Hold onto the Holy Spirit

Intro:

1 Samuel 8:6–7 NKJV

6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

Today, is especially important because it is Pentecost Sunday. In this year of prayer, I have asked Jesus many times to pour out His Spirit. With this in mind, the title of my message is, [Hold onto the Holy Spirit].

I have often wondered, how do friendships and relationships grow? We really don’t go around asking, will you be my friend? And once we’re friends, at what point to we become best friends?

I have a best friend, his name is Isaac. Many of you have met him when he preached here in 2015. We met when I was nine and he was eight.

We did not immediately become friends, let alone best friends. It happened through various experiences. We went to church camp together. We went to each other’s birthday parties. We spent many hours together in Sunday School, church, and youth group.

Overtime, we became best friends. He visited me in Salem. He was in my wedding. I was there right after his dad died and I preached his grandpa’s funeral.

Our friendship grew through the many experiences we’ve had.

Now if Isaac is my best friend, Bekah is my BEST, BEST friend. But, we did not start that way. We took time to cultivate a relationship. What started as a one-time encounter where she told me I was a dynamite preacher had unfolded into texts, phone calls, dates, a proposal, wedding, and very soon a son.

I can’t help but wonder, how many potential friendships never came to fruition because of time, distance or whatever else? Friendships and relationships take time to build and maintain.

When it comes to what Jesus thinks about us. We must always remember, He does not consider us servants. Instead, we are His friends.

How do we grow a friendship with Jesus?

It might start through an initial encounter, but we grow closer to God through consistent experiences in His presence through prayer, praise, worship, CONSISTENT church attendance, and seeking Him!

But what happens when we get too busy to build a strong relationship with Jesus?

Eventually, the regular encounters of prayer and praise will dwindle and we will look back on some encounters, but lack regular experiences with God.

This is where we find Israel in 1 Samuel 8. They went to Samuel with a request, really it was demand, WE WANT A KING.

What did they really mean?

They didn’t think they had time to go through a prophet or judge. Other nations had a king, they too wanted a king.

Here is where we see the difference between God’s perfect and permissive will. God permitted them to have a king, but it was not the perfect will of God for them to have a king.

Samuel was worried. He prayed and wanted to know, am I allowed to anoint a king for Israel?

God answered, they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. God was not surprised, they had abandoned Him since He led them out of Egypt.

They replaced daily experiences with God for old encounters. So God gave them a king. However, God knew this king would need power.

If he was to govern effectively, he needed the help of the Holy Spirit.

Today, I want to look at their first King, Saul. He had an incredible encounter with the Holy Spirit, but he did not hold onto the Holy Spirit, which led to his demise.

However, God included his life to help us see the necessity of holding onto the Holy Spirit.

On Pentecost Sunday, we can look back to different times the Holy Spirit has operated in us. But I want to remind us, God does not want us to have a one-time encounter with Him!

He wants us to experience the joy, freedom, and power of the Holy Spirit regularly! To see how God made this possible, I have three points, [A King Who Receives the Holy Spirit], [A King Who Releases the Holy Spirit], and [A King Who Releases the Holy Spirit].

Let’s begin

1. A King Who Receives the Holy Spirit

1 Samuel 10:1 NKJV

1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: “Is it not because the Lord has anointed you commander over His inheritance?

God is always proactive in His dealings with humanity. Though he wanted to be the ONLY King of Israel, He knew the flawed nature of people.

He understood there would come a day when Israel cried out for a king. To prepare for that day, He gave Moses the criteria for a future king in Deuteronomy 17:14-20.

I will not read it, but the requirements:

chosen by God

not foreign

not accumulate horses (military power)

not accumulate wealth

not accumulate wives

personally write the law

read, remember, and live out the law

Why would God give requirements that virtually rendered a king powerless?

That was the point. Israel’s monarchy was to stand in contrast with the surrounding nations. God set up a kingdom where the king would humbly follow and trust God, leading Israel into obedience to God.

By all accounts, Saul fit this mold:

God selected him

he was from the tribe of Benjamin

He was from a weak family and clan

He had one wife

He was not wealthy

Though he fulfilled the requirements, how could he continue in the plan of God for His life? He needed the Holy Spirit.

After anointing Samuel with oil, he told him to go to a certain place where he would meet a group of prophets. Look what happened to him:

1 Samuel 10:9–10 NKJV

9 So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

God gave him a new heart and he began to prophesy under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

He had a wonderful encounter, but would he continue to make space in his schedule to have regular experiences with God through the Holy Spirit?

Sadly not. Overtime, Saul become more dependent on self. In fact, we do not have record of future prophesies of Saul, his prayers, or his songs.

The farther he got from the Holy Spirit, the worse he became:

he made an unlawful sacrifice

he made irrational vows

and he walked in outright disobedience

He exchanged the Spirit he received for a spirit of

pride

impatience

jealousy

rebellion

So much so, God sent Samuel to Saul to tell him that God will tear away the kingdom from him and his family.

Toward the end of his life he told someone, “I have played the fool, and erred exceedingly” (1 Samuel 22:21).

Saul’s life ended sadly as he fell on his own sword and died. However, his demise began the moment he viewed God as a one-time encounter instead of a living experience.

Saul was a king who received the Holy Spirit, but he did not hold onto the Holy Spirit. Therefore God looked for a king who would both reveal the Holy Spirit, and how to hold onto Him...

2. A King Who Revealed the Holy Spirit

Luke 3:21–22 NKJV

21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

Saul was not the last king of Israel. In fact, including Saul there were forty-seven kings in Israel and Judah. The many of them had little to not experiences with God through the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, God looked for a king who would come to both receive and release the Holy Spirit. He found that King in His Son Jesus.

