What if you were summoned to be part of something so astonishing it was going to restore Earth–not just the planet–but people?
What if you knew this movement was not only a good movement, it was a God movement?
What if you knew accepting your engagement would not only change the next generation and generations to come, but would harvest eternal, irreversible impact?
What if you knew that your response would not only heal others, it would heal you?
What if you knew that in responding to the invitation you would encounter some of the most remarkable people alive, and that some of those people would become your most treasured friends?
What if you knew that accepting the invitation could cost you everything?
How would you respond?
Podcast: Download (Duration: 48:10 — 33.1MB)
Downloads
Notes Transcript Video Audio iTunesGrace Fellowship Church
Jon Stallsmith
Series: One Story: Digging Deeper
April 7, 2013
Church: Red Light Green Light
Luke 24:45-49; Acts 1-2
Acts 1. Last week, of course, we celebrated Easter, which is the resurrection story. Jesus went into the grave. On the third day, he rose again, and he appeared in bodily form to the disciples, to Mary, to actually many at one time, up to 500 Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15. Actually, Jesus spends a bit of time with the disciples after the resurrection, and that’s where we’re going to pick it up. So here we are, Acts 1:1.
We assume the writer of Acts is also the author of Luke. We believe Luke is the author of both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. He starts this book of Acts with the same sort of address to a guy named Theophilus that he begins the book of Luke. Theophilus means literally the lover of God. Theos is God; philos like Philadelphia, phileo, love. So a God-lover.
We don’t know if Theophilus was actually someone’s name or if it was sort of in general. Sometimes, you read a book, and the author will address you and say, “O my dear friend, I’m looking forward to writing you.” Maybe Luke is doing that here. We don’t know for sure one way or another, although I think Theophilus would be a great name for a firstborn son. Amy? No? We’re not pregnant, but it’s always good to keep a few ideas running around in your head. Theophilus, no? Theo for short? Theo Stallsmith. Theophilus Stallsmith. It has a sort of poetic…
Okay, Acts 1:1. “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:1-3) That’s his primary activity. Those 40 days after the resurrection, he really wanted to go in deep with that kingdom of God theme, right?
It’s interesting, because you have in Acts 1:1-2 a little bit of an outline of the book of Luke, everything Jesus began to do. That was like the first third of the book of Luke, Luke 1 through the end of Luke 9, essentially. Then everything he taught, which was Luke 9:51 or so through 19. We talked about that. That was the journey to Jerusalem. Then until the day he was taken up. That’s that final chapter in Jerusalem, which is kind of Luke 19-24.
Sometimes it’s helpful for me to know the big chunks of a book. So that’s the gospel of Luke. Everything Jesus began to do in Galilee, everything he taught, which is kind of the central section of the book of Luke as he’s journeying to Jerusalem, and then until he was taken up, which is the last bit in Jerusalem, the crucifixion and resurrection, the gospel of Luke.
It’s interesting. I love this. It’s all Jesus began to do and teach. So Luke is assuming that Jesus is still doing stuff and he’s still teaching stuff even though he gave us the account in the gospel of Luke of Jesus in the flesh walking around Galilee on his way to Jerusalem, working in Jerusalem. That was just the beginning. He’s still at work. That’s what this book of Acts is going to be about. Jesus continuing his work and his teaching through his people, the disciples and the early church.
He presents himself alive to them. Then verse 4, “And while staying with them he ordered them…” Strong language. “…not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'” (Acts 1:4-5) That word baptized means to be fully immersed, drenched in the Holy Spirit.
Verse 6: “So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?'” (Acts 1:6) They’re still waiting for him to conquer, to overthrow Rome. They’re waiting for him to immediately bring in the physical kingdom of God fully so all of their enemies will be taken care of. Immediately they’ll be in control, they’ll be in power like that.
Verse 7: “He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'” (Acts 1:7-8) Okay, so that’s the outline of the book of Acts.
If the book of Luke is Jesus starting in Galilee, journeying through Judea and Samaria, and ending up in Jerusalem, the book of Acts actually starts in Jerusalem, then it will go out to Judea and Samaria, and then of course to the ends of the earth. So it’s a kind of nice parallel structure there. I love the way the Bible is put together. That’s why I tell you that stuff. Maybe you don’t care too much about the details, but that’s just like my favorite thing.
