Empowered Part 11

Empowered  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  42:13
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Introduction

Acts 8:
Acts 8:9–25 ESV
But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
We've talked a lot about how the early church was filled with the spirit. What does that mean?
Illustration: my experience — this caused me to have a ton of questions … as you might
Illustration: my experience
I want to ask and answer a few questions today:
What does it mean to be filled with the spirit?
What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?
Do we need to have a second filling of the Holy Spirit?
Let’s look at this story — there’s a lot here to teach us.

15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Have You Believed the Message

One amazing part about this passage is that Samarians begin to response and believe the good news of Jesus—a Jewish, Jerusalem associated Messiah.
Do you believe? If not, we invite to to explore, to listen, to learn.

Have You Been Baptized by the Holy Spirit?

Baptism in the Spirit

Baptism in the Spirit

Many Say this is something that believers should experience after they become Christians
They would refer to a passage like this … “see, here is a ‘second’ baptism of the Spirit after people believed.
In Acts we see 4 “comings” of Spirit” 1) Pentacost—chap. 2 2) Samaritans (chap. 8)) 3) Cornelius (Ch. 10) 4) Small group of John’s disciples (19)
However, these other “baptisms of the Spirit” were not second experiences of grace for believers but rather the confirmation of the expansion of the church to Samaritans and then the Gentiles—the world.
Baptism of the Spirit, then, is the initial inclusion of born again people into the church.
We see this in 1 Cor. 12:12-13
1 Corinthians 12:12–13 ESV
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
Is there a difference between the phrases "baptism", "coming", "outpouring", and "filling"?
1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
Baptism is Rebirth into the Church—it is universal to everyone who believes and by faith receives God’s Spirit.
So how do you know? You can say,
Yes, I have seen the Spirit of obedience at work in my life subduing sin and inclining me to acts of love.
Did you receive the Spirit when you believed?"
You can say,
Yes, I have seen the Spirit of praise in my life filling my heart and mouth with worship to Jesus and God the Father.
• Yes, I have seen the Spirit of obedience at work in my life subduing sin and inclining me to acts of love.
Yes, I have seen the Spirit of courage at work in my life overcoming fear and giving me a will to risk things for the cause of Christ.
• Yes, I have seen the Spirit of praise in my life filling my heart and mouth with worship to Jesus and God the Father.
• Yes, I have seen the Spirit of courage at work in my life overcoming fear and giving me a will to risk things for the cause of Christ.
And yes, even though I know that speaking in tongues and the gift of prophecy are no sure sign of God's grace, yet together with other evidences they too are a precious evidence that the power of God is on me.
• And yes, even though I know that speaking in tongues and the gift of prophecy are no sure sign of God's grace, yet together with other evidences they too are a precious evidence that the power of God is on me.

Are you Being Filled by the Spirit

Being Filled with the Spirit is a regular, ongoing thing in the life of a believer.
Being Filled with the Spirit is
Ephesians 5:18 ESV
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
Application

Application

Being filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by the Spirit. And in turn to receive his power.
So the Spirit gives us the power we need for our lives and for ministry.
Illustration: Ashton mowing the lawn without the self-propelled motor.
One reason we might not be filled with the Spirit is because we are seeking the wrong thing.
When Simon the sorcerer offer Simon Peter money to get the gift of the Holy Spirit, his conception of the Holy Spirit was not different from that of many Christians today. They think of the Holy Spirit as a power, and they reflect that if you want to have power in you life, the thing to do is to get more of the Holy Spirit. They are not thinking of buying the Holy Spirit, of course. But they are thinking of ways to get more of this power. If we have it, then we can use it to integrate out lives, overcome our problems, live victoriously, or whatever.
The Holy Spirit is not an "it." They Holy Spirit is a Person. He is God. When we get that clearly in mind, then we can see that the object of our relationship to the Holy Spirit is not that we might have more of him so that we can use him, but rather that he might have more of us and use us. Simon did not understand this, and neither do many believers today.
Are we seeking what God can give us? Or are we seeking genuine relationship and submission to hiM
Jesus came to earth and died not just to give us good things, power, etc. He came that we might know him. That we might become God’s Sons.

Application

So when we come to this story we are faced with several challenges.
Have you been baptized by the Holy Spirit? Are you born again?
Are you being filled with the Spirit? Are you "under the influence" of the Spirit?
Are you/we seeking the Spirit for the wrong reasons? Are we seeking power for our lives? For the church? And not simply seeking fellowship with God?
You can say,
• Yes, I have seen the Spirit of obedience at work in my life subduing sin and inclining me to acts of love.
• Yes, I have seen the Spirit of praise in my life filling my heart and mouth with worship to Jesus and God the Father.
• Yes, I have seen the Spirit of courage at work in my life overcoming fear and giving me a will to risk things for the cause of Christ.
• And yes, even though I know that speaking in tongues and the gift of prophecy are no sure sign of God's grace, yet together with other evidences they too are a precious evidence that the power of God is on me.
Have you Believed the Message?
Have you Been Baptized with the Spirit?
Are you Being Filled with the Spirit?
Or are you seeking something else? — it is possible for Spirit Baptized, believing Christians to seek the wrong things and therefore not be filled with the Spirit.
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