Last week we talked about the incredible experience of receiving the Holy Spirit and why that is so important in the life of a believer. The disciples NEEDED to be filled with the Holy Spirit and you do too! I pray this week has been an empowered one!

Right after Acts 2 and Peter’s incredible message to the people of Jerusalem, thousand were added to the Kingdom, and throughout the rest of the book, we see some incredible, and let’s be honest, some horrible, things. All of these things that we see in the Book of Acts are there to show us the result of a Spirit-led life. Acts shows us that Jesus was true to His word: the Holy Spirit came to the disciples and empowered them to work miracles and preach the good news throughout the world.

But it wasn’t always easy, and it won’t always be easy for you either. We want miracles, but we often experience mayhem and even martyrdom.

This week let me share with you three things you need to understand about the Spirit-led life that we see from the next few chapters in Acts.

We have the Holy Spirit. NOW WHAT?

1. Miracles follow a spirit-led life
Remember from last week the importance of a Spirit-led life. You are incapable of accomplishing what God has for you outside of a life led by the Spirit. What does a Spirit-led life look like? Galatians 5:16, 19-21 tells us what it is NOT:
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, lewd parties, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

A Spirit-led life is the opposite of a flesh-led life. If you are living out the aforementioned works, you are flesh-led.

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us what a Spirit-led life does look like:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Look: it keeps going:
Galatians 6:1-2
1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

If you are expecting Spirit-led results, it a requires Spirit-led lifestyle.

Remember, Peter had just experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit and was already preaching the Gospel with passion. We pick up the story from Act last week in chapter 3.

Acts 3:1-10
1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

I could spend time talking about several things out of this text, like:
Defining miracles.
Is it all about physical healing? Or do miracles come in other ways? Is a relationship restored a miracle? Is forgiveness a miracle? Is overcoming addiction a miracle? Is finding freedom a miracle?
About how your faith strengthens others.
Look at how his healing came: feet and ankles made strong. Your faith can strengthen people!

Hebrews 12:12-13
12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

But let me focus in on verse 6:
But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

What do you have to give? I’ve preached before on the three stages of life: survival, success, and significance.
- Survival is when you are barely making it. You are surviving.
- Success is when you are meeting your needs with margin.
- Significance is when you’re able to meet others’ needs beyond your own.

Most people today are living in survival mode, spiritually and otherwise. The notion of giving is super hard for you because you are barely surviving to begin with.

If it is financial, get in covenant with God in your finances.
Go read Malachi 3:8-10
Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Leviticus 27:30
Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord.

Others: 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, Proverbs 3:9, Luke 6:38

If it is emotional, get connected with God’s people.
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
Galatians 6:2
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

If it is spiritual, then get connected with God’s Word.
Grab a SOAP Journal or DGroup book
Get in a DGroup

You can’t give out of an empty cup. If it is empty, why?

Look at how you should feel:
Bubbling over
John 4:13-14
13 “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

Full of hope
Romans 5:5
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Filled with Wisdom
1 Corinthians 2:13
These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Loaded with gifts
2 Timothy 1:6-7
Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

And why do we have gifts?
1 Corinthians 12:4-7
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Peter didn’t have money, so he couldn’t give money, but he did have something to give. That something to give was out of the overflow of his heart. A backslidden, Jesus-denying, survival mentality Peter could never have had the courage or faith to tell a lame man to walk, but Peter was walking in forgiveness, in purpose, walking with passion, and walking fully immersed in the Spirit-led lifestyle that begets miracles.

I don’t know if you’ve seen miracles in your life or not. Maybe you have. Maybe you have but didn’t recognize them. Maybe you haven’t. But you need to know today that the miraculous is a natural byproduct of being filled with and walking by the Spirit. God has a plan and a purpose for every moment of your life, and he desires that cup to be filled to overflowing.

Peter and John had no clue who they’d meet that day in Jerusalem,
but they were ready. Are you ready? Is your cup full? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Are miracles following your life?

If not, then what has your cup empty?

Note: you might have to empty the cup and clean it before you can fill it. If it is sin, repent. If it is things of the worlds, let them go. If it is unresolved hurt or past brokenness, be healed in Jesus name. Be filled with the Spirit. Be led by him.

Miracles follow a Spirit-led life, but…

2. So does mayhem
Now, I know you want me to tell you that life is easy and that as a Christian, you will never have issues.

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.

Not if, but when.

Acts 5:12-17
12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

Look at what was happening. MANY signs and wonders. People were being healed. Even Peter’s SHADOW was healing people. Unclean spirits were cast out. People were being saved by the thousands. If this happened today, the world would be consumed with awe!

But not everyone. There’s always someone to push back, condemn, criticize, to get jealous.

