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Where Will We Find the Power to Do Missionary Work?

(Acts 1:8)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Weve seen:
That missionary work isnt just overseas cross cultural evangelism
Its the simple communication of the Gospel.

That it isnt just for the elite, specially called and trained believer
Jesus calls all of us to be missionaries.

That it isnt something we are just to do sometimes


The Lord calls us to see ourselves as missionaries wherever we are,
And to be ready at all times to do this work.

Weve seen that to be ready,


We need to know the Gospel
Which we already do if we are believers
We must be willing to share it,
From a life that shows its real;
And that we need to seek out those who need to hear it,
Share it with them,
And if the Lord converts them,
Try to get them into a local church.

2
B. Preview.
To finish this brief series,
I want us to consider this morning
Where we will find the power to do missionary work
That is, how we can have a stronger desire
To share the Gospel with others
How we can be more awake
More alive
And so more effective in reaching them.

We saw before that the only thing that stands


Between us and sharing the Gospel with others
Is ourselves:
No one is standing in our way,
No one is physically trying to stop us,
There isnt a special government police force
Thats ready to arrest us if we do.
The only thing thats stopping us is ourselves
Not all of us, but part of us
That part the Bible calls the flesh.
Paul writes, For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things
that you please (Gal. 5:17).

The Spirit continually works in you

3
To make you want to reach out more.
But the sin thats still in your soul is fighting against Him
As it fights against everything the Lord wants you to do.

So what can you do?


Here are four things to think about:
1. Be baptized in the Spirit.
2. Be filled with the Spirit.
3. Walk by the Spirit.
4. And keep from grieving the Spirit.

If you do these things,


You will have more than enough power
To overcome your flesh and evangelize.

II. Sermon.
A. First, you must be baptized in the Spirit.
Luke writes, For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:5).
1. There are many Christians
Who believe this is all you need
To do everything Jesus calls you to do.
It isnt something every believer experiences
Though every believer can.
But once you do,
It moves you from being ordinary to extraordinary;

From a normal Christian to a super Christian.


They believe that this is where
You need to look for that power
In the baptism of the Spirit.

2. We agree that this baptism


Moves you from the ordinary to the extraordinary,
But not in exactly the same way.
It makes you able to do what you couldnt before:
It moves you from darkness to light.
It awakens you from spiritual sleep to spiritual wakefulness.
This is what the Spirit does
When He puts you into Christ
He makes you spiritually alive for the first time
But He does this for all believers.
Paul writes, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews
or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit
(1 Cor. 12:13).

We were born into this world


Dead in sin,
Unable to do what the Lord calls us to do,
Unable to trust Him.
We were like electrical appliances that needed to be plugged in
Made to do something useful,

But unable to do it
Because we didnt have any power.

But the Spirit changed that when He baptized us


When He plugged us into Christ.
He made His life to flow through us.
He gave us power to trust Jesus,
To die to our old way of living,
And to begin to live for Him.

Youll never find the power to do missionary work


Unless you first have this spiritual rebirth.
If you dont have His life in you this morning
Which you can know you dont
If youre not trusting Him and living for Him
Then I invite you to look to Jesus
Look to Him to save you from the wrong things youve done.
Look to Him to give you His Spirit.
Look to Him to give you the power you need
To turn from the selfish things you do,
And to trust in Him and live for Him.

B. Second, if you are to have the power to do missionary work,


You must be filled with the Spirit.

6
Paul writes, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled
with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
This is really what those
Who believe that what you need is the baptism of the Spirit
Are thinking about this fullness of the Spirit
Which seemed to be a part of that baptism
The disciples experienced on the Day of Pentecost.

1. In some ways, the baptism of the Spirit isnt enough.


It raises us to life,
But it doesnt in itself
Give us the power we need
To serve the Lord as we should.
We must also be filled with the Spirit.

Paul isnt saying that the Spirit is some kind of fuel


That needs to fill the empty tank of your soul.
He isnt some kind of quantity
That we can have more or less of.
Hes a person
One who can have more or less control of our lives.
He needs to have more control over your life.

Paul says, Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation.
Dont be filled with wine

7
Dont be under its control
Because that leads to dissipation
It changes how you behave, generally for the worse:
It makes you reckless.

Instead, he says, Be filled with the Spirit,


Because when Hes controlling you,
You wont be selfish and reckless,
Youll be more like Jesus.

Youve heard the expression: Jesus is my copilot.


That really describes someone who has the Spirit,
But isnt filled with the Spirit.
Jesus is in your life
But He isnt in control.
He needs to be in control
He must be the pilot,
He must steer our lives.
When Hes in control
Youll want to do what He would do
Which is among other things to evangelize.

2. How can you be filled with the Spirit?


We see an example
Of how the disciples were filled in Acts 4.

After Peter and John were arrested


For telling others about Jesus Christ,
They were ordered to stop or be punished.
After they said they wouldnt,
They were further threatened and then released.
When they went back to their brethren
And told them what happened,
They prayed.
Luke writes, And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered
together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).
This filling of the Spirit
Came in answer to prayer.

If you want to be filled with the Spirit,


You can only get it in the ways God has given for you to get it:
You need to pray
But you need to see that prayer by itself isnt enough.

You need to read Gods Word


But even that isnt enough.

You need to worship, share in the Lords Supper, and fellowship


But you still need more.

These are only the means the Lord uses.

Theyre not enough by themselves.

You must receive them by faith


You must look to Jesus for His blessing
But even that isnt enough.

You need to use them for the reason He gave them:


That He might have more control in your life,
That He might bring your mind and heart
To focus completely on His Son and His kingdom.

When Peter, John and the disciples prayed,


They werent praying for Aunt Berthas broken toe,
That they might get that job they interviewed for,
Or that they might be able to pass that test on Tuesday
The Lord does tell us
We may pray for these things in their place,
But they shouldnt be the first things
On our minds and hearts

They didnt just pray for the power of the Spirit,


So they might feel more spiritual.

They prayed that they might be able to do


What God called them to do:

10
And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants
may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to
heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy
servant Jesus (Acts 4:29-30).

They wanted the power to honor Jesus,


And the Lord answered them
By giving them that power:
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was
shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the
word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).

The Lord will fill you with His Spirit


If you want to use that power
In the way He wants you to use it:
To tell others about His Gospel.

C. Third, you must walk by the Spirit.


Paul writes to the Galatians, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry
out the desire of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
And he writes to the Romans, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was
through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the
requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to
the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3-4).

When you ask for Gods help


For the right reasons
He will give you His Spirit.
But once He gives you that power,

11
Theres something you must do:
You must yield to Him
And do what He wants you to do.

Life is a continual series of choices


Every day, you will need to make hundreds of them
And in every choice,
Theres always two ways you can go:
You can do what you want,
Or you can do what He wants
If you have any question as to what He wants,
Just read His Word: Hes very specific.

The more you are filled with the Spirit,


The closer these two will become
The more you will want what He wants
And so the more you will do what He wants.

But the less you have of the Spirit,


The further these two will be apart
Hell want one thing,
And youll want another
And the more likely you will do what you want.

If you want to have the power to do missionary work

12
To share the Gospel,
Which is one of the more difficult things
He gives us to do,
Because it is the most opposed
To what our flesh wants to do
You need to yield to give in
To what the Spirit moves you to do.

