Come, Lord Jesus
Subject: Inviting Jesus and Holy Spirit to Burst into Our Lives
by Rick Welborne
John 10:10 (NKJV)
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
–The last Sunday night that I spoke we talked about what it meant to have biblical joy and what it would be like to Live In Freedom Every Day!
–There was a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in the service and a spirit of celebration that says, Yes, Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength!
–I just wonder if (at the beginning of the service) when we invite the Holy Spirit that we also prayed to lay everything else down to concentrate on Him...it would be powerful.
–Why sit here till we die...why sit here till we see our family and friends lost forever from the God we love. Jesus said I have come…please come, Lord Jesus!
1. Press on!
–We must rise up and press toward those doors God has set before us and find that life that is filled with abundance. I was talking with Pastor Mark and Pastor Juan the other day:
Quote: We can spend our lives living the dream God has given us or we can live our lives chasing the dream we want.
Philippians 3:12‑14 (NIV)
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
–Look at your neighbor and say “press on” in the Greek and Hebrew it means untie your donkey and press on toward Christ! Let nothing hold you back.
–Paul goes on and says something that we must be willing to hear if we will have abundant life, if we will do all that we do for the glory of God, if we will have the power to do what He is calling Life Church to do:
Philippians 3:8‑11 (NIV)
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ‑‑the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
–I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection...this is the key! There must be that willingness to lay down our lives for Him!
–As we are getting ready for revival...I am glad we are preparing...glad we are talking about seeking God until He comes…passionate prayer.
2. Come, Holy Spirit!
–But if we don’t experience Christ and the power of His resurrection (the Holy Spirit) we will have missed what revival and every day of our lives are all about.
Samuel Chadwick - The Christian religion is hopeless without the power of the Holy Spirit!
Jim Cymbala - Ministry is especially hopeless without the Holy Spirit. Let every pastor (believer) take note: Our attempt at ministry will be an absolute exercise in futility if we are not expecting and experiencing divine help thru the power of the Holy Spirit!
–You see it is not enough to just teach and preach about the Holy Spirit. We must experience Him personally in our inner beings or we will accomplish little for the Kingdom of God.
–Without the Spirit of God the Word of God is not real and alive to us and our worship is hollow at best.
–Every service I want the meeting to be alive with the presence and glory of the Holy Spirit. I do not want my sermon to be mechanical but anointed by the Spirit which brings people to Christ:
John 16:7‑8 (NIV)
7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
–You see...when the Spirit is not present...conviction of sin is almost non-existent. There is no revelation of the righteousness of Christ and no thought or fear of judgment to come.
--We need the Holy Spirit in our church, our families, and in our personal lives.
–Pastor Rick, I am not sure what I believe about the Holy Spirit...my church taught me it was not for today ...question for you...is God’s Word for today?
–You need to untie your donkey and lead Him to living water...the Word of God is full of scriptures concerning the Holy Spirit...there is even a book...Acts: Acts of the Holy Spirit.
–Read Jesus Words in John 14-16...the Holy Spirit is for all of us...His living water is available for you today:
John 7:37‑39 (NKJV)
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
–I untied my donkey a long time ago and said I want everything God has for me...The Bible says if we will seek Him with all our hearts we will find Him.
–He is not going to save us out of sin, tell us to reach the world, and then, leave us powerless:
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
–So what do we do to get prepared for revival and prepared for life?
Cymbala: I am not calling for any kind of fanaticism. We don’t need musicians working up the crowd into some kind of frenzy. We don’t need manipulated manifestations or counterfeit gifts. But we do need the real Holy Spirit upon us in power, in all our churches, of all denominations and traditions.
3. Burst forth, Lord!
–So here is what I recommend we do: Pray and prepare but ask God to come and do what we cannot do!
Isaiah 64:1‑4 (NLT)
1 Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence!
2 As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil, your coming would make the nations tremble. Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame!
3 When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains quaked!
4 For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!
–Oh, God, give us some Isaiahs who would cry out to you... Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down!
–This is what will make the difference in our lives and in Life Church…It is the Holy Spirit coming in power down on our service and down on our people.
–I wish someone would cry out to God and say Lord, rend (burst forth) the heavens and come down.
–Hear your pastor’s heart...I want us to pray, prepare, and have a strategy but more than anything I want the Lord to burst from heaven and come down to us.
–People say won’t happen if we are not ready...I have a question for you...who organized on the day of Pentecost crowd control, security, the sound system, the order of service, the music?
--Which disciple would speak...the only biblical answer is Holy Spirit because they had no plan but were just seeking God.
1 Corinthians 12:7‑11 (NLT)
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.
8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.
9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.
10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.
11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
Isaiah 64:4 (NLT2)
4 For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!
4 For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!
–We have yet to see what God is going to do in our church if we will but wait on Him and to implore Him that he would burst from heaven and come down.
–On the Day of Pentecost...3000 were added to God’s Kingdom...Oh, God, come down again and do again what you did before.
–Fast, pray, and plan but most of all beg God to burst from heaven and come down in your life and in our church. Untie your donkey and seek God!
Hebrews 10:35-39 (NKJV)
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
37 "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
37 "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
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