The Primary Work of the Holy Spirit sermon teaches that by surrendering to the Lord, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live the Christian life.
Key verses:
John 16:7-15
I invite you to take your Bible now and turn with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 16, John chapter 16. We’re going to be reading a little bit in verses 7 to 15. Before we do, I just want to give a little introduction.
We are talking about the Holy Spirit tonight. The subject is the primary work of the Holy Spirit. What is His primary job – the main thing that the Holy Spirit does? The Holy Spirit does many things, we see that, but His primary work.
So, in John, chapters 14 and 16, the Lord Jesus gives us instruction about the Holy Spirit. And here in chapter 16, I want us to start reading verse seven, for the Lord says:
John 16:7: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
John 16:8: “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”
John 16:9: “Of sin, because they believe not on me;”
John 16:10: “Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;”
John 16:11: “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”
John 16:12: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
John 16:13: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
John 16:14: “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
John 16:15: “All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
Who Is the Holy Spirit?
Quite often, we hear the Holy Spirit referred to in songs. There are a number of songs that talk about the Holy Spirit, and some beautiful songs that talk about the Holy Spirit. And then, in conversation and worship services, you hear a great deal about the Holy Spirit. But as much as we hear of and speak of the Holy Spirit, the truth is that many people do not know much about the Holy Spirit, and we should.
So, this evening, we’re going to go to the source so that we can understand who the Holy Spirit is and what His primary work is. Now, notice I said who the Holy Spirit is, not what the Holy Spirit is. There’s at least one group that teaches that the Holy Spirit is not a person or a personality, that the Holy Spirit is a force, like energy, kind of like the concept of the force in Star Wars or kind of like the concept of chi in Asian thinking.
But that’s not “what” the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit is not “what.” The Holy Spirit is “who.” So, who is the Holy Spirit? Well, in Matthew 28:19, the Lord Jesus taught us:
Matthew 28:19: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
Some say, “Well, that says Holy Ghost, not Holy Spirit.” They are synonyms. The Ghost and Spirit. We say ghost, and we think of somebody who died, and their essence is wandering around on Earth, scaring people and things like that. That’s not what it means. It’s a synonym for spirit, so the Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit.
Now, the important thing to hear in Matthew 28:19 is that the Lord said, “baptizing them in the name,” – not names, name, singular, not plural – “of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” So, why is it singular and not plural? Because we’re not talking about three different people.We’re talking about one person – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
John tells us in 1 John five, these three are one. Jesus tells us in John 10, “I and my father are one.” So, we have the teaching of the Holy Spirit, that He is the Spirit of God. In at least one or two places, it calls Him the Spirit of Christ. John uses that term in 1 John, but the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Christ.
Now, people have asked, and they probably are going to continue to ask till we get to eternity, “Can you explain the Trinity?” And I’m going to tell you I cannot explain the Trinity. There are a lot of things I believe in that I can’t explain. For example, suppose you were in a class, and you were assigned to write an essay and the essay is to be a short one. The professor says to you, “For your essay, I want you to write a definition of God in 25 words or less.” You can’t, you can’t do it.
You can say a lot about God in 25 words, but you cannot give a definition of God in 25 words or less. I cannot explain the Trinity to you. I can give you several examples, analogies, that people use to help us understand the Trinity. For example, some have said, “Well, I am a son, but I’m also a father, and I’m also a spirit.” And that’s true, that is true. So, that helps you understand.
What I think is, and I’m not declaring this is absolutely how it is, and there’s no doubt about it, no question about it, I’m not saying that. But the concept that helps me is to see God is the Father as the mind of God, Christ as the body of God, and the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God. Why? Because God made us in His own image, and we have a mind, a body, and a spirit. Now, did I just thoroughly explain the Trinity to you? I did not. I gave you an analogy that may help you understand. It is not a perfect analogy, and I’m not pretending that it is.
