The Holy Spirit and the Church
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Acts 1:2 (NASB95)
2 until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.
2 until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.
The book of Act recounts the actions or Acts of the Apostle, but i believe the real star in the book of Acts is the Holy Spirit.
Luke is the writer and its an historical account of the birth of the earlier church.
he says in verse 1
1 The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,
verse 2
2 until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.
By the Holy Spirit.
Jesus did work until he ascended, after that he continued to do work through the believers by the Holy spirit.
Remember jesus’ words,
12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
How will the church do greater works?
The father sent us another Helper.
The Holy Spirit is the agent of God in the earth to carry on (or out) the works of Jesus in the earth.
this is a theme in the book of acts
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”
12 “The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brethren also went with me and we entered the man’s house.
2 While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;
28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
The Holy Spirit birth the church and He will sustain, empower and perfect the Lord’s bride until He (Christ) returns.
Lets look at Acts 1 verse 4 and 5
4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Jesus commands them to Wait!!!
The Father would do what he promised he would do...
Give them the Holy Spirit
I saw something in verse 4 and verse 6
verse 4 - being assembled together
verse 6 - when they were come together.
I want to talk about the miracle and gift of the church coming together
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron’s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever.
When the brothers dwell together in unity, God’s oil begans to flow and the Lord commands the Blessing..
The devil fears a unified church, why?
30 “How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Unless their Rock had sold them, And the Lord had given them up?
8 five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.
We are stronger together!
What caused the earlier church to be so unified ?
Noctice the question they ask jesus when they all where assembled
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
They wanted to know when he was going to Return!
watch how he responds
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
He just jumps up into Heaven
10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.
11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
They ask him when he going to return in power..
he says its not for you to know. the time or season.
he goes to heaven
then two angles say. the same way he ascended he will descend or come back again.
1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.
2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.
4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.
Where did Jesus ascend to heaven?
Luke 24:50 says in Bethany where is that? on the mount of Olives.
the angles say just as he ascend he will descend again.
the disciple remember Zechariah’s word
and they expect to see jesus return just as they saw him depart.
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.
14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Notice The King James said they were with one accord.
what a miracle it was for all of them to get in that little car.
Why were they with one mind in one accord..
because they were living with urgency.
They were caring about how was leading worship or who got to preach or who hurt their feeling.
they where promised power and that he was come and make the wrong things right.
look at
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Don’t forsake our own assembling together - as is the habit to some..
i love that it uses the word, habit, why
because it is so easy to get out of the habit of gathering together..
but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
are you paying attention?
if you really believe Jesus is coming back and we are living in the last and great hour.
it time to come together
watch what happen when the church in acts did this.
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Look what happen when the church put away selfish ambitions and politics.
when they didn't worry about what he said and she said.
when they stopped being a gossip and busybody.
when they came into one accord, praying..men and women, young and only...
suddenly they were filled with they holy spirit
suddenly.. the oil began to flow down aaron beard
suddenly God commands His blessing, even life ever more..
it time to live like we believe…
ill pick up here next week