Using the POWER of the Holy Spirit

On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the church, this church, began with great power. The disciples came. There was this rushing, mighty wind, like tongues of fire lighting upon them. They began to speak in other tongues and languages. And people heard them speaking in their own language. It was a fantastic and great miracle. What power, then, God gave the church as it began in 31 A.D. on the day of Pentecost.

You know, Jesus had promised that power. Let's notice in Luke 24, He had told the disciples to stay there in Jerusalem until they would be empowered. Luke 24, and beginning to read in verse 45, Jesus, this is after His resurrection and shortly before His ascension to heaven, where He still is to this day at the right hand of God, awaiting His Second Coming, which is not very far away in the future. Just before His ascension to heaven, Jesus told the disciples, verse 45, Luke 24, He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures. And He explained about why Christ had to suffer at His First Coming in verse 46. In verse 47, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. That is part of the message that we preach today as well. And you are witnesses of these things, He continued. Verse 49, Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you, but tarry or wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. And on the day of Pentecost, they were endued with power from on high. Let's read also in Acts chapter 1 that Jesus had promised them before that day of Pentecost that they would receive power in Acts chapter 1. And in verse 6, the disciples said, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said, it's not for You to know the times or the seasons that the Father has put in His own authority. Verse 8, But You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon You, and You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And so the disciples were promised that they would receive power. Well, in chapter 2, we refer to that. Let's read it in chapter 2, verse 1. We see that they were endued with power from on high. Acts 2 and verse 1, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were with one accord, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven. You know, this is not something they were expecting. They did know maybe something was going to happen. They had been promised to be endued with power, but I don't know if they expected this on the day of Pentecost or not. But suddenly, just unexpectedly, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one set upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And so God's church began with great power. You know, we can read on through the book of Acts, and then we can read in the Epistles, and we see the Spirit of God working powerfully in the preaching of the Gospel in the early church. Rather than that, power continues in the church of God today. And I believe that we are right now looking to God to guide us in intensifying the message and preaching it more powerfully, powerfully to the world. It's a fantastic open door that now we are able to walk through and begin to preach the Gospel on a superstation in our country, reaching out to just millions and millions of people. You know, God is the one that opens doors, and that power that the early church had, the power of the Holy Spirit, we also have today in the church of God.

I want to ask a few questions this morning. Are we as a church using this power as effectively and as much as we should? And preaching the Gospel to the world? And are we individually, as members of the church, using this power to grow and to overcome?

What is the... it is the power, of course, of the Holy Spirit that we are talking about. Let's first of all ask ourselves, what is the Holy Spirit? Many people in the world believe that the Holy Spirit is a third person in the Godhead. There's God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son, and then there's the Holy Spirit. But the word Trinity is nowhere found in the Bible. We can search the Bible throughout, and we simply do not find the word Trinity. And we do not find the teaching of the Trinity in the Bible either. Did you know that it was not until 350 years after the church began? It was in 381 A.D. 350 years after Acts 2, after the church began.

That at the Council of Constantinople, that the Catholic Church formally accepted the Trinity teaching. It had been discussed exactly how God... the nature of God, how God does exist. And they finally formalized it and accepted it in 381 A.D. Well, that's a long time after the Scriptures have been completed.

And, of course, again, there's nothing in the Bible about the Trinity or the Trinity teaching. Do you know, instead, the Scriptures plainly show that the Holy Spirit is not a third person in a Trinity. Let's go to a few verses that prove that. First of all, Matthew 1 and verse 20. Just a few verses that make it very obvious that the Holy Spirit is not a person, not a separate personality like God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Instead, we're going to see that the Holy Spirit is the power that radiates out from, emanates out from God. It is that power of which He Himself is composed. He is spirit. In Matthew chapter 1 and verse 20. While he thought, that is Joseph thought about these things, he discovered that Mary, his betrothed wife, was expecting. And while he thought about this, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife.

For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. You know, think about that. If the Holy Spirit were a person, who would be the actual Father of Jesus Christ? It would not be God the Father. It would be the Holy Spirit. But that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. We have a bit more insight into this in Luke's account.

