Unhindered – wek 3

Joke: A big-city lawyer went duck hunting in rural North Alberta.

He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer’s field on the other side of a fence.

As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing.

The attorney responded, “I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I’m going to retrieve it.”

The old farmer Pete replied, “This is my property, and you are not coming over here.”

The indignant lawyer said, “I am one of the best trial lawyers in Canada and, if you don’t let me get that duck, I’ll sue you and take everything you own.”

The old farmer smiled and said, “Apparently, you don’t know how we settle disputes in Alberta. We settle small disagreements like this with the ‘Three Kick Rule.’

The lawyer asked, “What is the ‘Three Kick Rule’?”

The Farmer replied, “Well, because the dispute occurs on my land, I get to go first. I kick you three times and then you kick me three times and so on back and forth until someone gives up.”

The lawyer quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old codger.

He agreed to abide by the local custom.

The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the attorney.

His first kick planted the toe of his steel-toed work boot right into the lawyer’s calf and the fell to his knees!

Before he could get up he used the second kick right to the stomach knocking the wind out of the lawyer.

The lawyer was on all fours when the farmer’s third kick to his rear end, sent him face-first into a fresh cow pie.

Summoning every bit of his will and remaining strength the lawyer very slowly managed to get to his feet.

Wiping his face with the arm of his jacket, he said, “Okay, you old fart. Now it’s my turn.”

The old farmer smiled and said, “Nah, I give up. You can have the duck.”

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Week 3 – Unhindered Power

What is the main “power source” for Christians. Anyone? It’s the Holy Spirit.

And that Spirit is an essential component to living an empowered and unhindered life in Christ.

In the Spirit we have the strength to share, strength to persevere, and strength to love. Just to name a few and those few are what I would like to focus on today.

Power is an interesting thing isn’t it? And what is it?

How can we accurately measure power? Can you get more of it? Can you lose it? And as it pertains to followers of Jesus. . .What exactly does it mean to live empowered by the Spirit?

I love what Margaret Thatcher said about power she said: “Power is like being a lady. . .if you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”

As we continue on in our series Unhindered, I want to try and tackle this idea of power and I hope to unpack what on earth unhindered power could mean for followers of Jesus.

The same Jesus who commanded legions of angels and yet humbled himself to the point of death and humiliation. His power, was certainly put on display during His 33 years of ministry in the strength of saying yes to the mission set out for Him to die as the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of people.

Even “Napoleon Bonaparte, the great military genius, looking back over his years of conquest, is reported to have said, ‘Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I have built great empires. But upon what did they depend? They depended on force. But centuries ago Jesus started an empire that was built on love, and even to this day millions will die for him.”

The weapons, if you could call them that, of Christ were love, grace, mercy, and compassion.

As I mentioned the main “power source” of Christians is the Holy Spirit. And Jesus told the disciples to wait for it. It desires believers be filled with it. And God longs for His children to be empowered by it.

John 16:7 (NIV): But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

Advocate that’s one of the names used to describe the Holy Spirit There are others as well, we have. . .

● Spirit of God (Genesis 1:2)
● Spirit of the Lord (Judges 3:10)
● Holy Spirit (Psalm 51:11)
● Spirit of Truth (John 14:17)
● Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding (Isaiah 11:2)
● Spirit of Counsel and Might (Isaiah 11:2)
● Spirit of Knowledge and Fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2)
● Spirit of Glory (1 Peter 4:14)
● Eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14)
● Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2)
● Spirit of Adoption (Romans 8:15)
● Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9)
● Spirit of Grace (Hebrews 10:29)
● Spirit of Holiness (Romans 1:4)
● Spirit of Promise (Ephesians 1:13)
● Spirit of the Living God (2 Corinthians 3:3)
● Spirit of Revelation (Ephesians 1:17)
● Spirit of Power, Love, and a Sound Mind (2 Timothy 1:7)
● Oil of Gladness (Hebrews 1:9)

That isn’t an exhaustive list but maybe there’s one that you resonate with, more than the others.

