The Forgotten Third: Developing a Relationship with God the Holy Spirit — He Illumines the BELIEVER! (Part 1)

“He illumines the believer? What in the world are you talking about?”, you might say. We are continuing our study of God the Holy Spirit and this morning we want to talk about ILLUMINATION!

It seems to me that some Christians either overemphasize the Spirit while others overlook Him. We need a biblical balance in understanding His ministries in the world . . . and in us!

We know that the Spirit of God was sent by Jesus as His substitute Teacher. We read the following in the Upper Room Discourse (John 14-16):

²⁵ “All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But 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. (Jn. 14)

²⁶ “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. (Jn. 15)

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.” (Jn. 16)

We must make several points about these verses in John 14-16-
1. The Spirit of God will teach the disciples all things and will remind them of everything Jesus had said to them (Jn. 14:26).

The primary application of this verse is to the original Apostles and seems to be a reference to their being taught and guided into writing the New Testament Scriptures.

A secondary application which seems valid is that this verse applies to all believers who pay attention to what the Lord Jesus said. They will receive the Spirit’s help in focusing upon Christ’s teachings.

2. The Spirit of God is “the Spirit of truth” and “will testify” about the Lord Jesus (Jn. 15:26).

There is a definite curriculum for the Substitute Teacher and it is . . . the Lord Jesus.

3. This “Spirit of truth” will “guide [the disciples] into all the truth” (Jn. 16:12). His teaching ministry will not be a solo work — “He will speak only what He hears.”

There is an order in the Trinity that no one, especially theologians, understands. But John 16 indicates that the Spirit’s role is to “glorify” the Son. And the Spirit “will receive from [the Lord Jesus] what He will make known to you” (Jn. 16:15).

So, what does this have to do with ILLUMINATION? The Spirit of God is intimately involved in the believer’s studying the words of the Lord Jesus, and, by extension, his or her diligent study of any of the written Word of God.

Another key text in regard to this illuminating ministry is . . . — a text we will examine in our next post!

The Challenge: Get into God’s Word today — and let the Spirit of God teach you something new or remind you of something you have forgotten!

 

 

The Forgotten Third: Developing a Relationship with God the Holy Spirit — He COMFORTS the Believer!

We are facing the truth in these posts that some Christians overemphasize the Holy Spirit, but many overlook Him. Sometimes called the “Shy Member of the Trinity,” the Holy Spirit is personal and deserves to be treated as a Person! As fully divine, He can (and should) be worshiped!

My primary thesis in these posts is that we can have a personal relationship with God the Holy Spirit which includes praying to Him and worshiping Him. Directing our prayers to the respective member of the Godhead who is most intimately connected to a certain ministry in no way minimizes the absolute primacy of the Lord Jesus.

We saw in our last post that He indwells the believer and gives us the highest motivation to live sexually pure lives.

Let’s notice a further ministry of the Spirit of God to the believer: He comforts us! We read about His “comforting” ministry in John 14:

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

The expression “another advocate” (v. 16) means “another of the same kind called alongside (to help).” The Holy Spirit would continue the ministry of the Lord Jesus to His disciples. The word “advocate” is translated “Comforter” in some Bibles, and sometimes comfort is exactly what the Jesus-follower needs.

However, the word literally means “one called alongside of.” Sometimes I don’t need the Spirit of God to comfort me but to chastise me! He is both a Defender and Prosecutor to the disciple.

In the next chapter of John, we read —

²⁶ “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. (ch. 15)

Some in the Early Church argued about whether the Holy Spirit is sent by the Son or by the Father. Jesus clearly says that this “Advocate” will be One “whom I will send to you from the Father” (v. 26).

In John 16 we read further of the ministries of God the Holy Spirit:

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.”

We learn that the Son needed to go away so that “the Advocate” would come. We also learn of His “proving” ministry of sin, righteousness and judgment in the world (vv. 8-11).

This “Spirit of truth” will guide the disciples into all the truth (v. 12), not speaking on his own, but delegated (by the Father and the Son) to “tell what is yet to come” (v. 13).

Someone has said, “The truth shall make ye free, but first it shall make ye miserable.” The Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, brings comfort to God’s people and conviction to a world enslaved by its wrongness. God often comforts His people by His people.

The Challenge: Be an instrument of the Comforting Holy Spirit today and bring some encouragement to another believer!

 

The Theology of Jesus: Part 8 Pneumatology

Okay.  Okay.  I’ll confess.  I have a particular interest in the doctrine of the Person and Work of God the Holy Spirit.  I did my Ph.D. dissertation on “The Pneumatology of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882).”  I even wrote a chapter on the Holy Spirit entitled “The Other Comforter” or “The Forgotten God” (I don’t remember which) in the book edited by Jack Fish Understanding the Trinity.

In my preaching and teaching ministry, I encourage other believers to develop a relationship with God the Holy Spirit!  If He is personal, we can have a relationship with Him.  If He is God, we can worship Him.  This challenge is not meant to supercede our relationship with the Lord Jesus, of course, for the Spirit’s primary work is to glorify Christ!

