TEXT:

‘When He, the Spirit of Truth, has come’ (John 16:13).

The night before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, He explained to His disciples what the role of the Holy Spirit (the Comforter) would be.¹ One of those disciples was Peter, who writing in his epistle, revealed key areas as to what the Holy Spirit has done, does and will do for and with the believer, and this is the focus of Today’s Teaching.

1. The Holy Spirit and Prophecy – ‘This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward’            (1 Peter 1:10-11 NLT).

Jesus said, ‘But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me’ (John 15:26).

This is what the Holy Spirit had been doing down through the ages. ‘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 1:21TLB).

He inspired Abraham, Moses, David and Isaiah and many others, giving them prophetic glimpses of the coming Messiah. How were the theologians able to tell Herod where the Messiah would be born?² The Holy Spirit inspired the prophet Micah to write, ‘O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past!’ (Micah 5:2 TLB).

The same Holy Spirit inspired the apostles Paul and John to reveal truth about heaven and the glories that lie ahead. Peter himself wrote about, ‘An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you’ (1 Peter 1:4). How did he know this, only by the revelation of the Holy Spirit?

2. The Holy Spirit and Salvation – ‘The Holy Spirit has been at work in your hearts, cleansing you with the blood of Jesus Christ and making you to please him’ (1 Peter 1:2 TLB).

‘God chose from the very first to give you salvation, cleansing you by the work of the Holy Spirit and by your trusting in the Truth’ (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born again by the Holy Spirit.³ We cannot be saved without the help of the Holy Spirit. ‘By one Spirit are we baptized into one body’ ( 1 Corinthians 12:13). Just as Jesus was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit, so the same will happen to us. ‘The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you’ (Romans 8:11 NLT).  

The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are now the children of God.⁴

3. The Holy Spirit and Love – ‘Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart’ (1 Peter 1:22).

Many wrongly think of the Holy Spirit as impersonal, a power like electricity, but He is the third person of the Trinity, and is the Spirit of love because God is love.⁵ This is why the Bible says, ‘Do not grieve the Holy Spirit’ (Ephesians 4:30).

Are you having trouble loving or forgiving someone in particular? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you by flooding your heart with God’s love. ‘We love God because He first loved us’ (1 John 4:19). Jesus said the hallmark of true Christianity would be love for fellow-Christians.⁶

If God can love me, I can love other Christians, fervently with a pure heart!

4. The Holy Spirit and Preaching – ‘And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven’ (1 Peter 1:12 NLT).

Jesus stressed how important it was for the disciples to wait for the infilling and power of the Holy Spirit before they started preaching

• Revelation – ‘If all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say. As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you’ (1 Corinthians 14:24-25 NLT).

It’s wonderful to listen to preaching that creates the impression, “God is speaking to me!” The Holy Spirit knows the needs of the congregation and of any unsaved persons present, and inspires the preacher to speak, so that the believers are stirred up, built up and cheered up, and the unsaved hear a clear message on how to be saved.

• Confirmation – ‘God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose’ (Hebrews 2:4 NLT).

During the preaching, the Holy Spirit is hovering over the congregation wanting to move in response to the word and faith. Unfortunately many churches never give the Holy Spirit any opportunity to confirm anything, because no sooner has the sermon finished, the service is ended, and the opportunity to receive anything dynamic from God is lost!

Churches must make time for faith-building preaching and then time for receiving. Remember the Holy Spirit can only confirm the preached word if the preached word reveals Jesus as He really is – Saviour, Healer, Baptizer and coming King! Powerless preaching is an anathema, for it discredits both Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

5. The Holy Spirit and Persecution – ‘Be happy if you are cursed and insulted for being a Christian, for when that happens the Spirit of God will come upon you with great glory’ (1 Peter 4:14 TLB).

Peter urged believers to, ‘Live according to God in the Spirit’ (1 Peter 4:6). When we do, it will always bring us into conflict with this world. Godly reactions to persecution can be a powerful witness, when we choose not to lash out but forgive and bless instead.

When confronted by persecutors, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would give us what to say, ‘When you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit’ (Mark 13:11 NLT).

Is the Holy Spirit your comforter and helper? If not remember, ‘How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him’ (Luke 11:13)

Endnotes:

¹ John chapters 14 -16                        ² Matthew 2:3-6          ³ John 3:5-8     ⁴ Romans 8:15-17

⁵ 1 John 4:8                  ⁶ John 13:35.