The Holy Spirit
Most of you know about God the Father, and Jesus the Son. But do you know about and understand the Holy Spirit? We are going to talk a little bit about Him and why Jesus asked the Father to send Him to you.
Jesus tells us in John 14:17,17 that He “will ask the Father, and he will give you a counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.” The Holy Spirit will be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. Jesus did not want to leave you all alone. He comes to you through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus tells us in John 14:26,27 that this counselor, “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." The Holy Spirit wants to teach you the things of God, and counsel you in His ways. He wants to teach you what God is like, so you can really know Him.
Jesus also says in John 15:26,27 that “when the counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” The Holy Spirit testifies, or bears witness to you that Jesus is who He says He is.
In His last hours with His followers, Jesus told them that the Father would send the comforter, the Holy Spirit, to them after He left. Just before going up to heaven, Jesus commanded them to wait in the city until the gift of the Father, the Holy Spirit, came on them: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:5,8) The Holy Spirit was given to you for power, so that you can obey Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all men”. The Holy Spirit gives you the power you need to help you bring other people to Him.
The power of theHoly Spirit is essential if you want to live a victorious, productive Christian life. When the Holy Spirit is operating in yourlife, you have access to the same power that created the entire universe, the power that Jesus operated in, and the power that raised Him from the dead.
There are three things to remember about the Holy Spirit and His interaction with people:
He is WITH everybody: John 16:8 says the Spirit convicts the world of sin,
righteousness, and judgment. God's Spirit is omnipresent, every place at every time.
He is IN all believers: Ephesians 1:13 notes that the Holy Spirit is a deposit, in
essence a down payment, of salvation for those who believe. John 20:19-23
illustrates how Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to those who followed Him.
He is UPON those in power who are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the
disciples to "stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high"
(Luke 24:49) and "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you..."
(Acts 1:8).
Before you heard the message of salvation in Jesus, the Holy Spirit was WITH you, convicting you of your sin, drawing you to God. When you decided to accept the free gift of salvation offered by Jesus, asked Him to cleanse you from sin, and made Him the Lord of your life, the Holy Spirit made His dwelling IN you. The Word of God tells us in Ephesians 1:13,14 "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession ---to the praise of his glory. "
The followers of Jesus were waiting in the upper room of a house as Jesus had told them to do when
the “sound of a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting, and they saw what looked like tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each one of them.” When this happened, all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, or languages, as the Spirit enabled them.
This filling of the Holy Spirit and “speaking in tongues” is commonly called the “Baptism” of the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist says in Matt. 3:11 that “I baptize you with water, …… but he (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” This too, is why the Holy Spirit was given to you.
The Lord Jesus has given us incredible resources and has made His power available to us. He has made us to be kings and priests. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. He has granted us authority over all of the forces of the enemy. He has made His own omnipotent power available to us. The Bible makes incredible statements about these resources, and how God intends for us to use them. In John 14:12, for example, Jesus promised that if we believe in Him, we can do, not only the same works that He did, but even greater ones. That's power! In Ephesians 1:19, 20 Paul indicates that the power available to us is like the awesome power displayed at the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The purpose of this power is to enable us to take the Gospel message into all the world (Acts 1:8) and see people delivered out of darkness into the kingdom of God.
The Holy Spirit comes to teach you and bring you into the fullness of life that God has planned for you. You need the power of the Holy Spirit working through you to move in the gifts of the Spirit and accomplish all that He wants you to do.
Holy Spirit Object Lesson: Apple
Who Has Seen the Wind? Object Lesson
"The Questions" Quiz Show Game
Next Lesson: Baptism of the Holy Spirit