Pursuing the Power of the Spirit
- Rev. Jerry Lepasana
- Jun 27, 2010
- Series: Back to Basics
Back to Basics: (Part XVIII)
PURSUING THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
Acts 1:8 (NIV):
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."
Ephesians 5:18-20 (NIV) :
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the
Spirit.
19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make
music in your heart to the Lord,
20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
One of the most basic truths we must acknowledge as Christians is the fact
that we are dependent creatures. We are absolutely dependent on Jesus Christ to lead
us through this life with all our struggles with sin until we arrive victoriously in the
very presence of our gracious Father in heaven. When we try to live independently
from Him, our lives will tend to be more painful and complicated.
The good news is: God is very much aware of this. He knows exactly how
much we need Him and so He has always made Himself available for us through Jesus
Christ. We, who know Jesus Christ as our personal savior, should never be ignorant
of the fact that we don’t have to go through life by ourselves. God is always there
ready to assist us every time we need Him. There is a beautiful picture in the New
Testament on how God would like to relate to us on a regular basis as His children.
Peter has referred to it in 2 Peter 1:21:
"For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as
they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
When Peter was referring to the Holy Spirit empowering the prophets while
they spoke the Word of God, the picture he was presenting came from the phrase
“Carried along.” How many of you have seen a father carry his child on his shoulders?
That’s the picture of carried along. The prophets were being carried by the
power of the Holy Spirit as they accomplished their task of speaking for God.
I want to impress to each one of us who believe in Jesus Christ that God
wants to do the same for us what He has done with those prophets of the Old Testament.
He has made the Holy Spirit available for us so that He can literally carry us
along through this life according through His power. Unfortunately, many believers
are not familiar with this truth. Many think that being a Christian is simply to guarantee
our entrance in heaven, but while we are alive waiting to go to heaven, we are on
our own. We have to survive according to our own personal efforts, our own strength.
This is so far from the truth. If you check out our assigned text, we have a
clear teaching on the empowering of the Holy Spirit or oftentimes called the filling of
the Holy Spirit. It is a must that we understand this. And so allow me to share to you
four major realities about it:
I. THE PERMANENT PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:
First and foremost, we need to identify who the Holy Spirit is. Contrary to
the teachings of the Bible, there are Bible teachers who present the Holy Spirit merely
as an influence, or an impersonal power or energy that comes from God.
This is absolutely false. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead who possesses
the same qualities of the Father and the Son. If you need some proofs, one of the
clearest passages would be the Great Commission verse:
Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV):
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Notice, if you are going to baptize today, you do it under the authority of the three
persons of the Godhead- Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is placed equally
with the Father and the Son. There are still other proofs, but because of the limited time,
I will limit myself to this. If you have other questions, you can definitely come to me for
further clarifications.
To look at the Holy Spirit as God brings a much greater advantage for us. Imagine
God Himself is given to help and assist us. Remember the passage when Jesus met the
disciples prior to going to the cross in John 14. He announced to them that He needed to
leave them and go to the Father so He can prepare a place for all believers. This
announcement made the apostles very anxious (John 14:1). For the past three years,
they have always been with Jesus and by this time, they know they can no longer live
without Him. Knowing what was in their hearts, Jesus gave them this assurance:
John 14:16 (NIV):
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
This verse is a direct promise about the Holy Spirit who is coming from the Father as
a replacement after Jesus leaves them. He is referred to as the Counselor. The Greek
word used is “Paraklete.” Literally, the word suggests "one called to your side." In other
words, in the absence of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit has been called to be with us so He
can empower and encourage us while going through our difficult journey of life. Isn’t this
amazing?
There is another word though that we should not miss - that small word – Forever.
Another significant truth we need to know is: we are permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit
after we received Jesus Christ as our Savior. If you check the New Testament, the presence
of the Holy Spirit in us is one of the clearest signs that we belong to God.
Romans 8:9 (NIV):
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God
lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
This is a unique privilege of the believers living in the New Testament. Back in the
Old Testament, the indwelling was only for special individuals who have been given special
tasks like priests, prophets and kings. Their indwelling was not permanent; the Holy Spirit
left them when they rebelled against God. King Saul had experienced this after he openly
disobeyed the Lord (1 Samuel 16:14-23).
Today, the Holy Spirit is ever present with us. I believe this is the basis for Christ
promise attached in the Great Commission – “I am with you always, to the very end of the
age.” Yes, He is present with us through the Holy Spirit. The crucial question is: Are we
taking advantage of God’s presence in us? This would lead us to our next point:
II THE PRECEPT ABOUT THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit does not automatically translate to us as being
empowered by the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 5:18, the apostle Paul commanded us as
believers to seek the filling of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to be filled by the Holy
Spirit?
