"God created man in the image of himself [Spiritual Dominion], in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them." Genesis1,27 NJB

"If, because of one man's trespass [Adam's], death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who recive the abundance of grace [baptism in the Spirit] and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Romans5,17 NRSV

November 1, 2024  

Broad Perspective Of Essential New Testament Biblical Topic 
I am preaching "The Essential Aspects of The Holy Spirit: God In Us" on "The Preaching Hour" today. This will be a three or four part series. I now like to preach the essential things about the biggest Christian bible topics- once in a while at least- because it gives folks who might be interested in knowing Jesus and His salvation for the first time- and folks who might want to dive deeper into the pool- by an overview of an essential gospel topic. We all need to study a little bit anyway to show ourselves approved- not just pastors. I am amazed how much Christians know about their jobs, and hobbies, and what's really important to them. So if folks can so much about these things- I am thinking there is always room for everybody to know more about scripture and our bible based salvation- which is more important than anything else.  

This sermon is not meant to be the last word or my last preached word on the Holy Sprit. Rather, it is meant to open the door of our spirits and minds and souls to a greater understanding of Jesus and His gospel and thereby give a broader perspective of what great Spiritual things God can do in both our individual souls, and lives, and churches. I plan on adding to this sermon series with at least two or three more essential things, which are a bit more challenging- in the near future, but I want to go ahead with these 10 essential aspects now. 

I preached a primer on the essentials on biblical Israel a while back in relation to salvation history. They are God's first representative people, with representative Patriarchs forming the chosen people of God, then light to all the nations, then source of messiah Jesus, firstly to Israel and then to all nations and peoples. 

Today''s topic is about the Holy Spirit and and our re-creation in God's Spiritual dominion image, His Spiritual image and likeness. This is essential to our faith. Just as we can understand Israel's role in salvation history, we can also know that faith is confidently acting on the promises of God again and again (Scott) and know that this bible faith brings the infilling of our souls and spirits and bodies with the holy Spirit. When we are filled like this we are a new creation made in the Holy Spirit dominion image of God because God now lives in us, and anoints our minds and bodies and souls and memory and emotions and understanding- and all the rest- so long as we live by faith. 

Once we know some of these essential big truths of the bible- well no bible subject is going to be too difficult.

If we hang in there on this big topic of the Holy Spirit- we can also learn for ourselves to worship our living God in Spirit and truth, the way He wants. We can also now learn to serve Jesus and His gospel with the very same power and conviction that has His spread salvation since the day of Pentecost.

This sermon series will be followed up with a series about the challenge of joining a church or fellowship like the one I am founding- Zion Penetcost Mission. There I hope to answer the objections and inertia that a person might have about partnering with me in a born again fellowship called Zion Pentecost Mission. Please know that I seek be true to, and teach, like the apostle Paul, the whole counsel of God from our New Testament revelation. My approach might be a little more gung-ho about Jesus, and a little more enthused or mayby just a bit louder about our salvation in Jesus than you might be used to. It might also be more like a sports coach or music teacher that expects to teach and train, and then set you on the road to excellence and gospel service that you take your own responsibility for. 

I'll say at the outset that I realize that many people have been burned by bad religion that starts out good for them, but ends cultish. I would be happy to commiserate a bit about this. And I can understand why many people have soured on organized Christianity. But at the end of the day we are all still called to pick up our cross and serve Jesus and his gospel anyway. Take heart- there's nothing so healing and satisfying than getting beyond mediocre religion to the point where we know Jesus and His gospel, and realize that there is no greater joy- after salvation itself- than serving our living Lord and savior in the full freedom and truth of the Holy Ghost as part of a team of like minded brothers and sisters.

This gospel service in the fullness of the Spirit with the gifts of the Holy Spirit is a both joy and a responsibility that no one can ever take away. 

Zion Pentecost Mission is a non denominational move of ther Holy Spirit. It seeks to go beyond 'once saved always saved' salvation and infant baptism salvation. It also seeks to get back to the 1900 year practice of Christians, me and you, actually blessing the bread and wine at the Lord's Supper. This blessing was done by almost all Christian churches up until the end of the 19th century.

We also seek to inspire folks to go beyond filling out a church envelope with a name on it (in exchange for your most comfortable seat on Sunday) while the pastor and the other paid church professionals totally run the show.

At Zion Pentecost Mission we also have no plans to speed you up or slow you down according to any present or past institutional corporate church model. Instead we seek to live the whole gospel of Jesus, with Holy Ghost, quickened feet, at the speed of Jesus and the Holy Ghost in today's culture.

This gospel has essential subjects and teachings such as our topic today. It also has one Lord, one faith, one adult baptism, one universal gospel priesthood (1Peter2,5 and 9). This priesthood is comprised of those who have made personal faith public profession unto a personal faith public adult baptism, unto the remission of sins, and who are seeking or already have Holy Ghost baptism, God as Spirit, living in us, sooner or later, by personal faith. This baptism in the Spirit entirely normal- just as every other supernatural aspect of our faith is normal.   

Two Anchor Scriptures     
There are two anchor  scriptures we will rely most for this series. One is Genesis1,27 which we opened with, and the other is John 4,24. John 4,24 teaches us that "God is Spirit." So if we are going to know and have a personal relationship with God, we best do so as Spirit filled eternal souls, spirits and bodies. Our flesh may get weak, but the ever-renewing life of the Holy Spirit in us, by our ever renewing personal faith, never does.  

Acts1,7-8 also teaches us today as Jesus taught his disciples before he ascended into heaven: "...you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." NIV

Then Acts 2,1-4 depicts the Holy Spirit resting on each of the apostles and then filling each with the Holy Spirit. This gave them the ability to speak other languages so they could spread the gospel to all their fellow Jews around the Roman Empire, and later to all the non Jews, around the Roman empire, and in time, to the ends of the earth.

Our bible also says God is no respector of persons. So if God the Holy Spirit wanted, and then did, rest on and then fill up all the Apostles about two thousand years ago, He also wants to rest on and then fill up everyone for ever after. And this is exactly an important part of what Peter preached to his fellow Jews when they asked him what they "must" do on the feast of Pentecost in about 33 AD. And Peter told them what they must do!

Day Of Pentecost Scripture
Acts 2,38-39: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For this promise is unto you, and to your children [ie all Jews] and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call [all the world, ie gentiles.]"     

Gift giving and receiving is so important in our lives and friendships and families- and with neighbors- we know this- but God's WORD says something even more here.That you and I- and all the humans- in exchange for repentant faith in Jesus- and faithful adult personal faith baptism- will each receive the supreme gift of God himself, who is Spirit, in us unto eternal savation. Oh praise him- this is the best deal and gift you and I will ever get- the most perfect gift, the Supreme gift and promise of all religions. Yes indeed God chooses to live in us and clean us up, from the inside out, and save us, and stay with us, and love us and console us, Spiritually, for ever and ever.

Essential Teachings Of Our Faith Include Personal Faith Unto Filling With The Holy Spirit
Ordinarily, at this point I'd say we are done with our introduction. But since we "Christians" often get distracted from the essential teachings of our faith- like being made in the Spiritual image and likeness of God- I want to continue by adapting Br. Bill Pearce's comments on Christian humanism to make our introductory point of how distracted we can get from essential topics like ours today. I heard Brother Pearce's comments on WIHS 104.6 FM Middletown CT (3.26.2023) on his show called "Nightsounds."

Br. Pearce, who was an accomplished musician went home to be with the Lord in 2010. His shiniest point that night was that Christian humanism is not an adequate basis for founding our fath and churches. All humanism puts humanity's point of view, humanity's image and likeness if you will, front and center. Thus, sooner or later, humanism puts self at the center of the faith. Whereas the gospel puts personal faith in Jesus and then salvation, and spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth, and God who is Sprit in us, at the center of our faith.

So Brother Pearce made some introductory statements about how Christianity got distracted from its essentials. These introductory statements are generally originally attributed to George Halverson who served as US Senate Chaplain and who lived from 1916-1995. Br. Pearce's noted that by getting distracted from the most important aspects of our faith, I am paraphrasing, we make Christianity just another human endeavor. And this fits with what I am preaching today- we end up making our God in our lowly human image and likeness instead of letting God fills us with his Spirit and make us in His high and holy Spiritual image and likeness. 

Halverson writes and Br. Pearce quotes "In the beginning the church was a fellowship [think us communicating with God and each other with His Holy Spirit] of men and women centering on the living Christ;" 

"Then Christianity went to Greece and became a philosophy."
Oh my- some of us in church are seemingly more interested with the world's philosophies and the world's ways of thinking, like humanism, than the ways of thinking of our bible theology. This bible theolology tell us that God is Spirit and promises to live in us. But, at least since the middle ages much of the historic church has taught man's ability to reason was our image and likeness to God. But God's love in saving us and creating us in His iSpiritual image and likeness is so far above human reason!  And we can never achieve or even understand with mere reason his wisdom without His supernatural revelation and the Spirit of God.

If mere reason as our shared image and likeness- God never would have saved us because fallen and paltry as we are is highly unreasonable. And sending his son to save us by dying on the cross out of love is also way above mundane reason. And it's not reasonableat all for God in the flesh to die for our salvation. But it is incredibly filled with supernatural love, and the grace of God to fill us with Himself, unto restoring the Spiritual fellowship and likeness between us and Him.

The scriptures say God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whomsoever believes in him shall have eternal life. God's motive was not philosophical but to give us new Spiritual life, and a restored fellowship with Him, companarismo with us through the Holy Spirit in us. This Spiritual fellowship is furtherwise unreasonable because it primarly blesses us rather than him, who already has salvation, and is salvation and the source of all salvation.

