How To Keep In Step With The Holy Spirit Series

For free audio or video download of this message, visit https://www.treasuringgod.com/sermons-by-scripture or my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@DarrellFerguson.

We come this morning to the final message in our series on loving God. The greatest command is to love God, and the way to increase your love for God is to have fellowship with Him. And so we have been studying what Scripture says about how to have fellowship with each member of the Trinity. First the Father, then the Son, and then last week we began with the Holy Spirit. And we found that the Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to receive all that the Father and Son offer. The main thing we get from the Father is love. The main thing we get from the Son is grace. And what the Holy Spirit does is delivers that love and grace from the Father and the Son directly to us. He takes grace from Jesus and applies it to your life (Jn.16:14), and takes love from God the Father and pours it out into your heart.

Romans 5:5 hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

The only way the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ makes it into your life is through fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and the only way the love of God the Father gets into your heart is through fellowship with the Holy Spirit. That’s why 2 Corinthians 13:14 says May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. We get love from God and grace from Jesus when we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. And the way to have fellowship with the Spirit is to be receptive and responsive to His work in your life. And that work consists mainly in two things. The first one we looked at last week – enlightenment. He turns on the lights, opens your eyes, and enables you to see and appreciate truth, and to welcome that truth into your heart. The other major function of the Holy Spirit that is emphasized in Scripture is empowerment.

The Empowerment of the Spirit

Over and over in the Old Testament you read about the Holy Spirit coming upon a person in power.

Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him– the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power

In the Old Testament, if you are a Philistine or some enemy of Israel, and the Holy Spirit comes upon some Israelite, you had better run. And in the New Testament as well, power is associated with the Spirit almost as much as truth is.

Luke 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit

Acts 10:38 God anointed Jesus … with the Holy Spirit and power

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace …so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me …19 through the power of the Spirit.

Ephesians 3:16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit

It is the Holy Spirit who enables everything we do. All strength and all ability come directly from Him (including physical ability, mental ability, and spiritual ability).

The heavy lifting in the kingdom

All the heavy lifting and the light lifting in the kingdom of God are done by the Holy Spirit. He supplies all the power. And when I say, “heavy lifting,” I am talking about things that are not humanly possible – things that unbelievers cannot do because they are not empowered by the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:13 is a good example of that.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace …so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

People in the world can do some impressive things with their little, human strength. Some of them can dunk basketballs, or invent computers, or compose amazing symphonies. But none of them – even if they put all their strength and ability together – can fill themselves with joy and peace with overflowing hope. That is the work of God alone. When Jesus stretched out His hand over the raging storm on the Sea of Galilee and commanded the wind and the waves to be still, and there was instant silence and stillness – those men knew that Almighty God was standing there in their boat. And when the Holy Spirit stretches out His hand over the chaos and turmoil in your heart and brings calm, and quiet, restful, peace; you know it is the work of God alone.