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Series: The Kingdom of God; The Holy Spirit
Sunday 29th May 2016 – Kobus Swart
(Matt. 21:43); John 16:5-16; John 7:38-39;
Rom. 8:11, 19-29 (read also the Message Bible); 1 Cor. 6:14, 19;
(John 11:23-26); 1 Cor. 15:45; Titus 3:5; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16;
John 14:23; Gal. 5:25; 2 John 7; Isa. 66:1-2
Speaking in tongues given to you by the Holy Spirit, is not to be discounted, it is still valid. Then there is also the gift of tongues. However there is more than that to the Holy Spirit baptism. We cannot allow patterns of previous seasons (no matter how blessed and anointed they were), to become an empty pattern where we try to force things to happen. Remember the example of Moses who was first told to hit the rock, and subsequently was told to speak to the rock. He hit the rock again because it has worked the previous time and missed the land of promise because of disobedience (Num. 20:8-12). We cannot repeat patters without listening to what God is instructing us now.
The indwelling of the Spirit of God, what does it look like? The Bible talks about the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. You may have a gift but if you do not have the fruit of the Spirit, something goes wrong (Matt. 21:43). The Holy Spirit has always been present, He is not just a New Testament personality, but the outpouring of the Spirit in Acts 2 ushered in a whole new season regarding the operation of the Holy Spirit. That is why He had to wait for the ascension of Jesus before the Holy Spirit could be poured out.
There are many more things that we need that will only come from and through the Holy Spirit. One of the many names of the Holy Spirit is ‘the Spirit of Truth’ (John 16:12-13). All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you (John 16:15). The Spirit has access to all of it. “A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me” (vs. 16). A ‘little while’ actually means a very short time. “In a very short time you will see me again.” It was never meant to be 2000 years later! How will we see Him? In and by the Holy Spirit! There is continuity from the ministry of Jesus to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. There is no gap. The Spirit waited for the ascension of Jesus into glory before He was poured out. The Holy Spirit has been active in the lives of believers ever since, especially those who are lovers of the Word and who are hungry after Him.
Seeing that we have been filled with the Spirit, let us focus on living an integrated life. That will mean the end of dualism. Dualism was prominent even in the New Testament Church as it unfolded, and we still have a lot of dualists in the Christian world today. He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Rom. 8:11). Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power (1 Cor. 6:14). The normal response to this would be, “Yes, I know it will happen one day” (John 11:24). It is through the risen Christ that God pours out the Holy Spirit. There is an underlying theme of the true, genuine born-again experience. There is more to it than just saying you are saved; it is being born again, renewed by the indwelling Spirit of God, working my life into an integrated lifestyle, not a dualistic lifestyle.
The end-time work of the Holy Spirit is this: physical resurrection, physical transfiguration and transformation of the physical form of existence. Shift your focus and realise that the Holy Spirit is working in you, not just in your spirit and your heart, but in your mortal body. The question we have to deal with is: is it all just future? Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (1 Cor. 6:19). My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit! (1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16). It is time for us to become a little more serious about this truth – living an integrated life. The anointing is not just on Sundays in meetings; it must work in and through you seven days a week.
The God who created everything is looking for a place to dwell (John 14:23). Questions that may be asked are, “What will the manifestation be if the Holy Spirit dwells in my mortal body?” Samson was a powerful man, he was not necessarily muscular and huge. What made him strong was that the Spirit of God came upon Him (Judges 15:14). Another example is Daniel in the lion’s den. What about the Holy Spirit dwelling within our body! If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). If we live (vertically) by the Spirit, let us also walk (horizontally) by the Spirit. Let us talk the talk and walk the walk. An integrate life!
I trust that there will be an impartation that will activate a yearning in every heart; that will stir a new hunger, to make a home for Him. Present your bodies a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1).
The Son of God had to become what we are – He had to become a man – in order that we could become what He is. What creation is in travail for is to see the Son manifested in the sons, manifested in the earth (Rom. 8:19-25). Whatever wrong decisions and choices we make in this life, and all the consequences we have to bear, our God makes everything work for our good, because we love Him and are called to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). This is so that our lives can conform to the life of His Son.
If you are a believer you are always walking with expectancy. You must be positioned. Embrace the new season with expectancy. When we get tired in the waiting, the ‘Paracletos’ comes along side. God does not steer a parked car. We sometimes wait too passively, but the moment you move, it is God who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).
This process of divine interaction with humanity is on-going. It is going to finally destroy dualism. Dualism does two things: it makes you postpone everything to a future date; it says what is spirit is spirit, and what it matter is matter and the two will never mix. In the days of the epistles of John there were gnostic dualists who did not believe that Jesus came in the flesh. They said the divine Son of God could never come into the realm of sinful flesh. But we come with the truth that God is looking for a place to dwell and He sent His Spirit into our bodies to make a temple. Jesus said, “If you love me and live according to My Word, My Father and I will come and make you Our dwelling” (John 14:23). For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist (2 John 7). As much as Christ is corporate, we will have corporate groups that will manifest the spirit of antichrist; because they do not believe in this integration of God in us, making us His temple.
God has always been looking for a home in that which He has created. Do you want to be part of the corporate company in which the Father, Son and Holy Spirit come and dwell? Here is the qualification: Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isa. 66:1-2).