When the Spirit comes
John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
V26 But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Recap from last week:
One minute there was NO church
The next minute there WAS one
The disciples didn’t plan the church
The gift of the Spirit was entirely a matter of grace
Why was the Holy Spirit given?
God gave the Holy Spirit to equip and empower the church for
Evangelization and to help us the worship Him
___________________________________________________________
He is a gift to the church
When He the Spirit of truth comes…
The helper/comforter
Revisers have found great difficulty in translating the Greek word. They have suggested "advocate," "helper" and a mere transference of the Greek word "Paraclete" into the English. The word so translated is Parakleatos, the same word that is translated "advocate" in 1 John 2:1; but "advocate" does not give the full force and significance of the word.
Advocate means about the same as Parakleatos, but the word in usage has obtained restricted sense. "Advocate" is Latin; Parakleatos is Greek. The exact Latin word is "advocatus," which means one called to another. (That is, to help him or take his part or represent him). Parakleatos means one called alongside, that is, one who constantly stands by your side as your helper, counsellor, comforter, friend
We need the Holy Spirit each and every hour to take us through life
But the last few generations to a great extent have become a godless and do not regard the Saviour
Illustration: School, talking to the children about God and Jesus
Many have departed from the knowledge of God
Even among some so-called-Christians there is a great amount of religion
There is little godliness but lots of formalism and legalism
There’s little inward acknowledgment of God, but lots of outward
We have witnessed how people seek after signs and wonders yet forget the giver
Except for the ‘grace’ (departing prayer) we would hardly know a Trinity existed
The Holy Spirit is almost entirely neglected
In John Jesus speaks of him – when He the Spirit….
He has come as I stated last week
Jn 14:17 vitally important, He is with you but shall be in you
But how can we know Him?
Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall [your] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
We just have to ask it’s as simple as that!
John 20:22 they needed more than the word; ‘receive the Holy Spirit’
And we need more than the word
They are inseparable:
They may have been full of the word, but had less measure of the Spirit (prior to Pentecost)
We too may know the word really well, yet neglect the Holy Spirit
We need to balance the word and the Spirit
He searches the deep things of God, we have received these things freely by Him
1 Cor 2:10 But God has revealed [them] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God
We my say, "How can I get more of the Holy Spirit?" But when we think of Him as a divine Person, we should say, "How can the Holy Spirit get more of me?"
One is self-exaltation, the other humility, recognizing our need of Him in our life
Knowledge of all truth was given when the Spirit was given
The Christian lifestyle should not only be exciting but informative; not merely arousing, but enlightening
When we have been sanctified by grace, we should have a strong desire to know deep truth
Curiosity is something given by God impelling us to search for answers, truth being one
Many are distressed most of the times from not having a clear view of truth
How many are burdened by conviction of sin because they haven’t found the truth of Christ setting them free?
He teaches us
He is infallible; he knows everything and cannot lead us astray
We may search scripture and yet still not understand
We might not have a commentator or minister to explain the word to us, but we still have the Holy Spirit
When we cannot understand a text, we should open our Bible, bend ours knees, and pray
If through prayer, we still cannot understand it, then it is something God did not intend us to know, and we must be content to be ignorant about it until such a time He sees fit to show us
How many times have you read a scripture only to see new treasures within not seen before?
No college can teach you like him
He illuminates the Bible
We can lead people to the truth, but only the Holy Spirit can lead them (and us) ‘into’ truth
Many Christians are afraid of the Spirit, especially the gifts (the unknown)
You can be lead to a chest of treasure but until you delve into it, you cannot experience its value
Illustration: If we go on a tour we sometimes have a guide to help us with directions
We could get lost or miss some important points
The Spirit gives direction and drops an inclination into our thoughts
Charles Spurgen said, ‘Blind men may read the Bible with their fingers, but blind souls cannot.’
It is He who Suggests and prompts us into a course of action
Be led by the Spirit, or keep in step with the Spirit
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God
Gal5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law
You may read to all eternity, and never learn anything by it, unless the Spirit illuminates it and then the words shine out
However illiterate a person is, He can teach them
Illustration: Gypsies who couldn’t read, then God opened their eyes
The world cannot see or know Him
What a special privilege we have!
However, we cannot develop a deep relationship without communion with him
He will be with you and in you
John 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
He will guide and lead, He will show you things to come and show them to you, personal pronouns and personal acts
His Character:
He can become upset
Is 63:10 they rebelled and vexed the H/S Eph 4:30 grieved
He speaks Acts 13:2 He said…..
