John 16:7-11 reveals to us much about the work of the Holy Spirit on earth today. (Biblical quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1982 )
1/ The Holy Spirit comes to earth to take Christ’s place to be our “Helper” . . . John 16:7: “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” Jesus bodily went to heaven 2000 years ago. It was to our “advantage” that He did too, because in His body, He could only be in one place at a time. Now, in His absence, we have the omnipresent Holy Spirit to be our “Helper”. Other translations say “Comforter”. Some say “Advocate”. The word translated “Helper” is in the Greek the word “paracletos”. It means “one who comes alongside to help.” The King James uses the word “Helper”. The Living New Testament uses the word “Advocate”. There is a good basis for that Word, since Christ is also called our “paracletos” in a John 2:1: “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” It is obvious, in the context, that the paracletos here serves like an attorney to represent one to a judge. According to Albert Barnes: “The word "comforter" is frequently used by Greek writers to denote an advocate in a court; one who intercedes; a monitor, a teacher, an assistant, a helper. It is somewhat difficult, therefore, to fix the precise meaning of the word. It may be translated either advocate, monitor, teacher, or helper. (“Barnes Notes on the New Testament”, Revel, 1966).
I’d been a great sinner in my earlier years. I needed someone to be my attorney. Christ cleared me before the Father and is doing a wonderful job now representing me in heaven. But, I also need an attorney on earth: that’s the Holy Spirit. He’s helping me by doing what verses 8 explains-John 16:8: “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment”. “Convict” means to persuade someone to do something or to convince them of something. So, the Holy Spirit will convince us that we’re a sinner and need a Savior and will persuade us to repent of sins to find forgiveness through Christ. This is a first-time event when we get saved and an ongoing event throughout our Christian experience.
Genesis 6:3: “And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." “Strive” (according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance: Heb. Duwn; pronounced deen; means “to rule; by implication to judge (as umpire); also to strive (as at law) :- contend, execute (judgment), judge, minister judgment, plead (the cause).” So, Gen. 6:3 pictures the Holy Spirit throughout a man’s lifetime (even up to the maximum 120 yrs.) trying to convict him of his sin, to contend with his rejection of the Lord’s way for his life, and to plead with him urging him to come to Christ.
2/ The Holy Spirit comes to convict us of sin . . . John 16:9: “. . . of sin, because they do not believe in Me.” Sin is what necessitates a Savior and the Holy Spirit is the one who will help us believe if we but follow His Spirit to an altar of repentance. To “believe not in Christ” is the greatest sin a man can commit. Note Hebrews 3:12: “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”; and Mark 16:16: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
3/ The Holy Spirit comes to convict or convince us of righteousness . . . John 16:10: “. . . of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more.” When Jesus walked the earth He was the personification of righteousness. Those who saw Him and heard Him knew exactly what righteousness was all about. But now, in His physical absence, we need the help of the invisible Holy Spirit who shows us the way of righteousness by persuading our heart through the means of conviction and enlightenment.
When I was in the 6th grade, something happened to me spiritually. I had accepted Christ in the 2nd grade. Coming home from a vacation Bible school, I joyfully announcing to my mother and sister, “I got saved today!” I had had an experience with God! And for the rest of my grammar school years, though I was not a regular church attendee, I did go to church occasionally and read the Bible occasionally. The church where I sometimes attended was very legalistic. I learned that there are five things Christians absolutely must not do: gamble, drink, smoke, dance, or go the movies. In fact, I had been taught that if I attended a theater and Jesus came, I would miss the rapture. I was doing quite well, until Walt Disney’s “The Shaggy Dog” came to the Granada Theater in town! I tried to resist the allurement, but couldn’t. I remember the guilt I felt in that theater. It was hard to enjoy myself at first. But, as the movie progressed I felt less and less guilty. That day become a turning point in my life as it became one of many other future decisions I made contrary to what I believed was right. I was soon living a sinful life like any other unsaved teenager. That day at the show became a stumbling block of Satan to help me backslide. It wasn’t because I saw “The Shaggy Dog.” I started backsliding because I had violated an important scriptural principle in Romans 14:23: “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”
People don’t go to hell because they go to bars, or gamble at Vegas, or get drunk. They go to hell because they will take any risk to enjoy their sin and rebellion: any risk, that is, other than to put their faith in Christ and possibly have to risk giving up their favorite sin! `At that theatre nearly 50 years ago, I was full of doubt. I was full of dread. I was not acting in faith. The bad thing wasn’t that I would go to the movies. It’s that I would be willing to miss the rapture, reject what I felt was righteous, and resist any conviction of the Holy Spirit just so I could do what I wanted to do. It was the age-old, satanic sin of rebellion! At 11, I had apparently reached the age of accountability. I was willing to say “no” to God; even if my very eternal salvation was at stake; just for an hour and a half of fun!
