Intro: over the years there are many ministers who
Intro: as I listen to sermons on television or radio, I am always amazed at the lack of preaching from the book of Acts. As a lifetime Pentecostal I have heard many wonderful sermons from this great book of the events about the early church. Here are some of my favorite verses from this powerful book.
Acts 1:8—and ye shall receive—I am so glad that this verse is in my life. It didn’t say you might receive, or maybe it will happen, but that if you desire the Holy Spirit, you will be filled with this wonderful power.
If you are a ye, than this is your promise.
It is so encouraging to know that God wants to be in my life. The power of the gospel isn’t man going after God, but God going after man.
Acts 2:4—fully come—God never does things half way. This experience with God is in full measure. He overflows everything He fills.
a. You can’t be kind of saved. If you are only kind of saved, you need to take a trip to the cross.
b. You can’t be sort of set free. If you are only sort of set free, than you need to take another dip in the river.
c. You can’t be almost filled. If you are only almost filled, you need to go back upstairs to that upper room and stay awhile.
Acts 2:14- But Peter, standing with the eleven
A true Pentecost will get you to your feet. I like that old song, the Holy Ghost will set your feet a dancing. I am glad that it wasn’t just Peter who stood, but that everyone got up. If you have ever been in a real move of God, everyone gets touched. Without the Holy Spirit a church will fall apart, but with the Holy Spirit the church will stand together.
Acts 2:16—this is that—( enough said)
I am so glad that Peter didn’t give the Holy Spirit outpouring a great theological dissertation. This is the promise, this is the fulfillment of prophecy, this is that. Peter made it as simple as this: Joel foretold Him, we received Him, you perceived Him, now believe Him, nothing more, and nothing less.
Acts 3:6—but such as I have
The great lesson of Pentecost is that it is to be given away. For many the Holy Spirit can become an end instead of a beginning. Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. If we find dryness around us, it is because we have become a sponge instead of a fountain for God.
Acts 4:31-when they had prayed the place was shaken
Pentecostal prayer should be one of passion and fire. A Pentecostal prayer will shake down the walls, it will wake up the church, and it will shake up the devil. A true Pentecostal service shouldn’t be measured by the attendance or the amount of offering, but did it register on the rictor scale.
Acts 5:42—they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Religion tried to kill Pentecost. It beat it, scattered it, and locked it up, but it kept growing. Today it is still the same, you can’t lock Pentecost up, you can’t beat Pentecost out, you can run Pentecost off, and you can’t keep Pentecost down.
Acts 8:39—probably one of my favorite stories in all of scripture. The Spirit of the Lord caught away Phillip—before Scotty ever beamed someone down the Holy Spirit beamed Phillip up. Now I know someone could theologically explain this one away, but the Bible says that the eunuch saw him no more. I wonder what it feels like to travel at the speed of light. I guess we will know in a twinkling of an eye.
Finally, Acts 17:6—these that have turned the world upside down are come hither also—A Pentecostal church that makes no impact isn’t found in the book of Acts. The message that was broadcast across the land, they’re coming to a town near you.
The beauty of a Holy Spirit filled church, it will turn the world upside down, but lives right side up. I thank God that the last chapter of Acts can be written in our lives today.
have been labeled prosperity preachers. Their main message has been that God desires to prosper the lives of those who serve Him. Even though I do not agree with every aspect of some of their teachings, I am in full agreement with the concept of God prospering our lives as we serve Him. Tonight I would like to give some important verses on the thought:
Is God Into Prosperity?
I. Genesis 39:3-and the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. In the case of Joseph in the land of Egypt, we see God using prosperity as a tool for witness. We read here that Joseph’s master realized that the Lord was with him in everything he did, and it prospered in his hand.
· I believe this is the first reason God is into prospering our lives, is that it can be used as a witness for the Lord. As people see you being blessed by God, they become aware of God’s presence in the world.
· Joseph’s prosperity was part of a bigger plan. God didn’t prosper Joseph just for the sake of Joseph, he blessed him so that his family would all be spared. We can never see prosperity as an end in itself, God blesses us to become a blessing.
· Joseph wasn’t seeking prosperity, he was seeking God. So many times we can get the prosperity message backwards. We want to prosper, or be successful, so that we can glorify God: but the truth is, we should seek God’s glory, so that He might make us to prosper.
II. Deuteronomy 29:9—keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all you do. Here we see God tying prosperity to the walk of obedience. God wants this law to be understood, prosperity and obedience will always go together.
· Prosperity is a sign of a submitted life to God. God won’t bless disobedience because that would send out the wrong message. As God told Cain, if you do well, you will be rewarded or your gift will be respected, but if you don’t do well, sin is at the door.
· So many people quote the positive of Deuteronomy 29—but all those blessings are reversed with disobeying God’s law. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
III. 2 Chronicles 26:4-5 as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. Here is Uzziah, a 16 year old King, who God prospered under the spiritual leadership of Zechariah.
· The next law of prosperity is that God rewards relationship. Someone who has no relationship with God cannot expect to prosper. God has always made it, you don’t get the gift, until you get the giver.
· The bible states he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek after him. As you seek after God, like David, have a heart after God, God will promote you, open doors of opportunity for you, advance you in this world.
IV. Psalms 1:1-3-and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
· Here is a principal that everyone should know: if you run with a pack of dogs you are bound to get fleas. God says here, if you want to prosper, be careful who you surround your life with, if you want to be blessed, don’t be drawn in by negative influences in your life.
· Love the Word of God, apply God’s Word to your life and you will prosper. The bible says, (Isaiah 26:3) thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: to be prosperous God says, stay focused, don’t get distracted, keep your mind on God, God’s Word. Isaiah 55:11—God’s word will never return void, it will accomplish what it sets out to do, it will prosper in the thing where it was sent.
· Like a tree that will not be moved—God will make you stable, he will establish your goings. If you keep focused on God, he will make you an immovable and unshakeable person.
V. John 3:2—even as thy soul prospers—God has a holy order in prosperity. You will never prosper in anything else, until you first prosper in your spirit. The natural man is so closely tied to the spiritual man, that for the natural man to be blessed, the spiritual man must be blessed first.
· Natural blessings without spiritual blessings aren’t blessings at all. In the world we live in, there are many people who are blessed with talents, abilities, finance, property, and many other things, but they will never be prosperous in the Biblical sense unless their souls prosper. Because you will never enjoy any natural blessing unless it is preceded by a spiritual blessing.
· Here is the last God principle for tonight on prosperity: if you only seek natural prosperity, you will never be fulfilled in natural prosperity, but if you achieve spiritual prosperity, you will enjoy both spiritual and natural prosperity.
Examples: no matter how blessed your marriage may be in the natural, you will never have a truly blessed marriage without the spiritual. No matter how great of a business success you attain, you will never be fully satisfied in that success unless it is connected to spiritual goals. The natural deterioration of things: the longer you achieve the natural prosperity, the less fulfilling it will become, the more you achieve spiritual prosperity, the more fulfilling it will become.
Close: God is into prosperity. But God has a holy order of prosperity He will not remove.
He blesses us to be a witness of his hand on our lives.
He blesses us out of relationship with us.
He blesses us out of obedience to His word.
He blesses us as we focus on His word for our lives.
He blesses us in natural ways, as we grow in spiritual ways.
If you want to be blessed, apply thoroughly. A little dab won’t do ya.
