What You Need to Know about the Holy Spirit
Chuck Sligh
Parts 3
TEXT: Turn to 1 Corinthians 12
INTRODUCTION
For the past two weeks we have been talking about the Holy Spirit—Who He is; when He came; what He does.
1. First we saw that He is a Person, not an impersonal force or entity, and He is God—one of the three persons of the Trinity.
2. Then we discovered that the “baptism with the Holy Spirit” is not an individual experience that a person has after his salvation, but a collective event that occurred once in history—on the day of Pentecost—when Jesus baptized ALL believers of EVERY age with the Holy Spirit at the same time.
3. Last week we looked into the ministries, or works, of the Holy Spirit and we saw that they break down into activities in the lives of the saved and activities in the life of those who have not yet found Christ.
4. First we looked at four ministries of the Holy Spirit in your life if you are a follower of Jesus Christ:
a. The first is to keep you eternally saved. - What a blessing to know that God will never let one of His children ever go into eternal judgment of hell!
b. The second ministry, of the Holy Spirit in your life if you are believer is to teach and guide you into truth—which He does through His Word—the Bible, which He authored.
c. Third, He develops in you godly character, specifically what Galatians 5:22-23 calls the “fruit of the Spirit”—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control.
d. Number four—the Holy Spirit comforts you in times of trouble.
Let’s continue our study a examine two more works of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those of you here who are saved:
5. The fifth significant activity of the Holy Spirit in your life, believer, is to impart a spiritual gift for service.
Look with me at 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 - “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”
When you are saved, the Holy Spirit gives you a spiritual gift. Every believer in this auditorium today has one of the spiritual gifts mentioned in Romans 12:6-8 - “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Why are we given these spiritual gifts? In a section dealing with spiritual gifts, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:7- “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” What that means in today’s English is that your spiritual gift is given to you to profit everybody in the church body. God gave you a spiritual gift to use for the benefit of others!
Now, let me ask you a question: Are you using your spiritual gift and abilities in the Lord’s service to profit the church body?
Illus. - Suppose I were a millionaire and you are poor as church mice, and your family is really struggling with a lot of medical problems, financial struggles, and just properly feeding and clothing your family. I call you up and say, “You know, I’m really concerned about you and your family, so I have deposited 10 million dollars into your account for you to help your family out and just be a blessing to them and take care of them.” One month later I call you and say, “Hey, how’s the family doing?” You say, “Oh, man are they having a lot of struggles. Johnny’s hospital bills are overdue, the rent’s overdue, and it’s just so tough!” I say, “Wait a minute! I gave you enough money to cover all that and more. Why haven’t you been using it to take care of your family.”
That’s the way it is with some Christians: God’s given you a spiritual gift to use for the benefit of others in your church family, but you’re not using it for the profit of all. What are you doing for your church family to serve and bless them?
Think of the opportunities you have to serve the Lord with your spiritual gift in this local church—
teaching in K.I.D.S. church,
teaching a kids’ Sunday School class,
playing an instrument for a church special (I would not be surprised if there is some hidden talent out there being un-utilized) or in the orchestra or on a worship team,
singing special music or on a worship team
helping in the nursery,
helping with church socials and fellowships,
hosting a weekly homegroup or small group Bible study
opening your home for Ladies’ Fellowships or Men’s Prayer Breakfasts,
cleaning the church for for Sunday services.
And there are opportunities that will open up in the future as God leads us to start new ministries in which we will need workers.
Let me ask you a question: Are you a spiritual bench warmer, or actively using your gifts and abilities for the glory of God and the benefit of others? May God forgive you if you are not involved in serving God and others with your spiritual gift! And may you jump on the “first string” of God’s team and get out on the field and get busy serving God.
6. The sixth work of the Holy Spirit in your life as a believer is to empower you - Acts 1:8 - “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
The Greek word for power is dunamis, from which we get our English word “dynamite.” Praise God, the Holy Spirit gives us POWER—DYNAMITE POWER! The power mentioned in Acts 1:8 is the power to witness effectively for the Lord. Jesus says, “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you…”---what will happen?...
You will speak in tongues?
You will do miracles?
