C1604-C The Power of the Holy Spirit (Teaching #3)
(When the Spirit turns you into another man)
This is the final teaching on this specific series on the Power of the Holy Spirit.
In Teaching #1 we learnt specifically about the Power (Acts 1:8).
In Teaching #2 we learnt about the spiritual journey that God put Saul on towards his empowerment. Remember how God orchestrated things in his life, and while Saul thought he was looking for donkeys, God was setting him up to meet the prophet Samuel, who would in turn propel him into his destiny (1 Samuel 9:10).
Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth."
1 Samuel 10:6 says, “Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you.”
Saul was changed
There are three things that caused Saul to be changed into another man:
- God put him on a journey
- The prophet spoke destiny into him
- He obeyed the Word
- He was immersed in an atmosphere of praise
- He was surrounded by people of faith
- The Spirit came upon him
Peter was changed
Peter was the kind of brother that said really smart and really stupid things. That reminds us of ourselves, doesn’t it?!
Peter was the one to home God gave the revelation that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God :
“13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
(Matthew 16:13-19, NKJV)
Yet it was Peter whom Jesus had to rebuke in the very next verses!
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
(Matthew 16:21-23, NKJV)
And ultimately Pete denied the Lord three times. I think God specially gave us Peter and the all the Bible characters to show us that our ability is not because of us, but because of Him.
It says,
“26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31, NKJV)
Other than the spiritual journey God had Peter on, what was it that changed him to a wise and powerful apostle and emissary of God? It was the same thing that changed Saul into another man, namely the Holy Spirit.
We are changed
Likewise, we are changed by the Holy Spirit! That power that changed Saul in the Old Testament, and that Power that changed Peter in the New Testament, still changes lives today!
Ask God to change you. Then remain faithful to let Him complete the work He started in you!
Into whose image are we changed?
JESUS! 1 Samuel 10:6 says “…changed into another man". We are to be changed into the image of Jesus, that we may be like Him, have Him speak and act through us. “…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
