Allen Jackson - After Party
The title for the session is «The 'After Party.'» You know, if you go to an event, and it could be just about any kind of event, it’s not uncommon that after the event there’s a party. And it can be a sporting event, it can be an awards event, but once the contest is settled, once the purpose for the gathering has been resolved, you get to live in that new reality and that’s often reason for a party. You know, after the Super Bowl, there’s any number of after parties. Whether you won or whether you lost, whether your team won or your team lost, you’re gonna go live in that new reality. We’ll try harder next year or we’re the world champions. Or if you go to an award show, after the program and there’s oftentimes a whole multitude of after parties whether you won the award or you didn’t win the award, you’re gonna go live in that reality. At least I was nominated.
Well, it seemed to me that after Easter weekend and after our walk up to Easter through the Gospels, what’s next is the after party. And that is really the stuff of the book of Acts. And I don’t know how much of it we’re gonna pursue formally, but I, at least for this session, wanted to pick that up because it seems so relevant to me. Jesus, by the end of Acts chapter 1, by the time you get to Acts chapter 2, Jesus has gone. He’s ascended back to heaven. And truthfully, after the Resurrection, Jesus’s relationship with his disciples is different. He’s a resurrected King. The nature of that relationship is very, very different. And so the after party idea, I think, fits. There’s a new reality now. It’s a completely different dynamic. It’s just not more of the same.
You know, God changes times and seasons. That’s a biblical principle. I believe our world changed with COVID. Spiritually, it was the beginning of a series of shakings, tremors. And we’ve seen multiple of those. I’m not gonna unpack it, but I wanna go to Acts chapter 1, and we’re just gonna step into the after party, and Luke… Luke wrote the book of Acts. He wrote the Gospel to tell the story of Jesus’s life from his birth through his Resurrection. And then as he’s going to explain to us, he wrote the book of Acts to tell us the rest of the story. «In my former book Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive».
Even in Luke’s narrative, there’s something different. He said, «After he suffered, he had a different message». You see, I think after you celebrate Easter in your life, after you welcome a resurrected King into your life, once you choose and acknowledge Jesus as Lord, what comes next is after that. It’s not your same life; it’s a new life. You’re a new creation, a new creature. And I think we have kind of rolled it all into and it’s like, no, no, no, it’s the same life now. I’ve just got more power to help me get what I want. No, no, no, that’s not what it is at all. And the disciples are not the same, they’re never gonna be the same. «After 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».
That would be my first observation. He had a 40-day seminar with them on the kingdom of God. I bet they were better listeners than they were before the Crucifixion. What do you bet? I’m thinking. But you know, we don’t know a great deal. There’s not a book. Peter didn’t sit down and hammer out «what we learned about the kingdom after the Resurrection». I mean, there’s some hints, there’s some little, but there’s really very little of that seminar that’s presented to us. Wouldn’t you like to know? Forty days, that’s a lengthy session. So he appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. «On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: 'Don’t leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you’ve heard me speak about. John baptized with water, but in a few days you’ll be baptized in the Holy Spirit.'»
Post-Resurrection, glorified Jesus in the midst of a seminar with his closest followers, is still issuing commandments to them. Not suggestions. The purpose of this session isn’t really to unpack the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but it’s noteworthy that Jesus commanded his closest friends, born again in John 20, they’ve already crossed that threshold. He commands them not to leave Jerusalem. Don’t begin the assignment until you’ve been baptized in the Spirit. «'Don’t leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you’ve heard me speak about. John baptized with water, but in a few days you’ll be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' So when they met together, they asked him, 'Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? '» Well, he’s been talking about the kingdom to them this whole time. And they have a timing question. Are you gonna do it now?
Now in their imagination, their desire, restoring the kingdom to Israel, is about political autonomy. Are you gonna throw the Romans out? I still, I continue to be bemused by people that say we shouldn’t talk about current events or culture. The disciples in the midst of a 40-day seminar with a resurrected King asked him a political question. You see, the imagination of the first century they had of the Messiah is that he would be a military deliverer, a political restorer. In the same way perhaps that in the book of Judges when God raised up a leader like Gideon or Samson, they would help push out their adversaries and would deliver to them a physical victory, a political victory. I mean, he was seated in spiritual power and authority.
Samson had a strength that wasn’t explained because of his time in the gym, and Gideon had a victory over an opposing force that vastly outnumbered him, not because of his great military strategy, but because of his obedience to God. And so that notion has incubated in the hearts of the people and they have extrapolated from that a Messiah who is going to vanquish their enemies. It’s what made Jesus so unacceptable. In Corinthians, Paul explains it to us. He said a Christ crucified, a Messiah crucified, was just nonsense to the Jews. It’s what made that whole episode around Golgotha so confusing. And yet, Jesus here is, they’re saying to him, «Are you gonna restore the kingdom now»?
