HOW TO RECEIVE SPIRITUAL POWER

Transcription

1 HOW TO RECEIVE SPIRITUAL POWER Acts 1:1 ~ 5; 577 / 578 INTRO Last Sabbath Jesus reinstated Peter onto His Team of Disciples ~~ therefore ~~ o in the Book of Acts Peter is a different person ~ for he received Spiritual Power Hebrews tells us ~ God s the same yesterday/today/tomorrow so o We too can be different ~ can receive Spiritual Power ~ just need to know how After His resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples for 40 days o Once while eating with them ~ He tells them not to leave Jerusalem; but to wait for the Gift His Father had promised o Then Jesus tells them they ll be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days Right before His ascension ~ Jesus tells them something critical: Acts 1:8 This wasn t power for them to live godly lives as the saints did in the Old Testament o Rather this was power for a new task Jesus assigned to His followers Disciples were to take the Gospel to the ends of the Earth Jesus commands His Disciple [ you shall ] to tell Him regardless of the cost o Church tradition tells us that all but one of the them became martyrs in the Cause 1 Pet 2:9 You and I are the 21 st Century Disciples of Jesus so o to fulfill this responsibility we too must receive spiritual power from God If you need a good book to read ~~ Adventism s Greatest Need Today ~ want us to learn what s required for us to receive spiritual power 1

2 1 st Requirement: BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT ( Acts 2 ) In the OT the Holy Spirit temporarily empowered saints to fulfill God s purpose o On the Day of Pentecost He comes to indwell and empower saints permanently After the Disciples waited for 10 days in Jerusalem the process started: Acts 2:1, 2 o Before we focus on the arrival of the Holy Spirit let s notice the setting o Disciples were all with one accord ~~ their jealousy was gone No more failure to accomplish their duties ~ like in Mark 9 No more striving for the high position ~ like in Luke 22 No more refusing to wash one another s feet DA/643 A team is always stronger than its individual members o Demonstrated by the Miracle on Ice ~ 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team Being a Christian is a Team Event God didn t design us be a lone wolves Transformation of Disciples into a team was facilitated by their actions for those 10 days o Act 1:14 { Ron Clouzet s book pg 35 } It s in this powerful setting that an audible sign of the arrival of the Holy Spirit is followed by a visible sign: Acts 2:4 o Tongues = languages Crowd that came to see what was going on was comprised of devout Jews from many different countries ~~ spoke different languages Vs 6/7 [Galileans known for heavy accent & poor language skills] Secret for receiving spiritual power is being continually filled with the Holy Spirit o 5T-158: We should pray as earnestly for the descent of the Holy Spirit as the disciples prayed on the day of Pentecost. If they needed it at that time, we need it more today. Moral darkness, like a funeral (shroud), covers the earth. All manner of false doctrines, heresies, and satanic deceptions are misleading the minds of men. Without the Spirit and power of God it will be in vain that we labor to present the truth. It is by contemplating Christ, by exercising faith in Him, by experiencing for ourselves His saving grace, that we are qualified to present Him to the world Repeat w/ (as His Disciples) 2

3 To drive home the idea of team and our need for the Spirit look at 1 Corth 12:13 o We are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit ~~ Eph 5:18 If we re to be filled then it seems logically it s not automatic Things can prevent our filling ~~ Eph 4:30 o grieve = to cause distress or to make sad Paul now lists the things we can do to grieve the Spirit: V 31 o These grieve the H.S. ~ they prevent us from receiving spiritual power ~~ V 32 TRANS To receive spiritual power ~ we first must be filled with the Holy Spirit and that requires some effort on our part some behaviors to avoid ~ and others to engage in 2 nd Requirement: BE WILLING TO SHARE THE GOSPEL When we re filled with the Holy Spirit He causes us to want to share the Gospel Because the crowd who hears the Disciples speaking in different languages is confused o Peter stands up and explains what s happening in direct fulfillment of OT prophecy Act 2:17 ~ 21 o Peter goes on to explain this is the dawning of a new spiritual era one where God will pour out His Spirit on all people where there will be wonders and signs to confirm it is of God In this new era ~ all believers can be filled with the Holy Spirit o However this couldn t happen any sooner than Pentecost ~~ John 16:7 Holy Spirit couldn t come until after the Death/Resurrection of Christ because He can t indwell in us until we ve been cleansed by the blood of Jesus 3

