“Does Acts 1:8 Apply To Christ Fellowship? – Part 2 - Acts 8:9-25

To illustrate a point, I need everybody to please stand up.  Everybody that possibly can, please stand to your feet.  Now, holding on to the pew in front of you, please raise one leg.  Let go of the pew and hold your hands up over your head.  Now hop on that one leg.  Now, while hopping, make the sound of your favorite barnyard animal.  Aw, c’mon.  Do it.

 

That’s so funny!  I wondered how many of you would do any of that.  I did it to illustrate power.  You gave me the power to get you to do something that you would not normally do.  You gave it to me.  And I bet you will never give me that kind of power ever again, will you?  Do you know why you will not give me that kind of power again?  Because I abused it. 

 

You trusted me and I tried to do something that would make you look foolish for no good reason.  And you were wise not to do it and you would be wise to never fall for that again.  Now, I’m afraid anytime I ever ask you to stand for anything, you will think I’m messing with you, even if it’s to sing a song.  And I apologize for that.

 

I promise to never do that again and I will never use that illustration again.   Do you ever wish you had power?  Real power, not like what I just tried to do.  Do you ever wish you could get people or things to do what you want?  If you have ever had teenagers, driven an old car, owned a cat or voted you know what I’m talking about.

 

Sometimes it feels like we are powerless.  Sometimes it feels like nothing in this world is in our control, like no matter how hard we try, our world is spinning out of control and we are left looking foolish for no good reason.  I imagine we have all been there and nobody likes it.  But I have good news for you.  You don’t have to live that way.

 

Sure, there are going to be times when things are not going to be in your control.  I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be in control all of the time.  But we as believers have power.  As Jesus-loving, God-fearing, Spirit-filled Christians, the Bible says we have power.

 

This is the second of 3 messages asking the question, “Does Acts 1:8 Apply To Christ Fellowship?”  Let me read that verse to you.  It’s actually not the main passage of our study today but let me remind you of what it says so you can keep all of this in perspective.

 

“But 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.”

 

Last week, in the morning and evening services, we determined that it does indeed apply to us and today we will see what to expect when that power comes.  We saw last week that the first church, of whom this church reminds me so much, was just getting started and was maturing in numbers and in wisdom when Satan attacked, Stephen was stoned to death and Saul started persecuting the church.

 

We then saw Philip go down to Samaria and start to preach about Jesus there and it says in Acts chapter 8, verse 6 that when the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did that they all paid close attention and people were healed and it led to great joy in that city.  And that is where we pick up today.  Look at Acts chapter 8, verses 9-25.

 

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, ¹⁰ and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” ¹¹ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.  ¹⁴ When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria . ¹⁵ When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.  ¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money ¹⁹ and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”  ²⁰ Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. ²³ For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”  ²⁴ Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”  ²⁵ After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

 

Have you noticed yet that Acts chapter 8 is a big chapter?  I don’t mean it is necessarily a long chapter.  It’s just packed full of good and interesting things.  In fact, this morning we are going to focus on just verses 9-13.  I read the whole passage because I want to discuss this in more depth tonight at 6 pm and I think we will have some good discussion.  But based just on verses 9-13, I have 3 points I want to make this morning.  I want us to see that

 

·         Power is attractive

·         Power w/o truth points to self

·         Power with truth points to Jesus

 

Now, whether you want to admit it or not, power is attractive.  I hear people sometimes say that they are not really attracted to powerful people and I understand that and believe that power is not high on your list of what makes someone attractive.  You don’t necessarily need a president or CEO for a mate to be happy.  But everybody likes at least a little bit of power.

 

And that’s not just true for women looking for a husband.  Men like powerful women, too.  Not only that, but everybody wants to follow a powerful person.  I want the president of our country to be a powerful person.  If we are going into war, we want the General of the Army to be someone who can get things done and who can make good decisions and have them carried out.  We don’t want weaklings. 

 

General Patton once said, “We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people.  Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.”  That’s the kind of person we want to follow into battle, a powerful person and there’s nothing wrong with that.  In fact, 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

 

1 Corinthians 4:20 says, “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”  Power is a good thing.  Power is necessary.  And power is attractive.  It’s what made everybody want to be around Simon.  It says that he practiced sorcery and evidently Satan had given him power and all the people could see this power and they were amazed.

 

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.”  Well, Simon had power but he had no character.  The people, though, thought he must be a deity of some sort.  They say in verse 10 that he “is the divine power known as the Great Power.”  He must be God or God’s chief representative.