You will scream and jump down the aisles at church?
1. No—“You will become WITNESSES for me…” The evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is not the strange phenomena some churches advocate. It’s the power to be a bold witness for the Lord! The power of the Holy Spirit is primarily, and most basically, to WITNESS BOLDLY FOR JESUS!
You ought be a bold witness on the job and in your neighborhood. You should learn how to lead a person to Jesus Christ. You should be daily sharing your testimony, inviting people to church, and witnessing for Christ.
2. But the power to witness is not the only manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives.
When you get right down to it, ALL spiritual power in our lives comes from the Holy Spirit.
If you want to QUIT A BAD HABIT, you need to have the Holy Spirit’s power to be able to quit.
If you want to QUIT YOUR DIRTY THOUGHTS, it’s the Holy Spirit that must give you that power.
If you want to be FREE OF BITTERNESS AND RESENTMENT AND ANGER, the Holy Spirit must be operative in your life.
If you’ll ever GET OVER A CRITICAL, JUDGMENTAL SPIRIT, it will only happen as you let the Holy Spirit have control of your life and let Him form the Fruit of the Spirit in your life—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, and self-control.
God help you to tap into the awesome power of an awesome God—manifested in the Holy Spirit!
How do we do that?---By being filled with the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit not some mystical experience. It simply means to be CONTROLLED by the Spirit. And we are controlled by the Holy Spirit when we order our daily lives in such a way that we YIELD to God in EVERY area so that He is running our lives and being the boss of all our thoughts and actions and activities.
Are you yielded to the Holy Spirit, dear Christian?—
in your priorities?
in your thoughts?
in your motives?
in your attitudes?
in your entertainment?
in your hobbies?
in your work?
in how you dress?
in your relationships?
in your marriage?
God help you to experience the awesome power of the Holy Spirit by being daily, moment-by-moment, filled with the Holy Spirit—that is, controlled, yielded—to the Holy Spirit.
Now, these six things I have shared so far last week and today have to do with the Holy Spirit’s activities in the lives of those who are what the Bible calls “believers”—those who know they are going to heaven when they die—those who have been saved.
Does the Holy Spirit have a ministry in unsaved peoples’ lives too? Yes, He does…
II. LET’S LOOK NOW AT TWO MAJOR ACTIVITIES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN YOUR LIFE IF YOU ARE NOT YET A BELIEVER, BUT ARE STILL A SEEKER OR AN ENQUIRER:
1. First is the ministry of CONVICTION - John 16:7-11 - “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”
“Conviction” is the process by which the Holy Spirit convinces a person outside of Christ of three things that are necessary to understand for him to be saved:
a. First, the Holy Spirit convicts the sinner of SIN.
In other words, the Holy Spirit shows you your sinfulness and waywardness, and your consequent guilt and condemnation before God’s utter and complete infinite holiness. You see, you cannot be “saved”---which means to have all your sins forgiven for eternity and to have the assurance that you are going to heaven when you die---until you realize that you are a sinner and under God’s condemnation.
Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Jesus said in John 3:18 - “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Do you see that you are a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness? Do you see that you are eternally doomed unless you have the Lord’s cleansing and forgiveness?
A cancer patient cannot receive the cure for his cancer until first he admits that he is sick.
Likewise, you cannot reach out for the medicine of your soul until you recognize your spiritual sickness before God.
b. Second, the Holy Spirit convicts the sinner of RIGHTEOUSNESS.
In other words, the Holy Spirit reveals to you your need for righteousness before God, and pardon and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God. The Bible tells us repeatedly that we cannot get to heaven by our OWN righteousness and good works. We can come to God ONLY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. Jesus died on the Cross for your sins so that you could have HIS righteousness in exchange for your sins.
c. Third, the Holy Spirit convicts the sinner of JUDGMENT
The Holy Spirit shows you that you will face God someday for the sins you have committed.
Hebrews 9:27 says “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Dear friend—
--If you have a fear of death—that could be the Holy Spirit convicting you of judgment and telling you that you need to give your life to Jesus.
--If you fear meeting God someday in judgment—that could be the Holy spirit convicting you and calling you to be saved to escape the certain and unavoidable judgment of God.
