June 11, 2003
Title: The Intoxication of the Spirit
Text: Acts 2:14-47
Introduction
We’ve been studying through the book of Acts on these Wednesday evenings...
last week we looked at the beginning of Acts chapter 2,
We saw how the church was weak and ineffective...
the disciples weren’t really sure what to do
so they held an election!!
BUT THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED!!
The Holy Spirit came...
and suddenly this puny bunch of disciples were fired up!!
They had POWER
The POWER of the Holy spirit had come upon them...
and the church hasn’t been the same since!
But our prayer has been that the Lord would DO IT AGAIN!
Pentecost was not intended to be a 1 Time Deal!
We want the Holy Spirit to come on US...
just like He did to the disciples on the day of Pentecost!
We want OUR Church to have the POWER of the Holy spirit settle down upon US!
Tonight, we turn our attention once more to Peter and to the early church and see how the POWER of the Holy Spirit really IGNITED those early Christians
And as we read our text, let our prayer continue to be "DO IT AGAIN, LORD....DO IT AGAIN!!"
Read Text: Acts 2:14-47
1. The intoxication of the Spirit
When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, the people round about really took notice!
But their first thought wasn’t, "Boy, those sure are Spirit-filled people"!
No, their first thought was, "Those people are DRUNK!"
But Peter stood up and started preaching...
and he cleared up any misunderstandings...
He let them know that yes these people WERE intoxicated!
But it wasn’t with any special kind of wine or other liquor...
These people were intoxicated BY THE SPIRIT!
When people get intoxicated with alcohol...
they have a false sense of well-being...
they may forget about their troubles for a short time...
their judgment is impaired...
they aren’t safe operating machinery or automobiles...
they may not know what they are doing or saying
they may do something at night that they really regret the next morning...
and when the intoxication starts to wear off...
they have a hangover...
they feel lousy.
But when the Christian gets filled with the Holy Spirit...
he/she gets INTOXICATED!!
but intoxicated in a GOOD way!
one of the definitions of intoxicated is: "To stimulate or excite" (www.dictionary.com)
When Christian’s get intoxicated with the Holy Spirit...
they get excited!
they get exuberant!
they get enthused!
they have a general sense of well-being...
but unlike an alcoholic "high"...
the SPIRITUAL High doesn’t wear off!
It doesn’t impair our judgment...
it doesn’t make us do things that we shouldn’t...
and there’s no hangover!
One of the great needs of the Christian is to have a little excitement about serving the Lord!
We should have a little joy about Jesus...
And, if we can find a little of that New Testament excitement...
it would go a long way to getting people to take notice of the Church!
2. The Power of the Cross
When the early disciples got excited, Peter got up and started to preach.
And in this first sermon of what is called the "apostolic age",
Peter drew the people’s attention to the Power of the Cross!
When I was a boy, I used to play with magnifying glasses.
it was always fascinating to me how you could take a magnifying glass
and focus the power of the sun’s rays...
and cause a pile of dead grass...
or paper to burst into flames.
The power of the SON (notice the picture on the power page)...
is the fact that He is the Light of the World!
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12 (NIV)
After Pentecost...the disciples were always talking about the cross!
they were telling people about the importance of that event!
It was the forefront of their preaching.
Jesus’ death on the cross ...
His sacrifice to purchase our salvation...
to us, that is a very old message...
but to these early Christians...it was BRAND NEW
they were enthralled by the significance of what Jesus did for them on the cross.
And they were able to communicate that message every effectively...
When Peter focused on the power of the Cross...
Acts 2:37 says, "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
Another version says that they were "cut to the quick"
Sometimes I think Christians need to get a little more entralled with what Jesus did for them on the cross.
we need to have more of a sense of awe about what Jesus did for us on the cross.
It was said that Martin Luther was observing a painting of the crucifixion of Jesus...
and he was so deeply moved that he said, "My God, my God...for me, for me"!!
If it wasn’t for the cross...we would be nothing....
but because of the cross, we are everything...
and that’s why the Church should still focus on the power of the cross.
1 Cor 1:18 says, "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God"
The message of the cross had POWER when Peter preached at Pentecost...
And message of the cross still has POWER today...
power to save...
power to heal...
power to forgive...
and that’s why Christians should be the happiest people in the world!
