The Power of the Holy Spirit in Action

Well, thank you, Mr. Mango. Welcome, everyone. Happy Sabbath. Good afternoon. It is a delight to be with you on this day before the Day of Pentecost. We've already heard about the Day of Pentecost, and to prepare to celebrate it tomorrow, I would like to talk about the power of the Holy Spirit and some of the ways that the power of the Holy Spirit is manifested in our lives. So let's begin.

We'll jump right into it in Acts 1 and 4. Let's take a look at Acts 1 and 4, where it is mentioned that the disciples would receive power when the Holy Spirit would come upon them. Acts 1, 4, it says, "...being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You have heard from me.

For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." It actually would be about 10 days after he spoke these words. The Day of Pentecost would occur. Therefore, when they had come together, he asked them, saying, they asked him, saying, Lord, at this time would you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

And he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put into his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Now, when he had spoken these things while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received them out of their sight." That word in English that's translated power is from a Greek word. It's dunamis, and it happens to be the exact same English word has the root of it for dynamite.

If you've ever heard the term dynamite, the root of that in Greek is the exact same Greek word. It means a force. In the case of the Holy Spirit, it means a miraculous ability. I want you to remember that Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7, For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power.

That's dunamis, and of love, and of a sound mind. So today, I would like to explore some of the ways that the Holy Spirit demonstrates this power in our lives as God's people. While we're in the book of Acts, let's take a short detour and go to Acts chapter 20, verse 13, because I would like to always remind us that the disciples observed each and every one of the Holy Days, and that's why we continue to keep them. Acts chapter 20, verse 13, the context is Paul and his travels here, and it says, The following day we—this is Luke writing, of course—we arrived at Samos, stated Trigilium, The next day we came to Miletus, for Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, not the day of Pentecost.

So here we see Paul, over 25 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Paul is suspending his mission to Asia Minor to travel the long and dangerous journey to attend the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem. And why was he so passionate and committed to make this dangerous journey to Jerusalem? Because he understood that he was one of the first fruits of God, with a precious calling.

He was part of that first small harvest of God who would help change the world first in producing the gospel, and then later on in literally building a kingdom for a millennium. And that's why we continue to follow the example of Jesus and Paul and the other disciples who observed the Holy Days. So let's take a look at number one, the power of the Holy Spirit, the power to bring God's presence into our lives, the power to bring God's presence into our lives.

John chapter 14 and verse 15, a scripture we read during the Passover service, very powerful and very meaningful as we anticipate the observance of Pentecost tomorrow. John chapter 14 and verse 15, he said, if you love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the Father and He will give you another helper. Jesus, of course, was a helper who walked with them on earth, but He wouldn't be with them forever.

So He was promising another helper, the Greek, perclethos, which means a comforter, one who is alongside to help us. This is what Jesus is promising, that He may abide with you forever. Now we know the Holy Spirit does not have a gender, but I will read the New King James Version as it's printed, but I think we all understand that the Holy Spirit is not a He, but to make it easy, I'll just read the New King James as it's written.

Verse 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. That was He dwells in the presence of Christ with His disciples and will be in you. And that would happen on the day of Pentecost. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you a little while longer and the world will see me no more, but you will see me because I live, you will live also. And that day you will know that I'm in my Father and you in me and I in you.

He's saying, in that day we will all share the same Spirit of power. He's going to reinforce that in just a few verses. Verse 21, He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is He who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judas, not as scary, it said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? And here's what Jesus says in verse 23. He answered him and said to him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

The very presence, the power that Jesus Christ has and the Father has that they share together would be exactly what would be given to the disciples of all time throughout all history when they are repentant, have baptized, and had the hands laid on them to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Verse 24, He who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.

These things I have spoken to you while being present with you, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. He will teach you all things, bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you. So again, I want to emphasize Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to be within them, as it had been in Jesus Christ himself, as it has been in the Father. Again, the word Helper is translated from this Greek word paracletos.

