Reviving The Power And Fire Of The Holy Ghost For Our Lives - Ephesians 5:2 Series

INTRODUCTION...Today we are going to continue our talk about the HOLY GHOST and how we allow Him to dwell in us.

But before we do I must say this...when we walk into God's House to worship we should leave ALL else behind.

We should be here to commune with God only and if we are here for any other reason we should not be here.

And I must say this also...we should have prepared to be here. How? On our knees praying for guidance.

Why do I say this...we so often forget just how important worship really is...it is the most important thing we do.

Paul said in PHILIPPIANS 3:12-14 this... “12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. BUT ONE THING I DO: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Paul sold out...he focused on only one thing...he focused only on the path that lead to His God and SALVATION!

Believers must be focused on this “ONE THING”...because being “born again” means that we are not in the world anymore...but so many professing believers act in worldly ways even when they come to God's House.

Jesus said we live in the world but we are no longer a part of the world... WHY? BECAUSE... “Our God is a CONSUMING FIRE. If we are truly HIS He consumes ALL PRIDE, ALL LUST, ALL MATERIALISM, ALL SIN.”

This BIBLE is complete...nothing more will ever be added...these 66 books are our MARCHING ORDERS...and yet so many professing believers do not live their lives according to this book's dictates and do not march to them.

A great REVIVALIST said this truth... “The only time you can really say that Christ is all you need, is when Christ is all you have" and never have truer words been spoken.

If the only way you could have the LOVE OF CHRIST...you could have HIS PARDON for your sins was to give up all you have in this world...how many of you would you do it?

Jesus said in MATTHEW 16:24... “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” So as a professing Christian we must first deny all that belongs to SELF! But He warned in MAT. 10:38... “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.”

Today...are we worthy of HIM and are we worthy of the sacrifice He made for you? LET'S PRAY!!!

FIRST...I TRULLY BELIEVE THAT GOD ALWAYS INTENDED HIS CHURCH TO BE LIKE THE CHURCH AT PENTECOST BUT SOMEHOW ALONG THE WAY WE STRAYED FROM HIS SPIRIT FILLED, HOLY GHOST INSPIRED BODY.

We became fat, lazy, forgot how to pray, wealthy in possessions, and so worldly and wrapped up in our own things we just forgot how to deny SELF...and the worse part is it happened to us individually as well as to our churches.

And if Jesus were critiquing churches today as He did in Revelations, He would probably tells us this... “4... I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; REPENT, and do the works you did at first.” (REVELATIONS 2:4-5)

And those “ works you did at first” were evidenced in the Church at Pentecost and they were these 3 things... (1) having the HOLY GHOST dwelling within the BODY OF CHRIST... (2) praying constantly, YES praying constantly... and (3) being consumed with doing the work of God above all else...that is all the PENTECOST CHURCH did!

God gave us the Pentecost Church as a BLUEPRINT of how a church was suppose to act and behave and function … so what happened and how did we get so far away from that BLUEPRINT? And He gave us one thing more... “The last word Jesus spoke to the church (in Revelation) was... 'REPENT!'".

Brother Dan Spencer said last Sunday in the Pulpit that... "If a church is cold, it's because there is either a polar bear in the pulpit or icebergs in the pews."

And yes...there are some Polar Bears in pulpits today...but there are also a lot of icebergs in the pews too.

I fear this quote fits a lot of believers today...“Today's church wants to be raptured … from RESPONSIBILITY.”

So today I want to turn our attention to those who are sitting in pews receiving GOD'S WORD...you and me.

Last Sunday we saw that a lot of Christians when they reach a state of SALVATION think that the journey is over...they just sit back and enjoy the ride.