The more you resist your flesh and yield to Him,


The stronger His influence in your soul will become,
And the easier it will become to obey Him.

D. Finally, you must not grieve/offend the Spirit by resisting Him.


Paul writes, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).
If doing what He wants strengthens His influence,
Resisting Him
Not doing what He wants
Weakens it.

1. The Spirits work is often pictured in the Bible as fire,


Because of the holy devotion He creates in your heart.
John the Baptist, when he compared his ministry with Jesus, said,
As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after
me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3:11).

13

When the Day of Pentecost had come,


And the Spirit was poured out from heaven,
He appeared as fire on each of the disciples.
Luke writes, And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent
rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And
there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they
rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance
(Acts 2:2-4).

When you obey the Spirit,


Its like pouring fuel on the fire
His influence becomes stronger,
Your devotion burns hotter,
And it becomes easier to obey Him.

But when you resist Him,


Its like pouring water on the fire
His influence becomes weaker,
It quenches your devotion,
And at the same time,
Strengthens your flesh
Making you more self-centered
And making it more difficult to serve Him.

2. So where are you going to find


The power to resist your flesh

14

And do the missionary work


The Lord calls you to?

a. You must use the ways God has given you


To strengthen the influence of His Spirit in your heart
Prayer, His Word, worship and fellowship.

b. You must use them for the purpose God gave them:
To strengthen your devotion to Him
To unite your heart completely to love Him
Not just most of it,
But all of it
Its not that you shouldnt love others,
But you need to let your love
For everyone else flow from your love for Him.

c. You must yield to His influence/control in your life


Go the direction He is leading you
Which will be easy if your heart belongs to Him.

d. And you must resist the temptation to disobey Him


And follow the desires of your flesh.

e. One last thing, you must seek to obey Him in every area of your life:
(i) In your thoughts

15
You must choose not to think thoughts
That are dishonoring to Him,
But only those that will honor Him.
Paul writes, We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised
up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

(ii) In your desires


You must only allow yourself to want
What you know the Lord wants for you.
Solomon writes, Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it
flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23).

(iii) In your words


Paul writes, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but
only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the
moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption (Eph. 4:29-30).

(iv) And in the things you do


Do only those things that will honor Him.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph.
2:10).

(v) If you will sincerely seek the Lord in this way,


You will find the power to overcome your flesh
And do what the Lord calls you to do
You will reach the lost with the Gospel;

16

You will do missionary work.


http://www.gcmodesto.org

Where Will We Find the Power to Do Missionary Work?


(Acts 1:8)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Weve seen:
That missionary work isnt just overseas cross cultural evangelism
Its the simple communication of the Gospel.

That it isnt just for the elite, specially called and trained believer
Jesus calls all of us to be missionaries.

That it isnt something we are just to do sometimes


The Lord calls us to see ourselves as missionaries wherever we are,
And to be ready at all times to do this work.

Weve seen that to be ready,


We need to know the Gospel
Which we already do if we are believers
We must be willing to share it,
From a life that shows its real;
And that we need to seek out those who need to hear it,
Share it with them,
And if the Lord converts them,
Try to get them into a local church.

2
B. Preview.
To finish this brief series,
I want us to consider this morning
Where we will find the power to do missionary work
That is, how we can have a stronger desire
To share the Gospel with others
How we can be more awake
More alive
And so more effective in reaching them.

We saw before that the only thing that stands


Between us and sharing the Gospel with others
Is ourselves:
No one is standing in our way,
No one is physically trying to stop us,
There isnt a special government police force
Thats ready to arrest us if we do.
The only thing thats stopping us is ourselves
Not all of us, but part of us
That part the Bible calls the flesh.
Paul writes, For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things
that you please (Gal. 5:17).

The Spirit continually works in you

3
To make you want to reach out more.
But the sin thats still in your soul is fighting against Him
As it fights against everything the Lord wants you to do.

So what can you do?


Here are four things to think about:
1. Be baptized in the Spirit.
2. Be filled with the Spirit.
3. Walk by the Spirit.
4. And keep from grieving the Spirit.

If you do these things,


You will have more than enough power
To overcome your flesh and evangelize.

II. Sermon.
A. First, you must be baptized in the Spirit.
Luke writes, For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:5).
1. There are many Christians
Who believe this is all you need
To do everything Jesus calls you to do.
It isnt something every believer experiences
Though every believer can.
But once you do,
It moves you from being ordinary to extraordinary;

From a normal Christian to a super Christian.


They believe that this is where
You need to look for that power
In the baptism of the Spirit.

2. We agree that this baptism


Moves you from the ordinary to the extraordinary,
But not in exactly the same way.
It makes you able to do what you couldnt before:
It moves you from darkness to light.
It awakens you from spiritual sleep to spiritual wakefulness.
This is what the Spirit does
When He puts you into Christ
He makes you spiritually alive for the first time
But He does this for all believers.
Paul writes, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews
or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit
(1 Cor. 12:13).

We were born into this world


Dead in sin,
Unable to do what the Lord calls us to do,
Unable to trust Him.
We were like electrical appliances that needed to be plugged in
Made to do something useful,

But unable to do it
Because we didnt have any power.

But the Spirit changed that when He baptized us


When He plugged us into Christ.
He made His life to flow through us.
He gave us power to trust Jesus,
To die to our old way of living,
And to begin to live for Him.

Youll never find the power to do missionary work


Unless you first have this spiritual rebirth.
If you dont have His life in you this morning
Which you can know you dont
If youre not trusting Him and living for Him
Then I invite you to look to Jesus
Look to Him to save you from the wrong things youve done.
Look to Him to give you His Spirit.
Look to Him to give you the power you need
To turn from the selfish things you do,
And to trust in Him and live for Him.

B. Second, if you are to have the power to do missionary work,


You must be filled with the Spirit.

6
Paul writes, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled
with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
This is really what those
Who believe that what you need is the baptism of the Spirit
Are thinking about this fullness of the Spirit
Which seemed to be a part of that baptism
The disciples experienced on the Day of Pentecost.

1. In some ways, the baptism of the Spirit isnt enough.


It raises us to life,
But it doesnt in itself
Give us the power we need
To serve the Lord as we should.
We must also be filled with the Spirit.

Paul isnt saying that the Spirit is some kind of fuel


That needs to fill the empty tank of your soul.
He isnt some kind of quantity
That we can have more or less of.
Hes a person
One who can have more or less control of our lives.
He needs to have more control over your life.

Paul says, Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation.
Dont be filled with wine

7
Dont be under its control
Because that leads to dissipation
It changes how you behave, generally for the worse:
It makes you reckless.

Instead, he says, Be filled with the Spirit,


Because when Hes controlling you,
You wont be selfish and reckless,
Youll be more like Jesus.

Youve heard the expression: Jesus is my copilot.


That really describes someone who has the Spirit,
But isnt filled with the Spirit.
Jesus is in your life
But He isnt in control.
He needs to be in control
He must be the pilot,
He must steer our lives.
When Hes in control
Youll want to do what He would do
Which is among other things to evangelize.

2. How can you be filled with the Spirit?


We see an example
Of how the disciples were filled in Acts 4.

After Peter and John were arrested


For telling others about Jesus Christ,
They were ordered to stop or be punished.
After they said they wouldnt,
They were further threatened and then released.
When they went back to their brethren
And told them what happened,
They prayed.
Luke writes, And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered
together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).
This filling of the Spirit
Came in answer to prayer.

