Sermon Tone Analysis

I Have A Dream \\ Joel 2:28-29

Introduction

Please open your Bibles to Joel 2:28.

Let us stand for the reading of God's Word, "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.

29“Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days" (Joel 2:28-29 NASB).

This is the text Simon Peter choose for his message on the day of Pentecost.

Peter believed that the coming of the Holy Spirit was a direct fulfillment of this promise.

Indeed, we are still living in those days, God is still pouring out His Spirit, and consequently His people are still dreaming dreams.

Dreams are wonderful things.

In fact, dreams are the stuff of which life is made.

We all need to have dreams and visions.

The book of Proverbs tells us that dreams~/visions are an essential ingredient in life.

"Where /there is/ no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18 KJV).

Throughout history, men and women who have accomplished great things have been great dreamers.

The history of America is filled with many examples of this truth.

One of these stories comes to mind this morning.

It was a hot August day, when the large crowd gathered on the Mall in our nation's capital.

It had been a busy and eventful summer, but the "movement" was now meeting with a great deal of opposition.

In fact, some were calling for the leadership to

\\ either give up or to become more aggressive and violent in their tactics.

Tempers were hot and the weather only added to the tension.

Onto the platform that hot of August day in 1963 stepped the leader of the movement and the eyes of a nation were fixed on him.

It was at that moment Martin Luther King, Jr. stepped forever onto the pages of American history.

He delivered what is arguably one of the ten greatest speeches in the history of this country.

King delivered his now famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

In his speech he articulated the dream for an America that would live up to its creed:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

He cried out "I have a dream" and the people embraced the dream.

I am here today to declare to you that I too, "Have a dream."

However, unlike Dr. King my dream is not simply "rooted in the American dream," as great as that is.

My dream is rooted in the eternal, unchanging, and inerrant Word of God.

It is a dream conceived in the heart of eternal God, purchased by the blood of the sinless Son of God, and sealed by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

It is a dream that began in the Garden of Eden, continued through the Garden of Gethsemane, and will be consummated in the eternal Garden of God.

It is a dream of God's people united as one, working together as a local body of believers.

It is a dream of a church, a first century church in the twenty-first century.

I find the basis of my dream in opening chapters of Acts.

Please join me in Acts 2.

I Have a Dream of a Church Where Prayer is a Priority not just a Program.

In the Old Testament God speaks through His prophet and proclaims "My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples” (Isaiah 56:7 NASB).

Our Lord Jesus quotes Isaiah when in cleansing the Temple courts of the moneychangers He proclaims, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?

But you have made it a robbers’ den” (Mark 11:17 NASB).

The early church understood the essential nature of prayer and made prayer a priority.

They prayed with persistence.

Look with me at Acts 1:14, "These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with /the/ women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers" (Acts 1:14 NASB).

The key word is "continually," which means to "attend constantly."

These early believers refused to allow prayer to become a fad.

They refused to allow their commitment to pray to fade.

They persisted, they continued, in short they refused to quit.

They prayed with persistence.

They prayed with purpose.

In Acts 4 Luke records for us the purpose in the prayers of the early church.

He writes…

23When they had been released, they went to their own /companions/ and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

24And when they heard /this,/ they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25who by the Holy Spirit, /through/ the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, And the peoples devise futile things?

26‘The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’

27“For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.

29“And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, 30while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”

(Acts 4:23-30 (NASB)

 

They did not pray for protection.

They did not pray for peace.

They prayed for "confidence" or "boldness" to speak God's Word.

Their concern was not their own well being but the Kingdom of God.

They prayed with purpose!

They prayed with power.

Luke continues in verse 31, "And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and /began/ to speak the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31 NASB).

When prayer is a priority, the power of God becomes a reality.

In his book /Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire/, Jim Cybala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle records how God brought that church from near extinction to become one of the greatest churches in America.

He attributes the churches turn around entirely to prayer.

He writes "Carol (his wife) and I have told each other more than once that if the spirit of brokenness and calling on God ever slacks off in the Brooklyn Tabernacle, we'll know we're in trouble, even if we 10,000 in attendance."[1]

I have a dream of a church where prayer is a priority!

I Have a Dream of a Church Where Unity is Founded on Christ not Forced by Rules.

Paul speaks of this type of unity when he writes, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28 NASB).

They were united in their doctrine.

These early believers knew nothing of the division and schisms of the modern church.

They simply accepted the God's Word as the rule for life.

They focused more on knowing and living the Word than on trying to make the Word acceptable to a lost world.

In fact, in his very first sermon Simon Peter condemned his congregation for murdering Christ.

This approach would certainly not be "in style" among the touchy-feely generation of good Lord, good devil preachers we have today.

It seems that Simon was more concerned about not offending God than about offending man.

The early church knew what they believed and refused to allow anyone or anything to compromise God's message.

They knew what they believe because "they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching" (Acts 2:42, NASB).

They were united not by background or tradition but by doctrine and truth.

They practice the principle set forth by Amos; "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?"

(Amos 3:3 NKJV).

They were united in their direction.

Not only was the church united in doctrine they were united in direction.

Luke writes that "Day by day (the believers were) continuing with one mind" (Acts 2:46 NASB).

They understood their assignment it was simple enough.

Jesus had told them "when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NASB).

In their mind, they were to continue going and witnessing until they had saturated the world with the gospel.

They did not seem to be concerned about the size of the church or the style of the worship.

They simply wanted to follow Christ.

They were united in their direction.

I have a dream of a church unity is founded on Christ not forced by rules.

I Have a Dream of a Church Where the Holy Spirit is Released and not Restrained.

This church was filled with the Holy Spirit from the very beginning.

In fact, the filling of the Holy Spirit propelled them into the public eye.

Notice the source of the Spirit’s filling.

Look at Acts 2:2, "And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting" (Acts 2:2 NASB).

The filling came from heaven.

It was and is a sovereign act of God.