Do NOT Share the Gospel... Until You Have Been Empowered

You know, I could provide a really good argument for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I could point out how in all of the synoptic Gospels, John the Baptist says, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come one greater than I.... He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.." (Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33). Even Jesus talks about the Baptism in the Spirit in Acts 1:5 "For John baptized with water, but in a few days baptized you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

I'm sure I could provide a solid case that the Spirit's Baptism is an experience that takes place after salvation/conversion. For instance in Acts 8.

"When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because they Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them. They had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit."

                                                                                         -Acts 8:14-17

Here we have people who were most certainly saved and baptized. They were Christians. Go ahead all who doubt, open the Bible yourself, read the verses leading up to the passage, and do your own research. These people were born again, baptized Christians. Yet... they had not received the Spirit. That is just ONE example.

I am also very confident that I could back up the teaching that Speaking in Tongues is the initial physical evidence of the Spirit's Baptism. When the apostles received the Spirit they spoke in tongues (Acts 2:4), the disciples in Ephesus spoke in tongues when Baptized in the Spirit (Acts 19:7). But notice Acts 10: 45-46....

"The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God."

Take another look at that passage... How did the "circumcised believers" know that the Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles? They heard them speaking in tongues.

Like I said, I could provide a pretty decent argument for all of this, but it won't mean much to you if you don't place a high priority on evangelism. If you are not of the Pentecostal/Charismatic tradition, chances are all of this will be interesting, challenging, but mostly irrelevant information to you, if you don't put a high priority on witnessing to the lost.

You see, Jesus wants us to share the Gospel. He wants us to "make disciples of all the nations" but He doesn't ask us to carry out this "Great Commission" by our own abilities and talents. He wants us to share the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. To seek and save that which is lost by His power, not our own.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

                                                                                                -Acts 1:8

 Many believers know the Great Commission, but few are aware of what Jesus said before He gave it.

"And repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going 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 24:47-49

"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift you heard my Father promised, which you heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

                                                                                                   -Acts 1:5

If however, you are passionate about winning the lost for Christ, this teaching is very relevant. Jesus doesn't want you to get frustrated by reading "soul winning" classes, or by buying thousands of Gospel Tracts, or memorizing every rebuttal to the Christian faith. He doesn't want you to live with the frustration of trying, on your own, to get through to those you care about every day. He wants to empower you. He wants you to share the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. That is what makes this relevant.

After the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and explained to the bewildered crowd what had just happened. It was much more than the "birthday of the church". It was God supernaturally empowering His servants to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. So I leave you with his words, and encourage you to seek out the Spirit's Baptism, and be empowered to live out the calling that God has placed on your life.....

"Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

'In the last days God says, "I will pour out my Spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy""

                                                                                            -Acts 2:14-18

The Dark Side of Christ pt 3: Jesus the Demoniac

For His theology Jesus was called a heretic. For His ministry He was called a criminal. In the final part of this blog series we will learn that because of who He called Himself, Jesus was called demon possesed. A demoniac.

The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.

                                   -John 8:48-49

In this passage Jesus is called demon possessed because He claimed equality with God. At the end of the chapter Jesus says to His critics, "Before Abraham was born, I Am". While we may not claim to be equal with God (and we shouldn't) we Christians claim to have an intimate relationship with The Almighty. The world and society around us have a hard time seeing this as anything but delusional and a need for psychiatric help. If you go back and read John 8, you will see that they had the same opinion of Christ.

And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons”

                                      -Matthew 12:23-24

In this passage, Jesus is accused of being possessed not because He claimed to be God, but because He acted as though He was God. It was one thing to claim equality with The Father, behaving as though He had authority to act on His behalf was something completely different. Jesus was casting out demons, healing the sick, and raising the dead. He was disarming the darkness that had power over people's lives, and restoring the rule of God's Kingdom. To the religious establishment, this was pure blasphemy.

As followers of Christ, we have been charged and empowered with the responsibility of chasing away the influence of evil in our society, and replacing it with God's utopia of peace, equality, and justice. He has called us to cast out fear, and bring peace. To cast out depression, and make way for a river of joy. To dismantle the hate, and create a culture of love. When we do this, we will be accused of grossly overstepping our bounds, and maybe a little possessed ourselves.

This is what will happen if you truly want to follow Christ, if you really want to live as He did. Although He was neither, they accused Him of being a heretic, a criminal, and a demoniac. Not to mention a rebel, drunk and glutton. This is the Dark Side of Christ. His reputation. We claim we want to live as He did, but Christ's reputation made Him an outcast and got Him killed! By who, the Romans? No, the "religious establishment". Let me put it in modern terms, the "church crowd" killed Jesus. Still want to be like Christ? You may be surprised who rejects you, and who embraces you as a bearer of Good News... I know I have.