Verse 9 says, “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'” (Acts 1:9-11) Amazing introduction to the book of Acts. Jesus with his people, teaching them.
It’s interesting, because their primary question is about timing. The primary question is…When will the kingdom come? “Okay, you’re resurrected. That’s amazing. We’re very happy about that. We understand who you are. Now when’s the kingdom coming?” It’s interesting, because that’s a question a lot of us have also still for the Lord. Like, “Lord, when are you going to bring the perfection of your goodness, your rule and reign? When’s the kingdom going to crash into this area of my life or that area of my life?” We constantly are working out timing with God, timing in the kingdom of God.
Jesus, of course, says, “No, the Father is going to take care of that timing, but you wait here, and you’re going to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” It’s interesting. We have the Great Commission in Matthew 28, another account from the resurrection, where he says, “Go into all the earth. Make disciples. Go, go, go!” Here he says, “You’re going to be my witnesses in the whole earth. Go, go, go, go, go, go go!” Pushing hard, “Go!”
But he says very strongly also, “Wait!” It’s like, “Go, go, go, go, go…wait! Go, go, go…wait!” Depending on your personality, you probably tend in your life, not necessarily even your spiritual life, just in your life, I mean not in your personal relationship with God, but just in the way you approach decisions, the way you approach situations, circumstances, things like that, you probably tend more toward one way or the other.
You might be kind of an aggressive person. It’s just everything is, “Go, go, go, go. I have to keep moving. Keep moving. The stone is rolling, and we’re going to keep rolling like that.” Then maybe you’re the other way. Maybe you’re a little more reserved. You like to settle into a decision.
That’s kind of how I was when I was dating Amy. It took me a little while to think about it. I had to pray about and I had to fast about it and I had to think about it some more. She was so wonderfully patient. It took a while for the decision to settle into my whole being. It’s a big deal getting married. It was the right decision, but maybe you tend more that way.
But here is the thing about the walk of faith with God. It’s that we really need to learn how to go and how to wait, how to advance and how to stop. So if you are in fifth grade or younger, I want you to go to the back of the auditorium. There’s a green line there. We’re going to have three aisles. I know this works, because I’ve been at KidzLife, and it has been just a wonderful year with KidzLife.
Not to the very, very back. Come back a little bit farther, right to the back edge of the chairs, okay? Oh my, we have many kids. That’s wonderful. So I need some of you guys to be in the middle row, some of you guys to line up on this side row right here, and some of you guys to line up on this side right here. Okay, great. We’re going to play Red Light Green Light, and I’m actually the goal. You’re going to have to get to me.
You guys know how this works. When I say, “Green light,” you run. As soon as I say, “Red light,” you have to stop. When I say, “Green light,” then you can run again. “Red light,” stop. How many of you guys have ever played this game before? Many of you, even adults. Do you guys wish you were playing? What’s that? It doesn’t have to be in actually a straight line, but if at all possible, let’s try to avoid sprained ankles.
All right, are you guys ready? We’re all going to play at the same time. Remember, if you run on a red light, you’re out. You have to pay a lot of attention, okay? No cheating here, okay? I’m going to watch you. I know sometimes the main guy doesn’t watch you, but I’m going to watch you this time. So, are you guys ready to play?
Green light. Red light. Green light. Red light. Red light. Oh! Green light. Red light. Oh, a little bit too far. Yeah, take three steps back. Green light. Red light. Green light. Very good. Do you guys want to play one more time? Okay, if you’re on the outside rows, you get to run in the middle row. If you’re in the middle row, you have to go to the outside row.
We’ll do it one more time just because it’s all family. It’s awesome. I noticed if you’re there you have a little bit of an advantage because it’s a little bit shorter. Well, I didn’t think that through all the way. It’s important to be fair when you’re a kid… Green light. Red light. Red light. Green light. Red light. Green light. Well done. Well done, young man. Okay, big applause. Well done. Well done.
Red Light Green Light. You guys get the point. In our walk with God, he gives us the big vision. We know from the Scriptures actually that part of our calling as God’s people is to go forth into the whole earth, announcing the kingdom, letting people know about Jesus, living out the life of the kingdom in the community of God’s people, gathered around his Word.
We know the big vision, but Jesus here does something that actually he does throughout all of our lives with all of us. He says, “Okay, guys. Here’s the big vision, but first, red light, stay in Jerusalem. Don’t go anywhere. Stay in Jerusalem. Then when the Holy Spirit comes, green light.”
