Church Power - Part 2

Bryan Chapell: God is at work. He knows your shame. He knows your sin. But he comes to stand with you. And knowing that the Lord has already stood with Peter despite his sin, by the Holy Spirit, Peter says, "I'll tell you what you don't want to hear. This Lord Christ, you crucified, and he will forgive you."
Guest (Male): So glad you joined us for today's Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. In today's lesson, Pastor Bryan shares the second half of the lesson from Acts 2. We see in this passage evidence of the great working of the Holy Spirit, not just then, but now. You can find this lesson and many others when you visit unlimitedgrace.com. And while you're there, look for Pastor Bryan's book, Unlimited Grace. Dr. Chapell reminds us of the power and mercy of God's grace that motivates and inspires us to serve our heavenly Father. Let's hear now from Dr. Bryan Chapell as he shares the second half of the lesson, "Church Power."
Bryan Chapell: After his resurrection, Jesus says to his disciples, "You will receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." What a great promise, if only it were true. The book of Acts is designed to say it is true. And unfolding before you is the evidence of the great working of the Spirit, not just then, but now. Let's remind ourselves Acts chapter 2, as the story of the Spirit begins to unfold with power for people then and people now. Let's stand as we honor God's word. We'll look at a lot of Acts chapter 2, but begin with verses one through six. Acts 2:1: "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they (that is Jesus' disciples) 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 of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." "Now there 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." Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, this work of your Spirit, whereby tongues are loosed so that hearts would hear the truth of our Savior, is not just a message for the past but for your people now. So, Spirit, blow, opening our hearts and minds to the wonder that is ours to claim and the power by which you would use us yet for the glory of your son, in whose name we now pray, in Jesus' name, Amen. Please be seated. How do we believe the Holy Spirit is here and active? That surely had to be the question of the first Christians as well. There are people who hear things in their own language, and they say, "These guys must be drunk. They're saying all these things in strange ways." And ultimately, Peter has to respond to that. You may remember verse 15: "These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only the third hour of the day." They would have had to drink pretty fast to be drunk by now. "But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel." That's 900 years previous. "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams." This is that, that God said would happen by his Spirit nine centuries ago. God was at work. And when you see God at work over time by his Holy Spirit, and that Spirit is saying, "I'll stand with you," and you say, "You've been doing this for all that time, bringing us to this culminating moment. If you will stand with me now, having worked so well for so long, then I'll stand for my Lord too." This past week in our staff meeting, I heard a wonderful account by one of our faithful staff members describing a son who's in graduate school. He went by fast, so I may not have all the facts just right. But the son in graduate school was feeling the pressure of preparing for comprehensive exams, of having a topic approved, and also the pressure of self-doubt. "Here I am a Christian in a secular setting, and I'm wanting to write my topic about a man who has stood for his Savior, and he's obscure and he's not known, and people may not have any idea what I'm talking about or why this is important. I wonder if God is with me in this." And just as all the pressure was coming of the comprehensives and the topic being approved, he had to make an appointment across the state with his tax preparer, who only had a little open window that he could go and get his papers ready. Despite all the pressures, he went for the appointment with the tax preparer. And in meeting with the tax preparer he had known for years, the man asked the question of chit-chat, "Well, how are your studies going?" "Fine." "What are you working on?" And the young man said, "I'm working on this obscure believer who has stood for Christ," and gave the name. And the tax preparer said again, "What? What's his name?" And when he said it again, the tax preparer said, "I know his family, and it will mean everything to them that you are speaking of what he was doing for Christ." Now I must tell you, that was a wonderful moment because it said to the young man, how long did the Holy Spirit have to work to arrange this moment? I've known the tax preparer for years. The tax preparer has known that family for years. The man who served in obscurity, that I would just mention his name in this moment, that the tax preparer would just think to ask me about it, and that it would be this wonderful confirmation that people do care, that it makes a difference to make the faith of Christ known for this generation. The Holy Spirit was at work. And because he knew the Holy Spirit was with him, he knew he could stand for that work despite the difficulties that he was facing. The problem became a platform for the working of the Spirit, and when he saw that working, he became even more bold for what he had to do. It's what happens for believers in this passage as well. Once they perceive what the Holy Spirit is doing, they become more bold, not just because the Spirit has worked in history, but because they believe the Spirit will work in their testimony of Christ even now. I have to take you quickly through the passage, but Peter says in Acts 2:21, "All this was done that you think is drunkenness for the salvation of all who call upon the Lord." God is at work in this. Verse 22: "Jesus of Nazareth, attested by God through