In my last blog, I talked about Who the Holy Spirit is and the fact that Jesus sent Him to dwell in us.

We're going to start today by looking at Matthew 28:19,20 - "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.  andMark 16:14-20, "Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.  We see in these scriptures that Jesus told us to go into all the world to spread His gospel truth.  Then, according to John 14:16, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--"  ; John 15:26, "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me."  ; and John 16:7, "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 said that He would send the Holy Spirit to be our "Helper".  In order for us to fully understand exactly what that means, we have to look at Jesus' ministry while He was here on earth.  Why is that important?

Galatians 4:4, "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,"

Philippians 2:7,8 - " but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."

Even though Jesus is one with the Father and is God, He came to this earth as a man.  As such, He experienced fully what it was to be a man.  As you read the scriptures, you will notice that regarding all of the works He did while here on the planet, He referred to Himself as the "Son of man."

Luke 3:21,22 - "When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

Luke 4:1, "Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,"

When Jesus was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit came upon Him and He was filled with the Holy Spirit.  Pleres, the Greek word for filled means that Jesus' "soul was thoroughly permeated with" the Holy Spirit.  after Jesus was baptized, He returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit into the desert where He was tempted by satan.  Following this experience, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit and began His ministry.

All that Jesus did in His humanity, He did by the power of the Holy Spirit.  In this, He gave us the greatest example of how to take the gospel into all the world.  He demonstrated God's love through signs and wonders.  Jesus touched people's lives at the point of their greatest need.

After His resurrection, Jesus met with His disciples, and as recorded in John 20:21, said to them, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."  Let me repeat that.... Jesus instructed them that as the Father sent Him, He was sending them.  Don't think this was only for His disciples in that day.  Look at what John 17:20 says, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word." He sends all believers. 

Before Jesus ascended to the Father, He promised that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit as we see here in Acts 1:4-8, "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  In verse 8, where Jesus said we would receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon us, is the same word, in the Greek, as that describing the power Jesus received when the Holy Spirit came upon Him following His time in the desert.  Jesus went on in verse 8 to say, "when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall be witnesses to Me...to the end of the earth."The book of Acts goes on to show us the acts of the Holy Spirit.  In Acts chapter 2 the Holy Spirit came as tongues as of fire and they (the disciples) were "filled" with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.  This was only the beginning!

Mark 16:15-20, "And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs."  These verses tell us what signs would follow believers as they spread the gospel.  Take special note of verse 20 which says, "they preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs." 

Paul also expressed how he spoke the Word with the demonstration of power.

There are those who say we no longer need these demonstrations of power.  Some men with advanced degrees say this all ended with the apostles.  However, I would ask, " When has the body of believers outgrown their need of their Helper?" Jesus promised and sent the Holy Spirit because He knew we needed Him.  Somehow though, a lot of the church has pretty much decided that they can fulfill the great commission without the Helper, Whom Jesus promised and gave.

There are still ministries that are operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Christ for All Nations, established by Reinhard Bonnke and now under the leadership of Daniel Kolenda has ministered to crowds of up to one million people and have, over the years, led millions to Christ!  How?  They ministered and are ministering the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit with signs and wonders following.

A lot of the church today has become ignorant of the help available through the Holy Spirit or have just plain rejected it.  The early church won thousands to Christ at a time, because they moved in the power of their Helper, the Holy Spirit. During the first 300 years of the church, prior to Constantine, signs and wonders were common and expected in the church.  With Constantine, the church weakened because paganism, seeping in, led to a departure from Biblical faith and practice.

There have been seasons of revival, where the Holy Spirit was once again invited to participate in the life of the church.  However, largely, the church has become ineffective in evangelism, because we have failed to recognize our need of the Holy Spirit's work and power.

Christ only has one body!  We are the same body of Christ that existed in the book of Acts.  If they needed the power of the Holy Spirit in their proclamation of the gospel, so do we.

In John 14:12, Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  Jesus said that when He went to the Father that He would send the Holy Spirit.

John 16:7, "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."

Church, it is time to return to our roots where the Holy Spirit was allowed to help.

Luke 11:13, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  If we ask, the Father will give us the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit longs to help us so that we will be truly effective

Lord, help us!  Open our hearts to receive the Help You have given us.  In Jesus' name.

Next week we will look further into how the Holy Spirit desires to help us.

 May God bless you and increase your knowledge.