Does God want to work with you?
How we answer that question likely reflects a lot of how we live our lives.
Our actual response can reflect two unfortunate tendencies:
• One part of us acts as if God works FOR us…. And of course we can get a bit frustrated
that He’s not showing up to work.
• The other part of us… really doubts God wants to work with us… we might hope that
sometime… in some way He might work with us… but it’s something we really don’t sense
on a constant basis. We simply can’t do the stuff Jesus did.
> As we continue our series entitled The Call… we discover calling of God answer that
question with a profound and positive YES.
The call of Jesus comes with an announcement that changed everyone in the story… everyone
who gets involved with Jesus: With prophetic power he declared God is on the move… the true
sovereign behind all creation is good – just and merciful – and is ushering in a new era which is
confronting the powers that lay claim to … as he comes to set people free. He is leading it…
but He says that as His physical presence departs… He’s prepared to empower
us to carry on.
Acts 1:4-8 (GW)
”
Once, while he was meeting with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait
there for what the Father had promised. Jesus said to them, “I’ve told you what the Father
promises: John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit.” So when the apostles came together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you’re
going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus told them, “You don’t need to know about times
or periods that the Father has determined by his own authority. But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit comes to you. Then you will be my witnesses to testify about me in
Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Yes… something big is at hand… but it’s a process. (You’re not on the planning committee…
but on the welcoming committee.) Last week… discovering missional life… that God infuses
our lives with His mission.
> The Call of God not only infuses life with mission… but also with power.
Critical power… as noted by Christ’s ordering them to ‘wait’… wait until they are
empowered… ‘then’ you will be my witnesses… be able to fulfill this great mission.
The impartation of the Holy Spirit is a critical part of God’s restoring plan.
God had spoken through the prophets about this moment…
Joel 2:28-30 (NIV)
“… afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both
men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth…”
Ezekiel 36: 27 (MSG)
”
I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands.”
This helps us hear the significance of how Jesus introduced his ministry on earth. He
quotes from one of the prophets…
Luke 4:18-19 (NIV)
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the
poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the
blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
> In identifying the work of the Holy Spirit… Jesus is declaring that the new
work of God is at hand.
Matthew 12:28 (NIV)
”… if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
We are in nothing less than the age God had planned for… when His Spirit
would be poured out.
Who is the Holy Spirit?
1. The third ‘person’ or personal dimension of one eternal God… equal to
the Father and Son.
The Holy Spirit is a person. This may sound familiar… as we often speak as Jesus did of ‘the
father, Son, and Holy Spirit’… but it can still be missed an age that has fashioned so many
ideas about impersonal spiritual power…. and cosmic forces. The Holy Spirit relates to us
with the personal dimension of God.
Not an impersonal power or force… not something you have… but someone
who interacts with us.
He thinks (Acts 15:28), speaks (John 16:13), leads (Romans 8:14), and grieves
(Ephesians 4:30)
2. Most notably associated with the manifest presence and power of
God…released as the now indwelling and empowering presence.
Eph. 3:14-16
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on
earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with
power through his Spirit in your inner being.
Discover one God manifest in three-persons. It may be beyond us to fully grasp…but I find that
it fulfills what deep down my human soul longs for.
In God I now discover…
• God the Father…as eternal source who establishes who I am … and calls me out.
• God the Son… as the mediator between God and humanity…who meets me in my
human flaws and failures…who bears my shame and consequences… and provides a
way to become a child of God again. As prophet, priest, and king… he provides a new
way of eternal life with God.
• God the Spirit… as the manifest presence of God… who does not leave me powerlessly
alone… He provides an indwelling and empowering relationship.
The Call of God is into a life in which ALL are filled and minister by the
power of the Holy Spirit…. as we learn to live ‘naturally supernatural.’
This is where the whole experience we call ‘belief’… can get dynamic… and a bit
challenging.The reality of a supernatural dynamic can stir a variety of feelings.
It excites us and confuses us.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit… is perceived as the one who shows up who is too noisy… too
rowdy. Certainly there is a part of us that wants to control things that will have to come to
terms with the mysterious and uncontrollable… but we should be careful not to let that process
control us.
Church history documents that the Person of the Holy Spirit has been the source of much
controversy and confusion
A.W. Tozer…Satan has opposed the doctrine of the Spirit-filled life about as bitterly
as any
He has confused it, opposed it, surrounded it with false notions and fear
…so we withdraw a bit… because the sidelines feel safer.
> In reality, the only one really happy is the enemy of our souls.
It’s a vital part of God’s calling… central to what Christ was imparting. …
Naturally we may think how much more dynamic it would be if Jesus were still here in his
incarnate bodily presence. Imagine how his first disciples felt… 3 years… now is gong to leave
them….
