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KNOW THE WILL OF GOD
It is important to know the will of God and live your life accordingly. We hope these short Bible studies will help you do just that as well as encouraging you to delve deeper into the richness of God’s word for yourself. Above all let the Holy Spirit lead you into all truth for He is your Teacher. As it says in John chapter 14 verse 26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you”.
And verses 16 to 17 in 2 Timothy chapter 3 sum up perfectly why you should study God’s word. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”. Amen
The work of the Holy Spirit - the Helper - PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2008
The disciples grew sorrowful on hearing Jesus’ words recorded in John chapter 16 verses 5 to 11. All they could see was Jesus departure and that left them confused. Nevertheless, as He explained, He had to leave them so that the Holy Spirit, the comforter, could come to guide and help them.
While Jesus was in the body, He was confined by the limitations of time and place. However, there were no Earthly limitations on the Holy Spirit.
The coming of the Spirit would fulfill the promise in Matthew chapter 28 verse 20, “...lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Wherever He goes in the world, He reaches out to Man. To those who are Christ’s He brings unbroken eternal fellowship. For the Christian preacher He brings, by God’s grace, effective and powerful speaking no matter where the gospel is preached.
So in that verse in Matthew chapter 28 verse 20 we have an almost perfect summary of the Holy Spirit’s work.
The Holy Spirit will convict men of sin
The Jews who condoned the crucifixion of Christ did not consider themselves to be sinning. Rather they thought that they were serving God. However, when Peter preached the crucifixion (see Acts chapter 2 verse 37), their hearts were pierced. They realised it was their sin that had allowed it to happen.
This begs several questions, “Where does this conviction of sin come from? What is it that humbles a man in the face of the cross? Why does Christ’s crucifixion over 2,000 years ago still pierce people’s hearts today?“ It is the work of the Holy Spirit to do this! We cannot know our need of a Saviour without a sense of sin. Likewise, we cannot be convicted of sin without the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will convince men of righteousness
This is a hard statement to understand. However, its meaning becomes clear when we see that it is the righteousness of Christ’s of which we will be convinced.
To the Romans He was a problem because He caused uproar among the people in this far-flung part of their empire. To His accusers He as an evil heretic. He was tried by men, found guilty, condemned as a criminal, and suffered a most barbaric execution.
But what changed? What caused men to see God in this crucified figure as both the centurion and the Apostle Paul did (see Matthew chapter 27 verse 54 and Acts chapter 9 verses 1 to 9)? It is an amazing thing that men put their trust in a crucified Jewish criminal and are convinced of His righteousness. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit convinces men of judgment
Who is it that confronts men with the certainty of judgment? It is the Holy Spirit. He convinces us that we unredeemed men shall stand before the judgment seat of God.
In conclusion
We can now see that it is the Holy Spirit that convicts us of sin; that convinces us of Christ’s righteousness; that shows us the judgment to come; that gives us the certainty of salvation through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
How wonderful that through the leading of the Holy Spirit, the truth of these things becomes a reality in our lives and we can respond to them.
In the next article in this series we will look at the Spirit of truth
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