FOLLOW: THE DISCIPLE'S SOURCE OF POWER.

Dr. Jim Bohrer

FOLLOW • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago • Presented 2 years ago

Holy Spirit

Trinity

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we will discuss the source of power for every disciple of Christ: following the Holy Spirit.

As we read in Romans 7:15-17, we often fail to do what we want to do, and instead do what we hate. We cannot rely on our own willpower to live the life God desires for us. We must admit our weakness and turn to the Holy Spirit.

But don't despair, for as Romans 6:5-6 teaches us, if we have been united with Christ, our old selves have been crucified with Him, and we are no longer enslaved to sin. God has broken sin's hold on us, and we no longer have to obey our sin nature. However, we cannot do it alone. We need the Holy Spirit's help.

So, how do we follow the Holy Spirit? We start by setting our minds on things above and looking towards the resurrection, the life and relationships God desires for us. We must seek God's will for our lives and surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We must obey the Scriptures, listen to the Holy Spirit's prompting, and not resist His leading.

We need to pay attention to our engagement in worship and quiet times, prioritize the things God values, and be aware of our struggle to allow the Holy Spirit to be in charge. If we let God be our co-pilot, we must change seats and let Jesus take the wheel.

Let us remember that simply doing what we want leads to enslavement to sin, self-destruction, toxic behavior, chaos, and pain. But if we follow the Holy Spirit, we will experience the power of God and bear fruit in our lives.

In closing, let us heed the words of A.W. Tozer: "The Holy Spirit is not a luxury meant to make deluxe Christians, as an illuminated frontispiece and a leather binding make a deluxe book. The Spirit is an imperative necessity. Only the Eternal Spirit can do eternal deeds." May we seek the Holy Spirit's leading in our lives and allow Him to do eternal deeds through us. Amen.

Romans 7:15–17 (CSB)

15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me.

Lawn Lake Dam was an earthen dam in Rocky Mountain National Park, United States that failed on July 15, 1982, at about 6 a.m., in an event known as the flood of 1982. The sudden release of 30 million cubic feet (850,000 m3) of water resulted in a flash flood that killed three people camping in the park and caused $31 million in damage to the town of Estes Park, Colorado and other downstream areas.

Lawn Lake[edit]

Lawn Lake was originally a natural lake with a surface area of 16.4 acres (6.6 hectares), located at an elevation of approximately 11,000 feet (3,400 m) in the Rocky Mountains. In 1903 a group of farmers from Loveland built a dam to increase it to a surface area of 48 acres (19 hectares) for the purpose of providing water for irrigation in Loveland.[1]

Dam failure[edit]

Over the years the road that had been cut to permit construction of the dam fell into disrepair and ceased to exist. Because of the dam's remote and difficult location, inspection and repairs lapsed. The Colorado State Engineer determined that the probable cause of the dam failure was deterioration of lead caulking on the joint between the outlet pipe and the gate valve leading to internal erosion of the earth-fill dam.[2] There had been issues reported during inspections in 1951, 1975, 1977 and 1978.[3]

📷The mouth of Lawn Lake (the site of the dam) in July 2007, 25 years after the accident.

📷Lawn Lake in 2007, 25 years after the accident, with the shore still showing the former extent of the lake.

When the dam failed the waters rushed down the Roaring River valley, which falls 2,500 feet (760 m) in 6 miles (9.7 km), at a peak rate of 18,000 cu ft/s (510 m3/s), scouring a large gully out of the mountain stream and killing one person camping alongside it. At this rate, the lake emptied in about half an hour. When the waters reached the broader valley of Fall River at Horseshoe Park they spread out and slowed, leaving behind a large alluvial fan of debris. The flood continued down Fall River and hit the Cascade Dam which stored water to run a hydroelectric plant about a mile (2 km) downstream. Cascade Dam failed from the onslaught and added its waters to the flood. The Aspenglen campground was destroyed and two campers who returned to recover camping gear lost their lives, due to insufficient warning from park rangers.[4]

The flood entered the town of Estes Park and caused severe damage to 177 downtown businesses (75 percent of Estes Park's commercial activity).[5] In Estes Park the flood joined the Big Thompson River and flowed into Lake Estes on the eastern edge of the city. Olympus Dam, part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, there withstood the deluge and the flood was halted.[1]

In a matter of a couple of hours, the lake emptied, the power of the water changed the course of the Big Thompson River from one side of the road to the other.

That same power to change course and direction has been made available to every believer. The force of living water, the Holy Spirit.

