THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR LIVES

Written By Unknown Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Add Comment Edit

Shalom,

When preparing the sermon, a pastor frequently prays for the enlightment of the Holy Spirit. But in practice, the pastor is busy examining the Word of God relying on his own strength and competence. As a result, he gets stressed out at times.

God the Father had chosen us, the believers, before the world was created to be continually sanctified by His Word (Ephesians 5:26) to reach the Most Holy Place which – to be blameless or perfect before Him (Ephesians 1:1-4) as our Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

In Jesus Christ, we who believe and have faith in Him were chosen to become childen of God (Ephesians 1:5; Galatians 3:26, John 1:12).

We are sanctified not only by the Word of God (John 15:3) but by the blood of Jesus to obtain the redemption/ the forgiveness of sin (Ephesians 1:7). And His blood is able to cleanse our conscience (Hebrews 9:14).

God the Father and Jesus Christ sanctify us to be His own children without blemish. This fulfills God’s plan to unite those in Heaven and those on earth – the church as His body with Him as the head (Ephesians 5:23,30,32).

Admittedly, our lives are ‘blemished’ and need to be sanctified by the Word of God, not just once but continually in church and via our personal meditations. How can sanctification possibly take place if we are lazy to attend church and never read the Bible at home?

Are we ‘defective products’? No. God created the first man according to His own image (Genesis 1:27) but man become ‘flawed’ because of his rebellion against Him by following the way of this world controlled by the ruler of the air, the Devil (Ephesians 2:1-2).

Up to this moment, the Devil has been roaming as the ruler of the air and the spirit of rebellion is ready to devour its prey, whoever he is, anytime and anywhere. We once lived in the worldly lusts and nourished evil thoughts (v.3). But we have been forgiven and sanctified. Stay alert.

Beware of the strikes of the spirit of rebellion that attacked Adam and Eve. Weren’t Adam and Eve perfectly created? Consumed by the serpent’s temptation, they forgot the Word of God. As a consequence, they became ‘defective’ because of sin.

The Devil cannot trip us but he is good at tempting us. Do not blame God when we fall into temptation for He cannot be tempted by the Devil and does not tempt anyone (James 1:13). In fact, Luke 4: 1-113 write that when Jesus was hungry after fasting for 40 days, the Devil failed to tempt Him since He firmly stood on the Word of God (“for it is written”).

It is obvious that we give in to the temptations and allurements of the Devil because of our own desires (James 1:14). Only the Word of God can defeat these desires to prevent the from giving birth to sin. When sin is full-grown, it gives birth to death (v.15). Remember that the wage of sin is death (Romans 6: 23) and that the tenth commandment reminds us ‘not to covet” (Exodus 20:17).

Jesus reminded His disciples (and us) to stay on guard so as not to fall into temptation for He knew that the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak (Matthew 26: 41). Therefore, we must resist the Devil (James 4: 7) by using the Word of God as Jesus did.

How can we remember the Word of God in times of multiple tempations? Ephesians 1:13-14 write,“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in who also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His Glory.”

Jesus knew that man (flesh) was weak in dealing with temptations. With various desires, the Devil was always trying to thwart God’s plan (making mankind perfect). That’s why, before Jesus went back to the Father (following His death and resurrection), He did not leave us orphans but asked the Father to give us another Helper, namely, the Holy Spirit (John 14:16).

How do we get the Holy Spirit? When we listen to the Word of Truth — the Living Bread which comes down from Heaven (John 6:33-35) — and believe, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

What are the roles of the Holy Spirit in our lives?

· He accompanies those who love the Word of God and obey all His commands (John 14:16). On the other hand, we grieve the Holy Spirit if we do not want to listen to and meditate on the Word of God.

· He dwells within us (v.17) to guide us how to live in holiness without belimish before God.

· He helps us to comprehend the Word of God, love Him and obey His commands (vv. 21-23) instead of satisfying the desires of our flesh. We need to know that the verses in the Bible explain the other verses in order we do not need to find the explanation outside the Word of God.

· He comforts, teaches, and reminds us of all things that the Word of God says (v. 26). Using God’s Word reminded by the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to resist the Devil’s temptations.

· He sanctifies our lives alongside the blood of Jesus and His Word (Romans 15:16). H

Havingbeen filled with the holy Spirit, we can completely do away with the works of flesh that we once practiced (Galatians 5:19-21). And people can see the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) as we walk under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (v. 24).

· He guides our lives to keep us away from conceit and envy (Galatians 5:25-26).

We should not get self-satisfied. Rather, we should stay alert because the Devil, the ruler of the air, is still working and waiting for the right time (cf. Luke 4:13) to occupy our “houses” (our lives) – clean, put in order but empty with no one (God the Trinity) living in there because we do not love the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When the evil spirit finds this out, he takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than him. Then they enter and live in our houses, making our conditions worse than before (Matthew 12:43-45).

· He gives the gifts of the Spirit for the benefit of all (1 Corinthians 12: 7-11).

As the body has many members, so are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They all have different functions but the same purpose, that is, to build of the perfect Body of Christ (vv. 12-14)

God’s primary plan to make us His possession was awsome indeed! We were forgiven and redeemed to attain salvation. Not only that, but we are always sanctified with the power of His Word and the Holy Spirit. That way, we can withstand the Devil’s temptations until the Body of Christ takes shape without blemish, ready to be united with the Head (Christ) forever. Amen.

By Lay Pastor Budy Avianto

Lemah Putro, Sunday, February 25, 2018