Live Expectantly 02 - Live by the Holy Spirit

Justin Ashurst

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lexi

Awesome thanks.

They would be like:

1. Tell me about the cooking club, what do you do there?

2. Why did you decide to do this? / Where did this idea come from?

4. What made you invite others into it?

Intro/Welcome

In theology and psychology there is a concept called liminal space:

It is the intermediate, in-between, transitional state where you cannot go back to where you were because a threshold has been crossed, and you have yet to arrive where you are going because it is not yet available to you.

Essentially, it is the hallway between the past and the future.

You can’t go back to what was, but you haven’t yet established what will be.

Where we are as a Church

In many ways this describes where we find ourselves as a church:

We can’t go back to where we were — The YMCA

But we haven’t yet arrived at what we will be.

We are living in a liminal space

and with that comes uncertainty, unsettleness, anxiety — perhaps feelings of despair or hopelessness.

Perhaps you have or are feeling some of these things.

I want to say to you: That’s ok.

I’m feeling some of those things

Liminal space is an uncertrain, unsettled and uncomfortable space.

We long for resolution, for settleness, to finally arrive…but we are not there yet.

The Church at Large

In many ways this concept describes the entirety of the age we are living in — what Theologians call the Church Age or the Age of the Spirit.

it is the overlap of this age (life in a fallen world) and the age to come (life in the eternal world)

We live in a liminal space theologians call the “Already-Not Yet”

For Example:

we have been saved, yet are being saved, and will be finally saved (1 Cor 15:2)

The kingdom of God has come, yet it is still coming and will come in fullness. (Mark 1:15, Rev 22)

Hope

What is our source of hope in this liminal space we are living in?

Our source of encouragement in this time?

Our source of empowerment in this time?

The answer of course is God

but more specifically — the tangible source for all these in our life is the Holy Spirit.

Today

We are continuing our Live Expectantly Series.

Today we will look at oe of the most significant events in history.

PENTECTOST

the birth of the Church at the coming of the Holy Spirit at

We look at

why Historically that is so significant and

then Practically what this means for us.

We will look at the activity of the Holy Spirit in the NT and ask:

What was for then? and what is for now?

The Holy Spirit is for Today

I believe that with perhaps a few exceptions, the majority of the activity we see in the book of Acts (and rest of NT) is for today.

The problem for us in the West is captured well in Francis Chan 2009 book The Forgotten God - Reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit

We have have in some measure, neglected the power, presence and activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives

This was the truth I came to back in the fall of 2021.

If there is a lack of power, passion, and fervency in my life or in the life of the church, could it be it is becuase we have forgotten the role of the Holy Spirit?

For Today

So today, we will peer into the book of Acts and look at the activity of the Holy Spirit

Some have called the book of Acts — The Acts of the Holy Spirit.

If indeed, what was true then is true now, then we will ask

What does it mean for me to live by the Holy Spirit?

Bible

We’ll begin in Acts 1:8 and the Acts 2:1-21 today

Go there in your Bible.

Let’s Pray

Pray

Luke 4:18–21 (ESV)

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

I. The Promise of the Spirit

Let’s look at Acts 1:8.

Last week we look at the Grand Narrative that God is writing called the Story of the Church

We saw this story plays out in three part sin the NT:

[Image]

Part 1 - The Gospels

Part 2 - The Book of Acts

Part 3 - The Book or Revelation

What Jesus began to do, we are called to finish.

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

A. Four Brief Observations from Acts 1:8

POWER:

You will receive POWER

duynami — we get dynamite

HOLY SPIRIT:

the Power will come from the Holy Spirit

WITNESS:

The power will be given to Witness to Jesus

that is to witness to the gospel Kingdom of God centered on the crucified King.

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

The extent — to the ends of the earth.

This is still happening today.

When the gospel of the kingdom is preached to the all peoples— then the end will come

Matthew 24:14 (ESV)

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

II. Pentecost — The Spirit Comes

Three Significant things happen at pentecost:

The Church is Born

The Kingdom of God is open to all peoples through the gospel.

The Dawn of a New Age

Acts 2:1–13 (ESV)

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. (probably the 120 mentioned in Acts 1:15)

2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?

9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Pentecost was the second of the annual harvest festivals, coming 50 days after Passover.

The Holy Spirit comes in tremendous fasion.

The sound of rushing waters — it was quite an event

such that it drew the attention of those passing by.

Let’s look briefly at the Significance of this event.

