Sermon Cloud

TEXT

Acts 1:1-8: “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7 He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’”

INTRODUCTION

We’ve finally come to this great book of Acts which we’ve be looking forward to for some time.  We spent a good part of last year in Galatians and discussing what the Gospel is.  In Acts, we’ll be looking primarily at what the Gospel does when a people are captivated by it.

The passage that we just read and the book we’ll be in through 2007 was written by Dr. Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke who was a traveling companion of the Apostle Paul, a doctor, historian, and educated teacher of the early church.  Luke and Acts are so close, some have suggested that we keep them side by side and call them Luke-Acts to show their continuity. 

The gospels give us four different looks at the person and work of Jesus Christ, but we only have one description of the early Church, and it is this great book.  This incredible book is not just a history of the Church; however, it is a powerful snapshot of various ways in which the Church broke through racial, economic, religious, and social barriers so that people groups, families, towns and cities were radically changed by the Gospel. 

Luke tells us in his previous letter to Theophilus, who was a Roman governor or official in a position of power who was converted to Christ, that he carefully researched the events of Jesus’ life.

In the middle of the 18^th Century in both France and Britain there was a great stirring among the people of those countries who were tired of the social and economic inequity of their day.  It was the early days of the industrial revolution and the gap between the rich and the poor was widening—a rumbling volcano waiting to erupt.  In France, it finally erupted into a bloody revolution.  But in Britain, something else far different happened.  Historians see that instead of a bloody revolution there was another revolution that occurred; it was the Great Awakening.

The Great Awakening lasted a number of decades, and for the first part of this Awakening there were men named John Wesley and George Whitefield whom God used as lightening rods which caused the Gospel to explode on the scene. 

In the first few decades of the Great Awakening, 1/5 of the British Isles found themselves drawn and swept into the Church by the power of the Gospel.  After this, there was a new kind of social and economic healing that took place because the rich got a new power and truth, which they never had before, and it changed them into a people who were merciful and generous.  The poor also received a power and truth, which they previously did not have, which caused them to be disciplined and patient like never before.  As a result, in the wake of this Awakening, there was a tremendous amount of social healing.  So much so that it caused William Wilberforce to live the rest of his days till his death campaigning to see slave trade abolished.  Three days before he died, as he laid on his death-bead, he received word that the British Empire had finally conceded to do away with slavery and its trading. 

Relations between labor forces and companies improved as new labor laws were put into effect.  There was an incredible increase in literacy which swept through England.  The rich and the poor were changed because people began to embrace the Gospel of grace and received a power like nothing they’d experienced previously.

Historians tell us that as our Western culture is cracking and crumbling, the only thing that will save our society will be another Great Awakening. 

You might think this is unnecessary since we live in a so-called “Christian nation.”  Not any more.  Think about these numbers:

• The number of unchurched in the U.S. doubled from 1991 to 2004. 

• Since 1991 the adult population has grown by 15% but the number of adults who don't attend a church has risen from 39 million to 75 million—a 92% increase!

• Every two years, an average of 1% more Americans identify themselves as non-Christian. 

• From 1990-2001, the adult population identified with no religion, from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in 2004. 

• All of this as the spirituality of American is on the rise.  Less and less are Christian, more and more are “spiritual.”  

• For San Diego, every major denomination was down from 1990 to 2004 except for Catholicism, which is on the rise. 

• The population of San Diego increases by 50,000 residents a year, and will grow an additional 400,000 by 2015. 

• Even though San Diego is growing, the number of churches planted is not coming close to keeping up with the growth.  We will need to plant an additional 400 churches over the next eight years.  Otherwise, the impact the Church will make on San Diego will continue to diminish.

So, what would it look like if another awakening happened in our day?  What would its impact be?

There is only one place to go to see what this kind of awakening would look like if it were to change an entire nation. 

It is an indisputable fact that 2000 years ago there was an awakening that completely remade one of the greatest Empires the world has ever seen.  It was led by peasants and slaves who believed that Jesus Christ was the pre-incarnate God who came in the flesh, lived and died and rose again on the third day.