Let's go to Luke 1 and verse 35. Luke chapter 1 and verse 35. And this shows us the process by which the conception of Christ took place. Just exactly how it happened. Luke 1 and verse 35. And the angel in this case here is speaking to Mary. Verse 34, when it was being told to her that she would have a son and call his name Jesus, she said to the angel, how can this be since I do not know a man?

I'm a virgin. How can I bear a child? Well the angel, verse 35, answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The Holy Spirit will come upon her. And the power of the highest, brethren, the highest is God the Father. He's the greatest of all. Jesus said the Father was greater than he. And so the power of the highest, the Holy Spirit coming from God the Father, will overshadow you.

And so, you know, this is pretty plain, isn't it, in explaining what happened. The power that came out from God the Father would overshadow Mary. And that's how the conception of Jesus Christ in the womb of Mary would take place. It would be the power of the Holy Spirit from emanating out from God the Father. And therefore God the Father is the Father of Jesus Christ.

And the Holy Spirit is that power that came from God the Father to produce this, make possible this conception. Therefore also that Holy One that is born shall be called the Son of God. So these verses show that God our Father used the power of the Holy Spirit for the conception of Jesus. Let's also go to John chapter 1, and we see additional proof that the Holy Spirit is not a person in a Trinity. The Trinity teaching is not true then. It is a false teaching of this world.

In John chapter 1 and verse 1, in the beginning, you know, this beginning goes back before the beginning in Genesis 1 and verse 1, where God made the heavens and the earth. This precedes, this goes back as far back as we have revealed knowledge.

It's right here in John 1 and verses 1 to 3. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. You know, when you read this carefully and you understand verse 14 that the Word is actually the one that became Jesus Christ and was made flesh. So in the beginning was the Word, the one that became Christ, and the Word or Christ was with God.

You get the idea that there are two beings. One is the Word, He is with God, and He is also God. So Jesus Christ was God, the Word, and then there was God who would become the Father of Jesus Christ. So two beings, all things... well, He was in the beginning with God, verse 2. So you get the clear understanding here that there are two beings. Question, where's the Holy Spirit then?

If there is a trinity, why not say, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and with the Holy Spirit. I know the trinity is not indicated here at all. Let's go to Romans chapter 1 and verse 7.

Romans chapter 1 and verse 7. Paul, in beginning this letter to the Romans, said to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You can read each of Paul's letters, and within the first five or six verses you will find this same greeting. And it's always from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Why not from God the Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit? If there were a trinity, then that's what you would expect. But the Bible does not teach a trinity. Instead, there is clear teaching that there are two beings that are called God, and one is the Father and the other is Jesus Christ, the Father and the Son.

And they dwell together as one, even though they are two. In a similar way, as a husband and wife, are two beings who dwell together as one. The Holy Spirit then is not a third person in the trinity. And it's very important that we prove that to ourselves. If there's any question on that at all, then I'd recommend that you read our booklet, Who is God?

And there are two chapters devoted to showing that God is not a trinity and that the Holy Spirit is not a personal entity or being. So that is our booklet, Who is God? Two whole chapters explaining the origin of the trinity and that God is not a trinity. What is the Holy Spirit then? That power that came rushing down and they were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and that spirit that also we are to be filled with as well. The Holy Spirit. What is it? Let's go to Romans 15 and verse 13.

Begin to see a few verses that show that the Holy Spirit is what God is composed of. He is spirit. John 4 and verse 24 says, and the Holy Spirit is that power that radiates from God. It is the power that created the universe. We'll see a verse on that in just a moment. In Romans chapter 15 and verse 13, Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the very power that emanates out from Almighty God. It is the power that enables our salvation. Let's turn to Romans 1 and verse 16.

It is that which empowers our salvation. It empowers the gospel and leads us to sonship in God's kingdom. Romans chapter 1 and verse 16. Paul said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. That means that we must receive the power of the Holy Spirit if we are to participate in the gospel and if we are to be converted and in the end receive salvation in God's kingdom.

