“7 Things the Holy Ghost does for Us”
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
OPENING: - I came up in church during the time when we had tarry service. Tarry service in case you don’t know was usually on Monday or Tuesday night. Tarry service was a time that those of us who wanted the Holy Ghost would get on the altar and call on the name of Jesus in repetitive session. There would be those who already had the Holy Ghost around us urging us to call on Jesus. We would call on Jesus until we got what was called stammering lips and would be slobbering profusely which was called purging ourselves. Those around us would be listening to hear if we spoke in tongues because if you did then you got the Holy Ghost. Because the Holy Ghost gives us utterance to speak in other tongues, Act 2:4 says, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance”.
Then after you received the Holy Ghost when the Spirit moved then we would shout or dance because the Holy Ghost moved us. We would speak in tongues and shout singing I can dance, dance, dance, all night.
There is nothing wrong with that, that is how I came up in the church, it is the part of the foundation that the church is based upon. We even developed sayings like “Ain’t no party like a Holy Ghost party cause a Holy Ghost part don’t stop. Speaking in tongues is great and is part of the Holy Ghost experience Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:5 “I would that ye all spoke with tongues…” Shouting is wonderful David danced with all his might 2 Samuel 6:14. We all need to dance like David danced.
However, if you received the Holy Ghost 30 years ago 5 years ago, 2 weeks ago and you are stuck on the Holy Ghost is for speaking in tongues and shouting then you’re missing the benefits the Holy Ghost truly gives us.
Last week I spoke on the 7 things the cross has done for us. Today I want to speak on the 7 things the Holy Ghost has done for us. Remember the number 7 represents perfection and completeness.
PRAYER
SCRIPTURE: - Galatians 5:25 “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”.
We know the Holy Ghost comforts, guides, warns, teaches and gives us utterance of tongues. But one of the most important aspects of the Holy Ghost is sanctifying power. Sanctification is the process of Christ’s Atonement cleansing us, healing us, and helping us to become more like Christ for only through the Holy Ghost that we become like Him. The Holy Ghost is the messenger of grace by which the blood of Christ is applied to take away our sins and sanctify us. On the cross Christ paid a debt He did not owe He atoned for us and the Holy Ghost brings that atoning power to us. The Holy Ghost gives us access to the Atonement.
The 1st thing the HOLY GHOST does is gives us sanctification. The word sanctification is related to the word saint; both words have to do with holiness. To sanctify something is to set it apart for special use; to sanctify a person is to make them holy. The work of the Holy Ghost in our lives is an ongoing process of becoming holy through sanctification. Through the conviction and power of the Holy Ghost, we will not indulge the sinful acts of the flesh Galatians 5:16-21 but will bear the good fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-25. Sanctification is a state of separation unto God and when we received the Holy Ghost, we enter sanctification.
Jesus set Himself apart for God’s purpose is both the basis and the condition of our being set apart. Sanctification has in view the setting apart for the purpose for which they are sent into the world John 17:18 –19 says: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth”.
The 2nd thing the Holy Ghost does is Seals us. Ephesians 1:13 - 14 says, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory”.
In ancient times, a seal was a legal signature attesting ownership and validating what was sealed. The Holy Ghost is our mark or seal of adoption as God’s children. Jesus sent the Holy Ghost to his followers so that they could be confident in their salvation.
When you buy a house, you must put earnest money down this ensures the person selling the house that you are serious and not to sell it to anyone else. When you and I received the Holy Ghost we marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit, the earnest payment guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of his glory.
The 3rd thing the Holy Ghost has done for us is gave us a New Birth into a new family making us citizens in the Kingdom of God - Galatians 4:29 says, “But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.”? Understand the are two contrasting phrases “born after the flesh & born after the Spirit”. John 3:3-7 says, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again”.
The new birth or born-again experience is the work of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing you or I can do of our own merit to place us in the Kingdom of God. The Holy Ghost is the power that transforms our lives from being dead in our trespasses and sins, from being alienated and enemies to being adopted and becoming sons (daughters) of God. Galatians 4:5 says, “To redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons”. John1:12-13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”. Romans 8:14-17 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together”. The Holy Ghost brings us into the family and gives us the assurance that we are His children, and we can call Him daddy (Abba).
The 4th thing the Holy Ghost does for us is causes us to live in the spirit. Now this isn’t walking around all the time speaking in tongues or being so holy that you can’t do anything. To live in the spirit is not saying see I’m saved because I don’t do this, or I stay away from that. To live in the spirit means one that is alive from the dead. Ephesians 2:1-2 says, “And you hath he quickened (Made Alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”. Now because of the Holy Ghost we live as partakers of the divine nature. 2 Peter 1:1-4 says, “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”. We no longer live or walk according to the course of this world, but now because of the Holy Ghost we live a godly life which is living in the spirit. The Holy Ghost gives us a new nature that desires to God, and a new freedom to express that nature through our bodies.
The 5th thing the Holy Ghost does for us is it leads us into a life of victory over sin.
Galatians 5:16-17 says, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would”.
Once we are born again a battle begins within us. Romans 7:15 – 25 says, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin”. Romans 8:1-2 says, “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus (Have been born again), who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Holy Ghost). For the law of the Spirit of life (Holy Ghost) in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death”. Galatians 5:18 says, “But if ye be led by the Spirit (Holy Ghost), ye are not under the law”. We have been given the victory over sin.
The 6th thing the Holy Ghost does is makes us like Jesus.
Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance, against such there is no law”.
UNDERSTAND: - These are not fruits, but fruit. It is all one fruit. There is not a lot to do just one thing, and that one thing is to love; all these manifestations of the fruit are but various forms of love. Joy is love exalting; peace is love attentive; longsuffering is love enduring; gentleness is love refined; meekness is love with bowed head; goodness is love in action; temperance is true self-love, and faith is love confiding, so we see our whole life lived in the Spirit is living is Love. 1 John 4:16 says, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him”. That’s being like Christ.
The 7th thing the Holy Ghost does for us give us power to minister.
Galatians 3:5 says, “He, therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you doeth he it by works of the law or by the hearing of faith”. Paul is saying here that when he lived and labored among the Galatians, all his ministry was in the power and energy of the Holy Spirit. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation so when we minister it is not in our own strength of the flesh, but we can serve Him effectively in the power and might of the Holy Ghost.
CLOSING: - This is not an exhaustive list of the things the Holy Ghost does for us, but you can see the Holy Ghost is more than the ability to speak in tongues and to dance. In fact, the Holy Ghost is a powerful, life changing experience. The Holy Ghost is necessary to enter the kingdom of God and allows us to experience God in a new and powerful way.
If you have not received the Holy Ghost understand Galatians 3:14 says, “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”.
The Holy Ghost is God’s gift for each and everyone. It is Grace which is God’s unmerited favor given. We don’t deserve it, but He freely gives to each of us. God does not have respecter of person, so it isn’t just given to the good or super spiritual. It is for everyone. Luke 12:32 says, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom”. Since it is the Holy Ghost which puts us in the Kingdom then it is His pleasure to give us the Holy Ghost.
John 20:22 says, “And when he had said this, he breathed upon them, and saith unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost”.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
