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SERIES A - BASIC TEACHING
FIVE
A5 GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
A5.1 OUR NEED FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT.
God is life’s How as well as life’s Why.
We find identity in the Father; we find forgiveness, purpose, companionship and fulfilment in the Son; but we need a living power inside ourselves to make it all work.
That is how we were made. We were created to live with the Holy Spirit in us and there is no other way to be truly human.
The human body, mind, feelings, senses, creative drive, conscience, subconscious, intuition, perception, the whole complex colourful structure of personality is all put together, delicately balanced and fitted to live in harmony with both nature and humanity - but wholly dependent on having God the Holy Spirit resident. Without Him it is a failure.
The Holy Spirit living in us is not only given to put right what is wrong - His presence makes us complete as God’s creations and would have been needed even if we had never sinned.
We need the Holy Spirit to be workers, husbands, wives, parents, leaders, followers, creative artists, athletes or mountaineers.
A5.2.1. JESUS PROMISED THE HOLY SPIRIT
- AS A GOOD GIFT FROM OUR FATHER.
Luke 11:11-13
Which of you parents, if your son asks bread, would give him a stone? If he asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? If he asks for an egg, would you give him a scorpion? If you with all your faults know how to give your children gifts that are good, how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.
There is no need to hold back in fear from receiving the Holy Spirit. He is a good gift from our loving Heavenly Father.
A5.2.2. JESUS PROMISED THE HOLY SPIRIT
- AS THE ONE WHO WOULD SPEAK THROUGH US.
Matthew 13:10-11
They will bring you before their courts and councils, they will have you beaten, made to appear before kings and rulers for my sake. You will be the evidence because this Gospel must be told to every nation. When they do this to you, don’t think out in advance what you will say. Give the answer given to you when the time comes. It will be the Holy Spirit speaking, not you.
A5.2.3 JESUS PROMISED THE HOLY SPIRIT
- EVER FRESH, LIKE A SPRING INSIDE US.
John 7:37-38
On the last day of the festival, the grand finale, Jesus, speaking loud for the crowd to hear, said “Thirsty people, come to me and drink. Trust me and there will be rivers of fresh spring water springing up live and flowing out from inside you.”
And John added the comment (verse 39);
He was talking about the Holy Spirit which those who trusted Him would soon receive - but not yet because at that time Jesus was not yet glorified.
Maybe when John added that comment he was remembering what Jesus had said in Luke 12:49-50
I have come to throw into the Earth a fire that will set it ablaze - Oh how I long to see it already burning. But before that can happen there is an experience for me; one I must carry through to the end. I feel hemmed in on all sides until that moment comes when I can say, “Mission Accomplished.”
Jesus Himself had to wait until he had gone through the experience of the Cross before He could rise, ascend and send us the Holy Spirit. Similarly we have to come to the Cross first, that is God’s order. By dying for us Christ both qualified Himself to send, and cleared the way for us to receive, the Holy Spirit. Never undervalue the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives, it cost Christ the Cross.
A5.2.4. JESUS PROMISED THE HOLY SPIRIT
- TO BE TO US WHAT CHRIST WAS TO HIS DISCIPLES
John 14:15-19
If you love me, do what I say. Then I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper to be to you what I have been to you, and to stay with you permanently. He is the Spirit of Truth. The world can’t receive Him because it can’t see Him or know Him.
You, however, do know Him, already He is with you and will be in you. I shall not leave you on your own, I shall come to you. Soon the world will not see me any more, but you see me. Your life is bound up in mine.
A5.3 JESUS INTRODUCES US TO THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Just as it is through Christ that we can know The Father as Father; so it is through Christ that we can all know the Holy Spirit fully within us. Before Christ came there were people of God who experienced the Holy Spirit in their lives and we can learn much by reading about them in the Old Testament. Now through Christ the Holy Spirit is for all.
A5.4 THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.
The Holy Spirit works from the inside outwards, gently transforming, never crushing the personality He is changing.
He never over-rides our will. We know that because Paul warned that it is possible to grieve Him. If He took away our ability to choose, we would never be able to grieve Him; but God wants us to be real. He changes us - but if He did that by over-riding us we would no longer be the real people He wants.
So the Holy Spirit begins in the centre of our lives and produces fruit, slowly and naturally as trees do.
Galatians 5:22-23
The fruit of the Spirit is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, reliability, gentleness, self-control.
Producing fruit like this is the main work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life, once He has taken up residence. Fruit grows slowly. Fruit also grows effortlessly. And trees produce a fruit which shows what kind of tree they are. The fruit of the Spirit shows that a person has been changed into a different “kind” or species from the “natural” human (actually the unnatural human) who is living without the Holy Spirit. The fact that the fruit comes slowly does not mean that the change has not taken place.
