Acts 1 - Rest Part 1
Tom Shrader introduces a four-week series through Acts, examining how Christianity spread from eleven terrified disciples to the entire Roman world in thirty years through Holy Spirit power. He emphasizes that believers must move beyond doctrinal knowledge to living out their faith, challenging Christians to be witnesses who make the invisible God visible through their lives of integrity.
“Your job and mine now that Jesus is out of the picture, your job and mine is to make the invisible God visible.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: The Rest of the Story
Recorded: July 09, 1992
Duration: 45 min
Themes: witness, experience, integrity, faith, peace, obedience, following, discipleship, new believer, struggling with emotions, analytical personality, avoiding feelings, seeking deeper faith, questioning experience, pastor, church member
Scripture: Acts 1:1-11, Acts 1:8, John 14, Romans 5:1, Ephesians 3-4, Romans 11-12, Luke 24:39, 1 Corinthians 10:1-2, 2 Timothy 3:5
Theological Themes: holy spirit, pneumatology, fruit of spirit, spiritual maturity, sanctification, becoming holy, christian living, spiritual experience
Full Transcript
Introduction: The Rest of the Story
Let me explain where we are. We had a series prepared and ready to go that we were going to stick in here weeks before summer vacation, but I found myself really into the gospel of John when we were studying it. Especially toward the end when we were looking at almost the human side of what was going on—obviously the doctrine to be sure, but the humanity of these guys. I found myself enthralled by Peter's story and what was going on in his life.
Maybe it's true confession time for me, but I don't think I'm going to tell you anything you don't already know. I don't tend to be a real emotional type of person. I'm not really into feelings—I don't think it works, and they kind of just mess things up. So I tend to be fairly analytical and at times perhaps even a little bit on the stone side, a little cold.
You and I live at a time, especially within the church, where there are lots of people that all they run on is feeling. Everything is feeling for them. They pick up that Sunday paper, they see there's a Safeway opening, and they're moved to tears. They're touched and they're rattled and this—everything. Well, those people clearly need some doctrine, Christianly speaking. But guys like me, I think, have made a pretty big mistake, and the mistake that we've made is to minimize the experience.
The Necessity of Experience
We spent some time last Sunday night in church talking about Romans chapter 5 verse 1—we have peace with God. Because I have peace with God, I have the peace of God. They go hand in hand. If you are Christian, inevitably you must begin to experience the experience of God.
If you are Christian, inevitably you must begin to experience the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. You must have the peace of God—inevitably it flows out of this. We tend to minimize the experience, or I tend to.
I'm looking at Peter's life and seeing the experience that he had face to face with Christ. Last week Jesus says to Him, "Do you love me?" three times, and he answers, "Yes." He says, "Follow me." I thought it was interesting to take the series that we had planned and put it aside and just kind of pick up with what I have very cleverly called "the rest of the story."
Our Four-Week Journey
Four weeks before we break for vacation. Today we look at our marching orders—what is it that you and I are to be doing? What are we about? Next week: the first revival meeting ever held. The third week, believe it or not, your biography is in the book of Acts. It's there. The third week we're going to look at it.
Then, since I'm leaving town for five weeks, we're going to talk about what a church should be. I figure you can't get at me or hurt me in that way.
So that's what we're going to go through in the next four weeks: the rest of the story, picking up in the book of Acts. The very next page—if you have a Bible, you finish the gospel of John, it goes right into the book of Acts. It's the very next page.
Understanding the Book of Acts
Let me give you just a quick little bit of information about it. William Barclay in his commentary writes in the book of Acts, and he says this: Luke—Luke's the fellow who wrote the book of Acts, he also wrote the gospel of Luke—Luke's great aim was to show the expansion of Christianity. To show how that religion which began in a little corner of Palestine reached Rome in a little more than 30 years.
This little religion which started with 11 guys locked in a room, scared to death, terrified, living in horror that one of the Sanhedrin and the Jewish leaders would come and round them up and kill them—within 30 years it spread all over the world. How did that happen? Luke writes this book to try to tell us how, what happens.
We're just going to work our way today through the first 11 verses, and they'll be on the screen for you. The first 11 verses of this book. Here's what he says: "The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen."
Luke's Credentials as a Writer
That's how he starts this book. He writes to the guy—he's writing to Theophilus. In the gospel of Luke, the first four verses of the first chapter, Luke says to Theophilus, "I've investigated this stuff thoroughly. I'm writing you this book, the gospel, in order that you might know the truth about the things you've been taught." He said, "That's why I wrote this book. I've investigated it thoroughly."
