Open the Gift?
Before we get started, I want to ask everyone a question. How many of you, have any unopened Christmas or birthday gifts lying a around your house.
It’s human nature isn’t, to open gifts that we receive? Today I want to conclude our study on the Holy Spirit and ask have you opened the gift that God has given us?
What we have been studying for the last two weeks, praying in the Spirit,
A majority of Spirit Filled Church’s have gotten away from over the last several years.
They have went to seeker sensitive services, you know the we mustn’t offend anyone brand of religion.
And right along with that has been the lack of stirring the gift from within.
A lot of Spirit Filled Christians, can tell you the day and the hour, they received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit,
But ask them when the last time they exercised it, or shared the experience with someone else was, (pause)
That’s right, there would probably be a long pause.
God doesn’t want us to be seeker sensitive, “Praying in the Spirit,” is a sign to the unbeliever.
We need to get back to the basics, the way the early church did in the bible!
Acts 19:1-7 MSG.
1-2. Now, it happened that while Apollos was away in Corinth, Paul made his way down through the mountains, came to Ephesus, and happened on some disciples there. The first thing he said was, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart? Did he get inside you?"
"We’ve never even heard of that— a Holy Spirit? God within us?"
3. "How were you baptized, then?" asked Paul.
"In John’s baptism."
4. "That explains it," said Paul. "John preached a baptism of radical life-change so that people would be ready to receive the One coming after him, who turned out to be Jesus. If you’ve been baptized in John’s baptism, you’re ready now for the real thing, for Jesus."
5-7. And they were. As soon as they heard of it, they were baptized in the name of the Master Jesus. Paul put his hands on their heads and the Holy Spirit entered them. From that moment on, they were praising God in tongues and talking about God’s actions.
Paul didn’t have time for a seeker friendly service, he got right down to business
"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart? Did he get inside you?"
I’ll say it again, God doesn’t want us to be seeker sensitive, “Praying in the Spirit,” is a sign to the unbeliever.
It started on the day of Pentecost and has been ever since.
Acts 2:38-41 MSG.
38. Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
40. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
41. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
They weren’t interested in just attracting seekers (lookie lou’s) they were interested in Baptizing Believers with the Holy Spirit and with Power,
They were interested in equipping the new believers for the task at hand
They wanted to share the Promise that they had seen fulfilled.
Acts 1:4 NKJ.
4. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
Notice it doesn’t say A promise, it says The Promise, the instructions were specific
There are over 5,000 promises in the bible, this one was important,
this one would unleash the Power that God wanted His believers to have in their lives,
To reign victorious in this life, to do the impossible, to be a sign to the world, to reach the world with the gospel message for Christ!
Acts 1:8 NKJ
8. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
God has equipped us mightily and extravagantly for the life, “This Life” He has called us, to live.
Some would still have you think that, Gods spirit won’t be poured out until the last days,
Joel 2:28-29 NKJ.
28. “And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
How can the church experience all that God has for them in the last days,
When they haven’t even experienced all that God has made available to them, since the day of Pentecost?
Praying in the Spirit, unlocks everything for the believer, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water now, in this life.
John 7:37-39 NKJ
37. On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
39. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Praying in the Holy Spirit, unlocks rivers of living water, rivers of intercession to God, by the Holy Spirit in your life,
Over your health, your family, every day acquaintances, every area, even all unknown things to come in your future,
are covered by these rivers of living water that is available to all believers.
This is the Word of God and there is life in the Word of God!
Smith Wigglesworth,
*a great evangelist of the later 19th and 20th Century
*had a fantastic signs and wonders ministry
*was responsible for raising 14 people back from the dead (countless other miracles as well, water to gas)
*said he could not estimate the value, the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues had on his ministry and his life, it was immeasurable!
There are no Signs and Wonders in non Spirit Filled Church’s,
The one I grew up in, didn’t believe in any of them and if you were to guess, you’d probably be right, there wasn’t any!
Church’s that don’t believe that its for today, are blinded by someone else’s theology.
That’s the way its always been and always will be, their always praying if it’s the Lords will.
