What Have We Learned from Acts 1-7? Part 2
Notes
Transcript
Last week, we learned that God is a faithful God who keep His promises, even at great personal cost to Himself. He sent His Spirit only after he sent His Son to die like a criminal on your behalf. And by faith if you accept his Son’s gift of salvation he will send His Spirit to live inside you.
As he lives inside you, He reveals His presence on earth, especially in the church. He revealed himself in the church by bringing life to the church. The Church is the epicenter of abundant life in the community. The church creates the space where those who need justice and mercy find it at the cross in oder to be reconciled to God and each other.
In answer the question, “How does the Spirit reveal Himself in the world?” we learned that The Spirit of God reveals Himself in the power of the church. Sometimes His power is seen in signs and wonders like miraculous healing and casting out demons. It is always seen in the power of preaching and teaching of His inerrant and fully sufficient word in the pulpit and the classroom. It is experienced in the community of believers working in unity to make the church effective in ministry through their Spiritual gifting. God’s Spirit is revealed in our prayers and their effectiveness as we pray for God’s kingdom to joyfully advance by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home. Finally, God reveals His presence, maybe most effectively in our lives, in His sustaining power when we suffer for His name sake and rejoice and pray for our persecutors to be saved. When we say Jesus is supremely worth the beating, the slandering, the violence, and we bless those who hurt us for Jesus’ name sake, the lost lift their eyes up to the hills to see where their help comes from; the Lord the Maker of heaven and earth.
What Have We Learned From Acts 1-7?
What Have We Learned From Acts 1-7?
The Holy Spirit Sanctifies the Church.
The Holy Spirit Sanctifies the Church.
The concept of holiness baffles most Americans.
Most Americans don’t consider themselves to be holy, said a survey published by the Barna Group in 2006.
Three out of four Americans (73 percent) believe it is possible for someone to become holy regardless of their past. Only half of the adult population (50 percent), however, said that they knew someone they considered to be holy. That is more than twice as many as those who considered themselves to be holy (21 percent).
The views of born-again Christians were not much different from the national averages. Among believers, three-quarters (76 percent) said it is possible for a person to become holy regardless of his or her past. Slightly more than half of the group (55 percent) said they knew someone they would describe as holy. And roughly three out of ten Christians (29 percent) said they themselves were holy, which is marginally more than the national norm.
John the Baptist promised that Jesus would Baptize us with the Holy Spirit.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
At Pentecost, Jesus fulfilled that promise. Every one who calls upon the name of the Lord is saved from God’s wrath and immediately Baptized with His Spirit. When you are Baptized with the Spirit, He does an initial work to cleanse you from sin, giving a you a decisive break from the power of sin and the love of sin in your life. Paul says,
And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
This “sanctifying” work Paul speaks of is the fire John speaks of in Matthew 3:11. Fire is used to purify. Gold is purified by fire to eliminate the dross that makes it impure. In the same way, when you are Baptized with the Spirit and fire, the Spirit purifies your heart. You are no longer unclean in the eyes of God.
Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow? There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood; Sin-stains are lost in its life-giving flow; There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood. There’s power, power, wonder working power, in the precious blood of the Lamb.
You may say, “Pastor, I don’t always feel clean. I don’t always look clean. I don’t always think clean. I don’t always act clean.” You are right. The flesh wages war against the Spirit. I think this is why most American Christians are confused about holiness. We don’t understand the work of God in us to make us holy at conversion, and at the same time to progressively make us holy in our daily life. When God determined to send His Spirit to live in His newly converted people, he knew we would need a process to become outwardly holy. We call this sanctification.
Sanctification is the process God uses to conform us into the image of His Son. The Holy Spirit reveals to us our sin and gives us the power to turn from sin toward holiness. It is only by the Spirit are we able to “put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). Its the Holy Spirit who produces growth in holiness in us bring forth the fruits of His Spirit within us (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, Gal 5:22-23). We are, Paul says, being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another, and this comes from the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).
In God’s wisdom, he chose an “already/not yet” way to reveal His holiness in you. You are already Holy in that Jesus cleansed you of your sin and seated in in heaven with Him, now (Ephesians 2:4-5). And at the same time, God uses your not yet holy life to testify of His redeeming work to a lost and unholy world. He takes His time to sanctify you over time to tell them world Jesus is everything the Bible says He is.
