Where we’ve been:
We talked about the fellowship of the Spirit or participating in the Spirit, according to Philippians 2.
Fellowship in and with the Holy Spirit is expressed and demonstrated in humility, both in our relationships with the Lord , and with each other, but also understanding the humility and humanity of Yeshua himself.
1. Yeshua walked in the authority and power of God, NOT because he was God, and he was, but because he humbled himself in his humanity and relied on the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 2 essentially says he emptied himself of his divinity.
2. Every supernatural thing he did – every sign, every wonder, and every miracle – he did as a man by the power and direction of the indwelling Holy Spirit, under the authority of the Father. As we proceed, I believe this will become apparent.
In light of these two truths, Every believer has been invited to follow him into this supernatural relationship of dependency on the Holy Spirit.
My goal is to simply offer a perspective to help us understand the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives today and perhaps demonstrate ways that we can tap into his way of thinking.
Where we’re going:
I want to invest a little time in building an understanding of the disciples and their encounters with Yeshua. Question to keep in mind: What did they see in him that they were drawn to?
As we read through the gospels, we see that the disciples chosen by Yeshua began to walk in a unique sense of purpose, a sense of value and significance, even an inflated self-importance (not always a good thing), but they began to demonstrate that they were drawn to a destiny that they had never thought of entertaining before they encountered him. In essence, being around the master made them feel important. It began to dawn on them that they were part of something big; how big? …..they had no idea.
They also had no idea how to properly express this newfound significance they felt and many character flaws and faults came to the surface, but Yeshua used even these to redirect the disciples for the Father’s purpose.
They argue among themselves about who is the greatest.
James and John ask Yeshua for the places of honor at his right and left in his kingdom.
The other disciples are indignant, revealing their own desires for prominence.
Peter rebukes Yeshua, contradicting his purpose at the cross.
James and John ask Yeshua if they should call down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritan village.
The disciples again argue among themselves about who is the greatest, even during the Last Supper.
“On earth as it is in heaven.”
So the setting is Luke 11. By this time the disciples had seen many healings and miracles, they had participated in feeding thousands of people with an incredibly small amount of food, twice. They had heard their teacher confront the Pharisees with authority and minister to the needy with compassion, they had heard the wisdom of his parables and watched him calm the storm on the sea, they had seen him cast out demons and raise the dead. He simply spoke and the atmosphere changed around them.
Then they had been sent out, first the 12, then the 72, to move in power and authority and duplicate the works of Yeshua throughout the villages. At this point, they had already become more proficient in healing and casting out demons than anyone before them. Where does the Bible say that? How do we know this…………?
Read and discuss Mark 9:14-29
The teaching strategy of the Holy Spirit is often the opposite of what we find in the world. We see this at work in Mark 9.
Traditionally, in school or in college, we study something and then we take a test to see how much we’ve learned. This Builds up a sense of accomplishment or achievement. These types of tests show you how far you’ve come, fostering a sense of pride.
The Holy Spirit works differently. He also tests us, but the test is not to see what we know, the test is to show us what we don’t know, so that we are faced with the reality of our need. Like the man in Mark 9:24, “I believe; help my unbelief!” The tests of the Holy Spirit reveal to us the next thing we need.
All of this works on the underlying principle of relationship and intimacy with the Lord. God wants us to ask for that which we don’t have so that he can give it to us. He can’t give us something unless we ask him for it. And we don’t ask unless we are aware that we lack. If we are too proud to ask then we are too proud to receive. See James 4:6 “…. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
The most transformative revelation we can ever have is the revelation of our need.
The disciples had a revelation of their need.
Mark 9:29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
And you don’t know how to pray…..
As far as we know, to this point, the disciples had never asked Yeshua to teach them anything. What did they ask him to teach them? To walk on water? To raise the dead? To have the wisdom of Solomon? Or the strength of Samson?
Luke 11:1-2
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
Matthew 6:9-13
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
This is not just a prayer, but it’s a declaration, a decree, an ideal, a model. It becomes a driving motivation that undergirds every other mandate we have as believers. Every Commission comes out of this simple reality.
All believers are invited to be part of this commission: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
What did the disciples feel when they were around the Messiah? What made these simple Hebrew fishermen, mostly, feel so significant and important that they could discuss calling down fire like Elijah, or sitting on thrones in the Kingdom? After casting out demons, and healing diseases, and feeding thousands with a small lunch – were they drunk with power?
OR…..Were they beginning to see that they were created with an eternal power and purpose to bring God’s greater superior reality of the Kingdom crashing into this inferior reality on earth.??
They were beginning to enter into a relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in Yeshua drew them into that relationship, and he does that with us. He invites us to know him, personally.
Understanding and accepting this invitation is essential for everyone who calls himself a believer because in knowing him, our purpose for being is revealed.
Q: What’s your first indication that you’ve entered into a relationship with the Holy Spirit?
Give you a hint: it began before you got born again.
A: You had a revelation of your need. For salvation, for deliverance, for freedom, for healing, etc.
Before we knew the Messiah, before we pursued the Savior, before we realized we had an eternal purpose and identity in the heart of God — we were stuck in spiritual insignificance, but we had no idea because we had no concept of a larger design.
But there’s a dynamic that has taken place in the spirit realm, a transformation.
When you interact with the Holy Spirit you begin to think differently. We call it the renewing of the mind.
We see it in the disciples as they were called out of their previous occupations, and into the role of disciples, identifying as following after this strange rabbi.
When you became born again, when you became that new creation, you became spiritually significant, one with impact, one potentially with authority and power to make a difference in the eternal spiritual realm.
We all live in varying degrees of awareness of our potential, and that we don’t fit into our old life anymore. That’s one of the tensions that may make us uncomfortable.
The Father has no problem calling you to something that makes you uncomfortable.
If I am uncomfortable then he sends me “the comforter”, the Holy Spirit.
God has called you to something beyond your ability – so that you’ll need the Holy Spirit.
If you can build it without the Holy Spirit – then the enemy can tear it down without any difficulty.
I believe that in order for Yeshua / Jesus to be the Messiah, the first fruits, the firstborn of the dead, our elder brother, the example for us to follow — he had to be a man, filled with the Holy Spirit and be obedient to the heart of the father, just like we are called to do.
Every supernatural thing he did – every sign, every wonder, and every miracle – he did as a man by the power and direction of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Read in context – Matthew 12:28
(He himself said…) But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
