The Force

But what many you may not know is the when George Lucas wrote the Star Wars movies he actually used the Bible as one of his reference materials and draws a lot from Biblical Themes in the series.

This morning though, the one aspect of the series that I want to share with you that does have a direct correlation with the Church is this concept of “The Force.”

And this force that they talk about in Star Wars is this unseen power that resides within the Jedi that enables them to do incredible and almost super-human things.

Now, some of is just a bit of hocus-pocus but the underlying aspect is this indwelling presence within them that not only gives them power but also guides their steps and serves as their moral compass.

Which, if you are not tracking where I am going with this is a direct correlation with the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives.

In Acts 1:8, the Bible tell us that . . .

Scripture Focus

Acts 1:8 NRSV

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

Misrepresentation of the Spirit

And the one thing I always want to point out when looking at Acts 1:8 is the word “Power” that is used here.

The literal translation of that is dynamin, which is the root word also for what we call dynamite.

So, one of the key aspects of this power is that it is explosive.

It can modify an entire landscape when used correctly but it can also completely destroy everything when used incorrectly.

So we have to be very very careful when we are using dynamite and we have to ultimately respect it’s power.

And the exact same thing can be said about the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is powerful and explosive when He needs to be and His influence WILL transform the entire landscape.

And just like dynamite when we misuse—or rather MISREPRESENT the Holy Spirit the results can be very destructive.

And I am saying misrepresent, because the Holy Spirit cannot be misused.

He will not allow it.

And if anyone thinks that they are powerful enough to manipulate the Holy Spirit—who lets be clear—IS GOD, then they are severely mistaken.

No, what happens is people misuse the Holy Spirit by speaking and doing things in His name, which are clearly not from Him, but rather something of their own doing.

They want people to bend to their will and their ideas, so they will say things like, “the Holy Spirit told me...”

Or, “the Holy Spirit led me to . . .”

And you fill in the blanks, because we see it everyday .

And people are so sheep minded that they just follow along .

Or they have been so abused and manipulated by the gross misuse of Psalm 105:15, which says . . .

Psalm 105:15 NRSV

saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”

That they are afraid to open their mouths and call out what is clear hypocrisy.

And before I move on, let me explain something about this Psalm that you have probably been lied to over the years.

This Bible verse is in no way any reference to modern day preachers, teachers, and self-proclaiming prophets and apostles.

This verse is 100% in reference to God’s protection over the children of Israel as they struggled to come into and possess the Promised Land.

So if you want to use this verse in its proper context, then use it in defense of Israel, whom it was written for.

Not to manipulate God’s people into not questioning things that are not right so you can just do whatever you want to do .

And along those same lines people need to stop saying, “The Holy Spirit told me to tell you....” whatever it is you want that person to do.

I’ve got a news flash for everyone out there, whether you are in this room, watching on YouTube today or 10 years from today.

The Holy Spirit you are claiming to be speaking on behalf of is the same Holy Spirit that resides in me and everyone else in this room and out there that is a Spirit filled believer.

And that Holy Spirit is not going to tell that self-proclaimed prophet anything He’s not already told you and me.

Instead He will use a real prophet to confirm what He’s already told us.

God don’t need somebody to tell them to tell us.

God can tell us Himself.

And He does—he just uses other people to confirm, what He has already told us.

So we have to stop putting our faith in people and start putting our faith in God.

And LEARN SOME DISCERNMENT while we are at it!

Quickly, let’s look at Hebrews 5:11-14

Hebrews 5:11–14 NRSV

About this we have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

And herein lies the problem in the Church—and yes, even our church at times.

I’m sorry but it’s true.

We need to listen to what the writer of Hebrews is saying here.

Remember the ultimate goal we are after in this moment today is learning to discern.

And we see here that even in the early church only a few years after the Church being established they had become dull in their understanding of things.

And instead of being the teachers they should be they have to be taught.

And not the deep things of God but the elementary basic things—the milk.

Because they cannot handle the meat because spiritually they are immature.

And because they are immature they lack discernment.

And because they/we lack true discernment in many ways we are still spiritually immature, which we do not like to hear.

But because of this we fall into all the traps of the enemy.

All of the false prophets, all of the self-proclaimed apostles, all of the false teachers, all the YouTube and TikTok experts.

This whole Charismatic Word of Faith Prosperity Gospel Movement in general with all their lies and false movement of the Holy Spirit that they have made up to line their own pockets.

That is full of false promises and fake miracles.

That has destroyed people.

That has destroyed churches.

And because of this spiritual immaturity and lack of discernment, the Church has confused Charisma with being filled with the Holy Spirit.

We have gotten into this habit of coming to church seeking an emotional event to get our dopamine hit and we forget all about worshipping God and hearing from God.

It is all about us.

All about what we are feeling in the moment.

And we measure the success of everything by how Charismatic the person in charge that day is.

Conforming to the Norm Rather than Being Transformed

Do not confuse a charismatic person with a spirit filled person.

Yes, I said it—and YES I meant it.

DON’T CONFUSE CHARISMA WITH BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Charisma can be faked and many times it is—but the true filling and manifestation of the Holy Spirit cannot.

But the problem in the church is that our discernment is so far off point that we can’t tell the difference anymore.

We have diminished the true power of the Holy Spirit so much and given Him such a backseat in our lives that we can’t even tell the difference between Him, the devil, or our own flesh most of the time.

Somebody starts dancing around, hollering and speaking in tongues and we immediately get all excited and want to join right in.

Heaven forbid we take just a moment and let the Holy Spirit discern in us whether this is Him or just some emotional outburst.

Or worse yet, we get to trying outdo them because we don’t want nobody to think they are more spirit filled than we are.

And what you end up with a chaotic mess of noise, that is nothing but that, a bunch of noise.

