Fulfill Your Calling – Episode 2 – David Steele, Founder of Truth Planters
Hey guys, welcome back to episode two of this series on how to fulfill your calling (David Steele, Founder of Truth Planters). In episode one we looked at the pattern that God uses when he wants to accomplish something on the earth. We looked at how he wills something, then how he speaks it out and then how he sends his Spirit to achieve his purposes. And we looked at a few examples of how he filled a man with his Spirit and that man was then able to do what God wanted to happen on earth but in a way that was beyond that man’s natural ability. And we talked about how apart from him we can do nothing that our competence doesn’t come from ourselves. And we talked about how when he empowers us with his Spirit we can take part in what he is doing on the earth. And that our calling ultimately is to bring glory to him. And I said that God doesn’t empower us to make us look good or to enable us to fulfilll our purposes but he does it to fulfill his purposes and to bring him glory. So let’s jump into episode two. Episode two is about how we are supposed to operate in order to fulfill the calling that God has on our lives and to be a part of what he is doing on the earth. And Jesus is our example for this, in fact Jesus is our example for everything in the Christian life. And if we look in the life of Jesus. If we look in Luke chapter four verse one, it says „Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness”. And then a few verses later, in verse 14 it says „Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.” So immediately there we see three things about Jesus, this is how Jesus operated. First of all, he was full of the Holy Spirit, secondly he was led by the Holy Spirit, and thirdly he was operating in the power of the Holy Spirit. And I just want to encourage you, please, do not stop seeking God about these things until you not only understand what it means to be full of the Spirit, led by the Spirit and operating in the power. Not only that you understand it but don’t stop seeking God until you’re actually living in those three things. Now, that’s been a journey for me to understand what those things mean and I’m gonna try and unpack those things in this series so that you know what the Scripture is talking about when it says those things. But in this episode we’re gonna look at being full of the Holy Spirit. You see, in episode one we looked at this verse, Luke 24:49 and it says „I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” And we’ve talked about how Jesus had told the disciples to go out and preach the Gospel, you know, make disciples and basically spread this Gospel message throughout the whole world. But then he said „wait, stay in the city until you’ve been clothed with power from on high”. So what was this promise that Jesus told them to wait for before they should do what he had told them to do? Well, it was the same thing that he’d been talking about in John chapter 7. And in John chapter 7 verses 38 and 39 it says this „Jesus stood up and said ”whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” Interestingly he doesn’t say „rivers of living waters will flow into you” he said „rivers of living waters will flow from within you”. So you can see that when a person receives what Jesus is talking about, when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, not only does the Spirit of God fill them, but the Spirit that has filled them then overflows out of them into the people around them. And of course this is what Jesus was saying, this was the empowerment that he’d told the disciples to wait for. Because until you’ve had that empowerment, you cannot achieve God’s purposes on the earth. You cannot fulfill a supernatural calling. You see the call that God has on your life is a supernatural calling, therefore it requires supernatural power. So when did the disciples receive this empowering? Well, that happened on the day of Pentecost. But before we get to that -we’re gonna talk about that- I want you to know that it wasn’t only Jesus that had been talking about this. You see, before Jesus started talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, John the Baptist said this, he said „I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8) And that word for baptize is a Greek word, and it’s the word baptizo, it’s where we get our word „baptize” from. And it means to make fully wet. And so when we think about a person who gets baptized in water you know they go under the water and they get fully wet. That’s what we’re talking about when we’re talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We’re talking about something that completely immerses your life. And hundreds of years before John the Baptist spoke about this, the prophet Joel spoke about this. He told the people, this was God telling the people through him, what was going to happen in the future and to whom it was going to happen and this is what the prophet Joel prophesied. In Joel 2:28-29 he said, „And afterward I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” So let’s get to the exciting part. So after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and ascension to heaven, we come to the book of Acts. And in Acts chapter two, the beginning of Acts chapter 2, it says this „when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what happened to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tounges as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:1-4) And I remember the day that that happened to me. And you know in this chapter here the people that saw this happening thought that these people were crazy. In fact they saw what was going on and they thought „these people must be drunk, because they’re speaking these words”. And there was something so amazing happening. And Peter stood up and he said „these men are not drunk, it’s 9 o’clock in the morning” and he stood up and he preached the Gospel. And he told them what Jesus had done. And he said, „this is what the prophet Joel spoke about”, so you are now seeing the fulfilment of that prophecy from the book of Joel where he said „I will pour out my Spirit on all people, and on your sons and your daughters”. And it says in Acts chapter 2 verses 37 to 39 „when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles „Brothers, what shall we do?”