April 12, 2022 6:00 am
The Holy Spirit is not only at work in the world around us; He's very busy working inside us. In the message "Help Has Arrived!" Skip examines the promise Jesus gave His disciples in the upper room about the coming Spirit.
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At least three times he is called the Spirit of Truth by Jesus. The Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him.
So he's the Spirit of Truth. He can't lie. He can't deceive. He won't lead you to lie. He won't lead you to deceive. He traffics in truth. The Holy Spirit is ever present in your life to guide and teach you.
And today on Connect with Skip Heitzen. Skip shares why you can rely totally on the Holy Spirit to help you live faithfully for the Lord. Right now we want to tell you about a resource that will encourage you to live boldly for Jesus in a culture in need of truth and light. Some people find comfort in the status quo. Others just can't wait to challenge it. If this were a recovery meeting I would begin by saying my name is Skip and I'm a non-conformist.
How about you? Do you go with the flow or swim against the current? The truth is going against the status quo can be difficult but following Jesus requires it. The Bible's account of Daniel shows how God can transform lives by one person's willingness to defy what's normal. I like to think of it this way when the waves of life came crashing down Daniel decided to go surfing. He thought I'm going to ride these waves. If these waves are the will of God for my life I'm going to learn how to master these things and I'm going to get propelled forward.
Learn to soar above the status quo with Skip Heitzig's book Defying Normal. It's our way of saying thanks for your gift of $35 or more to help connect more people to God's word and when you give we'll also include the booklet What on Earth Am I Here For by Rick Warren. These two resources will help you stand out from the crowd for God's glory.
Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely today or call 800-922-1888. Now we're in John chapter 14 as we join Skip Heitzig for today's message. So Jesus says in the 17th verse he dwells with you and shall be in you. Now think of these two relationships with him with in and there's a third one later on Acts chapter 1 verse 8. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will come upon you.
So think of this three-fold relationship with in and upon with in and upon. The Holy Spirit was with you before he was in you. The Holy Spirit was with you before you came to Christ. A few weeks ago we talked about the hound of heaven where the Lord said when the spirit has come he will convict the world of sin righteousness and judgment of sin because they do not believe in me. That's how the Holy Spirit is with somebody. But then once you throw up your hands and surrender and say Jesus come in to my life be my Lord. He comes into your life and is your Lord but he brings with him the Holy Spirit who resides with you and abides in you.
He is now not just with you he's in you. First Corinthians chapter 3. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you? But then later on he can come upon you to gift you to do his work in the world to be his witness. So I'll sum it up this way the Holy Spirit comes after us to make us saved. He comes into us to make us sanctified and then he comes upon us to make us supercharged. He empowers us to do his work. That's why instead of saying how can I get more of the Holy Spirit we should be saying how can the Holy Spirit get more of me.
Because you as a mortal having all of that power at your disposal would be a dangerous thing. So it's not like how can you get more power how about how about how can the all-powerful one just get a hold of you and work through you. He's a permanent Helper. The fourth trait I want you to notice in this text is the Spirit is a reliable Helper for Jesus calls him in verse 17 the Spirit of what?
Truth. Now he calls him the Helper that's his designated term four times in this section I mentioned but at least three times he is called the Spirit of truth by Jesus. The Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. So he's the Spirit of truth he can't lie he can't deceive he won't lead you to lie he won't lead you to deceive he traffics in truth.
If you don't mind go down to chapter 15 or go over a chapter. Chapter 15 verse 26. But when the Helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father the Spirit of truth there's that term who proceeds from the Father he will testify of me. In other words he's going to tell you the truth about who I am he'll reinforce the truth of my identity he will testify of me. Verse 27 and you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. Now go over to chapter 16 one more chapter same night same message same room. Chapter 16 verse 12. I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now.
You understand that right? They're emotionally distraught they're not hearing all the things Jesus is telling them because he told them he's leaving their head is spinning their hearts are pounding and so he he knows that and he says I have a lot of things to tell you but you guys cannot handle it. However here's the great part about that however when he the Spirit of truth has come he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come. This accounts for how the disciples could write the New Testament. People say all the time how could they remember all the things Jesus did and said?
I mean I forget what happened yesterday the only way they could is by this promise. He's going to direct you into the truth he's going to bring everything to your remembrance he's going to enable you to do that. Now this brings a very important point here. In this section that I'm reading out of John 16 verse 13 he's called the Spirit of truth he's going to guide you into all truth. There's a word in the original Greek manuscript that is not in the translations unfortunately.
It's the article the. It actually reads when the Spirit of the truth has come he will guide you into all the truth. It's a very specific kind of truth it's not just like he's going to show you what's true and what's false. He's the Spirit of the truth tastes alethias the truth.
