Sunday
Morning Bible Study
June 27, 2004
The Work of the Holy Spirit
We’ve talked about the Holy Spirit as a person. He’s not some impersonal
force, He’s a real person. We have a relationship with real people. And we’ve
talked about the deity of the Holy Spirit. He isn’t just any old person, He’s
God.
Illustration
An Act of Kindness
President Abraham Lincoln often visited hospitals to talk with wounded
soldiers during the Civil War. Once, doctors pointed out a young soldier who
was near death and Lincoln went
over to his bedside. “Is there anything I can do for you?” asked the President.
The soldier obviously didn’t recognize Lincoln,
and with some effort he was able to whisper, “Would you please write a letter
to my mother?” A pen and paper were provided and the President carefully began
writing down what the young man was able to say: “My dearest mother, I was
badly hurt while doing my duty. I’m afraid I’m not going to recover. Don’t
grieve too much for me, please. Kiss Mary and John for me. May God bless you
and father.” The soldier was too weak to continue, so Lincoln
signed the letter for him and added, “Written for your son by Abraham Lincoln.”
The young man asked to see the note and was astonished when he discovered who
had written it. “Are you really the President?” he asked. “Yes I am,” Lincoln
replied quietly. Then he asked if there was anything else he could do. “Would
you please hold my hand?” the soldier asked. “It will help to see me through to
the end.” In the hushed room, the tall gaunt President took the boy’s hand in
his and spoke warm words of encouragement until death came.
A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the
Soul; Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
I think that in the same way we as Christians don’t often recognize the
Holy Spirit. We can’t see Him, but we can see where He is by what He does.
1. Conviction
(John 16:8 KJV) And when he
is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment:
(John 16:8 NASB) "And He, when He comes, will convict the
world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment;
reprove - elegcho - an old word, meaning to convict by proof;
there seems to be a sense of shame in the person convicted.
There seems to be an element of “bringing things to light” in this word.
This idea of “conviction” is kind of like shining a spotlight on a problem
that needs to be dealt with.
Jesus said:
(John 3:20 KJV)
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the
light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
This is one of the things that the Holy Spirit if faithful to do in our
lives, convicting us of sin.
Sometimes it’s just that still small voice inside you, reminding you that
what you just did was wrong.
Sometimes you will be reading God’s Word and you become aware of something
that you did wrong.
Sometimes God will use a message at church or on the radio to bring
something to light.
David
David was a sinner. He committed
adultery and murder and tried to cover it all up. David tells what it was like to try and hide
his sin:
(Psa 32:3-4 NLT) When I
refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day
long. {4} Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength
evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
In David’s life, God used the prophet Nathan to turn up the heat a little
more on David to get him to turn from his sin.
Nathan told David a parable that got David all upset at the main
character in the parable until Nathan said, “Don’t you get it buddy, you’re the
sinner!” And David got it. He confessed his sin to God.
The Holy Spirit it at work in the lives of people all around us, convicting
them of their need for a Savior, of their need for Jesus.
There may be times when we are called to be like Nathan and say, “You’re
the one!”
Look what He did on the day of Pentecost, when He came with power upon the
early church, and Peter began to speak:
(Acts 2:37 KJV)
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said
unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
The people were “pricked” in their hearts. That was the Holy Spirit at work.
But most of the time the Holy Spirit is doing a fine job of convicting them
of sin all by Himself.
Sometimes you don’t even have to say anything. Sometimes just having the
Holy Spirit at work in you is enough to make people feel guilty about their
sin.
Illustration
A well-known professional golfer was playing in a tournament with President
Gerald Ford, fellow pro Jack Nicklaus, and Billy Graham. After the round was
over, one of the other pros on the tour asked, “Hey, what was it like playing
with the President and Billy Graham?” The pro said with disgust, “I don’t need
Billy Graham stuffing religion down my throat!”
With that he headed for the practice tee. His friend followed, and after
the golfer had pounded out his fury on a bucket of golf balls, he asked, “Was
Billy a little rough on you out there?”
The pro sighed and said with embarrassment, “No, he didn’t even mention
religion.”
2. He points to Jesus
When the Holy Spirit convicts us, He doesn’t just leave us in the gutter as
a helpless mess. He points us to the
answer. The answer is Jesus.
This is what Jesus meant when He said,
(John 16:14 KJV) He
shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.
Earlier Jesus said,
(John 15:26-27 KJV) But when
the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: {27}
And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the
beginning.
His job is not to draw attention to Himself, His job is to be a witness
about Jesus.
When He is at work in the world, attention will be brought to Jesus Christ.
I believe the Holy Spirit was at work this last year using the movie, “The
Passion of the Christ” to tell people about Jesus.
When He is at work in your life – He’s going to continually be pointing to
Jesus. You need more of Jesus. You need to know Jesus.
When He is at work in your life, another of His priorities is to use YOU to
tell people about Jesus.
Sometimes we resist this work, but that’s what the Holy Spirit wants to do
through you.
3. Assurance
The Bible tells us that we have been
“sealed” by the Holy Spirit.
(Eph 1:13 NIV) And you also were included in Christ when you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you
were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
In the days when the Bible was written,
the seal was used primarily as a stamp of ownership. Roman merchants would
travel to Ephesus to choose their goods, melt wax on the container
and stamp it with their signet rings, and then return home. When their goods
arrived at the port near Rome,
the merchants claimed their merchandise that they had sealed, using their ring
as proof of ownership.
