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I want to invite you this morning, then to Acts chapter two, as we’re going to be at together today in Acts chapter two. And we’re we’re continuing on in this book. We’ve really we’ve really come to the book of Acts. We wanted to do this intentionally and, and where we were in our church and our history and realizing God’s got a beautiful work he wants to do in your life personally. He’s got a beautiful work he wants to do in our lives as a community. And the book of Acts, as we think about the future of ABC, is a very inspiring book. As we think about how we live out, what God desires to do in us and through us as individuals and as a community in Jesus. Because when you look at this book, we’re reminded the book of Acts picks up really at the tail end of the Gospel of Luke. Luke wrote both of these books. And and as Luke ends the book, the Gospel of Luke, and he comes into the book of Acts, he’s picking up for us the story of, of after Jesus’s ascension and the next 30 years of the early church, what took place. And if you remember the theme verse of the book of Acts is Acts one eight, which is a portion of that up here on the stage. But God tells you, you’re going to be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.
He says, from Jerusalem to Judea to the uttermost parts of the earth. That’s Acts chapter one, verse eight. That kind of it carries the theme idea of what Acts is about. God’s desire is for God’s people to take the gospel throughout this world in a transforming way. And when you read about the early church, you see how this took place from from the city of Jerusalem and all the way to the capital of Rome, it took about you read in the gospel of Acts about 30 years as that transpired. Incredible how God’s people given over to him. They saw this powerful work taking place. And as we look at this story, we realize it’s the same God who’s at work in us today. And so the way God made a difference in this in the in the first century world, is the same desire he has to make a difference in this world today. I looked at the population just for fun before I came down here today. What was the population of Rome during this time, and they estimated somewhere between 50 to 60 million people, which is like basically the equivalent of of kind of like Oregon, Washington, California and Utah. Throw all those in. Right. It’s if we’re to think about the known world at the time, that’s about the size of the population. And we think, wow, 30 years and look how the gospel went forward. And it’s the same God at work today.
And in fact, when you look at the the book of Acts, it’s how the Spirit of God worked into the people of God to accomplish the will of God. And then God invites us in. And I told you one of the kind of unsettling things about this book, the book of Acts, is when you get to the end of Acts, it doesn’t really have a conclusion. It just kind of stops, like Paul is in Rome and he’s preaching the gospel and that’s it. And you’re like, what? How does the. He’s in jail and it doesn’t even tell you what happens with him, right? It’s so frustrating. And then but then you realize perhaps Acts doesn’t really end because the story is continuing to be told. I mean, even today, God has you in a particular place for a particular reason to make a difference for the Lord in this world. I can’t think of a better place to live in your own relationship with Jesus and the impact you can make than right here in Utah. And so what is it that God desires to do in us and through us? And as as we read about this book, we we recognize and Acts chapter one, that this, this, this event is really a significant event as we get from chapter one into chapter two of what God desires to do. We would say in Christianity the most critical event is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
Right? So the most critical event that we we find ourselves shaped as God’s people is in Jesus and specifically his death, burial and resurrection. That’s where we find freedom. But the thing that empowered us to accomplish this is the Spirit of God. It’s the Spirit of God and the way that that he works in our life. And so when we think about the reason we’re here today as God’s people. Or at least my hope that we grab Ahold of is the reason is the mission God desires for us is to reach people. God’s heart is for people. He made people in his image. He gave his life for us, that we could find freedom in him so that the mission is people and and the means is the Holy Spirit, that the the Spirit of God would empower the people of God to accomplish his will. And the method then is the church. The church becomes the catalyst to seeing God’s will made known in this world, because you’re the place that heaven and earth collide. To see God accomplish his purpose in this world, as he works in you and through you to to see that take place. And it’s a beautiful thing to think that God loves you so much that he pursued you to give his life for you, that you could find freedom in him, and that you could know him in a personal way.