This reminds me of the fateful decision that Esau made in Hebrews 12:14-16: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.” You have a birthright through the new birth to make heaven your home. But, you can sell-out to the devil. For one morsel of sin, you can lose it all. To prevent this, we have the help of the Holy Spirit. That’s why v. 12 says, “Pursue peace . . . and “holiness”. Holiness means acts that are pure and right before God; acts for which the Holy Spirit is trying to persuade you!I had an uncle who is now in eternity. He struggled greatly all his life to be a Christian. The great stumbling block to him was playing pool.
Raised in a Pentecostal church in the 20’s and 30’s, to Clarence, pool was a big no-no (especially since it usually involved gambling and playing in bars!) He was in and out of church and struggled all his life to serve Christ. But, he never was willing to give up pool. As was the case with me, in God’s eyes it wasn’t the pool table: it was the table of his heart where Clarence had written, “I’ll serve God, but only if I can continue to play pool. I will never give that up!” That stubbornness made his life relatively fruitless.I read about another man who was a compulsive pool player. The sport monopolized his life! But, one day He felt the Spirit of God demanding him to “lay pool on the altar.” Unlike my uncle, He obeyed the Holy Spirit’s dealings; repented of pool and gave it up; actually thinking he would never be able to play pool again (imagine what a sacrifice this was to him!). He began serving God with a new sense of victory and wholeness. And (guess what), it wasn’t too long afterward, that the Lord allowed him to have a pool table in his own home! He plays it occasionally, but his bondage to it is gone. He chose to be a love-slave to God; laid pool at the cross; and God gave it back to him, now sanctified by the Spirit’s holiness in his life. One of the devil’s greatest lies is that God doesn’t want you to have fun. God created fun; not the devil. But, know for certain that if the Lord is asking you to give up some “pleasure of sin for a season”, it’s only because He wants to give you the “greater riches of Christ” (Heb. 11:25, 26). Don’t let any sin stand between you and heaven or you and the Holy Spirit.
4/ The Holy Spirit comes to convict or convince us of judgment . . . John 16:11: “. . . of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” Satan is the “ruler of this world”. In 2 Cor. 4:4, Satan is called “the god of this age” and in Ephesians 2:2, he’s called “the prince of the power of the air.” Satan is “judged”. Matthew 25:41 explains how: “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Because of Satan’s rebellion he has been judged guilty already and is doomed to eternal punishment. Now, the Holy Spirit is helping us see how evil Satan is and how awful hell is and is beckoning us to prepare for our judgment (and avoid Satan’s fate!). The Holy Spirit does this by His work through: A/ The Word of God which He inspired-II Peter 1:21: “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”; B/ the preaching of the gospel with His empowerment-1 Peter 1:12: “. . . those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven (Jesus took His place at the right hand of the throne of God and the Holy Spirit came to earth to take His place)”; and C/ Conviction and enlightenment: revealing to you the things that are evil and will keep you out of heaven, and the things that are right and will prepare you for the judgment.
Paul gives us insight into this truth in 1 Corinthians 2:9-13: “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. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”Acts 1:2: talks about “the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles.” Jesus gave commandments for the Apostles to obey and commandments for the Apostles to teach. He didn’t do this on His own, but through the anointing and guidance of the Holy Spirit. I find it fascinating that Jesus, the Son of God sent from heaven, had to be led by and empowered by the Holy Spirit. What a lesson to his adopted sons of God! These “Holy Ghost commandments” are written in the Word, preached through the gospel, and personally applied by the Holy Spirit. No wonder then that Peter said in Acts 5:32: “We are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Preachers witness to the truth and power of the gospel, and so does the Holy Spirit. But, (and this is a very big but), the Holy Spirit is given to and works through “those who obey Him.”
