The miracle on the Hudson.
Did you follow the coverage of flight 1549’s emergency landing in the Hudson River this past week? Wasn’t that a remarkable story? A passenger jet with 155 passengers and 5 crew members flies into a flock of geese. Both engines become disabled, the plane isunable to land at any nearby airports, and the pilot opts to land in water instead.
When the incident first hit the airways it was being called the miracle on the Hudson.Commentators spoke of angels carrying the wings of the plane safely into the river and holding it afloat long enough for passengers to escape to safety. The moment was divine, a supernatural intervention by the hand of God.
But as the week wore on, experts began dissecting the miracle on the Hudson. It wasn’t a miracle after all. It was the superior construction of the Airbus 320. It was the experience and training of pilot Captain Chesley B.Sullenberger III, a former fighter pilot with over 40 years of flying experience. He isateacher of pilots, a flight instructor, a certified glider pilot, a safety chairman, and an accident investigator for the Airline Pilots Association. This guy has studied the psychology of how flight crews react to emergencies. He has written entire manuals of procedures for how flight crews should act in such situations.
One lady said, "You look at his training, you look at his experience. It was the right pilot at the right time in charge of that plane that saved so many lives."
So what was it? Was it miracle or not? Was it a work of God or a feat of human strength? Was it of God or was it of man?
Is God supernaturally involved in our lives and in this church?
I was thinking about how this same question relates to the Christian life. As Christians, we contend that God is supernaturally involved in our lives and at work in this church. But is there anything miraculous happening here or in our lives? Or is this all just a feat of human effort? It’s a good question, don’t you think?
The Bible draws a pretty clear distinction, you know. In Zechariah 4:6 (NIV) God says, " 'Not bymight nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty."
Galatians 3:3 (NIV) says,"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" and Galatians 3:5 (NIV) continues,"Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law (i.e. human effort), or because you believe what you heard?"
In John 3:5-6 (NIV) Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."
These verses point us toward something miraculous, something supernatural.These verses point us to God’s Holy Spirit. TheHoly Spiritcan bring something about in our lives that we cannot produce in the flesh. Do you believe that? Have you experienced that? In the accounts of the early Church it was clearly evident who was filled with the Holy Spirit and who was not. It was obvious what activities God was doing and what man could not do for himself.
Part of our spiritual DNA is empowerment.
Part of our DNA as Christians is this thing called empowerment.God’s Holy Spirit is empowering us and energizing our spiritual lives, and is making a kind of growth possible that we cannot achieve or sustain ourselves. This morning I want to pinpoint some of the ways in which God’s Holy Spirit supernaturally empowers us.
We are empowered with spiritual wisdom.
First, we are empowered with spiritual wisdom or understanding about God’s character, identity, and ways.For starters, the very act of sincerely calling God "Father" or calling Jesus Christ "Lord" is evidence that God’s Holy Spirit is at work in us.
Romans 8:15 (NIV) says, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' "
1 Corinthians 12:3 (NIV) says, "Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus be cursed,' and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit."
1 Corinthians 2:10-12 (NIV) speaks of the knowledge that has been revealed to us by God’s Holy Spirit. "...but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us."
God’s Holy Spirit reveals specific knowledge of God that we could never discover on our own. The Holy Spirit takes us far beyond the limits of human reason. The Spirit reveals God’s eternal perspective, his divine plan of offering salvation to all mankind through Jesus Christ. This is why Paul prays in Ephesians 1:17 (NIV), "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better."
We are empowered with spiritual guidance.
Second, we are empowered with spiritual guidance. In Matthew 4:1 (NIV) Jesus was, "led by the Spirit." Romans 8:14 speaks of believers who are led by the Spirit to put to death the misdeeds of the body. Jude 19 (NIV)speaks of those who, "follow mere instincts"versus those who have the Spirit of God. In Acts 13:2 and Acts15:28 we find the Holy Spirit giving the Church specific direction in decisions.
In John 16:13-14 (NIV) Jesus promises,"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you."
