Preaching Series: The Tie That Binds
The Power of the Church
Text: Acts 1:1-8
Introduction: On Father’s Day in 1997, Ricardo Enamorado set out on a jet ski from Chicago’s Wilson Avenue Boat Ramp and headed north along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. After traveling several miles north, at about 3PM he turned around to head back south when the engine on the jet ski suddenly quit. Unable to restart it, Ricardo floated along nonchalantly, expecting help to come quickly on the busy waters off Chicago. Gradually, though, the wind and the waves pushed him farther and farther from shore, and help did not come. By dusk he was frantic. Dressed only in cut-offs, tennis shoes and a life preserver, he spent the night on the chilly waters of the lake. The next day Coast Guard helicopters and a Chicago fire department chopper equipped with special radar began searching for the lost man. By the end of the day that still had not found Ricardo, so that hungry and sunburned, he was forced to spend another night on the dark waters of Lake Michigan. Finally the next morning one of the search-and-rescue teams spotted a flash of light from a mirror that Ricardo was holding in an attempt to signal the helicopter and the nearly two day ordeal finally came to an end.
A loss of power can result in all kind of mishaps. This is true even for Christians. Countless believers, including myself, have at one time or another failed to utilize the resources that God has provided for us to walk with Him moment by moment. As a result, we have found ourselves in a position where we were conquered by our own sinful flesh rendering us ineffective witnesses of the life-transforming power of Christ.
In the passage that we’re looking at this morning we discover that prior to His ascension to the Father Jesus spent great time and effort in teaching His disciples. Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, also wrote the Gospel that bears his name. It is this ’former book’ to which he alludes in Acts 1:1. Clearly when we inspect his account of the life of Christ, we discover that teaching was a major emphasis in our Lord’s ministry to His followers. He taught, we are told, in the synagogues (See Luke 4:15), in homes (See Luke 5:17-19), in towns and villages (See Luke 13:22), in the temple (See Luke 19:47), and in virtually any other venue where people gathered. As a matter of fact, Christ’s accusers make note of this when they say "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here (to Jerusalem--See Luke 23:5)." Yet we know that teaching from the greatest expositor of truth that has ever walked the planet was not enough to transform the lives of the disciples so that they could carry out the Great Commission. (Don’t forget that following the crucifixion of Christ, the eleven disciples hid out in an upper room and refused to believe the testimony of the women who had become aware of His resurrection--See Luke 24:9-11).
If teaching did not empower the disciples as witnesses, perhaps the opportunity to see Jesus following His resurrection did. But, alas, this doesn’t seem to be the case either. In Luke 24:37 we’re told, "While they were still talking...Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, ’Peace be with you,’ They were startled and frightened, thinking they had saw a ghost. He said to them, ’Why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds?" These are not the kind of words that describe bold believers who are eager to tell the story of their risen Savior.
So now we know that neither the privilege of being an eyewitness to the resurrection or the opportunity to sit under the instruction of Christ provided them with all they would need to testify to the life transforming power of the Gospel. This came as no surprise to Christ! That’s why He says in 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."
This brings us to Acts 1 where Luke once again reminds us that radical transformation, the kind that changes our character and alters our priorities, does not come through teaching or persuasion alone. It requires nothing less than the power of the Holy Spirit to be unleashed in our lives. For this to happen we need to know what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives. For the sake of time, I’m going to limit our discussion to four observations, though there are many more.
I. The Holy Spirit is God (See Acts 5:3-4). He possesses the divine attributes of God: Omniscience (See 1 Corinthians 2:10-11--The basis for Paul’s argument is the Greek philosophic principle of "like is known only by like". So here he reasons that humans cannot know the thoughts of God because only God can know God!); Omnipresence (See Psalm 139:7); Omnipotence (See Genesis 1:2--The Holy Spirit was the agent God used in creation--See also Job 33:4). These aren’t the only ones, but you get the idea. Have you ever known anyone other than God to possess these qualities?
II. He has personality. By this I don’t mean that the Holy Spirit is really fun to be with. I mean that He demonstrates the qualities of personhood. This is why you find Jesus referring to the Holy Spirit with the personal pronoun "He" (For an example see John 16:13). What are these qualities?
