May 23, 2010 Pastor Tim Pusey

POWER UP!
Acts 1:1-11
Final in series: “Are You Filled?”
May 23, 2010

How many of you have ever started to use your cell phone only to discover that its battery had gone dead on you? Isn’t that frustrating? I got to thinking this week about the many electronic gadgets that I use every day that have to be recharged on a regular basis: my cell phone, laptop, ipod, blue tooth, digital camera, GPS, electric razor, rechargeable drill and flashlight and mini-vac, cordless phone…and I’m guessing that you can think of more! Isn’t that ridiculous?! And that doesn’t even count all the electrical things that we depend upon that remain plugged in for direct power—like lights, TVs, refrigerators, microwaves, desktop computers, air conditioners, printers, etc!

My! How our lives would be different today if someone hadn’t discovered the power of electricity! I’m sure we all sometimes wonder if life wouldn’t be better, but I don’t think there’s any going back now! While life would be simpler, I’d hate not to be able to communicate with family and friends as we’re able to do today and my day-by-day tasks would be so much harder—even my sermon preparation, which is all done on computer!

Of course, even aside from all the electronic gadgets, we still need power in our lives. And as every follower of Christ has discovered, we need spiritual power in order to live the kind of lives to which God has called us. And in this last sermon in the series, “Are You Filled?” I want to center in on the role the Holy Spirit plays in providing spiritual power in our lives—for we surely need it!

Today is Pentecost Sunday—the day when the Christian church traditionally celebrates the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the Early Church. It coincides with the Old Testament commemoration of the Feast of Weeks—which fell on the 50th day after the Feast of the Passover—thus the term “pentecost.” But in New Testament times, Pentecost took on a whole new meaning for the followers of Jesus. Acts chapter 2 describes what happened as the 120 devout followers of Jesus were meeting together for prayer in an upstairs room in Jerusalem, as they had been doing for days since Jesus had ascended into heaven.
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:2-4)

Amazingly enough, people who had gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost for the Jewish Feast of Weeks celebration from many different countries heard their own native language coming from the people in that upstairs room. In a never-again-to-be-repeated phenomenon, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the followers of Jesus and they were filled with His Spirit. Peter addressed the excited and bewildered crowd who gathered to try to figure out what was going on. Under the clear anointing of the Holy Spirit, Peter preached a powerful message to them, presenting the Good News of salvation and new life through Jesus Christ—and as a result, 3,000 people were baptized that day and became part of the Early Church. Historians look back on that Pentecost as the birth of the Church!

But now I want to back up one chapter to the beginning of the book of Acts as we go to the scene of Jesus’ last appearance with His followers before the Ascension. Many times Jesus had spoken of the gift of the Holy Spirit. And here He addressed it one last time. Let’s begin reading at Acts 1, verse 1—
[Read Acts 1:1-11, NIV]

The more I got to thinking about the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the more I’ve concluded that to compare it to the power in a cell phone is to terribly understate His power. My mind took me to the ocean—and the many times I have stood beside it, mesmerized by the pounding of the ocean waves on the shore, enthralled by the mighty power of the ocean’s waves. I thought too of standing by Niagara Falls—and even by Shoshone Falls here in Idaho last spring, and being captivated by the tremendous power of the force of water gushing over the falls. Have you ever just stood beside the Payette River in the stretch between Banks and Smiths Ferry where I’m told it’s one of the longest stretches of white water in the nation? I’ve sometimes described it being like Niagara Falls reclining, because it goes on for miles and miles—and the tremendous power in the water’s current and the amount of water rushing through the gorge is just breathtaking!

And yet still, we haven’t captivated the power of the Holy Spirit. It was Lloyd John Ogilvie who said,
The power Jesus Christ offers us in His Holy Spirit is a surging, rushing relentless river of new life! (Lloyd John Ogilvie)
I like that imagery! It doesn’t begin to adequately describe the Holy Spirit’s power, but it’s one of the best analogies our human minds can begin to grasp. You see, once the Lord reigns supreme in a person’s life, a whole new power is unleashed—the very power of God’s Holy Spirit. It’s what was experienced on that notable day of Pentecost described in Acts 2. It’s what Jesus had been preparing His disciples for, and it’s what was absolutely needed in their lives in order for them to be the people God had designed for them to become and in order for them to carry out the overwhelming mission Christ had entrusted to them.

