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About The Episode:
Is it possible to truly understand the Holy Spirit if you’ve been misled by unsettling practices falsely attributed to it? This episode challenges misconceptions and explores the profound role of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers, drawing insights from the book of Acts and the inspiring story of Stephen. We dissect the resistance and fears surrounding the Holy Spirit, urging believers to approach scripture with intent and expectation, and recognize the Holy Spirit’s active presence in our lives today.
Stephen’s story offers a powerful testament to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. Even as he faced death, Stephen demonstrated Christ-like love and forgiveness, becoming a beacon of spiritual transformation and submission to God’s will. We delve into his bold speech and ultimate sacrifice, contrasting the genuine work of the Holy Spirit with the misguided actions done in its name. This episode calls on believers to seek true spiritual empowerment and to be courageous witnesses of Jesus Christ, equipped with the Holy Spirit’s gifts and grace.
Life’s challenges often seem insurmountable, but with the Holy Spirit, what once seemed impossible can become achievable. By embracing the guidance of God, we can overcome personal obstacles and unlock our full potential. We encourage you to reach out and share your thoughts via email or social media, and to explore our website and blog for further insights. Your support and engagement are invaluable, and we hope you share this episode with others who might find it beneficial.
Where to dive in:
(0:00:03) – Understanding the Holy Spirit’s Role (12 Minutes)
This chapter focuses on understanding the Holy Spirit and the resistance some people feel towards it, especially those who have encountered strange or unsettling practices labeled as acts of the Spirit. By examining the book of Acts, particularly the story of Stephen and the promise of the Father, we explore the true nature of the Holy Spirit, dispelling misconceptions that it requires believers to engage in bizarre behaviors. We highlight the importance of reading scripture with intent and expectation, emphasizing that the Holy Spirit, who inspired the Bible, is still actively working in our lives today. Through thoughtful engagement with the Word, we can better comprehend and partner with the Holy Spirit to fulfill our divine purposes, much like the journey of Joseph and the fulfillment of his dreams.
(0:11:48) – The Power of the Holy Spirit (16 Minutes)
This chapter focuses on understanding and embracing the Holy Spirit’s role and power in our lives. We explore the possible reasons for resistance or reservations about the Holy Spirit, addressing common misconceptions and the influence of others’ actions done in His name. Emphasizing the Holy Spirit’s power, we draw parallels to the transformative experiences in the book of Acts, urging believers to seek and accept the Holy Spirit to live out their faith fully. Through scriptural insights, we highlight the importance of being true witnesses of Jesus Christ, equipped with the Holy Spirit’s gifts and grace to overcome fleshly desires and lead a spiritually empowered life. Join us as we discuss the necessity of the Holy Spirit and challenge ourselves to desire and receive all that God promises through Him.
(0:27:24) – Gospel Preaching and Resisting the Spirit (5 Minutes)
This chapter focuses on Stephen’s powerful speech in Acts chapter seven, where he recounts the history of the Old Testament and brings the message of Jesus Christ to the forefront. We examine Stephen’s bold accusation against the religious leaders, calling them “stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,” for their resistance to the Holy Spirit and their desire to maintain control rather than truly serving God. We explore the contrast between those who resist the Holy Spirit to retain power and those who misuse the Holy Spirit to justify erratic behavior. Both extremes are criticized as we reflect on the necessity of genuine spiritual transformation and submission to God’s will.
(0:32:35) – The Power of the Holy Spirit (19 Minutes)
This chapter focuses on the profound impact of being filled with the Holy Spirit, using the stoning of Stephen as a key example. We explore how Stephen, even in the face of death, exemplified the ultimate expression of Christ-like love and forgiveness. The discussion highlights the significance of Jesus standing at the right hand of God during Stephen’s martyrdom, emphasizing the powerful connection between truth, power, and the Holy Spirit. By examining Stephen’s response to his persecutors, we reflect on our own reactions to adversity and the importance of embodying the Holy Spirit’s love and forgiveness in our daily lives. The chapter concludes by reinforcing that it is through the Holy Spirit that believers can manifest the same grace and mercy that Jesus demonstrated, urging listeners to consider what truly fills their hearts and minds.