III. The Historical Significance of Pentecost

1. The Church is Born

[Slide] The Birth of the Church

I’m defining the church by the filling of the Holy Spirit — The body of Christ on earth today — filled by the Spirit of Christ (The holy spirit)

John 14:17 (ESV)

17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Acts 2:4 — says they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

the so called baptism in the Holy Spirit that Jesus spoke of in Acts 1:5.

Acts 1:4–5 (ESV)

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

There are similiarities in Jesus’ Baptism and Pentecost

[Slide: Jesus’ Baptism]

The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism // The Spirit descends on the Disciples

Luke 3:21–22 (ESV)

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Full of the Spirit:

Then the next thing Luke reports is:

Luke 4:1–2 (ESV)

1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.

Operating in the Power of the Spirit

After the temptation it says:

Luke 4:14 (ESV)

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

Jesus begins his public ministry.

Peter is about to preach his first spirit empowered sermon.

2. The Kingdom of God is open to all

[slide]The Kingdom of God is available to all

What happened at pentecost?

What is this divided or dispered tongues of fire?

The Holy Spirit comes and the first miracle he does is empower the disciples to speak in different languages (tongues)

Why? — as a gospel witness

This is the first act of empowerment for witness (Acts 1:8).

What what is going on here is really significant.

many commentators/scholars have pointed this out.

What happened at pentecost was teh reversal of what happened at Babel.

you know the story from Gen 11.

God comes down and confuses their language to dispere their work.

what happens here?

The Spirit of God comes down

and disperes languages to the disciples

It means the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is for all peoles.

this is the great mystery that Paul refers to in his letters (eph)

that hte gentiles are included.

Acts 10 — Cornelius

It’s an event that will be repeate in Acts 10, as Peter witnesses the same phenomena of tongues fall upon Cornelious’s house. (Acts 10:44-48)

Acts 11:18 ESV

18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

And in Acts 19:5-6 in the book of Acts.

There are 15 nations mentioned in Acts 2, from all over the world.

They are about to hear Peter’s first spirit empowered sermon.

3. The dawning of a New Age.

[Slide] The Dawning of a New Age

What happens next is even more astounding.

Peter, by the power of the Spirit, unpacks the meaning of what just happened:

Acts 2:14–21 (ESV)

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: (Jole 2:28-32)

17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Joel was written some 700 year prior.

Two important things to note here:

A. The Eschaton: We are in the Last days.

Acts 2:17 “in the last days…I will pour out my spirit”

Peter is saying — that just happened.

He’s applying Joel 2:28 to what they just experienced.

It’s an astounding claim

not unlike Jesus reading from Isa 61 “The spirit of the Lord is upon me” and saying today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

Luke 4:21 (ESV)

21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

It means there was a signficant shift in history at pentecost.

The dawning of a new age — the Age to Come — The Coming Kingdom of God

That began with Jesus and will continue now through the disciples.

We are living the the overlap of these two ages

the present age and the age to come

The already not yet

We are saved, we experienced the kingdom, yet still experiencing a fallen and broken world.

These last days will culiminate in the Day of the Lord — the Day of Judgment spoken of in Rev 20, and all throughout the bible.

The cosmic language at the end

Acts 2:19–20 (ESV)

is very similar to Jesus teaching on the last days in Matt 24-25 and the book of revelation.

B. It is the Age of the Spirit

Joels promise is that the Spirit of God would be poured out on flesh

and this probably doesn’t mean every single person

but rather all kinds of people — or all nations

which is supported by what he says next:

even on you male and femal servants.

In other words, God makes no distinction, his Spirit is poured out upon whom he sovereignly chooses

The door to the kingdom of God has been opened to all peopls

The power of the kingdom of God has been made available to all peoples

b/c the presence of God (the HOly Spirit) has been made available to all peoples without distinction

repentance

well the one distiction: repentance.

After Peter’s finishes his sermon he says this:

Acts 2:38–39 (ESV)

38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

IV. The Practical Significance of Pentecost

1. The Signs of the New Age

What are the signs of this new age? the coming Kingdom of God?

Peter/Joel tells us:

in this age — the age we live in

Acts 2:17–18 (ESV)

One sign will be that those with the Spirit of God will prophesy and dream dreams and see visions.

We see all of these in the book of Acts, the rest of the NT and into our own day.

We are living in these same last days.

But let’s look at some broad categories of the Activity of the Spirit in these last days.

let me give you three categories we find in the NT

[Slide] - The Age of the Spirit

The Fruit of the Spirit

The Guidance of the Spirit

The Gifts of the Spirit.

