Without the Empowerment of the Holy Spirit, We can Accomplish Nothing
Core Values • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 16 viewsNotes
Transcript
Introduction - Why would they put the picture of an old gas can on this poster? The Holy Spirit is depicted as a Flame. What happens when we mix gasoline and flames? The mixture of the two releases a great deal of energy. The flame itself is matter - gases being released by the reaction taking place. However, the light produced by the flames is energy and the heat produced is energy. Through the chemical reaction taking place in the fire the matter being consumed and it’s nature is being changed.
So too is it with us - the fire or Holy Spirit will change our nature. The question is: are you allowing the Fire within you to change you? Are you letting the fire destroy you from the inside out or are you trying to keep it under control?
The verse for this core value is 1 Cor 2:4-5
4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
Paul’s point in the verse is pretty simple. He could use fancy words full of wisdom to win the Corinthians to Christ. He could use all of his theological training as a Pharisee to convince them of Christ’s supremacy and His deity. But he didn’t, He let the Holy Spirit work in their hearts. He let that flame burn into them causing the change within them that burned away their hearts of stone so they could have new hearts. Hearts of flesh.
If Paul’s wisdom had won them over to Christ then their faith would have been placed on Paul. However, since it was the Holy Spirit doing the work they were able to place their faith on Christ. It was the power of God that did the work within them. The flame changes the nature of things and it changed the nature of the Corinthians.
The change which takes place within us comes from the filling of the Holy Spirit. There is only one time in the New Testament where we are commanded to be filled by the Holy Spirit. That command comes in Ephesians 5:18 and it says:
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
That sounds a bit funny - what does wine have to do with the Holy Spirit? Well if you have every been drunk before you would know that the wine takes over. Drunkenness or dissipation as the verse says, causes us to do things that we otherwise might not do. We lose control of ourselves. So, Paul is telling believers to do the opposite. Be filled with the Spirit because, the Spirit will help us do things that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. The one makes us do bad things we wouldn’t want to do, the other wants us to do things we wouldn’t necessarily want to do. The difference is that the Spirit will give us the power to do the things which He asks of us.
But how do we get filled with the Holy Spirit? Well the answer to that is to surrender. But what does surrender mean? Surrender means to cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority.
The Holy Spirit in this case is not an enemy, however, He may be an opponent. You see 1 Cor 3:16 says:
16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
He dwells in each one of us that call upon Him as Lord and Savior. But how much of you have you given over to Him. If we are fighting to maintain control of our lives after accepting Him as Lord and Savior than He is an opponent. He doesn’t want bits and pieces of us - He wants every part of each of us. That is why we must surrender. We must submit to His authority.
But what does that look like. How do we practically surrender ourselves to Him. Well let me illustrate it this way.
Revelation 3:20 says:
20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
If Jesus is standing at the door and knocking then we must be inside a building and He is outside waiting for us to answer the door. He wants to come in and dine, He wants to share a meal and fellowship with us. What would you do if you knew Jesus was coming over to your house for a meal? Would you clean up the front entrance where He would come up the walk way and knock. Would you clean up the entry hall and the dining room. Would you clean up anything else or would you close the doors to the other rooms so He can’t see the mess your house is in? Just invite Him into the clean space and don’t let Him know about the hurts and pains you are suffering, the drama going on in your life and the fears you have that keep you from accomplishing anything for Him. Don’t just let Him into the clean room and hide all the problems.
Because, all those problems are the skeletons that we have in our closets, the fur balls from the cat under the furniture, the hand marks on the walls and dirt on the floor. If we are struggling to keep all of this stuff from Him then He is an opponent. That is where surrender comes in. We have to surrender the house to Him. I might be able to clean up some of the mess in my house, and you might be able to clean up some of the mess in your house but, Jesus is able to clean up all of the mess in all of our houses. Right down to the cobwebs high up in the rafters.
The clean up that’s where the flame of the Holy Spirit comes in. When we surrender we open the house to Him. The fire changes our nature the fire cleans the house. The fire adds light and warmth to our lives, and He changes our hearts. So what are you going to do? Surrender - this includes those of you who haven’t accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior or keep on struggling?
There are a lot of possibilities that can take place but there are two very extreme possibilities.
The first of the two possibilities are to continue the struggle in which case you are disobeying scripture. 1 Thess 5:19 which says:
19 Do not quench the Spirit;
The idea of quenching the Spirit is to put out the flame. If you are struggling against the Spirit it’s as if you are pouring water on the flame which is trying to change your nature. Unfortunately this happens very easily. If the Spirit is moving me or you to do something, to give in and walk in step with Him but we don’t want to do what He is asking - well then there goes a bucket of water. Eventually if you throw enough water on the fire it will go out - at that point you won’t be able to Accomplish anything for the Kingdom of God.
The second idea is to fan the flames, to make them bigger. This would be surrender. When we surrender it’s like taking a can of gasoline and pouring it on flames. We stop fighting the fire and let it consume the house. Let the Spirit burn through your house and change you completely. Let the Spirit have all of your cares, all of your burdens and all of the mess so that He can clean up the mess, so He can change you. Remember what 1 Corinthians 3:16 says:
16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If we surrender He will make us a Temple, He will burn down the old house we once knew and make us into a Temple. A Temple that He will dwell in, a Temple for His Glory and Honor.
Let go of control - I know it”s the craziest thing you could do. But the power which comes through the Holy Spirit when we release control is far greater than anything we can do through our own wisdom. The power which comes through the Holy Spirit when we release control is far greater than anything we can do or even imagine. He wants control of our lives, but He won’t take it from us. He wants us to willing release control - to surrender to His authority as the Creator of the Heavens and Earth and all that is in them. He wants us to surrender control of our lives to His authority as Lord and Savior.
The question is - Will you surrender? Will you surrender control of your life to the authority of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? This includes those of you who don’t yet call upon His name. If you are willing to surrender your will and accept His will for you then He will come upon you and you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit. If you would surrender then join me at the alter during this final song.