HOLY GHOST POWER
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: THE MECHANIC’S AMAZING DOG
1. A mechanic owned a dog named “Mace.” Mace had a bad habit of eating all the grass in the mechanic’s lawn, so the mechanic had to keep Mace inside.
2. The grass eventually became overgrown. One day the mechanic was working on a car in his backyard and dropped his wrench, losing it in the tall grass. He couldn’t find it for the life of him and decided to call it a day.
3. That night Mace escaped from the house and ate all the grass in the backyard. The next morning the mechanic went outside and saw his wrench glinting in the sunlight.
4. Realizing what had happened, he looked up to the heavens and proclaimed... “A grazing Mace, how sweet the hound, that saved a wrench for me!”
B. TITLE/ THEME
Today is Pentecost Sunday, so that is our theme.
I. THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF POWER
A. NATURAL/ MANMADE POWER
1. MANY TYPES: Political Power, Financial Power, Military Power, Informational Power, etc.
2. NATURAL FORCES: Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Tidal waves, Earthquakes, Lightning storms, etc.
3. EXPLOSIVE POWER:
a. Fire (gun) power
b. Rocket Engines -- thrust (Cape Canaveral)
c. TNT, Dynamite; C-4
d. Atom Bomb – Hiroshima = 20,000 tons of TNT
e. Mount St. Helen’s explosion = 10,000,000 tons of TNT or 500 Hiroshima's. It was a blast of 300° heat traveling 200 mph. 17 miles away it leveled 150 foot Douglas firs. 60 people were killed.
4. But no power can rival that which Paul encountered on the Road to Damascus -- a power able to transform a soul from death to life.
B. HOLY GHOST POWER
1. Gen. 1:2, "Spirit of God was hovering over the waters"
a. He formed the vast reaches of space.
b. He created suns as large as our solar system.
c. He’s so powerful, he can suspend or supersede the laws of the universe!
d. He’s so powerful, He’s beyond the physical realm.
2. He is the third person of the Trinity Godhead, One with the Father and Son. He is the "Spirit", "Wind", "Breath" of God. He is the active Presence of God.
C. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN BIBLICAL HISTORY
1. Moses saw Him, Hovering over the waters of Creation.
2. The Egyptians saw Him -- as a Pillar of fire separating them from God's people.
3. The psalmist David -- saw Him as the "precious anointing oil" which flowed down Aaron’s garments (Psalm 133:2).
4. Isaiah saw Him -- as a Royal Robe filling God's temple.
5. John the Baptist -- saw Him as a beautiful white dove which came and settled on the Lord Jesus at His baptism.
6. Joel (2:23) Saw Him as a Gentle rain which would make righteousness grow.
7. Peter and the disciples -- experienced Him as a Hurricane force wind rushing down in mighty torrents from heaven.
8. Ezekiel and John the Revelator -- saw Him as a River of Living Waters flowing out of God's temple.
D. HOLY SPIRIT: HERE FOR DEFINITE PURPOSES
1. To INDWELL us. Romans 8:3
2. To help us be CONFORMED into the Image of Jesus (John 16:13-14).
3. To give us POWER to WITNESS.
4. To SUPPLY the Body with GIFTS to grow.
E. DAY OF PENTECOST: A MASS SPIRITUAL INVASION
1. On July 4, 1776, England's King George III recorded in his diary, "Nothing important happened today." Little did he know that the Revolution had begun in America! On the Day of Pentecost, A.D. 33, I imagine the devil wrote in his diary, "Nothing important happened today." But little did he know, that the Revolution of the Ages had begun!
2. The Greatest conferral of power in history had begun:
a. Knighthood is conferred by a King putting his sword on each shoulder.
b. College Degree: the president of the university says, "I
hereby confer on you all the rights and privileges appertaining thereto."
c. But God's Power is conferred by the Baptism in the Holy Spirit: “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" Acts 1:8.
d. The disciples undoubtedly asked, "When will we receive this power?" And Jesus answered, "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you."
II. THE WORLD NEEDS TO SEE THIS POWER
A. AGAIN, WHAT KIND OF POWER?
1. Miraculous power
2. Power to Change lives
3. Power to heal bodies
4. Power to subjugate devils
B. THE SPIRITUAL VACUUM IN AMERICA
1. Why does the world resort to alcohol, drugs, fortune tellers, Eastern religions, cults?
2. Why is it that they take anti-depressants and valiums? Because there’s a spiritual vacuum. The church is not displaying the power of Jesus, so the world doesn’t know where to go to find Almighty God!