Well, what is power? I think most of us understand power. You know, our country has a lot of military power. Nobody else is able to stand up to the power of the United States. And so we know it is force. It is the ability to exert force or energy. The Holy Spirit is a force or energy emanating out from God our Father. He is composed of that force or energy. That Spirit. He is spirit, it says. The Holy Spirit is a dynamic, eternal source of power. The Holy Spirit never runs down. Human power runs down. Physical energy runs down. But God's Spirit never runs down.

It is an eternal power. It does not have to be generated. It is self-perpetuating and self-generating. That is a fantastic thing when we think about it. You know, it is far different than HP horsepower. Horsepower runs down, but SP, Spirit power, never runs down. God used the fantastic power of His Spirit to create the universe. Let's turn to Jeremiah 32 and verse 17. Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse 17. And Jeremiah said, he was actually praying to God. He said, Ah, Lord God, behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm.

There is nothing too hard for you. But how did God make the universe then? It was by His great power and outstretched arm. You know, you get the feeling then that by God's great spiritual power that radiates out from Him, that He stretched out His hand and He created the heavens, created the universe. You know, let's understand a little bit more about how Spirit power works. Normally, if you want to do something, then you walk, you get up on your feet and you walk somewhere, you travel somewhere, and you begin to get busy doing whatever you have in mind.

You have to go to it normally to accomplish what you want to do. But God's Spirit power, even this verse indicates, may not need to work in that same way. Let's go to Psalm 104 and verse 30. Psalm 104 and verse 30.

And we'll see here how Spirit power works. That is amazing when we think about it. In Psalm 104 and verse 30, you send forth your Spirit. They are created and you renew the face of the earth. So think about that. This power, God is able to stretch out His arm, as we read in Jeremiah, and He's able to then send forth His Spirit and something comes into being.

Something is created, something is made. The Spirit power is directed out from God and it is done wherever His Spirit goes out to perform His will. The Holy Spirit then proceeds out from God to perform what He purposes. He makes a plan in His mind and He directs the Holy Spirit to get the job done. You know, man doesn't have, He has very little of that ability.

He has a limited amount of it because, you know, you can sit on your couch and with your remote control you can turn on your television set, you can turn up the volume or down, you can change channels. There's some ability to send out power from where without having to get up and do something. But God, this is just a very limited way that man is able to do something compared to God. God has this ability to create by remote control, you might say. Send out His Spirit like a laser beam. He sends out His Spirit, sends it forward, and the Spirit power that proceeds out accomplishes His will.

And it's done! It's hard for us to grasp. That's terrific power. You come to God asking Him to help you and strengthen you, and He sends out His strength. He doesn't have to come down, and, you know, in a body presence He directs out His Spirit to you. Somebody else in a different part of the world may be asking the same thing at the same time. So He sends out His Spirit at the same time to help members of His Church and to guide them. Someone is requesting special help.

Maybe something that even might involve a miracle. There have been... there are miracles of healing other miracles, and God directs His Spirit out to get the job done. He wants a door opened for the preaching of the Gospel. He sends out His Spirit. He opens... He gives favor in the sight of man. He opens the door. He wants to call someone into His Church and to open that person's mind. His Spirit goes forth, and the person begins to somehow come across literature or come across something on the website or something on television.

God's Spirit guides and directs in the calling of an individual. You know, day by day, God is giving you strength and power from His throne to grow and to overcome. So God just directs His Spirit out to accomplish His will and His purpose. That's power for you. That's the power of God's Holy Spirit.

You know, something else that... Another quality of God's Holy Spirit is... Well, let's read about it in Psalm 139 and verse 7. It's good for us to understand this power that God has given to the Church to accomplish His will and His work.

In Psalm 139 and verse 7, where can I go from your Spirit or where can I hide from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you're there. If I make my bed in hell, the word is sheil or the grave, behold, you're there. If I take the wings of the morning. You know, where can you go then from God's Spirit? God's Spirit is sort of like air. We're on the earth, you know, we know the air just permeates everywhere.