Other people have said, well, think about an egg. You have the shell, and you have the yolk, and you have whites. The three parts of an egg, and it’s all the egg. Well, that’s true. It’s all one egg. But, honestly, folks, that may help, but it doesn’t explain everything. It doesn’t tell you all that you’d want to know. “Well, if it’s so hard to explain, maybe it’s not true.” Okay, there are a lot of things that we know and believe in that we can’t explain.
I’ve already given you one or two, but let me give you another one. Explain energy. “Oh, well, that, we can do that, and we’re going to talk about it.” No. You can’t really explain energy any more than you can actually explain gravity. You can explain things about energy. You can talk about sources of energy. You can, but you cannot thoroughly explain energy. But everybody believes in it.
You can talk about gravity, and you can talk about the results of gravity. You say, “Well, it’s caused by the rotation of the earth, and that that causes centrifugal force, and that creates gravity.” Maybe it’s a reasonable theory, but here’s the problem with that. What started the Earth spinning, and where did centrifugal force, the principle of centrifugal force, come from? See, that gets a little more complicated, doesn’t it?
Now, I’m not saying that nobody has studied these things. I’m not saying nobody has any answers for them I’m saying you can’t thoroughly explain all of this because it’s beyond explanation.
So, who is the Holy Spirit? Well, He is God. So, when Jesus said, “Go therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name,” – singular, “of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. It is God. The Holy Spirit is a person. We’re going to look at this in a moment. I’m going to go quickly through these verses right now. We’ll go back and take a look at them momentarily, but He is a person, not merely a force or an energy.
In John 16:7, Jesus said, “I will send him unto you.” In John 16:8, “He will reprove the world.” To reprove the world is to show the world where it’s wrong. In John 16:13, “He is the Spirit of truth.” He will guide you into all truth. “He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.” In John 16:14, “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it.” John 16:15, “He shall take of mine, and shall show it.” These are all different things in this short passage that talks about what the Holy Spirit does as a person.
So, the Holy Spirit is God. He’s the Spirit of God and He is a person to be addressed as a person. Is it wrong then to pray to the Holy Spirit? It is not wrong to pray to the Holy Spirit. All prayers should ultimately go to God the Father.
But if you read, and we have time, we’ll look at it, Romans 8:26-27, you’ll find that the Holy Spirit directs our prayers to the Father. So, it’s not wrong to pray to the Son or to the Spirit because the Son is the Son of God and is God, and the Spirit is the Spirit of God.
Main Work of the Holy Spirit
But our topic tonight is “What is the primary work of the Holy Spirit.” What is His main job? As far as human beings are concerned, the Holy Spirit does many things, but here in John chapter 16, we see the primary work or the main work of the Holy Spirit. So, if you would go to verse seven, again, He says:
John 16:7: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
Jesus talking, by the way. This is not long after He says this, that He goes to the cross, but He says, “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you.” Now, that was God’s plan. The Lord Jesus is not saying that He can’t be in the world and the Holy Spirit be in the world at the same time. It’s physically impossible. He’s not saying that. What He’s saying is, “I have my work that I am going to complete in just a short time here – the crucifixion and the resurrection – and then it is time for the Holy Spirit to come and do His work.”
So, He says, again, verse 7:
John 16:7: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
So, the Holy Spirit is sent to us. In verse eight, “And when he is come.” Notice the Holy Spirit is always referred to by the personal pronoun, “He,” and is never preceded by an article such as “a,” a Holy Spirit, or anything indefinite like that. So, He says when He has come, He will reprove the world of sin, and we said that a moment ago, but what does that mean? Well, He says, He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
He Convicts Us of Sin
John 16:9: “Of sin, because they believe not on me;”
So, the first work that we’re told that the Holy Spirit does in the world is to convict the lost people in order to bring them to salvation. He convicts us of sin. He shows us that we have sinned. We have violated the will of God. We violated the Word of God, and He convicts us of sin. So, He reproves us, or He shows us where we are wrong of sin, “because they believe not on me.” This is directed at the lost. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts a believer of sin in order to bring him back to a right relationship with God.
