One of the topics that often comes up as we're growing as a believer is the Holy Spirit, and who is the Holy Spirit?
One of the maybe more controversial doctrines of the church has been what we call the Trinity.
The Trinity is actually not a biblical term,
but it's one that theologians have used about the oneness and the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We're not going to cover that today.
As you as a new believer and as a kingdom revolutionary,
I think it's important to understand who the Holy Spirit is, though.
And some people have said that this is the most skipped over of the three of the Trinity.
The Father talked about a lot, especially in the Old Testament.
Jesus, obvious.
The Gospels cover Jesus.
But if we're really honest, after the Gospels, especially as we get into the book of Acts and all the rest of the New Testament,
this is all about the Holy Spirit because we're living in the age of the Holy Spirit.
This is the age of the Holy Spirit.
Actually, the term Holy Spirit is only used three times in the Old Testament, but over 250 times in the New Testament.
So as we're growing in Christ, learning to walk in, daily live in and experience the power of the Holy Spirit is crucial.
It's the only way to live the Christian life.
The Christian life is really about the filling and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now, what makes the Holy Spirit different from the Old Testament and the New Testament is huge.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon only a few people like kings, prophets and monarchs.
But in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit comes upon every believer at the point where they put their faith in Christ.
And if you put your faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit lives within you.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit kind of came and went, came and went.
You see this with a lot of the prophets where the Holy Spirit is suddenly upon them, anointing them.
But then the Holy Spirit seems to lift at different times.
But in the New Testament, when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, when we put our faith in Christ, he's always there.
He's within you. You're not going to lose the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is always with you.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came at certain crucial times, like a coronation as king or like Samson or like warriors.
Those kind of settings, we see the Holy Spirit, not usually called the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit of God showing up.
But in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is constantly with the believer.
As always, it doesn't come and go.
And even Jesus needed the Holy Spirit.
Very interesting, Jesus, the Son of God, needed to be conceived by the Holy Spirit through Mary.
He was anointed by the Holy Spirit in his great mission statement of Luke 4, 18 and 19.
He says, first of all, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.
So the anointing of the Holy Spirit needed to be with Jesus.
He says that he cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit.
He says that he healed the sick by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And he was resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So even Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to such a degree that he told his disciples, the 120 that still followed him even after his resurrection, don't do anything.
Don't go out.
Don't share what's happened until you're filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
And so in Acts chapter one, we pick up what Jesus said in those 10 days before the coming of the Holy Spirit and 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.
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you now restore the kingdom of Israel?
And then Jesus said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons which the father has put in his own authority.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest parts of the earth.
That's very interesting.
So here are a group of people that every day were with Jesus for three and a half years.
And yet he said to them, you're not ready.
You're literally not ready to go out and preach the gospel.
You're not ready to live the Christ filled life until the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
Now, Jesus had already taught them this before.
So in John, John, chapter 14, 15 and 16, Jesus explains who the Holy Spirit is.
is, the power of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Holy
Spirit. But they don't know what He's talking about. They
really don't understand what Jesus is talking about. And
that's why it's so important that we understand in our
setting right now how important this is. So in Acts
Chapter 2, so some 10 days later after that admonition
from Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes upon this cowardly
sequestered group of believers. They believe in
Jesus, and they believe in the resurrection. They've got
all the doctrine right, but the power of God in their
heart had not happened yet. So in Acts Chapter 2, we pick
it up. When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they
were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly,
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 sat upon each of them. They were filled
with the Holy Spirit, began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance. So here's this
cowardly, shy, not sure what in the world is going on
group of believers who suddenly get filled with the
Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes upon them, and they're
transformed. And they begin to preach the Gospel, and
they go out with an anointing of power that they
didn't have before. Now, this was the fulfillment of the
prophecy of John the Baptist, who had said of Jesus when
He came to His baptism, this One that's coming will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. This is what
He's referring to. So, you as a new believer, as a
growing believer, as a Kingdom of God revolutionary,
need to understand fully that you cannot live the
Christian life on your own. It doesn't matter how much
you know, doesn't matter how much church you've attended,
or how obedient you are in your moral or ethical life.
