A Modern Day Book of Acts Church: Identity Crisis Acts 5:34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; Acts 5:38-39 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: 39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. Power of Identity If we are going to be a Modern Day Book of Acts Church, then the first thing that must happen is that we must realize who we are. We are not second-class citizens of our world. o We are not just religious right extremists. o We are the people of God! Let me tell you who you are: o Peter said (1 Peter 2:5) you are lively stones, built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood that offers spiritual sacrifices. o Lively stones are stones that have been shaped and formed precisely to fit in a specific place. o Your life isn t the result of chance and random circumstance o God has shaped you and is shaping you to fit in a precise place in his plan o You are a people of destiny formed by God for his Holy purpose These Lively stones are built into a spiritual house o When we come together our lives, experiences and anointing are fitly framed together into a sanctuary where god can work. o WE are the church. o This building isn t the church, WE are the church. o Wherever we come together our lives are fitly joined together to create the sanctuary where God s spirit can be poured out. You are a holy priesthood that offers spiritual sacrifices. o When our lively stones join together to make a spiritual house, we are the priests that minister there offering sacrifices of praise to God that are made acceptable by the blood of Jesus Christ the lamb! o You are important to the plan of God. o You are important to the work of God. o God has a purpose for your life at large, and he has a place for you in this service tonight! Peter went on to say (verse 9) that you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. o This is who you are. You belong to God. Modern Day book Of Acts Church Part 2 1
o You ve been chosen by Him to show forth His praises, to declare His glory. You are the Modern Day Book of Acts Church. o You carry the heritage of that first century church. o You carry upon your life that same name: Jesus. o You have that same power that turned the world upside down. The devil understands this. o The devil knows that the only way he can hinder you is to stop you from realizing who you really are. o The devil knows he can t fight the power of God and win. o The devil knows that when you speak the name of Jesus he has no choice but to flee. o The devil knows that he can t meet you head on in the fullness of the power that God has placed in your life and overcome you. o So instead he employs an age-old trick to try to rob you of your confidence. o He s been playing this game a long-long time. o And he knows that the only way he can combat the people of God is by robbing them of their identity. From as far back as Adam and Eve the devil has endeavored to rob God s people of their identity. o He tricked Eve by demeaning her current position and convincing her that God was keeping some better knowledge from her. o By causing her to believe that God had somehow relegated her to the status of second-class citizen, he robbed her of the power and authority that God had given her. o It worked then and it has worked a multitude of times thru scripture and it s the same old tired trick that the devil would employ against the church today. o Lets look at a few examples: Moabites When Balak came to Baalam with his wicked plan to curse the people of God. Baalam, because of his spirit of greed, was willing to participate in the diabolical plan. o However when he opened his moth to curse the Isrealites, God filled his mouth with a blessing instead of a curse. o Several times he tried to curse Israel and each time the result was a blessing. o As Balak hounded him to carry thru his end of the bargain a frustrated Baalam asked the question, How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? o But the rest of the story is contained in Revelation 2:14 where the word reveals to us that Baalam figured out how to curse the people of God and shared that knowledge with Balak. Modern Day book Of Acts Church Part 2 2
o How did he curse them? o He taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel. o He enticed them to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to mix themselves with Moabites. o You go back and read the Old Testament account and you will find that right after the episode with Baalam and Balak where God refuses to curse the children of Israel, the men of Israel began to take unto themselves the women of Moab. o They began to participate in their pagan rituals and worship their idol gods, and what Balaam and Balak couldn t do, God did. o When Balak robbed the children of Israel of their identity by robbing them of their separation he opened the door for God to curse the Israelites with a horrible plague. o Can I tell you this evening that Hell would like to rob you of your identity by enticing you to become so entangled with this world that you no longer hold a standard of separation.come out from among them saith the Lord and be separate. o He has called us out of the world, out of darkness and into his marvelous light. o There is power in your identity, but when you are robbed of your separation you are robbed of your identity! Aarons Rod Saul, in his backslidden state, lost the Ark of the Covenant in battle. When the ark was finally returned the scripture is very specific about the fact that it had been plundered. o Of the items that Moses placed within the Ark, only the law remained. o The thieves that dared to venture into the Ark stole the golden vessel of Manna, and Aarons budded rod that had been placed there by Moses. o 1 Kings 