Thursday, April 11, 2019

The Holy Spirit- Our Promised Helper


The Holy Spirit- Our Promised Helper
John 15: 26 - 16: 15

The Holy Spirit empowers believers to witness and proclaim the gospel
26 “But when the [a]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. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
Convict, sanctifies, guide, teacher, empowerer, comforter, guarantee of salvation, gift, baptizer, commune, witness

The world opposes the proclamation and witness of the gospel.
16 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do [a]to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when [b]the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.
“And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Jesus promised his disciples that he would sent them the Holy Spirit after he departed
“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

The Holy Spirit convicts people of their need for the savior Jesus Christ
And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He[a]will take of Mine and declare it to you.
Note: People will be damned if they do not receive Jesus Christ as Savior! (John 8:24)

Digging a little deeper…
The Holy Spirit is God. When a person places their faith in the Crucified and Risen Christ for His/her Salvation; they are baptized by the Holy Spirit and become permanently adopted in God’s Family. This moment in time is called conversion. At the moment of conversion; a person receives Salvation. Salvation is a permanently binding condition that can never end. Not only is the Holy Spirit our entry into Christianity; but He is our lifelong companion in conforming us to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit also gifts the believer and empowers them for Christian service and worship. (Gen 1:2, psalm 139:7-10)
A few Holy Spirit pronouns and adjectives: Deity, Divine, Godhead, Creator, Holy, Immortal, Invisible, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Immutable

In the life of a believer: The Holy Spirit gives believers life giving power (John 7:37-39) and is an indwelling presence (John 14:16-17) He guides, communes, teaches, comforts, convicts, gifts, empowers, seals, sanctifies, searches the mind of God. (John 15:26, 27, 1 John 2:27)

In the life of an unbeliever: The Holy Spirit works to bring about repentance (which is inseparable from faith) The Holy Spirit convicts the unbeliever of sin with a desire that the sinner would repent and believe. The Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus Christ and teaches men to believe on the Son. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is necessary for a sinner to repent / believe. Unbelief and attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to the work of Satan is considered blasphemy and will not be forgiven in the age to come.

In our world: The Holy Spirit is the ultimate restrainer of evil in the world. He acts as salt and light in a corrupt fallen world and also restrains God’s inevitable judgment of sin. (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7)

Our reaction to the Holy Spirit: When we obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit; we commune with God and are rewarded in the heavenly. When believers disobey the promptings of the Holy Spirit; they grieve Him. Unbelievers are unable to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit until conversion occurs. (Ephesians 4:30, 2 Corinthians 13:14)
The Holy Spirit in Eternity Future: The Holy Spirit will continue to be God forever and we will have perfect communion with Him when we are glorified. (1 Cor 2:11, 1 Cor 13:12)

The Holy Spirit during Judgment: The Holy Spirit bears witness to the deeds of people and testifies accurately to the truth. The Holy Spirit bears witness that Jesus is the Christ. For believers; the judgement has already passed (John 5:24) for unbelievers; during the great white throne judgement (Rev 2-:12, 20:15) the Holy Spirit will testify accurately and affirm the perfect judgement of Jesus Christ the righteous. (Mathew 12:37)

Testing the Spirit: The Holy Spirit will always affirm the deity and lordship of Jesus Christ and will teach people to obey God’s word and refrain from sin. (1 John 4:1-3)

Worship and the Holy Spirit: We are incapable of worshiping the one true God if we are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is right and proper to worship the Holy Spirit and glorify Him as deity. We should not attribute characteristics that are unbecoming of God to the Holy Spirit since that is the sin of Blasphemy. (Psalm 139:7-10, 1 Cor 2:10-11)

Conclusion: The Holy Spirit is God and deserves all praise, glory, and honor; now and forever; Amen. (Galatians 1:5)

Notes:


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