Introduction
The Trinity, the Great Three in One, as we look at these three we can understand the thought process somewhat of a father, we all have had fathers here on earth, some good, some not so good. I was blessed to have a good father and he taught me a lot.
We are all sons, so we can is some finite way understand the Son. The role is not strange to us, even if Jesus’ perfection in obedience is.
But then there is the Holy Spirit, and we wonder what is meant by that. Is He some sort of supernatural force in the universe? No, He is more than that, He is as much God as the Father and the Son and He has a specific ministry in the New Testament. Today we look at the ministry of the Holy Spirit to the non-believer. I know there are many differing teachings around on the Holy Spirit and we need to, as Sgt. Joe Friday use to say, look at “just the facts.” And that is what we are going to do, examine the Biblical facts on the Holy Spirit.
An Old Testament Illustration
And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter. (Genesis 24:1-9)
-Here we see in an Old Testament shadow or type: Abraham as the Father, and the Servant as the Holy Spirit being sent by the Father to get a bride for Isaac, the type of The Son.
And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water. And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master. And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.(Genesis 24:10-16)
-Just as the servant brought many gifts from his master, so the Holy Spirit brings many gifts from the Father.
-Here we see the servant praying. As we will learn more about later this is a ministry in the Holy Spirit to the beliver.
And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not. And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren. (Genesis 24:17-27)
-The servant’s prayer was answered specifically and the Holy Spirit will lead us to Jesus if we let Him.
And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men’s feet that were with him. And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. And he said, I am Abraham’s servant. And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah my master’s wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son. And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. And he said unto me, The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house: Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath. (Genesis 24:32-41)
-This servant came on a mission and would not be delayed. We need to be as diligent in the Lord’s business. In the same way the Holy Spirit will be about the business of the Father.
And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left. Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as the LORD hath spoken. And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth. (Genesis 24:49-52)
-The family approved well enough of the marriage. They recognized that God spoke and it would be unwise to interfere.
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. (Genesis 24:53-58)
-Just as the servant wanted a willing bride for his master’s son, so the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and will not force us, it is our choice if we accept God’s gift of salvation.
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. (Genesis 24:63-67)
-This is the completion, and is yet to come, at the rapture of the church spoken of in 1 Thess. And illustrated in Rev. 4:1 when John went up.
The New Testament Method
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. (John 16:7-11)
-The job of the Holy Spirit is conviction. That is not our job. We are not to condemn nor try to convict but to love. Sometimes it is gentle love, sometimes it is tough love. The Holy Spirit brings conviction through three things: Reproof of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
-The word rendered ’reprove’ [elengxei] means more than that. Reproof is indeed implied, and doubtless the work begins with it. But ’convict,’ or, as in the margin, ’convince,’ is the thing intended: and as the one word expresses the work of the Spirit on the unbelieving portion of mankind, and the other on the believing, it is better not to restrict the term to either.[i]
-Of SIN, because they believe not on me. By this is not meant that He shall deal with men about the sin of unbelief only; nor yet about that sin as, in comparison with all other sins, the greatest. There is no comparison here between the sin of unbelief and other breaches of the moral law, in point of criminality. The key to this important statement will be found in such sayings of our Lord Himself as the following: "He that believeth is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the Only begotten Son of God: He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life: He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:18,36; 5:24). What the Spirit, then, does in the discharge of this first department of His work, is to bear in upon men’s consciences the conviction that the one divinely provided way of deliverance from the guilt of all sin is believing on the Son of God[ii]
-Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more. It is Christ’s personal righteousness that is imputed to the believer upon salvation. The rejection of Jesus means we have no righteousness (that is any righteousness we have is like filthy rags. Cf. Isaiah 64:6) and we are without excuse before the Holy God of Israel.
-Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. When those who crucified Jesus saw that God did not interfere, they imagined that the judgment of God was being pronounced on him. Actually, another was being judged there, even Satan, the prince of this world. Satan rules by means of sin and death. Christ’s triumph over sin at the cross and over death at the Resurrection heralded the fact that Satan had been judged. The execution of final judgment is only a matter of time.[iii]
So What Now?
So what now? Are you saved? If not, why not? What in Hell could you want?
This message is primarily to the unsaved. It is an encouragement to the believers because we have the Holy Spirit and are comforted by a message like this so be encouraged this week.
Secondly, this message is laying groundwork for further study on the topic. We are going to be here at least 3-5 weeks. We need to know about and understand the ministry and works of the Holy Spirit.
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[i] Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.
[ii] Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.
[iii] The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press
