Sunday, May 23, 2010

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT - Extended Notes

Today is Pentecost Sunday where millions of Christians around the world celebrate what occurred on the Jewish Feast Day known as Pentecost approximately 2,000 years ago - when a group of Jesus' disciples in Jerusalem where "filled with the Holy Spirit." This morning we talked about the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Loved today's worship set.

Where The Spirit of the Lord Is by Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels
(A great track from the new Passion Awakening release...)

Come Thou Fount Come Thou King by Gateway
(I love this version of "Come Thou Fount" by Gateway...)

I Need You More by Bethel Live featuring Kim Walker
(I love this track from the Bethel Live - "Here Is Love" release...)

You'll Come by Hillsong
(Brooke Frasher wrote this song based on Hosea 6... Incredible song...)

Today's worship experience wrapped up with an extended time of prayer and anointing... I loved getting to personally pray for everyone who came forward, and pray that we all daily seek to be "filled with the Holy Spirit."

Here are the extended message notes...

I Believe In The Holy Spirit
UNSHAKABLE - Part 6


Factors That Put The “Squeeze” On Life and Joy:

• Relationships that are all “investment” with little , or no apparent, return.

• A decreasing capacity to love.

• Chronic worry and hurry.

• Financial pressure. Way too much “month” and far too little “money.”

• A sense of stagnation or superficiality in my relationship with God.


Ephesians 5:18-21 (NLT), Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.


Acts 19:2 (NIV), [Paul] asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”


1. The Promise Of The Holy Spirit.

John 16:6 (NCV), “Your hearts are filled with sadness because I have told you these things.”

John 16:7 (ESV), Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

The word “helper” is sometimes translated “advocate” (NASB, ESV, NLT), “counselor” (NIV), and sometimes “comforter” (KJV). The word literally means, “someone called alongside to help.”


A Few Promises:

Acts 1:4-5 (NLT), In one of these meetings as he was eating a meal with them, he told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you what he promised. Remember, I have told you about this before. 5John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:6-8 (NIV), So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”


Underline the phrase, "...you will receive power..." If there is one word that describes the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, it's the word "power."


2. The Power Of The Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8 (NIV), …you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…

Acts 2:1-4 (NLT), On the day of Pentecost, seven weeks after Jesus’ resurrection, the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them, and it filled the house where they were meeting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.


Two Examples of the "power" of the Holy Spirit:

Acts 4:29-31 (ESV), And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 19:11-12 (NIV), God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.


3. The Person Of The Holy Spirit.

1.) The Holy Spirit Is A Person. He Has A Mind (Romans 8:27), Will (1 Corinthians 12:11) and Emotions (Ephesians 4:30).

“Spell this out in capital letters: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON. He is not enthusiasm. He is not courage. He is not energy. He is not the personification of all good qualities, like Jack Frost is the personification of cold weather. Actually, the Holy Spirit is not the personification of anything…

“He has individuality… He has will and intelligence. He has hearing. He has knowledge and sympathy and the ability to love and see and think. He can hear, speak, desire, grieve and rejoice. He is a Person.”
~ A.W. Tozer, The Counselor


2.) The Holy Spirit Is God. He Possess All Of The Titles, Attributes, Qualities and Characteristics of God.


Who The Holy Spirit Is and What He Does…
1) The Holy Spirit is our constant companion. (John 14:16)

2) The Holy Spirit is our reliable teacher. (John 14:26)

3) The Holy Spirit convinces the world of its sin, of God’s righteousness and of coming judgment. (John 16:8)

4) The Holy Spirit leads, guides and instructs us into the truth. (John 16:13)

5) The Holy Spirit “grooves” on glorifying and magnifying Jesus Christ. (John 16:14)

6) The Holy Spirit takes all that Jesus has and all that He says and reveals it to us. He discloses to us the mysteries of Christ (John 16:14b)

7) The Holy Spirit empowers believers for life and service. (Acts 1:8)

8) The Holy Spirit liberates believers from the power of sin and death. (Romans 8:1)

9) The Holy Spirit brings the resurrection life of Christ to my day in and day out life. (Romans 8:11)

10) The Holy Spirit leads us to wholeness and holiness. (Galatians 5:16-25)

11) The Holy Spirit seals our salvation and redemption. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

12) The Holy Spirit confirms and reminds us that we are children of God. (Romans 8:16)


Three Practical Applications:

1.) Reverence The Spirit’s Mystery.

John 3:8 (NCV), The wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit.


2.) Resolve To Align Yourself With The Spirit’s Work.

a. Remove All Barriers and Blockages.

Ephesians 4:30 (NIV), …do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God...

b. Respond To The Spirit’s Leadings and Promptings.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 (NKJ), Do not quench the Spirit.

c. Relate To The Spirit Personally and Relationally.

Galatians 5:25 (NKJ), …walk in the Spirit.
(NIV), …let us keep in step with the Spirit.


3.) Be Filled With The Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8 (NIV), …you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…


Ephesians 5:18-21 (NLT), Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit…

NOTE: This is not a polite suggestion! This is a command! It’s a command that includes the idea of conscious continuation. You could actually translate the passage, “…be being kept filled with the Spirit.”

The word “filled” is the Greek word “pleroo” and it means a whole lot more than filling something up like someone would do if they poured water into a glass all the way to the rim… Here’s what the word means…

• First of all, it was a word used to describe wind filling a sail and moving a ship along.

• Second, the word carries the idea of being completely “permeated.”

• Third, the word also carries the idea of “total control.”

When a person is filled with the Spirit it means that every area of there life is being totally dominated and controlled by the Holy Spirit – their mind, emotions and will are under His total domination and control. That’s why I love the New Living Translation here…

Ephesians 5:18 (NLT), Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.


A Great Prayer:

Ephesians 3:16 (NIV), I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his [Holy] Spirit in your inner being…


Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Common, too common is the sin of forgetting the Holy Spirit. This is folly and ingratitude… As God, He is good essentially… He is good benevolently, tenderly, bearing with our waywardness, striving with our rebellious wills; quickening us from our death in sin, and then training us for the skies as a loving nurse fosters her child… He is good operatively. All His works are good in the most eminent degree: He suggests good thoughts, prompts good actions, reveals good truths, applies good promises, assists in good attainments, and leads to good results. There is no spiritual good in all the world of which He is not the author and sustainer… They who yield to His influence become good; they who obey His impulses do good, they who live under His power receive good… Let us revere His person, and adore Him as God over all, blessed for ever; let us hourly seek His aid, and never grieve Him; and let us speak to His praise whenever occasions occur. The church will never prosper until more reverently it believes in the Holy Spirit.


Recommended Resources:

The Beauty of Spiritual Language by Jack Hayford

Surprised by the Power of the Spirit by Jack Deere

The Forgotten God by Francis Chan

The Word and Power Church by Doug Bannister

I Believe in the Holy Spirit by Michael Green

Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris

God the Holy Spirit by Mark Driscoll (mp3 download)

Jesus and the Holy Spirit by Mark Driscoll (mp3 download)

A Primer on the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit by Winfield Bevins (Free e-book)
theresurgence.com/files/HolySpirit.pdf

The Holy Spirit and You (CD Album by Jack Hayford)
jackhayford.org/products16-2815/TheHolySpiritandYou

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