Power In The Service

Recap

We have been spending a couple of weeks looking at the Day of Pentecost or the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

The birth and provision of power to the New Testament Church.

First we saw how important that this baptism in the Holy Spirit was to Jesus - that he even modeled it in his life for us to see

We saw that he expects it to be a lifestyle

That it confirms us as the children of God

That it commends us by setting God’s mark of approval upon our lives

And that it commissions us - to to into our world and make a difference

We said that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit empower us

emboldens us

emblazes us

We saw that the Holy Spirit is our other helper - the one who would take over as Jesus went to take his proper place at Father’s right hand

That Jesus’ going away was advantageous - because of the help that we would recieve

That he would give us wisdom and not just for the moment, but for the future.

and that he would teach us, not just spiritual things, but all things.

And then I gave you a homework assignment to read all of . And I hope that you did, because if you did, you saw so much that I never got to.

We need Jesus’ Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Turn with me over to

Mark 16:15–18 NKJV

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

I want you to know something this morning. You cannot read all of these verses in every Bible.

We all know the first two - because they are the great Commission

But the last two have literally been extracted from some denomination groups Bibles. I mean gone, just literally not printed in their Bibles.

And if you were to ask them, they would tell you that it’s because those things were just meant for the Apostles.

That God’s people today, cannot do those things.

So let me ask you for your opinion. Because I don’t want you to think that I’m preaching my own gospel here.

Who is Jesus speaking to? - His disciples, right?

And I would venture to say that you could make a point that there were other observers around, as most of the time wherever Jesus was, so was the crowd.

But let’s just say it was only the disciples.

What did he tell them? Go into all the world and preach the good news (gospel to every creature)

We know in the scriptures, he says and make disciples of them.

And so he says, make believers, and know that there will be those who won’t believe - is that right?

And then look at verse 17 - And these signs will follow you? NO

These signs will follow the Apostles? NO

No - who will these signs follow? those who believe

Was that the disciples? Yes

But it was more wasn’t it? It would be those who heard their message and believed.

So am I making something up this morning?

No, these signs would follow the disciples, and everyone after them who believed in Jesus Christ.

That means that these signs are for you today as well.

The Signs of a Spirit Filled Believer

And so as we read this today, I want you to know as the church, as the body of Christ, and as believers and followers of Jesus Christ - These signs should be working in your life today.

They Will Cast Out Demons

Through the Holy Spirit, you have the power to cast out demons today.

We have all been given the authority that is found in the name of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:10 NKJV

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,

Philippians 2:10–11 NKJV

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Pastor, I didn’t even realize that demons were real. - Oh they are

Pastor, I didn’t even realize that demons were real. - Oh they are

1/3 of all the angels fell with Lucifer. They are the demons of today.

They are how people tell your fortune.

They are sickness and disease

They are mental torment and anguish.

They are death and abuse and addiction.

The demonic (spiritual) realm is a fact today. And it is having more effect on your life than you realize.

You should learn how to exist in it.

They Have the Power to Heal

Through the Holy Spirit you have the power to heal the sick.

I’m not saying that everyone has the spiritual gift of healing. I’m saying that because we are children of God and Spirit filled and acting in that same authority of Jesus Christ. that we can pray over people and for people and see them healed.

See all types of miracles of healing in peoples bodies and situations. And I would venture to say that you are a part of that every Sunday morning as you reach your hands out to pray for those who come forward for prayer.

Acts 3:1–10 NKJV

Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

The laying on of hands - an act of faith

an act of unity

becomes an act of healing.

They Have the Power to Overcome Deadly Attacks

Taking up serpents and drinking anything deadly.

This is not a prove me type of situation.

This is not like the pastors down south who fill their altars full of deadly vipers to see who has the most faith.

This is not taking a gallon of bleach to church and drinking it during the worship service.

This is a sign of God’s protection over your life.

The Apostle Paul and the viper

Missionaries poisoned

People in dangerous situations.

Would you say that these are key elements to living for Christ? Sure they are.

Then why would complete denominations never read them and even go as far as to eliminating them from the Bible?

Because these things cannot happen without there being an extra, supernatural, powerful anointing of God over your life.

And we know, because we’ve been looking at this subject for almost a month now, that only takes place through Jesus’ baptism in the Holy Spirit.

These things are mighty feats aren’t they? I mean, they could be almost X-men and Avengers stuff.

But Jesus calls them something else. - He calls them signs. Signs are things that point to something else.

They label something.