Where can you go? There's an air. God's Spirit is sort of like sunshine also that shines out over the universe. Where can you go that God's Spirit power cannot be felt or does not reach? His Spirit power goes out over His entire creation. Where can you go? It's like air.

It's everywhere. So that means His Spirit then permeates out from Him everywhere. And it means this is the means by which God is able to create and to accomplish His will on the earth as well as, of course, He guides and regulates the planets and the galaxies in the universe of the power of His Holy Spirit. You know, it's this Spirit power that we're talking about of God that transformed. And this may be some chemistry, some spiritual chemistry in physics that we may not grasp.

I don't think we will, but the Spirit power of God was able to transform the creative energy of God into the physical creation. And by faith, we understand that is what happened. How did the physical things that we see, the physical earth and universe come into being? At one time, they did not exist at all. How did they come into being? Did they come out of nothing? Well, no, they didn't come out of nothing. Let's go to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 shows they came out of something that is not visible.

And that's some physics and chemistry that our minds are not going to be able to comprehend at this point. Maybe someday we'll take a course in spiritual chemistry and physics and we'll be able to understand then how the material universe came out of God's creative power of His Spirit. In Hebrews 11 and verse 1, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Yet the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed. This is the verse I wanted us to really look at. Verse 3, we understand the worlds, that's the heavens and the earth, the universe, the physical creation. We understand that it was framed by the Word of God so that the things which are seen, well, what would that be? The physical creation, were not made of things which are visible.

They were made out of things which are invisible, made out of God's creative spirit power. So I don't think it's correct to say that it came out of nothing. It came out of God's great creative energy and power. Some physics and chemistry that we are not really equipped to understand at this present time. The physical that we see was made out of the spiritual, the invisible, that we do not see. Somehow, through the power of God's Holy Spirit.

You know, man has no such attribute or power born to him. That's why we can't really comprehend this. But man can transform his physical energy and thoughts into visible objects such as light and heat. Man has a little bit of ability there to bring things like that. And maybe given limited creative abilities in order to train one day to share the great power of God's Spirit. How can we receive the power of the Holy Spirit? Well, God, of course, is the one that has that Spirit to give.

He is composed of Spirit, John 4, verse 24, says. And he's made this power available to man in a limited amount. But just how can we receive this power? Let's go to Mark 1 and verse 14.

God's not going to give this fantastic power to just anybody. It has to be someone that ultimately is going to use it for good and not harm. Mark 1 and verse 14, after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. We have to, first of all, begin to understand about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a kingdom with power. And we have to repent and believe the message about the kingdom of God. We have to be willing to change. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 38, it shows how we can be given a measure of the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts chapter 2 and verse 38, Peter said, Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's a promise. If we repent and turn to God with all of our hearts, if we're sincere about it, and then if we are baptized, and that picture is of death and burial, turning around of our life, then God has promised to give us the power of the Holy Spirit to help us. To repent, we must utterly forsake our own ways and turn to God and turn to His purpose. Then Acts chapter 8, let's read that also the laying on of hands is involved in giving the power of the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 8 and verse 14, when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John. And when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet he or it was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. So after baptism, we always lay hands. We follow the example here in Acts chapter 8 and ask God to grant the gift of His Holy Spirit. Do you know God is not going to grant that gift to someone that does not have a repentant heart? In the very next verse, there was someone baptized there in Samaria that did not receive the Holy Spirit.

Even though He very likely had hands laid upon Him too. But in verse 18, when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, He offered them money. This man was not converted. He had not really repented. His baptism was not acceptable in God's sight because His repentance was not in place. His heart was not right with God. And so this man did not receive the power of God's Spirit. God will only give His Spirit to an obedient heart and mind. Let's go to Acts chapter 5 and verse 32. We are witnesses to these things and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. So God will only give the Holy Spirit to those who repent and those who have a heart that is obedient to God and are going to strive to do the will of God.