(0:52:00) – Embracing Challenges With Courage and Faith (1 Minutes)
This chapter addresses the importance of embracing challenges with courage and allowing God’s guidance to reveal and overcome personal obstacles. By doing so, we can unlock the potential to achieve what once seemed impossible. I encourage listeners to reach out via email or social media, and visit my website and blog for more insights. If you found today’s message impactful, please give it a thumbs up and share it with others who might benefit from it. Your support and engagement are greatly appreciated.
About your host:
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Full Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.
0:00:03 – Jaime Luce
welcome to the Jamie Lewis podcast. I’m so happy to have you with me today. For me, it’s a happy Monday. I hope this is a happy day for you, whatever day you are watching this for you. I am wanting to really focus in this morning on we.
Well, the topic that we’ve been discussing is that of the Holy Spirit, and we’ve been really kind of looking at the book of Acts and dissecting some of that. And as I was reading a portion of scripture in Acts, specifically regarding Stephen, the question came to my mind and I really want us to discuss this today why not the Holy Spirit? Why not? Why is there resistance to the Holy Spirit? And I think part of the problem that we face is that, to so many who have been maybe brought up in Pentecost, those that make their name, so to speak, for being those who believe in the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, there is a wide range of things that are strange, spooky, crazy. The gamut of things that people do and then label what they do acts of the spirit have really been for lack of a better term a turnoff to people, and they throw the baby out with the bathwater and assume that, if that’s what having the Holy Spirit is. They don’t want it because they’re afraid they’re going to have to look crazy and do weird, spooky, goofy things, and that’s simply not true.
The entire book of Acts is the depiction that Luke gives us of waiting for the promise of the Father, which was spoken of. In fact, I’ll read that to you Acts 1, and this is verse 4 and 5, and it says and being assembled together with them, commanded them Jesus commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard of me, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy ghost Not many days from now. And what’s interesting about that passage? Because I think so many times we read scripture and we do not take the time to let the scripture speak to us, as if we were reading a letter from someone that we truly care about and haven’t had the opportunity to speak to. And they are writing to us and everything they say we are thinking about and we are ingesting and digesting and trying to make sure that we understand what’s being said. We tend to read the Bible I say we as a very large generalization, so if this isn’t. You don’t take offense, but there’s a large group of people who, when they read the Bible, they do so in a matter of reading, to read, or reading to say that they have read, or reading knowing that they should read. So they’re just reading.
But the intent of the heart while reading scripture matters. Now don’t get me wrong. The word has power regardless of what you do with it. The word is powerful, but how it affects your life individually. If you want the word of God to manifest itself in your life, to show forth the power of God on your behalf, a manner of speaking, and being obedient to that word, believing that word, having expectation on that word. We know that in the Old Testament we read the story of Joseph, but then we realize later it’s quoted and said that the word of God tested him until that word came to pass that what we expect from the New Testament, what we expect with the sacrifice of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Father, the promise of the Father we have, there should be at least some expectation, and we understand that you can have something before that was promised to you and you have to walk out, whatever that journey is, to get to the point of receiving what it is that has been promised to you, and we really have to have the right um glasses on, so to speak, to see what’s being said there. There’s some work on our part that needs to be done for us to understand and then receive.
If I receive, if someone wrote me a note and said call for directions on the note, but I don’t know who wrote that and I don’t know directions to where and I don’t know for what and I don’t know why. That little set of instructions is meaningless to me. I need to know who’s saying it, why I’m supposed to be there, when I’m supposed to be there and with whom I’m supposed to be. When I get there, there’s more information to be understood. So when I go to the scripture, I’m not reading it like just a story that someone has written about people that they’ve made up. These events really happened and the people in them have something to say to us Even beyond that.
The Holy Spirit is the one who truly crafted and wrote this, using men, with a message that we are to receive, and that same Holy Spirit who wrote this through men is the Holy Spirit we’re reading about when he is poured out in the book of Acts of Acts, and what he does and what is given, which was promised, a promise made by the father. And again I’m correlating that, if you can remember the story of Joseph, he was given dreams. It’s as if there was a promise out in front of him of what would happen, but it didn’t happen immediately. And if I have to remind us, the Holy Spirit is not a genie in a bottle and we don’t rub the genie bottle and expect the Holy Spirit to pop out and say what three wishes can I grant for you? That is completely a blasphemous thing to think, but we have to understand that this is the Holy Spirit, not a genie, the Holy Spirit who was before all things and is still doing the work of the Father now, all these thousands of years later.
