2 Timothy 03 Signs of the Spirit

How do you grow a large church? Thats the question many are asking these days. Maybe you have wondered that yourself. Heres what Ive learned on that. Some churches grow large because they compromise the message. Its true. Some will shave off the offense of the gospel in order to be more appealing to a non-church audience. They tell part of the story. The part everyone wants to hear. But it wont last. Because in the end, nobody was challenged to change. I will never forget a story in the opening of Ann Ortlands wonderful little book, up with worship. When I was little we used to play church. Wed get the chairs into rows, fight over whod be preacher, vigorously lead the hymn singing, and generally have a great carnal time. The aggressive kids naturally wanted to be up front, directing or preaching. The quieter ones were content to sit and be entertained by the up-fronters. Occasionally wed get mesmerized by a true sensationalistic crowd-swayer like the girl who said, Boo! Im the Holy Ghost! But in general, if the up-fronters were pretty good they could hold their audience quite a while. If they werent so good, eventually the kids would drift off to play something else like jump rope or jacks.

Now that generations has grown up, but most of them havent changed too much. Every Sunday they still play church. They line up in rows for the entertainment. If its pretty good, their church may grow. If its not too hot, eventually theyll drift off to play something else like yachting or wife swapping. Some churches get big because of they arent true to Scripture. But dont go to the other extreme. Over the past few years our church has grown larger and some within the body of Christ automatically assume we arent true to Scripture. They cant be big or they arent teaching truth. Heres the other side of the coin. Some churches grow larger because peoples lives are being changed and that is magnetic to the world! The key is whether the spirit is actually at work in your midst. If its a show, then it wont last. If its real, then Satan cant stop it. The better question then is this: How can you know if the spirit is at work in your church. How can you know if He is at work in your life? Thats what we are after. 2 Timothy 1:6-7 6* For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7* For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

Three obvious signs of the work of the Spirit: power, love and discipline.

I think this is what Paul desperately sought to avoid. And it helps us understand his words in 1 Corinthians 2 1 Corinthians 2:1* And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2* For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3* I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4* and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5* so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. When Paul said he wanted their faith to rest in power he meant, the power to change. Changed life is the manifest power of God. We desperately need to see the power of the Spirit changing lives. Tell you a story of power. We ordained him a couple of Sundays ago. Sam was a gifted brilliant son of a doctor. Baptized in our church. Then in High School, the boy went wild. Wasnt worth shooting. Left the church, dropped out of high school. If you were to ask me what I thought about that guy then, I would have said, Man he has wasted such extraordinary talent. But God was at work. I couldnt see what was happening. During his testimony he said, Piper says, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

Power is The First Sign of the Spirits Work

Half a gospel will produce half a Christian and half a Christian is no Christian at all. Allistar Begg.

2Ti 3:5* holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power;.

He said the opposite was true for me. When my life didnt glorify God I couldnt be satisfied with anything.

He got married, started attending again. He said I was speaking on Plugging In and finding Gods place of service for your life. He felt the Holy Spirit say, You need to go to work. So he started helping out in the childrens area. He spoke of how this energized him and his new wife. They felt a new vitality for Jesus. Then we were going on the annual mission trip to Ukraine. He said, I planned to go one time and that was that. When he got to Ukraine, he found what he was made to do. Came back and wanted to quit college and go to serve immediately. We talked. I tried to encourage him to finish his preparation and not go off halfready. He didnt like the advice but he listened. Finished college, and spent every summer in Ukraine. God is now using his brilliant mind. He learned Russian to speak to Ukrainians. Wanted to go farther. Graduated, went to seminary. Wanted to go into Eastern Europe and minister to the muslims in unreached groups around Kazakhstan. Learned the language went there last summer and by this time next year will be an IMB missionary to Kazakhstan. No, you dont have to be a missionary to demonstrate the power of God. Its not what you do, its what God does to you. Hes changed. Thats power. Everyone that knows him, knows God is real. See that and people want it. But be careful. Watch that second part. LOVE. All power without love makes for a dangerous person.

Matthew 22:38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets. If you had to bottle the whole bible together in one word it would be love. And love should be the distinguishing mark of the believer. John 13:35* By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. If thats true, then why isnt love one of the words we think of when we think to describe the church? Heres what we must understand. Transformation is seen in the way you love. Jonathon Wiggins here today. I want you to welcome him and hear what happened. Its so easy to hate. Its easy to draw lines and take sides. Run toward the protest lines. There are things we dont like. But hate wont change that. Hate never changed anyone for the better. Never. Not once. Grace is the power to transform lives. I know what you are thinking. This guy is soft on sin. No. Look at that last word. Discipline.

Love is The Second Sign of the Spirits Work

This is our highest calling. An attorney came to Jesus and asked what is the greatest commandment?
37 And He said to him, YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.

Discipline is The Third Sign of the Spirits Work

1Corinthians 9:27* but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have

preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. I like the KJV better. I buffet my body. We Baptist think he said, I buffet my body. We love to fellowship. My friend Dennis Swanberg says, Fellowship is church talk for pig out. No, he buffets it. The word means to strike under the eye. I beat myself black and blue. Why? Because he wants to walk the talk. He wants to be what he professes. And that takes discipline. But notice this: discipline is the mark of the spirits work in the life of a believer. It happens after salvation not before. We must stop trying to make the world live as if they were Christians while we are content to let Christians live as if they didnt believe. Discipline is tough. I saw an ad on the TV for a new pill that will rid your body of tummy fat. I want to believe that, but I just cant. Theres one way to get rid of fat. Discipline. Quit eating and start exercising.

Allow him to move through your life open the doors to those closed off spaces and give him freedom to transform you from the inside out. When you do that, when your life is marked by spiritual discipline, Love and power, the world will want what you have. These walls cannot contain it.

There are Christians that view spiritual discipline the same way. They want the quick easy solution. Result, Jesus changed them on the inside, but the outside still looks the same. Nobody is perfect. We all have flaws. We wont find perfection until Heaven. But God wants us to allow the Holy Spirit to work on those flaws. Thats why they said, Be filled with the spirit. Its not that you get more of the spirit. The spirit gets more of you.