What we’ll see is that throughout the rest of the book of Acts… I mean, what happens at Pentecost and the Holy Spirit descending on the disciples, it’s an amazing, it’s an incredible breakthrough moment in history. It’s not something that is just repeated over and over and over again. I mean, it’s just a pretty singular moment what happens there.
But the principle of Jesus leading his people, saying, “Go. Okay, wait. Go. Stop. Red light. Green light,” that principle remains. Even as Paul, later on the book of Acts, is journeying around, he says, “We tried to go over here, and the Holy Spirit said no (red light), so we stopped and we waited until he led us here.”
This is the thing. In the game Red Light Green Light, of course, the goal is to get to the front first. That’s how you win the game. The only difference is, in our spiritual walk with God, the goal is learning how to recognize and obey God’s voice when he’s saying, “Red light,” and when he’s saying, “Green light.”
Some of us are really good at the green. “Go, go, go, go, go, go, go,” but we miss when God says, “Hey, red light. Stop.” Actually, if you’re running when I’m saying, “Stop,” you reverse a little bit. Some of us are better at the red light. We just kind of, “Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay,” and the Lord is saying, “Hey, the green light is up. Come on. Let’s go. Let’s go.”
So how do we do this? How do we learn to wait and recognize when God says, “Wait,” and how do we learn to go? What do we do when the Lord is saying, “Go, go, go, go”? What do we recognize in that? That’s the key. Really, through the book of Acts, it’s interesting. Remember, Jesus says, “If you love me, you’ll obey my commandments. I know you love me because you obey my commandments.”
Success in the book of Acts is finding the will of God and doing it. Okay? Success in the book of Acts is not necessarily how many people come to Christ. Success in the book of Acts is not necessarily how many healings there are or how well you persevere in persecution or things. All those things are wonderful, excellent, good things, but success in the book of Acts is finding the will of God and doing it. Hearing when God says, “Go,” and going. Hearing when God says, “Stop,” and stopping. Red Light Green Light. That’s the key.
1. How do we wait? What do the disciples do here in Acts 1? Jesus says, “Hey, I’m ordering you. Do not depart from Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes.” Verse 12 says, “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.” Not Judas Iscariot.
“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” (Acts 1:12-14) So this the first glimpse into what to do when God says, “Wait.” How do we wait? What does it mean to remain until the Lord says, “Okay, green light”?
The first piece here is that they’re devoting themselves to prayer, giving themselves to prayer. Before God they’re waiting. We know actually because the Holy Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost, because Jesus died on the Passover, was in the grave three days, was with them 40 days. So 40 plus three is 43. Pentecost is 50 days after Passover, so it’s a week. They’re a week here waiting, praying, devoting themselves to prayer just for the Lord to fulfill the promise of giving the Holy Spirit.
So it’s actually not that long of a time, but you can imagine between Jesus ascending into heaven to be at the right hand of the Father, to take his position as the authoritative One over all the cosmos, ruling and reigning, between that time and when the Holy Spirit did come, that week, you can imagine there’s probably some doubting. There’s probably some waiting. They’re probably going, “Man, what else do we do? Is there anything else? We’re in Jerusalem. How are we going to handle this? This is kind of challenging. Jesus just went up, and what’s going to happen?”
It says they devoted themselves to prayer. That word wait has a rich Old Testament significance. In Psalm 130, the psalmist says, verse 5, “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.” (Psalm 130:5) Over and over and over again in the Old Testament, that phrase I wait on the Lord appears. There are actually in the New American Standard Version 24 different original Hebrew words that are translated wait on the Lord.
Some of them, this idea of translating wait is almost like an ambush. You’re kind of lying in wait. But the most common one is a Hebrew word. It’s the one that appears here in Psalm 130, and it’s qavah. Everybody say qavah. I don’t actually know exactly how to say it. I listened to it online a few times because they have a little pronunciator on there.
That’s the word, and it’s the most common word to wait on God. It’s interesting, because that word comes from a root that literally means to bind together. So when the psalmist says, “I’m going to wait on the Lord. My soul waits on the Lord,” literally he’s saying, “I’m binding together on the Lord.”
The first place this word appears in the Bible, actually it’s not translated as wait. When God, in Genesis 1, is creating, it says he gathered all the waters into one place, and dry land appeared. The word gathering all the waters into one place is the same word qavah as when the psalmist says, “I will wait.” The most common word for wait.
