The Landmark Church

The Transforming Power of the Holy Spirit

The Landmark Church

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SPEAKER_00

we are going to be talking about the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. And one thing I must say is that when you are when you are trying to do a teaching of the Holy Spirit, that is such a that's such a big topic. And it's it's with all humility that I just you know pray that the Holy Spirit himself will teach us in the mighty name of Jesus. You know throughout history men and women alike have come into a relationship with this strange ancient spirit and their lives have never remained the same from when from from before creation even until now we encounter this spirit and you know sometimes people don't we don't really understand even as believers we're like oh did you receive the Holy Spirit yes I received the Holy Spirit but we still don't know the extent of the power that is at work in us. Amen we have been able to through scriptures we can have an understanding of who God the Father is you know we the the the Old Testament talks a lot about God the Father and because Jesus came down and became flesh and now we know that he's sitting on the on the throne of God in the right hand of God the Father we have somewhat of an understanding and okay he's fully God fully man he came to die on the cross but then we have this topic this Holy Spirit and we're like okay even when the Bible talks about it it talks about his operations it doesn't really talk about okay today he's coming like a dove another time he's coming like a wind another time he's in the fire so we don't really we don't we can't put a form to who the Holy Spirit is and as human beings we try to understand things based on our five senses we have to see it or feel it to to fully to fully realize what it is that the Holy Spirit is so today we just want to go the the the the topic of the Holy Spirit is vast we can talk about the Holy Spirit till eternity but today we just want to see talk a little bit about his transforming in trans his transforming power and just like Pastor has been teaching us when we want to know if we want to know about anything we have to see okay what did Jesus say what did Jesus say about the Holy Spirit how did he interact what what did he do with the Holy Spirit so we are going to start with that today amen when Jesus was on earth he demonstrated such wisdom and power and when he was preparing to leave he gathered his disciples he says come there is somebody I want to introduce you to and introduce them to the person of the Holy Spirit in John 14 16 to 17 it says I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. The spirit of truth the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him for he lives with you and will be with you. When we know that somebody is spending their last hours on earth they're about to um transit into the other world we take their word seriously even they themselves they everything they there is wait they don't just speak especially they know it is coming so imagine Jesus knowing that okay these are his last days these are his time on earth is running out and he tells his disciples come on come people there is something I want to tell you I know I've been with you you have seen me I am the way to the Father but there is I'm not going to leave you just like that. I'm gonna send somebody let me introduce you to someone and that person is the person of the Holy Spirit he's going to be an advocate for you. So we see that Jesus himself introduced his disciples to the Holy Spirit and in John 16 he goes to he talks about it in depth what the Holy Spirit is going to do and all that another thing that Jesus noted for us is that to represent the purpose of God in the flesh we need the Holy Spirit for us to fully do to first for us to be good representatives of Jesus and the to honor the will of the Father in on earth we need the we need the Holy Spirit because Jesus himself who was God in the flesh he needed the Holy Spirit when he was here and how do we know that in Luke 3 21 to 22 Luke 3 21 to 22 I'm gonna read that from my this was when Jesus was being baptized it says one day when the crowds were being baptized Jesus himself was baptized and as he was praying the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit in bodily form descended on him like a dove and a voice from heaven said you are my dearly loved son and you bring me great joy so if Jesus who is God in the flesh needed the Holy Spirit then we definitely need this person of the Holy Spirit but before we talk about the transforming power of the Holy Spirit we need to know who is this Holy Spirit that we're talking about who is this Holy Spirit I've heard about I've heard about it different sects in Christianity some people say he's an archangel some people say different things um you know other religions that definitely some of them don't even believe in the person of the Holy Spirit but we want to find out today who is the Holy Spirit and the first thing we want to state is that the Holy Spirit is God in the books in the book of Acts 5 verse 3 to 4 that is the story of Ananias and Sapphira and when Peter was trying to connect um correct um Ananias it's like why did you lie to God in the book of Acts 5 why did you lie to God why did you lie to the Holy Spirit so here we see that um Peter is saying that God is equating God to the Holy Spirit so we see Jesus is God the Holy Spirit is God himself who is the Holy Spirit he is the revealer and manifestation of the power and presence of God wherever wherever you see the Holy Spirit you know that Jesus is here he tells us that God is in our midst amen he