“Let It Be Known”
Acts 2
In Acts 2, we see the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost. This small band of disciples of Jesus had endured Jesus crucified on the Cross. The one they believed to be the Messiah had been killed. They thought it was over, then they heard the news: Jesus is alive!
Appearing to them, Jesus told His disciples: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you: and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8) After saying this, Jesus ascended into the clouds before their eyes. Then they went to Jerusalem to wait. (Read Acts 2:1-4; 22-24; 37-41)
The disciples were beginning a ministry, a work which would reach the entire world. But how could this uneducated, seemingly unimportant, tiny band of fearful men and women change the world? They embodied the three essentials needed in His followers for God to turn the world upside down: Passion, Proclamation, and Power. God will turn our community upside down if these same three essentials define us as a people of faith.
PASSION
They wanted to see people saved. 3,000 souls came into the kingdom on the first day. Everywhere they went they were leading people to faith in Christ. We must never lose the passion for seeing people come to know the Savior. I am afraid, though, for many Christians this is not a priority.
Among our Southern Baptist churches, about 35% will not baptize one person this year. They will not baptize a son or a daughter of a church member. They will not baptize one adult. They will not win one person to faith in our Lord in an entire year. When 35 out of 100 churches do not baptize one person, it means we have lost our passion for evangelism.
8018 Lake Forest was my wife’s home address as a teenager. I visited there often because Sherry’s mother, my youth choir leader, loved teenagers. In fact, she would send Sherry and her sister to bed and spend time into the night with us four boys. I figured the only way I could get more time with her was to date her daughter.
Lake Forest was a small street with a cul-de-sac, only ten houses. Families would move in and out through the years, but Sue would personally visit each one. She carried her Bible and spoke about a personal relationship with Jesus. Many came to faith. Sue Moore was passionate about telling people about Jesus. When you have a passion to see people come to faith, then you will let it be known.
PROCLAMATION
At Pentecost, Peter preached a ten-minute sermon. It was a message of God’s love for the lost, a message to those who only a few days before had mocked Jesus. Peter delivered a call to faith in Christ, a call to salvation, a call to embrace the King of Glory and to know the peace, joy and forgiveness, which only Jesus gives to all who receive Him.
We are living in a day when the only thing people know about the church is what we are against. They see us boycott Target and switch from Bud Light but have no idea a Savior loves them. The message of the Church is not a message of the things we are against, but a message about the One we adore. Yes, we must call sin by its real name, but our main message is one of grace.
We proclaim Christ as the Savior who came to free sinners from judgment and wrath. The church who makes it a priority to take the gospel to the community, to let it be known, will find a fertile field for the seed of the gospel.
The church does not exist solely for the sake of its membership. The church exists to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the redeeming factor in a dying society. Everything we do must be for the purpose of reaching others for Christ, who like us are unworthy for salvation.
• People who do things they ought not do, say things they ought not say, go places they ought not go.
• People who think differently than you, look different from you, live in different places than you, have been
brought up differently than you.
• People who have cheated on their spouse, cheated in business deals, cheated in school, cheated in sports.
• People who gossip, hold grudges, cuss sometimes, lust, covet, do not give to the church, struggle with same-
sex attraction, struggle with forgiving someone who has hurt them, who live in constant bitterness, worry and
anxiety.
• People who have been divorced, in trouble with the law, been in jail or prison, been fired, been addicted to
porn or drugs or food or gambling.
• People who neglect their wives, their children, their parents.
• Husbands who dishonor their wives, wives who dishonor their husbands, children who dishonor their parents.
• People who are not good parents, good church members, good friends, good period!
These are our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth. Our assignment is to be witnesses, to proclaim the love and grace and forgiveness of Jesus who is ready to save all who repent and believe. We must let it be known.
POWER
Jesus promised their passion and proclamation would be energized by His power given through the Holy Spirit. When Peter opened his mouth, God spoke the words. The man who days prior in conversation with a teenager had denied a relationship with Jesus now stood before thousands who had mocked Jesus while on the cross. The power of God was on display.
We need the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit of God. It is tempting to think we need more excitement, more enthusiasm, and more emotion. But we are at our best when we refuse to believe the church needs anything more than the Word, the congregation gathered in Jesus’ name, and the Holy Spirit empowering us.
The point of Pentecost is not the wind and the fire. The point of Pentecost is the Holy Spirit who brings to the church all we need, for life and salvation. The power of the Holy Spirit equipping us enables us to share the good news of the gospel from West Texas to the West Indies, from Howard County to Hungary, from Big Spring to Bangladesh.
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) How I long to see the power of God on display through each and each one of us who claim to be followers of Jesus.
If you have placed your faith in Christ as Savior, then the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you have received the power needed to be our Lord’s witness, even to the ends of the earth. You have everything you need to go and share your faith, everything you need to be the church, the body of Christ, in the world.
The forgiveness of your sin, salvation, and eternal, abundant life through faith in Christ is available to you when you: Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We are not here for the wind and the fire; we are here to worship the God behind the wind and fire, to give thanks for the gift of God’s only Son who died to save us and forgive us. May we continue to respond to the ever-present call of the Holy Spirit.
