Thank you, Brad.
It's been a wonderful morning already, hasn't it?
It's a tremendous thing to be where God
is working, and it's a delight to be
the senior pastor, or lead pastor, as we
have now called it here at Glencairn.
So we commence a different kind of journey
in the days ahead, and I'm looking forward
to that.
Some I know because we've attended here for
so many years, some I know a little
bit less, and I'd love to get to
know everybody really well over the next while.
We have two minutes, Brad said, and you
know, I once asked a Salvation Army officer,
what is the quickest gospel message you ever
gave?
And he responded, it was simply this, turn
right, go straight.
And of course, the essence of the gospel
is certainly in there.
We want this morning for a few minutes
just to pick up on the blessings that
we've been receiving as the youth have shared,
and their challenges are different than some of
us who are a little bit older.
And I want to just think for a
moment or two, how are we going to
overcome our challenges?
Because I don't know anybody who doesn't face
some of them.
And this is a very simple and very
short message, but I want to go to
the Acts of the Apostles and the first
three verses of that book, and then we'll
walk through some other scriptures as we go.
Acts chapter 1 and verse 1 says, in
the former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all
that Jesus began to do and to teach
until the day he was taken up to
heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles he had chosen.
After his suffering, he showed himself to these
men and gave many convincing proofs that he
was alive.
He appeared to them over a period of
40 days and spoke about the kingdom of
God.
And as we meet around the word this
morning, I just want to think about one
little phrase that Jesus uses here.
It tells us that he spoke to them
through having given instruction through the Holy Spirit.
And for a few moments, let's just think
about those words, through the Holy Spirit.
Now, I am dressed a little different than
usual this morning, and that's because Roberta wore
a nice African costume yesterday at John and
Melissa's reception, and everybody said, what happened to
you?
How come you didn't wear a nice African
shirt?
So here's the nice African shirt this morning.
It tells us in Hebrews 4 and verse
15 that Jesus was a man like you
and me, but he had this difference.
He was without sin.
And as we think about Jesus this morning,
how did he overcome?
He had to walk this earth in flesh
and blood like you and me.
He had to face the challenges that are
still around today like you and me.
So what are we to see from his
life and from his ministry to help us
and to teach us and to show us?
And these words, through the Holy Spirit, really
came to live in my heart just a
few nights ago as I was thinking of
coming back to the message I didn't finish
two weeks ago.
But I believe that this is what the
Lord would say to us this morning, and
especially in light of the testimonies that we've
heard.
The Lord is speaking to his followers through
the Holy Spirit.
You notice in the life of Jesus that
his conception is through the Holy Spirit, and
you'll find that all through his life, the
things and actions that he does are through
the Holy Spirit.
And we want to just remind ourselves of
some of these truths this morning and ask
the Lord just to touch us afresh and
anew through them.
You just take your Bible and go back
with me to Matthew's gospel and chapter 3
and verses 13 to 17.
When you think about Jesus facing his baptism,
it says in verse 13, then Jesus came
from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized
by John.
But John tried to deter him, saying, I
need to be baptized by you, and do
you come to me?
And Jesus replied, let it be so nigh.
It is proper for us to do this,
to fulfill all righteousness.
And John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized and went
up out of the water, at that moment,
heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and lighting
on him.
And a voice from heaven said, this is
my son, whom I love.
With him, I am well pleased.
Here is this moment in the life of
Jesus where he is baptized, and he's baptized
in obedience to the Word of God.
That's what he's saying.
Let us fulfill all righteousness.
And I want to encourage you, if you're
here this morning and you've never followed the
Lord in baptism as an act of obedience,
Jesus did it.
And it's a great thing to do.
And at that moment, we see that the
Spirit of God is descending and resting upon
him, poured out upon him.
And there are some people who say, you
know, the Trinity isn't actually right.
But here they are, the Father, the Son,
and the Spirit, all mentioned in the same
verse.
And you'll find it in other places in
Scripture as well.
It is in the strength of the Spirit
that the Lord Jesus goes forth to minister.
It is in the strength of the Spirit
that he faces the challenges of life.
And if you look at John 3, 34,
you'll see that it is said of him
that, to him, I will give the Spirit
without measure.
