THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT

If we thought Jesus couldn't get any better as we read and study the gospels and the entire Bible for that matter, Jesus drops another bombshell on us in

John 16:7 “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you.”

So Jesus, who is God, became flesh, becoming the God-man who lived perfectly without sin…becoming sin on the cross…bearing our sins and dying a horrible death to free us from the bondage of sin. He did way more than I just mentioned, and after all of that, He doesn't leave us in worse shape, because He is going to heaven, but He is telling us…after everything I've done for you, I'm going to make it to your advantage that I'm going to heaven.

The only thing that could be better than Jesus, who is God, being with us on earth is the Holy Spirit who is God dwelling in us every single moment of our Lives.

The Holy Spirit is the Helper, He's the comforter, He is the Spirit of God; He is the Spirit of Truth, and the Guide of Life, just to name a few…literally living inside each believer equipping us with power, a power that only God can provide.

So why is it to our advantage that the Holy Spirit be with us instead of Jesus in human form?

It's better because now with the Holy Spirit, Jesus can be with every believer all the time. The promise Jesus made that states

Where two or three are gathered together in my name I am there also can only be kept or fulfilled in Spirit.

So, each one of us who are Christians have the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ living inside of us…so everywhere we go, He goes. There's not some of us with Jesus and some of us not with Jesus. It's truly to our advantage that Jesus goes and the Holy Spirit comes, because Jesus as man on earth is held back, so to speak, by the fact He's in the form of a man…so yes you can sit and eat dinner with Him, and He might heal someone while you're eating, and he might know what you're thinking like he did all through the Gospels…but the human side of Jesus confines Him to that one place -- at that moment in time – because, in order for Jesus to do what He did, He had to be all man, but once Jesus fulfilled his role in the Redemption of mankind, bringing the New Covenant into play and introducing grace , the Godhead had a plan.

So like we talked about with Jesus on earth as a man, He's tied to one place and one time, so…It is better for Jesus to ascend into heaven and be seated at the right hand of the Father, because the Holy Spirit, who is also God can live inside of us simultaneously…equipped in each Christian with our own personal comforter…with our own personal guide…with our own personal counselor, who is God the Holy Spirit, comforting us when the enemy tries to bring guilt from something we've been forgiven of already…

Guiding us everywhere we go…guiding us in every decision that we make…guiding us in repentance…and witnessing to others… and counseling us when we have major decisions… counseling us in our spiritual disciplines…

And all of these things combined lead to purifying us until that second work of Grace happens -- sanctifying us holy and setting us apart for the work of God.

The secret to all of this is that we must allow the Spirit to work in us.

Do you realize what having a personal relationship with God truly means? It means that once you become a Christian, that you have the Holy Spirit living in you, who is God, so you have God living inside you chomping at the bit to comfort you, so you can live your life in the peace that God promises us.

Isaiah 26 verse 3, “You will keep the mind…it is dependent on You in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you”.

Chomping at the bit to guide you

Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the spirit, let us also walk by the spirit.”

The revised English Bible says it this way,

“If the Spirit is the source of our life, let the Spirit also direct its course”.

So, the Spirit has given us life, so now we must let Him direct our steps. We have to surrender every step we take to the Holy Spirit. He's chomping at the bit to counsel you in all things, but He counsels us in the Word of God, He is called the Spirit of Truth because Jesus is the truth. In Jesus is God and so the Holy Spirit of God is the Spirit of Truth, so He helps us discern the true Word of God.

Before Jesus left, the disciples were confused, afraid, selfish, and self-centered. Not because Jesus hadn't done his job, but because they were human and humanity without the Holy Spirit of God living in them is a mess, even at its best. But after Jesus left, and after the helper had come, they were wise, surrendered, bold, and giving!

It is such an amazing thing Jesus seems to always do. We come to Him broken, and He takes us in and shows us that He has already paid the price to fix that brokenness. Then he fixes us, and we go to help someone, and we find that the best blessing is being a blessing to someone else in His name.

Then we see that after everything Jesus did for us while he was on earth, He had a plan all along to make it to our advantage that He go! Everything God does for us is for our good.

The Holy Spirit was and is a game-changer from the moment He came - like a mighty rushing wind - and rested on the Upper Room with Tongues of Fire until this very day!

I think we have lost sight of this amazing gift of having a personal guide living inside us…taking us from confused to wise… from being held captive to surrendering 100%, free from sin…from afraid to bold, Spirit-filled Disciples of Jesus Christ…from selfish and self-centered to selfless and giving…and the list goes on and on.

The Holy Spirit is just that, the Holy Spirit of God that comes to live in us and makes us bold like Peter on the day of Pentecost.

Explain what happened when Peter stood up.

Also saw salvation.

Story how he immediately began proclaiming the Word of God.