God's Plan for His Church
“I believe that the local church is the hope of the world. I believe to the core of my being that local churches have the potential to be the most influential force on planet earth. If they get it and get on with it, churches can become the redemptive centers that Jesus intended them to be. Dynamic teaching, creative worship, deep community, effective evangelism, and joyful service will combine to …strengthen families, transform communities and change the world” – Bill Hybels
1. Jesus Was Spirit- Filled and Spirit-Sent (Acts 1:1-3)
First book (mentioned in v.1) was the Gospel of Luke.
One of the main focuses of Luke is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
We are presented with a picture of Jesus, 100% God and 100% man who did his entire ministry as a Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent man.
Luke 4:1-2, “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.”
Luke 10:21 “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”
Key Sermon – setting the tone for his ministry is in Luke 4.
“And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ” (Luke 4:17–21, ESV)
The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me
When Jesus did miracles
Preached
Healed
He wasn’t using his nature as God to do this
He was acting as a human who was filled with the Holy Spirit.
That’s why “The Spirit of the Lord was Upon Him”
Anointed for a mission
“Christ” Means anointed one
Prophet / Priest / King
Jesus was SPIRIT-FILLED
We have a lot of ideas of what it means to be a “Spirit-Filled” Christian.
(Stereotypes)
In essence … to be “Spirit-Filled” is to be like Jesus.
Jesus was also SENT
About 40 times in the Gospel of John alone “God sent me”
John 4:34 – “My food is to do the will of him who sent me to accomplish his work.”
John 17:3-4 “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ”
Jesus was sent for a purpose
To help people believe in God
To open a way for people to have a relationship with God
All this is to give God glory … to make God famous
2. The Church Must Be Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent (Acts 1:4-8)
Acts 1:8 is actually a re-cap of the Great Commission.
Every Gospel has its version of the Great Commission…that’s how important it is.
We are most familiar with Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” ” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)
You’ll find similar lines in Mark, Luke & John
JOHN’S VERSION:
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” - (John 20:21, ESV)
Each version of the Great Commission has its own emphasis.
John – We are sent like Jesus was sent, Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent.
Matthew – Stresses the Authority we have to follow this mission and make disciples
Acts – Power and Places … Get the Power of the Spirit into Every Place on Earth
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, ESV)
3. The Goal of Jesus’ Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent Church Is the Transformation of the World (Acts 1:8)
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Ends of the World
MAPS
Tertullian, who wrote around the year 200, declared in his Apology, “We are but of yesterday, and we have filled every place among you—cities, islands, fortresses, towns, market places, the very camp, tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum—we have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods.”
How was the Gospel able to spread so quickly?
“We cannot hesitate to believe that the great mission of Christianity was in reality accomplished by means of informal missionaries.” - Adolf Harnack
That was the secret. Every Christian—not just a formal order of missionaries supplied by the Christians at home—considered it his or her obligation to bear witness.
They all, every single one, knew it was essential to be Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent.
4. How Can We Be Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent?
1) Being Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent starts with Preaching
“You Will Be My Witnesses”
Greek word = Martyr
Best testimony the early church had was the fact that they would die for Jesus.
“God had only one Son, He made Him a preacher.” – Thomas Goodwin
Expository = an expository message gets its main points and its sub-points directly from the text
Preachers are heralds … witnesses
We all get to be preachers / witnesses
2) Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent Requires the Gifts of the Spirit
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”
The Greek word dunamis entered the English language when the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833–96) made the discovery that became his fortune. He discovered a power stronger than anything the world had known up to that time. He asked a friend of his who was a Greek scholar what the word for “explosive power” was in Greek. His friend answered, “Dunamis.”
Nobel said, “Well, I am going to call my discovery by that name.” So he called his explosive power “dynamite.”
Eph 4:11-16: Equippers vs. Servers
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. ” (Ephesians 4:11–16, ESV)
? DO YOU KNOW YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFT?
My first spiritual gifts test:
Prophecy
Evangelism
Helps
This changes and grows
3) Being Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent Connects You to the Body of Christ
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (plural literally “yous guys”)
Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 54
Q. What do you believe concerning "the holy catholic church"?
A. I believe that the Son of God through his Spirit and Word, out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and preserves for himself a community chosen for eternal life and united in true faith. And of this community I am and always will be a living member.
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ” (1 Corinthians 12:12–15, ESV)
Illustration – a boy who in the aftermath of the tragedy asked his mother, “Where was Superman?”
“Where was Jesus?”
If Jesus where to show up in (specific situation) … what could happen?
He Did!
The church is here
Jesus is here today in the form of the church
Spirit Filled
Spirit Sent
The Hope of the World
And let the entire body of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ–instead of looking to societies for evangelization, or to commerce, or to governments– remember that she is the sole savior of the world…As Christ was the world’s hope, so is the Church the world’s hope, and she must take up the charge as if there were not another. – Charles H. Spurgeon
4) Being Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent Keeps Your Focus on the Mission
“In Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
5) Being Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent Guards Your Attitude
“Why do you stand looking to heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
* Sometimes it feels like we sit around looking to heaven, waiting for Jesus … or at least for a perfect church.
* Jesus is in heaven, we’re “stuck” here right now with His body … so watch yourself, watch your attitude.
- No perfect churches
- follow your instinct in finding things wrong. Just start with yourself.
Jesus says “That’s my wife you’re talking about.” (cf. Eph 5:22-23, Rev 21:9-10)
- We are the church … if you don’t like what you see, start where you can do the most good … yourself.
6) Being Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Sent Will Motivate You to Develop Your Gift
If all this is true, then nothing else we do is more important.
If it’s that important, it’s worth doing well.
“For this reason [because of your sincere faith] I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. ” (2 Timothy 1:6–7, ESV)
- Because it’s your honor and duty
Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 55
Q. What do you understand by the communion of saints"?
A. First, that believers one and all, as members of this community, share in Christ and in all his treasures and gifts.
Second, that each member should consider it a duty to use these gifts readily and cheerfully for the service and enrichment of the other members.
- By Reading the Bible
- By using it
RESPONSE
I need to become a member of the Body of Christ.
I need to ask the Holy Spirit to fill me.
I need to confess bitterness and/or apathy towards the church.
I need to learn what my spiritual gift is.
I need to start developing and deploying my spiritual gift in the mission of Jesus.