Jesus says that every one of us is like a tree. Good (Holy) trees produce good (Holy) fruit. Bad trees (unholy) produce bad (unholy) fruit. You will know a tree by its fruit. If you are truly converted, the Spirit will reveal Himself in Your life. You will become more and moe Holy. If you only profess with your mouth, but do not believe in your heart, you will live your life in hypocrisy. You are either a Christian or you are not. If you are a Christian, your life will produce the sanctifying fruit of the Holy Spirit. You will grow from one degree of holiness to another. There will be no confusion. Your heart will go through a purification process that will reveal itself by the way you talk and act in public and private.
I’m reminded of a quote by J.I. Packer,
“The only proof of past conversion is present convertedness.” J.I. Packer “Keep in Step with the Spirit.”
The point Packer makes is your confession of faith is not valid if it is not validated by a progressively sanctifying walk with Christ.
Jesus warns, if you say you are a good tree but produce bad fruit, you will be cut down and thrown in the fire (Matthew 7:19-20).
If you don’t think God is serious about your holiness, ask Ananias and Sapphira. Acts 5:1-10 is God’s megaphone announcement that He will not tolerate an unholy church. They lied to God and to the church. They did not take God’s holy standard seriously. He struck them dead as an object lesson to all who would think that you can blatantly sin against God and escape his judgement.
The Holy Spirit sanctifies the Church. He cleanses your heart to live a holy life in community with other like hearted/minded people. It’ s possible the reason why America is so confused by what it means to be holy is because the church is struggling to be the example of holiness. We struggle to be the example of holiness to the world when we resist the Holy Spirit.
To resist the Holy Spirit is to grieve the Holy Spirit, which is what Paul warns us not to do. How do you grieve the Holy Spirit? Puritan Thomas Manton explains:
300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans Sin Quenches the Spirit like Water on Fire
Fire is quenched by pouring on water or withdrawing fuel; so the Spirit is quenched by living in sin, which is like pouring on water; or not improving our gifts and grace, which is like withdrawing the fuel.
Acts has taught us so far that the Holy Spirit is serious about the purity of the church. He purifies you the moment He indwells in you, and then works to sanctify you throughout your life. Your purity is meant to contribute to the holiness of the church. Your personal holiness matters to the cooperate holiness of the church. Do not resist the Holy Spirit like Ananias and Sapphira. Do not live in habitual sin or spiritual complacency, but be led by the Spirit as a holy example to the church, community, and home.
The Holy Spirit Unifies a Diverse Church
The Holy Spirit Unifies a Diverse Church
When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church at Pentecost, Peter said that the prophecy of Joel 2 :28-32 was fulfilled.
The Spirit did not pour out on just one man or leader, but created a new community. Wayne Grudem points out that
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine D. The Holy Spirit Unifies
There is an emphasis on the Holy Spirit coming on a community of believers—not just a leader like Moses or Joshua, but sons and daughters, old men and young men, menservants and maidservants—all will receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in this time.
Furthermore, one of the trademarks of God’s new community of believers was “unprecedented unity.”
Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.
As you can see from the very beginning, what makes the unity extraordinary is that it was diverse. The miracle was that everyone could hear the gospel in their own language. What kind of diversity was represented?
There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.
And they were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that each of us can hear in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking the magnificent acts of God in our own languages.”
Jesus is able to take people who have nothing in common but Jesus and unite them together in harmony. This is the power of the Holy Spirit living inside you.
Jesus Koinoni’s with you...
When Jesus makes His home in your heart, He fellowships with you. Koinonia is the word most often used for fellowship in the bible. It means to have a close relationship, to have communion and partnership together.
Jesus answered, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
While the Father and Son make their home in us Jesus prays for us
I am in them and You are in Me. May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.
So that you can Koinonia with all His people.
Jesus unifies every believer regardless of race to the Father with His Spirit so that the world can know God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son.
The same unifying fellowship Jesus gives us to the Trinity, He also gives to us as a diverse community through His Spirit. Its through His Spirit He connects all of us to Him and to each other.
Paul blesses the Corinthian church with a blessing on unity through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
The Holy Spirit unites us in fellowship with Christ to unite us in fellowship with each other.
Paul asks the Philippian church to make his joy complete by being unified in the fellowship of the Spirit
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal.
Paul says that it is the fellowship of the Spirit that gives both Jews and Gentiles access to the Father as one new man, a unified community.
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. The whole building, being put together by Him, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord. You also are being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.
Because of the fellowship of the Spirit, Paul wants to remind them
diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us.
