Scripture: Acts 2:37-41; Romans 10:9-10; Galatians 5:16-26
Theme: Living with the Holy Spirit
Title: Our Permanent Resident – The Holy Spirit
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
I love Old Testament stories. One of those stories is found in 2 Kings Chapter 4 and involved the Prophet Elisha and a family that lived in the town of Shunem. Shunem was located in the Jezreel Valley about five miles from Mt. Tabor.
The Bible tells us that one day while Elisha was traveling through Shunem a certain wealthy woman invited him to her home for a meal. She wanted to do something for one of God’s Prophets. Each time he would come through that area he was invited to stop and share a meal.
Over time the woman’s family became friends with Elisha. They enjoyed his visits and they enjoyed the presence of having him spend time with them. It was a wonderful arrangement for both the family and for Elisha.
One day the couple decided that instead of just inviting Elisha for a meal they would build him a small room. That way, instead of just grabbing a meal and running off, Elisha could have a place to rest and stay for a while. It would be like a small retreat resort for Elisha when he was traveling in the area.
The couple provided a small room with a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp. Over the years Elisha made use of their hospitality and developed a deep friendship with this family. You can imagine how nice it was to have a place to rest and relax after walking mile after mile on foot.
As a result of this couple’s hospitability, the Bible tells us that the LORD brought great blessings and favor upon them. One of the blessings they experienced was the joy of having a child. For years they had tried to have a child but were unsuccessful. Now, through God’s mercy the couple had a son.
Later on when that child suddenly died the LORD used Elisha to bring him back to life. And then still later when it looked like the family would perish the LORD used Elisha to give them some advanced knowledge that saved their lives.
All of this happened because this family opened up their hearts and their home. They not only opened up their home they made a permanent place for God’s Prophet to stay. They made him more than a welcomed guest they gave him his own residence.
I want to talk to you today about making a place in your heart, mind and soul for a greater person than the Prophet Elisha. A person that doesn’t just want to stay for a few days while they are traveling but wants to stay with you the rest of your life.
That person is the Holy Spirit. One of the greatest privileges that any human being on earth can enjoy is hosting the Holy Spirit.
This idea may even sound a little strange. But it isn’t. This is exactly what Jesus promises in John 14:26
26But the Advocate,* the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
John 14:15-17 (NIV)
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
This is what Jesus prayed for in His High Priestly Prayer (John 17). This is what the Apostle Peter said can happen in our lives in his sermon at Pentecost. God’s Holy Spirit wants to reside in our hearts, minds and souls.
Now we all know that God owns everything. He owns all of creation but one of the things God gave human beings was free will. He gives us the ability to either accept Him or reject Him. He gives us the ability to either be a host of His Holy Spirit or to not be a host of His Holy Spirit.
This morning, I want to talk to you about hosting the Holy Spirit. I want to talk to you about allowing the Holy Spirit to take up a permanent residence in your heart, mind and soul. I want to talk to you about what it means to allow the Holy Spirit to live in you and what that will do for your life and for the lives of those around you. This morning, let’s see at what it means to Host the Holy Spirit.
I. To Host the Holy Spirit we first need to Accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior and LORD
The Apostle Peter in his sermon on Pentecost was asked a very important question following his message.
“Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?” – Acts 2:37
Peter had just preached what had to be the message above all messages. He had just preached the truth about Jesus. How that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah. How that Jesus had died on the cross and been raised from the dead. And that now Jesus had been exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand.
Those that listened were convicted to the depths of their hearts. They didn’t know how to respond and so they asked Peter and the rest what they could do to make things right. They didn’t want to find themselves against God or God’s Will. They wanted to be in a perfect relationship with God the Father Almighty.
I love the Apostle Peter’s answer. Listen to it again:
“Peter replied, ‘Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” – Acts 2:38
Later on the Apostle Paul in writing to the Romans put it this way:
Romans 10:9-10 9 (NIV)
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Before we can host the Holy Spirit there are some things that we do:
+ We must repent of our sins.
We must understand that we that we have sinned against God and that we need a radical spiritual transformation. This is not a rehabilitation but a complete regeneration ( a New Birth). We need to turn from our sins and our rebellion against God. This is not an option. If we want the Holy Spirit in our lives it starts with us repenting of our sins and turning to God.
+We must confess Jesus Christ as our Lord – not just Our Savior but Our Lord.
We need to understand that we are not trying to buy or get what could be called “Hell or Everlasting Fire insurance”. While we do want Jesus to save us from the fires of Hell, we desire much more. We want Jesus to be Our Savior and Our LORD. We want to give Jesus charge of everything in our life.
+We must choose to daily follow Jesus.
If we want Jesus to be our Savior and our LORD then we must also follow Him. This is where some people misunderstand the New Birth; salvation. Being saved means more than us going to Heaven one day. Being redeemed means that we have made up our minds to follow Jesus every day for the rest of our lives.
Each day, we decide that we are no longer going to live for the flesh (for self). Each day we surrender our lives and do our best to follow Jesus. We pray, read His Word, obey and are continually open to the infilling presence of His Holy Spirit.
