The Biggest gift

We have been talking about the Kingdom of God and the fact that it is here, now.  Then we began late last summer discussing the gifts.  But today, I want to talk about the biggest gift…Now Jesus and salvation was the best gift.  But if we only have that gift, the gospel of salvation, we can never go into the biggest gift, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gospel of the kingdom.

John 14
15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
 
Jesus asked ‘the Father’, Father God, to give us another gift, the gift of the Advocate, comforter, ‘parakletos’ an aid, to come alongside.   Jesus was leaving and they were concerned about who would lead them.  They were a group of people who would soon be without a leader.

We see a paradigm shift here.  Where a group of people who had a strong leader would soon be led individually by Holy Spirit, each on their own…now how is that gonna work?  Let me get back to that, later in the teaching.
 
John 16
1 “I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith. 2 For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. 3 This is because they have never known the Father or me. 4 Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer.
5 “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.
12 “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.’
 
Then, after the crucifixion, Luke caught us up on what happened in Acts.
 
Acts 1
1 In my first book (Luke) I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. 3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.
4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
 
Jesus knew they were scared.  They wanted to carry on the movement but wouldn't know what to do if Jesus had not given them a succession plan, but things were changing now. 

However, when Jesus ascended, Peter suddenly knew how this was going to work.  How?  We don’t see this discussed.  But they had all just received the Holy Spirit, maybe that was how
 
Acts 2:38
38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
 
But we see he calls it the "gift of the Holy Spirt.”  I think Peter knew it wasn’t about the tongues of fire they had all received, it was about the power when we receive Him-Holy Spirit. Again, Luke calls it the gift...
 
Acts 10
45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.

Then in Acts 11, Peter is explaining to everyone about his vision of the sheet with the many animals and how all were clean. 

​Acts 11
15 “As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. 16 Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”
 
They all, continually speak of the GIFT of the Holy Spirit…He is the gift.
But let’s look at the bad side of this whole thing.
 
Acts 8
9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. 10 Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.” 11 They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.
12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.
14 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. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. 19 “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”
20 But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! 21 You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God. 22 Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts, 23 for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”
 
Was Simon truly saved?  Probably, but maybe he wasn’t fully surrendered because he thought he could buy the gift.  History records that he eventually fell to his death believing he could fly.  False beliefs are a slippery slope.

Many people believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit is tongues, but the Holy Spirit IS the gift.  The tongues, prophecy, boldness, etc., are all fruit of the gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gave.

The individual gifts that I’ve been talking about for a while now, are for ALL people and is first received at birth.  So when you are born, you are given the gift of service, hospitality, leadership, prophecy, etc.  You are even given the capacity to speak in tongues, and see the sick healed.

Then when you grow, and accept Jesus, they are empowered by further infilling of the Holy Spirit. 

As you mature, get in the word and ‘receive the full gift,’ the Holy Spirit himself, then you become supercharged.

Jesus had to go away in order for the gift of Holy Spirit to come.  It didn’t mean he left the disciples, but he wasn’t guiding their daily lives.  The same is true with you at salvation, Jesus may walk with you a bit, but at some point, and it can even be at salvation, depending on what belief system you were saved in, the Holy Spirit comes in you, but only if you let him.

Holy Spirt, as God and Jesus, are gentlemen.  They WILL NOT go against mans will. I’ve struggled with this a lot, because I have seen God intervene.  But stick with me for a moment. 

God chose to work through humans.  So, we get our gifts and they will work with or without Him.  Then when we make Jesus Lord, the power of Holy Spirit is available and even can work through us with conviction, revelation, etc.  But if we reject something He is showing us, then that ability for him to work is limited.  But as we grow, by reading the word, prayer, worship and godly teaching, then He begins to show us the power available to us.  When we ask to receive that power, either with help from someone else praying for you or just you alone, He comes in like a shot of jet fuel and supercharges everything in your life.

