But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1: 8 (NIV)

I’ve been in ministry for over 32 years, and one of the questions most asked of me in those years is “How can I do what I know God wants me to do?” The question has taken many forms, but that is the essence of what people want to know. I think that is because the Christian experience is common among us. We try to do our best but find ourselves often coming up short. We try and we fail, and we live with guilt at our failings until finally frustration sets in and we wonder, “Why can’t I live the way God wants me too?”

Knowing the Holy Spirit

My answer to those who ask that question is always the same: “We (and by ‘we’ I mean ‘me, too) don’t use the power.” What we believe about the Holy Spirit matters, and I’m not so sure we really know what we believe.

Our confession that we believe in the Holy Spirit says we confess He is the third person of the Godhead, on a level equal with our confession that we believe in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ, the Son. We confess that the Spirit is something more than an abstract, impersonal force.

Some have ventured to make him just that as they have reduced him to some logic of history, or to some category of being existing unto itself. Theologians have called him God’s energy while others have made him the element of some political practice, but each one of those attempts denies the personal nature of the Holy Spirit.

How do we know he is a person? The Bible, of course. Throughout scripture, the Holy Spirit is seen acting as a person acts. He guides, he convicts, he intercedes, he calls, and he commissions. The Spirit, like a person, is resisted (Acts 7:51), avoided, or answered (Acts 10: 19-21). The Bible says the Spirit can be grieved ((Ep. 4:30), and in one compelling event in Acts 5: 3-9, we see the consequences when someone lies to the Holy Spirit. There, Aninias and his wife Saphirra sold land and brought the proceeds to the church at Jerusalem. They lied about the amount, and both dropped dead before the Apostles. The charge was that Aninias and Saphirra lied to the Holy Spirit. We can’t lie to an impersonal force, or an energy, or a political practice. We can only lie to a person.

The work and the character of the Holy Spirit are, in essence, one with the Father. Don’t ask me to explain it beyond that, for theologians much greater than I have attempted to do just that, and have failed. We say that the Father is God over us, the Son is God beside us, and the Spirit is God within us.

God Within Us

God within us. There, perhaps, lies the answer to the question of living the kind of life God desires for us. When we understand the purpose and work of the Holy Spirit, then we can begin to understand how we can live the kind of life God desires for us.

We don’t spend much time talking about, or thinking about, the Holy Spirit. There may be many reasons for that. Perhaps we simply don’t understand the Spirit so we shy away from discussions concerning him, or rather we don’t want to be connected with or confused for what some have labeled fanatics who speak in tongues, dance in aisles, and attempt acts of healing, and all in the name of the Holy Spirit. But our misunderstanding, or our reluctance to be labeled fanatics does not diminish the fact that the Holy Spirit is real and can make a difference in our lives. 

God’s Power

The Holy Spirit is the power of the Godhead. His task is to bring into being the commandment of the Father and the performance of the Son. Before we can understand the task of the Holy Spirit, we need to understand the task of the Father and the task of the Son.

Let me try to explain. God the Father is the One who gives the command. He has always said, “Let there be…” God the Son performs the command of the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the power that produces the action. An illustration might be helpful here. 

Suppose I said “John, go turn on the light.” 

I have given the command, but I have not performed anything. John goes to the switch, pushes it, and the light comes on. John performed the act, but John is not the reason the light came on. Why did the light come on? Because there was power.

The Holy Spirit is the power of God. The Holy Spirit brings into action the performance of the Son. The Son has died on the cross and has overcome sin, hell, death, and the grave. The power of the Spirit, made real in Jesus Christ to be obedient to the Father, is made available to us in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Power is the key. Jesus told the disciples they would receive power. Power for living. Are we living with the Spirit’s power? We live long on form and style, and dogma, but we live short on power. And we wonder why we fail to live holy lives—lives worthy of God’s calling.

What kind of power does the Spirit give us? Most importantly, he gives us power to overcome sin, and that is the first step to living like God desires for us to live. Paul explains to the Christians at Rome–Romans 8:2: For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death.

Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:8 that the Holy Spirit brings our sins to mind, not to condemn us, but so we can confront them and conquer them. Yes, I said conquer them. How do we conquer them? By grace and repentance, and it is the power of the Holy Spirit at work bringing us to maturity as believers. The Holy Spirit takes the hunger for sinful pleasure and replaces it with a hunger for intimacy with God. Paul continues:

Romans 8:12-14

So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. [13] For if you keep on following it, you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live. [14] For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

So, not only does Paul say we have the power to overcome sin, but the Holy Spirit can actually lead, or give direction to our lives.

We see that in the life of Jesus and the early church. After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordon River, Matthew records the Holy Spirit at work in Jesus’ life:

Matthew 4:1

Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil.

Jesus also told his disciples there would come a day when they, too, would be persecuted for their faith, and that they would be brought before authorities, but not to worry, for the Holy Spirit would give direction to their words even as they stood before those authorities (Luke 12:11-12).

Paul and Silas were prevented from going places in ministry: Acts 16:6

Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had told them not to go into the province of Asia at that time.

The greatest place the Holy Spirit can lead us, and this is where we find victorious Christian living, is into peace, joy, and hope: 

Romans 15:13

So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

How can this power be ours? I believe in the Holy Spirit, but that doesn’t seem to make any difference. Don’t I have the Holy Spirit just by believing in Jesus? Yes, you do. 

Ephesians 1:13-14

And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. [14] The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.

The moment we receive Jesus Christ as Savior we have the Holy Spirit with us. We might say our hearts become his home, and the Spirit’s task, upon taking residency in our hearts, is to shine the light on Christ.

He brings us power to overcome sin, to be led into a deeper life, and to have great joy and hope, but all those are the results of Jesus being glorified in us and through us. That’s why Jesus said,

 8But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

It’s all about Jesus. Having the Holy Spirit within us does not necessarily mean he controls us, though. He is much too much the gentleman for that. The Holy Spirit waits for our surrender. He waits for us to ask for him to take control. Jesus said: 

Luke 11:12-13

Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! [13] If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Stay Connected

Have we asked him? The power is there. It has been there all the time. The difference is being connected.

In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.

Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, “Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable.”

He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.

J.B. Phillips paraphrases Ephesians l:19-20,

“How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God.” When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us.

Here’s he truth I live with: When I fail to live a Christ-like life, it is because I have become disconnected from the power. I’ve been un-plugged, as it were. We have to stay connected to the Father and Son through the Holy Spirit.

How? It’s real simple, folks–the spiritual disciplines. Thing like prayer, bible study, fasting, solitude, simplicity, service, Christian fellowship, confession, worship and might I add, as a good Wesleyan, Holy communion.

There are more and I could take a lot of time unpacking each one, but it’s late and I have to go to church–where I’ll be receiving Holy communion. After all, I need to stay plugged-in!

Until next time, keep looking up…