In our experiment of asking how the teachings of the Lord Jesus fit into the ten categories of systematic theology (the doctrine of man, the doctrine of sin, the doctrine of the church), we have covered several areas.  Let’s ask what the Lord Jesus taught about the Third Member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

The Lord Jesus had a great deal to say about God the Holy Spirit.  Let’s look briefly at His teaching in the Upper Room Discourse (John 14-16):

There is so much here in these three chapters!  Here’s what I learn about God the Holy Spirit:

1. We need “another advocate” (14:16).  He will help us and be with us forever.
2. He is called “the Spirit of truth” — and we need truth! (14:17).
3. We should not be surprised that “the world” cannot accept the Spirit for it has no relationship to Him (14:17).
4. The Spirit will have a specific teaching ministry to the disciples of reminding them of the truths of the Lord Jesus (14:26).
5. The Spirit’s “curriculum” is the Lord Jesus — “He will testify about me” (15:26).
6. There is an order to the working of the Triune God.  Jesus came to do the Father’s will.  He is returning to the Father and the Spirit is being sent to take Jesus’ place (16:7).
7.  The Spirit’s primary ministry to the world is that of conviction of sin (16:8-11).
8.  The Lord Jesus was not finished with what He wanted to teach the disciples.  The Spirit of truth will guide the disciples into all truth (16:13).
9.  The Spirit of God will not speak on His own, but only what He hears (from the Father and the Son) (16:13).
10.  He will glorify the Lord Jesus (16:14-15).

If I’m right that we should develop a personal relationship with God the Holy Spirit, then we can talk to Him and ask Him for things.  One of His ministries is conviction of sin.  Write out a prayer today to the Holy Spirit, asking that He would bring conviction of sin to someone that you love. (to be continued)

 

The Spirit, the Preacher, and the Word (Part 11)

Friends: We are almost finished with our study of the Holy Spirit and the preacher as seen in the Upper Room Discourse. There are several other texts which we will look at in our subsequent posts, but we have been concentrating on John 14-16.

We learn a great deal about Jesus’ sending the Spirit as His replacement and as our Teacher. We see in John 14 that the Holy Spirit is a gift to the disciples, requested of the Father by the Son (14:16). He comes to help and to indwell Jesus’ followers (14:16) as the Spirit of truth (14:17). He is the manifestation of the absent Christ to them (14:18) so that they will not be orphans.

Sent from the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, will teach the disciples all things and will remind them of all Jesus had taught them (14:26).

In John 15 we learn that the Spirit of truth whom Jesus will send from the Father will testify about Christ (15:26). That is His curriculum. And the disciples are to pass on that testimony (15:27).

John 16 has the most information about the Spirit of God and the disciples. We learn —
1. It is for the disciples’ benefit that Jesus is going back to the Father, for “unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you” (16:7). The Holy Spirit’s presence necessitated Jesus’ absence.
2. The Spirit’s work will be that of proving the world wrong! The world is wrong regarding sin and righteousness and judgment (16:8). Each of these areas is explained: the world is wrong about sin because people don’t believe in Jesus; about righteousness because He is going to the Father where the disciples can see Him no longer; about judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned (16:9-11).
3. The Spirit’s guidance is promised — “He will guide you into all the truth” 16:12). He won’t speak on His own but will only speaks what He hears and will tell you what is yet to come (16:13). There is on-going communication between the members of the Trinity!
4. We learn that the Spirit’s role is to glorify the Son (16:14). Jesus says, “He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you” (16:14).

 

The Spirit, the Preacher, and the Word (Part 10)

What a privilege to study the Spirit of God! We’ve seen much in these posts on His ministries to believers. Preachers are a sub-category of believers, right? So the work He does in believers He does in preachers!

Let’s look at the third area in which the Spirit proves the world wrong: the issue of JUDGMENT!

²⁶ “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. . . . 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.”

 

 

 

 

The Spirit, the Preacher, and the Word (Part 9)

The American humorist Will Rogers once said, “I refuse to accept my religion from anyone who earns his living only by the sweat of his jaw!” Preaching is incredible risky business. We want to be Spirit-led, Spirit-enthused, and Spirit-pleasing, don’t we?

Jesus’ Upper Room Discourse tells us some of the ministries of the Third Person of the Trinity. But how does He relate to our preaching? Let’s look at our section of that discourse one more time . . .

²⁶ “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. . . . 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.”

 

 

 

 

The Spirit, the Preacher, and the Word (Part 8)

How is the Spirit of God involved in the preacher’s study, preparation, and delivery of sermons today? There is no instrument that tells us that if we shout more, or wave our arms enthusiastically, or tell tear-jerking stories we will have the assurance that the Spirit is actively working in our sermons. So how can we know that He is involved? Let’s ponder this passage from the Upper Room Discourse once more time . . .

²⁶ “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. . . . 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.”

 

 

 

 

The Spirit, the Preacher, and the Word (Part 7)

If you are reading these posts on the Holy Spirit and preaching, thank you! These give me the opportunity to think my way through some critical questions about how the Spirit helps us preachers in our preparation and delivery of God’s Word. Let’s read over these verses in John 15 and 16 once more . . .

²⁶ “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. . . . 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.”

 

 

 

 

The Spirit, the Preacher, and the Word (Part 1)

Friends:  I have been asked to participate in a March conference with Biblical Eldership Resources.  I will be presenting two messages on the subject of preaching and God the Holy Spirit.  In light of that assignment, I want to take a number of posts to think through some passages that may shed light on the awesome task of proclaiming God’s Word.

Jesus’ “Upper Room Discourse,” as you know, deals with a variety of subjects, not the least being the coming and ministries of the Third Person of the Trinity.  Let’s look at several verses in that discourse which is found in John 14-16.

Jesus gives an amazing promise in John 14:

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But 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.