And there is purpose for our lives, lives. And we read these scriptures and want to understand the work of the holy spirit so that we are able to, in partnership with him, accomplish everything that the kingdom is needed of us, that that we are to. You know, jesus, with Nicodemus, that exchange with him is so that, and so many others who came and said how can we enter into the kingdom of God, the rich, young ruler, how do I have eternal life? These people are looking for ways to live in the kingdom of God, and to do so, you must do it in spirit and in truth. That’s the word and the Holy Spirit. I must do it by his word, his ways and by way of his Holy Spirit leading, guiding, directing my life, me walking in obedience and in partnership with Holy Spirit so that I am able to do and accomplish all that he has set out for me to do. And if you can understand the heart of a father who says I have something for you, I have a promise for you, I have a gift for you, and it’s imperative that you wait on this gift before you do anything else with your life, before you run ahead, before you start making decisions, before you do the things I’ve commanded you even to do, make sure you wait until you have received this gift.
There’s something very powerful about this gift, and what they needed was the power of the Holy Spirit to be made manifest in their lives, to be the thing that compels them and moves them. It’s I mentioned this in a previous broadcast recently, but, based off of Ephesians 5, 17 through 19, we have the passage of not being drunk with wine but being filled with the spirit of God. Why and why do we need to be filled with the spirit of God? Because whatever fills you is what controls you, and whatever fills you is what compels you. So if it is by the spirit that even Jesus himself was able to do what he did and we’re going to read that in just a minute then it is imperative that we are those who follow him, those who consider ourselves his disciples, his followers, his servants, his bond servants, his slaves, whatever we go by. If Jesus needed the power of the Holy Spirit to do that on earth, there is no way that we can do those things on this earth without the Holy Spirit. There is just absolutely no way. And so, for those, I came across an interesting scripture and we’ll read it in just a little bit. But there tends to be and I go back to the beginning and the question I was asking.
I’m going to ask it again why not the Holy Spirit? Is there resistance in you for being moved by the Holy Spirit? Do you have reservations about the Holy Spirit? Or, instead, maybe you have misunderstood your own reservations, maybe what you have reservations about is things you’ve seen people do in the name of the Holy Spirit, but it is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit.
I’ve heard this said so many times and I think it’s because I don’t really care for the term and I’ll explain why. But people will say the Holy Spirit is a gentleman. For the term and I’ll explain why. But people will say the Holy Spirit is a gentleman. I don’t like that term because I think that that way too humanizes the Holy Spirit and makes him um, I don’t know. It can appear that he is soft and he’s not soft. He may be gentle in his way with you, but he’s not soft. So I don’t want to give the wrong impression.
All power is in the Holy Spirit, all power, and so, if I understand the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit. So I, my hope is today, when we read these scriptures, that you do not allow your heart and your mind to be clouded of people, by the demonstrations of people, to let people and what they have said or done define and give value in your heart to the Holy Spirit. I hope, because this is really more like a discussion with you today I am going to give you scripture, but I’m wanting, like I want you sitting here with me. Let’s talk about this. What is it? Because we should be those, just like in the book of Acts, who are going around in the power of the Holy Spirit, and by that power and demonstration we see the miraculous take place in our life in every way, shape and form, and people continually hunger for that and because of it, come to know Jesus Christ, that we are true disciples, that we are not those who have liked the label of Christian, because we think that that means that we’re a good person and we want people to like us in certain circles, and so we throw that word out there. Folks, we are those who are to be the witnesses of Jesus Christ. He says he’s given us the Holy Spirit so that we could be witnesses, his witness of what he can do and what he has done, and that we would have power. So it’s necessary. If he says you need it, it’s because you need it.
If you are somebody who has the um, the desire to go, jump out of an airplane and be one who flies through the air. Now, we know in the natural that’s impossible, but if I give you the right equipment. If there’s a plane that can take you to the right height and you have a backpack on your back that holds a parachute and you have been taught and instructed how to do this, then you can actually do the impossible and you can fly. You can literally fly through the air like a bird. But that takes certain equipment and preparation and the right tools.
