Kingdom, Power, and Authority

The Power of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer and the Church

Acts 1-2 This week we are beginning a series on the Holy Spirit. To facilitate this series we will be going through the Book of Acts. I want to look at the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church through the eyes of Luke as he reports the action of the Spirit in Acts. I want this to be a place of context for us. The Spirit is speaking strongly to us as a body of believers, and I want to keep obedient to the direction of the Spirit. I believe there are some great days ahead for us as a church. I am asking God for huge things for us as we move ahead. Over the past few months we have moved through some significant ideas and texts. We looked at Daniel and the life of the believer in hostile territory. The Spirit is stirring us to seek the Kingdom of God and live in power in the midst of the kingdoms of this world. We need to pick up this calling and heed the leading of the Spirit. Our culture is shifting hard and we are desperately in need of a fresh move of the Spirit in the Church. Over the past few months I have focused more on revival and reformation than ever before. Not for the country. For the American Church. The CHURCH needs a fresh awakening. We need a new REFORMATION of understanding the power of the Kingdom of God. For generations weve looked at church and our nation in one particular lens. I think weve looked through the wrong lens. We need corrective vision! We need a new vision of what the Kingdom of God IS DOING. So, were going through the Book of Acts and exploring the power of the Kingdom. Its not just about the Holy Spirit. It is about Kingdom authority.

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I think over the past few generations weve been asking wrong questions. I think were guilty in a way of hearing biblical things in a wrong way. Weve interpreted things through our own filters, not knowing that maybe our filters need changing! A couple of kid stories to help us understand how we sometimes hear things wrong: In Sunday School, they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings. Little Eddie seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam's ribs. Later in the week, his mother noticed him lying down as though he were ill, and said, 'Eddie, what is the matter?' Little Eddie responded,'I have a pain in my side. I think I'm going to have a wife.' A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were excessively mischievous. The two were always getting into trouble and their parents could be assured that if any mischief occurred in their town their two young sons were in some way involved. The parents were at their wits end as to what to do about their sons' behavior. The mother had heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children in the past, so she asked her husband if he thought they should send the boys to speak with the clergyman. The husband said, 'We might as well. We need to do something before I really lose my temper!' The clergyman agreed to speak with the boys, but asked to see them individually. The 8 year old went to meet with him first. The clergyman sat the boy down and asked him sternly, 'Where is God?' The boy made no response, so the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, 'Where is God?' Again the boy made no attempt to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy's face, 'WHERE IS GOD?' At that the boy bolted from the room and ran directly home, slamming himself in the closet. His older brother followed him into the closet and asked what had happened. The younger brother replied, 'We are in BIG trouble this time. God is missing and they think we did it.' 2 Kingdom, Power, and Authority

We so often hear things from our angle, our life story, our cultural identity, we may have missed what was being said or asked. When we come to the subject of the Holy Spirit, and especially as Pentecostals/Charismatics the road blocks, assumption, and false assumptions can be HUGE. Do a series on Acts, and one too often has to ask, What church is doing the series? What teacher is doing the series? Why? Because if its a Baptist teaching, we think were going to get one thing. If its an Assemblies of God teacher, we think were going to get another. Mention the BAPTISM of the Spirit mention the POWER of the Spirit mention the GIFTS of the Spirit See what I mean? We may never get over our preconceived ideas, but I know I want the Kingdom of God ruling and reigning in my life, so I want to WORK ON getting past my preconceived notions and at least TRY to get to the core of what the work of the Spirit is all about. As we walk through Acts and look at the activity of the Spirit, we need to keep a couple of things in mind: 1. The story of Acts is the story of the Kingdom of God in action. While its nice as Pentecostals to think about the Book of Acts as about the actions of the Holy Spirit, we need to keep in mind the larger story. Its about the Kingdom of God invading this world. 2. The storyline of Acts is a storyline. Its not just a string of miracles and sermons put together. 3 Kingdom, Power, and Authority