This little group had no political power, no educational power, no social or economic power, yet within two centuries it swept up millions of people in a joy and peace they had never known and gave them a power and truth they had never experienced.  It became the leading force in a Roman society that was falling apart.  So powerful was this movement that the Emperor declared it a Christian society because it was the Christians and the Christians alone who were keeping the society from completely falling apart in the midst of its decay. 

There is only one document, one place to go to learn what this movement was as an eye-witness of the early days of this awakening.  No one who is scholarly doubts that the author of this one document was actually there on the front of this movement.  Dr. Luke, who wrote the book, shows us what such an awakening looks like, what it would do, how it could be sought, and how we can be empowered to see a revival in our day. 

What is a revival then?  How do you describe it?  A revival is when 1) someone revisits the original essence of something ancient and, 2) brings it to bear on our lives as it is received today.

This is what we’re going for as we look at the book of Acts. 

Today, let’s do that very thing by looking at:

1- What is the original essence of Christianity

2- How can we receive it now?

STUDY

I- What was the original essence of Christianity?

By asking that question, what we’re saying is that most of us don’t really understand the essence of Christianity. 

This sounds crazy, considering many of us, many who live in San Diego, and in our nation would disagree with that statement.  They would say God loves us, Jesus died on a cross to forgive sins, He gives His love and sacrifices Himself for others.  Really?  Do we really believe this in our day?

What kind of Christianity have you seen?  Have you seen Christianity doing in your time what it did to the Roman Empire?  Have you seen millions of people swept up into a peace and joy before your very eyes as if it were a forest fire of the Gospel utterly transforming our culture and society?  No?  Then we don’t really believe what the early Church believed. 

What do we see instead?  We either see it as a narrow, guilt-producing religion or a hospital for sick people to get comforted, but not a power like we’ve just spoken of.  This is because it isn’t vintage Christianity like we’re talking about.

Why would the Christianity that we see now and that of the past be so different?  Because the average person misses the essence of Christianity.  When the essence of Christianity is understood on a wide scale, it becomes something powerful, dynamic, and culture-changing.  The fact that this isn’t happening means we don’t fully get it.

So what is the original essence and genius of Christianity?  We see it here in the first few verses:

Verses 1-3: “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”

As I’ve mentioned, Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke, which he refers to here about the person and work of Jesus; he began to do and teach.  There it is!  He began to do and teach. 

The essence of Christianity is what Jesus had already began to do and teach.  It’s something that Luke already wrote about. 

Christianity is about what Jesus has done, not about what you have done!

It is common for the average person to say that Christianity is good for some people, because for those people it means something to them and helps them overcome anger or hatred.  But, Christianity may not be good for everyone, and so we shouldn’t expect others to agree with Christianity since all roads, if followed sincerely, lead to God.  Have you heard this?  This is very common in many denominations today and this is one of the reasons Christianity is so impotent of life-transforming power.

Christianity is not about being good, and it is not about something that we have done to get God’s favor; it’s about what Christ has done.  Well, what has He done?

He Suffered and Died

Verse 3 says that he suffered.  These are 8 letters, one word, that you could unpack for the rest of your life.  Why did he suffer? 

Because it’s not enough to just be a good person.  We do things that are sinful and wrong which leave a barrier between us and God.  It is assumes that if you just ask for God’s forgiveness and feel bad for what you’ve done, then it’s all okay and he’ll forgive you for your bad actions.  Does this work in the court of law?  If you said to the judge, “Judge, I feel bad for what I’ve done, please let me go.”  The judge, if he’s a good judge, will say, “It’s good that you feel remorse for your actions, I’m glad and that is a step in the right direction, but I’m a good judge and need to deal with the barrier you’ve created, the residue of your actions.”  What do we do with what’s left over?  We can’t run a society based upon just asking for forgiveness when a great wrong has been committed.  If we can’t run the legal system of our society in this way, how can God run a universe without justice?  If we’d impeach a judge who wasn’t just, why would we want a God who had no sense of justice either?  Why would we have lower standards for God than we do for a human judge?

