Refreshment for the Worried – Part 3

Here's Anne Graham Lotz with a reminder of the work of the Holy Spirit from today's message on Living in the Light. The Holy Spirit, if you open up your heart and let Him, ask Him, what is the sin in my life that needs to be dealt with? What do I need to bring to the cross and confess?

Welcome to Living in the Light. This week, Bible teacher Anne Graham Lotz speaks from John 16, where the apostle points out one of the names of the Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth. Here's Anne with today's message. Let me remind you of His precepts. In verse 13 in chapter 16, He's called the Spirit of Truth.

The Holy Spirit is not a feeling or an emotion or an ecstatic experience. He is the Spirit of Truth. And He wrote through human authors this book, every word is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And let me tell you something. He is the Spirit of Truth. He does not lie.

He does not make mistakes. He does not record myths. From Genesis to Revelation, the book that He inspired is the truth. And to say that the Bible holds errors or myths or is not true is to slur the integrity of the Spirit of Truth. So what's your view of Scripture?

Nail it down. How can you be teaching it, promoting it, if you don't believe it yourself? And it just is an act of faith on my part. I believe because this is God's Word.

I believe because it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. It's true. I can't answer all of your questions about it. I don't understand it all. But I believe it's true. And when I get to heaven, if I find out instead of 200,000 people killed in some battle, it was just 20,000 because somewhere along the line a zero was added. I don't care. But if I get to heaven and find out I picked and chose my way through Scripture because I couldn't believe Jonah was swallowed by a fish and I couldn't believe a snake would talk and I can't believe Noah would get all those animals and I pick and choose and I find out it was all true and I was discarding things that were the truth that had tremendous meaning for my life and then I sowed doubt in the minds of other people.

God forbid that would ever happen. So I put my faith in God's Word and I've taught it not every single part of it but I've taught it enough and I've taught it long enough and I've applied it to my life and I've lived by it. What does it say? What does it mean? What does it mean in my life? Applying it?

Living it out? And I can tell you I know by experience that it's true. It works. So just decide your view of Scripture. Put your faith in it.

It's God's Word. He's the Spirit of Truth. He doesn't lie.

You can trust Him. You can take Him at His Word that reminds you of His purity. This is also so obvious that we miss it sometimes but He is in chapter 14 verse 26 He is the Holy Spirit.

He is completely separate from sin. In the Holy Spirit there is no meanness. There is no unkindness. There's no rudeness. There's no selfishness. There's no bitterness. There's no unforgiveness.

There's no jealousy. All the petty sins, pridefulness. There's no sinfulness at all. And when He comes into my life and when He comes into your life you'll look around then He'll begin to separate you from sin. He'll begin to convict you of sin. So when you gossip and you're just having fun but you're stealing somebody's reputation and He's going to give you that prick. There's a conviction.

