Clothed with Power [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. Some people would say, well, all that power and all those gifts of the Spirit and all that ministry, that was just for the first century. They really needed it then when we're trying to give birth to the Church.

Beloved, do we not need the power of God now as much as we ever have? That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Higher Power as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout our entire program today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.

So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Or call 877-544-4860.

877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. He will cause you to do the very things that I've designed you to do. If the Word says do not be anxious about anything, here's what the Holy Spirit will do in you. He who knows no anxiety will cause your heart to rejoice.

That's what happens to me. I get with you in worship and I just, I can't help myself, but just rejoice in the Lord, right? He causes us to worship. He calls us. There are times that I just love supernaturally because He's causing me.

You know what I'm talking about? This is the promise of God. I'm going to put my Spirit in you and He's going to cause you to do the very thing that I'm going to tell you to do.

Wow. Joel famously prophesied, it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days, I'll pour out my Spirit. This is a promise for every person, not just some spiritually elite.

And Jesus Himself made the promise in John 16. I tell you the truth, it's to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.

Listen to this. Jesus is saying to the disciples, who He knows are going to grieve, that He's going to be crucified and they're not going to see Him for a little while. What He's saying is, as much as it's going to be hard for you to believe this, it is better that I go. What He means by this, beloved, is that if you had a choice, if you had a choice between spending the day with Jesus in the flesh all day today, He is here and you're with Him personally all day long, that's not as good as having the Holy Spirit.

That bends your mind, doesn't it? If you had a choice to say, Jesus could live in my house, in the bedroom down the hallway, and at every meal with Him and every problem I faced and every situation, I would have Jesus with me 24-7, in person, in the flesh, that's not as good, He's saying, as the Helper. What all this means that is the promise of the Father, it means that you and I are part of and part of the climax of the story of redemption. That the Holy Spirit's power is not random, coincidental power, but promised power. It is to say that when the Spirit came at Pentecost and the Apostle Peter stood up to preach the first Christian sermon, in his mind it was imperative that the power of the Holy Spirit was inextricably linked to the gift of Christ that had been prophesied through Joel. Listen to his words, Acts chapter 2, Peter standing with the 11 lifted up his voice and addressed the men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words, for these people are not drunk.

See, they were so happy, they were so joyful, they were so giddy, they looked drunk. He said, you're not drunk, as you suppose, it's only the third hour of the day. He said, but this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel, in the last days it shall be, God declares, I'll pour out my Spirit on all flesh. See, the power of God in the Holy Spirit is the promise fulfilled through the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus so that all the promises of God have become yes and amen to us in Christ.

The reason that's important is that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune God and he is the Spirit of Jesus. So when we speak of the power, we're speaking of a power that is not some like the new age idea of some force field or something like, no, this is the whole plan of God, the whole promise of God that has come to pass. And I like this phrase, clothed with power, verse 49 again, clothed with power from on high. The clothing matches who you are. So if I were to describe to you a woman in a white dress and it is a beautiful white flowing dress and you saw her like that, I would be able to say to you, and you would answer, she is a bride.

Or if there were people that were in fire proof garments and standing in front of a truck with hoses and they had helmets on, you'd say they are. Or if you saw someone in a white puffy suit and a white pack on the back and a big round helmet on with shiny glass on the front, you would say that he or she is an astronaut. But the thing is, the white dress doesn't make the woman a bride. The white dress is just appropriate because it matches who she is as a bride. The idea of clothing, of being clothed with power, is to say that the power of God does not make you a Christian. It's not the demonstration of the power of God that meets you a Christian. The fact that you are a Christian is what makes it appropriate that you're clothed with the power of God.

In other words, you could say a bride wears a white dress and looks like that. And you could say a Christian is clothed with the power of God. I feel, everybody experiences God different, but I feel his presence like clothing. I feel like your clothing, sometimes you'll hear somebody say, well, when I experienced the presence of God, it's like a warm blanket has enveloped me or someone might describe it doing it, but it feels because your clothing, you're moving, you're in it, you're with it, you're connected, the expression of who you are. And that's the way Jesus described the power of the Holy Spirit.

You're going to be clothed and you are qualified for this clothing is what he's saying. And this is a power, verse 49 again, from on high, clothed with power from on high. It's transcendent power. It's a higher power. It is God's own power. It is not an ethereal force field.

