PASTOR'S MESSAGE
SERMON: RISING UP OUT OF THE POWERS OF DEATH,
PART VII: ADVENTURES IN THE SPIRIT!
TEXT: REVELATION 3:20--4:2
All Power, All Glory and All
Honor belong to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ !
Since Easter we have been discussing the
phenomenon of depression. Depression has been defined as a mood or a
sickness, both created and caused by a mind-body state, that
can be mild, chronic, or severe. It is usually caused by trauma,
loss, excessive and unresolved grief, anger, hurt or disappointment.
It is part of the experience of every human being and can lead to a
lessening of the quality of life, if mild or severe, and even to
homicide, suicide or slow death, if chronic. The Christian faith has
unfathomable resources to deal with this problem, the chief among
these being the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead
and the subsequent unleashing of resurrection power available for
every believer.
In the last installment of this series, on
Mother's Day, and the Day of Pentecost, the preached Word in the
Open Door was that the key to our continuing victory over depression
was for every believer to have Adventures in the Spirit!
In other words every man or woman of God ought to be open to new
experiences in the Spirit, to go where they have never gone before,
and to do something they have never done before, so that they might
find something they have never found before. This can only happen if
every believer has been baptized by the Holy Spirit, also called the
Holy Ghost. This baptism is the first time you are filled with the
Holy Spirit. Water baptism is good but it is not enough. Every child
of God must be filled with the Holy Spirit!!! We are filled by the
Spirit so that we might empty ourselves in service for the Lord.
When we are emptied we must come back and be filled again and again.
The Lord will fill every believer that seeks His presence!!!
This filling breaks all of the powers of
death, including depression! Hebrews 2:14, 15. This filling breaks
the powers of the Devil. This filling provides deliverance from
every bondage and from all evil!!!! The filling of the Holy Spirit
also called the Holy Ghost, is an adventure.
You want an adventure in the Spirit, then
go to the Word and find out how God operates. Go to Romans 8
and find out how to travail and struggle in prayer until you
learn how to pray through. Go to Acts 10 and find out how every
preached sermon is an adventure in the Spirit to the listener of
faith! Go to Acts 19 and learn how the fellowship of the saints
can lead to a touch that provides the filling! Go to Acts 7 and see
how witnessing leads to an adventure which ends with a
vision! And go to our text in Revelation 3:20-4:2 and find out that
the Spirit speaks to the individual and to the Church. He tells both
to come up higher and find an open door of opportunity, where you
can get a vision of glory that will help you when you are stranded
on the island of despair! In the text John was in the Spirit on the
Lords day! Learn how to get in the Spirit and get the vision that
only comes when we worship God!!!!! O my God!!!!! I feel like
worshiping God right now!!!!!
Your problem is just an
opportunity for an adventure in the spirit! Your strength
is just an outcome of your adventures in the spirit! Your
victory is just the consequence of an adventure in the
Spirit! Moses had an adventure at the burning bush! David attacked
Goliath and had an adventure in the valley of battle. Joseph had
adventure that took him from the pit to the palace! Mary had an
adventure with an angel who gave her an unbelievable announcement!
Peter walked on water and had an adventure! Stephen looked up and
saw Jesus at the right hand of God! Paul went up to the third heaven
and had so many adventures that God had to give him something to
keep him from going off!!!
Now what about you? Your faith will never
grow stale if you understand it as an adventure! The success of the
adventure does not depend on you! It depends on the Spirit of God!!!
But He will lead you! If you believe, the Holy Ghost is moving in
you right now!!!!! Be revived in the Spirit right now!!! Be
rejuvenated in the Spirit right now!!! Receive renewal in the
Holy Ghost right now!!!!! I feel some winds blowing, they are the
winds of your deliverance!!!! I feel the ground shaking around you
!!! It is the tremors of your breakthrough!!!! I hear the sound of
chains falling off! This sounds splits the stratosphere!!! It is the
sound of your personal Pentecost!!!! It is the sound of your
deliverance!!!!! Be filled right now!!!!! Come on up higher right
now!!!!! Go head, go an adventure, Go head, and praise your God!!!!
Receive it now!!!!!!!! Receive your adventure in the Spirit!!!!!!
-Rev. Dr. Mark V.C. Taylor, 5/13/08
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