 

We learned last week that we are to preach, we are to tell about what a relationship with Jesus means in our lives everywhere we go just like the first church did.  And as we go we should expect to encounter situations where people have been deceived.  We know that Satan prowls around waiting to kill us dead but if he can’t be a lion who destroys, he will be a serpent who deceives. (Wiersbe. P. 101)

 

 

 

And sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference in someone who has the power of Satan and someone who has the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Samaritans weren’t stupid people.  They had just been deceived by the father of lies.  Everything God does, Satan wants to counterfeit.  God gave us marriage and Satan gives us lust.  God gave us work.  Satan gives us theft.  God gave us rest on the Lord’s Day and Satan gives us an excuse to stay home from church.

 

What’s the difference in God’s power and Satan’s counterfeits?  One word:  truth.  Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.  No man comes to the Father but by Me.”  But how do you know what is truth and what is not?  When Satan tempted Eve, he falsely represented truth.  When Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, he did the same thing.  When someone has power, how do you know what is truth and what is not?

 

Power without truth points to self.  That’s how you know.  When Simon was doing all of his magic and all of his amazing show, who got the glory for that?  Simon did.  Don’t you know his head was getting so big?  He had them eating out of his hand, calling him a god and following him around.  I imagine he was making some pretty good money too.  He drove a nice chariot.  Wore the nicest sandals.  You know, because he deserved it, right?  He probably did his shows in front of huge crowds and it was all about him.

 

Simon got false praise and gave false hope.  Because power is attractive, I’m sure he had large crowds following him around and they were glad to give him credit for what he was doing but it was false praise because what wasn’t a trick was powered by the devil.  And the reason power is attractive is because of the possibility of what it can do for a person and so the people were hoping that Simon could do something for them but their hope was false and based upon power that was without truth. 

Pope Francis continues to thrill some people with some of the things he has said in recent interviews.  He made headlines just a week or so ago again with some shocking comments and I was watching the news and they were interviewing Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York about what the Pope had said.  Dolan was just gushing about how “this man speaks like Jesus!”  And my heart was just broken to hear that because he does not speak like Jesus.

Jesus never said anything about how by doing good we can all meet together in Heaven.  Jesus never said anything about just following our conscience.  Jesus never preached that we should focus less on certain sins so that the world will like our religion.  But people hear the Pope talk like that and they love it and they flock to be around him and they say he’s great and compare him to God, all the while getting their hopes up that maybe they don’t have to change their lifestyle and they can still get to Heaven. (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/standingonmyhead/2013/05/did-pope-francis-preach-salvation-by-works.html)

Power without truth always points to self but power with truth always points to Jesus.  Read verse 12 again.  ¹² But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.  Philip was not a professional preacher but he preached what he knew and that was what Jesus had done in his own life.  It says he preached the name of Jesus Christ.

And do you know what happened to Philip?  I don’t either.  Nobody knows for sure.  Some sources say he was later thrown into prison and martyred but the Bible doesn’t say much about his later life and that would be fine with Philip because Philip’s ministry was not about Philip.  It was all about Jesus.  The power that Philip had was filled with the truth of Jesus.

 

 

One thing I love about Billy Graham and his whole family is anytime you see or hear them being interviewed they are going to talk about Jesus.  I especially like to see an interview with his son, Franklin.  You could ask Franklin who he thought was going to win the big game and he would find a way to bring the subject around to Jesus.  I saw him being interviewed by Larry King who is Jewish.  King asked Franklin point blank if he thought only Christians would get to Heaven.  And do you know what Franklin did?  He quoted scripture.

He didn’t give his opinion or say what he thought King might want to hear.  He spoke truth and it pointed right to Jesus.  He said, “Well, Jesus said in John 14:6 that He was the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no man comes to the Father but through Him.”  Franklin pointed the way to Jesus and I believe that God has blessed Franklin and all the Grahams for that.  Between Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child countless people have heard and received the Good News about Jesus.

And that is not bringing false praise to Franklin.  That brings true praise to God.  And it brings true hope.  Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  In Psalm 39:7, David said, “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.”

Can you imagine the relief the Samaritans felt, the joy and peace they had when they realized that they had been following Simon down a dead-end road but now they had found the Way, the Truth and the Life?  I heard it said that probably nothing in the world arouses more false hope than the first 4 hours of a diet and some of us know that to be true.  But true hope, hope that is built on a foundation of truth, built on the inerrant and never-changing Word of God will always bring great joy.  We read last week in verse 8 of this chapter that the Samaritans had great joy and you can too with a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Today is the day of salvation if you only put your hope and trust in Him. 

So, does Acts 1:8 apply to us?  Absolutely.  While we may not be called to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, we are called to be preachers, preaching the hope and truth of Jesus everywhere we go including Lake Bridgeport, Wise County and to the ends of the earth.  And we do have power.  Through prayer and the Holy Spirit we have the power to do what Philip did and more.  And when we preach we can expect to find those who also have power but are not empowered by the Holy Spirit.  And you can tell those by their message that points to themselves instead of to Jesus.

So, this morning let me close with 2 Corinthians 5:20 that simply says, “as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”  I implore you, I beg of you, don’t wait another day to receive the joy and peace that comes from a relationship with the risen King Jesus.  Be reconciled to God.

“Does Acts 1:8 Apply To Christ Fellowship?” – Part 1 – Acts 8:1-8

It is no secret that Satan has had our church in the crosshairs for a long time now.  Since before we became Christ Fellowship, since we were in Runaway Bay as First Baptist Church, we have seen Satan attack our body of believers.  We have seen attacks come from within when members turned on members forgetting that our battle is not against flesh and blood.

We have seen the attacks come from the outside when members of the community had such ill will towards our church for things that had happened in the past.  We have seen the attacks come in the form of disappointment.  We have seen Satan attack our finances.  We have seen him try to attack our morals, our unity, our doctrine, and our fellowship.  And a quick look around will verify that lately he has attacked us physically.

How does all that make you feel?  Does it make you feel scared?  Maybe it should.  These are dangerous times with a lot on the line.  Does it make you feel mad?  I don’t know about you but I have lost some good friends due to these attacks and that makes me mad.  Does it make you feel confused?  Sometimes it does because we don’t know where he is going to attack next and we know Satan is powerful.

Or maybe it just brings you joy.  Does it make you excited?  Does it make you smile to think that our little group of Jesus-followers can take up so much of Satan’s resources?  It has been non-stop for years now.  Satan attacks us but we have been obedient and then what happens after that?  God blesses.  We have talked about that cycle for years now too.  It is biblical for Satan to attack but when the people are obedient, God always blesses.  It just goes around and around but it is always worth it to see God bless His people in His own time and in His own way.  I mean, it’s like He’s trustworthy or something!

So, it’s good news that Satan is attacking us.  And I think it has something to do with that passage we looked at for a while in Sunday School not long ago in James chapter 1 that says to consider it all pure joy when you face trials.  We know that God is faithful and trustworthy and as long as we stay obedient and in His will, we know He will give us everything we need.

It’s also good news because it puts us in good company.  I say all the time that this church is very similar to the first church in the book of Acts and they had to go through horrible times as well.  In fact, they went through much worse trials than we have ever been through, thank you Lord.  During the Watergate scandals, Nixon supposedly had an “enemies list” of people he didn’t like or he felt had not done what he wanted.  Most of those people actually felt like it was an honor to be on that list because it was a credit to them and their integrity.

That’s how we feel about being on Satan’s enemies list.  It doesn’t always make it easy though.  It doesn’t always mean it’s going to be ha, ha, happy rainbows and lollipops.  We know that Satan is powerful and that he prowls around like a lion waiting to try to kill us.  So we can expect difficulties, like everyone can.  And that first church was no exception.

We are going to be reading from Acts chapter 8 this morning.  Here we see that first church just starting to grow and mature.  They were seeing the Lord move and provide and the Gospel was spreading all over Jerusalem.  They were just getting their legs under them and starting to grow not just in number but in wisdom.  Some of the apostles were really starting to blossom and come into their own as leaders of that church.

And then the unthinkable happened.  Some of their group had been persecuted and even arrested before but this time it went too far.  Stephen was one of the first deacons of the church and he was highly respected and well-loved by everyone but he got arrested for preaching the Gospel one day and refused to back down.  And it cost him his life.

The leaders and rulers stoned him to death just for preaching the truth.  He wasn’t even the pastor of the church.  He wasn’t a professional preacher but he preached the Word that day.  He preached the truth…and they killed him.  And you remember the story how they laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul who was there giving his approval of Stephen’s death.  And that wasn’t the worst of it.  That young man Saul started to viciously attack the church.

