Spirit-Filled Life

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• By Rev. Devadosan Sugirtharaj
• Posted 05/31/2020
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Spirit-Filled Life

Acts.2:1-13

Rev Dr Devadosan Sugirtharaj

Introduction

• The Holy Spirit is not a power but is part of Triune God and He is a Divine Person.
• Pentecost Day experience is not designated to a particular denomination but is the promise of the Father in the Scriptures. Joel.2:28-29; Acts.1:8
• “You are not in the flesh but the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him” (Rom. 8:9).
• “Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, even impossible. There can be no life without the life-giver, no understanding without the Spirit of truth, no fellowship without the unity of the Spirit, no Christlikeness of character apart from His fruit, and no effective witness without His power. As a body without breath is a corpse, so the church without the Spirit is dead.” - John Stott.
• Pentecost Day is the birthday of the Church and it began with the pouring of the Holy Spirit.
• How does the Holy Spirit make your life so powerful for God’s purpose?

Context of the Passage

• Three Jewish Festivals for each year: Passover in the Spring to celebrate Israel’s deliverance from Egypt; Feast of Unleavened Bread or Feast of Weeks or Pentecost is celebrated seven weeks after Passover, and finally Tabernacles in the fall season.
• Pentecost was initially a harvest festival when Jews brought to the Lord the first fruits of their produce and wave before the Lord. Lev.23:15-21
• Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of the Pentecost to signify the first fruit of the Church in the world.

Word Study

• Sound of a violent rushing wind: In Hebrew, the wind is symbolized as the Spirit. Ezekiel 37. The wind is called the breath of life renewed the people in Ezekiel 37:9-14. Jesus also affirmed in John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit”. The Holy Spirit is powerful, mighty and life-giving
• Tongues of Fire: In the Old Testament, fire symbolizes God’s presence ( Moses: Burning bush; People of Israel: Pillar of fire). In the New Testament, John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus would baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Fire is also mentioned as used as sanctifying/cleansing as heat and light as well as judgement ( God is a consuming fire). Tongues of fire mean that the Holy Spirit is given as God’s power through the proclamation of His word.
• Speaking different languages: Here the languages they spoke were heard and listened and understood by 17 different nationals to hear God’s mighty works of God. They were filled with these languages to begin the proclamation of God.

1. The Holy Spirit is given to us to empower us so that we would serve God through the Holy Spirit.
   1. Acts.1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. 13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying..
   2. The disciples of 120 people both men and women gathered in the upper room and prayed together in one heart and they were feeling God’s silence for ten days. Now Holy Spirit is was given to them to empower and regenerate their lives so that they would serve God. They were locked inside the room as weak, scared and ineffective outside. Now the Holy Spirit came upon them and made them strong, bold and effective to serve God
   3. The purpose of the Holy Spirit given to us is not to make us proud of ourselves or to feel superior but to strengthen us to serve God. This is God’s plan to make them serve God.
   4. Fear, Weakness and ineffectiveness caused by the life situations make us be strong to serve God but the Holy Spirit reverses this and make us serve God.
   5. 2 Corinthians. 3:5-6:5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
   6. Hebrews 9:14: 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without [c]spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
   7. Biblical example: Peter: Acts.2: But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them…. Peter denied God three times and returned to his fishing. Now he stood up to serve God with other disciples because of the power of the Holy Spirit.
   8. Sermon Illustration: Dr Paul Brand, once preached in a medical college in India. In front of the lectern was an oil lamp, with its cotton wick-burning from the shallow dish of oil. As he preached, the lamp ran out of oil, the wick burned dry, and the smoke made him cough. He immediately used the opportunity.“Some of us here are like this wick,” he said. “We’re trying to shine for the glory of God, but we stink. That’s what happens when we use ourselves as the fuel of our witness rather than the Holy Spirit. Wicks can last indefinitely, burning brightly and without irritating smoke, if the fuel, the Holy Spirit, is in constant supply.”