No wonder the essential truth of God who ois Spirit in us- making us again created in God's Spiritual dominion image and likeness- has been largely forgotton. Pearce (via Halverson) continues:

"It went to Rome and became an institution."
Oh my- some historic denomination churches since the fourth century, and well into the 20th century were so focused on the church as an institution, an brand names and as state churches (forbidden by Jesus), they ended up since the fifth century claiming that the church as institution was the Kingdom of God! Long before the world was even judged most Christians since the fourth century until almost 1970 were taught that their church was the kingdom of God!

But God's word teaches the Kingdom of God is firstly part of Israel's patrimony in the millennial reign of Jesus from Israel. 

"It went to Europe and became a culture."
Europe is an equisitely fine culture. It brought high standards of living for all people, even poor people, the highest level known to humanity, like no other place in the world. It is a culture of fine diplomacy and its Christendom served as an inspiration for political parties and churches and states unified. But for hundreds and hundreds years now in Europe the measure and essence of faith has not been the bible Word or the Holy Spirit in us and our restored Spiritual image and likeness to God.

By 325 AD Emperor Constantine united church and state which Jesus said not to do, and European Christianity ever since has tended at and later became almost exclusively institutional, as if the institution doles out or decrees the Spirit rather than Jesus and God the Father sending the Spirit down into faithful folks who keep the bible's commandments.

The measure of the faith in Europe is more like that of a political, religious and cultural institution that has the best art tours and museums rather than adult baptism and living by faith and the Word unto enjoying holy fellowship with God and each other. In Europe, yes there are many Spirit filled Christians, some of the finest Christians I have ever met. But their voices seem to be muted by institutional diplomats and a need to maintain cultural relevance rather than biblical and Holy Ghost relevance. And so the European church culture ( I realize I am painting with a broad brush), despite the beauty and breath and depth of European souls sort of inevitably steers away from  a public spread gospel enthusiasm and Word based fervor towards re-buttressing institutional buttresses. This intitutionalism hinders renewal of Christianity according to bible based salvation, adult baptism, and Holy Spirit baptism, and Holy Spirit fellowship that characterized the early church and that spread the gospel to Europe in the days of the apostles.   

"It went to Asia and became a concept." (Pearce)
The world and churches are full of good ideas and concepts, but good ideas and concepts are not necessarily God ideas and concepts. Only His Word and Spirit reliably contain His priorities and the grace of God. It is the Holy Spirit that puts God's ideas, not man's ideas, into motion.

"It went to the USA and became a corporation or enterprise."
Some Churches in America are seemingly set up firstly to protect the money and incomes and organizations of those who run them. Thank God culture based "prosperianity" is no longer very marketable after 20 years of letting people down, as our middle class struggles and shrinks in the good old USA and faces starter homes over $400,000! But make no mistake "market Christianity" is nothing new- it's wolves in sheeps clothing- around since the very beginning. It still grieves the Holy Spirit of God. We can't worship and serve two masters. We can't serve our Spiritual master, the Lord God of Israel, our universal messiah Jesus, and also serve the unclean stronghold,of mammon, the false God of greed.

Must Value And Measure Our Faith By Teaching Essential Biblical Truths
Br. Pearce wisely noted that humanistic distractions in our faith end up in self self self. Instead of self and humanism and culture and philosophy and institutionalism, we Christians must preach and continue to value our basic gospel faith and its essential biblical truths- as Paul said "in season and out of season."

In that Spirit, we are preaching the 10 essential aspects of the  Holy Spirit in this series. And praise God we don't plan on getting distracted, or becoming merely reasonable in our love of and service to Jesus:  

1. God's presence in us, or in a church, or in the Jerusallem temple per Ezekiel 8-11 is an objective assessment.

Now please don't think I am going to get all philosophical here when I use a fancy word like "objective." I won't bore you will philosophy, but it's ok to be Spiritualy logical once in awhiIe. And so I will say, with Ezkekiel 10,18, that God as Spirit is either in us or he isn't, in the Temple or not, in the church or not. Yes, the word says wherever two or three are gathered in his name, ie gathered in actual saving personal faith, which brings the actual obejective presence of the risen Jesus is in our midst. Our subjective opinion, or hope, or wish about God being with us two or three, or wishing God was in us, is secondary.

God is either in us, in our church, in the Jerusalem temple by faith, in our prayer group, or home, or not.

Due to pagan images in the Jerusalem Temple in the 6th century BC, and God's chosen leaders the kings, who thought they were smarter than God's revealed prophetic word(s), and due to too many ever changing foreign alliances made with Egypt, now with Assyria to avoid submitting temporarily to Babylon, God who is Spirit, got up and left the temple. Ezekiel 10,18 

If we don't obey God in faith, if we don't follow him and his gospel, if we preach some other gospel or philosophy, sooner or later God who is Spirit, is going to get up and leave. 

I have carried this teaching and principle in me for decades. God doesn't stay where He isn't welcome on his own terms.

So, I am making a very simple point about this initial aspect of the presence of the Holy Spirit, God is either in our churches, homes, prayer groups, home small groups, or He isn't. God is either in each of us, or isn't. 

So if we live and act like devils, cussing and fussing, breaking the commandments and the Word, and haven't been obedient about repentance, and forgiving others to be forgiven by God, and blown off adult baptism as symbolic and not required (but Mark16,16 says it is), and then say "I got the Spirit. I got my salvation"- we might want to take a moment and re-think the notion that we know better than God's Word. 

If we say again and again "wherever two or three are gathered in his name, Jesus is with us" but we don't have a saving faith in us and don't have the Holy Spirit on us and or in us, and God is not inspiring us to meet, why would God show up? Just because we say we are his? Based on our Word or His word? We can call a religious meeting, because we haven't had one in awhile. And perhaps we can even use Jesus' name for good measure and appearances sake. But God is not required to show up, unless we stop playing church, and start doing things His way, according to his Spirit and Word and personal faith devotion to him rather than to our spirit and word.

Brothers and sisters if that's how we are acting and "believing," please note the Word at James 2,19 that says even the devils believe, and believe rightly- they believe the correct doctrine too that there is  one God!. So I hope for the sake of our eternal souls that we are are objectively right when it comes to saying "I have the Spirit." And "I got salvation." 

The discernment of the Spirit in a place, or in a person, or group of persons  or church is an objective measure and assessment. Acts 19,1-2 tells us about the very first generation of believers in Ephesus. Ephesus was the mother church of John the Revelator and Timothy, and the test case whether Christianity and its Word based teachings, was going to make it into the second generation.

But when the church began in Ephesus, Acts 19,3 says not one person knew anything about the Holy Spirit.

As a group and to a person they hadn't even heard of Him. They were believers in Jesus, and praise God for that. And better still, they were humble enough to realize they were not filled with the Spirit, but really wanted to be! That's a true and faithful humility- which is necessary to have a bible based faith. It takes a bit of faith and Spirit and a humbling respect for the truth to admit that we lack anything at all! 

"It happened that while the Apollos was in Corinth, Paul made his way over land as far as Ephesus, where he found a number of disciples. When he asked them 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?'  They answered 'No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.' "

Now why did the Apsotle Paul ask this question? I thought according to our modern 'once saved always saved' adherents that all believers have the fullness of the holy Ghost in them from the moment of first faith? (We teach that the imperishable seed, yes born again, yes saved, but not the fullness of the Spirit).

Were they meeting in someone else's name besides Jesus and thus hadn't attracted his presence? No that wasn't why they were not baptized in the Spirit. Thank goodness for that.

Some groups and churches seem to meet more in the name of a church and a pastor and big wigs and what they teach rather than in our bible faith and name of Jesus. Paul on his third missionary journey in 53-55AD asked them if they recieved the Holy Spirit when they became believers. He did so because having the Holy Ghost fully in us by saving faith and God's grace is the essence of the still valid teaching of Pentecost, and the eternal word and promise of Acts 2,38-39.

This promise is still valid and is one of the measures of our faith and salvation. The Apostles believed in the risen Jesus, but they had to wait and tarry in faith to be filled with the Spirit. The church in Ephesus believed in the risen Jesus, but apparently they still hadn't gone through the Pentecost expeience of Holy Spirit infilling 20 years after Jesus rose and sent down the Spirit on Pentecost.

So again, my point  is really simple, we either have God as Spirit in us or we don't. As seed or fullness. It's not about tongues or not. Tongue talking praise is just one of the gifts! As Paul asked rhetorically "Does everyone have the gift of tongues?1Corinthians12,30 says "No." 1Corinthians12,7 says each of us has at least one gift. But the bigger point- before we even talk about gifts- which we will later on- everyone is still meant to have God- who is Spirit- fill them up! 

What's that Gatorade commercial- is it in you? For us Christians one of the essential questions is "Is God's Spirit in us?" Yes or No?

We can run from church to church and say "Lord Lord" in every one of them- saying "I am saved" and "I have this and that gift" and all the rest. Have you seen people do this? And likewise we can repeat and parrot subjective creencias- beliefs- like "I got the Spirit in me at infant baptism." Or "I got the Spirit in me when I was eleven and professed and now I have lived like a devil for 30 years- and guess what- I still got the Spirit in me. Isn't Predestination fun!" Really?

I believe in free speech- it is your right to say this- but the question is does the bible says this!

But no dear friends Christ died for our salvation and salvation includes the Spiritual measure of our bible based  Christian faith- not just the seed of faith upon profession but one whom by personal saving faith is restored to his or her Spiritual dominion image and likeness of God, first by God's Spirit being on us, and then fully in us.

Have you ever heard someone who doesn't have the Spirit of God try and lead worship? Back in the old days, there was "The Gong Show" on TV with a sort of wild and zany Chuck Barris. And if the contestants couldn't sing, the clanging gong was rung, as long as necessary to drown out and stop the singng.