Luke has something to communicate to us, and we would do well to pay attention. As we examine life in the Spirit, we want to look through the lens of the Kingdom of God. We need to understand how all of this is tied together and realize that the power of the Spirit today is all about the power of the Kingdom of God. We dont just need a Spirit-led agenda. We need a Kingdom agenda. We read about the miraculous in Acts. We read about the power of the Spirit in baptism, in signs and wonders, healings, miracles, etc. We read of the power encounters. We then think, THAT is life in the Spirit! Lets not miss the broader thought, though. Its not about the power encounters alone. There is an underlying story we need to pay attention to. Luke is focusing on God establishing his Kingdom. He began that story in the gospel. Now the shift in the story is how God is establishing his Kingdom through the followers of Christ. When Jesus came it was to begin to establish the rule of the Kingdom on earth. Its part of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples: Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. What Luke is communicating through Acts is not just some activities of the Spirit. He is showing us that the Kingdom of God is coming NOW and the powers of this world are doing their best to stamp out what God is establishing. THAT is why you have power encounters. It happens all the way through the story of Acts. It could be the chief priests and other religious leaders who get upset with the activity of the church in

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Jerusalem. It could be the Roman governors who are just trying to keep the peace. It could be mobs that chased Paul from one town to another. What is being demonstrated is that Gods Kingdom is being established and no

other power can stop it from happening.

The story of Acts is the story of celebration: Jesus is LORD, and that means something! Think of all that happens in power encounters. Think of the storm at the end of Acts. Paul is a prisoner on his way to Rome. A storm comes up and threatens to send the ship and its passengers to the bottom of the ocean. Dont think of it as just some story of deliverance. Think of it as a power encounter where the enemy is trying to physically stop Paul from landing in Rome. When Paul lands in Rome he is going to declare Jesus as Lord RIGHT THERE in the seat of power. In the place that represents the most powerful kingdom on earth, and Paul is going to declare that Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. We want to read Acts through a different lens. Lets put it this way: In Jesus we have the joining together of heaven and earth. When Jesus came, the Holy Spirit was there to anoint Jesus for the journey. He equipped Jesus for his Kingdom work on earth. Now that same Spirit is poured out on Christs followers. When Jesus came he challenged the whole idea of Temple. For Jews, Temple was one place. They could see it. They could go there. They could touch it. More importantly, they could control it. What does Jesus come declaring? That his Kingdom and rule and reign was not of this world. Where HE was THAT was Temple. THAT was holy ground. That came through the empowering of the Spirit. 5 Kingdom, Power, and Authority

Now, we have Acts. We have the outpouring of the Spirit. And what do we now have as an extension of the gospel? We have this understanding: The Church, the body of Christ, is the extension of Christ. WE are an extension of Temple. Where WE are is where the Spirit of the living God is where Jesus is.. Where WE are is Temple. Where WE are is holy ground. In the gospel, its clear that were Jesus was heaven and earth were joined together. In Acts, this is the thought: Where the people of God are heaven and earth are joined together. Where the Church is, Jesus is present and the Holy Spirit is empowering. We are the SPACE where God is alive and active and establishing his sovereign rule and reign. Let me get back to that whole concept of maybe were asking the wrong questions idea I started with at the beginning. That whole idea of maybe we have the wrong idea the wrong paradigm. I want to pause and bring us back to that here because it goes to the core of a question that is essential in our lives: WHY ARE WE SAVED? In the past weve had answers like, Im saved so when I die I can go to heaven. I want to propose that our old answers may just be inadequate. And our focus may be a bit skewed. Its not about getting to heaven alone. And, far more importantly, its not about us!!! Huge disappointment, I know. We ALL want it to be about US!!! 6 Kingdom, Power, and Authority

Why are you saved? Because in YOU God is creating the space where people can look and see that heaven and earth are being joined together! YOU are the space where people can see the whole concept of Gods Kingdom ACTUALLY COMING! If that thought scares the living daylights out of you for a bit IT SHOULD! It reminds me of the story Ive told before of Gordon Anderson going to fill in at a church when he was a professor at NCU. He was sitting there on the platform thinking, Wow. What a dead church. The Lord spoke to him and said, Why do you think youre here? He had no idea he was there to raise the dead. He thought he was there to preach a sermon and collect a check. We need to have our worldview stirred up. We need our core shaken up. WHY ARE YOU HERE? So the dead can be raised, the blind can see, the prisoner can be set free You know standard Kingdom stuff. And its not just in what we CALL power encounters. Its the everyday living in obedience to the Father that will continue to CRUSH the hold of the enemy in this world. In us, as the TEMPLE space, God is beginning to implement the worldtransforming Kingdom that was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ. We need our spiritual minds ignited set on FIRE with this idea!