One of the most convincing evidences that you are living the Spirit-led life is the fact that you are being opposed! So many people have a moment with Jesus where things are radically changed, miraculous even, and then they get back to the real world of family and work and bills and taxes and the excitement of that moment rubs off a little, and it is in that moment that the enemy sends his attack in the form of just one person to front you.

They see the growth and the change and the goodness that God is doing in your life and they just can’t say praise God. They have to tear you down or make you feel like it was just a show.

- What makes you think satan is going to stop fighting just because you made a decision for Jesus?
- What makes you think that the seas will be smooth when you decide to lead your family the way God intended or let go of that hurt?
- What makes you think you are going to get less of an attack rather than more of one?

Look at Jesus before the week of the passion. There were pockets of resistance, moments of maybe, but that last week leading to the cross was brutal.

The closer you get to your victory the harder satan is going to attack you.

Things might get tough. You might face resistance. you might be persecuted. Trials and tribulation and mayhem are going to come, but remember that the Holy Spirit reminds you of what Jesus said:

John 16:33
Tribulation will come, but take heart, i have overcome the world!

Look what happened in Acts 5:19-20 after they were arrested:
19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

The religious leaders brought them back in for questioning, where Peter promptly began preaching the Gospel and simply said this:

Acts 5:29
29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

What’s it going to be? You know mayhem follows the Spirit-led life. How are you going to respond when you face the attack? You going to stick with what God is doing, or turn back?

The book of Acts goes on to record so many more miracles and mayhem, too, including Peter’s arrest, Paul’s conversion, his missionary journey, and hardships, too.

2 Corinthians 11:24-27
24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.

Yet even Paul said, “I boast in my hardships and persecutions, because when I am weak, he is strong, and even in the mayhem, the power of Christ can work through me.

Eventually we see all of the Apostles that were with Jesus, save John, and even Paul himself, martyred. And it all started with Stephen, the first martyr.

3. So does martyrdom
The Spirit-led life is one of constant martyrdom.

Galatians 5:24
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

We willingly crucify our flesh so we can live in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit. As hard as that is, it doesn’t stop with laying our flesh down.

The Story of Stephen
Acts 6:8-12
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council.

In Acts 7, he preaches this incredible message starting all the way back with Abraham in Mesopotamia, all the way through Joesph and Egypt and Moses and Joshua. He basically recited the entirety of Jewish history to those who knew it already. Until he got here:

Acts 7:48-53
48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, 49 “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?’ 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

At that point the people were so enraged, they ground their teeth, rushed at him, dragged him out of the city, and stoned him to death.

We so often put ourselves in the place of the hero of the Bile stories, so naturally in this one, we’d be Stephen.

Question: How far are you willing to go?
The word martyr means “a witness unto death.” Are you willing to go that far for Jesus? How convinced are you that he is real, that he is working in you? How convinced are you when those around you get mad that you talk about him? When they rush you and attack you and it seems like they’re stoning you, are you a witness unto death?

ARE YOU ALL IN? Or only when the rocks aren’t flying?

We want to be Stephen, but too often we’re the people. We aren’t acting like witnesses unto death. We’re rejecting the Holy Spirit’s leading.

Look at what Stephen told them: Acts 7:51
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.”

Here’s what I mean:
We resist the Holy Spirit and what he is saying in our lives because we don’t want to hear it, don’t want to do it, don’t want to deal with it. But in our resisting, we are picking up rocks and stoning what God wants in us.

So I have a question:
What is the Holy Spirit telling you to do, and instead of listening and obeying, you are resisting and stoning?

Maybe it is something you are doing or not doing.

What is that thing in your life that because you keep doing it, you are stoning the work God wants to do in your life? Maybe it’s unforgiveness, maybe it’s a sin. Maybe, just like Stephen was telling them the Gospel, you know the Holy Spirit has been speaking to you and you just ignore him.

What am I asking you to do here?

Stop stoning the work of God by resisting the Holy Spirit, and instead, embrace the Holy Spirit allowing God to use you miraculously.

You may not heal the sick or raise the dead, but what if your willingness to forgive broke a curse in someone? What if your choice to love defeated rejection in someone? What if your obedience built faith in someone? What if you being willing to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading created an opportunity for someone to engage in a relationship with Jesus?

What miracle is waiting on the other side of martyrdom?

This message is called Miracles, Mayhem, and Martyrdom. Boy we love a miracle, but we often don’t realize they come surrounded by mayhem and martyrdom.

So how should you respond today? Now what?

I always ask if you are saved. If you aren’t and you want to be, that’s now what. "Jesus I confess you as Lord. I believe in you. Save Me."

I ask you to be filled with the Holy Spirit because that’s where the power to live for Jesus comes from. "Holy Spirit, I receive you. Fill me to overflowing. Empower me to live the life you called me to live."

But let’s take one more step today.
What is that one thing that the Holy Spirit has been telling you to do that you’ve been resisting?

Today is the day not to resist and throw a stone, but to embrace and obey.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?