I know we can't bring a gong into church- I am not mean like that- but some of us of a certain age- might remember when everybody was obliged to say that all church music passed for worship in Spirit and truth (six and a half years in the seminary oh my). And now when most church music has really improved, and the K-Love music scene is right on the Spirit, and polished very very fine- some modern folks today in church still might recall once in awhile the Gong Show. I am not being mean- I am being objective- if you or I don't have the Holy Spirit gift of singing, we best not sing. Take heart everybody gets a gift, it just might not be leading worship in church.

And then some seventh grader or ninth grader gets up and sings a solo, not a perfect singer yet, but she's so objectively full of the Holy Ghost, and God's truth, and pure Holy Spirit love, the very thing we are supposed to be known for, that folks go to repenting and clapping and smiling and praising Jesus. And then we worship like we are actually born again by the Holy Spirit of God in us. God is Spirit and he is objectively in us, and in our worship, our churches, our homes, temples, relationships, or not.

Jesus said "I stand at the door and knock. If any one opens the door I will come in and sup with him" Revelation3,20. The risen Jesus is trying to get into us, and into all churches, but we have to open the door. If we don't open the door consciously and invite him in, it's veryt likely He's not in us.      

Oh my! Are you ready for your objective Spiritual check up, your cross examination by the Spirit of God Himself, by the God of all judgement, according to His Word, sharper than a two edge sword, separating the bone from marrow, separating those who say they have the Spirit, who say Lord Lord, and those who say Lord Lord and actually have a saving bible faith that brings the Spirit:

'Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves [ie they objectively do not have God's Spirit in them, but the spirit of predator wolves], Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs from thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. ... 20 Wherefore by their fruits [Spiritual fruits] you shall know them. 21 Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Matthew7,15-20.    

2. The second essential aspect about the Holy Spirit is that he cleans up our whole temple- our whole inner person. 
The first job of the Jewish priesthood was to tell folks what is clean and unclean. Our momma when we were toddlers-can I say rug rats- her first job was not allowing us to eat things on the ground that were dirty.

And yet our Jesus confronted the ceremonial rules about what foods were clean and unclean, and then turned all prior ones upside down.

But wait He didn't throw out the concept of clean and unclean he just Spiritualised it with a capital S. 

Jesus radically declared that no food could make anyone unclean. Thus non jews like us could be welcomed into meal fellowship with them and the salvation that comes from them. And he taught that it was evil and Spiritually unlean acts, ie sins, that now made us Spiritually unclean not what type of food we ate. Matthew15,18:

"..nothing that goes into someone from outside can make that person unclean, 19 because it goes not into the heart but into the stomach and passes into the sewer.  20: it is what comes out of someone that makes that person unclean. For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean."    

Revelation in the Hebrew Scriptures about clean and unclean was primarily focused on legal proscriptions about physical foods and physical things.  

But Jesus is updating revelation pursuant to his new essential teaching about us being made clean unto God's spiritual likeness. He's teaching that sin from the heart is spiritual filth in us. He is saying sinful acts and thoughts come from within and make our temples our spirits our bodies "dirty" when these meant to be filled with his Spirit and cleaned. It is not about what we eat. This fit in perfectly with the prophetic seed of Genesis1,27 that God made us in his Spirtual image and likeness.

So Jesus brings us not only to first faith but also to Holy Ghost baptism. So we will both Holy Ghost clean and have the Spiritual power of God in us. Thus, we can now understand and also live the biblical concept of clean and unclean, from the inside out.

So only a God who is Spirit who gets into us by faith can clean us up Spiritually, from the inside out. He does so by giving us the new heart promised to the Jews at Ezekiel 36,25-26: "I shall pour clean water over you [that's adult water baptism people] and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your filth and all your foul idols. 26 I shall give you a new heart [a Spiritual heart] and put a new spirit in you: I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. 27 I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep laws, and respect and practise my judgements." 

1Peter1,22-23 defines our new birth, as a birth from above, from a new imperishable Spiritual seed, not a physical seed, but a faith seed that is defined "imperishble" because God who is eternal Spirit is the very designer of this seed which lives in our new heart. This seed is meant to show and bear good fruit, the first fruit being baptism in the Spirit. This fruit defines our fitness to gospel witness and the cleanliness of our Temple, and our heart. And then we know we are now re-made in the image and likeness of God. It is personal faith unto the Holy Ghost infilling which cleans us up.  

Please go to 1Corinthians10,18-22. If there was ever a early church that needed to get cleaned up from the inside out it was the church of Corinth. Along with Ephesus this was set amidst all the impurity of the gentile world, and the physicality of a very modern culture just like ours, that is in great need of a cleansing by the Holy Spirit. Their worship at pagan altars left them unclean and unfit for the actual objective Spiritual fellowship that is ours with each other and God through God's Spirit. 1John1,3 describes this objective Spiritual felllowship as our koinonia, our fellowship, our companerismo in Spanish, with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

1Corinthians10,20: "..when pagans sacrifice [which is what some Christians are also doing in Corinth- fellowshipping with pagans at demon altars], what is sacrificed by them is sacrificed to demons who are not God. I do not want you to share [ie actual fellowship with demons.] 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons as well; you cannot have a share [fellowship] at the Lord's table and the demon's table as well. Do we really want to arouse the Lord's jealousy; are we stronger than he is?" NJB 

The Lord God's Spirit does not permit rivals- let alone unclean pagan rivals leading his blood bought people astray. We can't seek and enjoy the holiness and pure fellowship of our Lord God, and then enjoy fellowship with unclean, unholy and filthy demons. No we have one clean altar-table and we come to it with faith and knowledge of what we are doing. Washed by Jesus' merciful blood, we offer a clean Spirtual sacrifice to God who is Spirit. Whereas Corinth was filled with unclean pagan altars, ie food sacrificed to idols, non gods, when we have our own exclusive and clean altar-table. 

This is not dffiicult people. If we as Christians, with God's Spirit on us or in us,  gather around the TV at home and watch a movie- very soon we will realize- by the Holy Spirit in us- that it is or isn't clean. If not we turn it off- and get back to clean fellowship, like Touched By An Angel, or the Hallmark channel, Christians channels on YOUTUBE, or buy a good radio and listen to Christian radio. The fact is that there are myriads and myriads of Christian media out there. And there are safeguards and the Holy Spirit also gives us some common sense wisdom so there is no inevitability day by day that unclean media should regularly be around us.

This will clean up our houses and Temples and bodies and churches and all the rest.

The faith of Biblical Christianity fulfills the repentant and prophetic hope of David that God would fully live in him. Psalm 51:10-12:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit" (NRSV). 

I love these verses. We all know what a clean shower feels like. Do we as "born again" Christians all know what a clean temple of the Holy Ghost feels like.

3. The third essential aspect of the Holy Spirit is that He overflows.
I'll start with a bit of marriage advice for this point. Isn't it extra generous of unmarried people like me to offer advice about marriage? I am a preacher and a prophet so don't get too annoyed with me. I am just being who the Lord made. This is not really offensive. You can even learn from someone simple enough to say what God wants me to say.

My advice is if you are thinking about getting married- one good question to ask would be- is there anything good and important and redeemable and overflowing in the relationship? If not, don't get married!. Is there something important and good and redeemable- like compassion, like mercy, supernatural human love, like forgiveness, mutual upbuilding, like generosity and joy- and this overflows out of the other person and you too- then you might have a keeper.

The nature of all God based love and faith and vitues and gifts and fruits of the Spirit, like all the qualities of a good marriage, all overflow.  

What do I know about marriage? But the bible says we all have a right to be married just like Peter. So, if there is nothing good and redeemable in your relationship, nothing overflowing like mercy and love and care and compassion and generosity and all the things that will last into eternity and the kingdom of God, in the relationship- well then- we might keep looking.

Marriage isn't for everybody. For some it's once and never again. And on the other axtreme have you seen how it sometimes happens folks get married in an instant because one of their siblings just did. Or, ditto with having kids. That's not likely an overflow of the Spirit, but an overflow of sibling competition. You are not marrying someone and having kids on anybody's schedule but God's. We Christians are told not to be unequally yoked. That means we plan on sharing the same faith and same overflowing Holy Spirit.

Or, the advice could be said this way- if you are a Christian don't marry anybody who doesn't have at least some resemblance of being made in the Christian Spiritual image and likeness of God. 

Psalm23,5 more about the Holy Spirit overflowing:
"You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil, my cup brims over." NJB 

Have you ever tried to have a friendship, or any relationship with someone, and their cup, their presence, or perhaps just their attention span, never overflows and their cup seems about one quarter filled at most? The Holy Ghost is Spirit, is grace itself. God's grace overflows and keeps overflowing so long as we keep faithing- acting on the promises confidently again and again (Gene Scott). 

The Holy Ghost is not like the car dealers who just ran out  of cars around the pandemic, or like a Florida gas station after a hurricane, or a car that runs out of gas because we didn't fill it up. Cars at dealerships and gas at stations and in our gas tanks all have to filled with these physical things that are often costing more and more.

But God's grace, a Spiritual thing, is always abundant, unlimited because its source is God. So there's no 'more for you means less for me' as in physical things. Spiritual grace doesn't mean more for some people and less for others. Whatever the individual measure of our faith will determine how much grace we'll get, and God who is Spirit never runs out of Himself so more for others doesn't mean less for me or you.

It's like something we have to outbid each other for, and fight over, like so many do nowadays about everything. We live in a world so connected and mobile now, where every item and physical thing- even on the shelf at the dollar store- is a commodity- with its price and or quantity ever shifting, just like houses and rents and consumer goods, and it's all now one big supply and demmand price competiton. And yet God's grace is only in short supply if we lack faith. It's there for the faithing.  

