A mechanic was called to come to a motorist who was stranded.
When the mechanic arrived he found the problem and told the driver…“your car is out of gas.”
The motorist asked the mechanic if he thought it would be ok to drive the car home with the gas tank empty.
The motorist had no idea what powered the car.
Many believers are confused when it comes to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Some will over emphasize Him…some not enough emphasis is given and some ignore Him completely.
The Bible describes the Holy Spirit in many ways…
Spirit of God…Spirit of judgment…The Spirit of wisdom and understanding…the Spirit of the sovereign Lord… the Spirit of Christ…the Spirit of grace…Counselor and Comforter…many more.
One thing the Holy Spirit is not described as is an IT. I am really bugged when Christians call the Spirit of God an IT…
The Spirit of God has been active from Genesis to Revelation.
Gen. 1: 2 The world was formless and void and darkness covered everything. The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Judges 6, we see the Spirit of God coming upon Gideon.
1Sam. 16 The Spirit of God comes on David.
From the Old Testament through the New, the Spirit of God has been active…
In Acts chapter 2 we see the beginning of the Church. This was a time that Jesus would lead His people to reach the world. Not by His physical presence but by the empowering presence of His Spirit.
Without the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we become like those Paul spoke of in 2Tim. 3:5a “having a FORM of godliness but deny its power.”
I want to share a couple of things about the Spirit…
1. How the Spirit came:
a. The people of God were together.
Act 2:1 “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”
We need to grasp this truth because I really believe the Church has lost touch with the reality of this statement.
The strength of this verse is not that they were in the same room but literally that they were unanimous, in their belief.
They were together in…purpose…in perspective…
b. They were expecting something to happen.
Are you expecting something today? Or will you just take whatever?
What happened?
They heard something…violent noise that came from above…
They saw something…looked like fire that suddenly showed up…split apart and rested over each of them.
They were filled…not with themselves but the Spirit of God.
They were given authority like they have never known…they were empowered like never before…
They began to speak the languages of all the people present in the city that day…EVERYONE understood them.
Let’s go back to the fire.
*The fire represented…PURITY.
Fire was used to purify precious metals…to take out the impurities.
*Fire represented…PRESENCE.
In the Old Testament there was a fire that lead the people of Israel by night. It represented the glory of God.
In Lev, 10 fire that came from the altar.
Lev 10:1,2 “Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the LORD by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded.
2 So fire blazed forth from the LORD's presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD.”
*Fire represented…transformation.
Whatever fire touches fire changes…
2. Why the Spirit came:
Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that when the Spirit came, believers would be filled with power.
Not just any power but power to be witnesses.
The word power here is Dunamis…power…The English words dynamite and dynamic are derived from it.
Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
a. Power to witness…
b. Power to pray.
Rom 8:26 “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.”
Someone said that “if we are too busy to pray, we’re too busy to receive power.”
c. Power to overcome temptation.
1Cr 10:13 “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
d. Power to strengthen the Church.
Acts 9:31 “The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.”
e. Power to convict/convince of sin.
John 16:7-11 “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don't, the Advocate won't come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
9 The world's sin is that it refuses to believe in me.
10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.
11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.”
f. Power to change.
Rom 8:13,14 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
There are a lot of people, today, running on empty…No power…no fuel in their tank.
There was a man who got tired of the city life and wanted to go live in the country.
He bought a farm and a few milk cows.
One day he went in to the feed store just fuming. His best cow had gone dry.
The man at the feed store asked if he had been feeding her right.
“I fed her the food I bought from you!”
“Are you milking her every day?” the feed store owner asked.
“Just about…if I need 6-8oz of milk for breakfast I go out and get that. If I need some for lunch, I get that. The rest I let her store up.”
Milk cows are sort of like Gods presence…you take it all or eventually you’ll have nothing…
Invitation.
