Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

BREAK THE ICE - I need feedback from you guys so we are going to practice.

Everyone look at me really quick and nod.

Ok good everyone throw out an amen.

Ok now on three let me get a real loud “Walk the dog Bishop!” Ok you guys set the bar pretty high so no pressure.

We’ve been talking about living a life empowered by the Holy Spirit, and Pastor Ken has been discussing the specific gifts of the Spirit with us.

As I was preparing the Holy Spirit took my message in the direction of how we position ourselves to be filled.

Make no mistake about it, if you are born again of the Spirit of God then all of heaven is eagerly awaiting your baptism in the Holy Spirit and your continual filling.

We’ve been talking about living a life empowered by the Holy Spirit, and Pastor Ken has been discussing the specific gifts of the Spirit with us.

As I was preparing the Holy Spirit took my message in the direction of how we position ourselves to be filled.

Make no mistake about it, if you are born again of the Spirit of God then all of heaven is eagerly awaiting your baptism in the Holy Spirit and your continual filling.

I have been filled with the Holy Spirit, and I continue to fill myself, but I know firsthand that it can be discouraging and even frustrating to feel like others are operating in power and you seem to be waiting to be filled on the sidelines.

I believe that the Holy Spirit wants you to leave encouraged that you can be filled today where you sit, tonight as you pray, or tomorrow as you read, but what He wants you to know is that He is available for you.

It took me a long time to be able to re

Smith Wigglesworth could very well be in our modern times the individual that is documented to have experienced the power of Holy Spirit the most in his lifetime.

Smith raised the dead on so many occasions that it is baffling to an extent when you look at things naturally, I mean I had trouble finding two of the same socks this morning.

Smith would walk into a room and pray for someone with a cancerous growth and watch it disappear right then and there.

Smith Wigglesworth said a couple things I find strikingly accurate on the subject:

“Holy Ghost power in a man (or woman) is meant to be an increasing force, an enlargement.

God has never done anything of a diminishing type.

He is always going on.

And I am going on.

Are you going on?

It is necessary, I tell you, to go on.

You must not stop in the plains; there are far greater things for you on the hilltops than in the plains”

“It is a peculiar thing, but it is true, that the Spirit of the Lord upon one either binds people together or makes them tremendously fidgety and restless, that they have to come to some place of decision (about the power and presence)...”

“I have never seen the Holy Ghost change His position...”

Open with Prayer

Asking the Holy Spirit to guide my teaching and lead me to speak His truth to His people, to get myself out of the way and allow Him to use my words and operate through me for His glory.

Pose the Question

[INSERT SMITH STORIES HERE]

I so desire to see the Holy Spirit move in my life in a similar manner that Smith Wigglesworth experienced it in his, and God has been challenging me in my prayer life and in the Word for about the past six months to press in with expectation to see that power manifest in my life.

It is so difficult when thinking naturally to imagine ourselves raising the dead (I am speaking personally here), and especially when we listen to the people in our lives and the world that will try to limit us.

We must remember that we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), and that the Word is clear about the availability of this power.

So if we know that we are supposed to walk in this power, but we haven’t recieved it yet, what can we do?

I believe the Holy Spirit wants me to share four keys to the promise of the Holy Spirit with you tonight.

1.

You Have to Understand, It’s a Promise

“It is a peculiar thing, but it is true, that the Spirit of the Lord upon one either binds people together or makes them tremendously fidgety and restless, that they have to come to some place of decision (about the power and presence)...”

I have never seen the Holy Ghost change His position...

I have never seen the Holy Ghost change His position...

One of the main issues with believers in the body of Christ being able to receive the promise, is that they are not fully convinced it is indeed a promise.

Not only is it a promise, but it is a promise that bears double weight.

Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit in which is going to be our primary scripture, but other places in the Gospels as well.

It is important to understand however that this promise was not unique to the disciples, and this promise was actually a long standing one from the Father.

We are going to read in a moment but first review the context quickly.

At this point Jesus has been crucified and resurrected and has appeared to over 500 people not including the disciples, which we can see from Paul’s writing in .

Lets go there quickly:

5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;

5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;

“5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;”

6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;

Then in we see that that Peter is standing in the midst of 120 people in the upper room:

At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said,

“At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together)...”

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .

So lets just assume that Jesus is speaking to a crowd of 500 here, because if you saw Jesus back from the dead I am pretty sure you might follow him around for a while.

So lets just assume that Jesus is speaking to a crowd of 500 here in , because if you saw Jesus risen from the dead I am going to assume you might follow him around for a while.

So if we just assume that there are 500 people here as Jesus is speaking, this is what He tells them in :

So if we just assume that there are 500 people here as Jesus is speaking, this is what He tells them in :

“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.”

5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit bnot many days from now.”

And in

“And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

And :

And :

“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,

Jesus speaks about what the Father had promised, but in then says that they heard it from Him? How can that be if so many in the audience would have been studying the scriptures for years awaiting the arrival of the Messiah?

The key lies within the the sense of the Greek verb “hear” which is akouō (ah-koo-o) which has more meaning than meets the eye seeing the English translation.

In the Greek, this specific sense means “to hear and understand a message”.

So when you look at the passage in that context, it makes sense.

The Father promised it, but they just now were able to understand because Jesus spoke to them of it.

If nothing else, this should affirm for us that we too can miss important aspects of the promise, and so we should ask for wisdom and understanding when exploring the things of the Spirit.

And we are not asking for the Holy Spirit within us, because if we are born again of the Spirit of God we have that.

What we are looking for is the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit that equips us for the ministry of Jesus Christ.

The reason this distinction is so important is because there is a specific anointing that we are seeking, and it’s the only one that’s available.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to do the same works as Jesus and even greater works than these, but without Jesus we don’t even rate to have the Spirit within us or upon us.

So we have to understand that even when we do greater works, they are still the works of Jesus because it’s His anointing.

This is subsequently a large reason why people don’t receive the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, because they are seeking a power that will help them to further their ministry or their idea of what their mission should be on the earth.

There’s only one ministry, one overarching anointing, and the promise of one Spirit.

So getting back to the promise, lets look back at the Old Testament references of this promise, and Peter quotes this verse to the mockers who accuse them of being filled with new wine in :

:

“28 “It will come about after this

28 “aIt will come about after this

That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;

That I will pour out My Spirit on all cmankind;

And your sons and daughters will prophesy,

Your old men will dream dreams,

Your young men will see visions.

29 “Even on the male and female servants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

And but lets read it in the Amplified:

And I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace or unmerited favor and supplication (or direct communication with God).

The amazing thing about this particular promise, is that it was given through the prophet Joel nearly 6 centuries before Christ was born.

The reason it is so important to understand that this promise is from the Father, and that it predates the disciples, is because it shows the Father’s relentless pursuit of us.

FROM THE MOMENT WE FELL IN THE GARDEN YOUR GOD HAD A PLAN AND ALREADY CHOSE THE CROSS

600 YEARS BEFORE JESUS CAME TO COMPLETE THAT PLAN, THE FATHER WAS ENCOURAGING US TO HOLD ON

WHEN JESUS WALKED OUT OF AN EMPTY TOMB, HE REMINDED US THAT THE PROMISE WAS REAL

TONIGHT THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS YOU TO LEAVE KNOWING THAT THIS PROMISE IS TRUE!