Simplify: The Secrets of the Church of Acts Part III
Acts 1:4-8
The Holy Spirit Promised
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[a]in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
We have always tried to figure it out. Humans philosophize and use the intelligence that God gave us as a gift to figure it all out. We are so smart yet so limited in our view of things. The disciples had walked with Jesus and heard his teachings, yet they still missed it. They ask Jesus, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? Such a small and narrow vision of what God wanted to do. They wanted the Earthly Kingdom of Israel to be restored, God wanted the Spiritual Kingdom of God advanced. But I don’t think it is fair for us to judge them. They after all were Israelites and they viewed the world through the lens of who they were and how they were raised. And in fairness this same group will successfully establish the church and will grow it into a dynamic, powerful, world changing church with a lot less to work with from a worldly point of view than we have.
This leads me to my next point. Jesus instructed them to wait in Jerusalem to be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Why, because He knew them and loved them. He knew that on their own with all of their flaws and weaknesses could never do what needed to be done. And praise God, He loved them anyway, despite their flaws and weaknesses. He gives them a slight rebuke and reason for hope and in his words, I think there is a lot of wisdom for us the American Christian and Church of 2017. It is not for us to know the times or the seasons. Quit trying to figure everything out. I think one of the foundations of Christian wisdom is to understand and be content not knowing what is not for us to know! God has revealed things to us in simple and clear ways, it is those things he wants us to live in. And after the rebuke, comes the hope.
Point # 2: POWER
You shall receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Some people get very nervous when you start talking about the Holy Spirit, it is because we get convicted as Christians because we know we are walking well below where we should in terms of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We are to walk in Power and why, to be witnesses for Jesus. Why is the church not growing and thriving? The answer is simple, we are not walking in the Power of the Holy Spirit!
Next week we will look at when the Power came down and the real secret to why the church in Acts was so much more effective than our churches today. We will also try to get real practical on how we can be a part of the solution and not part of the problem.
Before now, I will share this song which I think expresses what God desires for us to be when the Holy Spirit comes in all his fullness!
In Christ Love,
Humbly His By Grace,
Coach Jackson
The Holy Spirit Promised
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[a]in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
We have always tried to figure it out. Humans philosophize and use the intelligence that God gave us as a gift to figure it all out. We are so smart yet so limited in our view of things. The disciples had walked with Jesus and heard his teachings, yet they still missed it. They ask Jesus, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? Such a small and narrow vision of what God wanted to do. They wanted the Earthly Kingdom of Israel to be restored, God wanted the Spiritual Kingdom of God advanced. But I don’t think it is fair for us to judge them. They after all were Israelites and they viewed the world through the lens of who they were and how they were raised. And in fairness this same group will successfully establish the church and will grow it into a dynamic, powerful, world changing church with a lot less to work with from a worldly point of view than we have.
This leads me to my next point. Jesus instructed them to wait in Jerusalem to be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Why, because He knew them and loved them. He knew that on their own with all of their flaws and weaknesses could never do what needed to be done. And praise God, He loved them anyway, despite their flaws and weaknesses. He gives them a slight rebuke and reason for hope and in his words, I think there is a lot of wisdom for us the American Christian and Church of 2017. It is not for us to know the times or the seasons. Quit trying to figure everything out. I think one of the foundations of Christian wisdom is to understand and be content not knowing what is not for us to know! God has revealed things to us in simple and clear ways, it is those things he wants us to live in. And after the rebuke, comes the hope.
Point # 2: POWER
You shall receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Some people get very nervous when you start talking about the Holy Spirit, it is because we get convicted as Christians because we know we are walking well below where we should in terms of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We are to walk in Power and why, to be witnesses for Jesus. Why is the church not growing and thriving? The answer is simple, we are not walking in the Power of the Holy Spirit!
Next week we will look at when the Power came down and the real secret to why the church in Acts was so much more effective than our churches today. We will also try to get real practical on how we can be a part of the solution and not part of the problem.
Before now, I will share this song which I think expresses what God desires for us to be when the Holy Spirit comes in all his fullness!
In Christ Love,
Humbly His By Grace,
Coach Jackson
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