gives omnipresence to the person of Jesus when Jesus was on earth he was bound by time he was bound by space and what do I mean by that he could only be in one location at a time but now we have the Holy Spirit and what does the Holy Spirit does he multiplies the presence of of Jesus here on earth now he the Holy Spirit with the with the presence of the Holy Spirit as he is here with us he's here with somebody in Belize he's here with somebody in Toronto he's he's everywhere so the Holy Spirit is the revealer and the manifestation of the presence of God another thing that the Holy Spirit is he is the spirit of wisdom Isaiah 11 verse 2 He is the revealer of wisdom if anybody is there can you please open to Isaiah 11 verse 2 if not I can just read okay I'll do it and the spirit of the Lord will rest on him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord here the Bible the Holy Spirit is called the spirit of wisdom praise the Lord He's the life giving force behind every manifestation of divine wisdom there is different there are different types of wisdom but the what we are talking about here is divine wisdom the Bible says that the wisdom that comes from above is first of all what pure praise the Lord so the by the the Holy Spirit is that wisdom of God and then the Holy Spirit is also the author of scripture 2 Peter 2 verse 1 and 20 says that the prophets were were were and were inspired by the by by the Holy Spirit in 2 Timothy 3 16 it says the scripture was given what by the who the Holy Spirit by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so he is the author of the scripture so you that means you cannot read you cannot read the Bible without asking for the help of the Holy Spirit he inspired he inspired the scriptures I know a lot of times people are saying oh well it's just men that came together but if I am if I am speaking now for example I'm doing this teaching and somebody else is transcribing my notes who has the intellectual property would it be me or would it be the person transcribing my notes it would be me so that is so that's what the Holy Spirit did he inspired those people across time across across different locations in different territories to write the Bible to to to share his mind with us so he is the author of scripture and then the fifth thing is that who we're still talking about who is the Holy Spirit he is the he gave birth to the church the Holy Spirit birth the church how do I know that in Romans 8 15 says he has given us the spirit of adoption whereby we can cry what abba he welcomed us into the family of God and in Acts 2 1 to 2 as Bible scholars we know it says on the day of Pentecost what happened the spirit of the Lord what descended upon them with with with with cloven tongues like of what like fire. So he was the one who birthed that was that that was how the the the the early church started when the Holy Spirit descended upon them that was how it started so he is the he was the one who gave birth to the church and we are we we live in an interesting time because in the old testament he came upon he came upon men and women in in the Bible he came upon samson he came upon Elijah he came upon elisha he came upon David I mean we would say that David is probably the person who had the closest you know encounter with the Holy Spirit like we do here now. But what guess what they came he came upon them he did something powerful and then he did he returned so they they had they they they never had the opportunity to know him and be intimate with him they did this sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit they didn't have it they didn't have that opportunity to say and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit because he came he did what he had to do and he left but now through Jesus the Holy Spirit welcomes us into the family of God number six who is the Holy Spirit he is a person he has a personality what makes what makes um some what make what is regard what do we need to do for something to be regarded as a personality or someone to be regarded as a personality he has to have a will he has a will the Holy Spirit has a will the second thing is he has emotions Ephesians 4 30 says do not grieve the the Holy Spirit if he doesn't have emotions the Bible will not say do not grieve the Holy Spirit so we can see and then the third thing is he has intellect he's the intelligence of God so when you put those three things together we can conclude that he is a he is a person. Praise the Lord so now that we've learned who the Holy Spirit is now that we've learned who the Holy Spirit is let us see the Holy Spirit in action somebody say the Holy Spirit in action so what does the Holy Spirit do the Holy Spirit has threefold functions first he means to minister to the creation second to minister to unbelievers and third to minister to believers so ministry to creation that is not where I'm going but we'll just gloss over it a little bit in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 to 3 the Bible says in the beginning what God created the heavens and the earth the earth was empty and without void and then what the spirit of God was moving. So and in the beginning again in that same Genesis 1 says the earth was what void empty and without void it was dark it was empty there was chaos everywhere and what did the Holy Spirit do the Holy Spirit had to come for there to be order when the Holy Spirit is in a space when the Holy Spirit is in a territory he turns chaos into order that's one thing that the Holy Spirit does so I pray today that anything that may look upside down anything that may look disorganized in your life today I speak the breath I speak the breath of the Almighty