How can you know if you have the Holy Spirit? You know, after baptism God has not given a person the full measure of His Spirit yet. It's just a beginning portion, really, of His Spirit. But how can you know if you have the Holy Spirit? Well, by your fruits. The fruits that are born in your life. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, by their fruits you will know them. You know, you'll know that you have the Holy Spirit when you begin to see changes happening in your life. What fruit will you begin to see? Turn to Galatians chapter 5. Over time you will begin to see this fruit showing up in your life if you are led by the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit is going to produce this fruit in your life and you're going to see it. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22. The fruit of the Spirit is love. You're going to begin to see the love of God in your heart. It's not a love that looks out for number one. It looks out for others. It's God's kind of love. Love to word God and love to word neighbor as for oneself. The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy. You're going to begin to see more joy in your life, more genuine happiness. There will not be the emptiness and lacking purpose that people have in this world. Your life is going to be full of joy and happiness and abundance. Peace. You're going to have peace. You're not going to be fighting battles and, you know, always having to, you know, have everything just your way. You're going to be a peacemaker, in fact, always striving for the way of peace. There's going to be a peace that words cannot describe. A peace beyond understanding, even, in your life. You will have these fruits to begin to appear in your life in a way that you did not have before. Love, joy, peace, long suffering. You begin to be more forbearing. You can take a lot more. You don't get upset so easily. You can bear long with people. You can suffer wrongfully and even pray for your enemies. And that's real changes from the way you were before. Long suffering, kindness, goodness. We could elaborate on each one. Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Oh, you control your appetites, your physical appetites, eating and drinking. You control your thoughts, even. And you have more control over your life. And it says against such, there is no law. These are the fruits that you're going to see begin to see in your life. And so how do you know you have the power of the Holy Spirit by the fruit that is going to be born in your life? If you're in the church a large number of years and you see no change from the way you were 10 years ago or 20 years ago, then I just have to say if there's no change whatsoever, God's Spirit has not been working there. You need to get some counseling about that, I would say. But God's Spirit is going to produce good fruits in your life. It's going to be the fruit of holiness and righteousness and goodness, the holiness and the righteousness of God.

Right after baptism, you may not see too much of this fruit right away, but some have even wandered after a year or two or a few years. Am I converted? And sometimes you begin to see your sins and your shortcomings better after conversion, after your baptism. You might even feel that you're worse than you were before baptism. No, you're not worse. You just see more of yourself than you did before baptism, that's all. But you've got to see it before you can really do battle against it and begin to change and have God's Spirit work in your life and make a difference. This time goes by, and you see more changes and more fruits of God's Spirit than you know that, indeed, God's Spirit is at work. You know, one thing you're going to grow in is the ability to understand the Bible. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would guide into all truth. He said that in John chapter 14 and also chapter 16 on the night before he died, the Holy Spirit is going to guide you into all truth. God's Spirit is going to help you to understand the Bible, understand how verses fit together since the Bible is written here a little, there a little, almost like a jigsaw puzzle. And all the pieces fall right in place perfectly. God's Spirit provides that understanding of the Bible. One thing you're going to really grow in with God's Holy Spirit, let's read about that in Romans 5 and verse 5. Romans 5 and verse 5. Your heart is going to be filled with something that is what God is. God is this something that you will also have in your life in Romans 5 and verse 5. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which was given to us. The very love of God is going to fill your heart and your mind and your life. You're going to grow in self-control of your, even your very thoughts and your attitudes. You know some of the raunchy attitudes, the foul temper flying off the handle. Some people have such a short temper. It doesn't take very much at all to trigger their temper. And you begin to see real changes. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. God's Spirit gives power to control our thoughts and our attitudes. We don't have to have those wrong thoughts and those wrong attitudes at all. In fact, we cannot have love and joy and peace until we get rid of those wrong types of attitudes and thoughts. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 5. Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So you know, every thought we have, is there a thought of maybe hating someone because they have mistreated you? You are able to bring that thought into control. In fact, you're able to even pray for them and pray sincerely for them. As Jesus said, to pray for our enemies.

Is there a thought of immorality? Then you have the ability to control your thought of any thought that is immoral and wrong. So you grow in the ability of self-control. Being able to control your thoughts and your attitudes and what goes on in your mind.