1. The Holy Spirit is given to us to empower us so that we would reach out to all nations through the Holy Spirit
   1. Acts.2:1-4: When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all [a]with one accord in one place. 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 [b]divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
   2. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke in different languages and people came from 17 nations were reached out with the power of the Holy Spirit as they spoke about God through the Holy Spirit. They did not know how many nationalities out there but God made them reach out to these nations. They spoke the mighty works of God.
   3. The purpose of the Holy Spirit given to us is not to reach out to our own people but to all the nations by the power of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot reach out to anyone in this world.
   4. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit makes us reach out to all nationalities with the power he invested in us. Beyond our knowledge and thinking, the Holy Spirit reaches out all nationals through us,
   5. Acts.1:8:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be [a]witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
   6. Matthew 28:19-20a: ”Go [a]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you
   7. Biblical example: Philip: Acts.8:26-40: The Holy Spirit sent Philip to the wildness to reach out to the Ethiopian Minister and to baptize him.
   8. Sermon Illustration: We have gloves in our hands. The gloves cannot do anything by itself. When our hands are in it, the gloves can do many things. True. it is not the gloves but our hands in the gloves that act. We are gloves. It is the Holy Spirit in us, the hands, who does the work.

1. The Holy Spirit is given to us to empower us so that we would bring glory to God through the Holy Spirit.
   1. Acts.2:11b- 12: we hear them speaking in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
   2. The seventeen nations listened to the mighty works of God through the disciples speaking in their languages and gave glory to God. The Bible did not exactly tell about the mighty works of God they spoke but everyone got the message and gave glory to God.
   3. The purpose of the Holy Spirit given to us is not to earn or produce our glory but make the people who see and hear us glorify God.
   4. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit makes all people who see and hear us to glorify God through our lives and it is the work of the Spirit.
   5. Matthew 5:14-16: 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
   6. 1 Peter. 4:11:11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the [a]oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the [b]dominion forever and ever. Amen.
   7. Biblical example: Peter and John’s amazing ministry in Acts.3-4; Acts.4:21:21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.
   8. A carpenter was making beautiful woodwork. One of his neighbours asked about the sandpaper he used. He said, “Technically, it’s not the sandpaper that causes abrasion; it is the person holding the sandpaper. The sandpaper itself is just a tool in the hands of a carpenter. Finally I make a wonderful and shining image through this raw wood by polishing it. In the same way, the Holy Spirit uses us sandpaper to polish other's lives so that they may glorify God.

Conclusion

 The Holy Spirit is given to us as the Promise of the Father and Christ to make our lives regenerated and empowered. There are three important messages God speaks to us today. We need the Holy Spirit and ask Him to fill our lives because, 

1. The Holy Spirit is given to us to empower us so that we would serve God through the Holy Spirit.
2. The Holy Spirit is given to us to empower us so that we would reach out to all nations through the Holy Spirit
3. The Holy Spirit is given to us to empower us so that we would bring glory to God through the Holy Spirit.

The promise of God is this: John 7:37-39:“Let anyone thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[c] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

1. The Holy Spirit is given to all believers to make them strong to serve God. How does the Holy Spirit make you strong in your weaknesses? What are the challenges you face to serve God?
2. The Holy Spirit is given to all believers to reach out to all nations. How does the Holy Spirit empower your lives to touch and reach out to your people and other peoples in the community? Do you have the passion that all nations would glorify God through the gospel? If so, how does the Holy Spirit help you to accomplish this mission task?
3. The Holy Spirit is given to all believers to bring glory to God. How do you consciously depend on the Holy Spirit in your words and works so that the people around you may bring glory to God?
4. The Holy Spirit is given to us not just to make us happy or feel superior or to be judgemental but makes us be equipped in God’s work. How do you surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit to be fully equipped for God’s work?
5. How does the Holy Spirit embolden you for the ministry of witnessing Christ in your living context?