And what is the gift and promise of the Holy Spirit? But the gifts and the things that enable us to do what we could not do? These gifts are like carriers of grace to manifest in our lives the things that could not naturally be done In our flesh. We are weak In our flesh, we have desires and we have compulsions, but with the Holy Spirit we now have grace and giftings to be able to see the difference between what is feeding my flesh and what feeds the spirit of God. And I’m able to make, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the decision to put down my flesh and to build up my spirit. But it takes wanting the Holy Spirit to move in our lives. What good is calling myself a Christian, praying a prayer of salvation, to walk and still live in this life on earth without what we saw over and over again in the book of Acts saying be baptized with the Holy Spirit, get into the water and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, many churches. I had a discussion with my son last night and we were talking about the different theologies about actual water baptism and, depending on where you fall in in your belief system about baptism, you can either believe that it is simply an act that you do as symbolism, or you can believe that you are, yes, doing the symbolic act, but in the process of doing that symbolic act, you are in obedience to the command and therefore receiving all that baptism affords you.
To so many scriptures. That is the gift of the Holy Spirit that he has come to dwell in you, to do a work in you, to help put down that old man and raise you up to new life, just as was done with Jesus. And so I want to challenge us today in our thinking. I really want you to make this, and maybe you’re someone who loves the work of the Holy Spirit. You love the work of the Holy Spirit. If that’s you, then this is still for you today, because I want to read some passages and show you what that outworking should look like in our life. But if you’re one who has been challenged to even desire the Holy Spirit, whether that’s because you have no knowledge of him you don’t know what that means or whether you have been turned off because you’ve. I want to show you some things in scripture that I hope will birth a new understanding in you that you would desire what the father desires for you, that you would want his gifts, you would want his promise and you would want that promise fulfilled in your life. And I’m not talking about the gift of speaking in tongues, and I’m not talking about the. I’m not talking about the fruit of the spirit and I am not talking about, well, sort of the fruit of the spirit. But I’m not talking about the gifts of the spirit. I’m talking about the wholeness of the Holy Spirit. Okay, that’s what I’m talking about today.
So, um, let’s go to Acts, chapter six, and I’m going to bounce between Stephen and Jesus, but I want us to start with Stephen and I’m going to read to you. I can’t read you the whole thing because it will take too much time, but I am going to read to you some good chunks here. But we know that Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit. He served food to did food distribution to the widows and he was stoned to death for taking a stand. But there’s more to it than that and I want us to look at that. So let’s look.
Acts, chapter 6, verses 1 to 15. And I’ll read through this quickly. But it says Now, in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because the widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full neglected in the daily distribution and the 12 summoned the full number of the disciples and said it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit I’m sorry, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty, but we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. So there’s a command that has gone out for them to choose seven men and they have to have two requirements. And this is just to feed the widows, just for food distribution.
It. You know, we should think about this in churches, if you’re in leadership at all in your church, um, and or whether you serve in church, you need to know that, biblically, the requirements, the standard by which we should be living and moving in God, is that we would be those who are full of the spirit and wisdom. Now, that’s going to challenge some people, because if you are not somebody who considers yourself to have wanted the Holy Spirit and to be full of the Holy Spirit or to have wisdom because you have made your and your actions and your decisions in life have been made because of scrutiny of your mind and your heart and your will, your motivations, and that you are someone who is wise and makes wise decisions, this is important. I’m talking to all of us. Now, I’m not pointing a finger. I’m talking to all of us. No, I’m not pointing a finger, I’m talking to all of us. Okay, let’s continue.
Verse five and what they said pleased the whole gathering and they chose Stephen first off, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. And Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles and they prayed and laid their hands on them and the word of God continued to increase and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. I mean, this is powerful. What’s happening? Because of picking these men and being those who proclaim the gospel? But let’s continue reading verse eight. And Stephen, full of grace and power. Listen to this. What this man? He is full of the Holy spirit, he’s full of wisdom, he’s full of faith, um, he’s full of grace and power and was doing great wonders and signs among the people. This is someone who was chosen to do food distribution and he was full of faith and power and grace, and signs and wonders are being done. Great signs and wonders are being done by him. By how? By the Holy Spirit, because he was full of the Holy Spirit. Let’s continue reading.