You know what Paul has to say about all of that?

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 NRSV

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

The point is, you can do all these things but without love in it—aka God (1 John 4:8—God is love), it is just noise.

It is false.

It is fake.

And it does nothing for the edification and building up of the Church.

Jesus warns us too . . .

Matthew 7:21–23 NRSV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’

And . . .

Matthew 7:15 NRSV

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

And here’s the thing, people may feel great for that 10 minutes, but there is nothing lasting because the Holy Spirit wasn’t in it.

It was our own flesh. Plain and simple.

And we are misaligned with the entire purpose of the Church and teetering very close to Blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

So it is vital that our discernment is on point.

God Moves In His Way

And here is another thing we need to grasp here.

God does not always move in the way we think He does.

Isaiah 55:8–9 NRSV

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Listen carefully, God is not going to be confined to the box we put Him in.

You ain’t always going to holler and scream—God is not deaf.

You ain’t always going flop around on the floor like a fish.

In fact, when people fell out in the Bible, it says they looked like dead people.

Revelation 1:17–18 NRSV

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.

And folks this was the Apostle John.

The One Whom Jesus Loved.

He fell out and Jesus had to get him up.

When was the last time you saw a dead person flopping around on the floor?

I am telling you so of the stuff people do and claim it’s the Holy Spirit is just ridiculous.

Now, do people yell out sometimes—YES but because the power of the Holy Spirit is so strong they can’t do anything else. And that’s fine.

Do people fall out in the Spirit—YES but they probably ain’t gonna be flopping around and they ain’t gonna be peeking around to see who’s watching them either.

And listen, the Holy Spirit will manifest Himself in other ways, however He chooses.

But here’s the thing, it’s not going to be that way every single time the Holy Spirit moves.

And just because you don’t see some people out here getting loud and acting like a stereotypical pentecostal, do not dismiss the anointing that God has placed on people.

For instance, I’m just going to say it like it is, my primary anointing is to pastor and to preach the Word of God.

And I am confident in my anointing because God has confirmed it to me time and time again.

So when people judge me because I’m a little different, I really don’t care.

Because preaching the Word of God means that people have to be able to understand what you are saying, which means you are likely not going to hear me doing a lot of speaking in tongues when I am up here preaching a message.

And if I do, you had better believe God is going to use someone to interpret it because that is what I am called to do.

And no one will ever manipulate me into do something to “prove” who I am in Christ.

He’s already proven it.

And I would encourage you to do the same.

I am going to read you a long passage here out of 1 Corinthians 14 that talks about what I am getting at about a specific calling. . .

1 Corinthians 14:1–25 NRSV

Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God; for nobody understands them, since they are speaking mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church. Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up. Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? It is the same way with lifeless instruments that produce sound, such as the flute or the harp. If they do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is being played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves; if in a tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different kinds of sounds in the world, and nothing is without sound. If then I do not know the meaning of a sound, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves; since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up the church. Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also. Otherwise, if you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since the outsider does not know what you are saying? For you may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults. In the law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people; yet even then they will not listen to me,” says the Lord. Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all and called to account by all. After the secrets of the unbeliever’s heart are disclosed, that person will bow down before God and worship him, declaring, “God is really among you.”

And Paul is saying that the purpose of the Church is for the edification and building up of others but we do everything edify and build up ourselves.

We’ve made it all about us getting our little slice of Jesus and if the person next to you don’t then oh well, that’s their problem.

Which is completely backwards.

And don’t confuse my words here either none of this is in any way is dismissing or diminishing the importance of tongues or other gifts.

Paul even says that tongues is a sign to unbelievers of who God is, so they and all other gifts have their place in the Church.

But it is not the ultimate gauge of how Spirit filled you actually are.

But here’s the thing, and I’m going to get real personal here and some people may squirm a little, there have been times in this church and other places that the Word I share and the anointing I have has been dismissed and ignored because I don’t fit the mold.

Because I don’t conform to the norm.

But God did not create me or you or anyone else to conform to the norm.

He created us to be transformed and to lead others to transformation.

And the reason I share this is because I am not the only one who has been dismissed and ignored because I don’t fit the mold.

The only difference is, I’ve been doing this long enough that the Lord has taught me to just wipe the dust from my feet and move on.

To do what He says and say what He wants and if no one wants to listen, that’s between them and Lord.

But my point here is this—if you are one who doesn’t fit the mold and are a little discouraged, don’t sweat it.

Place your confidence in the Lord and not in other people.

And don’t worry about what others think.

Be obedient to the Lord.

But here is the flip side of that too.

If you are one here who think that some outward manifestation of Charismatic behavior is the only indicator of a Spirit filled believer, then my word for you is to #1 grow up and stop acting like the Body of Christ is some sort of high school where everyone belongs to one group or another and #2 learn the actual Word of God.

Because as it stands you have about 1/3 of the discernment that you need.

And that may sound harsh but how harsh is the damage you are doing to those who are different from you?

Stop looking at whether a person fits your narrative.

Instead, listen and discern whether what they are saying or doing is #1 edifying to God, #2 lining up with His Word and #3 confirming what the Holy Spirit is already telling you.

Altar/Challenge

Because here’s the thing.

When I started my preparation for this sermon, I had an entirely different direction in mind.

I wanted to talk about the Holy Spirit and how the Church as diminished the role of the Holy Spirit to being like Casper the Friendly Ghost.

But, this is what the Lord wanted you to hear today.

And what you do with it is up to you.

And my advice would be to spend some time with the Holy Spirit and letting Him reveal exactly where you are at.

Because here’s thing, until we grow up some and get to where God needs us to be Spiritually, what you see right here; right now is the best it’s ever going to get.

That is a warning, not from me, but from the Lord.

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