Empowered

What Would Your Power Be?

We had fun in the Spring with a question in our bible study about superpowers. We were asked what our superpowers would be – flight, teleportation, strength, speed, elemental control. People have always been and will always be, fascinated with special powers. Pokeman, Marvel … (then I stopped to Google search and realized that almost every game kids and adults play has imaginary or built in powers). These powers make the games engaging and fun.

In real life, disciples of Christ are truly blessed to enjoy divine empowerment for our lives through the Person of the Holy Spirit.

The Vitality of the Holy Spirit

Christians today are a part of the Kingdom of God but also face the struggle of living in this world. Salvation changed the complexion of everything around them. At the same time there are concerns about not only the challenges that the world creates but also our own internal struggles. So, how do we deal with external and internal challenges?

The good news is that Jesus knew we needed help! In the last days of His time on earth, Jesus had begun to prepare the disciples for His imminent departure. The disciples were somewhere between confused and almost ready. Statements by Thomas and Phillip give us some insight into their thinking. They asked two questions of Jesus:

John 14:5 NIV

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

John 14:8 NIV

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Thomas understood that Jesus was going and that they would continue without His physical presence guiding them. Philip suggested that catching a glimpse of the Father would be all that they needed. Jesus had another plan. His response:

John 14:15–21 NIV

“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. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Jesus had planned to empower the disciples. (The) Holy Spirit would be ever present who would live in us and be with us. Jesus knew that the gift of the Holy Spirit would be transformational. Consider this quote originally spoken in 1968 at the World Council of Churches.

Without the Holy Spirit, God is far away, Christ belongs to the past, the Gospel is a dead letter, the Church is merely an organisation, authority is domination, mission is propaganda, worship is an evocation, and Christian active is a slave-morality.[1]

- Ignatius of Latakia

As disciples, we need to fully understand and appreciate the Person and the work of the Holy Spirit. So, let’s see what Jesus told the disciples then and what we as disciples should understand today.

Jesus Equips and Empowers His Disciples

In April 2003 I was placed on orders to advance from Kuwait into Iraq to begin intelligence operations with the 202nd in Baghdad. I was told that I didn’t need any of our equipment with the exception of 2 Humvee’s, a trailer, a month of water and MRE’s, our M-16’s, and our initial load of 70 rounds. I was told that the 202nd would supply us. I wasn’t happy about it.

I remember rolling into BIAP and meeting the company commander of the 202nd. I was asked why my team, and I were in the convoy and told that he would not provide me with lodging, food, comm’s, …. anything. I’ll leave the story there…

Jesus did not leave the disciples with nothing! Let’s continue in the Gospel of John where Jesus shares His heart and provides direction for the disciples:

John 15:26–16:15 NIV

“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. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

Jesus provides an 100% security and helper through the Holy Spirit or Advocate. He promises that the HS will testify, prove, guide, inform, and reflect Jesus!

My team and I were fortunate because we were forced to make friends and I’ll tell you that there is nothing like being escorted by Special Forces teams, Long Range Recon units, or acknowledged by high level leaders. This is who Jesus gave to His disciples and who we have given to us today.

His Empowerment

“Churches tend to run in grooves of conventionality, and such grooves quickly turn into graves.… The Holy Spirit is not a sentimentalist as too many of us are: he is a change agent—changing human structures as well as human hearts.”

- J. I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit [2]

Equipping and empowering ought to be dangerous. Dangerous in the sense that it is effective and powerful. That is exactly who is Holy Spirit is. He is described as The Counselor or in newer translations, The Advocate. In the Greek the word carries a legal sense. Lawyers are given a hard time until you need one because you have been unfairly treated. Think of the Advocate as shining light and truth on a situation that has been unfair and abusive.

He Testifies

The Holy Spirit would ensure that the message about Jesus stays accurate (He is also referred to as ‘the Spirit of Truth’). It is through the Spirit that his disciples continue to share the truth to a world that needs freedom.

He Proves

They don’t make great movies anymore! A great movie from 1992 was A Few Good Men. The classic line was “you can’t handle the truth” which was given by a narcissistic colonel played by Jack Nicholson. Tom Cruise played a low level, reluctant at first, JAG lawyer who sets out to prove that the death of a Marine was the result of the abuse of power.

The Holy Spirit is our Advocate who proves that the world is in sin because of unbelief in Jesus. He proves that righteousness is available only through Jesus Christ and not in their own goodness. And, finally, He proves that judgment awaits the world and us if we do not accept Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives.

He Guides

There is a commercial for the professional networking website called LinkedIn. It shows a man, new to the company, sitting in a planning meeting of some sort but the language of the room doesn’t make any sense. LinkedIn suggests that they can help professionals understand the jargon and make sense of new workplaces.

The prominent role of the Spirit of truth is to guide the believers into all truth. By truth Jesus meant the truth about his identity, the truth of his words and actions, and the truth about all that was to happen to him. In time they would fully understand that he was the Son, come from the Father, sent to save people from their sin. But only after these events occurred, and only through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, would the disciples be able to understand. The Holy Spirit is the true guide for all believers; his primary task is to instruct us about the truth (1 John 2:20).[3]

He Foretells

John 16:13 NIV

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

It is unclear what Jesus is implying. Would the disciples be able to know the future? No. But did the HS communicate truth to them through the inspired writings of the NT? Yes. Does the book of Acts demonstrate prophetic activity? Yes. Agabus in Acts 11 prophesied a severe famine. Prophets were at the church in Antioch, and it was through a prophetic word that Barnabas and Saul were released into ministry.

I think it is safe to assume that this foretelling includes the work of the HS reminding us of the OT prophecies, the words of Jesus, all of the Bible, and unique instructions to individuals and the Church today. LISTEN!

He Glorifies Jesus

Our passage ends with the promise that the HS will glorify Jesus, and that Jesus will continue in relationship with His disciples through the work of the HS.

John 16:14–15 NIV

He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

What do you think was the thing that the disciples grieved losing the most? A friend? Comfort? The cause? Resources? Insight? Truth and wisdom? ….Yes, and His presence. But, Jesus promises that the HS will continue all of these, we just need to allow His Spirit room in our lives.

No Need to Wait

After Jesus shared these instructions, the disciples would have their hearts ripped out as Jesus is betrayed with a kiss. He is brought through 3 mock trials and finally horrifically crucified…but it wasn’t finished. He rose from the dead!

In His appearance in John 20 after His resurrection He breathed on them

John 20:21–24 NIV

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.

I believe that this gift of the Spirit is what happens when you accept Christ as your Lord. His Spirit comes into you. But there is more…. At that time, Jesus hadn’t ascended to the Father yet. In the case of the disciples He told them to wait on the gift

Acts 1:4–5 NIV

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Then, on the perfect day of God’s timing, the Day of Pentecost, they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:1–4 NIV

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Jesus fulfills His promises. The Advocate (Counselor/Comforter) was sent to empower the disciples. Unlike the disciples, we don’t have to wait! He is available to us today. Ask Jesus to fill you with His Holy Spirit!

He will empower you!

[1]John Stott, The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott, ed. Mark Meynell (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018). [2]John Stott, The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott, ed. Mark Meynell (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018). [3]Bruce Barton et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001), 443.