--If you have a fear of an eternity in hell someday—that’s the Holy Spirit whispering to you to avoid the dreadful punishment for sin and experience the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ.
2. The second activity of the Holy Spirit in your life if you are not yet a believer is the ministry of TRANSFORMATION.
Titus 3:5 says “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;”
Did you catch that little phrase at the end—“and renewing of the Holy Ghost”? One of the most magnificent ministries of the Holy Spirit is the job of turning a sinner into a saint! This doesn’t come about by self-effort, but by the Holy Spirit - “Not by works of righteousness which we have done…” the verse says. It is THE HOLY SPIRIT who transforms us.
Most people think, “Well, I’m going to have to clean up my life so that I can be a Christian.” No, no, no—a thousand times, no. That’s not the Bible answer. The Holy Spirit takes you just AS YOU ARE and HE changes you AFTER He takes ownership and possession of you.
Illus. - A story is told of a businessman who was wanting to sell an old warehouse. The building had been empty for months and needed repairs. Vandals had damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and thrown trash all over the place.
As he showed a prospective buyer the property, he said that he would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural damage, and clean out the garbage.
The buyer said, “Forget about the repairs. When I buy this place, I’m going to build something completely different. I don’t want this building; I want this site.”
That’s God’s message to you today if you have never been saved.
God wants to take you as you are and start from scratch, not fix up the mess you’ve already made.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
You see, you do not change yourself; the Holy Spirit changes you. God’s not interested in reformation; He’s interested only in transformation.
Illus. - Imagine a person without artistic genius and devoid of the artist’s training sitting down before Leonardo da Vinci’s famous picture of the Last Supper and attempting to reproduce it. How crude and mechanical and lifeless his work would be! But what if the spirit of da Vinci could somehow enter the untrained man and obtain mastery of his mind and eye and hand. This is not possible, of course, but suppose it were for the sake of illustration. Then it would be entirely possible that he should paint this masterpiece, for it would simply be da Vinci reproducing da Vinci through the untrained artist.
This is what the mystery of the Holy Spirit saving a person and changing his life is like. He comes in and then HE paints the picture of your life; HE reproduces the spirit of Christ within your heart; HE changes you and gives your new desires and transforms you. And He does it WITHIN you; not YOU doing it from WITHOUT. What a marvelous, precious truth! The Holy Spirit reproducing the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer!
What does this mean for you practically? It means there is nothing you could do to make yourself good enough or worthy to be saved. That’s getting the proverbial cart before the horse.
No to be saved, you come to God just as you are—sinful, dirty, guilty, and God changes you by giving you a new heart and a new nature and a new family and a new hope.
No song captures this truth better than that old song, “Just as I Am”:
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind—
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find—
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve,
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
CONCLUSION
These are the two main activities of the Holy Spirit for the person outside of Christ. The Holy Spirit is God’s agent to accomplish God’s will on earth.
God’s will is first of all that you be saved. Dear friend, what is your spiritual state right now? Have you ever come to the place in your life where you realized you are indeed a sinner, destitute of righteousness to please God, and facing God’s wrath? Have you realized how useless is self-effort is to earn your salvation and how futile reformation is? Have you come to the place where you realized that Jesus did not come to this earth to show us how to live or to be some great teacher? Noe, He came to die for your sins as your SUBSTITUTE to pay the penalty for your sins. He died to give you the righteousness of God that comes not by works, or religion, or ceremony, or self-effort—but by faith in Jesus Christ? Have you, in other words, been saved? If not, then I can think of no better day than today, and no better time than now.
Believer, we looked at two other ministries of the Holy Spirit in your life as a believer:
1. First, He has given you a spiritual gift for service. But He gave it to you to use for the Lord and others. Are you working for the Lord in your local church?
2. Secondly, He wants to empower you. How does He empower you—when you yield to Him and obey Him in every situation. When you do this and are filled with the Holy Spirit, He enables and empowers you to love for God, to be faithful to Him, and to overcome evil habits. Learn to obey the Holy Spirit’s promptings. Learn to yield to the Holy Spirit in your life. Be filled with the Holy Spirit day by day.
