Setting The Stage For The Spirit Of God-5 Series

B-SETTING the STAGE for the SPIRIT-V—Acts 1:4-8

Luke recorded for Theophilus an account of those acts which preceded the coming of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ physical absence.

How is the stage set for the acts of the Holy Spirit?

14 acts setting the stage for the Spirit of God are...

1. FRIENDSHIP(:1)

2. INITIATION(:1)

3. EXPLANATION(:2)

4. SENDING(:2)

5. CHOOSING/CHOICE(:2)

6. RESURRECTION(:3)

7. SUFFERING(:3)

8. MINISTRY(:3)

9. COOPERATION(:4)

10. ANTICIPATION / EXPECTATION(:4-5)

11. BAPTISM(:5)

12. RESTORATION(questioning / inquiry)(:6)

13. ACCOMMODATION(:7)

14. POWERLESSNESS(:8)

15—Setting the stage for the Spirit are

Acts of INDEPENDENCE / MISUSE(:8b)

Explanation:(:8b) Mothballed

““But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; & you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, & in all Judea & Samaria, & to the end of the earth.””

“Come upon”—epercomai—To come, arrive; To come upon, overtake one.

Having the Holy Spirit “come upon you” is NOT mustering up enough courage/fortitude to do something that you know is right—That’s self-help!

Having the Holy Spirit “come upon you” is empowerment thru obedience....Focusing your energies toward convictions of God.

—The difference between going to church & going to church?!

—Quit smoking—Some just get tired of the health problems & the money spent. Others just hear the Spirit & obey.

It is a release from independence into dependence upon He whose strength is aside from yours but can focus yours.

Argumentation:

Jn. 15:4-5—““Abide in Me, & I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, & I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Eph. 2:8-12—“For by grace you have been saved through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-- that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel & strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope & without God in the world.”

?How does this set the stage for the Spirit of God?—We get FED-UP with our mistakes & failures....bearing the responsibility & the guilt that brings, & having no one to speak forgiveness & comfort....We grow SICK of being alone & shutting everyone out—WEARY of guarded friendships....

—In short....Tired of INDEPENDENCE!

Illustration:

Move into a gated community—Fence-in your property—Automatic garage door opener closes your vehicle inside—Relax in your lania—Swim in your indoor pool/INDEPENDENCE!

‘Crutch’ of Religion/

When you lose your independence...

Application:

?The Stage been Set thru your ACTS OF INDEPENDENCE?

?You Set the Stage for the Holy Spirit?

16—Setting the stage for the Spirit are

Acts of INADEQUACY / IMPERCEPTION(:8c)

Explanation:(:8c) Inability

““But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; & you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, & in all Judea & Samaria, & to the end of the earth.””

“Shall be”—Future tense!—They were unable when Christ spoke this truth!

“Witnesses”—martuV—A witness. Where we get our English word ‘martyr.’ A strong attestation accomplished thru the sacrifice of one’s life.

“To Me”—

Argumentation:

Mat. 13:12-17—““For whoever has, to him more will be given, & he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, & hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. “And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear & shall not understand, And seeing you will see & not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes & hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts & turn, So that I should heal them.’ “But blessed are your eyes for they see, & your ears for they hear; “for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets & righteous men desired to see what you see, & did not see it, & to hear what you hear, & did not hear it.”

1Cor. 2:9-16—“But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”