Before we see how He fulfilled the requirements to become King, we see first, He was chosen by God. Though Jesus was the Son of God, on earth, He depended on the Father through the work of the Holy Spirit.

At His baptism, the heavens split open and the Spirit descended on Him as a dove. John 1:33 tells us that the Spirit remained on Him.

What does that tell us?

While on earth Jesus had continual experiences with the Holy Spirit. He held onto His vital role in His life. He revealed the vital work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people.

So what was the evidence of Jesus’ kingly authority on earth?

Luke 4:18–19 NKJV

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

After His baptism and temptation, which He overcame through the Spirit’s help, He went to the synagogue, which was a place where Jews who lived far from the temple could go to pray, teach, and read scripture.

Jesus took His turn to read the scripture and it just so “happened” to be open to Isaiah 61:1-2.

This was a Messianic Prophecy about a coming Messiah. Messiah literally means “anointed one.” Remember, God would anoint the kings of the Old Testament so that they might have the power to fulfill their assignment.

Because Jesus was anointed, He began to reveal that He was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The prophets continued to declare, a King will come who will restore Israel!

Jesus was that King. How do we know?

For one, He fulfilled the requirements:

He was chosen by God

He was from the tribe of Judah

He did not have military power

He did not have wealth

He did not have wives

He knew the law for He helped write the law and He came to fulfill the law.

Throughout His earthly ministry, people continued to speculate that He was king. Pilate even asked Him before His crucifixion, are you the king?

Jesus affirmed that He was King, but His kingdom was not of this world! Satan worked with the religious leaders to have Jesus crucified, and they succeeded.

But, Jesus was no ordinary king. For on the third day, the same power that came upon Him at His baptism was the power God used to raise Him from the grave!

Throughout His earthly life, He held onto the Holy Spirit. He revealed how receiving the Holy Spirit can remain transformative as long as we HOLD ONTO the Holy Spirit.

But Jesus served a dual role. He was a king who revealed the Holy Spirit, but also...

3. A King Who Releases the Holy Spirit

Acts 1:3–5 NKJV

3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

When Jesus rose from the dead, He began to reveal even more that He is the King of kings and the Lord of lord. What would He do in His position as King?

Most earthly kings would do everything they could to retain their power. They would insulate themselves from their subjects and keep people far away so they could stay in their position.

Not Jesus.

As King, He spoke to His followers about the nature of the Kingdom. He promised that they would have a supernatural baptism or immersion into the Kingdom.

Just as John baptized them with water, Jesus, as King, will baptize them in the Holy Spirit.

Did this satisfy the curiosity of Jesus’ followers about the kingdom?

Acts 1:6–8 NKJV

6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

They asked Him, does this mean you will free Israel and restore OUR Kingdom?

Jesus explained, the Father fixes dates and times. They wanted the power of the Old Kingdom in Jerusalem. But Jesus, as King, came to reveal a new dimension of God’s kingdom.

In God’s kingdom, the King will not withhold His power. Instead, citizens of this kingdom will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes upon them!

Jesus as King planned to release His power through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the church could make it as long as they HELD ONTO THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The Holy Spirit, who is God at work in believers, will give us the necessary power to do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

So, ten days after Jesus promised to give them power, He came through a released the Holy Spirit upon 120 people in the Upper Room.

Instantly they all began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. From their the church walked in power through the Holy Spirit.

We will not do this today, but we have on Wednesday night for eight weeks, but the church held onto the Holy Spirit. They did not view Him as a one-time encounter. No, they had regular experiences with God through the Holy Spirit.

Close:

Israel begged for a king, so God gave them one. In order for King Saul to become a Godly king, God gave him the Holy Spirit.

The only problem was, even though this king received the Holy Spirit, he did not hold onto the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, God sent Jesus who revealed what it means to hold onto the Holy Spirit. While on earth, everything Jesus did was a direct result of the Holy Spirit at work in Him.

Then, after He rose from the dead and took His position as the King of the Kingdom of God, He released the Holy Spirit to His church.

What does this mean for us?

As followers of Christ, we have citizenship in a Kingdom that goes beyond physical borders, ethnic boundaries, and age gaps.

Furthermore, we have a King who received the Spirit on earth, revealed the Spirit’s work, and wants to RELEASE the Spirit upon His church.

But some might wonder, why do I need this power? Why do I need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?

When we allow Jesus, the King, to baptize us in the Holy Spirit, we receive power through the Holy Spirit.

As Children of God, we are heirs of the King. Being a joint-heir with Jesus provides us the rights and privileges of being of being a child of the King.

Our King does not withhold His power for Himself. Now, He graciously lavishes and immerses us with His Spirit.

I want to take about three minutes and share a testimony from Bekah’s Grandma Russell about the importance of the holding onto the Holy Spirit.

I sat in the kitchen when they recorded their testimony. I began to cry as I thought of God’s faithfulness.

Bekah is not fourth generation and Davis will be fifth generation Pentecostal. I can say from experience, it works when we hold onto the Holy Spirit.

We can NEVER view the Holy Spirit’s activity as a one-time or occasional encounter. No, we must hunger for a continuous, regular, even daily expereince with God through the Holy Spirit.

And today, I believe that God wants to pour out His Spirit on our church. When He does, I believe we will speak in tongues. We will pray in a language of the Kingdom of the heaven, speaking in a language of heaven.

And when we really hold onto the Holy Spirit:

we will have power to witness

a deeper appreciation for God’s word

a desire to pray and worship

Life will become so much better when we hold onto the Holy Spirit.

Let’t not live like King Saul, receiving but not walking in the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look to Jesus’ revealing of the Holy Spirit and ask Him to release His Spirit upon us!