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Jump Out

Acts 1:1-11

This is the frog that lives at your pastor’s house – his name is Jack. Jack is a nice frog and he lives on our deck. There is a commonly known fact that a frog will jump out of boiling water, but on the other hand it can be boiled alive if the water is heated up slowly enough. The story's origins are rooted an article written by G. Stanley Hall from 1887 indicates that many experiments were performed on frogs in the 1870s and 1880s for the purposes of determining how reactive their nervous systems were to various types of stimuli, with temperature change being one of these. One source from 1897 lists an experiment done in 1882 at Johns Hopkins as evidence that "a live frog can actually be boiled without a movement if the water is heated slowly enough; in one experiment the temperature was raised at a rate of 0.002º C. per second, and the frog was found dead at the end of 2½ hours without having moved." The boiling frog story states that a frog can be boiled alive if the water is heated slowly enough; but, it is said that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out.

I would like to propose to you today that many of us are like the frogs who are sitting without movement in an ever-increasing pot of soon to be boiling water. Tell me, why is it that the apostles were on fire for Christ witnessing to everyone, seeing thousands saved at one time, seeing the early church expanding and growing; yet, many believers who grew up in a Christian home or received Christ when they were younger today will barely talk about God to others. But, on the other hand, when a person comes to a saving faith in Christ in their late teens, as a young adult or in adulthood they are more like the apostles bursting at the seems for a while as they share and witness of Jesus’ goodness. I believe that many of us are like that frog. We grow up in church; we hear God’s Word from week to week; we sense the Holy Spirit has always been with us. But, for the apostles and believers who come to know Christ as their Savior later in life, they are like the frog that realizes the water is boiling. A mature person who is saved appreciates the hotness of the boiling Holy Spirit and they jump into action while many of us growing up in the church continue living our lives unaware that the heat of the Holy Spirit is to cause us to jump into action to witness the greatness and glory of God to those around us.

Turn with me to Acts 1. I would like to show you that the apostles who walked with Jesus in public ministry for 3 years were all of the sudden thrown into a boiling pot of water; that is, all of the sudden they found at a day known as Pentecost God had sent the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Look with me at Acts 1:3-5: “3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4On 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. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Now turn to Acts 2 verse 1: “1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Finally, in verse 11 we find out what they did when they jumped out of the boiling water…“we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"

Suddenly, the Holy Spirit came upon these men unlike ever before; it was overwhelming causing them to jump into action. They did not quietly live with the knowledge and truth of Jesus Christ after walking with him and seeing him die for them and seeing Jesus ascend into heaven. They could have just walked home or moved to a safer place and lived out their days loving Jesus all to themselves. No, no, no! When you put a person into the boiling water of the Holy Spirit, he/she should jump into action declaring the wonders of God.

Before I would point you toward being a witness for Jesus, I must tell you something critically important that will affect whether or not you jump out and jump into action. First, you must know what God’s Plan is

The spirit wants the world for Christ. There are two halves of v.8. 1st – the HS is the power and 2nd – this Spirit power will help you witness throughout the world. How could Jesus be sure the apostles and us would carryout his vision to witness throughout the world? Because he was sending the power to accomplish the task. The Spirit wants the world for Jesus Christ. The Spirit’s all-consuming passion is to exalt Christ to the end of the earth. God’s overarching purpose from beginning to end has been to glorify himself throughout the world. Numbers 14:21 “as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth…” Joshua 4:24, God brought his people into Canaan “so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God." Psalm 96:1-3 “Sing to the LORD a new song…proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.” Isaiah 49:6 “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." God’s strategic plan is to have the HS in and among us to empower us because the Spirit wants the world for Christ. God sent this power that desires the world for Christ to inhabit people, so that we would be strong enough to jump out and jump into action.

With God’s strategic plan within our understanding, we need to realize that the work of Jesus Christ is both finished and unfinished. Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross is finished, yet the proclamation of his redemptive work is still underway.

This is quite logical: if the Spirit wants the world for Christ and the world is not yet for Christ, then we either join up for God’s plan or we get slow cooked. The great thing about God’s plan is that God never asks us to do something on our own, but he always gives us the help we need to do it. The help the apostles needed is the same help we need today. We need power, we need the Holy Spirit.

Having received the message, and witnessed the risen Christ, the apostles may have been tempted to assume they were ready to minister in their own strength. To prevent that error Jesus commanded them to not leave Jerusalem until they received what the Father had promised – the Holy Spirit. It is vital for you to know who the HS is. The HS is the 3rd person of the Trinity. There is the Father, the Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They are all God in essence which means they share the divine attributes – all knowing; all powerful; the HS has all of the God attributes. However, each of the 3 persons are different in person; that means, they each have a different role to play. The Father sets the course, the Son accomplished the specific redemptive goal, and now the Spirit accomplishes the final goal of taking this world for Christ. This is who the father sent when Jesus ascended into heaven.

