December 21, 2017
Morning Worship
Text: Acts 4:30
Subject: Revive Us Part 1
Title: Expectation in the Spirit
I trust everyone had a blessed Christmas… Isn’t great to be able to get together with family and celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus? And at the same time it is always good to get back to a normal routine and put the busyness behind us.
Now we prepare to move into the New Year. And I want to prepare you for this New Year by asking you a question…
What kind of expectations do you have for 2018?
Now many of you have made resolutions concerning health, diet, exercise, finances, relationships… all of those things are great and necessary.
But you know that’s not what I am talking about. I’m talking about spiritual expectations.
Where do you expect to be spiritually this time next year and what are you willing to do to get there?
The Great Awakening preacher from the 18th century Jonathan Edwards said this:
Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.
What are your spiritual expectations for this New Year?
Do you want to increase? Do you want to draw closer to the Lord? Do you want to be used by God in ways you never thought possible? If the answer to those questions is a “YES” for you, then be of great courage for the Lord is able to bring that increase into your life and in fact that is His desire for the church.
But it only happens when you will allow Him to move in your life.
In the book of Acts we see the beginnings of the church – the church that Jesus said would beat down the gates of hell… It was the church that was empowered by the Holy Spirit through the Baptism in the Spirit. This was a group of people who denied Christ, who ran away after the crucifixion, and now have returned in the power of the Spirit to become the church. It was this group that stood before the Sanhedrin and were questioned and chastised because of the healing of a man who had been lame from birth and in spite of the opposition against them, when they gathered together with other believers prayed this prayer…
Acts 4:30 (NIV2011)
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
I will appropriate it to my life today…
Can you see that those in the early church desired to live under the anointing of the Spirit? They would never be satisfied with anything less. Let’s break down Acts 4:30 to see what the norm for the church was then and is expected to be now…
1…Stretch out your hand… Whenever we read about the “Hand of God” in the scriptures it nearly always refers to God’s power… I want you to get this; the “church” world today would agree that God is all - powerful. God is able to do all things well. But many miss this – that God does not and will not change the world just because He is able. He has ordained the church to be the Body of Christ to do God’s work here on earth with that same power and authority that He has. We are God’s representatives. That means that as we stand in the gap for the needs of others we stand with the same anointing that Jesus had and still has – the anointing that makes us intercessors on earth – the go-betweens – to see God’s will accomplished. So when the early churched prayed “Lord stretch out Your hand…” they were saying, Lord use us! Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
The early church was not relying on their good works or their knowledge or even the fact that they had been with Jesus. They were calling on the name of the Lord to reveal His power on earth through them. They understood that through the power of the Spirit they could be whatever the Lord called them to be, and only through that anointing. Luke 10:19 (NKJV), 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Many Christians do not realize the authority that has been given them. There is nothing that can stand between you and God’s best for you if you call on the Lord to stretch out His hand…
2… to heal… Does God heal today? Most Christians would agree that He does. Sometimes supernatural healings take place that are outside of the doctors understanding and when those things happen we know it is God. But what if you could believe that it is God’s will to heal all the time? In order to understand that we have to understand that the work of the cross not only appropriated our salvation, but that our healing was included. In the book Christ the Healer by FF Bosworth we read,
The Scriptures declare, in Romans 5:12, that "By one man sin entered the world, and death by sin." Here it is plainly stated that death entered the world by sin. Therefore, it is clear that disease, which is incipient death, entered into the world by sin. Since disease entered by sin, its true remedy must be found in the redemption of Christ. It is the devil who oppresses (Acts 10:38), so when nature fails, what power can remove disease but the power of the Son of God? As soon as disease has advanced beyond the power of nature to restore, it will result in death in every case unless removed by the power of God. All honest physicians will admit this, for they claim only the power to assist nature, not to heal. In this event, anything that would hinder the power of God thus supplementing nature would make recovery impossible. Accordingly, James says, "Confess your faults one to another ... that ye may be healed" meaning that otherwise ye cannot be healed.
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV2011)
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
The word “healed’ in the original Hebrew, rapha' (raw-faw') (or raphah {raw-faw'}) v.
1. (properly) to mend (by stitching), i.e. (figuratively) to cure
This is not referring to spiritual healing but to physical healing…
Psalm 34:19 (NKJV)
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Is sickness an affliction? What does God do about it? How does it happen?
Christ the Healer, before people can have a steadfast faith for the healing of their body, they must be rid of all uncertainty concerning God's will in the matter. Appropriating faith cannot go beyond one's knowledge of the revealed will of God. Before attempting to exercise faith for healing, one needs to know what the Scriptures plainly teach, that it is just as much God's will to heal the body as it is to heal the soul.
3… perform signs and wonders… in the book of Acts in Chapter 8 we read about the ministry of Philip. Now Philip was one of those who were chosen to wait on tables to serve the Greek widows who were believers. There was nothing special about Philip except what we read in Chapter 6 of Acts. Acts 6:3 (NIV2011)
3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them. They were
Spirit filled. Philip was one of them. Now jump to chapter 8. Acts 8:4-8 (NIV2011)
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.
6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.
7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
8 So there was great joy in that city.
What did Philip do? He preached the word and many were saved… but there was something else; When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
Oh can you see that the pattern for evangelism in the church was that the Lord would do miracles through the hands of those who believed and that would get their attention and then the gospel message could be preached.
Is that pattern intended for today? Yes it is.
What would happen if you went to an unbeliever and said, “I see you are suffering. Could I pray for you because I believe the God I serve heals sickness and pain?” When He healed them do you think they might pay attention to the salvation message?
4… through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
There is something we have to understand here. Praying in the name of Jesus is not some magical incantation that makes things happen. When we look at the book of Ephesians we constantly are remind of who we are “in Christ”.
Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV)
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…
11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance…
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise…
John 14:13 (NKJV)
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
There is power in the name of Jesus… to break every chain… but the power comes through our faith as we stand in agreement with God’s word for our lives.
Jesus has given us authority to speak in His name (In His Place) so that whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven.
Do you believe that? This is not what Mike Rickman says… this is bible. This is for you. Are you willing to accept what God has in store for you?
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NKJV)
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Some of you may not quite get it yet. But you want to know more. Some of you may just simply say that’s not for me. I don’t want any part of the extra-curricular activity. I’m just satisfied with being saved and whatever ministry I do I’ll do in my own power.
If that is you or if that is your mindset, I am calling you to repent and to get in agreement with God’s word for your life.
You have the power in the name of Jesus.
You have authority in the name of Jesus.
You have ministry in the name of Jesus…
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Stand with me…
Right now, I want you to begin to lift your voice in agreement with God’s word.
God I want to be changed into your image…
God I want you to work through me in Your power…
God right now I want to receive healing; I want to receive power; I want to see signs and wonders; I want to be able to speak in the power and authority that Your word says I can have – the authority given me through the cross of Jesus and my acceptance of Him and His wonderful Baptism in the Spirit that He promised – the Promise of the Father…
Right now, as we lift our voices in repentance and in thanksgiving for His promises and His power, would you just begin to softly pray in the Spirit – giving God the glory for all that He has done and is doing in your life?
If you have the faith to believe God for healing and you need a touch would you come?
If you have faith to believe for the Baptism in the Spirit or a refilling would you come?
If you have faith to just commit your life to being changed into His image through the word would you come?
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
