Igniting the Power

Igniting the Power

“Igniting the Power”

(Acts 5:12-16)

Series: The Church on Fire!

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

First Baptist Church Henderson, KY

(8-19-07) (AM)

 

  • Open your Bibles to Acts, chapter 5.

 

A few weeks ago we began a series of messages through the Book of Acts and this morning we’re in chapter 5.  Our series is entitled, “The Church on Fire!” and we’ve been learning a lot about the very first church in history, the church that began in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago and has spread throughout the world.

  • Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

 

12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. 

13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 

14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 

15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 

16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

  • Pray.

 

Introduction:

 

It was just a few weeks ago that the Apple corporation released their wildly popular new iPhone.  People stood in lines and waited overnight to get the new smartphone, the next big thing that was capturing the technological world’s attention.  But while that was just a few weeks ago, we’ve moved on and breaking news about the next best cell phone has slowed considerably.

 

One of our church members handed me this article from crosswalk.com.  Listen as I read some excerpts.  It’s by James Emery White and is entitled, “The Next, Next Church.”  Here’s how it begins:

 

The iPhone is so last month.  Which means, writes Adam Bryant in the New York Times, that “it’s been downgraded from the next big thing to merely new.”  And these days, “New can seem so yesterday.  What matters is what’s next.”

 

Bryant then notes how “next” is the go-to buzzword of our day.  There is “Next” the movie, released this spring with Nicolas Cage as a man who can see two minutes into the future.

 

Newsweek’s annual “Who’s Next” issue, intended to run against Time’s Person of the Year issue, prompted Time to start a regular “What’s Next” feature of its own.

 

New York magazine recently had a cover article on home design titled “The Next Next Things,” an update on the title of Michael Lewis’ 1999 book, “The New New Thing.”

 

Turn on the TV and you’ll find “America’s Next Top Model” on CW and “Next” on MTV . . .

 

Christians can be captivated by “next” as much as anyone.

 

Just think church. Pastors often joke about a “migratory flow pattern” among Christians in their community who are constantly church-hopping to the “next” thing in church life. They move from one church to another, looking for the next hot singles group, the next hot church plant, the next hot speaker, the next hot youth group.  Many times they end up full circle where they began, because their original church suddenly became “next.”

 

Church leaders can succumb to the same temptation, only in terms of church model.

 

First it was Willow Creek. Then Saddleback. Then came Hillsong, Northpoint and Fellowship. Or perhaps instead of doing it by church name, it was by type: first came seeker-targeted, then purpose-driven, then postmodern . . . emergent, then “simple.”

 

…The seduction of the “next” lures us to move our attendance in order to experience God more fully, or as leaders, to race to their conferences to find the “secret” to success . . .

 

Attenders looking for the “next” must realize that a church, no matter how innovative, is not the provider of spiritual formation.  Individuals must dig deep into the core disciplines of the faith which have been with us for centuries and own their own spiritual development through prayer and study, fasting and retreats, worship and solitude.  And leaders must realize that however exhilarating a new church model may appear, silver bullets do not exist.  Leaders must look deeper than the latest model or program, conference or style, and realize that the process inherent within a thriving church has not changed in 2,000 years: you must evangelize the lost, then assimilate those evangelized, then disciple those assimilated, and then unleash those discipled for ministry.

 

And that is the “secret” to a successful church.  As the writer notes, the secret hasn’t changed in 2,000 years: we must evangelize the lost, win them to Christ, get them into the body of Christ, teach them, and unleash them for ministry.  That’s it.  That’s the source of a church’s power.  That’s what made the first church powerful and that’s what will continue to make First Baptist Church powerful, as well.

 

We know that the key verse to the Book of Acts is Acts 1:8.  Jesus says, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the utter ends of the earth.”  A church becomes powerful by yielding to the power God sends through His Holy Spirit.

 

So I want to talk this morning about igniting the power that God gives the church.  What does a church look like that is yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit?  From our passage this morning, see first that:

 

I.  God’s Power Leads to Admiration (12-13)

 

That is to say that when the church yields to the Holy Spirit and trusts in His power rather than some program, or that trusts in His power, rather than some preacher, that others will take note of the power running through that church and will truly admire what is going on at that church even if they themselves are not believers.

 

If you’ll remember the context of these verses then you will recall what has just happened in the church.  We read last time about a problem in the church, two sinning church members named Ananias and Sapphira were supernaturally removed from the church.  Peter recognized sin in their hearts and called them on it.  Rather than repenting, Ananias and Sapphira remained in their sins and God judged them for it.  They died.  I mean they just dropped dead right there in the church.

 

Sometimes when you’re up on the platform like this and you look out at the congregation, whether you’re singing or preaching, you look out and wonder whether someone has fallen dead like Ananias and Sapphira!  I think sometimes it would be a healthy exercise to have people come up here and look out at the congregation when the choir is singing or when I’m preaching, and we’ll just take turns and look out and be amazed together.