There's a you just feel nasty inside or that white lie and it was just a little white lie you know but and it sounded good and you exaggerated and it made the story better but you get back and you think that wasn't the complete truth or you lose your temper and boy that person deserved to have you give them a piece of your mind but you think I could have handled that differently. It's a pain almost like a spiritual pain and I'll tell you what keep short accounts you keep coming to the cross confess your sin because if you don't you lose that pain you become accustomed to the pain and you begin to get anesthetized to it and you're harder for the Holy Spirit to convict. We're talking about it at lunch today because this past week with my leaders we had a time of confession and repentance and it was eye-opening for all of us. Women in ministry, leaders, women's directors done tremendous phenomenal miraculous things and yet found after our session together that God was convicting them of not just one but multiple sins and we had a time of confession and repentance and and I've discovered in my own life an experience I had about four years ago when I was preparing messages and the Lord said he didn't want to work on the messages he wanted to work on me and for seven days he took me through the cleaners and convicted me of sin after sin I didn't know was in my life and I was so ashamed and wept. Every time I opened my Bible there'd be another verse to convict me of something else and finally he gave me after seven days he spoke to me and told me he was finished and I just asked him please to get it all you know I just didn't want him to miss a thing and then I had three days to prepare for all that I had to do down here and God gave it to me and the people here that I spoke to didn't know what I'd been through but it was like Isaiah's experience in Isaiah 6 when I saw the Lord and then I saw myself and the Holy Spirit will come in and begin to show you the sin if you open up your heart and let him ask him what is the sin in my life that needs to be dealt with what do I need to bring to the cross and confess to you I'll tell you what and I'll digress for a moment but this past week we were in Joshua and after Joshua defeated Jericho the walls came down they went to Ai he sent a few troops up there if we could take Jericho we can take Ai and the Israelites were defeated do you remember 36 Israelites killed they come back and tell Joshua and he gets on his face and he says God have you brought us into the promised land just to suffer defeat at the hands of the enemy and God says Joshua get up and get up off your face it's not a time to pray it's a time to repent of your sin there is sin in the camp and Joshua went throughout the camp of Israel he found one man named Achan who took something God said he couldn't have and he buried it under his tent and Joshua had to take that man and his family put him out so actually he took him outside the camp and stoned them to death and it's a picture of you and me having sin in our hearts sin within the church buried down deep nobody knows it's there and it's time we took it and crucified it put it to death because I'll tell you what the problem in our society today is not them it's not the political situation it's not the health care it's not the increase in taxes it's not the deficit it's not the budget the problem today in our society is sin in the church in the hearts of God's people we are not who God has called us to be and the the light that we're supposed to be is hidden under a bushel the light is dimmed the trumpet is giving an uncertain sound the salt is lost at saver because we're immersed in us and there's sin in the camp so if there is sin in your heart buried down deep nobody knows how bitter you are nobody knows what you look at on the computer when nobody else is there nobody knows the way you've lied nobody knows the way you've hurt somebody you know I don't know what it is but whatever it is God knows and it will render you a defeated Christian life you talk about sawing without activating the power let me tell you sin in your camp buried down deep I don't care how deep down it went how far back it went maybe it goes back to your childhood maybe the person that you're having a problem with is dead but you need to bring that sin to the cross confess it and crucify it and if it's unforgiveness that's a hard one isn't it but I'll tell you don't want to forgive them because they don't deserve it but God forgave you and you didn't deserve it so we forgive other people not because they deserve it but because it's an act of worship we do it because God forgave us for Jesus sake therefore God in worship of you I'll forgive that person who doesn't deserve it and God keeps the books he's going to hold them accountable you don't have to and what happens is you set yourself free just release the sin he is holy be holy as I am holy says the Lord that's a command so in us there should be no meanness no unkindness no selfishness no bitterness no unforgiveness no pridefulness no jealousy no little nagging tongue critical spirit self-righteousness you know all those things so we need to be prayed for don't we and that's something else the Holy Spirit does he's praying for you Romans 8 26 says that he prays for you without words he lives in your heart he's ever before the throne he can transfer your prayers and your needs and your worries and your concerns right before the father you have a prayer partner you do now praying for you and not only praying for you but praying for you with a heart of love it's when I first did a study on the Holy Spirit I came across this and I hadn't realized this before but where Ephesians says do not grieve for the Holy Spirit and it struck me in fact one of you shared today that your mother has recently moved my father's house and I went through that experience still grieve for my mother and you know why because I love my mother you don't grieve for someone you don't love so when it says don't grieve the Holy Spirit it just it's like the lights went on I thought the Holy Spirit loves me and I thought I'm going to be I didn't know that I thought when I invited Jesus to come into my heart and God said there's little Ann Graham that little girl right there and she's asked Jesus in her heart so Holy Spirit you go live in her and I was his assignment you know like he