To be filled by the Holy Spirit means to be dominated or to be controlled by the Holy
Spirit. In other words, we choose to allow the Holy Spirit to influence or control our
decisions, behaviors, and even directions in life. I believe we will understand this better
when we examine the contrast in the verse. Do you know what it means to be drunk with
wine? When a person had too much to drink, the wine overwhelms him or her, and the
power of the wine will alter the speech and behavior of that person. The same can be said
with the filling of the Holy Spirit. If you submit to the power of the Holy Spirit, He can
dominate and control your life. He can bring about the necessary changes we need so we
can be more productive in our Christian life.
On the other hand, it is also evident in the Bible that Satan wants to take control of
our lives. One day Jesus told Peter:
Luke 22:31 (NIV):
31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.
Take this to heart; Satan is trying to compete for control. He wants to dominate you
so He can destroy you. Therefore, we must choose who will dominate us. I hope and pray
that we won’t make the mistake of letting the enemy take the control center of our lives.
It is definitely to our greatest advantage when we submit to the Holy Spirit and allow Him
to influence our lives.
III. THE PROCESS OF BEING FILLED:
Another important truth is: the filling of the Holy Spirit is not just a one-time experience.
We consistently seek to be filled. Unlike the indwelling that happens once and for all at
the moment you received Jesus (1 Cor. 12:13), the filling of the Holy Spirit can take place
in a daily basis. If you examine the command in Ephesians 5:18, it could be properly
rendered as “Keep on being filled.”
This means we have to renew our submission to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. The
question is how does this happen? Here are four steps to ensure the filling of the Holy
Spirit:
A. Submission:
Without a doubt, the Holy Spirit will not overwhelm us by force, we have to choose
to voluntarily submit to His control. (Ephesians 5:18)
B. Saturation:
The guidance and influence of the Holy Spirit happen when we obey the things we
are learning from the Word of God. We have to be fed richly by the Word of God if we
desire to be filled.
Colossians 3:16 (NIV):
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with
all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your
hearts to God.
C. Supplication:
In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came when the believers waited for His coming in the
atmosphere of prayers. Notice the context of Pentecost:
Acts 1:12-14 (NIV):
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath
day's walk from the city.
13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those
present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and
Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the
mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Knowing we need to be filled, we can begin everyday by asking God to just dominate
and control us throughout the day as we go about our responsibilities and challenges.
D. Signification:
We have to acknowledge His presence in our lives and not take Him for granted.
Give Him importance by doing your best to live in righteousness and holiness:
Ephesians 4:29-31 (NIV):
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for
building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of
malice.
“Grieving the Holy Spirit” means to inflict severe emotional pain in Him. Clearly,
this will result in suppressing the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives.
Again, by commanding us to be filled, the Bible explicitly puts the choice on our end.
God will never insist to control us if we are not willing. If we desire to be filled, we have to
do the four steps and enjoy the blessings of filling. What are they? Let’s move to the last
point:
IV. THE POWER OF THOSE WHO ARE FILLED:
Lastly, we should not be ignorant of the three special blessings of the filling of the
Holy Spirit. All three revolves around the power God wants all of us to experience:
A. Power for Our Worship:
How many times have we attended worship services wherein we were never affected by
the experience? Was it really the problem of the worship leader, or the praise band, or
the preacher? Often, it is because of the lack of the Holy Spirit’s movement in our hearts.
Notice our text - Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving
thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is the Holy Spirit’s role to draw into the presence of God whenever we are worshipping.
It is Him who speaks to us through the lyrics of praise songs, prayers, and preachings.
Without the power of the Holy Spirit, our worship will be an empty routine that won’t change
our lives.
B. Power for our Walk:
Listen first to these words in Colossians 1: 10-12 – “And we pray this in order
that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit
in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power
according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and
joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of
the saints in the kingdom of light.”
We need power to live a life worthy of the Lord’s blessings. We cannot do it out of
our own strength. We need the strength that comes from the Holy Spirit so that we can
triumph victoriously against Satan and his demons (1 John 4:4). We need the strength to
endure every trial and temptation in life. We need to depend on the power of the Holy
Spirit so our Christian walk will bring honor and glory to God.
B. Power for Our Witness:
Acts 1:8 says it plainly - 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."
It is very evident that the apostles, in the book of Acts, who were once hiding and
afraid for their lives when Jesus was arrested and crucified turned to be dynamic witnesses
for the Lord Jesus Christ because of the filling of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
After the coming of the Holy Spirit, they became unstoppable in advancing the Gospel
and expanding the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Let us not think that the filling of the Holy Spirit is only reserve for the
special Christians like the workers and missionaries, etc. No way! Every believer has
the potential of being filled and experienced the dynamic blessings of it. Let me
challenge all of us to make this a reality in our lives. God bless!