Embracing the Transformative Power of the Holy Spirit

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The promise of the Father speaking about the Holy Spirit being given, Jesus was saying this will be the product of the Father, the heavenly Father's promise. Paul would speak of this same thing. He would go back into history and he would be able to show to the Galatians in particular that this was the blessing of Abraham. [00:26:22]

The real question is if this that we're looking at here is the normal Christian experience, are you experiencing it? This is how it boils down and pose questions to these disciples. He said have you received this which was the promise of the Father, which he himself Paul was preaching about and would continue to preach about in these various ways. [00:28:34]

The sad thing is today I think that the normal is measured by the average and that's a grave mistake. In other words, you know, well everybody you know in our Christian community in our group, this is the way we're operating, and so that can create a sort of an indifference, and that's sad and then the normal is lost and is degraded into something which is just average. [00:29:47]

Once the true gospel becomes interfered with, diluted or altered or adjusted or made more appropriate for the culture in which we may find ourselves and so on, we destroy the gospel. We cannot alter change or manipulate any particular part of it. Sometimes it's being done with what we could call good intentions. [00:30:40]

The information must be believed by faith, it must be believed, but there's something that needs to be experienced, that's the wonderful thing so we're not left merely with words even if they're biblical words high lofty truths. We can become so knowledgeable, this is one of the snares that we engage with our minds. [00:33:08]

The story of Jesus, we've got the story of his redeeming work and the provision that he has made by his great redemptive sacrifice, but we need to understand that that's the solid ground upon which we stand, but the point that I want with all my heart to convey to you today is there's another part to the story. [00:35:26]

The text says that the spirit of God came upon Saul and he became another man. Do you see what we're talking about? We're talking about a divine supernatural power, the power of God imparted by the Holy Spirit into a life that recreates us so that we become another man, another woman, we become another creature. [00:39:03]

He said he will lay the axe to the root of the tree. He's saying this in the context of saying that he who is going to come, he's going to bring a fiery baptism for men and women, and he will lay the axe to the root of the tree. Here's man's real problem, here's our real problem, apart from a work of God. [00:43:08]

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not to receive some nebulous power. No, this is a baptism not into a nebulous power, it's a baptism into God. This is to my mind, this is the Mount Everest of truth and promise that is contained in this great truth. It's a baptism into the holy life of God. [00:52:07]

Paul said this didn't he write to the Corinthians he says do you not know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, he's not calling for us to all presume and say oh that's great we have to be sure that it actually is, it's not going to serve us well just to believe the concept. [00:54:17]

The Holy Spirit uses the bridge of the cross as his means to transform and translate us from God being with us to God being in us. It's certainly true we're two or three are gathered together there am I in the midst certainly, but the new covenant truth this cutting edge of new covenant truth is he's here because he's here. [00:56:12]

God's calling you this morning to respond with this reckless reckless abandon, this total signing over of your whole life. Another hymn has a line in it and I'm finished with this, I take the blessed Lord, I give myself to thee. [01:02:09]

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