I love that verse.
And I pray often, God, what would it
be like to have the Spirit without measure?
And I think that's what these young folk
were experiencing last weekend, when God came into
the middle of that whole assembly.
And all of a sudden, the fun stuff
didn't matter so much anymore.
It was about the living God.
It was about what he was doing, and
the hurts that he was healing, and the
relationships that he was addressing.
It was about the power of God descending
from on high.
Did you sing it this morning?
Angels descending, ring from above, echoes of mercy,
whispers of love.
Wow.
Sorry, I get Irish once in a while.
You will see right through the life of
Jesus that it is always through the Spirit
that he is walking and ministering.
And I know we have a tendency to
say, yeah, but he's the Son of God.
That's right.
He is.
He's the perfect Son of God, and God
the Son.
But he's also perfect man, because as perfect
man, he took on our frame, and he
took on our sin on the cross as
a perfect man, sinless sacrifice for you and
me.
He knew all about temptations.
Do you ever get tempted?
In Luke chapter 4, let me just quickly
read the first 14 verses here.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from
the Jordan and was led by the Spirit
in the desert, where for 40 days he
was tempted by the devil.
He ate nothing during those days, and at
the end of them he was hungry.
The devil came to him, if you are
the Son of God, tell this stone to
become bread.
Jesus answered, it is written, man does not
live on bread alone.
The devil led him up to a high
place and showed him in an instant all
the kingdoms of the world and said to
him, I will give you all their authority
and splendor, for it has been given to
me, and I can give it to anyone
I want to.
So if you worship me, it'll all be
yours.
Jesus answered, it is written, worship the Lord
your God and serve him only.
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had
him stand on the highest point of the
temple.
If you are the Son of God, he
said, throw yourself down from here, for it's
written, he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully.
They will lift you up in their hands
so that you will not strike your foot
against a stone.
Jesus answered, it says, do not put the
Lord your God to the test.
And when the devil had finished all this
tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Notice the temptation didn't finish here.
He was coming back at an opportune time.
And if you're following Christ, you will face
different temptations at different times in your life.
But verse 14 says this, Jesus returned to
Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
And I won't read any more of it
than that.
Simply to say, he went into the desert
land by the Spirit, and he came out
of the desert, and it says, he was
in the power of the Spirit.
How did Jesus face the challenges of life?
It was all about the work of the
Spirit of God in that flesh that is
known as Jesus.
He returned full of the Spirit.
It was the Spirit in him revealing the
word in response to all the temptations that
the devil was throwing at him.
And we have learned, have we not, when
there is temptation, it is great to say,
ah, but the word of God says.
And when there's struggle to come and say,
ah, but the word of God says.
And when things don't look like they're working
out, to be able to say, ah, but
the promise of God in his word says.
It is here that we see him at
work.
Jesus made use of no power, but the
power of the Spirit of God.
I love that thought.
And we need nothing more than the power
and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Isn't it true?
As we face the challenges of life, we
need the Spirit of God.
We need his power and strength, his courage,
his touch, his victory in our lives.
The Lord Jesus is victorious and in him,
so are we.
It says in 1 John, as he is
in this world, so we are.
We need the Spirit of God.
If you look at Jesus preaching in that
same chapter, look for when it comes down
to verse 18 and he's asked to speak
in the synagogue that day, he says, the
Spirit of the Lord is on me.
Where was the message going to come from?
Education is a very important thing, and I'm
glad, brother, that you're going.
I'll pray for you day by day.
But we still need the power of the
Spirit of God to enforce those truths and
to make them living and real and powerful
and life-changing, just as we have seen
in our youth this morning.
Glory to God, who can come into an
assembly and say to those who are hurting
or struggling or may be so full of
themselves that they can't see anything but themselves,
I am the Lord your God, and I
have a purpose and a plan for you.
In his preaching, he is speaking about the
Spirit of God.
That same Spirit filled the apostles at Pentecost,
and we are part of the result of
that even to this day.
It is the work and the power of
the Spirit of God.
What about the miracles that Jesus did?
Flip back with me to Matthew chapter 12
and verse 28 for just a moment.
Jesus is speaking, and he says, but if
I drive out demons by the Spirit of
God, then the kingdom of God has come
among you.
