Newtown Church of God

liveinhislove:

How the Lord equipsw His people to accomplish the “Impossible.”

1. Claryfying the differences between “essential” and what is “not an option”.

Golf - Essential: A ball and some clubs. (Maybe some humility.)

Car - Essential: Motor, gas, wheels,  brakes, accelerator? (Others?)

So you see what I’m getting at here, there’s all these things where we only need the essentials, but what is non optional? Can you go golfing naked, that might not go over so well on a country club now? Hehe. And with a car, we really don’t “need” all the stuff they come with, but what is not optional?

Golf: You do need clothes.
Car: We are ‘required’ to have lights and a license plate, body, seats, stuff like that.
But in the case of seeing a naked golfer at night, you might not want lights.

But that’s just to give analogies, now in to the actual message.

What is essential to being a Christian, and what is non-optional? Ask yourself.
Essential: Obviously believing that the risen Christ is your savior. What else? The Holy Spirit maybe?

⁴On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

⁶So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” -Acts 1:4-8

- So here Jesus clearly points out the Holy Spirit, but the disciples had no clue what He was talking about. It’s a duty of ours to inform people of The Spirit. We are witnesses through our reception of His Spirit. In my eyes, it’s just straight up cruel to not tell someone seeking about the Spirit. And I will touch on this in a moment.

2. Receiving the Person of the Holy Spirit was the assumed first experience of a new Christian. (Peter’s first message.)

³⁶“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:36-38 

- Here it’s clearly stated that we are to be baptized with the Spirit, not with water. But like water we will be soaked with it. Like a sponge, when you set it in water it absorbs and over flows, it drips the water. That’s what Peter’s saying to us. That we are to be soaked with this Spirit and over flowing, dripping. And what happens when a sponge drips, it gets things wet. In the same way when we touch things after receiving the Spirit, they get wet, they receive the Spirit of our father.

3. Who is eligible to receive the Holy Spirit?
³²We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” - Acts 5:32

- Note the Assumption… the Holy Spirit is given (offered) by God to ALL who ‘obet’ him. “Obeying God”, in the current covenant offered by God, means PERSONALLY ACCEPTING Christ for who He is, Savior and Lord.

- This isn’t like the post office, your mail man is going to deliver your mail whether you want him to or not. (None of us want bills, ha) But kind of like the UPS guy, where he asks you if you’d like to accept this package, you have to personally accept this offering. If you say no they’ll say okay, have a good day. God’s offer doesn’t go away though.

²⁸Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” -John 28-29 

- Jesus’ own claim to how we receive, we accept the one He sent, we accept our Lord and Savior, simple enough. Right? Not all Christians have received the Spirit though.

4. Can Christians belive and not have ‘received’ the Holy Spirit?

¹While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples ²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
”John’s baptism,” they replied.

⁴Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. ⁷There were about twelve men in all. -Acts 19:1-7

So the answer is… yes, if you do not know about the Spirit. I’ve noticed it’s very common in a lot of churches to just kind of leave the Spirit out of the preachings. My pastor is a great example, he went to a Catholic church most of his youth and had never once heard of the Spirit. So, how can receive what we don’t know about? This is why I think it’s cruel to bring people to Him without fully telling of Him and all of His amazing works. But if you know of the Spirit and have refused it, you can not be a Christian, how can you say you believe in Him as your Savior, but not want to receive Him? Can’t live a ‘double life’ The Spirit is both Essential and Non-Optional to being a Christian. But also, if you meet someone who hasn’t received the Spirit and wants to, lay your hands up[n them and ask our Father. We are His earthly witnesses. His Spirit allows us to do this.

5. The number one reason ‘modern’ Christians do not accept the Spirit is ignorance.

¹⁷Consequently, faith comes from hearing (being taught) the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.(The Gospel and His people) -Romans 10:17

This isn’t like a… you’re simple or closed minded ignorance, it’s a… You just don’t know these things without being taught. If we were raised with wolves what would we do? We’d run on all fours and bark and howl. We wouldn’t know of our language, walking on two feet, going out to dinner. We have to be taught. So as we learn we are to teach as well.

6. What is essential about this non-optional impartion of Christ’s Spirit? (He transforms us from the inside out.)

• The Spirit gives us the ‘mind’ and ‘appetites’ of Christ. (Graceful, forgiving, nurturing, loving, patient.) (Without the Spirit how can we ever hope to acheive grace like His?)
• The Spirit works the powerful works of Christ through us to provide evidence of His resurrection and life. (It allows us to do the same miracles He himself did on earth.)
• The Spirit guides us into all we need to know and do. (It gives us direction, a meaning, peace, joy, harmony.)

So, now I know there’s people that are like, “Yeah, but a Spirit in me, kind of creepy and weird.” Is it really that weird and creepy to be made into His image? Loving, graceful, patient, wise… amazing?

The Spirit allows us to be ‘like’ our Savior as well as to truly feel His love and create a closer relationship with Him. Ask yourself, do you really want to deny such love and nurture? That you can bestow upon others as well as have given to you.