God into that and I said that it receives order in the name of Jesus He creates order. And another thing that the Holy Spirit the ministry in his ministry to creation is that he is the life giving dimension of God he gives life when Jesus was about to be born the angel Gabriel came and this is in Luke 1 verse 35 this is in Luke 135 the angel Gabriel came and he appeared to Mary and then he told him of all told her sorry of all the things that were going to happen. And then Mary said how would these things be and in Luke 135 the the the angel replied the power of the highest shall overshadow you so even even the birth of Jesus needed he needed the Holy Spirit to for it to happen. So he is the life giving dimension of God apostle um Joshua Selman says this says the unit of life is the Holy Spirit says that yes um scientists say okay the unit the atom is the unit of life but when you when you as when you search and search and search and search and search you will find out and come to a conclusion that the unit of life is the Holy Spirit because he's the one who breeds life into everything. Praise the Lord so we see here that the Holy Spirit has a ministry to creation to bring order to give life and to birth things praise the Lord so the second part of the of this um of this ministry to of this of this um Holy Spirit's ministry is that he ministers to unbelievers and that is where this joshua 16 verse um john 16 verse 8 comes can we read it together and when he has come he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of God praise the Lord. That's the work of the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit convicts sinners and how does it how does he do that he is the one who makes the word of God fruitful in their life he's the one who animates the word of God because without the Holy Spirit teachings preachings they are just lectures but it's the Holy Spirit that makes that difference that speaks into into the heart of man even when we go out to evangelize we are just speaking it is the Holy Spirit that does the work of conviction so whenever we see somebody respond to the altar call us for salvation we are seeing the Holy Spirit at work it is the Holy Spirit who brings men to a point where they recognize their need for Jesus you and I can talk and talk and talk and talk but it is the Holy Spirit that does the work amen he's the one who removes the veil he's the one who removes the veil from their eyes for our eyes to understand and accept Jesus remember the story um about when when Jesus after Jesus died and some two disciples were walking on the road to a mouse these people have been with Jesus but their eyes were blinded they were talking with him he was telling them who he was able from scriptures but they didn't understand until the veil was removed. So sometimes we can be around spiritual things and still not see them. So that's what the Holy Spirit does he removes the veil because for most of us because we've been saved so long we don't realize that it there's actually a veil that is covering the eyes of people from accepting this gospel of Jesus because nobody will say nobody would nobody no no logical person would would would hear you're running it there's fire over there you're running towards it if something is not covering if something is not covering their their mind or something is not clouding their judgment praise the Lord it is the Holy Spirit that brings the reality of Jesus to you and I that's what he does for to unbelievers he brings the reality of Jesus to you in the book of Isaiah chapter 6 I'm gonna read that quickly Isaiah 6 verse 1 this is Isaiah now this was a prophet and it says in Isaiah 6 verse 1 it says it was in the year that what King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne and the train of his robe filled the temple it was the Holy Spirit that opened his eyes so the spirit of God brings the reality of Jesus to you it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that gives life to our faith experience otherwise even pastors you can get tired you know you can get drained but it is the Holy Spirit that brings that gives you life that keeps you going that's why sometimes you get people who get tired they get worried and they say over time they say there's this there's this person that I heard that it was they came out their song was a movement around that and around a few years back and you know people went to the cinemas to watch their movie that there's everybody was singing the song and then recently I just heard that he came out to say well he has been faking it he has been a he has been under the influence even while he was singing those songs. So we cannot do this work by ourselves just imagine the disciples they were with Jesus day in day out they saw the miracles and after he left they were tired Peter went back like please he said he said to he said to um Thomas are you coming I'm going to I'm going back to my fishing trade so without the Holy Spirit we can get tired he is the one who who energizes us to move on in our journey praise the Lord and this the next part the third so we had so what's number one what's the first ministry of the Holy Spirit the ministry to what ministry to creation good what's the second one what does he do to the unbelievers yes he convicts sinners thank you very much thank you so the third the thirdfold ministry of the Holy Spirit is ministry to believers and what he does for believers is transformation and empowerment. Those are the two things that the Holy Spirit does to believers so the greatest need of an unbeliever is not clothes is not house rents is not hospital bills the greatest need for an unbeliever is salvation but then