8:9 tells us that when the Ark was brought into Solomon s temple there was nothing left in the ark except the two tablets of stone containing the law. I have long believed that these two missing items represent two things that the devil longs to steal from every believer. o The first being God s blessing and provision and the second being the identity of the people of God. o Once a year the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to apply the blood of atonement to the mercy seat of God. o On that day, when mortal flesh walked into the presence of a Holy God he was allowed to go there and live by virtue of his lineage from Aaron. o That budded rod that was contained in the Ark of the Covenant was his passport into the presence of God. o It was by that rod that he could claim the right to walk into the Shekinah cloud. o I believe that when the thief stole the budded rod Hell endeavored to use that knowledge to instill doubt into the mind of God s chosen man. Modern Day book Of Acts Church Part 2 3
o His identity, his authority, his right of passage into the things of God was contained in that budded rod. o I believe it was the desire of hell that every time that the Man of God got ready to undertake his solemn service before the presence of God that he would have to battle thru fear and doubt that he didn t belong there because the evidence that declared that he had the right to be there had been stolen. Hell is still playing the same game. o He will do everything that he can to undermine your confidence in your ability to do and be what God has called you to do and be. o He will endeavor to instill doubt in your mind and fear in your heart to rob you of the faith to believe that you have any power or authority with god. o He will remind you of where you came from, o He will remind you of things in your past, o He will seize upon your humanity and confront your with your faults in an effort to cause you to discount your right to be a child off God. o Can I tell you tonight that the devil is liar. o None of us is worthy, but we ve been washed in the blood of the lamb and by virtue of his sacrifice we have all the authority and right that we need to call upon the name of Jesus in faith. o We have a right to claim the promises of the word of God. o This is our heritage, this is our identity and the devil will rob you of it if you will let him. Jesus Temptation Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh. I believe the devil knew this, but I also believe that scripture underscores the fact that he never realized the full significance of what that meant until it was too late. o 1 Corinthians 2:8 tells us that the princes of this world didn t understand the wisdom of God, for had they understood it they wouldn t have crucified Jesus. o While the devil didn t fully understand the significance of what Emmanual really meant, he did understand that if he was going to overcome this one named Jesus he would only be able to do it by robbing Him of his identity. o So we find that when he tempts Jesus in the wilderness just before his earthly ministry begins, Satan launches his best efforts with these words o (Matt 4:3) If thou be the Son of God The first thing he did was to try to undermine the identity of Jesus Christ. o IF you are who you say you are o This is because he understood, if I can rob him of his identity I can rob him of his effectiveness. o If I can cause him to doubt his own authority I can rob him of all divine ability. o Hell is still attacking the people of God in the same manner today. Modern Day book Of Acts Church Part 2 4
o He understands that if he can cause you to doubt yourself, then by virtue of that doubt he can cause you to doubt the power of God. o Instead of coming straight out and trying to convince you that God can t heal anymore, he will instead endeavor to convince you that God can t use you to heal. o It s his way of sideswiping the power of God. o It s not that God can t touch your friend or employer, it s that God can t use you to do it. o It s not that God can t do great miracles, it s that God can t do them thru you. o If only there were a Peter or a Paul or some great evangelist, then God could do great things, but God can t do those things thru you and thru me. o My friend, I am thankful today that we are not ignorant of the devils devices. o The truth isn t even in him. o As surely as he tells you that you can t be used of God, my friend, this fact alone is evidence that God can and will use you if only you will let him. This is God s Only Plan Can I let you in on a little secret this evening? This is God s only plan for reaching the world. o God has no other plan to reach our world except thru us. o God has no other plan to minister to those in our lives, except thru us. o God has no other plan to heal the sick, except thru us. o God has no other plan to demonstrate His power and authority, except thru us. We are God s plan. o We are the church, we are the people of God, and we are God s plan for this city, for this community, for this hour. o If God saves anyone here, he will do it thru us. o If god ministers to the hurt and the wounded, he will do it thru us. o If God sets the captives free and breaks the bonds of addiction, he will do it thru us. o God will not come down into our community and call men to repentance, he will send us. o God will not reach out a hand to the broken hearted, he will send us. o God will not stretch forth his hand to heal anyone in our community, he will send us to stretch forth our hand. God has placed himself in our hands! o We must deliver him to a lost world! o This is why it is so incredibly important that we recognize who we are. o We are the ambassadors of Jesus Christ. o It s our job to present Jesus to our world. o We are carrying God to the world!!! o This is who we are, we have Jesus in our hands and we must deliver him to our world. Modern Day book Of Acts Church Part 2 5