3. ILLUSTRATION
a. One time there was a massive parade in New York with hundreds of balloons and motorized floats moving through the streets.
b. In the middle of the parade, one of the floats stalled and blocked the progress of all the others. Do you want to guess which one ran out of gas? The one belonging to the Standard Oil Company, also known as Exxon.
c. What an embarrassment and contradiction! How could the largest oil company in the world run out of gas?
d. PARALLEL: How could the Church of Jesus Christ which had been endued with power from on high, find itself without sufficient power for the job God called to do of reaching America?
4. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE ONLY POWER THAT CAN LIBERATE THEM!
III. THE CHURCH WILL NEVER BE “THE CHURCH” WITHOUT THIS POWER
A. THE H.S. TURNS WEAKLINGS INTO WITNESSES
1. PETER -- Mt. 26:69-75; Denied, Cursed, & Swore
-- Acts 2:14ff; Courageous, Powerful, 3,000 Saved
2. A. J. GORDON TESTIMONY; “… whereas before, it was hard for us to do the easiest things, now it was easy for us to do the hard things."
3. JAMES HERVEY TESTIMONY; “… while his preaching was once like the firing of an arrow, all the speed and force thereof depending on the strength of his arm in bending the bow, now it was like the firing of a rifle ball, the whole force depending upon the powder behind the ball, and needing only a finger-touch to set it off." (Knights, p. 292).
4. D. L. MOODY TESTIMONY; “… I went to preaching again. The sermons were no different. I did not present any new truth. Yet hundreds were converted. I would not be back where I was before that blessed experience." (7700, #2230)
B. THE FULLNESS OF THE SPIRIT IS THE KEY TO SPIRITUAL VICTORY
1. Ezek. 36:26, “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
2. BILLY GRAHAM & THE DEACON PROBLEM
a. One time Billy Graham was holding revival services in a large church. The revival was not going too well; even the leadership of the church seemed sluggish and carnal.
b. Toward the end of the week, the Pastor and Deacon Board called him to come counsel an erring Board member, who had evidently been caught drinking alcohol.
c. After the board members and pastor had grilled the erring member, they invited Billy Graham's comments. He said that he didn't think that Board member was any worse than the rest of them.
d. They all looked to him with shock, but he continued, "the same Scripture that says, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess” also says, “but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18).
e. "You men are just as guilty in not being filled with the Spirit as that man is for drinking wine. All of you need to be down at the altar tonight and cry out to God to save you from empty and corrupted hearts!"
3. Gal. 5:16, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
C. WHY DON’T WE SEE MORE OF IT?
1. If we are not experiencing it... the fault doesn't lie with God, but with us. DON'T LIMIT GOD to your own experience!
2. Dr. Karl Batis has stated, "If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of our midst today, about 95% of what we are doing in our churches would go on and no one would know the difference." David Watson has added, "The Spirit of God was the key to everything in the New Testament church. If God had taken the Holy Spirit out of their midst in those days, about 95% of what they were doing would have ceased immediately. Everyone would have known the difference."
3. NOT "Tarry in Jesus unto you are endued with marketing skills from on high," but unto you are endued with POWER from on high."
4. John Wesley said, "The reason that Mighty Works are not worked now is not that faith is everywhere planted, but that unbelief everywhere prevails."
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION:
1. A group of Russian educators visited Lee College (a Christian university). They wanted to see how we educate our young people in America. When they finished all their tours, Dr. Khan, the President of Lee College, said to them "What is it that you like most about our college? What would you like to take back to Russia?"
2. They said, "What we most like is your chapel services. Could you send someone over to Russia to show us how to have chapel services?" So Dr. Khan said, "In other words, you want to talk about Jesus -- you want to talk about religion."
3. "Oh no, no, no. You must understand, we don't want to get into this religion stuff. We just want to feel good. We want that excitement. We want to see the smiles on our students faces like in your chapel. We don't want any of that religion stuff."
4. What was he really saying? What impressed them the most was what they FELT – the Presence of the Holy Spirit! That’s what people want! But you can’t have it without Jesus, nor without the Holy Spirit!
B. ALTAR CALL
1. If you can't be stirred you're in trouble! Do you think the devil wants you to have this power? (No). Then you must fight for it.
2. Tears and cryings are in order. Samson, your power has departed -- seek it again!
3. Moody was to have a campaign in England. An elderly pastor protested, "Why do we need this 'Mr. Moody'? He's uneducated, inexperienced, etc. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?" A younger, wiser pastor rose and responded, "No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody." Does He have a monopoly of you?
4. All who know you need more of God, can we all come to the front? I’ve had the altars restored (since Covid). Let’s all find a place to pray and seek God for an infilling. PRAYER.