Other roles

We know it is the role of the Holy Spirit to convict hearts (John 16:8-11)

It’s also the Holy Spirit that regenerates believers / born again

Titus 3:5 (ESV)

5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

John 3:3-7 — “born again”

1. The Fruit of the Spirit

This is probably the one we are most familiar with and most comfortable with.

We find them in Gal 5:

Galatians 5:22–25 (ESV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Battle rageing within us between spirit and flesh.

Saved from the penalty of sin, the power of sin and now the presence of sin

This is growth in the character of Christ-likness

It is the internal work of sanctification by which we are transformed to be more like Jesus.

2. The Guidance of the Spirit

The second is the guidance of the Spirit.

Romans 8:14 ESV

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Romans 8:14 (ESV)

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

The the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us in our life.

Acts 16:6–7 (ESV)

6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

One of the ways he does this is by speaking to us:

Through the Word of God, through others, through the internal voice of God, through impressions, pictures, feelings at times.

A couple examples from the book of Acts:

Acts 10:19 (ESV)

19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

Acts 13:2 (ESV)

2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 20:23 (ESV)

23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

I believe the Holy Spirit is still leading his people in this way.

I’ve experienced this in my own life, many times.

i. Application: Practice

What does that look like to ‘hear’ the voice of the Spirit of God? Or to recieve an impression?

It’s a lot more simple than you think.

Often it sounds like our own voices.

Let’s do a quick exercise:

Close your eyes:

Say your name.

Close your eyes:

Bring to mind the image of your front door.

The Holy Spirit most often speaks to us through this soft, gentle voice.

It is often easy to miss.

espeically in our culture of constant noise.

Dallas Willard in his book Hearing God, gives us three indicators it is the voice of God:

1. The content

It will never contradict God’s word

2. The character

a kindness but firmness, it feels true

3. The Quality

there is a certain tone to it.

Only way to learn is to practice, to quite down and talk with God.

3. The Gifts of the Spirit

The third category is through the gifts of the spirit in operation in the book of Acts and listed in Romans 12, 1 Cor 12, Eph 4, 1 Peter 4:11.

, and these perhaps are the most controversial due to their misuse.

But that is exactly why Paul wrote 1 Cor 12-14 to correct this misuse and abuse of the spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:8–11 (ESV)

8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

A. In the book of Acts:

Miraculous works

Peter and James heal a lame begger in Acts 3.

Acts 3:6 (ESV)

6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

Acts 3:12 (ESV)

12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?

Acts 3:16 (ESV)

16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Stephen in Acts 6:8

Acts 6:8 (ESV)

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Philip in Acts 8:13

Acts 8:13 (ESV)

13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

Paul in Acts 19:11

Acts 19:11 (ESV)

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

Agabus the prophet in Acts 11:28

Acts 11:28 (ESV)

28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).

Philip’s Daughters in Acts 21:9

Acts 21:9 (ESV)

9 He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied.

The Prophets Judas and Silas in Acts 15:32

Acts 15:32 (ESV)

32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.

The gift of preaching/teaching?

Peter’s Sermons

Paul’s sermons recorded in acts

empowerd by the Spirit?

B. Of Jesus himself.

Acts 10:38 (ESV)

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

C. An Example of a gift in operation

Paul at Lystra:

Acts 14:8–10 (ESV)

8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.

Gifts: The gift of faith, a gift of healing, and perhaps a word of knowledge?

One has to wonder how did Paul know that this man had faith to be made well?

Did the Spirit reveal that to him in some way?

A word of knowledge? an impression? an internal voice of the Spirit?

We can only speculate.

Paul had to act on what the Spirit revealed to him.

This was obedience on his part

We have to take the same steps

What if Paul had not acted on that?

Rather ask 100 times for healing and have 1 person healed, than never ask and no one gets healed.

D. Summary

So what have we seen? What does the activity of the Holy Spirit in the NT look like?

Fruit of the Spirit

Guidance of the Spirit

Gifts of the Spirit.

Why this matters

Why does all this matter?

What was true then is true now.

I don’t read the book of Acts anymore as just what happened back then.

But it is happening here and now…today.

This is the journey i’ve been on since the Fall of 2021 when God put on my heart:

Where is the power in the church? The passion? the zeal for mission?

The answer was the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Three Reasons I think this is true

We have the same mission, the same Holy Spirit (power) and the same Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as they did.

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is still going to the ends of the earth.

What Jesus began in Mark 1:15

Mark 1:15 (ESV)

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

The Disciples have continued even to our own day.