They guide to something

They give you an idea of where you are.

Keep, in mind, it’s not the sign that you need, but the thing that the sign is pointing to.

Jesus said that these things would label the believer in Him and would point to the power that they had in their lives.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

There is also one more that I did not cover.

They Have a Powerful Prayer Language

They will speak with new tongues.

What does new tongues mean? A language that is not natural to them.

And I’ve saved this for last in our series on the Holy Spirit, because this is where you get the most kick back from people

yeah, but that’s not for today.

But I just showed you Jesus says, it’s for everyone who has heard the gospel and chose to follow Jesus.

It most certainly is for today.

And it most certainly is for you.

Now, I want you to remember, it is a sign. It is not the baptism.

We sometimes treat people like lepers if they do not speak in their heavenly language

We make it the test of whether they are baptized in the Holy Spirit or not.

And that is wrong.

Now if these signs aren’t present, then it just means that you are not where you need to be yet, but it doesn’t mean that you aren’t heading there.

For when you are filled with the Power of the Holy Spirit through the baptism in the Holy Spirit - these signs will follow.

1 Corinthians 14:13–17 NKJV

Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.

1 Corinthians

The Apostle Paul is setting order here in the church service. How many know God is a god of order.

He doesn’t like chaos.

And what Paul is saying here is that if there is a tongue - a foreign language in the service, then there needs to be an interpretation. Why?

How do we know what is being said?

The person who is giving the message - OR Praying in tongues is blessed. They get this great feeling of the Holy Spirit in them and on them.

But we are left with this “What is going on here?”

Paul says, that should not happen.

The Tale of Two Tongues

So let me go back to the statement I made about praying in tongues.

Paul is also, here, setting the difference between two different types of manifestations of this spiritual sign.

There is a gift of the Holy Spirit to the church where God speaks to the church through the Holy Spirit.

I would call this the manifestation of the gift of tongues to the collective or corporate body.

The Holy Spirit can move through anybody who is willing and bring a message forth to us all

The brother or sister being used has no idea what they are saying. They have felt an unction of the Holy Spirit to speak

When they are obedient, the whole body has the opportunity to be blessed.....IF....there is an interpreter

Again, this is not someone who knows what has been said and just interprets it in English.

It’s not like when I go on a missions trip an speak and the person next to me interprets it into the native language

This again is the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit over someones life who is willing and they just speak English words. Don’t count the words, or listen for the same inflections of voice or the same cadence of voice

Those don’t have to happen.

But when the interpretation comes, the whole body says, AMEN and claps or falls to their knees or does something to worship this mighty God who has just used human language to speak to them. It’s powerful. The atmosphere is charged.

Now what tends to happen in these situations is that many fear this type of interaction with the Holy Spirit and so God won’t force himself upon us.

But if God wants to get a message to us, he will move upon that one or two who are open to it. And so it can look like Brother or sister so and so always speak in tongues and interprets.

Don’t judge that when it happens.

So the manifestation of the gift of tongues in the service - everyone understand that? For the church.

Paul also says elsewhere that it should not happen more than three times in a service. Not that it can’t. But again, Order.

That is different than the tongues that every believer receives once Jesus baptizes them in the Holy Spirit.

This is a prayer language. It is a language that the user doesn’t understand.

yes, the Holy Spirit is upon them and praying through them, but they control it.

It is a language that satan cannot understand. It supercedes him. It blocks him out

It is a powerful way to pray.

It is a powerful connection to God

It is the way to pray when you do not know what to pray for.

Romans 8:26 NKJV

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

So could you imagine if we all just came to church and prayed in our spiritual language the whole time?

It would be chaos.

Visitors, or people who do not have their spiritual language yet, would be lost.

We would all be blessing ourselves but doing nothing for the growth and maturity of the body.

And Paul says this is wrong.

Does Paul say it is wrong to pray in the spirit in the public gathering? No.

But he says, if I do that I will also pray in the native language. Or the language of understanding.

He says, I will praise in the spirit, but I will also praise in the language of understanding.

Why so that each of us is edified. So that everyone is built up in the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, visitors with us today, we are here for the main purpose of lifting Jesus up.

But our second purpose is edify and build up each other.

When we pray or worship or sing in the heavenly language, we build up ourselves.

Our spirits are strengthened.

Our Lives are empowered

And our prayers are answered 100%

But the one next to you is not edified or built up.

But when we do both int he public service, the church is set on fire for the Kingdom of Heaven.