We Need The Spirit of God
Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted
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· 528 viewsGod gave His Spirit to unify and equip the Church to be witnesses for Christ
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Introduction
Introduction
Last week - saw disciples walk back from Mt of Olives where Jesus ascended to Heaven
Into Jerusalem to wait as Jesus had told them to do
Did 3 things - what were they?
Prayed, read scripture, talked to one another
Today - they’d been waiting about 5 weeks - wondering what was going on!
Country View
Beginning Chapter 2 - been about 5 weeks since Jesus left
Still waiting as Jesus told them to do - wondering what comes next
Now its festival week in Jerusalem - tens thousands Jews from over known world in city
All to celebrate 3rd biggest & most popular festival - Pentecost
So today we’ll see - God gave His Spirit for everyone - all of us
So today - looking at 1st part
See - God gave His Spirit for reason = essential for everyone of us
God gave His Spirit to unify and equip the Church to be witnesses for Christ
Only through Spirit - Church find unity and will be equipped to be Christ’s witness
Jesus says I need the Spirit
Jesus says I need the Spirit
Let’s go back to - remind ourselves what Jesus told disciples
after Jesus was resurrected he instructed the disciples
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. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
And again on the Mt of Olives just before he went up into heaven he said
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. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.”
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.”
Acts 1:7-8
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
So Jesus was quite specific -
He told the disciples - don’t do anything, don’t go anywhere
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.”
UNTIL - you receive the Spirit of God
Its a gift from God - but its more than a gift - Spirit releases God’s power directly in us!
It’s power!
When we receive that power we will be equipped to be Christ’s witnesses
instructs about receiving the Spirit & why
Now you might be thinking - the Spirit was just something special for the disciples
, instructs about receiving the Spirit & why
But don’t forget about Jesus - before He did anything He received power of Spirit too
Here’s just a few passages about Jesus full of Spirit
Notice the words used to describe their relationshp
Following Jesus example
before beginning ministry received Spirit so he could ‘full of the Holy Spirit’, ‘led by the Spirit’. ‘in the power of the Spirit’ and ‘anointed’ by the Spirit
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
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Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
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So before beginning His ministry Jesus received Spirit so he could be;
before beginning ministry received Spirit so he could ‘full of the Holy Spirit’, ‘led by the Spirit’. ‘in the power of the Spirit’ and ‘anointed’ by the Spirit
‘full of the Holy Spirit’
That’s so he could be - ‘full of the Holy Spirit’,
‘led by the Spirit’
‘in the power of the Spirit’
‘anointed’ by the Spirit
If we call ourselves Christians or followers of Jesus -
Then we need to follow Jesus example & take note here
That for both Jesus and His first disciples they didn’t do anything...
Until they had received Spirit of God
This is picture of my gym -
I don’t know how you feel about exercise - but I hate it!
Trouble is I have to do it - I suffer from a pain condition called fibromyalgia
Doing exercise helps me manage the pain
People do exercise for all sorts reasons
Stay fit, build up muscle, help loose weight, or like me help manage pain
But benefits are temporary - you have to keep going back to gym
If you don’t keep it up you loose all benefit of time put in before
It got me thinking about following Jesus
There’s difference between following Jesus in our own strength
And following Jesus with power of Spirit
If we follow Jesus in our own strength - we’re dooing
If we follow Jesus in our own strength - we’re on our own
If we trust in ourselves - we might achieve some things through our own physical or mental efforts physical
But they won’t be long lasting, they won’t make much of an impact in our lives
Whether it’s studying the bible, prayer, sharing our fai, loving our neighbour
All those things are great - but without Spirit we won’t be able to keep them up
And they won’t be effective or long lasting
If Jesus needed the power of Spirit & His disciples needed power of Spirit...
Then we also need the power of Spirit if we’re to be faithful to following Jesus
And leave a long lasting heritage for the next generational Church
Question - Jesus wants you to have His Spirit - Do you?
Question - Jesus wants you to have His Spirit - Do you?
Why I need the Spirit
Why I need the Spirit
Let’s look at passage in
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts 2:1
This sounds like a powerful significant event
Yet it kind of sounds a bit made up doesn’t it - deafening wind, flames of fire landing on people?
Nobody had experienced anything like this before
In OT up until Jesus - Spirit had only come upon certain individuals
As God worked out His purposes in the world
But at Pentecost God fulfilled His promises from OT to pour out his Spirit
It was a unique special one-off event
So Luke (who wrote book Acts) and those disciples present...
They described what happened only way they know how
Even though this was a special symbolic event with wind & flames...
Jesus before he went to cross - talked to disciples about Spirit
Refer to passages in John - tells us why we need the Spirit
He told them why Spirit was going to be sent by God
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
So Jesus tells us Spirit will be with us forever
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 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 in you.
John 14:
Jesus tells us Spirit will be with us forever
Spirit is our Counsellor - other translations say he’s our helper
He gives us wisdom & guidance through life
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
So Spirit help us understand all we need to know about Jesus and his teachings
John 16:
So Spirit will also help us understand all we need to know about Jesus and his teachings
He specifically reveals what Jesus wants us to know about Him
John 16:
When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
Spirit will also tells us what we should be doing
And poke our hearts & minds when we’re thinking of doing something wrong
But that’s not all!
