Stepping OUT of the Natural...

This evening we are going to dive right in with an explanation of the message title: Stepping OUT of the Natural.

We are continuing to study the Holy Spirit - specifically the Baptism in the Holy Spirit - and the message tonight is going to look at an important part of this topic.

The title of the message might sound a bit odd… how can we step out of the natural… the only world we have ever known?

AND… stepping out of something implies we are stepping into something else. In this case, I am going to encourage you to step out of the natural and into the supernatural. We are going to look at how God desires for us to operate BEYOND our limited abilities by trusting in His unlimited power.

Did you know… that God’s power… IS FOR YOU?

Did you know that God is unlimited in power and might… and that He offers this power to ALL believers who would be open to receive it this evening?

Power is something we like… maybe not so much from a positional standpoint but from an accessible standpoint.

I like cars… and I really like cars with POWER.

I’m not so much concerned with how much fuel they drink, as long as they can sit you back in the seat while it drinks it!

Not only do I like the feel of power, but I like the sound of power. Our Yukon makes 420 horsepower and although it has the stock exhaust system… it sounds… mean. It has a throaty sound AND the power to back it up!

If there is one thing I CANNOT stand is something that boasts of being powerful… but is really powerless in comparison.

For instance, they don’t make firecrackers like they used to. Things like Cherry Bombs and true M-80s are not available to consumers because they have been deemed to be… too powerful for the average person to use.

Today’s firecrackers claim to be loud and mighty… but really they are toned down party poppers instead of the boomers we used to have.

So consider this: We serve the God who is ALL POWERFUL. And His power is NOT limited to the natural ways of this world… His power is SUPERNATURAL POWER. His power is NOT of this world.

It is NOT a power you can find in anything or anyone else… this power ONLY comes from God.

AND… His power has been made available to us. Let’s look at a couple of quick examples.

Romans 8:11 NIV

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

The Spirit that raised Christ from the dead - this speaks of a power that only comes through the Spirit… not through an energy drink or a coffee with extra espresso. This Spirit who brings power… now lives within the heart of believers.

Jesus said His disciples would do greater things than He did throughout their ministries.

John 14:12 NIV

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

AND… what Jesus speaks of in verse 15 after making this declaration is the promised Holy Spirit! YES… His followers will do great things for the glory of God but these things will only happen THROUGH the power and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

So here’s the deal: IF we desire to see God’s power at work… then we, the church, must be willing to step out of our own power and trust in His supernatural power that has been made available to us!

I recently read a testimony of a man we will call Joe. Joe had grew up in a rough situation.

Joe lived in many foster homes as mom and dad were not doing well.

Joe turned to sex, drugs, and violence as a way to cope with what he had been through.

He always felt like he was built for something more… but he had no idea where to find it. One day, while at a train station, Joe was observing the homeless and drug addicts at work. And while watching the activity, the Holy Spirit spoke to him and said, “One day, I will use you to reach people like this.” Joe had no idea who was speaking to him, he wasn’t a believer at the time.

Later, His brother tried to lead him to the Lord but Joe wanted nothing to do with God. After denying the Lord for some time, Joe finally showed up at church. There he sensed the same Spirit that had spoken to him and he gave his life to Jesus.

Shortly thereafter, Joe was baptized in the Holy Spirit and he began doing incredible things for the Lord.

Within a year he was preaching on the streets and winning hundreds to the Lord. The gift of evangelism was very evident in his life.

Throughout his ministry, he saw demon possessed people set free, addicts delivered, and the sick healed. God was on the move.

Then something incredible happened… Joe’s faith would REALLY be tested.

READ FROM BOOK PAGE 47 (Power for Life by Jeff Leak).

When Joe was asked how this was all happening, he said this in response, “For me, the journey into the supernatural began when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. None of this would be possible in my life without that first experience.”

That’s what is so amazing about God’s plan for His people. The baptism in the Holy Spirit isn’t just for the super-Christian who travels the world… this baptism is for EVERY believer.

SO… if this power is available to every believer… why don’t we see it on display more? Is God restricting His move of power for just select regions OR are His people the restriction point?

We’ve got to learn to step out of ourselves… and into only what God can do! In fact, in a few weeks, we will be shifting to that theme and I’ll speak more on that in the days to come. But church… if we want what God wants, then we must be willing to operate in His power instead of our power.

And it really comes down to something simple… we just have to choose to put on the right… clothes.

What does clothing have to do with this? I’m not talking about the shirts and jeans and shoes we wear daily… I’m talking about something else.

Jesus Wants to CLOTHE YOU With POWER

Look at His words in Luke 24:49

Luke 24:49 NIV

49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

How many people remember the power neckties that have been around for a few decades? What is a “power tie?”

The power tie has been around for a few decades now, but it is still difficult to find a precise definition of the term. Traditionally the power tie is considered by general consensus to usually be of a solid colour, and traditionally worn with a business suit. A power tie is usually associated with the corporate world and signifies power, obviously, and that the wearer has the confidence and the ability to achieve his goals and that he commands respect from colleagues and business associates.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6068823

While power ties certainly grabbed the attention of the people around the wearer, this is NOT what Jesus meant when He said He would clothe us with power. Jesus wasn’t speaking of any article of clothing that came from a department store, He was talking about a covering that could only come from God.

He was speaking of the baptism that would come in Acts 2 - a baptism of fire and power.

I like the illustrative words Jesus uses here to describe the onset of power from God. Clothing is something we select… clothing is something we choose. In this case, the clothing is something offered by Jesus that comes from God.

