When "Enough" Just isn't Enough

In my prayer time this week, I felt God lead me to continue our series on the Holy Spirit.

We are going to focus specifically in the area we talked about last week. We are going to look more deeply at WHY the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is so important.

We are a Pentecostal Church. And in these last days, we need to be leaders in the area of encouraging believers to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. We need to realize and remember two very important things:

One, EVERY Believer knows what it means to be FILLED with the Holy Spirit.

This infilling takes place the moment you give your life to the Lord. The moment a person’s sins have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, they become eligible to receive God’s Spirit. The Word tells us we become the temple or the dwelling place of the Spirit of the Lord!

This is an incredible thing! He comes as our helper and advocate. This infilling is FOR you to live on and to operate on.

Two, EVERY Believer should seek the BAPTISM in the Holy Spirit as seen in Acts 2.

This is a total immersion in the Spirit of God. When a person is baptized in the Spirit, they are empowered as witnesses for the kingdom of God. Where the infilling of the Holy Spirit is a work of God IN you, the baptism in the Spirit is a work of God through you.

God gives us the power necessary to do the work He has created and commissioned His church to do!

We need to understand something this evening… and this may not be easy to receive. The words I am about to say are words we do not like to hear… but we need to hear them.

Church… In regard to the mission Jesus has given us… what we have without the baptism in the Holy Spirit… is not enough.

TO BE CLEAR: I am NOT trying to say that Christ is NOT ENOUGH!

Jesus Christ is MORE THAN enough when it comes to our salvation and meeting our greatest need in life: the need to overcome sin and its consequences.

In fact, THERE IS NO OTHER SOURCE we can go to that can do what Jesus alone can do.

His grace is sufficient. His blood IS enough.

BUT… when it comes to WHY the church exists and to WHAT the church has been commissioned to do… EVEN JESUS KNEW THAT WE WOULD NEED SOMETHING… RATHER SOMEONE MORE! That someone is the Holy Spirit - specifically the baptism in the Spirit. He gives us the POWER we need for life in this world!

Still on the fence a bit? Look at Jesus’ instructions again in Acts 1:4-5

Acts 1:4–5 NIV

4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Up to this point, the disciples were believers in the death, resurrection, and soon the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of the Father. They had already received the infilling of the Holy Spirit. But Jesus said… WAIT! There’s MORE!!!

When it comes to what God wants to do… MORE is a good thing!

How many desire to see more of God in your own life? How many desire to see more of God in the heartland?

We like MORE!

But understand what this meant for the disciples… Jesus just told them they didn’t have what they needed to carry out the Great Commission. These guys had seen a lot of change in recent days. They had seen God do some incredible things!

Think about it:

Only weeks earlier they had watched the crucifixion of Jesus. They watched the nails get driven in. They watched His suffering and anguish.

For three years they had followed Him… a revolutionary leader. He predicted His death, but the disciples were personally and emotionally unprepared to face it.

His body was taken down from the cross and He was buried in the tomb.

…THEN CAME SUNDAY!

The stone was rolled away and Jesus was raised from the dead! They saw Him! They talked with Him! Talk about a game changer!

If this was possible… than anything was possible! People don’t just come back from the dead! But Jesus DID! He conquered sin, death, and the grave and in doing so He proved He was who He said He was.

It was in the time frame between His resurrection and ascension that Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission. It was also in this time frame that He told them to wait for the power that was coming.

They knew what they were supposed to do and they knew that they needed more in order to do what they were supposed to do.

WE NEED TO GET BACK TO THIS REALIZATION.

But too often, we settle for… less. We settle for what WE can do instead of what God can do. I truly believe the church HAS NOT YET reached her full potential because… TOO MUCH OF US GETS IN THE WAY OF GOD.

You are NOT ENOUGH to get the job done! I am not enough to get the job done! Jesus knew this and God knows this! This is NOT meant to be insulting… but I hope it is humbling. Why? Because things like pride, arrogance, and “I can do it” attitudes keep us from reaching our full potential as a church.

When we realize this reality… it will cause us to be FULLY dependent on what God can do instead of what we can do.

So tonight… I want us to talk about how less… is more.

Less is More.

What I mean is we need less of… us - pride, ability, resource, etc. and we need more of God.

Listen, your talents, your resources, your abilities, all of these things are GOOD things. In fact, they have been gifted to you by God for His glory! However, if we place more trust in these gifts instead of the giver of these gifts, we will most certainly run into a wall of limitation.

So what is needed is… less of us and more of God.

Let’s look back at the disciples for a moment and consider the weight they might have been feeling that had been placed on their shoulders.

The command that Jesus had given them was a HUGE responsibility and… a seemed a HUGE impossibility! Consider this:

Most of these disciples were not formally educated.

Many of these disciples were in their early twenties… some of them in their late teens.

All of them lived in a very poor region under the domination of Roman rule.

For the last three years, they walked with Jesus - and some of these guys did not get along with each other.

