The Holy Spirit Empowers Kingdom Living

Today is Pentecost Sunday. On this day, 2,000 years ago, God poured out his Holy Spirit to empower his people their mission in the world. He fulfilled his promise, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28-32)

On that day Jesus’ promises were fulfilled. He promised to send from the Father the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit (Jn 14 &16). He said, “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit,” and “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:5,8).

The Holy Spirit is God living in us, and He empowers us for holy, kingdom living. That’s why I believe that on this day of Pentecost it is good and appropriate for us to pause and talk about the Holy Spirit before we continue with the Sermon on the Mount and our series on Living the Kingdom Life. The kingdom life is possible when we abide in Christ, when we live in the power of the Holy Spirit and walk in step with the Spirit every day. Then the Holy Spirit changes our hearts and minds, and so empowers us to live the kingdom life as Jesus explains it in the Sermon on the Mount.

1. Are We Empowered by the Holy Spirit?

All believers of Jesus are filled with the Holy Spirit when we are born again by the Holy Spirit into the new, eternal kingdom life. But are we empowered by the Holy Spirit? Do we live in the power of the Holy Spirit? Are we plugged into the power of the Spirit, connected to the Spirit?

It is possible to be a believer, but not to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is possible to live an “unplugged” life, disconnected from the Spirit’s power. There are many believers who are not experiencing the deeper life, the joy unspeakable of living a Spirit-empowered life. We have these amazing gifts from God — the new life in Christ and the Holy Spirit. But what do we do with these?

GIFT OF NEW CAR — everyday watch, walk around, admire it. Wash, polish, shine it. May even climb in, enjoy seat, smell, touch it. BUT — do not take the keys, start, drive, enjoy the power, full potential of car. Too scared?

In same way there are Christians, church leaders, even churches whose lives and ministries are not all they could be because they are not empowered by the Spirit. They are not taking action to start their cars. They are not setting their sails to catch the wind, the power of the Spirit. Instead, they try to blow wind into their sails by themselves. They are the pilots, the captains, of their lives. The Holy Spirit is their co-pilot, only to be used or given control when there is trouble. For whatever reasons, they are not giving up complete and total control of their lives to the Spirit. For whatever reasons they avoid, fear, limit, hinder, or block the power of the Spirit to work in them and flow through them.

No matter how hard we try we cannot live the kingdom life by ourselves and in our own power. Only God the Holy Spirit transforms us into the likeness of Christ. Only God the Holy Spirit changes our hearts and minds, and so empowers us to live the kingdom life. But for this to happen there is something we must do, action we must take. We cannot just sit back, and expect the kingdom life to happen automatically. We must die to self and offer ourselves to God. This is at the heart of being filled and empowered by the Spirit.

If we want to follow Jesus this is what we must do: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross [daily—Luke] and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Mt 16:24-26; Lk 9:23-25) In Luke 14:26-27,33, Jesus said — “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. … those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”

Only when we have died to self, when we have offered ourselves as living sacrifices to God, can the Holy Spirit perform the resurrection miracle in us — to give us the new life, and to empower us to live the kingdom life. We have been crucified with Christ, and we no longer live, but Christ lives in us. The life we now live in the body, we live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal 2:20).

2. Are We Ready?

But, are we ready to be possessed and empowered by the Holy Spirit? It is very hard to crucify the self; to give up control. Are you ready to be possessed by a spirit other than your own? If the Holy Spirit possesses you, He will be the Lord of your life! Are you ready to hand over the keys of your soul, your heart to the Lord? Are you ready to hand over the control of your family, your business, your work, your money, everything to the Holy Spirit? Are you ready to be taken over by the One who will expect obedience to God’s Word? Are you ready to be taken over by the One who will not tolerate any sin? The Holy Spirit will not allow you to indulge in self-love, self-confidence, self-righteousness, self-admiration, and self-pity. Are we ready to be taken over by One who stands in sharp opposition to the world’s easy ways? Are we ready to live the kingdom life empowered by the Spirit?

