Don’t Leave Home Without It

Jesus’ Vision for the Church:

Empowered by the Spirit

1) Introduction

Good morning. Here we are on week 6 of this 6 part series as we attempt to catch a glimpse of Jesus’ vision for the church. This week we are going to look at how the church is to be empowered. What is Jesus’ vision for the motif force behind the church? Of course the easy answer to that comes from the prophet Zechariah when he declared the word of Lord that the kingdom was to be advanced:

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” says the Lord.[i]

Today we are going to look at how Jesus envisioned the Baptism with the Spirit to be the source of the church’s power.

Several years ago our church went through a storm not unlike the one we had yesterday and lost electrical power. Because the church hosts a school in the building, any problems with the facility are usually posted on the door. On this day, the church administrator posted this sign:

This church has no power.

Every one who came through got a kick out of it. We knew that this was not intended to be a theological statement. Not the first of 99 theses to be nailed to the door of the church.

No we know that the church has a power even when it doesn’t have electricity. We know that the church has available to it the most powerful force in the universe – the power of the Holy Spirit and today, by God’s grace, we will take a look at this. Let’s pray.

Father, we need your power this morning and every morning. Fill us with Your Spirit this morning. Baptize us afresh with the power of Your Spirit. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be Yours this morning. Amen

2) Review – What have we learned in the past 5 weeks

I thought that it would be good for us to review where we have been these past 5 weeks. You may remember that we began by noting that under the Old Covenant, God provided 100’s of details about the life and worship of the community of believers. But under the New Covenant, Jesus provided us with very little details about the way we should worship or method of governance. Instead, and hopefully you will agree with me, He has provided an inspiring vision of how He saw the church.

The first thing we noted was that Jesus is responsible to build His church. We weren’t to build our church. We weren’t to build Jesus’ church. Jesus isn’t going to build our church. He is the master architect. He is the one calling the shots. Jesus is building His church.

The second part of Jesus’ Vision for the church was that it was to maintain both an death defying outward focus – i.e. bringing the good news and the Kingdom of God into all the world – and a inward focus – whereby the church would diligently pursue a deep love for each other and strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit. Jesus’ vision for the church shatters the illusion that these two thrusts cannot be integrated. Jesus said that as the church learns to love one another as He loved them and as the church exhibits the unity that exists between the Father and the Son, the gospel will go forth – the inward focus will become an outward thrust.

And finally, last week we saw how Jesus turned our ideas about leadership completely upside down. True leaders in the church would serve. And after Jesus washed the disciple’s feet he told them that he wanted all of them to so lead – to lead by serving. And by serving to the extent that we would give up our lives – that true leadership involves taking the hit for those around us.

C.S. Lewis wrote a wonderful little book entitled The Screwtape Letters in which he provides some very creative insights into spiritual warfare. The basic premise of the book is that a senior demon (who are called tempters) is training junior demons in the art of tempting us humans. Screwtape was the senior tempter and offers this observation about the church:

One of our greatest allies at present is the Church itself. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That I confess, is a spectacle that makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately, it is quite invisible to these humans.

You see the church should be making the enemy uneasy. If fact, when we are doing the work of the church – when we are living out Jesus’ vision for the church – we make the demons tremble. In fact, when you, Maria get up in the morning, the enemy takes note – “Look out. She’s up. Be on your toes. The kingdom of God is going to be advanced this morning through her.” And when you Marylyn get up, the enemy knows that his power will be weakened as you get on your knees and do God’s work through prayer.

Now, let’s look at our scripture this morning:

Acts 1:3-8 ³After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. ⁴On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” ⁶So when they met together, they asked him “Lord are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

3) God’s Persistence and Patience with our Weakness

Before we look at Jesus’ promised empowerment of the Church, as part of the context we have to take note of verse three where Jesus is said to have given:

“many convincing proofs that He was alive”

Isn’t that an amazing statement? Here are the disciples. They walked with Jesus. They heard his prophetic statements about his death and resurrection. They saw his death and saw the empty tomb. But Jesus had to give them “many convincing proofs that he was alive.”

What’s going on here? Not just one proof. Not just one convincing proof. But many convincing proofs.