Then some of those who belong to the synagogue of the freedmen, as it was called, one of the Cyrenians and one of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. Now listen to this verse 10,. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. They couldn’t withstand him because he was full of the wisdom of God and the spirit, the power of the spirit manifest in him, they could not resist what he was saying. Then, verse 11, they secretly instigated men who said we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God, and they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council and they set up false witnesses who said this man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us. And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Okay, so, in the midst of all the railings and false accusations, when they look at Stephen, stephen is so under grace, the grace of the Holy Spirit, that what they see is he’s not disturbed, he’s not upset, he’s not angry, he’s not frustrated. They’re seeing the face of an angel. Now, you can only do that by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be completely moved, to not be your feathers not ruffled, you’re not at all disquieted inside of you, nothing is bothering you.
Okay, now the next chapter seven, and I’m not going to take the time to read all this, but Stephen then, in response, gives a speech, taking them through the Old Testament and up through Jesus and his death and resurrection and what he’s doing, and he’s giving them the understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He’s being a preacher, he’s preaching a message Okay, and he comes to message. Okay, and he comes to and I want you to look at this in chapter seven Um, let’s start in, um, let’s start in verse 48. Yet the most high does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things? And now I want us to hone in on verse 51. And he change he his tune and he’s giving them the background of how God had led the Jews.
And in 51, he says and he turns and he makes an accusation. They have been accusing him and he is now turning the tables and he says you stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart, meaning you do all the outward things but you’re not changing on the inside You’ve been. Your flesh on the outside has been circumcised, but your heart is not. You’ve not cut away the ways of man from your heart. You’re not searching after the heart of God, you’re searching to please yourself. He said. You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears because they’re not willing to hear truth.
You always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did. So do you, boy? That hit me, that hit my spirit, because this is what I think we’re not. Only is the Holy Spirit the gift and the answer to live in a day and age where the physical body of Jesus Christ is no longer on the earth, no longer on the earth. We were given the Holy Spirit so that we could do what was done in the days that Jesus walked this earth being Christ, touching and saving and delivering, and all of that is done by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And this accusation? He’s going to the heart of the matter and he says that you always resist the Holy Spirit. You want to control in the flesh. You don’t want to relinquish your control. What were the Pharisees so upset about with Jesus? Your control. What were the Pharisees so upset about with Jesus? They were jealous because they had position and power and they didn’t want to let go of that power. They did not want to allow God to actually rule and have power. They didn’t want that. That’s why I think that it didn’t matter so much that they had to be serving under a Roman rule, because the idea was well, we don’t have to serve you, but they aren’t really serving God, they’re serving themselves in the name of God. Same coin. On one side, you have those who don’t want to relinquish control to the Holy Spirit because they want physical control. And then you have those who want to act out of control and say it’s by the Holy Spirit that they act all crazy willy-nilly, that it’s by the Holy Spirit. You have two sides of the same coin and, folks, we have got to understand that both are wrong. Both are wrong.
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To truly be someone who walks full of the Holy Spirit, the evidence of your life isn’t about all the craziness that you can do or the freedom you so much are saying you have. It’s that you are able to do. What we’re going to read next. The power of the Holy Spirit is more meaningful than that. It is deeper than that. It is more powerful than that.
Let’s look at um. Let’s go to the stoning of Stephen, because this is, this is the weight, the weightiness and the value and the bigness of having the Holy Spirit. So let’s drop to verse 54. Now, when they heard these things, they were enraged and they ground their teeth at him, but he, full of the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but it’s true. We know that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the father, but in this instance, this is the only place in scripture that we see that Jesus is standing up, and I’ve heard ministers say that he was Jesus, was giving Stephen and a standing ovation.
I tend to think of it this way have you ever heard such truth in church, a message being preached, preached that you just stand up, even if on the inside of you, you stand at attention, you stand up. It’s like Jesus stands up inside of you, because what is being proclaimed is truth and it is power, and it is not only a demonstration of what is true and powerful. It is that that person is so serving God that that looks just like Jesus. That’s exactly what he did, and we’ll get there in just one second, because that is exactly what Jesus did. But let’s look at this Verse 56. And he said this is Stephen.
