Part 1 - Living Explosively
The Church Afire • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 10 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 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.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Dynamites are Explosive
Dynamites are Explosive
I loved watching Looney Tunes growing up — While majority liked Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, or Goofy; my favorite characters were Coyote and the Road Runner.
Every episode is this perpetual chase that everyone knows the results to. The Road Runner will get away and Coyote will find a way to hurt himself.
I laughed hysterically whenever the Coyote will blow himself up unintentionally with the dynamite — It’s such an ineffective weapon of choice, isn’t it? He has to set it up, make sure the Road Runner is within range, he has to light it up and wait, it’s the worst — Long before the dynamite blow ups, the Road Runner beep-beeps outta there.
But I know why Coyote used a dynamite.
The damage is undeniable. It’s the most powerful weapon he had.
Dynamis Means Power
Dynamis Means Power
Did you know? The word dynamite comes from the Greek word dynamis and it means power. Which happens to be the exact word we find in out text in reference to the Holy Spirit.
8 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.”
This text is found in a transition phase for Jesus.
40 days prior, He has resurrected from the grave.
For 40 days, He has been walking the streets, breaking bread with disciples, revealing Himself to 500 witnesses, and preparing for another departure.
Before leaving (ascending to Heaven), Jesus leaves with His followers a promise of this power from the Holy Spirit.
It all began with John the Baptist.
8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Then Jesus informed His people twice:
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
What’s important to note here is that Jesus does not simply say, “When I’m gone, the Holy Spirit will come.” Instead, Jesus makes it a point to talk about the power that comes upon people when the Holy Spirit comes.
This suggests, if we’re understanding this correctly, that with the Holy Spirit we can live explosively like that of a dynamite. We can live with power from on high. Our lives will never be the same.
We’ll dive into these examples in coming weeks and months but here’s a snippet:
The power of the Holy Spirit falls upon Peter and it gives him the courage and strength to speak with boldness that brings 5,000 people to Christ.
The power of the Holy Spirit falls upon Stephen and it gives him the audacity to speak against religious leaders of their hypocrisy.
The power of the Holy Spirit falls upon Saul who was persecuting the church, but his life turns 180 degrees and overcomes shipwrecks (numerous times), overcomes mobs, overcomes every persecution.
So imagine a life where you live this way.
It’s a challenge, but I believe it’s possible. We’ll tackle three specific questions:
Who is the Holy Spirit?
What powers comes from the Holy Spirit?
How do I live explosively?
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Who is the Holy Spirit?
This is a Mount Everest of a question. A single sermon, let alone a segment of a sermon can’t possibly answer the vast and profound question such as this — Perhaps, in this series, we will build the pieces to get a better picture of Him.
However, we do know who He is not. With so much information out there, which many are wrong, we can deduct them and get a sense of Him.
First of all, the Holy Spirit is not a Make-A-Wish Foundation.
In the Book of Acts, you’ll see very early on that Holy Spirit appears to be an agent of the supernatural. Meaning, whenever there’s a miracle or a supernatural event, the Holy Spirit is behind it.
Therefore, there’s an elementary belief out there that one can pray, pray really hard, call upon the Holy Spirit, and make specific requests for something “powerful” to happen.
I’ve heard irresponsible pastor’s say things like:
“Instead of loaning you money, I can pray for the Holy Spirit to bring you the money you need.”
“Brother, I prayed last night and the Holy Spirit told me to tell you, you’ll get that promotion!”
“Sister, your sickness will not prevail! Pray and the Holy Spirit will heal you if you have faith!”
Not only that but there’s also this notion of the Holy Spirit being limited to the “spiritual gifts” (e.g. Speaking in Tongues, Prophesying, etc). Therefore, the Holy Spirit is associated with all the “spiritual antics” (e.g. being slained in the Spirit, holy laughter, holy barking).
This is why our fellow reformed brother’s have great difficulty joining hands with us. They not have this limited understanding of the Holy Spirit because of such association.
He is a Promise
He is a Promise
Listen, here’s the first lesson on who the Holy Spirit is — He is a promise.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Before the supernatural, before the spiritual gifts and antics, we’re told that He is a promised Spirit who will come and dwell within us.
Do you understand the magnitude of such promise? One third of the Godhead comes to you, will dwell in you, and will not leave you as an orphan. Because He is a Spirit of Truth, He will help and guide you.
Everyone, listen closely and remember this, Jesus is a promise keeper.
When a person is born again, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in that person’s life (1 Corinthians 6:19). It’s in that very moment, your life comes under the influence of the Holy Spirit. You come under Jesus’ promise.
What Powers Come From the Holy Spirit?
What Powers Come From the Holy Spirit?
Now, the second question is this, “What powers come from the Holy Spirit?” Like I mentioned, it’s easy to think that we’ll suddenly speak in tongues, or hear from God so we can prophesy, or maybe, begin to levitate (joking).
A debate broke out in a college campus where a student argued against a visiting pastor that he needs 100% certain evidence to believe in Jesus — He said, “Like 2+2=4. That’s every scenario. There was never a case when 2+2=5.”
Fair enough, right? Logical, right?
Then the preacher followed up with this question, “Do you need that sort of evidence and certainty to make every decision?”
When the student replied, but with hesitance, said, “Yea, in order for me to believe, yes.”
Then the preacher said, “Then you’ll never get married, you can’t go to sleep tonight if you have a roommate because there’s no 2+2=4 kind of certainty that that roommate won’t harm you while you lie in your bed asleep. You can’t drive or get in a moving car because there’s no certainty an accident won’t occur.”
At the very base of the power behind the Holy Spirit is not healing sicknesses, is not raising the dead, nor is it any other signs or miracles, but it’s the faith to believe without certainty.
That’s power. That’s powerful. That’s the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
The power of the Holy Spirit is not what it can do through a person, but what it can do within a person.
This is why it doesn’t bother me today that we don’t see miracles in our church. Now, would it be nice if it did? Sure! I’d love it if all the sick members didn’t stay home, but came to church and got healed. But I know that’s not what the power of the Holy Spirit is about.
How Do I Live Explosively?
How Do I Live Explosively?
Our final question is “How do I live explosively?” — This is a nod to the definition of dynamis in the beginning — If the Holy Spirit dwells within us, then our lives ought to represent the power that is promised.
In order for us to live explosively, there are three simple ways:
Take risks
It was John Wimber who famously said, “Faith is spelled R.I.S.K.”
We have to take faith-based risks in our lives — These are “leap of faith” moments.
We will soon read stories of Peter, Paul, Silas, and many more who lived explosively because they took faith-based risks.
And what’s absolutely amazing is that we have members in this room today who are taking faith-based risks. My hope is that they’ll share their testimonies in coming weeks!
Stop making excuses
We have a member who told me earlier this year, she said, “This is the year of ‘Yes’” — I love that.
We can’t live explosively if we’re coming up with every reason under the sun to say “No”.
Be available
In Acts 2 we will read about how the Spirit fell on the people who were in the upper room — Approximately 120. They were the risk takers, they were the “Yes’ people, there was nothing special about them except that they were available.
They didn’t make any excuses, but they came together to pray. This set them apart; their availability.
I wonder if we started Wednesday Night Prayer, would anyone show up?
Closing
Closing
We want to hold close what we heard today because this will be thread that runs all the way across the 28 chapters of Acts.
We’re going to hear stories of the Holy Spirit’s power working in the lives of men and women. We’re going to see radically changed and transformed lives.
It is my hope that we experience the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s be opened to taking faith-based risks, stop making excuses, and be available for Him.
Benediction
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.