when you accept salvation the greatest need of a believer is transformation transformation becomes what you need the Bible says that what we must constantly what be transformed by the what renewing because it is important we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind so we are going to do out of these two today our four emphasis is going to be on transformation praise the Lord so the ministry to unbelievers transformation transformation is that process that makes you like Christ in experience it is that process that makes you like Christ in experience 2 Corinthians 318 can we read it together but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of God are being what? Transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord what is our goal our goal is to be transformed into what the image of Christ to the image of God the Son that is our goal as Christians to look like Christ to be like Christ and what what the process that makes that happen is the process of transformation and the Holy Spirit is the one who makes that happen. I have here in my notes that the Holy Spirit is the agency authorized by God to take advantage of the word and sponsor transformation in the life of a believer in simple terms is the Holy Spirit that trans that that that makes the transformation happen. Praise the Lord transformation is impossible until the Holy Spirit gives life to the word the Bible says that the entrance of your word what it gives light that entrance of the word what makes it happen it is the what the Holy Spirit that makes it happen. Amen so when the spirit so one one thing that Jesus said to them in in the book of um in the book of John 16 verse 13 says however when he the spirit of truth has come he will guide you into all truth for he will not speak on his authority but whatever he he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come so the Holy Spirit is there to guide us into truth The Holy Spirit is there to guide us into truth. Somebody says that truth in itself is not what liberates us. It is the guidance of the truth to be able to apply it line by line that actually brings about the liberation. So you can know you can know the truth, but if you are not able to apply it into your own context, into the way that that matters for you, then you cannot be free. I can know that there is money in America, but if I don't know how to apply it to my context, then I'm not free. I'm still in debt. So you can know the truth, but then you need guidance. Okay, somebody takes my hand, say, okay, apply for this grant, um, don't do this, study this, to go there. You know, do you know that there is money for for black um for African American and immigrants? That there's this grant, go and do it, go and apply for this, go and apply for that. That is the person guiding me line by line, precept by precept. Or do you know that it's possible for you to be debt-free? This is how you do it. Just say $5, $5, $5 every day. There are some things that you might have to close your eyes to, but it can be done. So it is line by line, precept by precept. Because I can tell you that, oh, you have to be debt-free. You know, it's good for you to be, it's good for you to be debt free, or it's good for you to, what's another thing that we can say now? You can be a billionaire in the in the nation of America. But if I don't know how to do it, it is of no effect to me. So truth in itself is not what liberates, it is the guidance of the truth, guiding you step by step, and that is what the Holy Spirit does. So access to truth must be followed by the presence of the Holy Spirit, must be followed by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are still talking about this transformation, what the Holy Spirit does, and that's his role. His role is to guide us into all truth, he guides us step by step. There's some information that if we hear it out of order, it has the potential to destroy your life. If you hear it in the wrong order. So, for example, a new convert comes and says, and the first message they hear is about wealth and prosperity. That is good, it's not a bad message. But if they have not heard other kingdom principles, it can be detrimental to them because they have you now have access, okay, you have access to this world. But if you've not understood that in this kingdom mode, we operate by different rules. For example, we operate by the principle of stewardship. Everything you have belongs to God. There is he that scattereth, he earth increases, it increases, but there is he that holds and turns to poverty. Those are principles. So if this person doesn't really understand, they're unaware of these Queen John principles, then they might be chasing wealth and chasing all these things at the detriment of their soul. Praise the Lord. So the transformation that we need and the guidance that we need for that transformation in that truth of the is the Holy Spirit is what gives it to us. Amen. So transformation and and renewal is the culmination of our salvation experience. So our salvation experience doesn't just end with, okay, I gave my life to Christ. Now you have to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Amen. So when when you when when transformation happens, it's because what has happened in the spirit realm is now finding expression in your soulish realm and you are now acting it out. So that salvation that you that your spirit man has been regenerated, it now finds expression. Your mind, your mind is now saying, okay, I'm now in a new kingdom. In this new kingdom, we walk in love. In this new kingdom, we we we give. In this new kingdom, we behave. This is there are certain ways we can and cannot behave. So your your your soul is now catching up. That's what transformation is. Your soul catching up to what has already happened in your spirit, man. Because the day you the day you begave your life to Christ, your spirit was regenerated. But there is a lot of work that needs to be done in our soul and in our flesh. Praise the Lord. That is when you can now say that this mind in that was in Christ Jesus is now in you. Philippians 2 verse 5 says what? Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. It's transformation that makes it happen. That we can now say that oh, this mind that was in Christ Jesus is now in me. And let me tell you something important. Why, let me tell you the reason why transformation is important. Transformation is important because your mind is the only gateway that the Holy Spirit has acts to have access to you. So if your mind cannot host God, then you cannot host God. So if my mind cannot host God, then I can't host God. So you see why it's important that we that we are transformed, that our mind is renewed? Because I'm sure here everybody, if we want to say, Oh, who wants to host the Holy Spirit? Everybody wants to. But then it has you have to go through the the concept of um transformation. Amen. Job 32, verse 8 says, There is a spirit in man. I don't know if I have it there. There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him what? That's a favor, that's one of my favorite scriptures. There is a spirit in man. I can start my spiritual work in ignorance, completely naive or spiritual principles. And then the Holy Spirit holds my hand, and all of a sudden, what there is what the spirit of God gives him what understanding, he gives you wisdom, he holds my hand, he begins to instruct me. This is how you should do it. We don't say this, this is how to walk in love. What you did to your sister was not good. He teaches me the culture of the kingdom, and then all of a sudden, I become a sign and a wonder to many. And people was that people are like, Oh, this person has been with Christ. So God is not saying, Oh, come all perfect, but the Holy Spirit does that work of transforming you, changing you from where you have been to where you are going. Praise the Lord. So, my question now is, or the question somebody might have is how does how does the Holy Spirit do this do this work of transformation? Okay, you've said I we need to be transformed, it is important. You told us why it's important, but how does the Holy Spirit do that? He does that by activating our spiritual senses. He activates your spiritual sense. First Corinthians 2 14 says, But the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. The natural man cannot understand anything that is in the in is in the spiritual realm. His senses are dead. So it's the Holy Spirit that now makes us aware of what is going on. He strengthens our spiritual organs to say, okay, be more discerning. The spirit, this is the nature of this is who you are, this is your God's nature in you. It's the Holy Spirit that does that. Amen. Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5, verse 14 says, For the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light. That's the what the Holy Spirit does. It awakens us. He awakens us. He awakens us to the reality of who we are in Christ. That this this this day you decided to give your life to Jesus. This is now what's this is what your reality has become. He helps us to do that. Amen. Another how does the Holy Spirit transform us? He brings understanding and revelation of scripture. John 14, 26. But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will do what? Teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. The Holy Spirit is our teacher, he's the one who breaks upon the word of God, and all of a sudden there is illumination. That's that scripture that you have been reading over and over again, it starts making sense to you. You know, Pastor taught us last week about faith, that he taught us about faith, and he said something that when you meditate on the word of God, all of a sudden, you know, you are you are chewing on the word of God, and then something strikes you. And that passage that every other person has been reading, you now have a better understanding of it. And then you say, Oh, this you just unlock something, and you are able to access that in the realm of the spirit. Amen. So that is what the Holy Spirit does. Light comes, the light just boom. And who does that? The Holy Spirit. It's it's because it takes more than focus for us to understand the things of the spirit. You know, when we are studying, you can just say, Okay, I'm studying physics, I'm just going to focus and keep reading. But for for our for the spiritual things, do we need the help of the Holy Spirit? So when we are reading our Bibles, even when we are doing anything, we just say, Holy Spirit, please help me. Because he wrote it, he wrote the scriptures and he can animate it for you. Our natural mind cannot understand such things, it's the Holy Spirit that helps us, amen. So, of course, on principles, for example, they don't they don't make sense, like the one I mentioned earlier. Scatter, yet increase, gather, and then you are still poor. How does that make sense? I would in my natural mind for me to gain more, I should do what I should collect, right? But the Holy Spirit is saying no, there is either scatter. You scatter is his souls and increases. So sometimes the things of the spirit they don't make sense, but it's the Holy Spirit that helps us and gives light to that word. Amen. Another thing that have another way the Holy Spirit helps us in in transformation is that he brings guidance and direction. Isaiah 30, verse 21. Verse 21, sorry.