We seemingly used to live in a more abundant culture, and now folks are like all out fighting and grasping to get all hey want in their minds. But we're Christian we don't necessarily need everything the world tells us to want. We still understand and seek to have our Spiritual cup overflow by way of grace. There is no lack of God's grace for the person who lives by faith, and every word from the mouth of the Lord. God's grace overflows into them, and with this overflow we serve and love Him and others.

Yes even people who overflow with the Spirit, get occasionally hungry, angry, lonely and tired and feel tapped out of grace. But praise God once we eat and forgive, and talk to our best Christian friend, and get enough sleep, and keep on faithing on Jesus, we will start overflowing again. Praise God. Our Spirit doesn't always overflow, but His Spirit overfows 24/7, so our cup and our lot in life- who is God's Spirit in us- overflows.  

In God- our Spirit source- there is no lack, and he fills the humble with all good things- including an overflow of the Spirit. Like Mary,mother of Jesus said. "My soul magnifies the Lord..." When we magnify God we Spiritually overflow and even sing a prophetic song like Mary did, and we also become that new creature God planned all along. 

4. The fourth essential attribute of the Holy Ghost is the gift of discernment - there for the asking and taking.
Discernment is God's practical and graceful insight that gives us a Spiritual assessment and knowledge of an issue at hand. At 1Corinhians11,31 in relation to whether selfish folks are perhaps taking the bread and cup with repentant faith, Paul exhorts to discern themselves, judge themselves so God doesn't have to.

The gift of discernment is right on the other side of the opened door of baptism in the Holy Spirit. The risen Jesus stands at the door of our unfilled temple as individuals and churches and knocks. By faith we open the door of our spirit man or woman and our Spirit filled church and then this threshold gift of discernment is there for the asking and taking!

It's built right into baptism in the Spirit.

We know this from 1Corinthians2,12-16. 

We'll get to this scripture but Proverbs 4,7 helps to introduce us to just how much God wants to give each of us supernatural discernment and supernatural understanding and wisdom: "Wisdom is the principal thing [What should I do? This that or the other?]; Therefore, get wisdom [practical knowledge]. And with all thy getting, get understanding [deeper knowledge, a comprehensive view]."

Now I am going to generalize a bit. Please bear with me. From my pastoral experience, men and women in certain fields like lawyers, doctors, private investigators and people who do deliverance ministry are a little more apt to seek and use this first threshold supernatural gift of discernment. This is not a gift that is used without passion, or emotions but it is more akin to reason and logic than say the gift of understanding.

And in my experience working in ministry with women, women are more apt to get and have the supernatural gift of understanding before discernment. This gift is often informed with the highest gift, the overflowing gift of supernatural love which, praise God, women have more often than men.

Nowadays there are so many single parents who are are tasked with being gifted with discernernment and understanding at the same time. A single mom needs supernatural discernment as well as supernatural understanding to discipline her children. And a single dad needs that gift of understanding, based often on supernatural love, and discernment, so as to avoid exasperating and alienating his children (Ephesians6,4). My experience, in 38 years as a Christian is that it is easier for men to first get and use the gift of discernment than the gift of understanding, and easier for women to first get and use the gift of understanding, via the supernatural gift of love, than discernment.

But the bible at 1Corinthians2,12-16 says that this gift of discerment is there for everybody, for men and women, there for the taking by us Christians, sort of built into the baptism in the Spirit. Discernment unlocks a Spiritual diagnosis, that we might not "see" at first glance. It is vitally needed for any diagnosis of what is happening in a church, in any relationship, in any business, like the restaurants that need an expert to take a look and see what the issue is.

Discernment is also great for maintaining our own personal health. When x and y and z are going on after the 100th time I still need a discernment as to common sense what to do about even a minor health issue.

Discernment asks and seeks what are the practical and spiritual facts that are going on right now? And it asks what's best to do? Men in my experience often want to hear a discernment of facts so we can help someone in need. Women often are more apt to lead in helping folks with the gift of understanding which rouses compassion for people. 

But all of us can be blessed by insights as to a financial problem that keeps recurring, or in a complicated legal or medical issue, or a broken marriage that God wants to mend, or what school might be best for a child. And we all learn the hard way that time doesn't wait or slow down for anybody. And thus we all often need to make decision in a timely way. This is where the timely supernatural insight of discernment is so important because its true and corrrect Spiritual insight right from God. It's just like the right key that unlocks the difficulty of a situation.  

Now the Christian church at Corinth was filled with factions, groups, and rivalries. One faction wanted to hear from Cephas (Peter who may have been far away) and one from Paul (who was often visiting and thus knew just what was going on day to day in the community). And then there were preachers who were more popular than Paul, and made a better appearance, like Apollos and later the "Super Apostles" selling their religion, and themselves, to the highest bidders per 2Corinthians11,5. 

This factionalism of the church in Corinth was costly Spiritually. It was messing up the church's beliefs and ability to make the practical judgements and decisions that leadership and the people had to make- to move the church beyond their problems and spiritual immaturity. So the Apostle Paul exhorts the whole church at 1Corinthians2, 12-16 and reminds them as Christians, who have the baptism in the Holy Spirit, that they individually and as a group already have the right Spiritual tool- the gift of discernment. Thus, they could differentiate between their emotional wants, and selfish motives from the true wisdom discernment which would allow the church to move forward and make right and good choices, and thus understand how the church must be run:

"Now the Spirit we have received is not the spirit of the world [they are all baptized in the Spirit, with various gifts accompanying] but God's own Spirit, so we may understand the lavish gifts God has given us. And these are what we speak of, not in terms learnt from human philosophy [stoicism, epicureanism, psychology, egoism me gusta no me gusta, and all such worldly and selfish knowledge], but in terms learnt from the Spirit, fitting [choosing wisely] spiritual language to spiritual things [we can communicate at a higher Spiritual level].

The natural person has no room for the gifts of God's Spirit; to him they are folly; he cannot recognise them, because their value can be assessed [discerned] only in the Spirit. 15 The spiritual person [ie one baptised in the Spirit, you all in the church at Corinth], can assess eveything [supernaturally discern what is going wrong in the church and thus understand and know the validity of Paul's letters and his corrections therein], and his own value cannot be assessed by anybody else [Paul is saying assess my gift! Not me the person! Not me who you may or may not find interesting, or attractive, or part of your club or ethnic or social class, or whatever] 16 For who has ever known the mind of the Lord? Who has ever been his advisor? [not you or me says Paul] But we [each of us and as church!] are those who have the mind of Christ." 

So Paul is saying here firstly that the spiritual person- ie everyone in the church- all baptized in the Spirit- can assess everything, can discern everything. He's also saying that this same Spiritual person, you and me with God in us, has the mind of Christ. So we all can learn to assess, to discern, to judge ourselves because we have God fully in us.  

So here's Paul saying that it's time for us folks at Corinth to use the mind of Christ our Lord gave to each of us. He is saying it's time to unify the church and to do that we need to discern what is actually going on here and make the wrong of factionalism and infighting and following personalities right. 

Take not please that the Apostle Paul is saying that this gift of discernment is not just for Apostles and pastors, the paid professionals, of today, it is for everyone in the church according to the Holy Spirit resident in each of them. It's simply part of the fellowship-communication upgrade that we have as born again Christians fully filled with the Spirit.

Yet this still means we all have put on the Spiritual mind of Christ, recognise who we are- as Spiritual people- in Him. And then we must embrace the supernatural wisdom of God over the fallen and uninformed wisdom, and the strongholds of factionalism, and devotion to personalities, and our own small mindedness. 

How many churches and businesses and non profit groups have good understanding of their problems and challenges- that paralysis by analysis. But what we don't have as often is the key discernment and tailored direction of God- that gets the ball rolling and moves our organizations forward. 

5. The fifth essential ascpect of the Holy Spiritual is the hunger for and the receipt of Holy Ghost Baptism.

More Than One Baptism
So now let's address the essentiality of Holy Ghost Baptism. How do we get it? And is it a distinct separate thing from profession of personal faith and from adult water baptsm? 

Hebrews6,1-2a says yes it is a distinct and separate thing: "Let us leave behind all the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to completion, without going over the fundamental doctrines again: the turning away from dead actions, faith in God, the teaching about baptisms.." [baptisms plural, more than one].

Holy Ghost baptism is this second baptism, usually received after adult water baptism. Adult water baptism is our essential personally faithful covenantal agreement to follow Jesus. And Holy Ghost baptism is usually experienced as the fruit of that baptismal personal faith committment, the fruit of that repentant, personal, professing faith- whereby the Spirit of God which we seek and hunger for God- gets fully into us.

Holy Ghost baptism could take place at first faith, first profession, or before adult water baptism, as it happened for the Roman Centurion Cornelius in Acts 10. But usually there is a bit of seed time preparation. Fifty days transpired before the Apostles got the Spirit- a time and a season (that's another principle of how the Holy Ghost works, that's an upcoming part of this series) where we pursue all that God has on offing. Meanwhile, God prepares and purifies our temple, our soul, and body and mind through prayer and study of the Word. This Spirit baptism makes us a more fitting vessel for the Sprit of God, and also gives the power for all sorts of effective ministry through God's supernatural ministerial gifts.

Mainline evangelical Christians teach that one is saved at one's first personal faith and that is when the Holy Ghost fully enters us. That's certainly possible, but 1Peter1,22-23 speaks of our Spiritual rebirth as from an imperishable seed, the Spiritual seed of our faith which is also seed of the Spirit, the seed of rebirth. This imperishable seed of faith and rebirth is meant to bear the full fruit of water baptism in the second baptism, Holy Spirit baptism.

