“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to
Me in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to
the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8

Faith is: believing that what you have asked for you have received.
Luke 11:13

1. The importance of a Spirit empowered life
The importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit is reflected in Jesus’ command to His Disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they were filled with the Spirit. (Luke 24:49) The lesson for us is clear; God’s work must be done in and by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Zechariah 4:6) We should not think that anything has changed today but the wider Church is generally weak, powerless and infiltrated by the world! Jesus once said, “Howbeit, when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:7-8)

We are in fact commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-21) teaching us that the Christian life is a supernatural one and cannot be lived without the demonstration of the power of God in our lives. (Romans 8:1)

2. The perfect man/woman and the Spirit empowered life
A perfect Christian is not a sinless Christian but one who is mature enough to put the interests of the Kingdom of God before those of his own. (2Corinthians 5:15) This means that God gives the power of His Spirit to “proved people.” Just as “small boys don’t play with big toys” so the power of God is never given to immature Christians. Jesus went into the wilderness filled with the Spirit to be proved or tempted but He returned from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit! (Luke 4:1; 14) We will not be different; God will prove us and accordingly determine whether we are able to handle His power. (1Corinthians 10:13)

I believe that all of Heaven is waiting for the perfect man or woman to stand up!

3. The conditions of a Spirit empowered life
These are:
A. You must be willing to go into the world with Jesus’ message for it. (Matthew 28:18-20)
B. You must have a desire to obey God in all things. (Acts 5:32)
C. You must be thirsty for all that God has for you. (John 7:37-38)
D. You must ask Jesus to fill you with His Spirit. (Acts 2:38-39) In fact you must keep on asking throughout your Christian life because this enables you to keep a good account of your spiritual condition.

In closing this study it is to be noted that being filled with God’s Spirit, which is a real and vital experience, is the final evidence that God has accepted your repentance and faith in the finished work of His Son as being sincere and genuine. (Acts 10:44-48; 11:15-18; 15:8) The last reference actually reads in the Greek “So God, who knows the heart bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit….”
The question we now all have to answer is, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2)

Malcolm Hedding

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries