Receiving the Holy Spirit - Loyal Evangelical Church, Loyal OK

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." ~Jesus Christ, in Matthew 28:18-20

Pastor Leon Seaton

Receiving the Holy Spirit

You can’t help but wonder what life would be like if we would pursue God like some people pursue money – and if we followed the Holy Spirit like some politicians follow the opinion polls….

Acts 1:1-5 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. After His suffering, He showed Himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

Acts 2:1-13 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?

Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

Let’s pretend that it is tomorrow morning at 5 am. You are rushing around to get out of the house because you have an appointment 75 miles away. You overslept and things are not going right. Just as you step into the shower you remember that you forgot to fill your gas tank! In sheer panic you grab your robe, pick up your purse or billfold and get out a $20 bill. No one else is at home and there is not a soul in sight. However, you stand outside the front door and yell, “Here’s $20! Someone put some gas in the car!”

Now if there is no one around to hear or help you, what’s going to happen? Absolutely nothing! You need to be next to a gas pump…and someone needs to be there to take action at your request. Even if you have a tank on your farm you still have to put your vehicle within reach of the hose.

The same principle applies in receiving the Holy Spirit!

What is Required to receive the Holy Spirit?

1. Salvation – you must be born again. The Holy Spirit comes into our lives to comfort, guide and teach us starting at salvation.

2. He calls us to be. This is not “perfection” because that is not going to happen in this lifetime. However, we must make a commitment to be obedient!

a. Forgive those that need to be forgiven – including ourselves.

b. Turn your back on sin. Make a commitment to live a holy life.

c. Receive the Holy Spirit. The church had to wait for the Day of Pentecost. We do not have to wait – or “tarry” because God wants to give you the gift. The initial evidence of the Holy Spirit is the gift of tongues for our prayer lives. This is different than tongues (another language) for worship services. Many people could pray in tongues if they would just do that.

John the Baptist said, “I baptize you with water, but He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

What happens when we receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit? Here is what the prophet Isaiah said about Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit:

Isaiah 11:2,3a

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him (the Messiah) — He will receive:

1. Wisdom and of understanding,

2. Counsel and of power,

3. Knowledge,

4. The fear of the LORD.

Receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit will do the same for us!

God delights in doing things for us in abundance. This is not a “just-get-by religion,” rather it is a relationship based on the abundance of God Himself!

Isaiah 44:2-4

“This is what the LORD says-- He who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: ‘Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.’ ”

“And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

While preparing this message I was overwhelmed with the idea that God absolutely loves us and wants to be actively involved in our everyday lives! Sometimes we take that for granted, which surely disappoints God - and causes us to miss many blessings.

Receiving the Holy Spirit makes life better, but it is not necessarily easy street!

After John the Baptist baptized Jesus, the Holy Spirit sent Jesus out in the wilderness to be tested by Satan for 40 days. After Saul became St. Paul he had to spend 3 years on the back side of the desert relearning what the truth is.

Sometimes we get to feeling that God exists for our convenience. Well, He will bless us and take care of us… but the truth is, we exist for Him! Psalm 23:3, “He leads me in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

On the day of Pentecost the believers began to speak as the Spirit gave them the words to say. The word “began” is significant because this was not a one time experience. This became the normal of the New Testament believers.

Jesus walked in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We will have to wait until we get to heaven to do that…but we can continue to grow in our knowledge, understanding and spiritual strength for the rest of our natural lives.

Being a parent is very difficult at times – especially if you do not have a personal relationship with God. God’s Spirit will teach us so many things and help us understand what is going on.

If there is more than one child there is always the risk of playing favorites. Unfortunately some parents take their anger at the things of life out on one of their kids. These poor children are like the scapegoat in the Old Testament. “Scapegoat” means to take the blame for the sins of someone else. In ancient Greece, human scapegoats were beaten and driven out of cities to mitigate calamities. In early Roman law, an innocent person was allowed to assume the penalty of another; Christianity reflects this notion in its belief that Jesus died to atone for the sins of mankind.

A young woman that we will call “Mary” is in her 40’s. She has lived in Oklahoma all of her life – the last few years have been very difficult. For reasons unknown to her, she has become the scapegoat for her family. Her step-father forced her to leave home at age 18… she has never been able to deal with the problem.

When I suggested that God could fill that gap for her, she looked at me like I had fallen out of a tree and struck my head on a rock…

She has no concept of what the Bible teaches. She believes that when we die we just come back to earth as another person. For her there is no heaven or hell. She is a very lonely person, as you can imagine!

Because she has no understanding of God’s power, she cannot draw from that power. She is like a person walking through a desert, dying of thirst. If that person does not know that an oasis exists just over the hill to the left, he may turn to the right and die within 100 yards of water.

God is everywhere present, but not accessible to the spiritually ignorant!

The Holy Spirit’s power is available to us in abundance…but we have to invite Him to baptize us and make ourselves available to be filled with His power. May I encourage you to do that today!

Sunday, August 2, 2009