Why Is The Spirit Of The Lord Upon Us?

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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Pastor James May

WHY IS THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD UPON US?

At the age of 30 Jesus came to John the Baptist and was baptized the muddy waters of the Jordan River as our example in fulfilling all righteousness. It should be said here that water baptism does not save us from our sin and does not represent actual repentance, for Jesus had never committed sin and had no need for repentance. He was baptized in order that his public confession of belief in John’s gospel of repentance and of identification with the Father in Heaven might be seen of all men. Therefore, water baptism, while important and necessary to fulfill the completion of our duty as Christians, is not the means of salvation but a confession of our willingness to be obedient to God’s Word and to identify with Jesus in his power of the resurrection through the symbolism of burying the flesh and rising a new creature in Christ.

Likewise, at the moment of baptism in the waters of the Jordan, the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, “like a dove”, or it rested upon his head as gently and peacefully as a dove might come to rest on a branch. It was a visible sign of a spiritual event. There was no speaking in tongues for this is not representative of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit that men began to experience on the Day of Pentecost in the Upper Room when the Spirit came like a mighty rushing wind and appeared as flames of fire.

The coming of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus at Jordan is representative and symbolic of the presence of the Spirit of God that comes to dwell in the life of every born again child of God who has confessed their sin and confessed Jesus as their Lord and Savior. At that moment the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus for the purpose of showing the world that the power and presence of almighty God was with him.

All three persons of the Godhead were manifest that day at Jordan. The Son of God, Jesus Christ in his bodily form of flesh and blood, stood in the water; the Holy Spirit came and rested upon his body of flesh to show that the Spirit of God dwelt within him and the voice of the Father is Heaven is heard as he expressed his love and approval of his own Son. Thus we hear the Father, we seen the Son and we see the Holy Spirit all agreeing together for one purpose.

The Holy Spirit rested upon Jesus at Jordan, not so much for Jesus’ sake, but for the sake of all who stood around so that they could see the anointing as it came to rest upon the Son of God. The coming of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus did not save him because Jesus was never a sinner and never lost. He was God and needed no salvation, needed no more anointing, already had all power and was already eternally alive and holy. Thus, it was not the coming of the Holy Spirit that saved Jesus and it is not the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, upon the heart, mind and soul of a Believer that gives salvation either. In fact, the Holy Spirit neither in the form of the baptism in the Holy Spirit or in the coming of the Spirit upon the heart of man like a dove, can occur until after repentance and acceptance of Jesus as your Savior.

The Holy Spirit cannot and will not rest upon the heart of a sinner. Light and darkness cannot dwell together. Until a man repents and accepts Christ as his Savior he is dwelling in utter darkness, blinded by sin and without hope. The only personal contact that the Holy Spirit will have with those who are living in sin is that he will draw them to Christ through the preaching of the Word that they might be saved but he cannot dwell with them.