A friend of mine recently shared a message that was preached by Charles Haddon Spurgeon in the late 1800’s. This message was so thought provoking and inspirational that I have been pondering it this whole week. It has caused me to assess my personal reliance as well as dependence on the Holy Spirit in my walk with Jesus Christ.
God the Father sent His Son to this world as a child to live and dwell with us. This is a truth that is acknowledged and celebrated by us every year at Christmas. As the year passes we also acknowledge and praise God for the gift of redemption that was poured out on all who believe at the cross of Calvary as Christ took the curse of our sins on the tree. We then rejoice at His victory over death as Christ rose to life again and appeared to over 500 people before returning to His Father.
We readily acknowledge the work of the Father and we cannot deny the work of the Son in our life if we have truly been redeemed by His blood. But what about the third person of the Triune God, the Holy Spirit? Why are we so reticent to acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
Jesus, speaking to a crowd at the Festival of Tabernacles, shortly before being arrested and tried before the Sanhedrin, shared this with the people on the last day of the festival. John chapter 7, verses 37-39 says, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
In John 14:16-17, Jesus goes on to tell them more about this Helper. He says, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.”
In verses 25-26 of the same chapter He goes on to explain even further about the Holy Spirit by saying, “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, 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.”
All of these promises from Jesus should encourage us, strengthen us and embolden us to do the work that God has called us to do.
Let us take a look at what Jesus promises us in these few short verses.
1.) Rivers of living water will flow through us. As the Holy Spirit regenerates us, we will be motivated to share this excitement with those that we come into contact with. It will percolate out of us in an uncontrollable fashion as the joy of knowing Christ fills us with an effervescent fervor.
2.) The Spirit of truth will live in us forever. The veracity of God’s Word becomes embedded into our being.
3.) He will bring to remembrance everything that Jesus ever said when we
need to have the Words to share. When we feel tongue tied in a situation when the Gospel is being shared, we can pray and ask the Holy Spirit to bring the things we need to remembrance and He will.
How can we not recognize and praise the work of the third person of the Trinity? He is the one that gives people understanding, that awakens our conscience, that convicts us of sin, and that teaches us to believe and trust the Word of God. He is also the one that empowers us to do things that we cannot even fathom.
In Ephesians chapter 3, verses 16-20, Paul addresses the people in Ephesus and tells them of this power of the Holy Spirit. He says,“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
This power was not just poured out on the disciples and the people in the church in Acts. That same power is at work within us that are in Christ Jesus throughout all generations. We need to live a life dependent on the Holy Spirit and as we rely on Him we should be expecting Him to work, and pray to that end.
Start each day by asking God to fill you to overflowing with the indwelling Power of the Holy Spirit and entreat Him to flow from you as you purpose to live a life that reflects Christ in all you do. Then watch what God will do in us and through us. To God be the Glory!!
