When the Spirit Comes
Ephesians 3:14-21
A guy named Pete once got a job as a switchman with the railroad, and he had many weeks of training. Finally the last day came, and the supervisor took him into the switch booth to test his readiness. The following conversation took place:
Supervisor: “Imagine you were sitting here alone and you learned there was a train coming from the North on that track, and another coming from the South on the same track. What would you do?”
Pete: “I’d throw this switch right here and put one train on the other track.”
Supervisor: “And what if that switch didn’t work?”
Pete: “I’d go down to the track and throw that big switch lever there, putting one train on the other track.”
Supervisor: “And what if that switch lever didn’t work?”
Pete: “Then I’d come back here and call the dispatcher to stop both trains.”
Supervisor: “And what if the phone didn’t work?”
Pete: “Then I’d go to that gas station across the street and use their phone.”
Supervisor: “And what if their phone didn’t work?”
Pete: “Then I’d go get Uncle Joe.”
Supervisor: “Uncle Joe??? What would he do?”
Pete: “Nothing, but he ain’t never seen a train wreck.”
There is something about our humanity that revels in seeing things we don’t get to see everyday. We love to be able to experience big events, whether good or bad, up close and personal. For example, a few weeks before we moved out here, we had a State Police car come through town at 1:00AM with lights on and siren blaring. I immediately got out of bed and ran to the window to see if I could determine what was happening. As I opened the window to look out at what now turned into a half-dozen police cars, I noticed that more and more lights were turning on in houses. Soon, most of the residents on our quiet street were gathered in groups on different porches trying to determine what was going on. They were intrigued because police chases barely happen in small towns.
In the church the same is true. People expect church to be boring and normal. People expect church to be irrelevant and out of touch. People expect church to be slow and solemn. But, when something different and grand such as revival happens in the church, the people will flock to see what is going on. They will have their curiosity piqued by the amazing facts and events that will occur. Just like a train wreck or police chase in a small town, a revival in the church will attract a crowd.
So far, we have talked about the history of revival as well as what we need to do to get ready for revival. We must return to God with all our hearts and remove any barriers we have put up between God and us. We must go to God with truly repentant hears and wipe the slate clean. Then, we must decide as a church whether we truly want revival. In order to know if we want it, we have to know what we are getting into. Today, we are going to explore what happens when the Spirit of God comes upon the church in revival by taking a look at a prayer Paul offers for the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 3:14-21. It is a prayer that they will receive revival.
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Paul is a man who knows something about revival and renewal. After all, he experienced it firsthand during his conversion on the road to Damascus. Now, he is passing on this prayer of blessing to the church at Ephesus so that they will have revival. Let’s take a look at what characteristics he prays for to be shown in their church, but first, let’s ask the Lord to bless our time.
Characteristic #1: Power from God
I recently came across some interesting information about the human heart and how hard working it is that I would like to share with you. The heart can keep on beating automatically even if all other nerves were severed. In a 70 year lifetime, it will beat an average of 75 times a minute, forty million times a year - or two-and-a-half billion times. At each beat, the average adult heart discharges about four ounces of blood. This amounts to three thousand gallons a day or 650,000 gallons a year—enough to fill more than 81 tank cars of 8,000 gallons each. The heart does enough work in one hour to lift a 150-pound man to the top of a three-story building. It exerts enough energy in twelve hours to lift a 65-ton tank car one foot off the ground, or enough power in seventy years to lift the largest battleship afloat completely out of the water. Our little human heart has a lot of power!
When the Spirit comes in a time of revival, one of the things we are promised is power, and when God talks about power, He means it. God is a huge and powerful being. My favorite Scripture that describes the power of God is in Isaiah 40:10-12. It says this:
See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?
We have to stop and think about this passage for a second. God has the power to gather every one of his sheep into his arms. He has the ability to gather all of the water on the earth in the hollow of his hands. He has held all of the dust of the earth in a basket. That is a powerful God, and He wants to pass on that power to us.
Paul tells us three types of power we will have when the Spirit comes. First of all, we will have power in our inner being. In other words, God is waiting to renew and restore our souls to their rightful place of power. Christians were never meant to be weaklings. We were made to be able to speak the word of God boldly. We were made to be able to overcome hard trials and circumstances. We were made to be overcomers. This can only happen when we let God power us from our inner being. We have to turn all that is within us over into his control, and this starts by first returning to God with all our hearts.
The second type of power we receive is His power working through us. Just like the disciples and Jesus himself, we will be able to tap into the power of God and allow it to flow through us to accomplish great things. When His power flows through us, we can heal the sick, heal the brokenhearted, prophecy, and do many other great and mighty things. How do I know this? I know this because Jesus did these things and more, and he promised us the same. John 14:12 are Jesus’ words and it sates, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” When the Spirit comes, it will flow through us with power.
The third type of power is the power of knowledge. We will be able to know and learn things about God when we have the help of the Spirit. We will be able to comprehend how wide and how high and how great God is. We will be able to understand God’s word more plainly. The Spirit will help us and give us understanding.
Characteristic #2: Love of God
A man was reading his mail one day when he came across a letter sent from his ex-fiancé. This is how it read. "Dearest Jimmy, No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you’ll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you! Yours forever, Marie... P.S., And congratulations on willing the state lottery."
As humans, we show love when it is convenient and when it is easy. We are a fickle people who are quick to fall in and out of love, but that is not how God designed love. Paul gives us a great definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 when he tells us that, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, and it does not boast. It is not proud; it is not rude. Love’s not self-seeking or easily angered. It keeps no records of our wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. Love always protects, always trusts and always hopes. Love always preserves. Love never fails.” The most important fact about love is that it never fails. True love will never let us down, and love should be the foundation of our whole existence as Christians.
When the spirit comes, we will know because we will be marked by love. Our passage says it best this morning when it says we will be rooted and established in love. A tree’s roots are important because they anchor the tree to keep it from falling, and they supply the tree with the nutrition it needs from the ground. If we are to stay standing as Christians and we want to be nourished, we must be rooted in love. When we are rooted in love, it will flow naturally through us and will result in the unity of believers. Once we have unity as a church, then, according to our passage, we will have even more power. When the Spirit comes, it will be marked with love – love for God, and love for others.
Characteristic #3: Glory to God
The most important aspect of a revival is this – everything about it should glorify God. When people come in to see what is going on, they will immediately know that God is real and that He is in this place. Revival is more than a show or a production. Revival is more than miraculous happenings. It is the falling of God’s Presence on the church, and there will be no doubt that God is in the midst of it all.
The most prominent way God can receive glory from revival is through the worship times. People will pour their entire hearts and souls into singing, dancing, clapping, and praising God. Some may just sit silently in his presence and enjoy the presence, but others will not be able to remain silent. They will shout with joy their praises to the Lord.
Another way that God can receive glory from revival is through the testimonies of those who have been there. They can tell what the Lord has done in their lives and testify to His goodness. This morning, I thought that we would close the service by having some testimonies of those who have just come back from the revival in Toronto. It will give them a chance to give God the glory, and it will give us a chance to see what we could be having here if revival were to come. At this time, I would ask Ember, Heather, and Kelli to come and share their experiences of what the Lord did for them in revival.
