TOPIC: Holy Spirit [Preparation, Second Coming]
TITLE: COME, HOLY SPIRIT – Stone "1" On Our Weekly Spiritual Pathway!
TEXT: Matthew 25:1-13
CONCISE OUTLINE:
Now, if the condition of the world makes me think that the Lord’s Second Coming might be close, then I must choose between a very few options. I can say the end is close and risk embarrassment if wrong; or, I can avoid the embarrassment by ignoring it and preaching on other things.
However, if I am right and the Lord does come, then I'm guilty of not preaching “in season and out,” [2 Timothy 4:2] and will answer to the Lord … what will I say to Him? However, if I'm wrong and the Lord delays … what am I guilty of before the Lord?
So, let me explain why I’m preaching on the role of the Holy Spirit: because – right or wrong – we are to be prepared. That is our role, our faith obligation.
We hear much of revival lately; revival resides in hearts not behaviors. A mere emotional upheaval, a spurt of religious excitement, is not revival.
I think it is time for us as a church to make a change in our attention to the Holy Spirit … no, I’m not calling on our church to become Charismatics or Pentecostals … I’m calling on you to be intentionally receptive to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, one day a week, for one hour!
Now that’s not too much to ask!
It is a scandal to the Lord if our faith is but one hour per week; but I’m not asking for that, because that would be the final stone in our Christian walk when said that way. I am asking for this one hour to be the first stone of our weekly spiritual pathway.
It is my conviction we must start here, in this hour, together, to honor and magnify the Lord. Please, by the mercies of the Lord, allow yourself to be renewed in the Son, to be restored in the Father, and to be revived in the Spirit.
FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What is the Holy Spirit’s role in my walk?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:
So, I believe Acts reveals a spirit of power, of love, of discipline (sound judgment or self-control)! Read it again for yourself!
An element of a power is heat, and in a powerful life the heat of an unquenchable enthusiasm.... Acts is a burning book; there’s no cool or lukewarm in it, from beginning to end.
The disciples had been baptized with fire, with the holy, glowing enthusiasm caught from the very altar of God.
This fire caused them to love others in extraordinary ways. They had a love burning with heat and strength but they never manifested an excessive behavior, out of control or lacking in judgment.
Nothing could stop these men. Nothing could hinder their doing.
Someone once said they knew when a believer was growing because:
I am asking you to be a Spirit indwelled, a Spirit enlightened, a Spirit taught, Spirit guided, and a Spirit empowered believer just one hour per week, one day a week to start your week on the first day of the week.
Today, right now, is the first stepping stone in your weekly Christ-walk!
TITLE: COME, HOLY SPIRIT – Stone "1" On Our Weekly Spiritual Pathway!
TEXT: Matthew 25:1-13
Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What is the Holy Spirit’s role in my walk?
Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish said to the prudent, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the prudent an-swered, “No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for your-selves.”
And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
Later the other virgins also came, saying, “Lord, lord, open up for us.” But he answered, “Truly I say to you, I do not know you.” Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
CONCISE OUTLINE:
I. HE IS TO LIVE WITHIN ME!TRUTH/CONTEXT:
II. HE IS TO HELP ME!
III. HE IS TO TEACH ME!
IV. HE IS TO REMOVE THE DARKNESS WITHIN ME!
[AIR SPEED] All winged aircraft have one thing in common, they must maintain air speed or they will go into a stall and nose-over. From time to time, our walk seems to nose-over, our forward progress being insufficient to sustain the "lift" needed. We must ...1. be prepared for His presence
2. be prepared to respond to his presence, and
3. be prepared to experience His presence!
Two things confront me as a Pastor – first, the condition of the world and, second, the condition of the church.
Now, if the condition of the world makes me think that the Lord’s Second Coming might be close, then I must choose between a very few options. I can say the end is close and risk embarrassment if wrong; or, I can avoid the embarrassment by ignoring it and preaching on other things.
However, if I am right and the Lord does come, then I'm guilty of not preaching “in season and out,” [2 Timothy 4:2] and will answer to the Lord … what will I say to Him? However, if I'm wrong and the Lord delays … what am I guilty of before the Lord?
So, let me explain why I’m preaching on the role of the Holy Spirit: because – right or wrong – we are to be prepared. That is our role, our faith obligation.