But then to discover in the depth of that relationship, God wants to do so much more to make an impact in the relationships around you. Begin in your own home, in your church, and through the community. And so what does that look like for us in Acts chapter two? That’s where we discover this. We’re talking about this morning being empowered for a mission. And so what does that mean for you and for me is as you look at the notes, if you grab some notes this morning, you can find it in the bulletin if you click or if you if you click on our app and you click on notes, you can discover that there but empowered for a mission. What does that look like in our lives? And there’s a lot of misunderstanding. As I say in Acts chapter two, I find some people, they undermine the power of the Holy Spirit, other people, they do some weird things and then call it the Holy Spirit. But what does that look like for us to to live on mission for Jesus in this world, knowing that God has given us His Spirit for this? Let me give you point number one in your notes, and we’ll read some of this section of Acts two together. But number one is this understand how God works. Understand how God works. God, what is it that you desire to do? Really? When you look at Acts chapter two, the first four verses explain this to us and then the rest of chapter two kind of is the outworking of that.
So the first four verses really lay that foundation, and then you kind of see the outworking flow from there. But if we read this together, it says this when the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And if you remember up to this point what Jesus said to his disciples after his resurrection, he said, I’m alive, baby, right? I didn’t say quite like that, but I mean, they they went from the the pit of despair, right? And seeing the death of Jesus and all of a sudden everything came untrue. Jesus is resurrected and they are pumped, right? It’s like, oh my goodness, everything we thought was going to be finished. And now we’re seeing Jesus among us, and they’re trying to wrap their heads around it and what that means. But but then before Jesus can turn them loose, he says, but I want you to wait, right? And they go to the upper room. And the Bible tells us in chapter one, about 120 of them are waiting, and they’re waiting for this day of Pentecost, right? The day of Pentecost arrived. They were all together in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind. And it filled the entire house where they were sitting, and divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the spirit gave them utterance.
And so here in these four verses, it’s really explaining to us that the description of what the Spirit of God desires to do. In fact, in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 16, verse 18, Jesus gave us this powerful statement about his church. He said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And the idea is like this. There had been a gathering of God’s people throughout the centuries, no doubt. But Jesus is speaking to the uniqueness of what his body he desires to see among his people moving forward. And so when he says, I will build my church, Jesus is recognizing that what’s going to make the New Testament church is something different than what’s existed before, because it doesn’t exist yet. That’s why Jesus is going to build it. I will build my church, and what you’re seeing take place is that it’s happening now through the power of the Holy Spirit. And so the day of Pentecost is 50 days after Jesus’s death and resurrection. And and this is a very symbolic picture of things being fulfilled in Christ. In fact, when you read the Old Testament, you discover there’s there’s a lot of foreshadows established for us of ultimately what Jesus would fulfill.
Meaning there’s this, these, these rituals and practices of the Old Testament followers of God that all of it came to fruition. It culminated in Christ for example, when when the Passover was celebrated, they would sacrifice a lamb. And and then we read in the Gospel of John, chapter one verse 29, you discover Jesus is the Lamb of God, that the Passover was ultimately pointing to what Jesus would fulfill for us, that we would no longer sacrifice lambs. But the lamb has been sacrificed for you and for me. All of that pointing to Jesus. Same thing in John chapter one. It tells us that Jesus tabernacled or dwelt among us. That he was the walking temple, the presence of God, that wherever Jesus went, that was God in the flesh, and you could be connected to him and walk with him, that that Jesus was that tabernacle. As you read in the rest of the New Testament, you discover God’s presence now dwells in his people, that we become that tabernacle. So the Old Testament temple was ultimately a picture of what Jesus would accomplish for us, or even the idea of the law, the Old Testament law. We discover in the Gospels that Jesus is the fulfillment of that law. He lived it perfectly so he could atone for our sins. And so it’s this incredible sacrifice that Jesus made for us to bring us freedom, that some people today will look at religious law and think, oh, this is the law I have to fulfill in order to make God happy.