just had to come live in me and was stuck there until I saw Jesus face to face or however it works and and I didn't know that he wanted to come into my heart that he loved me that when I do the right thing he rejoices and when I do the wrong thing he grieves because he's emotionally caught up in my life the Holy Spirit loves you he loves you he loves you he's come into your heart to conform you to the image of Jesus to help you get answers to prayer to give you power to live the Christian life to tell you the truth and lastly his priority oh I love it because he has no hidden agendas just right out there verse 14 he will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you listen to me Holy Spirit has one agenda one priority and it's the word of God the written word of God and the living word of God and the Holy Spirit inspired this book and wrote every word so that it's true and I know it came through human authors but inspired authored by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of revealing God to you in the person of Jesus Christ and so the Holy Spirit takes the things of God and the things on the pages of our scripture and he shows us Jesus he reveals Jesus Jesus is his priority Jesus is his agenda when I was a little girl my mother I guess had too many of us running around and when I was young we lived right across the street from my grandmother so when one of us got very sick my mother would ship us off to my grandmother I'm so glad my daughter doesn't do that with our three granddaughters when they're sick I stay away you know but when we were sick we'd go over my grand I can remember getting on my nightgown putting my pillow under my arm skipping across the creek going to my grandmother's and she would take care of us and my grandmother always had a jigsaw puzzle going you know it was like a piece of cardboard and on it was pasted a picture and then somebody cut it up in all these little shapes and they'd be all jumbled and she would show how to turn the puzzle pieces over so you saw that little bit of a picture on the the side of the puzzle piece and then she put the picture that was on the box and when you put the puzzle pieces together to replicate the picture on the box you solve the puzzle you know what I'm talking about people don't do those anymore I don't think I've done one since I was a little girl they take too much time but a lot of people think the bible is like a jigsaw puzzle all these funny little shapes and sizes and they don't quite know how they fit but it's the holy spirit who takes the puzzle pieces puts them together turns them over and shows us the picture of the man on the other side the whole bible from genesis to revelation is about jesus so let me try to do this genesis chapter one in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth verse two the spirit of god hovered over the face of the deep verse three and god said and his word went forth and so we just think that's nouns and pronouns going out of the mouth of god until you come to john one verse one in the beginning was the word the word was with god the word was god verse 14 and the word became flesh and the holy spirit takes that puzzle piece and turns it over so in genesis chapter one verse three we see jesus the living word of god going forth creating everything nothing was made that wasn't made by him clausian says chapter two we have the lord god planning the garden eastward and even picture of the pre-incarnate son of god the first homemaker the holy spirit turns that puzzle piece over and we see him preparing a place for his children still preparing a place for his children actually and then we see in chapter two when he formed adam out of the dust of the ground breathed his own life into him and adam became a living being and turned the puzzle piece over and we find that our very breath comes from jesus chapter three when adam and eve sinned they were so ashamed they covered themselves in fig leaves they went and hid in the bushes and here comes the lord god in the cool of the evening and the holy spirit turns a puzzle piece over and we find jesus looking for his children not wanting to leave them in their sin and their shame and their guilt searching for them bringing them out making them confess what they've done and then he had to pass judgment but before he barred them from his presence and they were separated because of their sin he killed an animal and clothed them in the skin and you wonder if the tears were coming down his face because he knew this animal couldn't cover them in their sin and guilt but one day there would come the lamb of god who would shed his own blood to cover them for all time then we can go on chapter four we hear him talking to kane chapter five he's walking with enoch chapter six he's walking with noah next time we get a good look at him it's genesis chapter 18 in chapter 18 abraham has been walking with god following him for 24 years and three men show up at his tent in the heat of the day and one of them says abraham i'm going to come back and visit you next year and you and sarah are going to have a son the holy spirit turns a puzzle piece over and we see jesus telling abraham he's going to have a baby and a year later abraham and sarah at 190 years of age had a baby and then we go on and we find jacob abraham's grandson in exile for 20 years coming back to canan to claim what he believed god had promised him to claim his birth right and come into all the promises of god and the blessings of god and he was doing it in his own strength so he reaches to grab it across the japuk river and he finds himself wrestling with a man all night i don't know when jacob knew he got himself had himself in god's grip but he wouldn't stop wrestling and finally the man the pre-incarnate son of god holy spirit turning the puzzle piece that's jesus refusing to let jacob sees the blessings of god in his own strength and power and he just breaks him jacob clings to him and says i won't let you go until you bless me and god changes his name but jacob yielding fully to the man in the river and we keep on going you can find him throughout we come to him at jericho joshua goes out to look at the great enemy stronghold and try to figure out how they're going to take it and he's confronted by a man with a drawn sword captain of the lord's host the captain of all the invisible armies of heaven and joshua