We hear much of revival lately; revival resides in hearts not behaviors. A mere emotional upheaval, a spurt of religious excitement, is not revival.
I think it is time for us as a church to make a change in our attention to the Holy Spirit … no, I’m not calling on our church to become Charismatics or Pentecostals … I’m calling on you to be intentionally receptive to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, one day a week, for one hour!
Now that’s not too much to ask!
It is a scandal to the Lord if our faith is but one hour per week; but I’m not asking for that, because that would be the final stone in our Christian walk when said that way. I am asking for this one hour to be the first stone of our weekly spiritual pathway.
It is my conviction we must start here, in this hour, together, to honor and magnify the Lord. Please, by the mercies of the Lord, allow yourself to be renewed in the Son, to be restored in the Father, and to be revived in the Spirit.
FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What is the Holy Spirit’s role in my walk?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:
I. HE IS TO LIVE WITHIN ME! [1 Corinthians 6:19]APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: And I must remember that God has not given me a spirit of timidity …READER: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?II. HE IS TO HELP (COMFORT) ME! [John 16:7]
A. He is to be the life within me; the life I live is no longer my own!
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
[Galatians 2:20]B. But precursor to this is my allowing Him in to live in me!
[GLOVE] The glove cannot do anything by itself, but when my hand is in it, the glove can do many things. True, it is not the glove, but my hand in the glove that acts. The Christian is a glove. It is the Holy Spirit in us, the hand, who does the work. We have to make room for the hand so that every finger in the glove is filled.READER: But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.III. HE IS TO TEACH ME! [1 Corinthians 2:12-13]
A. Therefore, I must receive Him.
B. And I must not to be stressed out by life and its circumstances!READER: Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by hu-man wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.IV. HE IS TO REMOVE THE DARKNESS IN ME! [Luke 11:34]
A. I must have teachable (i.e., have a teachable spirit within me)!
B. I must not let the world dictate what I believe.
READER: The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.
[HOME] We’ve all seen a home, late at night where all of the lights are out, and seen how dark the home is … in fact it doesn’t seem like a home at all, just a dark house, black panes, no light from within. But then you see a home with a light on in one room, perhaps it is just a night light, but the whole house, every window seems to be affected by that one lamp.
[SIGNS] Along our highways, well placed at appropriate locations, are official signs which give us direction and warn us of danger. Most of these are the reflector type; that is, they are designed to reflect the light of auto headlamps. In darkness, they are invisible to anyone who travels with-out a light. But when our auto headlights are flashed upon these signs, they reflect back to us their message of guidance or caution. Their night-time aid to us depends upon the light we bring to them. They have no meaning for unlighted lamps.
God would like to guide us through the days and through the years of this life. His signs are out there - in all the appropriate places. But whether we see them will depend upon the light within.
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.The Book of Acts is called the Acts of the Apostles; but I agree with Chuck Swindoll – “it would be better to call it the Acts of the Holy Spirit” (my paraphrase).2 Timothy 1:7
So, I believe Acts reveals a spirit of power, of love, of discipline (sound judgment or self-control)! Read it again for yourself!
An element of a power is heat, and in a powerful life the heat of an unquenchable enthusiasm.... Acts is a burning book; there’s no cool or lukewarm in it, from beginning to end.
The disciples had been baptized with fire, with the holy, glowing enthusiasm caught from the very altar of God.
This fire caused them to love others in extraordinary ways. They had a love burning with heat and strength but they never manifested an excessive behavior, out of control or lacking in judgment.
Nothing could stop these men. Nothing could hinder their doing.
“We cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard. We must obey God rather than men.”This rings true throughout their behavior and speech. They have power, light, and life because they were not operating in their own strength but in the power of the Holy Spirit.Acts 5:29
Someone once said they knew when a believer was growing because:
1. he more and more elevates the Lord
2. he less and less speaks of self, and more and more speaks of God,
3. and he became smaller and smaller in his own eyes …
John the Baptizer understood this timeless truth when he said, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.”“until, like the morning star, he fades away before the rising (Son).”Bonar
I am asking you to be a Spirit indwelled, a Spirit enlightened, a Spirit taught, Spirit guided, and a Spirit empowered believer just one hour per week, one day a week to start your week on the first day of the week.
Today, right now, is the first stepping stone in your weekly Christ-walk!
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