+We must choose to be publicly water baptized.
We publicly acknowledge through water baptism that we have chosen to die to sin and live for Jesus. We publicly acknowledge that we are Born Again and that Jesus Christ is Our Savior and LORD. We publicly acknowledge that we are no longer the same but are now redeemed children of the Lord God Almighty.
+We receive God’s Holy Spirit.
We receive God’s Holy Spirit to permanently come into our hearts, minds and souls. We ask for the Holy Spirit to baptize us with His Wind, His Fire and with His Presence.
If we will do these things then something supernatural happens to us. We find ourselves being rescued from the penalty and power of sin. We find ourselves being Born Again/Redeemed/Regeneration. We find ourselves radically transformed from the inside out. We find ourselves being filled with God’s Own Holy Spirit.
But that is not all. For when we host the Holy Spirit we discover that God has an amazing agenda for our lives.
Let’s look at that agenda for a few moments.
II. God’s Agenda through His Holy Spirit
When you host God, God’s Holy Spirit it is amazing. At times we may find ourselves being quiet and reflective. At times we may find ourselves filled with overwhelming joy and laughter. At times we may find ourselves burdened over the sins of others. At times we may find ourselves supernaturally empowered to share the message of Jesus in the most unlikely of places. At times we may find ourselves wrapped in the mystery of God’s love and grace. At times we may find ourselves experiencing a dream or a vision. At times we may even experience a rather unpleasant dry spell or a period of time called the “dark night of the soul.”
All of those and more happen because when we receive the baptism, the infilling presence of God in our lives we receive the Person of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is a Person. He has emotions and He wants to walk with us, talk with us and guide and direct our lives.
When we host the Holy Spirit, we are not hosting a thing but the living spirit of God. That Spirit if we allow it will help us live the most exciting life possible on this earth.
In saying all of that, we must understand that God’s Spirit does not come without an agenda. Let’s look at some of those agendas:
A. The Holy Spirit comes to purify and cleanse us.
We may not want to admit it but the fact remains that we are all messed up. We are broken. We have been tainted both by the sin of Adam and Eve and our own individual sin(s). Some of us have to deal with what is called generational sin. We live in a sin filled world that has brought us its own pain, suffering and brokenness.
I don’t think any of us would really deny any of this. All we have to do is to think about such things as racism, sexism, greed, gluttony, hatred, lust, lying, laziness and manipulation. All we would have to do is to honestly go through the Ten Commandments to see that all human beings are messed up to one degree or the other.
The Apostle John puts it this way:
“If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.” – 1 John 1:8
The Holy Spirit doesn’t want us to live a life of slavery to sin. The Holy Spirit doesn’t want us to live a life that is beneath that of being a child of God. The Holy Spirit wants to transform us more and more into the image of God. He wants to rid us of sin and lead us into a life of righteousness.
The Apostle Paul in writing to the Galatians tells them that the Holy Spirit wants to clean up their lives by helping them to no longer live according to the flesh. He then gives a whole list of things that the Holy Spirit will help us get rid of and in their place the Holy Spirit will begin to help us bear His fruit. Listen again to Paul’s words:
Galatians 5:16-26 English Standard Version
Keep in Step with the Spirit
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Because the Holy Spirit is God and God is holy, it should not surprise us that as His vessel, the place that the Holy Spirit wants to live, He also wants to make pure and holy.
B. The Holy Spirit wants to give us Authority
The Holy Spirit doesn’t want to just clean us up. He wants to empower us with authority. He wants to transform us from something towards something.
We are like an old house but not like an old house. There is a case to made that when we host the Holy Spirit it is like hosting a supernatural carpenter who spends His time cleaning us up, fixing us up and polishing us up.
You have probably heard illustrations like that. We are to allow the Holy Spirit to go around our spiritual house and fix, repair and make new all the areas of our lives. He wants to fix the closets, the doors, the windows and whatever else needs fixing.
But it is more than that. We are more than a human renovation project. There is more to us than being a type of spiritual house flip.
The Holy Spirit is not fixing us up to flip us. He is fixing us up so that He can better live in us and through us. The Holy Spirit is not fixing us up and then leaving us on our own having to return when we messed things up again. That is to say, the Holy Spirit doesn’t want to be our permanent handyman.
What the Holy Spirit is interested in is sharing this space we call a life together. He wants to share His mind with ours. He wants to share His Spirit with our Spirit. He wants to be One with Us.
Hosting the Holy Spirit isn’t so much a fix up as it is becoming one. The Holy Spirit becomes one with our spirit and in doing so He transforms us. He renews our minds, He enlarges our hearts and enables us to some amazing things. Things like:
+Learning to love like God – Agape Love
Having the Holy Spirit live inside you, work with you and guide you leads you to experiencing a deeper love for God, for yourself and for others. This is what agape love is all about.
It isn’t about putting yourself down or becoming a mat for others to walk on. It is becoming more like God. God is love. God loves Himself. God loves others. And one of the amazing things about hosting the Holy Spirit is what it does for us in the love department. We begin to love God more. We begin to even love ourselves more realizing that God made us, that we are God’s masterpiece and that we are children of the Most High God.
