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- The power of the Holy Spirit, has a 2 fold purpose:
1. It’s for the purity of the Church.
2. And for the paralysis of the world.
1. God gives us a Picture of Human Need.
The 1st symbol was the gate called “Beautiful”.
The 2nd symbol was the beggar himself.
2. The Search for a Crutch.
All of the crutches in our lives will not fill the needs that only God can fill in our lives.
The Holy Spirit draws us to “chapter 3” living by means of heightened sensitivity to needs.
3. The Discovery of the Cure.
Peter’s response to the man reaffirmed the nature of our mission as the church.
The message of the church is not a “get by” message. It is a “get up” message.
The gospel is not coping. The gospel is conversion.
We don’t need a crutch. We do need a cross.
· You cannot separate your Character from Spirit-fullness.
· You cannot separate your Character from your Witness.
· Everything God has placed in our hands, was given for the good of others, not just ourselves.
· Jesus calls us to embrace a renewed understanding of possessions.
· “God owns all things”.
· “We are called to manage his assets as the Spirit directs”.
· God blesses us, and he calls us to generosity and to giving.
· Proportionate Giving is God’s Standard.
· He is generous, and you too will become generous,
and derive far greater joy from giving,
than from hording, protecting, and worrying.
- The Great Commission requires a Double Witness.
1. One from the church, that’s you and me, we are the church.
2. One from the Spirit in the church.
- The Holy Spirit affirms God’s presence in us so that our witness has direction and confidence.
- The Holy Spirit purifies us so that our witness is credible.
- The Holy Spirit enables us to Properly Proclaim, God’s Truth.
- Most prophecy is “forth telling” or “telling forth” God’s Word.
Proclaiming God’s Word with discernment and boldness.
- When we are witnessing, people need to hear the Gospel, not the fruit of the Gospel in our lives.
The Holy Spirit purifies our hearts:
1. By Birthing in our Hearts Passion and Enthusiasm.
Fire speaks of God Birthed, passion and enthusiasm.
The Spirit fires us up to put off Self Absorbed living.
2. By Removing the Chaff in our Hearts.
The chaff stands for the spiritual and emotional “junk” that needs to be removed so that only the good things remain.
God loves us as we are, but he loves us too much to allow us to stay that way.
Being filled with the Spirit will mean as the Spirit points out the chaff we listen, cooperate, confess, repent, and obey God.
Ultimately increasing holiness testifies to Spirit filled living.
Character is more important than the Charismatic.
Who you Are is more important than any miracle, gift, or function you are able to Do.
3. By Welding us to Other Believers.
Jesus prayed that we would be One, as He and the Father and the Spirit are One.
Oneness is essential to Witness.
- The book of Acts chronicles the story of a Spirit-guided community of faith, engaged in a Spirit-guided and directed, fulfillment of the Great Commission.
· In Acts 2 we see the coming of the Holy Spirit.
· The response of the crowd reminds us that miracles can get people’s attention, but it takes the proclamation of the gospel, to get them into the kingdom.
· These men were speaking in “other tongues”, in a wide array of human languages, not heavenly language.
· It was confirming God’s missionary intent for his church.
· The Spirit is given so that the world might know, that Jesus is Lord, through our effective communication of the Gospel.
· You can’t have God in your life without having the Holy Spirit in your life.
· There is no such thing as the born again believer in Jesus Christ who does not have the Holy Spirit.
· Being filled with the Spirit does not mean you get more Holy Spirit.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit simply means the Holy Spirit gets more of you in obedience.
· The gifts of God are given for this reason, that the peoples of the Earth may know that the Lord is God.
· We are all called to be missionaries.
Always have been.
We are all called to be witnesses for the Gospel of Christ.
A sense of need is a gift.
Today we will consider a third essential truth:
Great blessing is often found on the other side of a God Created Sense of Need.
1. A Sense of Need is often God’s Invitation, to Deeper Community.
The church is a Community of Believers.
We Need one Another.
2. A Sense of Need is always God’s Invitation, to a Sense of Freedom.
We don’t set aside, the old stuff too easily, do we.
God creates a sense of need in us.
It’s good to be holy dissatisfied.
3. Mature faith, Engages Holy Dissatisfaction, with Holy Anticipation.
We ought to engage holy dissatisfaction, with holy anticipation.
Great blessing is often found on the Other side of God Ordered Waiting.
Acts reminds us than sometimes our first work is waiting.
1. God’s calls to Wait are Preludes to Promises.
Jesus called them to wait upon a promise.
When God makes a promise, fulfilment is never an issue, just timing.
2. God’s calls to Wait are Essential.
Acts 1, says to spirit-less disciples, wait and I will bless.
3. The time for Fulfillment often depends more on God than on Us.
The time for the fulfillment did not depend upon them and their efforts, but rather upon God and upon his wisdom.
4. When God says “wait” our Initial Explanations will likely be Incorrect.
Waiting often involves the removal of something we have come to depend upon, so that something better might come.