The Necessity of the Spirit

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Greeting

God’s Word for Life Sunday! Get your devotional!

Lesson Connection

Spiritual Necessities

There was a man by the name of George. George had worked at this plant for almost 20 years when rumors started swirling (as they sometimes do) that there was a “downsizing” was coming. He knew that his seniority would be a factor in all of this. But yet, there he sat in his truck in the company parking lot, holding a letter informing him that his position was being eliminated.

What were they going to do? He and his wife had gotten used to a comfortable lifestyle. And now, suddenly, money was going to be tight. Every purchase was going to have to be evaluated more closely and carefully. They were going to have to discern better between needs and wants.

After the kids were in bed that night, they talked about it awhile, and then they took hands together and prayed. “God give us wisdom while we wait on you to provide a new job.” The peace of God came into the house, like only prayer can bring. And then they turned their minds to the budget. Vacation was going to have to be delayed. More meals in, less meals out - they would make it work. And thankfully, God soon opened up another door for work because of their faithfulness and prayer.

They made it out of that, but it changed their perspective on what mattered, financially.

In economics, it’s what you call “necessity goods.” It’s the last things customers stop buying when their income goes down. And generally, necessity goods are divided into eight categories: food, utilities, communications, housing, transportation, medicine, education, and services (daycare, dry cleaning, etc.).

But… there are some spiritual necessity goods, also.

Spiritual necessity goods are those things that we have to have if we are going to be in a right fellowship with God. As a matter of fact (I want to say this definitively), in order for that relationship with God to be right, these are things that WILL be there.

They are: a prayer life… repentance… faith… obedience… daily consuming the Word of God… submission… water baptism… a pastor… a local church family…

And… there’s ONE gift that we cannot purchase, yet we HAVE to have. It’s the Holy Ghost. Without it, we might have religion. But we don’t have relationship that leads to eternal life.

Being filled with the Spirit is an absolute must to live a victorious life and be ready for a new, eternal life.

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And this series I am starting today (which will extend into the first Sunday of 2023) is all about the gift of the Spirit. It is my prayer that maybe some burning questions are going to be answered, and also there is going to be a renewal of the fire of the Spirit in you… and who knows - it might burst out freely all over this room in one of these lessons!

Jesus Stressed the Necessity of Receiving the Spirit

So, what about this Spirit thing?

Jesus - very early in His ministry - chose to have an off-the-record conversation with someone.

These are the types of moments that are coated in mystery. If it happened in our time, conspiracy theorists would be all over it. “What ACTUALLY happened???” “You just KNOW there’s something there!”

It was a conversation with Nicodemus in John 3. This guy was a member of the Sanhedrin. All you need to know there is that it was the highest ruling body among the Jewish culture, with immense influence and power (perhaps not unlike the U.S. Senate, in our culture, except with much more religious bent).

Nicodemus had listened to Jesus teach. He had watched Him perform miracles. And after all he viewed, he was desiring to speak with Him about it and learn more.

Again, here we see a SEEKER who has come to know more. And he succeeds due to his desire. I’ve recently heard leaders in Christianity down the idea of seeker-based Christian living. I BEG TO DIFFER.

So, Nicodemus is seeking. But, he felt it best too approach Jesus in the darkness, so as not to tarnish his social standing.

And he came by night…

John 3:2 KJV 1900

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

So, there was some faith in that statement! It might be limited faith, but faith, for sure! And Jesus got ahold of that little bit of faith, and introduced a most important thing to humanity:

John 3:3 KJV 1900

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Now, that phrase “born again” is entirely common to us today. But think about how confusing and strange that must have sounded to Nicodemus. Born again?! That’s not physically possible!

John 3:4 KJV 1900

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

And the answer Jesus gives is one of the most foundational parts of the New Testament church.

John 3:5 KJV 1900

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

So you’ve got being born again of the water (water baptism in Jesus name). And that’s a worthy and wonderful subject. But THIS lesson today is centered on the second half of Jesus’ instruction in that verse: being born again of the Spirit.

When the Holy Ghost was poured out n Acts 2, that experience Jesus told Nicodemus about become a REALITY.

And check this out… at the time, when Jesus told him that, he didn’t say that a believer would be well served by receiving the Spirit. Nor did He say that we can be a better Christian if we receive it. And He didn’t merely recommend it. He just very simply COMMANDED it. “You must be born again.”

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Receiving the Spirit Requires Faith and Involves a Sign

Now, of course, today we have a great advantage over Nicodemus. He had never heard of someone being baptized with the Spirit. But we have such a testimony about it that we can say that millions and millions of people have experienced it today!

