Isn’t salvation enough? Didn’t I get it all already?
And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 1 John 4:13
Matthew 3:11
I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Can you tell if a person has the Spirit of God living in them or not?
What are the signs?
They are a really good person
They are kind, loving generous
They do good things
This list could go on and on but these things are not necessarily a sign of someone having the Spirit of God
In a good situation, when someone is having a “good day” practically anyone can be like this but what if they are having a bad day, what if life crashes in all around them, how are they then?
Yes, we are all human, we have issues we need to overcome but a person who is filled with the Spirit of God has access to all of the gifts, wisdom, insight, understanding, power, and fruit of the Spirit
When we came to Christ what some would call conversion, redemption, salvation, being born again, the Holy Spirit did come to be with you however you were not sealed, in-filled, baptized in the Holy Spirit whatever word you want to use.
The sealing, in-filling, baptism in the Holy Spirit, is a conscience act that generally follows conversion where he comes in us…let me give you some examples
John 20:19-23
Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Acts 8:14-16 – Samaritans come to Christ
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 19:1,2 – Believers in Ephesus
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. 2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.
“No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
This was conversion, giving them the Holy Spirit so they might believe as Romans 8:9
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
AND 1 Corinthians 12:3
So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.
Apart from the Holy Spirit coming to us and being with us we can’t even accept Christ as Lord and walk in salvation….but I said the in-filling was a conscience act each of these groups decided they wanted the Holy Spirit in them
Jesus said this to the disciples Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Then in Acts 2:4
On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
The Samaritans– Acts 8:17
“Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.”
The Ephesians– Acts 19:3-6
Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked.
And they replied, “The baptism of John.” 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”
5 As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.
In each instance they were called believers before they received the in-filling, sealing, baptism of the Holy Spirit, then either through wind or the laying on of hands, they received the Holy Spirit with power.
Just one more instance to make it clear…Paul has a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, Syria he is a religious persecutor of Christianity however, I believe his hearts desire was to follow God in truth and purity. God saw that in him and corrected his path. He was blinded and God speaks to a faithful man of God in Syria to trust him to go to his new brother Saul
Acts 9 10-11, 17
Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord!” he replied. 11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.
17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Why did they need this power? Do we still need it today?
What did Jesus say?
John 14:16,17 (amplified version)
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.
You have heard me say the word “another” means one identical to Jesus, the same as Jesus
Jesus had just been explaining to the disciples how he and the Father are one and now he tells us he and the Spirit are one and we can do the things Jesus did as we learn to trust him and go from having him with us to having Him in us…so He will be all the things in us that Jesus was to the disciples when He was with them. Remember the world is in darkness (ignorance) and the only way for them to get free is to know the Truth and the Holy Spirit is that truth gives us that truth and…
John 14:25,26
I have told you these things while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.
The Holy Spirit will teach you about everything Jesus did..
– how he acted and reacted,
– he will show you how to overcome the world, set men free
– flow in the gifts, live in the fruit
– See people the way Jesus saw them
– have the father’s heartbeat for the world
– have His passion to see the world changed
– live in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth
There is so much deception in the world so much that people believe is in the Bible but is not so much that people do not even understand. Jesus spent 3 and ½ years on earth explaining though parables, direct testimony, and teaching miracles signs and wonders about the Kingdom, the power of God, his desire for people to be free and His heart to empower people to break others free…He spoke to the masses, was intimate with a few, we have the word of God as our love letter but Jesus did many more things than are written in the word and we need the power, infilling sealing of the one who is just like Him living in us to continue His heart beat, the Father’s heart beat on earth.
John 16:12-15
There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
The Father’s heart breaks for the world. He had a relationship with us in the beginning and gave us the power to have dominion over the earth we surrendered that to Satan then Jesus came and showed us the Father’s heartbeat, what was possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. He paid the price to give us the power back to take back dominion of the darkness (ignorance) in the lives of men. The antidote to ignorance (darkness) is truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.
To accept his message as mere fire insurance from hell is not the Gospel it is safety for you but still leaves a world in bondage. He says receive the Holy Spirit to teach us to handle the power to release the Kingdom in the lives of men and women everywhere!
If God has offered us this power, we need to understand He believes we need it and if he believes we need it then we should believe we need it too!
…so the questions is will you have your heart broken for what breaks his heart and receive the power to bring the Kingdom to everyone you know or will you be satisfied with fire insurance?
If you are filled with the Holy Spirit is this what you see in your life?
If you are not do you want this? I am not going to have us pray for you this week…I need you to begin to think and pray about what you want
Next week the real versus the fake