And you and I are no less needy of the power of the Holy Spirit in order to become the people God wants us to become and in order for us to carry out the mission entrusted to us in this day and time. We are desperately in need of the power of the Spirit!—just as the disciples had proven their need for the power of the Holy Spirit in all their faltering ways before Pentecost. Even in this passage from Acts 1, we find them trying to press their agenda onto the Lord once again—
“Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?” (Acts 1:6, The Message)
Jesus essentially told them that such matters weren’t their business—they didn’t need to concern themselves with that. And then He turned their attention to the mission that was theirs—and, more importantly, the power that God would give them through His Holy Spirit in order for them to carry out that mission in every way.

It wasn’t the first time such power had been spoken of—nor the first time such remarkable power was attested to the Holy Spirit. Descriptions of Samson from Judges chapter 14 speak of “the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power,” enabling Samson to tear a lion apart, to snap ropes off his arms and to strike down 1000 men!

Samuel the prophet had told the soon-to-be-king named Saul that “the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power…and you will be changed into a different person” (1 Samuel 10:6). And it was exactly what happened. And later it was Samuel who anointed young David “and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power” (1 Samuel 16:13).

And it was the Old Testament prophet Zechariah who voiced the word of the Lord to the people, saying, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’, says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6). In other words, it will not be by our human might or power that God’s ways will be accomplished—it will only be by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Luke’s Gospel (written by the same man who wrote the book of Acts) records the words of Jesus before the Ascension in this way, “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” (Luke 24:49). Jesus had always known that His followers would need divine power in order to truly follow Him and to accomplish the mission God had for them—and the Good News of Acts 2 is that they received exactly what they needed…just as we can receive the Holy Spirit today!

Why do we need this power? We need this power for the witness of our words—
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
This concept and challenge of witnessing is so prominent in the book of Acts that it is the dominant theme of the book and the prevailing challenge upon both the Early Church and the Church today. I’m told that the word “witness” in its various forms appears 39 times in the book of Acts. When the disciples asked Jesus if He was now going to restore the kingdom to Israel, Jesus stressed in response that they were to leave to God the matters that are God’s concerns and instead take up the things that have been entrusted to them. We also need to let go of what is not our concern and fully embrace the mission Christ has given to us—a mission which is accomplished by the witness coming from our mouths when we are empowered by the Holy Spirit!

We are to be Christ’s witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” In some ways, this phrase provided a basic outline of the whole book of Acts. It outlines how the Gospel was first preached in Jerusalem, beginning in chapter 2 and continuing just into chapter 8. The Gospel then began to spread to Judea and Samaria, as told in chapter 8 and continuing into chapter 12. And the Gospel being taken to the ends of the earth is recorded in Acts 12 to the end of the book in chapter 28, as those proclaiming the Gospel reached the imperial capital city of Rome and began to preach the Good News there.

For us today, it says that we are to be part of Christ’s missional work in our own towns, in the regions surrounding us, and even to the far corners of the world. That’s why, by the way, that we at Valley Shepherd are so heavily committed to the work of world evangelization—taking the Good News today to people groups all around the globe. The Christian church is a missionary church that responds obediently to Jesus’ commission, acting in Jesus’ behalf in the extension of His ministry in our world today.

But without the Holy Spirit, our talk would just be talk. It’s the Holy Spirit Who empowers our testimony. He gives us spiritual power to share with unbelievers the difference it makes when Jesus comes into our lives—and to do so in such a way that others hear the divine truth behind our human words.

The dynamic power of the Holy Spirit is given in constant flow as long as we are engaged in sharing it. Like the irrigation ditches so prevalent in Idaho, we are conduits or channels of the flow of the Spirit—not reservoirs dammed up to simply be giant holding tanks. A river is simply the channel for moving water, while a swamp has only inlets for water and no outflow. They become stagnant. The Dead Sea is often used as an example. Since there is no outflow from the Dead Sea, fish can only live near the inflow from the Jordan River, because otherwise the water is so impure that it kills the fish. Our lives become stagnant and are unfruitful if all we do is take in the inspiration from God’s Word and from worship and from Christian fellowship! The Holy Spirit wants us to be channels for His power and mercy and grace!

I suppose it’s easy to think of being witnesses for Christ when we limit it merely to those who are sent out by Christ and His Church to do missionary work. That’s their work! But we need to be asking ourselves questions like,
• Who has the Lord put in my pathway of life here and now whom I am to love and introduce to Christ?
• Who in my corner of the world hasn’t heard about the difference Christ can make in their lives because to this point I’ve been unwilling to speak of Him?