God calls us to look at the anger in our hearts, our lack of compassion for our neighbor, and our unfaithfulness to our Creator and ask how those things are going to be dealt with.  This barrier has to be removed and the sin has to be paid for.  Jesus is the One who came do accomplish this for us.  It’s what He’s done. 

He stood before death and destruction that justice rightly demanded.  It has a right to take us, it has a right to demand our lives, but Jesus stands between us and it and says that he won’t let justice be poured out upon his brothers and sisters—over His dead body.  All of the demands of justice come crashing in upon Jesus and He pays our debt.  It’s what He’s done; He’s suffered.  What else has He done? 

He Proved He’s Alive!

Verse 3 also tells us that, “he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs…”

It’s interesting that he says that He proved himself to be alive.  He proved it!  In our day there is an intellectual snobbery to ancient people as if we’re far more intelligent than they are.  It’s assumed that since these are primitive people, of course they’d believe that He was alive.  That’s what people believed in those days.  Really?  Then why did He have to prove he was alive to His disciples?  Because His disciples weren’t expecting it.

Was it a hallucination?  Was it a ghost?  It couldn’t be.  He showed himself to them to demonstrate it was He they were seeing because they didn’t believe at first.  If you know anything about the Sadducees or Pharisees, you realize that they didn’t believe in this type of rising from the dead.  The Sadducees didn’t believe in any kind of resurrection and the Pharisees only believed in the resurrection at the end of days that was general for all God’s people, not for one person in history to be raised who was most definitely dead.  They didn’t believe a transcendent God could become human. 

When Jesus showed up He had a far more difficult audience than we have today.  We’ve heard the resurrection story a hundred times and will at least say, “it may have happened, who knows?”  In this day, they would not have believed it even if someone stood before them.  This is why Jesus had to give them many proofs.

Why did He do this?  We have His teaching, so what’s the big deal if He raised from the dead?  How would we have known that He defeated death and really took our sins upon Himself if He didn’t have the power to raise Himself from the dead? 

If we’re saved by being a good person or by following Jesus’ teaching, then His resurrection is unnecessary because it’s about what we do to be saved.  But if we’re saved by grace, and it’s all upon what He’s done, then He had to show himself alive and prove that He had the power to truly forgive sin by grace.

He has accomplished our salvation for us.  It is what He began to do. 

Notice that the word is used “began”.  This is important to notice.  This is a great word Luke uses.  He’s telling us something by using “began.” 

Every other founder of every other religion has already done and taught everything they’ll ever do or teach.  But Jesus is not finished with us.  Part of the essence of the belief in that original Christianity is not only that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, but that He ascended.  He’s sitting at the right hand of the Father. 

Jesus goes up not to get away from us, but to continue what He’s just begun. 

Jesus tells us that He’ll send the Holy Spirit to us who will teach us in John 15. 

He tells us in Matthew that we’ll do great deeds.  Do you know what this means?  It means that Jesus’ ascension proves that He’s not gone, but that Jesus’ ascension shows that He’s right here working in us and teaching us and calling us to continue what He began. 

Think about this.  When Jesus was on earth, He could only do and teach through His one human body.  But now, since He’s ascended and sits next to God, He can send His Spirit to do and teach through His one Spiritual body, His Church!  You and I!  Millions of human bodies can now be moved by Him to work in this world.  His power radiates from the throne and works through us!

The essence of Christianity is that He faced the terror of justice for us and now He works His grace through us.

Don’t you see!  What do you expect when you come on Sunday mornings?  What do you hope to have happen?  Anything?  Have we forgotten the ascension?  When we sit down to pray, when we read the Scriptures, when we use our mouth to speak to someone about Christ, when we open our hearts to love someone in Christ’s name, we are supposed to believe that He’s ascended and is right here working through us by His Spirit. 

We shouldn’t come to church just expecting a little inspiration, we should come expecting a revolution!!!!

You should expect to change the world because you expect Him!  He’s here; He’s ascended to continue what He’s started. 

