The Power of God - Part Three - The Holy Spirit

The Power of God – Part Three – The Holy Spirit
Sermon Notes – Ps. Jim White
Sunday 31st January 2010
• We are in the middle of a series on the power of God. We’ve looked at the power of the Word – more powerful and sharper than a two edged sword – cutting to the heart of every man and woman and every issue and circumstance.

• We’ve looked at the power of the Blood – the power to save and redeem, to heal, to cover and protect, to cleanse and wash clean.

• Today, we are going to look at the power of the Holy Spirit – and if you are like me, your thoughts will automatically run to the day of Pentecost in the upper room, where the church was born in the power of the Holy Spirit – where the followers of Christ had gathered – and the Spirit came in like the sound of a rushing wind.

• Acts two describes a sound coming from heaven like a rushing mighty wind – and tongues of fire sitting upon each of the disciples. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

• It was an incredible time – people from other cultural backgrounds hearing the disciples speaking in their own language. Men, who were once timid and afraid, standing up in boldness proclaiming the thread and gift of salvation that ran throughout the Old Testament – and of course the good news of Jesus Christ – The Messiah.

• Some appeared to be drunk with wine – but it was only nine o’clock in the morning – instead, they were intoxicated with the Holy Spirit’s presence.

• Many signs and wonders began to occur – people were unified by the Spirit of God – they genuinely cared for one another – gave generously to one another – and thousands were continually added to their number day by day.

• What an amazing description of the power of the Holy Spirit at work. The church was born – in power – in signs and wonders – in true love and fellowship.

• And we listen to that story and wonder – what happened? Where did the church of the first century go? What has happened throughout the many centuries since then?

• We know there have been revivals at different times and places. We know that miracles are not dead – we hear about them first hand. Some of us have seen the manifestation of the signs and wonders of the power of the Holy Spirit ourselves. We experience the presence of the Holy Spirit – His Anointing – His love and fellowship – and yet the real power of Pentecost – the fullness of the Holy Ghost’s power – seems to be just beyond our grasp and our reach.

• I want to bring you back to the comment I made at the outset of this series on the power of God. When I first began thinking about the power of God – I thought about the signs and wonders. I was drawn straight away to the manifestations and outworking of God’s supernatural power....

• But even in that moment, I realised immediately, my focus was not in correct alignment with the heart of God.

• The day of Pentecost came out of the heart of God for His people – and the heart of the people for God – as they were gathered together as one – unified in their hunger for Him – one people in one place – praying fervently in unity together – faithfully waiting for the One who Jesus was going to send to be with them in His place – the Holy Spirit.

• They were seeking after Him for who He is. That’s all they knew. They had no idea of what they were about to be released into.

• And I believe there is a key here for us this morning. The power of the Holy Spirit cannot be separated out from the presence of the Holy Spirit – it cannot be separated out from the desire to know Him – to be with Him – to have Him dwelling and abiding within us.

• And we cannot separate the power of the Holy Spirit from the very reason He has come to dwell with us – and that is to point people toward Jesus Christ and to glorify Him.

• I think that the church has wandered away from the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit, because we don’t love Him – welcome Him – dwell with Him – take time to be intimate with Him – pray to Him – and hunger after Him like the first Christians did.

• And if we were really honest with ourselves, what would be our true motivations to see the power of the Holy Spirit move in our midst in all His fullness? Would it be to glory in the signs and wonders for ourselves? To have an experience in the supernatural? To be tantalized – for the want of a better word – by the manifestations of His power?

• John 16:13,14 – Jesus says to His disciples – “However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

• You see, the Holy Spirit will not speak on His own authority. We know He is God – He is the third Person of the Trinity – One with God the Father and God the Son. But He is not here to do His own thing. He will not make Himself the primary centre of attention. He is not here to tell us all about Himself. As Jesus says, “He will glorify Me...” The Holy Spirit’s eyes are always on Jesus.

• If we want to see the greater power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives and the life of the church, then our desire and our prayer should also be that His presence and power in our lives would be something that brings greater glory to Jesus Christ.

• That would have to be my number one and most important point regarding the power of the Holy Spirit. But there are certain ways that the power of the Holy Spirit brings about that glory. And they may not necessarily be what comes to our mind straight away.

• Jesus said in John 14:16,17 – “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither see Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

• Jesus called the Holy Spirit “another Helper.” Other versions say “Comforter”, or “Advocate”. It literally means “one called alongside.” And that word, “another”, means one of the same kind. I’ve heard it described as this. Jesus was saying, I leave you as one man – God in the flesh – and I will return to you as Spirit. The Holy Spirit is, in essence, the Spirit of Christ.

• And it says He will abide with you – He will dwell with you – and be in you.

• 1Cor 3:16 – “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

• Do you see how personal and how intimate this relationship is that we have with the Holy Spirit? And do you see that the life we live – because we have the Spirit of God dwelling within us – is a supernatural life?