Several of them were rivals and were battling for top positions in this discipleship group.

None of them had traveled more than a few hundred miles from home.

They were very limited in technology. Travel was by foot or horse. There were no phones, tweets, emails, etc.

And Jesus had just commissioned them… to REACH THE WORLD! AND… they had to do this without Him being present on earth!

Now, consider the list I just gave. As we look back and dissect this group a bit, someone might ask, “Why did Jesus choose these guys in the first place?” And before we get too hard on them… remember something very important: These guys were just… PEOPLE. Like you and me.

I wonder for a moment… in 100 years, what a description of this group might look like through someone else’s eyes.

We are FAR from perfect. The disciples were FAR from perfect! Yet… God could use them IF they would only realize.... THEY WERE FAR FROM PERFECT!!!

WE ARE NOT ENOUGH! But… God has given us MORE THAN ENOUGH!

He has given us what we need for our own walk with Him!

He has given us what we need to lead others back to Him!

Here’s the deal: your personal “power” may be getting in the way of God’s power moving through you.

This “power” shows up in many various forms.

It can show up as pride, control, understanding, reasoning, abilities, talents, priorities, etc. But in all reality… these “powers” leave us in lack.

How many people have tried to break an addiction on their own and simply could not overcome it?

How many live in depressing circumstances that constantly drag us down?

How many are dealing with complications with our family relationships that leave us frustrated and confused?

How many struggle with a habit you just can’t seem to break?

How many have received visions and dreams we want to pursue but cannot see how they’ll become a reality?

Our limited so-called “power” forces us to settle for what is instead of move into what can be. Our limited so-called “power” is more like a prison that keeps us from experiencing all that God has for us!

The answer is certainly not more of us… but is more of God!

Paul learned this and shares this truth with readers in 2 Corinthians 12. Paul was facing a situation that he had NO POWER to overcome on His own.

He called it a “thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan.” Yikes… this does not sound like fun at all! He cried out to God to remove this irritation. He called out to God to change His circumstance and instead… God changed Paul’s perspective. Jesus tells Paul, “My grace is SUFFICIENT for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul was reminded to STOP worrying about his weakness and start depending on God’s POWER.

Paul shares this story as he was talking about the importance of boasting in God alone… and NOT in ourselves. The only thing about himself that Paul said he would boast about was… his weaknesses, Why? Well, look at his words in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NIV

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

When we make statements like “I don’t need the baptism in the Holy Spirit,” We are boasting in ourselves and thumbing our nose at God.

The moment we think we can do what Christ has called us to do without the help of the power of God, we have doomed ourselves to failure regarding the mission. It cannot be accomplished without the power of the Holy Spirit.

God NEVER asked us to do this in our own strength. He knew our own strength wouldn’t cut it. God knows this… but the funny thing is, we still try to do things in our strength!

I would much rather trust in His power over my so-called “power.” I would much rather see God at work instead of Chris Baker at work. I would much rather see less of me… and MORE OF GOD!

But such a reality ONLY COMES when we stop… listen to the words of Jesus… and receive the gift He had spoken of - specifically the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Closing

So I ask this question this evening and I want you to give it your full consideration: Who’s power have you been operating in? Have you been trusting in yourself… or do you fully trust in God?

Trusting in God means categorize what we can do… as a weakness. In the flesh, we might see it as a strength, but compared to what God can do… it is not enough to get the job done.

Again, I’m not wanting to insult any person listening to this but hear me… we do not have what it takes… but God does! AND… He is willing to give us what is needed so long as we remain in a position of depending on Him!

As Paul said, when I am weak, then I am strong… STRONG IN THE LORD!

Jesus did not send His disciples until He empowered the disciples.

This empowerment was not something that could be bought at a store or found on the street. It was not something that was unlocked through education or gained through rigorous disciplines. The disciples received from Jesus because they obeyed His command.

They knew they needed what Jesus was offering. Do you know that we all need what Jesus is still offering His church today?

Jesus - through the baptism of the Holy Spirit - wants to empower your life tonight!

Yes… EVERY believer is FILLED with the Spirit and this is a VERY good thing.

But the empowerment Jesus talks of in Acts 1 is also available for EVERY believer! It is an outpouring… and overflow of the Spirit in your life that moves you into more of what God has for you.

In recent years, the enemy has been trying to drown out our need for the Holy Spirit in God’s holy church.

The need for the Spirit is being replaced with polished programs, flashy performance, nifty gadgets, coffee corners and merch, and the list can go on and on. Congregations are placing more faith in what we can do with our hands instead of what God can do through His Spirit.

We must forever remain dependent on what the Lord can do! With that in mind, let’s get back to our question: Who’s power have you been operating in?

If you find that it is your own power… it’s time we shift gears and receive from the Lord. It’s time that you understand that your “power” is keeping you from experiencing the fullness of God’s power in your life.

Are you willing and ready to surrender all to Him?

PRAYER - less of me… more of you, Lord.