May 22, 2005
Morning Worship
Text: Acts 8:26-40
Subject: Change Part 4
Title: Changed in the Spirit
This is the last message in the change series. Most of you are letting out a huge sigh of relief. (Now maybe he’ll stop talking about change)! What is it about change that makes people so resistant to it? I’ve asked my self that question and have reflected on it and have come up with a few thoughts of my own. They are not connected to any scientific study. 1) Change requires work. We have become so comfortable in the way things have always been that to change would mean starting all over again. 2) Change portrays “Yesterday” in a negative light. If we have to change then that means somebody was wrong. We have a wonderful heritage and we will never forget our Pentecostal predecessors. Change doesn’t mean they were wrong. It means that what worked 50 years ago doesn’t work any longer. 3) Change affects the power base of any organization. The ones with the most to lose are the ones most resistant to change. In many churches the pastor is the last one who wants to see change because he has the most to lose. Those who have positions of influence resist because they don’t want to lose their influence. 4) Change contradicts our understanding of success. There are many churches that consider themselves to be successful because they have reached a certain level of membership. In reality a church that reaches those levels without being in a constant state of change will become a church that is declining. 5) Change means moving into areas of the unknown. It is a scary proposition to think about going where you have never been. We all like to have a road map laid out in front of us so we can see what will happen every step of the way.
Now I have spoken to you about the areas of change that must take place in you as individuals and the church as a whole before we can really become changed and then become agents of change. First, you have to change your mind. Be willing to think outside the box. Knowing that you have the mind of Christ should be enough to allow yourselves to be “transformed by the renewing of your minds”. Changing your mind means you are committed or obligated to change. But changing your mind is not enough. There has to be a change of heart. Changing your heart means that you take what you think and now are eager to apply it to your life. As I said last week, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus” without “believing in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead”, nothing happens. You must have a radical change in your thinking and then a radical response to that thinking. I know I need to be a witness. By golly, I’m going to do it!!! Do you see the difference? Now it is time for us to be willing to be changed in the spirit.
I. A CHANGE IN THE SPIRIT MOVES US IN WAYS WE HAVE NEVER MOVED. When the apostles were in the process of ministering to a fledgling church in Jerusalem, they were doing so in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Yet, simply because power is present, it doesn’t mean that problems go away. For the early church a problem arose between two factions of Jewish Christians. The Hellenistic Jews said that their widows were not being properly taken care of in the distribution of food. The situation necessitated change. The church was to choose seven men, full of the Spirit and wisdom, and the apostles would appoint them “over this business.” Philip was one of these men. Notice how, from the very beginning, the church was ready to change. Philip went from being in the background, to visible ministry. He was now thrust to the forefront. Do you think that Philip was waiting for the time when he could make a power move to become somebody in the church? I don’t think so. But when need requires change, someone will be chosen to step up. Philip didn’t seek for the position, but he didn’t refuse it either. Notice what it says about Philip in 6:3. He was one of seven men “with a good reputation”… That means he had a change in his mind and had changed his heart to live for God. He agreed and then went to work. Later we see that the seven were set before the apostles who when they had prayed, laid hands on them. There is an obvious connection to these seven anointed men and the next verse. Verse 7, “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” I doubt that any of the seven ever thought that they would be ministers of the gospel of Christ, but when the anointing comes upon you, you are changed in the Spirit and have the opportunity to move in ways you have never moved. Peter was changed under the anointing and preached the sermon that saw 3000 saved. If Peter was changed like that, how could you be changed under the anointing?
II. A CHANGE IN THE SPIRIT TAKES YOU TO PLACES YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN. After the death of Stephen we know the church was scattered. Christians everywhere were afraid of Saul and what he was willing to do to preserve Judaism. 8:1 says, “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria…” Verse 4, “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” The word translated “Preaching” means to share the good news. Jesus said that the church was to take the gospel into the world. Now doors were being opened to do just that. Don’t you realize that if the Lord has spoken to you in any area of your life, He will also open the door for that thing to come to pass? You can change your mind to believe it, and change your heart to be eager to do it, but you have to have a change in your spirit to be willing to follow where the Spirit leads. Do you see how change is so completely connected in all three areas – mind, heart and spirit? Philip was so changed in the spirit that he “went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.” Was he changed in the Spirit? Yes, enough so that he went and preached to those the Jews hated. The change in his spirit took him somewhere he would never have gone in the natural. It was a change in the spirit that comes from the anointing, the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Look what can happen when you go forth in the spirit of change. “And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.” It takes a change in your spirit to be willing to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
III. A CHANGE IN YOUR SPIRIT WILL LEAD YOU TO PEOPLE YOU HAVE NEVER CONSIDERED. OK, you’ve changed your mind. Now you have a change of heart and are eager to begin to move in the direction the Lord would lead you. You have opened yourself up to the leading of the Holy Spirit. That is greatly enhanced by the baptism in the Spirit. Once the Spirit begins to prompt you to move in certain ways, your eagerness must once again rise up for you to act. What do you think that Philip thought when he was seeing great revival break out in Samaria, people were being saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit, and now an angel of the Lord speaks to him and tells him to leave what he is doing and go down to Gaza Road which was in the wilderness. My response? “ Excuse me. I must not have heard you right. Could you repeat that? I’m experiencing great success here. Why would I want to leave?” See my definition of success? It is different than what the Lord’s definition. The Lord’s definition involves change and willingness to do just that. Notice what happened with Philip. The Lord began to speak to him through an unusual spiritual event – the appearance of an angel. But then he began to speak to him by the Spirit, and he spoke the word of God to the Ethiopian eunuch and he was saved and baptized. It didn’t make much sense for Philip to leave what was taking place in Samaria. But look at the consequences of change. This Ethiopian Eunuch was a high-ranking official in the court of the queen. What great influence he would have for the cause of Christ all because Philip was willing to accept change.
Are you ready for a change in your spirit? Cornford’s Law: Nothing is ever done until everyone is convinced that it ought to be done, and has been convinced for so long that it is now time to do something else. When the Spirit of the Lord brings change the time to change is now. Philip never resisted change. He changed his mind, he changed his heart, and he was changed in his spirit. Nothing could stop him from the work of the Lord.
People are resistant to change. "You," said the doctor to the patient, "are in terrible shape. You’ve got to do something about it. First, tell your wife to cook more nutritious meals. Stop working like a dog. Also, inform your wife you’re going to make a budget, and she has to stick to it. And have her keep the kids off your back so you can relax. Unless there are some changes like that in your life, you’ll probably be dead in a month."
"Doc," the patient said, "this would sound more official coming from you. Could you please call my wife and give her those instructions?"
When the fellow got home, his wife rushed to him. "I talked to your doctor," she wailed. "Poor man, you’ve only got thirty days to live."
Are you ready for change? What do you want the Holy Spirit to do in you? Have you changed your mind, heart and spirit? Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians that “the Lord is Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.” Where there is liberty there is a change from being bound to total freedom. Are you willing to be changed in the spirit enough to allow spiritual freedom to come into your life? Are you ready to be free in the Spirit, not concerned with what anyone else thinks? Are you willing to walk in the Spirit that you may be called children of God? Are you ready to be led by the Spirit? In order to do that you have to be changed in your spirit. In order to do that you have to change the way you think. Then you must be willing to act on where the Lord would lead you by having a change in your heart.
