The Power of The Holy Spirit

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives today? What does he actually do? Learn more about the power behind the third person of the Trinity.

Transcript

If you look at the 12 disciples in the gospels and those same disciples in Acts, it would seem like they were completely different people. In the gospels, the disciples were flawed and filled with problems.

• They had the wrong priorities

• They constantly misunderstood Jesus

• They made boasts they could not back up

• They denied, betrayed, and doubted Jesus

• They refused to believe in a crucified Messiah

And then, in Acts, just a couple of months later, we see them doing incredible things.

• Peter preached powerful, convicting sermons

• They baptized thousands

• Peter & John healed a paralyzed man

• They stood with confidence in front of the most powerful men in Jerusalem

• The others performed many signs and wonders

• After the book of Acts, all of them died for their faith, many displaying incredible courage in the face of torture.

These were not the same people! A bunch of foolish, fearful, self-absorbed nobodies because bold and wise miracle workers who literally changed the world. Have you ever wondered how this happened? A transformation like this should take years, not months. How did it happen?

They were transformed by the Holy Spirit. But they weren’t just changed. They were transformed by the Holy Spirit with power for kingdom ministry.

Author Ray Hollenbach describes the transformation like this: “In John 20:22, Jesus filled them with the Holy Spirit, and as a result (over time), they became surprisingly like Jesus in thought, word, and deed. Ordinary people declared the message of the Kingdom of God (as Jesus had done) and demonstrated the coming of that Kingdom with powerful actions—just as Jesus had done. By the Holy Spirit, the first believers discovered a transformation from the impossibilities of the flesh to the possibilities of heaven.”

Are you living in the impossibilities of the flesh, or have you been transformed into the possibilities of heaven? That is the power of the Holy Spirit.

When you hear about the power of the Holy Spirit, you might be getting a little anxious.

If you’re not a Christian, this might sound like weird hocus-pocus. But it’s true. That thing you feel powerless to defeat? God has power for you. The impact you want to make in the world or even in your family? God has power for you.

If you come from a Shaman background, the idea of Holy Spirit power probably sounds ludicrous. “We don’t get spiritually empowered. The Shaman does. They have spiritual power. Not me.” Well, I want to tell you that in God’s kingdom, you can have a direct relationship with God through Jesus Christ and receive his power and hear his voice.

If you’re more of a humanist, you might rationalize this as positive self-talk or self-actualization. But if you talk to someone who walks in the power of the Spirit and lives out the fruit of the Spirit, you’ll see that it’s way more than human motivation.

If you grew up in the Hmong church, you might be getting nervous because your pastors just didn’t talk about the Holy Spirit. Some might have even told you that the Spirit doesn’t work like that today.

So, however you’re feeling, don’t worry; the disciples had their concerns, also.

The book of Acts begins with the resurrected Jesus giving instructions to the apostles through the Holy Spirit (verse 2). And then this happens in verses 4 and 5. “Once, 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.”

Jesus told them that something radical was about to happen in their relationship with Holy Spirit. And they immediately thought about their own kingdom.

“6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’”

They understood the idea of power, but they didn’t understand the idea of God’s kingdom. All they could imagine was their own kingdom of Israel. The impossibilities of the flesh.

Some of you understand the idea of power, but all you can think about is building your own kingdom. You’re stuck in the impossibilities of the flesh.

Here’s what Jesus said to them and you: “7 He 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.’”

Jesus had power in mind. He even had a kingdom in mind. But it wasn’t a geopolitical kingdom, and it wasn’t in the timing they had imagined. More importantly, he gave the disciples a task—be my witnesses.

NEW KING AND KINGDOM

Ya see, the disciples weren’t completely wrong. Jesus was going to restore a kingdom. In fact, through the resurrection and the ascension, which was about to happen, Jesus was taking his rightful place on the throne of heaven. Therefore, he was Israel’s promised Messiah and the rightful king of the world.

Back in the first century, when a new king was enthroned, they would send heralds throughout the kingdom to announce good news, “We have a new king.” That was how the word was spread. It was their Twitter—people traveling to the far-off reaches of the land announcing a new king.

That’s what Jesus is telling the disciple to do. And that’s what he’s telling us to do.

But he says that we, and they, won’t do it alone. God will give his heralds, his messengers—them and us—power through the Holy Spirit. The disciples needed that power, and we need that power.

We need that power to report the good news of a just and healing God to a world that wants to live under its own authority and build its own kingdom. But there is a new king whose kingdom is marked by forgiveness, justice, restoration, and peace. To build up the kingdom of God and invite others to join us, we need the power of the Holy Spirit, not just an invitation to church.

Jesus is already appointed and enthroned as the world’s true king. One day that kingdom will come, fully and finally. In the meantime, we have a job to do.

GRID – POWER & KINGDOM

This passage paints a contrast between the kingdom of Israel (what the disciples asked about) and the kingdom of God, ruled by Jesus, for which they are to be heralds).

But there’s another contrast. This moment in time marks the transition from disciple power to Holy Spirit power.

Every one of us aligns somewhere with these contrasts.

• What kingdom are you building? We’re all building something with our time, energy, and money. Are you building your kingdom or God’s kingdom?

• And we’re either doing it by our power or God’s. Just because you have the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean you’re living by his power.

So, if we take them and build a 2x2 grid, we can see where we fall in the middle of this story.

Here’s what it would look like. Across the top is whether you are living under the power of the Holy Spirit—yes or no. Along the side, whether you’re living as a witness to God’s kingdom—yes or no.

1. What would it look like if you were not living under the Spirit’s power and not building God’s kingdom? You would be using your own power and building your own kingdom. In the gospels, that would be the Pharisees. They built a system of religiosity where they were at the top. And by Jesus’ own accusation, it drove people further away from God.

2. But what would it look like if you were living under the Spirit’s power and not building God’s kingdom? I call this the My-Kingdom Christian. In the gospels, this was the disciples sometimes. In our lives, this is the believer whose life revolves around their family, their career, and their priorities. And being a witness, a herald to God’s kingdom, usually becomes an afterthought.

3. Now, the yellow box. What would it look like if you were living for God’s kingdom but not doing it by the Holy Spirit’s power? I call this the Try-Harder Christian. This is the disciples at other times in the gospels. They’re trying to do God’s work but by their own power, in their own way. If this is you, you’re trying to do good stuff—attend church, pray, give, and share about Jesus. But you don’t see a lot of fruit. Or you’re tired. Or you’re discouraged. You’re trying to chop wood with a butter knife, and it’s not working. If this is you, I empathize. I spend my fair share of time in this box.

4. But there’s one more box. Being a witness to God’s kingdom, being a herald announcing the good news that there’s a new king, and doing all of that through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. That’s the picture of a Spirit-Empowered Christian. That’s the disciples in the book of Acts—speaking boldly, doing miracles, and expanding God’s kingdom. These are disciples transformed by the Holy Spirit with power for kingdom ministry.

Where do you fall on this chart? Whose kingdom are you building? Whose power are you using?

Let me remind you of a powerful truth: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be witnesses to the kingdom of God.” It’s the same today as it was for the disciples.