"The
Bible tells us that fiery trials will happen to try us, and also that the fire
will try our works, whether they be wood, stubble, hay, or whether gold, silver
or precious stones."
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth.
"Continue
to pray for us as we become more established, and we try to become more
effective at what we do."
a. Last week we talked
about Daniel and the three Hebrew Boys, who went into the fire. We discussed
how fiery trials loose you from being bound.
b. Life is 10% what
happens to you, and 90% how you respond to what happened to you.
11. This week we will talk about another group who were on fire,
but were fireproof, the disciples.
a. Today we will focus
on Acts 1:8 because you are unable
to be fireproof without a real genuine walk with God.
b. The fire will test
you to see if you are really just going through the motions, or if you are one
of those people who really want to get closer to God and affect others.
c. The disciples needed
the power of God in order to be effective in what they were doing for the grace
of God.
d. When the fire comes
you will really be able to tell if you are doing things by the flesh, or if you
are really tapped into the true power of God.
e. If you don't have
faith in a power that's bigger than your own perspective, you will not be effective.
f. There is no such
thing as a perfect church. When you go in the church you got to deal with
sinful people, no matter which church it is.
h. Getting along with
each other is just accepting each other the way they are right now, and getting
away from rules, which don't work anyway.
i. Rules and religion
don't help nobody, it's relationship that helps people.
j. Acts 2:37-41
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked
in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and
brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter
said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost.
39 For the
promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call.
40 And with
many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this
untoward generation.
41 Then they
that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added
unto them about three thousand souls.
i. The influence that
they had inside of that room began to be spread to the outside. That's what
needs to happen here. If we can get unified on the inside, we can influence the
outside.
ii. Stay away from people
who say that doing something for God isn't going to cause friction. Stop
listening to that garbage.
42
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
i.
In
other words, they got involved. Not only did they get involved with the service
of God, they got involved with one another. It's easy to get involved with
a service, but the hard thing is to stay
involved with people you don't necessarily like or relate with.
ii.
Note
the word fellowship. You cannot love God without loving God's people. If you
say you are in love with God and you don't love His people, you are a liar.
iii.
When
you are connected to God the way you should be, nothing will make you
disconnect from the brethren.
l.
You
have to be fireproof when you're dealing with people. People will let you down
- not just unsaved folks, people in the church.
i.
Saved
people are capable of the same things as unsaved people, and if you are not
focused on God, you will end up out of church because someone got you
distracted.
m.
If
you do what you do because of people, you won't be around long.
i.
When
you get connected to God, nothing stops you from doing what God wants you to
do, because you're not looking for people's approval. When you come into church
looking for approval, that's when you will really get discouraged because
everybody's not going to approve of you.
ii.
The
disciples were connected to God, and that's what connected them to each other.
n.
1 John 4:7-8
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of
God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
i. They continued
steadfastly - they didn't look for an excuse to get out, they looked for a
reason to get in.
ii. They had
communication, affection, and concern for one another.
o.
A
real leader doesn't look for someone to give to them, they look to give to
others. And when you don't look for people to give you things, then it frees
you to be who you really are.
i.
When
we get into relationships, and make it all about helping somebody else, that's
when we get blessed.
2. It's hard for the enemy to bring division to a praying
church.
a.
Acts 2:43-44
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and
signs were done by the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all
things common;
b.
Unity
is important, but the Bible never trills us to strive for unity. Unity is a
by-product of something else.
i.
When
the people are truly involved with God, the unity comes naturally. We
automatically want to help one another, and say it's not about me, it's about
you.
ii.
When
we're not walking with God, everyone comes into church looking to be given to.
c.
From
these Verses we see the influence of the Holy Spirit on His people. Who are YOU
being influenced by?
3. In Acts 3, they were able to take that
influence from the inside to the outside. A lame man was healed, and then in Acts 4, the fire began to
burn.
a.
A
lot of times we are so geared towards soul-winning, that we bring people into a
house that is not together and is dysfunctional.
b.
We
need to take the time to get around each other and become unified by the Holy
Spirit so that we can go out and influence this generation.
c.
The
church asks why are we not as effective as we used to be? Because back then the
church used to spend time together.
d.
You
can't tear something down and expect it to grow. That's what division does.
Division says you got one group of people that are trying to build up, and
another that are trying to tear down.
e.
Acts 4:18 And they called them, and commanded them not
to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
i.
This
is what the enemy does, he tried to infiltrate anything that's trying to go
forward for God. The enemy will do anything to stop the work of God, because he
knows that once it gains momentum there is no way he is going to stop me.
ii.