SPEAKER_01

Your ears shall hear the word behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it. Whenever you turn to the right, the right time, or whenever you turn to the left.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. The Holy will hear your your ears will hear him behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it. Because maturity and longevity in life does not does not amount to to having direction for your life or doesn't guarantee success in life. Because there are so many things that you have to account for, there are so many things that have to work in your favor for you to for you to even succeed. And some there are some things you learn in your 20s, there are some things you don't learn in your 70s, you know. So it's there's so much going around, but then you have this ancient spirit, the Holy Spirit who has been here even before the beginning, willing to hold your hand, and that's how he shows you the way. That's how he says, Okay, do this, don't do this, and all of a sudden you see that things are working out for you. So that's how the Holy Spirit brings about transformation. And my notes I have here that the Holy Spirit brings the life and culture of heaven to a man. He brings the life and culture and culture of heaven to a man, so he changes you so you no longer look like yourself. The Holy Spirit brings life and culture of heaven. You are now under different kingdom, you're now under the kingdom of God. He teaches you kingdom culture. So you are looking at yourself and you're like, is this me? How many of us remember? Those are of us that are on social media. Some months back there was a trend, post yourself in 2016. How many of us remember that? Post yourself in 2016. Okay, so it was this trend about posting yourself in 20 about 10 years ago. And for most people it was nostalgic, like, wow, this is what I looked like in 2016. And it create whether you posted or not, for most people, it created that nostalgia, just reflect like on how much time has passed and how things have either gone for better or for worse for you. And but when you allow the Holy Spirit to transform you, that is what happens. There is a vast difference between your before and your after. He shakes off your limitations so that so much that you can't even recognize yourself. People that knew you before, they're like, wait, is this is this beaming? Is this coming solar? Is this pastor acting? That's what the Holy Spirit does. Now, let's quickly, before I wrap up, let's quickly look at some lives that the Holy Spirit has transformed. The apostles, specifically Peter. Before the Holy Spirit, what are some things that what are some things that Peter did? Peter before the Holy Spirit, he denied Jesus. Remember in Luke 22, verse 54 to 62, three times he had the opportunity. First of all, Jesus had told him, you are going to deny me. He said, Me? Never, never. No, that can't be me. But then three times he did what? Well, they said, You look like, but I know you, you I've seen you. I know. In fact, he even followed Jesus from a distance, so he denied Jesus before the Holy Spirit. And then in after Jesus died, in John 20, the Bible records that all the apostles they hid in one room in fear of the Jews. So he cowered in fear. And then in John 20, verse 1 to um John John 20 21, verse 2, he called Nathan, he called Thomas. He said, Boy, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going back to fishing. Come, let's go. Let's go and fish. Jesus, this same Peter that Jesus said, On you, I will build my church. On this rock, on this rock, I will build my church. You are the same one saying you are going to leave ministry because the Holy Spirit was not in his life yet. So you see, he lost his confidence, he lost his courage, he he he he was so impulsive and everything. But then what happened? You know, if you had a physical Bible, this was just John 21, right? You think like, okay, this man is is is gone back to fishing and everything. This is this is done for him, and then you flip your Bible, and then you write into Acts. You go into the book of Acts, you read chapter 1, okay, why acts is here, and then you go to chapter 2, and then it talks about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This same Peter that denied Jesus, this same Peter that gave up a lost hope. In chapter 14, let's read it together. Acts 2, 14. This is after the Holy Spirit had come. It says then Peter stepped forward with the 11 other apostles and shouted to the crowd, listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem. Make no mistake about this. And this is where he gave his famous sermon. This was somebody who was the inverse in John 20, they were hiding. In John 21, he had gone back to fishing. But now he had boldness and courage