Obedience to the Holy Spirit is the key to having more of the Holy Spirit’s power, blessing and guidance in our lives.I was pastoring a church in Hawaiian Gardens (near Long Beach). Kathy, my wife, my younger children (Carissa and Nathan) and I were on our way to Riverside to visit with my parents. As we drove down the 91 Freeway, my wife told my daughter to do something but she did not obey her soon enough. I believe that “delayed obedience is disobedience,” so I reached to the backseat and spanked her a couple of times (I didn’t “hit” her for you social worker “spies” reading this!). To explain why I spanked her, I said, “Carissa, the reason why I spanked you is because your mother and I are teaching you INSTANT OBEDIENCE. And, the reason why we are teaching you instant obedience is because, one day we might be walking down a trail together, and I might see a snake and say, “Carissa, don’t move!” And, if you are not used to being INSTANTLY OBEDIENT to me, you might move and say, “Why, daddy? Why can’t I move?” And, that snake might bite you. And, I love you too much to allow that to happen.
I was so proud of myself for thinking up such a wise little parable!After visiting with my parents awhile, I later that day decided to take a walk there in Riverside. I took my LA times along with me to read while I was walking (I am a super Type A: we try to cram as many events possible into the least amount of time!). As I was walking down the street; the newspaper lifted up and spread out so I could read it as I walked; I heard a strange noise. I looked up and (God is my witness) ahead of me (maybe 20-40 feet), crossing the street was a rattlesnake! I have walked, jogged, hunted and hiked since I was a kid in the Riverside/Ontario area and to my recollection, I had never seen a live rattlesnake before. A couple of hours after sharing my parable on obedience with Carissa, I meet a rattlesnake! It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what my Heavenly Father was saying to me through this strange event . . . “So, my Son, you’re requiring INSTANT OBEDIENCE of your daughter, are you? Because, one day you might be walking down a trail, and you might see a poisonous snake, and say, “Carissa, don’t move!” And if your daughter isn’t used to being INSTANTLY OBEDIENT, she might move and be bitten? And, you love her too much to allow that to happen? Well, Son, I too am requiring INSTANT OBEDIENCE of you! Because, one day walking down the trail of life, that serpent (the devil) might set a trap for you. And, if you are not being INSTANTLY OBEDIENT, you might be bitten: you might lose your life; you might lose your marriage; you might lose your ministry; . . . you might lose your soul! And I love you too much to allow that to happen.”
I felt very convicted of disobedience. (And loved of my Father that He would give me such a graphic illustration from nature). To be honest, at that point in my life, I was a very disobedient son. I was stubborn, full of sin, and not diligently seeking to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. The Lord would no longer allow me to remain that way. The Spirit began to deal with me in a fresh way about “sin, righteousness and judgment” and I began to learn about the fear of the Lord. I learned to cooperate with Him in conquering areas of my life where I had been so disobedient. I am not perfected yet, but the Holy Spirit transformed important areas of my life and can now trust me with many things (that He couldn’t trust me with back then). And I continue walking down the trail of life: a trail where, by the grace of God (and I pray for this regularly!), I have not fallen into a rattlesnake-like-trap where I would lose my life, my marriage, my ministry or my soul!After that time of repentance and deliverance in my life, the Lord moved me up to a new level with the Holy Spirit. He began to use me in a wonderful way as an evangelist: in healing, deliverance and salvations. I have since joined the apostles as another witness that God gives “The Holy Spirit to them that obey Him.” Are you obeying Him? Are you instantly obedient? Or, is a rattlesnake around the next bend, waiting and ready to bite you?
5/ The Holy Spirit comes to reveal God’s plans to us, as we are able to receive them . . . John 16:12, 13: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 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.”
Jesus'’ ministry as the “Way, the Truth, and the Life” did not end when He left earth. He just continued teaching truth through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He said, “I still have things to say to you.” How will He say these things to us? By “The Spirit of truth (guiding) us into all truth.” For 2000 years, the Holy Spirit has been the person of the Trinity who has revealed truth to people: to both sinners and to saints. He wants to “guide you into all truth.” Wow, what a glorious possibility! You can be led by the Holy Spirit into a knowledge of all the truth you personally need to know to live your life to the “max” here on earth. Isn’t that exciting?
