COME HOLY SPIRIT
Our relationship to the Holy Spirit is vital in our ministry and life. Jesus had the "Spirit without measure". There were no limitations on Jesus power to move in the Spirit and manifest the Spirit in miracles and signs. The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus and "remained" upon Him. Jesus did no miracles until He had been empowered. He did this to demonstrate how one in the flesh could move in the power of the Spirit. We hesitate to look at the human side of Christ because we fear challenging His deity. But without seeing His human nature along with His divine nature, you cannot understand how we must function in the "power of the Spirit". This "upon" Holy Spirit was the key to the early churches evangelism. "You shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you". Acts 1:8 "and you shall be my witnesses". Paul, the apostle, enlarges our understanding of how we can relate to the Holy Spirit. The Pauline epistles actually show us three different relationships we can have with the Holy Spirit.
FIRST we can "grieve" the Holy Spirit. We do this by deliberate acts of disobedience to God. BY DOING SOMETHING THAT GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO DO. The Holy Spirit has feelings and emotions like us. Has anyone ever hurt your feelings? How do we grieve the Holy Spirit? Paul tells us in Eph 4:30-32 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you." We can do outright acts of hurting others that causes both them grief and the Holy Spirit grief! The solution for this is so simple we might miss it. It is just to simply forgive. Just by saying, "I forgive you" or "Please forgive me for what I said or did to you". How often? As many times as God forgives you. We better stop counting!
SECOND we can "Quench" the Holy Spirit. I Thess. 5:17 This is like "putting out the fire" of God. THIS IS NOT DOING WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO. People often don't feel comfortable letting God manifest His presence and power through gifts. It is easy to put out the fire of God. Some churches have tried to become more "seeker friendly" and have all but shut down God's manifest presence. We can put out the fire of witnessing because we fear sharing our faith. The Holy Spirit is grieved. How many times I have been in church services where God was ready to come in "Power", but the leaders shut it down fearing the loss of control. One person has defined revival as the "Church out of control". True revivals were often messy. Strange things happened in some of the "Great Awakenings" of the past. Many want a "comfortable" environment in which to worship, but the "upper room" seemed out of man's control.
THIRD we can be "continually being filled" with the Holy Spirit. Eph 5:18-19 "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." This is freely letting the Holy Spirit move through you by you being cleansed and open to His presence. I invite the Holy Spirit to take over my mouth, my heart, my life daily. There is a melody in this kind of life-style. A filling with joy unspeakable for full of glory. This joy becomes your daily strength. Just like wine takes over a person who is full of it, the Holy Spirit takes over the life full of Him. This will result in a life full of thanksgiving and praise. God is good and the goodness of the Lord will be resting on this person.
