Who We Welcome and Why - 3

                                                          Who We Welcome and Why - 3

Subject – Welcoming Holy Spirit

By Rick Welborne

John 16:7-14 (NKJV)
⁷  Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
⁸  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
⁹  of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
¹⁰  of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
¹¹  of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
¹²  I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
¹³  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
¹⁴  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

--So far we have discussed welcoming Jesus, welcoming people to obey the call of God, welcoming the Father, and today we will be looking at welcoming Holy Spirit.

--Along with talking about Missions I hope in some way I have inspired you to hunger and thirst for Holy Spirit in a greater way.

--Though it seems that churches and entire denominations have chosen to ignore Holy Spirit, I believe He is an obvious must in our lives. Francis Chan calls Him the “Forgotten God.” I agree.

--Yes, I do believe a person can go to heaven without being baptized in Holy Spirit but I do not believe you can live a fulfilling Christian life without His constant presence.

--I have found that when I share Christ with others (I hope we all do) that my witnessing is dry and mechanical when He is not welcomed but when He is present, it is much more effective. He convicts of sin.

--You cannot read through the New Testament without Holy Spirit being mentioned over and over. The disciples witnessed their lives being totally transformed when they received Him.

--Unfortunately, there have been many Pentecostals who have made the experience with Holy Spirit into something strange and something totally out of control. What a shame.

--Today we will look at just a few reasons why we should welcome Holy Spirit into our churches and into our lives. Please don’t be angry if I use lots of Scriptures.

1. Jesus said it is an advantage for us when we welcome Holy Spirit. 

John 16:7 (NKJV)
⁷  Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 

--Jesus knew He was limited when it came to being in more than one place at a time but Holy Spirit could be everywhere and be with everyone who wanted Him.

--Of course, in this series I have indicated to you how intricately intertwined the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are. That being said, Jesus is both the sender and baptizer in Holy Spirit. John 16:7 I will send Him to you.

Matthew 3:11 (NKJV) ¹¹  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

--Another reason it is to our advantage to welcome Holy Spirit is because we are living in troubling times. The disciples and new followers were under duress so they decided to have a prayer meeting. What happened?

Acts 4:31-33 (NKJV)
³¹  And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
³²  Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
³³  And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 

--I personally believe there is coming a day here in the United States that things are going to get tough for Christians. We are all going to need supernatural power to stand for Christ. 

--It will definitely be to our advantage to pray until our lives and this place is shaken by the presence of God and for us to be filled with Holy Spirit power. We will be bold for God.

--Another advantage for all of us is that we all need to know what the truth is in these last days. All of us have heard the expression “Fake News”. There is plenty of fake news out of the church but also in the church.

--I am not saying Covid was fake because I know many who passed away because of it and many who were deathly sick. The “Fake News” is what it has done to our churches.

--How many of you believe God’s Word and His Holy Spirit could lead us into a greater truth about Covid than any news organizations whether liberal or conservative. 

John 16:13 (NKJV)
¹³  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

--If we get our news from any other source than God’s Word or His Holy Spirit, we will definitely be miss-led. Truth comes from Jesus…I am the way, the truth, and the Life.

--I cannot ever imagine that Holy Spirit would ever instruct us, teach us, or guide us away from God’s House and God’s people. I believe God allowed Satan to pull back the covers and show people’s hearts.

--And yes, before you think I am just mean and have a lack of compassion, I know some people are vulnerable to sickness but please know another advantage of welcoming Holy Spirit. He comes with His gifts. 

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NKJV)
⁷  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
⁸  for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
⁹  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
¹⁰  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
¹¹  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

--When Holy Spirit shows up with His gifts and with His power, it is definitely to our advantage. Healings. 

2. Jesus says we will receive power when Holy Spirit comes on us.

Acts 1:8-9 (NKJV) ⁸  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
⁹  Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 

--Think about this; according to Acts the very last words that came out of Jesus’ mouth before He ascended to Heaven were about Holy Spirit and about Missions.

--Pastor Rick, we believe you see Holy Spirit and Missions in your cereal when you eat it. True, especially if I am eating Alphabet Cereal. 

--Think about this, last words are important words and Jesus’ last words were telling the disciples you are going to receive power when Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be My missionaries.

--I believe one of the reasons we are not very courageous or effective in leading people to Christ or inviting them to church is because we are not filled with Holy Spirit. We don’t welcome Him.

--We invite Christians to a program for Easter but we are not comfortable inviting sinners. Why? We have not received Holy Spirit power to be witnesses. We need supernatural power to be effective.

--I was at the hospital in Covington, La. because a teenage girl tried to take her life with her mom’s prescription drugs. Three days she was in the balances between life and death. Thank God, she lived and got right.

--I was with the family at 2:00am talking with them and trying to pray for a miracle. We invited Holy Spirit to come. A male nurse kept walking in and out of the room. Became awkward. Holy Spirit was there.

--After his fourth or fifth time of walking in and out he finally came over to us and fell to his knees and crying out, “I am not right with God, please pray for me!” He received Jesus because Holy Spirit was there.

John 16:8 (NKJV)
⁸  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

3. Why I call Him Holy Spirit instead of the Holy Spirit.

 --I have been asked many times why I say Holy Spirit instead of the Holy Spirit and have even had meetings with people over this. It is definitely biblical and okay to say the Holy Spirit. For me it is personal.

--I grew up extremely insecure, never felt wanted and never felt loved. In some ways I think that has been one of my greatest weaknesses (my thorn in the flesh) but also one of my greatest blessings.

--Though I hurt a lot because of my insecurities, I have found a friend Who was sent to me by Jesus to be with me in those tough times, those times of pain. He is my personal God. Holy Spirit. My friend.

--The day I wrote this sermon my heart was breaking and my insecurities were overwhelming me but my Friend was close. What a blessing. Holy Spirit not the Holy Spirit. It is personal. Song – Spirit of the Living God

John 14:15-18 (NKJV)
¹⁵  "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
¹⁶  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
¹⁷  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
¹⁸  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

--I will not leave you as an orphan, Rick, I will come to you. He did that day and He does every day!