I believe the Holy Spirit revealed something to me recently. I had been communicating through the internet with a woman who had experienced many hurts in her life: from her family in her youth; from her bosses and employees through the years; from pastors in churches and trusted confidants. She blamed so much of her problems on other people or bad circumstances. Her husband was very protective of her (not wanting her to be hurt further). When I tried to give strong counsel by email in response to some of the issues she had shared with me, it hurt her and made her cry. I had invited her to come where I was speaking and ministering to receive healing and deliverance, but her husband didn’t want to bring her (partly to keep her from further hurt).
As I was troubled about our conversation, I believe the Holy Spirit gave me a parabolic (object) lesson for her. The Lord showed me a picture of someone putting a band-aid on a deep wound (I know “putting a band-aid on a cancer” is an oft quoted expression. I am not saying that my picture was some new, first-time revelation to the planet earth. But it came with such clarity to me and it answered so many of the ongoing discussions that I had had with her, that I knew I had a personal insight to the matter, straight from the Holy Spirit.) Anyway, this is what I saw: I saw her husband putting a band-aid on her “deep wound” to try to keep it from being re-infected from the outside. But, the wound was too deep. That band-aid would not heal the wound. That band-aid was not the answer to his wife’s problem. That deep wound could only be healed by medicine applied to the deep wound from within. Her husband thought he was protecting her by keeping people from hurting her. This wasn’t her answer. She needed a much deeper healing. Once she was healed, she would no longer need a band-aid. She wouldn’t need her husband to protect her from infection, because the wound would have been healed from the inside out.
I wrote her immediately and shared some of these things I felt the Lord had showed me. I don’t know if she received my word or not. But, it sure helped me know what approach I should take if she writes me again: to help her get down to the root of all her hurts! Deliverance is one way the healing of a deep hurt happens. I am one evangelist whom God has called to help people get their hurts healed (and I have testimonies in my files of many who have been healed of hurts). And, as a preacher of the gospel, preaching “by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven,” I long to be an instrument through whose help people can personally encounter the Holy Spirit and discover His wonderful plan for their lives.
The Holy Spirit has many things to say to you (some things, perhaps, through me; some things through other ministries. But, most importantly: directly to you through your intimacy with and availability to the Spirit’s dealings. Are you able to bear them now? Revelation 2:7: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Not everybody has an ear that can hear what the Spirit is saying.
You aren’t ready to hear if you are still a disobedient son or daughter: if the Spirit told you what you needed to do, you’d probably just disobey Him anyway! 1 Peter 1:22: “Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.”
You aren’t ready to hear if you are stuck in unbelief, and like Thomas, in essence saying to the Holy Spirit, “I will not believe unless . . . “ John 20:25: “The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the LORD. But he said to them, Unless I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Faith is an obedient decision!
You aren’t ready to hear if you are blaming others for your problems, instead of simply repenting of your sin (which is virtually always at the root of any problem)! Since the Holy Spirit “convicts of sin”, if you aren’t listening to His dealings with you about a sin, you do not have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to you about other important things as well.
Jesus has many things to say to us through His Spirit. If we aren’t hearing “many things” from Him, then we must not be able to bear it. And, if that is the case, we need to work on the things in our heart and life that are making us unable to bear revelation knowledge. Some obvious ways we prepare our heart to hear new things from the Spirit are:
1/ Praying in the Spirit: Romans 8:27 speaks of “the mind of the Spirit”. When we yield ourselves to pray in the Spirit, we are opening our hearts to receive from “the mind of the Spirit.”
2/ Going to church to receive from all the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:1-6, 1 Cor. 12:7-11, and chapter 14.)
3/ Paying attention to what is being said in books, internet messages, and other Christian ministries around America to discern “what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Rev. 2:7).
4/ Expecting the Spirit to speak to us through the Word and through our prayer times. (Prov. 20:27) and OBEYING that!
5/ Yielding ourselves daily and fully to the Holy Spirit; ready to “obey Him” (Acts 5:32) and being careful not to “grieve” Him (Eph. 4:30).
The Spirit has come. He’s here! Listen. Learn. Obey!
