Empowered! Sermon Series: A Firm Foundation Acts 2:1-4, 16-21 Rev. Michael D. Halley July 15, 2018 Suffolk Christian Church Suffolk, Virginia Eighth Sunday After Pentecost ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ When I read this passage from the second chapter of Acts, I am reminded of the little boy who looked upon the Grand Canyon for the first time and remarked, Something big must have happened here! On this day of Pentecost something big certainly did happen. It was remarkable. It was astounding. It was unprecedented. It was the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the early church. Luke records it thusly: 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. This was the promise Jesus left them just before he ascended into heaven. Stay here, he said, and you will receive power. Now, I am not sure I can adequately explain what happened that day. That day stands as one of the unique high points in the Christian faith, not to be duplicated, not to be repeated, but a time of empowerment of the early church. Was the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? Of course. But the Spirit
had not been poured out on all people like it was that special day. The Spirit came upon individuals who were called upon to accomplish great things... like Moses and like David. But now, all believers, all Christians were given the gift of the Holy Spirit. Page 2 One preacher gives this illustration 1 : Picture the Aswan High Dam on the Nile, 375 feet high and 11,000 feet across. Egyptian President Nasser commissioned its construction in 1953. And the dam was completed in 1970. In 1971 there was a grand dedication ceremony and the twelve turbines with their ten-billion kwh capacity were unleashed with enough energy to give enough power to every house and citadel in the whole of Egypt. Now, the whole time that dam was under construction, not all the water of the Nile was being diverted into this dam. Some of it was still being diverted along its usual channels. The whole time this dam was being built they drank this water and they bathed their feet in this water, and they washed their clothes in this water, and they grew food from this water. And you understand, when that hydroelectric power switched on...do you see something of the difference? And that s what Pentecost is like. It's like the turning on of this enormous resource of divine power. The church that day received power. At Pentecost that day, the wall that divides is broken down, and we see a glimpse of God s great intent and purpose: that the gospel will be spread to the end of the earth; that every tribe, and every nation, and every tongue, and every people would come and bow down and acknowledge Jesus to be Lord. It s a preview of what the new covenant age is all about, and it s all about mission, and it s about the spread of the gospel to the end of the earth. And no doubt that is the significance of the gift of speaking in other languages... that all will be able to hear the gospel message in their own
Page 3 language. So what about you and me? Can we have this same Pentecostal experience? Of course we can. Here is what the filling of the Spirit means: You are filled with the Spirit, you are empowered, when the Holy Spirit has the controlling interest in your life. life. Look at it this way: If you are filled with anger, then anger controls your If you are filled with greed, then greed dominates your life. If you are filled with love, then love influences all you do. When the Holy Spirit fills you, the Spirit will have the controlling interest in your life. We might call it control by consent. 2 Being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn t mean I have more of the Spirit; it means the Spirit has more of me. It doesn t happen all at once. Being filled with the Spirit happens as you continually choose to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Every Christian is given the Holy Spirit when we come to Christ through faith. But it requires our cooperation with the Holy Spirit to let him lead me. The alternative is to keep on trying to do things our own way. Some people think of the Spirit as something to fill us up, like gasoline in a car s tank. A better image to use is that of a subway with a third rail. As long as the train is in contact with that third rail, it will move. If the train loses contact with the rail, then it stops. It is a matter of contact. 3 The filling of the Holy Spirit is that state in which the Holy Spirit is free
to do all that he came into my life to do. The filling of the Spirit is not primarily an emotional experience, and it s certainly not reserved for a few super-christians. It s nothing more than the normal Christian life when the Holy Spirit is in control. The Holy Spirit is our source of power. The Holy Spirit is the church s source of power. The Holy Spirit brings vitality, strength, courage, boldness, victory and the abundant life. It s God s plan for your life. Page 4 God is ready to fill you right now. We do not have to beg God to do what he has already promised to do. Rather, he is begging us to make the way clear so he can do what he promised to do! We have a saying, maybe you have used it. We sometimes say that a person is full of himself or herself. That s a person who doesn t have room for the Holy Spirit inside them. These people, unfortunately, are closed to anything God might want to do in their life. So sad. Emptiness and openness, that is what God needs from us to fill us with his Spirit. Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, come to me, rest right here, inside of me guard my heart, keep my mind let it be Your peace that I find. Holy Spirit, come be with me, continually support all of me lead my soul, direct my ways hear the words my heart prays. Holy Spirit, come anoint me,
Page 5 place your seal, right here in me Spirit of Life, Spirit of Grace may Your wisdom I embrace. Holy Spirit, come comfort me, release and deliver unto me all Your might, all Your power counsel me, every waking hour. Holy Spirit, my Father s gift to me, Spirit of Christ, living inside me Spirit of God, Spirit of holy Fear come whisper truth, in my ear! 4 Amen +==+==+==+==+==+==+ All Scripture references are from New International Version, NIV, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc., unless otherwise indicated. +==+==+==+==+==+==+ Sunday Sermons from Suffolk Christian Church are intended for the private devotional use of members and friends of the church. Please do not print or publish. Thank you. Suggestions for sermon topics are always welcome! +==+==+==+==+==+==+
Page 6 1.Dr. Derek W. H. Thomas, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS, https://www.fpcjackson.org/resource-library/sermons 2.This thought was expressed by Dr. Ray Pritchard, in How Can I Be Filled With the Holy Spirit, www.keepbelieving.com. 3.This illustration was given by F. B. Meyer. Frederick Brotherton Meyer (1847 1929), a contemporary and friend of D. L. Moody, was a Baptist pastor and evangelist in England involved in ministry and inner city mission work on both sides of the Atlantic. He was described in an obituary as The Archbishop of the Free Churches. 4. Holy Spirit, by Deborah Ann Belka, https://www.christart.com/poetry/poem2753.htm.