Luke tells us that He’s about to teach what Jesus began to do and teach so we can continue on.  We need to give up on our small ambitions and being crippled by small problems.  Stop looking at San Diego and thinking it’s too big, we can never change it.  How dare we!  He’s on His throne continuing His work through His body and we are His body!

Now, we have to ask how do we receive this power, receive this essence of Christianity to continue what Christ began?

II- How can we receive it now?

Two things we need to consider:

1. You have to believe that Christianity is objectively true for everyone.

You can not receive the awakening power to change our world unless you believe the truth of Christianity is objectively true. 

You have to believe that Christianity is objectively true for everyone.

Look at verse 8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”

This is true, not just for religious people, but for everyone on the earth! 

Being a Christian means that it is a truth first!  Don’t try to figure out if Christianity works; figure out if it’s true first.  You can’t figure out if it works if you don’t first believe the nature of the universe and His work is true. 

If you believe it to be true, of course it will work because to find its truth is to find your Creator and to find what you were designed for.  This has to come first. 

If you don’t first hold to the truth of Christianity, then don’t even attempt to see if it’s relevant for your life.  It won’t work, and it never will because you haven’t received the power of the truth yet.

If it’s true, of course it will work out in your life, if you’re not sure, it won’t.  It either it is or isn’t, but one thing isn’t true for some but not for others.  It’s either useful for everyone or useless for everyone, but it can’t be just for some and not others.

2. You have to believe it is objectively true for you personally. 

If what we need is to be empowered, we have to believe that the power that comes is about the truth of the Gospel.

Real Christianity is always an intersection of truth and power.  It’s where they converge.  Where there is true Gospel truth, there is power.  Where there is true Gospel power, there is truth. 

Romans 1:17 tells us that we should not be ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation. 

It doesn’t lead to power; it isn’t part of a power; it is the power of God. 

The early church never simply prayed for bare power, they prayed in the Gospel and when the truth became illuminated to them, a nuclear bomb of power exploded in their lives and the Spirit and the truth created power!

If you don’t have power in your life, it’s because you may still have some lingering doubts that need to be confessed and for you to be turned again to the Gospel in faith. 

There was an old preacher in Wales in 1735 which none of us have probably heard of because his messages were in Welsch.  His name was Daniel Rolands.  He was an Episcopal minister who was spiritually dead.  No one liked his messages; his church was dying.  He thought Christianity meant being a moral person. 

He went to hear a man preach who was visiting, who said, “The determining factor in your relationship with God is not what you have done, but what Christ has done for you.  It is grace alone, through faith alone because of Christ alone.”  Daniel went back and thought about this for a month, until one night he was taking communion and this truth exploded in his heart.  He realized what Christ had done for him and it became a power to him. 

The first thing that happened to him was a revolution in his identity.  This is always what happens first in someone’s life as the Gospel becomes objectively and subjectively true.  You see yourself and a child of God first and everything else second. 

Secondly, the things that once controlled his life and scared him, like failure, simply lost its hold on him.  He no longer was ashamed of the Gospel. 

This truth exploded in his church and it began to experience revival.  This revival flooded out of the church into the streets of Wales to the degree that the prostitutes began to attend prayer meetings and morning services. 

People were inquiring as to why this was happening so they went and asked one particular prostitute why she was going to these meetings.  She said that there were a couple of factors.  One was that the business had but left.  People were no longer visiting the streets and looking for prostitutes.  But the most important factor she said was that for the first time people on the streets began to treat her with dignity and respect.  She couldn’t deny something was going on and had to come see.

This woman had previously been vilified by the religious people who spat upon her and scorned her and she was used by the irreligious who objectified her and treated her like peace of meat.  Not any more. 

Now if the Gospel had not come in power to these people, what would have happened if it were just religion?  Well, she may have no longer found clients, but she would have been more severely vilified and made to feel less human by the religious who spat upon her and scorned her.  Instead, these people were converted by God’s grace who understood the Gospel and treated her like she’d never been treated before. 

This is the power we need, this was the essence of the Christian faith, and this will cause a revolution.