Christ wants to transform our heart, and He does that
through the Holy Spirit. We're living in the age of
the Spirit. So, Peter, one of the 12 disciples, gets up,
begins to preach during this time when they're filled
with the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2, and listen to
what he says in his sermon. It's a really huge year.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, and
he's quoting the book of Joel, that I will pour out
my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your old
men shall dream dreams. And on my men servants, and on my
maid servants, I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in Heaven
above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, and fire,
and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of
the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come
to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall
be saved. So, Peter, under the anointing of the Spirit,
announces this is a new age. This is a new time. This is
the coming of the Church Age. This is the coming of Christ
on every believer. Now, men and women, this is really
different than the Old Testament dispensation. This
is now a new work of the Spirit on everyone, men,
women, children. Visions, dreams, prophecy has now been
released into each of us in a way that was unprecedented in
past times. And so, God's now working in your heart. As
you've put your faith in Christ, the Spirit of God is
the one who gave you the ability to believe. John
chapter 3 says that the faith that we now have in
Christ comes from the Spirit in our lives. We speak of
being born again. So, when Jesus was speaking to a
Pharisee named Nicodemus, He said to him, you must be born
again. You must be born of the water, which means your
natural birth, but also born of the Spirit, which is being
born again spiritually in our lives. In Ezekiel 36, we're
told that when we believe, we're given a new heart and a
new spirit. So, literally we're changed into a new
creation. That's what the Scripture says in
Corinthians, that you're a new creation in Christ. Now, I
mean you're the same in one sense. I mean if you couldn't
do math before you were a Christian, you can't do math
now. So, it's not talking about everything being changed.
It's talking about your heart, and your spirit of
transformation.
Transformed through the Holy Spirit coming to live within you. That's Jesus within you
The Holy Spirit empowers us to live the Christian life
We can't live the Christian life without the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts. There are spiritual gifts
That first Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 talk about that were not true of your life until you were born again
So now as a Jesus follower a kingdom revolutionary you have the Holy Spirit
So the question is what in the world do you do with the reality that the Holy Spirit lives within you?
Well, we call it the filling of the Holy Spirit
Some call it the baptism of the Holy Spirit some call it the empowering of the Holy Spirit
I don't think it matters what you call it. What matters is that you get it
And so what is the filling of the Holy Spirit?
Well, I think Ephesians 5 18 is the most important verse in relation to the New Testament
Aspect of this new dispensation of the New Spirit age and here's what Paul says to the Ephesians
Do not get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, what is he talking about?
So the Ephesians understood
Getting drunk with wine because that was their background in the Roman pantheon of gods
they would go to the temple of Artemis and have these drunken orgies and
Paul knew that that was their background. So he chose to illustrate
The idea of letting Christ take control of their lives like they had known through alcohol
So they had gotten drunk and they'd go to these orgies and now they're saved they've become believers
they're trying to follow a holy lifestyle with God and
Paul saying
remember that
Alcohol takes control over your mind and over your spirit
Let Christ now take control give him control and let him have control of your life
so the it's interesting that comparison and
I don't know how many of you have had
Experiences with drugs or alcohol or some area of your life where that thing has taken control
I think all of us have things like that in our life
He's saying that the spirit-filled life is let Christ have control give him control
Surrender everything that you know of and it'll change because you're gonna surrender things now
That you weren't surrendering yesterday and then a year from now you'd be surrendering new things to the Lord
the point is is the filling of the Holy Spirit is about surrender and
Getting control through Christ for all that you do and that's a daily experience. Nobody does it perfectly
But that's the beginning of how to live the Christian life is letting the control of the spirit
Gradually over time start taking control over every area of your life