How did those things happen?
By the power of the Spirit.
You will find it all the way through,
and for time's sake, I will hasten along.
When it comes to his sacrifice on the
cross of Calvary, this man, the Lord Jesus,
where did it come, the courage, the strength
to face all of that for you and
me?
In Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 14, I
just want you to notice something again right
here.
Hebrews 9 and verse 14.
First, I got to find it.
How much more then will the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts
that lead to death, so that we may
serve the living God?
It is through the eternal Spirit that we
see him come to that place of sacrifice.
And sometimes I talk to people and they
say, you know, I hear Christians say, crucify
the flesh, get rid of your own life,
and live the Christ life.
I couldn't do that.
And I smile and say, I can't either.
But you see what Jesus is teaching us
as you look at his life?
He is teaching us that in surrender to
the Spirit of God, you can lay it
all done and never have a worry or
a care about it.
I remember Henry Teichrab saying in Revival in
1971, when they met the Lord so deeply,
he came home and his son said to
him the next day, can I have the
car?
He said, sure you can, but it's God's
car now.
He said, what do you mean it's God's
car?
Are you serious?
He said, yeah, we've given ourselves and everything
that we have to God.
It's God's car.
I'll bet you that young man drove that
car a little differently that day.
It is by means of the Spirit that
he presents himself as the Lamb of God
without blemish and without spot.
His sacrifices receive the value from his Godhead
as God the Son, yet it is completed
in the power of the Spirit of God.
You see it in his instructions where I
started off in Acts chapter 1.
And with this we'll begin to draw things
to a close so that the new pastor
does not go over time.
It says he spoke to his apostles through
the Spirit.
The very last act, right from his conception,
right through to the very last thing that
he has to say before physically leaving this
earth to sit on the right hand of
the Father and intercede for you and me
is performed high in the power and through
the Spirit of God.
Even after his resurrection, it still tells us
just that.
So he condescended to come and to take
our form and to receive his strength and
wisdom as we do through the Spirit of
God.
Do you see his oneness with us?
You wonder who could feel my pain this
morning?
Who could understand the burdens that I carry
this morning?
Jesus knows every one of them.
He understands every one of them.
And you know he invites you and I
through the Spirit to come to know his
forgiveness, his peace, his grace, and so much
more than that, as Pastor Brad said.
See him full of the Spirit, dispensing grace
in his Spirit to your heart and your
life and mine this morning.
This is the work of Jesus, and this
is the victorious, finished work of Jesus.
How will we face the challenges?
Who can overcome the difficulties of relationships and
of finances and of all the struggles and
hurts and so on that we carry?
There is only one person in his name.
You know it.
Yeah.
Say it right out loud.
That's his name.
That's what makes us not a building but
a body, not an organization but an organism.
That's what makes us walk in the life
that Jesus called us to and prepared for
us.
So that we need not come behind in
his gifts or graces.
So then I ask you this morning as
I close, are you filled with the Spirit
of God?
Do you know that strength, that courage that
only comes from him to minister to the
needs of your heart and your life?
These young folk discovered it so powerfully last
weekend, and I have prayed through the week,
God, don't let us just come and sit
as bumps on a log this Sunday and
sing and praise, but, oh God, let us
meet you at that same place, in that
same heart attitude, knowing that same power from
on high to come.
And you say, because there are many theologians
in our midst, John, there are conditions to
be filled with the Spirit.
That's true.
Here's the first.
Be saved.
Come to Christ and ask him for his
salvation.
Here's a second.
Have a right motive.
Sometimes people say to me, I'd love to
be filled with the Spirit and do this
and this and this and this.
And you know it's all about how we
would look.
And the Spirit never comes when the motive
is wrong.
But when we come in our humility and
say to him, oh God, I need your
fullness.
I need your touch.
He has said, if we will ask, he
will give.
Have a deep desire to be filled.
God doesn't work in half-heartedness or hard
-heartedness either.
Have a desire for his power to be
at work in your life, just as our
youth have experienced this week.
Oh, that it would be so in every
one of us.
Be obedient.
In Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 18, it
says, be filled with the Spirit.
It's not an option.
