The Unhindered Gospel in the Hindered Church
A 20th century philosopher, Gamaliel Bradford, once said that “Life is hope triumphing over experience.” In those words, he summed up 20th century optimism. He implied that humanity would learn from its experience and improve. His hope was in the ability of humankind to change and get better.
The believer cannot accept such happy optimism. We see how, even with the advantage of God in our lives, we fail over and over again. We see how we fail to learn from experience. Even when we turn to the scriptures, we see how God’s people (whether Israel or the disciples) failed to learn from experience. Does this, then, mean that we have no hope? No. It merely means that our hope does not rest in us. Our hope rests in God. In short, I would revise the philosopher’s line to read, “Faith is hope in God’s action triumphing over mere human experience.”
This morning, I feel led to share with you from the first chapter of the Book of Acts. In so doing, I have some concerns. First, Acts 1 takes seriously the fact that the early church had seen Jesus die and that the ranks of the disciples, soon to be apostles, had been diminished by the betrayal and suicide of Judas. After the recent loss of Brother Terry, some of you may erroneously think that I am equating Bro. Terry with Jesus or vilifying him with Judas. I assure you that I am doing neither. I am recognizing that just as the early church knew that Jesus had ascended to heaven, we know that Terry has gone to be with Jesus. AND, just as the early apostles found themselves with a position that needed to be filled according to God’s timing, so does Bethlehem Baptist. I am NOT saying that the circumstances are the same, but I am saying that Biblical principles can help us understand what God is doing, just like God helped the early church understand. So, let’s approach God in prayer and see what God has to say.
PRAYER
Before I read from Acts 1, I want to call your attention to the last word in the Greek text of Acts. It is ακωλυτως, pronounced “ah-koh-LOO-tohs” by some and “ah-koh-LEE-tohs” by others, and means “unhindered.” The final verse in Acts (28:31) tells us that God’s Kingdom and what Jesus taught were being preached throughout the world with no barriers of race, geography or circumstances. Along with Dr. Frank Stagg, I firmly believe that this is the theme of Acts—overcoming barriers of race, resources, language, politics and opposition to preach Jesus.
So, how do we do that? Luke gives us a clue at the very beginning of the book. Read verses 1-2. The Gospel of Luke was written to demonstrate how Jesus introduced the Kingdom of God and taught people how to enter it. The Book of Acts is about the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, coming to empower the apostles after Jesus ascended.
There are two important terms here that we can read right over if we’re not careful. First, nothing happened in the early church without the activity of the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost in the KJV). This name for God appears 47 times as Holy Ghost and 5 times as Spirit (capitalized) in the KJV. In the 28 chapters of Acts, that’s more than the 34 references in the 68 combined chapters of Matthew, Mark and Luke. That’s more than the 45 references in Romans and I Corinthians combined. Add together the Gospel of John and the three letters I, II and III John and you only find 21 references to the Holy Spirit.
What do all these numbers mean? I believe they mean that you cannot overcome the barriers to preaching the gospel without the power of the Holy Spirit. Some churches try to organize and some churches try to imitate successful churches. No church can succeed without depending on the Holy Spirit.
Second, note that the disciples are no longer called disciples. They are no longer “FOLLOWERS,” but they are commissioned messengers, deputized ambassadors—they are “apostles” – sent ones, people on a mission. That’s what the church is to be. And if the Holy Spirit is present in the lives of a church’s members and if they are following the Holy Spirit, those members will be SENT into the community and neighborhoods, the workplaces and the schools, the clubs and the athletic teams to preach, teach, share and disciple according to God’s word.
Now, I know that I haven’t shown you anything new. This isn’t some inspirational concept that will immediately transform your lives. It is truth that you already know. You’re just saying, “When, O Lord, will you bring revival to our church.”
That’s where the heart of my message is this AM. It’s all about God’s timing. Read verses 3-8. I see that Jesus was present with the disciples for 40 days and spoke with them about the Kingdom of God and gave them convincing proofs of His LIVING. In fact, the Greek verb that is translated “shewed himself alive” has the literal idea of being present with, being in the middle of that group. So, 40 days—yeah, got that!.