Let’s begin looking at the three specific areas that I mentioned where we see the strength of the Spirit come alive in the church.

As a reminder living an unhindered life in step with the Spirit means we have strength to share, strength to persevere, and strength to love.

First point is we have the strength to share When Jesus ascended into heaven He left the disciples with this command;

Acts 1:8 (NIV): 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.”

Jesus promised his followers, and us, that they will receive power from the Holy Spirit, and that they will be empowered witnesses to his message in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

By naming Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, Jesus was identifying just how far and wide the message would be shared.

His command was to evangelize and spread the gospel message all around the world. Small task? No. Easy? No. And that’s why we need to walk with the unhindered Power of God which the Holy Spirit provides for us.

Let’s be honest, the gospel message isn’t always a welcome one.

Especially in our woke culture that we live in today.  Sometimes there is even hostility when trying to share the truth of Christ to others. But guess what that’s nothing new.

In Acts chapter 4we begin to see just how much trouble those early disciples were getting themselves into. Peter and John are even instructed by the Jewish leaders at the time to stop sharing the gospel, but look at how they responded;

Acts 4:18–19 (TPT): So they had them brought back in before the council, and they commanded them to never teach the people or speak again using the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “You can judge for yourselves—is it better to listen to you or to God?

In case your really not sure it’s better to listen to God.

Verse 20. . .I love this

Acts 4:20 (TPT): It’s impossible for us to stop speaking about all the things we’ve seen and heard!”

That took courage, that is what having the strength to share looks like.

Let me share with you what Peter and John did to put them in the situation that they found themselves in the first place.

They healed a crippled man. . .that’s it. And because of that others started following Jesus. Let me just share a few other verses from Acts 4. . .

Acts 4:4 (TPT): Yet there were many in the crowd who believed the message, bringing the total number of men who believed to nearly five thousand!

Skipping down to verse 7

Acts 4:7–13 (TPT): They made Peter and John stand in front of the council as they questioned them, saying, “Tell us, by what power and authority have you done these things?” 8 Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered, “Respected elders and leaders of the people, listen. 9 Are we being put on trial today for doing an act of kindness by healing a frail, crippled man? Well then, 10 you and everyone else in Israel should know that it is by the power  of the name of Jesus that the crippled man stands here today completely healed!  You crucified Jesus Christ of Nazareth, but God raised him from the dead. 11 This Jesus is ‘the stone that you, the builders, have
rejected, and now he has become the cornerstone!’ 12 There is no one else who has the power to save us, for there is only one name to whom God has given authority by which we must experience salvation: the name of Jesus.” 13 The council members were astonished as they witnessed the bold courage of Peter and John, especially when they discovered that they were just ordinary men who had never had religious training. Then they began to understand the effect Jesus had on them simply by spending time with him.

And then these religious leaders who had arrested Peter and John tell them to step out of the room as they talk amongst themselves on how to handle this problem. And after talking this is what they decided on. . .

Acts 4:18 (TPT): 18 So they had them brought back in before the council, and they commanded them to never teach the people or speak again using the name of Jesus.

These “ordinary men” were able to do extraordinary things because of the Holy Spirit in them. And the crazy and amazing part of this is that the same Spirit that enabled Peter and John is also enabling you and I.

We’ve also been given power through the Spirit. We also have the strength to share with others and to take the gospel message to the ends of the earth.

We also have the power to stare down persecution, humiliation, and anything else the enemy may use to discourage us from telling others about Jesus.

Will it be easy? No! But just like the disciples we read about in the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit will also give us the strength to persevere as we seek to answer the call of Christ in our lives.

And that brings me to point number two which is we have the strength to persevere Everyone experiences pain, hardship, and adversity. Everyone has trauma. No one is exempt and no one gets a free pass. . .the rain falls on the just and the unjust.We live in a fallen broken world, with broken people.

And if we had the time today, I’m sure we could go around the room and swap stories of our suffering, pain, disappointment, and loss.