And if the world looks at us and thinks, "they must be INTOXICATED"
We can respond by saying, "We ARE intoxicated, we are intoxicated with the Holy Spirit"
Because Jesus died on the cross for me!!!!
3. The Power Magnified at the Empty Tomb
If you will notice the graphic on the front of the power page...
Jesus, hanging on the cross is the SON, providing Power and Light...
But that power was MAGNIFIED by the empty tomb!
When I was that young boy playing with a magnifying glass,
the magnifying glass wasn’t much use unless I was able to hold it at the right angle to catch the rays of the sun!
If ALL Jesus did was to die on the cross....
well, we wouldn’t be here today!
Christianity would have gradually passed from existence
written off as some fly-by-night religious movement...
We have to look at the cross of Jesus at the right angle ...
Jesus did much more than just die on the cross.
Jesus rose again!!!
The cross is so important and so powerful...
but we must also notice how that power is MAGNIFIED by the empty tomb.
Peter knew the importance of the empty tomb...
He said that Jesus, "was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact Acts 2:31-32 (NIV)
The empty tomb proves that Jesus is the Messiah!
It indicates that Jesus is Who He said He is!
Ray Stedman wrote, "The strange and remarkable thing about Peter’s sermon is that
not a singel voice was lifted in protest.
To me, one of the greatest proofs of the resurrection of Jesus...
is that Peter could stand up in the city where these events had taken place a little more tha a month before
and tell these people that Jesus had risen from the dead,
with not a single person challenging Him!
They knew that the authorities could not produce the body of Jesus, though they would have given a king’s ransom to be able to do so...
they stand in mute and stricken silence as the Apostle drives home with powerful strokes the sword of the Spirit,
convicting them of the truth of his claim"
4. The Power Focused on Pentecost
With the empty tomb held in perfect alignment with the reality of what Jesus did on the cross...
That focuses the power on Pentecost
When I would play with the magnifying glass...
I was amazed at the power I could produce...
One time I held it up to shine on my arm...
and it got so hot it burnt me!
With the power of the sun focused just beyond the magnifying glass.
I could really get a fire going!
And that’s what happened at Pentecost!!
the Power of the SON, Jesus Christ, and what He accomplished on the cross....
that power was MAGNIFIED by the significance of the empty tomb...
and that power focused in the right direction...
caused a great fire to break out!!
And that fire has spread and grown...
it has never gone out...
it has only been fanned to greater and greater intensity!
Randall Earl Denney wrote, "The impact of Pentecost can never allow us to settle for a dry, uninvolved, frigid religion."
If you feel like your relationship with the Lord lacks PASSION...
if you feel like the FIRE has gone out...
if you feel like the excitement has ebbed away...
if you get more excited about a good steak cooked just the way you like..
than you do about what Jesus has done on the cross for you...
Then it sounds like you are a candidate to receive the Holy spirit.
In Acts 2:38, Peter says, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"
You need to repent of your sins...you need to invited Jesus into your heart...
After you get saved, you should be baptized, by water.
And then; after you do that, you are eligible to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!
Some people call it "sanctification"
or "Christian perfection,"
or "the baptism of the Holy Spirit,"
or "Second Blessing Holiness"...
and many more.
But whatever you call it, we need it!
and the Church needs it!
What a difference being filled with the Holy Spirit made on those disciples in the upper room!!
And what a difference being filled with the Holy Spirit will make in YOUR life!!!
It will mean the difference between being weak...or being powerful...
it will mean the difference between contant struggle...or strength for the journey...
it will mean the difference between always being up and down spiritually...or constantly being INTOXICATED by the Spirit!!
It will make a huge difference in YOUR life.
Conclusion
There is still power in the cross...
but it is only when the cross is held in proper alignment to the empty tomb that things begin to get HOT!!
And when they get hot...that’s when the fire breaks out!
It is my hope and prayer that the fire will break out here, in Belleview Church of the Nazarene!
It is my hope that if the fire has gone out in your life...
that you will take the time to get things into proper perspective...
into proper alignment...
and allow the Holy Spirit to come upon you in POWER
Just like He did on the Disciples!
(I was inspired by and used material from, "Do It Again, Lord" by Randal Earl Denny pp. 61-72. Beacon Hill Press. I highly recommend this book)