The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us to witness to the glory of King Jesus and the presence of the Kingdom of God in our lives.

There is no where in the Bible where it says we shouldn’t expect these kinds of things today.

In fact, the Bible seems to go out of its way to encourage us to seek these things.

1 Corinthians 14:1 (ESV)

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

Mark 11:22–23 (ESV)

22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.

We see these same kinds of things happening today.

And have been for the last 2000 years.

Especially on frontier missions

But Even here in the West.

2016 Barna - Still another survey reports that more than a quarter of Americans (27 percent)

“experienced a physical healing that could only be explained as a miraculous healing and not solely as a result of normal process, medical procedure or the body healing itself.”

Another survey shows that more than a third of Americans claim to have witnessed or experienced what they believe to be divine healing.

Indeed, another survey suggests that nearly three-quarters of doctors in the United States believe in miracles. More important, over half of the physicians surveyed noted that they had witnessed what they considered to be miracles.

Let me share one such story with you.

Miraculous Movements

in a 2008 Report by their missionary teams indicated that, depending on the region, minimum of 50 percent (in the most extreme and violent

Muslim areas) and a maximum of 70 percent of all the new churches planted among Muslims happened in part because of signs and wonders (typically miracles of healing and deliverance) that accelerated and facilitated the process of disciple making.

One such story is the story of Desta, told here in his own words.

I had been a church planter for some years when I received training in how to make disciples the way Jesus did. We really did not know how it might work, but we wanted to try and see. My friend Samuel, had planned to go with me to a certain Muslim village.

In my strategy, I had taken a map and made a note for my team to avoid one community because it was too harshly Islamic and a very dangerous place for Christians.

So Samuel and I headed out on my motorcycle to our distant destination. We had been riding all day, very hot and uncomfortable, and we were looking forward to getting there because, besides being tired, we were riding through some areas that are hostile to Christians -the very town that I had warned others to avoid at all costs, in fact.

And that was when the motorcycle broke down. I started to groan. "Why should I have a motorcycle breakdown?" ..."You can't even ask someone from this village for water, because they are Muslims. They will see me coming and think they will defile themselves just by speaking to me. So why?" I guess I was speaking to God, but it didn't feel much like prayer.

So I tried to use my own ideas to fix the bike. [But nothing worked]. We stood there, thinking what to do. It was too far to walk, pushing the bike. We were out of ideas.

And that's when we heard the loud crying. It was more like wailing, actually. Many people were moaning in the village nearby.

It was getting dark now, and the sound made goose bumps on my arms. But I felt like something was telling me to go and find out what was happening.

Samuel asked someone who was walking past, and he said that the chief's wife had died that afternoon. It was too late to bury her; they would do that in the morning. But now they were wailing for her.

A voice kept telling me, "Go up and see what is happening here." So I told Samuel, "Wait here. I'm going to find out what it's all about." I still felt frightened. "Or you can come with me," I added.

So we went together into the village, feeling very nervous and confused. I didn't even speak their dialect, though Samuel understood it. But my conscience kept saying, "Go and see; don't stand back." So we obeyed and went.

All the men in the village, they moved into our way as we walked in, because they wanted to do their ceremonies and wanted us to leave.

But I kept walking, pushing my way through, and Samuel was behind me. Then I saw the corpse, and something told me to start praying.

I had never done this before, praying for a dead person. I've prayed for the sick, but never for those already dead. But something was battling within myself. I couldn't see any urgency to pray for this woman; she was already dead!

Then Samuel pulled my sleeve. "They are making announcements," he said in my ear. "They are calling the village back together. They want to get on with the ceremonies. We should leave, now!"

By then, I was really struggling. "If I pray and nothing happens," I wondered. "how can we get out of this place? What will they do to us?"

But something kept saying, "Go and pray."

The urgency was so strong on me that I had to obey, so I told the people that I wanted to pray for the chief's dead wife. They made some comments, but I couldn't understand them anyway, so I just went up to the body and started to pray.

It was a loud and violent prayer! God filled me with extraordinary strength to pray, and continue praying.

So I prayed, I prayed, I prayed!

People around me were commenting, but I just kept praying.

I prayed very loud for one hour. I called her by name, asking God to send her back to her people. I called upon the name of Jesus; I asked Him to revive the life of this person as He did when He was on earth. I prayed for an hour and a half.

And then I started to feel warmth in her hand. Then I started to feel a heartbeat. So I continued praying and praying and the crowd started to get angry.

“Let’s remove this man,” someone said. "He is wasting our time. others pushed in and said, "No! Let him continue. It is Allah who has sent him."