Earlier in the Gospel of John, Jesus talked about drawing people to the Father. Well, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit to draw people to God. You see, God is separated from us by our sins, but He doesn’t want us to be separated. He wants us to come to Him, and as He wants us to come to Him, He’s going to draw us to Him. That is the first work of the Holy Spirit, to draw lost people to God.
He Convinces Us of Righteousness
Then look at verse ten:
John 16:10: “Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;”
“Of righteousness,” – He reproves the world of righteousness because, “I go to my Father, and ye see me no more.” So, the Lord Jesus draws the lost person to the Lord, but then in verse ten, He convicts or convinces the world in righteousness. Now, he convicts us of sin, but he convinces us of righteousness and shows us what righteousness is in the physical absence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We will not take time to turn over there tonight, but I encourage you to jot down and look at it later: 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 5-7, 2 Thessalonians 2:5-7. What you’re going to find there is it is the Holy Spirit in this world who holds back evil so that righteousness may prevail. He convinces the world of righteousness. He teaches us what is right and what is wrong, and that’s His work.
The passage in 2 Thessalonians I referred to, tells us this: He will hold back evil until He is taken out of the way. When’s He going to be taken out of the way? This is very important for you to understand. The Holy Spirit indwells believers in Jesus Christ, those who have been saved. He indwells them, He lives in the believer. So, where we have a greater presence of believers you are going to have a lesser presence of evil.
I didn’t say evil will go away; it won’t exist. I didn’t say that at all. It’s not true. But where you have a greater presence of believers, you’re going to have a greater presence of the Holy Spirit, and you will have a lesser presence of evil. Where you have a smaller presence of believers, you will have a greater presence of evil because you’ll have a lesser presence of the Holy Spirit. He holds back evil until He is taken out of the way.
“Well, when is He taken out of the way?” That would be at the Rapture when the Lord Jesus comes and takes the believers out of this world. Then, the indwelling Holy Spirit is taken up at that time. “Are you saying that the Holy Spirit came to indwell men at a specific point in history?” Yes, I’m saying that. “And you’re saying that that is going to end at a specific point in history?” Yes, I’m saying that. I’m not saying that He will not indwell future believers. That’s another question. But the truth of the matter is that He indwells believers today.
Now, let me help you with something there because this is, again, important to understand. The concept of believers being indwelt by the Holy Spirit is a New Testament concept. You do not find that in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, you find the Holy Spirit, you find Him working, but you find that He comes on people and then He leaves people, and we’ve talked about this before.
Examples of the Holy Spirit Coming Upon People
A classic example of that would be Saul. When he became king of Israel, the Holy Spirit came upon him so that he could do the work of being king of Israel. But Saul got away from the Lord, he turned away from the Lord, and the Holy Spirit left King Saul, it says that very specifically. And the Holy Spirit came then to David because he would be the next king.
Then, prior to the period of the kings, you have Samson, the judge, probably the most famous of all the judges of Israel. Samson did superhuman feats of strength. Now, I’ve heard some people say they think Samson wasn’t very impressive to look at. He was just a little fellow and probably didn’t have much muscle on him. God empowered him to do these feats of strength. Well, I agree that God empowered him to do those feats of strength, but I don’t picture Samson as being a small little fellow with no muscular strength at all. I think he was a pretty big man. I think he was a very strong man physically, but what he did was beyond normal physical strength. And if you read it, it tells you when he did his great feats that the Spirit of God came upon him. But then, at that point, Samson got the world’s most famous haircut. It tells you that the Spirit of God left Samson. Samson didn’t even realize the Spirit had left him. But he prays one more time, and one more time, the Spirit of God comes upon him, and he does his greatest feat of strength of all. It’s his last act.
