The Spirit-Filled Life (Part 2) Series

The Spirit-filled Life (2)

Scott Bayles, pastor

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 5/28/2017

If you’re like me, you may have grown up in a church that rarely if ever talked about the Holy Spirit. I don’t recall my pastor ever explaining who the Holy Spirit is or preaching sermons about Him. We baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son and… the Holy Spirit, but most Christians only live with an awareness of the first two. This problem is so widespread that author and pastor Francis Chan titled his book about the Holy Spirit Forgotten God: Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit.

Last week we began a series that I hope will help all of us remember our crucial need for the Holy Spirit and begin living the Spirit-filled life! Last Sunday I highlighted three key concepts that we, as believers, need to understand and embrace about the Holy Spirit.

First, we talked about the Person of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit isn’t a mysterious force or energy; rather, He’s a personal being—God the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, we talked about the Presence of the Holy Spirit. When you receive Jesus as your Savior, you receive the Holy Spirit into your heart and life. He lives within us as we invite Him to invade every area of our lives. Finally, we explored the Power of the Holy Spirit. When learn live in the power of the Spirit, He helps us in our weakness and enables us to do more than we imagined.

Today I want to explore one of the Spirit’s most important roles in our lives, which is that of a guide. In a conversation with his disciples, Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard.” (John 16:13 NLT).

Now, we have to keep in mind that Jesus was speaking here not to a general audience of believers, but to the Twelve—the apostles hand-picked by Jesus to take the Gospel into the world and become the authors of Scripture. There’s no doubt these men had a special connection to the Holy Spirit; however, the same Spirit that indwelt the Apostles indwells every believer. Just as they needed divine direction at critical times in their lives, we need it today. So, I’m convinced the Spirit continues to guide believers into all truth even today.

The emphasis is on the word guide, however. Jesus doesn’t promise that the Holy Spirit will control us. He doesn’t promise that the Spirit will drive us. He doesn’t say the Spirit will force us to do anything. He says he will guide us.

He also assures us the Spirit is a trustworthy guide. Jesus calls Him the Spirit of Truth because He helps believers discern between what is true and what’s not; what’s wise and what’s foolish; what’s best and what’s simply okay. Each day is full of decisions—where to attend school, whether to hire a particular applicant, how much to budget for vacation, which car insurance to buy, and the list goes on. But if we’ll listen for His voice, the Holy Spirit will give you the extra on-the-spot sense of discernment you need to make both big and small decisions.

Lastly, Jesus notes that the Holy Spirit is God’s mouthpiece to believers. The Spirit speaks to us on behalf of God the Father. When God chooses to speak directly to you, it will be through the Holy Spirit. His voice longs to be heard. God may not speak to you through a burning burn like he with Moses or through a vision like he did Jacob—but God still speaks! The problem is—we’re not very good listeners.

We get so caught up in ourselves—our problems, our worries, our busy schedules—that we can’t hear the Holy Spirit’s voice in our lives. But the Bible says, “The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them” (Romans 8:14 NCV). If we are truly God’s children, then we must let the Holy Spirit lead us. So question today is—how? How do we let the Holy Spirit lead us and how does He speak to us today?

When I search the Scriptures, I find a plethora of ways in which the Holy Spirit speaks to us, but I want to bring to light three of them that recur over and over.

First, the Spirit speaks through his whispers.

• HIS WHISPERS

I think part of the reason we don’t recognize it when God speaks is that He’s often much more subtle than we expect. We expect a neon sign. We expect the earth to move. We expect thunder and lightning. We expect a booming voice from heaven.

That’s what Elijah expected.