The church is special. No other organization on earth has the Living God living inside it. The Holy Spirit lives to unify a diverse people to God ad each other. That is why the Great commission is to all nations. And wherever the church gathers as a community, unity is the mark that the church is being led by the Spirit and not the flesh (Galatians 5:18; 25).
How do you recognize the Spirit’s work of unify in the church?
God’s love poured out in our hearts to bind us together in fellowship and unity.
This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity.
Jesus told His disciples,
By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
God’s love for His image bearers is poured out into every heart that loves Jesus. Jesus loves the nations, which is why he was not content with the disciples staying in Jerusalem, but that they mus testify to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). If you love Jesus, the Holy Spirit is going to deal with your racism. He will not let you hold onto anything that works against His love. He will bind your heart in Christian love to the fellowship of kindred minds (not races) like to that above.
Are you familiar with the Hymn By John Fawcett, “Blessed Be The Ties that Bind”?
Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above. “
In 1765 John Fawcett was called to pastor a very small congregation at Wainsgate, England. He labored there diligently for 7 years, but his salary was so meager that he and his wife could scarcely obtain the necessities of life. Though the people were poor, they compensated for this lack by their faithfulness and warm fellowship.
Then Dr. Fawcett received a call from a much larger church in London, and after lengthy consideration decided to accept the invitation. As his few possessions were being placed in a wagon for moving, many of his parishioners came to say good-bye. Once again they pleaded with him to reconsider.
Touched by this great outpouring of love, he and his wife began to weep. Finally Mrs. Fawcett exclaimed, “O John, I just can’t bear this. They need us so badly here.” “God has spoken to my heart, too!” he said. “Tell them to unload the wagon! We cannot break these wonderful ties of fellowship.”
This experience inspired Fawcett to write a hymn. “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love! The fellowship of kindred mind is like to that above.”
There is another song some of you are familiar with. Erskin Anavitarte sang it in our church a few years ago. I think it was in 2016.
“The most segregated time in our country is Sunday morning eleven O’clock. Black Churches, White Churches, right next door, they're on the same block. Both with hands raised high to Jesus; Still a million miles between us.” Erskin Anavitarte
A very different song, yes? How in the world can the church sing “Blest be the ties that bind our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like that above” in one breathe, and keep a straight face while Erskin sings, “The most segregated tim in our country is Sunday morning eleven o’clock”? This song should not exist in the church. No one in the church to Jesus Christ should ever have to sing a song like this. The ties that bind our hearts in Christian love, bind hearts to every nation. Its the beauty of the gospel. Jesus is able to unite people to genuinely love each other who have nothing in common but His Spirit.
Be Less Dependent on the Building and More Dependent on Each Other
Be Less Dependent on the Building and More Dependent on Each Other
When you look at the early church, they were not confined to a building. They met in houses most of the time,or they met at the temple. Sometimes our building can become the “sacred cow.” We don’t mean for it to happen. It often sneaks up on us. But one things I have learned reading Acts, and going through COVID 19 quarantine,is that the church truly is the people of God and not the building.
If you look at the community in Acts 1-7, the epicenter of the church is wherever they are gathered. Sometimes it was in the temple. Other times it was in a field. Most of the time in the New Testament, it was in somebody’s home.
Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude,
I am becoming more and more convinced that the Western Church is losing sight of the New Testament Church. We have such a emphasis on our building. So much of our budget is wrapped up in the church building. So much of our identity is wrapped up in this building. The New Testament Church never asked each other, ‘Where do you go to church?” Everyone knew if you were a Christian, you met with a group in the temple or you were meeting on someones house. The New Testament Church was more defined by its people than a building o location. The New Testament Church, cooperating with the Holy Spirit, was more dependent on each other and defined by each other than a building or location.
I think COVID 19 has revealed to us that we are way to defined by our building and dependent on our building. What do I mean by that?
The Church does not stop being the epicenter of life in the community because the building has to be shut down. We shouldn’t get to bent out of shape when the building itself has to be closed. The church can still gather and assemble in people’s homes in the community. We can still proclaim the good news of Jesus and have compassion on the poor and homeless. We cans till disciple each other and fulfill the Great Commission. We can baptize new believers and do communion together. The church can joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus in the Church, Community, and Home without a building.
I am no suggesting that we get rid of our building. Its paid for. It is a blessing. I am suggesting we start to reconsider how we use our building to be the epicenter of life. The building as of now is not being used to is fullest capacity. Dream with me for a moment.
What if we....