The Work of the Holy Spirit

The importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in the lives of individual believers cannot be over emphasized. We need to understand the place of the Holy Spirit in the growth and fruitfulness of the individual believer. I believe if you have the desire to honor or glorify Jesus you will come to understand the work of the Holy Spirit. The following are some areas of truth concerning the Holy Spirit revealed by the Scripture.

Holy Spirit comes as a result of glorifying Jesus Christ

I believe the Church has overlooked one single all-important fact - Wherever Jesus is glorified, the Holy Spirit comes! With reference to the Second Chapter of Acts, contrary to what most people unintentionally assumed, the important thing here was not the Spirit had come - the important thing was that Jesus had been glorified.

Peter and all the disciples were gathered together when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, and they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly as they gathered there came a sound from heaven as the sound of a rushing mighty wind. It was not the rushing wind itself, but the sound of it. It was the coming of the Holy Spirit. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:2, NKJV).

some thought these people were drunk. But Peter stood up and explained that it was the fulfillment of the prophecy (Verses 14 - 21). Peter proceeded to tell them how Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the prophecy.

Peter testified, "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear" (Acts 2:32, 33).

So, the important thing, according Peter, was the fact that Jesus had been exalted. Jesus Himself said, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). And in the next verse John said, "But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for this Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

It is therefore plain that the glorification of Jesus brought the Holy Spirit. When Jesu is glorified, the Holy Spirit comes. He does not have to be begged - the Holy Spirit comes when Jesus is glorified and when He is honored. How many times have you seen the Local Church "begs" the Holy Spirit wherever or whenever the congregation meets on Sunday or Saturday night?


Jesus Christ is revealed by the Holy Spirit

We need to understand that, by nature, man does not have the ability to comprehend divine things.

Paul said, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14, NKJV).

At this point, please refer to my earlier messages: "Saving of Souls" and "The Spirit, Soul, and Body of Man". The natural man has intellectual knowledge and so his knowledge of God is intellectual (in the realm of "reason"). The spirit is the agency by which we apprehend divine things. But the natural man's spirit has died - it is dead because of sin. When we are born again our spirit is made alive again by the Holy Spirit. That is God's plan for us - He gave us His Spirit to apprehend Himself; and intellect (the soul realm) to apprehend theology. Therefore, by theology alone, no one can understand God and divine manifestations.

Jesus said, "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. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:12 - 14).

The One who reveals God to us, who reveals Christ to us, is the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit gives "The ability to do"

Jesus said, "And when He (Holy Spirit) has come, he will convict the world of sin, ..." (John 16:8).

One of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to show sinners their sins. Another function is to show Christ to the believers.

The last words of Jesus, before His ascension, were: "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49, emphasis added).

A definition of the word "power" means "the ability to do" - one of the meanings of the Greek word, "dynamite". As an illustration: One man picks up a violin and gets nothing out of it but squeaks and raucous sounds. This man does not have the ability to do. Another man picks up the same violin and he soon playing beautiful and rich melodies. The difference here is this second man has the ability to do.

It is the same with spiritual things. If you are baptized in the Holy Spirit you have the ability to do many things according to his will and calling. If you a soul winner (an evangelist), you will have the ability to win souls. If you are a preacher or a Pastor you have the ability to proclaim the Word of God with authority and power. If you are a Bible teacher you have the ability to make the Word of God plain. Whatever you do in the Name of God, He gives you the ability to do. He gives you the ability to be victorious, to live right, to behold Jesus and love Him, and to live with heaven in view. It is the ability to do.

The Holy Spirit make a difference

The Holy Spirit certainly made a difference in the ministry of the first disciples of Jesus. In order for us to assess the great difference in the men to whom the Holy Spirit has come in power, we will look first at these disciples to whom Jesus spoke.

First of all they were His called and chosen disciples. The Scripture plainly tells us who they were, and it tells us about the long instructions by Jesus Christ Himself. In a sense, they had graduated from the greatest Bible school in the world. Jesus Himself had taught them for more than three years.

Notice also, that they had received and possessed a divine authority. They had an authority that very few believers would dare to try to exercise now. They had been with Jesus throughout the three years; they had seen Him die on the Cross; they had seen Him after He had risen from the dead. So, they knew Him living, dead and living again! They had shown evidence being truly converted persons. There is no doubt about their conversion. Jesus Himself had declared them to be such.

Jesus prayed to the Father: "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in you name. Those whom You gave me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. I have given them Your word; and the world had hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17:12, 14, NKJV, emphasis added).

This does not sould at all like the Lord talking about a bunch of sinners still needing to be converted. They were true disciples, and they possessed the consciousness of their discipleship and their authority from Christ. They were converted, forgiven and had fellowship with Christ. They had something a lot of ministers do not have now - they had the gift of preaching and worked miracles (Luke 9:6). They worked miracles before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. You do not need the baptism of the Holy Spirit to work miracles; you need authority from Christ!

