TEXT: ‘And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth’ (John 14:16-17). Jesus promised not to leave His disciples like orphans, without anyone to take care of them. The Holy Spirit would assume the role vacated by Jesus and would show His disciples the things concerning Jesus. So far in these studies we have considered the Holy Spirit and Transition, Salvation, Instruction, Direction, Intercession and Compassion. In this final study we will look at four more ways the Holy Spirit helps us. 7. The Holy Spirit and Manifestation – ‘The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all’ (1 Corinthians 12:7) Another translation of this verse says, ‘The Holy Spirit displays God’s power through each of us as a means of helping the entire church’ (TLB). 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 lists nine spiritual gifts and these can be divided into three groups of three for ease of understanding. Gifts of Revelation – Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Discerning of Spirits Gifts of Demonstration – Faith, Working of Miracles, Gifts of Healings Gifts of Edification – Prophecy, Different kinds of Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues For a more extensive study of...
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TEXT: ‘And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth’ (John 14:16-17). Jesus promised He wouldn’t leave His disciples like orphans, without anyone to take care of them. The Holy Spirit would assume the role vacated by Jesus, by teaching and training the disciples in the work of the ministry, as well as influencing their personal lives. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would, ‘Glorify Me, for He will take of what is mine and declare it to you’ (John 16:14). In Part 1 of this study, we focussed on The Holy Spirit and Transition, Salvation and Instruction. Now we will consider three more aspects about how the Holy Spirit helps us. 4. The Holy Spirit and Direction – ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye’ (Psalm 32:8) The Book of Revelation confirms this is the work of the Holy Spirit, ‘Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God’ (Revelation 4:5). ‘And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as...
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TEXT: ‘And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth’ (John 14:16-17). When Jesus was with His disciples, He was the One in charge. He did the teaching, the decision-making as to where they would evangelise and what message to preach. After training them, Jesus sent them out on their own, two by two, but they had to report back to Him how they had got on. But after Jesus died, was buried, rose again and ascended into heaven, who would be the director of operations? The Holy Spirit! Jesus clearly instructed the disciples to wait until they had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit before they started evangelising Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria and on to every part of the world. Today’s Teaching focusses on how the Holy Spirit as the director of operations, helps us to live the Christian life. 1. The Holy Spirit and Transition The Bible shows how the disciples made the transition from being with Jesus, to being witnesses of Him after He had ascended and they were left on their own. A. The Promise – ‘He will give you another Helper’ “Another” literally means “One who is exactly the...
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TEXT: ‘But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you’ (Matthew 6:33). God has made this promise, ‘For those who honour me, I will honour’ (1 Samuel 2:30). In fact, God’s response to our putting Him first is much greater than any cost to us. Our text challenges us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. In this study we will look at the reign of King Hezekiah and see how putting God first resulted in blessing, not just for him personally but for the whole nation. 1. Priority – ‘Seek first’ Hezekiah’s public demonstration of putting God first, started on the first day, of the first month, of the first year of his reign (See 2 Chronicles 29:3, 17). He obviously did not support his father, King Ahaz’s idolatry and locking the doors of the house of the Lord (See 2 Chronicles 28:24). Instead he planned to do something about re-opening God’s house once he was king and restoring true worship for the living God. When the opportunity arose, he acted immediately. Anyone can talk about changing things when they are not in a position to do so, but how do they act once they...
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TEXT: ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men’ (Daniel 4:17). One of the common objections encountered when evangelising is, “If there is a God, why doesn’t He do something about famine, poverty, sickness, wars, violence and inequality?” The perceived lack of divine intervention deceives many into thinking there isn’t a God. While the Bible says, ‘The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God”’ (Psalm 14:1), millions of level-headed people choose to ignore the evidence of a creator and an amazing creation, in favour of evolution and the ridiculous notion that something started out of nothing! The Book of Daniel contains some amazing prophecies that came through dreams and godly interpretations. One thing is clear from them all, God in heaven is well and truly in charge over what is happening on earth. Heaven rules, is a fact! 1. Globally King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that terrified him and he immediately sought the interpretation of it (See Daniel Chapter 2). Not wanting to be deceived by some clever explanation from the...
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