The Holy Spirit comes when Jesus Christ is exalted and honoured as Lord; this we see at Pentecost when, after Jesus had been glorified and exalted in the heavens, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who were His faithful disciples, doing what Jesus had commanded them; wait. This shows us that the Spirit does not come in response to prayer and begging, but comes only where Jesus is exalted as Lord by the obedience of His people.
Today, people covet the gifts of the Spirit rather than the Giver; they want to receive the benefits from God but they repudiate the necessity for obedience. However, you can’t separate the Giver from the gift; God wants to impart Himself in His gifts; that is their purpose.
Having said that, there are many today who, tragically, because they are seeking the gift not the Giver, receive a counterfeit gift that comes from the counterfeit kingdom of darkness. Just as God imparts Himself in His gifts, so too, does the prince of darkness impart something of himself when he brings a counterfeit gift.
We should beware of those “gifts” that do come other than in response to the exaltation of Christ Jesus as Lord.
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