Sermon Tone Analysis

“Church on the Move”

“Church on Fire Part 4”

The past 4 weeks have carried the theme of “Church on Fire.”

Coming into this, I was starting a sermon series I titled, “Church on the Move.”

BUT, the reality is before the church moves, the church has to be endued with power from God!

So, 4 weeks ago I started to preach a sermon called “Church on Fire.”

That single message has taken 4 weeks.

Starting off I preached about the Promise of an organization that would invade the gates of hell and bring the Kingdom of God to earth.

Through the authority (another word for POWER) of Jesus, and the promise of something greater, this organization that Jesus called the Church, would serve many purposes.

Two weeks ago, I preached about the purposes of the Church.

Specifically, each of us serves these general purposes as part of the body.

We exist for fellowship with God, each other, and the world around us.

Through fellowship and relationship, we disciple each other, we evangelize the lost, we act as instruments of healing, deliverance, and many signs, miracles, and wonders….AT LEAST WE ARE SUPPOSED TO…

Fortunately, Jesus didn’t leave us to attend to all of these things on our own.

Those purpose statements I read 2 weeks ago from the Gospels and the book of Acts are all known as the Great CO-Mission.

They are the mission statement of the church, but it was never intended that we would accomplish these on our own.

Honestly, the theme of the Bible is that we cannot do anything on our own.

WE NEED GOD!!!

We need guidance, direction, and His wisdom.

Going back to where we really got started on all of this last year, with the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Unless our righteousness EXCEEDS that of the scribes and pharisees, we cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

The only way our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees is if Jesus is with us.

It’s only His righteousness that is good enough to get us doing what we need to be doing and will take us where we need to go!!!

SO, we have to wait!!!

How long do we wait?

I suppose that’s probably different for everyone.

I waited just over a year for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

I waited INTENTIONALLY for an enduement of Power that we would enable me to fulfill God’s call on ALL disciples.

On the other hand I have heard of people that were almost immediately filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit following conversion.

Even before water baptism, they were baptized with the Holy Spirit and Fire.

In my mind, the key is to wait intentionally.

To spend time…lots of time focusing on Him.

Being purified and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

To set your eyes on the prize of His power with a plan to walk in His purposes of seeing the world changed through the power of His sacrifice.

But there is a time when we have to be willing to stop waiting, and start receiving!!!!

Too often we confuse waiting with doing nothing.

Truly waiting on God involves action.

Remember, I pointed out a few weeks ago that the Holy Spirit is a mover.

If we want the Holy Spirit, we have to be willing to Get in and MOVE WITH HIM.

Until we get fully immersed in the Rivers of God’s love and power, we will not see dead things live.

We’ve seen the Promise and the purpose of the church, we have seen the necessity of waiting, and now I have alluded to the movement that produces life… BUT WHERE IS THE POWER THAT I PREACHED SO PASSIONATELY ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO?

The POWER Comes from the Holy Spirit.

I clarified a few weeks ago that Power is merely energy that is moving.

Power isn’t power unless it is moving.

Without movement, it is just energy…

PINEWOOD DERBY CAR

I want to say that there is Potential Energy in all people.

We are all created in the image of God.

He knit us together in our mother’s womb, and in the same respect, following the theme in Jeremiah 1:5, NOT ONLY DID HE KNIT YOU TOGETHER AND KNOW YOU, HE ESTABLISED PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE!!!

But there is a point of decision.

There is a place where we have to recognize our spiritual poverty, accept His grace and mercy, and WAIT FOR THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER!!!

I have already established from Acts 1:5 that we are ultimately waiting on the Holy Spirit.

I. Who is the Holy Spirit

This begs the question of Who or what is the Holy Spirit.

Now I know that this is going to seem and feel very elementary to many of us here today, but you never know who knows what.

I was visiting with some folks the other day, that couldn’t get it straight who Zacchaeus, Lazarus, and Nicodemus were.

These are some primary characters of the New Testament.

So I recognize that not everyone is where I am.

Not everyone has spent their whole lives in church and even those that have aren’t always as grounded as I think they should be.

Somewhere along the way we have lost the dedication to growing in our faith.

Billy Graham Learned the entire West Minster Catechism at 10 years of age… 107 statements of faith formatted as a question followed by an answer.

Every morning before they left for school Billy’s mom gave them a passage of Scripture to memorize before bedtime.

Somewhere we gave missed it!!!

When I ask, “Who is the Holy Spirit,” I recognize that there are times we have to back up to spiritual milk.

The simple answer to my question… THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD!!!

The Holy Spirit is a Who, not a What!

He is the third member of the Trinity.

We can read about the Holy Spirit from the very beginning in Genesis 1.

It is important to note that while we often reference Him as the Third Person of the Trinity, He isn’t third in position or power.

He is equal in personhood, nature, and power.

Jesus was sent by the Father, The Holy Spirit was sent by the Son, AND We are empowered to go by the Spirit

II.

The Role of The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

He has been active since Creation, but following the ascension His role changed.

Prior to The Day of Pentecost that we read about in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit empowered different people.

In 1 Samuel 10 we read about The Spirit’s role in Saul’s leadership…

In Psalm 51 as David is repenting for His sins against God with Bathsheba and Uriah it would seem that one of David’s chief concerns is losing the fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit.

Peter wrote in his second epistle that it was the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testament that inspired the writers to produce what we now know as the Holy Bible.

III.

The Role of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament

The Holy Spirit has played a role in humanity from the beginning of time, but until The Day of Pentecost it wasn’t a blanket role.

Even in the Gospels we see the Holy Spirit was active in Jesus’ Ministry.

As a matter of fact that is one place we get a hermeneutical directive for ministry.

For approximately 30 years Jesus had been waiting for the time that He would begin His earthly ministry.

Hanging out in Nazareth, Helping Joseph in the carpentry shop, attending synagogue and the annual feasts; for 30 years Jesus seemed to be just another Jew.

Jesus shows us the importance of the Holy Spirit in Ministry, but in His baptism Jesus Gave us a formula (for lack of better words) for how the Christian life plays out…

1. Water Baptism

2. Spirit Baptism

3. Baptizo first used about cucumbers/pickles

Jesus DID NOT need to be water baptized!

Did Jesus NEED to be Spirit Baptized?

Do YOU NEED TO BE BAPTIZED IN WATER?

It isn’t required for salvation, but if you really want to obey Jesus, WHY WOULDN’T YOU?

Do YOU NEED TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE SPIRIT?

It isn’t required for salvation, but if you really want to obey Jesus, WHY WOULDN’T YOU?

One preacher said, “I Don’t Need Spirit Baptism to go to Heaven, I need Spirit Baptism to go to Walmart!!!”

Just to be clear…

In The New Testament and the current age the Role of the Holy Spirit is to Seal, Sanctify and Empower ALL BELIEVERS!

He seals us at Salvation.

He sanctifies us daily.

And He empowers us when Jesus Baptizes us in Him.