The Power Behind Accomplishing the Christ-Like Life
Luke 14:25-33
DATE: 5 Feb, 2005 AM PLACE: BBC Ballincollig
I. Introduction (Luke 4:14) – The Power of the Holy Spirit
A. How many of you would like to run your entire home on two torch-batteries totalling 3 volts? Did you ever think just how much power our homes run on?
1. The Fridge, Furnace, all the lights, Electric Shower, the Cooker and Oven, the TV, Stereo, Computer, Clock Radio, Mobile Phone Chargers
2. How many of those items would work on just 3 volts?
B. There are people who try and live just on 12-15 volts
1. When you are in a car, or on boats you live on 12 volts
2. When you are out camping – you might connect up a powerful light or heater to your cigarette lighter
3. In homes that rely on wind-power, that’s all they ever have – 12-15 volts – they can run things like:
a. Small fridge
b. Radio
c. Small TV
d. But if you wanted to run a very small hair dryer, you couldn’t be running your fridge! Have to unplug one to use the other
e. No electrical instant shower would be possible!
4. Could you live very long on that limited amount of power?
5. I am sure we could if we HAD to – but do we have to?
6. Believe me, there is a world of difference between 3, 15 and 220 volts hallelujah! (TURN ON THE OVERHEAD)
C. Do you know…
1. Do you know why most people give up living the Christ-like life?
2. Why they give up reading and studying, and praying through their Bible?
3. Why they stop telling people how to be born again?
4. Why they leave-off praying until the last minute?
5. It’s because they quickly discover it all is hard, intense, and un-enjoyable when there is no power behind it! No real push, or strength, or support
D. If all we have are our own purposes, and all we do is attempt to accomplish them in our own power, then we will not only fail, but we will experience the hardest of lives imaginable – and believe me, that is not what our Saviour died so cruelly to give us!
E. I want to remind each of you that it is GOD that is wanting to work in us, and through us, in the awesome power of His Holy Spirit, and that when we let Him empower us… when we discover the amount of power available to us… when we allow the power that made Jesus the perfect Man that He was to empower us, then living the Christ-like life will be a breeze!
II. Message
A. The Lack of Power in our Lives.
1. There are only two ways of living as a believer
a. The Carnal Way
b. The Conquering Way
2. The Carnal Man or woman trusts in their own efforts to live the Christian life:
a. Does not know, or has forgotten about God's love, forgiveness, and power (Romans 5:8-10; Hebrews 10:1-25; 1 John 1; 2:1-3; 2 Peter 1:9; Acts 1:8).
b. He has an up-and-down spiritual experience. Most of which is down.
c. He cannot understand himself - he wants to do what is right, but cannot.
d. He fails to draw upon the power of the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life.
e. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Romans 7:15-24; 8:7; Galatians 5:16-18)
f. It is all because he is drawing only on 3 volts, or maybe 12 volts
3. But the Conquering believer is the opposite
a. He accomplishes God’s purpose for his life
b. He has joy and gladness in what he does
c. External circumstances mean nothing to him
d. Security is now in Christ, and not in the marriage, or the job, or the family, or the friends
B. The Purpose of Spiritual Power Behind our Lives.
1. First of all, we need something more than our own strength to live on – just like living on 3 volts
2. Secondly, to accomplish anything of value we need more than we possess
a. Bezaleel (Ex 31:1-19)
b. Moses and the Elders of Israel (Num 11:16,17,24-29)
c. Jesus told the disciples that they were to go into all the world and preach the Gospel – what a task – an impossible task!
d. But before that could ever be even attempted, He told them to do the following (Lk 24:36-49)
1) Spend time in prayer, asking, begging God for the empowerment of Christ’s replacement in this world – the Holy Ghost
2) Wait until that empowerment – don’t do ANYTHING in the flesh’s strength
3) Get not just a bit of the power of God, but get FULL of it
e. There will be NOTHING accomplished of eternal value without the empowerment of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives!
C. Examples in the Old Testament.
1. Gideon (Judg 6:34)
2. Jephthah (Judg 11:29)
3. Sampson (Judg 14:6,9; 15:14)
4. King Saul (1Sam 10:6-10)
5. King David (1Sam 16:13)
D. New Testament Examples God Gave Us.
1. John the Baptist
a. John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord, was the greatest man who ever lived up until his time (Matt. 11:11).
b. Luke says, "He shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb" (Luke 1:15).
c. Both John the Baptist's mother, Elisabeth, and father, Zacharias, were filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41, 67).
