Why did Jesus send the Holy Spirit?

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:          Acts 2:17-18

A lot of people when they think of the baptism of the Holy Spirit tend to think of spiritual gifts, casting out demons, speaking in tongues, and healings. Jesus still does those things and this is not intended to disregard spiritual gifts. I would like to talk though, about Spiritual fruit and the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us to lead Godly lives, enabling us to walk as we ought to.

In the book of Matthew Jesus says:

Not every one 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.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.    Matt 7:21-23

This says to me that there is less importance on the gifts than on a right relationship with Him and leading a holy life. A Holy life? How is that possible?

And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And ye are witnesses of these things.  And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.    Luke 24:46-49

Jesus said that to His disciples. Now these guys already had power to do miracles, way back earlier in Luke it says:

Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.    Luke 9:1

Before Pentecost they already had that power.

…as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:     John 1:12

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.  And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:    John 20:19-22

Notice that the doors were shut for fear of the Jews. They were hiding. But Jesus had said “…as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you”

So what did peter do? Simon peter said, “I go a fishing.” Back to the old life, that’s where Jesus found him.

After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.  There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.  Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.    John 21:1-3

Jesus spoke to Peter and turned him around again, sent him back to Jerusalem.

Then we go to the book of acts and:

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Acts 1:4-5

Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.  And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.  These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.     Acts 1:12-14

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.     Acts 2:1-4

…Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: Acts 2:14

Peter preached a sermon.

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.    Acts 2:41

After the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Peter went from hiding and fishing to being bold enough to preach a sermon before more than three thousand people. He had the power to do what the Lord wanted him to do! And that in Jerusalem, where they had just recently crucified Jesus and Peter had denied the Lord 3 times because he didn’t want to get crucified too!

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Heb 7:25-26

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.    1 John 1:9

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Eph 2:7-10

God has given some people self-control seemingly from birth and this is great, but sometimes these people look at others and say, “Just quit! Shape up and fly right, I quit smoking and drinking and yes it was a little hard, but I did it, Just do it!” I often find these people annoying because I am not like them- practically perfect in every way. I tried to shape up and just got worse…

The apostle Paul said:

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.     Romans 7:18-20

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…    Romans 7:24-25

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.            Isaiah 40:29

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…     Acts 1:8

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.     John 8:36

Given a new heart, forgiven, cleaned up, delivered from our sinful struggles. As if this wasn’t enough, I found that these same disciples got filled with the Holy Spirit again, when people started persecuting them! Jesus doesn’t just fill us one time and leave us to walk it all out on our own, He sends new manna every day. When we are weak or in trouble, He sends the Holy Spirit to fill us again and again.

Peter and John, who had recently been filled with the Holy Spirit, ran into persecution:

And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.  But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.      Acts 4:18-20

And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.  And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:      Acts 4:23-24

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.   Acts 4:31

filled again!

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,     Phil 1:19

A daily walk with Jesus is a continuing well of the water of life. Some days you will face choices, to do something you want or what He wants, or to spend time seeking His will. God gives the Holy Spirit to those that obey Him. If you want more, seek Him and wait for Him to answer, and try to do whatever He says.

I love the story of when Jesus turned the water into wine. My favorite part is when His mother said:

His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.  John 2:5

She had no idea what Jesus would say or do, but the servants did just what He told them to do. I could imagine their distress when Jesus told them to draw out some of the water and take it to the governor of the feast. What would the governor think of the servant that brought him a nice glass of water when he was wanting wine?

After I read that I purposed to just sit around and see if I heard in my heart Jesus telling me anything to do. At first when I did this I saw no fruit. I heard nothing except my mind telling me all the things I should be doing instead, like the dishes and chores. But after a few days of hearing nothing, I heard inside, “Just wanted to see if you’d obey Me for nothing in return.” As I continued to try to hear Him and just kept doing whatever He said, I began to hear Him more and more. He began to ask me to help others in particular ways, He began to lead me in my day to day things. He always confirmed in the bible that it was something that God would ask someone to do, nothing bizarre or sinful, its good to check and see if its really Him we are hearing.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.      Matt 16:24-25

When I first read this about taking up our cross, I thought it meant, because the early church was so persecuted, that they must be willing to die on the cross as Jesus did. Some did exactly that, but the Lord showed me this scripture also:

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.     Luke 9:23

and the apostle Paul said:

…I die daily.      1 Cor 15:31

The Lord showed me it is a daily dying to self, my wants, my desires, anytime I hear Him asking me to do something.

Sometimes I have to pray and ask Jesus to make me be willing, or even to make me be willing to be willing, but He always does.

When we choose to crucify our flesh and obey Jesus in these times, His Holy Spirit always meets us there. When we choose His ways we have patience we didn’t know was possible.

We walk right into faith when we obey Jesus.