Revival Diaries

Sermon NotesNovember 7, 20205 min read

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

Why do you think we have the Holy Spirit in us? I advise the reader to proceed only after pondering this question. I believe the Holy Spirit was not given to us just to take us to heaven.

God made a covenant with Abraham: his children would be a source of blessing to the world (Genesis 22:18). After about 430 years in Egypt (Exodus 12:40), God delivered His people and gave them the law. The people could not obey it. They were constantly sinning, and there was no way they could walk rightly with God. So God promised to give His Spirit to the people. His own Spirit would enable them to walk rightly with Him and to obey His commandments (Ezekiel 36:26–28). Through Jesus Christ, we (Gentiles) are partakers of the blessing that was promised to Abraham (Galatians 3:14; Acts 2:39). So, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are children of Abraham. The blessings and promises of God are for you and me as well. The greatest blessing of God is Jesus Christ Himself (Romans 6:23). And the greatest promise of God is that He will dwell among us and in us (Isaiah 57:15; Revelation 21:3).

The blessings of God are for you and me as well.

So it is only through the power of the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus) that we can live rightly with God and be witnesses of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8). The fruit of the Holy Spirit is His fruit. We cannot produce it by our own will and effort. The best we can do for ourselves is to live in fellowship with Him. Therefore, we constantly need to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and live as He directs us (Galatians 5:16). We cannot live on our “10 years ago experience.” Those experiences are good only for storytelling. We need to encounter God every day. He gives us the life, joy, direction, peace, and strength we need. Jesus’s ministry was the outcome of His relationship with God the Father (John 5:19–20, 30). God had anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and power (Acts 10:38). Every event surrounding the life and ministry of Jesus Christ involved the work of the Holy Spirit.

God had anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power (Acts 10:38).

The other man in the Bible who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb was John the Baptist. His life is an inspiration to many of us. He prepared the way for the long-awaited Messiah. The most notable things he did were urging people to repent, introducing them to Christ (“Behold, the Lamb…”), uplifting Jesus Christ, and boldly confronting the bad practices of contemporary society. If the Son of God and a person sent by God needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit, how much more do we?

Below I have briefly listed some instances of people being filled with the Holy Spirit in my Bible:

  1. Zechariah (prophesied after being filled with the Holy Spirit; Luke 1:67)
  2. 120 disciples of Christ (Day of Pentecost; Acts 2:4): declared the great works of God by speaking in tongues; boldly proclaimed the word of God (Peter); boldly preached the gospel, which led to about 3,000 people (Acts 2:41), and later about 5,000 (Acts 4:4), being added to the body of Christ; lived in unity and harmony while caring for each other’s needs; lived in fear of God; and demonstrated miracles and signs (Acts 2:43; 3:8)
  3. Believers (boldly proclaimed the word of God; Acts 4:31): lived in unity (Acts 4:32), rejoiced even in the midst of persecution (Acts 5:41), and powerfully witnessed to Jesus (Acts 5:32)
  4. Stephen (Acts 6:8): was full of the Holy Spirit, power, faith, wisdom, and grace; did great miracles and signs; spoke the word of God boldly and wisely (Acts 6:10); forgave his murderers (Acts 7:60); and saw the glory of God and the vision of Jesus Christ (Acts 7:55)
  5. Household of Cornelius (Acts 10:45): praised God while speaking in tongues
  6. Church of Ephesus (Acts 19:6): spoke in tongues and prophesied; miracles broke out (Acts 19:11–12)

From these instances, we see that praising God, boldly witnessing to Jesus Christ, confronting evil, loving and living in unity and harmony, prophesying and speaking in tongues, followed by the demonstration of miracles and signs, are some of the notable signs of people being filled with the Holy Spirit.

This is the standard by which we should evaluate whether we are filled with the Holy Spirit. There are some controversies regarding the manifestation of signs and wonders, especially the gift of tongues and prophecy. In my Bible, there are three different manifestations of the gift of tongues: one that the speaker does not understand but other people do (Acts 2:7–8); one that nobody understands and is for one’s own prayer, bringing personal edification (1 Corinthians 14:2, 4); and one that is given in meetings and requires the gift of interpretation (1 Corinthians 14:27–28). Similarly, there are four categories of prophecy mentioned in Revelation 10:11 (people, nations, languages, and kings). In simple language, prophecy can be understood as “proclaiming the will and knowledge of God.” The Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to glorify Jesus through His will and His gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11).

One of the reasons I have listed these historical facts is that I believe they are not in my Bible just for organizing quiz competitions. I believe these events were recorded in the Bible for our wisdom and guidance (1 Corinthians 10:11; Jeremiah 6:16). As we are filled with the Holy Spirit daily and walk in submission to Him, He will take care of everything associated with our lives (Romans 8:28; Isaiah 46:4). He will enable us to obey His commandments and be witnesses of Jesus Christ in our family, society, school/college, workplace, nation, and the whole world.

In this regard, I love to talk about Dr. D. G. S. Dinakaran, who is popularly known as the “apostle of love.” Before his deep walk with God, he realized that Jesus Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power. He was very intrigued by the relationship of God with the Old Testament prophets, namely Abraham, Enoch, Elijah, and many others. He was working in a bank then. He prayed fervently for the anointing of the Holy Spirit for nearly seven years. As a result, his prayers were answered, and a powerful ministry was born in the name of “Jesus Calls.”

In the paragraphs above, we learned why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But the big question is, “How can we be filled with the Holy Spirit?” To learn this, let’s go to this page.