All the preparation and training that knowledge and experience can bring are useless without the proper might. Power had to accompany truth. The apostles were supernaturally empowered to be witnesses to declare God’s wonders. Jesus had sent them out on a preaching tour and he told them that it is not them who speak but it was the Holy Spirit who spoke in and through them. The Spirit abides and makes his home with you. v.8 calls the Spirit the power. The Greek word for power is dunamis from which the English word dynamite is derived. All believers have in them spiritual dynamite to be God’s witness. God wants us to experience the flow and release of this power which happens through being a witness.

Witnesses are those who see something and tell others about it. A witness for Jesus is simply someone who tells the truth about Him.

I just got done saying that power needs to accompany truth. That is, the truth is Jesus was sacrificed for sinners to be saved. The power comes by the Spirit to help you witness the truth. God calls for a partnership rather than a robotic life. Your partnership impacts the witness. What makes your message believable is a holy life that clearly demonstrates God’s work in your life. It is self-defeating to proclaim the message of salvation from sin while living an openly sinful life. The witness must demonstrate the power of the message he is proclaiming. A major factor in the church’s powerlessness today is that many who know biblical truth too often fail to live by it. Proclaiming truth yet giving scant or little evidence of it in one’s life points to weakness of the truth.

Jesus told the apostles to stay in Jerusalem because he wanted them to receive the power and to witness first right where they lived. Likewise, God wants us to stay right where we are. It is God who chose this home for us, and God wants you to identify some people to witness to. Is there some in your family, friends, people in your neighborhood, at work, maybe at school?

Jesus commanded them to stay in Jerusalem to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. As they waited for the gift, they prayed. Upon receiving the gift, they jumped out and launched the early church by declaring God’s wonders and thousands were saved and began looking to learn and grow more in God’s ways. As more people received the gift of the HS upon salvation, they witnessed to others. As the witnessing grew and grew in Jerusalem, they began to move outside of the city in all areas of Judea, then into Samaria and when people have a hunger and desire to see all kinds of people connecting with Jesus, then there is a heart’s cry for foreign missions. I am asked why don’t churches have a heart for missions, I believe the answer is that how can people have a heart for people they don’t know to receive Christ when they don’t care enough to witness to those we love who are right next to us. When churches flourish in their witness locally, then they will flourish in their witness internationally.

When you witness be sure to learn the lesson from this text that you should witness to people using their language rather than your language. The apostles by the power of the Holy Spirit were given the supernatural ability to speak to a culturally diverse group of people with various languages in their own languages. Why does that matter? People not only notice but appreciate when you do things on their terms and according to their likes rather than your own. Learn this lesson, declare God’s wonders in a way that communicates best to the listener. If sports is their language, then maybe you talk about Coach Tony Dungi of the Superbowl champions being on fire for Jesus Christ. If young children, parenting, and keeping a home is their language, then maybe you declare the wonders of God in that context. Declare the wonders of God in the language that speaks best to the listener.

By far, there is one thing that is the most important thing you can do in your life. Declare the wonders of God to those in your home, in your neighborhood, at your school, at work. This is your Jerusalem. Jesus said to begin in Jerusalem. Jump out of the boiling water for the Holy Spirit is white hot empowering you beyond any comprehension you have. Talk to people about how great and awesome your God is.

Declare God’s wonders in new contexts like fairs and festivals. Thousands of people came to the Armada Fair this year. Our church had a booth at the fair where we gave away 1,000 balloons, 100 finger puppets, 75 KidsTown T-shirts; this created the opportunity to declare the wonders of God in the language of a fair; do you see how we came to the attendees of the fair on their terms, and according to their language of having fun we talked about God and invited them to the September Mainstreet. I would like to take a moment and acknowledge all those who worked at the booth and declared the wonders of God. So, if you worked the booth, would you please come up. Take a look at these people, they did not sit in boiling water but jumped out. If you have a question about their experience, then ask them about it. We also have an opportunity for you to realize you are boiling and jump out for the Romeo Peach Festival. Again, our church will declare God’s wonders using the same approach of the kids ministry. Maybe it’s time for you to jump out.

That’s a big step to talk about God and invite people to Mainstreet, and maybe you want to take a step in that direction but a smaller step first. We are building a float for the children’s parade, and you could help build it. We have about 1 week to build it, then a week to paint it. If you are interested, my father John Bryant will be managing the project and Chris Lennox will be managing the painting and decorations. Stop by the resource center to give us your info so we can contact you to schedule your help. We also need people to walk in the parade.

A live frog can be boiled alive if the water temperature is slowly turned up; but, you put a frog in boiling water and he will jump out. If you claim salvation by Jesus, then you are in hot water as the dynamite power of God – his HS – is in you and upon you. Will you simply sit there as if the water is cool? Won’t you realize that it is boiling. Jump out and jump into action.

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