And we know they have because, as Jesus instructed, we have heard the sound.

There is a sound associated with the infilling of the Spirit that is unique to it and completely confirms it.

When you take a look at the various times in the Book of Acts when someone was born again of the Spirit, you can observe that there was a consistent sign from Heaven showing the Spirit had filled them. Just like in Acts 2, every person will speak in an unknown tongue when they are first filled with the Holy Ghost.

I Must Receive the Spirit to Be Born Again

What was true for Nicodemus is true for each of us also. There is only one way to be born again: we must be filled with the Spirit of God through a miraculous Spirit baptism!

And anything less does not bring us into obedience to the teaching of Jesus! Jesus says, “You must be born again, of water and of Spirit.” And the Christian world is going to have to come face-to-face with this. We ALL are!

It is upon each of us to make this desire personal. More than just accepting this teaching as a church body (that we have to be born of the Spirit), salvation is PERSONAL.

“What do you mean, Bro. LaRue?” Well, I will not automatically be filled with he Spirit simply because I attend a church that believes this way.

There are many who are a part of a local church that believes this. They go to church on Sunday, they feel goosebumps, and assume they have the Spirit. You don’t have to assume - THERE’S A SIGN!

I don’t receive the Spirit baptism just by being part of a family that has this heritage.

I could claim all kind of things because of my dad and his dad and my mother and her mother. NO - I have to carry my own cross! And seek out MY OWN salvation (notice, that’s not that I can find some OTHER salvation - it’s that I have to receive it on MY OWN).

I have to desire and pursue this experience for myself! YOU must desire and pursue this experience for YOURSELF!!!

Paul Stressed the Necessity of Receiving the Holy Spirit

So, here’s where the proof really shows… since Jesus taught the necessity of being born again, it makes sense that we would find record of people who followed Him that were declaring the same thing!

The apostle Paul is seen preaching the same message!

In Acts 19, Paul arrived in Ephesus and met a group of disciples who had been impacted by John the Baptist’s preaching. And these men were not evil - they were all believers that the Messiah was coming. They desired to follow and serve Him. But they had a lack of knowledge of His identity, what He taught, and what they should do.

But this is key: THEY WERE HUNGRY. I don’t know how many times I’ve said this, but hunger is the currency of the Kingdom!

And seeing that hunger in them, Paul asked a most important question to them:

Acts 19:2 KJV 1900

2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

Notice that belief was not enough!

And Paul didn’t accept just their sincerity as an adequate spiritual resume.

But when he saw the belief, and he saw the sincerity, and that these men really loved the Lord… he instructed them to take the next necessary step of obedience and be born again of the Spirit.

So, I want to say this definitively, as I have just allowed Scripture to speak for itself: For someone who has faith in Christ, the scriptural, the theological, the logical next step for them (the result) will be to receive the Holy Ghost.

True Faith Should Be Followed by the Baptism of the Spirit

And so, that was the New Testament Church… if faith in Jesus led them to experiencing the baptism of the Spirit, the same is true for us! It is the NATURAL outflow of faith in Him.

That is why, often, people who are not a part of an Apostolic Pentecostal church (from some other denomination who don’t believe in the Holy Ghost or tongues) will receive it in prayer. (i.e. Max Lucado)

“When I was 64 on a July morning, as I was praying, I began praying in tongues,” Lucado shared with host Ed Stetzer and co-host Daniel Yang. “I had not done anything different, except I came across the passage where the Apostle Paul said, ‘Eagerly desire the spiritual gifts’…I prayed that every morning for two or three weeks. And then one morning, early in the morning, I began praying in a heavenly language.”

- Max Lucado, Sept. of 2022

Apparently, now it is a part of his daily prayer!

There were some disciples of John who responded with confusion that they had not even heard of the Holy Ghost. And when Paul heard that, he knew something was off.

He was so taken aback by their response that he asked about their water baptism. And when he learned that they had never been baptized in the name of Jesus, he remedied that quickly!

Acts 19:5 KJV 1900

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

I want you to notice, that water baptism was something that was immediately necessary to them!!! No room for waiting!

And the VERY NEXT VERSE records this:

Acts 19:6 KJV 1900

6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

Once these men:

Understood that Jesus was the Messiah

Were baptized in Jesus’ name

…they were immediately born again of the Spirit when Paul prayed for them!

