Last time we saw the ministry (function) of the Holy Spirit to the people in the world. Today we will look at what He does amongst the children of God. This function is two fold (i) among the individual believer and (ii) in the Church as a whole.
(i) To Individual Believers
(i) To Individual Believers
D. To Guarantee:
Whenever
there is a monetary transaction there will always be a receipt. The Bible says
that we have been bought by the Blood of Christ. Do we receive an
acknowledgement that the purchase transaction went through that says we have
been bought by Jesus? In other words do we have a guarantee that we are saved? Well
the answer is yes to both!! Let’s read
“In
whom also you, hearing the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom
also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the
earnest (guarantee) of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased
possession to the praise of His glory.” Eph 1:13-14
Other
support verses are 2Cor 1:22 and Eph 4:30. The word earnest here is used to
denote a down payment. This means that everyone who has received the Holy
Spirit has received a token from God confirming their salvation. Therefore, a believer can make the
statement that they will be going to Heaven. The only way that a believer can
forfeit this is through apostasy Heb 10:26-31. This point will be dealt with in
greater detail later. The Holy Spirit therefore; to a believer must be their
most cherished possession. To be sealed means to be set apart from mankind as
those reserved for the Day of Redemption, while those not are for the condemnation.
E.
To Re-establish Communications:
When
man fell into sin he lost his connection with God. Therefore, he went about as
his heart led him and of course this meant that he was open to the influence of
satan much more. Man unwittingly was being led by satan through various guises
making man think that he was still in a relationship with God Eph 2:2. Jesus
did not come to purchase mankind from satan but rather from the wrath of God,
because of man’s inability to keep the law. Through His sacrifice Jesus
re-established man’s relationship with God Jn 1:12-13. Man was reinstated to
what he was before…the son of God. Please do not misunderstand the term- Jesus
is the only begotten Son while man is the son made in His image and likeness.
The Bible calls Adam the son of God in Lk 3:38. This was the relationship in
which man was made for…to be a child of God. Sin however made man God’ enemy
Rom 5:10 & Col 1:21.
With the relationship now re-established
by and in Christ, we needed an open channel of communication, since He would
ascend to Heaven. This is where the Holy Spirit enables us to talk to our
Father in Heaven Rom 8:15. Prayer is the most common form of communication we
know. Meditation is the other. The fact is true communication is a 2 way one.
Most often people pray without waiting for Him to speak. They continue to pray
till they receive an answer, this is one of the ways of communication but not
THE way. It’s like calling someone and leaving a voice message and waiting for
them to respond at their convenience. Have you tried to speak to Him and
receive His reply immediately? Yes of course there are times He does not reply
immediately but that is not always. God wants to talk to His children. It is
the right of the child to be able to communicate with the parent freely. There
will be times when we are in difficult times where we are unable to pray or do
not know how or what to pray and in these moments the Holy Spirit will
intercede for us according to the Will of God Rom 8:26-27. This means that God
will help us pray or talk to Him even when we do not know what to say or how to
address the issue to Him. I personally have experienced this when I was praying
for someone close to me, to be healed, many years ago. The Holy Spirit began to
pray and the words I spoke weren't intelligible words per say and I knew that it wasn't me speaking however, the groaning’s were being translated to me
as the Spirit prayed. It is an experience that I will never forget. What I want
to encourage you is to seek to have conversations with your Father in Heaven.
Believe me you won’t be disappointed.
F.
To provide Counsel:
The
Bible says that there is safety when you have a multitude of counsellors Pro
11:14. This verse specifically talks about receiving godly counsel. The more we
have the better we are able to see the wisdom that God had granted His
children. It gives you the ability to choose wisely. King Rehoboam, the son of
King Solomon, received wise counsel from his father’s counsellors but refused
to listen to them instead gave heed to his friends, thus the kingdom was split into
two. Seeking godly counsel is the first thing that a child of God must do
before making decisions. That does not mean running to another man of God. The
first act must be to ask God directly first. My personal experience is that God
will not tell another person what He has not told you first! Let this be a key counsel
from me to you.
Jesus is called the
Counsellor in Isaiah 9:6 so how can He be our Counsellor if He is in Heaven?
The answer lies in His promise, “I will not leave you as orphans: I will come
to you.” Jn 14:18 Jesus made this profound statement when He was talking about
His ascension to His disciples. The disciples had no clue of what Jesus was
talking about nor did they fathom its significance. If Jesus was to ascend how
can He come to us so that we are not left as orphans? Since, Jesus took up the
human form He became limited to be in one place and one time. However, the Holy
Spirit has no such limitations. He is omnipresent and so can be with every one
of God’s children all the time. This omnipresent quality is one of the main
reasons that Jesus had to ascend so as to facilitate the arrival of the Holy
Spirit to dwell within His children. In this manner Christ, who is One with the
Holy Spirit, is also now living within us. To receive God’s counsel we must
have a proper communication with the Father, otherwise we will have no idea
what He is speaking and so will end up listening to ungodly counsel. This in itself
should be an encouragement to seek godly counsel when we face problems or have
to make tough decisions, so that we stay in the Will of God. Jesus says that
the Holy Spirit will be given to all who ask the Father for Him in Mt 7:11 and
Lk 11:13.
In Jn 10:5
Jesus speaks about the sheep that hear His voice and follow Him. The imagery is
pretty straightforward and is easily understood that He is talking about the
Jewish and Gentile believers, who follow Him hearing His voice. This
recognition of voice comes through relationship, for example I would be able to
recognize the voice of someone with whom I have had a lot of interaction rather
than someone I met recently. Hearing Jesus’s voice means two things to the
believer:
1.
Jesus will be speaking to him/her.
2.
It refers indirectly to the Holy Spirit who will enable the believer to hear
His voice as per Jn 16:13.
In
Jn 16:13 we read that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us what He hears from the
Father. So, when we ask for counsel from God, He will inform us through the
Holy Spirit and so we can receive His Will regarding anything. God really wants us to come to him with even the most silliest things in life. Our God is not far from us and His ears are ever open for His children to hear them and to enjoy their conversations with Him. Try talking to Him today and open your heart to Him, seek His word for every situation and you will be surprised at how He hears and answers.
We will continue with the ministry of the Holy Spirit among the individual believers, so stay tuned. Till next time God Bless.
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