Now, Samson and Saul are examples of the Spirit coming upon people and leaving people. But then think about David. In David’s prayer of repentance in Psalm 51, part of that prayer is David’s prayer to the Lord, “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” He knew the Holy Spirit had come upon him when he was anointed to be king, but then he prayed, “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” So, in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God came upon people and would leave people, but did not indwell believers as He does in the New Testament. And there’s a great deal of teaching on that in the New Testament.
Another example of that is when Moses had the Tabernacle constructed in the wilderness. They had a day of dedication to their tabernacle, and the presence of God came and filled the tabernacle to the point that they had to leave the tabernacle. They couldn’t stand in there. Centuries later, when Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, the same thing happened. The power of God, the presence of God, came and filled the temple in Jerusalem, and Solomon and the others had to leave the temple because of the great presence of God.
But later on, we read in the prophets that there came a day when the presence of God left the temple. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:16, regarding New Testament believers, he says:
1 Corinthians 3:16: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
Where is the Holy Spirit today? Not in a tabernacle or temple built by men, but in the believer, indwelling the believer. The Spirit of God dwells in you. So, even in the Old Testament, we gave you several examples of the Spirit of God coming upon somebody and then leaving that person, or coming into the Tabernacle, coming into the temple, and then at one point leaving the temple. But in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit permanently indwells the believer of Jesus Christ.
So, where there’s a greater presence of Christians, true Christians, who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, there is going to be a lesser presence of evil because the presence of the Spirit is there.
He Convicts Us of Judgement
Now, He’s to convict the world in verse 11:
John 16:11: “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”
So, He convicts the world of judgment to come. Everybody is going to stand before God. The Holy Spirit convicts us now of what is right and what is wrong. We know in and of ourselves because of the Holy Spirit’s convicting power. When we do wrong, we know when something’s not right. We know when we sin. And so, no one is going to stand before God and say to God, “Well, I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help the things I did. I had no choice.”
No, the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin. The Holy Spirit convicts you of righteousness. The Holy Spirit convicts you of judgment to come. You know if you are an indwelt believer, you know.
He Is Our Teacher
But then the Holy Spirit is our teacher. Look at verse 12. It says He convinced the world of judgment, verse 11, “because the prince of this world is judged.” In verse 12, He says:
John 16:12: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
In other words, the Lord Jesus is saying that, “I have more to teach you. There’s more that I need to explain to you. There’s more that I need to teach you. I can’t do it now, time is short. I need to go. So, you need another Comforter to come after me.”
By the way, I should have said this earlier. The word “Comforter” is in verse seven, where He says, “I go not away, the Comforter will not come.” – the word “Comforter” is very interesting. It says another Comforter, another can mean another that is totally different. For example, Paul talks about the Gospel, and he talks about somebody preaching another gospel. It is a different gospel it is not the same. It’s not what the word “another” means here. The word here means another of the same kind, one who is like me, one who is not different than me. This is another of the same kind. So, there can be another.
I’ve got a bicycle and I’ve got a car. My other, another, transportation I have besides a bicycle is a car. Well, a car and a bicycle aren’t the same thing. This is not another of a different kind, this is another of the same kind. Why is that important? Because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, is the Spirit of Christ. So, in verse 12, when He says, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now,” – He’s saying there’s more that you need to learn. You’ve learned a great deal, but there’s more you need to learn.