So what’s going on there? What does that mean? What does that tell us about waiting on God? The picture that is embedded in that word, the picture when they say, “I will wait on the Lord,” is the idea of actively gathering ourselves to God, binding ourselves to God in one place. When God gives us the red light, he says, “Hey, wait. Stop. Red light,” what do we do? Pout? No.
Do you remember how the kids were when we were playing the game? Red light. They’re there. They’re stopped, but their eyes are right on me, waiting for the green light. They’re watching. If you kind of lose attention or you kind of drift off a little bit or whatever, you’re not going to make it to the front.
What do we do when we get a red light? Gather ourselves to God. Gather our attention to God. Gather our hearts to God. Gather our minds to God. Devote ourselves to prayer. God says, “Wait.” “Okay, I’ll wait, but I’m going to watch you. I’m going to watch and wait until you give me the green light, and then I’m ready. I’m poised to go.” That’s the first piece about waiting.
We’re not very good at waiting in our culture. Driving is a good illustration of this. If you’ve ever tried to drive home from downtown Atlanta to Gwinnett on Ponce, that’s the ultimate test in impatience, because you have a two-lane road, and typically the right lane is slower and the left lane is faster, but every once in a while, someone in the left lane has to make a left turn and will stop. So you’re always kind of wondering now, “Am I going to speed in the left lane, because I can zip past all these guys in the right lane?”
Then all of a sudden, somebody is turning left, and now you’re stuck, and all the people you passed just a few hundred yards earlier zip past you, and you’re like, “Argh!” You’re looking in your rearview mirror, waiting for a gap, waiting for a gap. Accelerate! Go! Like that. Then the left lane starts looking attractive, so we get over here, like this. We’re generally an impatient culture. Generally, we’re not very good at waiting, gathering ourselves in one place.
But here’s what the Scripture teaches us. It’s a crucial element in walking with God. Learning when God says, “Red light,” and he can say, “Red light,” in lots of different ways. He can say it in our hearts. Sometimes he does it through a circumstance. Sometimes you lose a job. Sometimes a deal falls through. Sometimes you put an offer on a house, and it just doesn’t work out. I mean, God says, “Wait,” in a lot of different ways. When he does, we gather ourselves to him, bind ourselves to God, watching him. “All right, Lord. Whatever you say.” How do we wait?
Then the second thing is when God tells us… We’re waiting, okay, and this is still part of the process of waiting…learning how to take it step by step. Maybe the big vision is to be a witness in all the ends of the earth. Maybe the big vision, maybe you know God’s calling on your life is massive, right? But as he’s walking us through the process from where we are to where he’s leading us to be, we have to learn how to just take one step at a time.
This is what the disciples do. They’re gathered in one place for prayer. They’re waiting on God. They’re waiting on God, and they realize (and I won’t read through the whole thing) there are only 11 apostles. Judas Iscariot, he was the one who betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide afterwards. He was so racked with guilt and shame and dismay that he killed himself.
They realize they only have 11, but Jesus all along had called 12. The reason that number 12 is so important goes all the way back into that long One Story history where we see God working through his people Israel, and now Jesus calling forth a new people of God, a new Israel from within Israel so Jews and Gentiles and people from every nation could be gathered together. The number 12 is really significant.
So the apostles are gathering. They’re waiting on God the Holy Spirit. The big moment hasn’t arrived yet, but they realize, “Hey, we need to complete our number, 12 apostles.” They take one little step, and they entrust the decision into God’s hands. They cast lots, and choose Matthias, one who has been with the Lord from the beginning and who saw him resurrected, to be the twelfth representative in that number.
The next little step. Okay, this is not the coming of the Holy Spirit or anything. This is just the next step. “We’re going to take that little step.” That’s crucial, because sometimes people are critical. They say, “Well, they should’ve waited or maybe should’ve appointed someone else,” but the text here in Acts never suggests that. The text here is never critical of the decision the apostles made. The text here just says the apostles were devoted to prayer, and the next thing they realized is, “Hey, we need to take one little step.” Just a little green light. It’s not a huge thing. It’s not the ends of the earth. Just take the next step.
It reminds me. One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the story in Jeremiah 13. In Jeremiah 13, God speaks to the prophet. I’m going to read it to you. Remember, from the One Story, Jeremiah was a prophet who was coming to the people of Israel and prophesying to them as they drifted farther and farther from God. He’s trying to call them back to God, kind of remind them of their true identity and their destiny, right?