If thats you this morning, idn’t about time you searched the scriptures and prayed and truly sought it out for yourself?
The Holy Spirit is God’s will, He sent Him!
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit is Gods will as well, He created them!
And the devil knows it too, and as much as he would like there to be, there hasn’t been a great recall of God‘s Promise, has there?
TBS. He remains the same
James 1:16-17 YLT.
16. Be not led astray, my brethren beloved;
17. every good giving, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variation, or shadow of turning;
The power of God, is lined up with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
If I pray in tongues, does my mind pray?
Or does my body or flesh pray?
No, my spirit prays and where does the Holy Spirit dwell, in my spirit!
For those who think you have to understand everything to participate in it, let me ask you this?
Describe the wind to me? What’s it look like, can you see it? Where does it come from?Can you control it?
No, but you can feel it and you no its real and you also need it for your very survival, don’t you?
It’s the very same way concerning your spirit and the Holy Spirit, we need Him in our lives, for our very survival!
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to know everything,
*explain the law of physics?
*explain exactly how electricity works?
*explain the inner workings of the human brain?
*explain the way a woman thinks? Just kidding!
Those are all things we use everyday, but if we were put on the spot, exact definitions would hard to come up with!
If you think you have to know everything about the things of God and the Holy Spirit, before you experience it,
You will never experience everything that God has for you, neither will your family, or anyone else that you have influence over,
When you pray in the Spirit, you are praying for every need that is associated with you.
*Your Husband
*your wife
*your children
*your family
*your friends
*your work and career
*your church and your ministry
*like Jabez, your territory
*all future good in your life
All these things concern your future and the Lord says He has seen your future and it looks good,
and He wants more than anything to help you to achieve it.
Praying in the spirit is where the will of God is.
Romans 8:26-28 NKJ
26. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28. And we know that (all things work together for good to those who love God,) to those who are the called according to His purpose.
He has so much good He wants to bring into your life,
so much so, that if you knew it all, it would be to much to comprehend,
You wouldn‘t be able to handle it, none of us would!
The more you search for Him, the more you pray in the Spirit, the more He reveals to you
And I want you to know He longs and wants to reveal more to you, each and everyday you seek of Him!
TBS. He rewards those who seek Him!
The most loving thing you can do for the loved ones around you, is pray in the Spirit for them!
Whether you need a miracle for,
* a Health issue
* a financial need to be met
* a wayward son or daughter
* a marriage restored
* a friend who needs Jesus in their life
* a future for you and all those who you love, that only He can give
When you don’t know what to pray, He does!
When you have know idea what to say, He does!
When you don’t know all the things that need to happen in their life to turn them around and bring them home, He does! Praise God!
John 4:23-24 NKJ
23. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
24. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth TBS.
Maybe its time to take your relationship to the next level in the things and the will that God has for your life!
To seek more of Him, to seek all that He has to offer!
Ill. Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ tells this story of a famous oil field called Yates Pool:
During the depression this field was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates.
Mr. Yates wasn’t able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on the mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch.
With little money for clothes or food, his family (like many others) had to live on government subsidy.
Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas hills, he was no doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills.
Then a seismographic crew from an oil company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land.
They asked permission to drill a wildcat well, and he signed a lease contract.
At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a day. (that’s 3,333.33 barrels per hour)
Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, 30 years after the discovery,
a government test of one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000 barrels of oil a day.
And Mr. Yates owned it all.
The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and mineral rights. Yet, he’d been living on relief.
A multimillionaire living in poverty.
The problem? He didn’t know the oil was there even though he owned it.
Many Christians live in spiritual poverty.
They are entitled to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and his energizing power, but they are not aware of their birthright.
Seek your Spiritual inheritance, seek what is yours, seek what has been yours all along!
God has made it available to you and thought that it was important enough to make it a part of the new covenant of Grace, that Jesus gave to the world,
So much so, that He was willing to sacrifice His only begotten Son,
so you could experience all the benefits that He longs to make a part of your life, on a daily basis.
Amen? Lets pray!
