Catch The Fire Church Raleigh
The Empowerment of Holy Spirit | Duncan Smith
We had a powerful Pentecost Sunday with a wonderful message from Senior Leader, Duncan Smith, on “The Empowerment of the Holy Spirit.” While religion often focuses on what we can do for God, Christianity is about what God has done for us, particularly through Jesus’s sacrifice and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Drawing on John 7:37-39, Smith highlights Jesus’ promise that believers would be filled with "rivers of living water," symbolizing the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ death and resurrection provides believers with the Holy Spirit, enabling us to live in union with Christ and perform acts empowered by the same Spirit. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which can be likened to new wine that requires new wineskins. This emphasizes transformation and renewal. Embrace this empowerment and allow it to visibly change your lives and witness.
(upbeat music) - Welcome to the Catch the Fire Church Podcast. We're so glad you're joining us and we hope you're encouraged by this message. - Think of your presence, Holy Spirit. Thank you that you are the safest person in and out of the universe and thank you that you're the most dangerous person in and out of the universe. - Whoa, whoa, Jacob, are you thinking I need your help? Abba, whoa, think of your presence, Holy Spirit. Whoa, we ask you for more. Just begin to ask him for more. Say more, Lord, more, more of your presence, more of your goodness, more of your glory. - Whoa, whoa, whoa. - Stask him again. Say I'd like another drink. - I'd like another drink. - I'd like another drink. - Wow. - Ah, you want a drink? Joe, you want another, you do. - Ah, give it to Joe a drink, Holy Spirit. - Whoa, all right, you can sit down. You're not very good drinkers, by the way. But don't worry, we got a lot of time to go this morning. Whoa, whoa, thank you, Holy Spirit. Whoa, I've asked these guys just to come up just in case I need their help, okay? So, right now we're good, but at any time, we might not be. You know, Pentecost changed everything, everybody. Pentecost meant the meetings where everybody was making a sacrifice for God. (congregation cheering) Changed forever, and everybody realized God's made a sacrifice for us. And religion is all about what we can do for God, but Christianity is all about what God's done for us. And I'm so grateful for Pentecost, because Jesus said in John 7, 37, 38, 39, he stood up on the last and greatest day of the feast, and he said, "Whoever's thirsty, "let him come to me and drink." And out of their innermost being, as the scriptures have said, will flow rivers of living water. That means water that's alive. You'll have water that's alive coming out of you. And out water that's alive will come out of you and will well up into eternity. And John explains what Jesus was saying. He said, "By this he meant the Holy Spirit, "who had not yet been given, "but would later be given, "but had not yet been given because Jesus "had not yet been glorified." And how many of you know that Jesus said, "It's better that I go, "because if I go, I'm gonna send the counselor, "the comforter to you, "the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. "I'm gonna send him to you from the Father, "full, shake our bongle." And he said that just before he went to the cross. And how many of you know that when Jesus died on the cross, he took us all to death with him. We all died with him, the whole human race. He died the last Adam. Now, that doesn't mean the whole human race was raised with him because he said to the thief on the cross who believed in him, he said, "Today you'll be with me in paradise." In other words, showing Abba that to be raised with Jesus, we have to believe in Jesus. And the thief that believed was told, "Today you'll be with me." But the thief who didn't believe, who carried on railing and cursing Jesus, Jesus did not tell him that he'll be in paradise. The good news everybody is that when Jesus said it is finished, you were finished. I was finished. And now we no longer live, but Christ lives in me, lives in us. Galatians 2.20 says for I've been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in this body, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. It wasn't just the Father who loves you. It was the Son who loves you. Joe, you're squeezing me so tight, I can barely breathe. - You got plenty of room. (congregation laughs) - And so, Abba. So we can put all this together and realize that when Jesus said it is finished, it was impossible for the Father to raise him from the dead without raising you from the dead with him. 'Cause he took you to the grave and because he took you to the grave, because you believe that, the Father who raised the Son from the dead raised you and I from the dead with him. That is the glorious good news of the gospel. And in raising us from the dead with him, making us alive with him, we're now in union with him. One Corinthians 6, 17 said he who's joined himself to the Lord or herself to the Lord is one spirit with him. Shikabanga, what does that mean? It means that you can be anointed with the same anointing that Jesus was anointed with. In Acts chapter 10, verse 38, it says how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Whoa, how many of you would like to be anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power? You see, whoa, whoa, Jesus. Jesus was born of the Spirit. But even though he was born of the Spirit and had the spirit on the