Now, I'm going to have a very weak metaphor, and anything, any metaphor you would have to compare the Holy Spirit to something would be very weak and shallow. So Paul would say, I speak like a fool, so bear with me as I give you this very weak metaphor. If you had a professional life coach or a great mentor in life, if you took a new job and you had a really great mentor, you would discover that that coach doesn't force you to do anything. A life coach advises, asks questions to make you think, attempts to lead you into making good decisions for yourself.

A life coach knows when it's time to teach you, when it's time to encourage you, when it's time to remind you of something, and yes, when it's time to gently correct you. God's Holy Spirit is a gift that does so much more than any human being could ever do for us in our lives. It will not force us to do anything, yet it is determined to become part of our subconscious. Some of the things it will do, it will spiritually help us in every way, it'll prick our conscience when necessary, it'll bring things to our remembrance, maybe we heard many years ago and forgot about or thought that we forgot about.

It will open our minds to greater understanding, it will of course teach us, and God has assigned to the power of the Holy Spirit to help us in every way as long as we don't ignore or resist its presence in our life. Paul had a term for that. He called it grieving the Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30, and that is if we ignore the coaching, we ignore the comfort, the help of the Holy Spirit, and we just push it aside in our lives, we risk grieving the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a gift, and any gift is useless if it isn't opened and used. This past week I bought a 93-year-old man a book. Now I happen to know he's a book reader, so he'll read the book that I bought him, but if someone gave you a book and you said, oh well, you know, whatever the book is, thank you very much, and you appreciate it, yeah, and you go and you put it on the shelf and you never open it and you never read it, it may have been a wonderful gift, but that gift was useless.

It didn't do anything for your life. It didn't impart to you any new knowledge or put you in a new world to give you greater understanding, so we need to use this powerful gift of the Holy Spirit that God has given us. So let's take a look at number two.

It's the power to transform our lives into being new creatures in Christ. It's the power to transform our lives into new creatures in Christ. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. Paul writes, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new. And when he says in Christ, he means anyone who's sharing that same spirit that Jesus Christ has. At conversion, we became a new creation. So what's new about us? When we receive the gift of God's Holy Spirit, we have the opportunity to acquire a new dimension in life, a third spiritual dimension that we're not normally aware of.

We now become a unique spiritual being with a fresh attitude, a new approach to life, a new purpose, new direction to guide us each and every day. That old way of living, selfish, carnal, and destructive, is intended to disappear. And yes, that takes a lifetime working against that carnality to get it and root it out of our lives. Indeed, it takes a long time for that to happen. And we've made a commitment, though, to change our lifestyles and to follow Jesus Christ.

Paul also stated in Romans chapter 6 and verse 4 that after baptism, we walk in the newness of life.

Let's go to Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7. I'm sorry, rather than that, I'll skip that. Let's go to John chapter 20 and verse 19. You're all aware of Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7. I'm going to read it to you. It says, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

So we're all aware of that scripture. That is the creation of Adam. The creator breathed into this worthless pile of dirt and made him a physical being. Did you know there's a spiritual parallel to that? Let's read it here in John chapter 20 and verse 19, after Jesus had been resurrected. It says, Then the same day and evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut and the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, Peace be with you. Notice again, the doors are shut. Jesus walks through the material, whatever it is, brick, wood, whatever. He literally transcends it and appears, astonishing those who are in this room. Verse 20, When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his sides, and the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, Peace to you, as the Father has sent me, I also sent you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them. What did God do in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7 that engendered life into the first physical man? It says he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Jesus Christ, in the new creation, a new spiritual creation, it says he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. Now, Jesus was preparing them for a new creation to literally begin in the day of Pentecost. But the parallel here is just as the original creator put a lump of clay together, breathed into its nostrils the breath of life, he became known as Adam. So Jesus Christ, the original creator, the Word, who had his spoken word, all things were created, breathed into his disciples, breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.

Receive a new spiritual life, transcending this world with an opportunity to have the Holy Spirit within you. Mr. Boucher read a beautiful scripture earlier today, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 20. The scripture he read is when we enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, we enter a new and living way. And that's exactly what the Holy Spirit does for us. It is the power to transform our lives into new creatures in Christ. Number three, the power to reflect the guarantee of God's promise of salvation. The power to reflect the guarantee of God's promise of salvation.

Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 13. Let's see what this promise of salvation is.

Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13.

In him you also trusted, after you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, that means demonstrating biblical faith, as rich and as deep and as beautiful as it is, having believed, you were, that's not some day, this is past tense, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. Continuing in verse 15. Therefore, I also, after I heard your faith of the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.

Now this is so rich in meaning. The word that's translated in the English sealed is fratidzo, and it means to stamp something with like a signet ring, to give it an advancement in security for the rest of what is to come. Now we would use the phrase in our modern world, something like a down payment, but that's what this word means in Greek. It is a sealed agreement that you're getting such and such simply as a down payment of all that you're going to receive later on. That's what that word sealed is. The word guarantee is the Greek word arhabtran, meaning a pledge. It's like part of a money purchase or a property given in advance, knowing that the security will come in time. In our modern world, again, we might use this phrase down payment. And here's what Paul is saying. When you have the Holy Spirit, you are now sealed, stamped with the promise of salvation as long as we maintain our faith in Jesus. We are guaranteed redemption and inheritance in the family of God. Second Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 19.

Take another look at the example of what Paul says about this guarantee. Is it iffy?

Are God's promises maybe? Let's find out what Paul tells us. Second Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 19.

Paul writes, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Sylvanius, Timothy, was not yes and no. This Jesus Christ that was preached among you is real, and his promises are real. And the Spirit that he gives you, the presence that he puts within you, is real. It's not yes and no, maybe. It, him, it is yes. For all the promises of God, including the guarantee that God gives us through that Spirit, is yes. For all the promises of God in him are yes. And in him, amen. It's done. So be it. All we have to do is continue the course.

Continue the faith. Continue to allow that Spirit to reside within us. Verse 21.

Now he giveth, now he who establishes us with you in Christ and has appointed us as God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a what? As a maybe?

As if you're good enough? No. As a guarantee. Paul is saying something very valuable here. The promises of God, when you have God's Holy Spirit dwelling in you, are not no, or maybe, or but they are yes. And when you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, it's amen. So be it, regarding God's promises. When we have been given the Spirit of God and are led by it, we are established. We are sealed for salvation. Its presence in us guarantees us eternal life is a member of the family of God. And as we remain faithful, no one can ever take that away from us.

Let's now go and see how Paul addresses this again in chapter 5 and verse 5.

Just so we understand that this word and this understanding of a guarantee that Paul says isn't some one-off scripture where Paul was just having a bad day or a good day. This is a constant theme in his theology and what he teaches and what he preaches. Chapter 5 verse 5, now he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, that is the coming resurrection, immortality. That's the context that I cut in here. Who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. Again, that Greek word as a pledge, as a security, as a down payment. So we are always confident, not dwelling in, yes, no, maybe, but if we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord for we walk by faith, not by sight. Again, when you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, the promise of salvation is yes, it's amen. All you need to do is continue on the journey and allow that Spirit of God to remain in you. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 14. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 14. Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. And he says that because God is a family. He's building and growing a family through us. Verse 16, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might. That's that Greek word, dutimus, again. This time, instead of translated power, it's translated might. Through his Spirit in the inner man. So the Spirit of God, the presence of Jesus Christ comes within us and unites with our human spirit, our carnal human spirit, and allows great changes, power, dynamite, things to begin to happen in our lives as we are transformed into a new creature in Christ. Verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and the length and the depth and the height. That is the total capacity of God's love, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. This is Paul's prayer. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly and above all that we ask or think according to the power, that's the word, dutimus, again, that works in us. So yes, we have the opportunity to be strengthened with power. We are all capable of doing much more than we think we can do, much more than we even pray for, and we have that potential because we've been given the gift of God's Holy Spirit.

