BY AL BUCHANAN
The last time I spoke here was two weeks ago. The title of the sermon was The Power Of God’s Holy Spirit and I mentioned at the time it was Part I and that there would be a second part. Today will be Part II of that sermon and this will conclude the series. It will be a two part sermon.
I’d like to begin where we began last time in John chapter 1. I want to go back there and read a couple of verses. And I want to recap just briefly some of the material we covered last time just to bring it back to our mind as to what we covered then. In John chapter 1 and in verse 1, a very familiar few verses here and most of us can quote this first two or three verses without even looking. But it states,
John 1:1. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
So in the beginning these two great God Beings coexisted together. As far as we know and understand, They had equality of power, equality of the characteristics of God. Perhaps all the way through Their existence there was this relationship of the One who became Father later may have been deferred to by the Word. I don’t know for sure. It’s a little hard to tell Their total relationship.
Jesus Christ spent a lot of time talking about Their relationship from the standpoint of it being one. He said He and the Father were one. And that relationship existed, that oneness relationship existed from what is called here “In the beginning.” But They coexisted together.
And we know from what we read throughout the Scriptures that at that time the two of Them formulated an incredible plan, an absolutely incredible plan! A plan that actually required Them to engage in an awesome work! They set Their hands to do a work, an awesome work, a work that would result in Them increasing Their Family. And we heard a little bit about that in the sermonette. And I really appreciated what Mr. Schmidt gave. It’s going to go hand in hand with what we’re going to give in the sermon today. But They set Their hand to do a work that would result in the increase in Their Family.
In verse 2, it says here,
John 1:2. He was in the
beginning with God.
That is the Word.
John 1:2b. was in the
beginning with God. 3) All things were
made through Him,
Now as we pointed out last time, both of these Beings can legitimately be called “Creator.” Both of Them were involved. We could say that the Father, the One who became the Father, was the Creator and He created through the Word. Because it says,
John 1:3. All things were
made through Him,
But as we will see, it’s very clear that Both were involved in this creation.
John 1:3. All things were
made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
And it was very clear when we put this together with all the other Scriptures that it was the Being whom John referred to as the Word who spoke and creation occurred. He was the One. He was the Spokesman, no doubt the reason why this title of the Word or this descriptive title is used here. He is the Word. He is the Spokesperson for this Family relationship of these two great God Beings.
Psalm 33, let’s go there. Hold your place in John 1 for now. Let’s go to Psalm 33, the thirty-third Psalm. We read this last time. I want to read it again today. Psalm 33 and in verse 6,
Psalm 33:6. By the word
of the [Eternal] the heavens were made,
By His word!
Psalm 33:6. By the word
of the [Eternal] the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath
of His mouth. 7) He gathers the waters
of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in the storehouses. 8) Let all the earth fear the
[Eternal]; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of
Him, 9) For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast.
And so the entire creation was brought into existence as a result of this Being speaking and it took place.
In Psalm 104 verse 30—please don’t turn there—let me just quote this. It states,
Psalm 104:30. You send forth
Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth.
So not only through Him speaking was the creation made, came into existence the entire creation, but He later then, after a result of Satan trying to overthrow the power of God and all of the destruction that resulted, then the earth had to be renewed. The face of the earth had to be renewed. That too was done as a result of Him speaking and the Spirit of God did the work. The Eternal spoke and actually the power of God’s Holy Spirit performed the creation.
One other Psalm, 148, near the end of the Psalms, Psalm 148, let’s notice what we read. Psalm 148 verse 1,
Psalm 148: Praise the
[Eternal]! Praise the [Eternal] from the
heavens; praise Him in the heights! 2)
Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts! 3) Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all
you stars of light! 4) Praise Him, you
heavens of heavens, and you waters above the heavens! 5) Let them praise the name of the [Eternal],
for He commanded and they were created.
And so this great God Being, this Being whom John refers to as the Word, spoke and through the power of God’s Holy Spirit the work was done.
In John 1, back there again and in verse 14, it states,
John 1:14. And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Now we mentioned this last time and I want to read to you again—I’m not going to ask you to turn there—but in Luke 1 and verse 35, Gabriel spoke to Mary. And he said,
Luke 1:35b. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Highest will overshadow you;
Now I want you to remember the first part of this here where
it says, “The Holy Spirit will come
upon you,” because He’s going to say later to others virtually the same thing,
not Gabriel, but this time Jesus Christ.
He says similar words.
Luke 1:35b. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy
One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
This word “power” here is dunamis in the Greek. I think most of us probably know that. But this word means power. It means strength. It means ability. It means inherent power, something that is inherent. It means power that resides in a thing by virtue of its nature.