That’s who Messiah is going to be. That’s what he’s got to do. They’re still struggling to assimilate everything that’s happening. I would submit to you that we’re gonna struggle a bit to assimilate all that God’s doing in the earth. And that if your answer to that is, «I’m born again and I’ve been baptized, I don’t have to pay any attention to that,» you have a willful ignorance that will cause you to miss the invitations of God. They believe Jesus is the Messiah. They believe he died on the cross and he’s been raised to life again, but they’re not done learning. They’ve experienced the new birth. But they haven’t just shut down and said, «Well, there’s nothing more for us to know». Are you gonna restore the kingdom now?
And Jesus’s answer is fascinating. He said, «That’s really not any of your business». It’s not very kind. I mean, he said, «It’s not for you to know the times or the date the Father has set by his own authority». But then he tells them two things. He said, «You’re asking the wrong question still, are you not paying attention»? Well, probably not, Lord. We didn’t bring any bread. He said, «But you will receive power. You’ll be empowered to be witnesses for me when the Holy Spirit comes on you». He said, «You will receive power and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth».
Those are expanding concentric circles in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County in Middle Tennessee, across the nation and throughout the earth. You will be my witnesses. They weren’t asking that question. Jesus is still issuing directions to them. He gave them a commandment. And then he tells them what will happen. «You will be empowered. And you will be witnesses for me». And watch what happens after he says that. «And after he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight». Last words have heightened significance, elevated significance. And the last thing Jesus said to them is, «You’ll be empowered and you’ll be witnesses for me». And the remaining 27 chapters in the book of Acts tell us about that. But here’s what we have to understand: we’re the 21st century edition of that narrative. There’s no conclusion. We’re just the current chapter.
I wanna take the moments I’ve got left and and look at that a little more in detail. Shame and ashamed, very powerful forces in your life. The simplest working definition of shame is the humiliation or distress that comes that you’re conscious of when there’s some behavior wrong, foolish, something that’s identified as inappropriate. And when you become aware of it, there’s that sense of shame. What shame communicates, what is internalized, is that I’m devalued. I behaved in the wrong way and so I’ve lost value. I’m unworthy, I’m despised. See, God doesn’t shame us. There’s a difference between conviction and condemnation. Condemnation is demonic. It’s from the pit. The Spirit of God doesn’t bring condemnation.
In fact, the scripture says, «There is therefore now no condemnation to those of us who are in Christ Jesus,» because condemnation says you’re worthless. You’ve gotten it wrong, you’re always gonna get it wrong. It is shame based. It’s filled with despair and hopelessness. Conviction says you’re wrong. But if you will repent, if you’ll change your thought and you’ll change your behavior, you can be free and redeemed. The Holy Spirit convicts us, he doesn’t condemn us. There’s some interesting commentary. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Who wrote 2 Timothy? Timothy? Paul, it was a trick question. Paul wrote it to a young man that has traveled with him, that he’s mentoring.
In 2 Timothy Paul is in a prison cell in Rome. He’s already been on trial once, narrowly escaped condemnation to death, and the expectation seems to be, the implication is, that upon his next appearance, he will be condemned to death. Most of his friends have abandoned him. In fact, and earlier in the letter, he’s encouraging Timothy to hurry and to bring him a coat. He’s cold. It’s a pretty desperate letter. But in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 8, he says, «Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner,» wow. Don’t be ashamed to testify about our Lord. There’ll be people who say your behavior is inappropriate, you shouldn’t do that.
How could you be so stupid? Aren’t you more intellectually enlightened than that? Are you that antiquated? Are you that out of step? You really believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Rome had a pantheon, a building filled with gods. «Timothy, don’t be ashamed to testify about our Lord». I believe the message is very relevant in the 21st century. Don’t be ashamed to testify about Jesus. Don’t reject the gospel. Don’t adopt another gospel. Don’t extrapolate the gospel. But then he says something that’s even more personal: «Don’t be ashamed of me». That would not be easy to write from a prison cell. «Timothy, I don’t want you to be ashamed of me. Join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of the time».
Timothy, don’t be ashamed of me, but join with me in suffering for the gospel. He didn’t say, «Timothy, whatever you do, don’t walk the path I walked». He said, «Timothy, there’s nothing shameful about where I am. And don’t you be ashamed of the gospel». Same chapter, verse 11: «Of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That’s why I’m suffering as I am». Isn’t that what Peter wrote? We just read it in 1 Peter 4, he said, «If you suffer, you wanna suffer for godliness, not because you’re a murderer or a thief or even a meddler». He said, «If suffering comes, let it be because of your commitment to holiness and righteousness and purity. Those aren’t private matters, those are public matters to be lived out in the public square».
Paul’s not in prison because he had a private faith. «I was appointed a herald, an apostle, and a teacher. It’s why I’m suffering as I am. Yet I’m not ashamed». I’m not worthless. I may be reviled by men, but I’m not reviled by God, «because I know whom I have believed, and I’m convinced that he’s able to guard what I’ve entrusted to him for that day». When we choose the applause of the ungodly, we forfeit the blessings of God. Every time we choose the applause of the ungodly, and we refuse to tell the truth, we refuse to stand up, we refuse to acknowledge the reality that we know, we forfeit what we’ve been trying to entrust to the Lord. When Jesus said, «Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven,» he didn’t simply mean with our tithes and offerings.