You begin to have an obedient heart and mind that is yielded and surrendered to God. Your life, the way you live, begins to be, we call it, converted. It is a converted life. And you become a different person. Notice in Ephesians 4. This is the power that God has given to us. The power of conversion. In Ephesians 4, verse 23, Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Brethren, that's what happens at the time of baptism. Verse 22, that you put off concerning your former conduct. The old man. The old ways. The old carnal inward looking ways. Looking out for number one. The selfish carnal and the hostile nature, even hostile toward God and his way. The old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness.

That's the power that God has given to each and every one of us who has his spirit. And those who don't have his spirit, young people, you can have that power. That power is available to you. I would say it's available to our young children before they are of an age that they would want to be baptized.

You think a child that's 10, 12 can receive help from God? Yes. Just pray and ask God to help you. God's power is available before baptism. But it's available even in a greater way after baptism when God's spirit has joined with our human spirit. And that spirit works from within to create the new man, as we read about here in Ephesians 5. Jesus said on the last great day in John 7 that the Holy Spirit would mount up and just flow through our lives.

God's spirit, the power of his spirit, is to flow in to our lives and then also to flow out as well, just like electricity has that flow in and out. It's the power of God at work in our lives. How can you get more of the Holy Spirit? Turn to Luke 11, something that we may actually neglect doing. It's very simple. If you want more of it, it's kind of like any energy or power. If you want more of it, you've got to seek it and ask for it.

In Luke 11 and verse 11, if a son asks for bread from a father, will he give him a stone or a fish? Will he give him a serpent instead? If he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? Verse 13. If you, then, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? The secret, then, of receiving more of God's spirit is to ask for it. If you have repented, been baptized, and God has given you his spirit, need more of it, just pray, God, give me more of your spirit.

I need it. I need that power to help me to control my thoughts, my attitudes, to help the day to go right, to guide and direct me in everything. Live and walk in the Spirit and ask for it every day. Use the power of the Holy Spirit to face the challenges of each day. If you have special challenges, then pray for an extra measure of God's spirit, of that power. Use it when you're at home. Use it when you're on the road. Use it on the job. Use it with your mate and your family.

Sometimes we're hard on our mates and families. Ask for the power of God's Spirit to help you to handle yourself in the right way. Use it for trials and for problems that come up in your life. When you're sick or discouraged, that power is there. Let's go to 2 Peter. In the end, use it to take on the nature of God, the mind of God, and the very character of God, which is what prepares us to be in God's kingdom.

2 Peter 1, verses 2-4, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

It is God's Spirit that is able to transform us from the carnal human beings that we are when we are born to someone that is spiritually oriented, a new person with a divine nature, something that we had none of at the time of birth. A little baby at the time of birth has no divine nature, no character of God. And yet after repentance and baptism and being led by God's Spirit, we end up with a divine nature that prepares us for eternal life in God's Kingdom. Use the power of God's Spirit to overcome then and grow, to be a better person, to be a better husband, a better wife, a better parent and child.

Use God's power to fight your human nature and Satan the devil, to grow and mature spiritually and take on the nature and the character of God.

Brethren, I'd like to say to tie this into one other aspect. I've used this today a lot toward our personal growth and preparation for God's Kingdom, but we need to use the power of God's Spirit and the leadership of our church realizes this very well, to preach the gospel powerfully into the world. You know, God has given a great commission to go out to the end of the earth and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God. And we need the power of God's Holy Spirit to do that.

We cannot do it on our own power. The gospel is to be preached to all nations, Jesus said, Matthew 24, 14, this gospel shall be preached in all the world as a witness, and then the end will come. Zechariah 4, verse 6. Let's turn to that verse because it is so important that we realize it's not our own power that is going to preach this gospel to the world.

It is the power from God, the power from on high. It's just like on the day of Pentecost. It was the power from God at work on that first day of the church. In Zechariah 4, verse 6, He answered and said to me, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might nor by power. That's talking about human might or human power.