He actually had a really difficult job. He’s known as the prophet of weeping, or the lamenting prophet. He wrote Lamentations. He saw Jerusalem get destroyed. He saw the people carried off into Babylon. I mean, he really saw a lot of difficult stuff. He had a difficult life. But really one of the turning points in the book of Jeremiah, which is a big long book, is right here in Jeremiah 13. Just look at how Jeremiah handles the Red Light Green Light sort of thing with God.
Jeremiah 13:1: “Thus the LORD said to me, ‘Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.’ So I bought the waistband in accordance with the word of the LORD and put it around my waist.” (Jeremiah 13:1-2)
If God said to me, “Hey, go buy an awesome piece of clothing,” I’d be fine with that. Actually, sometimes I feel like he may have said that to me. This is my first ever cardigan. I found it at the outlet store, Banana Republic, and I love it. I’m not saying the Lord told me to buy this, but if he had, I would’ve been grateful.
Jeremiah walks over. He’s looking and goes out and he hears from God, “Hey, one step. Take a little bit of money. Go buy a linen waistband.” Some translations have undergarment, but I think it works better with this. It’s not exactly clear what that word is, but essentially linen, white, beautiful waistband like that. Jeremiah is going, “Hey, this prophet thing is not bad.” What do you think? Is that the way to wear it? “All right, Lord, what else do you want me to do for you?”
Verse 3: “Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, ‘Take the waistband that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.'” (Jeremiah 13:3-4) Wait a second. This didn’t seem like the next step. The Euphrates River from Jerusalem is about 700 miles. If Jeremiah walked, it would’ve taken him about a month actually to get to the River Euphrates. God says, “Go up to the River Euphrates.”
Verse 5: “So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD had commanded me.” (Jeremiah 13:5) So a long walk. I have my nice little sash like this. He takes it to the Euphrates, looks both ways. “Nobody sees me. Okay, it’s good. I have a rock. Someone wrote on the rock.” Hidden. Now the Lord gives him kind of a red light here. He basically just comes home, and he’s not even sure what he’s doing.
Do you ever get that? Have you ever had that experience? You feel like you’re walking in obedience with God, but you don’t really know what it’s about or why he’s calling you into this particular area or why you’re doing this job or you’re at this school. It’s like, “I feel like the Lord called me here, but I don’t really know.” You’re just doing the Red Light Green Light thing. The Lord says, “Do it,” and you’re like, “Okay, I’ll do it, but I don’t fully understand.”
So verse 6, the third step in the journey of Jeremiah. “After many days the LORD said to me…” So after many days… He just had to wait. He was on the red light for a long time, just watching the Lord, gathered to him. “‘Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.’ Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and lo, the waistband was ruined, it was totally worthless.” (Jeremiah 13:6-7)
You can hear the dismay in Jeremiah’s voice. He comes over. He digs, digs, finds it. “Where is that waistband? I wish I would’ve made a treasure map. Oh yuck, there it is.” Totally ruined. “This was a beautiful linen waistband. Now it’s ruined. God, what are you doing now?” This is a surprising step in the journey, I’m sure, for Jeremiah.
“Go buy a nice waistband. Bury it. Come home. Travel out again. Dig it up, and it’s ruined.” Finally now, this is the fourth step in the process, Jeremiah gets some understanding of what this whole thing has been about. “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless. For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,” declares the LORD, “that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.”‘” (Jeremiah 13:8-11)
It’s not until months into the process… Jeremiah is just taking the next step. He doesn’t know what it means until finally he pulls out this soiled waistband, and the Lord says, “This is the story. This is the picture. You’re actually…” You know, prophets don’t just deliver the Word of the Lord; the embody the Word of the Lord. They have these actions that put flesh onto the Word of the Lord.
That’s what Jeremiah is doing. He’s going, “Oh, now I understand. This is what happens when people run away from me. God designed his people, he called his people to cling to him, and they threw themselves off, and they’ve been just ruined by their disobedience.” A powerful, prophetic picture, but the part of the story that is so amazing to me is the way Jeremiah just goes when the Lord says, “Go,” didn’t understand it, stops when the Lord says, “Stop.” Goes. Stops. Goes. Stop. It’s way down the road that he finally understands the meaning of what the Lord has been doing.