because what the Holy Spirit had come upon him. He's the same person that they said, go about, they beat them up, and they say in Acts chapter 4. In Acts chapter 4, they beat them up and they said, Don't say anything about Jesus again. He said, I don't fear you, I fear God. Praise the Lord. So he had boldness. He came out to teach them. That's what the Holy Spirit does when it transforms, when it transforms us. And they're like, ah, in chapter 13, in Acts 4 13, they said, Prince, when these people, the fishermen, what happened? They had been with the Holy Spirit. That is what happened. There was a vast difference. There was a change between that that unlearned fisherman and that coward, that cowardly guy, he was now in you, he had now taken on the image because of the Holy Spirit of the lion of the tribe of Judah. So he was now bold and courageous. Amen. And then in Acts chapter 5, verse 12, Acts 5, 12, we see that he even performed miracles. Since the apostles, Paul included and Peter included, were performing many signs, miraculous signs and wonders among the people, and all the believers were meeting regularly at the temple. This is what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit transforms us. Amen. And then last but not least, we look at um Paul. We see the transformation of Paul. Paul's transformation is just amazing. He went from being a radical persecutor. He was one of the people that you know instigated the killing of Stephen. And um Jesus appeared to him in Acts 9, verse 4 and said, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And then right there in something happened in chapter 17, in verse 17, it says Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, and that was what caused the transformation in his life. And there in Acts 19, it says, many miracles were wrought by the hand of Paul. That is somebody who came from not believing in not believing in Jesus to now being filled so much with the Holy Spirit that He He was now doing miracles. And you know, Paul authored most of the New Testament um books. So think Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. So we see that when the Holy Spirit comes in your life, there is nothing that he cannot do. There is nothing that the Holy Spirit cannot do when you allow his ministry in your life. He can transform anything, he can look beyond your your your flaws and your shortcomings. Amen. And your transformation is your proposition to go to your world that this is what Christ seeks to produce. It is your your what you are showcasing to the world that this is what Christ can do to your life. This is what Christ can do to your life. God wants to make a message out of your life. That is my summary today. That is my charge today. God wants to make a message out of my life. God wants to display his glory in my life. God wants to transform me, but what do I need to do? I need to trans be transformed. And how do I do that? By allowing, by renewing my mind. I need to renew my mind. Quickly, let me just read the book of Hebrews, chapter 12. We see some of these people that verse 1. It says, We are surrounded, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, that means we are not running alone, right? Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip every weight. And then he goes down and says, verse 29. It was by faith that the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. It was by faith that they marched around Jericho. It was by faith that um Rahab welcomed the spies. It was by faith. Talk about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel. They these people they overthrew kingdoms. Verse 33. They ruled with justice. They obtained promises. That's what the NKJV says. They shut the mouths of lions, they quenched the flames of fire and escaped death by the edge of their sword. Their weaknesses were turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death. These are the people because of the Holy Spirit. These are the people that are cheering us on. These are the people that are cheering us on. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, this is what these are what they did. They shut the mouth of land. This says the women received their death, they quenched fiery darts. We are running. You think of it as a relay race. You run and you hand the batson over to other people. And these were people who even had the Holy Spirit come upon them, not even within them. So my question to you and I is what if these are the things that these people did with the Holy Spirit upon them? We have the Holy Spirit within us. So what are you going to do with the Holy Spirit? What are you going to do with the Holy Spirit? And that is possible. Anything is possible. The Holy Spirit can transform us if only we allow him. Praise the Lord.