Open to the Spirit (2)

John Wimber, Mother’s Day 1980 video (10:53)

Come, Holy Spirit!

This is the prayer that wrecked Wimber’s church. Since then, Come Holy Spirit has been described as the “central prayer liturgy” of the Vineyard movement.

Of course, Lonnie Frisbee didn’t invent this prayer. There is evidence of the church praying prayers similar to this since the third century. But we have made it our own.

We started a series a few weeks ago called This Is Us looking at the values we prioritize as a church. These are key values that help define who we are and what we do. So far, we’ve covered being Radically Welcoming and Kingdom Oriented. This morning we will look at our third value - Open to the Spirit.

Pray...

In the New Testament we see the Holy Spirit’s power revealed in the miracles of Jesus, then through the apostles and other disciples.  Jesus promised that all his followers would do the same.  In fact, there is no period in church history that doesn’t testify to the ongoing miraculous work of the Spirit.

The breakthrough came on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2 records that as the disciples were all gathered together, “Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” (Acts 2:2–4, NLT)

Peter would go on to preach to the crowd that this was a fulfillment of the prophecy from the book of Joel, the promise that a day would come when God would do a new thing, “pouring out his Spirit on all flesh”.

This hopefully won’t come as a surprise, but the Vineyard is a “Spirit-filled” church. We believe that all the gifts of the Spirit recorded in the NT are still in operation through the church today. We think everyone can - and should - be filled with the Spirit.

Because I devoted so much time to hearing about the Spirit coming to his church in John’s own words, the rest of our time will be a 30,000 foot flyover regard what we believe about the filling of the Spirit and how that leads us to our value of being open to the Spirit. I’m going to answer the 5 big Who, What, When, Where, and Why questions about the Spirit. That alright?

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First, the What question:

““And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”” (Luke 11:9–13, NLT)

According to Jesus, What are we getting when we’re filled with the Spirit? Gift and Giver.

The Spirit is the Giver of gifts, divine empowerments to serve the church and the mission of Jesus. More than that, the Spirit is Gift. He is the very presence of God dwelling in our hearts.

At the heart of this question is fear. We’re wondering, if I ask for the Spirit, will it be good? Will it be weird? I guess that depends on your definition of weird.

I’ve had several powerful experiences of the Spirit. I’ve experienced what some call being slain in the Spirit - mine was more or a controlled slide down a wall. I’ve had the experience of being filled and receiving the gift of tongues. I’ve had moments when I’ve felt physically shaken by the Spirit. But the vast majority of my experiences with the Spirit have been gentle and quiet and peaceful.

Here’s what I can tell you: I’ve never spoken to anyone - or even heard of anyone - who had and experience with the Spirit and was sorry afterward.

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Moving on, let’s look at the When and Who questions. At the close of Peter’s sermon to the crowd at Pentecost, we read:

““So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”” (Acts 2:36–39, NLT)

First, this passage answers When are we filled with the Spirit? At salvation.

To repent and be baptized was how people expressed saving faith in Jesus in the NT. They didn’t walk an aisle and or necessarily say a prayer. They demonstrated their faith by baptism. In the Vineyard, we believe that everyone who repents and believes, just as they are immediately forgiven of sins, they also immediate receives the Holy Spirit.

We recognize that many people have subsequent powerful experiences of the Spirit. That should be the norm. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians told them to “keep on being filled with the Spirit”. It’s not a one-off event. We say that people are “baptized” in the Spirit at conversion - a one time thing where you get all the Spirit. But that doesn’t mean the Spirit has all of you, and so we think there are many subsequent “fillings” of the Spirit where we are further freed from sin or empowered for ministry.

You may be here this morning and you are convicted that you have never actually surrendered your life to Jesus in repentance and baptism. This is your first invitation today from the Lord, to repent and turn to him so that your sins are forgiven. If this is your desire I’d like you to let me know by either tapping the Connect Tag on the seatback or filling out one of the Connect Cards and dropping in the offering box on the back table.

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This passage also answer Who can be filled with the Spirit? Everyone.

At the root of this question is often insecurity. We’re really asking Will the HS fill me? I know how sinful I am, how undeserving I am.

