STUCK UPSTAIRS WHEN I SHOULD BE DOWNSTAIRS
Acts 2:1-4; 3:1-2,6-11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Did you hear about the man who had emergency surgery on his hand and lost 3 fingers? The man asked the doctor if he could still write.
2. The doctor answered, “Maybe, but don’t count on it.”
B. TEXT
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them....3:1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began....walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him...11 all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. Acts 2:1-4; 3:1-2,6-11
C. THESIS
1. Today is Pentecost Sunday - it’s one of the most important days in history. We’re going to see why, see the reasons we need the Holy Spirit, and think about our need to be refilled.
2. The title of today’s message is “Stuck Upstairs When I Should Be Downstairs.”
I. UPPER ROOM OR THE STREET?
A. OUR NEED: COME DOWN THE STAIRS
1. Everything you want and everything you do not have is outside your comfort zone. The Great Commission is outside your comfort zone.
2. Acts 2 needs Acts 3 – Acts 3 is going outside your comfort zone. Acts 2 is the upstairs. Acts 3 is going down the stairs.
3. Acts 2 is the 120. Acts 3 & 4 are the 3,000 and 5,000 plus many more. Today there are 2 billion believers on the earth. The church came down the stairs from the Upper Room and began to grow and share the Good News from person to person.
B. BETTER THAN PROPS
1. Peter preached with the healed lame man hanging onto him – and 5,000 got saved. If we’d replace the props in our services – the choreographed lights, fog machines, disco music, etc. – with real testimonies and healings, we might see more results.
2. If we’d get a drug addict or 2 saved & delivered; get a blind man healed – we might see the same kind of results! Instead of flashy church stuff, we should go for outreaches in our community!
3. The Upper Room is a filling station not a Residence Hall. The church had to come down.
No one ever went back to the Upper Room to take selfies.
4. They weren’t selling souvenirs there. The Upper Room was not memorialized – not a tourist attraction, they didn’t sell tickets to see the burn marks where the Spirit-fire was. The church is living and living things move!
C. SOME SAY, “I DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT”
1. Many of us think of the Holy Spirit like we do our pituitary gland. You know it's there, you're glad you've got it, and you don't want to lose it, but you're not exactly sure what it does. Well, the Holy Spirit does a lot.
2. The first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Bible – Gen. 1:2 – it says He was “moving on the face of the waters.” From the start, He’s moving; if you’re NOT MOVING, there’s probably a disconnect between you and the Holy Spirit.
II. WHY WE DESPERATELY NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT?
A. THE COMING OF THE SPIRIT CONSTITUTED AN INVASION
1. On July 4, 1776, England's King George III recorded in his diary, "Nothing important happened today." Little did he know that the Revolution had begun in America! On the Day of Pentecost, A.D. 33, I imagine the devil wrote in his diary, "Nothing important happened today." But little did he know, that the Revolution of the Ages had begun!
2. The greatest transfer of power in history took place on the Day of Pentecost: Heaven’s power came down! “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" Acts 1:8. REASONS WE DESPERATELY NEED THE SPIRIT:
B. WITHOUT HIM WE COULD NOT PRAY!
1. The Holy Spirit is the only avenue by which our prayers ascend unto the Father; “We have access by one Spirit unto the Father” Eph. 2:18.
2. If the Holy Spirit were to leave us, we couldn’t have communion with God. The Spirit is our great resource to make our prayers heard of God! Thank God for our access!
C. WE COULDN’T UNDERSTAND TRUTH
1. Next, the Spirit of God is given to “guide us into all truth” (John 16:13). He takes of the things of Christ and make them known to us.
2. It’s the Spirit of God that illumines the Word for us; He opens our minds to understand God’s truth. What would we do without our patient and infallible teacher (Luke 12:12; John 14:26)?
D. WE WOULD HAVE NO COMFORT
He, the Paraclete or Comforter, has come to heal our griefs and comfort our sorrows. Without Him we could have no comfort.
E. WE COULDN’T BE PURIFIED FROM SIN
1. The Holy Spirit is our sanctifier (Rom. 15:16; 2 Thess. 2:13)! He “strives” to keep us from sinning (Gen. 6:3). When sin rages within us, it’s the Holy Spirit who overwhelms it with Christ’s nature.
2. God says, “And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” Ezek. 36:27.
3. I would rather die a thousand times than lose the convicting presence of the Holy Spirit! How else could we ever become holy and acceptable to God?
F. HE’S OUR SOURCE OF DIVINE LIFE
1. Remember, Church, that we were born again by the Spirit (Jn. 3:7-8). He’s the Spirit of Adoption that makes us Sons and Daughters of God. Without the Spirit, we wouldn’t be the children of God!