So, yes we are born again, and saved, at sincere profession of faith in Jesus, but this intial seed faith does not describe the fullness and fruitfullness of the promise of the Spirit at Acts2,39 which we will read out loud again in a moment (like Romans5,17 above). This promise of God, who is Spirit, is to every faithful person in the world Jew or gentile. This describes what the Apostles received on the day of Pentecost. On that day, God who is Spirit, entered into them, remade them into HIS Spiritual image and likeness. On that day, they received back what Adam and Eve lost by sin- the Godly imprint of God's Spirit inside them. (Genesis1,27)

And wait for it- there's more. There's always more, an overflow of more God. I urge folks and myself when I don't specifically know what to pray for to pray for more blessings and more favor and for baptism in the Spirit. This is the biggest I want more "more" of our bible faith. This "more" begins with the imperishable seed of faith, planted in the Apostles when they saw and had faith in the risen Jesus. This supernatural Spirit seed became fully frutiful on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus ascended when they were filled with the Spirit and began to speak and understand many of the languages necessary for them to spread the gospel with power and conviction and success in the Roman Empire.

The filling of Spirit in us leads always leads to fully equipping for ministry and to protect our own salvation and helps us spread our saving gospel with power and effectiveness.

So at Zion Pentecost Mission we are non denominational Pentecostal movement evangelicals. I am not a Pentecostal, which is a denominational term often used by maniline evangelicals and other Christians to separate themselves from folks who preach a different biblical doctrine, and also sometimes worship a little more exuberantly than they do.

I am just Christian who has had the normative biblical experience of receiving the fullness of God's Spirit according to the teachings of the book of Acts and the entire New Testament. The book of Acts is congruent with all the teaching of all Paul's letters like Romans, and the book of Revelation, and all the other books of the New Testament. The theology of the book of Romans is perfectly congruent with the Book of Acts and baptism in the Spirit.

When any Christian minimizes the role of the Holy Spirit in the life andf interpretation of the Word, and the life of the church, and the revelation of the new Testament bible, we risk supressesing the fullness of the gospel Truth and Romans1,18 speaks against that.

When and how did the historic denominations and churches let go of the early Pentecostal movement pattern of church growth via adult water baptism unto baptism in the Spirit? 

Infant baptism, rare in the second century, occasional in the third, became the rule of the Holy Roman Empire church of the early fourth century. This changed the bible based church growth model of the Book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament to an institutional based growth model, built on infant baptism, which in effect granted political-religious citizenship in the Holy Roman empire.

Thus, the essential and fundamental teaching about the infilling of all Christians with the Holy Spirit, shortly after adult faith-adult water baptism, according the fundamental foundational teaching of Hebrews6,1-2 has been neglected. The writer of Hebrews said he did not need to revisit these foundational early teachings about baptisms because everybody in his audience already knew about more than one baptism. But here we are two thousand years later and yet we have to re- establish this fundamental teaching about more than one baptism.

The church-state union and infant baptism in favor of institutionalism so minimized the voice and voices of the Spirit in God's people that institutionalism- not teaching about the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the Word- became the normal church teaching. Sure there have been individual folks thoughout the ages, and into our modern era, in Europe and elsewhere, that would get filled up with he Spirit in the historic institutionally based churches. But they were often marginalized, their voices muted, and they were not even close to being the chroniclers of church history.

Joachim di Fiore from Calabria in the 12th century would be a good example of someone full of the prophetic teaching Spirit, but even his exceptionally good and Spirit filled and bible based teachings were not institutional enough to command the redirection of the hstoric church back toward the Word and the baptism in the Holy Spirit.   
But then late in the 19th century, the baptism of the Holy Spirit started to come back into the lives of many Christians. This restarted the Pentecostal movement of biblical Christianity that has revived and is especially evidenced in our own day. It brought back the offices of prophets and evangelists and the miracle of faith healing back into the body of Christ (cf Ephesians4,10-11), as well as exuberant preaching and praying and worship, and further put the bible in the hands of all. 

Now remember those first apostles-Peter and Paul and all the rest of the twelve- they already were repentant and had already professed the risen Jesus. They had seen him after his resurrection. They had an imperisble seed faith before Pentecost. But they were not baptized in the Spirit before Pentecost.  That's the normal biblical pattern and progression. You might remember doubting Thomas? He said he wouldn't believe, until he stuck his fingers into the spike holes of the risen Jesus, whom he hadn't seen yet. But when he did see Jesus, he believed and professed- "my Lord and my God." These same Apostles, by obedient faith to Jesus, obedient to Acts1,8 still tarried and prayed for 50 days for the fullness of the Spirit, not just on them, but in them.

1Peter1,22-23 speaks of an imperishable Spiritual seed. This means the Word and Spirit and faith seed of our new birth is imperishable, ie indestructable. But this Spiritual seed is not imperishable in each of us. Our rebirth was by way of the good seed of the Word-Holy Ghost, by God's grace. But this good seed must be watered and cultivated, and find good Spiritual ground, so to speak according to the varied terrain- arid or rocky or good soil- on which is falls (Matthew13,1-9) or stolen by Satan (Mark4,15). This is firstly so it doesn't die in each of us, or leave each of us, or get stolen by Satan, and secondly so it fructifies, goes from mere seed, to fruit and bears the ffullness of baptism in the Spirit, the the fullness of grace in us (Romans5,17).

In the summer of 2023 I got some seeds from the library and planted them beside my back porch, and they all died. Seeds die all the time in agriculture, our imperishable Spiritual seed of faith and the Holy Spirit in each of us can die or leave if we don't have good Spiritual soil, ie the ongoing personal faith of the bible, and word and Spirit based teaching and practices in our churches, especially around both baptisms. Good spiritual ground includes not turning back from our faith and living lawlessly, but living the new law of the Spirit, and staying away from rocky ground, and living the salvation we have just gained, by watering and tending the Word and Spirit seed of 1Peter1,22 that just rebirthed us. If we don't live by faith according to the imperishable seed, it will die or leave us, because we are inhospitable to it and inhospitable to nurturing it.

1John5,16: "If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that is not a deadly sin, he has only to pray and God will give life to this brother- provided it is not a deadly sin. There is sin that leads to death." 

Stay with me. I am not preaching death- I am preaching the fullness of life and the best way to be fully faithful and Spiritually alive, and delivered from all evil, is to keep on moving onward and upward toward the promise of God's Spirit fully in us, the new imprint of Christianity, the Spiritual imprint of God, His image and likeness in each of us, per Genesis1,27.

Acts 2,36-39 is about the promise of the Baptism in the Spirit and updates and restores us to this Spiritual dominion imprint of God per Genesis1,27:

The biblical context of Pentecost at Acts2,16ff is the prophetic fulfillment of Joel 2- the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all flesh. We know as baptism in the Spirit for the faithful. On this day of Pentecost the apostles have just been filled with he Spirit and remade in God's image. Peter prophesies this good news, this pouring out, this initial overflow of the Spirit, is to be poured on all humanity.

This is related to Jesus as messiah of Israel, and as our Lord and savior as gentiles. Peter also tells his people that all the miracles of languages gift is the fulfillment of the new messianic age of Joel2,28-32. Acts2,16-17 puts it this way: "In the last days- the Lord declares- I shall pour out my Spirit on all humanity. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young people shall see visions, your old people dream dreams..."   

And so with one voice the newly faithful Jewish pilgrims at Pentecost seek the fullness of their conversion according to Peter's preaching by asking him at verse 36 "what must we do." Acts2,37-39 puts it this  way: "Hearing this [Peter's prophetic preaching and goodnews], they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'What are we to do, brothers?' 'You must repent, Peter answered, 'and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ' for the forgiveness of you sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made for you and your children [Israel], and for all those who are far away, [and] for all those whom the Lord our God is calling to himself [the gentiles]"

I am going to keep reading because these words are as powerful today as they were 2000 years ago. Verse 40-41. "He spoke to them for a long time using many other arguments, and he urged them, 'Save yourselves from this perverse generation.' They accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number." By adult water baptism  three thousand people put themselves on track for the promise of baptism in the Spirit. The example of the apostles and the promise of salvation and the fullness of the new Spirit Holy Ghost fulfilling Joel 2 and Ezekiel 36 was so beautiful and liberating that they were not even ashamed to get dunked as adults. Praise God!

Then and there, 3000 adults weren't ashamed of the gospel, weren't ashamed to get adult water baptized, because they had heard many of the blessings that the Apostolic Word promised them and everybody even today.

But now we are churchy and institutional based and dress the babies in white and sprinkle them or pour water over their foreheads. The babies don't get embarressed as sprinkled babies, but it's us adults that really need to be adult baptized, and not ashamed, fully immersed, Spiritually dying to ourselves and washed clean by our personal faith baptism, and ready to be filled with the Holy Spirit in due time, or even right away.

When we get baptised in the Holy Ghost something good and fruitful, and blessed, is always just about to happen to us individually, and in the ministry, and among all the congregation. After God gets into us, as seed, we are born again, and something good is always about to happen, and the primary thing about to happen is baptism in the Holy Spirit.

If you invited the richest person in town to your house for dinner. He or she, perhaps encouraged by a thoughtful spouse, might bring a pie or a six pack of ginger ale in honor of your hospitality. So if the richest person in town is generous when he doesn't have to be (they could have just showed up empty handed) how much more will our loving God of the universe be generous in, and through us, when we seek more than the propriety of religious citizenship, and instead put on our big boy and big girl baptismal pants and not only get adult baptized, but also see our baptism in the Spirit.

The two baptisms usually go together, the faithful obedience of the first by water, is connected to the faithful reception of the second, by he Spirit. First the ice cream which is good, then the hot fudge on it which makes it even better, first the taste of salvation and rebirth  then the fullness of God's grace in us.

