August 28, 2022
HOW DO WE REMEMBER, REPENT, AND DO?
August 28, 2022
Pastor Jonathan Falwell
With a new school year starting, it’s a good time to reflect on our teachers who excelled at their job (though we might not have appreciated them at that time). Can you recall a teacher who taught you so much more than they had to?
Over this past summer, we have concentrated on many of the books of John, the beloved apostle. Last week we studied the first of seven letters to the churches in Revelation, told to John by Jesus Christ. Jesus closed that letter to the church at Ephesus by an admonition to remember from where they had fallen, repent, and do the works they had done when their church had first begun. Today, we will be reminded how to reignite our “first love” for Jesus Christ, the need to repent, and how to again do the works that we were thrilled to do when we were first saved. Please join us.
Focal Passage: Revelation 2:5; John 7:37-39.
The power to convict, convert, and change
· Read Rev. 2:5. The church at Ephesus had lost their first love for Jesus Christ; what did He tell them to do? What can gradually interfere with our walk with Jesus? Who will be there to help us restart?
· Read John 7:37-39 and John 4:10. What/Who is the source of the living water Jesus spoke of? Read Matt. 5:6. What does Jesus mean that we are to hunger and thirst for righteousness?
· Read Titus 3:3-7. What does God say was our past? What are we like after salvation? Read 1 Cor. 3:16. Where does the Spirit reside now?
· Read John 6:63. What does John mean that it is the Spirit who gives life? How do we accede power in our lives to the Holy Spirit? What are some of the Spirit’s functions in your life?
· Read 2 Cor. 3:18. According to this verse, what happens as a result of our salvation?
The power to teach
· Read John 16:13-14. What does the passage say the Holy Spirit will do in our lives? Why is His job to glorify Jesus Christ?
· Read John 14:26. How does He teach us what we need to know? Why does He desire to teach us? What happens when we try to figure life out on our own?
· What is the Spirit’s role in our sanctification? How long does the process take?
The power to protect
· Read Romans 15:13. What does the Spirit do when we believe? How does that verse minister encouragement to your soul?
· Read Ephesians 1:13-14. At salvation, what happens? Read 2 Tim. 2:18. Who seals us? Read John 17:12. Do we have to be concerned that God will eventually change His mind concerning His having adopted us as His child?
The power to propel
· Read John 14:15-18. How long will the Spirit be with us?
· Sometimes we get frustrated with people because they seem so dense; why is the world unable to receive spiritual things?
· Read Acts 1:8. What does the Spirit propel us to do? Is this a direct answer to our ability to carry out Matt. 28:19-20?
Close:
If ever you’ve had problems in your life as a believer, is it possible that you were unaware just how much of your life is able to draw help from the Holy Spirit? As soon as you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Spirit came to reside in you, indwelling your life and sanctifying you as a temple in which He will take up residence until you leave this earth! Is that ever a marvelous thing?
As we studied this sermon, were you able to grasp that you have the answer to every problem you face if you will just turn control over to Him who loves you so? Have you sinned? He will convict you so that you can run to Jesus and confess what you’ve done. He will empower you to ask forgiveness and repent, then give you the strength to replace the sin with acts of righteousness. Are you lonely? He’s the Great Comforter. Are you sad? He will encourage and comfort you. Are you hungering and thirsting to be righteous? He will fill you. Have friends failed you? The Spirit will never leave you—you can count on His presence each and every moment of the day. There’s nothing you will ever need, nor anything you have to face alone when you trust Him completely, because He will hold you until the day of your glorification.
He has been given to you as a “down payment” to be held in trust until you are safely home with God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. He is an equal third Person in the trinity, and as such, can give you peace that surpasses all understanding. He is God!