mighty works and wonders, is the one being spoken of." God was working before in all those miracles and workings. The very one who was crucified was being attested to be the Son of God who came with power. And now that he has that attestation, what happens? Verse 23: "He was delivered up, crucified." Well, that must be wrong. No, "according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God." Not a mistake. The Holy Spirit at work, orchestrating events, orchestrating history, not only having the attestation of the power of Jesus, but even in his crucifixion when any of us would have lost hope, writing in the scriptures a thousand years ahead of time. He will die, but that is not the end of the story. Even as his crucifixion is described in detail, we hear, "But he will not see corruption." Though he go to Hades, he will live. Verse 31: "He (that is David) foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption." Verse 32: "This Jesus, God raised up." Verse 33: "Therefore he was exalted to the right hand of God." And verse 33, the end, "And having received from the Father the promise of the Spirit, he has poured out this blessing that you yourselves would see and hear." It was all according to plan. It was all the Spirit at work. So now as we go into a world where people push back and don't want to listen, we say, "Well, if the Holy Spirit was working that way for the testimony of Christ, and now he stands with me, how bold I can be." As the apostle Peter himself became. Verse 36: Now Peter, having recited all that the Holy Spirit has been doing to this moment, says in verse 36, "Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you crucified." Which is not the way to win friends and influence people. "You crucified him." But this was according to the plan and the foreknowledge of God, as God was working his plan by his Spirit. And now that same God by his Holy Spirit is with you, acknowledging that you who crucified him may ask his forgiveness. How do we know? Verse 37: "When they heard that Jesus was Lord and Christ whom they crucified, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'" Verse 38: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is to you and to your children and to them that are afar off, even as many as the Lord shall call." God is at work. He knows your shame. He knows your sin. But he comes to stand with you. And knowing that the Lord has already stood with Peter despite his sin, by the Holy Spirit, Peter says, "I'll tell you what you don't want to hear. This Lord Christ, you crucified, and he will forgive you." Repent, be baptized, acknowledge before the world the one who washes away your sin in the means that he has prescribed. God is showing a world what you need to know. And it's not your strength, it's not my strength that enables me to speak. It's the Spirit working beyond us. You have to understand Peter is saying that Spirit worked 900 years ago in Joel. He worked a thousand years ago in David. He worked 50 days ago in Judas. And he's working now. I believe he's standing with me. So I'll say the things that need to be said and believe the Spirit can take over.
Guest (Male): You're listening to Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. Would you say that you're burdened by some chains of addiction, some patterns of sin, or habits of apathy? Would you like to be set free from that and enjoy joy, peace, true satisfaction? Well, the good news, it's possible. Pastor Bryan says so in his book, his powerful book titled Unlimited Grace. And based on Pastor Bryan's decades of teaching the good news of Christ and his amazing grace, this book Unlimited Grace will take you on a personal journey to discover how grace not only frees you from the guilt and shame of a sinful life, but also provides the daily fuel you need for joy, which is your strength as a Christian. Request your copy of Unlimited Grace (that's the title of the book) when you go online to unlimitedgrace.com. And the web address again, unlimitedgrace.com. And now more from Bryan Chapell on today's Unlimited Grace.
Bryan Chapell: You have to understand Peter is saying that Spirit worked 900 years ago in Joel. He worked a thousand years ago in David. He worked 50 days ago in Judas. And he's working now. I believe he's standing with me. So I'll say the things that need to be said and believe the Spirit can take over. I couldn't help but think of it this past week when one of the senior statesmen of this church came from a medical mission trip in the Dominican Republic. And he was telling Kathy and me about the experience. They were doing medical things, but he said, "You know, just at my age, I can't work in the heat of the day all day. And so after people received treatment, they offered, 'Could we tell you the good news of Jesus Christ?'" They didn't say, "Would you listen to the gospel and then we'll treat you?" They said, "No, now that you have been treated, can we tell you about the good news of Jesus Christ?" And one particular man said he would listen. And so our senior statesman asked him to open his Bible and gave him actually a free Bible, said, "Open it." A little problem, it was a Bible with small print. And the man could not read the print. And so our senior statesman took off his readers and gave them to the other man. But then as the other man began to read his Bible in Spanish, our senior statesman, who did not speak Spanish, recognized he would have to find the place in his English Bible and then tell the person where to read in his Spanish Bible. Here's the problem, he's given away his readers. And so the nurse had her readers, and she gave her readers to the senior statesman. So now he's trying to read his Bible, but it's the wrong prescription. So he cannot—I mean, he says, "I couldn't remember much of anything. So I just said, 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.'" And the man believed and received Jesus Christ. And he said, "I couldn't do a thing." The Holy Spirit did what? Open hearts, open minds, took over. Were we in our own strength to confide, our