2. Peter
a. Acts 4:8 says the great apostle Peter was "filled with the Holy Spirit."
b. He was filled with the Holy Spirit as he preached at Pentecost and he was filled here as he addressed the Sanhedrin.
3. Stephen
a. Stephen, one of the first officials of the early church, was chosen because he was "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5).
b. Verse 3 say any who desired to serve must be "of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom."
c. Later in Acts 7:55 while being stoned, Stephen was "full of the Holy Spirit, [then] looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God."
4. Paul
a. The apostle Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and was blinded. Afterwards a believer came up to him and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:17).
b. Acts 13:9 says, "Saul (who is also called Paul), [was] filled with the Holy Spirit."
5. Barnabas
a. Barnabas traveled with the apostle Paul and was known for his gift of exhortation. Acts 11:24 says, "He was a righteous man, and full of the Holy Spirit."
6. The greatest example – Jesus (Lk 4:1,14; John 3:34)
a. Jesus accomplished His entire earthly ministry by the power of the Spirit of God (e.g., Matt. 12:28).
b. Think about it
1) He was obedient to faulty, human parents
2) He was patient with slow, ignorant fishermen
3) He was consistent, compassionate, consumed with living for His Father and for others
4) All because he was living by the means of the power of the Holy Spirit of God
7. Ever since the earliest days of the church, the concept of the filling of the Spirit has been the central foundation.
a. When believers yield the control of their lives to the Spirit of God, what was said of the disciples will be said of us: "These ... have turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6).
b. Being controlled by the Holy Spirit releases God's divine power enabling believers to do great things for God.
c. Jesus said regarding those filled with the Spirit, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father" (Jn 14:12). Greater works!
d. Paul said, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Eph. 3:20).
e. When self-will is jettisoned, and sin is confessed, and obedience is maintained, only then is the believer ready to be controlled by the Spirit of God. We will look at how to get to this point another Sunday
E. We Need to Want, Hunger for, and Thirst for the Power of the Holy Spirit. Just right now, we need to hunger for such a thing as the empowerment, anointing, enablement of the Holy Spirit in our lives
1. You automatically get the Person of the Holy Spirit at Salvation (Rom 8:9)
2. But you do not automatically get His power – that only comes as you intensely seek it and yield to it (Isa 44:3; John 7:37-39)
3. The Power of that Person is Promised to every believer – believe me, it is readily available (Luke 24:49; Acts 2:17-21)
4. All Christians are commanded to be filled with that power (Eph 5:18) – saturated with it, like a drunkard is drunk with liquor – filled with drink!
5. Any Christian living without the enabling power of the Holy Spirit of God is living not only a joke of a life (no better than before salvation), but is living a contradiction
a. You couldn’t save yourself by your own abilities, good works, and religious efforts – didn’t have the ability – needed Jesus
b. You can’t live by your own strengths – need the Holy Spirit
III. Conclusion/Application
A. There is a Definite Lack of Power in our Lives. People live Carnally (in their own strength) instead of Conquering
B. The Spiritual Power of the Holy Ghost is to accomplish the Purpose of God for our lives through us. There will be NOTHING accomplished of eternal value without the empowerment of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives!
C. The Bible is full of Examples of the Empowerment of the Spirit of God
1. Gideon (Judg 6:34)
2. Jephthah (Judg 11:29)
3. Sampson (Judg 14:6,9; 15:14)
4. King Saul (1Sam 10:6-10)
5. King David (1Sam 16:13)
6. John the Baptist (Lk 1:15)
7. Peter (Acts 4:8)
8. Stephen (Acts 6:5)
9. Paul (Acts 9:17)
10. Barnabas (Acts 11:24)
11. The greatest example – Jesus (Lk 4:1,14; John 3:34)
D. We Need to Want, Hunger for, and Thirst for the Power of the Holy Spirit. Right now, we need to hunger for such a thing as the empowerment, anointing, enablement of the Holy Spirit in our lives
1. You automatically get the Person of the Holy Spirit at Salvation – are you saved? Born again? That is an act of the Holy Spirit!
2. But you do not automatically get His power – that only comes as you intensely seek it and yield to it
3. All Christians are commanded to be filled with that power (Eph 5:18) – saturated with it, like a drunkard is drunk with liquor – filled with drink!
4. The challenge is for each of us to get thirsty, desperate for that empowerment