You need to understand: the guy that's writing the book of Acts—he is by trade a physician, by avocation a historian. He writes flawless literature. You got a doctor who likes history and literature—you got a guy that's a bit of a duck. This guy is odd, idiosyncratic all over. When he says to Theophilus, "I investigated this stuff carefully," what he's saying is, "I went out, I did my homework." He was the Bob Woodward of the day.
If you read the gospel of Luke, you'll see a very detailed account of how Mary found out that she was pregnant, of that whole early birth and first few days of Jesus' life. You know where he got that? I believe he went out and he sat with Mary and he said, "Mary, how did this happen? How did this go?" And maybe they even had people there, maybe they even said, "We've got a first-time caller, I've got a question and a comment." He did his homework and he wrote volume one.
From Gospel to Acts
That's the gospel of Luke. Now he writes volume two—it's the book of Acts. Volume one was about all that Jesus did up until the time He ascended into heaven. Volume two picks up at exactly that point.
The main character in the book of Acts is the Holy Spirit. The phrase "Holy Spirit" appears 40 times in the book. The word "spirit" with a capital S, speaking of the Holy Spirit, appears over 60 times in the book. The key verse in this book is Acts chapter 1 verse 8. Let me read it to you: "You shall receive..."
power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria, even to the remotest part of the earth." It's the key verse - two things: the Holy Spirit and power.
We live at a time now where the battle lines are being drawn. We've got Bill Clinton now with Al Gore, George Bush is going to stay with Dan Quayle, Ross Perot still trying to figure it out. I have a suspicion you haven't heard anybody say this - I have a suspicion he may not run. This is my gut reaction. I think he may fade away. This is just sheer speculation on my part. Nobody says that.
So if I'm right, I look like a hero. If I'm wrong, you go, "Well, he doesn't always talk about politics anyway, so it doesn't make any difference." But I think you see this guy backpedal - he didn't want any part of this. He didn't want to get into this fray.
You got all these parties lined up. They have everything in place and they're going to talk about how they're going to empower you as people. They have no power to give you as people. They can talk about political, social, economic solutions, but they can't give you real power - not the power that Jesus is going to give you through the Holy Spirit. That's what the book of Acts is about: How do I truly empower people? Power them through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Began to Do and Teach
It's a quick excursion through these first few verses: "Jesus began to do and teach." That little phrase "began" means exactly what it says. He started it. There's a continuing process here. It goes on. There is a sense in which the book of Acts is still being written. There's a sense in which you and I as Christian men and women are still writing the pages of the book of Acts.
Your job and mine, now that Jesus is out of the picture - Jesus is now in heaven - your job and mine is to make the invisible God visible. There's a sense in which we do that. You're His eyes, His ears, His mouth, His hands, His feet. You are. He said, "I wrote about that. Now I want to pick up the story."
The book of Acts is a transitional book. It is a book that is placed strategically between the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John - and before the epistles - Romans and all that goes after that. There is a balance in this book. It is obviously doctrinal, but it is transitional and it can be very easily misunderstood. Those are some of the areas we'll get into and talk about.
But He said this: "Jesus began to do and teach." That's our life - teach it and do it. Paul sets the pattern when he writes the book of Ephesians. Three chapters doctrine. You got to read the book of Ephesians - first three chapters, hard-hitting, difficult doctrine. You know what the first word of the fourth chapter is? "Therefore." Since all this is true, now live this way.
Doctrine Must Lead to Action
Since all this doctrine is true, now wives submit to your husbands, husbands love your wives, children obey your parents, don't be angry, slaves submit to your masters. Why? Because they deserve it? No. Because all this doctrine is true. Book of Romans, same thing - eleven chapters of doctrine. First word of the twelfth chapter, first verse: "Therefore." Since all this is true, now we've got to do it.
That's your challenge and mine. Some of you have this doctrinal stuff down cold. We're starting with a guy who's working with our junior highers at church. I said, "What are you finding? Are they pretty interesting?" He said, "We started at the beginning of the year and we said to them, 'What is a Christian? Are you a Christian? When did you become a Christian?' and asked them - made them answer these questions."
He said almost every one of them had the answers cold. Almost every one of them knew every one of these answers. But he said, "I don't know if it's in their heart." I'll guarantee in this room there's some of you that got these answers cold. You're almost sermon-proof. You almost can't get to them. Periodically there's a little crack in the armor you can see and try to get in.
