The Holy Spirit: He Means So Much to Me

I. He is my Teacher

John 14:26 KJV

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.    Experiential knowledge 2 Peter 1:3

He teaches Jesus

John 16:14. Ego- of who I am, My nature

He shall [1] glorify me: for [2] he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

1. The way

John 14:4-6.     The Holy Spirit is in partnership w Jesus— there is no other way and He will never say there is

4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

2. His nature

Matthew 20:28

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

Matthew 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

3. His fruit

Galatians 5:22-24 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

II. He is Comforter/Helper

He provides comfort and help on the journey

John 14:15-17 KJV. Can it get any clearer, “Obey w help!”

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The KJV uses comforter and the ESV uses the word Helper.

John 14:16 Amplified

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—

Counselor is translated from the Greek paraklētos. This word was used of legal assistants who pleaded a cause or presented a case. A big meaning of the word is a person who publicly supports someone.

There are two books that the word Paraclete is used in the NT, the gospel of John and John’s first letter:

1 John 2:1

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

Here, the Paraclete is Jesus. He pleads our case to the Father. The plea is His blood.

The Holy Spirit is called a Paraclete because He undertakes Christ's work in the world now that Jesus isn’t in the world as the God-Man in bodily form—the Holy Spirit is Spirit [without body] working on the earth—that is where we come into the picture.

When it comes to the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete,  the word must be understood differently than in 1John 2:1/::/ referring to our substitutionary Advocate who pleads our cause with the Father. Instead, the Holy Spirit pleads God's cause with us—through us

He works with us by working through us.

The lord can use any form of creation he chooses to accomplish His work. He can allow the the wind to whistle the name of Jesus over water lilies in the Amazon. He can cause birds to sing His fame, donkeys to declare the character of His name and cause the rocks to cry out and sing His glory, but that’s not His intention. His intention is that man will be the vessel that He uses.

If someone is to receive healing, deliverance, salvation or help of any kind, it will be the Holy Spirit with the use of human vessels that will get it done!

These are some of the ways that the Holy Spirit ministers on the earth, but Jesus said that the Holy Spirit has a specific job to do:

III. He is Convictor  the Holy Spirit is with the victor [Jesus]

He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment

John 16:6-8 ESV

6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 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 go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

                             The devils believe yet tremble Jas 2:19

John 16:9.      If you don’t believe ❤️ in Jesus, you’re still dead in sin

concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;

John 16:10.   The resurrection proves He was righteous and those that believe in Him share in His righteousness

concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;

John 16:11.     Man’s sins were judged by God on Jesus- the world w/ out Jesus will be judged with the world’s ruler. They chose him and the world over Jesus

concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

The words “convict ... of guilt” means to present or expose facts, to convince of the truth.” The Spirit works on the minds of the unsaved to show them the truth of God for what it is. Normally this process includes human aid (cf. 15:26-27).

KJV- reprove

ESV- convict

Reprove: refute/ confute

Refute- disprove a theory

Confute- disprove a person and their theory

Jesus tells the truth and the truth brings conviction against sin. If you are a believer this morning that means that you have acknowledged Jesus as your Savior. You accepted by faith Jesus’ sacrifice for your sin. Faith in Jesus’ sacrifice resulted in the Holy Spirit moving into your heart. Now, the Spirit of truth lives in you. He will use you to refute the lies of the world

In conclusion

Two quick things to mention about your relationship with the Holy Spirit:

1. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit- Ephesians 4:30

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Grieve- to make sorrowful or throw into sadness

The Holy Spirit is holy and sin makes Him sad. It’s not my job to convict you of sin, and I sure can’t set you free from it, but if you want a relationship with the Holy Spirit and don’t want to grieve Him, then you will need to get saved and then learn God’s heart. That’s the best chance you have not to grieve the Holy Spirit

2. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit- 2 Corinthians 13:14

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Fellowship- communion, intimacy, joint participation

The Renewing of the Holy Ghost

Titus 3:5

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

regeneration is spiritual renovation— renovation of regeneration > renovation renewal

Do you understand that?                                                             Search me O God and know my heart Psalm 139:23

It’s Spiritual surgery (Ezekiel 36:25-27)— “Let me crack this chest open, [take a look around]—heart of stone, won’t need that anymore, scalpel, replace w heart of flesh that can be worked with, renew the human spirit and place My Spirit in them. Okay, that will work for now…

Now, the Renewal of the Spirit can begin— the sinful man in Adam is born again and now the Spirit can begin renewal. It’s like a cardiologist doing angioplasty. The clot prevents blood flow to parts of the heart. The parts of the heart on the other side of the clot are dying. Once the balloon is inflated and the stent is placed, oxygenated blood can bring life, so it is with the Spirit of God, it’s like rivers of living waters, it’s like the river of living water that feeds the tree of life in the kingdom age. Everything He the Spirit touches, He gives it life.

