Experiencing World Changing Power
Experiencing World Changing Power
12/27/2003 and 12/28/2003
Introduction
We are an evangelical, charismatic church. What does that mean? We are evangelical because we believe people should be born again and have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We are charismatic in that we believe the promised Holy Spirit that Jesus said He would send is here still doing the kind of things He always did when He had the right atmosphere to work in.
Some of you were raised Pentecostal. I wasn’t. I was a backslidden Baptist boy who needed the reality of God. I was open to whatever was really from God if you could show me in the Bible. We live in America where until recently if you said you were charismatic or Pentecostal it conjured up images of Jericho marches or snake handling or uncontrolled meetings where everyone did as they pleased and then blamed it on the Holy Spirit.
I have been in a lot of meetings in a lot of different parts of the world. I have seen real joy expressed in the culture of the people and I have seen people acting out of their flesh and getting addicted to emotionalism. Sometimes the power of God was hindered from moving because our emotions got the best of us.
I, like you, am learning. I don’t want to come across as the all wise knower of God’s ways. He is God. He is capable of doing new things and bigger things than I have seen up to this point.
When American missionaries go overseas there is often an attempt to Americanize the natives. When charismatics encounter other Christians there is sometimes the same need to get them to accept our culture as well as the promises of God.
We should go to people where they are with the message of Jesus and the message of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
/[1]/
Galatians 3
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” f 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
/[2]/
1. PICTURES OF THE PROMISE
-The Bible has examples of what God planned to do literally by giving us examples or patterns or types.
-The tabernacle is prepared and then when it is ready, God comes to dwell in it.
-The Holy Spirit was looking for a place to abide or dwell.
Noah sent out the dove from the ark after the flood three times as recorded in Genesis 8.
· The dove returned because there was no place to dwell this is the O.T.
· The dove came back with an olive leaf-peace had come to men-The gospels and the ministry of Jesus
· The dove didn’t return but dwelt on the earth – That is now. He is here to remain.
We see God’s instructions to Moses about setting up the tent of meeting just right in Exodus. It was a picture of God dwelling with men. He was looking for a home.
Exodus 40
33 Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.
34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel/ during all their travels. [3]/
Notice that when the preparations were right in the tent/tabernacle that God showed up in power.
Glory
3514 כֹּבֶד [kobed /ko·bed/] n m. From 3513; TWOT 943c; GK 3880; Four occurrences; AV translates as “heavy” twice, “grievousness” once, and “great number” once. 1 weight, heaviness, mass, great. 1a heaviness, weight. 1b mass, abundance. 1c vehemence, heaviness.
[4]
3883 I. כָּבֹוד (kabowd): n.masc.; ≡ glory, splendor 2. honor, respect, i.e., the attribution of high status to a person wealth, i.e., what is valued and abundant 4. LN 76 manifestation of power, formally, glory (Ex 16:7; Nu 14:22); 5. LN 85.1-85.31 glorious presence, formally, glory (Ex 29:43; 1Sa 4:21); 6. LN 57.71-57.124 [5]
-The glory of God is the literal presence of God or the manifested presence of God.
Solomon went through great detail as he prepared the temple according to the instructions of David.
2 Chronicles 5
[6]4 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark, 5 and they brought up the ark and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests, who were Levites, carried them up; 6 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.
7 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. 9 These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
11 The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. 12 All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. 13 The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:
“He is good;
his love endures forever.”
Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.
-What do you think God was telling us with those stories? Does He want to live in a physical house?
1 Peter 2
5 /you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. [7]/
-You and I are the house that God has built to live in.
2. JESUS PROMISED TO SEND THE HOLY SPIRIT
Mark 2
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”
/[8]/
John 14
16 /And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be a in you. [9]/
John 7
37 /On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as b the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. [10]/
Mark 16
5 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
/[11]/
-Jesus didn’t begin His ministry until He was baptized with the Holy Spirit at His water baptism.
-Acts 10:38 makes it clear that Jesus did signs and miracles because of His being anointed/enabled by the Spirit.
-He was able to go away and leave His disciples knowing that the Holy Spirit was coming to continue the work and to actually multiply the work.
-He operated as a man empowered by the Spirit of God.
-He wasn’t healing people as God. He didn’t know things as God.
-He could only say what He heard and Do what He saw.
3. THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE
Acts 1
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with a water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
/[12]/
Acts 2
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 a as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine. b”
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ a
22 “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, b put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ c
29 “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, d that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’ e
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
/[13]/
-This marked the beginning of the Church.
-The Church began with a charismatic prayer/evangelism service.
-The apostles were filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues.
-Mary, Jesus’ mother, was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.
-The writers of the New Testament spoke in tongues.