First the courtship and betrothal, then the honey moon and the family.

Good things are always about to happen after we seek and obtain our baptism in the Spirit. It might be praise tongues, the least of the gifts, or not. 1Corinthians12,30f: asks rhetorical questions. A rhetorical question is a question that everybody already knows the answer to: "Do all speak with tongues?" "Do all heal?" Do all interpret?" The answer is obviously No! Praise tongues is not the sign of baptism inthe Spirit. It is just one of the gifts of baptism in the Spirit.

Yes, everyone who has the baptism of the Spirit has at least one gift. 1Corinthians12,7,11

I will preach the gifts later in this primer on the Holy Spirit of God but I want to stay on track here and conclude this fifth aspect of our topic. Seek and you shall find is perhaps the most important principles of our faith. Eagerly seek Holy Spirit baptism and you shall get Holy Ghost baptism. By your personal faith, seek the promise of Acts2,39, and get back the creation promise of Genesis1,27, the Godly Spiritual imprint of God in you!

Howthat again? By your personal faith, by confidently acting on the promises of God again and again (Scott) ie the promises of Acts2,36-39.  

6. The sixth essential aspect of the Holy Ghost is that God sends "another [second] advocate."
John14,15-16:
"If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever."   

Not Often Preached
An advocate is someone who gives voice to someone in need. This second Godly advocate sent is the Holy Spirit. A Lawyer is a legal advocate. They usually get paid to help you. Getting paid or hoping to get paid is a condition of their advocacy or taking he case. And be wise people- there are certain crises in our life- when a lawyer can and does work with God's Spirit, to help us speak up and get justice.

But in these verses the condition of the Father sending the Holy Spirit into us as "another advocate" is that we love him and thus keep his commands. We become not only a fitting Spiritual place for him to dwell, but a person who knows their best advocate lives in them and speaks up to defend them.

This advocacy of God in us is not much specifically preached by us Christians. When I see and hear Christians protecting children and women in society, from all the evils that are out there, I know that God's Holy Spirit of advocacy is in that. My assessment is that this great Holy Spirit attribute is too muted in our society, in families, and in churches. We are are more used to advocating for causes far away, or dainty sanitized PC causes, but I think God wants us to advocate for folks near to home too. 

In every culture, society and often in families, and organizations there are some people who need advocacy. People get cursed as black sheep, the patsy, as the victim (well let me tell you straight the last victim, which is a sacrificial religous term, was Jesus, and he already paid the rap for our sin, no need for any of us Christians to play the victim ever again). Yes they are the fall guy or gal, who is an outlet for unexpressed hate like in that 1948 short story by Shirley Jackson, about the fictitious American town that holds an annual lottery of all its citizens and the winner name is drawn from the hat- and then gets promptly stoned to death. This is just a fictional story but it points out that at certain points in our lives everybody needs an advocate. We have Jesus and the Holy Spirit as our advocates. (Psalm127,4-5 speaks of children advocating for and defending their father who had many children in his youth.)

It might be a teacher, or a mentor, or a coach, or an older brother. It migth even be a Christian. But even if every man proves to be a liar and a coward, God will always speak up for his own.

1Peter1,18-19 speaks about how Jesus, our first advocate, how his blood frees us forever from being painted as 'the black sheep,' and thus frees us from all curses, for there is still power in his blood, his risen blood, the blood of a blameles and spotless risen lamb. "For you know that the price of your ransom from the futile way of life handed down from your ancestors was paid, not in anything perishable like silver of gold, but in the precious [Spiritual, imperishable!] blood as of blameless and spotless lamb, Christ." 

I have taught this passage for almost thirty years and as I was inspired to use it in this sermon. And I realized that the spotless lamb here has imperishable blood, Spiritual blood, because he has no more physical blood, or physical body at all, only a spiritual body (1Corinthians15,44).

Likewise Revelation5,6 speaks of Jesus as this same spotless Spiritual lamb standing in the center of the heavenly throne. A lamb with seven eyes and seven horns, an eternally all seeing and all powerful lamb, in which are the seven spirits of God, the fullness of the Spirit, which he sends down and into us, his Spiritually washed, His Spiritually filled, filled with an advocate whose Spiritual blood is ever flowing and ever interceding and ever protecting us and who wants the best for us at all times and in all situations.  

Our risen lamb is still offering for us Spiritual blood in heaven, or He wouldn't be depicted as a lamb! It's Spiritual blood. John 19,34 depicts a vision of this same imperishable atoning imperishable blood and Spirit which makes us Spiritually one with God. This blood and water are a prophetic Spiritual vision of the everflowing Blood and Spirit out of the side of our soon to rise eternal advocate. He is surely dead on the cross, but you can't kill the risen indomitable Spirit of God that was in Jesus the man, but he will surely rise, and he did, and thus John19,34 depicts his eternal Spiritual blood and Spirit ever flowing, ever advocating for us faithers, and all sinners who turn to him.

This vision of John19,34 and Revelation 5,6, and 1Peter1,18-19 represents his imperishable, risen blood, the blameles blood of the risen lamb still advocating for and freeing sinners from all curses, still interceding, for all sinners, for all the black sheep, and all the demon possessed, setting free all the captives. Oh glory.

Jesus still speaks up for all sinners and all that are afflicted. His Spiritual washing water of adult baptism and Spiritual atoning blood still speaks to humanity, and says "I am your best advocate, so get right with me and get righteous in me. And I will defend you."

I am very thankful for the material blessings with which I grew up. But there was a lack of faith and presence of the Holy Spirit in my upbringing. I thank God that one of my grandmothers had the good sense to give me a bible as a young boy long before I became a Christian. I still have it today. She was advocating for me with the Holy Spirit.

One of my Mom's good friends, Barbara Downes, since I was mayby seven years old would always call me 'Tobias of the light.' Every time she saw me! Mayby it seemed just like a nickname to her. Mayby she knew with God's Spirit exactly what she was doing. But I do know this: God knew exactly what he was doing through her, whether she did or not. It was something I never forgot, and about which I am eternally grateful. She was advocating for me with the Spirit of our first advocate Jesus and our second advocate, the Holy Spirit! Praise God our advocate, Jesus and the Holy Spirit speak up for us. Our battles are not our battles but their battles. The battle belongs to the Lord! Who advocates for his own!

A church going family when I was about finishing up high school invited me to their church a couple of times, perhaps just because I was there for the weekend. Or perhaps they knew just what they were doing. But again, God who is Spirit knew what He was advocating for me through them. In their own way, and in God's way, they were advocating for me.

And then I ended up a Christian at 26 because these folks in their own modest ways, and Jesus, and his second advocate, the Holy Spirit, were always advocating for me to accept gospel faith and the salvation I have now. 

Who and what do you advocate for? Is God's Spirit in you, and in that advocacy? Or, do you try and do life on your own power?

There are so many good causes for which we can advocate.

We have two advocates in us. So when we look in the mirror every morning (cfJohn G. Lake), the world, the devil and his minions and the flesh want us to say- "me, me me." And "Me is good." And "greedy me is good, and narcissism is good."

But God wants us to look in the mirror each day and says "God lives in that man! (John G. Lake) You belong to me! "I am with you wherever you go!"

We have two essential Spiritual advocates in us! Don't forget that!   

And it's not just about what God does for us as individuals. We can advocate for others in need. Sometimes folks we have to speak up for others, that's part of our fellowship. And sometimes we have speak up for ourselves because that's what our Godly Spiritual advocates want us to do.

And remember our good and Spiritual God don't make no junk! Don't live inside no junk! If we live and obey his Word oh my, watch it, He is going to send us another advocate who resides in us. and they are both going to help us, Praise Jesus, always help us.

7. The seventh essential attribute of the Holy Spirit is He who gives us rest and consolation.
God even rested on the seventh day of creation, so if it's important enough for him to seek and get, how much more us who are merely his creation.

Perhaps we all have heard one of the most soul winning verses in all the bible. Phillipians4,5b-7  "the Lord is [near] at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." ESV

We have all experienced this peace that surpasses all understanding. Even Mr. Grinch. Even street folks trying to look all mean and hard, have felt this peace that passes all understanding, in their grandmas kitchen mayby, or when they first heard the gospel, or out fishing with their dad or mom. These days are so filled with violence and hatreds on so many different levels, and so many religious misunderstandings and a generalized anger and selfishness and distraction and egomania.

It's time for everybody to seek Jesus the giver a restful peace that surpasses all understanding. Before it's too late. 

Yet we still follow a good and gracious God, who is Spirit. And while there are sinners who mayby have never thought of asking God's Spirit into their heart, and haters who seemingly are more fond of hate than anyting else. But the book of Jonah says God still sends the sunshine and even his repentant grace on our enemies. Jonah didn't want to preach repentance and the favor of the God of Israel to his enemies the Assyrians, but he did so and it worked!

Why don't we all admit that God's Spiritual peace that surpasses understanding is way better than any other type of peace we might ever experience.

We Americans love to protest. We dumped that tea int he Boston Harbor because we didn't want to pay little old England no tax on our tea. And we have been protesting ever since. And all our protests in the good old USA must be peaceful. But even protestors need to sleep once in awhile, as we all do. And while sleep is good and way necessary, the gospel peace that passes all understanding is an ever present door to what we all need, Spiritual rest, rest for our spirits and eternal souls. Once we have faith and salvation in Jesus we have a Supernatural which is a rest that is even better than sleep, because it's Spiritual rest, soul rest, spirit rest, more than just sleep for our bodies. 