1/ The Holy Spirit comes to earth to take Christ’s place to be our “Helper” . . . John 16:7: “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” Jesus bodily went to heaven 2000 years ago. It was to our “advantage” that He did too, because in His body, He could only be in one place at a time. Now, in His absence, we have the omnipresent Holy Spirit to be our “Helper”. Other translations say “Comforter”. Some say “Advocate”. The word translated “Helper” is in the Greek the word “paracletos”. It means “one who comes alongside to help.” The King James uses the word “Helper”. The Living New Testament uses the word “Advocate”. There is a good basis for that Word, since Christ is also called our “paracletos” in a John 2:1: “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” It is obvious, in the context, that the paracletos here serves like an attorney to represent one to a judge. According to Albert Barnes: “The word "comforter" is frequently used by Greek writers to denote an advocate in a court; one who intercedes; a monitor, a teacher, an assistant, a helper. It is somewhat difficult, therefore, to fix the precise meaning of the word. It may be translated either advocate, monitor, teacher, or helper. (“Barnes Notes on the New Testament”, Revel, 1966).
I’d been a great sinner in my earlier years. I needed someone to be my attorney. Christ cleared me before the Father and is doing a wonderful job now representing me in heaven. But, I also need an attorney on earth: that’s the Holy Spirit. He’s helping me by doing what verses 8 explains-John 16:8: “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment”. “Convict” means to persuade someone to do something or to convince them of something. So, the Holy Spirit will convince us that we’re a sinner and need a Savior and will persuade us to repent of sins to find forgiveness through Christ. This is a first-time event when we get saved and an ongoing event throughout our Christian experience.
Genesis 6:3: “And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." “Strive” (according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance: Heb. Duwn; pronounced deen; means “to rule; by implication to judge (as umpire); also to strive (as at law) :- contend, execute (judgment), judge, minister judgment, plead (the cause).” So, Gen. 6:3 pictures the Holy Spirit throughout a man’s lifetime (even up to the maximum 120 yrs.) trying to convict him of his sin, to contend with his rejection of the Lord’s way for his life, and to plead with him urging him to come to Christ.
2/ The Holy Spirit comes to convict us of sin . . . John 16:9: “. . . of sin, because they do not believe in Me.” Sin is what necessitates a Savior and the Holy Spirit is the one who will help us believe if we but follow His Spirit to an altar of repentance. To “believe not in Christ” is the greatest sin a man can commit. Note Hebrews 3:12: “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”; and Mark 16:16: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
3/ The Holy Spirit comes to convict or convince us of righteousness . . . John 16:10: “. . . of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more.” When Jesus walked the earth He was the personification of righteousness. Those who saw Him and heard Him knew exactly what righteousness was all about. But now, in His physical absence, we need the help of the invisible Holy Spirit who shows us the way of righteousness by persuading our heart through the means of conviction and enlightenment.
When I was in the 6th grade, something happened to me spiritually. I had accepted Christ in the 2nd grade. Coming home from a vacation Bible school, I joyfully announcing to my mother and sister, “I got saved today!” I had had an experience with God! And for the rest of my grammar school years, though I was not a regular church attendee, I did go to church occasionally and read the Bible occasionally. The church where I sometimes attended was very legalistic. I learned that there are five things Christians absolutely must not do: gamble, drink, smoke, dance, or go the movies. In fact, I had been taught that if I attended a theater and Jesus came, I would miss the rapture. I was doing quite well, until Walt Disney’s “The Shaggy Dog” came to the Granada Theater in town! I tried to resist the allurement, but couldn’t. I remember the guilt I felt in that theater. It was hard to enjoy myself at first. But, as the movie progressed I felt less and less guilty. That day become a turning point in my life as it became one of many other future decisions I made contrary to what I believed was right. I was soon living a sinful life like any other unsaved teenager. That day at the show became a stumbling block of Satan to help me backslide. It wasn’t because I saw “The Shaggy Dog.” I started backsliding because I had violated an important scriptural principle in Romans 14:23: “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”
People don’t go to hell because they go to bars, or gamble at Vegas, or get drunk. They go to hell because they will take any risk to enjoy their sin and rebellion: any risk, that is, other than to put their faith in Christ and possibly have to risk giving up their favorite sin! `At that theatre nearly 50 years ago, I was full of doubt. I was full of dread. I was not acting in faith. The bad thing wasn’t that I would go to the movies. It’s that I would be willing to miss the rapture, reject what I felt was righteous, and resist any conviction of the Holy Spirit just so I could do what I wanted to do. It was the age-old, satanic sin of rebellion! At 11, I had apparently reached the age of accountability. I was willing to say “no” to God; even if my very eternal salvation was at stake; just for an hour and a half of fun!
