Jesus was authentic and holy.
In John 7:33 (NIV) Jesus tells his disciples, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me."
You can imagine how discouraging it must have been for Jesus' followers to hear these words. There are some people who you can't stand being around. When you see them, you grimace as if in pain. You pray they'll go back to whoever sent them.
There are other people, however, who radiate life and refresh your soul. Five minutes with them and your tank is overflowing. This is the kind of person Jesus was. There was an authenticity about Jesus. He was holy in character and intensely relational. He exuded love and joy. He was filled with peace. He was enduringly patient, kind, good, gentle in demeanor, and self-controlled always.
Isaiah 53:2-3 (NIV) says of Jesus, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
People weren't drawn to Jesus because of his appearance. He would never appear on the cover of People Magazine. No, people were drawn to the life-giving power within him. They wanted to possess and radiate his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. When is the last time you hungered and thirsted after Christ's righteousness?
Jesus always prepared people for his absence.
Yet Jesus was always preparing people for his absence. "I am only with you for a short time. I am returning to the Father."
Sounds like pretty bad news, except a few verses later in John 7:37-39 (NIV) Jesus says in a loud voice, " '...If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified."
What a remarkable response. "I'm with you only a short time. I'm returning to the Father. But if you believe in me, the same life-giving streams of living water will well up within your life and overflow to the glory of God."
It's the same invitation that Jesus gave the woman at the well in John 4:10 (NIV). "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." And Jesus continued in John 4:13-14 (NIV), "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Imagine that! A spring of water welling up to eternal life! You and me, radiating the same life-giving power Jesus radiated in his life! Why it sounds almost too good to be true. That God's Holy Spirit, who hovered over the earth in creation, would dwell within us and cause us to radiate the life of Christ.
In Jesus' absence, he promised to give us the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps you remember God's promise through the prophet Ezekiel? Ezekiel 36:24-27 (NIV) says, "For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
It seems that many of us are missing something foundational to our Christian faith. These verses are talking about an inside-out transformation. The kind of transformation where God's Spirit takes up residence in our hearts and roots out evil. The kind of transformation where God's Spirit cleanses us and moves us to obey God in new and fresh and exciting ways. We're talking about you and me radiating the life of Christ!
So why do we keep talking about self-transformation? Why do we keep telling people that they just need to try harder? Why do we keep pressuring people, guilting people, shaming people, condemning people, manipulating people, and controlling them? Seems like the cure for our sinful rebellion is for God's Holy Spirit to take up residence within.
John the Baptist saw the Spirit descend on Jesus.
It's interesting how John the Baptist introduces Jesus in John 1:32-33 (NIV). "Then John gave this testimony: 'I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him (Jesus). I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.' "
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. But make no mistake, Jesus came to baptize us with the Holy Spirit, to anoint us with everlasting power, and to cause streams of life-giving power to well up from within us.
In John 3:6-8 (NIV) Jesus says to Nicodemus, "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. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
In John 6:63 (NIV) Jesus says, "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."
We need the Spirit in order to transform our lives.
Flesh gives birth to flesh. Does that mean that the flesh counts for nothing? Jesus didn't put a drop of confidence in our flesh, yet he puts all the confidence of eternity in his Holy Spirit. Remember what Paul said in Galatians 3:3 (NIV), "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"
We keep wanting to resort back to the flesh, yet the only way to transform our lives is through God's holy means. It's through God's Holy Spirit. We need an inside-out transformation. We need a heart transplant. We need to be cleansed by these streams of living water until all the impurities get flushed out. Only then can we ever hope to radiate the life-giving power of Jesus.
Zechariah 4:6 (NIV) tells us, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel (and to all of us!): " 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty."
Paul teaches us how to rely on the Holy Spirit.
Paul understood what it means to rely on God's Spirit. In Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV) he prays, "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Hmmm. Paul did not pray for us to "try harder' or to "just do it." That same power that was in Jesus needs to dwell within us. That power is the Spirit of the living God. It's the power of God's Spirit working within us that enables us to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. It's God's power that enables us to do immeasurably more than we know to ask or are capable of even imagining.
If there is going to be a change, it's going to come through the activity of God's Holy Spirit in us or it isn't going to come at all. Such change doesn't come from man himself. It comes from God.
Jesus' disciples had to wait with humility for the Holy Spirit.
Jesus' instructions to his disciples in Acts 1:4-5 (NIV) were, "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
Jesus continued to speak to his disciples in Acts 1:7-8 (NIV) which says, "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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."
Ezekiel 36:27 (NIV) tells us that God will give us his Spirit. "I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
In prayer, the first century Church sought the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. They changed their posture before God. Acts 1:14 (NIV) says, "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers."
As we continue in worship, what is your posture before God? Is your posture this morning one of rebellion, one of defiance, one of pride, or one of self-righteousness? Or are you ready to humble yourself before God?
Are you ready to receive what God would give you? Are you ready to invite streams of living water to cleanse your heart and purge your mind of all its impurities? Are you willing to invite the mighty wind of God's Holy Spirit to consume you and move you and have its way in you so that you follow God's decrees and obey his commandments?
Jesus' followers received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentacost.
Acts 2:1-13 (NIV) tells us, "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."
"Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: 'Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-- we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!' Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, 'What does this mean?' Some, however, made fun of them and said, 'They have had too much wine.' "
There were three groups of people present on the day of Pentecost. One group experienced the power of God's Holy Spirit. A second group experienced bewilderment and amazement. They were curious about the wonders of God that were unleashed in the lives of ordinary men and women. A third group mocked and ridiculed what they saw by saying, "They have had too much wine."
If you find yourself in the group who is experiencing God's power, then praise God. We can give each other high fives after the service. You are already beginning to exude the life of Christ.
If you're in the second group, and sense the working of God's Spirit in others, and you are curious, then I assure you that you are not far from the kingdom of God. To experience streams of living water, you need to change your posture to one of faith!
If you're in the third group, I caution you against resisting God's Holy Spirit with the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:32 (NIV). "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."
To receive the Holy Spirit, we must change our posture before God.
Whether you are in the second group or the third group, your next steps are the same. You need to change your posture before God. Later in Acts 2 Peter addresses the crowd and explains how God is pouring out his Spirit on his people and fulfilling his promise. Acts 2:17 He tells them how Christ died for their sins and was raised from the grave through the power of God. Acts 2:36
And in Acts 2:37-41 (NIV) we read how people changed their posture before God. "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call.' With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.' Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."
Why aren't you experiencing the life-giving power of God's Spirit? It's your posture. You've hardened your heart. You're too proud to admit your need for forgiveness, much less your need for a savior. You're too proud and satisfied to repent of your sins. You love your sins. You're too proud to be baptized, and too proud to identify yourself with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And as a result you are thirsty and corrupt.
If you'd change your posture you would receive the gift of God's Holy Spirit. God would save you the moment you called out his name,"Lord!" You are this close to experiencing power, but it's up to you as to whether you accept the message and are baptized. Now is your opportunity.