This is where our passage starts this morning in Acts chapter 8:1-8.  It looks like this could be the end for the first church.  This is by far worse than anything Christ Fellowship has ever been through.  Will they survive?  Will the Gospel continue to spread?  Will the first church be killed off and destroyed?  Stay tuned as we read Acts 8:1-8.

And Saul approved of their killing him.  On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. ² Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. ³ But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.  ⁴ Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. ⁵ Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. ⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷ For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So there was great joy in that city.

With the death of Stephen and the persecution of the church by Saul, I would imagine that the words of Jesus at the beginning of Acts might have seemed to have been said a long time ago in a land far away.  I wonder if the apostles even remembered what He said to them just before He went back to Heaven.  You remember how Jesus showed Himself to the apostles after His resurrection and gave them some last-minute instructions.  That powerful and popular verse in Acts 1:8 says, “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.”

I can hear the apostles asking themselves questions.  How could that be?  How could the Lord say that we will be His witnesses in Jerusalem and all over the country when it looks like we can’t even have a church in Jerusalem?  Didn’t God know this would happen?  Why would Jesus say that when it is obvious that Saul is going to kill all of us?  He said we would receive power but we can’t fight Saul.  What are we going to do?

The thing is, it doesn’t say anywhere that the apostles said any such thing.  It doesn’t say they freaked out and curled up in the fetal position.  It doesn’t say that they complained.  It doesn’t say that they did anything except to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Yes, they were scattered.  Yes, I’m sure they were scared and they were mad and sad and confused and all the feelings that we feel when Satan attacks us but I want to look at 4 things that happened to that first church in this passage and they don’t have anything to do with how they felt.  These are facts and these facts will help us to decide if Acts 1:8 applies to Christ Fellowship or not.

I want us to see that they were

·         Scattered, which led to

·         Sermons, which led to

·         Signs, which led to

·         Great joy

We first see that they were scattered.  And this had to be so disheartening to them.  Just when the church was starting to make real progress and the people were loving on each other and seeing God work in their lives and people were being changed…and Satan attacks.  Why would God allow such a thing?  Didn’t He love them?  Didn’t He care?  Why couldn’t He just leave them where they were comfortable?

Have you ever said such a thing?  Have you ever wondered why God has allowed you to go through something or to lose something or have to go somewhere?  Why couldn’t He just leave you where you were, you know, where you were comfortable?  Well, the problem with that is that God is not near as concerned about your comfort as He is your character and He is not as concerned about your comfort as He is with His Kingdom.  So if it is better for your character and better for His Kingdom, then sovereign God may allow you to get uncomfortable.

Oh, hey, did I tell you my idea for the Operation Christmas Child?  I’m so excited about our church doing this and I have an idea about how we can save a lot of money and time and still be able to share the Gospel with these kids.  Instead of shipping a whole bunch of boxes off to foreign countries, we will just stack them up in the Fellowship Hall and any child from any country can just come and get one.  Won’t that be easier?  And a lot cheaper?  I can just see kids coming from Cameroon or Chile or Uzbekistan to get their special shoebox.  And when they get here we can bring them to our worship service and I’ll preach the Gospel.  I’ll do it because I’m the preacher and that’s my job, right?  What do you think about that?

Pretty ridiculous, isn’t it?  It’s really about as ridiculous as us being concerned about our comfort when there are people across the street and around the world that need to hear about Jesus.  So, don’t be surprised when God allows us to be scattered in one way or another.  Sure, we would all love to stay right here where we can be comfortable in our pews and with no rules and we have heat and a/c and Dr. Pepper and people who love us and accept us.  But that doesn’t sound much like Jesus, does it?  That doesn’t sound much like Paul or Peter or John or any of the rest of Jesus’ close friends in that first church.  They were scattered, not because Saul was breathing out fiery threats but because there were people outside that circle who needed to hear the Gospel.

And that is exactly what happened.  They were scattered and that scattering led to sermons being preached.  Read verse 4 again.  Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.  I remind you that these people were not professional preachers like we think of today.  They were farmers, shepherds, fishermen, businessmen and women with no formal training.  Their “sermons” were testimonies of what God had done in their lives through their relationship with the risen Christ.

That next verse is pretty incredible when you think about it.  You might skip over it but it was included for a reason.  Read verse 5.  Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.  To understand the significance of that, let me read John 4:9 to you real quick.   The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans).  

