Series: Holy Spirit Rising
Sermon: Who is the Holy Spirit? Pt. 3
Mike McCartney, “The Holy Spirit is a person in and of God and a presence who dwells within a spirit filled believer!”
Quotes about the Holy Spirit: from http://www.spirithome.com/holy-spirit.html#quotes
"We do not need to wait for the Holy Spirit to come: he came on the day of Pentecost. He has never left the church."
------ John Stott, "Setting the Spirit Free" (*Christianity Today*, 12 Jun 1981, p.21)
"In Luke ... receiving the Holy Spirit is the way that those who already believe in Christ are empowered to serve Him. .... It's more important to focus on how one lives the Spirit-filled life than on a rigid formula for receiving it.... Receiving the Spirit in the Lucan sense is not a one-time event, but an ongoing way of life."
------ Larry Christenson (attrib.)
"Spell this out in capital letters: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON. He is not enthusiasm. He is not courage. He is not energy. He is not the personification of all good qualities, like Jack Frost is the personification of cold weather. Actually, the Holy Spirit is not the personification of anything...... He has individuality. He is one being and not another. He has will and intelligence. He has hearing. He has knowledge and sympathy and ability to love and see and think. He can hear, speak, desire, grieve and rejoice. He is a Person."
------ A. W. Tozer, *The Counselor*
"The Holy Spirit, object of faith, is also an object of prayer : we must not only pray that we receive the Holy Spirit. We must pray to him."
------ Karl Barth, *The Faith Of the Church*
Every time we say, "I believe in the Holy Spirit," we mean that we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it.
------ J. B. Phillips, *Plain Christianity*
Series Summary:
The Holy Spirit is our biggest need in the church today, not money, not more people, not larger crowds, not more programs, not more Bible translations, not more study aids to the Bible, not more Christian books, not more Bible seminaries or Bible colleges, not more Degrees, not more tech stuff like lights, projectors, video illustrations or even better websites. No the biggest need of the church is the in filling of the Holy Spirit. This infilling brings empowerment to us as Christians and to the church. It transforms us into what God wants us to be and it points us to God’s agenda not ours.
Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
I want you to know that transformation will not happen in our country, state or city by the elephant or by the donkey but by the Lamb and His Holy Spirit. The White House nor Congress can bring transformation to this nation nor to your life, it can only come by the power of the Holy Spirit. So we have to open up our hearts to the Holy Spirit to allow Him to come in and immerse us with his power.
The Main Question we are seeking to answer in this series: Who is the Holy Spirit?
Summary of the 9 attributes of the Holy Spirit:
1. The Holy Spirit possesses a divine personality and personally chooses people for
ministry assignments (Acts 13: 2).
2. The Holy Spirit communicates with us (Rev. 2: 7).
3. The Holy Spirit searches out the deep things of God to make them known to
believers (1 Cor. 2: 9– 12).
4. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes Christ a living reality to the believer (Eph. 3:
16–17).
5. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8: 9).
6. The Holy Spirit is coequal with both the Father and Son as part of the mystery of the
triune God.
7. The Holy Spirit is God’s Agent of change and transformation on this earth sent by
Jesus to us – the question is do you want Him to come into your life and transform you! (Acts 1: 4, 8; 2:1-4).
8. The Holy Spirit can be grieved – can be offended and hurt. The Bible warns us not to
grieve or quench the Holy Spirit in our lives or in our churches. We need to be cautious that we do not forsake the Word of God, or be rebellious, sinful and divisionary, we need to make sure we do not forbid the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and we need to make sure that prayer stays at the forefront of our spiritual lives – both independently and in the corporately (Ephesians 4:29-32; 1 Thessalonians 5: 19-22)
9. The Holy Spirit is our personal tutor sent by Jesus to enlighten our hearts and minds
to the teachings of the Word of God, to be able to understand and grasp the concepts of the Bible and the spiritual realm in which we all live. He instructs us in what is right and wrong. He leads us to truth –He instructs us and guides our decisions in life – He teaches us how to flow in His spiritual gifts and to understand what Jesus has already taught (John 16:1-15).
Application point:
This power is the power which births transformation and Jesus has promised it to you if you want it! Do you want the Holy Spirit to immerse you in his presence to live inside of you? Do you want to become His Temple – the place where God’s presence and power live?
