Our Current Situation
Acts 1:1-11,
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 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.
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 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.” 9 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. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 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 2:1-4,
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Today, on Pentecost Sunday, it has seemed good to the elders to have a sermon that addresses our current moment.
Now, if you’ve been around for the past few months, you know that we’ve not ignored our situation — we have tried to ‘keep our eyes on the base’ ahead of us, and every now and then we’ve said things behind this pulpit, and I’ve written things, to try to guide us through these days.
But what makes today different is that I want to address everything a little more ‘on the nose,’ as it were. My hope is to be as clear as possible. I want to tell you three realities about our current moment:
Where we are
What we’re facing
How we respond
And if you’re a guest with us this morning, I need to explain that we normally do what’s called expositional preaching. It’s the central part of our worship, which is the heartbeat of our church. Every Sunday, we open the Bible and preach through a passage of Scripture.
My goal as a preacher is to simply tell you what God says.
We do that by conviction, because we believe what we most need, and the power to change our lives, is the word of God.
And we’re in the word today, here in Acts 2, but we’re just gonna spend most of our time, not on exposition, but on application. You’ll see what I mean. Let’s get started.
The first reality of our current moment … I want to tell you …
1. Where we are
Right away, it’s this: we are currently in the promised age of the Spirit.
We are in the part of redemptive history when the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the people of God. The gospel is advancing. Jesus is building his church — And that’s what I tell my grandfather every summer when I seem him on our family trip to North Carolina.
Twenty-three years ago, when I believed God was calling me to be a pastor, my grandfather was one of the first persons I told. He is a godly man who has had a deep influence on me, and I try to see him at least once a year.
And every summer that I’ve seen him for the last decade, he always asks me, “Son, how’s the church?”
And for several years now, the first thing I say is:
“Grandaddy, the gospel is advancing. Jesus is building his church.”
And he just smiles.
Well, this morning, from Acts 2, I wanna tell you the short story of why that’s true.
The Story of Pentecost
This is where the Day of Pentecost comes in. Pentecost is the foundational event in the Book of Acts, and Luke wants us to see the connection between Pentecost and the ministry of Jesus. Look at Acts 1, verse 4. Luke writes,
And while staying with them he [Jesus] ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me…”
Notice that when Jesus gives his disciples instructions for receiving the Spirit, he starts it by saying “you’ve heard me talk about this.” Jesus has taught on the Holy Spirit before, and we’ve heard this teaching! The Holy Spirit is the big topic in the Farewell Discourse, in the Gospel of John. We’ve heard Jesus say:
John 14:16, “… I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth …”
John 15:25, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”
So as we come into the Book of Acts, we already have an expectation: the Spirit proceeds from the Father — he is the promise of the Father and Jesus will ask and receive from the Father to give the Spirit to us. And so we are ready for this.
Now jump over to Acts Chapter 2.
Acts 2, verse 1 — it is the Day of Pentecost — 50 days after Jesus’s resurrection, about a week and a half after Jesus’s ascension. And the disciples have done what Jesus instructed; they had been waiting in Jerusalem; they were altogether, and then verse 2:
… 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.
The promised Spirit has come!
And it leaves the onlookers amazed and perplexed, so Peter ‘stands up’ among the disciples to explain what’s going on.
This is significant: Because Peter had fallen — which we saw last week: in his worst moment he denied Jesus — but he is now restored and standing among his brothers. And, filled with the Holy Spirit, he preaches the best sermon ever.
He says that Jesus, who had been crucified, is now raised up, and, verse 33:
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
Notice how this ties it altogether. We know the behind-the-scenes here, because Jesus told us: Jesus has asked the Father for the Spirit, to give him to us. Jesus has received the Spirit from the Father, and now, on this Day of Pentecost, Jesus has poured out the Spirit on his people.
This is so significant that it marks the official transition from the old covenant to the new.
This moment commences what the apostle Paul calls the “day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). That’s another way to talk about the ‘promised age of the Spirit’ or the ‘messianic age of salvation.’
Witness and Opportunity
This age means at least two things:
First, it means that we are Jesus’s witnesses.