. You see, they’d heard the Gospel and they knew that they needed to respond to the Gospel. And „Peter replied, „Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:37-39) Now, Peter said that about 2000 years ago, but you can see that the promise was not limited to those people. Because he said that the promise is for you, and your children –so that means it’s not limited to that generation – and then he said for all who are far off – so it’s not limited to this geographical location, and then he says „for all who the Lord our God will call”. And if the Lord God is calling me, and the Lord God is calling you, then this baptism of the Holy Spirit is a promise for us. So of course these disciples were filled with the Spirit in a way that they’d never experienced before. They spoke new languages, they were prophesying, and they had a new boldness and power. And actually a few chapters later the believers pray and they’re filled with the Spirit again and it says after that that they spoke the Word of God boldly. So they had a new boldness, they were empowered to do the things that God had already told them to do. And I remember when I met the lady who was going to be my wife, Hannah, before we were married. And I really felt God was starting to show me that she was going to be my wife. And one of the concerns I had was that whenever we were in a group and we were praying together, I couldn’t sense that the rivers of living water were flowing out of her. I wasn’t sure if she was filled with the Holy Spirit and I said, „but God, is she baptized in the Holy Spirit?” And I wasn’t sure but I knew that if she was gonna be my wife, she would need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit because I knew some of the plans that God had for me in the future. And I remember saying to Hannah one day, „Hannah, come with me, I want to talk to you about the Holy Spirit”. And I started in the book of Genesis, and I worked my way all the way through the Old Testament into the New Testament and I shared with her that God wants to fill us with His Holy Spirit. And I said, „Hannah, are you ready to pray now?” and she said, „David, I need some time to think about what you’ve said” and so she went away and she thought about it. And a few weeks later we were just sitting on a field on a blanket and I just felt the Lord say to me „now is the time, I want to fill Hannah with my Holy Spirit”. And I said to Hannah, I said „Hannah, I think God wants to fill you with his Holy Spirit, would you be okay to pray about it?” and she said, „yeah, I think I’m ready.” And I remember that we were kneeling next to each other and I put my hand on Hannah’s back and I just said „Father, would you fill her with your Holy Spirit?” and then I just waited. And as I waited, I started to see her body start to just move like this and I realized that she was crying. And I just carried on with my hand on her back and I was just praying „Lord, would you fill her with your Holy Spirit?” And then I said to the Lord, „Lord, why is she crying?” And I felt like God say to me, „it’s strife”. Anyway, she continued to cry and it got stronger and eventually she came to a place of peace. And I said to her, „Hannah, what happened?” And she said „David, as you started to pray I saw a picture and it was a dry ground”, and you know when the ground is so dry and the mud is so dry that there are cracks in the ground, she said „I saw cracks in the ground”. And she said „after you prayed, we waited for a few moments „I saw water come flooding into this picture, flooding all the dry ground and then I saw vegetation growing up and I just couldn’t help but just cry and cry and cry”. You see, Hannah had grown up in a Christian family, she had gone to church, she’d been baptized in water and she had lived a lot of her Christian life without the rivers of living water that Jesus talked about. And actually she had had to strive to try to be a good Christian without that living water. And I know because I knew Hannah before and I know her after. She has never been the same since that day. And that started an incredible journey for her of many things. Of deeper intimacy with God, greater passion for him and his Word, of healing and of her stepping into her calling. So I want you to ask yourself the question as you’re watching episode two of „How To Fulfill Your Calling”. Have I really been baptized in the Holy Spirit? You see, there are some people who are genuinely saved but have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit. I’ll show you that in a minute. And then there are some people who have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit because they are not genuinely saved. And you might be surprised by how many people on planet earth have accepted a false gospel. They’ve received a gospel that is not quite true biblically and they think that they are saved but they’re not. Now, I’m gonna talk about that in the next episode. But first of all, let’s look at that first category. People who are genuinely saved but have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit. If we go to Acts chapter 8, this is a time when the church had been through, it was going through a time of great persecution and the believers were scattered. So in Acts 8, from verse 4 it says this „Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and procalimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city. (Acts 8:4-8) So the people saw the results of the preaching of the Gospel and the power of the Spirit working through Philip. And a few verses later, in verse 12 it says „But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” So they believed the Good News about Jesus, they got baptized in water, and then in verses 14 to 17 it says this „When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” Can you see that, these people had believed in Jesus Christ, they had accepted the Gospel. It says that they were new believers. They’d even been baptized in water but they had not been filled with the Holy Spirit. And they were not filled with the Holy Spirit until Peter and John placed their hands on them, and then they received the Holy Spirit. Now, at the end of episode three, I’m gonna pray with you that you would be able to receive the true Gospel if you haven’t already. And if you are genuinely saved, that you would be baptized in the Holy Spirit. But before I get to that, in the next episode, episode three, I really want to talk about that other category of people. Those who are not genuinely saved and that’s why they’re not living in the power of the Holy Spirit. So let’s just pray. Father, we just want to thank you so much for the example of Jesus, who was full of the Holy Spirit, led by the Holy Spirit and operated in the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord, and we know that your word says whoever claims to be in him must walk as Jesus walked. Father, and we’re asking you know, Lord as we go on in this series as we spend time with you, as we read the Word of God, would you give us revelation about what it means to be full of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and operating in the power of the Holy Spirit. And Father, would you show us how to walk in all of those things. And Lord, would you show us which category we’re in. Lord, are we genuinely saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, are we genuinely saved and not yet filled with the Holy Spirit, or is the reason that we’re not filled with the Holy Spirit that we’ve accepted a gospel that wasn’t quite right and we’re not genuinely saved. Lord, we want to have the humility to believe that you are gonna speak to us and you are gonna transform our lives as we study your word together. In Jesus’ name, amen. So see you in episode three.