[Someone from the back of the church] “Because they were thick headed.”

Absolutely. But before we judge them too harshly, isn’t this true about us as well? Don’t we need many convincing proofs? Aren’t we just as thickheaded?

Right before Jesus’ ascension to heaven, He appeared to the disciples one last time. Remember He appeared to them numerous times over a 40 day period. But Matthew records that:

“When they saw him they worshipped him. But some doubted.” [ii]

Jesus understands our doubts. Several weeks ago I was with a young man of 16 or so and he said to me:

“You know, I’m not a Christian.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because I have so many doubts.”

“So you think that a Christian cannot have any doubts?”

I attempted to share with him God’s patience with us and His pursuit of us. So be encouraged where ever you are in this walk of faith. Jesus’ vision for the church is too good to be true. Jesus resurrection is too good to be true. Have you ever had a move of God in your life and your immediate response was:

“I can’t believe it.”

Jesus knows our frame – and he will continue to give us many convincing proofs of His love for us.

4) Empowered by the Spirit – What is it? How do we receive it?

So let’s move on and look at this baptism with the Spirit that Jesus is talking about here. As most of you are getting to know my methods of approaching God’s word, you’ll know that the first thing I look to is the meaning of the words being used. And in particular, what did the words mean to the 1^st century hearers.

To the disciples, from this scripture, it is obvious that they would connect the Baptism of John with the Baptism with the Spirit. And the word “baptize” was used at that time to mean “to wash” or to immerse in water. So at one level, to be baptized with the Spirit means to be immersed in the Spirit – to be immersed in the realm of the Spirit. We live a material and physical world – but God is a spirit and the spiritual realm is a whole other dimension. To be baptized with the Spirit means that we are immersed in the spiritual realm – to experience it.

But another way to get a take on what the Jesus meant by this is to see other phrases that are used to describe the same event. In this passage, in verse 8, Jesus uses the phrase – to have the “Holy Spirit come on you.” Now this phrase was also well known to the disciples. The Old Testament has numerous examples of individuals upon whom the Holy Spirit came including Balaam,[iii] Othniel,[iv] Gideon,[v] Jephthah,[vi] Samson,[vii] Saul,[viii] and David[ix], And the 1^st century hearers knew that the Holy Spirit came upon those Old Testament individuals for a purpose – It always happened at a time of special ministry when special power was needed. And Jesus’ words rang in their ears. “Don’t leave Jerusalem without receiving this gift – this power.”

There are three phrases that Luke uses in the book of acts to describe this “Baptism with the Spirit.”

To be filled with the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit came on them

The gift of the Holy Spirit

Luke records that Jesus told the disciples that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days after His ascension.[x] In Acts 2, Luke records the fulfillment of that as the time when the disciples were filled with the Spirit.[xi] When the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius’ household, Luke records that “the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message” and as “the gift of the Holy Spirit” being poured out (as water in a baptism).[xii] When Peter describes the event to the apostles back in Jerusalem, he said:

As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said. ‘John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’[xiii]

So baptism with the Spirit and the Spirit coming upon and filling with the Spirit are used to describe one and the same event.

Now that shouldn’t surprise us. If I take this bowl of water and this sponge and immerse this sponge into this bowl of water - it gets filled. And the same is true with us. As we are open to receiving it, as we are immersed into the realm of the Spirit, we too are filled with the Spirit. The water comes upon us.

Paul exhorts the Ephesians:

“Do not be drunk on wine which leads to debauchery – but be filled [and keep getting filled] with the Spirit”[xiv]

The verb tense Paul uses here implies that this is not a one time thing. We are to be filled and keep getting filled. And since the baptism with the Spirit is the same thing, we are to take from this that the Baptism with the Spirit is something that happens many times in the Christian’s life. And that shouldn’t surprise us. Remember that we’re the thick headed ones who need to be convinced of the obvious. And there is another problem.

[taking the water filled sponge and moving around the platform dripping]

We leak. We minister in God’s power and see Him mightily move and then we’re like Elijah and we start whining about how we’re the only ones who are faithful and the Jezebel is just so strong.