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The disciples had differing views on KINGDOM as well. When they asked Jesus about the Kingdom being established, they had a geo-political force in mind. Jesus still tried to bring correction in Acts 1. He tells them to wait in Jerusalem until they are clothed with power from high. He then lets them know that their idea of KINGDOM was still off. What they needed to know was they had to wait for POWER from on high. They needed Gods agenda, and the power of the Spirit would help bring that paradigm shift. The outpouring of the Spirit the baptism isnt about just doing cool power encounter stuff. Its about allowing the Spirit to saturate us BAPTIZE US in new thinking. Let us realize the power of the Kingdom! Let us be washed wash away the old thinking of what power means in this world wash away the old allegiances to the kingdoms of this world and let us be resurrected into true Kingdom allegiance. This is the power of Spirit baptism. As Pentecostals we think of it as doing the cool stuff. Healing. Miracles. All that. But it is living in power in ALL of life. It is bringing the reality of the Kingdom in every way possible. When we touch the poor and bring help, we are truly Spiritfilled and Spirit-empowered. When we do our jobs well and with integrity, we are bringing Gods Kingdom in power. This brings us to another fundamental question in our lives where we may have our answers a bit skewed: WHY DO WE WORSHIP? And with that maybe we should ask WHAT is worship? But in worship, we often think of the music part of the service. We think of connecting with God. We think of emotion. We think of losing ourselves in seeking God. We think of God touching us. Let me bring this idea to you: All Kingdom work is rooted in worship. 8 Kingdom, Power, and Authority

The reason is this: In TRUE worship the believer is declaring JESUS is Lord. And when we declare Jesus is Lord (so we need to get this idea that worship is just the singing part out of our heads) we are also declaring by default: NO ONE ELSE IS LORD. Jesus is LORD and NOTHING ELSE gets my allegiance. THAT is worship. And THAT is not what goes on much of the time in our American churches. Worship of Jesus, the declaration that he is LORD, commits the true worshiper to allegiance. That means FOLLOWING Jesus. That means being shaped by Jesus. That means being directed by Jesus. And on that front, were just not very good at that. THIS is the need for the power of the Spirit. When we are truly worshipping God we begin to see Jesus orient us to a whole new way of life. Our whole being, our imagination, our will, our hopes and all our fears are being steered AWAY from the world. In true worship we have the gods of this world being dealt with in our lives and thats not always a pleasant thought! In Acts we see the gods of the world identified in different ways ways that are identifiable to the Roman world. But they are no less significant to us. Here are a few examples and what they represent. The Church will confront three huge gods of the Roman world: Mars, Mammon, and Aphrodite. Mars Violence. Mammon Money. Aphrodite Sex. 9 Kingdom, Power, and Authority

These are gods that we have in our own world. These are gods that DEMAND allegiance and when they are offended, they work to PUNISH the offenders! The Kingdom of God has come to re-orient our thinking. The Kingdom of God comes to demonstrate to us NEW power. In worship, in Kingdom allegiance, we learn that love is stronger than death. We learn that the POOR are promised the Kingdom. We learn that chastity (in singleness or in marriage) reflects the holiness and faithfulness of God. And right in those three things we have another sermon series that can really rock our world! The story of Acts is the story of Kingdom power. It is the Spirit coming, being poured out, to help us as the Body of Christ find our true allegiance. In worship, in being filled with the Spirit, we plant our flag, so to speak. Claiming Jesus as Lord living that out plants a flag and it means that all other kingdom flags dont get to be on top of the hill. As a matter of fact, all other flags dont get to be on the hill at all. We need a fresh understanding of the Spirit because we need our ways of thinking challenged. We need them re-oriented to the allegiance of the Kingdom. This is the story of Acts. The new Kingdom allegiance needs the power of the Spirit because when the Church is truly living out Kingdom authority, all other authorities are challenged. The Kingdom of God lived out in power will challenge the most desperate tyrants. But it will also challenge the most benevolent worldly system. Because the message is the same: Jesus is LORD you are not. Lets read Acts with the lens of the Kingdom. Lets pray for the power of the Spirit! Lets pray for a fresh outpouring that will cause us to truly WORSHIP. Lets 10 Kingdom, Power, and Authority

call out for the power of the Spirit in our lives that will help us see that WE are the TEMPLE in this world. WE are the holy space that joins heaven and earth together. It is about HIS KINGDOM COMING! SO WHAT? NOW WHAT? 1. What ARE my allegiances and how can others tell what my allegiances are? 2. Have I limited my view of Holy Spirit empowerment to only signs and wonders? 3. Am I willing to have my life saturated by the Spirit so that I truly desire to be that Temple space for the Kingdom of God on earth? How can this idea change my prayer life?

COMMUNION: Lords Prayer Meditation: THINK on your allegiance. Time of silence.

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