The fourth and final way that the power of the Holy Spirit can change us, it's the power to reflect the righteousness of Christ Jesus within us. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 18. Second Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 18. Again, this is the power to reflect the righteousness of Christ Jesus within us. Second Corinthians 5, 18, Paul writes now, all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and is committed to us the word of reconciliation. That's Paul's long way of saying, God has been merciful to us. He's reconciled with us. In turn, we need to pass it forward, and we need to reconcile with everyone who we communicate with. And if there's a problem, if there's an issue, our calling is a ministry of reconciliation. Now let's continue. Verse 20. Now then, we are ambassadors or personal representatives for Christ as though God were pleading through us. We implore you, on Christ we have to be reconciled to God, for he made him that is Jesus Christ, who know no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become—very powerful statement here—the righteousness of God in him. You see, when God looks at you, when he looks at me in spite of our humanity and our struggles, he sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ in us. He bore our sins so we don't need to pay the penalty for sin. And after the resurrection, he gave individuals his Holy Spirit, which is the presence of Jesus Christ in them. And it's because of this presence, the presence of Jesus, of the righteousness of Christ in us, that we are considered righteous in the eyes of God. Tomorrow will be the 45th anniversary of when I was ordained as an elder in many, many years ago, let's say, and some would say, well, the jury's still out and whether that was a good idea or not. But one of the benefits of being an elder for 45 years is I have provided a lot of funeral services, which is the thing I always hated to do. And without exemption, everyone I have, everyone in the head God's spirit, wonderful people, everyone was human and struggled with sin and their own carnality until the day they died. Like all of us, they were imperfect. But I want you to understand that God doesn't see that imperfection in them. He sees the righteousness of Christ in them, the righteousness of Christ in their lives because their last breath they possessed the presence of God within them through the Holy Spirit. Our final scripture today, Titus, chapter 3 and verse 4. Titus, chapter 3 and verse 4.

Again, in this point, we're talking about the power to reflect the righteousness of Jesus Christ within us. Paul writes to Titus, but when the kindness and the love of God, our Savior, toward man appeared, not by the works of righteousness which we have done, we could do all the good works in the world for the rest of our lives. We could do great things and have tremendous changes and develop abundant fruit of the Holy Spirit, and all that would be wonderful because that's our calling, but none of that matters regarding our salvation.

Our salvation is a gift because of God's mercy. It's through His grace, through faith, that we are saved. Let's continue. Let's allow Paul to say that. But according to His mercy, He saved us. Not through anything that we could do or ever do, or all the good works we could pile up in a lifetime. According to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior.

That having been justified by His grace, that's God's favor, is a free gift, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. That's how it happens. It's God's love, it's God's grace, it's God's guarantee. God has put His seal on us the day that we received the gift of the Holy Spirit and as long as we continue that path of God's way, as long as that Spirit remains in us, we are blessed, loved, and on the path to eternal life. That is God's promise. And verse 8, He says, this is a faithful saying and these things I want to affirm to you constantly that those who have believed in God, if you truly have faith in God, be careful to maintain those good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

They don't provide you salvation, but faith are two sides of the same coin. One is heartfelt commitment and belief in Jesus Christ in His shed blood, and the other side of that coin are the good works and the glory that we attempt to perform every day to honor God and fulfill our calling, and why He called us into first place and put us on this earth. So the key line to this in Titus chapter 3 and verse 4 is that good works are a byproduct of an active and living faith, and after conversion our purpose is to perform good works and to give glory to God, but all the good works we can do do not provide salvation. God credits His obedient servant, Jesus Christ.

He credits His life and His atoning work to the believer's account through faith—the faith that we have in who and what Jesus Christ is. So the believer is counted righteous before God, even though they are still imperfect and struggling with their carnal human nature.

It is only when Jesus Christ returns that imperfection will ever end, and we are all changed from mortal to immortal. Only then will we be perfected and fully spiritual.

Until then we are flawed carnal human beings struggling with their own humanity, but when God sees us, He says, that's my child. It's yes, I've given them my Holy Spirit.

I've given them the promise of eternal life. I've set a seal on them. They are worthy, even though of ourselves we are unworthy to receive anything.

To review the power of the Holy Spirit that we mentioned today, number one was the power to bring God's presence into our lives. Number two, the power to transform our lives into new creatures in Christ. Number three, the power to reflect the guarantee of God's promise of salvation. And number four, the power to reflect the righteousness of Jesus Christ within us.

I hope we all take a little bit of time to remember and meditate on this precious, free gift that God has given us, the dynamic power of God's Holy Spirit.

See you tomorrow on the Day of Pentecost.