That's not how we are going to be able to do the work of God. That's not how we overcome and grow spiritually in our own personal lives. Not by might or by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. So it is through God's Spirit that we will be able to accomplish the work of God.

It is by His Spirit that we will be able to do the twofold work that God has given to us preaching the gospel to the world. Here it is on our church seal, preaching the gospel and preparing a people. It is through the power of God's Spirit.

You know, Jesus Himself, the Son of God, said, of my own self I can do nothing. Later He told His disciples on the night before He died, stay attached to the vine. Without Me, you can do nothing. So we can do nothing unless we are attached to the vine. Stay in contact with Jesus Christ, the head of the church, and receive, be on the vine and have God's Spirit flowing into you, and then we will be able to produce much fruit.

Well, finally, I'd like to have us turn to Romans chapter 8 and read a few verses in Romans chapter 8. You know, Romans chapter 8 has been called the Holy Spirit chapter. It does talk a lot about the Holy Spirit, and it points out the difference between using the Holy Spirit and going the way of the flesh. Let's begin in verse 5. Romans chapter 8 and verse 5. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.

Most people in this world live according to the flesh, and they're just thinking about here and now the physical things of this life. But those who live according to the Spirit, well, they set their mind on the things of the Spirit.

To be carnally-minded is death. We just think about here and now and the physical things at least to death. But to be spiritually-minded, that is, think about God's kingdom be led by His Spirit. That is life and peace. It's eternal life. Because the carnal mind, the natural human fleshly mind, is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh. Brethren, those who have repented and been baptized and those who have God's Spirit, we're not in the flesh.

We're not living just here and now. You're not in the flesh but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, He is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin. But the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Here's some rich verses showing the spiritual battle that we are going through. And this transformation from the carnal to the spiritual. Some rich verses. Our body, our life, our past way of life is dead because it is a wrong way of life because of sin. But the Spirit of God that we have now is leading us to life and to righteousness. But if the Spirit, verse 11, if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

So it is God's Spirit that does empower us toward salvation. Continuing in verse 12, therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.

But if you live by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, then you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. So God's Spirit is guiding us toward sonship. Verse 15, you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father. Abba, Father is a very close, intimate, affectionate term of our sonship relationship with God, our Father.

Abba, Father. Father, Father is what it means. Very close and very intimate relationship with God, our Father. The Spirit Himself or itself bears witness with our Spirit. Well, there's a Spirit of man, all right? We're born with that. But we need the Holy Spirit from God to empower that human Spirit in the right way and take on the nature of Almighty God. The Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

There's a fierce struggle going on all right between the flesh and the Spirit, and we want to use the power of God's Holy Spirit to win that struggle. There's suffering involved. It's not an easy struggle that we are going through. Verse 18, Paul goes on to say, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. So the suffering we go through at this time, the pain that we go through, is nothing at all compared to the glory that is coming. In verse 19, the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. We ourselves feel that way. We eagerly await sonship. For the creation was subjected to futility. God has made it the way that it is. He's made us temporary. He's made us physical and mortal, fully subject to death. The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, not something we chose, but because of Him, God, who subjected it in hope. This is God's purpose. He is the one that, you might say, has made it the way it is. Verse 21 shows the glorious gospel that we preach to the world. It is the very center of the message that we preach. Verse 21, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. That is the gospel of the kingdom of God. We can be sons and daughters in God's eternal kingdom. But it's not easy. There's groaning, as Paul goes on to say, we know, verse 22, the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs until now. Not only they, but we also have the first fruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we are saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. He says, verse 26, the Spirit, like what also helps our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And so God's Spirit is there. It makes intercession for the saints, verse 27, and therefore we know that all things are working together for good.

Well, today we have talked about the power of God's Holy Spirit. It is the power that each and every one of us needs in order to become a Son of God and fulfill our purpose for being here. And it is also the power that we need as a church to preach the gospel out into the world. Let's ask God to pour out more of His Spirit upon us as a church and also as a people. Remember, verse 21, the creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Always keep that in mind. The end result of the gospel is the glorious liberty of the children of God. And the Holy Spirit is the power to get us there.