But it's not just enough to know what it is. Now I've got to do it. Now I've got to be it. If I have peace with God, now I have to live a life that demonstrates the peace of God. If I'm going to walk in here with a Bible or walk in here and make some claims of Christianity, it has to reflect itself in my life. There must be a difference.
Convincing Proofs
He says that's how this started. Now I'm coming back here. He says in verse 3, "To these He presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs." If you get into this kind of stuff, that little phrase "convincing proofs" is the only time you'll see it in the New Testament.
Luke tells us in the 24th chapter, in the 39th verse, that when Jesus came back they touched Him, they felt Him, they ate with Him, He taught them. There was an intimacy there. He didn't appear once and go away and they go, "Gee, I wonder if that was really Him. Did we imagine it? Oh, I ate too much. Peter Piper - maybe it's that. Who knows what it could be."
No, He comes again and again and again. Convincing proofs. No room for doubt. And now these guys with their transformed lives - 40 days He's there speaking of things concerning the kingdom of God.
I want you to see this because we could read right through this very quickly, and I don't want to do it. We'll move quickly through it, but I want you to get this point.
Wait for the Promise
He gathered them together and He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait. Some of you have taken that command to heart - you're still waiting. He took them and He said wait for a very specific reason: to wait for what the Father had promised. What had the Father promised? The Holy Spirit.
We don't have time to talk about the Holy Spirit now. We did a tape in March of '91 - complete hour on the Holy Spirit. Obviously you could do books and volumes on it, much more detailed. If you're interested in that, all you got to do is order it and they'll make sure they mail it to you.
There's no - wait for the Holy Spirit. He tells us in John's gospel, Jesus says, "When I'm gone, a Comforter comes. A Helper comes. The Holy Spirit will come." What's the Holy Spirit? Well, the Holy Spirit is God, equal to God.
The Holy Spirit's Work in Our Lives
The Holy Spirit does a whole bunch of things. The Holy Spirit convicts me of sin. If you're a Christian, somebody just today said they were pointing out to me something that I'd said to them 11 years ago. It was very offensive. I explained to them I'm very sorry and I apologize. I am deeply sorry. I sought the person out after they mentioned it and said I want you to know I don't think I said that publicly and they said, "Well, you didn't say it publicly. You said it at our table one night at dinner." I said, "I want you to know I am really sorry."
He said, "I have pretty much forgotten about it." But He said, "You born-again Christians sometimes think you're so good," and I didn't get into debate. He doesn't have a clue about it. It's not an understanding at all. I continue to sin every day. But I've been forgiven for that. I confess that and I go on. I continue to sin, but one of the things the Holy Spirit does - he uses that term "born-again Christians." He uses it in a pejorative way, but it's Jesus' words, not mine. "You must be born again."
What's that? Well, the Holy Spirit gives me a new heart. That's something else the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit convicts you of sin when you sin. What is in there convicting you? The Holy Spirit is.
Wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit
He says to His disciples, "Wait, wait, wait. Don't go out. Stay in Jerusalem." How long till the Holy Spirit comes? The Holy Spirit then comes. He said, "This is for you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
Now that whole phrase "baptized with the Holy Spirit" has caused a lot of controversy. Here's what I think it says. It doesn't speak of something that comes after I become a Christian. It speaks of that moment. Some of my friends that are involved in some Charismatic and Pentecostal churches will ask me over and over again, "Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit?" And my answer is, "Yeah, I'm a Christian," because I think that's what that means. We're all baptized with the Holy Spirit.
That word "baptism" there actually is very similar - I'm going to give this some of you don't care, but some of you care very much about this - that's the same way it's used in First Corinthians 10:1-2. It means unified. The Holy Spirit comes and unifies the believer. We're all one in the body. We're all baptized as Christians. Now some of you aren't Christians. This doesn't apply to you. I'm baptized. I'm in the body.
The Apostles' Understanding of End Times
Here's what I want you to see because I think this is pretty interesting. It's this phrase here, and so Luke connects all of this together. Every once in a while we have this view, I think, that the Apostles are like 11 Barney Fifes hanging out. You know, they're like, "Where's the bullet? Let's figure out this doctrinal stuff and what's going on here." Like there's some kind of goofs, but "Gee, you know, it's kind of gee whiz. I'm just proud to be a part of all this and boy, oh boy, is this something, golly gee."