It
only takes one person to cause disunity, even if you have 10,000 people in the
church - because disunity spreads.
19 But Peter
and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God
to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
20 For we
cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
21 So when they
had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might
punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which
was done.
22 For the man
was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.
23 And being
let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests
and elders had said unto them.
i. Didn't we read about
this in Daniel, about how they went into their own company?
24 And when
they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said,
Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all
that in them is:
23 And being
let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests
and elders had said unto them.
24 And when
they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said,
Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all
that in them is:
25 Who by the
mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people
imagine vain things?
26 The kings of
the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and
against his Christ.
27 For of a
truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered
together,
28 For to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
i. In other words, the
enemy doesn't have power, but you are (God is) the one who determines what will
be done.
29 And now,
Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all
boldness they may speak thy word,
i. They said Lord we're
not praying that you would kill these people or shut their mouths, or even
snatch us out the fire, we're praying that we may do with boldness what you
called us to do!
ii. Someone said what do
you do when the enemy begins to attack you? You keep doing what God called you
to do in the first place.
30 By
stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by
the name of thy holy child Jesus.
31 And when
they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with
boldness.
i. Peter and John could
have gotten discouraged. What would have happened if they had given up?
ii. SO what did they do?
The decided to go to someone who would not put on the apparel of panic.
g.
When
you start putting on the apparel of panic, you need to call somebody that's
gonna look at you and say you need to stop acting like a chicken.
i.
Whenever
you usher in a spirit of panic, it breeds division and you become divisive,
because panic doesn't allow you to do what God wants you to do.
4. When the fire begins to burn in your life, embrace that
moment. You got to embrace it.
a.
Learn
to say this moment is what is going to make or break me. The disciples could
have said "I'm going to quit, and go back to fishing!" But instead,
they said "Let's pray, and ask God to allow us to continue to do what we
were doing before the fire started burning.
b.
What
will you do when it's no longer convenient, when it stops being a happy
occasion, when life gets serious? When it's no longer fun, when everything that
kept you attached to what you were doing is gone, what will you do in that
moment?
i.
That
moment WILL come. In these times right here, it will prove what Spirit you are
influenced by, and also how you influence others.
ii.
You
need to be careful how you influence others, for you will be held accountable,
and it's not what you say, it's what you do. It's your actions that influence
people - that can determine whether people see it as important to be in the
house of God, or to be a soul winner.
c.
Acts 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were
of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things
which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
i.
This
is deeper than what they did. This is something that was influencing them from
the inside. They were of one heart and one soul.
ii.
It's
one thing to lay your life down for your own family, but it's another to lay
your life down for the family of God.
33 And with
great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus:
and great grace was upon them all.
a. There is nothing
wrong with sharing our possessions with one another. The Bible says if I know
another has need and close up my arms of compassion, howbeit that the love of
God dwelleth in me?
34 Neither was
there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or
houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
a. Who took care of the
people that sold their possessions to give to the church? You may say that if
you give all you have to give, you will run out of resources. Don't you know
that God give seed to the sower?
b. The principle is, the
more I sow into you, the more God will sow into me so that I can sow into you.
This principle applies to everything, not just money.
d.
When
you are filled with the spirit of God the first thing He does is fill you so
that you can pour more into others. And the more you pour, the more He will
give you.
i.
Even
financially, if you don't pour your resources into somebody else, God can't
trust you financially. The more you give, the more you get, and God will make
sure you never run out of seed.
ii.
The
principle is that the more you pour out, the more you will get in, and as you
invest and invest and invest, God will make sure you never run out.
e.
It's
the grace and goodness of God that allows you to keep doing what you're doing
and not worry about the outcome.
i.
God
told Noah to build the ark, how in the world was he gonna close the door? God
was going to take care of it!
ii.
Stop
worrying about the door, God will take care of it. You just do what you're
supposed to do.
f.
Acts 4:35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet:
and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
i.
People
hear this kind of preaching, calling it socialism. It's not socialism, it's the
preaching of love, given unto others as Christ gave to us - without condition.
ii.
A
unified church is the greatest sign of the Spirit's influence.
g.
Psalms 133:1 A Song of degrees of David.>>
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity!
i.
And
how terrible and awful it is to dwell together when there is disunity.
ii.
If
you get 5 unified people, that'd be enough to turn Norristown upside down.
When the fire is
burning, just keep on doing what you're doing. Stay involved. The disciples
stayed involved because of the influence of the Holy Spirit of God. Don't ever
give up, don't ever quit, don't ever put on the apparel of panic. Just trust
God through it all, and I guarantee He will bring you out.