The difference Pentecost made

Here is a list of things that the Holy Spirit did for the disciples after Pentecost.

1. They knew the sudden, brilliant conciousness of the actual divine presence of God. There was the sudden, illuminating knowledge of God Himself actually being present with them.

2. They actually received the joy of the Holy Spirit. In the four Gospels, there was not too much joy. There was instruction, and there was a subdued and quiet peace, but not very much joy. Believers in the contemporary Church always praying for joy, praying for light, praying for every benediction, and yet they don't receive. True joy results the fact that in Christ, we have already died, and risen, and there is not real death out there for the true child of God.

3. They spoke and preached with penetrating power of the Words. When Peter preached at Pentecost, they were stricken in their hearts when they heard him.

"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do'" (Acts 2:37)?

4. There was suddenly the clear sense of the reality of all things. Throughout the four Gospels the disciples were asking questions - while in the Book of Acts and after Pentecost they were answering questions. They stood with authority and answered questions. The same Peter who had sneaked around and warmed his hands at the fire and lied to the girl, who recognized his accent, was standing boldly and with authority to preach the Word of God! What a difference!

5. The infilling of the Holy Spirit brings a sharp separation between the believer (disciple) and the world. After Pentecost, they were looking at another world (the Kingdom of God). Nowadays, a large part of Christianity (both Charismatic and evangelical) is trying to convert this world to the Church (not to Christ). We are bringing the world - the unregenerated, uncleansed, unbaptized, unsanctified right into the Church. If we can just get some famous, wealthy big shots to say something nice about the Church we will tell the world about our Church through the media. We want our pews filled at all costs.

6. They took a great delight in prayer and communion with God. The Gospel recorded that when Jesus and His disciples were at Gethsemane, none of the disciples could stay awake as Jesus prayed (Matt. 26:36 - 45). After Pentecost they became praying people. In the Book of Acts you will find them in prayer meetings. But before that, they would fall asleep.


When the Holy Spirit comes He takes the things of God and translates them into language our hearts can understand. Even if we do not know the will of God and do not know how to pray, the Holy Spirit does know, and He prays with groanings that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26).


7. They love the Scripture. Notice that Jesus quoted the Scripture in the Gospels but the disciples quoted the Scripture in the Book of Acts. There was a difference! When you are filled with the Spirit you will feel like "eating" the Word. Well, you may not get the Word by eating it, but the Word of God is sweet to the Spirit-filled person because the Spirit wrote the Scripture.


The Psalmist said, "How sweet are Your words to my taste. Sweeter than honey to my mouth" (Ps.119:103).


The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit


To have fellowship with the Holy Spirit means to walk with the Holy Spirit in perfect agreement. Contrary to what professing Christians like to think, many of God's people are not willing to walk in perfect agreement with Him. For this reason, many believers do not have the power of the Spirit, the peace of the Spirit and many of the other qualities, gifts and benefits which the Spirit of God brings.


The fact is that we cannot walk with Him unless we are agreed and if we are not agreed, we will not walk with Him in harmony and fruitfulness and blessing.


Amos wrote, "Can two walk together unless they are agree" (Amos 3:3)?


This is a rhetorical question, equivalent to a positive declaration that two cannot walk together except they are agreed, and the affirmation that if the two walk together, they must in some sense, be one.


We need to understand that the Holy Spirit is a living Person, and He can be known in an increasing degree of intimacy. Since He is a personality, He can never be fully known in a single encounter. God's personality is so infinitely rich and manifold that it will take thousands of years of years of close search and intimate communion to know even the outer edges of the glorious nature of God. When we talk about communion with God and fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we are talking about that which begins now but will grow and increase and mature while life lasts. In other words, we can cultivate our fellowship with the Holy Spirit in our Christian walk.


As I have said at the beginning of this message, wherever Jesus is glorified the Holy Spirit comes. We must also remember that we will know the Spirit more intimately as we make more of Jesus Christ, the Lord of our lives. This is so, because on of the ministries of the Holy Spirit would be to take the things of Christ and show them unto us.


To glorify Jesus is the business of the Church, and to glorify Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit. I can walk with Him when I am doing the same things He is doing and going the same way He is going and travaling at the same speed He is traveling. I must honor Him by obedience, by witness, and by fellowship.


It all boils down to the need of knowing Him in His Word. The Spirit of God inspires the Word and He will be revealed in the Word. Every problem that touches us is answered by the Word. We need to read the Word, read if often, brood over it, think over it, and meditate over it. As we do this we will understand the presence of the Spirit everywhere, all the time. You will find it impossible to just walk out and hide from His presence.


David, the psalmist said, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me" (Ps. 139:7 - 10, NKJV).