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They troubled the world. "They", meaning the believers in Jesus Christ. Not the ones who say. "I believe in Jesus", but the ones who because they believe, live for Him. True believers can always be identified by the way they live. They live so that God can use them, anytime and anywhere. Believers are aware of the conditions that plague our society. People of all ages are dying without ever knowing that Jesus is the solution to all of their troubles. Our world is engulfed in a sea of chaos, strife, and frustration. We are living in one of the most controversial period in the history. Among all of the confusion there is unrest, and disruption. Medical science is on the brink of attempting to clone humans. They want to enter areas where only God can go.
Government officials are finding themselves in a dilemma. President Bush has his stem cell dilemma. Governor Davis has his electrical energy dilemma. Congressman Condit has his Chandra Levy dilemma. Mayor Hahn has his busway dilemma. Police Chief Parks has his Rampart dilemma. All of them wrestle with and strive to arrive at some kind of solution. How pitiful it is to know that many have spent a lifetime in quest for the answers to the world’s problems. The sad thing is, that they have looked everywhere but up. There are a multiplicity of issues which confront us that demand an answer. Educational issues, poverty issues, racial issues, and then there are issues within the races, and all of these issues demand an answer.
Many religious orders are going through a period of revolution in an effort to meet the rising demands for the answer. The times, my brothers and sisters that we are living in, are perilous times. These are dangerous times. So much so that the age old term of love, brotherhood, and being neighborly is becoming extinct. You can live next door to your neighbor and sometimes not speak to them for months. We are living in the times Paul spoke about, in II Timothy 3:1-5, "This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.
Surely we are living in such times. Times when iniquity abounds and while the love of many should wax hot, the Bible says it should wax cold (Matthew 24:12). You don’t need to ask anybody if this is true, just look around and see for yourself. You do remember the story of Samson. Like Samson some Churches have gone to sleep in Delilah’s lap. Though they come every Sunday to shake themselves, it still seems like the Lord has departed. Samson might have looked a little better with a haircut, but like the old preacher’s "he got it cut in the wrong barber shop; causing him to loose his power. Right now the devil is trying to give the church a haircut. We are living in a time when the Spiritual life of the Church is being smothered by strange religious practices. I’ve been in some Churches that made me wonder. would say,. So much is going on today that just isn’t real. That is as it relates to real soul winning. Too many things have caused us to be conformed, when we really ought to be transformed (higaw). Unless there is some genuine repentance before God and some confession of sin, He just might use some unusual method, as He has done in the past, to call men back to Him. This is a troubled world. A world where men believe that happiness can be purchased by their position and dispensed by their status.
This is a troubled world. A world where man is trying to fight his way to peace, buy his way to eternity, enjoy worldly pleasures, and fool God and man with an outward show of religious respectability. If only men would stop looking for something untested, something untried, and make Christ the center of their lives; I believe to my soul, that God would certainly straighten out this mess that the world has gotten itself into. The early Church, believed that Christianity had the answer to all problems. They believed that the grace of Jesus Christ was sufficient for any circumstances. Their faith was so strong, that it assailed the consciences of men, changed conditions, cleaned up corruption, and set in order houses of discourse.
Their faith had such impact upon the Nations of the East, that on one occasion when the followers of Jesus entered a certain city, the word immediately got back to the authorities that they who have turned the world upside down have come hither also. If we don’t see it anywhere else, here in the text is an example of the power of faith. And such faith is the power of the Church. Whenever and wherever the true Disciples of Christ, have gone to let the light of their faith shine, conditions have always changed. The early Church set out to conquer souls with their faith, and with their faith, they troubled the world. They gave Christianity its place in the days of the New Testament role. They under took the impossible. They made conquest , which transcended their days and transformed their tomorrows. They subdued empires, they converted pagan believers, they attacked unjust Judaism, they declare war on wickedness,
their march was characterized by the disturbance of principalities and powers. Their efforts were not stalled by Caesars, Herods, Pilates, Agrippas, or any other power. So then my brothers and my sisters, with this courage, they troubled the world. With this courage they challenged Spiritual wickedness which lay hidden in the palaces of high places. They shined light in darkness. Wherever they were meet with sighs, they exchanged them with songs. They gave joy, where there was sorrow. They received hate and returned love. They exposed themselves to disease and suffering. They endured privations. They were set on fire and burned to death. They were hung by the neck from the limbs of trees. They were pushed from the tops buildings. They were tied behind horses and dragged through the streets. They were arrested and put in prisons. But in spite of all of this, they troubled the world.