 

Well, the point is, the church purified itself and when the church is purified, the church is powerful.  The community around the church takes note of that.  So we read last week that after the death of Ananias and Sapphira, the verse we left off with, verse 11, says, “So great fear came upon all the church (get this now) and upon all who heard these things.”  That is, the community heard about this church and recognized the power in the church.  “That’s a church that deals with sin.  I mean they hold each other accountable.”  So the Bible says in verses 12 and 13 that this power continues and it is a power that leads to admiration among the Jerusalem community.

 

12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. 

13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 

 

Now we’ll read more about the “signs and wonders” in a moment.  Right now I want to see the picture here from these verses.  You have the church gathered together in Solomon’s Porch, or Solomon’s Portico, that was a certain elevated area of the temple where the Christians were gathering together daily for worship.  What strikes me is verse 13 where Luke writes, “Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.”  That is a fascinating statement!  None of the rest dared join them.  That is, none of the non-Christians, the unbelievers, dared to come near them, but at the same time they esteemed them highly.  They admired the Christians.

 

So there is this sort of fear of the Christians.  There is an obvious power working in their lives and the people who were not part of the church, the unbelievers, recognized that power and respected that power.  They admired the Christians.  God’s power leads to admiration.

 

It’s a bit like when an unbeliever asks you to pray for him.  Have you ever had that happen?  He himself has not trusted Christ as Savior, perhaps he’s even argued with you about Christianity in the past, but he admires you nonetheless, esteems you, and recognizes something different in you and so asks you to pray for him.

 

So there is this paradoxical connection of fear and admiration.  When we ignite the power of God by yielding to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to work in us and through us, others take note and respond with the twin elements of fear and admiration.  The two are inextricably interwoven together.  The truth is people ought to feel that way about us as individuals and as a church.

 

There really should be something of a fear and admiration that others have toward us as we go about our lives.  People should recognize that there is something uniquely different about us.  That difference is the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.  That’s what makes the difference.  That’s what makes other students at school admire you.  Oh they may not become Christians right away.  They may not follow Christ as you do, but they will respect you if they see that you are “for real” around them.

 

That’s what makes fellow laborers at your job place admire you.  They see something different in you.  You’re not a hypocrite.  You’re not an Ananias or Sapphira.  There’s fear mixed with admiration when they come and ask you to pray for them.  You live your faith.  Maybe they poke fun at you for being square and not laughing at their crude jokes, but watch what happens when the chips are down and they need the help of someone who cares.  Here they come to you.  Why?  Because you’re the real deal.  They admire you.

 

So don’t get discouraged!  You may say, “Well, I’ve invited folks to come to church here,” or, “I’ve shared the Gospel but nothing happens.”  Just keep being “for real” and you and I will witness the second point of our text.  God’s power leads to admiration.  Secondly:

 

II.  God’s Power Leads to Multiplication (14)

 

14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 

 

Isn’t that wonderful?  We just read that the non-Christians dared not join the Christians, but merely esteemed them highly.  There was a mixture of fear and admiration.  And then we read in the very next verse what happens over a period of time: “Believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.”

 

That’s why you and I have got to stick with our evangelism.  That’s why we’ve got to remain faithful and be “for real” in our community.  Resist the temptation to yearn for quick results.  Just keep following Jesus and trusting in His timing and God will multiply the Christians around you.  It’s His job to grow the church, not yours.  It’s His job to win your friends to Christ, not yours.  Just be faithful.

 

When the church is faithful, yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit, living-out our Lord’s commission in Acts 1:8, being Christ’s witnesses, then God’s power leads not only to admiration, but to multiplication.  The Bible says “believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.”

 

Take your Bible and trace the growth with me.  Remember how it all started?  The church was born at Pentecost in Acts 2 when the church received the Holy Spirit.  The Bible says Peter preached a sermon that resulted in how many coming to know Christ?  Acts 2:41 says, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”  You jump down to the last verse of chapter 2, Acts 2:47, and you read, “The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”  Then you turn over Acts 4:4 and read, “Many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of men came to be about five thousand.”  Now we read in Acts 5:14, “Believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.”  It’s like the church was growing so quickly that they couldn’t keep up with the counting!  It went from 3,000 to 5,000 to “multitudes.”

 

Those who are critical of large churches probably have not really reflected upon the first church in the Book of Acts.  I have said before that some who say they don’t like big churches may mean that they don’t like a church they can’t control.  We ought always to be excited about church growth.  I thank God for the 18 additions over the past month we added to our church roll last Wednesday evening.  I thank God for every opportunity to fill the baptistery and watch a new believer unite with Christ.  Church growth is our primary purpose.  That’s why we’re here.

