What are we waiting for?

Have you ever lost something? I am the type of person I can loss just about anything. My tools are the worst, and most of the time I misplace them right in the middle of the job. When I am building something or fixing something, usually I need an assistant who’s whole job is to keep track of my hammer, pencil, and measuing tape. If I can lay it down I can loss it.

I feel like some of you can relate. Sometimes I wonder just how much of my life I have spent looking for things. Then I start to think about it and I do not want to know. By now I am sure I have lost more than a year of my life just looking for things that I lost.

Or better yet things I thought I lost. I am telling you it is a good thing I do not ware glasses or I would be the guy looking all over the house for my misplaced glasses while they were safely sitting atop my head. You know what I am talking about. I have done things like this so many times.

I can not count the number of times I have asked Israel to help me find my pencil while working on a building project only to look for 15 minutes, grab a new pencil and then find the old one in my pocket when I go to put the new one in my pocket.

Or loss the tv remote and find it again in my pocket. I have asked my mother if she has saw things I have lost and her first question is usually, “Did you check your pokets?” That question is so insulting because it assumes I am too stupid to check my own pockets before looking all around for my keys, remote, or pencils.

What is even more insulting is when you say sarcastically, “Yes I’ve checked my pokets!” Then turn them inside out toi prove it, only to find the thing you are looking for.

All I am saying is, sometimes the things we are looking for isn’t as far away as we thought. This is also true when it comes to spiritual matters as well.

Think about it when we were lost and needed saved, Jesus was only a prayer away. When we are sad, the comforter is right there, when we need peace of mind, God provides a peace that surpasses all understanding. Are you weak, heavy laiden, come to Jesus and He will give you rest.

Most of what we seek in life is only a prayer away, for God throgh whom every good and perfect gift comes is always with us.

So when we feel as if we have lost our peace, hope, faith, love, joy let us remember it is not as far away as we might think for God is the supplyer and He is always with us.

The sermon this morning has taken a drastic turn from what I was originally planning. My original plan was to talk to you about dreams. I was going to encourage you to be a dreamer and to persue those dreams and perhaps another week I still will, but as I was reading and studying I came across something that changed the very direction of the sermon.

See for years I was told that some day right before Jesus returns there would be a great outporing of His Spirit. A Spiritual revival if you will. A time when people would prophesy, see visions and dream dream.

For me this always seemed like it was so far off. I know Jesus will return someday, and those who are dead in Christ will rise forst and those who remain will be called up to meet Him in the sky, but growing up that day always seemed like a distant future.

Yet somehow not so didstant. As I grow older and watch as the world turns darker and darker. As sin continues to take its toll on creation and moral depravity grows worse and worse, I became convinced that there was a good chance that Jesus return would happen within my life time. In fact I am more convinced now than ever that Christ could return at any minute, but also He may terry for a while yet.

I guess what I am saying is the closer it seems we get to the second comming the more I wondered when are we going to see this great outpouring of the Spirit.

Which leads me to todays question… Now it is a bold question, one that you may feel is unaswerable, but I assure you the answer like, most of the things we loss in life is not that far away.

The question is...

When will The Holy Spirit pour out upon all people?

To answer this question I want to look at the day of Pentecost, found in Acts 2:14-41. So here is what you need to know. Jesus has asscended into the heavens but not before telling His disciples to wait in the city until they recieved the gift promised by the Father. So they did and while they were waiting in the upper room. They were then filled with the Holy Spirit and as God gave them the ability they began speaking in a variety of different laguages which amazed those bystanders who assumed they must be drunk.

Now I don’t know about you but I have known some drunks and not once did being drunk give them the ability to speak in spanish of or french, or Maliseet. Shoot they could bearly speak in english.

Anyway back to the passage, after being accused of being drunk Peter steps up and preaches the first message that lances the church.

Acts 2:14–41 NLT

Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy. And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below— blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. King David said this about him: ‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’ “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave. “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.” ’ “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.” Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.

When will The Holy Spirit pour out upon all people?

He already has been!

Me: I drink a lot of water.... Sometimes I will ask my wife for water, and I will wait and wait. Eventually she comes and I ask, where is my water, and with confidence she will say, right beside you, I got is for you when you asked.

Sad isn’t it that I had the water the whole time, meanwhile I was “dying of thirst” waiting for what I already recieved.

We: That is how we are when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We read about what the Spirit can do and we long to have our thirst for the Spirit quenched. So we ask God and we wait and wait and wait. Meanwhile We have had access to the Holy Spirit from the day we turned to Jesus.

God: I want you to notice what Peter said about the prophecy of Joel. He didn’t say we are still waiting for this or someday it will happen. No Peter said this prophesy has now been fulfilled. In other words The Holy Spirit has been poured out upon all people. Our Sons and daughters can prophesy and young men are having dreams and old men visions.

This Prophesy of Joel is no longer something we have to wait for it is a reality we need to start living in.

Also notice when Peter said those who believe would recieve the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t someday in the futur it was as soon as the believed and were saved and baptised in the Name of Jesus.

You: Are you waiting for some special outpouring of the Spirit. Good news If you believe in Jesus Christ and are saved He has already poured out His Spirit on you. Which means the Fruit of the Spirit should be evident in your life, and you have access to the gifts of the Spirit given to each according to their faith.

We: Does that mean we all have the same gifts? That is not what scripture says. It says some have the gift of teaching, others prophesy… and so on.

But here is the Bottom line. When can we start opperating in the Spirit. Now, we don’t have to wait. The water has been beside us the whole time, so to speak.

Next Step: Don’t be afraid of the Holy Spirit We believe in Father Son and Holy Spirit through Whom we will see amazing things.