II. What is the Holy Spirit’s work? What Does He Do? (Part 1) —
The question for this study is this: How has the Spirit of God worked in your life in any (or all) of the ways below?
A. He purifies believers.
Matthew 3:11-12 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
• Greek expert D.A. Carson says the grammatical construction “suggests a unified concept, Spirit-fire or the like” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary on Matthew, p. 105). Carson adds that “there are good reasons for taking ‘fire’ as a purifying agent along with the Holy Spirit” (105).
B. He comes upon believers for certain tasks.
Luke 1:15-17, 67 …[John] will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah… [67] and his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.
• The great prophet John the Baptist was empowered for His ministry by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit’s enablement John turned many Israelites back to the Lord. And He served as the contemporary prophet announcing the coming of the Lord Jesus to earth.
• John’s father Zechariah, when “filled with the Spirit,” began to prophesy a mighty message about the coming Savior and John’s prophetic introduction of Him.
C. He is our Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate.
John 14:16-17a And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth (NIV).
• Some other translations: “another Helper (NASB) … another Counselor (RSV) … another Comforter (The Amplified reads, "Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby").
D. He will teach us, and give us recall of what we have learned.
John 14:26: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
• God gives us human teachers of His word (Ephesians 4:11). But the ultimate, infallible Teacher is the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:27). He inspired the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:20-21), and therefore He is the One perfectly qualified to teach us their meaning.
• Not only does the Spirit teach us the things of God, He also gives us recall of these things when we need them. He will “bring to our remembrance” the things we have learned about the Lord.
E. He will show the future.
John 16:13, KJV …when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth … and He will show you things to come.
• He has shown us things to come in the hundreds of predictive prophecies in the Scriptures. And as He deems it to be needed, He gives to individual believers specific guidance and insight for their own futures.
The question for this study is this: How has the Spirit of God worked in your life in any (or all) of the ways below?
A. He purifies believers.
Matthew 3:11-12 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
• Greek expert D.A. Carson says the grammatical construction “suggests a unified concept, Spirit-fire or the like” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary on Matthew, p. 105). Carson adds that “there are good reasons for taking ‘fire’ as a purifying agent along with the Holy Spirit” (105).
B. He comes upon believers for certain tasks.
Luke 1:15-17, 67 …[John] will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah… [67] and his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.
• The great prophet John the Baptist was empowered for His ministry by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit’s enablement John turned many Israelites back to the Lord. And He served as the contemporary prophet announcing the coming of the Lord Jesus to earth.
• John’s father Zechariah, when “filled with the Spirit,” began to prophesy a mighty message about the coming Savior and John’s prophetic introduction of Him.
C. He is our Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate.
John 14:16-17a And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth (NIV).
• Some other translations: “another Helper (NASB) … another Counselor (RSV) … another Comforter (The Amplified reads, "Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby").
D. He will teach us, and give us recall of what we have learned.
John 14:26: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
• God gives us human teachers of His word (Ephesians 4:11). But the ultimate, infallible Teacher is the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:27). He inspired the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:20-21), and therefore He is the One perfectly qualified to teach us their meaning.
• Not only does the Spirit teach us the things of God, He also gives us recall of these things when we need them. He will “bring to our remembrance” the things we have learned about the Lord.
E. He will show the future.
John 16:13, KJV …when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth … and He will show you things to come.
• He has shown us things to come in the hundreds of predictive prophecies in the Scriptures. And as He deems it to be needed, He gives to individual believers specific guidance and insight for their own futures.