This is what the disciples are learning right at the birth of the church, that the life of God’s people is going to be a crucial process, learning how to wait, gather to God, take the next step, and then when God says, “Go,” you go. God here in Acts 2…we’ll go back to our text…says, “Go,” in like a pretty serious way.
2. How do we go? The green light in Acts 2 is fairly unmistakable. Acts 2:1: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind…” (Acts 2:1-2) They did a man-on-the-street interview of one of the disciples who was there. He said, “It sounded like a freight train.”
“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.’ And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others mocking said, ‘They are filled with new wine.'” (Acts 2:2-13)
Peter, of course, says… The crowd has gathered. I mean, they hear the sound. It’s not just like the people in the room have this mystical experience where they hear a sound of the wind; it’s like there’s a whoosh, and everyone in Jerusalem is going, “What is going on up there?” They come around and they see all these guys spilling out, speaking languages. Actually, it’s not just languages. The word in Greek is dialects. It’s like they’re speaking with the right accent.
Like, for example, if you were British, you would’ve heard them speaking to you in a British accent. It’s like exactly how you want to hear. This is one of the things the Holy Spirit does right at the beginning to show God is all about the good news of the kingdom being communicated out in every language, that everyone can access it, everyone can hear it. This is how God says, “Go,” the green light here.
It’s powerful. You have two powerful, powerful symbols. The first is the wind, and the second is the fire. The sound of the wind and then the tongues as of fire. Do you ever wonder what that would’ve been like? They’re sitting there. It’s been a week. They’ve just been praying. They’ve been waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit, but they don’t really know what it’s going to look like. I mean, do you think all of a sudden there was just this flame that descended and then went out?
Do you think everybody in the room was just watching the flame come at them? Or did they maybe look at each other, going, “What’s going on?” and somebody else was, “I don’t know”? “Is it going to be hot?” “I’m not sure.” I mean, this is a crazy scene. I think somebody maybe like went outside to use the restroom, and they came back in and were like, “Ah, what happened? I missed what? Ah, terrible day to skip church.”
What is this Holy Spirit? What’s going on here? Why fire? It’s tongues. There’s a fire that comes down, and tongues of fire come out. Remember back with the Exodus people, right after God delivers them by the blood of the Passover lamb… They’re out into the wilderness. They’re beginning this journey with God, all the way back in the book of Exodus, right?
It says God led them through the wilderness with a pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night. I can’t help but hear echoes of that story when I read this here, the flames coming down out of heaven and then coming to rest over each of the disciples. That pillar of fire is amazing. What did it do? It protected them. Remember at one point when Pharaoh was trying to trample them down with his armies and they’re trapped in that place waiting for the Red Sea to part, it says that pillar of fire just pushed itself right between the enemy and God’s people.
That flame was a protecting flame, but even more than that, it was a guiding flame. It wasn’t the flame that guided them in the day; it was the flame that guided them in the night. When things were darkest, when hope was easiest to lose, that flame, that presence of God was what guided them.
Here, this is what’s happening. God is saying, “My Holy Spirit is going to guide my people just like that pillar of fire guided my people in the wilderness. Every single one of you… It’s not just going to be like one flame. No, I’m going to take careful attention. I will guide each of you.” Even in the darkness, when it seems like you don’t know where to go, you don’t know what’s next, that flame of the Holy Spirit will be, as Jesus says, leading you into all truth.
Since we’re talking about stopping and going, Red Light Green Light, things like that, how do you even recognize that? Part of the promise of what happens at Pentecost here is God saying, “I will lead you. Open your heart to me. Gather yourself to me. I will lead you in the next step. Take the next step. Take the next step.”
So you have flame, and that’s really the guidance, the leadership of the Holy Spirit, but then you also have wind. It’s powerful. That word spirit in Greek and in Hebrew means wind and breath and spirit. It’s all the same word. There’s this rushing wind coming through. It’s a great picture.
I remember a few years ago… It was 2009 actually. I was going back on my calendar. We were in Houston, and we were doing some training in Houston for JIQ. We called it Jesus in the Qur’an at the time. Now it’s JAQ, Jesus and the Qur’an. We were in Houston. It was February, and it was really just an intense time of ministry for me personally. I’d been travelling like three or four weekends in a row. There was a lot of teaching and just a whole lot happening at once.