A. He demonstrates that He possesses a mind (See Isaiah 11:1-2a).
B. He demonstrates that He possesses emotions (See Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 10:29).
C. He demonstrates that He possesses a will, i.e. the ability to choose (See 1 Corinthians 12:11). Application: This truth sets Christianity apart from several cults. Take Jehovah’s Witnesses for example. They believe that the Holy Spirit is an "impersonal, invisible active force that Jehovah uses to accomplish His will." Mormons believe that there is a Holy Ghost and a Holy Spirit. The former is a person, the 3rd member of the Trinity. The latter is an impersonal force that does God’s bidding.
III. He makes possible entrance into God’s kingdom (See John 3:5).
A. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (See John 16:7-11).
B. He brings to life those who were dead in their sin (See Titus 3:3-5).
C. He guarantees salvation for every believer by putting His seal upon us (See 2 Corinthians 1:20-22). A seal was a commercial stamp that was placed on something to signify ownership and authenticity. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer is God’s way of demonstrating that we are His possession and that, as such, He guarantees every promise made to us. Illustration: God has promised us eternal life and it is the Holy Spirit who guarantees it. Promises are only as good as the individuals who make them. Two friends and a boy were traveling west by covered wagon when they got caught up in a blizzard in the mountain. One man told his best friend, "I ain’t gonna make it, Joe." "Sure you are, Al." "No, Joe, I ain’t. So I want you to promise me something." "Alright, Al, you name it." "Promise me that when you and Little Joe get there, you’ll name a town after me." "No problem, Al." At this the dying man turned to his friend’s son and said, "Little Joe, will you remind your pa to name a town after me?" Little Joe replied, "I sure will Mr. Outhouse." NOT EVERYONE KEEPS HIS PROMISES, BUT WE KNOW THAT GOD DOES. He guarantees us eternal life by nothing less than the seal of His Holy Spirit.
IV. He fills us so that we can be effective witnesses (See Ephesians 5:18--Note that following these verses Paul details how believers were to relate to one another, to their spouses, children and even their masters, if they were slaves. This was possible if they were filled with the Spirit).
A. By living a God-centered life (See Galatians 5:19-23). Contrast the fruit of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. THE ONLY WAY TO CONQUER OUR SINFUL NATURE IS TO WALK BY THE SPIRIT.
B. By testifying of Christ’s saving power (See Acts 1:8). This is precisely what happened when believers were filled with the Spirit throughout the book of Acts (See Acts 4:8ff; 6:8ff; 11:22-24). The power of the Holy Spirit enabled Paul’s witness to have effect on the people of Thessalonica (See 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 and Acts 17:1-4).
Application: God wants us to be filled with His Spirit. If you are a believer who is struggling with sin and have no joy in your relationship with God, then permit me to explain to you how to be filled with the Spirit.
• First, confess any known sin (See 1 John 1:9).
• Second, repent of any known sin (See Acts 26:20).
• Third, ask the Holy Spirit to fill and empower you to walk in obedience to Christ (See Ephesians 5:18; 1 John 5:14-15).
• Last, reconcile with anyone who might hold something against you due to your sinful choices (See Matthew 5:23-24).
Conclusion: I have told my story about smashing mailboxes many times to different groups all around the country. (Give the details quickly) As a result of my actions, I was compelled by the Lord to go to a man in my community whose mailbox I had helped to destroy and confess what I had done. Though it was difficult I simply couldn’t get past the words of our Lord in Matthew 5 so I obeyed. A few years ago, I concluded a message with this illustration. Unknown to me until just a couple of months ago, a friend who heard me share came under the conviction of God’s Spirit about something that had happened in his life. It seems that as a teenager, and an active participant in a local church, he stole a gun from the father of a friend in his neighborhood. Nearly 30 years later, he knew what he had to do. He took the shotgun, put it in his car and drove to the house of the man from whom he had taken it. He explained what he had done, returned the gun and then offered to wait if the man wanted to call the police. He did not. Just like me, the weight of his sin was lifted and he knew once again what it meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit. IS THERE ANYTHING GOD MIGHT BE PROMPTING YOU TO DO TODAY SO THAT YOU CAN KNOW YOU’RE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?