Phillip was a Jew.  What are the odds that the Samaritans would have heard about Jesus if that church had not been scattered?  Do you think that if that first church had just printed up some flyers and mailed them out that the Samaritans might have decided to just come to their church some day?  Never going to happen.  No chance they ever hear the Good News if Philip had not left that church and gone “across the tracks”, if you will.  Philip went to the bad side of town to the place where no self-respecting Jew would dare go and what does it say he did?  He “proclaimed the Christ there”.

I wonder what we would have done in that situation.  How could Philip do that?  How was he able to preach when he had no training or preparation?  And how could he preach to them?  Samaritans were looked down on.  They were half-breeds, hated by the Jews and the other Gentiles.  How was he able to do such a thing?  “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.”

It wasn’t the power of Philip.  It wasn’t even the will of Philip.  Jesus said they would receive supernatural power and that is exactly what happened to Phil.  He was scattered which led to sermons which then led to signs, supernatural signs.  Read verses 6 and 7.  ^6 “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷ For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.”  Wouldn’t you love to have been there to see that?

Philip Yancy tells the story of a young man searching for proof that God exists and just happened to catch part of a healing service on TV performed by Kathryn Kuhlman.  Some of you may remember her from years past.  He saw people getting healed there onstage of all kinds of serious illnesses and he knew he had found what he was looking for.

So when Kuhlman came to a neighboring state, he made the long drive to see the service.  In this service, he saw lots of people healed of all kinds of maladies including one case that really stuck with him.  A medical doctor had been taken onstage on a stretcher and Kathryn Kuhlman healed the man of terminal lung cancer right then and there and he walked off the stage feeling great and walking for the first time in months.

This young man was so uplifted and his faith had been so empowered that the next week he decided to call the man who had been healed and tell him what it had meant to him.  So he called directory assistance and got the number to the man who lived in Milwaukee.  He called the number so excited and anxious to talk to the man.  But it was the doctor’s wife who answered.  And when the man asked to speak to the doctor, his wife informed him that the doctor had died a couple of days ago…of lung cancer.

What do you think happened to that young man’s so-called faith then?  He was devastated!  His proof of God was shattered and he would never again have anything to do with Christianity.  He wanted to see miracles and signs like Philip had performed but all he got was smoke and mirrors and deception.  People today are like little kids who want candy for breakfast but mama says no and gives them solid food.  They want the miracles and the magical healing but what they need is the truth of God that they find in the Word of God.

Warren Wiersbe (Be Dynamic, p. 100) says, “It was the apostles who had majored on miracles, yet both Stephen and Philip did signs and wonders by the power of God.  However, the emphasis here is on the Word of God.  The people gave heed to the Word because they saw the miracles, and by believing the Word, they were saved.  Nobody was ever saved simply because of miracles.”

We know that God still heals.  He never changes and what He did then He can do now if He chooses to.  But part of that power that Jesus promised them included the power to heal and it was given to be used as a sign to point the way to Jesus since the New Testament had not been written at that time.  We have the whole Word of God and so, while we can’t heal like Philip and Peter and the others did, we have the power of prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit to do even greater things through faith.

Through prayer and the Holy Spirit we have seen miracles right here, haven’t we?  Through prayer and the Holy Spirit we have seen lives changed.  We have seen people healed.  We have seen marriages restored, bills paid, people getting jobs, relationships rekindled, eternities changed and properties leased!  He says, “I, your God, do not change!”  So when Jesus said we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we can testify to the people of Lake Bridgeport and Wise County and to the entire world that is still true.  Thank you, Jesus!

That ought to make you smile.  That ought to make you say, “Amen.”  That ought to bring you great joy!  It should because it did for the Samaritans.  The scattering led to sermons and the sermons led to signs and the signs led…to great joy.  That’s what it says in verse 8.

 

There was a conference at a Presbyterian church in Omaha. People were given helium filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. Since they were Presbyterians, they weren't free to say "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord." All through the service balloons ascended, but when it was over 1/3 of the balloons were unreleased.

If you can’t get excited and have great joy about what God has done in your life and in the life of this church then how are you going to tell your neighbor about Jesus?  Because unless your relationship with Him brings a smile to your face then maybe you ought to just keep your mouth shut and go find your prayer closet and lock yourself in there for a while.

The psalmist, who knew pain and disappointment and frustration, also knew God to be a Healer and a Provider and a Sustainer.  He says in Psalm 98, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.  The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.  ³ He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.  ⁴ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music.”

Matthew West has a song out that says, “Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free
“Amazing Grace” is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King.” 

