The number eleven is important in that it can symbolize disorder, chaos, and judgment.
Kaya kailangan natin ang kapangyarihan ng Banal na Espiritu!
Coming after 10 which represents law and responsibility, the number eleven represents the opposite, which is the irresponsibility of breaking the Law, which brings disorder and judgment.
The Need for the Holy Spirit Today
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of ‘Truth’, He is the third revelation of the Godhead!
God the Father is the Anointer, Jesus is the Anointed, and the Holy Spirit is the Anointing Himself – outside the anointing, we cannot do anything!
How many believe we Need Him today?
Acts 1:4
Once when He was eating with them, He commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift He promised, as I told you before.
Jesus commanded them; when God gives a command, there is no other option except to obey…
When God gives a command, He expects that it will be carried out to the letter and not how we interpret it!
What was the gift that was promised?
The Holy Spirit!
Jesus was about to send out His disciples but He doesn’t want them to go carrying with them only their knowledge about God…
He didn’t say “Stay here till you get your diploma”, No…
Like them, He doesn’t want us to live our Christian lives based only on knowledge, He wants us to have the power of the Holy Spirit!
If any person believes that he can better himself, and overcome sin and the devil in these last days only by himself, you are wrong, you have been deceived.
We all need the power of the Holy Spirit!
Why the Holy Spirit?
God the Father is in heaven…
Matt 6:9
This then is how you should pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name…
Jesus now is also in heaven…
Luke 22:69
“But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”
Only the Holy Spirit is not yet resting, His work is not yet finished with us…
The Holy Spirit is here – NOW!
Having said that, we will be looking at the condition of the church around the world today, with and without the Holy Spirit.
There are two kinds of churches in the world today:
1st is the church of the foolish virgins, or the Laodicean church; 2nd is the church of the wise virgins or the Philadelphia church.
Matt 25:1-3
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.”
Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit!
The virgins in the parable were all Born-again Christians; but the folly of the foolish ones was complacency, a feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, often combined with a lack of awareness of pending trouble or actual danger.
The Laodicean church meanwhile, is the last of the 7 churches in the book of Revelation – this is the church of this last generation.
Laodicea means ‘the rights of the people’ which is very much like the end times church, the modern day church!
Rev 3:14-16
14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful, and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
The foolish church is a sleeping church, it is non-offensive, compromising, seeker friendly, carnal, or non-spiritual, and so therefore is a powerless church.
This is what many of the churches today look like. The foolish virgin church thinks that it is so powerful, it can change itself – they think they can conquer their own fears by having much knowledge, change their messed up marriages with seminars, discipline their children with prosperity…
They think they can accomplish things by their own ability and so they believe they don’t need the Holy Spirit. They see themselves as mature while committing immature acts.
Books authored by men replace revelations of the Spirit, they thrive in appeasing the emotions of the people. This is a non-offensive church because its priority is to please the people rather than God – this is a very carnal church. If a person is carnal, that person will always be offended by the truth because truth cuts, truth pierces – such people are immature and fit only for milk and not meat!
Heb 5:11-12
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
Truth is truth, it has no feelings, it has no manners, it speaks and it strikes anyone…
Truth is no respecter of any person – Pastor man, elder, leader, rich, poor…
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.
John 14:17
The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Gal 1:10
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
If people want to please people, there can be no room for the Holy Spirit…
Truth is truth and I will not apologize for the truth – I don’t want to offend anyone because the truth is we love you, but we must tell you the truth.
You need to change, you need to mature!
Truth is not a doctrine or policy, truth is a person, the more you know the person, the more you will know the truth.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I Am the way, the truth, and the life…”
Truth will always offend carnal people as in the times of Jesus with the Pharisees. Carnal people are only concerned with their rights, they only want to hear pleasant things, no rebukes, they are lukewarm, are foolish, and believe they will enter the Kingdom of God!
Foolish people think that listening to the preaching is enough, but the truth is, without the Holy Spirit it’s just knowledge because you will not be able to do what it says, you can only hear but can’t act on it!
Without the Holy Spirit, you cannot be drawn to God – you are dry, without joy, you don’t want to pray, and many times you don’t want to go to church… You keep the hurts, the anger, the lies – these are signs that the Spirit is not working in your life
The 2nd kind of church is the wise virgins church or the Philadelphia church.
Matt 25:4 and 6-7
The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps…(season of preparation)
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.
Q? Who was it that made the announcement?
A: THE PROPHET! Spirit-filled servant of God
Rev 3:7a-8
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My Name!
In a Spirit-filled church, they hear what the prophets of God say and they trim their lamps, they prepare… Even when they have little strength left, they will never deny the Name of Jesus!
In the spirit filled church, they will always seek and crave for the truth, yes even when it hurts… With the Holy Spirit in your life, you are drawn to confess, humble yourself, to forgive and ask for forgiveness – that’s the job of the Spirit; but if you remove Him, who will draw you to God?
Eph 1:13-14a
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance…
We are born again by the Spirit, if you remove Him, you cannot receive your inheritance – you are not an heir! Without the Holy Spirit, what we have is just an organization, an institution, a club – we will have a form of God without the reality of God.
We will be called the house of men and not the house of God… In the house of men, there is no transformation, no healing, no miracles, no signs and wonders, no Supernatural.
There is only entertainment, but no commitment! Without the Holy Spirit, Christianity is just another religion, the Bible without Him is just dry ink. Any good orator can preach the Word, they can even give very good preaching coming from books or the internet…
But without the Holy Spirit, there will be no power for change, renewal, or transformation…
IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE!
Today, God is looking for a ‘remnant’, these are a rare breed of people, they are survivors… They are not everybody but those who remain; the chosen ones… These people are committed, passionate, on fire for the Lord…
They walk in love, they understand the Glory, they know the truth, they are free, they don’t seek self, but they only seek God… nothing else will satisfy.
They are the signs, they work the miracles, they are the wonders…
They are Spirit-filled!
2 Cor 13:14
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.