1 Corinthians 6:17

But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

…renewing of the Holy Ghost— He’s doing the work

In order for this process to continue and function according to God‘s will, the new man or woman of God, must agree with God’s word and give permission to the Holy Spirit to continue the renewal process.

2 Corinthians 13:14

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the [communion] of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.                                                                                                               [Joint participation- I yield to Him!]

• Saul did not participate  with Amalek— 1 Samuel 15:19                    

Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst [fly] upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?

• David [did participate] made sure he had the mind of God on the matter 1 Samuel 23:1-5 The Lord told him to fight the Philistines. The people we’re fearful. David inquired again. God gave the same answer. David listened to God, and victory was won.

• Jesus only did what He saw His Father do and said what He heard His Father say John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

• John 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

There is competition with the voice of God from old mindsets and the ways of the world, but it’s more than just the music industry and the way the spirit of error entices us towards lustful actions, what about the way the world does business? Is cheating on your taxes okay? Is telling a small lie okay? Is repeatedly disobeying God’s word okay?  Is taking small amounts of things from the office without permission okay? If someone does something wrong, should we immediately call an attorney or should we pray, and if we should pray, do we ever ask God to show us where we might be wrong in a situation or circumstance, or is it always the other person that is wrong?

Romans 12:2.  We aren’t learning to cheat on taxes, tell little lies or think everyone else is wrong from God

And be not [conformed to this world]: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

—— the renewing of the mind and receiving the mind of Christ is actually the Spirit of the Lord giving us the wisdom of heaven to help us on earth. I’ve heard many people say “You’re  so heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good. But what is it that we want on earth? Are we seeking earthly, rather than heavenly treasures? Is it possible that our prosperity can shift our focus on our pleasures— will we pounce on the spoil, earthly things  and be enticed, rather than yielding to His voice?

And when this happens, is it possible that we start getting deceived and enticed, where we start walking in the flesh based on earthly desires? Also, is there more to the thought of walking after the flesh vs walking after the Spirit? Who is leading us? We have determined that we understand exactly what that means. We have determined that this passage means that to walk after the Spirit means to keep faith in Christ crucified and not put faith in our actions or works for victory? Obviously, this is true, but what about the rest of the word, what about the teachings of the Bible about temptations? What is the source of the temptations— do these desires come from heaven or do they come from earth. Our flesh desires things of the earth, our renewed spirit one with the Spirit of God wants the things of heaven and the things of God. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. You are seated in Christ in heavenly places

What about the lusts of the flesh vs the fruit of the Spirit?

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, [variance], [emulations], wrath, [strife], [seditions], [heresies], Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings— these temptations are fleshly, and yes, they’re sinful, but the source of their temptation is earthly.

• variance

• emulations

• Strife                     DIVISION

• Seditions

• heresies

At the heart of all of this is pride— self wants to be right, but that’s not good enough. Self wants to be right, and self wants others to agree that it is right and others are wrong.   😊 We act like this isn’t a big deal, but it is. It’s rebellion against God’s word. Rebellion against God’s word, results in a calloused heart (Isaiah 6:9; Matt 13:10-16 READ).    GOD MADE IT THIS WAY—slippery

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.                   These are from the heavenly realm

Galatians 5:24-26.  Have we? Or do we pretend we have because certain things-we have

24 And they that are Christ's [have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts]. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 6:14

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world— yielding to God, submitting to the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:14-16.   So saved people never operate with a natural mind

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ— in one sense, we have the mind of Christ and there is the truth that we have an anointing from the Holy Spirit that will lead us and guide us, but what about when it comes to the things in our lives that we don’t want to obey? What about when it comes to the times that we want our own will rather than the will of God? What happens to the sensitivity of hearing the Spirit of God then?

The old man and his old ways will keep us from being being able to hear. The old man and his old ways, get in the way of fellowship with the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4:22-24

22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Romans 8:22-26.     In this world…

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

26 -- Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Sometimes we don’t understand what we should pray for but if we are in communion with the Holy Spirit and we are actively seeking His face, He will pray for us. We need the help of the Holy Spirit. We need more of the Holy Spirit. Are you baptized in the Holy Spirit? If not, you need to let us pray for you to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit