Spiritual Power!
Sermon for Sunday May 20, 2007
1.
Good Morning. Let’s pray – O
Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing
to You O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.
Amen.
2.
Opening Comments: This morning
God wants to talk to us about “spiritual power” –
·
That it’s real
·
That there’s good spiritual power and there’s evil
spiritual power
·
And that at the heart of good spiritual power is love
expressing itself in unity!
Now why is this
important for us today?
If it’s real then it will, whether we recognize it or not, influence
our lives. And if there is both good and
evil spiritual power then we will be influenced both by these good and evil
spiritual realities which will, in turn, impact our lives for good or for ill!
Now if Spiritual influences are in fact real then it seems to me to
deny them is great folly. I fear though
that one form of denial – in fact the one used by most of the developed world -
is to place them in the category of “psychological”
realities which can best be managed by psychologists and sociologists. In doing this the spiritual realities are not
seen as real i.e., as objective realities, but rather as psychological
realities i.e., unreal realities, dealing with the mind and it’s perceptions or
misperceptions of reality - best managed
by therapy and a little bit of “positive thinking” wouldn’t hurt either!
But if there are spiritual powers which are in fact objective realities
i.e., realities that exists whether we believe in them or not, then to deny
them is absolute foolishness!
3. Delving Deeper: So let’s delve a little further into this by
reflecting on our reading from the Book of Acts chapter 16 beginning at verse
16 and concluding with verse 34:
Acts
16:16
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave
girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great
deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.
Now let me
explain – the slave girl Luke was described as having a “Python spirit” (pneuma pythona). The
Python was a mythical serpent or dragon that guarded the temple and oracle of
Apollo, located on the southern slope of Mount Parnassus to the north of the
Gulf of Corinth. It was supposed to have lived at the foot of Mount Parnassus
and to have eventually been killed by Apollo. Later the word python came to
mean a demon-possessed person through whom the Python spoke—even a
ventriloquist was thought to have such a spirit living in his or her belly.
Undoubtedly all who knew the girl regarded her as neither fraudulent nor insane
but as demon possessed and able to foretell the future. By her fortunetelling,
she earned her masters much money.
Clearly then the
people of that day believed in spirits!
Yes, some might say but they were a primitive people and hadn’t had the
advantage of our modern empirical understanding that sees and believes only in
empirically verifiable realities.
But I might
counter with this observation – this slave girl earned her owners a great deal
of money because of her ability to see into the future! What she predicted was going to happen
actually happened and as a consequence people who could know what was going to
happen in the future could bet on that reality and make a great deal of money.
And reportedly
this slave girl told people their future and they bet on it and made money and
gave some to her owners in thanks for her services. If what she predicted didn’t come true then
sooner than later she would be put out of business.
Today millions
and millions of people around the world look to their astrological charts to
learn what’s coming and are thereby able to prepare for it.
I suspect that
Wall Street Day Traders would love to know such a person who could tell them
which way the market is going 24 hours in advance! They could make billions! I wonder how many stockbrokers consult
mediums, or astrologists or any number of other people who delve in the spirit world? Many many people live today who know beyond the shadow of a
doubt that there is a “spiritual world” - a spiritual reality which does most
assuredly impact our lives minute by minute, day by day!
So let’s read on
– verse 17: This girl followed Paul and the rest of us,
shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High
God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”
Now why
was she doing this?
In the Book of James we read: James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons
believe that—and shudder.
Well
the demons believe even if many of us don’t.
In Jesus ministry we hear the demonic powers repeatedly almost
compulsively recognizing Him - (Mark 1:24; 3:11; 5:7; Luke 4:34, 41;
8:28). Here’s one example: Mark 3:11 Whenever the evil spirits
saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”
But
why did Paul stop here – after all this was great free advertising wasn’t
it. In verse 18 we read:
18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so
troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus
Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
There have been
all sorts of speculation as to why Paul did this ranging from the fact that she
was a nuisance to Paul to the possibility that I like and that is that her
declarations attested to the spiritual reality and gave her greater and greater
notoriety!
The fact is that
she was right! But what wasn’t being
said was that the evil demons were the source of this insight! Evil demons can see divine spiritual
realities.
Make no mistake people harassed or possessed by evil spirits do not like anyone who
is in communion with God’s Holy Spirit.
Holiness and evil are like fire and water!
So what
happened? Do you remember? Suppose a stockbroker was making a great deal
of money because of the predictions of a spirit guide and just suppose that
this spirit guide was converted to Christianity and was willingly submitting to
the leadership of God’s Holy Spirit. How
do you think the stockbroker is feeling?
Yes, he’s just lost his meal ticked to wealth and fame!