We are able to love others more. We are able to reach out and do all we can for someone else knowing that as we love them we are loving God more and we are loving ourselves more. We learn more and more what it means to be one in Christ which takes our love for God, for ourselves and for others to amazing levels of heights and depths.
The Holy Spirit will enable us to have the best self-image of ourselves possible and at the same time enable us to be humble and serve others. He does this because that is exactly what He does.
+Learning how to Create like God
One of the things that we learn in the Bible is that God is a creator. He loves to create things and safe spaces.
Think back for a moment to the Garden of Eden. In that Garden, God spoke words that brought forth life and that enabled that life to enjoy itself and the rest of creation. God enabled plants, animals, birds and fish of the sea to enjoy everything around them. God enabled Adam and Eve to enjoy one another as they shared life in a very safe space.
The Holy Spirit, if we allow Him will help us become creators as well. He will give us insight, knowledge and wisdom so that we can help bring about things that will help others live safer and more productive lives. He will enable us to create safe places that are filled with joy, peace and love.
It is not by accident that as a result of the mighty revivals in the last 200 years that so many inventions and discoveries have been made for the betterment of humanity and all of creation. It is not by accident that through so many God filled people that life on this planet is getting better and better. That is part of God’s agenda for us as individuals and for us as His People.
The Holy Spirit wants to co-labor with us to help create a new world. This was Jesus’ mandate in Matthew 28:16-20.
On the cross Jesus defeated the powers of evil. He paid the price of sin and He took away the penalty of sin. He took back the keys of the kingdom and now all authority in Heaven and Earth belongs to Him. Jesus gives us that access to that authority through the Person, Power and Presence of His Holy Spirit.
The LORD wants us to go out and recreate His world. He wants us to take back the land that the Devil had stolen in the first place. He wants us to reign over the earth. He wants us to transform the world around us. He gives us His Holy Spirit to accomplish that task.
+We have to learn to rule like God
God does not save us for us to remain servants. He does not fill us with His Holy Spirit for us to eek out a pitiful existence here on earth. He rescues, redeems and restores us so that we can learn to rule like Him. God gives us authority and wants us to rule our lives, our homes and our communities.
At times we misunderstand the Great Commission. We tend to think that all we are to do is to help people escape the pit of Hell. If that were the only thing then that of course would be a great thing.
But the reality is God wants us to rule here on earth through the Person, Power and Presence of His Holy Spirit. God wants us to be His ambassadors here on earth. He wants us to do everything we can to redeem all of Creation.
When finances were a problem in the Early Church the Early Church discovered a supernatural plan. When people were in need those who were filled and led by the Holy Spirit realized that the God of Heaven had already given what they needed. All they needed to do was to share with one another.
They could have thought that they needed to just rely on the Roman Government. The only problem was the powers behind the Roman Government were the powers of the flesh. The only real solution was to turn to the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why the Early Church gave what they had to meet each other’s need.
When the Early Church needed healing or a miracle it turned to the LORD. And in doing so it did everything it could to make a miracle take place. Peter and John allowed the Holy Spirit to work through them to bring healing to the lame man. Philip allowed the Holy Spirit to work through him to bring salvation to the man from Ethiopia. Barnabas allowed the Holy Spirit to work through him to bring Saul/Paul into the work of the Early Church.
All of these people were bold enough to believe that in Jesus needs could be met. They were all bold enough to believe in the power of prayer. They were all bold enough to ask for, be open for and receive healings, anointings, revelations, dreams, visions, knowledge, insight and wisdom. They were bold enough to try to do the impossible for Jesus.
We live in a day when the flesh and when evil says that all good things are lost. We see the people rioting, we see all the hatred and we see evil everywhere. It is easy to lose hope and to think all things are lost.
But that is just what the Devil and his legion of demons wants us to believe. They know that their time is short. They know that in Jesus they have no power over the Church nor power over people who are filled with the Holy Spirit.
All evil can do is lie and get us believe their lies. If evil can get us doubt or to be depressed then even though the devil and his demons are defeated they can still cause us to become paralyzed and ineffective.
Today, is the day of the Holy Spirit. Today is the day of Holy Spirit fire. Today, is the day of Our Risen Savior and LORD. Today is the Day that God sits on the Throne and Satan is cast down.
Today, is the day we must invite and allow the Holy Spirit to live through us more than ever. We are not defeated. Just the opposite! Our God is on the throne. Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The Holy Spirit lives within us, cleansing us and empowering us.
Today, I challenge you – Read the Book (God’s Word). Listen to the words of Jesus! Receive the baptism of His Holy Spirit. Receive the infilling presence of God’s Holy Spirit.
Then live out a Spirit-filled Life. Call upon the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to guide you, lead you, transform you, renew you and empower your life through His Presence. Believe what He says is True!
Go forth today with these words ringing in your heart, mind and soul:
2 Timothy 1:7 New King James Version
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
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