1 Tim 4:1 the H/S speaks, Rev 2:7 listen to what the Spirit says
He intercedes Rom 8:26 He helps us pray
John 15:26 He testifies
He teaches John 14:26
The things of God are only known by Him
God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, 1 Cor 2:9
Neh 9: the Spirit instructs
Acts 16:6 He instructed
He communes with us 2 Cor 13:14
Gen 6:3 He strives with us
Rom 15:19 he works miracles
In the OT he worked on them from without, now from within
In the O.T. He came upon whomever He willed, apparently without reference to any conditions by them
The Spirit has always been here, He’s not created
Gen 1 the Spirit hovered….
Now on the Gentiles too! Joel
H/S points always to the Lord
The disciples’ hearts were afraid when Jesus told them he was going away John 17+
He doesn’t point to himself or teach about himself
His one function is to glorify Jesus Jn 1:16 then we receive the fullness of Christ
He was promised to them to be there in place of Christ
The Spirit ignores age, social, and sex distinctions to empower God’s people and accomplish His purposes
Poured on “all flesh” Joel 2:28 fulfilled in Acts 2:17 The Spirit of God would come upon all people without discrimination: young, old, servants, women, and other groups usually omitted
How do we know the Spirit is with us today?
10 signs of the Spirit’s presence...
1. The Spirit causes tongues to overflow with praise, Acts 2:11 – They could hear the disciples declaring the wonders of God.
When was the last time you overflowed with praise?
Do you speak in tongues? This is part of our fundamental beliefs
2. The Spirit causes a communication revolution, Acts 2:5 – he helps God’s people talk to others in a language they understand
Testimony of how God has spoken to others in their own language
3. The Spirit helps nervous people to witness, Acts:214 – Like Peter, as they stand up for Jesus, the Spirit gives them strength
Boldness comes from God, even the disciples asked for it
4. The Spirit gives Spiritual gifts, Acts 2:17 – your sons and daughters will prophesy
5. The Spirit helps people understand their sin and need of Christ, Acts 2:37 – the people who listened to Peter were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers what shall we do?’” Conviction
6. The Spirit causes people to turn from their sin and turn to God, v38 & 41 – Three thousand believed in Jesus at Pentecost, then there was a daily harvest of new converts.
We have to examine ourselves here; where are new converts? Why isn’t there any new converts?
We saw the political outreach for the elections, but we fail time and again to outreach for a better cause; one of life and death!
7. The Spirit gives people a sense of awe, an awareness of the closeness of God, v43.
8. The Spirit sometimes makes himself known through the supernatural:
In Acts verses 2-4 there was the wind and the fire
In verse 43 there were miracles
Later, in Acts 4 the building shakes
In chapter 6 Stephen’s face shines like an angel
In chapter 16 there is an earthquake etc, etc
9. In v42, the Spirit transforms baby believers into devoted mature ones
If you want to be mature in Christ, then commune and get to know the Spirit
10. Finally, v45, the Spirit creates a generous community
They pay more attention to helping the needs of others
When the disciples demonstrated power in witnessing, they were arrested
We may be heading back to those days
You and I need a personal relationship with Him just like with Jesus
We must come to know Him in his fullness
His purpose:
It is not feelings that are important and the Lord did not give us the Holy Spirit that we might have sensational feelings
It was so we might have life, know Him and be set free to the truth of God’s word
Spurgen said: “The purpose is not that you might get more of the Holy Spirit; but the purpose is that the Holy Spirit might get more of you—that your life will become controlled by the Spirit. Your character will be controlled by the Spirit, so that you will be led by the Spirit, that you will walk in the Spirit, and that you will be filled with the Spirit.”
We are always afraid that we may say or do the wrong thing
But we need to remember that the responsibility is not really upon us but upon the Holy Spirit if we are stepping out for God
He knows just what should be done and what should be said
We need to get out of the way and let Him do His work
He is so much more competent than us, then our fears and our cares should fade
Fear will always stop you
Too many see and fear the counterfeit gifts
There’s always a genuine gift to match each false
But the Father will not give you a snake, or a stone, but the Holy Spirit will be given to those who ask
Don’t allow fear to hold you back in the things of the Spirit
He will guide you into all truth…
