Scripture: Acts 2:14-21
“All the world’s a stage”
All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages.
1) At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;
2) And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school.
3) And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. 4) Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon’s mouth.
5) And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lin’d, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part.
6) The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound.
7) Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion; Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
(spoken by Jaques from As You Like It, by William Shakespeare)
How many years do you have to influence the world for Christ? I have officiated funerals for people from still born to 100 years old. Some of those are people that some would say – I know they aren’t a Christian – some, I think they believed in Jesus – some, they were a Christian – and still others, everyone knew this person had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If the greatest good we can do is to be a part in someone else’s salvation experience (going from eternal damnation to eternal life) then how many years, months, weeks, days, moments do we have to influence others for Jesus? Is it possible, that we have the potential to influence others even beyond the number of our earthly days?
Easy example – When Billy Graham dies (he was the greatest evangelist of the 20th century) will he still influence people beyond his life? Of course – through video and books but mostly through all who came to faith at a Billy Graham crusade and the people who came to faith because of them. Another example: Gam Shae was my NT professor in seminary. He was born in Burma and can trace his spiritual conversion backwards through generations to a man named Adoniram Judson who was America’s first foreign missionary and landed in Burma July 13, 1813. 200 years after Judson’s death he influenced faith in Gam Shae who became a seminary professor in the US. Graham will outlive his life. Judson has and is outliving his life for Jesus.
Some of us don’t even let our family and friends know that we have put our trust in Jesus let alone do anything to influence others. That probably just caused most of us to fill up with a boat load of guilt. Don’t be dismayed – there is good news coming. Let’s examine our bible text for today.
Acts 2:14-21
(Pentecost with people amazed at speaking and hearing miracle and others think they are drunk)
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
(quote - Joel 2:28-32) 17 "'In the last days, (Hebrews 1:1-3…in these 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. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'
God wants us growing at every stage of life. How we grew at age 10 will be different than our growth at age 27 or 42 or 78. What used to be ideals and vision now becomes hopes and dreams. What moved at break-neck speed and went from here to there now moves with consistency in a much straighter line. What we saw for our future we now see for the future of others. According to scripture in the OT prophet Joel and reaffirmed by Luke in the book of Acts, God uses young and old, male and female, and people of all social economic levels to influence others with the Good News of Jesus (aka The Gospel) knowing that “EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord WILL be saved!”
God has already been pouring out His Spirit. We just need to remove the umbrella of fear to change, and let it rain. Let the HS grow us in new and different ways.
In this text – Peter has grown from one who would not stand up for his Lord…now stands at the front of the other 11 to preach the word to an unbelieving and skeptical crowd. He does this by the power of the Holy Spirit and the support of the church (other disciples). Peter gets their attention with the thought of the day – are these men drunk? And uses it to show them how proclaiming Jesus, and the beginning of the last days have begun.
In the year 1854, a 17-year-old boy was working in a shoe shop in Detroit. He didn't know Christ and had no interest in matters of spirituality or religion. But, he had been forced to go to Sunday school, (Today it is hard to get the parents to Sunday School – so the children follow their lead). One day, his Sunday school teacher went to the shoe shop where this boy was working and said, “Hey, I’m worried about you. I want to talk.” So, they went into the basement of the shoe store, where the Sunday school teacher led the young man to Christ. The Sunday school teacher’s name was Edward Kimball, and the 17-year-old boy’s name was D. L. Moody. We now know that he went on to become one of the greatest evangelists in the world, and he shared the gospel with 100 million people. And this was in the age before modern technology. Incredible! And of course, Moody also founded the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Memorial Church in Chicago. His name is well known in the Christian community, even today, more than a hundred years later.
Now, it’s kind of cool to see that Moody went on to influence a man named F.B. Meyer, a London pastor and an intellectual who never focused on Jesus. Meyer’s congregation told him that they wanted this newly famous evangelist, Moody, to come speak to them. So, Meyer reluctantly agreed to let his congregation bring in Moody.
Meyer, who had a lot of intellectual pride and was ashamed of the name of Jesus, invited Moody to do a revival in his church. When Moody showed up, Meyer immediately took a dislike to him. He didn’t like him because Moody was not well dressed, and because he only had a fifth-grade education.
Meyer had doctorates, and he was brilliant. So, he kind of looked down on Moody. But, Moody got up to preach in Meyer’s church and was anointed by the Holy Spirit. The power of God was upon him. And, as he spoke, he focused on Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
As such, hundreds upon hundreds of people came to faith in Jesus Christ that day from the pews of Meyer’s beloved church. Because of this, Meyer was embarrassed and consumed with jealousy. After the revival, Moody quietly left, leaving Meyer with his congregation and with his jealousy and anger.
Two weeks later, Meyer was talking with one of his Sunday school teachers, and the teacher said, “You know, I used to focus on all kinds of stuff and never focused on Jesus, but Moody taught me to focus on Jesus. So, I’ve been focusing on Jesus over these last two weeks and I want to tell you about this boy who accepted Jesus during my class.”
As he told the story, Meyer began to weep. The Holy Spirit broke through; he was convicted and supernaturally changed. For the rest of his life, he preached Jesus to all who would listen.
As the years went by, Meyer influenced J. Wilbur Chapman; J. Wilbur Chapman influenced Billy Sunday; then Billy Sunday influenced Mordecai Ham. And it was Mordecai Ham who led Billy Graham to Christ. Just like Gam Shae tracing his spiritual linage back, so too can someone like Billy Graham.
Now I have moved you from guilt to inferiority because you know you will not likely become A D L Moody, Billy Sunday and certainly not a Billy Graham. So, who was this message for? It was for anyone who can witness to the fact that Jesus Christ is who the bible says he is, that he was crucified and raised form the dead for our forgiveness and to prove he is the giver of life because you have had your own personal encounter with this same Jesus. You don’t have to be an author or preacher – you could be a Sunday School teacher, a short-term missionary, a financial contributor to the church, a prayer warrior, a friend in the name of Jesus, a caring listener or even a church usher. Watch this video and see what I mean.
Right Now Media Video
“Life Span” (2:13)
CONCLUSION
Do you still not see where you can outlive your life for Jesus? Let me finish the story I started about Billy Graham coming to faith during a tent revival meeting and I think you will see where you fit in without guilt or inferiority – but with joy and courage.
When Billy Graham did come to Christ through the preaching of Mordecai Ham, it was during a tent meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1936. Graham, born in 1920, was 16 years old, didn't know Christ, and was "sowing his oats," as many a young man is known to do. He had a 16-year-old buddy, and they were just hanging out when they thought, “Hey, let's go into this tent and hear what this whacko has to say.”
So, they were just clowning around when they went into that tent. Once inside, they realized that there was no room for them; they couldn’t find any seats. So, Billy said to his buddy, “Let's get out of here.” As they turned to leave, an usher standing there saw them and said, “Hey, guys.” He put his big arms around their shoulders and said, “You know, hey, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Let me take you to a seat.” So, the usher took them to a seat and the rest is history.
Billy Graham found Jesus that night, and he went on to take Jesus to the world. That usher could never have known how God was using him that night through his simple yet faithful service.
So, serve Christ, knowing that it might be a mystery--what God is doing through you. The power of God attends the grace of the Gospel. So, be faithful.