It is not some principle that you just plug into. No, this is from on high. This is not from within. That's what the world says.

Look within yourself. There's no power within. This is not from the world. There's not power in the world. This is power that is beyond us. This is power that's above us. This is the power of the triune God. See, the Trinity is here in these verses, the promise of my father whom I, the son, am sending the Holy Spirit.

That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Would you love a better marriage? You don't need more good advice.

You need more good news. Marriages, like people, aren't changed by human effort or even by applying principles. Marriages are changed by the gospel of grace. In six video sessions, Pastor Alan and his wife Ann lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with the God of grace. You'll learn a simple, grace-filled process that makes great communication easy. You'll discover the freedom of forgiveness and the power of celebration. You'll also learn how to pray for your spouse and how to bless one another with a faith-filled vision for the future.

To help you grow, when you order the video series, we'll also send you two copies of the accompanying study guide. Whether your marriage is going through some special challenges or your marriage is in a season of health, you'll find powerful, transformational truth in good news for your marriage. Make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today and fill your marriage with the grace of God. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. The importance of seeing the Trinity here is that you cannot miss what's being said, that the power that's going to clothe them is the same power that clothed Jesus.

Wow. The Holy Spirit, you see, is the Spirit of Jesus. This is one of my favorite phrases for how Jesus or the apostles call the Holy Spirit. In verse 19 of Philippians 1, I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance.

Or in Acts 16, when they'd come to Messiah, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. See, the Holy Spirit, I think some people get confused about the Holy Spirit is not like some force. The Holy Spirit is a person. He is Jesus in the Spirit. That's who he is. God is one. This is a mystery.

He's one, but he's three. And so that's what makes sense of when Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit in John 14. If you want to learn more about the Holy Spirit, a great place is to start with John 14, 15 and 16 and see what Jesus has to say in his promises to the disciples. But he says there, I will not leave you as orphans.

I will come to you. He's not talking about at the consummation of all time. He's talking about Pentecost. Take a little while and the world will see me no more, see me no more, but you will see me because I live.

You also will live in that day. You will know that I'm in the Father and you are in me and I in you. You see what he's saying? He said, I am going to be with you, but I'm going to be with you in the Spirit. So when we say I have Jesus in my heart, we don't, we don't mean I have a little, a little Jesus somehow in my heart. We mean I have the Spirit of Jesus Christ living in me and abiding in me.

I think we ought to get up every day and think about that. We have the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This is why Paul's prayers for us are so remarkable and so bold. Like in Ephesians one, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened and or that you may know the hope to which he's called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance and his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe that power. Look at this is the same mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly. So if you're a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit and you have his power dwelling in you and God's love for you and his gift to you and Jesus Christ and his shed blood when you've accepted him means that you're qualified for this inheritance and therefore this is who you are.