But I dare say we could also swap stories, of the seasons that God sustained us and the ways that He gave us the strength to persevere. To keep on keeping on in the midst of the suffering and pain, the hardship and difficulties.

The truth is that there are seasons that we don’t have the capacity to work through everything on our own—and by the way we weren’t created to either, we need help. We need an advocate a helper because in that season we can feel hindered, stunted, and discouraged in our life and our faith.

And because of the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can experience unhindered access to divine power, and the strength to keep on, keeping on, as well as the ability to persevere through any situation we face.

I would love to tell you that after the Holy Spirit fills us that we miraculously transform into superhuman-incredible-hulk like beings but it doesn’t work quite like that, it’s a process but. . .

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV): But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

And God will complete the work He started.

Philippians 1:6 (TPT): 6 I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this glorious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you and will put his finishing touches to it  until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!

That means He’s still working on me. He’s still working on you.

Ephesians 3:20 (TPT): Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.

We were created to partner with God, obeying what He tells us, so that we can live the abundant life He told us about.

He will give us the strength we need to share the gospel, to persevere, and lastly, to love.

In his book, Strength to Love, Martin Luther King Jr. addresses this very issue. He says, “Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.”

And to achieve that “inner spiritual transformation” we need help.

We need an advocate, a guide, a companion to lead the way. We need the unhindered power of the Holy Spirit, to help us love like He loves, and the good news is, God has graciously given that to us.

When Jesus tells the disciples in Matthew 5:44, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” He’s giving them an impossible command humanly speaking. In ourselves it is incomprehensible how a person could “love” an enemy or pray for those persecuting them.

But in Christ we are new creations. In Christ we have diving power, strength, and ability to do the impossible things of life.

As Scripture tells us, with God all things are possible.

That’s what Paul meant when he told the church in Philippi:

Philippians 4:13 (NIV): 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Let me share a story to illustrate. . .

Corrie ten Boom, a watchmaker who helped hide 800 fleeing from the Germans during WWII in a hidden room in their house, and spent time at a concentration camp in Ravensbrück where her sister Betsie died. As she was  giving a talk years later at a church in Munich on God’s love and forgiveness. She him, a guard who was at that very camp.

See finished her talk where in it, she said these words: “When we confess our sins, God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever.”

And she saw him this guard that had been at her contraption camp, who now was a Christian walked up to her and said, as he thrust out his hand toward her, “A fine message, fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!”

And Corrie fumbled around for her pocketbook rather than acknowledging that he was even there. And he continued with. . .

“You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk. I was a guard in there.

But since that time, I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein”–again the hand came out–“will you forgive me?”

Corrie tells her story and said, “It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.”

She continues. . .

I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion–I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.“Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place.

The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

“I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!” For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.

Maybe that is a story I could have used last week as well, but I think it shows us as well that with God all things are indeed possible.

That’s the power of the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever seen this kind of love in your life?

Or maybe a more important question would be where do you see opportunities to love others, even impossible people, maybe you know a few of them, with the love of Christ?

Let me try to wrap this up The Holy Spirit is a gift, freely given by God to those who believe and receive Him as the Lord and Savior of their life.

John 14:16–17 (NIV): And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Jesus is promising that the Holy Spirit will be given to his disciples as a gift to help them and guide them. And that same Holy Spirit lives in us and wants to manifest through us to a world that needs to know about Him.

So, where do you feel the Spirit leading you today? Maybe you need to ask for more of God’s gift so that you can experience more of the unhindered power, strength, and ability of the Spirit in your life! So that you can. . .

Share the gospel with others Persevere through difficult seasons and situations And love the unlovable In the Old  Testament the Spirit only showed up on special occasions to specific people for specific times/seasons. But now, through Christ, the Spirit isn’t hindered by times or seasons. The Holy Spirit is available to all who believe. And through the Spirit we can experience divine power, strength, and ability.

God use to just have visitations now He longs to have a place of habitation.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NLT): Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?