The Missionary Spirit

Since the Holy Spirit within us is like streams of living water, therefore we are to remove any obstacles that may block its flow from us.

John 7:37-39


Introduction:

On 11/22/1963, President Kennedy was assassinated. 6/4/1989, was the Tienanmen. 9/21/1999, the Taiwan earthquake. You probably remembered where you were when you first heard the news. And the next thing you did was to call and talk to someone about it. Soon after your child was born, you picked up the phone and called the baby's grandparents or a close family member. Or when you received an email about a certain event or a special offer, or a special airfare, you immediately forwarded it to someone else. Or you wanted to show off the engagement ring you just received. It's instantaneous. When you hear or possess something important, you want to pass it on. 

In the passage we just read, Jesus talked about streams of living water flowing out of the believers' heart. It will be passed on to others. These words were spoken during the feast of the Tabernacles, which followed the Jewish New Year. It was a main festival when people would come from all over Judea to Jerusalem. This festival lasted 8 days. During this time they gave thanks to God for the harvest of the preceding year. On the 8th day there was a water-pouring ceremony to remember how God provided them water in the wilderness, and also to signify the gift of rain. For without it, there would be no harvest. 

And on this last day, Jesus stood up and said, "if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." As the people saw the water-pouring ceremony, Jesus told them about another kind of water: the living water. This living water would forever satisfy their spiritual thirst. It will bring them that inner fulfillment, and will flow from them to others. Then the apostle John commented that this living water is the Holy Spirit. Jesus was saying, whoever believes in him, will receive the spirit, and the spirit will flow out of their lives like a non-stop river.

During these past two months, we?e learned that the Holy Spirit is like a floodlight, pointing others and us to Jesus Christ. He convicts us of our sins, helps us to understand the truth in the Bible. The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts to help us grow into spiritual maturity and to build up the church of Jesus Christ. When he is within us, it will also be expressed in our love for God and men. 

This morning we want to take a look at how the Holy Spirit flows from us to the world around us. And we will identify one simple truth: Since the Holy Spirit within us is like streams of living water, therefore we are to remove any obstacles that may block its flow from us. 

Let's see how the disciples experienced this promise of the Spirit flowing out from them like streams of living water. 

I. The Holy Spirit is a Missionary Spirit.

1. Global.

40 days after Jesus' resurrection, he ascended into heaven. 10 days later, on the day of Pentecost, the 12 disciples came together in Jerusalem. While they were gathering in a house, the Holy Spirit came upon them. On that day, Peter preached to the people in Jerusalem. 3000 people believed and were baptized. At that time the population of Jerusalem was about 60 to 12K. In chapter 4 we learn that the number of new believers grew to 5000, men alone, not including women and children. 5:14,"..More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number." V42,"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." 6:7,"So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith."

You see, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and they could not confine him to themselves. They had to tell others about Jesus Christ. This is how the Spirit flowed out from them to the rest of the residents in Jerusalem. But there is more. 

As the believers increased in numbers, opposition also grew. Stephen was the first disciple killed for his faith. After Stephen died, there was a full-scale persecution of Christians in Jerusalem. Consequently, many of them left. They preached the word wherever they went. Where did they go? First, to other parts of Judea. Many went north to Samaria. Some went to Damascus and west to Cyprus. Some believers continued north to Antioch, which later became the second center of the first century Christian church (Jerusalem being the first center). From Antioch, Paul and a few other disciples brought the gospel message to Asia Minor. Eventually, the good news of Jesus Christ reached Rome. Jesus' name was preached from Jerusalem to Rome, the capitol of the world. All this happened in less than 30 years and recorded in the book of Acts. This book has also been called the Acts of the Holy Spirit.

In Archbishop William Temple's words, "No one can possess the Spirit of God, and keep that Spirit to himself. Where the Spirit is, he flows forth, if there is no flowing forth, he is not there." Missionary Roland Allen wrote, "The book of the Acts is strictly a missionary book. The conclusion is irresistible that the Spirit given to the Christians is a missionary Spirit." The book of Acts is completed, but the flow of the Spirit has not stopped. 

By AD 300, the gospel message had covered most of Europe and reached the British Isles. By early 9th century, the gospel message had reached northern Europe. Around the same time, a small group of Christians were teaching the gospel in China. During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, the gospel spread like wildfire among the tribal people. In China, between 1949 and 1989, there was at least a 10-fold increase of believers.

Why? The Holy Spirit given us is like streams of living water, flowing from within us. The Spirit in us is a Missionary Spirit. We cannot keep him to ourselves. He has to flow out. 

2. Personal. 

We see the Spirit's movement in a global aspect. But it starts at the personal level. A Chicago Sunday school teacher once went to a shoe store to visit his student, Moody, and led him to Christ. This Moody later became one of the great evangelists in the late 19 century. 

I think of a dentist in Cincinnati, sharing the gospel message with his patients. Or a Kodak engineer in NY, who organized a Bible study during his lunch hour to reach out to his non-Christian friends. A restaurant owner in Japan, once a week, would invite the pastor to come and conduct a Bible study for his employees. As a result, some of them, including the chef, became Christians.

