Why is it Vital to Receive the Holy Spirit?

By Rev. Ernest O'Neill

Now, when we talk about the anointing of the Holy Spirit or the anointment of the Holy Spirit, that's what He does. He fills your own life with the fragrance of Jesus' beauty and your conscience becomes something sweet. Your thoughts become something beautiful and they are filled with a fragrance of Christ's love and His joy. You find that rising from within you. It comes up from within and you don't know where it has come from. You haven't produced it yourself. It isn't because you read a book that teaches you to think a certain way. It's just a spontaneous rising from within you of the beautiful thoughts that Jesus is having at the right hand of God.

The Holy Spirit fills your life with the fragrance of Jesus and of course, fills every place where you go with the fragrance of Jesus. Those in your home begin to sense sweetness in your whole life. Your business people begin to sense a fragrance about you that they can't explain. There's a sweetness that comes into the relationships and the conversations you have. It's a kind of heavenly, spiritual thing that nobody can define. But the Holy Spirit brings it about in your life.

The Holy Spirit does those things. The Holy Spirit anoints you with the beauty and the strength of Jesus. Now, that's why it's so vital to receive the Holy Spirit. Paul says in Galatians, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit by works of the law or by faith?" And of course, he implies you received the Holy Spirit by faith. You receive the Holy Spirit by faith, that's it. It's not by feeling. It's not by feeling, and asking, "have I got the Holy Spirit?" You'll never feel Him. He isn't an emotion. You receive Him by faith.

You simply say, "Lord Jesus, You said if I was baptized and repented in your name for the forgiveness of my sins, I would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, I want to receive that gift of the Holy Spirit now, so that from now on, I can begin to listen to Him, begin to obey Him and allow Him to grow within me." Loved ones, even if you do that in cold blood today, God will honor you. God will honor you. Do that plainly and simply this morning and Jesus will give you the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then as you listen to the Holy Spirit, He will show you more and more things in your life. And if you trust Him, He will actually do things in you.