inside of him from the moment he was conceived, there was a moment recorded in Mark chapter one, Luke chapter three, Matthew chapter three, John chapter one, when Jesus was baptized, whoa, with the Holy Spirit. And John the Baptist recorded in Luke chapter three, 16, John the Baptist said this, he said, I baptize you with water, but there is one coming whose very sandals I'm unworthy to untie, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, fire. Whoa, and you and I are filled with Jesus. And because we're filled with Jesus, we can do all the things that Jesus did. Wow, Tyrone and Natalie, is that your little one? Oh my gosh, congratulations you guys. (audience applauds) Jesus freshly raised from the dead. He said to his disciples, recorded in John 20, 21 to 23, says, as the Father sent me, so now I send you, and he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. Wow, just imagine what that looked like for just a second. Imagine what it would be like for Jesus, the Son of God freshly raised from the dead to breathe on you and say, receive the Holy Spirit. You're not gonna be the same again. You're not gonna have chance to say, hey, hey, his breath smells fishy. And it's a little warm and a little wet. No, you're gonna go flying. You're not gonna be able to survive. Ah, you're not gonna be the same again. You'll never, ever be the same again. And today, Jesus is here, and he wants to breathe on you afresh. And he told the same disciples who he'd just breathed on when he appeared on the day that he ascended. He said to them, recorded in Luke 24, 49, behold, I send the promise of my father to you, and you will be clothed with power from on high. Abba, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo. And they must have looked at him and thought to themselves, what? What was that that we received the other day from you when you breathed on us and we spent three hours shaking in the dirt, discombobulated, unable to move with the weight of your glory? You mean that wasn't it? There's more? Yes, there's always more. There's always more, everybody. Because there's power and fire. Not just salvation. We're not catch the love. We're catch the fire. And if you're here this morning, it's your fault. What did you expect? And please don't feel sorry for me. I've been praying for this for years. (audience cheering) And for those of you that might be thinking, "Ah, man, he's faking it." And by all means, come on up here and fake it with me. See how you feel in front of everybody in the whole world. I'd be delighted to watch. (audience laughing) Are you guys coming up to fake it? (audience laughing) You're coming in. Dave on. Jump in. I love you, Pastor. (audience laughing) Go, we got ya. Woo! (audience cheering) I just can't use my legs in the normal weight. Right now. And it all started. It all started. Woo. Yeah, you're breathing heavily, am I heavy? Sorry. (audience laughing) Oh, bye. I, uh, it all started on the 30th anniversary conference in January that we hosted. Remember that, guys? (audience cheering) I'm so sorry if you missed it. Some of you missed it. Yeah. You know, there were 500 people who saw Jesus. It's recorded. Paul says that he appeared to Peter and the 12, then to 500, and then to me, last of all, one untimely born. And then you think about that. 500, Jesus appeared to 500. And then, then he ascended in front of the 12. Well, 11, actually, 'cause Judas was dead. Matthias had not been yet voted in by the Holy Spirit. And 10 days after he ascended from the dead, says in Acts chapter two, they were all meeting with one accord. And suddenly there was the sound of a mighty, rushing wind. We know what that sounds like here in the South. We've heard it in the natural. It's like an endless fog horn of a freight train. The whole city heard it. People came flocking, thousands of them. Says that all of a sudden there were tongues of fire came into the room where they were meeting. And those tongues of fire just divided, and one went on the top of every one of their heads. It doesn't say this, but by extrapolation, Peter got up a little few minutes, hours later, or how long and how long later, and he said these men are not drunk 'cause you suppose it's only nine o'clock in the morning. Well, why would he say they're not drunk 'cause you suppose if they all look like you right now? (audience laughs) Or if they look like me right now, then that's explainable. And when, when the Holy Spirit came on them all, they were all instantly filled with new wine. With new wine, everybody. I've been around some people that, when I was at university, they drank too much wine. Man, they were laughing, they were crying, they were shaking, they couldn't walk, they fell over, they threw up. I've seen people get filled with the Holy Spirit, and very similar things happen. Just a very different spirit. (audience laughs) I've seen people vomiting when the Holy Spirit comes on them, because those demons didn't like it. (audience applauds) Oh! You're gonna get delivered this morning. (audience cheers) (audience applauds) I want you to know something about new wine, everybody. Jesus said that new wine can only be placed in new wineskins. You guys did not do a good job of holding me up. (audience laughs) It's okay, it's okay, okay, okay, okay. (audience laughs) And here's the thing about new wine. New wine can only be placed in new wineskin, Jesus said. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the winekin, and both will be ruined. Luke five. (sighs) Now, we, when we think of wine today, we think of wine in a wine bottle. Well, let me tell you something. Or maybe a box. God forbid you drink wine from a box. (audience laughs) But let me tell you. Let me tell you. When Jesus said new wine can only be drunk in new wineskins. He wasn't talking about a bottle or a box. He was talking about a sheep or a goat, a lamb or a kid that had laid its life down. Last year, been slaughtered, skinned, the skin dried with oils, prepared for a year, and then shaped into a bottle that could be filled with the new wine. And there's a lot of talk these days, especially in church, especially because of the internet where everybody thinks they're an expert in how church should be. There's a lot of talk about God wants new wineskins. Let me tell you something. Most people sadly are referring to some kind of new form and new way of doing church. That is not a new wine skin. A wine skin is only a wine skin if it's something created to hold new wine. You. You are either an old wine skin or a new wine skin. Jesus is talking about you. He's talking about me. (inhales) Today's new wine skin is last year's sacrificed lamb. What are you prepared to sacrifice today so that you can have new wine? And let me say this, everybody. I know the Bible says that you likens you to be a sheep. But right now in this analogy, I'm ever so pleased to tell you that you are not a physical sheep that has to be slaughtered and dried for a year so that you can have new wine next year. Thank God. Thank God that Jesus is the lamb of God who was the one who gave his life to be the wine skin forever, to always be filled with new wine. And if you have him, you are a new wine skin. He dwelling in you is a permanent new wine skin. What does that mean? It means that today, you can be filled with new wine. Devan, I need you to work a bit harder. I gotta stand up. Help me stand up a minute. And pleased to let you know Jesus has done the dying for you. And pleased to let you know that you can get filled with new wine today. And you can be set on fire. You can be baptized with the fire of the Holy Spirit today. That doesn't mean that you're gonna look like me. I've hardly ever looked like this. I've been filled with the Holy Spirit so many times in my life. And I've rarely, rarely been so filled that I can't stand up, but although I have been. (breathing) And this really started at a new level at the 30th. The pastor came all the way with his young adults and youth, older youth, 30 to 40 of them. They came from New Jersey. New Jersey. (congregation laughing) And Shaka Raba. And he came up to me on the first night, Thursday night. And he said, I, would you please lay hands on me, pastor. And my young adults, all of us as a group, I want a special, special moment with you, please. 'Cause we've come a long way. I said, I felt the Holy Spirit say, say yes. And I said, yes, of course. I'll do it on Saturday afternoon. I kind of wanted to test them how hungry they are. Well, Saturday afternoon, I was, whoa, here at the front at the end of one of the best messages preached at the 30th by Niko Peel, our beloved friend. (congregation clapping) And Niko preached an extraordinary message on, can you move that leg right there? (congregation laughing) Thank you. On intimacy with the Holy Spirit, intimacy with Jesus. And I was one of the first to go forward. And I just went forward and I was up here somewhere and the glory of God hit me, fresh. And you know, I got, I got whacked and I couldn't really get up. It was squished to the ground. And everybody was leaving by then. The pastor came up to me and he said, "Pastor, could you please minister like you promised to me and my guys from New Jersey, you gotta love those four guys who carried the paralytic up on the top of the roof. You know, sometimes you need somebody who loves Jesus more than you to carry you to the feet of Jesus. (congregation clapping) And I'm telling you right now in the Holy Spirit that here in America, we are nowhere near smashed in the Holy Spirit enough. We like doing church our way. We don't want him to do it his way in case it ruins our reputation. In case he takes away our comfort. And you know, here's the deal. It's not because we're not passionate. We're extremely passionate people. You only have to think about game night to know how passionate we can be. (congregation laughing) And if we can be that passionate about a group of people who have paid an awful lot of money because of all the money we paid to go, kicking or hitting a piece of pigskin, then how much more can we be passionate about Jesus in a meeting where we've gone for free just to be with him. Come on everybody. (congregation clapping) Come on, we're messed up. We're really, really, really badly messed up. It's not a rebuke, it's an invitation. No, there's so much more of God for us as a church everybody, so much more. We don't want to talk about revival. We don't want to be experts in revival. We want to be in love with revival himself, the Holy Spirit. And let me, hold me up a minute. Let's lift me up. I'm trying to shakaraba. Here's the thing everybody. As I made my way with that precious man, I said to him, I'll minister to you all over in that corner over there. And we all went over to that corner, a couple of guys helped me over there 'cause I was feeling this weighty glory. You know that the word kabod in Hebrew means weighty glory. Ah, ba. Shannon, come here a minute. And just lean on me a minute here, ba. It means weighty glory. And I said to the Holy Spirit, it was about 30 or 40 of them. I didn't count, but I'm just guessing. And I