-In the book of Acts there are five instances of people being baptized in the Holy Spirit and in 3 of them they spoke in tongues and in 2 it is implied.
· Acts 2- they spoke
· Acts 8 –in Samaria-Simon saw something
· Acts 9 –Paul the Apostle-he later said he spoke in tongues
· Acts 10-Cornelius and his household-spoke with tongues
· Acts 19-12 men in Ephesus-spoke with tongues
-All over the world, the Spirit is moving. Men, women, and children are experiencing “ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY”. That includes the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the ability to speak in a new tongue.
In 1971, Time magazine called the present expansion of charismatic churches “the greatest religious phenomenon of our age”.
Dr. Martin Loyd –Jones in his book, “Joy Unspeakable” – “Revival is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.”
-Stop being ashamed or afraid of the Holy Spirit just because you had a weird Aunt who got in to the flesh in her church.
-Thank God for all that has happened. Thank God for those who held on when it wasn’t popular to be Spirit-filled.
-At the same time I don’t want something old timey. I notice some people want to go back to some experience they had. I don’t want to go back, I want to go on.
-We should be going from glory to glory and faith to faith.
-This movement is sweeping the earth. The promise is for all. God’s Spirit will jump any fence we put up to get to a hungry heart.
-A Bible Study with no access to God isn’t enough.
-People need help. Only the Spirit of God can help us really.
-How can you be a follower of Jesus and reject His gift to us.
-You didn’t tell anyone Christmas to take their gift back. It would offend them.
4. EXPERIENCE THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
-Getting born again changes you on the inside. You are made new.
-Getting baptized in the Holy Spirit gets what is in you out and gets it to others.
Luke 11
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for f a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
/[14]/
-Notice everyone who asks receives.
Acts 19
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when a you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized into b the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues c and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
/[15]/
What about this tongues thing?
1 Corinthians 14 – The Message
If you praise him in the private language of tongues, God understands you but no one else does, for you are sharing intimacies just between you and him. But when you proclaim his truth in everyday speech, you’re letting others in on the truth so that they can grow and be strong and experience his presence with you.
The one who prays using a private “prayer language” certainly gets a lot out of it, but proclaiming God’s truth to the church in its common language brings the whole church into growth and strength. I want all of you to develop intimacies with God in prayer, but please don’t stop with that. Go on and proclaim his clear truth to others.
/[16]/
So, when you pray in your private prayer language, don’t hoard the experience for yourself. Pray for the insight and ability to bring others into that intimacy. If I pray in tongues, my spirit prays but my mind lies fallow, and all that intelligence is wasted. So what’s the solution? The answer is simple enough. Do both. I should be spiritually free and expressive as I pray, but I should also be thoughtful and mindful as I pray. I should sing with my spirit, and sing with my mind. If you give a blessing using your private prayer language, which no one else understands, how can some outsider who has just shown up and has no idea what’s going on know when to say “Amen”? Your blessing might be beautiful, but you have very effectively cut that person out of it.
I’m grateful to God for the gift of praying in tongues that he gives us for praising him, which leads to wonderful intimacies we enjoy with him. I enter into this as much or more than any of you. But when I’m in a church assembled for worship, I’d rather say five words that everyone can understand and learn from than say ten thousand that sound to others like gibberish.
/[17]/
/Three things, then, to sum this up: When you speak forth God’s truth, speak your heart out. Don’t tell people how they should or shouldn’t pray when they’re praying in tongues that you don’t understand. Be courteous and considerate in everything.[18]/
----
[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
f Deut. 21:23
[2]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
[3]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
n n: noun
m m: masculine
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version
[4]Strong, J. 1996. The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the test of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) . Woodside Bible Fellowship.: Ontario
n. noun, or nouns
masc. masculine
[5]Swanson, J. 1997. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) . Logos Research Systems, Inc.: Oak Harbor
[6]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
[7]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
[8]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
a Some early manuscripts and is
[9]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
b 37,38 Or | If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me. | And let him drink, who believes in me. | As
[10]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
[11]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
a Or in
[12]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
a Or languages; also in verse 11
b Or sweet wine
a Joel 2:28-32
b Or of those not having the law (that is, Gentiles)
c Psalm 16:8-11
d Or Messiah. ``The Christ” (Greek) and ``the Messiah” (Hebrew) both mean ``the Anointed One”; also in verse 36.
e Psalm 110:1
[13]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
f Some manuscripts for bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for
[14]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
a Or after
b Or in
c Or other languages
[15]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
[16]Peterson, E. H. 1995. The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs . NavPress: Colorado Springs, Colo.
[17]Peterson, E. H. 1995. The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs . NavPress: Colorado Springs, Colo.
[18]Peterson, E. H. 1995. The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs . NavPress: Colorado Springs, Colo.