says who are you and he says listen to me take off your sandals you're on holy ground the great i am of the burning bush pre-incarnate son of god and always where it turns puzzle piece over we find jesus right there to help joshua take that stronghold and you just keep on going in the lodge's life that poor weary prophet after jesabel had threatened his life and he ran for his life and he was so afraid and the angel of the lord that's the pre-incarnate son of god the holy spirit turns puzzle piece over and we find jesus fixing breakfast for a larger because jesus cares about his weary prophets we find him when the three hebrew children are told to bow down to the image of gold and they said we're not going to bow down they said well if you don't you're going to be thrown to the fiery furnace and said that may be our god can save us but even if he doesn't we're not going to bow down so they got thrown into the fiery furnace and the Nebuchadnezzar looks and he says didn't we throw three in there why do i see four and the fourth is like the son of god and the holy spirit turns over the puzzle piece and we find jesus in the fire with his children and isaiah the year that king usaiah died he looks up and he sees the lord seated on the throne in charge in control the whole universe singing his praises holy holy holy and the holy spirit turns the puzzle piece over and that's jesus isaiah described him as the lamb who would be slain by whose stripes would be healed the wonderful counselor the everlasting father the prince of peace and puzzle pieces keep turning over and you go on through until that starry night in bethlehem when the shepherds hear the announcements god has been born and they run into the stables and we run with them and we come into the stable and they're in the manger as a little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and we find ourselves looking into the face of god holy spirit turns the puzzle piece over and we see the creator who has become creation to be our savior growing in wisdom and stature and favor with god and man showing us what god is like oh and he understands doesn't he firsthand what it's like to be weary and what it's like to have so many pressures to be thirsty to be tired to have people set against you to have all those blank faces they just don't get it you know until the age of 33 he smashed himself on a roman cross listen to me nobody killed jesus he wasn't murdered he's the lord of life he's the giver of life he's the resurrection in the life at the moment that was in the fullness of god's time he just refused to take the next breath jesus gave his life and the holy spirit turns over the puzzle piece and we see the lamb of god slain from the foundation of the world for me shedding his blood to take away my sin because it's the only way i could be forgiven the only way i could be reconciled to the father the only way i could go to heaven when i die he had to die and i see him as the necessary sacrifice for me and i see him buried in a barred tomb and then the holy spirit turns over the puzzle piece and i see him risen from the dead and ascended into heaven and seated at the right hand of the father with all authority placed under his feet ever living to make intercession for you and me praying for us right now until the holy spirit turns over that ultimate puzzle piece and we see the sky unfold and a white horse appear whose rider his name is faith flintrew followed by the armies of heaven coming back to reign and rule and the puzzle piece is turned over and we see him as lord of lords and king of kings ruling the world and righteousness and justice and that's the end of the story isn't it amen praise god praise god and listen to me it's the holy spirit that tells us that's the truth it's the holy spirit that lets us know it's jesus from genesis to revelation it's all about jesus jesus is his priority he's written us this book that we might know jesus and then he makes it real to us and it comes up off the page and we see jesus and we know jesus and we love jesus and we serve jesus and one day we're going to see him face to face and it's the holy spirit's responsibility in us to get us from here to there so let me ask you what's your priority really if it's anything other than jesus you might want to re-examine it you might want to re-examine it you get people into the word and your priority can be the word of god but the purpose is to get them to jesus your priority you can be a preacher of the gospel but your purpose is to get them to jesus maybe your priority is prayer and god's called you to pray and you spend a lot but your priority is to pray people to jesus and i know we do many things in service praise god for all the people that help me do what i do but our priority is jesus we do it for him to bring people to him we want to grow into his likeness so praise god for the dear holy spirit isn't he wonderful we couldn't do this without him we wouldn't know jesus without him not really you could know him as a character in a book but you wouldn't know him you could never live for him you could never serve him you could never lead anybody else to jesus but you could never live for him so what are you worried about whatever it is would you just lay it down and instead of worrying would you just rely completely on the person of the holy spirit you think back over some of the things we have described him as he's a person he has a presence available to come into his precepts this is the truth he is pure he's praying for you he's powerful and his priority is jesus so would you just surrender your life to the control moment by moment to the holy spirit now here's anne with this final word it's been said that the holy spirit is the best kept secret in the church after our last several messages he should no longer be a secret to you my prayer is that the eyes of your heart have been open to who he is to you and that you will respond by yielding your heart mind spirit and body without any reservation to his loving authority and just who is the holy spirit he is jesus living inside of you you can hear living in the light with anne gramm lots weekly and for ways to experience the god-filled life as you pursue your personal bible study go to anne gramm lots.org she'll help you get started with free resources you can use and share with others join us here each week for living in the light