We may be persecuted.  We may get scattered.  We may be attacked.  But if we are scattered we will continue to preach.  And those sermons of what God has done for us and through us will lead to signs and miracles performed through prayer and the Holy Spirit.  And those signs will point the way to Jesus and a relationship with Jesus leads to great joy.

So, does Acts 1:8 still apply to us here at Christ Fellowship?  Well, it was spoken by Jesus to His apostles.  And He gave them specific power for a specific time and place.  So to say that we are called to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria would not necessarily be true.  But just like the Great Commission in Matthew 28 was spoken to the apostles but should be our model, this passage, too, should be our model.

Jim Denison is quoted as saying, "If you were holding the only flashlight in a dark room, whose fault would the darkness be?" In Matthew 5, Jesus tells His followers that we are the light of the world.  We have the light that the world is looking for whether they know it or not.  It’s time for us to preach it with great joy to Lake Bridgeport, Wise County and to the ends of the earth.

“Ezra’s Honor” – Ezra 8:21-23

Sometimes I hear people talk about how when they are praying it seems like the prayer is not even reaching the ceiling. Do you ever feel that way? Do you ever feel like not only is God not answering your prayer but He probably doesn’t even hear it? We all know that God does hear our prayers but sometimes it just doesn’t feel like it. So, what’s missing? What do we have to do to get God’s attention?

 

The Bible often speaks of us approaching God in His throne room. There have been times for me that I feel like I must just be the size of an ant in that throne room and He can’t see or hear me. He is looking out over His Kingdom and I am right at His feet hollering, “Hey, look at me! Down here.” What do I have to do to get God’s attention?

 

It is a question for all the ages. People have basically wondered that forever. Because obviously we have to do something, right? We have seen God answer prayer and so we know He can but we have also seen prayer go either unanswered or not answered like we want so what is the secret to getting prayers answered? Is it saying the right words? Should we pray like the TV preachers?

 

“Oh, Almighty Deity of Omnipotence, hallowed be Thy name…” Because you know God hears King James prayers better, right? Or maybe it will work if we cry and scream. In some cultures they still flog themselves with whips to punish themselves in hopes that God will see how serious they are and answer their prayers. Does He only answer a prayer that is voiced while on our knees or can I walk around and pray?  What’s the secret?

 

I don’t know about you but if I knew that God would answer my prayer only if I was standing on my head in a bowl of green Jello then I would do it. I will say or do or wear or go or be or pray however God wants, if I only know what it is. What in the world do I have to do to get God’s attention? Do you ever feel that way?

 

Well, the good news is that you already have God’s attention. Psalm 139 says, “You know when I sit and when I rise;you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me,your right hand will hold me fast.”

 

And we learned a secret last week that will help us to answer the question of how to get prayers answered. Last week we looked at King Asa in 2 Chronicles. Asa had been a true believer and it said that at one time he did what was right in the sight of the Lord but when a major decision came up, he failed to pray at all and he paid the price. In 2 Chronicles 16:9, the prophet tells Asa, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” That’s the secret. Shhh. Don’t tell anybody.

 

So we know that God sees everything and He is particularly looking for people to strengthen but He is looking for those people who are fully committed to Him. Psalm 37:4 says basically the same thing. “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” But what does it really mean to be fully committed to Him and to delight in Him? Oh, great, now I have to be a missionary in Africa to get a prayer answered!

 

Or maybe I need to try to gin up some delight and smear a smile across my aching face when my world crashes down, just so God will hear my prayer of deliverance. Is that it? Of course not. I want to look at another Old Testament saint this morning to see what he did and what he said and see why his prayer was answered. Because maybe the secret includes doing exactly as somebody else did to get a prayer answered. Well, we will talk about that as we look at the Old Testament book of Ezra.

 

The book Ezra is between the books of 2 Chronicles and Nehemiah and the man Ezra could very well have been the author of all of those books. Ezra is called a scribe and as such he was a writer but also a teacher, a priest, a prophet and an astronaut. Well, maybe not the last one but he was a busy guy. And not only was he all those things but God called him to deliver a group of Israelites out of exile from Babylon back to Israel.

 

And that in itself was an answer to prayer, I’m sure. In fact, God softened the heart of the king of Babylon and he not only allowed them to leave but he gave Ezra crazy amounts of gold and silver plus food and clothes and everything they would need and even gave him a letter telling anyone they came in contact with not to bother the group and to give them anything they needed. And the king signed it and sent them off with hugs and kisses. Woohoo! Good news, right? We’re going home.

 

But all that was the easy part. Now they actually had to go. There were about 1500 adult males but they also had wives and kids and babies and all their belongings. And they had to travel about 900-1000 miles on foot across what is today Iraq, Iran and Syria. Can anybody foresee any problems with this situation? Can you imagine that there could be some difficulties? Can you see the desert they had to cross and the mountains to climb and the rivers they would have to get through?

 

And what about the bandits and robbers and just plain mean people who might have their eye on all that treasure? What will they eat and what will they drink? Can you imagine trying to lead 6-7000 people loaded down with stuff from here to say, Chicago ? On foot across treacherous country? What is the first thing you would do?

 

Do you remember what Asa did in our message last week? When the country to the north was about to attack him, he did something that made sense. He made a treaty with the country next to that one and then those two countries turned their attention away from Asa and that prevented a war. That was pretty smart. Except for the fact that the prophet came to Asa and called him a fool for not going to God first and then Asa was punished.

 

But Ezra did better than Asa. Let’s look at what Ezra did in chapter 8, verses 21-23.

 

“There, by the Ahava Canal , I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. ²² I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king,“The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” ²³ So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”

 

 

 

 

A tale is told about a small town that had historically been "dry," but then a local businessman decided to build a tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. It just so happened that shortly thereafter lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground. The owner of the bar sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible, but the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible. The presiding judge, after his initial review of the case, stated that "no matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not."

 

It’s obvious that Ezra believed in prayer and evidently God believed in Ezra because later in the chapter it tells how all the people made it safely and all the treasure was accounted for when they got to Jerusalem . So obviously Ezra did something right. And that is what I want to look at closer this morning. I have 3 points. I want to see

 

· What he did

· Why he did it

· Why we should not copy him.

 

So, what was it that Ezra did? Obviously he prayed but what is the first thing it says he did? He proclaimed a fast. And for some of us, fasting can be kind of mysterious so let’s talk about it for a minute. What is fasting? Obviously, fasting is going without food for spiritual reasons. It’s not a diet plan. In fact, it doesn’t work very well for that. Fasting is not a way to get God to do what we want. Fasting changes us, not God. By taking our eyes off the things of this world, we can more successfully turn our attention to Christ.

But did you know that fasting is never commanded by Jesus? We are commanded to pray but we are not commanded to fast, but it is assumed that we will fast. Matthew 6:16 says, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do…” “When you fast”, not “if you fast”.

Fasting was common all through the Bible from Old Testament to New Testament.  Even Jesus fasted.  In fact, you know He fasted for 40 days before He started His ministry and I believe that was part of what enabled Him to continue doing everything He needed to do including resisting the temptation that Satan brought immediately after.

 

But I don’t know if fasting is as common as it used to be or not.  I say I don’t know because if done right, most of the time nobody will ever know if we are fasting.  That’s part of what else is said in Matthew 6, that we are not to be obvious about when we are fasting.  It is between us and God.  And that is part of what makes it so powerful.

 

Fasting requires self-control and discipline as one denies the natural desires of the flesh. During spiritual fasting, the believer's focus is removed from the physical things of this world and intensely concentrated on God. Put differently, fasting directs our hunger toward God. It clears the mind and body of earthly attentions and draws us close to God. So, as we gain spiritual clarity of thought while fasting, it allows us to hear God more clearly. Fasting also demonstrates a profound need for God's help and guidance through complete dependence upon him.

 

In Biblical times, a meal was a big deal.  It took time to prepare it, they took time eating it and it took a lot of time to clean up.  So, a meal was a big thing.  Today, it’s not usually as big of a deal.  We can run through the Mickey D’s drive through and hardly break stride.  But we do have lots of other things that can distract us from our relationship with the Lord.

 

And especially in these days when so many people are not able medically to skip a meal, much less more than one, maybe God would lead you to fast from something besides food.  Or maybe He would lead you to fast for only one meal but to include in that fast a refusal to watch TV or get on the computer.  And instead of using the time that you normally would use to have some entertainment, maybe you should spend that time in prayer.

I’ll be honest, when I fast and continue my day as usual, all I’m doing is missing a meal.  The purpose of fasting is to show God that you are fully committed to Him and that you will not allow yourself to be distracted by anything until your prayer time is over; no matter how long that takes.

 

I love being able to pray while I drive down the road.  We should be in constant prayer no matter what we are doing, but do you think you have God’s attention in a special way when you tell Him through your fasting that you are going to set aside a time when the only thing you are going to do is commune with Him?  You need to tell God that what you have to say is important enough and that what He has to say is important enough that you will give up this episode of Gilligan’s Island and you will not answer that text and you will not even eat anything until this conversation is over.

 

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  If you want to have a powerful prayer life like Ezra did and like Moses, Elijah, Daniel, Paul and Jesus Himself did then you will fast, commanded or not.  James 5:16 says the fervent prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  Fasting is fervent.  Fasting is difficult.  And fasting is humbling.  Which leads to my second point as we see why Ezra fasted.

 

Read verse 21 again.  “I proclaimed a fast so that we might humble ourselves before our God.”  How important is it that we are humble before God?  1 Peter 5:5 says, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”  He shows favor to the humble.  I want God’s favor so that’s a pretty good reason.

 

But it’s also a command.  Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  Matthew 23:12 says, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

 

 Do you want to humble yourself or do you want God to do it for you?  And if you really have an understanding of who you are as opposed to Who God is, then it’s not hard to humble yourself and fasting will certainly do that.  Fasting allows you to see how dependent on God you really are.  When Ezra took stock of his situation, he realized that there was no way he could do this.  He was totally dependent on God and so he showed his dependence by fasting and praying and showing that he was fully committed to God.  And that was exactly what God wanted Ezra to know.  And that is exactly what God wants you to know.

 

I’ll say it again.  Sometimes God allows you to be in a situation where you cannot do it.  It is too much for you to handle.  You are overwhelmed and out of control and it’s all falling apart and if it goes any further people are going to get hurt.  That’s right where Ezra was.  Ezra was a smart guy.  He was wise but if he had set off on that trip without God’s blessings, it could have ended badly.  People could have easily lost their property or even their lives.  So Ezra fasted and prayed and humbled himself and God said, “That’s right where I want you to be and there is no place safer for you than right in the middle of My will.”

 

So we have seen what Ezra did.  He fasted and prayed.  And we have seen why he did it.  He did it to humble himself before God.  Now, this 3^rd point may surprise you.  I want us to see why we should not copy him.  Yes, I said that we should not copy him.  In fact, after spending all this time talking about fasting and praying I will tell you that hearing from God and having our prayers answered is not about the fast or the prayer.

 

I was talking to a dear friend just this week who was telling me that he had been in a situation like Ezra was in and everything was going wrong and he realized he couldn’t go any farther.  He was done, spent, out of gas and out of wisdom and he didn’t even care any more.  So, he told God He would have to do it.  If this ministry was going to get done then God would have to do it through him.

 

 

And he said he immediately had this warm feeling come over him starting with his feet and going up to his head and he felt renewed physically, mentally and spiritually.  And God used him in a mighty way that day.  But then later he was in a similar situation and he prayed that God would do it through him but he kept waiting on that warm feeling.  But it never came.  And he felt he must have done something wrong because he never felt the warm feeling.

 

I don’t want us to copy Ezra and try to be like him because it is not about the warm fuzzies.  It is about being fully committed to God.  It’s not about missing a meal or saying the right words.  It’s about showing God; proving to God that you have nothing going on, no desire, no need so great as to hear from Him and to receive what he wants to give.

Yes, we should fast and pray and humble ourselves but when you start focusing on the act of doing those things, you start to put your faith in those things.  And when the warm fuzzies don’t come, you think God hasn’t answered your prayer.  Being fully committed to God means that if God leads you to fast, then you fast.  Don’t think that just because you went without food that now God has to answer your prayer.

 

You say, “But He did for Ezra!”  Yes, He did but God is so creative that His relationship with you is different than it was with Ezra and just because God did something before with somebody else doesn’t necessarily mean He will do it again with you.  God’s not as interested in my first point as He is my second point if you know what I mean.  He is not as interested in what you do as He is why you do it.

 

Being fully committed to God will include fasting and prayer.  It will include humbling yourself.  Being fully committed means that you will take special and specific time to tell God that no matter how bad I need to eat and no matter how bad I need to keep up with the Kardashians and no matter how bad I need to do anything else, God I am dependent on you and so I come to you knowing you are sovereign and that you have proven Yourself faithful.

 

And God, if you still don’t answer my prayer then I will just wait here for You until You do.  I will just be still and know that you are God.  I’ll be content in whatever state I am in.  I will consider it all pure joy when the trials come because You are God and I am dependent on you.  Thank you, Lord for hearing me.