This reminds me of the fateful decision that Esau made in Hebrews 12:14-16: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.” You have a birthright through the new birth to make heaven your home. But, you can sell-out to the devil. For one morsel of sin, you can lose it all. To prevent this, we have the help of the Holy Spirit. That’s why v. 12 says, “Pursue peace . . . and “holiness”. Holiness means acts that are pure and right before God; acts for which the Holy Spirit is trying to persuade you!I had an uncle who is now in eternity. He struggled greatly all his life to be a Christian. The great stumbling block to him was playing pool.
Raised in a Pentecostal church in the 20’s and 30’s, to Clarence, pool was a big no-no (especially since it usually involved gambling and playing in bars!) He was in and out of church and struggled all his life to serve Christ. But, he never was willing to give up pool. As was the case with me, in God’s eyes it wasn’t the pool table: it was the table of his heart where Clarence had written, “I’ll serve God, but only if I can continue to play pool. I will never give that up!” That stubbornness made his life relatively fruitless.I read about another man who was a compulsive pool player. The sport monopolized his life! But, one day He felt the Spirit of God demanding him to “lay pool on the altar.” Unlike my uncle, He obeyed the Holy Spirit’s dealings; repented of pool and gave it up; actually thinking he would never be able to play pool again (imagine what a sacrifice this was to him!). He began serving God with a new sense of victory and wholeness. And (guess what), it wasn’t too long afterward, that the Lord allowed him to have a pool table in his own home! He plays it occasionally, but his bondage to it is gone. He chose to be a love-slave to God; laid pool at the cross; and God gave it back to him, now sanctified by the Spirit’s holiness in his life. One of the devil’s greatest lies is that God doesn’t want you to have fun. God created fun; not the devil. But, know for certain that if the Lord is asking you to give up some “pleasure of sin for a season”, it’s only because He wants to give you the “greater riches of Christ” (Heb. 11:25, 26). Don’t let any sin stand between you and heaven or you and the Holy Spirit.
4/ The Holy Spirit comes to convict or convince us of judgment . . . John 16:11: “. . . of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” Satan is the “ruler of this world”. In 2 Cor. 4:4, Satan is called “the god of this age” and in Ephesians 2:2, he’s called “the prince of the power of the air.” Satan is “judged”. Matthew 25:41 explains how: “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Because of Satan’s rebellion he has been judged guilty already and is doomed to eternal punishment. Now, the Holy Spirit is helping us see how evil Satan is and how awful hell is and is beckoning us to prepare for our judgment (and avoid Satan’s fate!). The Holy Spirit does this by His work through: A/ The Word of God which He inspired-II Peter 1:21: “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”; B/ the preaching of the gospel with His empowerment-1 Peter 1:12: “. . . those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven (Jesus took His place at the right hand of the throne of God and the Holy Spirit came to earth to take His place)”; and C/ Conviction and enlightenment: revealing to you the things that are evil and will keep you out of heaven, and the things that are right and will prepare you for the judgment.
Paul gives us insight into this truth in 1 Corinthians 2:9-13: “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. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”Acts 1:2: talks about “the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles.” Jesus gave commandments for the Apostles to obey and commandments for the Apostles to teach. He didn’t do this on His own, but through the anointing and guidance of the Holy Spirit. I find it fascinating that Jesus, the Son of God sent from heaven, had to be led by and empowered by the Holy Spirit. What a lesson to his adopted sons of God! These “Holy Ghost commandments” are written in the Word, preached through the gospel, and personally applied by the Holy Spirit. No wonder then that Peter said in Acts 5:32: “We are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Preachers witness to the truth and power of the gospel, and so does the Holy Spirit. But, (and this is a very big but), the Holy Spirit is given to and works through “those who obey Him.”