4 Peter continues his presentation ~~ Acts 2:25 ~ 28 o Peter asserts the resurrection was God s plan for the Messiah ~ quoting Psm 16 Peter shares the bottom line in V 36 The people who heard him obeyed The Holy Spirit was working both in the Disciples ~ and in the hearts of the people who heard Peter ~ John 16:8 11 o H.S. convicts us and causes us to become concerned about our lost condition Therefore ~ the people who heard Peter responded Acts 2:37/8 Word repent means a change of mind which results in a change of lifestyle Cyndy Bishop s husband Andre repented from smoking cigarettes o He s turned to living his life a healthier way ~ living God s Way Peter also says to be baptized in the name of Christ Jesus o For believers ~ baptism is a public testimony of their repentance and commitment o The first action that Jesus requires of a New Believer is baptism Matt 28:19, 20 ~ an outward expression of their inward faith An unbaptized Christian is a foreign idea in the NT A bonus of repentance is the gift of the Holy Spirit o Let s notice ~ the only requirement for receiving the Holy Spirit is repentance New believers are to repent o Romans 8:9 Christians have the Holy Spirit living is them empowering them to live in a way that pleases God 4

5 There was a direct result of the coming of the H.S. on the Day of Pentecost: Acts 2:41 o With the help of the H.S. the early church did more than make converts Under Peter s leadership they continued to teach and fellowship: Vs Before he was filled w/ the H.S. Peter experienced miserable failure as a Disciple o But after being filled w/h.s he preached so powerfully ~ 2,500% increase For Auburn congregation that would 5,600 new members There s a wonderful promise available to all of us as we fulfill our responsibility of being God s ministers ~~ Phil 2:13 ~ 16 a Want to focus on V 16 a just for a moment: holding fast the Word of Life o Only way to receive spiritual power is IAW God s Word ~~ following His Method As an illustration please consider the quote on this PP slide Many persons have their minds deeply exercised respecting a supposed obligation to observe the seventh day, but we feel borne irresistibly to the conclusion that there is no particular portion of time which Christians are required by Law to set apart as Holy time. o The Midnight Cry ~ Sept 15, nd PP slide o Joshua Himes began this publication in 1842 ~ 3 yrs after meeting William Miller Its specific purpose was to wake up NYC to the nearness of Christ s return A two-cent daily newspaper connected to the Millerite evangelistic campaign being held in the city o 10,000 copies a day ~ after the campaign it was printed weekly Some 600,000 copies printed in 1842 alone Only standard upon which to base your Christian life ~~ the Word of God 5

6 CONCLUSION For God to do His good pleasure is our lives ~ we must receive spiritual power The best built race car will never win a race unless it s filled w/ the right fuel And those who own those multi-million dollar NASCAR cars don t fill them with that expensive fuel ~~ just to have them sitting around in the pits o We aren t God s race cars we are His 21 st Century Ministers As such we must receive spiritual power to finish the race set before us Sadly there are few churches today like the one described in the Book of Acts o Maybe that s because of the words stated by Carl Bates [shared in: I Believe in the Church, written by David Watson] are true: If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of our midst today ~ about 95 percent of what we are doing in our churches would go on and we d not know the difference. Yet, if God had taken the Holy Spirit out of the midst of the first Christian community, about 95 percent of what they were doing would have ceased immediately. Different btw The Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee To received God s gift of Spiritual Power we must be follow His methods alone God s Method is for us to be filled w/ H.S. ~ not something done automatically and when filled ~~ be willing to share the Gospel w/other sinners Closing Hymn ~~ # 578: So Send I You 6