If you want to be filled with the Spirit,


You can only get it in the ways God has given for you to get it:
You need to pray
But you need to see that prayer by itself isnt enough.

You need to read Gods Word


But even that isnt enough.

You need to worship, share in the Lords Supper, and fellowship


But you still need more.

These are only the means the Lord uses.

Theyre not enough by themselves.

You must receive them by faith


You must look to Jesus for His blessing
But even that isnt enough.

You need to use them for the reason He gave them:


That He might have more control in your life,
That He might bring your mind and heart
To focus completely on His Son and His kingdom.

When Peter, John and the disciples prayed,


They werent praying for Aunt Berthas broken toe,
That they might get that job they interviewed for,
Or that they might be able to pass that test on Tuesday
The Lord does tell us
We may pray for these things in their place,
But they shouldnt be the first things
On our minds and hearts

They didnt just pray for the power of the Spirit,


So they might feel more spiritual.

They prayed that they might be able to do


What God called them to do:

10
And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants
may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to
heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy
servant Jesus (Acts 4:29-30).

They wanted the power to honor Jesus,


And the Lord answered them
By giving them that power:
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was
shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the
word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).

The Lord will fill you with His Spirit


If you want to use that power
In the way He wants you to use it:
To tell others about His Gospel.

C. Third, you must walk by the Spirit.


Paul writes to the Galatians, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry
out the desire of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
And he writes to the Romans, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was
through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the
requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to
the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3-4).

When you ask for Gods help


For the right reasons
He will give you His Spirit.
But once He gives you that power,

11
Theres something you must do:
You must yield to Him
And do what He wants you to do.

Life is a continual series of choices


Every day, you will need to make hundreds of them
And in every choice,
Theres always two ways you can go:
You can do what you want,
Or you can do what He wants
If you have any question as to what He wants,
Just read His Word: Hes very specific.

The more you are filled with the Spirit,


The closer these two will become
The more you will want what He wants
And so the more you will do what He wants.

But the less you have of the Spirit,


The further these two will be apart
Hell want one thing,
And youll want another
And the more likely you will do what you want.

If you want to have the power to do missionary work

12
To share the Gospel,
Which is one of the more difficult things
He gives us to do,
Because it is the most opposed
To what our flesh wants to do
You need to yield to give in
To what the Spirit moves you to do.

The more you resist your flesh and yield to Him,


The stronger His influence in your soul will become,
And the easier it will become to obey Him.

D. Finally, you must not grieve/offend the Spirit by resisting Him.


Paul writes, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).
If doing what He wants strengthens His influence,
Resisting Him
Not doing what He wants
Weakens it.

1. The Spirits work is often pictured in the Bible as fire,


Because of the holy devotion He creates in your heart.
John the Baptist, when he compared his ministry with Jesus, said,
As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after
me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3:11).

13

When the Day of Pentecost had come,


And the Spirit was poured out from heaven,
He appeared as fire on each of the disciples.
Luke writes, And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent
rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And
there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they
rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance
(Acts 2:2-4).

When you obey the Spirit,


Its like pouring fuel on the fire
His influence becomes stronger,
Your devotion burns hotter,
And it becomes easier to obey Him.

But when you resist Him,


Its like pouring water on the fire
His influence becomes weaker,
It quenches your devotion,
And at the same time,
Strengthens your flesh
Making you more self-centered
And making it more difficult to serve Him.

2. So where are you going to find


The power to resist your flesh

14

And do the missionary work


The Lord calls you to?

a. You must use the ways God has given you


To strengthen the influence of His Spirit in your heart
Prayer, His Word, worship and fellowship.

b. You must use them for the purpose God gave them:
To strengthen your devotion to Him
To unite your heart completely to love Him
Not just most of it,
But all of it
Its not that you shouldnt love others,
But you need to let your love
For everyone else flow from your love for Him.

c. You must yield to His influence/control in your life


Go the direction He is leading you
Which will be easy if your heart belongs to Him.

d. And you must resist the temptation to disobey Him


And follow the desires of your flesh.

e. One last thing, you must seek to obey Him in every area of your life:
(i) In your thoughts

15
You must choose not to think thoughts
That are dishonoring to Him,
But only those that will honor Him.
Paul writes, We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised
up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

(ii) In your desires


You must only allow yourself to want
What you know the Lord wants for you.
Solomon writes, Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it
flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23).

(iii) In your words


Paul writes, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but
only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the
moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption (Eph. 4:29-30).

(iv) And in the things you do


Do only those things that will honor Him.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph.
2:10).

(v) If you will sincerely seek the Lord in this way,


You will find the power to overcome your flesh
And do what the Lord calls you to do
You will reach the lost with the Gospel;

16

You will do missionary work.


http://www.gcmodesto.org

Where Will We Find the Power to Do Missionary Work?


(Acts 1:8)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Weve seen:
That missionary work isnt just overseas cross cultural evangelism
Its the simple communication of the Gospel.

That it isnt just for the elite, specially called and trained believer
Jesus calls all of us to be missionaries.

That it isnt something we are just to do sometimes


The Lord calls us to see ourselves as missionaries wherever we are,
And to be ready at all times to do this work.

Weve seen that to be ready,


We need to know the Gospel
Which we already do if we are believers
We must be willing to share it,
From a life that shows its real;
And that we need to seek out those who need to hear it,
Share it with them,
And if the Lord converts them,
Try to get them into a local church.

2
B. Preview.
To finish this brief series,
I want us to consider this morning
Where we will find the power to do missionary work
That is, how we can have a stronger desire
To share the Gospel with others
How we can be more awake
More alive
And so more effective in reaching them.

We saw before that the only thing that stands


Between us and sharing the Gospel with others
Is ourselves:
No one is standing in our way,
No one is physically trying to stop us,
There isnt a special government police force
Thats ready to arrest us if we do.
The only thing thats stopping us is ourselves
Not all of us, but part of us
That part the Bible calls the flesh.
Paul writes, For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things
that you please (Gal. 5:17).

The Spirit continually works in you

3
To make you want to reach out more.
But the sin thats still in your soul is fighting against Him
As it fights against everything the Lord wants you to do.

So what can you do?


Here are four things to think about:
1. Be baptized in the Spirit.
2. Be filled with the Spirit.
3. Walk by the Spirit.
4. And keep from grieving the Spirit.

If you do these things,


You will have more than enough power
To overcome your flesh and evangelize.

II. Sermon.
A. First, you must be baptized in the Spirit.
Luke writes, For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:5).
1. There are many Christians
Who believe this is all you need
To do everything Jesus calls you to do.
It isnt something every believer experiences
Though every believer can.
But once you do,
It moves you from being ordinary to extraordinary;

From a normal Christian to a super Christian.


They believe that this is where
You need to look for that power
In the baptism of the Spirit.

2. We agree that this baptism


Moves you from the ordinary to the extraordinary,
But not in exactly the same way.
It makes you able to do what you couldnt before:
It moves you from darkness to light.
It awakens you from spiritual sleep to spiritual wakefulness.
This is what the Spirit does
When He puts you into Christ
He makes you spiritually alive for the first time
But He does this for all believers.
Paul writes, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews
or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit
(1 Cor. 12:13).