No, no, no. Jesus says to them, "You'll be baptized by the Holy Spirit not many days from now." And so because of what He said, they said, "Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?" They knew the Old Testament. They knew the Prophet Joel. They knew that this baptism of the Holy Spirit was somehow in their mind connected with the end times. "Is this it?" is what they're saying. I love this teaching, by the way. "Is this it?" They're all excited. "Oh man, this is the end of the world."
And Jesus says, "It's not for you to know the times or the places."
Why We Don't Know When Jesus Will Return
I need to spend just a second on verse 7. It's not for them to know the times or the places. Here you go: "It's not for you to know the times or the places." He says you don't want to know. Think about this with me for a second. What if you knew that Jesus was going to come again in the year 2020 and that you were going to live until then? What if you knew that? What would you do? What would your life be like?
Let me help you answer that. It would be like when they said the final test will be May 23rd. "Oh really? May 23rd. Well, let's all get a study group together on the 22nd. You do this chapter, you do this chapter, you do this chapter." It's like - and you'll hear it every time I go to an NBA game or talk about it - inevitably somebody makes this comment, usually somebody who's never played basketball, who's fat and unathletic, will always say, "All those guys, they're paid way too much money. They're not athletes to start with and they don't even try until the last two minutes." You hear it every time.
But this guy doesn't understand you're looking at the best athletes of the world. These guys are paid - you may disagree with the value system - but they're paid what you as a ticket holder have deemed them to be worth. They tend to be more on the labor side than the management side of most of that, and that's just the way it is.
There is a sense in that they play 82 games. They got legs as skinny as mine - legs as skinny as mine. They're pounding them up and down the court. They work very hard. They got a finite amount of energy and endurance. There's a sense in which, like any good athlete, any good businessman, any good mom, any good dad, that they pace themselves. And when they hear "Two minutes! Two minutes!" to be sure they crank it up.
If you knew it was 2020 that the Lord was coming, you know what you'd do? You'd wait to hear "Two minutes! Two minutes!" And you know what you'd do when you got the two-minute call? Hit the snooze button and say, "Call me when it's one minute, because I do want to do something for Jesus before He comes." It's a great act of mercy that God doesn't let you know when He's going to come. It's a great act of His grace to not let you know.
One time they asked Martin Luther - and you either like Luther or you don't like Luther. He's like Rush - either like him or you don't. We were listening to Rush the other night. Rush now comes on at 10 o'clock as you know on the radio, so we got it, but we can listen to him in bed. It's the second best...
By the way, they just gave me the note that channel 12 picked up his TV show. So we're all excited about that starting September 7th. All the channel 3 people don't be offended—it's at 11:35. So this is a big deal.
Luther said—they called him Martin, Marty—"What would you do if you knew Jesus was coming tomorrow?" And Luther's answer was, "I'd plant a tree." Was he some kind of eco nut or what? Why plant a tree? What's the rest of the sentence? He said, "If my job was to plant a tree, I'd plant a tree."
Here's what he's saying: I am living as though He were coming tomorrow.
Living Between Planning and Urgency
Every Wednesday morning at 4:15, I hear these same words with eyes closed, hand out. I hear Susan say, "Tommy, drive carefully," and I'm on my way to Tucson. "Be careful. Don't kill yourself."
In my life, I'm trying to plan as though I'm going to live to 2020 or 2030. I'm trying to make sound financial decisions. I'm trying to do those things. I'm trying to plan as though I'll live to 2030, but I'm living as though I'm going to live till noon tomorrow.
That's the way a Christian is called to live. To be diligent about my planning, to be sure, to be concerned about the future. I have obligations to Susan and to the girls. Sound planning for our whole family as we get older. But I'm not supposed to live like I'm going to live until 2030. I'm supposed to live like next week on the way to Tucson, if that truck goes in the viaduct, it's over.
Although I fail and fail miserably, that's the motive in my life. I am trying to live like tomorrow is it, and I would suggest you need to do that too.
The Question No One Should Ask
You don't want to know when it's coming. Everybody's sitting around: "When's He going to come? When's He going to come?" The Lord is near. You turn on Christian TV at night—you can't get a night where there isn't some guy saying, "Jesus is coming! Glory! Today should be the day!" That's fine, that's okay, but do you understand that's what these guys are saying here in Acts chapter 1?
They've been saying this for 2,000 years. Why? God deliberately left it that way so that you would live like He was coming tomorrow. This is really a challenge—that's the way you're supposed to live.
What are you waiting for? What are you holding back for?
The Call to Burn Out vs. Burn Up
I was with a guy, a pretty high-profile guy. There was a bunch of us around—I was there by special invitation. We're talking back and forth, and I'm listening to all these people talking about his ministry. They're talking about what's going on in the future and all this, and they kept saying, "Boy, be careful. Don't burn yourself out. Boy, be careful. Don't burn yourself out. Don't burn yourself out. Don't burn yourself out."
So I went up afterward and said, "Hey, you know, I'm kind of like a tag-along here, and I don't want to—I certainly wouldn't say anything to you publicly—but it seems to me like our call is to not burn ourselves out but burn ourselves up for the Lord Jesus Christ. I should be burning myself out. I should be pursuing His kingdom."
The Seriousness of Our Call
There are words that describe us in the scriptures. I like to laugh. I'm a fun guy. I'm a riot to be with—all this stuff. I like to laugh and I like to have fun. But I'll tell you what, that's not the call. Paul and Peter kept saying to us: be sober, be somber, be grave.
Now I think that still means you have fun. I took a test once that said, "Do you think the Apostles had water fights in the River Jordan?" And I put down, "Yeah, I think they probably did." I mean, these guys are looking for something to do. I think there's fun involved, but my life is deadly serious.
I'll laugh and jack around with anybody for a while, but there's a seriousness to it. I don't have time to jack around with a lot of other stuff, and neither do you.
The Trivialization of Life
How much trivial garbage is infiltrating your life? There's a fabulous book written called "Amusing Ourselves to Death." I was listening to two guys—yes, this is true—I listened in to two guys the other day, and this is the debate they're having: whether professional wrestling is really sports.
I couldn't believe it. They were serious. Who cares? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Because imagine when your life is reduced to whether Hulk Hogan is really an athlete or not. It just doesn't matter. And all of us have some element of that in our life, but how much is in yours?
A Challenge to Men
I can't speak to the women at this point—maybe I could—but to the men: you guys that say Jesus is your Lord and Savior, and that's many of you in this room. You say He's everything. He's my Lord, my Savior, my Master.
I ask you: in the last week, have you spent as much time reading what your Lord and Master has to say to you as what Joe Gilmartin has to say? Or William F. Buckley? Or Chris Matthews? Or any of them? I doubt it.
If He's my Lord and my Master—and what does that mean?—then I'm a slave. You can't serve two masters.
The Reality of Slavery
I've been thinking about that for a long time. I can move back and forth on it. What's interesting is it says this: you will serve somebody. You are a slave. Every once in a while I think, "I guess I'm a master in here somewhere." No, I'm a slave. The question is: I can't serve two masters. I can only be a slave to one master.
If I say Jesus is my Lord, my Master, then I'm His slave. What does the slave do but serve obediently, willingly, pouring himself out for that master?
That's how Paul described himself when he said, "I've got to think of some way to describe myself." He said, "The best term I can think of is bond servant." A bond servant is different from a slave because the slave could be bought out—his freedom could be purchased. A bond servant could never be, never be somehow moved out of the position he was in. Paul says, "I'm there for life." And so are you, if you know Christ.
They ask Him, "Is this the end times?" He says, "No, this isn't the end times. You don't need to know that, you goofs." He says this...
But you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, even the remotest parts of the earth. There's the marching orders. You're going to receive power. You can't do it on your own. The power is going to come from the Holy Spirit.
When's the Holy Spirit come upon a person's life? When they become a Christian. At the moment that you're born again, it's a profession of faith at that moment. I know the power - Greek word dunamis - dynamite power. I've got real power now through the Holy Spirit to be His witness.
You Are Already a Witness
We're all over everywhere - your witness. My answer to that is yes. Witnessing isn't optional. Witnessing isn't mandatory. Witnessing is inevitable. You're a witness. The question is what kind of witness are you? Everywhere you go.
There's a sign. We had a guy in one of the studies not long ago and he said, "You know, I wrestled for a long time bringing my Bible. I just can't take that thing. I get out and I get out in daylight carrying this thing and man, I kind of don't bring it and I don't like it." I kept trying to say why. You know what the problem is? Obviously He knew that once you saw him with his Bible, there was an identification that inevitably took place.
The guy that talked to me this morning - inevitably I witnessed to him when he says "you born-againers." I'm witnessing at that point. The world is watching you. What kind of witness are you? What's your life say to these people?
The Imperative of Integrity
Your job in mine is to lead a life of integrity - impeccable, above reproach. They're saying the key issue in this presidential campaign will ultimately be character. I don't know who wins at that point - I guess George. That is always the key issue for the Christian: character, integrity.
I was talking with a couple of friends of mine before we started over here last night. They got into a discussion about what does it mean to be an elder in a church? What are those qualifications? How stringent are they? When do they kick into existence? What does that mean? They're very severe. Why? Integrity.
And yet humanness - where's the tension? Nobody's perfect. I'm still going to sin. My charge is to be above reproach, to let no one speak a bad word against me. I've already confessed to you I just had a guy speak a bad word against me an hour and a half ago. Now the attitude is: how does the guy handle it? How do I handle it when you confront me with my sin? It should break my heart.
Religion Without Power
I came across this quote - William Booth, who if I remembered correctly was the founder of the Salvation Army. This quote is about a hundred years old. It's a great quote. He says, "I'm of the opinion that the chief danger confronting the coming century - 20th century - will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, politics without God, heaven without hell."
Get out the two by four - BAM. That's exactly where you live. This guy nailed it cold. That is where you live.
Religion without a Holy Spirit - all sorts of religion, all sorts of religion that holds to a form of godliness, but denies its power, Paul says in 2 Timothy. Denies its power. That's what religion is.
Christianity without Christ. I meet men and women all the time that say they're Christians, but don't believe in Christ. I had a long discussion with a guy the other day and we said, "Boy, we're going round and round and round and round. Boy, we're close, aren't we?" I said no we aren't. We're miles apart. Then he said, "But aren't we saying the same thing?" I said yes, we're using the same words - different dictionary. You say Jesus, you're talking about a great teacher. I say Jesus, I'm talking about God come in the flesh. He said, "I'm a Christian." I said no you aren't - you're not a Christian.
False Peace and Real Repentance
Forgiveness without repentance. I can't tell you how many times in the last four or five years I've sat with people - men and women, but I'll talk about the men - who've left their wife. They're shacking up with some bimbo. They got kids at home and they're going to leave the little lady. I said, "How do you feel about that?" "I got some regrets." "What are the regrets?" "Going to be hard on the kids." "No, it isn't. It's going to be devastating on the kids. What else?" "Well, that's really it. You know, in fact Tom, I have a sense of peace about this."
I tell them that peace is of Satan. You're not a Christian. "Oh yeah, yeah. In fact, I used to be in youth ministry." Maybe that's what drove you away. Maybe that's what drove you away. I don't know, but you're not a Christian. I can tell you that because you can't have forgiveness without repentance.
Politics without God - we're not going to talk about that. Heaven without hell - the dominant view when you ask people, "What do you have to do to go to heaven?" You know what the dominant answer is? The underlying of the dominant answer today is die. So you got to do justification by death - just die - because everybody ultimately gets there. If you screwed it up, you get another try or even Jesus is going to give you kind of like an after-test where He's going to let you look at your life and then maybe say, "Do you want to change your vote and now vote?"
Booth nails it cold. That's the world in which we live. And the Holy Spirit comes along. The Holy Spirit changes it all.
Time to Live the Truth
Kind of a somber message on a hot day, isn't it? Those are our marching orders. I don't know how to get around it. I assume if you're here at noon in the middle of July that you're here for a reason, and I pray that God uses these words to touch your heart.
Many of you - in fact, most of you - say you're Christians. If you are, then you better understand it's time to get going. It's time to live this stuff, not just believe it but live it. There's no choice. No action, no fruit, no repentance - you're not a Christian.
Wow. How scary is this when Jesus says, "And that last day, depart from me. I never knew you." You know we're always going with this is some slug - oh, this is Adolf...
The Fear of God
Hitler or something. And they say, "No! Didn't we cast out demons in Your name? Didn't we..." You know who He's saying that to? Church people. It scares me right down to my socks, and I pray it puts fear in you. Not in a terrifying, trembling fear, but fear of God and His reverence, His righteousness, His holiness. When you come face to face with your sin, you fall on your face and ask for forgiveness. That's what revival is.
Next week, we're going to take a look at that first meeting—pretty interesting. We'll take a look at it next week.
Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your word and the truth of it. Father, we have to race out of here. We're out of time, and God, we do look forward to the day when we are with You forever, worshipping You and praising You in heaven. This comes only through a relationship with Your Son Jesus Christ. Father, we ask You that You give us the Holy Spirit and the power to believe, and we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
See you next week.