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Meet the Holy Spirit
John 16:13
If you knew you were
going to die in 24 hours, what would you talk about with your loved
ones? Chances are, it
wouldn't be about trivial things like the weather or 'that look' someone
gave you at the store. No,
you would spend quality time talking about the things truly important in
life. ill.--Henry was on his
deathbed, with his wife, Henrietta, by his side.
Henry said, "Dear, do you remember when the tornado came early in
our marriage and took out our barn and nearly our house?
You were right there by my side.
And then when the house caught fire / and when all the cattle
caught that terrible disease and died / bank foreclosed on us ... you
were right there by my side!
And now I lay a dying, and here you are right by my side just like in
all those other times." She
replied, "Yes, and I'm not leaving."
He said, "Henrietta, I want you to know.
I think you are a terrible jinx!" In our text Jesus is
living His final hours before the cross, and He is saying to His
disciples that which is most important.
And one of the primary themes we find now is the Holy Spirit ...
the One Jesus is leaving behind in His stead after His work on earth is
done. What do you think of
when I say Holy Spirit? Many
see the Father and the Son as God, and coequal, but the Spirit as some
lesser form, invisible, and not as real.
Some see the Spirit like an errand-boy, sent to do God's bidding.
Truth is, the Holy Spirit is God!
Symbols of the Holy Spirit:
1. Water
- John 3:5, 7:38,39
·
Fertilizes - nothing grows
without water. Psalm 1:3
says we are to be like trees planted by the rivers of water. Psalm 1:3
·
Refreshes - John 4:14 - "drink
of the living water and never thirst again!" John 4:14 When truly thirsty
what we really need is water.
Not soda, not milk, not coffee, not even Gatorade.
This world tries all kinds of fancy things to satisfy it, when
what they truly need is God.
·
Cleanses - I take regular
baths...every Saturday! Just
as you bathe with water, and add water to the toothpaste on your
toothbrush, Eph. 5:26 says the Spirit cleanses us with the water of the
Word...a daily spiritual cleansing. Ephesians 5:26
·
Fills - water is abundant, and
can never be destroyed - 2/3rd's of the earth is covered with water.
John 7 says out of your belly shall flow rivers of water.
There's plenty of the Spirit to go around, and He will fill
anyone who wants to be filled.
2. Fire
- Matt. 3:11
·
Illuminates - I Cor. 2:10 says
the Spirit searches for and reveals deep truth...shining the light into
the darkness so we can see the big reveal!
1 Corinthians 2:10
·
Ignites - combustion engines
need a spark plug. John 5:35 What greater
compliment can be paid to you than for someone to say you are on fire
for God!
·
Purifies - gold or silver is
placed on the fire to bring out the dross and make it more pure and
thus, more valuable. Malachi 3:2-3
·
Spreads - with just one
carelessly thrown match entire forest fires consume many acres and
homes. At the beginning of
Acts 2 there were 120 people on fire for God, and at the end of the
chapter, by the close of that same day, there were 3,120!
Fire spreads!
3. Wind
- John 3:8 "blows where it
listeth [wants to]"
·
Powerful -
tornadoes/hurricanes. In
Acts 2 it was the wind of the Spirit that blew thru the early church!
·
Essential - the earth's
ecology is dependant upon wind. John 15:5
·
Invisible - you can't take a
picture of the wind, only its effects.
We can't see the Spirit of God, but we can certainly see His
effects in our lives, and in how He saves and changes others.
4. Voice
- Matt. 10:20
·
Speaks - our text, v. 13, says
what He speaks about. We
don't hear Him audibly, but in the still small voice of the heart.
"God spoke to my heart" when I got saved, and when He called me
to preach, and a million other times over the years!
·
Warns - sometimes the voice
that speaks, shouts! When
someone is about to get hit by a car in the street they can be diverted
by the voice of warning of someone who wants better for them!
And much of the Bible is God raising His voice, warning of sin
and judgment, and He reminds us by raising the voice of the Spirit
within!
·
Guides - Do you like your GPS'
voice? Mine is a lady,
telling me to go left, go right, turn around, do a U-turn, merge, bear
left, bear right ... it used to be there was only one woman nagging you
out on the road! ill.--in the
He could have 'told' us how to get around, but that would have
ended in an international incident.
We needed to be 'guided'. The Spirit is our
guide! We don't know what's
around the next bend, but He does! v. 13
'guide' We could talk more
about the Holy Spirit, symbolized by a dove, a notary seal, oil, etc.