We were born into this world


Dead in sin,
Unable to do what the Lord calls us to do,
Unable to trust Him.
We were like electrical appliances that needed to be plugged in
Made to do something useful,

But unable to do it
Because we didnt have any power.

But the Spirit changed that when He baptized us


When He plugged us into Christ.
He made His life to flow through us.
He gave us power to trust Jesus,
To die to our old way of living,
And to begin to live for Him.

Youll never find the power to do missionary work


Unless you first have this spiritual rebirth.
If you dont have His life in you this morning
Which you can know you dont
If youre not trusting Him and living for Him
Then I invite you to look to Jesus
Look to Him to save you from the wrong things youve done.
Look to Him to give you His Spirit.
Look to Him to give you the power you need
To turn from the selfish things you do,
And to trust in Him and live for Him.

B. Second, if you are to have the power to do missionary work,


You must be filled with the Spirit.

6
Paul writes, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled
with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
This is really what those
Who believe that what you need is the baptism of the Spirit
Are thinking about this fullness of the Spirit
Which seemed to be a part of that baptism
The disciples experienced on the Day of Pentecost.

1. In some ways, the baptism of the Spirit isnt enough.


It raises us to life,
But it doesnt in itself
Give us the power we need
To serve the Lord as we should.
We must also be filled with the Spirit.

Paul isnt saying that the Spirit is some kind of fuel


That needs to fill the empty tank of your soul.
He isnt some kind of quantity
That we can have more or less of.
Hes a person
One who can have more or less control of our lives.
He needs to have more control over your life.

Paul says, Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation.
Dont be filled with wine

7
Dont be under its control
Because that leads to dissipation
It changes how you behave, generally for the worse:
It makes you reckless.

Instead, he says, Be filled with the Spirit,


Because when Hes controlling you,
You wont be selfish and reckless,
Youll be more like Jesus.

Youve heard the expression: Jesus is my copilot.


That really describes someone who has the Spirit,
But isnt filled with the Spirit.
Jesus is in your life
But He isnt in control.
He needs to be in control
He must be the pilot,
He must steer our lives.
When Hes in control
Youll want to do what He would do
Which is among other things to evangelize.

2. How can you be filled with the Spirit?


We see an example
Of how the disciples were filled in Acts 4.

After Peter and John were arrested


For telling others about Jesus Christ,
They were ordered to stop or be punished.
After they said they wouldnt,
They were further threatened and then released.
When they went back to their brethren
And told them what happened,
They prayed.
Luke writes, And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered
together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).
This filling of the Spirit
Came in answer to prayer.

If you want to be filled with the Spirit,


You can only get it in the ways God has given for you to get it:
You need to pray
But you need to see that prayer by itself isnt enough.

You need to read Gods Word


But even that isnt enough.

You need to worship, share in the Lords Supper, and fellowship


But you still need more.

These are only the means the Lord uses.

Theyre not enough by themselves.

You must receive them by faith


You must look to Jesus for His blessing
But even that isnt enough.

You need to use them for the reason He gave them:


That He might have more control in your life,
That He might bring your mind and heart
To focus completely on His Son and His kingdom.

When Peter, John and the disciples prayed,


They werent praying for Aunt Berthas broken toe,
That they might get that job they interviewed for,
Or that they might be able to pass that test on Tuesday
The Lord does tell us
We may pray for these things in their place,
But they shouldnt be the first things
On our minds and hearts

They didnt just pray for the power of the Spirit,


So they might feel more spiritual.

They prayed that they might be able to do


What God called them to do:

10
And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants
may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to
heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy
servant Jesus (Acts 4:29-30).

They wanted the power to honor Jesus,


And the Lord answered them
By giving them that power:
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was
shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the
word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).

The Lord will fill you with His Spirit


If you want to use that power
In the way He wants you to use it:
To tell others about His Gospel.

C. Third, you must walk by the Spirit.


Paul writes to the Galatians, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry
out the desire of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
And he writes to the Romans, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was
through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the
requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to
the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3-4).

When you ask for Gods help


For the right reasons
He will give you His Spirit.
But once He gives you that power,

11
Theres something you must do:
You must yield to Him
And do what He wants you to do.

Life is a continual series of choices


Every day, you will need to make hundreds of them
And in every choice,
Theres always two ways you can go:
You can do what you want,
Or you can do what He wants
If you have any question as to what He wants,
Just read His Word: Hes very specific.

The more you are filled with the Spirit,


The closer these two will become
The more you will want what He wants
And so the more you will do what He wants.

But the less you have of the Spirit,


The further these two will be apart
Hell want one thing,
And youll want another
And the more likely you will do what you want.

If you want to have the power to do missionary work

12
To share the Gospel,
Which is one of the more difficult things
He gives us to do,
Because it is the most opposed
To what our flesh wants to do
You need to yield to give in
To what the Spirit moves you to do.

The more you resist your flesh and yield to Him,


The stronger His influence in your soul will become,
And the easier it will become to obey Him.

D. Finally, you must not grieve/offend the Spirit by resisting Him.


Paul writes, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).
If doing what He wants strengthens His influence,
Resisting Him
Not doing what He wants
Weakens it.

1. The Spirits work is often pictured in the Bible as fire,


Because of the holy devotion He creates in your heart.
John the Baptist, when he compared his ministry with Jesus, said,
As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after
me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3:11).

13

When the Day of Pentecost had come,


And the Spirit was poured out from heaven,
He appeared as fire on each of the disciples.
Luke writes, And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent
rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And
there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they
rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance
(Acts 2:2-4).

When you obey the Spirit,


Its like pouring fuel on the fire
His influence becomes stronger,
Your devotion burns hotter,
And it becomes easier to obey Him.

But when you resist Him,


Its like pouring water on the fire
His influence becomes weaker,
It quenches your devotion,
And at the same time,
Strengthens your flesh
Making you more self-centered
And making it more difficult to serve Him.

2. So where are you going to find


The power to resist your flesh

14

And do the missionary work


The Lord calls you to?

a. You must use the ways God has given you


To strengthen the influence of His Spirit in your heart
Prayer, His Word, worship and fellowship.

b. You must use them for the purpose God gave them:
To strengthen your devotion to Him
To unite your heart completely to love Him
Not just most of it,
But all of it
Its not that you shouldnt love others,
But you need to let your love
For everyone else flow from your love for Him.

c. You must yield to His influence/control in your life


Go the direction He is leading you
Which will be easy if your heart belongs to Him.

d. And you must resist the temptation to disobey Him


And follow the desires of your flesh.

e. One last thing, you must seek to obey Him in every area of your life:
(i) In your thoughts

15
You must choose not to think thoughts
That are dishonoring to Him,
But only those that will honor Him.
Paul writes, We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised
up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

(ii) In your desires


You must only allow yourself to want
What you know the Lord wants for you.
Solomon writes, Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it
flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23).

(iii) In your words


Paul writes, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but
only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the
moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption (Eph. 4:29-30).

(iv) And in the things you do


Do only those things that will honor Him.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph.
2:10).

(v) If you will sincerely seek the Lord in this way,


You will find the power to overcome your flesh
And do what the Lord calls you to do
You will reach the lost with the Gospel;

16

You will do missionary work.


http://www.gcmodesto.org

Where Will We Find the Power to Do Missionary Work?