He Guides Us Into All Truth
In verse 13, He says:
John 16:13: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,” – when the Holy Spirit comes, “he will guide you into all truth,” – don’t miss that, when the Holy Spirit comes, “he’ll guide you into all truth.” You and I need the Holy Spirit to help us understand truth, to help us to read the Word of God, and discern the Word of God. It’s very important that that we get that. So, this includes the Old Testament. He inspired the writers of the Word of God to record all God’s words, that includes the Old Testament. It includes the words of Jesus. It includes the narratives of the Gospel. It includes all the rest of the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is the unseen author of scripture, and there’s no one better than He to help us understand the scripture. So, He guides us into all truth. Verse 13:
John 16:13: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
2 Peter 1 verse 21 says this:
2 Peter 1:21: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
What is that telling us? It is telling us that the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of scripture. So, He guides us into all truth. He helps us understand scripture. We cannot fully understand scripture without Him. “What are you saying?” I’m saying a lost person who does not have the Holy Spirit isn’t going to fully understand scripture. Now, you can understand certain things. Certain things anybody could read and understand. But he’s not going to get all of it. 1 Corinthians chapter 2:14 teaches us that. It says:
1 Corinthians 2:14: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
“But the natural man,” – the unsaved man, the unbeliever, “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him.” Have you ever come across somebody who thought that? I have, who thought that the things taught in the Bible were foolishness. Did you ever meet somebody like that? I sure have. Yeah, and I’ve met people who say that it just doesn’t make sense. “I don’t get it, and it doesn’t make any sense.” Well, because they don’t believe God, they don’t trust God, and they don’t have the Holy Spirit.
“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned.” He is not going to figure it out all by himself; he needs the Holy Spirit to guide him. He doesn’t have the Holy Spirit.
So, the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth and gives us an understanding of the scriptures.
He Glorifies Jesus Christ
Verse 14:
John 16:14: “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
He glorifies the Holy Spirit, glorifies the Lord Jesus. You do not find the Holy Spirit talking about himself. You find the Holy Spirit talking about the Lord Jesus, promoting the Lord Jesus because that is the job of the Spirit of God.
So, He glorifies the Lord Jesus, He convicts people of their sin, He attracts men by His grace, He points them to the Savior.
He Enables Us to Grow to Be Like Jesus
And in verse 15:
John 16:15: “All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
So, He takes the Word of God and the will of God and causes us to understand. He draws us closer to the Lord Jesus and enables us to grow to be like Him. Now, the Holy Spirit is the Creator. “I thought God the Father was the Creator.” You were right. As we said, you can’t separate the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the Creator.
“Well, I’d like to see some proof of that.” Well, all you need to do is turn to Genesis 1:1 and 2, where it says, “In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth.” Start right there. Stop right there, “God created the Heaven and the Earth.”
“El” is the Hebrew word for God. The Hebrew word translates to God in English. And yet, the word “God” in Genesis 1:1 has a suffix added to it. It is Elohim. Anytime you find the “im,” I-M, in English, the “im” ending on a Hebrew word, it makes it plural. And yet “El,” the word for God, is a name, a singular noun. So, Elohim is God, who is many but one. There’s one God but He can be many. Well, how many? Three to be precise.
But that’s not the end of it. listen very carefully to Genesis 1:1 and 2:
Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Genesis 1:2: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
The Spirit of God is the Spirit of creation. I’d like to say more about that, but we need to move on.
He Is the Means of Our Salvation
Then, the Holy Spirit is the means of our salvation. “Stop right there. Preacher, you got it wrong. Jesus is the Savior.” I didn’t contradict that. Jesus is the Savior. Well, what do you mean then?” He is the means of our salvation. Listen to John 3:3-8:
John 3:3: “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:4: “Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”
John 3:5: “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
“Water” means physical birth. “Well, are you sure about that?” I am. “How do you know?” I read the next verse, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
John 3:6: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
In John 3:6, where Jesus says this, the word “spirit” occurs twice. Listen again:
John 3:6: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Well, the first Spirit is capitalized, so “that which is born of the Holy Spirit is spirit.” What is Jesus teaching us? We need a spiritual birth. We’ve had a physical birth. We need a spiritual birth. Jesus continues, He says:
John 3:7: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
Don’t be amazed, “that I say it unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
John 3:8: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
You can’t tell where it’s coming from or where it’s going, “So is every one that is born of the Spirit.” The spirit essence is different than the physical essence. So, we have the Spirit of God who is the vehicle, if you will, of salvation or of the new birth. Now, it doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t save us. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. Then, the Holy Spirit seals us once we’ve been saved.
