In talking with the Lord about the topic for this month, I was encouraged to study out the Holy Spirit. There is a lot of confusion in the Christian world today about who the Holy Spirit really is and what His purpose is.
Throughout this month and maybe even the next few months, I want to break down the different aspects of the Holy Spirit. Who He is. What He does. There really is a lot of information about the Holy Spirit, and we won’t even scratch the surface of who He is in this post, but little by little we will start to get a clearer picture of who the Holy Spirit is.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at our scripture for today.
Today’s Verses
7 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: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 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.
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.
John 16:7-15 NKJV
Who the Holy Spirit is
There is a lot that we can unpack from these verses, but today we will focus on the Holy Spirit as our Helper.
Jesus tells us here that it is better that He return to heaven and make intercession for us so that He can send us a Helper that will remain with us always.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
John 14:16 NKJV
This dispels any thought that the Holy Spirit is not for today. This “another Helper” is the Holy Spirit. We see in this verse that He will abide with us FOREVER.
Why we need the Holy Spirit
But some might ask why do we need another helper? These are three reasons from the above scriptures that show why we need the Holy Spirit to help us.
- To convict the world (of sin, righteousness and judgement)
- He is here to guide us
- To communicate with us
These are just three of the aspects of the help we receive. Let’s look at the first one now.
To Convict the World
Firstly, there are two separate groups of people that Jesus is talking about in these verses: the world (those without salvation) and the church (those with salvation).
Jesus is saying here that part of the Holy Spirit’s job is to convict THE WORLD of sin. This is very important. I’ll hear many christians saying, “We’ll the Holy Spirit’s really been convicting me about my sin lately.”
NO! The Holy Spirit’s job is to convict the world of sin. It’s your own recreated human spirit that convicts you of sin.
And Jesus tells us why the Holy Spirit convicts the world in the following verses.
9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
John 16:9-11 NKJV
The Spirit’s job is to work on the hearts of the lost and broken – those in need of Jesus. Romans puts it this way…
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16 KJV
The Spirit who brings life to the words on the pages of the Bible, and the Holy Spirit that opens the eyes of a person’s heart to see that they need Jesus.
Without the Holy Spirit, trying to witness to people will not work. You cannot reason your way into heaven; therefore, you need the revelatory – the HELPER – the Holy Spirit to come alongside and give you the words to speak.
To Guide Us
This leads right into the next aspect of the Holy Spirit’s help – guidance.
“…He will guide you into all truth…”
The Word of God has power when the Holy Spirit comes alongside and reveals it to us. He’ll reveal scripture verses….
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 29:29 NKJV
The Holy Spirit makes known the secret things of the Lord when you study to show yourself approved.
9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
Ephesians 1:9
To Communicate with us
Did you every think about verse 7 of John 16 where it says, “It is to your advantage that I go away”? If you don’t already see the advantages in these first two points of the Holy Spirits help it is evident here.
“…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.”
John 16:13-14
Before the Holy Spirit was on the earth the only way to hear from Jesus was to physically walk up to Jesus and talk to Him. Now, many of us would love to see Jesus right now and walk with Him and talk with Him, but Jesus is saying here that it is better that we have the Holy Spirit. Why?
Because without the Holy Spirit we don’t have the power Jesus has. Moreover, without the Holy Spirit, we don’t have the communication with Jesus that we do now. Now, anyone anywhere in all the world can talk with Jesus. It’d be like having to go to church every time you needed an answer from God.
Now with the Holy Spirit we have access to the same power and authority that Jesus performed miracles with. We have access to the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead! (Romans 8:11) And he lives on the inside of you and I as Christians.
Jesus, himself, did not perform a single miracle without the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3).
This Helper – the Holy Spirit – is alive inside of us revealing the Word of God (Jesus) to us. He is communicating to us and through us every day (if we will be sensitive to His leadings).
Is that it?
NO! That is not all the Holy Spirit is. This post just barely scratches the surface of all that the Holy Spirit is in a Christian’s life. All of this power and ability is accessible to any Christian who would ask. The great thing is that receiving the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues is just as easy as receiving Jesus.
Simply ask for the Holy Spirit
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Luke 11:13 JKV
If you want to receive the in filling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues simply ask the Father. Here is a very simple prayer that you can pray to receive Him.
God I want all that you have for me. I want the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I invite you in right now. Fill me with your spirit in a greater way. And as I pray I receive the gift of tongues.
Prayer for Baptism of the Spirit
Now simply begin to move your tongue and form the syllables you hear down on the inside of you. As you do this the Spirit will begin to use your tongue to talk divine secrets to God.
For more information about what you just did visit the Getting Started page.
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