(Acts 1:8)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Weve seen:
That missionary work isnt just overseas cross cultural evangelism
Its the simple communication of the Gospel.

That it isnt just for the elite, specially called and trained believer
Jesus calls all of us to be missionaries.

That it isnt something we are just to do sometimes


The Lord calls us to see ourselves as missionaries wherever we are,
And to be ready at all times to do this work.

Weve seen that to be ready,


We need to know the Gospel
Which we already do if we are believers
We must be willing to share it,
From a life that shows its real;
And that we need to seek out those who need to hear it,
Share it with them,
And if the Lord converts them,
Try to get them into a local church.

2
B. Preview.
To finish this brief series,
I want us to consider this morning
Where we will find the power to do missionary work
That is, how we can have a stronger desire
To share the Gospel with others
How we can be more awake
More alive
And so more effective in reaching them.

We saw before that the only thing that stands


Between us and sharing the Gospel with others
Is ourselves:
No one is standing in our way,
No one is physically trying to stop us,
There isnt a special government police force
Thats ready to arrest us if we do.
The only thing thats stopping us is ourselves
Not all of us, but part of us
That part the Bible calls the flesh.
Paul writes, For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things
that you please (Gal. 5:17).

The Spirit continually works in you

3
To make you want to reach out more.
But the sin thats still in your soul is fighting against Him
As it fights against everything the Lord wants you to do.

So what can you do?


Here are four things to think about:
1. Be baptized in the Spirit.
2. Be filled with the Spirit.
3. Walk by the Spirit.
4. And keep from grieving the Spirit.

If you do these things,


You will have more than enough power
To overcome your flesh and evangelize.

II. Sermon.
A. First, you must be baptized in the Spirit.
Luke writes, For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:5).
1. There are many Christians
Who believe this is all you need
To do everything Jesus calls you to do.
It isnt something every believer experiences
Though every believer can.
But once you do,
It moves you from being ordinary to extraordinary;

From a normal Christian to a super Christian.


They believe that this is where
You need to look for that power
In the baptism of the Spirit.

2. We agree that this baptism


Moves you from the ordinary to the extraordinary,
But not in exactly the same way.
It makes you able to do what you couldnt before:
It moves you from darkness to light.
It awakens you from spiritual sleep to spiritual wakefulness.
This is what the Spirit does
When He puts you into Christ
He makes you spiritually alive for the first time
But He does this for all believers.
Paul writes, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews
or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit
(1 Cor. 12:13).

We were born into this world


Dead in sin,
Unable to do what the Lord calls us to do,
Unable to trust Him.
We were like electrical appliances that needed to be plugged in
Made to do something useful,

But unable to do it
Because we didnt have any power.

But the Spirit changed that when He baptized us


When He plugged us into Christ.
He made His life to flow through us.
He gave us power to trust Jesus,
To die to our old way of living,
And to begin to live for Him.

Youll never find the power to do missionary work


Unless you first have this spiritual rebirth.
If you dont have His life in you this morning
Which you can know you dont
If youre not trusting Him and living for Him
Then I invite you to look to Jesus
Look to Him to save you from the wrong things youve done.
Look to Him to give you His Spirit.
Look to Him to give you the power you need
To turn from the selfish things you do,
And to trust in Him and live for Him.

B. Second, if you are to have the power to do missionary work,


You must be filled with the Spirit.

6
Paul writes, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled
with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
This is really what those
Who believe that what you need is the baptism of the Spirit
Are thinking about this fullness of the Spirit
Which seemed to be a part of that baptism
The disciples experienced on the Day of Pentecost.

1. In some ways, the baptism of the Spirit isnt enough.


It raises us to life,
But it doesnt in itself
Give us the power we need
To serve the Lord as we should.
We must also be filled with the Spirit.

Paul isnt saying that the Spirit is some kind of fuel


That needs to fill the empty tank of your soul.
He isnt some kind of quantity
That we can have more or less of.
Hes a person
One who can have more or less control of our lives.
He needs to have more control over your life.

Paul says, Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation.
Dont be filled with wine

7
Dont be under its control
Because that leads to dissipation
It changes how you behave, generally for the worse:
It makes you reckless.

Instead, he says, Be filled with the Spirit,


Because when Hes controlling you,
You wont be selfish and reckless,
Youll be more like Jesus.

Youve heard the expression: Jesus is my copilot.


That really describes someone who has the Spirit,
But isnt filled with the Spirit.
Jesus is in your life
But He isnt in control.
He needs to be in control
He must be the pilot,
He must steer our lives.
When Hes in control
Youll want to do what He would do
Which is among other things to evangelize.

2. How can you be filled with the Spirit?


We see an example
Of how the disciples were filled in Acts 4.

After Peter and John were arrested


For telling others about Jesus Christ,
They were ordered to stop or be punished.
After they said they wouldnt,
They were further threatened and then released.
When they went back to their brethren
And told them what happened,
They prayed.
Luke writes, And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered
together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).
This filling of the Spirit
Came in answer to prayer.

If you want to be filled with the Spirit,


You can only get it in the ways God has given for you to get it:
You need to pray
But you need to see that prayer by itself isnt enough.

You need to read Gods Word


But even that isnt enough.

You need to worship, share in the Lords Supper, and fellowship


But you still need more.

These are only the means the Lord uses.

Theyre not enough by themselves.

You must receive them by faith


You must look to Jesus for His blessing
But even that isnt enough.

You need to use them for the reason He gave them:


That He might have more control in your life,
That He might bring your mind and heart
To focus completely on His Son and His kingdom.

When Peter, John and the disciples prayed,


They werent praying for Aunt Berthas broken toe,
That they might get that job they interviewed for,
Or that they might be able to pass that test on Tuesday
The Lord does tell us
We may pray for these things in their place,
But they shouldnt be the first things
On our minds and hearts

They didnt just pray for the power of the Spirit,


So they might feel more spiritual.

They prayed that they might be able to do


What God called them to do:

10
And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants
may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to
heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy
servant Jesus (Acts 4:29-30).

They wanted the power to honor Jesus,


And the Lord answered them
By giving them that power:
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was
shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the
word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).

The Lord will fill you with His Spirit


If you want to use that power
In the way He wants you to use it:
To tell others about His Gospel.

C. Third, you must walk by the Spirit.


Paul writes to the Galatians, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry
out the desire of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
And he writes to the Romans, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was
through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the
requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to
the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3-4).

When you ask for Gods help


For the right reasons
He will give you His Spirit.
But once He gives you that power,

11
Theres something you must do:
You must yield to Him
And do what He wants you to do.

Life is a continual series of choices


Every day, you will need to make hundreds of them
And in every choice,
Theres always two ways you can go:
You can do what you want,
Or you can do what He wants
If you have any question as to what He wants,
Just read His Word: Hes very specific.

The more you are filled with the Spirit,


The closer these two will become
The more you will want what He wants
And so the more you will do what He wants.

But the less you have of the Spirit,


The further these two will be apart
Hell want one thing,
And youll want another
And the more likely you will do what you want.

If you want to have the power to do missionary work

12
To share the Gospel,
Which is one of the more difficult things
He gives us to do,
Because it is the most opposed
To what our flesh wants to do
You need to yield to give in
To what the Spirit moves you to do.

