PASTOR’S NOTES
Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
Born again, new-life-type faith is amazing to experience, but is often confusing to witness, unless you have experienced such new life before. In Acts 2, God is in the process of creating His church through the giving of His Holy Spirit. Pentecost in Acts 2 is a pinnacle moment in the history of believers where God’s Spirit is given to man through the acceptance of the Gospel which will be preached starting in verse 14, which we will unpack next week in our Easter service. People were all hearing the same message as the Spirit gave way to the ability to speak and listen in a way that all would hear the same message of God’s saving grace!
People were amazed! Even amazed would be an understatement as we will read that many who will hear the gospel were cut to the heart as their ears and hearts were open to the message of Jesus’s salvation invitation! However, not all were amazed. While some were brought to their knees in conviction and hope, others were confused and mocked what they were witnessing.
When it comes to the amazing born-again experience of salvation, nothing today has changed when it comes to how man responds. To the outsider, surrender and faith look crazy. The world cannot make sense of why anyone would leave the past to follow Jesus and walk into a promised future. Today, the world still mocks us. The lost look at the church and rolls their eyes. This is not a new occurrence.
If you choose to follow Jesus, know that the world will not only not accept you, but will mock you. Your new life will look like death to them. The Bible tells us this all through the scriptures. For example, Jude 1 tells us, “In the last time, there will be scoffers.”
If your life makes perfect sense to the lost, you very well could still be lost! Our life should look confusing to the world as this is a sign of true transformation through the Holy Spirit in our life. The old has passed away and the new life has begun! This new life was exactly what was occurring in Acts chapter 2 and in that new life, there will always be the transformed as well as the scoffers.
Alien status church!
Scripture to go along with this week’s message
Read 2 Peter 3 as Peter quotes Jude 1 and speaks on this same promise that some will follow and some will mock.