2022 Wk 13: Lesson 5- Cont. to Be Poured Out
Notes
Transcript
UPDATES:
Doors Open 10:00a
The Chosen 6p at 1st Naz
MidWeek Online 630p Dangerous Prayers
I Love Peru T-Shirt Day / Mission Sunday
Big Day — Making Easter BIG!
FriendDay 2nd Sunday
Easter Sunday is April 17
Signs are coming
Spirit-Shaped Life
So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
NOT MY MIGHT, STRENGTH, OR ABILITY but GOD’S
This is our keynote scriptural thought today
2 Corinthians 3:16–18 (NLT)
But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
The veil of unbelief being removed— when the veil is taken off then we find TRUE FREEDOM.
We become more like Him---- Shaped into His Likeness: SPIRIT SHAPED LIFE
The Disciples were the in-crowd, but they didn’t have it together.
always asking Jesus to explain
they didn’t understand
literally confused even double-minded at times
Then when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon ALL flesh these guys change.
Peter preaches like he had been doing it for years
other people understood— by the Spirit.
This power impacts the first believers and 1000’s come to know Christ.
Acts 11:26 (NET)
and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught a significant number of people. Now it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
Christians = “little christs”
We often have called this our “Brand”
like… Nike or Spaulding
But to these new believers it wasn’t a “Brand” it was their “Identity”
We want to look a lot like Jesus
WE CAN’T DO THIS—IT IS “BY HIS SPIRIT”
Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
Question of the day:
How do we live a Spirit-shaped life?
Spirit-Shaped Life: iF YOU WANT A SPIRIT SHAPED LIFE YOU MUST...
1. Let the Holy Spirit REVEAL.
It all begins here
And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
conviction is not condemnation!
Convict means to bring reveal, to expose, to bring to light
Latin: two words “with victory”
God wants to reveal to bring victory—to destroy the work of the enemy in our life.
reveals sin and
show us our path!
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
we need this everyday
This thinking is counter-culture
we can’t live our truth
only His Truth sets us free
There is one way to find freedom
If we can stir-up this
(the story of Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property)
Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Ac 5:1. )
Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
Fearful Respect and Awe of God
if we stir this up we will find an overflowing LIFE
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
turning a person from the snares of death.
The MESSAGE renders “snares of death” this way...
“…so, you won’t go off drinking from poisoned wells.”
This FEAR will save us, protect us, guide us, all the days of our lives.
This scripture becomes our prayer...
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
TALK ABOUT IT
Has the Holy Spirit ever convicted you of something you needed to change?
TURN TO YOUR NEIGHBOR and...Talk about that experience and how it has shaped your life.
OUR PRAYER THEN BECOMES: Holy Spirit SHOW me.
2. Let the Holy Spirit REFINE.
here is a great picture of the refining fire of the Holy Spirit
On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
The Holy Spirit is often connected to the image of fire
What does fire do — it refines.
It takes out the impurities
God doesn’t just want to reveal our sins and weakness, He wants to also refine or purify our lives.
Never restrain or put out the fire of the Holy Spirit.
or as the NLT says, “Do not stifle the Holy Spirit”.
We would say, “Don’t rain on my parade”
“Don’t throw water on my fire.”
We must stay in the PROCESS.
1 Thess 5:23
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
HOLINESS is important to God
He wants to make us Holy— NOT Pious & Religious, Holyier than thou.
SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY — not out of our own efforts, but BY MY SPIRIT says the Lord
We don’t need to be afraid of the process.
we need that fearful respect of God to flow over into our lives where we respect God by respecting ourselves—Spirit, Soul, and Body.
You are the TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!
LEONARD RAVENHILL was an English Christian evangelist and author who focused on the subjects of prayer and revival. (born in 1907)
He is best known for challenging western evangelicalism to compare itself to the early Christian Church as chronicled in the Book of Acts.
He said,
“You know, we live in a day when we are more afraid of holiness than we are of sinfulness.” ~ Leonard Ravenhill
HOLINESS IS NOT A CRUSHING WEIGHT
HOLINESS is a lifting importunity to remove the impurities of our lives.
not just once—but a lifetime of following Jesus.
TALK ABOUT IT
What has the process of sanctification looked like for you?
How are you regularly engaging in that process?
“Dozens of people go to God to be cured of some one particular sin which they are ashamed of (like cowardice) or which is obviously spoiling daily life (like bad temper). Well, He will cure it all right: but He will not stop there.
That may be all you asked; but if once you call Him in, He will give you the full treatment.
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.
But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts dreadfully and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to?
The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” ~ C.S. Lewis
This is what God wants to do in our lives.
Help us not fulfill the desires of sinful flesh...
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Instead he wants to see His Spirit flow out of us...
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Our Prayer: Holy Spirit CHANGE me.
3. Let the Holy Spirit REDEEM.
Redeemed
Paul was all in to keep the law, he was stressed, and became an executioner of Christians… “the worst of sinners.”
God saw something different in Paul
The Lord Yahweh answered him, “Arise and go! I have chosen this man to be my special messenger. He will be brought before kings, before many nations, and before the Jewish people to give them the revelation of who I am.
God sees something different in YOU!
You are a chosen instrument
not by my power, but BY MY SPIRIT.
I am not a christian, a follower of Jesus because of a sermon.
It is because of people who have lived out their faith!
NOW we are living that faith and God is working in and through us!
Our Prayer: Holy Spirit USE me.
2 Corinthians 3:18b (NLT)
And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
Shouldn’t we expect to see CHANGE in our Lives?
Shouldn’t we expect to look more like Christ everyday?
TALK ABOUT IT
How do you think God can use you to build His Kingdom?
What gifts has He given you that you can use to show others His love and glorify Him?
Prayer
Holy Spirit, thank You for being present with me in every moment of my life. Shape my life so I can become more like Jesus. Show me any areas of my life that need to change, and help me respond to Your conviction. Change me, purify me, and help me stay engaged in the process of sanctification throughout my life. Use me to make a difference in the lives of others, for Your glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.