Matthew11,28-29: "Come to me all you who labour and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Rest for our souls is the peace that surpasses all understanding, after we know we have fully faithed on Jesus and obeyed his commands for salvation, then Jesus is Lord and savior. We have fully trusted him, and we let him take the wheel when we need rest. We let him tell us to slow down and pull off the road and rest occasionally. Take a Sabbath, a Saturday and do nothing but thank and praise him. Yes there is great rest faithing on Jesus for the rest and peace that is salvation. 

So with the peace and rest of salvation, we begin to know just how close Jesus is to us. There's nothing closer than sharing a place with somebody else. This sharing can be very good and also very trying, but John14,16-17 promises "The world cannot accept him [our comforter our advocate] because it neither sees or knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." NIV

Such is the peace and rest of Jesus. We know He is in us and lives with us. Praise God

Hebrews4,1-3 warns us to persevere and share in obedient faith unto the rest of salvation in Jesus:

"Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did [those who thought this rest of salvation was not enough and returned to the sacrificial system of the Jerusalem Temple]; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest.” 

8. The eighth essential aspect of the Holy Spirit is that He communicates with humanity.
It's only fitting that the God who is Spirit wants to speak and have communion with us humans, the only living species that He made in his Spiritual image and likeness.The Holy Spirit is God's means of communicating and communion with us.

The gospel of John, like the book of Revelation, is a bit more Spirtually demmanding than the rest of the New Testament bible. It asks us to go a bit deeper into who Jesus is- the the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

This gospel also has the challenging and long farewell address in Chapter 17.

It also includes John10,27 where we learn that God expects us to know and hear his voice, the voice of the risen Jesus. To hear his voice we need Spiritual eyes that see and ears that hear.

John10,27: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, no one will snatch them out of my hand."      

In our media saturated world, people are willing and able and often eager to fall in love with so many voices besides the voice of God. I know the temptation. There's a famous Christian singer, and she has an amazing voice. Pretty much everyone who isn't too proud to say so, admits they love her voice. It brings people in an instant to the throne of God and ready to worship.

Similarly, talk radio has become all about favorite voices. Have you seen dogs who just go nuts when they hear the voice of their owner. We have some of that excitement in us as humans hearing voices we love.

We all are ripe to fall for and listen keenly to human voices we like.

How much more should we know and listen to the the Spiritual voice of Jesus.

The word says we're sheep- ie not that bright often, but praise God we can, like sheep know our shepherd's voice. It's the voice of Jesus, a gentle but firm voice. It's not the voice of satan, the accuser of the brothers and sisters. It's a loving voice that doesn't get irritated when He has to repeat itself, again and agian.

In my life I have learned to listen to the voice of Jesus. He knows every word I have spoken and will speak (Psalm139,6) before I even speak it. And he knows what we need to hear, and just what we need repeated again and again. So he does, until we allow him to shepherd us, with that voice, a voice we learn to obey, because it lines up with the Word and the Spirit, a voice that says exactly what is best for us to hear and do at any given time of our lives.

I am all for leaders in ministry that challenge folks to be more mature, and accountable and committed in faith, and more in touch with the voice of God. These are fine goals by the way. But we must not fall in love with the voices of leaders or churches, but to fall in love with the voice of Jesus. To fall for the voice of any faith leader or singer or any ministry is to fall for the wrong voice. The voice we need to fall for is Jesus' voice, or the voice othe Holy Spirit.

If we fall in love with the voice of a pastor or church, that church might get bossy and go from preaching to meddling- in all area of our lives.

If you are told to go to church more than three times a week, you might be in a church that wants you to hear its voice, or the pastor's voice, more than it wants you to hear the voice of Jesus, or even your spouse's voice.   

Another way to hear the 'voice of God' is to read the scriptures and ask God what He is saying to you in this passage? Or, ask God to cite a chapter and verse for you and your situation. Keep asking in faith to hear the scripture you need, and before long I am thinking you will get the the scripture you need. It's that simple. It's the Holy Spirit, speaking to you.

There's this lawyer in Hartford he has a really good simple advertisement. It says "Call Santos. Talk to Santos."

That's a great- when people have a lawyer, an advocate, they want to talk to that lawyer. Well we have a personal savior and advocate Jesus. Call Jesus. Talk to Jesus.  And unlike lawyers, Jesus can talk to a million people at one time, whereas a lawyer can only talk to one person at a time. 

This hearing the voice of God might be new and a bit strange to you. But the good thing is- He promised us all we could all hear his voice- and His Word is true. And we learn all sorts of things in life- better to learn to hear his voice.

I have an even simpler way for folks to talk to God and her back from God for the first time. Try this if you will be so bold and simple in your faith. Tell Jesus- say it out loud  'Jesus I love you.' Say it out loud right before you fall asleep, when you are quiet. Then listen in your Spirit, in that quiet state, to his response. If you don't hear back the first night, say it again the next night. "Jesus I love you." And sooner or later, say within a week, you will start to hear back. And you, little old irrepeatable soul you- then you will hear back something like "I love you too!" "I love you too!" He might say "I love you more!" But probably someting even some orignial than that! 

But trust his word that yo can hear and know his voice. Trust that he wants his Spiritual image and likeness to shine in you and let you know that you are fully capable of communicating with God- because that's one of the essential Holy Spirit things that the God of the bible does for us and with us.

And you will now understand John10,27 "Mine know my voice." And remember we don't not follow or respond to the false voices, to wolves in sheep's clothing.

There are other ways that God can "speak" to us. He called Moses' name from the burning bush and told him to go back to Egypt to free his people. He spoke to his holiest and most favored son of Jacob, to Joseph, in a dream where Joseph was dresed in a splendidly colored robe. In this dream Joseph and was further shown that his brothers would one day serve him in Egypt. He spoke to Mary through the appearance of an angel, about getting pregnant by the Holy Ghost, and Mary said "be it done to me according to your Word." Mary was just a young girl, but she knew the voice of God, through an angel, and she did not play deaf like teenagers sometimes do.

The Holy Ghost communicates with us in many ways: through prayer- through signs and wonders- through miracles and prophets- and even sometimes through preaching as if it was just for you that day.   

God "spoke" to John the Revelator through the seven thunders of His impending judgement of Revelation 10,4, (1Samuel2,10; 2Samuel22,14, Rev8,5,11,19,16,18 and especially Revelation4,5, Got Questions: "What do the seven thunders in Revelation10,1-7 mean?")

After this at Revelation10,5 a voice from heaven spoke in a more ordinary way to the prophet 'Keep the words of the seven thunderclaps secret and do not write them down." But then he gave a message to the angel who John had seen just prior to the thunderclaps and then the angel said at Revelation10,6c-7 'The time of waiting is over; at the time when the seventh angel is heard sounding his trumpet, the mystery of God [the judgement on all enemies of the kingdom of God and the inaugeration of the kingdom of God. cf New jerusalem Bible, Doubleday1985n. e 2039] will be fulfilled, just as he [Jesus] announced in the gospel to his servants the prophets." 

So to review: if we water that imperishable seed of faith, if we will learn to have eyes that 'see' and ears that hear, and soon we can and will hear the voice of the good Shepherd. Hearing God's voice is an essential aspect of the gift of the Holy Spirit, way easier than our Spiritually unaided mind would have ever thought.     

9. The ninth essential aspect of the Holy Spirit is that God gives all his Spirit baptized at least one ministerial gift:    
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit.; 9 to another [great] faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing [discernment] of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the intrepretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills." 1Corinthians12,4-11 (NASB)

Gifts And Experiences Help Us Serve Others

Have you seen the "stromchasers" on television?

Instead of driving away from the tornado or hurricane, they drive into it, with cameras rolling. They risk their own lives and seemingly other peoples' too. They are chasing an experience in order to have the best story to tell. 

Some of us Christians are sort of like these stormchasers when we covet experiences and minisiterial gifts that might put the bright lights of fame and attention upon us as if all that appears to be Holy Ghost light is actually Holy Ghost Light: "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." 2Corinthians11,13-14

Not all that glitters is gold. Not every apparent ministerial gift from God is a gift from God, rather it can be a demonic fallen spirit informing an apparently good ministry, which is really bad in the spirit realm.  

Not all that appears to be light is Light.

So by extension, we could say, not every so called supernatural "gift" or "gift" bearer, or experience, comes from God.

Therefore, the word says "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirit as to whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out." 1John4,1. Is the gift bearing fruit? Is the claimed gift bearer obedient to the Word? Is the person distancing themselves from their marital responsibilities to exercise their gift? Would the gift bearer still be humble enough to tidy up the sanctuary- if needs be- after services or minsitry.    

With awareness that firstly gifts are about gospel service to others, and edifying th church, building up people, here's a recent word that the Lord wanted me to share about gifts:

"Don't chase the experience, follow the Word.

Don't preach experiences. Preach the Word.

Get Jesus in you, the hope of glory, and experiences- including miracles- will come by your obedience to the Word, the risen Jesus, living in you.

The stormchasers are chasing problems if they only chase the experience, likewise my people chasing experiences and gifts. The stormchasers chase lightning, and some of my people do the same.

Yes, baptism in the Spirit [John3,5] is vital and essential and is an experience that still happens today. With this baptism your understanding of the Word rises exponentially, whereas your understanding of the gifts is always about serving others, in that I gave you them for my own reasons [1Corinthians12,11].

Why chase the gifts and experiences when I simply want you to use your gifts, and in so doing, follow the word?

The gifts I give you are part of the word, not ends in and of themselves.

Use the gifts when I say, not just when you feel like it. Not to show off, not to make a name, but in service.

Don't confuse excitement and volume and experiences and drama with the necessary development of leaders, men and women, who use their gifts on behalf of all my people."

That's the word I received.

It's not that we are to go around suspicious in the body of Christ, or faultfinding, but we recognize that we are all called to mature service and the full faith measure of Jesus.

