we can’t lose because Jesus said those gates will not prevail against us. And the reason we can’t lose is because God will always be right there fighting the battles beside us.
That’s what we’re seeing in our text this morning. Peter and John are standing in front of a very angry Sanhedrin (the religious rulers of the day), and the Sanhedrin was angry because these men had been preaching about Jesus… and they didn’t like that! They essentially asked Peter and John “Who gave you PERMISSION to preach about Jesus.”
Notice what we’re told: Peter, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you 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 is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:5-12
That’s pretty bold stuff!
But the Bible wants us to understand that the reason Peter was so bold was because God was right there with him. Peter was FILLED with the Holy Spirit. Acts 4:5 (PAUSE)
But it didn’t stop there: After the Sanhedrin conferred over this, they called Peter and John back in and “charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 4:18) So what did Peter and John do? They went back and gathered the church together for a time of prayer and we’re told that: “when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:31
The Holy Spirit filled Peter and HE SPOKE with boldness to the Sanhedrin. And then the Holy Spirit filled all those gathered in prayer and THEY SPOKE the word of God with boldness.
When they went to war against Satan (by witnessing about their faith) GOD was right there with them - the Holy Spirit filled them - and they were able to speak the Word of God with boldness.
Now the question is… how does this apply to us? Does God still go to war alongside of us when we try to speak up for God? Well, there’s 2 schools of thought on this.
One school believes that the Spirit is a dormant presence in our lives. He doesn’t really DO anything… He just kind of sits there.
Now me… I’m more of the school of thought that the Spirit is an active and vibrant force in the life of the believer. He doesn’t just SIT THERE - He is involved with us.
For example, Romans 8:26 tells us “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Now, I’m NOT inclined to believe the gift of Tongues exists today, but I believe the Spirit is actively involved in interceding for us when we don’t know how to pray as we should. In other words, the Spirit does stuff for us. And I’m also inclined to believe the Spirit STILL works inside believers helping us when we speak up for our faith.
Just an observation here… Jesus wants us to speak up for Him. I realize that many people quote something that Francis of Assisi said: “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words” and they quote it as an excuse NOT to talk about Jesus. But that really isn’t a good idea to believe. Jesus said “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32) In other words – when you or I talk about Jesus to others - Jesus is impressed. In fact, He’s so impressed, He points you out the Father – Jesus brags about you. Why would you want to pass up pleasing Jesus?
And what’s more, when you are willing to talk about Him the Spirit will be right there beside you, helping you. In Luke 12:11-12 we read that Jesus told His disciples “when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Whoa - if that applies to us - that could be earth-shaking. But how would that work?
ILLUS: Years ago I was over at Tri-State University (now Trine University in Angola, IN) talking with a couple college professors there. We were discussing Christianity, and they were intent on telling me about the errors of my faith. I was out of my league - they were way smarter than me - and I was not winning any arguments with them. But I wasn’t backing down. At one point one of them decided to educate me about my ignorance, and he said “let’s look at this from an unbiased point of view.” In other words, he was telling me that HIS viewpoint was unbiased, and mine wasn’t! Suddenly, I remembered a comment from years before where another teacher explained that there was NO such thing as an unbiased point of view. Everybody is biased including me… and including this professor. So I told him that. And the other professor said “HE’S RIGHT!” And they forgot all about me and began to argue with each other.
Now was that just me remembering an off handed statement from the past about everybody being “biased”, or was I being prompted by the Holy Spirit to say what I said. Personally, I don’t think I’m that smart. I believe that long forgotten comment about people being biased came to mind because I was willing to speak up for Jesus, the Spirit bailed me out, because God wanted me to succeed.
Romans 8:14 says “For all who are LED by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Notice it talks about being LED by the Spirit. This is not a dormant inactive Spirit we have inside of us. He leads us. He can do stuff with us, if we are willing to stand up for our faith.
ILLUS: I read the true story of a rather arrogant unbeliever who told a Christian friend “I guess I’m just too proud to think that I really need religion.” And the friend replied, “What exactly is it that you’re so proud of?” The question was asked gently… but it pierced this guy’s heart. He couldn’t think of an answer that wouldn’t seem ridiculous. Later, when he became a believer, he confessed how that one question had troubled him and led to his turning to Christ. (Paul Thigpen, Christian Reader July/Aug 98)
So now, here’s another thought: while the Spirit may help you and I to occasionally to say something that speaks to a person’s heart - it helps to be prepared. Ephesians 6:17 tells us we need to use “… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” In other words, we need to know the bible. The more we know, the more prepared we are. Anytime we quote scripture… there’s power there.
In Isaiah 55:10-11 God declared “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Every time we quote Scripture, there’s power there - power (as Hebrews 4:12 says) that is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
If you want the Spirit to work in your life, you’ve got to learn the bible! That’s why – at this church – we teach Scripture; we preach scripture and we post scripture everywhere in this building. If you’re my friend on FB, you’ll find that I rarely have political posts, or funny posts, or cute animal posts (well… I do post a lot about my grandkids) but mostly I post the Bible stuff, because the Bible is the Sword of the Spirit, and it can change people’s hearts.
Another thought here: before you talk about Jesus … the Spirit can prime the pump for you! In John 16:7-8 Jesus said “Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.”
The Spirit’s job is to remind people of their sin, and of their need of righteousness, and of the fact – there’s going to come a time of judgment. And I’m convinced that – if you pray about it beforehand - the Spirit can begin to tinker with the hearts of those you’d like to talk to.
ILLUS: I once talked with a woman who would never go to church and never go to a Bible study. In her life God was OVER THERE…and she was OVER HERE - and that’s the way it was going to be all day long. But then, one day she started going to a Bible Study… and to church. And I asked her why. She replied: “I began to realize how empty my life was. Things weren’t like I wanted them to be. And I thought ‘it’s time to change my life! It’s time to turn to God.’”
I believe the Spirit was actively working on her heart and convicting her of the need to belong to God.
Now, there’s one more thing I’d like you to think about. It’s important to talk about Jesus, but if all you do is talk the talk… and not walk the walk, what you say will fall on deaf ears. But, how can I walk the walk? Once again… it has everything to do with the Spirit of God.
Paul wrote: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:16; 22-23
In other words – you’ll know you’re been walking by the Spirit when your life is filled with love, joy, peace, etc. , and you walk by the Spirit when you Worship, Study and Pray at every chance. It’s like bathing yourself in the Spirit’s presence every day. You may not even know it… but you’ll show it.
CLOSE: In honor of Mother’s Day, I want to close with a story about my momma. My mother was a very Godly woman. She attended church every Sunday, sang in the choir, and she always talked to me about Jesus and read to me from the Bible every night. Now Dad, on the other hand, wasn’t a bad guy… but he didn’t live like a Christian. He’d go to church once in a while, but God wasn’t that important to him. But God was important to momma and Dad got a little jealous of how much mom loved Jesus.
One day, Dad thought he’d put an end to all this foolishness and make her say she loved him more than she loved God. He asked her “If I was hell, would you be comfortable in heaven?” And she gently replied “If I was in hell with you… would that make you happy?” Her answer shook him, and it wasn’t much after that dad went down front at church at the invitation. Mom told me that – on the way home – he pulled the car over to the side of the road and he began to weep, and weep and weep. After that, he never cursed again and he was a changed man.
Why did he change? Because mom walked by the Spirit and the Spirit began to convict my dad of his need to change.
INVITATION