 

Some churches are like the airplane pilot who announced to the passengers, “Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know that our navigational equipment has malfunctioned. We don’t know where we are.  We don’t know where we’re going, but we’re making excellent time!”

 

Well, we know where we are and we know where we’re going.  We receive the power of the Holy Spirit and we are Christ’s witnesses beginning in our Jerusalem and spreading to the ends of the earth.  God’s power leads to admiration, God’s power leads to multiplication.  Thirdly:

 

III.  God’s Power Leads to Transformation (15-16)

 

Look at the miraculous, supernatural transformation that takes place in the community surrounding the first church.  Fear and admiration led to salvation and the whole community starts taking note of what’s happening at that church.  The Bible says the response was so overwhelming, verses 15:

 

15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 

 

I mean everyone wants in on this!  The community hears about the signs and wonders going on in the church.  They hear about the lame man by the temple gate who was healed by the power of God, getting up, leaping and walking and praising God and they start bringing out their own sick.  I picture this flow of people carrying loved ones on mats and so forth, bringing them to the church.  They even have faith that Peter’s shadow alone would have healing power.

 

Now I believe these verses mean just what they say.  I believe in signs and wonders.  I don’t think signs and wonders ceased after the first church 2,000 years ago.  I do believe, however, that the signs and wonders of 2,000 years ago was a unique and unusual working of God’s power in Jerusalem as the church began.  I believe God did miraculous wonders through the church, primarily the apostles, to authenticate the message of the Gospel.  It was God’s way of authenticating the work of the church.  Signs and wonders were sort of His “stamp of approval” on the message preached by the church.

 

At the same time, however, I see no reason why similar signs and wonders should not exist today.  I don’t mean the crazy stuff you see on TV with some self-proclaimed “faith healer” with shiny hair and a big smile on his face and money sticking out of his pockets.  I’m not talking about that.  I saw a guy a month or so ago on TV asking people to call-in and receive one of his green “prosperity cloths.”  You just called and received one and I’m sure they asked if you wanted to make a donation or be put on their mailing list.

 

I see absolutely no biblical support for that kind of thing.  In the Bible sick and hurting people came to the church.  They did not follow some charismatic guru who had his own ministry outside of the church.  We read of people noting the power in the church body and being drawn to the local church for spiritual transformation.  That’s what’s happening in these verses.

 

16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

 

There again, we read that even those tormented by unclean spirits, or demonic spirits, were healed.  Maybe you don’t see much demon possession in America, but if you travel to some lesser-developed countries you will see much of it.  Satan attacks us where we’re vulnerable and he attacks us in our country primarily through our wealth, our complacency, and love of possessions.  Think of it: why should Satan bother with demon possession when most Americans dismiss it as mythical?  Why should Satan bother us at all if we’re enjoying our weekends comfortably situated amidst our possessions as far away as possible from a living, dynamic, powerful Holy Spirit-filled church?  He attacks us where we’re vulnerable.

 

Honestly, I believe one of the reasons churches in America are so weak and anemic is because we don’t believe in this kind of power today.  We don’t pray for the kind of power that was unleashed upon the early church.  Remember that what we’re reading about here in these verses is God’s answer to the church’s prayer for power.

 

Back in Acts 4:29-30 we read that the church prayed for power.  They said, “Grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

 

They prayed for boldness to speak the word, and the accompanying signs of miracles to authenticate their message, so that people would be saved.  What a wonderful prayer!  They didn’t pray for signs and wonders just to have signs and wonders.  Their hearts’ desire was to see people come to know Jesus, to see people miraculously transformed by the power of God and so they asked God to send His power through the church.  God did just that and lives were wondrously changed.

 

I heard about a church that had bought a new organ and they invited a talented musician to play that organ during the dedication recital for that organ.  The organist came and sat down at the organ to begin playing.  And as soon as he touched one of the keys there was silence; nothing.  A custodian there at the church knew what the problem was: the organ was not turned on.  So a minister stood and called on someone to pray and as the person prayed the custodian went to work and then jotted down a note and slipped it into the hands of the organist.  The note simply read: “After the prayer, the power will be on.”

 

We ought to pray for that same power, power to spread the Gospel, power that God unleashes upon this church, sending signs and miracles to awaken a spiritually dead world.

 

  • Stand for prayer.

 

I can think of no greater and more powerful miracle than the miracle of salvation itself.  The Bible says that because of sin we are separated from God and we cannot get into heaven.  But God takes care of the separation by building a bridge in the Person of Christ.  Jesus Christ dies on the cross to take care of my sin problem.  My sins are punished in His death.  Jesus dies for my sins and is raised for my justification.  God gets hold of my heart and softens it so that I will look up to Jesus and say, “Yes!”  Yes, Jesus, come into my life and save me and change me.  That’s the greatest and most powerful miracle of all.

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