This word also prompts me to fully realize that if God promises to give every person, baptized in the Spirit, a supernatural Holy Ghost gift (1Corinthians12,7) for the upbuilding of the body, then we at Zion Pentecost Mission need to empower, train and encourage everybody to use his or her faith gift(s) and become mature servants of Jesus' body, which He heads up.

We expect to be doing this ministry with great confidence- yes and biblical and Holy Spirit guidance,- but we also would begin with a medical doctor's hypocratic launching pad: do no harm! 

10. The tenth and final essential aspect of the Holy Spirit is it reveals an inner beauty, literally an inner grace, an inner joy and strength:
"..though this outer human nature of ours may be falling into decay, at the same time our inner human nature is renewed day by day. The temporary, light burden of our hardships is earning us for ever an utterly incomparable weight of glory, since what we aim for is not visible but invisible. Visible things are transitory, but invisible things eternal." 2Corinthians4,16-18  NJB

It's nice to look upon righteous Spirit filled church people as they grow older. They often have been full of the Holy Spirit for so long- they sort of glow from the insight out. Some of them actually get better looking because God who is Spirit is in them.

In contrast there are younger people running with the world who don't realize that they may look all bonny and handsome on the outside now, but on the inside they are not so much. And there is a possibility that their outer beauty and handsomeness I am guessing might leave them sooner they might think. 

It's the rarest of people who get better looking on the outside after say 40-45 years. I have met one woman who fits that bill. But I think it is because she's so full of life and joy and that is why she is more beautiful than 30 years ago. But again her beauty radiates from the inside out rather than the outside in. I don't know about her faith, but I suspect it's pretty good. 

I also met a gal in her mid twenties, when I was way younger, and less mature in the faith, and she said "I am not really pretty, I am just young."

Well even as a young man my heart went out to her. It grieves the Spirit when folks made in the image and likeness of God talk down about themselves.

Proverbs31,30: "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is empty [nothing inside]. The woman who fears Yahweh is the one to praise." 

Lending Tree published an article, updated August 28, 2023 "Fueled by  Social Media, Gen Zers and Millennials Admit To Overspending On Beauty Products." 

It had some interesting facts and figures:

Gen Zers (ages18-26) spend an average of $2,048 annually.
Gen Xers (ages 43-58) $1,517
Baby Boomers (ages 43-77) $494

Men spend an average of $2,256 annually on beauty and women $1,283. We live in a time when men are just as vain, or often more vain, than women. That's not a joke.

So in our modern outward focused culture there are a whole lot of people in the world, which spends $90 billion a year, trying to be more beautiful or handsome- from the outside in rather than the inside out.

And I suspect, you can correct me if I am wrong, that there are also a few of us Christians, church kings and queens, who are  rying to be more physically handsome and beautiful than Spiritually handsome and beautiful.

For the record, I am not suggesting anyone be neglectful of their appearance, and their modest and occasional need for bathing, and grooming, and presentable clothing.

This is what 1Peter3,3-4 says about beauty in women: "Your adornment should not be an exterior one, consisting of braided hair or gold jewellery or fine clothing, but the interior disposition of the heart, consisting of the imperishable [there's that again like the Spiritual faith seed of our salvation1Peter1,23] quality of a gentle and peaceful spirit, so precious in the sight of God."

This interior beauty- or handsomeness- is what God is talking about.

Praise God for our inner man and woman whose souls and spirits are being renewed- made more spiritually attractive day by day- by living our bible faith unto the Holy Ghost being in us.

I am not a gambler or expect you to be one as a Christian, but 'playing the odds' is becoming a major principle in our culture. So what are the odds of us Christians over say 30 or 40 or 50 or more getting more beautiful or handsome from following the Word and Spirit or buying extra cosmetics and having pedicures, and multiple plastic surgeries?

I think our best odds for either getting ore beautiful or handsome is living by faith and getting filled with he Spirit in accord with Psalm103,5: "He [God] fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Healthy Christians have their lives and their souls filled with God, and thus there is always a youthfulness about them. 

That is also to say, the best odds of us Christians have of getting more Spiritually attractive as we age is getting baptized in the Spirit and living a right and faithful life unto the the inner glow of staying as much as we can in the Word and the presence of God through prayer and service.

When Moses went up the moutain and got the two tablets of the commandments he was in the presence of God. The people saw his face shining when he came down. Exodus34,29. Moses had a healthy sunburn glory, like when you go long at the beach or playing golf or on the bike on an extra sunny day. But us Christians have much more than a sunburn glory. We have the Spiritual glory, the radiance of God's Spirit, in us. Praise Jesus. We can shine from the inside out because we have God in us.

After a certain age the odds of us getting better looking are not necessarily enhanced by another facelift, by more liposuction, or God knows what else is in the future, but by living a strong faith whereby the Spirit of God baptizes us, and makes us shine from the inside out. 

As Christians with God's Spirit we all have the opportunities and Spiritual means in us to bless and encourage folks, like Barnabas did in the NT bible. I like to encourage people. It's a real part of pastoring. And there was one time when I thought to myself how do I encourage somebody who seemed to have everything going for her already- she was attractive, but even better she had a great interior disposition.

And I did not really know how to encourage her faith- because she didn't seem to lack anything that either the world or the Lord thought was important. So the Lord put on my Spirit to just gently encourage her to recognize that our saving faith, from beginning to end, is about  the Spiritual truths and the glories of the gift of salvation as related in the Bible.

And I was at peace about that simple bit of encouragement because it's gratifying to to obey God's Holy Ghost inspirations. But it was more than that- sometimes the exact encouragement we are inspired to give others, by a Word of knowledge, is what God has has been trying to teach, or re-teach us, that we might even forget in the crass and hurly burly state of modern life or take for granted. 

Such as the fact that our real victories in this life, prior to going home to Jesus, or reigning in the kingdom with him, are about bearing witness in our inner man or inner woman to all the essential invisible truths of our precious bible based faith.

Like bearing witness to whom God has made us worthy by the cleansing and washing and healing blood of the lamb, made us a cleaned up born again Christian, made us righteous with the capacity to hold God's Spirit in the our bodily temple.

So we Spiritually bear witness that the seed of our first faith has, praise God, has become a baptism in the Spirit.So we bear witness that our souls, and spirits and lives have all been changed for the better, from Christ in us, from our hope of eternal salvation now and in the future in the full presence of God.

These are all glorious Spiritual realities that transcend the physical things of hear and now, and any earthly lack or challenge or cross. 

I didn't really have the words to say but the point I was triyng to communicate to this woman was something like Tracy Chapman sings "don't ever give or sell your soul away." Don't sell it because even now it's filled with God's graceful goodness, the graceful goodness of heaven and the kingdom of God, and the sacred and compassionate heart of our risen lamb Jesus still Spiritually interceding for each and all of us, who know him and for all who don't know him yet, unto the day of judgement.  

These are beautiful Spiruitual truths that we can know from God in us, who renews us day by day from the inside out, from his Spirit in us. By these Spiritual truths and with our restored Spiritual image and likeness, God shines through, and proves Romans5,17 wherein with the fullness of God's grace we "exercise [Spiritual] dominion in this [earthly] life through the one man [the risen man, the risen lamb], Jesus Christ." NRSV

God In Us Is The Supreme Gift
John 19,34, out of his pierced side flowed blood and water- his washing water of adult baptism still Spiritually flows, just as His Spirit, ever flows and ever overflows.

And the risen lamb of Revelation5,6, of Jesus, appears to have been slain, so he's a Spiritual lamb, whose Spiritual blood always intercedes for us and takes away our sins and make us fitting Spiritual temples.

He is still seated on the mercy seat at the right of God Romans8,34.

His mercy still overflows according to the fullness of his love and comapssion for every person, every soul. But one day soon he's going to stand up from the mercy seat and judge us all (William M. Branham), so we best be quick about getting right with Him.

This includes our rebirth and the Spiritual planting of an imperishable seed of faith by our repentant profession of faith. But it also includes keeping the faith, nurturing the faith, and keeping the faith. And the best way to keep the faith and to finish the salvation race in the end is to be filled with the supreme gift of God by baptism in the Spirit.  

To get this- it might be time to let go of some of the lesser man made schemes and marketing of our faith. Time for us to stop feasting on a reduced gospel, a sloganned gospel, and instead allow the vast creativity of the Holy Ghost and the fullness of the Word into our churches.

Lets also welcome the vast Holy Spirit giftedness of God's entire people and gifted gospel teamwork for Zion Pentecost Mission and all other ministries and churches. 

My friends there is no better way to live our faith than what the Holy Spirit and the eternal Word would have us do fro Jesus and His gospel.

"It is written!" The essentials of Christianity and salvation history, and God's Spirit living fully in us are all written down. The essentials of th Holy Spirit are there in His WORD for all of us to know.

And it has always been God's will to restore us and all humanity to our spiritual image and likeness to God Himself.

It is written. So be it.

The Holy Spirit is not a hunch, it's not playing the odds, not luck, not about coincidences, or magic, or halloween. It's not mere human intuition- it's God's Spirit gently guiding and loving us into action, into faith movement, and freedom in the Spirit, and toward the recognition of all God's ministerial offices and the miinisterial gift or gifts he has given to each of us.

We pray for your healing and consolation and love would be on all who read and or hear these words.

We look up to you Lord and can see the winsomeness of our Holy Ghost empowered and Word based gospel mission of Ephesians4,13: : "to knit God's holy people together for the work of service to build up the body of Christ [that all would repent be saved in Jesus' Name], until we all reach the unity in faith and knowledge of the Son of God and form the perfect Man fully mature with the [Spiritual] fullness of Christ himself."    

Please pray your blessings upon Zion Pentecost Mission.

Amen.

Br. Tobin
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