Let's Be The Church (Part 3)

Acts 1:1-8

Prayer Coming Down

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Fellowship Moment & Dismiss The Youth

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Please remain standing while we read the Word Of God

Read The Main Scripture… Acts 1:1-8

Acts 1:1–8 NASB 2020

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had given orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of things regarding the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” But He said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”

Prayer Over The Message

So after reading that passage of scripture y’all are probably thinking I’m going backwards here. We’ve been looking at how the Holy Spirit’s power is poured out for a couple weeks now, and you would be correct in your thinking. Couple of weeks ago we looked at the power of REPENTANCE coupled with teaching, learning, and fellowship. Last week we looked at the power then and now today that still defines the WONDER WORKING HEALING AND MIRCLE MAKING POWER OF GOD. So we have been in the POWER study of the Holy Spirit.

Today I want to get started on the PURPOSE of that Power and how the Spirit of God in us allows me and you and everyone born again in Christ to let the purpose and power that the Holy Spirit gives us be transformed into a single narrative, one story, one TRUTH. And that truth is REDEMPTION.

In God’s plan, redemption is not just for this group, or this age, or this race. Redemption is for everyone, it is there, it is available, and more than anything it is NEEDED! AMEN? So I have a question real quick, For everyone in here who is just teeming with the Spirit of God, I mean He just pours out of you in a mighty way, have you ever wanted to GO BACK to a time where you did not feel that way? When you were making decisions based off of feelings and nothing else? NO of course not. If you do, then the alter is open, I’ll keep going but you come pray about that. When the Spirit lives in you and you are guided by Him, things HAPPEN. Things beyond all understanding.

The reason I’m putting that question in your mind is I want you to consider the change in Old Testament Spirit Presence and New Testament Spirit Presence. An easier way to think of it would be Before Jesus and After Jesus. And that thought alone is a sermon all to itself. Let’s say that’s coming to a pew near you soon! But back to the point here, first let’s look at the similarity; the Holy Spirit at all times, since time, before time has, is and will always be the third person of the trinity. The differences lie in that way the Spirit was given and used. Primarily in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit is working in certain people for a specific task at hand. Just a couple of examples here

Judges 14:5–6 “Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, so that he tore it apart as one tears apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.”

1 Samuel 10:10 “When they came there to the hill, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, so that he prophesied among them.”

The Spirit rushed upon them and it wasn’t just so that Samson could kill a lion and Saul could prophesy, God had bigger plans for both of them, Samson was to protect and begin to deliver the Israelites from Philistine rule and Saul was the first earthly King of Israel.

Big plans, rush of the Holy Spirit, and flawed men. Samson broke his Nazarite vow, Saul became more absorbed with himself than God and both of them disobeyed God on multiple occasions. Because of this the Spirit of God LEFT both men. Gone. Now for Samson his repentance brought the Spirit back upon him for one final act against the Philistines when he pushed the pillars down causing his demise and the death of as the Bible says “more Philistine than Samson had killed during his life”

What we see in both cases is the Holy Spirit was not a permanent indwelling here, now lets fast forward to Acts 1.

I want us to take a minute right here and praise the Lord for Jesus, and giving us a PERMANANT PLACE for the Holy Spirit to dwell WITHIN US. THANK YOU GOD!!!

Jesus says, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and folks it is upon us and within us. We have a direct relationship with the Father through the completed work of Jesus Christ. Now that is something to shout about AMEN! And Ephesians 1:13–14 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

See that word there again? Redemption. We are God’s own possession! And the Bible says WE ARE SEALED IN HIM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. It’s in us like we’ve spoke about, the full measure is right here. And it’s more than just for a one time task, it’s the first installment of our inheritance!

Let’s look at what the Holy Spirit does

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.”

John 16:13–15 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you.”

John 16:8–10 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me;”

Did y’all catch that? Jesus said the SIN is not believing in HIM. The Holy Spirit will convict the lost one of that SIN. Believers though, regarding righteousness, listen up y’all we are convicted to remember that JESUS PAID IT ALL! The Holy Spirit convicts us that even though we don’t see HIM HE’S AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER INTERCEDING FOR US! That doesn’t mean go out and willfully sin against God. The Bible also tells us not to GRIEVE the Holy Spirit right?