LISTEN: Their faith was not enough. Their water baptism was not enough. They had to proceed beyond just a mental acceptance of truth and demonstrate obedient faith to the truth!

Faith is always demonstrated in obedience, and obedience will always lead to salvation for the hungry heart.

I Must Tell Others About the Necessity of Receiving the Holy Spirit

Now, while speaking in tongues is the initial sign of being filled with the Spirit, there must be other continual signs that the Spirit is in us.

And the Scripture talks about these things that will be seen in us if we have the Spirit. These things are called the “fruit of the Spirit”.

Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

His Spirit should convict us…

John 16:8 NKJV

8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

His Spirit should pray through us in intercession…

Romans 8:26–27 NKJV

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.

That’s some of the most powerful Scripture in all of your Bible!!!

This baptism of the Spirit is such a wonderful experience, we should desire everyone we know to have this same gift! And each of us who has been filled are commissioned to tell others! And it’s not a preachers-only calling; it’s the commission of every believer!

If you’re talking to someone who claims they’re Christian, and they don’t have this… and they’re talking to you about how hard things are for them right now… ask them: “Have you received since you believed?!”

YOU HAVE A TESTIMONY OF RECEIVING THE SPIRIT. IT’S TO BE SHARED!

Think of someone you could share that with this week!

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You Must Be Born Again

Now, all that Jesus commanded about the New Birth (the things I’ve mentioned in Scripture today) - it’s all undeniable.

He left no room for discussion or private opinion on it all.

Being born again is not a choice that is right for some but not for others. It’s not an option that can be exercised if someone feels like it.

IT IS A UNIVERSAL MANDATE FOR THE CHURCH AGE.

Essential for Salvation, Sanctification, Ministry, and Resurrection

As a matter of fact, you can’t talk about the gospel and leave out being filled with the Spirit. That’s an irreplaceable thing!

1 Corinthians 15:2-4 tells us that the gospel is defined as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. How do we obey the gospel?

By dying like Jesus died - REPENTANCE

By being buried like Jesus was - WATER BAPTISM

By resurrecting like Jesus did to a new life - SPIRIT BAPTISM

And it’s only by that filling of the Spirit that we actually have Jesus living within us. These words out of Romans make it abundantly clear:

Romans 8:9 NKJV

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

Something else the Spirit is essential for is sanctification. And to make that word really simple, sanctification is just the process of being set apart in two ways: set apart from sin, and set apart to God. (And you can’t have one without the other!)

But the only way to effectively be sanctified is through the ongoing work of the Spirit in our lives. There are several verses that speak about the Spirit’s ability to sanctify:

Romans 15:16 NKJV

16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:11 NKJV

11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

2 Thessalonians 2:13 NKJV

13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,

Don’t you love the Word of God!

God gives us the Spirit to help us resist the constant downward pull of our flesh.

Galatians 5:16–18 NKJV

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Got a flesh problem? GET IN THE SPIRIT!!!

The Spirit also empowers us for ministry.

And here’s something: you cannot give until you get. The reason God gives an in-flow is specifically so there can be an out-flow.

Not every child of God is called to be a preacher, but every one of us is called to be a minister. We are called to faithfully serve God, our brothers and sisters, and the Kingdom…

…but we can’t do that without the Holy Ghost. You can’t do a spiritual work with fleshly power.

We’re only going to be able to accomplish something of eternal value by the strength of something higher than ourselves. And that strength comes by God’s Spirit.

And one other thing - because of the Spirit in us, we have hope that at the end of life here is not the end of life.

Romans 8:11 NKJV

11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

When Jesus returns, all those who have passed on and had His Spirit are going to rise up first - and then all of the Spirit-filled people who are living are going to be caught up to join them!

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I Will Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost

Now, we’ve gathered a lot of knowledge about the Spirit and how it is for us and we need it today. And when we know what we must do, the only thing that remains is for us to do it.

I heard a very wise man of God say one time that “a revelation without a response will only leave you with an education without an experience.”

And so I’ll repeat what I said again: when we know what we must do, the only thing that remains is for us to do it.

On a very personal level, you have to choose to open your heart to the New Testament Bible experience of being born again of the Spirit. It’s a decision you will never regret!

Conclusion

Internalizing the Message

So I’ll tell you what we’re about to do this morning: we’re all about to receive the Holy Ghost!

If you don’t have it, you can have it today! You ought not leave without it!

“Well Bro. LaRue, I’ve got the Holy Ghost.” Praise God! Let’s get baptized with it again!

I’m not playing around this morning - we all need the baptism of the Holy Ghost!