Like I said last week, we all live with a certain level of stress. Due to our responsibilities and obligations, on a daily basis we are pulled in different directions. And as we were able to determine, the weight of these things slowly begins to fall on our shoulders and that causes our faith to weaken. This is of course due to the constant battle that we all fight on a daily basis with the flesh. This of course is not something easy. The reason why this battle is not something easy is because sometimes we find it difficult to leave behind the old man. It becomes difficult to leave behind old friends, customs, and rituals. But, how can we leave behind the old man for ever? This is the question that we will be exploring today. Today we will discover how we can get rid of the old man, so that we may get to be what god wants us to be. Let’s now turn to the Word of God.
John 16:7-15 - 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. 8And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11of 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. 13However, 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. 14He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
When we skim through these verses, in them we find some words from the Lord that don’t appear to make too much sense. I say this because here we see that the Lord said “It is to your advantage that I go away.” But how could this statement be true? How can the Lord leaving be to our advantage? In all reality there are four excellent reasons that make this statement very true. The first reason is that since Jesus departed from this earth, now we have a glorified and exalted Lord. Now we have the Lord that reigns and controls everything; we have the Lord that keeps His promises and meets our needs. Look carefully to how this is very well reflected in Ephesians 1:20-22 when we read “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church.” The second reason is that since Jesus departed from this earth, we now have the Lord that intercedes for us before the throne of the Father. Not only this, but we don’t have an indifferent intercessor, we don’t have an intercessor that does not understand us, but was have the Lord that knows our battles and desires because just like all of us here, He was also tempted. Look carefully at how this is very clearly stated in Hebrews 4:14-16 when we read “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The third reason is that since Jesus departed from this earth now all of us have obtained the privilege of being called sons of God, and we have received the gift of eternal life. Look at how this is clearly stated in Romans 5:8-10 when we read “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” And also in Galatians 3:26 when we read “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
And the fourth reason is that one that helps us at all times, and the one that we Hill be studying today. The fourth reason is the fulfillment of His promise as we find here when He said “for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” To whom was Jesus referring here? Here Jesus was talking to them and is talking to us, about the Holy Spirit; something that He has revealed to them, and revels to us, in John 14:26 when we read “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” When Jesus departed from this earth, He did not leave us abandoned and to the mercy of this world, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in every faithful believer. Look carefully at to the Lord states this very clearly in John 14:16-18 when we read “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, 17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” Tell the person next to you, the Holy Spirit dwells in me. But now we must ask ourselves, why was it necessary to send us the Holy Spirit? The truth of it all is that there are many reasons as to why He did that, but today we are going to explore the three most important purposes of the Holy Spirit.
Number one; the Lord tells us here “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” The first purpose of the Holy Spirit is to give us conviction of our sins. I would day that this is the most important of all. I sat this because the truth of the matter is that sin is something that only serves to separate us from the presence of God. Look at how we find this very well reflected in Isaiah 59:2 when we read “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” Brethren, the truth of it all is that all of us here have been called to lead a life of holiness. This is something very clearly stated in Leviticus 20:26 when we read “And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.” Tell the person next to you, God does not dwell in sin. God dwells within holiness, and it is inside this holiness where the Holy Spirit will reveal our weaknesses and transgressions. Things that perhaps we have done without giving it a second thought, but that are things that displease God. I am talking about things that we do because it is a custom, or perhaps because they are fashionable. But when we lead a life of holiness, the Holy Spirit will give us conviction of what we have done, or have said that is wrong. When we lead a life of holiness, the Holy Spirit that what we are seeing or hearing is not pleasing to God. The Holy Spirit talks to us and lets us know God’s will in our life. Look carefully at how this is very well reflected in Revelations 2:7 when we read “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” But I repeat, this is something that only happens when we lead a life of holiness. This is something that only happens when we lead a life seeking to be more like our Lord. If we do not do this, then we will be restricting the flowing of the Holy Spirit in our life. It is for this reason that we find that the scriptures in Ephesians 4:30-32 tells us “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Therefore, the first purpose of the Holy Spirit is to give us conviction of all things.
Number two; The Lord here tells us “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13However, 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.” The second purpose of the Holy Spirit is to guide us to the truth. This purpose is also of the utmost importance because as we all know; this world is falseness and deception. Although this is something that abounds in this world, this falseness and deceit can also be found within the church, it is to say the body of Christ. I say this because there are a large number of people that claiming to come in the name of the Lord seek to manipulate, and maneuver people to meet their own needs or greed. But this is not something that should come as a surprise as in Colossians 2:8 we find that we are told “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” But when we seek the presence of God in our life at all times, when we lead a life of holiness, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us the truth. The Holy Spirit guides us to the truth so that we will never be separated from Him. At times the noise of this world drowns the voice of the Holy Spirit in our life. Let me ask a question. How many of you have ever made a phone call from a place where there is a lot of noise? When we do this, in the majority of times, the person that we are calling will be able to hear us, but we will not be able to hear the person whom we have called because of the noise. The same thing happens as far as listening to what the Holy Spirit will guide us to do. In many occasions we are so involved in the things of this world, that we can not hear the voice of God that only seeks to guide us to His presence, and to His truth at all times. The Holy Spirit guides all faithful believer; the Holy Spirit guides every child of God. Look at how this is very well reflected in Romans 8:14 when we read “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” The Holy Spirit will guide us at all times, revealing to us where we should be, and from where we must depart. Look at how this is reflected in Acts 16:6-7 when we read “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.” Why does God reveal these things to us? The answer to that question is found in 1 Corinthians 14:33 when we read “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” God will not lead you away from His will, and will never lead you in contradiction to His word. Therefore the second purpose of the Holy Spirit is to guide us at all times to the truth of God. Tell the person sitting next to you, the Holy Spirit guides us.
Number three; the Lord tells us here “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. The third purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify God. When we are attentive to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our life and we allow ourselves to be guided by Him at all times, then our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be glorified in this world full of evil. But in order for the Holy Spirit to be able to fulfill this purpose there is something that we must do. This is something very clearly stated in Romans 12:1-2 when we read “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Once we do this, once we do not accept what this world offers, rather we seek the face of God, then Jesus will be glorified. Jesus will be glorified because our actions, guided by the Holy Spirit will always demonstrate the love, grace and mercy of God. Therefore the third purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ. Tell the person next to you, glorify Christ.
In conclusion. Let’s now return to the question we asked at the beginning, how can we leave the old man behind for good? We have seen the answers in the verses that we have studies today. And we also find it in Galatians 5:16-17 when we read “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” In order to surpass the obstacles and difficulties that present themselves in our daily life; to surpass the temptations and tests that we will have to pass through, we must seek daily to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And this is something that we will only achieve if we lead a life of holiness, and when we seek to please God at all times. And once we are full of the Holy Spirit, then He will give us conviction of our faults, weaknesses and sins, therefore providing us the opportunity to repent so that we will be able to remain in the presence of God at all times. When we are full of the Holy Spirit He will guide us to the truth. He will reveal to us the falsehood and lies, and where we should be. When we are full of the Holy Spirit, He will guide us at all times. When we are full of the Holy Spirit and we learn to trust in His power, then we will find that He will teach us how to act, and will direct us in all situations. All of us here will try to solve problems and face situations using our own strength, but the truth of it all is that if we do not allow the Holy Spirit to give us conviction and guide us, then we will fail.