Let me remind you again what Peter said: This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—ALL who have been called by the Lord our God. Promises are something you receive, not something you earn. You don’t get the Spirit bc you were a good boy or girl. You can do things in your life to grieve the Spirit or quench the Spirit, but if you’ve made a commitment to Jesus as Lord, there is nothing you can do to be excluded from the Spirit! All means all.

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Finally, let’s turn to our last two questions, the Why and the How.

“So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” (Acts 1:6–8, NLT)

First, this passage tells us Why are we filled with the Spirit? Mission.

We believe power comes with purpose. We don’t think the HS is just for getting spiritual goosebumps week after week. Goosebumps are good! We should question if we never have any experiences with the Spirit - just as we should question if we never experience love or romance in a marriage. But goosebumps should propel us into the world to witness to the reality of Jesus.

“We don't seek God's power, we seek His presence. His power and everything else we need is always found in His presence.” ~ John Wimber.

Early in my journey of trying to understand the Holy Spirit and work through some of my resistance to charismatic experiences, a good friend of mine who was a Pentecostal gave me some great advice. He said “Kevin, experiences are great. But what really matters is what you do after you get up off the floor”. I think he nailed it.

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This passage also answers How are we filled with the Spirit? Surrender.

Look again at what Jesus says… “But you will receive...”

The Spirit is Gift of God. How do you get a gift? Not by taking, but by receiving. I think “surrender” captures this idea best.

I have to tell you, I struggled for years as a Christian before I ever had an experience of the Spirit. I wanted clarity and understanding. I looked for rational answers. That’s not a bad thing - God made us thinking creatures. There are things we can know about the Spirit.

But when it came to experiencing his filling, I finally realized that there would always be limits to my intellect. That doesn’t make the Spirit irrational; it makes him supra-rational - above and beyond my ability to reason. When we come to the end of our reason, what we are faced with is Holy Mystery. And that can only be surrendered to and received.

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We are open to the Spirit. At the Vineyard, this means we pursue the ministry of the Spirit without hype, emotionalism, or manipulation. We want ministry that looks the way Jesus did ministry. We want to be “naturally supernatural”.

I’ve tried in this shortened message to at least answer some of the big questions about the fullness of the Spirit. As we close I want to add one caution. The Bible commands us to “test the spirits”. Not everyone or everything that claims to be Spirit-led is necessarily true. So we are open to the Spirit while also testing those people and things that claim Spirit inspiration. The Spirit will never contradict the Spirit-inspired scriptures. The Spirit never acts in an un-Christlike way

BUT once we have tested, we must no longer be resistant. I think sometimes we say we are open to the Spirit, but it’s in a begrudging sense. Sort of a “God can do whatever God wants to do” kind of way. I think that’s a little like saying, “Well, I’m open to my wife showing me affection.” But why would she want to?? I find that God does very little when that attitude is present.

Instead, we are open to the Spirit in the same way a flower is open to the Sun. We turn toward him, we spread our petals, and we absorbed him as the very thing we need for health, fullness, and fruitfulness. We crave the radiance of the Spirit as that which is absolutely necessary for life.

We are open to the Spirit.

But let’s make this more personal: Are you open to the Spirit?

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Ask them to stand...

You may be here this morning and and you know you’re a Christian, but you’re not sure that you’ve ever experienced the filling of the Spirit. Or, it’s been a long time and you know that your soul is dry. The Lord is here to send refreshing.

Normally we would go into Communion and closing worship. Instead, we have the sealed communion elements on the back table. They have been prayed over so feel free to take them as you leave today.

But this morning I want us to respond to what we’ve heard. I’m going to pray and invite the Spirit to come and bring a fresh filling in your life. You may be here and not be interested in this, or may not feel ready, or may just have somewhere you have to be. So after I pray you are free to leave at any moment. I’d just ask that you be as quiet as possible so as not to distrurb those around you.

But if you are here and you really need to be filled - or refilled - with the Spirit, then I’d like you to linger - as long as you want. I’ve instructed a few people who I know are full of the Spirit to watch the room, so you may feel someone come pray for you at some moment. We’re not going to be in a hurry. We will wait on the Lord and see what he wants to do.

Ask them to get into a receiving posture if they’d like...

“Come, Holy Spirit!”