The Spirit who bears witness to Jesus, bears witness to Jesus through us. We’ve talked about this recently: the work of Jesus in this world has not ended, but it’s continued now by his Spirit through his people. We are not of the world, but Jesus has sent us into the world, and he tells us in Acts 1:8, “you will be my witnesses.”
We are here to be life and light to a dead and dark world by pointing to Jesus.
And secondly, this age of the Spirit means what Peter says in Chapter 2, verse 21 … that right now, because the Spirit is poured out, “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from; your background, your mistakes, your name — none of it matters. If you call on the name of Jesus Christ — if you ask Jesus to save you, he will save you.
This is more amazing than we can begin to comprehend! It is the real headline today — just like it was the real headline yesterday. In fact, this has been the real headline everyday for the past two thousand years!
Ever since Acts Chapter 2, the real daily headline is: TRUST CHRIST AND BE SAVED!
That is where we are. That is the truest situation we’re in.
The grace of God is abounding all over this world! And so get in on the grace while you still can.
That’s where we are.
Now, #2 … what we’re facing …
2. What we’re facing
In a word, what we’re facing is opposition — which is not strange.
First, it’s not strange because opposition is a kind of trial — and trials of various kinds are a means that God uses to produces in us steadfastness (James 1:2–4).
This is part of the way that God shapes our character and deepens our hope (Romans 5:2–5). This is how he brings to completion the good work he began in us (Philippians 1:6).
Another reason opposition is not strange is that, in light of churches throughout history and churches all around the world, countless local churches face opposition. It’s just how it is!
From the moment the Spirit is poured out in Acts 2, the church advances through both power and resistance.
If anything, the opposition and challenges we’re facing make us more at home with world Christianity — and more at home with the Book of Acts — than we ever were before.
And so, ultimately, church, we’re gonna be okay.
Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and we will see his face one day, and until then our Heavenly Father watches over us in such a way that not a hair can fall from our heads apart from his will, and in fact, all things must work together for our salvation. Hey, we’re blessed!
And we need to remind ourselves of this everyday, over and over again. And the Holy Spirit helps us to do that! He ministers hope to us through this Book!
Thread the Needle
And at the same time, as we live in this hope, we should not downplay the opposition set against us, especially not the parts that are unlawful, harmful to our families and children, and that put other churches at risk.
I think about a good friend in college … he spent a whole summer in West Africa, in the bush, doing a missions project, and one of the individuals on his team was so eager to suffer for Jesus that they decided not to the bring a toothbrush for the entire four months.
And this person experienced all the things you might imagine you would if you don’t brush your teeth for a long time. And one of the lessons my friend learned is that “Jesus is most likely okay with a toothbrush.”
The lesson is that although suffering for Jesus is normal — and the Bible teaches us to expect it — that doesn’t mean that we seek it out or accept it without any concern.
For example: God has instituted earthly authorities, known as government, as a means to create and guard ordered societies. According to Romans 13, we should expect our government to punish wrongdoing.
What happened to us on January 18 was wrong, period.
And much of what continues to go on out here on Sunday mornings is also wrong.
And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, then great. Keep it like that. There are ways to get into this space without having to walk past these people who hate us. I’d encourage you: avail yourselves to those ways.
But to be clear: out front, over the past few months we have experienced, and have evidence of, chargeable offenses. People have said things and behaved toward our church members with the intent to cause harm and induce reasonable fear.
They want to make our coming to worship as uncomfortable as possible so that we would stop coming. (Their goal is to shut us down, just like the people who desecrated our worship service on January 18.)
But, the more serious issue is that, so far, our city and state officials are doing nothing about it. And that’s the bigger problem.
The world hating us is expected — Jesus told us they would.
But our local government should enforce the law equally, for all people, including for Baptists … including for Evangelical Christians … but they’re not doing that.
So that’s what we’re facing, here in our little slice of the world, in the Twin Cities, in this promised age of the Spirit poured out.
Now #3, I want to tell you …
3. How we respond
Now before I say anything here about our response, I first want to commend you and thank you for your response so far.