And so the Holy Spirit has this power associated with it. There is this power, inherent power in this Spirit of God. So this “power of the Highest” is actually God’s Holy Spirit that came upon Mary. Through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, the Word became flesh. We talked about this two weeks ago. It was through the power of God’s Holy Spirit that perhaps this may have been the greatest miracle that’s ever been performed. When you really shake it out and think deeply through it all, everything that God has done, everything that has been accomplished, and you can consider it all, what is it that is of greater importance or of greater accomplishment than this? That this Being who had spoken and all of the universe came into existence. He had spoken and the earth was renewed. This same Being by the use of the very same power became flesh and blood. He was made flesh. He was made flesh as a very tiny little speck of life within the body of Mary. What had been this great God, who coexisted with the Being who became His Father, was now flesh and blood like you and me.
Now there’s going to be a flip side of that. And we’re going to talk about it as we move forward. But through the power of God’s Spirit, this Being became flesh, flesh and blood like us, which He had to do as we’ll see as move forward.
But He also at the same time became the Son of God. He became the only begotten Son of God as we read here in verse 14 (John 1). So not only did the miracle involve Him becoming flesh when He was totally spirit possessing eternal life, life that He would never have had to give up, He would have existed for eternity into the future as He had existed in eternity in the past. This Being gave it up to become flesh and blood, but not only that, through the power of God’s Holy Spirit He was made the Son of God. He wasn’t Son before. His Father wasn’t His Father before, but now He became the only begotten Son of God. This, too, by the power of God’s Holy Spirit! The Family of God then consisted of the Father and His Son.
Now in John 1 and verse 29, let’s move over there. Actually I’m going to begin reading in verse 27. We mentioned last time that John the Baptist was sent on a mission. He was sent by the Father on a mission. And he was to be a witness concerning this Being who was now flesh and blood on the earth. And he was to be a witness about who He was. Notice what we read in verse 27.
John 1:27. “It is He who,
coming after me, is preferred before me,
John’s words! In other words, as the margin shows, “He ranks higher than me.” He was His relative. He was born first, but yet he said, “He ranks higher than me.”
John 1:27. “It is He who,
coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not
worthy to loose.”
And we mentioned last time that no doubt this is a reference to the loosening, removal of sandals and washing a guest’s feet. He said he’s not even worthy to do that. He’s not worthy to wash the feet of this Being.
John 1:28. These things were
done in [
A very important part of the work that had to be accomplished was for this Being to be made flesh and actually fulfill what the Passover lamb had pictured all these years. He had to fulfill what was pictured by the First Festival we talked about last time. He also had to fulfill what was pictured by the Wave Sheaf Ceremony, which took place during the Second Festival. He had to fulfill both of those in order for Their plan to proceed.
So He’s on this earth now and John the Baptist is introducing Him as this Lamb of God, God’s Lamb who was going to come to make a way for others to be able to enter into Their Family. There’s the Father. There’s the Son. There needed now to be a Wife. There had to be a means for a Wife to be added. And this Being had to fulfill what the First Festival is all about and what the Wave Sheaf during the Second Festival is all about in order for the Third Festival to begin to be fulfilled.
John 1:29. The next day John
saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold!
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30) “This is He of whom I said, ‘After me
comes a Man, who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’
“He existed before me even though He was born later. He existed before me.” So he’s telling them, “Look this Being was that Being who had eternally existed with the Father.”
Let me just move forward. Hold your place there. Let’s go to 1 John right here. I didn’t intend to use this right here. But let’s notice what the same author of the Gospel of John writes here in 1 John about this Being, the Word. And let’s notice what he states.
1 John 1:1. That which was
from the beginning,
He’s referring here to the Word.
1 John 1:1. That which was
from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled
concerning the Word of life—
So he’s talking about the same Being. Now he’s going to put emphasis on His life, the Word’s life. And he goes on to say in verse 2,
1 John 1:2. The life
was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you
that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
So here John clearly understands and is reporting here in this epistle that this Being eternally existed with His Father. And “He is now on this earth in which I’ve rubbed elbows with Him,” he said. “I’ve seen Him. I’ve touched Him. I’ve heard Him. And I’m reporting to you.”
And going on in verse 3, why was he reporting it to them?
1 John 1:3. That which we
have seen and heard, we declare to you, that you also may have
fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
And so back here in John 1, this same author is reporting what John the Baptist is saying. And John is saying the same thing that He existed before him. He had eternally existed. And in verse 31, he said, chapter 1 of John,
John 1:31. “I did not know
Him;
“I did not know Him!”
