After the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples for 40 days. Then when they were all gathered together with Him on the top of the Mount of Olive, He was taken up into Heaven before their eyes (Acts 1:1-11). However, before He left He gave His followers a very special and wonderful promise that He should not leave them as orphans in this world. The Lord Jesus Christ has not left us alone in this world. He has sent us His Holy Spirit.
John 14:16-18 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
John 16:7-8 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
John 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
A. The Holy Spirit is God
The first thing we have to know is that the Holy Spirit is God.
Acts 5:3-4 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
2Cor. 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
B. The gift or the promise of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is God's gift to every believer. When a person believes in Jesus Christ, and receives salvation and forgiveness of sin, the Holy Spirit comes to live in the believer.
Acts 2:38-39 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Gal. 3:13-14 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
C. The work of the Holy Spirit
1. IN THE BELIEVER'S PERSONAL LIFE
a. THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS AND COMFORTS US.
John 14:16-18 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
b. THE HOLY SPIRIT TESTIFIES OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
Rom. 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
1John 3:24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
c. THE HOLY SPIRIT TEACHES US.
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
d. THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS US.
Rom. 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
e. THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US TO LIVE FOR GOD.
Gal. 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Rom. 8:8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
f. THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US TO PRAY.
Rom. 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
g. THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES LIFE TO OUR BODIES.
Rom. 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
2. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS IN THE BELIEVER FOR SERVICE.
a. THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES POWER AND BOLDNESS.
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
b. THE HOLY SPIRIT INTRODUCES SUPERNATURAL GIFTS.
1Cor. 12:7-11 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
c. THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS TO UNDERSTAND AND SHARE GOD’S WORD.
1Cor. 2:9-10 But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
d. THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLS OUR SPIRIT WITH TRUE WORSHIP TO GOD.
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
Eph. 5:18-19 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
e. THE HOLY SPIRIT GLORIFIES JESUS CHRIST.
John 16:13-15 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
D. HOW TO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.
1. SUBMIT YOURSELF TO THE HOLY SPIRIT AND GOD’S WORD.
Rom. 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
1Cor. 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
Luke 6:46-49 "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great."
2. REPENT AND CONFESS ALL SINS.
1John 1:7-9 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
3. WE MUST HAVE FAITH! ASK TO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Luke 11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
a. PRAY WITH FAITH AND YOU WILL RECEIVE!
1John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
b. NOW BY FAITH START TO DEPEND ON HIS STRENGTH.
Zech. 4:6 So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the Lord of hosts.
God wants that we are filled with the Holy Spirit so that we can glorify Him through our lives. Let's be filled with the Holy Spirit!
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