The tragedy of some of today’s churches is they do not want the Holy Spirit to control them or lead them in their services:
Jim Cymbala: Giving the Holy Spirit His Due – “The Holy Spirit is underappreciated and under preached by the twenty-first-century church. There is a prejudice of sorts against the Holy Spirit that impedes many from learning more about him. The body of Christ is often divided into two sides. One side stresses the Word of God, separating itself from what it views as the emotional fanaticism often linked to those emphasizing the work of the Holy Spirit. The other side is sometimes known for drifting into unbiblical manifestations and unorthodox teaching while attributing it all to the Spirit of God” - Cymbala, Jim (2012-02-21). Spirit Rising: Tapping into the Power of the Holy Spirit (Kindle Locations 349-352). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
We here at Christian Hills want to be balanced and biblical in our dependence on the Holy Spirit in our services and in our personal lives.
Jim Cymbala: “Somewhere in the middle is the kind of Christianity we see in Scripture where the Word of God is honored along with a childlike dependence and openness to the Holy Spirit.” Cymbala, Jim (2012-02-21). Spirit Rising: Tapping into the Power of the Holy Spirit (Kindle Locations 358-359). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Today we are going to discover that we – yes our bodies – should be looked at and recognized as a Temple of the Holy Spirit. It’s important for us to understand that the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Jesus – or the Spirit of God wants to reside in our hearts and lives.
Scripture Text: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “19Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
T.S. - Today we will be looking at the 10th attribute of the Holy Spirit which is: He will make your body His temple if you invite Him to dwell there. To understand how for us today this is a tremendous blessing and honor we need to look back into the Old Testament to see how God dwelled with His people then, so we will look at the sequence of events:
I. How the Holy Spirit (The Spirit of God) inhabited the Tabernacle and Temple of
the OT.
a. The Spirit of God wanted to dwell with His people so Moses was instructed by the Lord to construct a moveable residence for Him called the Tabernacle.
i. This is a place where the people would bring their sacrifices to God, they would also physically be able to see the presence of God in a cloud and a pillar of fire at night to remind them God was right there.
1. They would also inquire of God through a priest when it came to specific questions about the nation.
2. Also they were instructed when the cloud or fire moved they were to move with it as God would lead them in their journey to the Promised Land.
b. How did the Spirit of God indwell the Tabernacle?
i. How it first happened?
1. In the Tabernacle: Exodus 40:34-38:
a. When Moses finished the construction of the Tabernacle then God’s Holy Spirit filled the tabernacle – His presence came and dwelled in it!
i. He resided in the Holy of Holies
1. See picture of the Tabernacle:
b. Exodus 40:34-38: 34Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: 37But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. 38For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
i. The Ark of the Covenant – holy of Holies!
1. Was where the Lord dwelled – His Spirit! His Holy Spirit!
2. This was also taken into battle so that Israel would be assured of victory with the Lord’s presence.
c. How did the Spirit of God move from the Tabernacle to the Temple?
i. The Temple came about as a desire of David who was a man’s after God’s own heart and he felt he needed to build God a Palace of His own to dwell in rather than a tent.
1. Under David the Tabernacle became a place of not only offering sacrifices but a place to praise and pray to the Lord daily. He actually hired musicians to sing and praise and prayer 24 7 – this is what International House of Prayer is based off of in Kansas City.
2. So David wanted to construct the Lord a house – a permanent House which would be called Solomon’s Temple: David was not allowed to build this Temple but he did accumulate a lot of the material to do it but his son Solomon was the one who actually had it built.
a. Solomon’s Temple and God’s presence:
i. See picture
b. From International encyclopedia: Building and Dedication: The Temple was founded in the 4th year of Solomon’s reign (1 Ki 6:1), and occupied 7 1/2 years in building (1 Ki 6:38); the royal buildings occupied 13 years (1 Ki 7:1)—20 years in all (the two periods, however, may in part synchronize). On the completion of the Temple, the ark was brought up, in the presence of a vast assemblage, from Zion, and, with innumerable sacrifices and thanksgiving, was solemnly deposited in the Holy of Holies (1 Ki 8:1-21; 2 Ch 5; 6:1-11). The Temple itself was then dedicated by Solomon in the noble prayer recorded in 1 Ki 8:22-61; 2 Ch 6:12-42, followed by lavish sacrifices, and a 14 days’ feast. At its inauguration the house was filled with the “glory” of Yahweh (1 Ki 8:10, 11; 2 Ch 5:13, 14).
d. What caused the Spirit of the Lord to and Hs presence to leave the Temple?
i. The Spirit of the Lord departed the Temple according to Ezekiel 10:18-19: Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD'S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
1. After this we read about the words of rebuke regarding men who devise mischief in the City, followed by: Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city (Ezek 11:22-23).
a. Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house. And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me. And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places (Ezek 43:1-7).
b. And finally, the 44th chapter of Ezekiel:Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same (Ezek 44:1-3).