o He has no other plan, there is no other means, we are the people if God and this is our purpose! If this is of God This is why I find the words of Gamaliel to be so important. As an outsider looking in, he understood the power of the church better than some of us do. o He said, if this is of men, it will come to nothing. o But if it is of God, it cannot be stopped. This church that God set in motion is unstoppable. o The Jewish Sanhedrin couldn t stop it. o The might of the Roman empire couldn t crush it. o The fires of persecution couldn t consume it. o The spiritual blindness of the dark ages couldn t conceal it. o The wisdom and knowledge of men can t explain it. o And hell, with all of its fury is defensless against it. o This is the church! o We are victorious. o We are in this world, but not of it. o And the things of this world do not posses the power to overcome us. We are the church We were appointed unto this hour. For a time such as this. o We have, working within us, the power of the Holy Ghost. o We have a firm grasp of the truth that transforms lives. o We have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. o By virtue of that name, we have authority of the works of darkness. o We have the power to tear down strongholds, to assault powers and principalities, to declare the glory of God in our community. o We have more power in prayer than we have ever realized. o From our knees, in our homes, we can change the spiritual atmosphere of our city. o We can sway the course of governments and alter the direction of nations, when we pray. o Our God has said that if we will pray he will hear and heal our land. o We posses that power and authority it ours to use. o Hell understands that the only way he can stop us is by robbing us of the confidence to use what God has given us. ***China fears you.*** Power is not of us but it resides within us Modern Day book Of Acts Church Part 2 6
What we need to realize tonight is that while Hell can assault our confidence and seek to undermine our character what he doesn t realize is the power is not of us, but it works within us. It is not by virtue of myself that I can tear down spiritual strongholds. o It is not by my power, nor by my might, but by the spirit of the Lord. o The power resides within this earthen vessel! o The vessel is earthen, I m still flesh, and Hell will continue to seek to discount me because of that. o But what he doesn t realize is that my authority doesn t rest in my own abilities. The power doesn t come from my faithfulness. o Peter was quick to point out the fact that it wasn t him or anything he did that caused the lame to be healed but it was the name of Jesus and by faith in that name that these things were done. o God has always used imperfect vessels. o God has always invested himself in flawed humanity. He doesn t work because of our worthiness, He works in spite of our faults. o The devil may try to convince you that God is looking for a better more deserving vessel thru which to work o But the truth is that God is only looking for a willing vessel thru which to work. o If you are willing, if you will let him, God will sanctify the vessel and fill it with his power and complete his work thru your life. o God CAN use you! God WILL use you. o Will you let him? Praying for Boldness We love to reference the 4 th chapter of Acts when we talk about prayer. Because the power of an apostolic prayer meeting is demonstrated in verse 31 when they prayed and the place where they were assembled together was shaken. o However in our haste to demonstrate the power of prayer I believe we have often over looked what it was that they were praying for. o As the church was subjected to intense persecution and threatened with their lives they responded not with fear and trembling o But by joining together in prayer asking God to grant them boldness to speak the word. o I believe one of the keys to a Book of Acts revival in the Twenty First Century lies within the context of this verse. o I believe it is time that we realized who we are. o I believe it is time that we cast off the lies and deceit of the devil and realized that we do posses the same power and authority that the first century church had. o I believe it is time that we started asking God for boldness to evercome the doubts and misgivings that have hindered us in times past. o Boldness to step out on faith and expect God to work. Modern Day book Of Acts Church Part 2 7
o Boldness to believe that if we will share this gospel message, God will back it up. o Boldness to believe that a lost world is desperate and we have what they need. o Boldness to recognize, this world needs a power that transforms lives and I have that power working within me. o Acts 4:29-31 contains this apostolic prayer, it says And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. It s time for us to pray for holy boldness, expecting God to move when we pray, when we share our faith, anytime we call upon his name. o The bible said, And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, o And watch this -- they spake the word of God with boldness. o God answered their prayer! o I just believe that if we would seek God asking him to grant us boldness to speak his word, to share this faith, to pray expecting God to move, that God will hear and respond to that kind of praying. o God wants to demonstrate his glory thru our lives. o God wants to make himself manifest to this generation and you are the vessel thru which he will do the work. o God want to reach our lost world, and he will do it thru our lives! Modern Day book Of Acts Church Part 2 8