But what you discover with the Old Testament law is out of the 613 commandments, none of us could fulfill those things. The law didn’t free us. It didn’t liberate us. It condemned us. And so we needed a rescue. And Jesus becomes the fulfillment of those things. And it’s the same with Pentecost. Jewish tradition says that Pentecost was first celebrated, and in the book of Exodus, chapter 19, when God gave his law at Mount Sinai. But it’s incredible that this particular holiday, known as Pentecost, was was a day of harvesting crops. And God tells them to celebrate this day of harvesting when they just left Egypt as slaves. And they’ve had no time to even plant crops in order to harvest them. And so this was an ultimate picture of the great harvest that Jesus would achieve for you and for me, that we would find new life in him. And so on Pentecost, we find it fulfilled in Christ what he has accomplished for us. And it says, as this day of Pentecost comes, that that the Spirit of God moves like a mighty rushing wind. And when you study the concept of this throughout the Old Testament, you you recognize that this is the presence of the Holy Spirit. In fact, even in the book of Genesis, chapter one, it tells you at the very beginning of Genesis one verse three.
That the Spirit of God hovered above the waters. As if the presence of of wind is there. In fact, the Hebrew word ruach can be translated as spirit or wind. In Genesis chapter two, when God created us, it tells us he breathed into us the breath of life, and we became a living being. The Spirit of God made known to you and to me that we could be connected to him. But then when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, it tells us that they run from God. But they knew his presence was there in chapter three by the coolness of the day. And it’s again describing the idea of wind that they recognized God’s presence. But what we discover in Genesis three is that they’re cut off from their relationship with God because of sin. And from that point, mankind has been waiting to be brought back into that fellowship with the Lord, to be restored, to be reconciled to him, to find that life. And in Genesis chapter three, you see Jesus in that chapter talking to Nicodemus, Us, and he compares the Spirit of God who’s coming to give us new life. As Jesus says in John three, to be born again and the way that Spirit of God is told about us. It’s as if it was.
When Jesus compares it like this, he says, when the wind comes, we don’t see it coming or going. You can’t physically see the wind, but you feel its presence. You know it’s there. And so it is. He compares it to the Holy Spirit that Jesus would renew us in him. He he would restore us and reconcile us in him. And the Spirit of God would be made known in our lives. And recognizing that he then goes on to describes it as divided tongues. And this is an interesting phrase Jesus uses in comparing the spirit, because this idea of divided tongues is literally recognizing there’s there’s 120 people in this upper room, and each of them is getting a particular language. This idea of tongues is where we get the English word for glossary. It’s a it’s a specific language. And so they’re they’re speaking languages. In fact, when you look at verse five, you will see that there’s different people, groups from all over the world coming to to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. And now God is making his message known in all these different languages, so that every tribe and tongue hears the message of the gospel to find deliverance in Jesus. And so these divided tongues are appearing on, on people so that they, they at the early church, they could proclaim the gospel message to those around the world. And when you study the idea of tongues, you know, the Bible gives us in first Corinthians chapter 12 to chapter 14 really gives you the description of of how tongues are to operate and and why God’s given them for us.
But if you look in in first Corinthians 12, verse 30, it tells you, for example, that the tongues are not for everyone. Meaning here in Acts, in chapter two, you’re seeing the early church and it’s it’s telling us in the upper room that they’re all all these tongues are divided among that early church of just 120 people. But but I want you to know, when you read certain portions of Scripture, it’s important to recognize what type of what type of literature am I reading? And here in the book of Acts, this is categorized as narrative literature, meaning it’s telling you a story. And so when the Bible gives you narrative stories, it’s not necessarily prescriptive for everyone all the time. And what that means is just because it happens once doesn’t mean it happens for everyone all the time. And so if you want to discover more prescriptive passages of the Bible, you would see that more in the New Testament and say, the epistles. Because what does God desire for the church? Right. And so when you’re reading Acts chapter two in this narrative story, it’s not saying this is this is the case for everyone all the time, forever. Right? It’s like it’s like assuming because Jonah got swallowed by a whale.
If I ever go visit the beach and I’m not walking with Jesus, I gotta be careful because I might become shark bait, right? That’s like. That’s not what that’s saying. It’s just giving you a story of what took place. And this is what it’s saying for the early church. Now, if you want to read more of a descriptor of how tongues played itself out in the first century, First Corinthians 12 to 14 is that section of Scripture. If I just highlighted a few of those for you in chapter 14, verse 22, it tells you that the purpose of tongues are for unbelievers. Meaning, as you’re seeing here in Acts, it’s so that unbelievers hear the gospel. It’s not necessarily a practice that for believers, but rather for reaching unbelievers. It’s in verse, chapter 14, verse 19. It’s better to speak. It says five known words in a language you can comprehend than 10,000 words in a language you can’t, I mean God’s. When we hear God’s Word, we want to hear it in a way that we can comprehend it or or in verse 27 to, to to 29, it talks about when, when tongues were practiced in the early church, that they were to only have 2 or 3 people do it, and there was always to be an interpreter present. But at the same time, in verse 39, it tells you don’t forbid the speaking of tongues. And so there’s there’s certainly a laid structure and and first Corinthians 14, I don’t have a whole lot of time to dissect all of 14 for you because we’re in Acts two today.
But but I want you to know that the primary focus of this is not to get fixated on the thought of tongues, but rather God’s heart behind it all. What’s God doing in this moment? In fact, this was a question the early church was thinking about as as the individuals coming to Jerusalem start to hear this gospel message. Look at this verse five. Now they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together. And they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, are not all these who were speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia and Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia and Egypt, and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own tongue the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean? This incredible movement of God as as God sharing his Word? And can I just tell you, as they’re thinking about what this means, can I just explain to us what this means? Like if you go to the book of Genesis and, and you were to read just the first 11 chapters of Genesis, I know we went through Genesis not too long ago as a church, but when you look at the first 11 chapters, really what it’s showing you is, is the debacle that humanity is made of God’s creation.
You read the first few chapters. You see the demise of Adam and Eve when they partake of the fruit after God tells them no. And then God comes in and promises them deliverance in Genesis 315, but then the very next generation, the very next generation discovered Cain killing Abel. And then after that, you discover the world getting so bad in Genesis six that there’s the Noahic flood. And every time something like this happens, it’s like mankind’s reminded of the reason their creation is, is to find themselves in their creator God. And so they come back to the Lord, but then they quickly leave God again and it comes up to the flood. It happens again. And then when you get to chapter 11 of Genesis, you find the Tower of Babel, the first nine verses of Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel, where mankind says, let’s build these towers for our glory, because we see ourselves as if we were gods. And in those moments, God’s confuses the earth with languages.
And out of that, some 70 plus people groups come forth and there’s different dialects, different languages in this world. And then when you get to Genesis 12, you’re introduced to a man named Abraham. Abraham was from the ur of the Chaldeans. He was a pagan man and a pagan land. But God by his grace rescued Abraham and said, through you there will come one who will bless all people groups. And then when you turn to the Gospels, you see in Luke chapter ten, Jesus calls 70 disciples. And his reasoning for doing that was to declare to the people groups all the way back from Genesis 11 that the promise of that Messiah who was to come to reach all people groups is here. And so when you get to the book of Acts and you see the Spirit of God empowering the people of God to accomplish the will of God, giving them that special gift of speaking in different languages, it’s to get the message of God to this world, to demonstrate to them the Messiah is here. The Messiah who’s whose heart is, is for people is made known. So understanding how God works is critical for us so that you can get the point. Number two, which is this. You can join him. You can join him, because the same God who’s moving in the first century is the same God who desires to move today in you and me.
