Defined by Power

MP3 File: 

20110612 Sermon.mp3

Defining Moments: Events that change everything that comes after-a moment that reshapes your attitude, your outlook, your behavior, or even perhaps the entire direction of your life.

Savannah Portage State Park is just to the west of Cloquet, where there is a continental divide. A rain drop that falls in Minnesota may end up flowing in one of several directions. Some water flows south to the Gulf of Mexico, some east to the Atlantic Ocean, and some north to the Hudson Bay. It all depends on where the rain falls. The continental divide is a high point. On one side water flows one way; on the other side it flows the opposite way. This is a "watershed," and it determines where your rain drop will go.

In the same way, there are "watershed" moments in your life that will shift the direction of your life. Depending on where things fall, your life will go in a completely different direction.

God wants to use the defining moments of your life to redirect you in the way you should go. He wants to reshape your life according to his plan. He wants to redefine your future with his purpose.

Over the past three weeks, we've talked about how God can use his presence to redefine you; he can use pain, difficult experiences to redefine you; he can use the hope of his promise to redefine you.

Today we're going to look at how God wants to give us his power so he can redefine our lives.

4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." 6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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." Acts 1:4-8

48 "You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." Luke 24:48-49

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues* as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4 [*talk in other languages, see vv 8-11]

Pentecost Sunday: a commemorative event on the church calendar [Pentecost is celebrated seven weeks (50 days) after Easter Sunday, hence its name] (a carry-over from the Jewish holiday: [Pentecost is historically related to a Jewish harvest festival, which commemorates God giving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai fifty days after the Exodus.]).

Or does it connect us to the defining moment in church history? If the church was born at Jesus' resurrection, it was launched when the Spirit was filled those who were waiting in the Upper Room.

God wants us to experience power. He wants to empower us-to put his power within us-so we can live lives of power.

Some people are defined by their weaknesses. That weakness can be quite literal: Some are born with physical disabilities. Others are small (90-lb weakling) or out of shape (soft and pudgy) or otherwise somehow physically fragile.

But physical disabilities and weaknesses are nothing compared to spiritual weakness!

When we are spiritually weak...

• We are vulnerable to temptations.
• It's hard to keep going, to persevere, to endure. We can drop out of the race before the finish line. If we're weak in spirit.
• When we're spiritually weak (when our faith is anemic), we struggle to believe God's promises. So we become hesitant-afraid to act. Not only can we not move mountains, we can hardly move ourselves.

It's terrible to be defined by weakness. But if we're able to face our own weakness, we will discover a power that does not come from ourselves. A power that is supernatural, not natural. A power that is God-given.

It's not the result of positive thinking or mental willpower or sheer determination. It's a power that comes from the Almighty.

When power overwhelms weakness-that is a defining moment! When we come with our weakness and surrender to the will of the Almighty, that can be a defining moment! Our lives are redefined, reshaped, redirected. Instead of being defined by weakness, we become defined by power.

I've never been hit by a bolt of lightning, but I've read that those who are hit by lightning and live to tell about it are never the same.

Paul had a problem and he prayed about it. God said to him, "My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak" (2 Cor 12:9). So Paul finally admitted, "When I am weak, then I am strong..." (v 10).

Pentecost is a day we remember-one day on the church calendar, but the experience that happened to the early believers on the day of Pentecost is an experience that should define our lives all year long.

When we meet with God and he fills us with his Spirit, the result should be power displayed through our lives every day: in how we live, in what we say, in the things we do. Jesus said we would need power to be his witnesses-that is, to live and display a changed life.

People these days need to see reality. They need to see genuine Christianity, not some fabricated knock-off of the real thing!

Years ago when Apple computers were first going strong, my brother lived in Taiwan and found Chinese imitations of the Apple running the same software and doing the same things as Apple-except instead of a little Apple icon on the computer they put a little Orange.

People want the real thing; they want to see the genuine article. But how many are trying to scam the world with a fake Christianity? It looks similar, but it's not real?

• You see, if you say Jesus is the Lord of your life, but you live like you're the Lord of your life, people aren't going to be impressed.
• If you say you have hope for eternity, but you live like you have no hope-discouraged and defeated-people aren't going to want what you have.
• If you say Christ has changed your life, but you live the same kind of life as everyone else around you, who cares what you say?

This is why we need power to be witnesses. We cannot be witnesses for the Lord if we are weak. Witnesses for God need power! (Acts 2:8-The Holy Spirit à power à witnesses.)

Power = dunamis = (miraculous) power, might, strength à dynamite.

Did you know that the word used for "witness" in the original Greek New Testament is the root for our word, "martyr"? μάρτυς = martys.

How can you be a martyr unless you have God's power? When I hear of believers today being tortured and killed for their faith in Iran, Indonesia, China, Sudan, and dozens of other hot spots around the world, I know they are believers who have been defined by power.

How else could they live for Christ in such hostile and antagonistic circumstances? You see, if you're not living for Jesus, you're not likely to be put in a spot where you'll have to die for Jesus. You're left alone.

We need power to die for Christ, but we also need power to live for Christ!

And that's why Jesus told the early disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit to come (Acts 1:8) so they could "receive power" and be "clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).

Power can be revealed in many different ways... Volcano, hydroelectric dam, space shuttle booster, dynamite blast, Italian sports car, nuclear reactor, atomic bomb, forest fire.

