The book of Acts found in your Bibles records for us the history of the early church and how God used ordinary people to build His kingdom.
While we call it the “Acts of the Apostles” it would be more accurate to call it the “Acts of the Holy Spirit” as it was the Holy Spirit moving through, in, and by the Apostles that allowed the church to move in power.
I vividly remember sitting in a class on the book of Acts in Bible College and having the professor explain to us all the wonderful ways that God worked through His people in the days of the early church.
That class was two semesters long, for 3 hours each week.
It was one of my favorite classes and I completely immersed myself into the book of Acts – studying, memorizing, researching, and writing papers.
But through all of my study, both then and now, a nagging question kept creeping into my head, and the question was this: If God could do such wonderful things through His people back then, why not now?
And I found out that when I asked people that question I got one of two reactions: 1) Extreme discomfort; 2) Excuses for why God doesn’t work that way anymore.
The fact is, there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that God has quit working with power through His people – and I have come to the conclusion that the fault does not lie with God, but with those of us who claim to follow Him.
And I want to do what I can to change that, and that is why I’m starting this new series today called, “Acts of Power,” because I believe that God can do through us what He did through the early church if we will become willing participants.
Today I want us to examine some scripture in Acts 1 and 2 that will teach us how to succeed as individuals and as a church.
I’d like to begin by giving you a biblical definition of success:
Definition of Success: "Accomplishing what God wants me to accomplish."
This contrasts wildly with most definitions of success that you will find, but I think it accurately reflects what success is in God’s eyes – if we can accomplish what God wants us to accomplish as individuals and as a church, we will be successful indeed.
The good news is that God supplies us with everything necessary for us to be successful in this way.
WE CAN SUCCEED BECAUSE WE ARE GIVEN…
1. THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
[My brother used to have an old pickup truck with a gas gauge that didn’t work.
He had a stick that he used to put down in the tank to see how much he had left.
The problem was, he forgot to check it most of the time, and was always running out of gas.]
Sometimes I think many of us run out of gas in our spiritual lives because we don’t rely on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Somehow we forget the fact that God Himself lives within us to empower us to be successful in everything He has called us to do.
Following Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, and just prior to His ascension into heaven, He made this promise:
“When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." – Acts 1:8
Now the Bible clearly tells us that the Holy Spirit is God Himself, and here Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will indwell each believer and two things will happen:
1) They will receive power; 2) They will tell people about Jesus.
Obviously these two things are connected – they were for those disciples 2,000 years ago, and they are still connected for us today.
If you want to be successful as a Christian, you must rely upon the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do ministry.
The power is not mine, the power is not the church’s, the power is the Holy Spirit’s power given to us to use to accomplish what God wants us to accomplish.
Now when we begin living as if we truly believe that God is literally indwelling us I believe we will begin to live differently and accomplish a whole lot more than what we are presently accomplishing.
2. A SUPERNATURAL POWER
When you have God living inside of you, empowering you to accomplish His will, I think we can safely say that that power is of a supernatural nature.
And what we mean by supernatural is that it is a power that violates, or we could say, goes beyond natural forces.
In other words, it cannot be explained scientifically within the confines of natural law, but only by a force, or a presence beyond the limitations of humanity.
And what I am trying to get across here is this: if you are a Christian you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God which means that you have a supernatural power at your disposal to assist you in accomplishing what God wants you to accomplish.
Jesus’ promise to His disciples was fulfilled in Acts 2:1-4:
"On the day of Pentecost, seven weeks after Jesus’ resurrection, the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them, and it filled the house where they were meeting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability." – Acts 2:1-4
Now my purpose in reading this Scripture is not to get into a discussion of whether speaking in tongues is for today or not, as that discussion usually is entered into only by those that don’t want to deal with the bigger issue.
And the bigger issue is this – the Holy Spirit will use supernatural means to see His will accomplished, and that is true in any generation.
Tongues, miraculous healings, and resurrection from the dead are some of the supernatural means the Holy Spirit has used, but He’s not limited to any of them.
God’s will is to get more and more people into the kingdom, and He will empower us supernaturally to see that that becomes a reality.
Let’s see what happened as a result of the supernatural resting on the disciples.
