Sermon Notes 07-27-08

July 27th 2008 “The Anointing”

Acts 3:6-10

“6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

1. The Anointing—happens when we are SANCTIFIED!

Point to Ponder:
1st What is Sanctification?

A. 1 Thessalonians 4:3—“This is the will of God, your sanctification”
1. Sanctification has to do with “death” “death to self!”
2. John the Baptist was very popular, thousands were following his teaching—“Are you the messiah or do we look for another?”

John 3:26-30 26They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27To this John replied, 30He must become greater; I must become less.”
John 3:30 “He must increase and I must decrease.”

B. John said, “I’m not worth to untie His shoes!” John 1:29
1. In sanctification God has to deal with us on the death side as well as on the life side.
2. Sanctification requires our coming to the place of death, but many of us spend so much time there that we become morbid.

Peter—the one who always came in “mouth” first, the one who wanted to walk on water, the one who said, “All other may deny You, but I will never deny You!”

One year and 50 days later—something had happened to Peter: Acts 3:6 “6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
What had happened? What had happened to Peter?
ANOINTING! The anointing of the Holy Spirit takes place when DIE TO OUR SELVES— SANCTIFICATION!
There is always a tremendous battle before sanctification and the ANOINTING is realized—something within us pushing with resentment against the demands of Christ.

When the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle starts immediately—between my spirit and God’s will!
Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate … his own life … he cannot be My disciple” Luke 14:26

D. When the disciples and the other tarried in the “Upper Room”—they were experiencing the “Killing Fields” in their own life!
Before you can be “Spirit Filled”—you must “Die” to your own desires!
Sanctification is that very act of “dieing” to one’s self!

Point to Ponder:

2nd It’s About Team Effort! The Anointing or Sanctification is about them seeing God in you!

A. Acts 3:7 “7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk.”

“You have to be pulling in the same direction if you want to get any task done!”

The Lakers made it all the way to the finals this past season.
What made the difference— Kobe Bryant—played differently—he played as a “Team-Player!”

James and John had been playing on their own team, they had worried about their own interest: Matthew 20:20
“20Then the mother of James and John, brought them to Jesus and respectfully asked a favor. 21“What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, will you let my two sons sit on two thrones next to yours?”

1. John said: John 3:30 “He must increase and I must decrease.”
2. The Holy Spirit can only use those who are “Team” players!
3. True miracles are a MEANS to an end and not an END in themselves!
4. Peter and John said: Acts 3:6 “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

B. In the process of being “Spirit-filled” or being sanctified, the Spirit of God will strip me down until there is nothing left of me, and that is the place of death.

Death of self is very difficult! We all want to have the approval of the crowd, just look at how many award shows we have in America:
EMMY AWARDS, ACADEMY AWARDS, 2008 TEEN CHOICE AWARDS, TONY AWARDS

1. Death of self is very difficult! With “American Idol” what are we saying about ourselves?
2. Self-Centered or Christ-Centered?
The Anointing or being Spirit Filled only happens to those who are willing to be “Team-Players!”

Point to Ponder:
3rd The Result!

A. Acts 3:8 “8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.”
We all look at the “miracle” and what do we see? The jumping? The walking? The straight legs that had been folded under the guy for 40 years?
What was the real miracle?

In "Preaching Today" Tony Camplo tells this story: "I was in a church in Oregon not too long ago, and I prayed for a man who had cancer. In the middle of the week, I got a telephone call from his wife. She said, 'You prayed for my husband. He had cancer.' I said, 'Had?' WHOA I thought, it's happened. This man has miraculously been cured! Then, she said, 'He died.' and I felt terrible. She continued, 'Don't feel bad, Mr. Campolo. When he came into that church last Sunday he was filled with anger.

He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn't take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger towards God grew, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence. But after you prayed for him, a peace came over him and a joy came into him. Tony, the last three days have been the best days of our lives.

We've sung. We've laughed. We've read Scripture. We prayed. Oh, they've been wonderful days. And I called to thank you for laying your hands on him and praying for healing.' And then she said something incredibly profound. She said, 'He wasn't cured, but he was healed.'
The beggar here in Acts 3, the healing this man needed most, was a soul-healing-not a body-healing!

B. The most amazing thing that happened that day was not that cripple's healing as wonderful as it was. No-it was the healing of the 2,000 souls who became Christians.
1. You see, the truth is all of us are born "spiritually lame"-unable to walk so as to please God.
2. The Bible tells us that, in a very real sense, our father Adam had a "fall" and passed his "lameness" on to all of his descendants. (Romans 5:12-21).
3. Just like this beggar in Acts 3, we are bankrupt before God, unable to pay the tremendous debt that we owe Him. (Luke 7:36-50)
4. This man was "outside the temple," unable to go in-and as sinners we are "outside" as well.
5. Our sin separates us from our Holy God. But when we repent of our sin and ask Jesus to forgive us, He does and miraculously our sins are washed away and we come into a personal relationship with God.

Isaiah 53:5 says, "By His stripes-HIS WOUNDS-we are miraculously healed."