2. The Holy Spirit is not a luxury, but a necessity; “If any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His!”
G. THE SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE
1. “...by the Spirit of the Lord...You guided Your people...” Isa. 63:14. What other guide is so close as to speak His direction into our very hearts (John 14:17)?
2. Jesus said we’re not “orphaned” because He’s left the Holy Spirit to stay with us, similar to a guardian, to teach us and guide us in our growth as children of God.
3. Jesus told the Woman at the Well, “If you KNEW...you would ASK” for the living waters, John 4:10. John 7:39 says, “By this He meant the Spirit.” Do YOU know the value of God’s living waters? What they can mean to your life? Have you asked?
III. RECHARGEABLE CHRISTIANS
Over & over in the N.T., the early Christians were refilled with the Holy Spirit.
A. INSTANCES OF REFILLINGS
1. PETER BF SANHEDRIN; “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people!’” Acts 4:8.
2. WHOLE GROUP OF BELIEVERS. “The place where they were meeting was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,” Acts 4:31
3. PAUL FACING ELYMAS. “Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas” Acts 13:9.
4. All of these had been filled earlier, but in the moment of their need, were refilled again.
B. WHY DO WE NEED REFILLINGS?
1. Some think that when they get saved, they get all of the Spirit there is. This’s not true. Salvation is the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration. But there’s a 2nd work/ activity of the Holy Spirit; empowering. That’s what happened in Acts 2.
2. And even when we’re filled, we need refillings, just like batteries need to be recharged. Paul told us to be "filled with the Spirit," Eph. 5:18. The Gr. verb indicates not a one-time filling, but a continued filling. Why? Because we leak!
3. Another instance is Luke 24:49, where the Lord Jesus told us to be "clothed" with power. I hope you didn't just ‘cloth yourself’ one time! (You’d have some stinky, ragged clothing.) We need a change of clothing every day.
4. In Eph. 5:18 is the verb for “fill” is plero-o. This same word was used in Matthew 13:48 when the nets were crammed with fish before being pulled up. Strong's concordance cites the reference to ‘cram.’ We need to be ‘crammed full’ of the Holy Spirit!
C. TRUE TEST OF SPIRITUALITY
1. The measure of spirituality is not how much you get, but how much you give. How much of the Spirit and grace flow THROUGH you, not just TO you.
2. People talk about how much they love a particular church because they get blessed there, but it’s more important that we ‘be a blessing’ & become someone else’s miracle! It’s not how much you get, but how much you give!
D. HAVING THE POWER, But Unconscious of it
1. W. P. Nicholson, the Irish evangelist, went for special electrical treatment to a practitioner in Edinburgh. He was asked to sit in a chair, while the doctor sat down and began to read the daily paper.
2. After waiting some time Mr. Nicholson asked that the treatment might begin. "You are being treated now," was the answer. He said he felt nothing at all.
3. Then the physician took a piece of metal with a lightbulb screwed into it, and placed it against his chest. Instantly the lightbulb glowed brightly.
4. The doctor said, "Mr. Nicholson, there’s enough power passing through your body to power a trolley. You don’t feel it because you are insulated."
5. Mr. Nicholson told friends later, "My friends, you may have all the power of almighty God passing through you, and yet be unconscious of it because there’s no special need for its use. But let the need come, and the power will be manifested, for it’s there." [Alliance Week]
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS: Going Deeper
1. A small company in the early days of gold mining in South Africa sank shaft after shaft in different locations, finding only a small amount of gold in each shaft.
2. Ultimately, the prospectors discovered that all they needed to have done was to go deeper in the first shaft for, as they did so, they found gold in abundance.
3. This is true of our spiritual lives also. Like mining, I’ve tried sinking all sorts of different shafts, hoping for greater results in my life. Revival for me occurred when I came back to the place where I started – with the fundamentals – and dug in a little deeper. Go back to His cross – and dig deeper. Go back to the Word. Go back to the Upper Room and be refilled; then go down into the streets!
B. THE CALL
1. If you can't be stirred you're in trouble! Do you think the devil wants you to have this power? (No). Then you must fight for it.
2. Tears and cryings are in order. Samson, your power has departed -- seek it again!
3. Moody was to have a campaign in England. An elderly pastor protested, "Why do we need this 'Mr. Moody'? He's uneducated, inexperienced, etc. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?" A younger, wiser pastor rose and responded, "No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody." Does He have a monopoly of you?
4. All you who want more of God, can we all come to the front? The Day of Pentecost was preceded by 10 days of prayer. Can we come down to the altars and seek the face of God? Seek God for a refilling. PRAYER
[The title and first section were derived from Tim Dilena]
