The Holy Spirit
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Living a victorious Christian life as a champion for Christ is actually the normal way to live. When a believer lives a defeated life, he or she are not living the way God intended. It is possible but it is also impossible. It is only possible through the work of the Holy Spirit.
When we are saved, God the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. He can live the victorious life through us as we yield to Him and trust Him for the victory.
The Holy Spirit is the great beautifier of souls.
John Owen (Puritan Divine and Statesman)
He does things that we associate with personality. He teaches, He inspires, He guides, He leads, He grieves, He convicts us of sin, and more. Impersonal objects do not behave in this manner. Only a person can do these things.
R. C. Sproul
Who Is the Holy Spirit? (The Spirit’s Personal Nature)
The fact that the Holy Spirit is a person is seen in a multitude of ways in Scripture. One of the primary evidences is that the Bible repeatedly and consistently uses personal pronouns to refer to Him. He is called “He,” “Him,” and so on, not “it.”
In Zechariah 4:6, God tells us: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts.”
Link:
The importance of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is evident in the fact that the New Testament refers to Him over 250 times. We will look at some of those verses that show how God the Holy Spirit work in our lives.
I. The Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers
1. He Convicts us of sin
Hebrews 12:5 (ESV)
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
John 16:8–11 (ESV)
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
The Greek word here for discipline is “Elegcho” El-eng-kho and means to reprove, rebuke, expose, convict, show to be guilt
Quote: The conviction of the believer is not a conviction of judgement but a conviction to shed light – to expose those things that are not honoring God in our life. Notice it is done in love.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For what purpose:
· Sin hinders us from running the race
· Sin grieves the Holy Spirit
· Sin keeps us from pursuing holiness
· Sin breaks our fellowship with Christ
We know that we are children of God when we are deeply aware of sin within. I emphasise that deliberately. It is only the children of God who realise that they have a sinful nature.
Children of God, 28
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)
2. He regenerates–
“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)
This is where it all began. The Spirit of God turning the human heart towards God, now He can begin his work in us.
Remember the goal of God’s regenerating work is that we would be transformed into the likeness of Christ.
Since the Holy Spirit is responsible for sanctification, the believer is to be dependent upon Him in order to live a life of joyful obedience and victory.
Quote: Regeneration in the Lord is an instantaneous event. It is not something that has to be worked out over the course of time. It occurs at the exact moment of your personal salvation and conversion to the Lord. It is not a progressive process like our sanctification in the Lord is.
www.bible-knowledge.com/regeneration-by-holy-spirit/
3. He indwells -
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
The Holy Spirit indwells us when we first place our faith in Jesus as our Lord. It occurs immediately when we accept Christ.
We don’t his indwelling, we don’t pray for it, we don’t do good works hoping to attain him. It is God’s gift.
We have God in all His fullness within us and can never have any more or less.
Quote: The Holy Spirit indwells us when we first place our faith in Jesus as our Lord. This indwelling occurs immediately when we accept Christ, not after a few years of doing ‘good works’ as Christians.
4. He baptizes -
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
3. The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is a work of the Holy Spirit separate and distinct from His regenerating work. To be regenerated by the Holy Spirit is one thing, to be baptized with the Holy Spirit is something different, something additional.
R. A. Torrey
It is proof we are saved -(Romans 8:9) - "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him"
It is proof you have been transformed – Galatians 2:20 - “I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me”
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Thus, we are the living Christ in the world.
5. He seals
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Quote: Seals – “He puts His mark of ownership on believers. The seal is the Holy Spirit, the one who does the sealing is God the Father.”
The Holy Spirit is God’s promise or pledge to us that we are saved and possess eternal life. The Holy Spirit seals us to show we belong to God and He, Himself is the seal.
The Holy Spirit is God’s mark of ownership, authority, and security over us.
II. Work of the Holy Spirit as we Yield
1. He witnesses to sonship (Romans 8:16 )
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
2. He guides
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
In what ways have you personally experienced God’ guidance in the last year, month or perhaps just this week.
Illustration: I had a friend tell me she had prayed, and God had prompted her to get a divorce from her husband. And she knew it was God. However, I knew it was not God because God's Holy Spirit always works in line with his holy word. How do we know if the prompting is from God or if it is from an evil spirit or an impulse within yourself? God's Holy Spirit will always work in line with his holy word.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
3. He controls
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Romans 8:6 – The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Sprit is life and peace. NIV
The choice is ours isn’t It, do we want victory or not.
4. He gives power in service
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Illustration: I have a friend who right now, turning away from Buddhism, and believing in the Lord. He came to me two weeks ago and said it’s really hard. I told him no that’s the wrong way of looking at it. It’s not really hard, it’s impossible. If the Holy Spirit of God does not do it, then we have no power of our own to do it.
God will empower you to do ministry.
God will equip you to
5. He produces fruit
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Imagine with me will you what it would be like if every believer really allowed the Spirit of God to develop His fruit in them. What would the church be like? What difference would it make in the world?
He wants to transform our character. He wants to take your life and make it like that of Christ.
Fruit is the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in us.
Conclusion:
As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us this will result in effective ministry. As you teach TCE many new teachers will be trained, and children will be saved. Just as the glove needs to be filled with a hand to be effective, so must we be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. Remember it is, “Not by might, not by power. . ..” Zech. 4:6.
Are you yielded to God and trusting Him for victory so the Holy Spirit can live the victorious life through you? (Close in prayer.)