The Holy Spirit helps us to reflect the Lord in our lives!
SESSION TWO – Study of the
Holy Spirit
His Sanctifying Ministry
When
the miracle of salvation occurred, and the Holy Spirit came into and dwelled in
your life, you were born into God’s family and you became His precious,
treasured child. By God’s grace, He has set you apart—chosen you to live a life
that pleases Him and honors the sacrifice of the blood of Christ on your
behalf.
Too many Christians fall
into a trap of “self-effort.” They work
in the “flesh” rather than rely on the “spirit” that resides within them. They
begin the Christian life by faith in Christ, but then they will sometimes
assume the responsibility of “self-change” by trying to live the Christian life
in their own power and effort. This is always a failing proposition. What began
at salvation as a work of the Spirit, they tried to continue in their own strength and power.
Galatians
3:3 – “Are you so foolish? Having begun
by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
I.
The Holy Spirit Searches
I Corinthians 2:10–11: “these
are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all
things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts
except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts
of God except the Spirit of God.” (NIV)
Psalm
139:23–24: “Search
me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there
is any offensive way in me, and lead me
in the way everlasting.” (NIV)
God’s
Spirit knows us better than we can possibly know ourselves. He can reveal
things to us about our hearts and our lives that we would otherwise never see. He searches the heart and reveals things you
never saw before. In essence, He uncovers flaws and imperfections that you
never cared about so that He might purify and sanctify your heart and life.
II.
The Holy Spirit Convicts
Just as the Holy Spirit
convicted us of our need for a Savior, He also continues to convict us every
day in our heart. When allowed to freely
work in your heart, the Holy Spirit will pierce our conscience every time we do
something wrong. For some of people,
before they became a Christian, making bad choices and sinning did not seem to
bother them at all. But after we experience
salvation, then the Holy Spirit alerts and stirs our conscience, and lovingly
brings conviction our way to help us turn from sin and cleanse our heart. If we resist or reject that conviction, our
heart becomes calloused and less able to hear Him.
John 16:7-11- 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 go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he
will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
10 concerning righteousness, because I go to
the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning
judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
III. The Holy Spirit Teaches
When Jesus was about to
be crucified, He was preparing His disciples for not only the crucifixion, but
also for His resurrection and ascension to Heaven. He was preparing them to
continue on, even though He would not be with them any longer. This was difficult for them to grasp. Jesus
tells them that after He departs, God will send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter,
to be with them. The Holy Spirit is our teacher who helps us understand God’s
Word and since He is searching through us and convicting us, He knows exactly
how to take the Word of God and perfectly apply it to our heart in ways that no
human being ever could. Every time we
read our Bible, hear a message, listen to godly music, or enjoy sweet
fellowship with Christian friends, we can be listening to His voice and
understanding what He is teaching us. In every circumstance of life, you have a
divine power in you seeking to reveal the truth to you.
Jesus said in 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 that I have said to you.” (ESV)
He also said in John
16:13, “When the Spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority,
but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that
are to come.” (ESV)
1 John 2:27, “But the anointing that you received from him
abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his
anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it
has taught you, abide in him.” (ESV)
IV. The
Holy Spirit Reminds
Remember when we read in John 14:26 says, “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 that I have said to you.” (ESV)
Consider the phrase, “...bring all things to your
remembrance.” He is our heavenly
reminder. He prompts us to remember the truth and to do right. He will help us
to apply the principles of scripture to our present circumstances. When facing
a tough decision, He will recall principles that apply. When needing wisdom and
insight, He will remind us of Biblical truth that will guide our steps.
V. The
Holy Spirit Enlightens
We all have blind spots
— things we can’t see about the circumstances we are facing in life. We have all faced moments when we just did
not know or understand what we needed to know. God helps us deal with these limitations
through His word, godly counsel, prayer, but also through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s job is to enlighten and reveal
to us what we need to know that which we did not know before. In a very practical way, the Holy Spirit
turns the lights on for us and brings us into the “Aha!” moments by giving us
discernment and insight and wisdom: “Oh now I see what the Lord wants me to
see” or “Now I understand what the Lord wants me to know” and “OK, now I can
sense the Lord’s presence in the midst of all these issues I’m dealing with in
my life.”
Think about this verse
again in this light. John 16:13, “When
the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will
not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he
will declare to you the things that are to come.” (ESV)”
VI. The Holy Spirit Produces Growth
Galatians 5:22–23
teaches, “But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law.”
We will look at these
“gifts” more closely in another lesson, but as a part of His sanctifying
ministry, the Holy Spirit does produce spiritual fruit that grows in our life. This
is where the personal life change is produced by the Holy Spirit and becomes
visible and evident in our life. It is what will cause others around us to
pause and say, “Something is different about you.” Or “What happened to you? Why are you this way now?” The Holy Spirit desires
to cultivate godly qualities in our heart that show up in our life, our
relationships, and our daily walk.
VII. The Holy Spirit
Produces Holiness
Holiness is a practical
word we should embrace as Christians. Holiness
is simply purity from sin. It is the defining attribute of God, and it is His
ultimate goal for every one of His children.
He not only desires for you to be saved from the penalty of sin, He
desires you to be pure from the presence of sin in your daily life.
This is the pinnacle work of His sanctifying ministry — to lead you away
from practicing sin on a daily basis. The
result of the work of the Holy Spirit in you will be that you are aware
of sin, and you live to avoid sin. This doesn’t mean
you will never sin. It means you will sin less and respond biblically before
God when you do.
Ephesians 5:8-9 says, “for at one time you were darkness, but now
you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” (for the fruit of light
is found in all that is good and right and true) (ESV)
1
Corinthians 6:19-20 teaches us, “Or do
you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you
have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So
glorify God in your body.” (ESV)
Philippians 1:6 we read,
“And I am sure of this, that he who began
a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
(ESV)
God began a good work in
you by His Spirit, but it doesn’t happen overnight. It will take the rest of
your life. This verse tells us to live
confidently because God’s work is progressing in us every day, whether we feel
it or not. We will be tempted to lose
sight of the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work.
We will tend to forget that your heart is sacred ground for God’s grace.
We will be tempted to resist the work of the Holy Spirit and remain in a life
of sin and fleshly living, in spite of the fact that you are saved.
Don’t
fall into that trap, you are God’s child. You are special and God desires to do
a great work in and through you. Live every moment in light of the sanctifying
ministry that the Holy Spirit is performing in you, and thank God every day
that you are not alone in figuring out life and trying to live the Christian
life. You are His masterpiece in progress.
These notes are from the book, "Living Beyond Your Capacity" by Paul Chappell for the Bible Study led by Tony Baatz on Monday, January 25, 2016.
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