The seal was used for security reasons.
It said to all other merchants or pirates, “Keep your hands off this stuff! It
belongs to me!” The seal showed ownership. It was a mark of authenticity, to
place beyond doubt that this item belonged to you.
Once we believe, God claims us as His
possessions and puts His seal on us. The Holy Spirit at work in our lives is
authentication that we belong to God, and everyone else should keep their hands
off!
Part of this work of the Holy Spirit involves His reminding us that we are
God’s children:
(Rom 8:16
KJV) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God:
(Gal 4:6 KJV) And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
“Abba” is an ancient form of the word “Daddy”. You don’t usually call
someone “Daddy” unless they are your Father. The Spirit puts this “Daddy” cry
in our hearts, this sense that we belong to God.
It is very common for a Christian to
doubt their salvation. It’s common but it’s also a sign of spiritual
immaturity. God doesn’t want you to stay there. God’s desire is not that we
live in a state of constantly questioning your relationship with Him.
If you have been questioning whether or
not you are saved, go back to the basics:
(1 John 5:9-13 KJV) If we receive the
witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God
which he hath testified of his Son. {10} He that believeth on the Son of God
hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar;
because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. {11} And this is
the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son. {12} He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. {13} These things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye
may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ died
on the cross and paid for your sins? Have you asked Jesus to be your Savior?
If you have Jesus, then you have
eternal life. If you have Jesus, then the Holy Spirit (the witness) is IN you, and you need to simply work at
listening to Him more than you listen to the other voices that tell you that
you don’t belong to God.
4. Teaching
We need His work in our lives to be able to comprehend the things of God
(1Cor. 2:9-14)
Jesus said,
(John 14:26 KJV)
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.
Teaching:
He will give us fresh understanding into
the Scriptures.
I am always amazed at the things the
Holy Spirit will bring out of the Scriptures. It’s not uncommon for me to start
preparing a message on a certain passage, wondering what in the world the
passage even means. But after studying and studying, I am amazed at the things
I learn. Sometimes I learn stuff through other teachers, like when I’m reading
commentaries or listening to tapes on the various passages. But it’s not
uncommon for me to have the majority of my study in place after simply reading
the passage five or six times, learning things I never saw before in a
particular passage, and then finding that the commentaries agreed on what I had
found!
I find it amazing that even after
having taught a passage, if I am going back through a particular book for
another study, how I’ll learn even more from the same passage. God’s Word is so
rich, full, and deep. There are many, many treasures in God’s Word, if we’ll
only take the time to be taught.
Though it’s good to be listening to Bible
teachers – God can teach you directly as well.
(1 John 2:27 NLT) But you
have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need
anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you all things, and
what he teaches is true--it is not a lie. So continue in what he has taught
you, and continue to live in Christ.
Remembrance: He will also bring the Scriptures back to our mind
at certain special times. Have you ever been talking with a friend about the
Lord when a Scripture pops into your mind?
Something you didn’t realize you had memorized?
A
note about remembering: You
can’t remember what you haven’t ever learned. Get into the Word. Study the
Word. Hide it in your heart.
5. Guidance
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for
he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he
speak: and he will shew you things to
come.
The Holy Spirit guides us into truth in
the sense of helping us discern right from wrong, truth from error.
show you - anaggello - to
announce, make known; literally, “to be a messenger from God right in your
midst”. NAS – “He will disclose to you what is to come”
We see the Holy Spirit leading people in the book of Acts:
The Holy Spirit somehow was able to speak to Philip the evangelist when he
went to Gaza and saw the caravan
going towards Ethiopia
–
(Acts 8:29
KJV) Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this
chariot.
As Paul traveled, the Holy Spirit led them, sometimes by saying “no” to
them.
(Acts 16:7 NLT) Then coming
to the borders of Mysia,
they headed for the province of Bithynia,
but again the Spirit of Jesus did not
let them go.
When Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem
and was afraid for his life:
(Acts 23:11 KJV)
And the night following the Lord
stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified
of me in Jerusalem,
so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
Personal Example:
My wife and I met at church, and when we first started dating, I was kind
of a mean guy, breaking up with her twice.
After the first time I broke up with her, and she was depressed and upset,
she felt that the Lord was speaking to her that she would marry me one day, and
that she would be a pastor’s wife. She wrote it down on a piece of paper, and
tucked it away in her Bible.
It wasn’t until a year after we were married, that she thought about the
paper, and showed it to me.
If she had told me this before we
were married, I might have been scared off.
But the fact that it came true, without using it to twist my arm, showed me
that it was from the Lord.
And to think, we almost didn’t get married, several times!
One of the main ways that the Holy Spirit will guide us is through God’s
Word.
(Psa 119:105 KJV) Thy word
is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
As you spend time in God’s Word, the Spirit will be speaking to you,
teaching you, guiding you.
Illustration
A few years ago I helped take one of our kids’ classes on a field trip a
few weeks ago. We were taking the kids all the way through L.A.,
and so I suggested that those drivers that had cell phones swap phone numbers
so we could stay in touch in case we got separated. We got everyone’s phone
numbers, then took off. I was the last car, and got separated immediately from
everyone, even before we got on the freeway. I thought, “Aha, I’ll just phone
them and tell them to drive slowly until I catch up!” But they all had their
phones turned off!
The Holy Spirit would like to guide us, but we need to be sure we’re ready
to hear. One of the best ways to make
sure your “cell phone” is on is to be spending time in God’s Word every day.