Obedience to the Holy Spirit is the key to having more of the Holy Spirit’s power, blessing and guidance in our lives.I was pastoring a church in Hawaiian Gardens (near Long Beach). Kathy, my wife, my younger children (Carissa and Nathan) and I were on our way to Riverside to visit with my parents. As we drove down the 91 Freeway, my wife told my daughter to do something but she did not obey her soon enough. I believe that “delayed obedience is disobedience,” so I reached to the backseat and spanked her a couple of times (I didn’t “hit” her for you social worker “spies” reading this!). To explain why I spanked her, I said, “Carissa, the reason why I spanked you is because your mother and I are teaching you INSTANT OBEDIENCE. And, the reason why we are teaching you instant obedience is because, one day we might be walking down a trail together, and I might see a snake and say, “Carissa, don’t move!” And, if you are not used to being INSTANTLY OBEDIENT to me, you might move and say, “Why, daddy? Why can’t I move?” And, that snake might bite you. And, I love you too much to allow that to happen.
I was so proud of myself for thinking up such a wise little parable!After visiting with my parents awhile, I later that day decided to take a walk there in Riverside. I took my LA times along with me to read while I was walking (I am a super Type A: we try to cram as many events possible into the least amount of time!). As I was walking down the street; the newspaper lifted up and spread out so I could read it as I walked; I heard a strange noise. I looked up and (God is my witness) ahead of me (maybe 20-40 feet), crossing the street was a rattlesnake! I have walked, jogged, hunted and hiked since I was a kid in the Riverside/Ontario area and to my recollection, I had never seen a live rattlesnake before. A couple of hours after sharing my parable on obedience with Carissa, I meet a rattlesnake! It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what my Heavenly Father was saying to me through this strange event . . . “So, my Son, you’re requiring INSTANT OBEDIENCE of your daughter, are you? Because, one day you might be walking down a trail, and you might see a poisonous snake, and say, “Carissa, don’t move!” And if your daughter isn’t used to being INSTANTLY OBEDIENT, she might move and be bitten? And, you love her too much to allow that to happen? Well, Son, I too am requiring INSTANT OBEDIENCE of you! Because, one day walking down the trail of life, that serpent (the devil) might set a trap for you. And, if you are not being INSTANTLY OBEDIENT, you might be bitten: you might lose your life; you might lose your marriage; you might lose your ministry; . . . you might lose your soul! And I love you too much to allow that to happen.”
I felt very convicted of disobedience. (And loved of my Father that He would give me such a graphic illustration from nature). To be honest, at that point in my life, I was a very disobedient son. I was stubborn, full of sin, and not diligently seeking to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. The Lord would no longer allow me to remain that way. The Spirit began to deal with me in a fresh way about “sin, righteousness and judgment” and I began to learn about the fear of the Lord. I learned to cooperate with Him in conquering areas of my life where I had been so disobedient. I am not perfected yet, but the Holy Spirit transformed important areas of my life and can now trust me with many things (that He couldn’t trust me with back then). And I continue walking down the trail of life: a trail where, by the grace of God (and I pray for this regularly!), I have not fallen into a rattlesnake-like-trap where I would lose my life, my marriage, my ministry or my soul!After that time of repentance and deliverance in my life, the Lord moved me up to a new level with the Holy Spirit. He began to use me in a wonderful way as an evangelist: in healing, deliverance and salvations. I have since joined the apostles as another witness that God gives “The Holy Spirit to them that obey Him.” Are you obeying Him? Are you instantly obedient? Or, is a rattlesnake around the next bend, waiting and ready to bite you?
5/ The Holy Spirit comes to reveal God’s plans to us, as we are able to receive them . . . John 16:12, 13: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 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.”
Jesus'’ ministry as the “Way, the Truth, and the Life” did not end when He left earth. He just continued teaching truth through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He said, “I still have things to say to you.” How will He say these things to us? By “The Spirit of truth (guiding) us into all truth.” For 2000 years, the Holy Spirit has been the person of the Trinity who has revealed truth to people: to both sinners and to saints. He wants to “guide you into all truth.” Wow, what a glorious possibility! You can be led by the Holy Spirit into a knowledge of all the truth you personally need to know to live your life to the “max” here on earth. Isn’t that exciting?