John 1:31b. but that He
should be revealed to
Now here was a case where God’s Holy Spirit became visual. He was able to visually see it. And God had a purpose in that. Normally we don’t see God’s Holy Spirit in this same way. But he was able to see it, because in verse 33,
John 1:33. “I did not know
Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see
the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, [Notice what he said!] this is He
who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
This Individual whom he had baptized and whom he had seen this sign that God had given to him to know who He was, he saw this Spirit descending and resting upon Him and he said, “This is the Being who is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
John 1:34. “And I have seen
[He went on to say,] and testified that this is the Son of God.”
“He is the Son of God!”
In John 20 and verse 17, we went there last time. This is one of the last places I think we’re going to go that we were last time, maybe one other. John 20 and verse 17, here is following His death, His resurrection from the dead. He had completed now what the First Festival was about and He was about to complete what the Wave Sheaf Ceremony was about. He said to Mary. Mary approached Him and He said to her,
John 20:17b. “Do not cling
to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father;
He was about to do that.
John
As we pointed out last time and we have on other occasions that He was about to complete what was necessary for others to become His Brethren, for others to be able to call this Being who became His father, they could also call this same Being their Father. He was making possible this work to move forward.
In John 17, let’s go there. John 17. Again we were here last time and I believe this may be the last place that we were at last time. John 17 and let’s begin in verse 1. Here Jesus Christ is praying to His Father just before He was going to be arrested and,
John 17:1. Jesus spoke these
words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify
You, 2) “As You have given Him authority
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given
Him. 3) “And this is eternal life that
they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have
sent. 4) “I have glorified You on the
earth.
We didn’t put any focus on this last time. But while He was on this earth, He said,
John 17:4. “I have glorified
You on the earth.
How did He do that? Probably in more than just a few ways He did that, but let’s just mention some. He was able to heal the sick. He was able to cast out demons. He was able to feed thousands with just a very small amount of food. He was able to raise the dead. How did He do that? Through what means did He do that? Let’s look at just a few Scriptures here.
Luke chapter 4, Luke 4 and verse 14.
Luke 4:14. Then Jesus
returned in the power of the Spirit to
And so He came in the power of God’s Holy Spirit.
Luke 4 verse 36.
Luke 4:36. So they were all
amazed and spoke among themselves,
Let me back up here and read just enough of this. He had just cast out a demon. Let’s just go that far. He had just cast out a demon. Verse 36,
Luke 4:36. So they were all
amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is!
He spoke the word and a demon came out of a man.
Luke 4:36b. For with
authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”
Luke 6 verse 17. Luke 6 verse 17.
Luke 6:17. And He came down
with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great
multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre
and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases,
And I mentioned on a number of, probably, years ago now that He attracted all kinds of a following. Many, many people followed Him primarily to receive of the benefits He was providing. He was healing their diseases. He was casting out demons. He was feeding them. They followed Him and were attracted to Him because of the benefits He was providing.
And going on it says,
Luke 6:18. As well as those
who were tormented with unclean spirits.
And they were healed.
Notice verse 19.
Luke 6:19. And the whole
multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
And so power went out from Him. Was this His power? Was it His power that enabled Him to be able to do these things? There are a lot of folks who believe that He was God in the flesh from the standpoint that “Yeah, He was flesh. He appeared to be flesh, but He was really God in the flesh in the sense that He had God-powers while in the flesh.” Is that the case? Now what did He say? Let’s go to John 11 first, John chapter 11 and verse 38. I want to look at this case here where He raised Lazarus from the dead and take a look at how that unfolded. John 11 verse 38.
John 11:38. Then Jesus,
again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb.
This was a very close friend of Jesus Christ’s that He had while He existed in the flesh. Lazarus was a friend. And it says here “He was groaning in Himself,” perhaps at the effect that his death had had on others. It doesn’t say exactly what the groaning was all about. But,
John 11:38. Then Jesus, again
groaning in Himself, came to the tomb.
It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39) Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said
to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days,”
Now if you remember He delayed His arrival there purposely, intentionally. He wanted to get there after there was no doubt in anybody’s mind that this man was dead and was clearly dead.
Verse 40,
John 11:40. Jesus said to
her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe you would see the glory of God?”
Remember “I have glorified You on the earth,” He said to His Father.
Verse 41,
John 11:41. Then they took
away the stone from the place where
the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted
up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank
You that You have heard Me.
Now in verse 42 He explains why He said that.
John 11:42. “And I know You
always hear Me, [He said]
He had such a close relationship with His Father while He was on this earth in the flesh that His Father always heard Him. He said that here.
John 11:42b. but because of
the people who are standing by I said this,
that they may believe that You sent Me.”