2. The Spirit Of God – the Holy Spirit - departed the Temple because of the rejection of God by Israel people and their repeated sins and idolatry.
e. The Holy Spirit - will not dwell where He is not welcomed and as I said last week ---sin will drive out the Holy Spirit. Sin and the idolatry of the people of Israel caused the Spirit of God to depart the Temple.
i. It’s important for us to keep our temples clean and our temples a place that welcomes the Holy Spirit and not offends the Holy Spirit according to the apostle Paul of the New Testament.
ii. More than ½ of his writing instruct us on how to hold onto the gift of holiness and God’s presence in our lives.
f. Here is the sequence of events to get God’s presence to dwell in you!
i. Abraham believed God and became a friend of God. He became obedient to His voice and to God’s direction in His life.
ii. Abraham, Moses knew God personally.
iii. They also experienced him personally for Moses it occurred in the wilderness.
iv. So Moses then by God’s instruction built a portable House for the Lord to dwell with His people and move and go as He instructed them. They followed obediently the direction that God moved them in. while at the same time honoring God in the Temple bringing Him daily sacrifices and tending to His house. They also inquired for wisdom and insight from Him as well since he dwelled in the holy of holies of the tabernacle.
v. The presence of God in their camp and eventually city empowered the people of Israel to do miraculous things!
T.S. – But today we can call ourselves very blessed because God does not just dwell on the outside of our lives in a church, or temple but he literally wants His Holy Spirit to live in your heart – to dwell in your inner most being. Why? So you can be lead by Him, guided by Him, taught by Him, so you can offer up praises to Him, offer up sacrifices to Him, so you can worship Him and you can hear His voice personally! Do you realize how huge this opportunity is for you? To have God’s Holy Spirit live-reside in your body which is His temple like in the OT era?
II. The New Testament promise of the Holy Spirit and his indwelling of a spirit filled believer.
a. Why would Jesus – God in the flesh want to send the Holy Spirit to live inside of us imperfect creatures? Jesus answers this question in these two sections of Scripture.
i. John 14:15-31:
1. 15“If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” 22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25“All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.
a. The same reasons He dwelled in the Temple and the tabernacle to lead His people to truth, righteousness and His blessings.
b. To keep His people from going down the wrong paths or wrong roads which lead to destruction, to empower His people to do His work for the benefit of those who are lost.
c. To teach the ones lost what Jesus said and back it up with power and His presence.
d. But God choose this new path opened up by Jesus to literally dwell inside of us!
ii. John 16:5-15:
1. 5“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;
11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
a. Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple with His disciples because he knew that God was leaving actually He had already left the Temple and was about through His sacrifice on the cross come live inside of those who invited Him in!
b. God no longer was separated from His people but He could once again live inside their hearts and lives.
b. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to live beyond our natural capabilities or natural limitations – to give us a Holy guide to show us what to avoid so we can hang onto His gift of holiness.
i. To help reveal to us what is right and what is wrong in a culture which is very important because many today believe that there is no right and or wrong.
1. The whole Chick fi la scenario reveals that to us!
ii. To prepare our hearts for certain stressful or hurtful situations in our lives and to give us words of knowledge, and wisdom.
1. Share about how God revealed to you certain betrayals that were coming from people in a former church.
2. Share how the Holy Spirit spoke to you about coming to Christian Hills.
3. Share about the dream revealing the man who fell into sin with another woman.
4. Share about how God gives you insight into situations that are coming like he did in Costa Rica.
iii. The Holy Spirit lives in us to illuminate our minds to what is of God and what is not of God.
1. To discern what is good and what is evil in spite of what society calls good and evil.
2. The ability to discern truth deals with teachings both in and outside the church.
a. We must have internal spiritual discernment as we listen to people speak by the Holy Spirit.
b. This deals with how we look and listen to college professors or secular educators as well.
i. Share about your college days a Bemidji State University.
c. This is applicable to listening and discerning what politicians say and don’t say.
3. The Holy Spirit which lives in us reveals to us what spirit is behind certain events in our life and in our families lives.
4. He is in us to reveal to us what spiritual influences are behind certain events – we must be able to discern the spirit behind certain events in our life – in our era.
a. Both political movements.
b. Grass roots movements.
c. Financial situations in the world economy.
d. Social issues.
e. Social movements.
f. Protests
g. Secular values.
h. What spirit is controlling others?
c. Of all the faiths in the world Christianity is the one of the only one where a god (His Spirit) lives inside a person!
i. To have the Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts, in our Temple is an amazing event!