And then, the woman opened her eyes. Everybody started shouting;

the women screamed. "She has opened her eyes! She has opened her eyes!"

The mourners stopped wailing; even the women stopped crying. I could hardly stand up because everybody was pushing against me, trying to see the dead woman coming back alive.

Then she sat up and asked, "May I have some water?" She sat there and asked for water! What could we do? Someone ran up with a bottle, and we gave her water!

Then everyone stopped making noise; it became very quiet. Everyone was speechless, watching the dead woman drinking. Then the crowd moved back, and everyone stopped staring at the chief's wife. Now they were staring at me!

"These people are wonderful men," someone shouted. "They have raised the dead!"

And the Spirit of God told me, "Tell them who Jesus is."

I said, "Chief, elders of this village, I thank you all for thinking that we are great men. That is very nice. But I want you to know something: the greatness that you are seeing is not because of us. We are just ordinary people. But there is a man named Jesus.

And then I told them the truth about God's free gift of salvation, and I prayed for them.

And when I finished praying, I was thinking about leaving. Quickly. I was thinking, "What if this is not permanent? Maybe she will die again! If she just dies again, then.."

But the people would not let us leave; they compelled us; they said, “Oh, no! You are not leaving!"

Maybe they were thinking the same thing. So they helped her walk to her house and she got into bed because she was very weak and tired. Then they brought sleeping mats for us, and they put us in the next room beside the chief's bedroom, and that is where we spent the night.

We spent the night there, but we did not sleep much there. What would happen in the morning?

But the next morning, she was still alive! And she is still alive to this day. So in the morning, the chief came to us and said,

"I want to thank God for you. I am a born Muslim, and I am not going to renounce that faith. But from today, by God's grace, I believe your Jesus!"

This was a little confusing, but then he continued. "Listen," he said, "there has been a law here that nothing like Christianity, like the name of Jesus- nobody can say it, nobody can even hear it. But because your Jesus has raised this woman, my wife-because he has raised her from being dead, today I am lifting the ban.

Anyone in this village who wants to become a Christian can become a Christian! This woman whom you have raised . . . her children whoever! Anyone who wants to can become a Christian."

Then he pointed to a wide building down the road. "That is a community school," he said, "If you want to start praying there, you can start coming there and praying for our people.

And the Spirit of God spoke to me again. "It was I who stopped you from leaving this place," He said. "And the reason for that is for you to have a time of prayer."

So I asked the chief to gather the people of the village, but he didn't have to do much; everyone was already there to see if his wife was still alive,

We stood out in front, and Samuel called, "We want to pray for everybody. If you are sick, if you have any problems, come to the community school, and we will pray for you."

Many people came there, and we prayed for them, praying for many different needs, Then I told them about Jesus again, and Samuel translated, and at the end of that day seventy-six people gave their lives to Jesus: men, women, and children,

And that is how the church was planted in that community,

Conclusion:

What would it look like for us to begin to live more expectantly of God to move in powerful ways?

They Key is leaning His voice and our intmacy with Jesus — our friendship.

Jesus died for our sins, that we might be reconciled to God the father and enter into the Kingdom of God.

That we might live by faith, and not by sight.

That if our heart is to witness to Jesus and the power and presence of His Kingdom on earth, then he will meet us there.

Application

So how are you going to respond?

What are you going to re-focus on this week?

What steps can you take to cultivate your relationship with Jesus and grow in hearing his voice?

Where is God calling you to witness to Him in your life?

I want to put this into practice right now through prayer.

I’m going to be down front here with some others.

And we want to pray for you.

Pray for God to move, to heal, to restore and renew.

So i’ll invite you to come down and be prayed for.

And here’s the practical part.

God may be prompting you to to come foreward

He will do so by His Spirit.

it will be a still small voice

And there will be another voice saying

“it doesn’t matter”

“don’t go, this isn’t real”

“he’s not talking about you”

Faith will say to come and be prayed for.

who knows what God might do?

What if Paul had not acted on what he say in that man in lystra? Would he have ever walked?

Let’s begin to step into living expectantly as if God is alive and here with us now and wanting to demonstrate His Kingdom.

Closing Prayer

Extra

Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God 8 Recognizing the Voice of God

We may mistakenly think that if God spoke to us we would automatically know who is speaking, without having to learn, but that is simply a mistake—and one of the most harmful mistakes for those trying to hear God’s voice. It leaves us totally at the mercy of any stray ideas we have picked up about what God’s speaking is like.

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