The more you resist your flesh and yield to Him,


The stronger His influence in your soul will become,
And the easier it will become to obey Him.

D. Finally, you must not grieve/offend the Spirit by resisting Him.


Paul writes, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).
If doing what He wants strengthens His influence,
Resisting Him
Not doing what He wants
Weakens it.

1. The Spirits work is often pictured in the Bible as fire,


Because of the holy devotion He creates in your heart.
John the Baptist, when he compared his ministry with Jesus, said,
As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after
me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3:11).

13

When the Day of Pentecost had come,


And the Spirit was poured out from heaven,
He appeared as fire on each of the disciples.
Luke writes, And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent
rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And
there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they
rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance
(Acts 2:2-4).

When you obey the Spirit,


Its like pouring fuel on the fire
His influence becomes stronger,
Your devotion burns hotter,
And it becomes easier to obey Him.

But when you resist Him,


Its like pouring water on the fire
His influence becomes weaker,
It quenches your devotion,
And at the same time,
Strengthens your flesh
Making you more self-centered
And making it more difficult to serve Him.

2. So where are you going to find


The power to resist your flesh

14

And do the missionary work


The Lord calls you to?

a. You must use the ways God has given you


To strengthen the influence of His Spirit in your heart
Prayer, His Word, worship and fellowship.

b. You must use them for the purpose God gave them:
To strengthen your devotion to Him
To unite your heart completely to love Him
Not just most of it,
But all of it
Its not that you shouldnt love others,
But you need to let your love
For everyone else flow from your love for Him.

c. You must yield to His influence/control in your life


Go the direction He is leading you
Which will be easy if your heart belongs to Him.

d. And you must resist the temptation to disobey Him


And follow the desires of your flesh.

e. One last thing, you must seek to obey Him in every area of your life:
(i) In your thoughts

15
You must choose not to think thoughts
That are dishonoring to Him,
But only those that will honor Him.
Paul writes, We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised
up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

(ii) In your desires


You must only allow yourself to want
What you know the Lord wants for you.
Solomon writes, Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it
flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23).

(iii) In your words


Paul writes, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but
only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the
moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption (Eph. 4:29-30).

(iv) And in the things you do


Do only those things that will honor Him.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph.
2:10).

(v) If you will sincerely seek the Lord in this way,


You will find the power to overcome your flesh
And do what the Lord calls you to do
You will reach the lost with the Gospel;

16

You will do missionary work.


http://www.gcmodesto.org

Where Will We Find the Power to Do Missionary Work?


(Acts 1:8)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Weve seen:
That missionary work isnt just overseas cross cultural evangelism
Its the simple communication of the Gospel.

That it isnt just for the elite, specially called and trained believer
Jesus calls all of us to be missionaries.

That it isnt something we are just to do sometimes


The Lord calls us to see ourselves as missionaries wherever we are,
And to be ready at all times to do this work.

Weve seen that to be ready,


We need to know the Gospel
Which we already do if we are believers
We must be willing to share it,
From a life that shows its real;
And that we need to seek out those who need to hear it,
Share it with them,
And if the Lord converts them,
Try to get them into a local church.

2
B. Preview.
To finish this brief series,
I want us to consider this morning
Where we will find the power to do missionary work
That is, how we can have a stronger desire
To share the Gospel with others
How we can be more awake
More alive
And so more effective in reaching them.

We saw before that the only thing that stands


Between us and sharing the Gospel with others
Is ourselves:
No one is standing in our way,
No one is physically trying to stop us,
There isnt a special government police force
Thats ready to arrest us if we do.
The only thing thats stopping us is ourselves
Not all of us, but part of us
That part the Bible calls the flesh.
Paul writes, For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things
that you please (Gal. 5:17).

The Spirit continually works in you

3
To make you want to reach out more.
But the sin thats still in your soul is fighting against Him
As it fights against everything the Lord wants you to do.

So what can you do?


Here are four things to think about:
1. Be baptized in the Spirit.
2. Be filled with the Spirit.
3. Walk by the Spirit.
4. And keep from grieving the Spirit.

If you do these things,


You will have more than enough power
To overcome your flesh and evangelize.

II. Sermon.
A. First, you must be baptized in the Spirit.
Luke writes, For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:5).
1. There are many Christians
Who believe this is all you need
To do everything Jesus calls you to do.
It isnt something every believer experiences
Though every believer can.
But once you do,
It moves you from being ordinary to extraordinary;

From a normal Christian to a super Christian.


They believe that this is where
You need to look for that power
In the baptism of the Spirit.

2. We agree that this baptism


Moves you from the ordinary to the extraordinary,
But not in exactly the same way.
It makes you able to do what you couldnt before:
It moves you from darkness to light.
It awakens you from spiritual sleep to spiritual wakefulness.
This is what the Spirit does
When He puts you into Christ
He makes you spiritually alive for the first time
But He does this for all believers.
Paul writes, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews
or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit
(1 Cor. 12:13).

We were born into this world


Dead in sin,
Unable to do what the Lord calls us to do,
Unable to trust Him.
We were like electrical appliances that needed to be plugged in
Made to do something useful,

But unable to do it
Because we didnt have any power.

But the Spirit changed that when He baptized us


When He plugged us into Christ.
He made His life to flow through us.
He gave us power to trust Jesus,
To die to our old way of living,
And to begin to live for Him.

Youll never find the power to do missionary work


Unless you first have this spiritual rebirth.
If you dont have His life in you this morning
Which you can know you dont
If youre not trusting Him and living for Him
Then I invite you to look to Jesus
Look to Him to save you from the wrong things youve done.
Look to Him to give you His Spirit.
Look to Him to give you the power you need
To turn from the selfish things you do,
And to trust in Him and live for Him.

B. Second, if you are to have the power to do missionary work,


You must be filled with the Spirit.

6
Paul writes, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled
with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
This is really what those
Who believe that what you need is the baptism of the Spirit
Are thinking about this fullness of the Spirit
Which seemed to be a part of that baptism
The disciples experienced on the Day of Pentecost.

1. In some ways, the baptism of the Spirit isnt enough.


It raises us to life,
But it doesnt in itself
Give us the power we need
To serve the Lord as we should.
We must also be filled with the Spirit.

Paul isnt saying that the Spirit is some kind of fuel


That needs to fill the empty tank of your soul.
He isnt some kind of quantity
That we can have more or less of.
Hes a person
One who can have more or less control of our lives.
He needs to have more control over your life.

Paul says, Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation.
Dont be filled with wine

7
Dont be under its control
Because that leads to dissipation
It changes how you behave, generally for the worse:
It makes you reckless.

Instead, he says, Be filled with the Spirit,


Because when Hes controlling you,
You wont be selfish and reckless,
Youll be more like Jesus.

Youve heard the expression: Jesus is my copilot.


That really describes someone who has the Spirit,
But isnt filled with the Spirit.
Jesus is in your life
But He isnt in control.
He needs to be in control
He must be the pilot,
He must steer our lives.
When Hes in control
Youll want to do what He would do
Which is among other things to evangelize.

2. How can you be filled with the Spirit?


We see an example
Of how the disciples were filled in Acts 4.

After Peter and John were arrested


For telling others about Jesus Christ,
They were ordered to stop or be punished.
After they said they wouldnt,
They were further threatened and then released.
When they went back to their brethren
And told them what happened,
They prayed.
Luke writes, And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered
together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).
This filling of the Spirit
Came in answer to prayer.