He's referring to a specific body of truth centering on Jesus Christ which is the New Testament. That's specifically what he's the Spirit of the truth about Jesus. So when a person comes up to you and says you know the Lord gave me a vision about you and you're going okay here goes I don't know what's coming next doesn't sound good or you know the Lord spoke to me and I'm not saying the Lord cannot speak to you or the Lord cannot give you an impression of your heart but but follow me here when somebody says I've gotten a word from the Lord or a prophecy from the Lord or a vision from the Lord the Lord spoke to me I immediately go well maybe he did maybe he didn't tell me what he told you and then I will match it up and see if it goes along with the revealed word of God the truth if it does then what you said is true if it doesn't then it's not true. So how can you tell if a person's filled with the Holy Spirit number one he's holy because he's the Holy Spirit number two he's filled with the truth truthful he's the spirit of truth. In Daniel chapter 10 verse 21 you don't have to turn there it's it it calls the Bible the scripture of truth I love that designation the scripture of truth and and that is always the consistent case throughout the throughout the holy scriptures is that God reveals his word and everything that people say must be compared to that to see if it lines up. So there's an interesting text in Isaiah chapter 8 we're going to throw it up on the screen where it says in Isaiah chapter 8 there it is and when they say to you seek those who are mediums and wizards who whisper and mutter stop right there now that's that's a false practice they were telling people that you can consult a medium and find out what God's will is they were having all sorts of weird spiritual practices so but when they say to you seek those who are mediums and wizards listen to the response should not a people seek their God should they seek the dead on behalf of the living look at the next part here's the answer to all that to the law and to the testimony you know what the law is right in the testimony it's the scripture it's the law of Moses and the testimony of the prophets to the law and to the testimony if they do not speak according to this word it is because there is no light in them so if somebody says the Lord spoke to me but it happens to be the opposite of what the Bible says it's because there is no light in them you always compare it always compare it with the revealed truth of God the scriptures and and this is something that the Bereans did remember the Bereans in Acts chapter 17 they were commended by Paul and by Luke the author of the book of Acts the Bereans it says received the words of Paul with all readiness of mind they received his teaching but they searched the scriptures daily to see if these things be so they were commended for that so even Paul the Apostle got scrutiny hey you know Paul gave this sermon today I'm gonna go read my Bible and see if he's right and Paul said I like that that's what you should be doing with everybody you should be matching what they say what they teach what they purport according to the scripture of truth something else before I move on to the next and last it's going to be a balanced truth somebody who traffics in the truth of God or is filled with the Spirit if you want to test it is it balanced truth they don't just emphasize one truth over the other truths they take they take in consideration all of scripture it's balanced that's a hermeneutical principle hermeneutics is the study of or the science of interpreting the text of the Bible some of some of it you don't even perhaps know but you know hermeneutics and and here's why when somebody brings out a text of the Bible and quotes you a text of scripture you immediately think what is the context you say that all the time what's the context that's a hermeneutical principle because every text has to be examined by its context if it's out of context it might not mean what it really means in context there's another hermeneutical principle and that is called the unity of scripture that is where you balance all the truths of the scripture and ask yourself is this truth consistent all the way through the scripture so you never get scriptural harmony if you play one string of the truth you play all the strings together and it's wonderful harmony takes us to the fifth and final trait of the holy spirit's help the spirit is an exclusive helper not everybody gets his help not everybody gets his help only certain ones get his help i want you to see who they are because you're going to like this verse 17 the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive that is the world of unbelievers because it neither sees him nor knows him but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you every child of god every child of god has the holy spirit everyone the holy spirit comes inside baptizes them into the body of christ every child of god has the holy spirit the people of the world do not and why why don't people in the world receive him because he says the world cannot receive why don't they receive him this is what he says because it neither sees him nor knows him that's the world view of non-believers they say all the time i won't believe it unless i can see it i've never seen god prove to me god exists i want to see something show me the science i got to taste it feel it see it the world cannot receive it you can receive it you can receive it let me give you another illustration and i hope my illustrations don't weigh on you i always come up with these crazy illustrations here's another illustration but i really do try to connect god's truth and make it meaningful to you but right now in this room there are sounds going on you can't hear them right now but they're they're here there are pictures in this room there are movies in this room you can't see or hear them but if you had the right receiver you could if you put a radio up here turned it on put the antenna right you get that music then you turn it to get a different channel i'm sorry or you could get your phone hooked up to wi-fi or or 4g and you get those pictures or put a tv those are receivers those are receivers the holy spirit hooks you up to god's wi-fi enables you to receive and by receiving say i get it i apprehend it i understand it first corinthians chapter 2 the natural man the unsaved person the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of god nor can he know them for they are spiritually discerned have you ever shared the gospel with a person and you're explaining it to them and it makes such sense to you and they're kind of going i don't get it and you're going you don't get it can't you see this and they're going no because unless god opens the eyes of the blind opens the heart it's not going to work he's got to hook him up so it's like you taking a blind person and saying you mean you