Covet Earnestly the Best Gifts

The Holy Spirit is the “Vicar” of Christ and of His body, the church. It is His gifts that empower us and lift us up above the weakness of our flesh. Apostle Paul said that we are of those that “have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). That is why he said, "But, covet earnestly the best gifts…" (I Corinthians 12:31). An Old Testament prophet said, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). There must be a fresh renewing of honoring the Holy Spirit in our lives and in His church. It must be balanced with complete surrender to the Word of God, because the Word alone is the “the sword of the Spirit” (E phesians 6:17b).

The person of the Holy Spirit is the third dynamic and divine member of our Eternal Godhead. To rightly recognize His offices in the Trinity is to trust God with a fresh vibrancy. Most Christians have heard numerous sermons on the Father and the Son but few on the Holy Spirit. Yet, everything the Father and the Son present in life or redemption is manifest in the church and to the saints by the Spirit. God the Father is on His throne and God the Son is seated at His right hand. The Spirit dwells in the church and in the temple of believers and fills the universe.

Jesus Christ was most enthusiastic about returning to Heaven and promised that the Teacher and Comforter would be sent in His place. The Holy Spirit never exalts Himself but, as Jesus promised, exalts the Father and the Son. He must be honored by the Saints and given the mastery of our lives. Our total dependency on the Holy Ghost has one purpose and that is to allow Him to fulfill His offices assigned by the Father and the Son. We are warned not to "quench Him, despise Him, grieve Him, or blaspheme Him." The ultimate sin is to blaspheme the Spirit and to do so is to be lost forever.

How can the saints be careful not to quench or grieve Him unless they understand His many wonderful expressions in our midst? A visitation of the Holy Ghost in today’s church gets scant attention from most in attendance. I remember when everyone honored a very whisper of His presence. The Antichrist has succeeded in providing a false anointing so cheap and giddy that it is laughable. This has resulted in a loss of the sense of the sacred. We need a shattering visitation that breaks the strongholds of religion without the fear of God. The Holy Spirit and His every inspiration must be held in the highest regard.

The shattering phrase, “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,” is the Holy Bible’s most breathtaking description of the Holy Ghost. The complete sentence reads with a clear picture of the many offices of God’s Spirit. “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God” (Revelation 4:5).

The Holy Spirit is eternal, unlimited in power, and holy in exactly the same degree as the Father and the Son. The most wonderful office of the Spirit is His omnipresence. He adds omnipresence to the Godhead just as Jesus adds grace and forgiveness. The Father is the eternal mind, the Son of God is the eternal word, and the Holy Spirit is the eternal manifestation. Nothing can ever escape God’s thoughts, nothing can escape the Son of God’s redemption, and nothing can escape the Spirit’s presence.

There are six other offices manifested by the Father and the Son’s Spirit. The first is His office of omnipresence and the following six are now listed in what I perceive as their order. The Spirit of Restraint is that great limitation on evil, which keeps Satan and all darkness on a leash. He is both the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Revelation. He is the Spirit of Conviction of all sin, righteousness, and judgment to come. He is the Spirit of Grace that converts and frees man of sin and evil control. He is the Spirit of Preservation that seals the soul that He has converted to righteousness and sustains them until the glorious hour of perfection. To search those offices of the Holy Spirit and to recognize the divine intent of each is to walk in the meadows of majesty.

The early church was deeply rooted in the meat of the Word. Because of such depth, they turned their world upside down. The awakening that followed on the heels of Pentecost has never been matched. The Holy Ghost created a church world that touched millions without one modern means of communication. They were possessed of the Spirit and needed nothing else. The office of Christ’s Spirit, which came to be called the Holy Ghost, was the vicar of Jesus Christ in His every expression. When Jesus Christ is glorified as the Spirit glorified Him in the early church, nothing can stop the saints, not even the gates of hell.

May every Saint of God begin a fresh “coveting” of the sweet Holy Spirit. His power in us is supernatural and will begin to affect both ourselves and all under our influence. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing” (Isaiah 10:27).

Our world lieth in the wicked one and his powers are only broken by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. We are no match for the darkness of this world until the Sovereign arm of God’s Holy Spirit begins to manifest His authority. The powers of evil must be broken and then we can destroy the effects that Satan is manifesting in the multitudes.