Prayer: The Source of Our Power

Introduction

READ Acts 2:1-41

That’s Impossible!

That’s impossible. We read what happened on Pentecost, and that’s all we can say. That’s impossible.

Here, you’ve got twelve men - men who’d grown up in Israel. Men who had spoken Aramaic from the time they were children and understood Greek since it was the language of the marketplace.

But most of these men had never traveled much farther than Jerusalem. They certainly wouldn’t have made it down into Africa, or up to Italy, or all the way to Mesopotamia.

They hadn’t studied the languages native to those areas. Most of them had probably never even heard those languages. And yet, here they are… not just struggling to speak a broken version of them, but telling of God’s works through Christ.

They were proclaiming the gospel in languages they’d never learned - or even heard.

And our only response is: That’s impossible.

Trust me, I’ve spent hours upon hours studying Japanese. I took two classes on it while in college. I’ve read books and done flashcards. I’ve had hour-long conversations with tutors - all in Japanese. And yet, if you put me in front of a crowd of several thousand Japanese people, I couldn’t preach the gospel.

I might be able to do it if you put me one-on-one with someone and I could use hand motions and draw pictures. But even that would be a stretch.

That’s why I say, “This is impossible.”

There’s no way that Peter and the other disciples could proclaim the gospel to this multitude of people in foreign languages they’d never learned.

And yet, that is exactly what’s recorded. And if we believe Luke’s account - a record that’s been proven to be historically reliable by any test we can come up with - then we’ve got to say, “The Church did the impossible that day.”

But that was only the beginning of the impossible things that the church did in Acts. I mean, immediately after this, Peter stands up and preaches the Gospel - tells of how Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God’s promises in the OT and now, he’s building his Kingdom right there through them.

Peter’s so bold. So confident. So fearless.

And yet… that’s impossible. Because only a few short weeks earlier, Peter was so afraid of what might happen if people found out he followed Jesus that he denies Christ to a servant girl.

So, how does he speak so boldly now? How does he put his life on the line in a far more public way?

That’s impossible.

And if we keep reading, we discover that this is only the beginning...

In Acts 3, Peter and John heal a lame man - but that’s impossible.

Then, in Acts 4, Peter preaches directly to the authorities - men who could have him killed. But there’s no trace of the old, fearful Peter - but that’s impossible.

In Acts 7, Stephen preaches a bold message about God being available anywhere - and he’s murdered for it. But he doesn’t fight back or run away. Instead, as he’s being murdered, he looks heavenward and asks forgiveness for those who are killing him - but that’s impossible.

And in Acts 8, Philip the evangelist is told by the Spirit to go near a chariot and eavesdrop. When he does, he happens to hear a man reading Isaiah’s prophecies. So Philip begins talking to the man, shares the gospel with him, and the guy immediately asks, “Can I be baptized?” And Philip says, “Sure! Here’s some water.” So they go down into the water and Philip baptizes him. And when he comes out of the water, Philip is gone - transported 30 some miles away to Azotus. But that’s impossible.

Do I need to go on? Or is it clear yet, that the early church made a practice of doing the impossible?

And it makes sense, because they were following in Jesus’ footsteps - and he made a practice of doing the impossible. And he’d told them, that they would do many of the things he did. That they’d do even greater things.

So how did they do it? Was it because of their incredible skill? Did they have more training than everyone else? Were they just more talented?

No, Acts 2 reveals the secret to their success - how they were able to do things that on one could do.

Empowered by the Spirit through Prayer

When we read the first verses of Acts 2, it becomes clear that they were able to do the impossible because they had help.

We read:

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 2

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

You see, they were not relying on themselves. They were filled with God’s presence - his very Spirit. And as they experienced his presence, they also experienced his power. And so we discover an important truth - it wasn’t the church that was doing the impossible. It was God doing the impossible through the Church.

Are We Willing to Do the Impossible?