can't see that sunset no they can't they lack the capability to apprehend to apprehend and enjoy and understand it the world cannot receive but you can receive you have received the holy spirit is the exclusive resident helper to every believer now i'm drawing this to an end here and we're going to pray soon we have been given directions in scripture as to our relationship with the holy spirit going forward he's with us he's in us he comes upon us but we have been given direction in the scripture as to our relationship and the classic text is ephesians chapter 5 in verse 17 he says therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the lord is and do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation or debauchery some translations say in other words you get drunk it'll mess your life up do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation but be filled with the spirit a lot of people have struggled why is there this comparison in the scripture by the holy spirit himself since he's the original author of the bible that you compare being drunk with wine and being filled with the spirit easy answer control when a person drinks alcohol to the point of excess that he's drunk and he gets behind the wheel of a car and he gets written up for dui driving under the influence it's because he is dangerous that person has no control so don't be drunk with wine don't lose control to that give control to the holy spirit be filled with the spirit it implies control um i brought with me a glove i want to show you another crazy Skip illustration let me get it okay so here's my little work glove now it's empty right see that let's fill it up so i'll put my keys in it one set of key car key okay is it filled is it filled well it's filling but it's not filled let's put my mask in it i'll need that for later let's put that in there though okay there that's pretty packed is it full not yet okay wait don't give up on me i got sunglasses i'm going to stuff those in there how about now is it filled okay wait i think i can stick my phone somehow in there wow that's pretty full is it full close it's kind of a dispute if it's really full i guess i could put sand in it or water in it it could be full but even if i did that i could fill it with a lot of things would it be useful if it's filled with any of these things no not really all that useful i mean yeah i can hold my stuff but it's not really intended for that but really yeah really okay so okay ready ready is it filled now yeah now it's filled it's like completely filled there may be a little bit of air in there don't be tech okay so it's filled and it's useful and it's filled with what it was intended to be filled with because the glove was made for the hand to fill it in order that work might be accomplished now work can get done so rather than me giving control to a substance and getting out of control i'm going to give control to the holy spirit so that he can do his work in me and through me that's the idea of being filled with the holy spirit when you're filled with the holy spirit it's going to show up in your marriage when you're filled with the holy spirit it's going to show up in your occupation when you're filled with the holy spirit it's going to show up in your singleness when you're filled with the holy spirit it's going to show up in your education when you're filled with the holy spirit it's going to show up in your social media show up everywhere it's going to be thought by thought choice by choice act by act under the control of the holy spirit something else about that text that i just read in ephesians five It's not technically correct in English. When it says, be filled with the Holy Spirit, that's not technically correct. The Greek language, it's in the present passive imperative.
I'm not going to get into the weeds, but here's the most technical translation. Be being filled with the Holy Spirit. Be being filled. Be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. You might say, why? I mean, I came to Christ, I've been filled with the Spirit, isn't that enough? Why do I have to keep being filled with the Spirit? Here's why. Because you leak.
Can you relate to that? You leak. One baptism, many fillings. Be being filled with the Holy Spirit. Charles Spurgeon said, if there were one prayer I might pray before I died, it should be this, Lord, send thy church men filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Well, I've been filled.
Get filled again and again and again and again. And what do you have to do to get filled with the Spirit? Ask.
Ask. I don't know why we make the Holy Spirit so weird in church. Okay, we're going to have a time of the Holy Spirit now. Just dim the lights because the Holy Spirit does not like bright lights. And the music has to be soft music because He doesn't like loud music. You can be in the middle of bright sunlight playing in a gada divida. It does not matter what's, that's, who cares?
Jesus said this, if you being evil by nature know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. Ask Him. Don't be Skip Heitzig going home for your stupid paper. Help. I need somebody. Help. You just ask for help.
You be filled with the Spirit. Last illustration, I promise. Thomas Edison was in his workshop with his assistant one day. His assistant was pretty discouraged. He looked at the work benches that were strewn before him and he said, it's too bad. He said to Edison, it's too bad that we've done all this work without any results. They were trying to find the proper filament for an incandescent light bulb at the time. Too bad we have no results.
Edison said, oh, we have lots of results. We have just discovered 700 things that won't work. Maybe you've discovered lots of things that don't work. Your life doesn't work with a self-help book. Your life doesn't work with just one retreat away for your marriage. Your life doesn't work by trying this relationship or that substance.
What will work is when you are filled with what you were intended to be filled with, and that is God Himself. That wraps up Skip Heitzig's message from the series 2020. Now here's Skip to share how you can keep these messages coming your way to connect you and many others around the world with God's truths. Let me ask you a question.
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So thank you for giving generously today. And did you know there's a great biblical resource available right at your fingertips through your mobile device. Skip has several Bible reading plans available in the YouVersion Bible app. You can dive deeper into several books of the Bible to gain new insights. Just search Skip Heitzig in the YouVersion Bible app. Come back tomorrow as Skip Heitzig shares a special Good Friday message about the prophecies that foretold the cross, bringing encouragement to your walk of faith. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-05-08 07:19:30 / 2023-05-08 07:29:09 / 10