Verse 43,
John 11:43. Now when He had
said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44) And he who had died came out bound hand
and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him
go.”
Clearly this was accomplished through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. He said in John 5 verse 30,
John 5:30. “I can of Myself
do nothing.
“I can of Myself do nothing.” He was flesh and blood in the fullest sense. He is clearly saying here He did not have God-powers while in the flesh. He is saying “of Myself I could do nothing.” In John 14 verse 10, He stated,
John 14:20b. the Father who
dwells in Me does the works.
The Father! He was glorifying the Father in all that He was doing. You might say that God’s power in Him did the work. How did God dwell in Him? It was through the Holy Spirit of God.
Now John 3 verse 34, let’s go there. John 3 verse 34 is a very important verse here.
John 3:34. “For He whom God
has sent speaks the words of God,
So He said in other places that He came delivering the message that God had sent Him to deliver. These were God’s words He was delivering to those whom God had sent Him to.
John 3:34. “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God,
Notice how He finishes this verse!
John 3:34b. for God does not
give the Spirit by measure.
The New International Version renders that,
John 3:34b. [to Him] God
gives the Spirit without limit.
Clearly the implication here is that in all other cases it has been given in measure with limits. But to this Being, God had given His Spirit and filled this Being with His Spirit without measure, without limit. The power of the Holy Spirit—now this is one thing we can glean from this that carries on over to others—the power of the Holy Spirit enables those who are flesh and blood to do what they would of themselves not be able to do. The Spirit of God enables those who are flesh and blood to do what they of themselves otherwise could not do! Even in Jesus the Christ’s case! He did what He did through the power of God’s Holy Spirit that God had given to Him without limit.
Now earlier the same evening prior to Him praying that prayer to His Father that we read about there in John 17, He said some very important words to the eleven. I’d like to go back and take note of some of that. In John 14, John chapter 14 and in verse 15, in John 14 and verse 15, He stated to the eleven, following now the institution of the new symbols for Passover that He had given them earlier this evening, He states this,
John 14:15. “If you love Me,
keep My commandments.
He had just given them the new commandment that they were to love one another as He had loved them. That was included then in what He’s saying here.
John 14:15. “If you love Me,
keep My commandments. 16) “And I will
pray the Father, and He will give you another [helper],
Another helper! Now this word “helper” is parakletos in the Greek. It means advisor, pleader, one who comes forward on behalf of and as the representative of another.
Now He’s saying that the Father will give you another helper. Who is the first Helper then? Who is it that is the Helper that the Holy Spirit would add and become another helper to?
Hold your place there and turn to 1 John 2. 1 John chapter 2 and in verse 1, again the apostle John, same author as the Gospel of John, is writing here. And he’s saying to those to whom he’s writing,
1 John 2:1. My little
children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.
So he’s giving them advice and encouragement not to sin.
1 John 2:1b. And if anyone
sins, we have an Advocate [parakletos,
same Greek word] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2) And He Himself is the propitiation for our
sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
And so Jesus Christ is now our Advocate, our Parakletos, at the very throne of God interceding for us with the Father. And He is saying back here, Jesus Christ is saying back here in John 14 verse 16, that He was going to
John 14:16b. pray the
Father, and He will give you another Helper,
So now He is saying to them that they are going to receive something in a way that they had not received it before. They’re going to receive another helper.
John
Now we can glean a couple of things from here. First of all, the Holy Spirit originates with the Father. The Holy Spirit originates from the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit originates with the Father. The power of the Holy Spirit originates with the Father. We’re going to see that very clearly in a statement that Christ makes in just a little while. But the Father is giving the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is delivering it to us and we’re going to see that clearly as well. But the Father is the One who gives it. And it is the intent that once the Spirit is given to an individual it is to remain with them forever. Notice this!
John 14:16. “And I will pray
the Father, and He will give you another [helper], that [it] may abide
with you forever—
So the intent is for that to be the case. That the Spirit would abide with them forever. It enables human beings to do what they could not otherwise do. Keep that in mind. The very same Spirit that Jesus Christ was filled with, He is now saying that He’s going to pray the Father that He give them that same Spirit. It will enable them to do things they couldn’t otherwise do.
Verse 17,
John 14:17. [Even] “The
Spirit of truth, [which] the world cannot receive, because it neither sees [it]
nor knows [it]; [But notice this!] but you know [it],
“You know it.” How did they know it? He said,
John 14:17b. [because it]
dwells with you [but] it will be in you.
Now remember that He had earlier called the twelve to Him and He sent them forth and He gave them power over unclean spirits and so forth. He had given them a limited amount of power. How did they have any power? That’s dunamis there. How did they have any power? It had to come through the Holy Spirit.