I also think of the Christians at Princeton Bible Study Group reaching out to Yuan ZhiMing. In less than one year after he went to Princeton, he became a Christian. He began telling others about Jesus Christ. When his wife came to the States a year later, she vowed that she would never become a Christian. Christian faith, she said, was for the weaklings. One year later, she accepted Christ. Immediately, she began inviting Chinese students to their home, cooking for them and sharing the gospel message with them.

In Houston, we see friends telling others about Jesus Christ. Wives bringing their children and later, husbands to come to know the Lord. Or children bringing their parents to Jesus Christ. 

What is happening? Because the Holy Spirit within us is like streams of living water. Once He is inside us, he cannot be contained, he has to flow out. He is a missionary spirit. Wherever this spirit goes, people will hear the gospel message and many will be brought into a loving relationship with God. 

II. Implications of the Missionary Spirit.

What does it mean to us? 

1. A mission minded church.

The Holy Spirit is present in this particular church. If the Missionary Spirit is in this church, then this church must also be a missionary church, a mission minded church.

This means that the gospel message will flow from this building into our community and other parts of the world. We thank God that during the last 25 years, the gospel message has gone out from here to Clear Lake, West Houston, Port Comfort, Almaty and Fort Bend.

In God's providence, He calls and sends men and women from among us into full-time ministry or mission work. We thank God for the many who are in full-time ministry or preparing for ministry. For those of us not called into missions or ministry, we are given the privilege of supporting others with our financial resources.

2. Mission minded believers.

Now, at a personal level, if the Spirit is within me, then He will also flow from me to those I contact daily. Telling others about Jesus Christ must be a very important part of me. As one person recently shared, ?ince I became a Christian several years ago, I am so excited about Jesus, I just want to tell everyone I meet."

You see, because the Holy Spirit is a Missionary spirit, its like streams of living water, then His church must be a mission minded church, His people must also be mission minded, telling others about Jesus Christ.

III. Obstacles that stand in the way of Spirit's movement.

However, very often we don? feel the spirit flowing out of us. Yes, we have the spirit, but instead of streams of living water, we feel more like a puddle of stagnant water. There are five possible reasons. 

1. Being self-absorbed.

When we as a church become self-absorbed in our own needs and problems, we begin to block the flow of the Holy Spirit. If all we see is our need for more workers, more money, more program, we'll be blind to the world around us. If individual Christians become self-absorbed with his/her own needs, there would be little interest or energy left for others. 

2. Sins.

The second obstacle that stands in the way of the Holy Spirit is sins in our lives. When we knowingly live in a way displeasing the Holy spirit, causing him to grieve, it is hard to tell others about Jesus Christ. 

3. Silence.

The third obstacle is our misunderstanding of life-style evangelism. That is we want others to see Jesus in our living. This is important. Yet we also need to know that if they don't hear us talk about Jesus, how would they know what and how to believe?

4. Lack of know-how.

The fourth obstacle is that we may not know how to tell others about Jesus Christ. Then we need to make an effort to learn some of the skills. Such as EE and the Bridge. 

5. Shy nature.

Another obstacle is that we maybe shy and reserved by nature. We feel timid and uncomfortable telling others about Jesus. 

Look at the 12 disciples. They were fisherman, uneducated. From the 4 gospels we also learn that they were very timid in nature. In Acts 4:13,"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Acts 4:31,"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." 

Or look at Apostle Paul who had a powerful intellect, but tradition says he was little and ugly. His critics despised him as unimpressive in both personality and speech. He said of himself that when he first came to Corinth, he arrived in "weakness and fear, and with much trembling. So in consequence, he relied not on eloquence of speech or worldly wisdom but on a demonstration of the Spirit's power. It was the Holy Spirit that empowered the early disciples to proclaim the gospel message. 

Likewise, the Holy Spirit can still enable and encourage us to be faithful and courageous witnesses of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion:

I remember 11/22/63; it was a Saturday morning in Japan. When my friend heard the news about Kennedy? assassination, he immediately came over to my dorm, woke me up and told me about it. When I arrived at church on the morning of 6/4/89, someone immediately told me what happened thousands of miles away in Beijing. Such news and events had to be passed on. Once you have it, you can? keep it to yourself.

Jesus said, "He who believes in me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Once you have the Holy Spirit, you have to pass him on. You can? keep him to yourself. He is very contagious. This is how He flows from one person to another, from one individual to the entire family, to the entire city, province and nation. 

This morning we are so glad to witness the baptism of 6 brothers and sisters. You are here because someone has told you about Jesus Christ. You are here because the Holy Spirit has flowed from that other person into your life. 

Now, as the spirit has entered our hearts when we first believed, He will now become streams of living water flowing from us to others.

And you know what, as the spirit flows outward from us, he never calls attention to himself or us. He always points people to Jesus Christ, to his love and grace. 

Rev. William Hsueh    Dec 12, 1999    Houston Chinese Church,  Houston, Texas