striving would be losing. But the Holy Spirit took over and did again and again as he began to share not just with one, but another and another, and ultimately a half dozen men receiving Christ as their Savior from a man who spoke no Spanish, had to share what few verses he knew out of memory, and saw the working of the Spirit. It is that Spirit that is at work in this place. Do you recognize we sometimes just align to the Bible in the past? You know, "Be strong and courageous like Joshua did. Don't be frightened, do not be dismayed, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Isn't that great for Joshua? No, it is the New Testament promise. Do not be discouraged. Do not be frightened. The Lord will be with you wherever you go by his Holy Spirit, working beyond your capacity for the great ministry of the gospel that he has put before you and for you. The Holy Spirit is taking his stand because he is building Christ's church, not in our strength but in his power. Verse 39, Peter says, "The promise is to you, to your children, to them that are afar off, even as many as the Lord shall call." The Lord is building his church. And the people to whom Peter is speaking in this moment are people who crucified Jesus, rejected him, brushed him aside, and murdered him. And Peter says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be forgiven and saved." It's an amazing thought of what God is willing to do. You know, one of the public figures that I very much admire is John McCain. His politics were not always my politics. But a true war hero and a man who would stand for what he believed is right even when his party was doing something he believed was wrong. I only met John McCain once in the airport in Denver. Going through the main lobby, kind of working my way toward the security lines. And some of you know how that works, you just kind of funnel down, get narrower and narrower. And I was getting toward the security line, looked up, and suddenly there's John McCain going for the same security line I'm going for. But as we got almost to where the TSA officers were, another man rushed past us, brushed against the senator, almost knocked him down, didn't say a word of apology in order to get three seconds further down the line than he would have been if he'd just waited. So he was ahead of us just a little bit when the TSA security officers recognized John McCain was in the line. John McCain, who had just run for president, was in the line. They said, "Senator, what are you doing in this line? Where's your security detachment?" He said, "I lost, remember?" They rejected me. But by this time, the man who had brushed aside the senator, almost knocking him down, hears the conversation. And he turns around, embarrassed and flustered, and he says, "Senator, I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was you." And the senator said, "It's all right. We're fine." So the man took out his cell phone, he said, "Can I have a picture with you?" And the senator stood with the sinner and let his picture be taken. You may have turned your back on Jesus, brushed aside, rejected. But perhaps even this day, there is that Holy Spirit witness in your heart, and you're hearing that Spirit say, though you are ashamed of a past, though you think you are too distant from him, though you think you don't fit in the church, it was always the role of the Holy Spirit to bring you in. He could have been working for centuries and generations to bring you to this place at this moment to hear. This Jesus, whom by your betrayals and your neglect was crucified, this same Jesus gave himself for you. Repent of your past, your sin, your selfishness, and know the forgiveness of your sin that is in Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. This is the promise of God. It is the witness of his Spirit speaking to you right now. Repent, acknowledge your need of him. The Spirit calls you. That's his voice in your head and heart right now, that you acknowledging your need of the Savior would be saved from your sin and for your Savior forever. Hi friend, this is Pastor Bryan. I'm glad you decided to tune in and listen, and I would consider it a privilege to pray over you today. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, what a privilege we have to come to you in prayer. Your word says that we can come to you about anything, not just the big things, and not just the things that we think we have figured out. Instead, you love us so much that you say, "Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving for your certain care, we can offer our requests to you." And then because we know that the God who controls all the outcomes of things on earth and for eternity cares this much for us, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds for whatever we face with Jesus. We do not expect our prayers to end all our trials before Jesus comes. But we know that you will use our prayers, Father, to make all things work together for good until Jesus returns. Thank you for this promise and assurance. Give us the peace and the strength we need. Through these promises and assurances we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen.
Guest (Male): That's Pastor Bryan Chapell, and you've been listening to Unlimited Grace. If you've missed anything that you'd like to hear once again, just visit unlimitedgrace.com. And when you do so, you can sign up for Pastor Bryan's daily devotional, sent right to your inbox. While you're there, also be sure to request a copy of the book from Dr. Bryan Chapell called Unlimited Grace. We'll send you a copy right away as our way of saying thank you for your most generous financial support. Once again, go to unlimitedgrace.com or you can give by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. Please be sure to join us next time as once again we endeavor to put Christ at the center of our efforts so that lives might be transformed by his unlimited grace. This ministry is brought to you by Unlimited Grace Media and continues to be made possible with your generous financial support.