The Dark Side of Christ pt 1: Jesus the Heretic

I am really excited about this blog series. It is sure to be one of my favorites. Yes, Christ did have a "dark side", according to the religious establishment anyway. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was all good, all loving, and perfect, had the worst of reputations. This three part blog will take a look at the dark reputation of our blessed Lord. We will start with His reputation of being a "heretic" and "blasphemer".

And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”

                                     -Matthew 9:2-3

Jesus was called a heretic because He claimed authority to forgive sins, and as the story continues, make the paralyzed walk again. It is amazing how many times the religious establishment cries foul when someone starts helping people. at one point, we had people attending our church that typically don't darken the door of a church. Not only does this particular sub culture not go to church, they are normally not welcome at the House of God. Someone once asked me, "So, how are you going to handle this?" I thought to myself, "yeah... Lost people coming to church and hearing the gospel. That's a real problem..."

Church people, hypocrites, pit of vipers. They make it so hard for people to get to God.I also remember the Methodist minister who just recently was booted from that denomination for an act of love and service to his son. He was also labeled a heretic for what he did. Yet, what he did mirrors Christ's act of compassion to the paralyzed man. It also mirrors another incident where Jesus was accused of blasphemy...

He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

                                -Matthew 12:11-14

It's interesting how Jesus was accused of blasphemy on multiple occasions for of all things, helping people.... These were not isolated instances either. After His "Sermon on the Mout" He touched a lepor. He allowed Himself to be touched by an unclean woman. Then He refused to condemn a notorious slut.... Heretic. On top of all this, He claimed to be God's Son, that He would tear down God's temple, then rebuild it, and eternal life is found by eating His flesh and blood as priests would eat the sacrificial lamb... Heretic

Jesus was labeled a heretic because He did what God wanted, not what the religious establishment said God wanted. All too often, people know what God wants, they know what the scriptures really say, but are more inclined to follow their traditions and what they've always been taught the scriptures say. For example, some churches REFUSE to allow certain styles of music or instruments in worship NOT because it would be unbiblical, but because "that's not how we do things around here!".

Jesus placed Himself in the same predicament. He asked Himself, "What does God say?" not, "What do people say about God?". He knew that rules, rites, and rituals were of no importance. He taught His followers that if they loved God, and loved people, they would have done alright. For that, He was labled a heretic.

Want to be Compared with Christ? Then be a Drunk and Hang Out with Prostitutes

    How cool would it be if someone accused you of being just like Jesus. Think about it. What if people said the same things about you that they said about Jesus? Man, that would boost my ego. Before we get ahead of ourselves and try to start imitating Christ, lets take a look at some of the things people said about Jesus, and see if that's a reputation we all want to strive for.

"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'"

                                                                                                  -Matthew 11:19

    I don't know about you, but being a professing Christian and a minister, I don't want people going around saying that I am a drunkard and a glutton. Here's another question. Would we want to be associated with the people that Jesus associated with? Look at this passage.

"Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples."

                                                                                                 -Matthew 9:10

    Okay, in the cultural context, who are these "tax collectors" and "sinners"? Given that these titles were given by the religious elite of the day, we can assume that they mean anyone that didn't fit into their little "holier than thou" click. It goes deeper than that however. "Tax collector" referred to a Jew who betrayed his own people and worked for the Romans. This type of person would often take more than they required and take advantage of his own kind. "Sinners" referred to three different groups of people. First, the irreligious Jew, corrupt people and money launderers, and finally the "riff raff" of the town; drunkards, thieves, prostitutes, etc. 

    Like before, I am not sure I want people going around saying that I associate with these people. I don't think many Christians would want the reputation Jesus had. Today He is revered, but during His time on the earth, He had a reputation of being a drunk, running with the wrong crowd, some even called Him demon possessed. I mean, how popular could He be if the people called for His execution? Which begs the question, why in the world would the Son of God bring such an embarrassing reputation on Himself? It all goes with His mission; To seek and save that which was lost

"When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, 'Why is your teacher eating with tax collectors and sinners?' But when Jesus heard this, He said, 'It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice', for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'"

                                                                                            -Matthew 9:11-13

    Jesus did not come to minister to those who had already made themselves right with God. He came for those who were and are, far away from Him. He associated with those who needed Him the most. They were His mission. They were the reason He came to earth. Here is the heart piercing truth; His mission is our mission. Those of us who are Christians have some soul searching to do. Knowing where He went, do we really want to follow Christ? Knowing the reputation He acquired, do we really want to be like Christ?

    At the end of the day, can we expect anything less? They called Him a drunkard and a glutton. They accused Him of hanging out with the scum of society. Then Jesus says this the night before His death;

"If the world hates, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master'. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also."

                                                                                                    -John 15:18-20

I leave you with a thought provoking question: What are you doing to bring people to Christ that could cost you your reputation?