But He’s saying here that the Holy Spirit has been dwelling with you. So the power that they were able to utilize and take advantage of was a result of the Spirit dwelling with them. Now He’s talking about that same Spirit being in them in a very different way and for even a different purpose.
Here it says that this Spirit is the “Spirit of truth.” It’s the Spirit of truth.” In 1 John 5 verse 6—please don’t turn there—there the apostle John writes that “the Spirit is truth.” “The Spirit is truth.” Now let’s talk about this just briefly. The Spirit originates with the Father. The power of the Holy Spirit originates with the Father. And so here it says it’s the Spirit of truth. In 1 John 5:6, it says the Spirit is truth. When we connect that with 1 John 1 verse 5 where it says “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all,” we realize why this Spirit that emanates from Him is called truth. And it is truth.
John 14:17. [Even] “The
Spirit of truth, [which] the world cannot receive, because it neither sees
[it], nor knows [it]; but you know [it], for [it] dwells with you and
[it] will be in you.
It goes on to say here in verse 18,
John 14:17. “I will not
leave you orphans; I will come to you.
Now He could be referring here to what He said back earlier in chapter 14 where He said that He was going to come again and receive them to Himself that “where I am, there you will be also.” He could be referring to “I’m going to come to you then.” But He goes on down and it becomes clear that He’s talking about what is going to happen during this life as a result of them receiving God’s Holy Spirit.
Verse 19, it says,
John 14:19. “A little while
longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.
“So, I’m going to come to you.” But how is He going to come to them?
John 14:19b. Because I live,
you will live also. 20) “At that day you
will know that I am in [the] Father,
and you in Me, and I in you. 21) “He who
has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My
Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” 22) [And] Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him,
“Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the
world?” 23) Jesus answered and said to
him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,
and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
How? Through the Spirit of God They were able to do this. As He said, “The Father who dwells in Me does the work,” clearly it was a result of the Spirit of God dwelling in Him that the work was done.
Down in verse 25, He went on to say,
John 14:25. “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26) “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, [which] the Father will send in My name, [it] will teach, you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I [have] said to you.
Here it seems to be saying that the Father is going to send the Spirit. Now notice how it’s worded. And He’s going to qualify this in just a moment. Verse 26,
John 14:26. “But the Helper,
the Holy Spirit, [which] the Father will send
Notice He is sending it “in My name.” So that’s the qualifier there and we’re going to see in a moment what He means by that.
John 14:26b. He will teach
you all things [this Spirit], and bring to your remembrance all things that I
[have] said to you.
So the power of the Holy Spirit opens one’s mind to be able to understand. It enables one to be able to understand. Now you’re going to hear me use the word “enable” several times. You have several times already. I think what we need to realize is that the Spirit of God is an enabler. It is an enabler. Christ said, “Of Myself I can do nothing.” The Holy Spirit enabled Him to be able to speak. The creation took place when He was the Word. When He was on this earth in flesh and blood, He was able to speak; demons would come out of people; people could be healed; the dead could be raised. It enabled Him to do that.
It is an enabler. It enables us to be able to do what we couldn’t otherwise do. It causes us to remember what we’ve been taught. He said later—and we read it last time—there in Acts 1 that these eleven were to be witnesses. Later a twelfth was to be added. And they were to be witnesses and remember all of the things that He had done. Here He’s telling them how they would remember all that they had seen, all that they had heard. It is because the Spirit would cause them to be able to remember, enabling them to be legitimate witnesses.
John 15 verse 26, notice what He clearly says here. And again it explains what He meant earlier there. Verse 26 John 15,
John 15:26. “But when the
Helper comes, [Notice!] [which] I shall send to you
So He’s clearly saying—before He said the Father would send,
but the Father would send it “in My name.” And now He’s saying, “I am the one sending it
to you and it comes from the Father.”
John 15:26. “But when the
Helper comes, [which] I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth
[which] proceeds from the Father, [it] will testify of Me.
Then John 16 verse 5, John 16 verse 5,
John 16:5. “But now I go
away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
So He is telling them that He’s going to ascend back to His Father. So He’s jumping ahead here and telling them what is going to happen at this point in time. And I’d like to jump ahead with Him on this to a description that Paul gives of the event and what transpired. Let’s notice what He says here.
John 16:5. “But now I go
away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6) “But because I have said these things to
you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7)
“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 depart, I
will send [it] to you.
Ephesians chapter 1, let’s go there. Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians 1 and in verse 16, let’s notice what the apostle Paul writes here.
Ephesians 1:15. Therefore I
also,
Him writing to members of the
Ephesians 1:15. Therefore I
also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the
saints, 16) Do not cease to give thanks
for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
What is he praying?
