Living
in the Power of the Holy Spirit
A
Genuine Faith
Part
1
Text:
2 Tim 1:3-7
I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you
in my prayers night and day, 4 greatly desiring to see you, being
mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, 5 when I call to remembrance the
genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and
your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 6 Therefore I remind you to stir up
the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit
of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
NKJV
Subject:
Living in the power of the Holy Spirit
Theme:
We have to have a genuine faith to live in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Proposition:
As Christians, the only way we will be able to live in the power of the Holy
Spirit is if our faith is genuine.
Introduction:
First of all, I would like to wish everyone a joyous New Year and I sincerely
hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.
Earlier this week as I was praying and seeking the Lord, looking for
direction for this New Year as to what God would have for me as an individual
and for us as a church body. This is what the Lord spoke into my heart as I
was praying; that my children would live in the power of My Holy Spirit.
In this New Year I don’t want to live dependent on my ability, because
I know my ability is very limited. I want to live dependent on God’s ability,
because I know His ability is unlimited. I desire to live in the realm of; I
can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Amen.
I desire to walk in the prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesians, 16 I pray that from
his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength
through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you
trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how
wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the
love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be
made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from
God.
20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at
work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21
Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever
and ever! Amen.
I
desire that His glorious, unlimited resources will empower us with inner
strength through His Spirit.
I
desire that Christ will make His home in our hearts as we trust Him.
I
desire that our roots will grow down into God’s love and keep us
strong.
I
desire that we have the power to understand how wide, how long, how high, and
how deep His love is.
I
desire that we experience the love of Christ even though it is too great to
understand.
I
desire that we will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power
that comes from God.
I
desire that God who is able by His power that works within us; will accomplish
infinitely more than we might ask or think and above all else, and that He
would receive all the glory from it.
I
desire that the Southside Church of God would live and operate in the power of
the Holy Spirit.
Sermonic
Explanation:
Over the next several weeks we are going to examine the subject of living in
the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we talk about living in the power of the Holy Spirit we are
talking about living a life and accomplishing things that are beyond our own
capabilities.
We
are going to look at the steps that need to happen in order for us to live in
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Transitional
Statement: This
morning and next week we are going to look at the first thing that has to be
in place for us to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
As Christians we have to make sure that our faith is genuine, but
before we get into that let’s go to God’s Word and discover who the Holy
Spirit is.
I.
Who
is The Holy Spirit
a.
He
is the third person of the Triune Godhead.
i.
God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
ii.
If
a person believes in the trinity, they do not believe in three gods.
iii.
We
believe in one God manifested in three persons.
iv.
Here
O Israel the Lord your God, He is one.
v.
There
is only one God period.
vi.
The
trinity is hard to understand. We have to realize that we have a finite mind,
which means it is limited. The God of all creation is infinite, which means He
has no limits. Therefore we are trying to comprehend an unlimited God with
limited understanding.
vii.
I
don’t understand it all, but I accept it because it is what the Bible reveals
about God.
viii.
Illustration
of the trinity:
We know water as three different forms—liquid, ice, and steam—yet all one
molecular structure. So is the Godhead three different persons, yet perfectly
one.
b.
The
deity of the Holy Spirit.
i.
Example
from Scripture
1.
Gal
1:15 But
when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, NKJV
2.
Who
separated the Apostle Paul? God
3.
Acts
13:2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now
separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
3NKJV
4.
Who
separated the Apostle Paul? God the Holy Spirit.
ii.
Another
Example from Scripture
1.
The
Children of Israel in the wilderness
2.
Ps
95 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our
salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout
joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is the great God, And the great
King above all gods. 4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The
heights of the hills are His also. 5 The sea is His, for He made it; And His
hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us
kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7 For He is our God, And we are the people of
His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: 8
"Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,* As in the day of trial* in
the wilderness, 9 When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw
My work. 10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, 'It
is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.' 11
So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'" NKJV_
3.
Who
spoke that? The Lord did.
4.
Heb
3:7-13 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the
wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty
years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, 'They always
go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.' 11 So I swore in
My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'"* 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be
in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;
1NKJV
5.
Who
does the New Testament author attribute that passage to? The Holy Spirit who
is God.
c.
The
attributes of the Holy Spirit
i.
The
Holy Spirit is a person. What I mean by person is that the Holy Spirit has all
the attributes of a person not the attributes of an inanimate object.
ii.
The
Holy Spirit is not a mystical force like you see in the Star Wars movies. The
Holy Spirit is not the impersonal energy of the universe that is taught in the
New Age movement.
iii.
Transition:
Instead of saying living in the power of the Holy Spirit, we could say living
in the power of Almighty God because the Holy Spirit is Almighty God.
iv.
The
Holy Spirit is not an it; He is a person. He has all the attributes of a
living person.
1.
He
intercedes for the saints (Rom 8:27)
2.
The
Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God, so He has
intelligence. (1 Cor 2:10)
3.
He
can be grieved or hurt, so He has emotions. (Eph 4:30)
4.
He
speaks; here what the Spirit says to the churches (Rev)
5.
He
gives gifts as He wills, so He gives and has a will. (1Cor
12:10)
d.
The
purpose of the Holy Spirit. He has a purpose. There is a reason He is here.
The Holy Spirit is our Helper.
i.
John 14:15-18 "If you love Me, keep* My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He
will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know
Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I
will come to you. NKJV Jesus
prayed to the Father to send you and me another Helper. A Helper that will be
with us forever. A Helper that will be in us.
ii.
John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you
from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will
testify of Me. NKJV Jesus
will send the Holy Spirit and He will reveal to you who Jesus is.
iii.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your
advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to
you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. NKJV Jesus
says it is best I go away so the Holy Spirit can come to you.
e.
Personal
Testimony of God’s Spirit in my walk with the Lord.
Conclusion:
When
I received the Lord Jesus as my savoir, I wasn’t looking for a denomination. I
wasn’t looking for a belief system. I wasn’t looking for a particular church.
I wasn’t looking for a certain kind of theology. All I wanted was to know more
about, and draw closer to the God who had done such a wonderful thing in my
life.
I
stand here before you this morning a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
not because it was something I sought, but it was what He called me to be. I
believe the Pentecostal message with all my heart. This might not sound super
spiritual, but one reason I believe in the Baptism with the Holy Spirit with
the evidence of speaking in tongues is for a very simple fact. I was not
seeking to be a Pentecostal believer. I was not seeking to speak in tongues. I
was seeking God. I wanted whatever He had for me and I didn’t care what it
was, and if it was not of Him I didn’t want it.
This
morning as we partake of communion and start a New Year let’s turn our hearts
toward the Lord. Let’s also set our hearts towards the Lord. Let’s walk in
what God has for us this year; let’s live in the power of His Holy Spirit.
2 Cor 13:14 * May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of
God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you
all.
