The Power of Christ, Acts 1:4-14, J. Josh Smith, 2/8/15
There is no hope for the world outside of Christ and His
church. Therefore we need to be not just a church that does work but a church
that works. We can only do that though through the power of Christ.
Even an equipped disciple cannot work without the power of
the Spirit. Christ’s last command is in Acts 1:4 and He has the disciples who
have walked with Him for years to wait. They could do a lot of things but just
not the things that mattered – that God wanted them to do.
The power of God flows out of the presence of God. Desiring the
power of God but not desiring the presence of God is idolatry.
He created us to be in His presence – Genesis 1 and 2 shows
us life as it was meant to be. Adam and Eve are walking with God in perfect
communion. This is what we will see in heaven (Revelation 21:3). Everybody
wants to go to heaven but many don’t desire the presence of God. It could be if
you have no taste for the church then you have no taste for the presence of God
either.
He has invited us into His presence – Christ was sacrificed
for our sins so we have access to God. In Luke 10:28-42 Martha wanted to serve
Jesus but Mary just wanted to be with Him – there is a difference. God does not
need you – if He needed you, you would be God and He wouldn’t. Are you spending
your whole life making Jesus a sandwich instead of being with Him? The culture
values Martha’s, not Mary’s but God flips that on its head. He wants you and
rejoices over you if you are a child of God.
We have external expectations of all the things we need to
be doing and internal expectations that God is more pleased when you do things
for Him. Unlike our love, God’s love is not conditional on expectations. Our
works based need for approval is wrong. We should not hide in shame from the
one who loves us.
Everything flows out of His presence – Psalm 16. Our joy,
identity, confidence, courage and patience all flow from Him. Psalm 27:4 – the one
thing I have asked is to dwell in His house. If He needs a sandwich He will tell
you! We resist intimacy with God. We just want to work. However if we look at
Acts 2 we see that they were a “God saturated” people before He sent His
Spirit. We can’t have His power without Him.