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Desperate for that Voice, Part 3

October 30, 2011 • Pastor Star R. Scott

Let's turn to the book of Acts, Chapter 1. I was going through some of my notes, and I remembered that, years ago, one of the criticisms against the Full Gospel churches was that all they did was teach on signs and wonders and speaking in tongues. It's interesting that, over the years, and perhaps regretfully, we haven't spent a lot of time teaching about the Holy Spirit or the manifestations of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Spirit (explained in 1 Corinthians) to fulfill the mandate Jesus gave when He said, "Go out and preach the Gospel [or the Good News] of the kingdom: heal the sick, cast out devils and raise the dead. Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10: 5-8, Mark 16:15-18); amen? We have spent a lot of time in recent years on building Christian character in our lives-and the Lord knows we need it (amen?)--and we have been talking a lot about faith and a lot about patience. We have been talking a lot about humility; and now that we are all perfect, and don't need teaching on humility anymore, we can go on to study a few other topics. But, as we go back and look at this that is so foundational to the church, it is tragic that there would be any division within visible Christendom at all, and yet it's a great dividing line.

You have many, many, Fundamentalist believers who are really opposed to the teaching of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit of God. Yet the book of Acts is full of it; Paul, in his epistles, speaks not only of his life flowing in these gifts, but speaks of their regulation--how they are to function within the body of Christ. I have been a Spiritfilled believer for 44 years since I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, and I will be the first one to say--and I have seen the carnality all over the world as well as in America--that there are abuses. But the fact that there have been abuses does not mean it's not the Word of God. The fact that there are abuses shows very clearly Satan's plan and his tactics to diminish the true flow of the Holy Spirit in the church. So we want to talk about the person of the Holy Spirit and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the church through His gifts to empower the church to bring this Gospel message with power. Jesus said, "I will go with you and I will confirm the words that you speak with signs following" (Matthew 28:20, Mark 16:20). Amen? We are not seeing enough of that today. As we take this time, we are just saying, "Father, come and show Yourself in our midst; we are hungry for that visitation."...