Ephesians 1:17. That the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Verse 18,
Ephesians 1:18. The eyes of
your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His
calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19) And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,
Notice that! That they would be able to comprehend and understand
Ephesians 1:19. what is the exceeding greatness of His power
toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20) Which He worked in Christ when He raised
Him from the dead and seated Him at
His right hand in the heavenly places,
And so here Christ is saying, “I’ve got to go away.” And He is referring to the fact He is going to ascend to the Father and He’s going to take His seat at His right hand. And it’s going to happen. It has to happen in order for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
Now notice back in Romans 8. And we’re going to go back now to where Mr. Schmidt was in the sermonette and read some of the very same verses. Actually I’m going to go there twice, but right now chapter 8. Romans 8 verse 9, Paul writing to these beings. He’s saying,
Romans 8:9. But you are not
in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, he is not His. 10) And if Christ
is in you,
And so here clearly as a result of the Spirit of God dwelling in us, Christ is in us.
Romans 8:10. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Now we read there in Ephesians 1 that it was as a result of the power of God’s Holy Spirit that He resurrected Jesus Christ back to life again. And He was able then to ascend to His right hand and take a seat there at His right hand.
Notice verse 11!
Romans 8:11. But if the
Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His
Spirit [that] dwells in you.
So the same power that raised Christ from the dead will give life to our mortal bodies.
Now a couple of verses just to back that up, 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 14, notice what we read. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 14,
1 Corinthians 6:14. And God
both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.
So the very same power, Brethren, is waiting to be utilized to raise you and me from the dead if we die before the end comes or the very same power would change us from mortal to immortal at that time.
2 Corinthians 13 verse 4. 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 4 speaking of Jesus Christ, Paul writing,
2 Corinthians 13:4. For
though He was crucified in weakness,
He was flesh and blood, weakness in that sense.
2 Corinthians 13:4. For
though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of
God.
It was the power of God’s Holy Spirit that enabled this.
2 Corinthians 13:4b. For we
also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God
toward you.
So by the very same power we can live.
He said there in Ephesians 1 verse 20 that He was seated at the right hand of God. I want to read a couple of passages here, first of all in Luke 22. Actually these are the same account, but I want to read from two different sources. Luke 22 this one Jesus has been brought to prior to His crucifixion, He’s been brought before the powers to be there. Luke 22 verse 66.
Luke 22:66. As soon as it
was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came
together and led Him into their council, saying, 67) “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will
by no means believe. 68) “And if I also
ask you, you will by no means answer
Me or let Me go. 69) “Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the
right hand of the power of God.”
So when He ascended to the Father and sat down at His side, He was sitting next to the power of God. I want to notice how that is worded in Matthew 26. Matthew chapter 26 and verse 63, Matthew 26 verse 63, again this is a parallel account, but notice how it’s worded here by Matthew.
Matthew 26:63. But Jesus
kept silent. And the high priest
answered and said to Him, “I [adjure] You by the living God: tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of
God!” 64) Jesus said to him, “It is as you said.
“Yes, I am the Christ. Yes, I am the Son of God.”
Matthew 26:64b. Nevertheless,
I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand
of the Power,
“You will see Him sitting at the right hand of the Power.” And so as He sits by this Power, this Power of this universe, the Power that brought the universe into existence, the Power that’s done everything that we’ve talked to this point, He is now sitting next to that Power and He is able to send forth this Spirit that He’s talking about back in John 16.
I want to go back there for one more verse, John 16 and in verse 7, or a couple more verses. John 16 and in verse 7, let’s just read that one again.
John 16:7. “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 depart, I will send [it] to you.
And so from that position sitting next to the Power, He will be able to do this.
Verse 13,
John 16:13. “However, when
[it], the Spirit of truth, has come, [it] will guide you into all truth;
Now I think we should qualify that based upon what we read elsewhere in the Scriptures. What it is here He is saying this but He is not adding the limit to it, which it’s clearly been added. We don’t know all truth. That’s obvious. Paul wrote, “We know in part. We prophesy in part.” He was inspired to write that we’re looking into an imperfect mirror. We’re looking into a glass, looking through a glass darkly. We don’t see it all. We don’t have the complete picture. We don’t understand everything. And so, we cannot expect—and I think some people have been frustrated when they are unable to understand to the level that they would want to understand the truth of God. There are limits placed upon us as to what we can understand and what we cannot understand at this time. And God placed the limits. So it’s clear to me that what He’s saying here is that “When the Spirit of truth is come, it will guide you into all truth that God intends” for us to understand. The Spirit, in other words, is what does it. It’s the Spirit of truth that enables us to understand to the level that God permits at this time.
