The Power

Sermon

Intro

To start off this morning, I want you to think about the word power. Generally speaking, when we talk about power, we are talking about electricity.

When we lose power at the house, we mean we lost access to electricity.

We have power cords, power bars, solar power, wind power. All talking about electricity.

Probably the most obvious one for us in Saskatchewan. The crown corporation that makes sure we have electricity: Saskpower

Generally speaking, when we think of things that are powered, they are meant to make our lives easier

A power mower makes cutting the grass easier then doing it with a pair of scissors

Our gas powered cars make travel easier then walking or even a horse

Getting pulled in a tube by a motor boat is way more fun then being pulled by a canoe.

However, there are some things that can honestly go either way. For example, the way you read your bible.

Some people really like having their bible on their phone or tablet and being able to access it whenever they want. They like the convenience of it

Some people prefer to read their good old paper bible. Nothing beats having the actual book in their hands. For some, there’s nothing quite like having their notes in the margin and their color coding to see.

Which do you prefer? The electronic bible, or the paper bible? Why?

Now I don’t want any fights to break out over this, because I know we can really passionate about our position. If you want to know my opinion, as long as you are reading your bible and it is making an impact on your life, it really doesn’t matter if you prefer to read it on papyrus. If you’re reading it, that is really all that matters.

2. Power

Now that I’ve got some of you fired up, I want to bring you back to that word power. Last week we read in Acts

Acts 1:8 CSB

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

So what does Jesus mean when he says, “You will receive power.” Because there’s a very high probability he’s not talking electric power, it wasn’t going to be coming around for another millennia.

In the Old Testament, the word for power was associated with words like hand or arm. The Old Testament understanding of power was very much based on force or strength.

In the New Testament, we see a shift. The common word in Greek for power was usually associated with something miraculous happening.

Now there is something important about words you need to remember as you study scripture. Words can take on new meaning over time. Words can have multiple meanings.

So take power for instance. Power can mean force, it can mean electricity, it can mean authority, it can refer to the miraculous. When you are trying to figure out the meaning of a word at anyone time, it is always important to keep it in context.

To give us a working definition for the rest of the message, power is, “The quality which enables individuals to achieve their aims.”

There are two other things to remember about power in the context of Scripture. When it comes to God’s power, the only limit to God’s power is his character. Which means if God wants to do it, He has the power to get it done.

When it comes to man’s power, it is less then insignificant when it compares to God’s power. So when Jesus tells the disciples they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes, he saying that the disciples were going to get a significant upgrade in their ability to be His witnesses to the world.

Which actually brings us back to Acts 2, but today we are diving into Peter’s address to the crowd. Remember, last time we were in this story, there was something miraculous happening. There were people from all over the world, hearing the marvelous works of God in their own language. Yet there were some who were accusing the disciples of being drunk.

Acts 2:14–21 CSB

Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them, “Fellow Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning. On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy. I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

3. Prophesy and Baptism of the Holy Spirit

This is significant, and I want to make sure everyone catches what is going on. Peter, in response to the questions and the criticisms, refers to a passage from Joel. Now on all accounts, Joel is pretty much describing what is going on in Acts 2 except for one little detail.

Luke says that they began to speak in tongues and proclaim the marvelous works of God.

Joel says that they will prophesy. Generally speaking, to prophesy is to tell the future, right?

Remember earlier, I said that words can take on multiple meanings. Well, in the Old Testament, the word for prophesy in the Hebrew literally means to take the posture or to act like a prophet. But prophets served many roles in the Old Testament. Yes, the vast majority of prophecies about Jesus and his life were found within the prophets of the Old Testament. But prophets also acted as the mouth piece of God, warning the people of Israel that their sins were going to have dire consequences if they did not clean up their act.

There was a third use of the word. In Numbers, in 1 Samuel, and a couple other places, we read about the Spirit of God coming upon people and they would begin to prophesy, but there was never any record of what was said. Scholars have begun to associate the Old Testament reference of prophesy as what we would understand as speaking in tongues. This moment when the Holy Spirit was poured out on someone, and they would respond in a way that didn’t necessarily make sense to those that were listening, but never any doubt that what was going on was a result of the Holy Spirit.

As scripture progressed and more knowledge is revealed, we begin to see how speaking in tongues is actually a spiritual language that is shared between the speaker and God. Paul talks in Romans

Romans 8:26 CSB

In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.

b. How do we best understand what is going on?

I think the best way is to use water baptism as an example. Water baptism is the public declaration to the church community that we are committing our lives to following Jesus. It is the turning point in our faith. We tell of how God has moved and changed our lives, and then we get into the water.

The act of baptism is to symbolize the death to the old ways, death of the sinful nature as we are buried in the water, and when we come up, we are a new creation.

Have you been baptized? What was your experience after your baptism?

I just want to take a moment and address a common experience that some people have had after their full immersion water baptism. I have lots of friends and people I have pastored, ask why life seemed to get harder after their baptism. Wasn’t life supposed to get easier?

To that, I want to encourage you. When you get baptized, you are signalling your allegiance to Jesus. That means you become a target for your spiritual enemy. The devil is not going to sit back and let your baptism experience be an easy one. He is going to throw everything at you to make you question and possibly even regret getting baptized. But when those challenges and trials come, it is an opportunity to lean into God’s strength and allow him to lift you out of the circumstance.

The reason I use water baptism to help understand spirit baptism and speaking in tongues is this. When you get baptized in water, either by your pastor or your sibling, when you come up, the first thing everyone always does is gasp for air. Why? Because the external circumstance has triggered an inward response. You have been under water where there is no air, so at the first possible moment, you are going to gasp for air.

Spirit baptism works in reverse. When the spirit baptizes you, it is an inward filling to overflow. It is so much power, love, joy, peace, everything that God is, that it triggers an outward response, which is typically, but not always, identified by speaking in tongues, declaring the praises of God.

Water baptism is a physical, outward circumstance triggering a physical response; the gasping for air. Spirit baptism is a supernatural, inward circumstance that triggers a supernatural response; speaking in tongues. The speaking of a spiritual language that only God can interpret.

Have you ever met a disciple of Christ who lived a powerful life? What about their life made it powerful?

4. The New Normal requires Power

The truth is each and every one of us is called to live a powerful life. If each of us has the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, then we have all the power and access we need to live an exceptional life.

As I said last week, power and purpose go hand in hand. You cannot accomplish the purposes of God in your life without God’s power enabling you, and you will not experience God’s power if you are not pursuing His purposes. If God’s desire is that none would perish but all would come to repentance, then that should be our driving desire.

The reality is that too many Christians see the plan God has for their life and it looks too big, so they settle for a safe life. They pray the prayer, they show up at church, they live as good people, but never take it any further; to put it frankly, they’re just going through the motions. When you are just trying to live the ‘good’ life, your faith quickly becomes a bunch of does and don’ts

That person that you thought of, the disciple of Christ that lived a powerful life. I guarantee you one thing. Their life is not powerful because they are somehow exceptional. They are powerful because they recognize their power comes from the Holy Spirit within in them. There is a recognition and a submission to God’s plan and God’s power to accomplish God’s aims.

So my question for you today is this; are you going to settle for the average life, just going through the motions and hoping its enough to get in. Or are you ready to embrace the powerful life that God desires for you, where you supernatural things happen and lives changed for eternity? The choice is yours, God won’t force it on you, and it won’t always be easy. But the best things in life, the things worth doing, never are easy.

Let’s pray.