Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” John 1:32-34
For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. John 3:34 (NIV)
For since He Whom God has sent speaks the words of God – proclaims God’s own message – God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the gift God makes of His Spirit. John 3:34 (Amplified)
*As a human being, Jesus had to rely on the Spirit’s help and power to fulfill His responsibilities before God. Only as a Spirit-anointed man could Jesus live, serve and proclaim the gospel.
JESUS COULD NOT HAVE APPEARED ON EARTH AND DID WHAT HE DID AS ONLY GOD. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR HUMANS TO FULLY BEHOLD GOD AND LIVE. THEREFORE, IF JESUS HAD COME AS ONLY FULLY GOD, EVERYONE WHO SAW HIM OR WAS AROUND HIM WOULD HAVE DROPPED DEAD. JOHN FELL AT HIS FEET AS THOUGH DEAD WITH JUST A GLIMPSE OF HIS FULLNESS AND GLORY IN REVELATION 1. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY FOR JESUS TO ALSO BE FULLY MAN, SO THAT HE COULD BRING LIFE. AND, THAT COULD ONLY BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH THE WORK AND POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON HIS LIFE! AS A MAN, JESUS COULD NOT DO THE GOD STUFF ON HIS OWN!!
*Everything that Jesus did – preaching, teaching, healings, suffering, victory over sin – He did in and through the power of the Holy Spirit. If Jesus Himself needed the empowerment of the Spirit, how much more do we? In fact, it is so vital, that Jesus’ instructions to His closest group of followers was to wait and do nothing for the Kingdom until they were empowered by the Spirit.
1. Holy Spirit is a FREE GIFT.
a. It is not something that is earned. It is free the same way that salvation is free.
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13
b. The fullness and power of the Holy Spirit are just a prayer away.
c. Holy Spirit is like a beautifully wrapped present under the tree with our name on it. All we need to do it take it and open it up and receive it as our own.
2. We need the abiding Holy Spirit – We need Him to remain on us as He did on Jesus.
a. We can’t expect to do the works of Jesus in a way that is different than the way Jesus did them Himself.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” With that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:21-22
b. Jesus reveals here to His disciples and to us that it is essential that we be sent in the same manner as Him – with the Spirit of God in and upon our lives.
c. As = even as, according to the manner in which, just as, in the degree that
3. As we receive Holy Spirit and He remains on us, there is no limitation to what God can do through us.
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12
a. Because Jesus walked and lived in the fullness of the Spirit, and then ultimately won the victory against death itself, He has been granted by the Father the power and authority to pour out the Holy Spirit upon all who believe on Him and ask for the Spirit in their lives.
b. With the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, there is no limit to what we can accomplish for the Kingdom other than the limits we put on ourselves.