Maybe you know that feeling, when you’ve been going hard for a little bit too long. For us, we were working at the church. Christmas is a big output season, so December is just a lot of ministry. It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of planning, a lot of speaking and sharing and everything else. So that’s all through December.
Then January was super busy and then February was super busy. So here I am in Houston, and we had just finished the training on a Saturday night and we’re staying in a hotel. I had my own room. I was sitting in my hotel room, and I just felt completely dry, totally wrung out. Like, “I have nothing. I just feel expended. I feel like a sponge.” It’s not just everything has been squeezed out of the sponge; it’s like somebody went like this, and the little flakes of sponginess are starting to fall out. That’s how I felt. Maybe you’ve felt that way in your soul at some point.
But that’s how I was feeling, and I was kind of discouraged. I was just like, “I have to go for a walk.” A buddy of mine, Aaron Keyes, before I had gone, said, “Listen to these talks. There are some really good mp3s. You should listen to them. It’s a guy named David Ravenhill. He did these two sermons that were called Surviving the Anointing. It’s talking about, “How do you walk with God in the anointing, the power of God’s spirit?” How do you survive it?
He talks about dependence on God and he talks about abiding in God and listening to God. It’s a great, great sermon. So I’m out in Houston, and it’s a really hot night. I have my headphones in. February, in Houston. I’m just walking, walking, walking. This guy, as he’s preaching, starts talking about Isaiah 33.
I don’t even think I’d ever read Isaiah 33 before, but Isaiah 33 is a beautiful passage from the Prophets where it talks about people in God’s kingdom. It says, “We will behold the King.” Then it goes on a little bit further, and it talks about being in the holy city of God, in Zion, in Jerusalem, and God is really beginning to work. It says that God himself will be like a river for us. He will be the river for us.
Then it says this in Isaiah 33:20, “Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken.” Then listen. “But there the LORD in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams…” God himself will be the rivers and the streams for us. “…where no galley [boat] with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass. For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.
Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will take the prey.” (Isaiah 33:20-23). I was listening to this guy share about this passage, and I’d never really read it before, but essentially the point here is that in the river of God rowboats are not allowed.
Do you guys know the difference between a rowboat and a sailboat? One is powered by your own effort; the other one is powered by the wind. Here’s what Isaiah is saying in Isaiah 33: In the river of God, no rowboats. You’re not going to be able to maneuver. You’re not going to be able to get yourself from one side to the other or anything else by your own effort. You’re going to have to learn how to sail.
This is what Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3. He says, “Hey, people in the Spirit are going to be like the wind. You’re not really sure where it’s coming from or where it’s going. They’re just carried along by the wind.” To sail a sailboat is still work. There’s still effort. If you’ve ever watched the America’s Cup on TV, you see guys who’re spinning the spindles and pulling masts and sails are going out and everything like that.
It’s still work to learn how to sail. It’s not just like, “Oh, I just get to put my feet up in my flip flops and sail along.” No, there’s still effort there, but the primary difference is that the movement of the ship is not by your own effort or your own strength.
I remember when I was young I used to think that paddleboats at the park were so awesome. I’d always see them, and I was like, “Oh, look at the paddleboats.” Finally, I talked my parents into letting us go out. I think we were at Brown Deer Park or something like that in Milwaukee. It was a summer day, and I said, “Let’s get a paddleboat.” They were like, “Really?” I was like, “Yeah, we have to get in there.”
Finally we get in the paddleboat. If you’ve ever been in a paddleboat, maybe you’ve had this experience. You start paddling, and you’re moving so slowly, like you can’t even make a wake. You get about seven feet off the shore and you’re tired. You go, “Man, why did we do a 30-minute rental? This thing is work. This is not the best way to move around.”
Isaiah 33 says, “In the river of God, rowboats are not the thing; sailboats are the thing.” Learning how to go with the wind of God. Learning how to let the breath of God’s Spirit carry us and lead us as we go. Yes, there’s effort involved. Yes, there’s intentionality involved, but God is the One who’s giving us the breath.
So I walked back up to my hotel room, and I was just feeling really rejuvenated because I felt like I had been rowing a lot and I wasn’t really getting anywhere and I was just worn out, wrung out. I get up to my hotel room, and I see in the hotel hallway… You know the art on those hotel walls is usually so cheesy. Right next to my room is this picture of the coolest sailboat I’ve ever seen. I saw it and I just had these chills go down my spine. Look at all that sail! That boat knows how to catch the wind. I mean, the sailor in that boat can ride fast and far across the ocean.
