When The Spirit Moves

Intro:

We have been talking a lot about revival, we say we desire a revival from God. We want God to come upon the church in power and do amazing things. We also want God to leave things the same and not change anything. There has never been a time in history when God moved in power among people and left things as He found them. Some desire a false revival that stirs the heart, makes us feel good about ourselves but allows us to remain unchanged.

We fail to see revival in the church when we are unwilling to forgive the offenses of others. The longer that you harbor a grudge against anyone for anything, the longer it takes the Holy Spirit to work in our heart.

We fail to see revival because we falsely believe that we do not need to be revived and that our lives are fine the way that we are. The unwillingness to admit that we need revival always quenches the movement of the Holy Spirit.

We fail to see revival because we are unwilling to surrender our agenda for the church. We want to make the church in our image and not the image of Christ. We fail to see revival because we are unwilling to be changed.

Why should God bring revival to people who do not want to experience His power and be made more like His Son? We fail to see revival because we are unwilling to let go and let God.  Revival tarries when the church feels that they are in charge of the church.

Until we are willing to give these things over to God, we shouldn’t waste our breath praying for revival or a movement of the Holy Spirit. We need to ask God to change our hearts, because revival starts in the heart of the believer.

Revival is coming, as we seek God to rekindle our passion for Him and His work within your own lives. Revival will come when we ask God to do something new in you and your life. We don’t need to ask God to do something new in the church until we are willing to allow God to do something new us.

Revival requires a change in the deepest levels of the heart. For many the problem is that we often resist the call of God to revival. The early church embraced the call of God and experienced the greatest period of revival in human history. The church was born out of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The church, our church does not need more programs. Our church does not need more events. Our church does not need more ministries. Our church is in a desperate need for more of the outpouring of God’s Spirit. We need for God to come and change our hearts. We are in desperate need of what God alone is capable of doing.

SCRIP: Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 NKJV

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

When the Holy Spirit moves, God reveals His power

The promise of Jesus is that God will give the needed power to do His work. Jesus makes it clear that there is no way to accomplish the Kingdom work without the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot do the work of God without God’s power in us.

Then he said to me, ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Zech. 4:6

Believers were never meant to live ordinary lives but sadly many settled for less than God’s desire for their lives. The way to live the kind of life that God intends is to allow the Holy Spirit to empower us for God’s service.

The purpose of God’s power is to give believers the strength to be witnesses of Christ’s kingdom. God gives His power to show His love and grace through our lives to those around us. The power allows the light of Christ to shine through our lives.

Jesus knew his disciples needed power to do the works of his kingdom. So he instructed them, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:49

When the Holy Spirit Moves, Lost People Come to Faith

l When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (3000 Saved) Acts 2

l Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. Acts 4

l Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him,saying,You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”

Peter replied, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” Acts 11

The work of the Holy Spirit leads to change leads to salvation. The problem with churches today is that we have become institutions instead of places of inspiration. Churches have become so programmed that there is no room for the Holy Spirit to move. Churches have lost the experience of being driven and powered by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit moves where God’s people expect Him to.  When you came to church today, what were you expecting?

When the Holy Spirit moves, believers are filled with His presence

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4

Evidence When the Holy Spirit invades the life of a believer, there is always evidence. There was physical evidence in the room with the sound of a rushing wind and visually they saw fire from heaven. These were evidences for that specific day, we do not see this happen anywhere else in the New Testament. The true evidence is the change of heart and how the disciples behave following the filling of the Holy Spirit. Those who were filled with fear when Jesus was crucified now stood before crowds of thousands to proclaim Jesus.

Enabling Tongues: Notice that Luke records that the disciples were speaking in different tongues. Luke then records that the crowds heard the disciples speaking in their own language and dialect. There were over a dozen different languages represented within the crowd that day and God uses this gift to break down the communication barrier to connect people with the gospel.

Empowement Luke states that flames of fire felon the disciples. It is vital to remember that whenever fire is involved with the presence of God, it symbolizes His power, His glory and His cleansing. The fire of God fell that day not only to give power but also to set the disciples free from anything that might have held them back. The power of the Holy Spirit sets us free from the pains and power of our past.

What needs to happen for us to see the Holy Spirit’s power move?

1. Conviction: belief that we need it

2. Confession: Confess before God any unconfessed sins

3. Commitment: recommit to following Christ

4. Consecrate: giving our all to the service of Christ

Conclusion:  Our prayer should be articulated in the words found in Acts 11:15 “Holy Spirit, fall on us as you did on the early church.

Doctor Tim Hill said, We need to understand that we are not filled with the Holy Spirit for our enjoyment, but we are filled for our employment.

Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, [29] To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; (19) To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (30)