The Holy Spirit Working In You

Introductory Considerations

1. Tody is the day of Pentecost, the day on which we remember the events that marked the active beginning and work of the church of Jesus Christ.

2. What does that day of Pentecost make you think of? Is it the wind that blew into the room where the disciples were praying? Is it the tongues of fire that rested on each of them? Or the fact that they spoke in tongues?.

3. To think of these things misses the main point of what the day was all about.

4. When you think of HS what comes to your mind? The idea of the power and miracles or healings that He works thru certain people? The gifts of tongues or prophesy that He gives?

5. Often these are the thing we consider when we think of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. The way the Spirit gives evidence of the presence of God, manifestations.

6. While these things are NB, today we look at HS and His work and discover that the most NB work He does is behind the scenes.

7. As we consider HS, we see how He works in the world today, in our own lives, and in our ministry.

Teaching

1. Who is the Holy Spirit?

a.Jesus says that He will send another Counsellor. The HS is referred to as "He" or "Him". He is a distinct person.

b. Jesus was a counsellor but now God will send another counsellor. Another means not the same - HS not just Spirit of Christ as an extension of Christ.

c. Another does not mean different. HS, as will see, continues to do work of Christ.

d. As a person, HS speaks, leads, guides and can be grieved.

e. HS is God - the third person of the trinity.(Pss 139; Acts 5:3-4; Heb 9:14)

f. Christ called him paraclntos - advocate, counsellor, comforter. Paraclntos can mean some of each of these, but rather than debate, we will consider what HS does.

e. As an advocate or counsellor He is like a lawyer pleading a case. Christ came down to plead God’s case to us and now is in heaven pleading our case before God. HS taken His place here to plead God’s case to us.

2. In speaking to the believers , Jesus says that The HS will be with us forever. The HS is in the midst of us and along side of us and most amazing of all he dwells in every believer - in you and in me.

3. In general the work of the HS is to build up our relationship with Christ. To know, as we read in Jn14:20, that Jesus and the Father are one, that Jesus is God and to know and grow in our relationship with Him. The HS has been sent to do that by both the Father and by Jesus

4. Has been said that relationship of believer to HS is like a bad marriage. Husband lives with his wife but doesn’t appreciate her. Perhaps we don’t appreciate the HS because he always seems to be in the background, away from the spotlight. In fact, HS is the operator of the spotlight, which He shines on Jesus. Jesus appreciates work of HS and shows this by the way He speaks about Him. He helps us to appreciate His work by helping us to understand what He does in more detail.

5 To discover that we turn to John 16.

6. Jesus first teaches the work of the HS in the world. He tells us that the HS has come to convict the world. He tells the world that they are guilty. The conviction is in regards to sin, to righteousness and to judgement.

7. First he convicts them in regard of sin.

a. HS lets them know of the sins they commit. Without work of HS people not aware of their sin. They are convicted in guilt not because they sin and we do not but because we believe have had Christ takes our guilt away. In fact greatest sin might be said to reject Christ and the life and hope which he offers to us.

b. By the HS convicting the world of sin, they might realize their need to come to Christ. HS exposes guilt and lead them to repentance.

c. Most NB work - I have seen people embrace X without sense of own sin - doesn’t last.

8. The world is also convicted in regards to righteousness.

a. Jews said Jesus was not righteous and that He needed to die, but Jesus says HS will convict them because Jesus is going to the Father, which proves that Christ is really the one who is righteous and that they are not.

b. By convicting them that Christ is righteous the HS shows that we are not. Since we have seen what real righteousness is, we have a standard against which we can measure our righteousness.