He Seals Our Salvation
We’ll not turn to all these references, but let me give them to you. I encourage you to jot them down and look them up later. Ephesians 1:11-14 and Ephesians 4:30 talk about how we are sealed by the Holy Spirit “unto the day of redemption.” We are sealed. What does that mean? It means we belong to Him. The Spirit seals us, and that answers the question as to whether or not you can lose your salvation once you have been born again.
By the way, you didn’t do anything to be born again except believe the Lord Jesus Christ. Once you’ve been born again, you cannot lose your salvation. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. What does that mean? It means for you to lose your salvation. “Well, if I sin, doesn’t that cause me to lose my salvation?” No.
I don’t want to discourage you, but once you’ve been saved, you are going to sin again. It’s pretty much guaranteed. Why? Because you still have a sinful nature inside. “Well, where do you get that?” Romans 6:7-8. I encourage you to read Romans 6:7-8. You’ll see it, but here’s the thing that I want you to understand. What you need to understand is that you’re sealed by the Holy Spirit. The same fellow who wrote Romans 6:7-8 wrote Ephesians chapters one and chapter four, and he knew what he was talking about at both times. So, we’re sealed by the Spirit.
Do you remember the story of how Jesus, when He was crucified, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, the fellow He was talking to in John chapter 3 when He said that you must be born again, they took the body of Christ, and they laid it in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and then they rolled a stone in front of the tomb.
And the religious leaders went to Pontius Pilate, and they said we’re concerned that these disciples of this man are going to go steal His body out of the tomb and they’re going to claim He rose from the dead because He said He was going to, and that’s going to cause us more problems. So, we want a guard to be put on the tomb. Pilate gave them a guard and they sealed the tomb. Now, for anybody to physically open that tomb that seal had to be broken. For Jesus to leave the tomb, the seal was broken. Now, you say, “Well, in His resurrected body, couldn’t He have gone out without breaking the seal?” He could have, but that would have affected our thinking on it. It would have. It caused us to look at it differently. So, the seal was broken, the stone was rolled away.
You know, that’s the same idea. When the Holy Spirit seals us, we are sealed in Christ. For that Roman seal to be broken, there had to be a force greater not only than that seal itself but greater than the guards who stood there. And we know that that was true. So, for the believer to sin, you’d have to do something so powerful it would break the seal of the Holy Spirit. You’d have to overcome the Holy Spirit, and you can’t do that. There’s nothing in this world that you could do that would break the seal of the Holy Spirit. In other words, another way to look at this is and Jesus says it, in John chapter 10, He says:
John 10:29: “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
Now, think about that. I’ve had people say to me, “Well, no man, no other man, can take you out, but you can take yourself out of the Father’s hand.” It’s not what Jesus said. He said, “No man can take you out of the Father’s hand.” If he said no man can do it, that means you can’t do it.
Second thing I’ve had people say, “Well, no man can take you out of the Father’s hand, but the devil can take you out.” Well, if that’s true, then the devil is stronger than God. That doesn’t make any sense, doesn’t make any sense. Or the devil, Ephesians one and four, could break the seal of the Holy Spirit. Not going to happen, can’t happen. So, the Holy Spirit seals us once we are saved.
He Witnesses That We Are a Child of God
And then, the Holy Spirit witnesses in our lives that we are saved.
Romans 8:16: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”
Let me run that by you again:
Romans 8:16: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”
When you’re a child of God, the Holy Spirit talks to you and lets you know that you’re a child of God. Well, do you think you could ever have doubts? Sure. Yeah, you could have doubts. There are people who doubt and question their relationship with God. I was there many years ago. I went through a period of doubting. “What got you out of it?” The Word of God. No other explanation than that, the Word of God. 1 John 4:13 says:
1 John 4:13: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”
Know, not guess:
1 John 4:13: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”
So, the Holy Spirit witnesses that we are children of God, and we know that we are children of God because we have the witness of the Spirit.
