Romans 8; Acts 1:8

OUR DIVINE HELPER

"In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" Romans 8:26

I want to approach this Pentecost Sunday from a different thematic angle of vision. Amen. We celebrate Pentecost as the birthday of the church, Christ sending the Holy Spirit to empower the disciples to be witnesses of him. The Spirit given to the church distributing a variety of spiritual gifts to the Body of Christ for the purposes of enabling them to fulfill Christ's Commission.

But we should celebrate Pentecost not only because it is the birthday of the church. Too often we have focused on what happened historically, on the Day of Pentecost, back during the early days of the Church and miss the full value of what it means for us to have the Holy Spirit living inside of us right now, this morning, in our own day and time.

Yes, we celebrate Pentecost because God gave the church the Holy Spirit, but just as importantly God has given to every believer the gift of the Holy Spirit who has come to live inside of us. Amen. God foretold through the prophet Ezekiel in prophecy to the coming of the Holy Spirit says in ch. 36: 27 "And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues.." Jesus himself declared in John 14: 17: "Even the Spirit of Truth… He dwells in you, and shall be in you."

The Holy Spirit is an indwelling reality. He has come to live inside of these earthen vessels. Our bodies writes the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 3:16 have become the Temples of the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost dwells in us. Yes, we become a Living Sanctuary for the Lord. Spiritual Conversion, is not possible without the work of the Spirit. One cannot be born from above, without the Holy Spirit. One cannot have eternal life without the Holy Spirit.

At the moment of conversion the Holy Spirit comes to indwell the believer. Hallelujah! One cannot live a victorious life in Jesus without the Holy Spirit. One cannot receive spiritual gifts without having the Holy Spirit, for the gifts are given by the Spirit. One cannot overcome sin, and the powers of spiritual wickedness without the indwelling Holy Spirit. For the bible teaches us that 'Greater is he who is in you, than he who is in the world." We live in a world today that is under spiritual satanic-demonic attack. Paul reminded the church of his day as he would in our own day and time, that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against Spiritual wickedness in high places."

Some of these unclean Spirit's like Envy, Jealousy, Greed, Hate, Violence are on the war path. The devil has gotten in a whole lot of people, and you can't defeat the devil, you can't be more than a Conqueror in the Lord just eating Wheaties, or Cheerios, and drinking milk. You can't be more than a Conqueror in the Lord just carrying a bible or wearing a 14 carat gold cross with a diamond chip or listening to religious broadcasts. You've got to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Demonic powers and unclean spirits are no match for the Holy Spirit.

In fact we are instructed in 1 John 4:4 to test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. And a little further down in verse 4 John writes, "You dear children, are from God and have overcome them meaning these wicked and seducing spirits because greater is the one who is in you than he who is in the world." Its easy to become frightened by what we see and encounter today, but we must remember that the devil is no match for the one who know lives inside us. Our divine helper.

When folk are criticizing you, unfairly pointing fingers of judgementalism at you, trying to find a way to trip you up, when people make comments about you that are merely gossip, rumor and untrue, like they did the disciple Stephen in Acts 6 , it can hurt you to your heart but, lest you become a player-a-hater, lest you fight fire with fire, lest you trade an unkind word with an unkind word, lest you resort to trading gossip for gossip; you've got to have some forgiveness and love working the inside to whether that storm. You've got to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can give one the inner strength to quench those fiery darts meant to wound us in the heart.

Some of you might recall that Story in Acts 19 where many of the Jews were engaged in exorcism for profit. On this occasion, some of them were going around trying to drive out wicked spirits using the name of Jesus. But they did not believe in Jesus, therefore they did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit. They were trying to copycat Paul's ministry whose power to cast out demons came from the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Well one day, they came upon this wicked spirit who answered them… "Jesus I know, and I know Paul, but who are you?" "But who are you."

Then the text says, the man who had the wicked spirit jumped on them overpowered them, and he gave them all such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

In this day when some folk are practicing witchcraft, black magic and other occult practices, we need some Holy Ghost power and protection. Amen. All this blood lust for violence, all this killing, all this reckless waste of human life, it is in fact the work of the devil. And if you don't have the Holy Ghost….to help you.. the devil or one of those unclean-wicked spirits might say, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?"

We cannot stand and keep on standing against an all out demonic attack upon our moral life, our thought life, our emotional life, reading how to be a better person books. The church today is engaged in Spiritual Warfare, and thank God for the Holy Spirit who has come to live inside of every believer, and who stands ready to help us fight every battle.

When we don’t now where to turn, or who to turn to; we don't even have to turn, for he lives on the inside. All we've got to do is be still and know that he is God on the inside. Be still and wait for his counsel, Be still and wait for his direction, be still and wait for his wisdom, be still and receive his refreshment upon our minds, our bodies and our emotions. Be still and receive his spiritual strength.

He is our divine helper. If its sickness, whether it be cancer, diabetes, a bad heart, Aids, lupus, high blood pressure He is our helper. If its an illness of the mind or the heart, whether it be paranoia or depression, doubt, guilt, grief or despair, worry or anxiety he is our divine helper. For he is a mind regulator and a heart fixer.

If its secret sins He is our best friend. Secret sins the ones that nobody no knows about but us and the Lord, the things we are trying to keep under wraps, behind closed doors, locked in the closet, secret sins well.. he helps us to fight them too. Out text says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans and that words cannot express."

If its misfortunes in life that come our way, He helps us to overcome them. We can't blame everything on the Devil. Misfortunes will come to everyone who lives in this world. Misfortunes are just a part of what it means to live in this world. Solomon declared that there is a time for everything under the Sun. And what Solomon was saying is that if you live long enough, some kind of misfortune will come your way.

When we are going through our misfortunes, the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the interpretation that what is happening in our lives is actually to the working out of God's eternal purposes. That in all things God is working for our Good. He works on the inside, deep down in God's Garden of the human soul planting the imperishable fruits of His

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness, and self-control.

Bishop John R. Bryant, Bishop in the AME Church tells the story of once walking through the terminal of the Airport in Columbus Ohio. As Bishop Bryant was making his way through the terminal he says he saw an aged woman being helped a by a young large man. And upon closer distance he overheard the young man say to his mother, "Don't you worry mama, you just Lean On Me."

Bishop Bryant, recalls, "And to think that this now strapping son who was patiently helping his aged mother make it through the terminal, in the beginning started out as a little embryo in her womb. Well, the older we get in the Spirit, and the more we allow the Spirit to get hold of us from the inside, there will come a day when the Spirit says, just Lean On Me." If its sickness lean on me. If its heartache or trouble lean on me. If its some sin we can't seem to free ourselves from, lean on me. Whatever it is, lean on the Holy Spirit.

Let me see if I can put it another way. The more we yield our lives to the Management of the Holy Spirit, the spiritually stronger we become in him. Its not a matter of us getting more of the Holy Spirit, but of us yielding more of ourselves to Him. That's why Paul says, "While the outer person is getting older the inner person is being renewed daily."

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