"Godly Jews from many nations were living in Jerusalem at that time. When they heard this sound, they came running to see what it was all about, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers…we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!" – Acts 2:5-6, 11
God’s will that He wanted accomplished was to win these people over to a relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ.
And He provided the supernatural means necessary to get this done.
When we are tuned into God’s will He will use the means necessary to see His will accomplished, and when His will is accomplished, we have been successful.
So perhaps you’re fearful of telling others about Christ, or about getting involved in a new ministry God has called you to, or stepping out in a faith venture…
…but when you realize that God will work through you supernaturally to see His will accomplished you’ll begin to understand that the power is available to do whatever it is that needs to get done.
The purpose behind God giving these people the ability to speak in languages they had not previously known was not for prayer, it was not to impress others, but was specifically given to win more people for the kingdom.
3. A VISION FOR THE FUTURE
When the Apostle Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to understand that supernatural power was available to him, he was changed from a wimp into a warrior, from a spineless turncoat to a fired up, bold, fearless, spokesman for God.
And he stood before a crowd of thousands and quoted the prophet Joel:
"`In the last days, God said, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.’" – Acts 2:17
The “last days” were the days ushered in by the Messiah, Jesus Christ – it is the period of time from the beginning of the church until Christ’s return.
In other words, it is the period of time that we presently live in, and in this time it was prophesied that it would be a time of prophesy, visions, and dreams.
We are not told when each and every event prophesied by Joel would take place, only that they would all take place sometime during these “last days.”
What is important for us to note, is that this period of time is a time to see God’s vision for the future – and for the church that means that we are given the ability to plan, to develop, and to work toward that day when Jesus returns.
God has revealed to us, and will continue to make known, His vision for the future.
What we must do is simply obey His direction if we are to be successful.
Today is a day to be a people of vision – a people who are not focused on personal preferences, but on bringing multitudes of people into the kingdom.
It is a time of clarity and focus – a time when God’s people are successful because they are seeing things through God’s eyes, and doing things according to His will.
4. A MESSAGE THAT CHANGES LIVES
The Spirit imparts to us words, that when shared with those around us, have the potential to change people’s eternal destinies.
The words aren’t just for preachers, but for everyone who claims Christ as Lord.
The Apostle Peter preached his first sermon, and it was probably one of the greatest sermons ever preached – and He spoke of Jesus as the Messiah, who had come to earth and died for our sins, and rose from the dead.
Some people in the crowd were convicted by this message and felt guilty because they had rejected the Messiah, so they asked Peter, “What should we do?
"Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God." – Acts 2:38-39
This message was so simple, but extremely powerful, because it was a message he had been empowered by the Holy Spirit to give.
And if we want to be successful in accomplishing all that God wants us to accomplish, we will take this message that changes lives and share it with others.
We are able to tell people to repent, to turn away from their sins, to begin following God’s ways instead of their own, and to seal their commitment in the watery grave of Christian baptism.
And what is the result? Their lives are changed as they are filled with the Spirit and able to join us in our task of accomplishing what God wants accomplished.
"Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church—about three thousand in all." – Acts 2:41
The same thing can happen to us today, because we have the message God has given to us, the one that never goes out of style.
5. A BELIEF THAT GOD CAN DO ANYTHING
Now there were some phenomenal things that took place in the church immediately following this, but I want to share with you just the first part of one verse:
A deep sense of awe came over them all… – Acts 2:43a
Why were they so awed by what had taken place? There could be any number of reasons: they were seeing miracles happen all around them; they were seeing lives changed by the score; they were filled with anointed excitement – but most of all, I think they now fully believed that everything God has said in the past was true.
It wasn’t that they thought God was a liar up to this point, but until you can actually judge a promise by your senses, you don’t have complete faith.
But now they knew, without any doubt, that everything God said was true, and that they really could change the world around them.
The could be successful, as long as they continued to work toward accomplishing what God wanted accomplished.
Conclusion:
The exact same thing is true for us today – we have the same Holy Spirit they had; we have the same power available; the same vision, and the same message.
My question is: Do we believe? Do we stand in awe in the presence of Almighty God?
I believe we do, and we will in greater measure, as we find ourselves surrendering to the will of God, and walking away from the will of self.