Why do we need this power so much? Well if you look back at verse 48 you'll see it the essence it is this you are witnesses of these things and behold I'm sending the promise of my father upon you. See there's so many reasons I mean when people go why you know would it just be easier to not talk about the Holy Spirit you know because then I mean there's controversial things and it can get a little messy and all you know all of that but but here's the thing I'm willing to risk a little bit of messiness by relinquishing my heart to the power of God because in the end it's not just that I need him so much is that the world is in trouble. I want to have more of the power of God in my life because when I pray for sick people I hurt for them and I want them to be well. I want the power of God in my life because I minister to people who are depressed and I want them to have joy. I want more of the power of God in my life because I like you have to interact with a world that is at times cruel and I don't want to harbor bitterness I want to love. I want to have more of the power of God in my life because people are lost and believing atrocious lies in the spirit of the age and I want it to be that when words come out of my mouth they are anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit so that hearts that are blind to the truth are opened up by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I want people to be able to see and not stumble in the darkness. You see Jesus is saying you're going to be my witnesses you're the ones who are going to now be used of God starting with this small group of people you're going to be used by God to change the world and therefore stay in the city until you're clothed with power from on high. I don't think they really figured out what was coming. They gathered there in Jerusalem were not told what they were doing I think they're praying they're anticipating maybe they're worrying but when the day of Pentecost had come they all made sense to them. The Holy Spirit came rushing upon the assembled people of God and they began to experience God up close they began to experience his power that power manifested itself in a boldness people that were previously cowards people like Peter who had denied Jesus three times suddenly are willing to lay their lives down for this gospel because they're so empowered with boldness because they know that they know that they know that it is all true. They began to speak in other languages and people recognize the gospel being spoken in other tongues. They began to have so much joy that they look like drunk people they were it it violated the spirit of the times and the age like you're you're you're happy for no reason you got joy for no occasion what is that the power of God and they began then to walk out this ministry doing the very things that they'd seen Jesus do but they are doing this not because of any power within them but because of the spirit of Jesus within them and some people would say well all that power and all those gifts of the spirit and all that ministry that was just for the first century they really needed it then when you know we're trying to give birth to the church beloved do we not need the power of God now as much as we ever have thank God for the power of the Holy Spirit that has fulfilled the promise of Ezekiel that I will cause you to walk in my statutes we had these wonderful renewal meetings on Thursday and Friday night and we just prayed for empowerment of the Holy Spirit and just much joy and much of the presence of the Lord in our midst and I was talking to a friend the next day who's going through a very difficult time her real husband's going through some challenging medical issues and there's just a lot of things in the natural to worry about and she just thought was excused to be she said I got up this morning she said I tried to worry and I couldn't that's what I want I wanted to be even if I tried to worry I couldn't worry I wanted to be if I tried to hate I couldn't hate because the love of God has constrained me you can you can give yourself over more and more to the power in the presence of God in your life it's who you are you are one who is clothed with the very raiment of the power of the Most High God it's worth pursuing it's worth longing for the number one reason I think that people aren't Christians aren't walking more in the power of God is that we have in our mind that we're like the basketball player who's told he's supposed to dunk and he can't dunk and so we choose to disqualify ourselves and sit on the sideline but what you're going to continue to see in coming weeks is that the whole secret and the beauty of the body of Christ is that every single member of the body of Christ is gifted and every single member and the body of Christ gifts are essential and every single member of the body of Christ every single Christian is invited to eagerly desire the powerful spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit and his or her life that every single one of us has the mighty strength that raised Jesus from the dead at work in and through us so the coach has said get in the game and you can do it by my strength whatever you do don't try to be a Christian by your own strength Lloyd Ogilvy a wonderful pastor and author years ago he said that doing your will by your power that's humanism doing trying to do God's will by your power that's religion but doing God's will by God's power that's the abundant Christian life that is the gospel alan wright our good news message clothed with power from the series higher power stay with us pastor alan is back in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day here in just a moment would you love a better marriage you don't need more good advice you need more good news marriages like people aren't changed by human effort or even by applying principles marriages are changed by the gospel of grace in six video sessions pastor alan and his wife and lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with the god of grace you'll learn a simple grace-filled process that makes great communication easy you'll discover the freedom of forgiveness and the power of celebration you'll also learn how to pray for your spouse and how to bless one another with a faith-filled vision for the future to help you grow when you order the video series we'll also send you two copies of the accompanying study guide whether your marriage is going through some special challenges or your marriage is in a season of health you'll find powerful transformational truth in good news for your marriage make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today and fill your marriage with the grace of god the gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries this broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support when you give today we will send you today's special offer we are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastor alan.org unlock the power of blessing your life discover god's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for alan wright's free daily blessing if you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement get alan wright's daily blessing it's free and just a click away at pastor alan.org back now with pastor alan and you know the phrase that i often hear is uh but for the grace of god or except by the grace of god and we might take that and say god is gracious to allow but really if you dig deeper i mean there is a a power that goes beyond just allowing that there's an emboldening that goes on here too the notion of uh living the christian life by our own power as we've seen is just impossible doesn't even make sense so jesus said remain there in jerusalem until you are clothed with power and i like that image because it is christians it is what's fitting for you to wear it doesn't make you a christian to have the power of god be upon you but it is fitting to you in other words it is the ordinary day-by-day clothing for every single christian the very power of the holy spirit which comes from on high higher power transcendent power not a not a force field or principle of electricity that you tap into but the very presence of jesus himself through the third person of the trinity the holy spirit so you have if you're a christian you have the holy spirit and i pray that you will continually discover what it is to walk in his power thanks for listening today 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