1. Is very unique to most religions of the world!
a. But ours does have the promise of the Spirit of God – the Holy Spirit – why – so we don’t become deceived like so many others!
b. We need the Holy Spirit – His power and presence in our life – Why? So we stay on the narrow path.
i. Matthew 7:13-23: “13“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
ii. Wow what a concept – what a miracle which came from and through Jesus Christ – God’s Holy Spirit can live inside us – dwell in our inner hearts and lives – If we invite Him too.
1. Scripture reveals that the Holy Spirit is sent by Jesus upon His return to Heaven for the purpose of helping us as humans to be empowered with supernatural power to bring the teachings of Jesus to bear upon this lost world and to live holy lives.
a. Tenney states, “In the last days he extended His gifts to the whole world that he might raise up a new Israel, and elect nation, the Church catholic, which He empowered to bear witness to Christ, and which he leads into all truth. This is accomplished by the renewal of the hearts of individual men, whom He indwells, making them His temple, purifying them inwardly, and identifying with them in their struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and in their aspiration for God. By His mighty power, with which He raised up Jesus from the dead, he will raise up Jesus from the dead, he will raise up the saints in the last day, a glorious company resting from their labors, whose works shall follow after them (Rev. 14:13) (The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Enclyclopedia, page 189).
d. We are promised the Holy Spirit so we can do the following things spoken of by the Bible and Tenney:
i. “The Holy Spirit is the One who animates the body. By one Spirit ‘all were baptized into one body and made to drink of the Spirit’ (1 Cor. 12:13). The gifts of the Spirit are for the edification of the Church (1 Cor. 14:12). Christian love one another in the Spirit (Col. 1:8); they have fellowship on the Spirit (Phil. 2:1); they worship God in the Spirit (Phil 3:3); the church is comprised of Christians who are built up together as a habitation of God in the Spirit (Eph 2:22); thus the Church becomes an epistle of Christ, written not in ink, but by the Spirit of the living God (2 Cor. 3:3) (page 188).
T.S. – Jesus gave us the promise and the gift of the Holy Spirit to live in us, to dwell in our innermost being so that we could live a holy life and fulfill the Great Commission to win this world to Him. We have a power available to us that can transform your life, your families lives, your community and your world.
Pastor Moy shares how the Holy Spirit has impacted and empowered his personal life!
Practical challenge: We have cards designed for you this week to be used by you to help you here the Holy Spirits voice and allow Him to rise up within you. See Cards!
III. When the Holy Spirit indwells you and makes you His temple you can make an eternal difference with your life like they did in the book of Acts.
a. Quote from Jim Cymbala about the importance of understanding why we were created, why we were saved and that was to be God’s Temple on this earth – to be filled, baptized, immersed in the Holy Spirit.
i. “God saved us for the purpose for making us human temples, inhabited by his Spirit. During Old Testament days, God dwelt within the inner room of the temple— a place called the Holy of Holies. That’s where he made his home. When Paul said Christians were the “temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6: 19), the word he used for “temple” was not the word used for the outer rooms of the Old Testament temple. It was naos, which referred to the inner sanctum, the place where there was a visible manifestation of the shekinah glory of God. That indwelling of God through the Holy Spirit makes Christians different from any other religionists on earth. Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism— none of these religions claim that their god inhabits their followers. The leaders of those belief systems may try to proselytize with their doctrine, but the gospel of Christ is different. Faith in Jesus makes us walking miracles who have been changed through the Holy Spirit personally dwelling in us! God’s plan in redemption was that we should live life full of the Holy Spirit. “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5: 18). The metaphor here is that we might be filled with the Spirit to the point where he overflows— spilling out onto others with love and grace. That’s a beautiful image, isn’t it? But it’s not the clearest explanation of the Holy Spirit’s relationship to the believer. When you consider that the Holy Spirit is a person, the third person of the Godhead, what does it mean to be filled with a person? He’s not a gas. He’s not a liquid. He’s as much a person as the Father and the Son. So I think a better description of “being filled” is to say the Spirit controls us. - Cymbala, Jim (2012-02-21). Spirit Rising: Tapping into the Power of the Holy Spirit (Kindle Locations 517-521). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
1. So why would you not want the third person of the Godhead to live inside of you to give you supernatural abilities to make the right decisions, see miracles happen, pray for peoples deliverance and see them delivered, to give words of knowledge that impact a person dynamically, to give a word of wisdom to a person moving in the wrong way to bring them back to the right road?