Noah’s flood -- 40 days and nights, Moses on the mountain -- 40 days and nights, Elijah in the wilderness headed for Sinai/Horeb to hear the still, small voice -- 40 days, Jesus tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and nights. 4, the number of the created order in gematria (4 cardinal directions, 4 living creatures around the throne of God (birds, domesticated animals, wild animals and humans --the fish get squeezed out in the vision because of Dagon and Leviathan, I suppose, but biologically, fish and birds are really the same--birds fly in the air and often swim in the water, fish swim in the water and sometimes fly in the air), 4 rivers coming out of the Garden
of Eden, > etc.) * 10 (the number of sufficiency with 2 hands of 5 digits each and 2 feet of 5 digits each) = the amount of time sufficient for CREATION, the CREATED ORDER to understand that Jesus was ALIVE!
Yet, even after Jesus had stayed with them, worked with them, ate with them, comforted them, and trained them throughout this 40 days, they were still (verses 4 and 7) commanded to wait. Why? They needed to be sure that GOD was leading them. They needed the supernatural presence of God as well as the natural presence of God.
Worse yet, from our perspective, they were told to wait “in Jerusalem.” Note that most of these people were from Galilee. Wouldn’t you expect them to want to express their mourning for Jesus’ death, their loss at Jesus’ leaving to go to heaven by returning to the familiar environs of their own home? Don’t we withdraw within ourselves, return to the familiar and try to make ourselves comfortable when we hurt, when we mourn? Yet, Jesus ordered them to STICK TOGETHER and WORSHIP TOGETHER in Jerusalem, where the temple was, where the ministry needed to occur.
And even today, I dare say, there will be people who will abandon your church because you are without a pastor. There will be people who find that it is more comfortable to be at a lakeside on Sunday AM than in worship. There will be people who will want to hold on to the familiar, BUT it isn’t about us. It’s time to worship. Why? Because God wants to bless.
And how is God going to bless? If you have ever read Chapter 2, you know that god wants to bless with Pentecost, the outpouring of His Holy Spirit. Oh, yeah! Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover. Hmm! 50 - 40 = 10. Ah, the disciples had a sufficient amount of time to pray up for Pentecost. That’s nice! OOPS! I forgot something. Jesus was in the grave for 3 days and nights (Why? Because of the sign of Jonah, but also because in Jewish thought, it took 3 days and nights for the spirit of the deceased to reach Sheol, the place of the dead--so 3 days = a CERTIFIED death certificate). That means 50-43 days = 7 days to pray up for Pentecost.
Whoa! Now, I’m excited. 7 is 3 (God who caused to be, God who continues to be, God who will be as well as Father, Son and Spirit) + 4 the created order (as explained before). SO, the disciples pray a symbolic 7 days, the amount of time it would take for God and His creation to be in right relationship. So, the sacred mathematics would indicate that God’s timing is, once again, amazing! Jesus stayed in the grave exactly the amount of time needed to prove He was dead (3). Jesus was with the disciples a sufficient amount of time to prove to those in the physical, created world that He was ALIVE (40). The disciples (now, apostles) prayed continuously for 7 (3+4) days so that
they as created beings could know they were in perfect relationship with God the Creator.
Add them together and you get 50 days after Passover, the time Israel celebrated her "new beginning" as a people in the wilderness. What does that mean? God poured out His Spirit on the church as the "New Israel" in absolute perfect timing.
What does all this weirdness mean for us? It means we need to wait and pray to make sure we are serving according to God’s timing. Does it mean that God will always answer our prayers in seven days? No way! That symbolic amount of time (3+4), even though it was literal for the apostles on this occasion, reminds us that it is when our world becomes synchronized with God’s plan that miracles, answered prayer and victories in our lives and the world can truly begin.
But that’s not all! The Holy Spirit brings both fire and power. Verse 5 tells us that John baptized with water. Water symbolized the cleansing that took place after one had repented and asked God for forgiveness. But water cleans without transforming. The Holy Ghost was going to dip us into the fire. Fire not only cleanses as its purification process, as when we cook food, but it also transforms by consuming—burning up impurities and refining, tempering, what is precious into something that is stronger or purer. So, the Holy Spirit fire works on God’s people FIRST—purifying and transforming. We cannot expect renewal and revival until we have been changed by God’s Holy Spirit.