I believe the Holy Spirit revealed something to me recently. I had been communicating through the internet with a woman who had experienced many hurts in her life: from her family in her youth; from her bosses and employees through the years; from pastors in churches and trusted confidants. She blamed so much of her problems on other people or bad circumstances. Her husband was very protective of her (not wanting her to be hurt further). When I tried to give strong counsel by email in response to some of the issues she had shared with me, it hurt her and made her cry. I had invited her to come where I was speaking and ministering to receive healing and deliverance, but her husband didn’t want to bring her (partly to keep her from further hurt).
As I was troubled about our conversation, I believe the Holy Spirit gave me a parabolic (object) lesson for her. The Lord showed me a picture of someone putting a band-aid on a deep wound (I know “putting a band-aid on a cancer” is an oft quoted expression. I am not saying that my picture was some new, first-time revelation to the planet earth. But it came with such clarity to me and it answered so many of the ongoing discussions that I had had with her, that I knew I had a personal insight to the matter, straight from the Holy Spirit.) Anyway, this is what I saw: I saw her husband putting a band-aid on her “deep wound” to try to keep it from being re-infected from the outside. But, the wound was too deep. That band-aid would not heal the wound. That band-aid was not the answer to his wife’s problem. That deep wound could only be healed by medicine applied to the deep wound from within. Her husband thought he was protecting her by keeping people from hurting her. This wasn’t her answer. She needed a much deeper healing. Once she was healed, she would no longer need a band-aid. She wouldn’t need her husband to protect her from infection, because the wound would have been healed from the inside out.
I wrote her immediately and shared some of these things I felt the Lord had showed me. I don’t know if she received my word or not. But, it sure helped me know what approach I should take if she writes me again: to help her get down to the root of all her hurts! Deliverance is one way the healing of a deep hurt happens. I am one evangelist whom God has called to help people get their hurts healed (and I have testimonies in my files of many who have been healed of hurts). And, as a preacher of the gospel, preaching “by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven,” I long to be an instrument through whose help people can personally encounter the Holy Spirit and discover His wonderful plan for their lives.
The Holy Spirit has many things to say to you (some things, perhaps, through me; some things through other ministries. But, most importantly: directly to you through your intimacy with and availability to the Spirit’s dealings. Are you able to bear them now? Revelation 2:7: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Not everybody has an ear that can hear what the Spirit is saying.
You aren’t ready to hear if you are still a disobedient son or daughter: if the Spirit told you what you needed to do, you’d probably just disobey Him anyway! 1 Peter 1:22: “Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.”
You aren’t ready to hear if you are stuck in unbelief, and like Thomas, in essence saying to the Holy Spirit, “I will not believe unless . . . “ John 20:25: “The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the LORD. But he said to them, Unless I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Faith is an obedient decision!
You aren’t ready to hear if you are blaming others for your problems, instead of simply repenting of your sin (which is virtually always at the root of any problem)! Since the Holy Spirit “convicts of sin”, if you aren’t listening to His dealings with you about a sin, you do not have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to you about other important things as well.
Jesus has many things to say to us through His Spirit. If we aren’t hearing “many things” from Him, then we must not be able to bear it. And, if that is the case, we need to work on the things in our heart and life that are making us unable to bear revelation knowledge. Some obvious ways we prepare our heart to hear new things from the Spirit are:
1/ Praying in the Spirit: Romans 8:27 speaks of “the mind of the Spirit”. When we yield ourselves to pray in the Spirit, we are opening our hearts to receive from “the mind of the Spirit.”
2/ Going to church to receive from all the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:1-6, 1 Cor. 12:7-11, and chapter 14.)
3/ Paying attention to what is being said in books, internet messages, and other Christian ministries around America to discern “what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Rev. 2:7).
4/ Expecting the Spirit to speak to us through the Word and through our prayer times. (Prov. 20:27) and OBEYING that!
5/ Yielding ourselves daily and fully to the Holy Spirit; ready to “obey Him” (Acts 5:32) and being careful not to “grieve” Him (Eph. 4:30).
The Spirit has come. He’s here! Listen. Learn. Obey!
The Holy Spirit Comes
by Evangelist Dea Warford
by Evangelist Dea Warford
Helping equip God's people to minister
more effectively to the lost in their community.
more effectively to the lost in their community.
Evangelist Dea Warford
