It Really Is Good NewsSample

The Holy Spirit

Today we are going to touch on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit! It's important for us to remember that apart from the Spirit, our attempts to delight in God, believe in his promises and walk in his ways fall short. To believe the Gospel and live it out, we need the Holy Spirit.

We need the presence of the Spirit because we are natural born enemies of God, spiritually dead in our sin and darkened in our hearts. But, the really good news is that, when we are in Christ, we have new hearts and the gift of His Spirit in us! We have God with us and in us! In Ezekiel 36:26-27 the Lord says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (NIV).

The Holy Spirit plays a central role in making us new. When we come to faith in Christ it’s not by our own doing, it’s the grace of God through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit not only makes us new, but continues to help us obey and follow the Lord! This in turn produces spiritual fruit in our lives, showing us to be his disciples.

“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” Titus 3:5-8 (NIV)

This fruit is the result of our new lives in the Spirit. So, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit is at work in us when we first believe the Gospel and as we continue to work out our salvation throughout our lives as disciples of Jesus!

So we ask the question “what does reliance on the spirit look like?”

Let's look at Jesus’ life and ministry. Here’s a few places in scripture we see reference to Jesus and his dependence on the Holy Spirit:

• Jesus depended on the presence of the Spirit to motivate his obedience to the Father.
• Jesus was anointed with the Spirit prior to his public ministry. (Isaiah 61:1)
• Jesus is baptized by the Spirit and approved by the Father for ministry. (Luke 3)
• He was led into the wilderness by the Spirit for 40 days of testing and emerges from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit.
• Jesus performed miracles, healed the lame, drove out demons and raised people from the dead.

It was the power of the Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus to endure temptation and to live in obedience to the Father.

Jesus fought the good fight of faith but he didn’t do it alone! If Jesus required the Spirit for life and faith, how much more do we need the Spirit in our lives? His dependence on the Spirit is an example to us to also depend on the Spirit.

We also see all through the book of Acts the disciples of Jesus being led step by step by the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The disciples often followed the Lord and expected unplanned change.

So often in our own lives we ask God to give us clarity on where to go next but we fail to really listen and seek Him. We like to micromanage our lives and plan ahead, and when things don’t go as expected, it throws us completely off. We can become consumed, forgetting that we have the Helper, the Holy Spirit to guide us! John 14:16 Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to the Father but He wouldn’t leave them alone. He says “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—” (NIV).

The good news is, we have the wisdom of God with us through the Holy Spirit in us which means we are given everything we need to inquire of the perfect counsel of God! All day everyday!

The Spirit also empowers us to live in surrender to Jesus as Lord and to overcome temptation to sin. All throughout Paul's letters we see reference to the VICTORY through the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16 says “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (NIV).

The Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Christ, helps us believe the gospel, gives us direction and guides us, equips us to overcome temptation. That’s a pretty incredible list of helper duties!

Lastly, I just want us to remember that it’s through the Holy Spirit that we have a personal relationship with God. What a gift it is! He longs to commune with us through the Holy Spirit. To commune with someone usually includes a shared delight! Whether it's a shared coffee, movie or beautiful sunset, you get to enjoy each other over something that brings you together.

The really good news is that Jesus wants to be with you! As we wrap up our study today, I encourage you to take time to meditate on the gift of the Spirit. Set aside some time in prayer communicating with the Lord. Tell him what’s on your heart and your mind. If you’ve never invited the Holy Spirit to come into your life, you can ask Him to today. He is near, and He comes near to those who call on His name.

Prayer:

Jesus, thank you for your Holy Spirit. I want to walk with you intimately, and I need your help to live my life as a faithful disciple. It really is good news that you have given this gift to me, and that I am never alone. Come, Holy Spirit.