Now I’m going to let that sit with y’all. Write that verse down today, John 16:8-10. I can assure you we are coming back to it very soon.

Now that is the purpose of the Holy Spirit, or the JOB OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Let’s go back to Acts 1 and look at what our job is...

Acts 1:8 says, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”

We are to be HIS witness. Its how we as believers, full of the Spirit of God fulfill the GREAT COMMISSION! Matthew 28:19–20 says, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” There’s our job church. That is the job of us, that is the epitome of BE THE CHURCH, AMEN?!

If you ask yourself how can I do that, it goes right back to scripture. Acts 1:5, we will be baptized in the HOLY SPIRIT. Fully immersed in the Spirit. We then allow the Holy Spirit to

Renew our MINDS, the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and remind us what Jesus taught. That’s why the Holy Spirit says PICK UP YOUR BIBLE, NOW OPEN YOUR BIBLE, NOW READ YOUR BIBLE, NOW STUDY YOUR BIBLE. We have the teaching right here y’all. USE IT, all the time.

Take control of our abilities, the Holy Spirit will help bring out the spiritual gifts God has blessed you with. That’s your toolbox for witnessing and sharing the Gospel! It is what makes us not only powerful but useful in the the BODY OF CHRIST.

Speak to us, the Holy Spirit will show us what to do. He will guide us into all truth. He will give us what God desires us to have. WE HAVE TO LISTEN WHEN THE SPIRIT SPEAKS.

When we follow the guidance of the Spirit the fruits will show. Those fruits are found in Galatians 5:22–23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Now I don’t know about y’all but if I see someone walking around with just a few of these fruits pouring out of them, that’s someone I need to know better. Amen?! Who do you think those fruits are for??? I was talking with Melanie this past week and I shared with her something Pastor Mike Jr said a while back.… in a sermon he said “A plum tree don’t eat plums, a pear tree don’t eat pears, the tree just gets water, cause the fruit ain’t for the tree, the fruit is for people who pass by.” Your spiritual gift isn’t just for you to store up, it produces fruit for the lost to see and feed off of. The people who pass by are the one’s we are called to witness to.

WE HAVE THE LIVING WATER THAT FEEDS US AND HELPS TO PRODUCE MUCH FRUIT. WE ARE CALLED TO GUIDE THE ONE WHO DOESN’T HAVE THAT FLOW TO THE NEVER ENDING, ALL POWERFUL, LIFE ETERNAL GIVING, SOUL SAVING SON OF GOD SO THEY TO CAN DRINK FROM THE STREAM THAT SAVES.

Psalm 42:1 says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, God.” A deer doesn’t pant when it is calm, cool and collected. That deer in Psalm 42 was tired, and stressed, and longing for drink from that stream. That deer was us before we received our new heart, before we were given rest, before our burdens were made light, before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Think about it y’all. We’ve all been tired and tired of trying to do it on our own, THANK GOD we don’t have to, and the only reason is because we know the one who saves. WE KNOW JESUS!!!

We are commanded to go out and tell others, we are commanded to go to the panting deer of this world and show them the brook where they can find the love of JESUS.

GOD GAVE US HIS SON TO PAY THE DEBT WE COULDN’T, JESUS GAVE US HIS LOVE AND SACRIFICE, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES US ALL KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM IN TRUTH! ALL WE HAVE TO GIVE IS DIRECTIONS. DIRECTIONS TO THE CROSS, DIRECTIONS TO THE STREAM, DIRECTIONS TO JESUS.

LET’S GIVE DIRECTIONS, LET’S SHOW THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT, LET’S DO WHAT WE ARE COMMANDED TO DO IN ACTS 1:8...

LET’S BE THE CHURCH AMEN???!!!

As the worship teams comes back up, Every head bowed and every eye closed....

If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, if you are the deer panting by the stream, longing for that living water I invite you down and it would be my honor and privilege to tell you how you can thirst no more today!

If you have backslidden and are thirsty again come down today and make it right with the Father, His spirit is still in you and He wants you fulfilled and with Him!

If you have been struggling with witnessing and walking out what we have learned today come down and pray for the guidance to get back to fulfilling the Great Commission,

If there is anything you want to pray about or would like me to pray about with you the altar is open, this is your time, talk to your father...

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