Now brothers and sisters if you have been reading your Bibles, you know that the early Church did not have large memberships. They did not have great Church buildings. They did not have any organized assemblies. Nor did they have any influence in the political arena. But I’ll tell you what they did have, they had power; Holy Ghost power, and the Bible tells us that with this power, they troubled the world. They had the secret of the mystery of life. They did break the shackles of slavery, by living, a life for the Master, that lit up sin’s dark domain. They challenged the roles of the Emperors, who tried to turn the dreams of the Christians into a nightmare.
But as I hurry on; there seems to be a challenge in the form of a question; and the question demands an answer. What is it that set these followers of Jesus, apart from any other men, and gave them power to trouble the world? Well my brothers and sisters, I stopped by to tell you today, that the answer to this question, is that they had faith. This faith that the early Church had, led them on when they didn’t know where they were going. Their faith converted their fears to boldness. Their faith, gave them courage and made them confident that they could do all things through Christ who gave them strength. Their faith, was not in anything earthly, but it was in the eternal truth of God. The eternal God in whom we move, the God in whom we live, and the God in whom we have our being.
Faith in the eternal God, will cause you to do the impossible. You can sleep in lion’s dens; you can go into burning fiery furnaces, you can tell mountains to move out of you way, you can walk on water like you walk on sidewalks (higaw). The early Church had this faith, and with this faith, they were able to trouble the world. It was a dark and dismal day for the disciples, when Jesus died on that cross. They had all gone back to the things they were doing before ever meeting Him. It looked like all of their hope and all of their faith had been buried in that borrowed grave. But on the third day morning, all of their hope and all of their faith resurrected with Jesus whom God raised from the dead.
When they saw Jesus for themselves, when they saw him who was dead and now is alive forevermore, their hope and their faith transfigured from dark and dismal defeat to triumphant victory. So much so that they became possessed with a new hope, and a new faith a new purpose, and a new power which enabled them to tell the story of the good news. The good news is that Jesus is risen from the dead and He is Lord. Jesus is risen from the dead and He is Lord, now ain’t that good news? With this good news, they troubled the world. We must also tell the story that they told. We must tell the story of Salvation. The story of salvation must be told to all men. As I hurry on, the Salvation story must be told to all men for these reasons.
Man is sick with a life threatening sickness call sin and needs a Doctor who has never lost a patient.
Man is lost when he doesn’t know where he will spend eternity, and needs a light to shine in darkness and show him the way.
Man is overweight with his own ambitions, he doesn’t need anything to eat but bread and water; bread from heaven, and living water.
Man is in trouble, he has been accused by Satan and the evidence points to his guilt, he needs a Lawyer who has never lost a case.
Man is confused, he can’t make up his mind whether to be a he, or whether to be a she, he needs to know that God is not the author of confusion. Oh my brothers and sister it’s up to us, who live so that God can use us. It’s up to us who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God; (***) let the redeemed of the Lord say so; we who have been redeemed have a story to tell. We have a heart warming soul-searching story.
We have a transforming life changing story. And we must tell that story; we must tell it like those before us, who troubled the word. We must tell this troubling story (higaw). We must tell it like Moses, who troubled Pharaoh when he told Israel to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. We must tell it like Joshua who troubled the Canaanites, when he marched around Jericho and the walls came tumbling down. David, troubled the Philistine army, when he slew Goliath. Peter troubled Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost where he preached and three thousand souls were saved. Paul and Silas, troubled the prison in Philippi, when they prayed and sang at midnight and the jailer was saved.
Like they troubled the world, we also must trouble the world. We must trouble it with our story until men realize that Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin has left its crimson stain, but His blood washes me whiter than snow. We must tell the story until cold hearts are set on fire (higaw). We must trouble the world with our testimony until others know the story, until they know it is bread, for the hungry, strength to the weak, peace to the troubled, joy in a time of sorrow. We must tell the story because it’s good news. Good news about Jesus Christ.(****)