2022
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Before you click on the link below, you can read the transcript of the video below the link and the project Kevin suggests.
Fellowship Project: Blog Posting
After you watch the video and read the study notes below, answer these questions here:
How have you experienced the effects and power of the Holy Spirit in your life?
1. When you hear the message of God and Jesus Christ, are you mixing it with faith?
2. Faith is of the heart.
4. God’s mystery has been revealed.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
—Ephesians 3:20
DISCUSSION:
In the Book of Acts, Paul and the Apostles went to Ephesus. Ephesus was known for its high places, witchcraft, and the occult. When the city repented, they turned in all their spell books. When people had spell books, it wasn’t like today where you could buy one at a store. Each warlock, witch, or sorcerer had a familiar spirit or a demon that would give them secrets on what to do and say, then they would write the incantations in the book. The familiar spirit would help them know how to operate in it, making them significant money.
Each individual had their demon working for them, and they would have particular things that the demon liked. They would have to burn certain types of incense and herbs and say certain keywords, and it would invoke the demon to do what was being requested. There were also blood offerings and animal and human sacrifices. All types of terrible things were happening. When they repented and turned in their spell books, it meant that they were divorcing that evil spirit, and they couldn’t memorize all that was in there, and they would never go back.
This is important because when Paul would write to the Ephesians, they were very well versed in the spirit realm. They understood evil spirits because they operated in that. He said to those that knew the spirit realm, “You don’t know my insight until you read my letter on what I know. My insight is in the mystery of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.” He opened a whole avenue that they knew nothing about, and they knew nothing about the mystery of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 3:1-7 ESV: For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
• Paul said, “I'm a minister according to the gift of God's free grace that is bestowed upon me by the working of His power.”
• You can't just have the message and not have the power. You can't separate God's Word from His power because the Holy Spirit is the
Spirit of truth.
• God's Word is His truth. You can't have one and not the other.
• The working of His power was bestowed upon him. of Paul’s gift was the working of Christ’s power in him.
• You cannot just have a message. You have to have the demonstration as well as the message.
• His effectiveness was based on the power of the resurrection.
• It gets the attention of those who were witches because they like the whole power and authority thing.
• If a well-learned person has a form of godliness but denies the power, thereof, Paul says, don’t even associate with people like that.
HOLY SPIRIT, THE AUTHOR OF TRUTH
• People change their doctrine to compensate for what appears to be God’s inactivity instead of standing on who God is as a person.
• People should not manipulate God but allow Him to be Himself and accept that the Holy Spirit has not changed His personality or working one bit.
• He has not changed His expression and who He is.
• When He comes, people get healed. When He comes, people get set free. When He comes, truth is revealed. He leads people into truth.
• He reminds us of things Jesus said and the things to come.
• When the Holy Spirit shows up, miracles happen because there is nothing natural about Him.
• He’s the Holy Spirit, and you’re going to experience Holiness when He’s around. If you don’t, then it’s not the Holy Spirit.
• You’re going to experience truth when He comes. If you’re not experiencing truth, then it’s not the Holy Spirit.
• It’s the same thing with liberty. If He’s not in the room, then you’re not going to have freedom. If He’s in the room, then you’re going to have freedom.
John 3:1-3 NLT: There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
• Jesus explained to Nicodemus that you could see the effects of the Holy Spirit working. Nicodemus was figuring, “How am I going to go back into my mother's womb and be born again (vs. 4)?”
• Jesus said, “No, this is a spiritual thing. The Holy Spirit is like the wind (vs. 8). You can't see the wind, but you see the effects of the wind in the trees.