Then said Jesus to them again, ’Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.’ And when he had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.’ ” - John 20:21–23 (KJV)
" And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, ‘Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?’
And they said unto him, 'We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.’
And he said unto them, 'Unto what then were ye baptized?' And they said, 'Unto John’s baptism'. Then said Paul, 'John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.'
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.“ - Acts 19:1-6 ( KJV )
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Biblical Living 101 - The Holy Spirit - Part 2
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Last week' study/post was a fairly eye opening introduction to the Third Person of the Trinity! If you haven't read it, please do, you will instantly be better than Paul's Ephesian converts who said in effect, "Huh? ... What Holy Spirit?"
He IS fully God .. To realize that, just consider - sinning against him with our tongue ( by lying about Him, attributing His works to the devil etc., in short... blaspheming Him) is a sin that is not forgiven... ever.. !!! (Even we, writing, need to be careful not to misrepresent Him or His work or we are done forever!) Though that might sound scary, Christ tells His disciples, "be at peace" - because He is here to help you not condemn you!
Well, last week we saw WHO He is, and WHAT He does in the world (7 works- check it out!) - this week we will look at WHY He is here, and that will help us understand HOW....
....How can I get some of that Holy Spirit power? How do I even know I have it? Am i giving consent to being possessed? ... this feels kind of weird....are you guys a cult? Far from it, in fact, lets just ground our discussion right now by saying....
- Jesus was the most Spirit-filled person that ever lived, and there is not one record of Him indulging in any weirdness or rituals or shaking when healing people or doing miracles. In fact, the same is true of the disciples... no fanfare or fuss, just a simple prayer/Word of faith and then -God- does the miracle!
So if someone is twitching uncontrollably when the “Holy Ghost hits...”... its probably self induced, self deluded or outright fake. Yes we said it! I needed to be said!
On the Day of Pentecost -the VERY first, highly significant and major major- manifestation of the Spirit, the disciples spoke ... very clearly, in control, lucidly, and rationally in other languages- causing people who DIDN’T understand the language being spoken to —assume— that they were drunk! Absolutely not. This was not some babbling gibberish which even the person speaking doesn’t understand !!) (you may have heard some examples ....) these were people declaring the wonderful works of God !!!! (Prophesying = speaking of God things).
The Spirit Himself, through Peter ON THAT DAY, telling us - Acts 2:16–17 : “ But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh. “
OT & NT perfectly connected in a MAJOR moment - the unique work of God the Spirit on this planet being kicked off to let the whole world know.... people in every language are going to be declaring the greatness of God! This is what people should being to expect - watch out World, the Gospel is coming!!!! Hallelujah!
Even in such an EPIC moment - the gifts of the Spirit are exercised in a Decent,Orderly manner - which means that they are not things that possess us, but are done under our full and conscious control. This is easier to understand when you consider that you don't want your Pastor, Evangelist, Elder, Teacher - to be a crazy person. You expect decency and order there. Well, its the same Spirit, and same gifting that does also does Faith, and Miracles.... see where we are coming from? Enough said.....
WHY THE SPIRIT?
The Cross and Resurrection marked a seminal moment in human history where the enemy was defeated once and for all.
God has been involved with Man since Adam, and in the OT really only MAJORLY stepped in -twice- to shake things up - the Flood, and Delivering the Israelites from Egypt.
Before, and after that, His Spirit was active through a small number of men - Moses and the 70 elders who helped him, the patriarchs,the craftsmen ( tabernacle making ), judges , prophets, and kings He gave Israel.
This type of presence of the Spirit was very limited pre-cross - a measure of the Spirit, in the form of conscience, of course was given to all men, coming with the gift of Life itself. Evil reigned over the rest of the planet - these times of Man's ignorance God overlooked - simply ordering His people not to copy the immoral lifestyles (resulting from idolatrous practices) of the people around them.
Christ’s presence was the fulfillment of a promise, and His advent, life, work, victory, and ascension was a Third Major Event (Yes we combined quite a few events into one!)
Those of you who have been with us a while know that we maintain that -- Satan was kicked out of heaven immediately after Christ ascended to heaven, and his reign of terror on the earth began in earnest 2000 years ago!
Post-cross, the gloves came off on the day of Pentecost ... the floodgates of His Spirit were thrown open, and the work of the Gospel announced to a waiting world.
The now really active opposition of the enemy to the Gospel needs to be countered with something even more powerful! The war just went up a to a whole other level! The devil is come down with great wrath, spewing out false doctrine like a flood against the Word of God - Revelation 12:12-17.
Who would remember Christ's words and the Word of God if it weren't for divine assistance ? Think about how much -you- think about them in the midst of todays 24 hr news cycle and barrage of distractions - and you are a Christian!
If there was no tending the flame, it would have been extinguished in a generation! The relentless attacks of Satan have thrown so many barriers into the path of God...... think about when the Bible was hidden away from the World (only available in Latin) for over a 1000 years by the very people (Catholic Church) that were enjoined to go out and MAKE DISCIPLES!!! ... thats just one example... now you see why we need the Spirit to preach the gospel against such unrelenting and SOPHISTICATED opposition!