And when you look at this book of Acts, it says again, and these divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each of them. And again, this is a beautiful picture of the Spirit of God made known. Because when you look in the Old Testament, you see God’s presence made known through the idea of fire. Meaning when, for example, you read in the book of Exodus. Book of Exodus when when Moses is called by God, the Bible tells you. In Exodus chapter three, a burning bush is speaking to him. By the way, if a burning bush ever speaks to you, you should maybe listen or get your head checked. But in this particular instance, this bush is speaking to him, and Moses goes to the bush and God is speaking to him through fire, and it’s not consuming the bush. If you remember the story, God tells Moses to take his sandals off. He’s standing on holy ground. And as if to say to Moses, don’t think of yourself as something great. I want your feet to touch the soil from where you came to remember yourself. You’re made of dirt, right? It’s not because you’re impressive. It’s because I’m impressive. God saying so. He speaks to him through this bush. And then when you get to Exodus 13, you see that as the children of Israel are rescued from slavery, that when they’re called out of slavery in Egypt, that God guides them by a pillar of fire at night and by his glory cloud in the day.
And so God’s presence still made known by fire. And then Exodus 19, when, when at Mount Sinai, when God gives his commandments to them. It is a cloud that covers Mount Sinai and God’s fire made known in that cloud. And so for for Israel this was incredible, that God became personal to them. And if they wanted to to know God, God’s presence dwelled at the temple. And so they could go to the the temple and discover God. But there was something interesting about their connection to the temple that Israel built this place of worship called the temple. But they can never actually go into the building. Only the priests could go in to do ministry for them. And so here was God’s presence. But there was always this distance between them and God until the New Testament, when the Spirit of God came upon each individual in the Lord to empower them to accomplish what God desired for them to do. In fact, in the book of Joel, chapter two, there’s a story told here that says, when it came to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my spirit.
You know, when you read the book of Joel. It’s an interesting book. It talks about a locust plague as a curse on God’s people. And some, some read it and think it’s a literal locust plague, and it’s destroyed them, and it’s come against them as judgment for disobeying God. And others think, well, it could be a literal locust plague, or it could be symbolic that the locusts represent a people group that’s attacked God’s people. But either either way, it’s judgment because of their disobedience. And, you know, anytime we go through something difficult in life, our tendency sometimes, as, as people is to immediately think, Has God abandoned me? You know, has God not love me? You know, have I finally done the sin where he’s like, oh, you know what, I gotta forget you. I’m going to tend to the rest of the world. Now. We kind of feel like we start to get in this place of maybe spiraling depression, like, oh, no, you know, I’m all by myself here. You start to feel isolated. And in Joel chapter two, no doubt Israel is feeling this way. They’ve been disobedient, there’s been judgment, and they’re wondering, God, do you not love us anymore? Have we completely forsaken you to the point you’ve forgotten us? In Joel chapter two, God’s reminding him that’s not the case at all. And one day there is coming a time where and he talks about the women prophesying, daughters prophesying, and and the old men dreaming dreams and young men seeing visions.
And and I want you to think for a minute just how incredible this is. Some people come to this verse and they really fixate on the idea of visions and dreams. They’re like, man, I can’t wait for that day, you know, because I’m going to have my dreams and my visions. It’s going to be pretty awesome. And people just kind of focus on that. Like, that’s the point of the verse. And can I just tell you that is not the point of the verse. That’s not the primary point of this verse at all. But but rather he’s teaching us something greater in this story. In fact, if you were to take the idea of dreams and visions and just look at it in terms of the New Testament, like what is the New Testament say to me in terms of dreams and visions? Can I tell you there’s very few verses on it outside of Acts and Revelation? When you get to the epistles, which is the prescriptive part of the New Testament for the church, very few verses on it. In fact, there’s only a couple. And when it comes the idea of dreams and visions, when it’s mentioned in the New Testament, it actually comes in terms of a warning, and it tells you be wary of people that talk about dreams and visions.
Look at this. And Jude one eight it says. Yet in like manner, these people, also relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. So it’s actually a warning on people that just focus on that. Or or in Colossians two verse 18, let no one disqualify you. Insisting on asceticism, worship of angels going on in details about visions. Rather, can I tell you really the driving point of what what God is saying in Joel chapter two? You think in the Old Testament when God spoke to his people, he would do it through a prophet. He would do it through a priest. And look at this, ladies. Priests were just men, right? So so you were dependent on men in that sense. And all of us were dependent on a figure, right, to be kind of our liaison between God and us. But when you come to the New Testament, what it’s saying in the New Testament is when God’s Spirit is made known on his people. All of us, men and women, will become royal priests for the Lord. All of us will have direct access to God, because the Spirit of God will empower the people of God to accomplish the will of God. God has made known on all of his people. It’s the point of Joel chapter two. In the early church in the Old Testament, when they would read this, they would be amazed by this, because in the Old Testament, in their practice, they would have to go to the priest.