The Spirit can also gives us special gifts
Plus mention gifts in
I’m sure some of our younger members her will be able to recite the gifts of Spirit in
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
These are special gifts are given - as Spirit sees fit says in 1Cor
Notice these gifts
And Paul says these gifts are “for the common good”
”for the common good”
I.e They’re gifts not just for us personally but for whole church
These are gifts of healing, faith, wisdom etc
These are gifts Spirit gives us so we can help / encourage each other
But that’s still not all!!!
But that’s not all!
I’m sure some of our younger members her will be able to recite the gifts of Spirit in alatians
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
That’s talking about special work Spirit does
Its Spirit who changes / transforms us to become more like Jesus
To have more of those good traits and less of our bad ones!!
But this is just tip of iceberg when it comes to why we need Spirit
I thinking about our wonderful beach here in relationship to this passage
I took this picture a few weeks ago
Look at the beautiful calm water, sunshine & beach
Gives this sense of serenity, of peace & calm
We can often take sea & beaches for granted
We forget what sea is truly capable of
But behind that sea is an awesome force and power
Check this photo out - can you see how small surfer is in comparison to wave!
Imagine the destructive power & force of that wave crashing down on Papamoa beach
We too can take Spirit for granted - even forget about him entirely
We might talk about Him, see Him mentioned in scripture & think nothing of it
We forget lke we do with sea how vast power & awesomeness Spirit of God is
He’s capable of incredible, amazing, awesome things
Disciples only experienced at Pentecost just small piece of what He’s capable of
But look see what happened when Spirit turned up!
Question - Jesus says you need His Spirit - Do you?
Question - Jesus says you need His Spirit - Do you?
We all need the Spirit
We all need the Spirit
English Standard Version Chapter 2
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And mat this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And nthey were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking oGalileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and pMedes and qElamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and rproselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And sall were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others tmocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
So Spirit turns up at Pentecost in powerful way
He made his presence known in real physical ways
It was experienced by everyone - over 120 plus of Jesus disciples
But by time disciples were full of Spirit - they probably left where staying
Maybe made way outside - might have even gone up to Temple to worship
But they were out in public place - 120 + people making a lot of noise
They experienced the effects of the Spirit’s arrival
Praising & worshipping God in lots different foreign languages
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
In that passage there was a big long list of place names - I left out
I left it out so all the verses would fit on the screen
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It gives list of places / cultures covers western Europe around to Middle East to North Africa
It’s list covers almost entire know world - where Jewish people had scattered
All these people from all these places come to Jerusalem
They heard noise Jesus disciples were making & they started to gather round
So all these people started to gather in middle of city
Because they heard this loud noise of people shouting
Were maybe outside - might have even gone up to the Temple to worship
But they were in a public place - 120 + people making a lot of noise
Praising & worshipping God in lots different foreign languages
Some of Jews were locals - could tell this was group from Galilee by their accents
Refer to and the universality of Spirit Refer back to Luke, mention Jesus needed Spirit for his ministry - so do weRefer to reaction of crowd
mention Jesus needed Spirit for his ministry - so do we
They thought Galilee Jews weren’t very bright - how could they know all these languages?!?
But here they were speaking languages none of them should’ve known how speak
So crowd of multi-cultural Jews grew & grew - amazed / dumbfounded - they’d never seen anything like this
They heard these country Jews shouting about amazing things God has done in their language!
Obviously something amazing was happening - they just didn’t know what it was!
Of course were those who made fun - “hey those guys are drunk & it’s only early morning”
But no one took them seriously - this was something beyond explaination!!
This miraculous sign was from God
God was telling everyone - His Spirit is now freely available to all peoples / cultures
Here’s our Papamoa Mall - when I visit I see all sorts of people going into shops
We’re a diverse community - Maori, Pacifika, Pakeha, Asian, Middle Eastern, tourists from US etc
Now imagine what would happen if this church walked into mall
Imagine if all those people from different cultures heard bunch of Pakehas speaking their language perfectly
120 Kiwi Palangi’s praising /worshiping God in Maori, Korean, Philippino, all languages of Pacific
It would spread all over social media - People all over world see video clips, hear their language
Spread all over social media - people would think what’s happening
Spirit gave this miraculous gift for a reason
God was telling everyone - Spirit is now here & freely available to all peoples / cultures
People all over world might see video clips, hear their language - God being worshipped
Imagine what God would communicate!
God cares about whole Church - wants us all to receive power of His Spirit
Fulfilment of OT promises - & –32
Anthem
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To be equipped, to be transformed, to be blessed
If we want to follow Jesus then we need God’s Spirit
Whether we’re 8 or 88 we all need God’s Spirit
Those coming up behind us
If we want to leave a heritage for next generation - we need God’s Spirit to move
We need God to bring a fresh move of His Spirit
To equip Church with leaders, teachers, elders, deacons
Who are Christ-like, inspired with wisdom, blessed with gifts
Able to reach coming generations for Jesus
Question - Jesus says we need His Spirit - Do we?
Question - Jesus says we need His Spirit - Do we?
We need to start praying for our miracle - for a new move of God’s Spirit
In our lives & in lives of people in our Churches
Will you pray with me for a new move of His Spirit in our lives?