It's a command.
God says, be filled.
We need to be obedient.
Set the flesh aside, all the things that
we would desire, and just come to one
God wants in us and through us.
And believe God that he can do what
he says he will do.
And indeed he can.
And I would just say, it's not about
a manifestation of certain gifts, but as you
come to God and ask him to fill
you, you'll know.
You'll know.
You'll just know that he has done exactly
what he said.
And he's given you his Spirit to equip
you to face the challenges of life.
I'm so grateful that God didn't ask me
to walk the Christian life in my strength
or power or all alone.
He didn't say to a 19-year-old
terrorist in Northern Ireland, I'll save you and
now you're on your own.
But it's taken me a long time to
learn that it's a journey he wants to
walk deep in your heart and deep in
mine.
So let's stand together for a change of
position and thank you for your patience this
morning.
I want to do something that I don't
do every Sunday.
I often do on the road when we're
preaching, but this morning I believe the Spirit
of God has been speaking to us.
And we know our own inadequacies and we
know our struggles and we know our hurts
and wounds and all of those things.
It may be that you're here this morning
and you've never been saved and you would
love to know this life of God that
the young people spoke so well about.
You can come to him this morning and
he will save you.
He'll make himself real in your heart in
the power of his Holy Spirit.
And for many of us this morning, there's
a need just to say to the Lord,
Father, I need refreshment.
Lord, I need to be filled again by
your Spirit or to be filled for the
first time by your Spirit.
So I'm just going to pause and ask
you as God has been speaking to our
hearts, and as we have seen that Jesus
took the challenges of life through the Holy
Spirit, would you take a moment this morning
and just come and gather at the front
here as we would seek him together in
prayer?
And I'll just wait for a few moments
as you come.
There's lots of space here.
You don't have to be afraid.
There won't be room.
There's all kinds of it.
That's right.
Are there still others?
I know I'm over time, but we're on
God's time.
The Lord's speaking to you this morning.
Just as he broke through into that youth
group to break into your heart this morning,
come, and let's meet him here at the
place of prayer.
Pastor Brian, would you just come for a
moment?
I want to ask you, brother, to lead
us in prayer.
Oh, Jesus.
The weight of that word, Lord.
God, I thank you that you are Lord
of everything.
Of every hurt and every joy, every sadness
and every happiness.
God, as John has so eloquently said, you
know everything about us, but it's in making
you our Lord that your spirit comes to
fix us, to transform us.
But we truly, Lord, are weak.
We struggle with laying certain things down, hidden
things, but God, nothing hides from you.
In the darkness, in the deepest darkness, you
are there with us.
Help us, Lord, to let go of those
things that we think we can control in
our lives.
Those things that we think that are only
in our darkness, Lord, that are hidden from
everything.
God, they are not hidden from you.
Your spirit is bright.
God, I ask in Jesus' name that you
would fill each one.
Where there has been things let go, that
you would fill that void, Lord.
Jesus, that you would come in so strong
and so bright that we wouldn't be able
to contain you, God.
That you would just flood out of every
pore, out of our eyes and our mouth
and our ears, God.
You would be our all, finally.
Your Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness
and he walked out in power.
Our example, our Lord, an example of what
you want for us.
That wasn't just for Jesus.
He did that, Lord, to show us, God,
the way.
There's only one way.
I think God would say to us right
now that I am the way, the truth
and the light.
No one else comes to the Father except
through me, Jesus Christ.
Thank you, Jesus, for your spirit, Lord, that
heals all things, all hurts, all pains, and
is our joy in the morning.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, friends, if you want private prayer, the
elders and pastors will be here at the
front.
After we sing our closing song, you just
come.
We want to meet and pray and minister
together.
We'll ask Matt to lead us in that
song.
And we thank you that you're the one
who provides all our needs.
Father, we ask that as we go from
this place this morning, we might, like Jesus,
go in the power of the Spirit, not
fearful for what the week might bring, but
resting in the one who holds us, and
the one who helps us, and the one
who enables us.
So, Father, continue to minister through these testimonies
and through the scriptures to us, and continue
to teach us the way in which we
should go, and send us forth from here
in the fullness of your Spirit.
In Jesus' name, amen.