The Holy Spirit empowers us with specific understanding about God’s personhood. And the Holy Spirit gives us specific guidance in how to bring glory to God. "Do this, do that, talk to this person, go here, go there, be still, pray, wait, listen, trust, forgive, reconcile, serve."Your conscience may be prodded by the same message over and over again. The Spirit leads us into things that we’d never conceive in our sinful, human nature. "Go sell all your possessions and give to the poor. Go to Haiti and establish a medical mission. Go to a Muslim land and translate the Bible into their language. Go to Bible college and serve Christ vocationally."
We are empowered by spiritual transformation.
Third, the Holy Spirit also empowers the spiritual transformation of our total personality. The Encarta dictionary describes personality as the,"totality of one’s attitudes, interests, behavioral patterns, emotional responses, social roles, and other traits that endure over a long period of time.Personality is the distinctive or very noticeable characteristics that make somebody socially appealing."
The Holy Spirit changes our personality in a way that we cannot change ourselves. Galatians 5:19-23 (NIV) says,"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factionsand envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
I defy you to name one thing of this world that consistently transforms people’s personalities to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no drug, no magic pill, no government program, and no psychological technique that can inspire people.These qualities are not acquired from our public schools, sports leagues, teamwork, laws, political correctness, music, Hollywood, internet, or Wii. Our prison systems don’t reform criminals to have these qualities!
Yet the,"fruit of the Spirit" is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. What a powerful thing that a person come to know God personally. What a wonderful thing that a person begins tobe led by the Holy Spirit to glorify God. What a wonderful thingthat a person’s personality becomes more loving, joyful, and gentle, despite decades of conditioning.
We are empowered with spiritual gifts.
There is more. Fourth, the Holy Spirit empowers us with spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NIV) says,"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines."
There are certain things we can do on our own of our own accord, any day of the week. These things are considered natural abilities or talents. But the Holy Spirit empowers each of us with specific gifts with which to serve others. Were we to try these things on our own, in our own strength, we would fail. But when we use these gifts we find ourselves relying upon God in a special way. Generosity is a spiritual gift.
When you exercise the spiritual gift of generosity, you have to rely upon God to provide. When you exercise the spiritual gift of discernment, you have to rely upon God to show you his ways. When you preach, you have rely upon God to give you his words. When you share your faith, you have to rely upon God to give you boldness and courage. When you pray, you have to trust in God to demonstrate his power. If God weren’t in it, you would fall flat on your face!
So the Holy Spirit is empowering us to know God, he is guiding us in specific ways to glorify God, he is transforming our personality from the inside out, and he is giving us gifts to serve God in ways that transcend our natural talents and abilities. Let me share one other way that God’s Holy Spirit empowers us.
We are empowered byspiritual surrender.
Romans 8:9 (NIV) says, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ."
Galatians 5:16-17 (NIV) says,"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want."
This past week I was reading a little book by J.I. Packer called Affirming the Apostles Creed. He has a chapter on the Holy Spirit in which he writes, "Some associate the Spirit with mystical states and artistic inspirations, both Christian and pagan. Others link the Spirit only with unusual Christian experiences—feeling 'high' (to use the world’s word), seeking visions, receiving revelations, speaking in tongues, healing. But these are secondary elements of the Spirit’s work, (whether) they derive from the Spirit at all."(pp. 113-114)
"What then are the signs that Christ’s self-effacing Spirit is at work? Not mystical raptures, nor visions and supposed revelations, nor even healings, tongues, and apparent miracles; for Satan, playing on our psychosomatic complexity and our fallenness can produce all these things. The only sure signs are that the Christ of the Bible is acknowledged, trusted, loved for his grace, and served for his glory, and that believers actually turn from sin to a life of holiness that is Christ’s image in his people." (p. 117)
Nearly two centuries ago, William Law wrote about worship. His description of worship is a description of the way in which God’s Holy Spirit empowers us. "Worship is submission of my nature to God's being, quickening of my conscience by his holiness, nourishment of my mind with his truth, purifying my imagination by his beauty, opening of my heart to his love, surrender of my will to his purpose, and all of this gathered up in adoration."
Is there evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life?