Today’s message is entitled “The Spirit’s New Move.” As we journey through the gospel of Luke in this message series, we see Jesus constantly upsetting the traditions of men. He upsets the Jewish leaders. They thought they were following God by keeping various rules and regulations. However, Jesus taught that there was only one way to have a relationship with God. And that way was not through keeping rules.
John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus made it clear that there is only one way to have a relationship with God, in this life and for eternity. The one way is through Jesus Christ. So how does a person follow Jesus the way?
Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Following Jesus requires, not good works, but faith. Faith believes that God exists, that He rewards seekers who put their trust in Him. Polls in America and around the world show that most people believe that the way to have a relationship with God, the way to heaven is to be a good person. All religions other than Christianity are rule-based religions. You must do certain things they consider good order to have a relationship with God.
This was the case of the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day and it is the same for Jews today and every other religion. Unfortunately, many people who claim to be Christian think that they are going to heaven because they are good people who do good things. No one can be good enough to go to heaven.
Romans 3:23 (ESV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Every person on earth has a sin problem. Just one sin, and we all have many more than one, keeps a person from a relationship with God and heaven in eternity. Only Jesus was able to solve mankind’s sin problem through His death and resurrection. After Jesus’ rose from the dead, He began to pour out the Holy Spirit to empower those who through faith choose to follow Him.
Acts 2:17a (ESV) And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…
On the day of Pentecost, God began to pour out His Spirit on those who were praying and seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit. God continued to make available His Spirit down through the millennia. However, unfortunately, not many were seeking the power of the Spirit for thousands of years. That changed in a dramatic way in the early 1900s as people in America began to seek after God in a new and fresh way.
In 1914, the Assemblies of God fellowship was created to reach the world for Jesus through the power of the Spirit. The Assemblies of God is now the world’s largest evangelical and largest Spirit-filled fellowship in the world with over 70 million members and hundreds of thousands of churches. It is now estimated that there are 645 million Spirit baptized believers in the world. Why is this all happening in our lifetime? I and many others believe that God is preparing for a great move of revival to usher in the return of Jesus Christ. So, how can we be part of the Spirit’s new move in our world today?