said to them all, are you hungry and they're like so hungry. And I said, Holy Spirit, what do I do? And the Holy Spirit said, just stretch out your hand and have them walk underneath your hand. And I'm like, Lord, I don't want to be like, you know, I had this fleeting thought. I don't know if you ever have these kinds of thoughts, but I had this fleeting thought. Lord, I don't want to be like copying those great men of God that, you know, had people walk under their hand 'cause they were so anointed. How many of you know that that was not the Holy Spirit's thought? That was my flash and false humility. And I quickly turned from those thoughts and I said, yes, Holy Spirit. You see, the Lord spoke to us about three years ago and he said, I don't want you to be experts in the old. I want you to be novices in the new. We've never walked this way before, guys. Where we're going is not where we've been. Where we're going is a church, we're going together. You don't have to be like me right now, just be you, but be open for the Holy Spirit. See, my pastor John Arnott, he taught us in Toronto. The miracle is not that God touches you. The miracle is that when he does, you get to live through it. We're just not used to God touching us. Whoa. And you know, if we were to take your little fingers and plug them into a socket of electricity and electrical socket, you probably would manifest. But that manifestation is not the electricity. That manifestation is your bodily response to the presence of electricity. If that's true of electricity that God created, how much more is it true of the one who created it? When he touches you, you probably will manifest. And that manifestation is not the Holy Spirit. It's your body trying to cope. So let's now look at each other and judge each other. Because he's the God who's never repeated a single snowflake, so why would he make you do what I do when he touches you? Come on, everybody, let's get free. Let's get free. Let's let the fire of God hit us the way he wants to. Man, when that group of hungry, hungry kids, when they walked under my hand, something happened because just before they all walk through, I saw this at my eyes closed and I saw this huge, huge. I don't know how to describe it except to say like a waterfall. Just just push that leg a little back so they help you guys. Just a little, then that one is slight. That's good. That was really good. That's the weight limit. You're a strong man. It's a champion weight. Okay, just don't squeeze me. It's quite so tight. That's good. I saw this vision of like gigantic waterfall. That's the only way I can describe it. Fall out of heaven and land right. It was like a waterfall of glory and fire. Land a right where my hand was. A huge shaft of it from heaven. And everyone who went under my hand, they got absolutely mushed. They got body slammed. All of them. And I just kind of tried to look with my eyes and I just saw them all piling up. Shaka Raba. Piling up, piling up, piling up, piling up. Shaka Raba. Whoa, whoa, we're going to do a fire tunnel right now. Because I want you to experience the glory of God. I want him to fall on you. I want him to fill you with power. I want him to clothe you with power. I don't want you to ever be the same again. I want you to be catch the fire. Not just in this room, but I want you to get so blasted with so much glory that tomorrow everyone at work suddenly realizes you are a Christian. You can't hide in that closet anymore. Wow. Oh my goodness. Wow. You are no ordinary human being. You are a son or daughter of the living God. My Canaanize close friends, Andy and Ann, when they're here, they're visiting us this weekend. They're sitting on the front row just here. And they came to us, our house yesterday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they're in a place of exciting transition. They're English. They've been in America in South Kakelaki for the past six years. And Andy was telling me yesterday in Kake, 20 odd years ago, that's my guess. He said, when I first met you, you guys, it was in a conference. You laid hands on me. And I got blasted with the most blasting. I had the most powerful encounter I've ever had in my life. I was absolutely mushed by the glory of God. I was crushed to the floor. And I was laying on the floor for ages. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. And he said, son, you don't ever have to strive again. Oh, when Andy said that to me yesterday, I got hit by the Holy Spirit. Son, you don't ever have to strive again. Guys, girls, every one of us, we're all sons of God. We don't ever have to strive again. We are sons of the living God. We don't have to strive. We can have joy, unspeakable joy. We can get wrecked with new wine. We can be more fruitful than you could ever imagine, fruitful because it's not us. It's the glory. It's the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. It's the power that he wants to clothe you with today. Jesus said to those filled with the Holy Spirit, way in Jerusalem until you're clothed with power from on high. There's two works of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Holy Spirit in you for you, as Bill Johnson says, and on you for others. All right. It's fire tunnel time. Thank you so much for joining us. There are so many opportunities to grow, connect, and be encouraged. To learn more, visit ctfrolly.com and follow us on social media. Thank you so much for being part of the family. We are so thankful for you. [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music) (upbeat music)