This lines up perfectly with Christ warning us with a picture ( Revelation Chaps 2-3 ) of 7 kinds of churches He sees in this, the Church Age, and the major issues they will have to deal with. Focus on “ministry” instead of love, Persecution & Martyrdom, False doctrine, worldliness and immorality, riches and spiritual lukewarmness ( and a poor, little, faithful church! ). Oh How we need the Spirit! 7 times we are told, pay attention to what the Spirit is telling the churches!!!!
We see the Spirit is given to us in this age, the age of Grace, to help proclaim the good news of the gospel to the whole earth! He convicts of sin, reveals Christ, gives birth to and seals the church, then helps sanctify it and grow it - .... so now you know the WHY for the WHO, and WHAT!!!!!!
HOW DO WE RECEIVE AND WORK WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Ah at last, some practical advice ... HOW do I receive the Holy Spirit? We thought you'd never ask...
"And I say unto you, Ask (:-)) , and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" - Luke 11:9-13
Answer: All you have to do is ask. Its free, and you cant buy it. Its from God, who is more than willing to give it, but you have to humble yourself and ASK!
We are shown a 4 part process. Being Born again, and sealing - Step 1. Being initially baptized in the Spirit - Step 2. Regeneration, and growth. Step 3. Fruits and Gifting - Step 1-4.
The inital baptism is also sometimes typically associated with an anointed person - laying on of hands/contact is important ! In our text we see Jesus breathing on His disciples ,and Paul laying hands on them ( -after- they had been baptized ).
The birth and sealing, ( Jesus breathing, Paul baptizing ) happened first ---- then----- an authenticating event ( tongues, prophesying ) happens to confirm ( Pentecost for the disciples, tongues and prophesying after laying on of hands for Pauls converts ).
The manifestation of tongues and prophecy was both to assure the pastor and his parishioner, that the water baptism was successful, and that the person was indeed sealed with the Spirit. It authenticated the anointer AND the anointed one, as well as the baptism! This is why Paul opens his conversation with the converts, with THAT VERY POINTED QUESTION!
You may say, I’ve been baptized in Jesus name but this Holy Spirit stuff -may or may not have- happened for me. How will I know?
Easy - how do you know if you've been hit by a truck or not?
We’re dead serious. If you walked into your office -very late, but immaculately attired, not a hair out of place- and told everyone the reason you are late is because your car was hit from all sides by 4 16 wheelers, people would look at you funny and call you a barefaced liar.
Exactly similar - when you have a genuine Holy Spirit encounter, with Him who is bigger than a gazillion 16 wheelers, you will know it. Typical experiences are weeping from fullness of emotion and compassion, love, joy - but its not just feelings. Your heart of stone is replaced with a heart of flesh. Your mind and brain get reprogrammed too -with wisdom, understanding, counsel and discernment - renewed Paul calls it!
You need the Holy Spirit to validate your relationship (confession, water baptism) with God - otherwise you are just a wet sinner.... and His abiding presence to Testify of Christ (His Ministry).
So.... you want the Spirit to do Gods work and spread the Gospel, but just consider the following points below:
1. You can be a witness by your actions. Much preferred over talking but not doing! Love and Loving people .... thats #1 and the greatest fruit of the Spirit!
2. You are uniquely designed for, and will be supremely happy only when, exercising your God given giftings and talents, per His plan and program timetable ! Trust Him to give you what you will be best at doing! Dont jump the gun in your own strength ( if tempted just go and keep your focus on #1 ) but wait for Him!
3. Fruits of the Spirit are for every one. The gifts though, are given by the Spirit at His discretion to people and targeted at areas of the church needing help - faith, healing, teaching, leadership, etc. We have gone into that in detail, and you will find a link to that in our First comment on this post - [[we have to do it that way, else when you share, this post will not show up, that link will ... which may still be helpful - but not what we want!!!]]
4. The gifts work differently from the comic books ( superpowers ). -You- don’t necessarily benefit! Paul suffered from weak eyesight, Timothy with a stomach problem. Stephen waited tables, and then was stoned for telling it like it is. We are not told that they healed themselves or were afforded extraordinary miraculous protection... Paul was beaten, shipwrecked, snakebitten. Yet God preserved His life until he had written his letters to the church!
5. Lastly please remember. Its about building your character, spreading the Gospel and building the church! Thats the only thing that carries over into the next world. Its why our weapons are ideas and values, and the knowledge of God!
It's why we go through life not worrying if we are going to be fed, clothed or sheltered. His wisdom gives us the answers and keys to do practical life and make sense of this world we live in.
We also understand what we DONT see, but experience the effects of - Sin and evil. Its how we can release people from strongholds in their minds - confused by human standards on morality, gender, marriage, money, justice and truth.
And its how we can do ministry that is acceptable to God - that is in line with His Will, His Power, and His Spirit!
It's why all we have to do is ask, and since our desires are in line with His will, we receive what we ask of Him - even up to the power of Christ to forgive sins!
Hallelujah!