<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

David Wright

Empowered by His Spirit

Well, Sally was living in a poverty stricken home.

Her husband had died about 30 years before, and once he died, she became so discouraged that she never wanted to leave the house.

Now you can imagine that if a home has been virtually untouched for 30 years, it was in sore need of many repairs.

The house severely needed some painting years ago.

And so they turned off the lights to this house since that meant that there was no heat in her little house.

By now Sally was cooking on a little Coleman stove over in the corner.

Her clothes were threadbare and she was living in a very terrible, bad, rough situation as you can imagine.

Her neighbors hardly ever saw her because she never left to get out of the house until 1 of her friends, Miriam, who had not seen Sally for 30 years, decided to come by and to see her.

And as she came, she saw this house deteriorated and in a complete mess.

And so she could tell right away that Sally was desperate.

And so she said, Sally, I'm here to help.

And so she brought in some food and said, let's get started with this place, let's clean this up and let's clean that up.

And as they were cleaning up, they came across an old roll-top desk that Sally's husband Jeb had 30 years ago.

As Miriam rolled it down, she saw a folder that said, For Sally.

And in fact, there was a whole stack of things, various letters and notes that he wanted his wife to have.

And Miriam asked Sally, Sally, what is all of this?

I was just so discouraged after he passed that I just have left it shut all these years and As they opened up 1 of the folders there was a letter inside That read something like this dear Sally.

I don't have much time left on earth, but I've made all the provisions necessary for you.

I will be leaving this world shortly because I know this cancer is terminal but you will not be wanting for anything.

There is the bank book in the folder take that to the bank please.

And please know that I love you very much, and sign his name, Jeb.

It was discovered that in the savings account, deposited some 30 years earlier, there was about $58, 000.

But with compound interest, it was now worth $254, 000.

In the safety deposit box, there was a coin collection in itself worth $47, 000.

There were stock certificates that were worth $550, 000, and then there was liquid cash of $32, 000.

As it turns out, Sally was 1 of the richest women in the city.

She was living as if she was a pauper with no money to buy food, clothes, to have electricity, yet she ironically was incredibly wealthy.

The question I want to ask this morning, could it be, Is it possible that our Lord left us extremely rich and extremely wealthy?

But could it be that at times we are living poverty-stricken Christian lives?

Men, have you ever felt powerless to overcome those immoral thoughts that flow through your mind?

Women, have you felt powerless to overcome that critical tongue?

Have you ever felt that in your life you have failed in the same thing again and again and again?

And you have said to yourself, why is it that I cannot get what I believe in my head into action in my life?

Somebody doesn't have to tell me that it's wrong.

I don't need more reinforced guilt that what I'm doing is wrong.

I think all of us at times in our lives have been frustrated when the devil has attacked us and we have fallen.

I think all of us at times have felt powerless.

Have you ever felt at times that you wanted to say something to that non-Christian friend and you didn't quite know what to say or how to phrase it and you felt powerless in your witness?

There are times that we feel powerless in our personal lives, that we feel powerless in our witness, and the answer to that is the ministry, I believe, of the Holy Spirit living and dwelling in our lives.

So we want to take a look this morning at the promise of Jesus.

In Hebrews chapter 6 is where we're going to begin verse 18 And so the question we have here in Hebrews 6, verse 18, that I want us to answer, is there anything that Jesus cannot do?

And the initial thought might be, well, Jesus can do anything.

Hebrews chapter 6, we're reading here in verse 18.

That by 2 immutable things, that is unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to what?

Well, if we go back in verse 16, for when God made a promise to Abraham, we could call that an oath.

And then if we skip down to verse 16, it talks about for men in deed swear by the greater and an oath for confirmation is for them of all time.

We have the covenant with Abraham, and then we have the oath.

Those are the 2 immutable, unchangeable things, and it's impossible for him to lie.

God says, what God says is truth, because He is truth.

In fact, I would go as far as to say if it wasn't true, as soon as He said it, it would be true.

So if God gives a promise and if it is impossible for God to lie, then the reception of that promise means that it depends on our believing the promise.

So since he cannot lie, since he is the truth, when he gives a promise, I don't have to question the promise.

Luke chapter 24 and we're gonna read there in verse 49.

You'll notice this is the last chapter of Luke.

Some of Jesus' parting words here, and in them we find a promise.

Luke chapter 24, verse 49, it says, behold, I send the promise, there it is.

I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.

So Jesus says, I send the promise of my Father, that when Jesus ascended to heaven, that Christ would be welcomed by the Father.

And as the token that he was welcomed by the Father, he would send his Holy Spirit to his earthly followers.

So the reception of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost by the disciples was the signal that Jesus' sacrifice had been accepted by the Father.

And the proof of that is in Acts 2 verse 33.

Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise, there it is again, of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see and hear.

This is a truth that is often overlooked by many Christians and Seventh-day Adventists.

Where was the Holy Spirit poured out from?

That only the Holy Spirit that I'm interested in, really, the 1 that you and I should be worried about is the Holy Spirit poured out from the heavenly sanctuary.

Jesus gave a promise to his earthly church that as he ascended to the Father and entered the holy place of the sanctuary, that the Holy Spirit would be poured out from the sanctuary on the early Christian church to begin the work of God on earth.

Back to Menu

Empowered by His Spirit

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

Adventist Fake News

Game On, Game Over, Gave Up

49m

In Defense of our Sanctuary Message

42m

Sanctuary, Salvation, & Our Savior

Sanctuary, Salvation, & Our Savior - Part 5: Sanctuary Under Siege

1h 12m

Evening Plenary

05 Not Just Another Church

1h 11m

Our Greatest Need

47m

God's Love Stories (Noon Meetings)

12. Demon Possession in India

1h 41m

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Sanctuary

05 The Golden Lampstand

46m

Part 5 - Crossing the Jordan

1h 9m

The Three Angels’ Messages and the Latter Rain, Prayer, and Revival

1h 30m

Hungering for More of HIM

02 Powerless

42m

Plenary

Going Big So We Can Go Home

1h 43m

The Parables

The Ten Virgins

37m

Sound Doctrine