But now what God is saying is the intimacy of a relationship with God would be made known in all of them. What an incredible gift for you and for me, that we would have the privilege to be able to join with God and the reason for which he has created us to know him in the most intimate of ways is Jesus has given his life for us, that the Spirit of God. Get this would fill the people of God to accomplish the will of God in this world. Like what a sacred gift that is for us to gather as God’s people, to know him in such intimate way, and then represent him in the way that we live in this world, to understand the power of what. Acts chapter two is saying to God’s people to live intentionally and purposefully in this world, as we represent the gift and the privilege it is to have this relationship with God and the way we carry ourselves among one another. And this is an opportunity for God’s people to say, God, thank you. Thank you. You have not abandoned me. God, thank you that you love me even, even in the darkness of my life and the things that I regret that you, you did not stop pursuing me, that I could find freedom in you and relationship with you.
And when other people may not see the worth of who I am. God, you. You’ve given me worth by giving your life for me that I could, I could respond, and loving you in return, in the way I carry myself in this world to make a difference in how I live my life in a very intentional way. Because I know, regardless of what other people say, I’ve been made for a purpose. I’ve been redeemed in Jesus. And I get the opportunity to live for his glory in this world. I mean, Joel chapter two is painting a picture that would have been incredible for God’s people in the Old Testament, even dream about. To think that I can walk with Jesus every day of my life and have that connection to him at any moment, because he is with me wherever I go. And so this is what it’s saying in Acts. Acts two, it’s saying verse four, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. And so the idea of being filled, Ephesians chapter five, verse verse 18, actually gives it to you as a commandment be filled with the spirit. Meaning this is not something that we we always walk in. Meaning you’re filling as God’s people, as is seen in your surrender to the Lord.
And this is very critical for us as God’s people to understand, because this is Counterintuitive to the way our culture teaches us today, meaning we are directly opposed as a culture to what Scripture says and how we conduct our lives. Because typically in our culture today, we tend to say things like this. You want to find the purpose of your existence. You got to look deep within you and ask yourself, whatever makes you happy, whatever makes you happy, you got to pursue it. And if anyone thwarts you from doing that, well, they’re holding you back from your happiness. And it’s not you that’s the problem. It’s them. That’s the problem. Right? And so you got to look deeper within you in order to discover the peace for which you were created, because only you can tell you how you can be happy. But can I tell you that is not the biblical message at all? Because the very first words Jesus said to us in the gospel of Mark, chapter one verse 15, it says this repent. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. And here’s what it’s saying to you and me, that the problem, honestly, is not outside of us. Certainly life can have some complexity. But the problem is not outside of us. Get this. The problem rests within us. That’s why Jesus’s first message to us is repent. The idea of repenting carries a similar thought to what it means to be filled by the spirit.
And that means this that we recognize. I didn’t make me, and I’m not going to discover the purpose for which I was created until I’m willing to surrender my life to the one who created me for his purposes. And then I say to God, God fill me. God use me. God, help me to discover the reason for which I am created in you, that I could walk in the beauty of that relationship and discover that as my life is surrendered to you, that I might join you. And the reason for which you created. So let me give you this last .22 evidences of the spirit working in my life. When you read the book of Acts, especially the second chapter, what’s the big idea God has for you. How do I really know that God’s Spirit’s working in my life? Verse 13 says this. But others mocking said they are filled with new wine. And you think as as these 120 people, now the Spirit of God is indwelling them. They’re going out and they’re sharing this message. Everyone’s hearing their native tongue and they’re like, wait a minute, these are Galileans. How do they know all these these languages, right. They’re just kind of blown away. They’re trying to make sense of this because these people are doing it with passion. They’re like, are they drunk? What’s happening here? That’s what they’re trying.
They’re just trying to just compute. We tend to do that as people. We in order to understand things, we kind of want to categorize it, put it on a, on a shelf so that we understand it. We’re like this is this must be what this means. And so there’s summations like, they got to be drunk, right. Like and what it’s saying in this passage is not they’re just out of control. Insane. Like, I think they’re more in control than they’ve ever been because it’s becoming crystal clear to them what Jesus came to this earth to do. So I think they’re completely in their mind. But here’s what I think took place. Remember, they were utterly devastated by the death of Jesus. They had followed him for three years. They thought the Messiah setting up his kingdom, and suddenly it was over. At least they thought. And then they saw the resurrection of Jesus. And they thought all those terrible things they thought were true have become untrue. And now they’re just blown away. They are blown away by what God has done. But now God has told them to wait. Wait. And then suddenly the Holy Spirit empowers them to accomplish God’s will in this world. And they are ecstatic, and they are going through this world. And even though Rome had just killed Jesus, and they aren’t afraid anymore because they’ve seen the resurrection of Jesus, and they’re moving through this world with such boldness and power, with such joy that people are looking at them thinking, what is going on? Are these people drunk? Like what? How is this even happening? But they’re demonstrating what happens when the Spirit of God transforms our life.
And when we see this through two ways. One is this number one, you make much of Jesus. You make much of Jesus. I’m so thankful for the way Jesus has worked in your life and mine. God, you didn’t have to do this for me, but you gave me everything so that I could find freedom in you. You gave me your life the most sacred gift that could ever be given. And now it’s my privilege to respond and love in return. We make much of Jesus. And number two is this we bless others. We bless others. In fact, when the Holy Spirit was working in the early church in John 15, Jesus told us this, this is what the spirit would do. Verse 26 but when the helper comes talking about the Holy Spirit, whom I will send to you from the father, the spirit of truth, who proceeds from the father, he will bear witness. Jesus says about me. How do I know the Spirit of God is really working in my life? I want to make much of Jesus because I’ve come to understand who I was without Jesus. But thank God for who I am because of Jesus.
And in so doing, I want to share that with others. I mean, Acts one eight you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, to the uttermost parts of the earth. Jesus is saying, when that spirit empowers your life, not only do you make much of Jesus, but you share that with the world around you. You want other people to discover the richness of who Christ is, so that that transforming work of God could be made known in the hearts of other people too. So what does it look like when the Spirit of God empowers God’s people? It really it’s about community being built in the sacred privilege of knowing Christ, that the glory of God would be made known through us. Guys, can I tell you that’s one of the most fantastic things about just seeing ABC over these last few years. It’s like again and again we come before us as a church. This is the sixth location we’ve been in and we do three services now. But seeing God’s story continuing to be told in the hearts of God’s people as God’s transforming our life over and over again, the story of Acts continues to unfold our story. Who was the the president of Moody Bible Institute after D.L. Moody passed away? The founder of of that Bible college in Chicago. He said this if we think we can do God’s work without the power of the Holy Spirit, we are foolish indeed.
And A.W. Tozer, who lived about the same time as R.A. Torrey, just a little bit after him, A.W. Tozer said it like this kind of as a warning to the church. He said If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. It’s kind of a scary thought to think about. In fact, Jesus warns us about that in revelation chapter two, that if we really don’t follow Jesus, he’ll come and remove our candle stand, which is a picture of the Holy Spirit. And I think sometimes there are churches that meet today that really aren’t surrendered to God. They call themselves a church. But it’s not about laying your life down for what God desires to do. But one of the things I just so thankful for being here at ABC is seeing God’s hand and again and again transform life, because it’s been a beautiful work and what God’s done in us and through us. But can I say and remind us again, the best days are still in front of us. And how do I know? Because of the power of God’s Spirit in Jesus, our best days are always in front of us. And as we surrender ourselves to the Lord, we get to see the beauty of that made known.