He Is Our Prayer Partner
We already made reference to this. The Holy Spirit is our prayer partner. Romans 8:26-27, I want you to look at that very quickly. We’ll finish up here. Quickly turn with me over to Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, and look at verse 26. Paul teaches us here, “Likewise the Spirit,” – notice Spirit capitalized. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmitie,” – the weakness of our flesh:
Romans 8:26: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
The Holy Spirit of God is making intercession at the throne of God for us, “with groanings which cannot be uttered,” things that you and I can’t say.
Romans 8:27: “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
That means when I pray, and I don’t know exactly how to pray, but I’m praying the best I know how the Holy Spirit makes intercession for me with God and interprets my prayer as to what I would say if I knew what to say. It’s exactly what it’s telling us. He intercedes for us at the throne of God.
“Well, I thought 1 John taught us that, and Hebrews both taught us that Jesus is our intercessor.” I’m telling you, you cannot separate Him. You have the Son, and you have the Spirit. Now, that may bring up other questions in your mind but understand that you don’t have three separate persons. You have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, one entity. We see God in three persons represented in three personalities.
Let me help you with something else. You get over to Revelation chapter one, it talks about the seven Spirits of God. Are there seven Holy Spirits? No, there aren’t seven Holy Spirits. The one Holy Spirit who manifests himself in seven different ways is what it’s talking about.
He Empowers Us to Do God’s Will
Then, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter back in John 16, where we started. Jesus said when the Comforter should come, in John 14:15-18, He promised to send us another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Also, and we talked about this recently, He gives us the power to do God’s will.
In Acts chapter four, Peter and John had gone to the temple, and they on their way into the temple there was a man lame at the gate, and he asked them for alms. He asked them for money. Peter looks at him and says, “Silver and gold have I none but such as I have, give I to thee.” And he said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
The next thing we read is the man was walking and leaping and praising God. Now, he had been there for years at that gate, and people recognized him. They knew who he was. He wasn’t somebody who just showed up that morning. They knew that he had been lame for years; he’d been a beggar for years. Now, he is walking and leaping and praising God, and they all praise God for this miracle that was done.
You’d think everybody in the area would greatly rejoice. But, some of the religious leaders of the temple had Peter and John arrested and put in jail. “They could do that?” They could, and they had them put in jail. They decided to let them go. But they charged them and said, “We’re going to let you go on this condition: don’t speak or teach anymore in the name of Jesus. If you do that, we’ll be fine. You can come to the temple, you can do everything you want to do, just don’t talk about Jesus.”
Peter and John couldn’t do that. They went back. They get together with the church, and they begin to pray. They prayed, and they took their case before the Lord. In verse 31 of that chapter, it says:
Acts 4:31: “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
What were they supposed to do? They were supposed to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Here, they had been preaching the Gospel, and they got in trouble for it. They prayed, and the Spirit of God filled them, and they all spoke the Word of God with boldness. They had prayed for boldness, and God answered their prayer. “What’s he saying?” I’m saying the Holy Spirit enabled them to do what God had commanded them to do in the first place. And my friend, if you’ll trust Him, He’ll do that for you. The Holy Spirit will enable you to do His will. He will enable you to do what God has called you to do.
Maybe you think I can’t do that. I tell you, when I first felt the Lord was calling me to preach, I went to my pastor, and I said to my pastor, “Pastor, I feel like the Lord’s calling me to preach, but I have a problem.” He says, “What’s that?” I said, “I don’t think I’m cut out to be a preacher.”