Now let’s go to 1 Corinthians 2, 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 6, the apostle Paul again writing here. He says,
1 Corinthians 2:6. However,
we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor
of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7) But we speak the wisdom of God in a
mystery, the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the ages for our glory.
As part of that great plan that They formulated. Verse 8,
1 Corinthians 2:8. Which
none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. 9) But as
it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the
heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. 10) But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.
So it’s through the power of God’s Holy Spirit that enables us to understand to the level that we do of what God is doing and where we fit into what God is doing.
2 Corinthians 2:10. But God
has revealed them to us through His
Spirit. For the Spirit searches all
things, yes, the deep things of God. 11)
For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in
him? Even so no one knows the things of
God except the Spirit of God.
And so the power of God’s Holy Spirit enables us to come to know the things of God. Otherwise we would not be able to know. But once again to the degree that God permits.
Acts chapter 1, Acts chapter 1 verse 4, probably this is on the fortieth day of the forty days that He spent with the disciples there following His resurrection from the dead. On verse 4 Acts chapter 1,
Acts 4:1. And being
assembled together with them, He
commanded them not to depart from
We’ve just read where He made those promises.
Acts 4:5. “For John truly
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many
days from now.”
Now John the Baptist said, “That He,” the One speaking here would be the One who would baptize. He would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Hold your place there and turn to Luke 24 right now and let’s notice how this is worded there. Luke 24 and verse 46, He’s telling them,
Luke 24:46. Then He said to
them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer
and to rise from the dead third day, 47)
“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to
all nations, beginning at
Notice, I asked you to remember what we read back there where Gabriel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. “Here Jesus Christ is saying, “I send the Promise of My Father upon you. It will come upon you.”
Luke 24:49b. but tarry in
the city of
And this word “endued” means to go in or under. Zodhiates’ defines it this way, “go in or under, to put on, to put on a garment, to clothe.” Vine’s defines it as “to enter into, get into as into clothes, to put on.”
It’s interesting when you combine this with Ephesians 6 verses 10 and 11. Mr. Lee spent a lot of time in Ephesians 6 last week. And it says there “to put on the whole armor of God.” And it lists several things that we are to put on to do battle against Satan the devil, the powers that we are having to battle.
If you scrutinize that, all of that armor is a result of the
Holy Spirit of God. It enables every
part of that armor. We’re to put it on.
It is to be put on. We’re to be
baptized with it like if you enter into water, it completely surrounds
you. You are immersed in it. And so we are to put it on. We’re to go into it. It is to be all over us, but it also is to be
in us.
Acts 2 verse 1, Acts 2 verse 1.
I mentioned last time that I feel that without question the most important events that have occurred to this point following the creation of man I guess that we would have to conclude that as far as from man’s perspective the most important event that’s ever occurred is when God created man. Else there would not be the story of man. So nothing else would have any relevance. So that, I guess, from our perspective was the most important thing that’s ever been accomplished.
But second to that would be the series of events of Jesus Christ fulfilling what the Passover lamb pictured. His fulfilling then of what the Wave Sheaf ceremony pictures, That series of events of His death, His resurrection from the dead, His ascension to the Father to be accepted on our behalf was the second most important event, as far as we’re concerned.
The third most important event was about to begin to happen here in Acts 2 verse 1. Let’s notice. Acts 2 verse 1,
Acts 2:1. When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
They had waited as He had instructed them to wait.
Acts 2:2. And suddenly there
came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting. 3) Then
there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
As the Spirit descended as a dove and sat upon Christ and that very important event there, on this initial giving of God’s Holy Spirit as Christ began to build His Church here, it came in a very spectacular way and a very obvious way, and apparently where all could see it happening to those around them.
Acts 2:4. And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit
So the promise that He made that “that Spirit that has dwelled with you, will be in you” is now beginning to take place.
Acts 2:4. And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance.
And so Jesus Christ here again begins to build His Church. A Church that would become His Wife! As He begins, as They begin to expand Their Family.
But it says here that when this occurred, it enabled them to communicate in a way that they could not have communicated before. It enabled them to speak with languages where all these different people could hear in their own language. Incredible miracle! But it was a result of the enabling power of God’s Holy Spirit that enabled them to be able to do that.
We see as we study on through the early chapters of the book of Acts that God enabled these men to speak and miracles resulted as a result of the Holy Spirit working, as a result of them speaking. They spoke in the name of Jesus Christ and people were healed. A great number of people were healed that way. Great works were able to be accomplished by these men through speaking the word.
