New Purpose (New Life Series)

Introduction

In the last sermons, I talked about new birth, a new walk, and a new heart. All of these culminate into a new purpose which is what we are going to end the sermon series on today. In the new birth, we find our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. At that very moment the Holy Spirit come and takes residence with us and we start our walk with the Lord. When the Holy Spirit come in He changes our heart. The Bible talks about replacing our old heart of stone with a new heart of flesh. Other passages liken it to circumcision where the bad parts are cut out. Finally, the Holy Spirit gives us a new purpose and the power to go along with it. This is the topic of this sermon and we will dive into how the purpose is acquired and how we are empowered to carry it out.

One of the most shocking statements by Jesus is in the gospel of Luke.

Luke 12:49–50 NASB 2020

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

The baptism that Jesus is talking about is His crucifixion on the cross and the fire He is talking about is His gospel fanned into a blaze by His Holy Spirit. The gospel message is tremendous but its fuel source is the Spirit of God. Without the Holy Spirit, the gospel message would be nothing more than encouraging words and novel ideas. Neither of these things will save a person. It takes the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to set us on fire and keep us burning. The Holy Spirit gives us purpose.

Story

I did not grow up in the church and I didn’t even know the differences from one denomination and the next. When I committed my life to Christ after my first daughter was born, I surprised my wife by telling her, “We are going to start going to church.” I will give her credit because she agreed right away and we began attending a Lutheran church in our small town. They had a visiting pastor who stopped by our house and talked with us. He gave me my first Bible and I read it with passion. I didn’t know about being saved or even what the sinners prayer even was. I just remember before making my statement that we were going to church that I called out to God and wanted to turn my life around. I had a newborn baby and I was hanging around the wrong crowd and they were nothing but trouble, and so was I. I cried out to God begging to be forgiven and I remember pleading and pleading and then I had a thought that almost sounded like an audible voice saying, “You have already been forgiven.” It was stern and it shut my mouth instantly. I knew at that point something had changed. I was forgiven but I didn’t know what else to do besides committing myself and family to going to church.

Transition

As I read the Bible, I found that there was a huge disconnect between the image of Jesus I had and the Jesus depicted in the Bible. John the Baptist spoke about Jesus baptizing people with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Matthew 3:11 NASB 2020

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

We not only receive the Holy Spirit when we are saved, but it is He who convicts us of sin and draws us to Christ.

John 16:8 NASB 2020

And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment:

John 15:26 NASB 2020

“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, He will testify about Me,

John 16:13–14 NASB 2020

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you.

So, I came to realize that Jesus not only died for my salvation, He died so that I may have His Holy Spirit and be baptized in Him. The Spirit of God the Father, the Spirit of Christ Jesus, this is the Holy Spirit and He wants to live in us. This is how be get our new purpose, by the Spirit of God. Now I was saved, I was starting my walk with Jesus, and I was given a new heart, but I didn’t have the purpose and fire. John the Baptist said Jesus would baptize me in the Holy Spirit and fire so how do I get it?

Points

In James 4:2–3, it says “.... You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, ....” This is the simple key to receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Seek the baptism from Jesus with humility and a desire to do His will. We don’t need to be perfect. We just need to submit to His will and want to do what He has set out before us. And just like the moment we were saved, we will be baptized in the Holy Spirit to carry out the will of God with fire.

The initial baptism of the Holy Spirit is quite often accompanied by the speaking in tongues. This happened in many of the instances depicted in the book of Acts when people received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Today many people will immediately shove that aside as it seems so foreign and odd. This is more of a cultural roadblock than anything. Many other cultures around the world today experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit just like in the book of Acts, because they don’t have the cultural stigmas that hold them back. The truth is God will not force His gifts on us. We have authority to use the gifts He gives us or not.

1 Corinthians 14:32 NASB 2020

and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets;

This goes for the other gifts that come along with the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. We can begin to explore and use them to carry out the will of Christ or we can go empty handed. My advice is to pick up the gifts and start learning to use them right away. God gave them to us for a reason.

1 Corinthians 12:8–10 NASB 2020

For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

These gifts are tools the Holy Spirit uses to set things ablaze. Without them, our effect is minimal as we have to rely on our own capabilities. We need The Baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts He gives to be the effective ministers of God He designed us to be.

Application

A new purpose comes when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ. We can receive this baptism immediately at conversion or some time afterwards when we pray and ask Him. We don’t need to beg for his Holy Spirit just like I didn’t need to plead and beg for God forgiveness. It is a free gift. Jesus wants to baptize us in His Holy Spirit. Remember His desire is that the fire was already kindled. He earnestly desires that you be baptized in the Holy Spirit. He paid for it on the cross. So simply ask Him and don’t quench His Spirit when He gives you the gifts.