Power can be scattered-or directed. Power can be uncontrolled-or focused. Power can be destructive and explosive-or creative and productive. A tornado destroys, but wind can also be harnessed by a wind farm to generate electricity. An explosion destroys something, but if you string together a series of small explosions in a timed sequence (say, 4800 times per minute) you can power a Formula One race car with 8 cylinders, each containing (and transferring) the energy of those small explosions of gas and oxygen to drive the car.

A forest fire, for instance, displays power in a dramatic conflagration. A powerful fire leaves devastation and smoldering ruin in its wake-charred tree stumps, ponds filled with ash, destruction and death. It's easy to see the power of a fire. But consider this: it also takes tremendous power to undo all that devastion! The fire is powerful, but can we say there is any less power in the seeds that sprout and the vegetation that grows over the next few years to cover that blackened landscape? The slow, steady healing of the land may not be as dramatic as the fire! But it is no less powerful!

Power can be dynamic and miracle-working-or imperceptible and life-sustaining.

• There are gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12) but there are also fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5). Gifts often seem flashier. They attract more attention. But the fruit (the inner character) is where life is lived in the everyday!

God's power is displayed in many ways! We think in terms of power for victory, but it can also be seen when someone merely endures long-term distress. God's power is revealed in good times and in bad, in abundance and in need.

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him [Christ] who gives me strength. Phil 4:11-13

[Strength = endunamoō from en (in, on, by, at, with) + dunamoō (to make strong, enable), which is the verb form of dunamis (power, might, strength)...the root for our word dynamite.]

We need to see more miracles. Absolutely! We want to make ourselves available to God. We want to give room for God to work-in his way, not ours. We also want to be able to see God at work in the subtle, less perceptible ways. We want to recognize God's hand at work at times when we might otherwise overlook his power.

Will you open your life to the power of God through the Holy Spirit?

[NOTE: The following section was not delivered in the message. Consider this "extra."]

Power can be real and genuine-or a counterfeit imitation.

We enjoy the thrills of seeing something sensational! A rock concert generates more adrenalin through our system than, say, elevator music. Somehow human nature is wired to seek out the sensational. Like a moth cannot help being drawn toward the light, we humans cannot resist the magnetic pull of seeing something sensational.

Jesus warned us against giving in to that natural tendency. Indiscriminate chasing after the sensational leaves us vulnerable to deception. When the religious leaders told him they wanted to see some evidence of his power, to see a miraculous sign from him, Jesus said, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign!" (Matt 12:39; also Matt 16:4).

But it wasn't just the religious leaders who were guilty of that desire. When large crowds followed him, Jesus identified the misguided motives of the crowds-more than hungering for God, they had an appetite for sensational displays of miraculous power. "A wicked generation," Jesus called them (Luke 11:29). They were no better than evil King Herod who hoped to see Jesus perform some miracle (Luke 23:8).

There is another problem in swinging the pendulum too far the opposite direction. God's Word warns us about having a powerless, impotent religion.

...in the last days...people will be...holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. 2 Tim 3:1,5 (NRSV)

For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. 2Tim 3:5 (AMP)

Power can be deceptive. When we talk about power, we can get off track in a couple of ways:

1. You can appear connected to God, but never tap into the reality of his power.
2. You can appear to have power, but never have a real relationship with God.

The first is fake religion.

• It's got religious form and tradition. It has spiritual sounding words and phrases. It displays religious customs and patterns and history. But it is impotent. Empty-a hollow shell. It is an emasculated faith.
• If that's the kind of Christianity people know, most will reject it and walk away from the church. It's nothing more than another club. Another fraternity. Another clique. Another sub-culture in society. You might as well join the Moose Lodge or the Country Club or the hospital auxiliary.
• No one wants fake religion! No one wants a religious put-on, merely a front where it's all about appearance and form but lacks genuine power.

OTOH, the second is also fake religion.

• It displays a lot of energy-a great deal of activity. It's exciting and stimulating. It attracts attention and makes a big impression. It gets good press.
• It displays sensational-even spectacular-phenomena. It has the appearance of power with unusual, out-of-the-ordinary stuff. Sometimes there can be weird or outlandish manifestations.
• But it's man-made. It's fabricated. Manufactured. It relies on human effort rather than resting and trusting in God.
• Worst of all, it doesn't stem from a genuine relationship with God. It's all show with no reality.

The first has a form (appearance) of godliness but denies the power of God.

The second has a form (appearance) of power but denies godliness (from a genuine relationship).

Fake power: Has the appearance of power (lots of smoke and mirrors) but no real substance.

• "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," said the "Great and Powerful Oz" -from the movie, The Wizard of Oz
• 9 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 the divine power known as the Great Power." Acts 8:9-10

Fake godliness: Has the appearance of a spiritual life (lots of God-talk) but no real substance.

It's not "Wizard of Oz" deception... Instead, they want you to look at the religious trappings and ignore its ineffectiveness-that lives remain unchanged, that sinners stay trapped, that people cannot overcome their sins.

[They] will act as if they serve God but will not have his power. 2 Tim 3:5 (NCV)

They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. 2 Tim 3:5 (NLT)

They will go to church, yes, but they won't really believe anything they hear. 2 Tim 3:5 (TLB)

What we aim for is neither of these two extremes, but for a balance that includes both authentic power and a genuine relationship with God!

For this balance, we need hearts and lives that are open to the reality of the Holy Spirit-and at the same time cautious about human activity masquerading as God's.

We must not quench the Spirit or despise God's gifts, but we also must be responsible-testing everything so we can hold on to what is good and reject what is bad. (1 Thess 5:19-22)