Feeding the Lambs - The Holy Spirit
-Jesus of Nazareth
John 16:12-15
[16th message of the New Believer Series]
We mentioned in the previous message that new believers are able to understand what Jesus taught (from what is written in the Scriptures) because of God's Spirit.
There is more to the Holy Spirit than this. And so there is a lot more we will need to talk about the Spirit of God. We will do so in future messages of this series.
Because as we've already mentioned there are certain things that believers disagree on depending on which church they listen to or belong in, and the Holy Spirit is One of those that different churches seem to disagree on. So because of this, for now we will limit our discussion on the Holy Spirit on this, that the Holy Spirit will be taking Jesus' message and He will tell us what it means.
Parting Words
We've talked about this previously and also on the excerpt above from the Book of John, that Jesus was telling His disciples the last things that they needed to know before He leaves but that He told them that certain things He will not talk about yet as they would not be able to understand them.
All that time, Jesus have always been with them, and they can always ask Him anything that they wanted to know. But when He leaves, they will need to have someone else to help them out. And that Helper was the Holy Spirit, who was sent to them 50 days after Jesus died, on (the first) Pentecost Sunday.
What Will The Spirit Do
Here are what Jesus told them about the Promised Holy Spirit.
1. When the Spirit comes, He will show them what is true. (Like Jesus, He will not tell a lie).
2. He will come and guide them into the full truth. (Jesus is the Truth).
3. The Spirit will not speak on His own. (Other translations say will not speak on his own authority, like Jesus who only did what He have seen the Father do).
4. The Spirit will tell them only what He has heard from Jesus.
5. He will let them know what is going to happen (events that are yet to take place).
The Spirit will bring glory to Jesus just as Jesus have brought glory to the Father.
Takeaway
One thing that is easy to miss here is that the Holy Spirit is a person (Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as "he", not "it").
The Holy Spirit was as real to the disciples of Jesus as Jesus was, when He was still with them. And to believers and followers of Jesus today, the Holy Spirit should be as real to them in much the same way.
Because without the Spirit, the body is dead -- spiritually dead. The one thing that differentiates unbelievers from believers is that believers have been reborn, reborn spiritually. God's Spirit is living within them . He is to a new believer, their Comforter, Counselor, Advocate, Intercessor and ever present Help. (If you have been a believer for quite some time but have not experienced this, then you have been missing out on the best part of being a believer).
If you've missed previous messages of this series, please go over them here: New Believer Series
Christianity is A Daily Relationship with Christ Through Scriptures and The Spirit
Here is an audio recording of believers singing out to the Lord. Play it while driving somewhere (just don't close your eyes if you are the one driving). Listen to it while preparing breakfast, dinner or any meal. Play it while doing household chores or just going about your daily routine.
Or listen to it when you want to spend some quiet time with the Lord and start a conversation with our Father in heaven. As we have said new believers have access to the throne of grace where we can ask our petitions directly to our Abba Father. Turn off and tune out any distraction, lock the door, turn off the lights if you wish, get your bible handy if you want to read Scriptures and come as you are into the presence of God. [Warning: Depending on your Youtube account, you may need to click on Skip Ads].
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