If you want to be filled with the Spirit,


You can only get it in the ways God has given for you to get it:
You need to pray
But you need to see that prayer by itself isnt enough.

You need to read Gods Word


But even that isnt enough.

You need to worship, share in the Lords Supper, and fellowship


But you still need more.

These are only the means the Lord uses.

Theyre not enough by themselves.

You must receive them by faith


You must look to Jesus for His blessing
But even that isnt enough.

You need to use them for the reason He gave them:


That He might have more control in your life,
That He might bring your mind and heart
To focus completely on His Son and His kingdom.

When Peter, John and the disciples prayed,


They werent praying for Aunt Berthas broken toe,
That they might get that job they interviewed for,
Or that they might be able to pass that test on Tuesday
The Lord does tell us
We may pray for these things in their place,
But they shouldnt be the first things
On our minds and hearts

They didnt just pray for the power of the Spirit,


So they might feel more spiritual.

They prayed that they might be able to do


What God called them to do:

10
And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants
may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to
heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy
servant Jesus (Acts 4:29-30).

They wanted the power to honor Jesus,


And the Lord answered them
By giving them that power:
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was
shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the
word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).

The Lord will fill you with His Spirit


If you want to use that power
In the way He wants you to use it:
To tell others about His Gospel.

C. Third, you must walk by the Spirit.


Paul writes to the Galatians, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry
out the desire of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
And he writes to the Romans, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was
through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the
requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to
the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3-4).

When you ask for Gods help


For the right reasons
He will give you His Spirit.
But once He gives you that power,

11
Theres something you must do:
You must yield to Him
And do what He wants you to do.

Life is a continual series of choices


Every day, you will need to make hundreds of them
And in every choice,
Theres always two ways you can go:
You can do what you want,
Or you can do what He wants
If you have any question as to what He wants,
Just read His Word: Hes very specific.

The more you are filled with the Spirit,


The closer these two will become
The more you will want what He wants
And so the more you will do what He wants.

But the less you have of the Spirit,


The further these two will be apart
Hell want one thing,
And youll want another
And the more likely you will do what you want.

If you want to have the power to do missionary work

12
To share the Gospel,
Which is one of the more difficult things
He gives us to do,
Because it is the most opposed
To what our flesh wants to do
You need to yield to give in
To what the Spirit moves you to do.

The more you resist your flesh and yield to Him,


The stronger His influence in your soul will become,
And the easier it will become to obey Him.

D. Finally, you must not grieve/offend the Spirit by resisting Him.


Paul writes, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).
If doing what He wants strengthens His influence,
Resisting Him
Not doing what He wants
Weakens it.

1. The Spirits work is often pictured in the Bible as fire,


Because of the holy devotion He creates in your heart.
John the Baptist, when he compared his ministry with Jesus, said,
As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after
me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3:11).

13

When the Day of Pentecost had come,


And the Spirit was poured out from heaven,
He appeared as fire on each of the disciples.
Luke writes, And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent
rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And
there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they
rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance
(Acts 2:2-4).

When you obey the Spirit,


Its like pouring fuel on the fire
His influence becomes stronger,
Your devotion burns hotter,
And it becomes easier to obey Him.

But when you resist Him,


Its like pouring water on the fire
His influence becomes weaker,
It quenches your devotion,
And at the same time,
Strengthens your flesh
Making you more self-centered
And making it more difficult to serve Him.

2. So where are you going to find


The power to resist your flesh

14

And do the missionary work


The Lord calls you to?

a. You must use the ways God has given you


To strengthen the influence of His Spirit in your heart
Prayer, His Word, worship and fellowship.

b. You must use them for the purpose God gave them:
To strengthen your devotion to Him
To unite your heart completely to love Him
Not just most of it,
But all of it
Its not that you shouldnt love others,
But you need to let your love
For everyone else flow from your love for Him.

c. You must yield to His influence/control in your life


Go the direction He is leading you
Which will be easy if your heart belongs to Him.

d. And you must resist the temptation to disobey Him


And follow the desires of your flesh.

e. One last thing, you must seek to obey Him in every area of your life:
(i) In your thoughts

15
You must choose not to think thoughts
That are dishonoring to Him,
But only those that will honor Him.
Paul writes, We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised
up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

(ii) In your desires


You must only allow yourself to want
What you know the Lord wants for you.
Solomon writes, Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it
flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23).

(iii) In your words


Paul writes, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but
only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the
moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption (Eph. 4:29-30).

(iv) And in the things you do


Do only those things that will honor Him.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph.
2:10).

(v) If you will sincerely seek the Lord in this way,


You will find the power to overcome your flesh
And do what the Lord calls you to do
You will reach the lost with the Gospel;

16

You will do missionary work.


http://www.gcmodesto.org

Where Will We Find the Power to Do Missionary Work?


(Acts 1:8)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Weve seen:
That missionary work isnt just overseas cross cultural evangelism
Its the simple communication of the Gospel.

That it isnt just for the elite, specially called and trained believer
Jesus calls all of us to be missionaries.

That it isnt something we are just to do sometimes


The Lord calls us to see ourselves as missionaries wherever we are,
And to be ready at all times to do this work.

Weve seen that to be ready,


We need to know the Gospel
Which we already do if we are believers
We must be willing to share it,
From a life that shows its real;
And that we need to seek out those who need to hear it,
Share it with them,
And if the Lord converts them,
Try to get them into a local church.

2
B. Preview.
To finish this brief series,
I want us to consider this morning
Where we will find the power to do missionary work
That is, how we can have a stronger desire
To share the Gospel with others
How we can be more awake
More alive
And so more effective in reaching them.

We saw before that the only thing that stands


Between us and sharing the Gospel with others
Is ourselves:
No one is standing in our way,
No one is physically trying to stop us,
There isnt a special government police force
Thats ready to arrest us if we do.
The only thing thats stopping us is ourselves
Not all of us, but part of us
That part the Bible calls the flesh.
Paul writes, For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things
that you please (Gal. 5:17).

The Spirit continually works in you

3
To make you want to reach out more.
But the sin thats still in your soul is fighting against Him
As it fights against everything the Lord wants you to do.

So what can you do?


Here are four things to think about:
1. Be baptized in the Spirit.
2. Be filled with the Spirit.
3. Walk by the Spirit.
4. And keep from grieving the Spirit.

If you do these things,


You will have more than enough power
To overcome your flesh and evangelize.

II. Sermon.
A. First, you must be baptized in the Spirit.
Luke writes, For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:5).
1. There are many Christians
Who believe this is all you need
To do everything Jesus calls you to do.
It isnt something every believer experiences
Though every believer can.
But once you do,
It moves you from being ordinary to extraordinary;

From a normal Christian to a super Christian.


They believe that this is where
You need to look for that power
In the baptism of the Spirit.

2. We agree that this baptism


Moves you from the ordinary to the extraordinary,
But not in exactly the same way.
It makes you able to do what you couldnt before:
It moves you from darkness to light.
It awakens you from spiritual sleep to spiritual wakefulness.
This is what the Spirit does
When He puts you into Christ
He makes you spiritually alive for the first time
But He does this for all believers.
Paul writes, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews
or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit
(1 Cor. 12:13).

