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 same”. Jesus and the Holy Spirit would never disagree about anything, for together with the Father, they make up the eternal Godhead. Interestingly, one of the statements of Jesus is, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ (John 14:6). Jesus called the Holy Spirit, ‘The Spirit of Truth’. One thing is for sure, neither of them will ever lie to us or lead us in the wrong direction.
Jesus being replaced by the Holy Spirit meant the disciples lost nothing in power and authority. In fact they had a definite increase because whereas Jesus could only be in one place at a time, the Holy Spirit is everywhere.
As Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit as a person, so should we, ‘When He the Spirit of Truth has come’ (John 16:13).
B. The Pattern
Jesus was, is and always will be God, but on earth He was God in a human body, with all of its restrictions and limitations. He had to become like us, so we could become like Him! The Bible shows how the Holy Spirit affected and influenced the life of Jesus.
(i) Born of the Spirit – ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God’ (Luke 1:35).
(ii) Filled with the Spirit – ‘And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased’ (Luke 3:22).
(iii) Led by the Spirit – ‘Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness’ (Luke 4:1).
(iv) Worked miracles by the power of the power of the Holy Spirit – ‘But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you’ (Matthew 12:28).
Contrary to myths and legends, there is no record of Jesus performing miracles until after He had been baptized with the Holy Spirit and power. Jesus showed He had power and authority over the natural world by calming the storm; over the physical world by healing the sick; over the spirit world by casting out demons; over the material world by turning water into wine and multiplying the loaves and the fishes.
Jesus is our pattern. What happened to Him can happen to us and must if we are to be successful in evangelism and church planting.
2. The Holy Spirit and Salvation – ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’ (John 3:5). ‘We have been baptized into Christ’s body by the one Spirit and have all been given that same Holy Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 12:13 TLB).
The role of the Holy Spirit is to help people see their need of Jesus (See John 16:8-9). He didn’t come to condemn people or scare them about eternal judgment. Jesus clearly said the Holy Spirit would convict people of the sin of not believing in Him because unless they do, they cannot be saved.
‘Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul’ (Acts 16:14).
‘Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being’ (Matthew 16:17 NLT).
Who is the link between earth and heaven? The Holy Spirit! How could it be possible that one day I said I didn’t want anything to do with Christianity but just two days later I asked Jesus to become my personal Saviour? The Holy Spirit moved on my heart and helped me to give God a chance! He is also the One who helps us to be sure we are saved, ‘For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we really are God’s children’ (Romans 8:16 TLB).
3. The Holy Spirit and Instruction – ‘But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you’ (John 16:13-14).
When Jesus taught the disciples important truths, He used parables and Old Testament quotations to help them understand. Who would continue to do that once Jesus had ascended? The Holy Spirit!
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would guide the disciples into all truth. If you don’t understand something in the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit. He inspired people to write it down in the first instance, ‘For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God’ (2 Peter 1:21 TLB).
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would, ‘Teach them all things and bring to their remembrance all things He had said to them’ (Jn 14:26).
How did the Apostle Paul get his knowledge and understanding of the gospel, when all alone in the desert? The Holy Spirit! ‘But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 1:11-12).
‘The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right’ (2 Timothy 3:16 TLB).
Just as Jesus opened up the scriptures to the two dejected disciples walking along the road to Emmaus in such a way that their hearts burned with excitement (See Luke 24:13-35), so the Holy Spirit can do the same for you if you ask Him!
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