And I want to give a special thanks to our security team. These men have done so much over the past several months to protect us from physical harm and to promote safety, and I thank God for them. I encourage you, when you get a chance, express your gratitude to these men.
And for our entire church, corporately, look, your response has been remarkable. Over and over again the fruit of the Spirit has been manifested in you: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
I’ve seen it in you! So thanks be to God, and may this fruit abound more and more!
Now, as we look forward to a new season, and the opposition drags on, I want to tell you about a three-part strategy that’s trying to taking everything into account. With God’s help, these are three actions that we can take in these days.
1. We will pursue wise and lawful means to hold our opponents accountable for wrongdoing.
We are continuing to document everything, and we’re doing our best to work with the St. Paul Police and city officials to get the law enforced. This means that we, as your pastors, gotta be a little persistent. We have to kindly bother them, and that’s what I plan to do.
I hope to have an audience with Mayor Her, and I want to appeal to her. And I would say:
Mayor Her, on April 20th this year, in your address on the state of St. Paul, you said that you are committed to listening and to acting and to lifting St. Paul higher to its full potential, but I wonder:
Do you include Evangelical Christians in that commitment?
Or, do you only care about people you agree with?
You have left us to wonder this.
These are serious questions that we need to ask. That’s one part of our response.
Here’s the second:
2. We will increase our fervent prayer.
I know many of us have been praying, and many other churches have been praying for us, and I want to encourage us to keep on, and even pray more.
Look, we know, Ephesians 6:12,
we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Our opposition is fundamentally spiritual, and therefore our response must be fundamentally spiritual. We put on the armor of the Lord, which includes praying at all times in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18).
And so the plan is to equip our greeters and security with some guided prayer points to carry with them as they’re serving, and I would like to build a small team of prayer warriors to pray as our people are coming to worship.
I will send more communications about this, but just know it’s coming. We’re gonna pray more. I’m reminded of the quote, goes back to Oswald Chamber. He says:
“Prayer does not equip us for greater works — prayer is the greater work.”
3. We will remember the real headline.
Now I’ve already told you the real headline, but it’s probably not one that you’re gonna find in your feeds. The real headline today — and everyday until Jesus comes back — is that THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS BEEN POURED OUT!
TRUST CHRIST AND BE SAVED!
Church, Jesus is real. Jesus is alive — and he is not anxious about anything. He’s not worried about our future. Right now he’s reigning from the Father’s right hand. He has all authority in heaven and on earth, and he has many in these cities who are his people.
We are in the promised age of the Spirit, the age of salvation.
And that means that anybody from anywhere — it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from or what you’re past is — if you call on the name of the Lord you will be saved!
And because this is true, church, be filled with the Holy Spirit and take the next step on mission — Have that gospel conversation with your neighbor or coworker. Invite people to church! — hey, if you think people are not gonna wanna come because of the opposition, just test that out. Invite people to come see for themselves who we truly are.
In these days when our opponents want to shut us down, I pray that God doubles our size. I pray that he multiplies us! I pray that he sends us out!
We don’t want less mission — we want more. More prayer. More courage. More witness. More disciples made.More of the glory of Jesus overcoming us and overflowing through us! The promised Spirit is here! And he is at work.
In a couple of months, God willing, I’m going to see my grandfather in North Carolina. And he’s been following what’s going on. He keeps up on us. But when I see him, he’s gonna ask me, “Son, how’s the church?”
And I’m gonna say, “Granddaddy, the gospel is advancing! Jesus is building his church!”
And he’s gonna smile because he knows it’s true.
This is the time in which we live. May God be glorified through us!
And that’s what brings us to the Table.
The Table
At this table each week, we enter into a ritual that Jesus gave to his church. It’s for Christians.
So if you’re here and you’re not a Christian, if you have not put your faith in Jesus, this is an opportunity to do that. On this day, in this moment, I invite you: call on the name of Jesus, put your faith in him, and be saved.
Now, for Cities Church and all who trust in Christ, let us remember him — let’s remember his death and resurrection for us, and let’s remember the hope we have in him.