Now as you remember, there was one who saw, observed that, and decided he wanted that power, offered money to receive it. And you know what happened to him. We have to be careful to wrongly desire this power. This is a power that needs to be deeply respected by us. It’s an incredible power! It enables great things, but only as God works.
It was in His plan and in His purpose for great miracles to
result in the beginning stages of the
We need to be careful about wrongly desiring the power of God, and wrongly using the Power, and desiring to use it in a wrong kind of way. God grants; God permits; God enables what the Spirit will do in our case. But, Brethren, this Spirit is remarkable what it does!
Let’s go ahead and read a little bit. Verse 29 of chapter 2 where the apostle Peter is giving this sermon on the Day of Pentecost. He’s taking the advantage of all of these people being together to pass on some very important words. And he’s saying,
Acts
Verse 32,
Acts
Notice this now!
Acts
So now we see the fulfillment of what He had promised.
He had taken His seat next to the Power. He is now pouring out this Spirit. Now we need to understand one little bit of information here about this “pouring out.” The pouring out does not mean the manner in which it was done. In other words, it wasn’t poured out like pouring water onto something, but rather it was distributed widely is what this means. It has a broad distribution. It’s poured out in a broad way.
Where there were isolated cases that God gave His Spirit to individuals in the Old Testament, in the history of the Old Testament we see that. David clearly said, “Don’t take Your Spirit from me.” So they had God’s Spirit to the level that God permitted at that time. Now, though, it’s being poured out on a hundred and twenty at one swoop. Probably there were no where near a hundred and twenty people in all the history of the Old Testament that had God’s Spirit given to them. Now it was done all at one time. A hundred and twenty! We see later thousands were added very shortly to this. And so it was the manner, it was the distribution of it that is being talked about here.
Now let’s go to verse 36.
Acts
He is the Kurios. He is our Owner, our Master now. And He is also the Christos, the Anointed One, the Messiah. He fulfilled what the Messiah was to fulfill.
Acts
So that same Spirit that was promised to them with power coming with it is promised to others. Others were to receive this Spirit.
Romans 8, let’s go back there once again. Romans chapter 8 verse 12, I’m going to read from the very same verses that Mr. Schmidt read in the sermonette. Romans 8 verse 12,
Romans 8:12. Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
He had just said in verse 11 that the very same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead would raise or change our mortal bodies.
Verse 13,
Romans 8:13. For if you live
according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the
deeds of the body, you will live. 14)
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15) For you did not receive the spirit of
bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by [which] we
cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16) The Spirit
[itself] bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. 17) And if children, then heirs—heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may be glorified together.
The power of the same Spirit that enabled the Word to become flesh and blood now enables us, others to become begotten children of God. The very same Spirit that not only made possible for Him to become flesh and blood, but made possible for Him to become the very Son of God Himself, now that same Spirit enables us to become children of God, to become part of the Family of God, to become part of the very Bride of Jesus Christ and take our part in the work that They’re doing!
For the remainder of the time I want to just read some verses that apply to all of us and without a lot of commentary. Ephesians chapter 3, Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 14. I would ask us all to receive these words as if they were written personally for us because they are. Ephesians 3 verse 14,
Ephesians 3:14. For this reason [Paul writes,] I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus, 15) From whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16) That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might
That’s dunamis. That’s power,
Ephesians 3:16b. to be
strengthened with [power] through His Spirit in the inner man, 17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18) May be able to comprehend with all the
saints what is the width and length
and depth and height— 19) To know the
love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the
fullness of God. 20) Now to Him who is
able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to
the power that works in us,
The power that works in us!
Ephesians 3:21. To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all [ages, world without end].
2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 6,
2 Timothy 1:6. Therefore I
remind you
Here he is writing to the evangelist Timothy, but it applies to us as well. A little different situation but it applies to us.
2 Timothy 1:6. Therefore I
remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of
my hands.
And so it takes utilizing this power that’s in us. We can let it go dormant and not utilize it. It’s up to us to stir it up.
2 Timothy 1:7. For God has
not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind.
2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 3 verse 1,
2 Timothy 3:1. But know
this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2) For men will be lovers of themselves,
lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, 3) Unloving,
unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4) Traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5)
Having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Brethren, we must not be guilty of that! We must not deny this power that God has given to us.
I have a couple of other Scriptures, but I’m running out of time. 1 Peter chapter 1, let’s go there for the last Scripture. 1 Peter 1 verse 3,
1 Peter 1:3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4) To an inheritance incorruptible and
undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5) Who are kept
Notice!
1 Peter 5. Who are kept by
the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time.
Brethren, it is the power of God’s Holy Spirit that
can enable us to endure to the end to the point of becoming fully borned sons
of God, to become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
Transcribed by kb