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Sunday, April 18, 2010

The indwelling Holy Spirit provides a multitude of benefits. Two of the more important ones are
the focus of the passage this morning; Prevailing Power and Proper Personal (divine) perspective.
John is writing to a church that needs to be encouraged and instructed because it is rife with false
teachers. He wants them to know that they really know God.

 

 

    
-‘ Jesus Christ really did come in the flesh.
-‘ God designed us to be in fellowship with Him and each other.
-‘ Walking in darkness (sin) prevents true fellowship.
-‘ God intends for us to live a life free from sin.
-‘ The proof of knowing that we know God is obedience and love.
-‘ The World and its kingdom and God and His Kingdom are opposed completely.
-‘ The anointing of the H.S. allows us to discern truth and falsehood.
-‘ The Fatherǯs love sent Jesus to take away our sins.
-‘ Confident effective prayer comes from knowing and doing Godǯs will.
-‘ Continuing sin as a way of life is absolutely inconsistent with being a child of God.
We could come up with 25 or more but these 10 stood out.

Things that flow from the Spiritǯs power within us:

1 Jn 3:24 Ȃ We know God lives in us by the Spirit HE gave us.

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-‘ The ultimate test of teaching or truth is how it presents Jesus Christ.
-‘ What do people, books, seminars, teachers, etc. say about Christ? If they deny that He came in
the flesh then they are an antichrist.
ʑ There is no victory over Satan, sin and death without His bodily sacrifice.
-‘ The spirit of Antichrist wants to leave God out of everything.

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a.‘ You have overcome them (v. 4)
i.‘ 2:13-14 Ȃ We have already overcome Satan himself!
ii.‘ The one within us is greater than the one in the World.
iii.‘ John 5:19 Ȃ He (Satan) is the one in control of the whole world.
iv.‘ We have within us the same power that raised Jesus from the dead!
v.‘ DzGreater thandz means Dzsuperior todz and Dzstronger thandz.
1.‘ Do we really believe this? (Ephesians 6:10-18) Ȃ Be strong in His mighty
power.
2.‘ Yet many Christians say the one thing lacking in their lives is power!
vi.‘ Our failures are not a lack of prevailing power. (Ephesians 5:18)
1.‘ The idea is of perfume permeating a house.
2.‘ The idea of wind filling the sails of a ship.
vii.‘ Because we have the Spirit living in us we can test the spirits.
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1.‘ Prevailing power over Satan.
r ‘ Prevailing power over sin. g' 
( ‘ Prevailing power of a non-righteous life style.
4.‘ Prevailing power over biblical ignorance
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* ‘ Prevailing power over our seeming inability to obey.  rcrc(
  ‘ Prevailing power over being ineffective in ministry Ȃ ¯ cr ) r ¯ (
+ ‘ Prevailing power over temptation Ȃ c ¯ c,c,c(
- ‘ Prevailing power over selfishness  . *
‘ Prevailing power over the old life  g' 
c, ‘Prevailing power over death Ȃ c ¯ c****+
ix.‘ We have more power than Satan or the Antichrist available to us. This list is not
even exhaustive but just representative of some of the areas where the H.S. gives us
power.
x.‘ The Kingdom does not consist of talk but of power!
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a.‘ When Satan speaks to the World they believe him.
b.‘ The World rejects us because we are from God (v. 6)
c.‘ The viewpoint of the World is simply:
i.‘ To leave God out of everything.
ii.‘ I am in this for me.
d.‘ What if this had been the perspective of Jesus Christ? It clearly was not!
e.‘ The world is driven by the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.
f.‘ Two things about perspective:
i.‘ It is seeing things clearly in relationship to other things.
1.‘ It is always about measuring and comparing.
2.‘ If we have victory over death then attending a funeral though sad is not a
tragedy, instead it is a victory.
ii.‘ The process of correctly regarding things in terms of their importance.
1.‘ Seek ye first the Kingdom of Godǥ
2.‘ r ¯  Ȃ temporary momentary affliction is nothing in comparison with the
glory that awaits us.
3.‘ Raking value judgments. What is worth our time and investing our time in.
4.‘ Viewpoint has to do with paradigms, values systems, how we do things.
g.‘ When we hear or see something presented from the Worldǯs perspective we should know it
immediately. We should discern it and reject it immediately.
h.‘ r ¯ r Ȃ The H.S. searches the mind of God and gives us His perspective.
i.‘ He allows us to operate on the basis of what Scripture teaches.
ii.‘ He gives us perspective to determine between what is good and what is best.
iii.‘ He helps us determine the right thing to do Ȃ c
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1.‘ That which leads to the most possible good for everyone.
iv.‘ He enables us to do Godǯs will. If we pray according to Godǯs will and Word.

The two things we need most for everyday life god has provided for us in the Holy Spirit; Power and
Perspective.

John has already told us there are things that short-circuit this available power. Primarily it is when we
operating in our own power and perspective. Godǯs power is perfected in our weakness.

What hinders the H.S. from giving us His perspective is the fact that we are so cluttered with other ways
of thinking and systems of thought we rely on instead of Him.

We need to see things as God sees them. We must walk by faith and not by sight. We have faith in Christ
alone and His sacrifice alone.