You may ask, “Can’t I get along the way I am? I have been doing fairly well. I pray, I read my Bible, I give to missions, I sing spiritual songs. I come to church, and participate in church ministries.” All good and well, but you will be missing out on the deeper life with God. You will be missing out on the unspeakable and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:8) of living and growing into the fullness of Christ. The fruit of the Holy Spirit may not grow in you. You may be missing out on the extraordinary power available for your mission as a child of God in this world. And it will be very, very difficult if not impossible to live the kingdom life. Like watching and shining the car every day but never driving it.

3. Live in the Power of the Holy Spirit

How do we live in the power of the Holy Spirit? How do we remain plugged into the Spirit so that he empowers us for kingdom living? The answers are in Romans 8 and Galatians 5. Through Jesus Christ the Spirit gives us life and has set us free (Ro 8:2). The Spirit of God now lives in us, and for us to live in accordance with the Spirit we must set our minds on what the Spirit desires, and allow the Spirit to govern our minds — Ro 8:5-6—“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Walk by the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, live by the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:16,18, 25). But how?

(1) Repent and mourn, turn from sin to Christ. The old self is still living in us, battling with the new life we have in Christ. It tries to take over. It wants to keep control. Gal 5 and Rom 8 teach that the Holy Spirit and sin cannot live and work together in us.

“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. … And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live (Ro 8:7-13).

“For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want” (Gal 5:16-17). When we ignore sin, or refuse to deal with sin in our lives, we are not allowing the Spirit to control, lead us, change and empower us. Miracle of salvation — not stop sinning but Jesus through the Spirit changes what our hearts desires. We no longer want to sin and when we sin— our hearts mourn, we repent. We are forgiven in Christ. We receive God’s forgiveness and be comforted.

(2) Yes, this is a daily struggle. Every day we are faced with a choice. Follow Jesus or follow self. That’s why we must daily take up our crosses, crucify ourselves, and give ourself as living sacrifices to God. We must surrender all, every aspect, every area of our lives. You can do this every morning with a simple prayer—“Lord, here is my life. I crucify my self. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Come Holy Spirit. Take control and be Lord of my life.” Do this first thing in the morning. During the day take regular pauses, stop, and give over control to the Spirit again. Our ego’s are very sneaky, and during the day they try to grab control back from the Spirit. Submit to the Holy Spirit the details of our daily lives, all the time. Game of Minutes.

(3) Practice the spiritual disciplines. Yes, here we are again. Prayer, reading, studying, meditating, memorizing the Bible, worship, fasting, giving and sharing, going to church, fellowship, serving others. These are crucial to living in the power of the Spirit. Through these disciplines the Holy Spirit teaches, guides, helps, comforts, changes, and empowers us.

The number of hours we spend in our devotions is not important, but the quality of our time with the Lord is crucial. Whether you spend 5, 15 or 30 minutes, 1 or 2 hours, the question is how are you spending that time? When we rush through our devotions, do them superficially, the Holy Spirit may have a hard time to speak to us and empower us.

Warning—there is also a real danger here. The spiritual disciplines can become our idols, a new law, legalism, a way we try to change and live the kingdom life by our own efforts. It is the danger and sin of spiritual avarice. We read more spiritual books. Consume more devotionals. Spend more time reading the Bible. But we are not growing poor in spirit. Our hearts are in the wrong place. Instead spend more time with God himself. Learn and practice the power of stillness — become silent before the Holy Spirit — so that we can hear him and allow him to nurture and take care of our souls. Practice the presence of God. Delight in and take pleasure in God himself.

[ILLUSTRATION — PERSONAL TESTIMONY OF PRACTICING THE PRESENCE]

Romans 8:14-16: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

We are God’s children. We are kingdom people. Let us make sure that we are plugged into, live in the power of the Spirit, that we set our minds on and walk in step with the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will empower us for godly, holy kingdom living.