• We are partakers of the very life that Jesus lived. Jesus said – “because I live, you will live also.” (John 14:19)

• And again, in 1Cor 6:19-20 – “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

• I believe it is vitally important that if we want to understand something of the power of the Holy Spirit, then we need to understand that the body and spirit that was once ours, is now His. And here again, in verse 20, is the main reason for it being that way – so that we glorify God.

• When you were born again, you gave your life to Christ. It was a dead and miserable life anyway before that – without hope.

• But the power of God – the power of the Holy Spirit – infiltrated every part of your being when you were born again. Well, that was the plan and God’s heart. I think some of us may have kept a few places inside just to ourselves.

• A bible commentator by the name of Willmington has said that there is a difference between the “indwelling” and the “infilling” of the Spirit of God.

• He says that “The filling... does not mean the believer gets more of the Holy Spirit, but rather the Holy Spirit gets more of the believer.”

• The Holy Spirit may dwell in you - but that doesn’t mean that He automatically has all of you. But the power to change your life is in direct proportion to how much you surrender and give of your life to Him.

• We should certainly pray that the Holy Spirit fill us afresh – but we need to understand that that means, we give Him more of ourselves.

• So – to summarise so far – if you want to experience more of the power of the Holy Spirit in your life – make sure your motivations are purely to glorify God – and allow Him to fill and take over every part of your life.

• Let me share with you another facet of the Holy Spirit’s power in your life. Jesus said in John 16: 8-11 – “And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

• Another bible commentary says that conviction is what the Spirit does to bring an inescapable sense of guilt so that we realise our shame and helplessness before God. It might not at first appear that conviction is a good thing – but the truth is, it is actually a gift. Just as repentance is a gift.

• If the Holy Spirit speaks to you – through the Word, through a message, through a situation – whatever it is – and you have a sense of guilt about your life, your attitudes, your behaviour... don’t ignore it or deny it or push it away. That’s the power of the Holy Spirit at work in your life.

• I bet you didn’t think I’d be talking about conviction and guilt when you heard I was talking about the power of the Holy Spirit. Most of us want to hear about miracles and signs and wonders and being drunk in the Spirit... but it’s the powerful work of conviction, and the kindness of God that leads us to repentance and to freedom in Christ. The bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John1:9)

• A life cleansed from all unrighteousness is a powerful life. It’s a victorious life. It’s a life that is a testimony to others.

• And that’s another aspect of the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives. In Acts1:8 – Jesus says to His disciples, “...you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

• You have the power of the Holy Spirit to be a witness to Jesus Christ. Here it is again. When you are talking about the Holy Spirit – you are talking about bringing glory to Jesus Christ.

• Matt 5:16 – “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

• What is the testimony of your life? We all have a testimony of how God has touched our life – but what testimony does our life shout to others about who God is?

• The light that shines is the light of the Holy Spirit. How bright is He shining in your family, your workplace, your circumstances? Good works have nothing to do with our salvation – but they are a reflection of our faith in God, and they should always be a witness, and point people to Jesus Christ.

• That’s why our heart motivations are so important. We can do all the right things – all the good things – and yet if our motivations are related to self – making ourselves feel good – looking like a good person in the eyes of others – then we have completely missed the mark.

• The testimony of your life is not about how good you are – it’s about how amazing and gracious and faithful and good God is.

• There are countless other ways where we experience the power of the Holy Spirit.

• Rom 8:26 – “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.”

• We know that we pray in Jesus name. We know that He also is our advocate in heaven. But how much do we look to the Holy Spirit to plead on our behalf to our heavenly Father?

• There are scriptures that say God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit... The Counsellor, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things... He will guide us in all truth... He will tell us of things to come...

• 1Cor 6:11 says, “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God.”

• I just want to finish with this thought. When Jesus went to be with the Father, and He spoke to His disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit as the Helper and Comforter, He said to them, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

• And Rom 8:15,16 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of Adoption by whom we cry out “Abba Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

• And I just feel that God is saying to some of you this morning – that you are not left alone. I believe there is an orphan spirit that wants to isolate and crush people and ostracise them. But the power of the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of adoption. You have been chosen and adopted by God, to be His child – to belong to His family.

• What a powerful thing that is – it may be the most powerful thing that the Holy Spirit does. He brings us to a place of belonging. He bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

• The first prayer I want to pray this morning in response to this word – is for those who have experienced that orphan spirit try to come around them... Felt like you don’t belong... Felt isolated. I want to pray for the Spirit of adoption to come around you life....

• Secondly... pray for all of us – that we enter into the fullness of intimacy with the presence of the Holy Spirit – and we know Him within...

• Thirdly... pray that we hear and respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit – and see that conviction as a gift...

• Fourthly... pray that we shine as lights to the world – that our lives be a testimony to the grace and love and goodness of Jesus Christ.