In sharing with others, we sometimes put ourselves in the strenuous bind of feeling we have to convince and cajole people into accepting Jesus Christ. But the truth is that when there’s a positive response from someone, it’s merely because the Holy Spirit has drawn them to Himself and set them free to hear and receive the truth of the Gospel. It’s not because we’ve been so exceptional in our witnessing! It’s all about His power and His work in and through us and not at all about our phenomenal human endeavor!

The thought that we can run our own lives has triggered people to declare their independence from God and from anyone else—but only to our own demise! Our human will takes charge of our thoughts, and in our independent state, we proceed to make a mess of our lives. But the Holy Spirit continues to work in people’s lives, so often in ways we cannot see—and that, by the way, should be an encouragement to those of you who are carrying a heavy burden for the salvation of family members and friends who to this point seem to be so indifferent to the ways of Christ. Be assured that God’s Spirit is at work even now, drawing unbelievers to Himself—even in those seasons of their lives in which you may think God isn’t responding to your prayers at all!

And the Holy Spirit who draws unbelievers to Him is the same Spirit who is our Source of power when we do come to Him and determine to follow Christ! He is our Power for holy living and for effective witness! The promise of Jesus is that the Holy Spirit would not only be with us, but that He would indeed live in us! The power we receive is not some thing but Someone! It is God Himself living in us! The eternal Word through Whom God created the universe, Who had dwelled among us and Whose glory was seen to be full of grace and truth and love, wants to live in us! And that is the Someone Whom we can expect—God with us! And He empowers our words for effective witness.

But the witness of our words will have little impact if we’re not living God-honoring lives that back up the words that come out of our mouths! The truth is that our lives have likely been far more impacted by the witness of Christlike lives than by the mere words anyone ever spoke to us!

In my elementary years in the Summit Street Church of the Nazarene in Findlay, Ohio (where my dad pastored), I often was instructed by a dear older lady who loved kids. Mrs. Luse taught us Bible stories and coached us in memorizing so much of the Bible. She spent hours with us—and who knows how many hours in preparations for her lessons! She was a phenomenal children’s worker! But even still, it was her life that made such an impact on me! It was her love and compassion and integrity, and the fact that she was Christlike in so many ways, that made such a mark on my young life!

Family dynamics are interesting, aren’t they? No one knows us quite like our family knows us! Of course, that can be good and that can be bad! I know that much of my foundational learning of the ways of the Lord came from my parents, but I can also tell you that what impacted my life the most was watching how they lived life: how they lived out their priorities, how they responded under pressure, how the major decisions in life were guided by the Lord, how we experienced unconditional love from them, how we heard the expression of their hearts in prayer.

As the Lord has discipled me across the years, I’ve studied a lot and heard a lot of sermons and even earned a few more degrees, but I cannot overstate the impact and influence of godly lives upon my life! The testimony of Christlike lives has impacted me more than I can tell you. I’d start to name the people for you, but it would take too long—but what I can tell you is that I have watched the lives of people who were empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in ways that go beyond the goodness of mere human potential. These people lived Christlike lives, even when life wasn’t easy for them—and I am absolutely convinced that when Jesus said that we would be His witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth, that He was referring not just to the words that would come out of our mouths but also the witness and testimony of our very lives!

We must have the power of the Holy Spirit for the effective witness of our words and of our lives! Our lives need to back up our spoken testimony! We dare not hinder the work of the Lord in this world by matching our lives with the words we speak! And yet the challenge is so great!—and so impossible on our own! We can’t pull off that kind of godliness by just trying hard enough to be good—trying to think the right thoughts and say the right words (and not say the wrong ones!) and do the right things (and not do the things that disappoint and grieve the Lord)!

But, thanks be to God!—The power of the Holy Spirit is poured out upon those who yield themselves to Him! He accomplishes in our lives what we are otherwise powerless to do! It is His work within us and His work through us that makes the difference! We can experience the power of Pentecost in our lives today—as we yield ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in and over our lives! God has poured out His Holy Spirit upon His Church—and those who call upon Him today are empowered by the Holy Spirit for godly living and effective witness in our world today!

I was struck this week with a statement from 2 Peter 1:3. It seems to sum up and affirm what we’ve been getting at today—the ever-present resources of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Here’s what it says—
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness…(2 Peter 1:3)
Repeat that with me, would you? That’s the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives—and we’re desperate for it! Oh, but God’s so anxious to pour out His Spirit upon us and empower us for godly living and effective witness in our world. And it’s fitting and right and good for us to call upon the Lord and ask Him to pour out His Spirit upon us in this way, to remove from our hearts and our lives anything that would keep His Spirit from having full control of our lives. I want to encourage you to join me in praying that prayer this morning…