Now, he, in his wisdom, took me over to 1 Corinthians chapter one and showed me how God uses the foolish things of this world. And I said, “Well, I guess I can qualify.” But the fact of the matter is, and some people today would say, “I think you were right. You weren’t cut out to be a preacher.” And you’re entitled to your opinion, but how do you do it? You ask the Holy Spirit to help you. That’s how you do it. You ask the Holy Spirit to help you.
So, what is the evidence of the Holy Spirit working in my life? Galatians 5:22-25 is the passage in which we talk about the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives. When you start seeing these things in your life, that’s the Holy Spirit working in your life.
How to Know the Holy Spirit
So, let’s wrap it up. How may I come to know the blessed Holy Spirit? Well, again, you need to be saved. When you get saved, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you.
John 3:16: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:17: “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
John 3:18: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
What do you need to do? You need to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Then the Holy Spirit comes to indwell you. That, again, was not always true in the history of mankind. We find it begins in Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost, but every believer since the day of Pentecost is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And you need to surrender to the Holy Spirit and let Him have control of your life.
Romans 6:15: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
In other words, the more I yield myself to the flesh, the more I yield myself to desires of the flesh, the more I’m going to do that which is wrong, that which is sin. But the more I yield myself to God, the more I give myself to God. He’s going to lead us to righteousness “whether of sin unto death, or of obedience under righteousness.”
So, the question is, how is it with you and me today? How is our relationship with the Lord Jesus and His Spirit? Are we believers in Christ? If you can honestly answer yes to that, I don’t mean just believe that there was once upon a time a man named Jesus Christ who lived; not talking about that.
I’m talking about have you put your faith and trust in Him to save your soul. Have you been born again? If so, then you have the indwelling Holy Spirit, and if you are surrendered to the Holy Spirit, you not only have the Holy Spirit in you, you’re surrendered to Christ, you’re surrendered to God. You have the power of the Holy Spirit. He’s going to deal with you.
If you’re not saved, He’ll deal with you about being saved. He’ll convict you if you are saved, He’ll convict you of sin in your life. But He doesn’t just convict us of sin. Remember, He teaches us, He guides us, He empowers us, if you are saved.
If you ever were saved, then you were sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. You didn’t lose your salvation. “Yeah, but, preacher, you don’t know the things I’ve done.” No, I don’t, but God does. His Word doesn’t change.
So, is the Holy Spirit dealing with you now? Is He talking to you? Is He speaking to you? If so, why not respond? Why not give yourself over completely to Him?
In just a moment, we’re going to pray and we’re going to sing a hymn of invitation. The hymn that we’re singing is one that we’ve sung here countless times over the years. Most of you are going to be very familiar with it, but I want you to pay close attention to the words as we sing because the very words of this hymn are exactly what we’ve just talked about being surrendered to the Lord and letting Him fill you with His Spirit’s power and control you that you might live the Christian life.
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Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, help us now as we come to this invitation time. Help us now as we sing this hymn. The hymn writer does not give us your inspired Word, but the hymn writer gives us principles that we find in your Word. And Lord, I just pray that you’d help us as we sing this hymn to pay attention to the words and, more importantly, to think of the Word of God that you’ve given us so that we might surrender ourselves completely and totally to you.
Heads are bowed, and eyes are closed. If you’re praying, and I trust you are right now, if you’re not saved or not sure that you’re saved, if you’d come, we’ll have somebody help you with that and show you from the Word of God how to be born again, how to be saved.
If you’re here tonight and you say, “Preacher, I’m saved. I know there was a time and a place in my life when I was saved. Then, you did not lose your salvation. If you ever were saved, then you still are. But there may be something else on your heart and mind, some area where you need prayer, maybe a bit of counsel. That’s why we’re here.
Father, I pray that you’ll help us now to open our hearts. Let the Spirit of God search our hearts and let us be totally surrendered to you. Lord, we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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About the Speaker
Dr. Michael L. McClure
Senior Pastor
Dr. Michael L. McClure, our lead pastor, is known for his in-depth knowledge and effective teaching style of biblical truths applicable to everyday living.