The Holy Spirit: our Guide

Transcription

1 1 The Holy Spirit: our Guide JOHN 16: 7-15

2 2 The Holy Spirit: our Guide Introduction 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you."

3 3 The Holy Spirit: our Guide He leads us into Truth John 16:12 (Msg.): when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand & guide you into all the truth there is. Jo.14:26: 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. Is. 30:21: Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it". Prov.16:9: in their hearts humans plan their course but the Lord establishes their steps. All Word & no Spirit, we dry up. All Spirit & no Word, we blow up. Word & Spirit, we grow up! Jo.15:26-27: When the Advocate comes he will testify about me. And you also must testify.

4 4 He leads us into Conversions Ro.8:26: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Acts 13:2: While they were worshiping the Lord & fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas & Saul for the work to which I have called them." Jo.16:8: When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin & righteousness & judgment. D. L. Moody: there s no better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit.

5 5 He leads us into Conversions (contd.) Mt.28:19: Go & make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father & of the Son & of the Holy Spirit. We can t bring the whole world to Christ, but we must bring Christ to the whole world. Two things characterise a true Christian; he listens to God & he talks to people. The church is not a yacht club but a fleet of fishing boats. Bill Hybels: after a faith decision a Christian s contact with people outside the Faith decreases. The longer a person attends church, the fewer evangelistic encounters they engage in with family & friends

6 6 He leads us into Conversions (contd.) Interraction with people far from God

7 7 He leads us into Conversions (contd.) Gideon s International estimates that 2 out of 3 Americans don t know Jesus. Only China & India have more unsaved than America. Campus Crusade for Christ reports that it takes 1,000 laypeople and 6 full-time pastors a full year to lead one person to Jesus. Of those who respond to evangelistic efforts, less than 5% are still in church a year later. (If the church in Acts had been that ineffective, the 3,000 saved at Pentecost could have been down to 150 a year later). The George Barna organization estimates 18 million born-again Christians don t consider attending church to be worth the effort. Average church in America less than 75 members & figure is decreasing.

8 8 He leads us into Conversions (contd.) Simon Ponsonby, pastor of theology, St. Aldate s, Oxford: Language, context, culture and idioms change, & so our words and even our methods for presenting the gospel must be flexible. But the gospel remains the same & to this we must bind ourselves, rather than bend to the prevailing culture. Two illustrations of soul winning in the Bible - of a fisherman and of a shepherd. We therefore conclude that souls are to be saved by hook or by crook! Carpenter seeks joiners.

9 9 He leads us into our Future Jo.16:13b: the Spirit of truth.will guide you into all the truth..he will tell you what is to come. Robert Heidler: When we first began to allow people to give prophetic words in church, it was a mess. When immature people are learning to prophesy, it s always messy for a while. There were a lot of flaky prophecies given. A lot of people were saying, The Lord told me this, but it wasn t the Lord at all. The temptation was to outlaw prophecy because so messy. But not God s solution. Joel 2:28: your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Keri Jones: A prophet is someone who sees what others do not, hears what others cannot and speaks what others dare not. Eph.2:10: For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

10 10 He leads us into Power ministry Jo.16:14 (Amp.): He will draw upon what is mine & will transmit it to you. Simon Ponsonby: we must pray urgently to be filled with the Spirit of God, for only when we are endowed with power from on high will we be what God has called us to be and do what he has called us to do. 2 Co.4:3: if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. Len Jones: the Christian s task is to make the Lord Jesus visible, intelligible, & desirable. Good adverts. Selwyn Hughes: People don't care how much you know but they do want to know how much you care. Jo.5:19: the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. The anointing is for service (Ex.30:30), therefore, without service there is no anointing

11 11 Conclusion Gen.30:1: "Give me children, or I'll die! G. R. Jackson, in his book `Wisdom of the way : He promised his disciples three things: that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.