Then why don’t more experience the Power of the Holy Spirit?

Well, you must believe and release your life to Him. Don’t hold Him up or Hold Him back.

Romans 7:24–25 (CSB)

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.

You can’t live the Christian life simply by will power.

1. Admit the weakness of your will.

Your will power is not really yours. You know that when you want to start a new habit. How many times do you break your promise to go to the gym? Watch what you eat? Finish that project on your desk or in the garage? Quit smoking?

2. Rejoice in your position in Christ.

Romans 6:5–6 CSB

5 For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin,

Old man-flesh/sin nature - Crucified with Christ.

God has broken sin’s claim on you.

You no longer have to obey the sin nature.

But your nature and will power on it’s own will not win without the Holy Spirit.

3. Set your new course each day.

Look towards the resurrection, the place God designed us for, the life and relationships God wants. Look to the best, not merely to the corruption and attraction of sin.

The Holy Spirit is not a luxury meant to make deluxe Christians, as an illuminated frontispiece and a leather binding make a deluxe book. The Spirit is an imperative necessity. Only the Eternal Spirit can do eternal deeds.12

A. W. Tozer

Colossians 3:1–3 CSB

1 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4. Surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

a. Obey the obvious in Scripture.

2 Timothy 1:7 LEB

7 For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and love and self-discipline.

b. Listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting.

Acts 16:6 CSB

6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

Not Following the Spirit

When Paul wanted to go into Asia to preach the gospel, it was said that the Spirit blocked him from doing so (Acts 16:6). This didn’t mean Paul wasn’t following the Spirit, but the Spirit was trying to make Paul to go where He wanted him to go, and not where Paul wanted to go. The Holy Spirit always seeks to have us do the will of the Father, and so when we resist the Holy Spirit, we resist God Himself.

So often we want a big sign. We play at Gideon. Oh the fleece was dry and everything else wet… What about making the ground dry and the fleece wet.

mascot costume

c. Surrender and don’t resist, the Holy Spirit’s leading.

John 7:38–39 NLT

38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ ” 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)

A river moves powerfully. But a few beavers and some sticks can make it stagnant.

You can grieve the Holy Spirit.

Application:

I will pay attention to my engagement in worship and quiet times.

I will prioritize the things I know God values.

I will be aware of the struggle to allow the Holy Spirit to be in charge.

If God is your co-pilot, change seats. Jesus take the wheel!

Simply doing what you want leads to enslavement to sin, self-destruction, toxic behavior, chaos, and pain.

A. W. Tozer

The Quotable Tozer I: Wise Words with a Prophetic Edge

If we recognize the Spirit of God as the unique fountain of truth, we shall never despise the truth wherever it may appear, unless we wish to do dishonor to the Spirit of God.

John Calvin

The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations

The Spirit who convicts us is also the Spirit who consoles.

Charles Spurgeon

The Complete Gathered Gold: A Treasury of Quotations for Christians

HOLY SPIRIT The Holy Spirit (or Spirit of God) transforms and empowers God’s people.

Craig Keener

5785 It is extraordinary how things fall off from a man like autumn leaves once he comes to the place where there is no rule but that of the personal domination of the Holy Spirit.

Oswald Chambers

Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World

Questions & Answers

Where has Christ promised us, that he will as certainly wash us by his blood and Spirit, as we are washed with the water of baptism?

In the institution of baptism, which is thus expressed: “Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”, Matt. 28:19. And “he that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned.”, Mark 16:16. This promise is also repeated, where the scripture calls baptism “the washing of regenerations” and the washing away of sins. Tit. 3:5, Acts 22:16.a

1 Corinthians 2:14 CSB

14 But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

Never argue with truth you know in Scripture. Argue with your doubts, find their root, and weed them out, lay them before the Spirit.

That does not mean that there are parts of the Bible that have been misunderstood or applied incorrectly.

bible says you can sin anger grieve lie tempt and RESIST HS and if you resist the Holy Spirit there’s no hope.

Isaiah 63:10

Verse Concepts

But they rebelled

And grieved His Holy Spirit;

Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy,

He fought against them.

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Resisting-Holy-Spirit

Ephesians 4:30

Verse Concepts

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Acts 7:51

Verse Concepts

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

Genesis 6:3

Verse Concepts

Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

Acts 6:9-10

But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Mark 3:29

Verse Concepts

but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—

Matthew 12:31

Verse Concepts

“Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

Luke 12:10

Verse Concepts

And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.

