CHANGING THE CLIMATE
Possessing the Promise
I believe that the greatest challenge facing the 21st Century Christian is the amount of knowledge that is so readily available. And because of that knowledge, we can very easily get drawn in to a ‘Seven Steps to………’ mentality. That all we need to do is to follow clearly defined steps and all of our problems will be solved.
If it had been left to the religious leaders of Jesus’ time, the church would never have been born! Jesus told them . . .
(MAT 22:29 NIV) Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
The early church was born in a demonstration of the power of God, not through great public speakers or theological debate. Paul wrote:
(1 COR 2:4-5 NASB) And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
He also recognised that. . . the kingdom of God is not in word but in power (1 COR 4:20)
Jesus left us with a great mission of reaching the world and this task will not be accomplished by words alone. As in the early church, there also must be a demonstration of the power of God.
Many people know the Word of God but many have never experienced the power of God. In fact, in many churches throughout the world today, people will preach the scriptures with enticing words attempting to turn people to God, but there will be limited demonstration of the Holy Spirit and power.
In some churches the miraculous has been replaced with human reasoning. Power has been replaced by theological debate. And when reason and debate take the place of the miraculous, do you know what we end up with? Religion! But people do not want mere religion; I for one want to experience reality; the reality of the fullness of God’s Word and His power.
For us to be effective as a people, we must experience the same flow of power, as did the early church.
(MARK 16:20 NIV) Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
We plan our ministry for God and ask Him to bless it. But the Biblical method of effective ministry is the Lord working with us, confirming His Word with miraculous signs.
The world is not interested in what you have done for God. The world is attracted to Jesus when they see the visible results of the power of God which has changed your life. The world will be attracted by the demonstration of spiritual power as the Lord works with you to confirm His Word with miraculous signs.
There are many types of power in the world today: Political, Intellectual, Physical, Financial, Military and probably many others too.
But the call from Jesus is not to exercise worldly power, but rather SPIRITUAL POWER. It is not a power that asks, "How can I be master?" but rather it asks, "How can I serve?"
THE DIFFERENCE IN STRUCTURE
(MAT 20:25-28 NIV) "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Spiritual power is given for the purpose of serving a suffering, lost, and dying world. It is not given by majority vote, or by buying it. It is not given by having a title. Nor is it based on education or ability.
The source of spiritual power is the true and living God and if you are willing to serve God, that power is available to you.
THE DEMONSTRATION OF POWER
When Jesus began His public ministry, it was a ministry of miracles. His ministry did not succeed because of its great organisation. He started with twelve disciples and ended with eleven. It did not succeed because of popularity. In the end, everyone turned against Him including His own followers. His ministry touched the multitudes because of the demonstration of power:
(LUKE 4:32) They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had power.
(LUKE 4:36) All the people were amazed and said to each other, "What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!"
(ACTS 10:38) God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him.
The early church was birthed in a demonstration of power. It says in ACTS 17:6 They turned the world upside down...
The early church affected entire cities and nations, but they did not do it by just preaching alone. People listened and lives were changed because they witnessed the demonstration of God’s power:
(ACTS 8:6-8 NIV) When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city.
When Peter came to Lydda, he found a man named Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years. . .
(ACTS 9:34-35 NKJV) And Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed." Then he arose immediately. So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
In Joppa, Peter raised a woman named Dorcas from the dead. When this miracle took place. . .
(ACTS 9:42 NIV) This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.
Each miraculous demonstration of God’s power focused attention on the Lord Jesus Christ. Each power encounter resulted in multiplication of the church.
The early church did not have enough influence to keep Peter out of prison, but they had enough power to pray him out.
More preaching is not what will reach the world. The early church prayed for days, preached a few minutes, and 3,000 souls were saved (Acts l-2). Today we pray ten minutes, preach for 40 and hope to see one saved!
Money is important for ministry but it does not mean the world is going to be reached with the Gospel message. Finances are important but they are not the most necessary essential.
When Peter and John passed by the temple gate at Jerusalem, a lame beggar asked for a few coins. Peter and John had no money to give. But they did give what they had:
(ACTS 3:6-8 NASB) But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene-- walk!" And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. And with a leap, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
What they had was power and authority in the Name of Jesus. They had no advertising budget to reach the city of Jerusalem. They had no printed tracts or Bibles, no TV network. But they had power. And through the demonstration of God’s power, the entire city was impacted for Jesus (Acts 3-4).
The early Church knew that the Gospel of the Kingdom was not only of word but of power:
(1 COR 4:20 NKJV) For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.
We are not called to sit on the sidelines and watch history unfold – we are called to be history makers and history changers.
So where does that leave us?
POSSESSING THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We have been promised spiritual power. But there is a process to follow.
1. YOU MUST CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THE PROMISE:
You have the power to accept the promise of God, to reject it, or ignore it. Many people have rejected the promise of spiritual power. They believe it was only for the early Church. Others have ignored it. They read the promises in the Bible, but do not act upon them. These people do not have the demonstration of God’s power in their lives because they have exercised their own power of choice and failed to claim the promise.
Whenever there is a promise in God’s Word that is not fulfilled in your life it does not mean it is not true or not for you. Do not interpret the Bible on the basis of your own experience. Just because you have not experienced a promise of God does not mean it is not a true and valid promise. The promise of power is a gift from God. But you must choose to accept that gift.
2. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES:
To possess any Biblical promise, you must understand the principles upon which it is based. Promises of God are always based on certain principles which always involve a response from man.
For example, many promises of God are based on the "if/then" principle. God says "If you will do this certain thing, then you will receive the promise." (See Deuteronomy 28 for an example of this principle).
To experience the promise of spiritual power, you must understand the Biblical principles of power. In the natural world, it is similar to reading the instructions that come with a product to learn how to operate it properly.
These principles are often not taught --- that just leads to religion --- but rather they are imparted BY THE HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF!. He wants us to be powerFULL and powerFILLED Christians.
(MAT 16:13-19) Who do you say I am? And the result……… power in action!
Hence the reason to read and study the Word of God – so that you can learn to live like the Word tells you to!
3. YOU MUST APPLY THE PRINCIPLES:
Someone can give you a gift. You can choose to accept it. It will come with instructions. You can read the instructions and understand them. But unless you use the instructions to operate the gift, the product is still useless to you.
Mere understanding of the Biblical power principles is not enough. You must apply these principles to your own life and ministry.
Eg, If the Word says, you are a child of God – YOU ARE! Live life like a child of God! If the Word says, He will always look after you, BELIEVE IT! If the Word says, go the extra mile – GET READY FOR LONG WALKS!
BEYOND BLESSING TO POWER
Many Christians do not experience power because they never get beyond the point of spiritual blessing. The Holy Spirit begins to move upon them and they feel great joy so they sing, shout, dance, or cry. They are blessed by God and respond emotionally.
There is nothing wrong with this. The Bible is filled with such spiritual experiences. BUT GOD WANTS TO MOVE HIS PEOPLE BEYOND THE POINT OF BLESSING INTO THE REALM OF SPIRITUAL POWER, BEYOND EMOTION TO DEMONSTRATION.
In the Old Testament the nation of Israel travelled for many months from Egypt through the desert to the land God promised them. When they reached the edge of this Promised Land, Moses sent in spies to check out the land. Ten of the spies brought back a negative report. They said there were giants in the land and there was no way Israel could go in to possess it. Only two spies urged the people to enter the land and possess what God had promised.
Israel chose to listen to the negative report. Because of this, although it was only an eleven day journey from where they were camped, to the Promised Land, it took Israel forty years to make the journey (Deuteronomy 1:2).
God brought Israel to the point of blessing. They were at the edge of the Promised Land. God’s power was available to conquer the enemy. But Israel refused to move forward in His power. There was nothing wrong with the promise. The problem was Israel’s refusal to possess it.
You must not stop when you get to a point of blessing in your life. You must break through into the spiritual realm of power. If you do not do so, you will continue to wander in a spiritual wilderness of dry, powerless existence.
If God has shown you an area in your life that needs correcting and you haven’t responded to God’s promptings and begun to do something WITH HIM about it, then how can God take you further in Him? How can He use you in the most effective way to bring about His plans and purposes?
As a fellowship, we have been so close so many times, and yet something has always held us back. It is not apathy, it is not complacency……… it is fear – the fear of failure. We are like a child that refuses to learn how to walk because they have fallen down too many times.
We must move beyond the point of blessing into the realm of power. We must become demonstrators instead of a spectators; a doers instead of only hearers. When we do that, then we will experience the true flow of God’s power. Then we will experience an anointing which we have never before known. We will experience life instead of religion. We will become climate changers! Influencers of the environment we live in.
ORDINARY PEOPLE
And who is God doing to use to bring His plans into existence? Ordinary people – you and I.
You may think you cannot experience this power because you lack education or because you do not get behind a pulpit or have never been to Bible College.
None of these things need stand in the way of your receiving spiritual power. The Word of God is filled with examples of ordinary men and women who were used of God in mighty ways:
Abraham. . . lied about Sarah being his wife because of fear, yet he was used of God to found the great nation of Israel.
Jacob. . . was a deceiver, liar, and schemer. But when God touched him, he became a "prince with power with God and man."
Moses. . . was not a good speaker and killed an Egyptian in anger, yet God used him to lead an entire nation of over two million people to the Promised Land.
Peter. . . sank while walking on water, always said the wrong thing at the wrong time, and in the end denied he knew Jesus. . . yet this ordinary fisherman stood and gave a powerful witness on the day of Pentecost which resulted in the salvation of 3,000 people.
Gideon. . . a young man hiding in fear to thresh grain was called to deliver an entire nation.
King David. . . committed adultery, took another man’s wife and had him murdered, yet he was the greatest King of Israel and called a man after God’s own heart.
Peter and John. . . both poor fishermen who had no money or education, but the healing power of God flowed through them to stir entire cities.
If people such as these can be entrusted with spiritual power, you can also, despite your human failures! God calls ordinary men and women and makes them extraordinary. He does not see you as you see yourself. He does not see you as others see you. God sees you as you can become when you are endued with spiritual power. God uses ordinary people, so that
(2 COR 4:7b NASB) ………that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.
In the weeks ahead, I plan to look at the Power of the Holy Spirit, and how He works in us and through us. I am convinced that if we want to be influencers of the environment we live in rather than be influenced by it, we have to have this power of God working through us.
ROMANS 12:1-2 says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
God desires us to be TRANSFORMED, not CONFORMED – and that comes as we yield our lives fully to Him.
If you want to do that again today, now is the opportunity – come before the Lord this morning and ask Him to restore in you the passion that has been lost.........