Needless to say, He is vital to our lives.
What a powerful, essential ministry He has to us. ----- I find it interesting
that He is never given a proper name.
God the Father has many names, such as Jehovah, Yahweh, Elohim,
El Shaddai, etc. We know the
name Jesus. The Spirit is given
only titles. "Comforter" is not a
name...it's a title. He is
also called the Spirit of promise/truth/holiness/grace/glory. v. 13b
'what He hears, He speaks' What is this?
What conversations is He hearing?
He is present in the counsels of the Godhead.
From eternal ages of time immemorial, the 3 persons of the
Trinity discuss the plan for mankind. In Gen. 1 God said,
"Let us make man in our image."
Who was He speaking to?
The angels? No, they
weren't made in God's image.
This is the communion of the Godhead! 2 Corinthians 13:14 1 John 5:7 And that same God who
stamped His very image upon mankind stamped His very nature upon the
entire universe! It is a
trinity, made up on space, matter, and time. And space is a
trinity, with length, width, and height. Matter has 3
components: energy, motion,
and phenomenon. Time is past, present,
and future.
Man is body, soul, and spirit.
And even within the soul there
is a trinity
comprised of the heart [with which to feel], the mind [with which
to think], and the will [with which to act.] Back to v. 13 -
'Spirit of truth' All 3 members of the
trinity are associated with truth. Psalm 31:5 God works thru truth,
which can be defined as reality.
The cry of our world today is that there is no such thing as
absolute truth...all is relative to how you perceive it.
That's like saying there's no such thing as reality.
2 plus 2 equals 4 not because I want it to, but because that is
reality. God leads us by
guiding us [by His Spirit] down the pathway of truth.
Satan tries to lead us into error.
It all started in the Garden of Eden when God said, eat the fruit
and you will die, and Satan said, no, you won't die!
Those are opposing statements, and both cannot be true. ill.--we make a
deposit at the bank and we insist on exact truth in dollars and cents.
We go to the pharmacy and insist on exact truth when it comes to
which medication we should take.
Then we go to church and say, ah, it doesn't matter what you
believe as long as you are sincere! Somebody is right and
somebody is wrong. We can't
all be right! ----- How we can avoid being
led astray? Our text says
the Spirit will guide us into all truth.
Is the Spirit in you?
Ye must be born again of the Spirit! For the mind, heart,
and will - God has given truth.
·
For my mind, God gave me a book to read. John 17:17 Every time we are
exposed to the Word of God, we are saturating our minds with truth!
This is why we should be faithful to church, and why we should
meet with God every day at home. ill.--the FBI has
counterfeit currency experts, and they can spot a forgery immediately.
How? By studying
counterfeit bills? No, by
studying the real thing.
The best way to separate yourself from error is to saturate
yourself with the truth!
·
For my heart, God gave me a Person to love. Christianity is not
just a creed, or a list of rules, it is a vital living, loving
relationship with the Person of Jesus! This means that when I spend time
with Jesus, I am in the embrace of truth.
When I pray, I am fellowshipping with truth. We said that truth is
reality. Jesus is truth, so
He is the ultimate reality.
This is why the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, because He
is the very beginning of truth and reality!
You may know a lot of facts and know a lot of concepts and know
all the right people in this world, but until you know Christ, you know
nothing!
·
For my will, God gave me a Spirit to which to yield. v. 13a When I'm tempted to sin, I can yield my will to His will and
suddenly within me I find a power that I knew not before! ----- By the way, let's have
a little balance - The middle of v. 13 says 'he shall not speak of
himself', and v. 14 is where Jesus says that the Spirit will glorify
Him, Jesus. I'm suspicious
of any church or preacher that gives the Spirit the limelight, and
focuses on the Spirit, rather than on Jesus.
Many of them don't even ask if you are saved or born again.
They ask "Have you received the Holy Ghost?"
Well, the Spirit doesn't want the limelight.
But in our circles, we have another problem...not ENOUGH of the
Spirit. If Christians are
not walking in the Spirit, then they are not being guided into all
truth! ----- Our text says the
Spirit will guide us into all truth.
Is the Spirit in you?
Ye must be born again of the Spirit! Saturate your mind,
your heart, and your will in the Spirit of truth!
Please help keep this ministry free by honoring our system...
Please Choose:
Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
NOTICE! Our sermons are free to download, copy and paste, edit and use as you see fit...but only our free subscribers get the newest messages, featured sermons, and some free gifts we shower on them from time to time! Help keep this service free by recommending it using the links above the sermon
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