ALL IN - PART 3
All In • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Explain ALL IN series
For a few weeks now, we have been in a series called, “ALL IN” where we are taking a close look at the first century church to determine what made them so effective that they could start with a handful of people and turn the world upside down.
These are the events that established Christianity and saw it spread like wildfire across the known world.
In the first century, the Christian church exploded into a worldwide phenomenon, but in the fourth century Christianity was legalized and institutionalized and what we see is a plummet in the rate of growth and evangelism.
Going forward, we are examining some differences between the 1st century church as it is described in the book of Acts and the institutionalized church that was established during the 4th century.
During our Acts 2 Journey, Ron Mcmanus pointed out that we have inherited a 4th century mentality in the church that differs greatly from the church that was a radical, ALL IN kind of church of the 1st century.
Recap where we are in the series.
We began with the ascension of Christ and His insistence the disciples wait on the promise… The Holy Spirit to come before they begin their continuation of Jesus’ ministry.
For two weeks we camped out on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the necessity of it, and the initial physical evidence.
This is the very first difference we pointed out between the 1st century church and the church as we know it today:
The Holy Spirit was necessary in the 1st century church, and not just in word or because they wanted Him to show up in worship.
They relied on the power of the Holy Spirit for every day life, because Christianity was not a part of life for the 1st century church, being a Christian is life.
Every day the first century church lived to be a witness to those around them, starting with their immediate circles.
If the church is to see a revival of its position and influence on a global scale, we must life as though Christ is the center of our world again.
We must live, empowered by the Holy Spirit again.
We must live as lights shining in the darkness again.
So far, we have covered Acts chapter 1 and the first 17 verses of Acts 2.
We left off in the middle of Peter’s first sermon on the day of Pentecost. As a recap here’s how he started:
14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.
15 “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;
16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams;
18 Even on My bondslaves, both men and women,
I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit
And they shall prophesy.
He goes on to say:
19 ‘And I will grant wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
20 ‘The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.
21 ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Peter is quoting this passage from Joel, annotated with his own commentary, inspired by the Holy Spirit…
What is often the tendency here is to look at these verses a solely apocalyptic as though they are only for something in the future, but context is key.
Peter is not simply pointing to the future… He is speaking of the now…
16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
This is it!
I can imagine him pointing to those who are still caught up in the Spirit behind him as he speaks…
THIS… THIS is what was spoken of…
THIS IS THAT…
This is what Joel mentioned…
This is what the prophets looked forward to…
This is what we have been waiting on…
The last days are not coming, they are here!
This mark of urgency was prominent in the first century church… They had the privilege of seeing Jesus ascend from heaven with the promise that He would be back in like manner…
They didn’t know when, but they knew that it could be at any moment!
If we are to be effective in our Christian walk today, we need this urgency again…
I know you’ve heard it for years.., but I still believe it could happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…
Peter was less concerned about some time in the future and more concerned with what was happening right before him…
THIS IS WHAT WAS SPOKEN OF BY THE PROPHET JOEL…
So we must take this verse in its own context.
Peter wasn’t looking for a time in the future when God’s Spirit was going to be poured out, he said THIS IS IT!
This is that time! These are the days Joel spoke of!
This verse in its original context when Joel spoke it, was probably a reference to the deliverance Israel experienced out of Egypt…
Joel is living in the time of the Assyrian exile.. He is proclaiming that all of this is happening as a punishment for Israel’s departure from God, in this passage he is looking forward to a time that is coming…
In that day, God’s people will be liberated from their bondage just as Israel was freed from their bondage in Egypt…
Joel was looking for a a liberation like the Exodus but from exile… But what He saw was something even greater when a greater chain of bondage would be broken…
When freedom would come and God’s spirit would be poured out…
Just like God showed up in all power to free Israel from their chains in Egypt, so Jesus showed up and broke the chains of death, hell, and the grave, and sent the Holy Spirit in Fire and Wind…
And some day soon, Jesus is going to show up again in one final act of liberation…
He’s coming again for His people, and it could be right now!
We need the urgency returned to our hearts again… There’s not a moment to waste! Jesus is coming back.
I love how Peter uses this information.
He doesn’t camp out here and exegete the prophecy for more specific details.
He doesn’t break it down and start counting numbers or trying to figure out when it is going to happen…
He doesn’t even write a letter or a book about it…
He drops this bomb on them, telling them we are now living in the last days…
Jesus is coming back…
And immediately zeros in on the last line of the prophecy:
21 ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
In Peter’s mind there’s no time for a frivolous study about things that don’t matter… There’s an urgency because Jesus is coming back and the world needs to be saved!
He doesn’t start into a dissertation about the blood moon or the dark sun…
There’s no study on the fire or the signs…
His explanation is this:
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—
JESUS attested with miracles and wonders… The signs you have been looking for have arrived in this God-man who sent the fire that rested on us today…
Let’s keep the main thing the main thing!
It’s about JESUS! It’s always been about Jesus… It will always be about Jesus!
One of the differences we see between the 1st century church and the church we inherited from the 4th century is a hyper focus on ceremony and observation over relationship and participation…
Church isn’t meant to just be observed, consumed, and gone to…
Church is intended to be participated in, represented, and communal.
It’s not about rigid structure, it’s about relationship with Jesus!
It’s all about Jesus! If we make it about anything other than Jesus, we have left the central tenant of faith and traded our belief for a religion!
This isn’t about religion, it’s about Jesus!
Peter keeps the main thing the main thing and immediately turns the discussion back to Jesus.
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—
23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
You thought you had ended it… You thought it was over, but what you didn’t realize is that this has been the plan of God from the beginning!
What you thought was a mistake, God used for His will.
Just when you thought it was all lost… Just when it looked like death would win… Just when it looked like there was no way forward….
He was put to death… BUT GOD!
Have you ever had a BUT GOD moment!?
It looked hopeless, BUT GOD!
It seemed dark and bleak, BUT GOD!
24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
It was IMPOSSIBLE for Him to be held by the power of death…
It wasn’t a battle for superiority.. It wasn’t a cosmic war being waged…
He was so much God that it was IMPOSSIBLE for death to hold Him because He said… I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE…
He doesn’t just hold the power of resurrection and life… HE IS RESURRECTION AND LIFE..
OH GRAVE WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY… DEATH WHERE IS YOUR STING?
25 “For David says of Him,
‘I saw the Lord always in my presence;
For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.
26 ‘Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted;
Moreover my flesh also will live in hope;
27 Because You will not abandon my soul to Hades,
Nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
28 ‘You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’
29 “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne,
31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay.
32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.
33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
34 “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
35 Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” ’
36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Know for certain… There is no doubt.. There’s not a question in it…
God has made Jesus both LORD and CHRIST!
He’s our savior who took our place in punishment… He’s our deliverer who promised us eternal life…
But more than that He is also our LORD and MASTER who we follow after day by day…
There are some who would like to just have Him as savior…
There are some who just want Him as Christ, the anointed one…
There are some who don’t mind Him being love and mercy…
But He’s also Lord of all!
He’s the captain of my salvation… He’s the master of my life…
HE IS LORD!
Christianity is not just freedom from the bondage of sin, it is citizenship into a kingdom not of this world not a kingdom without a ruler, but a kingdom whose king is the KING OF KINGS and the LORD OF LORDS!
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
He’s LORD!
Christianity is not just a get out of Hell free religion!
Christianity is us walking as though Jesus is King and Lord of our lives!
We grow disciples in here that embody Jesus out there…
If we are to be a representation of Jesus, we have to submit to Him as Lord…
Our vision here is to empower followers of Jesus to find and fulfill their God-given mission.
FOLLOWERS OF JESUS!
He is LORD!
This is the only way of salvation..
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
This is the basic tenant of our faith…
Let’s keep the main thing the main thing…
Jesus is Lord!
Pray
Altar Call for Salvation
Is Jesus Lord in your life?
Do you walk as though He is in charge?
It’s time we make the main thing the main thing… Let Jesus be Lord…
Challenge: Discipleship Partners Tonight
Here’s the challenge… Will Jesus be Lord, even when it is scary?
Tonight, we are doing something that you may find scary or even uncomfortable, but to grow we must get out of just being a consumer and become disciple makers.
Will He be Lord of all?