We leak. Just as we need many convincing proofs – we need to be filled and keep being filled with the Spirit. And just as God is patient with us in giving us many convincing proofs, he is faithful to fill us with His Spirit when we ask.

After the disciples are baptized with the Spirit – filled with the Spirit – on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2, Luke records a second in filling in Acts chapter 4:

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly.

One important distinction needs to be made. All Christians have the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit, we are not part of Christ. But this is different from being filled. That is why Paul writes of “being filled and keep being filled with the Spirit” and why the disciples in Acts 4 were filled a second time. They did not lose the Holy Spirit.[xv]

Also from this passage in Acts we see that there is a purpose for this baptism. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not to make us feel good or get holy goose bumps or to provide a healing therapy session – even though these things can happen when we are filled with the Spirit. The purpose of the baptism is to empower us to do the work of the church. To be His witnesses. To speak the word boldly.

So what does this scripture tell us about how we are to receive this power? Jesus describes this baptism as a gift in verse 4. So how do we receive a gift? If I give a gift to Mark but he just leaves it on the pew – it won’t do him any good. As with any gift we must receive it. And we must use it. The same is true with this baptism.

It’s analogous to our sponge and water. If I hold the sponge tightly in my fist and immerse it in the water, it doesn’t get filled. Or if I was to fill the sponge with oil and immerse it – again it would not be filled with the water. It is the same with this baptism with the Spirit – It is a gift that we must be open to receiving.

Finally, I want to see what this passage has to say about the evidence of having received this baptism. What does our passage say?

In some Christian circles they say that the evidence of the baptism with the Spirit is speaking in tongues – and although that may be the evidence of a one time occurrence of the baptism, it is not the evidence spoken of here and in Acts chapter 4. Here and in Acts 4 we see Jesus citing that the evidence is that we will receive power to be His witnesses – power to do the work of the church. Jesus was emphatic – “Don’t leave home without it. I don’t want you to begin the work of the church without this power.” And so when the Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost, the church was birthed. And Peter says that it is to be no different today.

I would like to close with an example from my own life – a time when I was filled with the Holy Spirit. I am going to share a somewhat unconventional story – because the Spirit blows where He wills – and He will fill us in so many different ways and in so many different situations.

A number of years ago, when our youngest daughter was little, Barbara was out of town and our oldest grand daughter was with us. As young children are prone to do on Saturday mornings, they were up long before I was ready to get up. So I sent them downstairs to play while I kept one ear open. After a while they got bored and I heard one of them say:

“Let’s make Dad breakfast in bed.”

At that point I needed to keep both ears open. But it was very sweet and endearing as I heard them say:

“Oh Dad will really like this.”

“Grampa really likes that.”

Then one of them said:

“Dad really likes grape juice.”

And so after a few minutes I heard them coming up the new light colored carpeted stairs – with everything on a tray. A very light colored carpet.

What – did I tell this story before? You already know how this ends?

Well about half way up the stairs, I hear the tinkling of glass and an exasperated:

“OOOoooh No!”

Now fully awake I rushed to the stairs and was amazed to see how the grape juice had managed to hit every rung on its way down the stairs.

As I was blotting up the mess I noticed that I had this incredibly warm feeling towards the two girls. There was none of the usual (and Barbara knows how I can be):

Why weren’t you more careful?

Couldn’t you have ...

And so on.

Just then, the Holy Spirit came upon me and filled me with His Spirit. And God spoke to me:

“Bob. The way you feel right now towards Abby and Maia is the way I feel about you when you mess up while you are serving me.”

I was overwhelmed. And I was moved. More importantly, I was changed. Since that time, I have had a new boldness in doing God’s work. I am no longer afraid to fail. And I do fail. But that time was so powerful. He gave me the word and the power to go places I never would have dared to go.

Remember He told the disciples not to leave home without this.

Let’s just take a minute or so and wait on God. We cannot make the Holy Spirit to fall on this place – but we can ask and wait.

Father we need Your power to do Your work. Baptize us afresh with Your Holy Spirit. May this Church – Christ the King be a place where all ministry is done in the power of the Holy Spirit. Make it so Lord.

Amen.