I’ll close with Hebrews 12: «Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame». To scorn something is to reject it. A person scorned is a person rejected. When it says, «He scorned the shame of the cross,» to be crucified in public as a criminal, to be stripped naked and beaten, is very humiliating. The message to anybody who’s just a casual observer is there’s something about this person’s behavior that is so reprehensible they deserve death. Your enemies stand and his enemies spat upon him and the author of Hebrews says Jesus rejected that shame. «And he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God». You need some of the rest of the story in the New Testament. In Philippians 2, it says: «Because Jesus did that, God exalted him to the highest place».
Folks, I’m inviting you to attend the after party. Don’t just stay at the cross. Don’t stay outside the empty tomb. Let’s be empowered to be witnesses. Let’s recognize that the truth will bring sometimes some division. Let’s recognize that it won’t cause us to always be applauded. Let’s still be people of the truth. When our behavior brings the reproach from others because we’ve made choices that are different, we don’t have to be ashamed. You see, serving Jesus isn’t about just are you gonna restore the kingdom and we really don’t like the Romans. Can we have our way? It’s are we willing to accept the command? So how do you get there?
I gave you a little formula. It’s not new. I’m not gonna take a lot of time with it. I’m just gonna pray for you. I put it in your notes as R cubed. It really is the pathway to this. You have to repent. Repent means you change your thought and you change your behavior. I’ve been thinking wrongly, therefore I’ve been behaving wrongly. I’m gonna change my thoughts and my behavior. And then you have to renounce. We open the door to things in our lives, spiritually. We open the door to spiritual influences and spiritual consequences, and when you repent and you want to take that next step and say, «I renounce that. In the name of Jesus, I renounce whatever place I gave something unholy or unclean in my life. Then I thank you that through the blood of Jesus, I’m free».
And then thirdly, you have to release. Sometimes there are persons you need to release. You’ve taken them hostage. You’re angry, you’re resentful, you’re bitter, you’re filled with hatred. Sometimes there are organizations. I meet people that haven’t been to church in 30 years because somebody in the church was hypocritical or inappropriate or wrong. That’s tragic on every possible level. And you’ve got to release those things you’ve carried. You don’t have a right to take hostages. Jesus gave himself as a sacrifice, and for us to be forgiven, we have to release. You have to forgive yourself. Because sometimes you look back and you weren’t the parent you could have been. Or you weren’t whatever you could have been.
And I don’t want you just to live through it and act like it didn’t happen, it did happen, you need to repent. And you need to renounce whatever part you had in that, whatever willful, stubborn, whatever that may be. Call it by its ugliest name, you and the Lord do that. And then you have to release it and you have to be released. Forgive me my trespasses, as I forgive those who trespass against me. If you’ll take that little equation, that R cubed, repent, renounce, and release, it is the pathway to being free and it’s all made possible through the redemptive work of Jesus. If you’ll do that, the after party’s a breeze. I mean, you’ll meet some knuckleheads along the way. But you’ll be so grateful when you see the King.
God is moving in the earth, folks. Let’s go with him. Why don’t you stand with me? I’m gonna leave that little equation with you, but I wanna say a prayer with you. We’re gonna give the Holy Spirit permission. If there’s any place in us that needs attention, that he’ll bring it to mind. He reminds you of a scene in your life. If he reminds you of some person when you think about him, you wanna make a fist or your stomach gets tight or… There have been times and seasons in my life when just the thought of somebody would make me almost ill.
The Bible talks about being dead to sin. That’s in our own life and it’s dead to the sin of others. You know, if you have whatever habits may grip your life, when you’re dead, their grip is broken. I like chocolate. When I’m dead you could lay me on a pile of M&Ms, and I would not be tempted. I’ll be dead to that. Tonight I’d be cheating. So when you’re dead to something, it has no longer an attraction to you, but it no longer elicits a reaction from you. And when we’re dead to sin, it’s not only is it not attractive, it’s no longer causing you to react. So if the Holy Spirit brings something to mind, someone to mind, some circumstance to mind, repent, renounce, and release.
Father, thank you for your Word, for its truth and its authority. I thank you that you have invited us, Lord, you have commanded us, to receive your provision and to be witnesses for you. And Holy Spirit, now we ask you if there are any places where there’s a hindrance or a point of resistance, that you would give us the insight and understanding. Or if there’s any place where we have denied you or we have been ashamed of you or we have tried to bring unity by denying you, Lord, whatever it may be, we want to be pleasing in your sight. We don’t want to shrink back. We don’t want to be turned aside. We want to honor you. And I thank you now for the help of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’s name, amen, hallelujah.