Tonight I want to talk about the Holy Spirit and how having the Holy Spirit in your life will make you a superhero of the faith. But I don’t want to just preach about it, I want to give each of you an opportunity to seek the infilling, as evidenced with speaking in tongues. So I am going to preach fast, you ok with that?
First off, I am hoping that you all are familiar with the Holy Spirit. It’s a gift that Jesus promised us in multiple places in the new testament. Let’s read John 14:15-19 to give you an idea.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
Understand that the Holy Spirit is a secondary gift. The first, of course, is salvation, which comes from belief in Christ, and what He did for you on the cross, covering your sins with His innocent blood.
The Holy Spirit is what draws you to Christ. And it dwells in you when you receive Christ. But the Holy Spirit can do much more than that!
A great way to explain it is with this iPhone and a paper bag. For this example, let’s pretend the iPhone is the Holy Spirit (it’s powerful, can do a lot of things) and you are the paper bag. When we accept Christ, the Holy Spirit comes in us. (place paper bag over the iPhone) But there is a greater purpose than just being in us. The iPhone is a powerful device, just like the Holy Spirit is extremely powerful, effective. When we become infilled (ask for the lights to shut off and turn on flashlight ap) then the Holy Spirit spills out of us and effects the world around us. We have suddenly tapped in to power that we had never had before.
See, those first verses we read in John are such a great testimony to us. When Jesus went to be with the Father, to prepare a place for us, He didn’t leave us alone to fend for ourselves. He sent this great helper. The scripture says “I will not leave you as orphans.” Jesus didn’t abandon us. He left us in great hands.
So why do we need the Holy Spirit? That collection of verses gives us several great reasons.
First off, the Holy Spirit is a Truth Serum. Ok, so the Word calls it the spirit of truth, but I thought truth serum sounded pretty cool. You can’t lie with a truth serum, it seeks out the whole story.
John 15:26 When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
This truth serum testifies to the truth. Like a witness in a court of law, the Holy Spirit points the way to the truth, illuminates truth. How handy is that? It also exposes untruth, meaning it brings lies out into the open. Remember last week, we talked about how Satan is a deceiver? The Holy Spirit is your best weapon against Satan’s lies. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you are lead into all truth, you are able to discern lies from facts.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit is our Trusty Sidekick. Counselor is the biblical word for it. Think Robin to your Batman. The Holy Spirit is there to help us and strengthen us. Just like any trusty ally. He intercedes in prayer for us. What does that mean? Have you ever needed to pray and you just couldn’t find the words to speak? The Holy Spirit helps you pray from deep down in your heart.
Romans 8:26 tells us
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
When you are beyond words– that’s when your prayer language, speaking in tongues, is such a blessing. The Holy Spirit will help you negate your circumstances and deal with your heart. He’ll help you pray the things that you can’t find the words to speak.
The Holy Spirit is our trusty sidekick in more ways than just intercession, which is pretty awesome on it’s own.
He also promises to be with you. He’s going to comfort and encourage you in difficult situations. I found an amazing example of that one of my favorite books, The Shack. In the book, there is a little girl, about five years old, who is violently kidnapped and taken into the woods to be tortured and killed. As the little girl is being driven into the woods, she’s tied up in the back seat of the killers truck, terrified. She has a vision of the Holy Spirit, whispering comforting words to her, alleviating her fears, strengthening her. I understand that the book is fiction, but that is exactly what the Holy Spirit does. He reminds us that this world is not our final destination, He continually comforts us by pointing us to Jesus.
Another role the Holy Spirit plays in our life is that of Teacher. Really cool, relevant, wise teacher. Think, Professor X type teacher. Because Professor X can read minds, he’s extremely powerful and wise. The Holy Spirit knows all as well, and leads us into truth, leads us into knowledge. He teaches all things to us, and explains the mysteries of faith.
Professor X is also very good, always fighting for justice. The Holy Spirit is, well, holy. And His holiness leads us into holiness. Just walking in the Holy Spirit (with His infilling) brings dramatic life change.
The last role the Holy Spirit plays in our life is that of the arc reactor. You know, from Iron Man. It’s the glowy thing in the center of his chest that provides him with excessive strength and keeps his heart going. The Holy Spirit does the same thing for us, He powers us up! The infilling of the Holy Spirit is an influx of power unlike any other on earth. The point of this power is to be witnesses for Christ. With the infilling, you will obtain a boldness you never thought possible of your personality before. And that boldness will bring others to Jesus.
(altar workers come forward)
So the Holy Spirit illuminates truth, comforts us, teaches us and empowers us. That is why we want Him in our lives, need Him. So I promised I would preach short tonight, I want to give you opportunity to spend some time seeking the Holy Spirit. The word promises us in Acts 2:39 that the Holy Spirit is for every believer. All you need to do is surrender your life to God. Ask Him to fill you. Tell Him you long for greater relationship with you. God longs to give you this gift.
If you have already received it, it’s time to use your gift again. Speaking in tongues is not a one time experience. If you’ve done it once, you can do it again. Any time you choose to. Begin by praying and seeking God. Ask Him to fill you again. Start praying for your neighbor.
I have purposely built time into this service to pray and ask for the Holy Spirit. If you want to turn around in your chair and seek Him, you may, or you may come forward to pray with one of our leaders. The altar is a great place to seek God. There’s something about that act of submission, getting out of your comfort zone, getting down on your knees. It shows your submission to His lordship.
I urge you to pray out loud. Begin to worship Him, call out His name. Tell Him what you love about Him. What you are thankful for in Him. Ask Him to fill you up. Don’t sing. This is not a time to sing, this is a time to praise and ask for His Spirit. At some point you will need to just make a noise that doesn’t make sense. Don’t be afraid of it, just allow it to happen. It doesn’t matter if you sound silly, just let the Spirit flow through you. You’ll sound silly for a few moments and then the Spirit will take over and do something beautiful with it.
Leaders, pray for these students. Call on God with them, ask God to fill them up! We are participating in a miracle!
Students, don’t give up. Just keep pressing in! He longs to give you this gift! You need this power in your life, you need the Holy Spirit!
No comments:
Post a Comment