Behold, I see the heavens opened and the son of man standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears which was what we just read, was their resistance that they are stiff-necked and they are uncircumcised in heart and ears. And what is it saying? They cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul, who later became Paul that we know as Paul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And, falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Oh boy, do I feel the power of the Holy Spirit right now. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that, while Stephen is being stoned with false accusation and determination not to receive the knowledge of Jesus Christ as Messiah and to not receive the Holy Spirit’s work, this man, because he was full of the Holy Spirit, said forgive them, don’t hold this sin against them.
How is it possible, in the midst of attack, to be so focused on Jesus that the pain isn’t what’s speaking, the anger isn’t what’s speaking, revenge and insults are not speaking. Not even cries for mercy are speaking, but instead what is speaking, what is actually coming out of Stephen’s mouth? But love, care, concern and forgiveness for those doing the stoning. You cannot do that unless you are full of the Holy Spirit. And I would venture to say that in your own home, when people say things to you a little sharp, a little snarky, a little sarcastic, or people don’t do what you want them to do, or you’ve had a hard day and you’re tired and you’re hungry and things aren’t going your way that day and you just keep dropping things and spilling things and and it’s just one more thing just keeps happening. What’s coming out of your mouth? What’s actually speaking? What are you full of? I have to be careful with that. But what are you full of? What are you full of? Are you full of From Stephen?
The only thing speaking is done from a vantage point that says I am still, even in this moment that you are trying to literally kill me. I am still trying to bring the gospel of salvation to you, even in my persecution, to you, even in my persecution. Your life, in essence, is what he’s saying, is your life to those who are accusing him, to those stoning him and killing him. Your life matters to me more than my own. Is that what comes out of our mouths? While people are persecuting us, while people make false accusations at us, what’s coming out of us? There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends. That’s John 15, 13.
We tend to take lightly, because of familiarity, that Jesus, while he was hanging on the cross, said Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. We rationalize that because he is the son of God, he was able in the flesh to say those things and we excuse ourselves because, well, we’re not God. Only God can do that. So I want to, and you’re right, only God can do that. That’s why it takes being full of the Holy Spirit, because only god can do that. But how was jesus able to do it? So let’s look at hebrews 9 and we’re going to look at verse 14. And, like I said, I actually mentioned this particular scripture a couple weeks ago, or may have been last week, but I want you to get this scripture in your spirit, because we excuse Jesus being able to do things and that he should be able to because he’s God and I am excused from having to do these things because I am not God. But let’s read this scripture Hebrews 9, 14.
How much more will the blood of Christ, who, okay, the blood of Christ who, through the eternal spirit, through the eternal spirit, so by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? How much more will his blood, the blood of Christ who, through the eternal spirit, offered himself so he could not, even though he was God. He had emptied himself of the glory of God or the glory of heaven and made himself, humbled himself to become man, himself, to become man. But it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that he was able to offer himself without blemish. He was able to walk without sin. He was able to do the things that seem impossible to do. How was he able to do them? Because he was God, yes, but it’s by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We’re talking Trinity here. We’re talking about the Spirit of God enabling him to be able to do this. And the Father says to us in Acts 1 that you need this same promise if you’re going to do the things that I need you to do. Jesus says the Father has this promise for you. So let’s look at Philippians 2, 6, 7, and 8. Philippians 2, 6, 7, and 8. Six, seven and eight. And I want us to understand, because Jesus was able, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to then walk in love in the flesh. It was beyond fleshly ability, it was not in his flesh to do it, even though he was God. It was by the Holy Spirit, it was by the Holy Spirit. It was by the Holy Spirit, it was by the Holy Spirit. So Philippians 2, verses 6, 7, and 8.
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing. By taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Even if you understand this or you can grasp what is being said, your mind and your flesh will seek to justify itself. Even if you read the passage and you say God became man and it was by the Holy Spirit he did these things, somehow there is a disconnect in us and we we kind of unplug, we kind of close our ears and we don’t realize. I have that same available Holy Spirit to manifest in my life and do the work of the Holy Spirit through me.