I felt like the Lord was just saying to me, “Jon, this is the kind of person you need to be. If you’re going to go with me, you have to learn how to put up your sails. Don’t let them be slack. Don’t let the mast be moving back and forth here like Isaiah 33 says. No, learn how to catch the wind of my Spirit so that it’s the thing that’s carrying you.” The Spirit is leading us, but it’s also empowering us, carrying us forward.
That’s what we see in Acts 2. As Peter is there, and he’s preaching, and he’s telling all the people who’ve gathered about Jesus and the resurrection, it says the people were pierced to their hearts and said, “What shall we do?” He says, “Call on the name of Jesus and be baptized,” and 3,000 people that first day come to faith.
How do you know when you’re being carried along by the wind of the Spirit? Well, things are happening you can’t do on your own. That’s one of the ways you can know. When the Lord says, “Go,” and you put up the sail, and the wind comes and catches it. You look around yourself. You’re not rowing in the river. You’re not straining at the oars. You’re moving and stuff is happening. People’s hearts are pierced. Thousands are coming to faith. I mean, this is an amazing story.
Here’s the thing: In our walk with God, right from the very beginning, the birth of the church, what does it mean to be God’s people? Maybe one of the most important things once we have recognized, “Yes, Jesus, you are the King. You’re the One in heaven on high over all, risen from the dead, defeated evil and sin and death,” is learning how to listen to him. He says, “Wait.”
“Okay, I’ll stay here.”
“Go.”
“Okay, I’m ready to go, but not on my own power.” I’m not sprinting. When God says, “Go,” I’ll put up the sail. I’ll say, “Lord, carry me. Let’s go. I’m with you. Lead me by the pillar of fire even when it’s dark and carry me along like a rushing wind on the open sea.” These are some of the most important lessons from the book of Acts.
Our time is about past, and I have some stories and examples of what it means to do these things, but I think we’re kind of on the same page here. Tonight, I think we need to just quietly in our families, in our own lives, just think about right now does the Lord have a red light up or does he have a green light up? Have I been pushing forward when really the Lord is just saying, “Hey, take a breath. Gather yourself to me”? Or have I been stuck and waiting when the Lord is saying, “Come on. The wind is blowing. The light is green. Come on, let’s go”?
We can be in these places. What we need to do is learn how to recognize the Lord and really make space. Just say, “Lord, okay, whatever you want, I’m in. I’ll go forward. I’ll stop. I’ll stop. I’ll go forward. Red light. Green light.” The Lord is really good. He’s super faithful and we can trust him when he leads us forward, when he tells us to stop.
There are times when we are almost certain that we’re supposed to be farther along, and God seems, for whatever reason, just to have us stopped. He’s faithful when he does that. He’s faithful with the red lights. He’ll give the green light. He’s the One who will bring the good work he began in us to full completion.
So let’s just pray for that. We’re going to take some Communion. We’re going to respond in worship. We know the big vision Jesus gives his church is to go out, be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. Sometimes the big vision, that whole thing, is almost overwhelming and we just need to know the next step. “Go buy a white waistband.”
Lord, we come to you tonight, and we’re in a lot of different places. Some of us feel stuck. We pray you would help us gather to you. Some of us, Lord, are just looking for the next step. We can’t control anything beyond the next step, so Lord, give us the courage to take this next step you’re putting before us. Lord, give us the discernment to be able to recognize when your Spirit is saying, “Go,” and when your Spirit is saying, “Stop. Wait.”
Lord, come minister to us tonight. Give us clarity. Give us wisdom about the big vision you’re calling us to do. Lord, even now as we’re responding in these next few minutes and sing a few songs with you, Lord, we pray you would just give us clarity, a certainty about what you’re doing in our lives, in the lives of our families, in our kids, parents.
Let us see clearly. Maybe we won’t see all the way down the road, but Lord, just let us see enough to know what to do today and tomorrow and the next day. One day at a time, show us, Lord, what to do, how to walk with you as your church.
We’ll receive this offering here. Drop in your comment card if you have one, your response card, your 5:15 Connection Card, and afterwards we have Communion at the front. It’s a great place to come up and just sort of reconnect with that covenant with the Lord and that vision he has to be the witnesses to the resurrection everywhere we go.