2. So is it all about who will control my life? Are you willing to surrender control of your life, you inner most being to the Holy Spirit so you can be His Temple?
b. The disciples in the New Testament were empowered by the Holy Spirit and read Acts to see what God did through them!
i. Tenney states, “According to Acts, the entire historical movement, beginning with Pentecost and resulting in the founding of the Church universal took its rise from the baptism of the Spirit (Acts 1:5, 8) and was under His direction and control.
ii. Tenney adds, ‘The presence of Spirit became a distinctive mark of the Christian society .” For example;
1. The Spirit directed Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch and then ‘caught up Philip” (8:29, 39).
2. The Spirit at Joppa spoke to Peter and led him to Cornelius in Caesarea (10:19; 11:12).
3. The Spirit enjoined the church at Antioch to set apart Paul and Barnabas for the missionary task (13:2).
4. The Spirit guided the church in its deliberations over the most crucial question arising out of that mission (15:29).
5. The Spirit would not allow Paul to enter Asia (16:6).
6. The Spirit warned Paul through a prophecy of Agabus about the evil intent of the Jews in Jerusalem (20:23; 21:11).
7. The Spirit told Paul to communicate to the Elders of Ephesus that they were bishops who were to feed the church (20:28).
c. To understand how the Holy Spirit can empower you like He did the disciples in Acts you must understand the following about Him:
i. Christian tradition starts speaking of the Spirit by saying that the Holy Spirit is God, based on the Bible from (http://www.spirithome.com/holy-spirit.html#whois).
1. The Spirit has the attributes of God :
a. eternal, having neither beginning nor end (Hebrews 9:14),
b. omni-potent, having all power (Luke 1:35);
c. omni-present, being everywhere at the same time (Psalm 139:7); and
d. omni-scient, understanding all matters (1 Corinthians 2:10,11).
2. Not only is the Holy Spirit God, the Spirit is a full person of the Trinity. What is meant by that? (Forgive me for talking strange here, but this is about the Holy Spirit, the One that can least be described by words.) The Spirit is an 'I', able to take action and cause action. The Spirit is able to be a 'we' with other 'I's. The Spirit can be addressed as 'you' by other 'I's (such as you and me), and can respond as an 'I'. Thus, when we say, "Come, Holy Spirit", the Spirit can come, not as if on command, but as promised.
ii. The Bible shows that the Holy Spirit is a person and is God :
1. The Spirit's work in the Old Testament is closely identified with the Word of YHWH spoken by the prophets (this was affirmed by the early church in 2 Peter 1:21, and in the Creeds).
2. The close ties between Jesus' mission and the work of the Spirit
3. The close ties between the mission of the apostles and the work of the Spirit; see 1 Peter 1:12.
4. The episode with Hananiah (Ananias) in Acts 5, where first, Peter says that Hananiah lied to the Holy Spirit, then later says that he lied not to men but to God.
5. The trinitarian baptismal formula found in Scripture ( Matt 28:19): "in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". It dates to the church's earliest days.
6. Jesus made a habit of confronting traditions with "box-breaking" actions. He ate with tax collectors and other scorned people, He turned over the tables of the money changers in the temple, He talked to the woman at the well, He healed the occupier-centurion's daughter. The Holy Spirit does the same kind of thing in Acts, and ever since.
iii. As God, the Holy Spirit is cause, and that cause has effect.
1. Here this Christian Hills Church!
iv. It's easy to mistake the Spirit's work for our own work, or that of other people or of nature or science or society -- and vice versa.
1. But we need to recognize he lives in us to work through us but we cannot do His work without Him – dwelling in us and empowering us!
Conclusion:
I am coming back to this challenge to you the church today: Are you empowered with the Holy Spirit? Are you being filled with His presence and power daily by dying to yourself picking up the cross of Jesus Christ? Are you still for fighting for control of your life with the Holy Spirit or have you given Him full control?
Are you crying out for more today? Are you seeking more of His power and presence? Is you Christian life filled with awe and excitement or is it boring and dry? Do you want the energizing force of the Holy Spirit to immerse you again and again?
Jesus instruction on receiving something from Him - Matthew 7:7-11: 7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
He desires to indwell you, live through you, inspire you, empower you but you have to ask Him to come in and dwell in your life with power. I believe this is an ongoing cry not just a onetime event like salvation where you got it and that it is all there is. It’s a hunger for more of God and His Spirit a hunger for His way and His agenda in our life!
