Journey With Jesus: Growing In The Holy Spirit
Introduction
In our series, we began with the foundation of following Jesus - the Beatitudes. Last week we considered the truth that Jesus Is Lord and the demands of discipleship that go along with that. Some of those seem difficult to obey, but we are not left on our own! Today we want to think about the help of the Holy Spirit in our Journey with Jesus - a daily trek of discipleship that we never walk alone!
The Spirit is involved in our salvation experience - coming to live within us when we are baptized.
Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Paul calls the Holy Spirit “… the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15)
Titus 3:3-5 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
1. Jesus said that we could know the Holy Spirit.
John 14:15-17 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
Sanders: "Do we enjoy His personal help and empowering in daily life, or is He just a mystical, shadowy figure of whom we have no clear concept?”
Jesus clarified the Spirit’s primary ministry: “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14) The aim of the Spirit is to glorify Christ and that will be our objective as well.
2. Encountering the Holy Spirit on our Daily Trek
In the Word.
Sanders: “The Spirit of truth is both inspirer and interpreter of the Scriptures. He illumines the sacred page as we traverse it under His guidance. He delights to unfold before our eyes the glories, virtues, and achievements of the Savior.” The Word of God is a tool of the Holy Spirit for…
-Warfare - Given to the children of God for Spiritual warfare - resisting temptation and defeating the ways of the Enemy. Ephesians 6:17 says the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
-Comfort and Encouragement. Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
-Wisdom for daily living.
-Salvation. “The Bible’s single theme is ‘The Salvation of Man.’ Within it’s sixty-six books written over 1500 years by, at least, forty authors guided by the Holy Spirit, it is an amazing document.” (Black)
In Prayer.
Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." What a blessing to know the Holy Spirit is praying with us.
In Service.
The Spirit will help us to do everything that falls within the will of God. We actually do not do anything for the Lord on our own - He is always with us!
In Character.
Sanders: “The passion of the Holy Spirit is to transform us into the likeness of Christ.” Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control …If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
In Strength.
Ephesians 3:16 "that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being." This might be called sanctification - growing in holiness - depending on the Spirit to help us overcoming sin and grow to be more like Christ in our inner being!
Conclusion
The Holy Spirit is essential in our daily trek of discipleship. He leads us in the word, assists us in prayer, enables us in service, emboldens us in character, empowers us in strength!
Three responses to the Holy Spirit in the life of the disciple:
-Do not Quench the Spirit (1 Thess 5:19 “Do not quench the Spirit.”). Quench suggests a smothered fire…smothered by a cold response. (DeWelt). The word used here means “to suppress, stifle.” Walvoord: “…being unyielded to Him…It is an exhortation to maintain the same attitude as was adopted in the original surrender to the will of God. … The believer must not resist the one to whom he has given his life and surrendered his will.”
-Do not Grieve the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30 …Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.) The Spirit of God is holy and He is a person. This is an appeal to allow nothing in the disciples’ life contrary to the holiness of the Spirit. The remedy for grieving the Spirit is confession of sin. (1 John 1:9).
-Walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.) The disciple of Jesus walks in the presence and power of the Spirit who dwells within. Walvoord: “It is clear that walking by the Spirit is a continual experience…the failure to continue walking by the Spirit will result in immediate spiritual failure.” Every area of our spiritual life is affected by the presence of the Spirit. Every step we take should be guided by truth.
Growing in the Spirit is growing in the strength of discipleship - it’s a daily trek - a journey with Jesus. “Imagine walking with a good friend along a well-worn path. As you walk together there is fellowship, you talk about what’s on each other’s heart, you share openly and freely, and you are both headed in the same direction. That is what God wants with us. He wants to walk with us step-by-step through each day in constant fellowship, leading us and
directing our lives through his Spirit.” (Etheredge)
There is a promise attached to growing in the Spirit.
Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Determine today….
-To receive the Spirit in faith through baptism.
-To repent of ways that have quenched and grieved the Spirit.
-To re-commit to walk with the Spirit each day.
-To remember each day that you do not walk this journey alone.
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Questions for Discussion
1. Whenever we talk about the Holy Spirit, questions come to mind. What is your biggest question about the Holy Spirit?
2. What do you think Paul is telling Titus about the Holy Spirit in Titus 3:5 when he speaks of the “washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit”? Can you think of some ways the Holy Spirit is connected to our baptism?
3. When Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you”, what comes to mind? What does Jesus mean when he says “You know him”?
4. If the aim of the Spirit is to glorify Jesus (John 16:14), how does He go about doing this?
5. In what way do we encounter the Holy Spirit in the following settings:
- In the Word
- In Prayer
- In Service
- In Character
- In Strength
6. What does it mean to “Quench” or “Grieve” the Holy Spirit?
7. In what way is the Holy Spirit a promise for our future? (Romans 8:11)
8. What else did you want to talk about today?
Resources
Black, Garth. Empowered by the Grace of God.Tate Publishing, 2014.
DeWelt, Don. The Power of the Holy Spirit, Vol. 1. College Press, 1963.
Etheredge, Craig. Know the Spirit’s Role in Discipleship.
https://discipleship.org/blog/know-the-spirits-role-in-discipleship/
Finley, Robert. The Holy Spirit Our Helper, 2009.
Rose Guide to Discipleship. Rose Publishing, 2016.
Sanders, J. Oswald. Spiritual Discipleship. Moody Press, 1994.
Walvoord, John F. The Holy Spirit, 3rd Edition. Zondervan, 1954.