> Here are some shocking words…
John 16:5-7 (NIV)
"Now I am going to him who sent me… Because I have said these things, you are filled with
grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the
Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
It’s better… more dynamic…more than the bodily Christ could offer…. He goes to intercede
while he sends forth One who transcends time and space… whose going to accompany them is
ways he never could… working intimately within them… an ongoing presence that can offer
constant.
Not for the super spiritual… those called ‘charismatic’… This empowered… Spirit-filled
life is for everyone.
John 7:37-39
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If ANYONE is
thirsty, let him come to me and drink. WHOEVER believes in me, as the Scripture has said,
streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those
who believed in him were later to receive.
Ephesians 1:13 (TEV)
”
And you also became God’s people when you heard the true message, the Good News that
brought you salvation. You believed in Christ, and God put his stamp of ownership on you
by giving you the Holy Spirit he had promised.”
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to
what lies within us.”
1 Corinthians 12:13
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all
given the one Spirit to drink.
We are all to be filled and MINISTER by the power of the Spirit…
John 14:12 (NLT)
“I tell you the truth, ANYONE who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and
even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.”
Jesus makes this integration of ‘sharing and showing’ the way of his followers… and
assures them of it’s continuation after he completes his work and they carry it forward.
How do we discover and develop the empowered life… and join the flow of
the Spirit’s power?
The empowered ministry of the Holy Spirit…
1. Flows from our DEPENDENCY as finite beings upon the infinite nature of
God.
Jesus Christ on earth was both fully God and fully man.
Philippians 2:7 (NLT)
”He gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as
a human being.”
> So when He did His works, He was ministering as a man empowered by the
Holy Spirit.
He was first Spirit-filled man! He operated in Spiritual gifts.
Remember, we read nothing in the Bible of Jesus doing any miracles, signs and wonders,
etc. until after He was filled with (Baptized, touched) with the Holy Spirit! Why not?
Because Jesus always lived in dependence on the Holy Spirit! A model for us!
Luke 3:21-22
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying,
heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a
voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
That is what the Spirit of God seeks to do in all our lives… to claim as his child… and to
empower us.
Luke 4:1
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,
Luke 4:14
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the
whole countryside.
Pilots know something about the need to operate beyond what we can see. Learning to fly by
sight is great… but limited. One must learn to fly in weather than takes vision away… and this
involves learning to fly by instruments… those devices that help navigate what you can’t see.
> We need an inner connection to the larger reality we don’t naturally see… and that is the
work of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25
If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading
in every part of our lives.
The Holy Spirit can lead us…
• Through a guiding peace as ‘the Spirit bears witness to our spirit”
• Through hearing… generally an inner voice… which speaks into our mind…
but with insights clearly not formed by it.
• Through various forms of images, dreams, visions, and more.
2. Flows through various experiences but the fruit lies in the fulfillment of
God’s PURPOSES… both within us … and through us.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit may involve various types of manifest experience… but
the experience is not the defining work.
Particular manifestations are SECONDARY and SYMBOLIC to the inner work He is
doing.
Begin with an affirming claim on our lives… but any tendency to confine the work of the Holy
Spirit to our personal experience is like an infant refusing to mature. We must welcome God’s
manifest presence without becoming spiritually narcissistic.
3. Flows in the context between the Kingdom having broken in but not yet
fully established…revealing SIGNS in ‘this present age’ of what is to fully
come in ‘the age to come.’
This is a very simple but significant point… and one that has shaped the Vineyard movement’s
approach to spiritual ministry… spiritual warfare.
The prophecies that pointed to the coming of God’s restoration had raised the expectation of a
day when God would send a new king… a messiah … who would immediately re-establish
Israel and usher in God’s rule. But Jesus reveals that such prophecies had been pointing to two
mountain peaks in the distance.. one close in range… the other farther off. From a distance they
may have appeared as one… but they were two separated by a distance… a gap.
So it was that Jesus came to announce the inbreaking… inauguration of the Kingdom… a
kingdom much more ultimate… but that would not be fully established until a point in the
future.
Mark 1:15 (ESV)
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand…."
Jesus brought the inauguration of the Kingdom of God to earth. Then, for the next 3 years, He
demonstrated the Kingdom of God by His works.
So the Kingdom of God is here, and it’s been here for 2000 years!
Matthew 6:9-10 (NLT)
”
Pray like this: Our Father in heaven… May your Kingdom come … May your will be done on
earth, as it is in heaven.”
We might naturally wonder… ‘I thought the Kingdom of God was already here, Jesus. Why
pray for it to come?’ Because it is now at hand brealing in… but not yet in full.
John Wimber – Like a picket fence. Is it all fence? No! It is all space? No!
So, we constantly pray that the age to come will break in to this present, evil age!
We sometimes refer to it as the “already but not yet” nature of God’s Kingdom.
This is central to our understanding about healing, lack of healing, faith, etc. It’s why we don’t
have to fall into the trap of blaming someone when healing doesn’t happen, etc.
We join the merciful patience of heaven. We come to the reality that God is more patient
than we are…. There is a sovereign process of redeeming the world… that transcends our
perspective. What we know is that God has an end… and the power of God is revealed in both
His working… and waiting.
2 Corinthians 5:1,4-5 (NLT)
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and
leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God
himself and not by human hands. …While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, …
we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God
himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
As the Message translation states this last verse…
2 Corinthians 5:5 (MSG)
”The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of
heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.”
It’s the future empowering the present.
4. Flows in a climate of FREEDOM and DISCERNMENT
If we’re to develop our sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading, one of our greatest needs is to
overcome tendencies to be too certain… or too cynical about such leading. There is a
subjective nature to experiencing the leading of the Spirit. There appears no need to
presume certainty… but rather a freedom to sense and share… and discern together.
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21
”Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold
on to the good.”
Not a matter of turning off our minds… but rather of recognizing the simple reality that they
must engage what they can only grasp in part.
This reflects a significant shift from the role of the prophet in the Old Testament… before
Christ…Upon the coming if Christ and sending if the Holy Spirit, the Spirit’s leading...
particularly ‘prophet’ is spoken of in terms of edifying and encouraging others.
Nothing about killing false prophets… probably because in the period of the OT, the prophets
served as God’s definitive Word.
When Christ comes as the Living Word… and the full testimony of Scripture is established… it
serves as that which will govern and guide all that follows. Scripture serves as the
Constitution to which later specific legislation must be understood and line up with.
We do well to receive and share what we sense to be the Spirit’s leading in an open fashion…
allowing others to help bring confirmation.
I’ve mistaken God’s leading along the way… and still can…. But the Spirit is still speaking
so I’m going to keep learning to listen…. The Spirit is at work to lead so I’m going to keep
seeking to be led.
5. Flows EVERYWHERE we go.
So much of the ministry of Jesus was simply sensing what the Spirit was doing in the
everyday movements of life.
So important… because we often sell our sense of God’s adventure to what we deem
busyness… Meetings at work…Errands to run…. Surrounded by kids.
> How can I anticipate hearing God in the midst of all this?
We naturally ask, “Lord, get me through the day” … when the more dynamic question is
“Lord, what’s up today?”
We see in Christ… he did rise early to spend time in prayer… certainly a part of his life and
ministry… but we find he wasn’t so much being lead beyond his daily activity and
apparent distractions…. but in their midst.
What we perceive as distractions… may be God’s DOORS to adventure.
Meeting with boss and co-workers > Creator of the universe entered humanity and died on
their behalf. Today is an opportunity to reflect that in some way.
• Time with spouse and children. > Today I have an opportunity to learn more about how to
love my spouse and children.
• Running errands…. > Down time while driving > reflect…. I’ll be meeting people…if
shopping… its an opportunity for God to teach me some more about values along the way..
> Many of us will discover the Spirit leading if we simply carry an ONGOING
EXPECTATION… as Jesus did when among us.
Conclusion:
God does want to work with us… just as naturally supernatural as Jesus… enjoying a
wedding party… where he turns water into wine.
The most expert of sailors know that no matter how good they are… no matter how
good the boat… they need the wind…
An old seaman and expert sailor was asked about the wind… to which he said… I don’t
everything about the wind… and I certainly don’t control it… but I do know how to work with
my sail… and follow it.
Our desire is to share in this together by nurturing an atmosphere that is both sound
and receptive. Let us keep our rudders in the water and our sails raised high.
Those sails involve the choice of what we want to direct us.
Ephesians 5:18
”Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”
So Jesus says… be immersed in this control. Let reign in your life. Let it fill more of your
life… which often involves DISPERSEMENT… displacing other controlling influences with
the Spirit.
All of this is expressed most beautifully in this prayer of the Ancient Church:
All to stand… read together…
Come, oh Holy Spirit, Come!
Come like Holy Fire and burn within us!
Come like Holy Wind and cleanse us!
Come like Holy Light and lead us!
Come as Holy Truth and teach us!
Come as Holy Love and enfold us!
Come as Holy Power and enable us!
Come as Abundant Life and
Fill, us,
Convert us.
Consecrate us
Until we are wholly thine!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