Hebrews 10:29

Verse Concepts

How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

1 Thessalonians 5:19

Verse Concepts

Do not quench the Spirit;

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Resisting-Holy-Spirit

Acts 5:3

Verse Concepts

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?

Acts 5:9

Verse Concepts

Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

Galatians 5:17

Verse Concepts

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

Ephesians 4:30-31

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Psalm 106:33

Verse Concepts

Because they were rebellious against His Spirit,

He spoke rashly with his lips.

Zechariah 7:12

Verse Concepts

They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.

1 Corinthians 2:14

Verse Concepts

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Resisting-Holy-Spirit

Grieving the Spirit

You can actually grieve the Holy Spirit by not confessing sin (Eph 4:30). Just as a person grieves over the loss of a loved one, the Spirit is said to be grieved when we sin (Eph 4:26-30). That will not only block the Spirit of God’s power, it will actually grieve the Third Person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit. He is called “Holy,” because He is holy, and is God, but He also works to create holiness in us, but unconfessed sin blocks that growth.

Quenching the Spirit

The Apostle Paul says that it’s possible to quench the Spirit of God because that’s just what he told the church at Thessalonica: “Do not quench the Spirit” (1st Thess 5:19). When we quench the spirit, we’re trying to silence what God is trying to say to us or motivate us to do something by the Holy Spirit’s prompting. Sometimes we quench God’s Spirit without even knowing it.

Ignoring the Spirit

This is what unbelievers do. They ignore their conscience and suppress the knowledge of God, and even though they really know that God exists, the push back that knowledge in their consciences. Paul writes, “by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Rom 1:18), and “although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom 1:21). After a person ignores their conscience for so long, eventually God will just give them up to their own depravity.

Resisting the Spirit

When Stephen was on trial for his faith in Christ, he bluntly told the Jewish religious leaders, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51), and all you need to do is read about ancient Israel’s history to see that it’s true. They resisted God every step of the way, so God allowed them to wander in the wilderness for forty years until that generation was gone. God may put us in a “wilderness” for a time, until we stop resisting the Holy Spirit and His power.

Not Following the Spirit

Bonus Content

Going through the Motions

Traditions are fine, but when these traditions can become just going through the motions. When we do things without much thought, we’re blocking the Spirit’s power in being spontaneous. When church services become “automated,” then the church might be blocking the Holy Spirit’s power in worship services. For example, if we are singing songs without comprehending their meaning, then we’re just going through the motions and just “checking things off our list.”

Doubt and Fear

Doubt and fear are the enemies of faith and trust. To have fear is to show a lack of faith and doubt can rob our joy. Both doubt and fear can suppress the work of the Spirit in us and strip us of our desire to serve Christ. Perfect love should cast our fear (1st John 4:18). A great way to dampen the doubt and face the fear is to be in the Word of God. That’s where the Spirit can help give us assurance and faith.

Harboring a Grudge

When we are holding a grudge against someone, it’s like a nagging thing in our mind that we quite can’t shake. The Spirit convicts us when we sin, but when we refuse to confess them, we can be grieved by God’s convicting Spirit. David said “my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3a), and it was “when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer” (Psalm 32:4). Unconfessed sin can put God’s heavy hand upon us just like holding a grudge can.

A Resistant Spirit

I would rather it be, “Have your own way with me Holy Spirit” than “This is what I’ll do next.” If we have any pride at all, God’s going to resist us (James 4:6), and since the Holy Spirit is also God, the Spirit can resist us if we get full of ourselves. God’s Spirit can do little in someone that is full of pride. Until a person comes before God and is emptied of self, He cannot fill them; until they admit they are broken, God cannot fix them by His Spirit.

Not Walking in the Spirit

The Apostle Paul admonished the church at Rome to walk in the Spirit, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit” (Rom 8:4) because “to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom 8:6).

Conclusion

We need all the help we can get from God’s Spirit in not grieving the Spirit, in not quenching the Spirit, in not ignoring the Spirit, in not resisting the Spirit, and in not following the Spirit and holding onto doubts, fear, being prideful and not walking with God, in the Spirit. Perhaps the greatest block of the power of God’s Spirit is pride. God cannot work with people that feel they have arrived in life. God resists the proud, but only gives His grace to the humble (James 4:6). When we block God’s Spirit, we also block His power working in us. That’s important enough reason to not grieve, quench, ignore, or resist the Spirit of God, but rather, to follow the Spirit.

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