We were born into this world


Dead in sin,
Unable to do what the Lord calls us to do,
Unable to trust Him.
We were like electrical appliances that needed to be plugged in
Made to do something useful,

But unable to do it
Because we didnt have any power.

But the Spirit changed that when He baptized us


When He plugged us into Christ.
He made His life to flow through us.
He gave us power to trust Jesus,
To die to our old way of living,
And to begin to live for Him.

Youll never find the power to do missionary work


Unless you first have this spiritual rebirth.
If you dont have His life in you this morning
Which you can know you dont
If youre not trusting Him and living for Him
Then I invite you to look to Jesus
Look to Him to save you from the wrong things youve done.
Look to Him to give you His Spirit.
Look to Him to give you the power you need
To turn from the selfish things you do,
And to trust in Him and live for Him.

B. Second, if you are to have the power to do missionary work,


You must be filled with the Spirit.

6
Paul writes, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled
with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
This is really what those
Who believe that what you need is the baptism of the Spirit
Are thinking about this fullness of the Spirit
Which seemed to be a part of that baptism
The disciples experienced on the Day of Pentecost.

1. In some ways, the baptism of the Spirit isnt enough.


It raises us to life,
But it doesnt in itself
Give us the power we need
To serve the Lord as we should.
We must also be filled with the Spirit.

Paul isnt saying that the Spirit is some kind of fuel


That needs to fill the empty tank of your soul.
He isnt some kind of quantity
That we can have more or less of.
Hes a person
One who can have more or less control of our lives.
He needs to have more control over your life.

Paul says, Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation.
Dont be filled with wine

7
Dont be under its control
Because that leads to dissipation
It changes how you behave, generally for the worse:
It makes you reckless.

Instead, he says, Be filled with the Spirit,


Because when Hes controlling you,
You wont be selfish and reckless,
Youll be more like Jesus.

Youve heard the expression: Jesus is my copilot.


That really describes someone who has the Spirit,
But isnt filled with the Spirit.
Jesus is in your life
But He isnt in control.
He needs to be in control
He must be the pilot,
He must steer our lives.
When Hes in control
Youll want to do what He would do
Which is among other things to evangelize.

2. How can you be filled with the Spirit?


We see an example
Of how the disciples were filled in Acts 4.

After Peter and John were arrested


For telling others about Jesus Christ,
They were ordered to stop or be punished.
After they said they wouldnt,
They were further threatened and then released.
When they went back to their brethren
And told them what happened,
They prayed.
Luke writes, And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered
together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).
This filling of the Spirit
Came in answer to prayer.

If you want to be filled with the Spirit,


You can only get it in the ways God has given for you to get it:
You need to pray
But you need to see that prayer by itself isnt enough.

You need to read Gods Word


But even that isnt enough.

You need to worship, share in the Lords Supper, and fellowship


But you still need more.

These are only the means the Lord uses.

Theyre not enough by themselves.

You must receive them by faith


You must look to Jesus for His blessing
But even that isnt enough.

You need to use them for the reason He gave them:


That He might have more control in your life,
That He might bring your mind and heart
To focus completely on His Son and His kingdom.

When Peter, John and the disciples prayed,


They werent praying for Aunt Berthas broken toe,
That they might get that job they interviewed for,
Or that they might be able to pass that test on Tuesday
The Lord does tell us
We may pray for these things in their place,
But they shouldnt be the first things
On our minds and hearts

They didnt just pray for the power of the Spirit,


So they might feel more spiritual.

They prayed that they might be able to do


What God called them to do:

10
And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants
may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to
heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy
servant Jesus (Acts 4:29-30).

They wanted the power to honor Jesus,


And the Lord answered them
By giving them that power:
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was
shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the
word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).

The Lord will fill you with His Spirit


If you want to use that power
In the way He wants you to use it:
To tell others about His Gospel.

C. Third, you must walk by the Spirit.


Paul writes to the Galatians, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry
out the desire of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
And he writes to the Romans, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was
through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the
requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to
the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3-4).

When you ask for Gods help


For the right reasons
He will give you His Spirit.
But once He gives you that power,

11
Theres something you must do:
You must yield to Him
And do what He wants you to do.

Life is a continual series of choices


Every day, you will need to make hundreds of them
And in every choice,
Theres always two ways you can go:
You can do what you want,
Or you can do what He wants
If you have any question as to what He wants,
Just read His Word: Hes very specific.

The more you are filled with the Spirit,


The closer these two will become
The more you will want what He wants
And so the more you will do what He wants.

But the less you have of the Spirit,


The further these two will be apart
Hell want one thing,
And youll want another
And the more likely you will do what you want.

If you want to have the power to do missionary work

12
To share the Gospel,
Which is one of the more difficult things
He gives us to do,
Because it is the most opposed
To what our flesh wants to do
You need to yield to give in
To what the Spirit moves you to do.

The more you resist your flesh and yield to Him,


The stronger His influence in your soul will become,
And the easier it will become to obey Him.

D. Finally, you must not grieve/offend the Spirit by resisting Him.


Paul writes, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).
If doing what He wants strengthens His influence,
Resisting Him
Not doing what He wants
Weakens it.

1. The Spirits work is often pictured in the Bible as fire,


Because of the holy devotion He creates in your heart.
John the Baptist, when he compared his ministry with Jesus, said,
As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after
me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3:11).

13

When the Day of Pentecost had come,


And the Spirit was poured out from heaven,
He appeared as fire on each of the disciples.
Luke writes, And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent
rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And
there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they
rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance
(Acts 2:2-4).

When you obey the Spirit,


Its like pouring fuel on the fire
His influence becomes stronger,
Your devotion burns hotter,
And it becomes easier to obey Him.

But when you resist Him,


Its like pouring water on the fire
His influence becomes weaker,
It quenches your devotion,
And at the same time,
Strengthens your flesh
Making you more self-centered
And making it more difficult to serve Him.

2. So where are you going to find


The power to resist your flesh

14

And do the missionary work


The Lord calls you to?

a. You must use the ways God has given you


To strengthen the influence of His Spirit in your heart
Prayer, His Word, worship and fellowship.

b. You must use them for the purpose God gave them:
To strengthen your devotion to Him
To unite your heart completely to love Him
Not just most of it,
But all of it
Its not that you shouldnt love others,
But you need to let your love
For everyone else flow from your love for Him.

c. You must yield to His influence/control in your life


Go the direction He is leading you
Which will be easy if your heart belongs to Him.

d. And you must resist the temptation to disobey Him


And follow the desires of your flesh.

e. One last thing, you must seek to obey Him in every area of your life:
(i) In your thoughts

15
You must choose not to think thoughts
That are dishonoring to Him,
But only those that will honor Him.
Paul writes, We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised
up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

(ii) In your desires


You must only allow yourself to want
What you know the Lord wants for you.
Solomon writes, Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it
flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23).

(iii) In your words


Paul writes, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but
only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the
moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption (Eph. 4:29-30).

(iv) And in the things you do


Do only those things that will honor Him.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph.
2:10).

(v) If you will sincerely seek the Lord in this way,


You will find the power to overcome your flesh
And do what the Lord calls you to do
You will reach the lost with the Gospel;

16

You will do missionary work.


http://www.gcmodesto.org

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