And then, the Holy Spirit brings power—power to change,
power to explode, power to illuminate, power to build, and power to grow. The Greek word is δυναμις and is sometimes
pronounced “DOO-nah-mihs” and sometimes “DEE-nah-mees.” It is the word from which we get dynamite, dynamo
and dynamic. In the Bible, it wasn’t used for mere
strength or force. It was reserved for the inexplicable, the
supernatural and the miraculous. And this means that if we are to be the church God wants us to be, the witnesses God intends for us to be, we can’t be explainable. We must be able to show love that can’t be explained, joy that doesn’t make sense, hope
that doesn’t seem reasonable, peace that cannot be understood, and patience that seems illogical. We have to confuse the world by being like Jesus so that they ask why and how this can be.
At Pentecost, the very time when the Old Israel was celebrating their “anniversary,” God was forming a New Israel to do what the Old Israel hadn’t been able to do—save the world by reintroducing humanity to its Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer and
Purpose. But notice the dangers to Pentecost that the apostles faced. Read verses 9-12.
They could not have Pentecost if they were constantly looking for Jesus’ return. Verse 11 makes it clear that it is possible to be so heavenly minded, so focused on the end, that we are no earthly good, so unfocused on God’s redemptive purpose. It does not mean that they no longer looked for Jesus’ return. They did and we should, too. Jesus could come at any time, but we shouldn’t dwell on it when we have ministry to do. They were wishing Jesus would come back so that it could be just like it had been when they traveled with Him. That’s not good enough. God wants us to strive for more. We cannot have Pentecostal Power if we are constantly focused on either the past or the future. We have to focus on being obedient to God NOW and hoping for His intervention as we prayerfully prepare for it. Don’t look back. Don’t idealize the past so that you say, “It can never be that way again.” It can’t, but because of God’s grace and purpose, it CAN be better. It depends on our level of obedience and faith.
Further, as you reach the end of the chapter (verse 26), they needed to choose someone to replace the disciple they had lost. Now, to some of us, this doesn’t seem like faith. To be sure, they did pray, but then they threw dice. Now, there is a Proverb that reads, “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:33) To a guy who likes to play board games where you move pieces on the map and fight major battles by rolling a die, this reads: “We throw the dice, but God decides how it lands.” Mind you, I’m not talking about gambling here. What the verse says is that we expect an answer and God provides it. Lots were used throughout Israel’s history to show the will of God. To the New Testament, post-Pentecost church—the Holy Spirit shows God’s will more clearly than any archaic form of inquiry used before Pentecost. But the experience tells us we need to look to God for the answer when filling the offices of the church—not just pastor.
And where does this answer come from? Prayer. Continuous, quality, committed and persistent prayer was necessary and even when they threw the dice, they were seeking God’s answer, God’s confirmation. We have an advantage they didn’t have. We are post-Pentecost in that the Spirit is present in the believers and in the church and we have the written Bible so that we don’t need tools of divination.
Finally, I want to share one more aspect of spiritual math with you. Note that they wanted to fill out the 12 apostles. Why? It is the divine 3 * the created order 4 = 12. There were 12 tribes of Israel, Ishmael, 12 thrones on each side of God in the vision of Revelation and 12 pearly gates in the New Jerusalem. To have a NEW ISRAEL, there had to be 12 witnesses. AND to be a NEW CHURCH there needed to be at least 120 members, just like in starting a new synagogue in Judaism. Look at verse 15. What happened? God took the 12 of right relationship and multiplied it by the 10 of sufficiency and there were 120 in the upper room. God and a sufficient number to start a new congregation in the midst of the New Israel and on the verge of Pentecost.
I know many of you are experiencing a sense of loss. For some reason or another, you wonder if God can still work in your life and in the life of your church. I know this was an unusual way to approach this text, but I truly believe this is God’s message for you, today. God has entrusted you with the task of winning and discipling the people moving into the new neighborhoods near you. Can you do that without serious prayer? Can you do that without organizing for ministry? Can you do that without a burden for removing the barriers? The disciples were deeply grieved that they had lost Jesus’ presence, but the apostles were devoutly focused on making sure God’s will became reality. Are you?