God is offering to clothe His children with power from on high… but His children often choose to clothe themselves with something different.

This doesn’t make them any less a Christian… however, they are choosing to deny themselves the power that God offers ALL believers today.

The evangelist recognized that what was happening in his ministry had nothing to do with his own power but had everything to do with God’s power moving through him. He had the faith to step out of the natural and into the supernatural. He trusted God with the details.

And yes… this clothing of power might look different and be viewed as different from the watching world… and that’s okay! God doesn’t clothe us with power from on high so we can blend in with the latest trends and fashion… He clothes us with power from on high that we might STAND OUT in His power and bring glory to His name!

I want us to quickly look back at a story that we might not immediately connect with the topic of the Holy Spirit… but hear me out.

We know the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead.

Lazarus was dead… he’d been in the tomb for some time… but that didn’t stop a miracle from happening.

Jesus called Lazarus from the grave… He called Lazarus from his place of death. Jesus is doing this same thing today by calling those who do not believe to place faith in Him. He does this… through the work He did on the cross and through the church He has commissioned to make disciples.

Lazarus responds and comes walking out of the grave!!! Imagine how crazy that would be to see! Here comes a once dead man walking out of what was supposed to be his final resting place!

When Jesus calls us out of sin… He is literally calling us from a place of death into a place of new life! Now, I cannot say that I have been raised from a physical grave… but Jesus HAS ABSOLUTELY resurrected me from spiritual death to life!

Now… there is one more thing that happens… one more thing that is very significant. Once Lazarus comes out of the grave, Jesus gives one more instruction.

John 11:44 NIV

44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

If you are in Christ, then you have experienced His resurrection power already spiritually! And God has more in store! The graves clothes are significant. Lazarus had indeed walked out of the grave… but Lazarus was still clothed in his old reality. Lazarus was bound by clothing meant for a place of death. He was bound by a covering meant for the tomb.

The fact that Lazarus was still bound in these clothes did not make him any less alive… but Jesus did not want him to be restricted by these clothes any more… He didn’t want Lazarus to be alive and to be clothed by his old reality.

Is this starting to sink in? Everyone who has called on the name of Jesus has been brought from death to life. The old life is gone, the new has come!

Paul says it this way in Galatians 2:20

Galatians 2:20 NIV

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul says I no longer live but who lives within me? JESUS lives within me! We’ve been called out of the grave!

But some of us are still wearing the binding and restrictive clothes from that old reality. Not sin per se, but perhaps limited thinking, ability, and power. Bound by worldly reasoning and understanding. Held back by the natural while God has something much bigger in store!

Jesus wants to clothe you in something different today… He wants to give you a new covering that is not of this world, but is of supernatural power. He called you out of the grave… and now calls you into His power! This power is for ALL who would receive… but many are content with leaving the grave clothes on.

Some of us have come out of the grave… but you’re still wearing the grave… you’re still operating in the limitations of the world. God… wants to move you… beyond YOU!

You don’t have to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit to be a Christian today. That is not a requirement. However, I am amazed at how many believers deny themselves the experience of being not only filled with the Holy Spirit but be completely immersed in and clothed with power from on high!

I’ve heard many say, “I wish we would see a move of God’s power” yet there is no effort of willingness to receive power from God.

I’ve heard many pray, “God, bring healing to our land” yet there is no effort or concern regarding receiving the empowerment from on high for our witness to this land.

I’ve heard many ask, “Why don’t we see moves of God like we read about in the Bible?” yet we don’t believe what the Bible says regarding God’s power being available to all who call on the name of Jesus.

We want what God wants BUT what God wants will move us beyond the natural into His supernatural power!

Are you willing to be moved? Are you ready to step out of the limited and natural ways of the world into God’s unlimited supernatural power?

Power for PURPOSE

And before we pray, I want to be clear in something… this power is not given that it might be hoarded… it is given that it might be used for His glory.

Jesus makes very clear in Acts 1:8 why we are baptised in the Spirit.

Acts 1:8 NIV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The power is given that we might be His witnesses. The power is given to help us point people to Jesus.

The key is to place our trust in His power… and to believe in His promises. Jesus said we would do greater things… but those things won’t happen according to our own power. WE MUST TRUST IN WHAT GOD CAN DO.

Stepping out means stepping into a deeper faith and trust in the Lord. BUT IS REQUIRES THAT WE TAKE THE STEP...

The story of the evangelist hits a HUGE point. Joe had to speak and believe BEFORE the miracle took place. And in many cases in the Bible, that is true...

Noah and the Ark.

Moses and the Red Sea.

David and Goliath.

Elijah and the prophets of Baal.

And the list could go on…

Joe had to believe in the unseen MORE THAN in the situation he was literally holding in his hands.

The natural said, “This woman is crippled and there is no earthly cure for her condition.”

The supernatural said, “God is going to heal this broken body.”

With a crowd of people watching… Joe went with faith over the fear of nothing happening.

If we let the fear of nothing happening keep us from receiving from God then guess what? NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. We will remain as we are.

BUT… if we trust God enough to believe for something bigger… to operate in a power from on high… then watch out… because God is going to move!!!

So… are you ready to take that step? Are you ready to trust the Lord to do only what He can do? Are you willing to be clothed with power from on high for the purposes of God’s kingdom?

If your answer is yes… then let’s make ourselves available in the Altars tonight. Let’s move from where we are while expecting God to pour out His Spirit in this place.