The lord showed me though that he will not intervene unless it affects his divine purpose.  So, let’s look at 9/11.  God was as grieved, if not more, than we were, but He could not intervene in man’s will. 

But remember all of the miracles.  A lot more people should have been killed in the towers.  Many were saved so supernaturally that only God could have been given the credit.  For many who died, we didn’t know their story and now their stories have founded many wonderful things…benefiting millions.  People buried in the rubble were saved physically and spiritually. 

A Muslim woman buried in the rubble was saved and pulled out by a man who apparently never existed.  She and her husband have since formed a ministry, traveling the world telling people about that day.

When she should have died, God intervened and used her to share Jesus will millions.

So even though we don’t understand tragedy, the ‘gift’ of the Holy Spirit himself will come alongside and one day we will see.

My own brother was killed in a horrific accident.  No one knew all of the amazing things he had done…he changed the lives of literally hundreds of kids who never knew his name.  After his passing, his wife changed her life, she and his daughter formed a foundation and now every year raise thousands to carry on the legacy of helping kids.

That is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes we get so focused on the ‘gifts’ that we ignore the more important gift of the Holy Spirit himself.

When we have our own personal ‘Pentecost’ and receive the revelation of the Holy Spirit and invite Him to fill us, regardless of what He brings, then it is like a lightbulb that goes off in our lives with the revelation or realization of our His purpose for us.  It may not be immediate, but it does happen.

Holy Spirit gives the gifts we have talked about in 1 Corinthians Romans, but Jesus gave the 5 fold offices, in Ephesians 4.

So, we see a paradigm shift here.  Remember earlier, I talked about how there was a a group of people who had a strong leader that would soon leave them and then they would be led individually by Holy Spirit, each on their own…now how is that gonna work?

The offices and the gifts.  Paul does extensive teaching on the body, the physical body being an analogy of how the church is supposed to work.  The 5 fold, sort of lead and teach…eph 4…and the people come in with the gifts and do the work, and when humility is in place and everyone is operating in the fullness of their gifts, then a healthy church works like clockwork.  That is the entire purpose of all of this.  This is the only way we can fulfill the great commission in Mt 28, go ye therefore, making disciples.

We still need leaders, but Jesus knew that those men were leaders, so the hierarchy of replacing jesus with one person wouldn’t have worked, they would still be in Jerusalem, hanging out doing their thing.  Jesus left each one of them individually, the Holy Spirit to guide them into their leadership role fully so the gospel could be shared and you and I could be saved.

But what is the evidence of having the Holy Spirit in your life?

Galatians 5
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
 
We need to quit looking for someone who heals, or prays in tongues, someone who preaches good, or sings and worships beautifully.  Look for this fruit…that is how you know that Holy Spirit resides in them. 

Can you imagine what would happen if we only elected our officials if they walked in that fruit?
 
Acts 2
1 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.
Entire denominations have spent many, many years believing that if you didn’t speak in tongues, then you weren’t spirit filled. 
Don’t ever lessen the importance of having the Holy Spirit in you, down to just being able to operate in one of the many gifts.

See not every instance of being spirit filled in the bible was about tongues.

Acts 4:31
After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

They preached with boldness.  Now let's go back to where we started.

John 14
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 
17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
 
We see her that the Holy Spirit:
                Convicts
                Increases faith
                Brings direction
                Empowers
                Counsels
                Reveals truth
                But most of all – He reminds you!
 
1 Cor 13:13
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
 
Holy Spirit empowers you to have faith, hope and love…the kind of love that is only given and received if the Holy Spirit is involved.

The Holy Spirit is in the entire bible.

We see Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:2
The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Holy Spirit was there, bringing order to chaos.

Then in Revelations 22
1 Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
 
Holy Spirit is that river with the water of life, flowing down to bring life and healing to all.

He is everywhere in scripture from beginning to end. 

Take time to pray for the Holy Spirit to fill you, fully.