Jesus was able to do these things explicitly explained here that he did them by the power of the Holy Spirit alone. It had nothing to do with his flesh, it wasn’t even the fact that, because he was God, he was able to. He humbled himself, but yet, by the gift of the spirit, he was able and made himself an example to us of how this work is done. So then, how was a mere man, who was not even one of the apostles, able to emulate Jesus Christ in the most painful and vulnerable state? And I’m talking about Stephen? It was not by power, you know the scripture not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. That’s how things are done. That’s how things are done when people are in pain or under pressure, like Stephen was in pain and under pressure.
What comes out is everything that is unseen, and usually it comes out with an explosion. Usually what comes out is something that’s not what we want to be seen, and it comes out bursting in an explosive manner. But here’s the challenge, and it is a serious challenge for us to want to see what’s really on the inside of us, not others. We make it our business to dissect and critically think about what’s going on in other people. We want to acutely be able to assess and label other people and say what their problem is. And very, very rarely are we taking that same acute vision and looking inside of ourselves and saying this is what I don’t do and I am guilty of this, and I am one who does not open myself. I resist the work of the Holy Spirit in my flesh. I resist him and it is I am.
I’m imploring you, I am begging you to reconsider today. Reconsider and desire with all of your might the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. I’m going to ask you again why not the Holy Spirit? Why not? What do you really think about him? Not it him? Are you attributing to him what others have said and done, what people said was him but wasn’t? If you don’t see those same things in scripture, then don’t attribute those things to him.
You know, in psychology we talk about this too, because we tend to say that someone else is guilty of certain things and what we’re doing is projecting onto them what we ourselves are actually guilty of doing. We know that we could do such things, so we assume they’re doing those things. And it’s completely a false way to approach any situation. It’s judging others based off of the sin of our own heart. That’s why scripture tells us you have to remove the plank in your own eye before you can see clearly, to remove the speck in someone else’s eye.
Self-examination when in scripture do you see the Holy Spirit of God ever do anything that was kooky, spooky or self-serving? Ever, ever. I challenge you because I don’t think you’ll find it. Folks, we have a decision to make. What are we going to do? Yes, with Jesus Christ, but what are you going to do with the promise of the Father?
I challenge you today, if you’ve never been water baptized, I challenge you to think of it more than simply an act of public confession, to say, there, I did it, I got baptized, and instead to say, as Jesus went into the water and came out, the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove and remained, and he went forth in the power of the Holy Spirit, descended on him like a dove and remained, and he went forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. I am challenging each one of us today. Let’s get in the water and come out full of the Holy Spirit. Let’s be like Stephen, let’s be full of faith, let’s be full of wisdom, let’s be full of power and great signs and wonders. Let’s be true disciples, and maybe we’ll see Jesus stand up, maybe heaven will stand at attention.
Can I pray for you today, father? I lift up every person who is listening or watching this episode today and I am asking, father, that you would give each one a right understanding of the precious promise that you have made for us, that we have available to us the gift of the Holy Spirit that will enable us, with powerful grace, to do the impossible the impossible, to stand unmoved in the face of persecution, to love instead of hate, to forgive instead of holding vengeance in our heart. That we are able to preach the gospel even during our persecution. And we are able to show forth your mighty signs and wonders and bring healing and wholeness to the body of Christ and to win souls for the kingdom of God. Give us, o God, the gift of the fullness of the Holy Spirit today, and may you take joy and pleasure in seeing us walk in that power and gift that you have for us to walk in, and I ask all of these things in Jesus’ name, amen.
Thank you so much for taking the time to listen today.
I know this was challenging and I do challenge you. It’s meant to be a challenge, but I pray that with courage and with allowing the searchlight of God to go into our hearts and show us what’s there, so that we can receive freely, so we can lay down what has hindered us and we can rise up and walk in the power of God and be able to see and do what we thought was impossible. I would love to hear from you. If you want to contact me, you can do that by sending me an email at mail at jamieluce.com. You could also comment on social media and stay in touch. That way, I’m on all the different social media sites. You could also go to my website to find everything there, as well as my blog, jamieluce.com J-A-I-M-E-L-U-C-E, and if you enjoyed this today, I would encourage you to hit that little thumbs up, give us a like and share this with those that you know who need to hear it. I appreciate your time today. Have a wonderful day and we’ll see you next time.