A5.5 THE HOLY SPIRIT IS EVIDENCE.
The presence of the Holy Spirit in a life is also evidence. It proves to the world that God is real, and it proves to us that we are really His for ever.
God made us for Heaven, and He has guaranteed it by giving us His Spirit as a deposit. (2 Corinthians 5:5)
The presence of The Holy Spirit in our lives is a guarantee. It is possible for any follower of Christ to experience the Holy Spirit and be sure that He lives in them. That assurance is also a guarantee of Heaven.
A5.6 THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES POWER.
Frequently through the Old Testament we read of the Holy Spirit coming upon someone and providing the power for achievement. See Judges 6:34 14:5-6 1 Samuel 11:6-11 16:13.
In the life of a Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit and living tuned in to God, there will be times when the Holy Spirit comes upon them for some particular task. The power given and the period for which it lasts, depends on the task. This empowering is for action, whether great of small; so it is never for our own glory. We are right to pray for it as it is needed, but not to seek power for its own sake, (see Acts 8:9-24).
A5.7 FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.
The Apostles needed some workers to deal with the practical tasks. They told the church to select seven men who were full of the Spirit and wisdom, (Acts 6:3-4). From this we can see; first that fullness of the Holy Spirit is needed for tasks of practical service as much as leading or teaching; second that fullness of the Holy Spirit does not do away with the need for wisdom; third that it is possible to know who is and who is not filled with the Spirit.
There is, however, no laid down test by which we tell. The fullness of the Spirit is seen in a combination of character, life and power. It is not necessarily possible for anyone to tell, only mature and spiritual Christians. Having specific gifts may be an indication but is not the actual test.
A5.7.1 SIMILES FOR FILLING
JAR, SPONGE, PIPELINE OR POWER SUPPLY.
What does filling mean?
First picture.
Half fill a jar with earth, then top it up to the brim with water. Jog it and dirty water will spill out. If the water likes to be clean it will not be happy. But let the water go in as a jet and it will soon get the dirt out. Then if the jar is filled to the brim and jogged, only clean water will come out. God wants us to spill out Holiness when shaken.
Second picture.
Some Bible translators had a problem. The language they were working on had a word for “inside” like tea inside a cup, and another word for “mixed in” like milk in the tea. But it had no general word “in” which could serve for either. Which word did they use to say that the Holy Spirit is “in” us?
Water in a sponge, oil in a wick, fat in flour, or to go back to Moses Tabernacle - gold thread embroidered into linen or gold leaf beaten onto wood grain, always the Holy Spirit shows His holiness in union with the ordinary, the human, the physical. See 2 Corinthians 4:6-11 (the life of Jesus in our mortal flesh, using the same word for “flesh” as in Romans 7:17 KJV)
Third picture.
Time and again we hear preachers explaining that Ephesians 5:18 actually says, “be being filled with the Spirit” not just “be filled.” They never tell us why the constant flow is needed, but go back to John 7:37-39 and Jesus made it clear. First He told thirsty people to come to Him and drink, then went on to speak of rivers of living water coming out from inside us, (the term “living” was used of fresh spring water in contrast to tepid stored water).
The Holy Spirit is not given for us alone. The idea is to fill us to overflowing and pour out rivers of blessing for others. So the constant need for refilling is not only because we leak but because we are meant to overflow.
Fourth picture.
A factory is full of electricity - but not with sparks and flashes. The power is waiting unobtrusively for its moment. One switch will turn on a light bulb. Another will operate a crane and lift tons. Others will operate a precision drill, a computer or play music. The power is there for the need. It shows itself only when needed.
A5.8 THE LIFELONG TENSION.
From the moment The Holy Spirit enters a person, there is tension. He is Holy, His presence brings a growing hunger for right and revulsion from wrong. This would be easy to handle if He also took away all desire for anything wrong, but He does not. To do so would take the element of choice out of life and make goodness into an easy option. Besides, wrong desires are usually only right desires misdirected; so to remove them would damage the personality.
The disciple of Christ, then, is being permanently pulled in two directions and has to choose daily. The longing for purity can be stifled by deliberate continued sin, but God loves us enough to make sure it is not stifled easily. That longing for purity can hurt very much when disobeyed. The more we feed it the more it grows and the stronger it becomes. As we live nearer to the heart of God, revulsion from evil increases and unforgiven sins hurt more; so this pain keeps thrusting us back to the Lord for forgiveness.
It is never comfortable for a follower of Christ to live with himself or herself or to live in close proximity to the effects of sin on others. Feeling what God feels about it all is permanently disturbing, but this very tension is a powerful creative driving force - and God can feel joy too; so if we never share His pain we shall miss out on sharing His joy.