Let’s see what
happened in this instance reading on:
19 When the owners of the slave girl realized that
their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged
them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These
men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or
practice.”
Ah! Did you hear that? The strategy of the owners of the slave girl
was to call upon the racial prejudices of the crowd. Did you hear what they said – verse 20 “These
men are Jews.” And then they appealed to
the authorities concern for the need for social peace when they went on to say:
verse 20 “they are throwing our city into an uproar 21. By advocating customs
unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
Ah! The fact was that they were losing
income! Deception is the mark of the
evil one. Reading on – verse 22:
22 The crowd – incensed by
their prejudices against the Jews - joined
in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be
stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into
prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.
Now up to this
point we have been witnessing the effects of evil spiritual power not let’s
watch God in His infinite power assert His sovereign influence. Reading on – verse 24:
24 Upon receiving such orders, the
jailer put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing
hymns to God,
Ah did you hear
that? It sounds to me that Paul and
Silas weren’t too concerned about their future.
They weren’t consulting a medium or their astrological charts! No!
They were trusting in their resurrected Lord
who had Himself just defeated death and Satan.
He could be trusted with their lives – with there futures!
Reading on: and the other prisoners were listening to
them. 26 Suddenly there was such
a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Just take a
second to imagine that scene – a sudden and violent earthquake! Reading on:
At once all the prison doors flew open, and
everybody’s chains came loose. 27
The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword
and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had
escaped. 28 But Paul shouted,
“Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed
in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to
be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be
saved—you and your household.” 32
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his
house. 33 At that hour of the
night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all
his family were baptized. 34 The
jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled
with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.
So what the slave girl’s owners meant for bad was transformed by God
into a blessing that not only brought the Jailer and his family into the
Kingdom of God and presumably some of the prisoners but has become for 2,000
years testimony to the sovereign overruling power of God – the ultimate and
only truly legitimate spiritual power in the entire universe. All other power and authority are contingent
realities – they exists only be God exists.
4.
So what: So spiritual powers do exist in
reality. They’re not just a state of
mind – the jail doors opened! And they
are both good and bad. But the good will
always and ever overrule the bad sooner or later!
Now what most instructive for us at this point is the posture of Paul
and Silas as they fell captive to the ruling authorities – they submitted and in jail sang praises to their
God!
This is the poise that true believers have in the face of a world that
seems in the power of evil at every turn.
This is instructive for us! In the
face of all apparent defeat God is about to work His redemptive miracles! Let us look beyond what’s obvious to the
spiritual world where God is clearly the victor! God, the Almighty God, is sovereign in all
matters!
5. Turn now to the Gospel Reading: Now what else would our Lord say to us
now that His spiritual sovereignty has been affirmed?
For our answer we must turn to the Gospel reading. In this sublime reading we’re given a very
special insight into the relationship between God, the Father, and God the
Son. We are allowed into a conversation
between them. Let’s listen in then:
John
17:20
“My prayer is not for
them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
That’s you and me! Reading on: 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me
and I am in you. May they also be in us
so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they
may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me.
May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me
and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me
where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me
before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father,
though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have
sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make
you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I
myself may be in them.”
Ah! Jesus’ prayer to His
sovereign Father is that all who follow Him would be as they are – ONE! Of one heart and mind! Not separated selves but ONE! No longer defining ourselves in
contradistinction from one another bur rather finding our identity in God! Unity as opposed to fragmentation –
brokenness!
Listen again to verse 26: I have made you known to them, and will continue to make
you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I
myself may be in them.”
We are being invite into the very heart of our
Triune God to experience the same love that caused Jesus to die for us! It’s a love for the other! O Lord, may you give each and every one of us
more and more of this love!
We will truly reflect on earth the absolute reality of God’s sovereign
spiritual power as we enter more and more fully into His love and give
expression of this love through our unity.
Verse 23 tells us: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete
unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you
have loved me.
The world will recognize the absolute and
sovereign reality of God’s spiritual reality as we, His followers, express His
love in our unity!
This then is the end game for all of history
– the unification of Christ’s people here on earth!
Jesus prayed for it – God incarnate prayed
for it! It’s going to happen - Sooner or
later! I want to make sure it’s sooner
than later – how about you!
6. The
Challenge: The challenge then that our
Lord is placing before us is this: That
His spiritual power is real and sovereign!
We can entrust ourselves to His sovereign spiritual power and give full
expression to this spiritual reality through our unity in love!
Now to the extent that you and I are living in any form of spiritual
disunity with our Christian brothers and sisters is the extent to which we or them or both of us are not united with Christ! For to be in unity with Him is to be invited
into the very heart of our Triune God and to know such love is to desire beyond
everything unity with our Christian family!
So please close your eyes and pray with me . . .