Originally posted 7/2/20
Last week we talked about what it looks like to come to the end of a wilderness time. We imagined what it must have been like to be a child raised in the wilderness, and then to be there as you marched around the walls of Jericho and watched them fall. Here’s the thing, the Israelites could never have defeated Jericho if they had not first been filled with the Holy Spirit.
You are 40 years old, and the only leader you have ever known has died. You and your family can’t even have a proper burial because God took his body and buried it someplace that you can never know. (See Deuteronomy 34:6) Now this other old guy named Joshua has become your leader. You wonder if you can trust him like you trusted Moses. You think to yourself, did Yahweh really choose Joshua to be our next leader? After all, Joshua and Caleb are the only elders left. You are in the next oldest group, and you have no clue how to lead this group of people. You have mental knowledge of who God is, but you have never seen his work in a really big way like your parents did at the crossing of the Red Sea, or all the plagues of Egypt. Sure God gives you manna to eat each morning, but that doesn’t really count as a miracle, does it? One day Joshua tells you all to consecrate yourself because you are going to cross the Jordan River. You spend the day preparing your heart to be clean before God. You spend most of your day in prayer to God, do all you need to do to be clean in the eyes of God. The next morning Joshua tells the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant into the Jordan River. You watch in amazement as the waters part just like the stories you heard about when your parents crossed the Red Sea. You and your whole family crossover on dry land.
Now you know without any doubt the power of the God you serve. You can actually feel his power working through you, and you can’t wait for the next miracle to happen. You no longer have only mental knowledge of who God is, you have heart, life-changing knowledge. Then Joshua tells you all how God intends to defeat the people in Jericho, and you wonder if your leader heard God correctly. You obey because you are forced to despite how you feel about the situation. At the end of the seventh day you are again astonished at how powerful your God is!
The Israelites would never have had the power of God working in them when they came to the walls of Jericho if they had not first walked through the Jordan River, because this was symbolic of being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we as Christias are able to do anything for God. Remember Stephen in the book of Acts? He was the first Christian martyr. Acts 6:5 describes Stephen as “a man full of faith, and of the Holy Spirit.” Stephen didn’t just have faith in Jesus as his Savior, but he was filled with the Holy Spirit and was able to be a powerful leader. In Acts 6:8 Stephen is doing “great wonders and signs among the people.” While those great wonders and signs aren’t specifically listed, you can bet that he was doing the same things the other apostles were doing.
In Acts 2 Peter is seen standing in a huge group of people proclaiming that Jesus is the ONLY way to salvation. In chapter 3 Peter and John heal a lame beggar. This man, who was born lame, was touched by two men who were filled with the Holy Spirit and could then walk and run! We even see Stephen telling the religious leaders of the saving grace given by Jesus, which is the very thing that caused them to get mad and stone him to death. Stephen’s last words are recorded in Acts 7:60, “And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” Only someone filled with the power of the Holy Spirit would be able to say such a thing about the people who are killing them.
Have you been filled with the Holy Spirit? Has another Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit prayed for you to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Have you asked God to fill you with the Holy Spirit? If not, I encourage you to find a Spirit-filled Christan and talk more about what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
You see, the Christan life is so much more than just getting your ticket to Heaven. God wants so much more for you. Jesus tells us in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they [you] may have life and have it abundantly.” It is through living a life filled with the power of the Holy Spirit that you get to experience the abundant life promised to you. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that you can see yourself like Jesus sees you.
The Holy Spirit fills you with power to do miraculous things, just like you read about in Acts. In addition to spreading the spiritual healing that comes with admitting you are a sinner and surrendering your life to Jesus as your Savior, we are meant to spread physical and emotional healing as well. That is actually what the word ‘saved’ means in Romans 10:9, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” The Greek word for ‘saved’ here is ‘sozo.’ Sozo means: to save, i.e. deliver or protect-heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole. Getting healed spiritually, physically, and emotionally sounds like an abundant kind of life to me. What do you think? Don’t you want that kind of saving? I do!
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