Full
Pt. 7 - Power Full
I. Introduction
Are you full? If so, what are you full of? Your "fullness" will determine what overflows to every area of your life. And yet the truth is that if we find ourselves closer to the "e" than the "f" we are in the majority. In a recent study of 1,000 churches and the spiritual growth of their congregation the researchers discovered that only 11% (or in other words 1 out of 10) would say they are compelled by their faith to love God and love others! 89% in the wilderness. Saved? Yes. Full? No! Emptiness reigns in the church community. However, I want to remind you and challenge you that God does intend for us to be full! I am going to continue to read these because they are promises that we must allow to come to life in our spirit - not just for my neighbor but for me.
John 10:10
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that _________ (insert your name) may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance - to the full, till it overflows. (Amplified Version)
Colossians 2:9-10
You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When _________ (insert name) came to him, that fullness comes together for _________ (insert name), too. His power extends over everything.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.
The accurate and mature understanding is knowing that salvation was only part of the picture. He came to save but He also came to enable us to experience fullness in life!
So I want to clearly state for us some of the things that should fill us so that we are able to experience this fullness that Jesus came to give us.
I have declared that we must be thank full, purpose full, grace full, prayer full, and faith full. I want us to continue on this path to fullness. Today will require you to be truth full about your own spiritual life. It may be the most challenging of these messages not because Scripture doesn't back this level of fullness that I will call you to today. Rather we have become so incredibly comfortable with living empty of this level of life that we have grown tolerant of excuses and given ourselves exemptions in this area. Even though we read the New Testament which is full of accounts of fullness we embrace emptiness because we also know that with great power comes great responsibility and we don't want the responsibility. However, how many parents in the room know that just because you act like you are not responsible doesn't mean you aren't held accountable for that responsibility? We need to talk about this because we are accountable for this! It is time to push for and fight for this level of fullness in spite of our own doubts and excuses.
John 14:11-14 (Message)
"Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see - these works. (Interesting Jesus validates who He was by what He did.) The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how the Father will be seen for who He is in the Son. (Wait a minute read that line again. How will the Father be seen?) I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.
Acts 5:14-16 (TLB)
And more and more believers were added to the Lord, (Why?) crowds both of men and women. Sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow would fall across some of them as he went by! And crowds came in from the Jerusalem suburbs, bringing their sick folk and those possessed by demons; and every one of them was healed.
Jesus declares and the disciples prove that if we are living at the level that Christ promised, then we will be power full!
We have become way to tolerant of powerlessness in our life. The real dilemma is found in this question . . .
You can't lead people to an omnipotent God if you are living an impenitent life! Our powerlessness is a misleading and overwhelming testimony about the God of power and our identity.
Contrast that with the description of the disciples in Acts 4:33 - with great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Their power made their argument undeniable. They operated in such power that by Acts 5 people were daily being added to the kingdom as a direct result of the great power they demonstrated.
If no one is being added, then is it also a reflection of our emptiness of power?
Jesus' declaration and the disciples subsequent lifestyle makes us instantly responsible for being power full people! The standard Jesus establishes for us is found in one word . . . Greater! He says we will be (as if it expected) so full of power that what we will do compared to what He did it will cause people to say it is greater.
If we miss this area of fullness but get the rest we come off as (thankful) appreciative, (purposeful) driven, (graceful) kind, (prayerful and faithful) religious and forgettable!
We will be power full when we are duty full.
Jesus declared that He was assigning us the same work He did. What did He do? He healed. He fed. He touched. He raised. He elevated. He intervened? He stood in the gap. This is our duty. This is our job. This is why He saved us. This is what He has commissioned us to do.
Power comes from asking along the lines of who He is (who is He? Peace. Provider. Healer.) and what I am doing (what is He doing?). It is when we know who He is and do what He did that power fills our life!
The disciples illustrate this for us. People would gather the sick and hopeless and drag them out into the streets just in hopes that Peter's shadow would touch them. WHY? Because they were doing what Jesus did!
Does that sound like you? Do the sick folks in your office make a bee line to you? Do the hopeless change their routine just to spend a moment with you? Do the broken limp into your path? Why not? Is there some difference between us and Peter that I'm not aware of?
Let's talk about Peter. Normal. Overlooked. Nominal. Middle class. Hard working. Regular job. Untrained. Uneducated. Normal. Meets Jesus. Touched by Jesus. Saved by Jesus. Worships Jesus. You know who that sounds like to me? Us!
So does anyone want to be in your shadow? Too many of us are so empty of power that we don't cast a shadow. All we do is provide shade!
So how does a group of ordinary guys get so power full?
The disciples were power full because they accessed all of the power that was made available to them.
We must access all power available.
Notice they began to live up to the power full life that Jesus assigned to them after they pursued all the power promised to them. You can see that pursuit in Acts 2. I don't want to read that to you because in a Pentecostal house too many of us are so caught up in arguing about tongues that we become distracted about the real issue which is whether or not you have any power or do you just have more emotion or the means for a good church service?
As a verified, tongue talking, Pentecostal preacher I want to challenge you this morning to push past all of the side tracks and simply begin to pursue all of the power that Jesus has promised. If you can do what Jesus did, then I will have no argument about the steps that lead to it. The proof is in the power! Why? Because too many of us that talk in tongues don't operate in any power! Too many of us that claim to be Pentecostal can't cast any kind of shadow over sickness, oppression, depression, addiction, affliction or any other "tion".
So Pentecostal or not I am simply asking you to join me on a power trip. In light of the weight of the duty that we have been given. In light of the assignment to do greater things. In light of the plight of those around us. In light of the dying church that goes through the motions and conducts business like a self help message is all there is. In light of people exiting church thinking if that is all there is then why bother? In light of those things can I get you to make a commitment with me to dig in and believe that we can do greater things than Jesus and then find out what is required to get that type of power fullness into our lives? Let's intentionally access all of the power that we have been promised! If that means embracing a new experience. If that means asking God for more. If that means recalibrating an experience so it is no longer only about prayer language and becomes about power then so be it. If it means that a gift that has been confined to the four walls of a church is released into our daily life. If it means refilling. If it means laying down excuses and exemptions. If it means spending time in His presence. If it means being uncomfortable. If it means stepping out of ordinary. Then can we together become so tired of empty that we ask God to fill us up so that we can do what Jesus did?
Mark 16:17-18 (Msg)
“These are some of the signs that will accompany believers: They will throw out demons in my name, they will speak in new tongues, they will take snakes in their hands, they will drink poison and not be hurt, they will lay hands on the sick and make them well.”
(Insert name in place of believers and they.)
