VI. THE WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST
A. In Humans In General
1. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the truth regarding Jesus Christ.
John 15:26-27 "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."
Acts 5:30-32 "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him."
If you wish others to get a true view of Jesus Christ — such a view of Him that they may believe and be saved — you must seek for them the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Neither your own testimony, nor even that of the Word alone, will effect this — though it is
your testimony or that of the word which the Holy Spirit uses. But unless your testimony and that of the word is taken up by the Holy Spirit and He Himself testifies, they will not believe.
It explains why it is that when you have shown a man the truth about Christ over and over again and he has seen nothing, suddenly it all bursts upon him, and he sees and believes. The Spirit has borne His witness to Christ. It was not merely Peter's words about Christ that convinced the Jews of the truth concerning Christ on the Day of Pentecost. It was the Spirit Himself bearing witness. If you wish men to see the truth about Christ, do not depend upon your own powers of expression and persuasion, but cast yourself upon the Holy Spirit and seek for them His testimony. This is the cure for both ignorance and skepticism concerning Christ. R. A. Torrey
2. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
John 16:8 “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”
He convicts (that is, convinces with a convincing that is self-condemning) the world of its sin in not believing on Christ. R. A. Torrey
It is our responsibility to preach the Word and look to the Holy Spirit to produce conviction. Often the reason we fail to produce conviction is we are trying to do it ourselves. Let us not forget on the other hand that it is through us that the Spirit produces
conviction. R. A. Torrey
The jury may convict of crimes; conscience may convict of sins; but only the Spirit of God can convict of sin. J. Oswald Sanders, pg 41
The world of our day is strangely unconvicted, unconvinced, and unconcerned; yet where Spirit-filled men faithfully present the Spirit-inspired Word of God, conviction of sin comes. The great need of the world today is for consecrated channels for the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Only so can there be a genuine turning to the Lord and acceptance of the Gospel.” Buswell, James Oliver (1962)
B. In The Believer (According to R. A. Torrey)
1. The Holy Spirit makes anew or regenerates the believer.
It is not fanning into flame an already existent divine spark, for no such spark exists. Nor does He lift the natural life to a higher plane, for “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” His method is a new creation, not a mere reformation. J. Oswald Sanders pg 56
Regeneration is the impartation of life, spiritual life, to the one “dead in trespasses and sins.” R. A. Torrey
No amount of preaching, no matter how orthodox it may be, no amount of mere study of the Word, will regenerate unless the Holy Spirit works. It is He and He alone that makes a man a new creature. R. A. Torrey
2. The Holy Spirit sets the believer in Christ free from the law of sin and death.
The law of sin and death is addressed in Romans 7:9-24. Paul had been aroused by the law of God to see what was holy and just and good. He delighted in this law after the inward man (Romans 7:22) and strove to keep it. But he found that there was not only this "holy and just and good" law without him, but he found there was another law in his members warring against the law of his mind. This law of sin and death was that when he would do good evil was present (7:21). "To will is present to me, but to do that which is good is not" (v. 18 RV). In this wretched position of approving of the law in his mind, but in servitude to the law of sin and death in his actions, Paul found
himself until he discovered in Christ Jesus a third law, "the law of the Spirit of life." This law set him free from the law of sin and death so that now he not only could "will" but also "do," and the righteousness of the law was fulfilled in him who walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:3). It is the work of the Holy Spirit when we give up trying to live right in our own strength — i.e., in the energy of the flesh — and surrender to the Holy Spirit to live in Him and walk in his blessed power, to set
us free from this awful law of sin and death. R. A. Torrey
3. The Holy Spirit strengthens the believer with power in the inward man.
Ephesians 3:16 “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;”
4. The Holy Spirit leads us into a holy life, a life as sons of God, a godly life.
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God:”
The Holy Spirit not only gives us power to live a holy life, a life well pleasing to God when we have discovered what that life is; He also takes us as it were by the hand and leads us into that life. Our whole part is simply to surrender ourselves utterly to Him to lead and mold us. R. A. Torrey
5. The Holy Spirit bears witness together with the spirit of the believer that he is a child of God.
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”
Galations 4:6 “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
Note that Paul does not say that the Spirit bears witness to our spirit but with it. That is, there are two who bear witness to our sonship; first our spirit bears witness that we are children of God; second, the Holy Spirit bears witness together with our spirit that we are children of God.
6. The Holy Spirit brings forth fruit in the believer in Christlike graces of character.
Galations 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, (v. 23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
7. The Holy Spirit guides the believer into all truth.
John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
*The man who is most fully taught of God is the very one who will be most ready to listen to what God has taught others. But while we may learn much from men, we are not dependent upon them. We have a divine teacher, the Holy Spirit. We shall never truly know the truth until we are thus taught. No amount of mere human teaching, no matter who our teachers may be, will give us a correct apprehension of the truth. Not even a diligent study of the Word either in English or the original languages will give us a real understanding of the truth. We must be taught of the Holy Spirit. And each and every one of us may be taught by Him.. The one who is taught by the Spirit will understand the truth of God better, even if he does not know a word of Greek or Hebrew, than the one who knows Greek, Hebrew, and all the cognate languages, and is not taught of the Spirit.
R. A. Torrey
8. The Holy Spirit brings to remembrance the words of Christ.
John 14:26 “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.”
How many of us could tell of occasions when we were in great distress of soul, or great questioning as to duty, or great extremity as to what to say to one whom we were trying to lead to Christ or to help, and just the Scripture we needed — some passage we had not thought of for a long time and perhaps never in this connection — was brought to mind? It was the Holy Spirit who did this, and He is ready to do it even more when we expect it from Him.
9. (a) The Holy Spirit reveals to us the deep things of God which are hidden from, and foolishness to, the natural man; and, (b) The Holy Spirit imparts power to discern, know and appreciate what He has taught.
The Author, the Holy Spirit, is right at hand to interpret. To understand the book, we look to Him and the darkest places become clear. It is a great mistake to try to comprehend a spiritual revelation with natural understanding.
To understand God's word we must empty ourselves utterly of our own wisdom, and rest in utter dependence upon the Spirit of God to interpret it to us. Emptying must precede filling: self poured out that God may be poured in. We must daily be taught by the Spirit to understand the word. I cannot depend today on the fact that the Spirit taught me yesterday. Each new contact with the Word must be in the power of the Spirit. That the Holy Spirit once illumined our mind to grasp a certain passage is not enough. He must do so each time we confront that passage.
10. The Holy Spirit enables the believer to communicate to others in power the truth He Himself has been taught.
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.”
We need the Holy Spirit in the first place to reveal the truth, and the Holy Spirit in the second place to interpret to us the truth He has revealed, an we need the Holy Spirit in the third place to enable us to effectually communicate to others the truth He has interpreted to us. We need Him all along the line. One great cause of real failure in ministry even when there is seeming success is from attempting to teach by "enticing words of man's wisdom" (i.e., by the arts of human logic, rhetoric and eloquence) what the Holy Spirit has taught us. What is needed is "demonstration of the Spirit and of power." There are three causes of spiritual failure in preaching:
a. Some other message is taught than the message which the Holy Spirit has revealed in the Word — men preach science, art, philosophy, sociology, history, experience, etc., and not the simple word of God as found in the Holy Spirit's Book, the Bible.
b. The Spirit-taught message, the Bible, is studied and sought to be comprehended by the natural understanding — i.e., without the Spirit's illumination. That, alas! is too common even in institutions where men are being trained for the ministry.
c. The Spirit-given message, the Word, the Bible, studied and comprehended under the Holy Ghost illumination, is given out to others with "enticing words of man's wisdom," and not "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." We are absolutely dependent upon, the Spirit all along the line. He must teach us how to speak as well as what to speak. His must be the power as well as the message.
11. The Holy Spirit helps, guides and gives power to the believer in prayer.
Jude 20 "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost."
Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
Romans 8:26 “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.”
He teaches us to pray. True prayer is prayer in the Spirit — i.e., prayer the Spirit inspires and directs. When we come into God's presence we should recognize our infirmity, our ignorance of what we should pray for, or how, and in the consciousness of our utter inability to pray rightly, look to the Holy Spirit and cast ourselves utterly upon Him to direct our prayers, to lead our desires, and guide our utterance of them. Rushing heedlessly into God's presence and asking the first thing that comes to mind, or that some thoughtless one asks us to pray for, is not praying "in the Spirit," and is not true prayer. We must wait for the Holy Spirit, and surrender ourselves to the Him. The prayer that God the Holy Spirit inspires is the prayer that God the Father answers.
12. The Holy Spirit inspires the believer to, and guides him in, praise and thanksgiving.
I Cor. 14:15 “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”
Ephesians 5:18-20 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with
the Spirit; (v. 19) Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; (v. 20) Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”
Not only does He teach us to pray, He also teaches us to render thanks. One of the most prominent characteristics of "the spirit-filled life" is thanksgiving.
13. The Holy Spirit inspires worship on the part of the believer.
Philippians 3:3 “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”
Prayer is not worship, thanksgiving is not worship. Worship is a definite act of the creature in relation to God. Worship is bowing before God in adoring acknowledgment and contemplation of Himself. Someone has said: "In our prayers we are taken up with our needs, in our thanksgiving we are taken up with our blessings, in our worship we
Are taken up with Himself."
John 4:23 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”
There is no true and acceptable worship except that which the Holy Spirit prompts and directs.
Not all earnest and honest worship is worship in the Spirit. A man may be very honest and very earnest in his worship, and still not have submitted himself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the matter, and so his worship is in the flesh. Even when there is great loyalty to the letter of the Word, worship may not be "in the Spirit" — i.e., inspired and directed by Him. To worship aright we must "have no confidence in the flesh," we must recognize the utter inability of the flesh — i.e., our natural self — to worship acceptably.
14. The Holy Spirit calls men and sends them forth to definite lines of work.
Acts13:2 - 4 “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. (v. 3) And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. (v. 4) So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.
The Holy Spirit not only calls men in a general way into Christian work, but selects the specific work and points it out.
How shall we receive the Holy Spirit's call? By desiring it, seeking it ,waiting upon the Lord for it, and expecting it. "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted,'' the record reads.
15. The Holy Spirit guides in the details of daily life and service, as to where to go and where not to go; what to do and what not to do.
We must really desire to know God's way, and be willing to do God's will. This is implied in asking if the asking is sincere. This is a point of fundamental importance. Here we find the reason why men often do not know God's will and have the Spirit's guidance. They are not really willing to do whatever the Spirit leads.
16. The Holy Spirit quickens the mortal body of the believer.
Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
This, as the context shows, refers to the future Resurrection of the body. This is the Spirit's work. The glorified body is from Him. It is a spiritual body. We now have the first fruits of the Spirit, but are waiting for the full harvest, the redemption of the body.
