I know this is a strange assertion, but I’ve been studying the book of Acts all morning and the thought hit me that Pentecost plus persecution produced the mightiest change agent in all of history - the local church empowered by the Holy Spirit. We are never commanded to purposely try to duplicate either, but we certainly ought to live in the warmth and glow of that early New Testament flame.
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Today, Jesus got an ovation, and it was awesome! There is something about applause during a sermon that makes me extremely uncomfortable in my own skin, yet today it was highly appropriate. The verse was Revelation 1:7, a strange text for Christmas Eve, though very appropriate when the context is compared to the night before the first Christmas.
John relates the truth of the second coming of Christ to a lost world. Billions of Christ-rejectors will “wail because of him†on the day when “every eye shall see him.†Then John closes the verse with the words “Even so, Amen!†Jesus is coming. Everyone will see Him. Most will wail. Let it be so!
I can’t help but believe that we are on the eve of the second coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, I believe a heightened expectancy of His return should mark the committed Christian life. I would further describe this expectancy as anticipation, the kind you felt on Christmas eve just before going to sleep for a long winter’s night.
On the other hand, I realize the terror that will wash over the world when He comes. Imagine the turmoil of a world which lost millions of Christians unexplainably, especially considering that millions wearing the Christian label were also left behind and a few not found in church on Sunday vanished away.
Imagine a world that has experienced seven years of the harsh wrath of God toward sin. Economic upheaval, worldwide famine and disease, political tyranny will have dominated the news. Then… the sovereign God sends His Warrior-King to fully and finally disseminate His justice. The whole earth will issue forth a funeral lament. Why in the world would John say “Amen!†to this kind of an event?
Believers in Christ get to say “so be it†to the return of Christ because all of the injustices committed against us from the persecution of the Caesars to the Sudan will be avenged at last. Righteousness will rule. Our redemption, which currently “draweth nigh†will be full. And more than all of these, our Lord will be glorified when “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of the Father.â€
We are on the eve of His coming, as was the world in 4 b.c. Do you want to applaud? Repent? Believe? Say Amen? It all depends on where you stand with the God of the universe. He’s coming tomorrow, why not invite Him into your life today? Receive Him and say, “Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus!â€
“Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.” -Acts 9:31
Most Christians are aware that Saul of Tarsus was the persecutor of the church who was converted to Christ and became one of the first and primary missionaries to the Gentile world. But I think we sometimes underestimate the impact Saul actually had. According to Acts 9:31, when Saul became a Christian and stopped persecuting the church, “then the churches had rest.”
We’re all going to leave an impact on the world of some kind. Having influence is universal, but the kind of influence we have is what is important. Saul left carnage in his wake, but Paul left the gospel in every city where he walked. Saul persecuted the church at large, but Paul established churches in Jesus’ name. As a matter of fact, the churches (notice the plural usage) multiplied.
You may not be a persecutor of the church, but you may not be helping the cause either. All of your life will be spent influencing others either for or against Christ, whether you realize it or not. We cannot shirk this responsibility, it is simply a given. What influence has your life made so far? Does there need to be a change in you so that there will be a change in the impact you leave behind?
”And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad… Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” –Acts 8:1, 4
At the close of Jesus’ ministry, just after His resurrection, He instructed the apostles and the church they would lead to “go into all the world” and preach the gospel everywhere. God has always wanted to be known to men everywhere, hence His great effort to publish the story of His Son Jesus. The apostles, however, got comfortabe in Jerusalem and though they had great success there, they neglected the great commission to go to the uttermost part of the earth.
What did God do in response? He allowed, within His sovereign will, a persecution to come to God’s people which scattered them around the region. When they were forced out of their comfort zone, they then obeyed the commission to witness to all creatures.
How often do we put off the leadership of God in our lives because of our comfort zones? Sometimes we merely miss the blessing altogether. Other times, God sends or allows circumstances in our lives that stretch our comfort zones or kick us out of them completely. The greatest strategy we can have is to get out of our own comfort zones before these circumstances have to come.
What is God leading you to do that you havent’ yet because of a comfort zone. What can you do to escape it and live to your full potential for God?
”For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” –Acts 4:20
One of the greatest excuses in life is “I can’t help it.” I’m guilty of saying it often. We overeat, we overreact, we overdo it and we say, “well, I just can’t help it, that’s just how I am.” Even worse, we’ll say, “I just can’t help it, that’s just how God made me.” Here’s a new challenge: Let’s use the phrase “I can’t help it” in a good way.
Jeremiah once decided that he wanted to quit preaching because of all the persecution. He got fed up with being mocked as a fool and shouted to God, “I quit!” He goes on to say, “but His Word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay (hold it in any longer).”
Peter and Jeremiah had something in common – they couldn’t help speaking out for God. They couldn’t stop themselves. They had the juiciest (and best) news of history and they couldn’t wait to tell the world. Why is it that so often we have just the news our neighbor needs but we decide to turn our conversation to more trivial things?
If Jesus has really saved us, if He will really save others as well, then let us find the boldness of the indwelling Holy Spirit and let us speak loudly. Let us shout it from the rooftop that Jesus saves!
