THE HOLY SPIRIT ADVANTAGE SERIES PART 1 THE SPIRIT IN YOU2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching DetailsInformation Icon

Date: 2010-11-14

Title: The Holy Spirit Advantage Series Part 1 The Spirit In You

Teacher: Jerry B Simmons

Series: 2010 The Holy Spirit Advantage Series

Teaching Transcript: The Holy Spirit Advantage Series Part 1 The Spirit In You

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010. Well, as we consider this subject of the Holy Spirit, I want to kind of start by stating the obvious, and that is that life is hard. I think that you don't need to be told that. I don't think I need to really convince you that life is hard, but

Let's go back to the early years as you were growing up, as you were coming of age, you remember the difficulties that you faced. In fact, they were, you know, mountains ahead of you then, but you look back today and you think, oh man, I wish I had those problems. Those were a lot easier than the problems I face today.

But growing up, you know, you had school and all of the problems and the difficulties that were associated with that, with the classes, with the homework, with the teachers, with the friends, with the pressures. There was pressures, there's decisions, there's dreams that you have as you're growing up. And then there's also the disappointment as things don't go the way that you thought. There's loss, maybe loss of loved ones, loss of friends, loss of dreams or hopes that you

As children, as we grow up

Well, there's a whole new realm of problems that we face, don't we? There's a whole new realm of pressures that we face, trying to support ourselves, trying to support our spouse or our families, trying to live on our own. There's a whole new realm of decisions that we have to make.

Where do I go to school? What kind of career do I pursue? There's a whole new realm of dreams that we might have, marrying this person or moving into that house or being in this situation. And then also as an adult, we experience in our personal lives, we experience loss, whether it's loss of hope, loss of life, loss of loved ones. There's a lot of things that we lose and it

creates pressures within us. It creates difficulties within us. We have jobs and our jobs come with their own set of problems and there's pressures within the workplace. There's ethical issues. There's the desire to advance, but then there's also the pressure from others to break some moral codes, to do whatever it takes to get ahead. There's decisions that have to be made within the work

that are tough decisions many times, there's dreams within the workplace that maybe are grand and great. And then also in the workplace, there's loss. There's the difficulty that comes from losing a job or losing a position, losing some hopes or losing some coworkers. There's difficulties that are associated with our workplaces and our jobs. And then you have relationships as an adult.

You have friendships, you have possibly marriage, you have a parent-child relationship and a child-parent relationship. You have all these relationships and all of those come with their own stresses, don't they? Especially as we're heading into Thanksgiving and heading into Christmas, there's the pressures and the stresses and the difficulties of trying to make the family ties and the

family arrangements work and there's the difficulties that are faced in our relationships as well in our homes we face difficulties with finances Christian homes around the world face difficulty as well in

in divorce, there's political issues, there's crime, there's natural disasters, all kinds of things. There's a whole list of things that we could get into to understand and remind ourselves that life is hard. But then you become a Christian. And then as a Christian, you take all those old set of problems and now you add on a whole new set of issues and difficulties that we face.

There's a whole new set of things that we have to address as Christians that we didn't have to worry about as unbelievers, but we still have to face and deal with those old things. And yet there's some new pressures, there's some new decisions, there's some new dreams, and there's some new experiences of loss that we will face as believers as well.

As Christians, we get to learn the wrestle and the struggle of the Apostle Paul, where there's the battle of the spirit and the flesh, and how they wrestle within you, and the issues that you face as a result of that struggle that goes on with the flesh wanting to continue in sin and wanting to practice the things that are not of God, and then the spirit wanting to pursue God and to draw near to God, and there's this

raging battle that goes on.

As Christians as well, we face new battles from the world as the world comes against us and seeks to seduce us. There's pressures from the world. There's seduction from the world. There's temptation from the world. There's a lot of difficulties that we face because we are in the world but not of the world. And then, of course, you have the enemy, the great adversary, right, who's roaming around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

And so as a Christian, we have this great adversary who's looking for our weaknesses, who's setting up tests and traps and seeking to cause us to stumble and turn away from God. And so he comes in and stirs up trouble and causes problems. There's spiritual warfare. There's temptation. Within our own selves, there's laziness. There's all of these things that we face as Christians. And it adds to the complexities and the problems and the stresses of life.

Life is hard. And that is why the Holy Spirit is so important for you and I as believers. And that is why Jesus said, it's to your advantage that I go away. Look at chapter 16, verse 7 there in the book of John. And Jesus says there, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away.

For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. Jesus says, it's better for you. It's your advantage that I go away. Now, in the problems that we face, I think it would be pretty nice, wouldn't it? If you had Jesus sitting at the desk next to you in your workplace, and then you come up with a decision, you come up with a

problem, there's a situation, this person's giving you trouble, and you could look over and say, hey Jesus, what do you want me to do here? How would you handle this situation? And we would find comfort in that. We would think that would be pretty great. And I'm sure the disciples felt that way as well.

But Jesus says, look, it's better for you that I go away. There's an advantage that you don't yet realize, that you don't yet know about, because when I go away, Jesus says to the disciples, I will send to you the Helper. The Helper, in reference to the Holy Spirit.

And so he says, it's your advantage that I go away. That is, it's to your benefit. It profits you for me to go to my Father. Because when I go to my Father, then I will send the Helper. I love that title, the Helper for the Holy Spirit. Because we need help, don't we? We face all of these things and we are not able to live the Christian life on our own. We need help.

Help! We need this advantage that Jesus said that he would send. Jesus went to the Father. He ascended into heaven and he's coming back very soon. But in the meantime, he has sent to us the Holy Spirit as an advantage to us. And so we want to look this evening at the Holy Spirit in you. That is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in

And if you would turn with me please to John chapter 14, just a couple chapters back there. John chapter 14, we get a little bit of a taste about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. There in John chapter 14, verse 16 and 17, it says,

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Here Jesus is walking with his disciples. Remember, this is before he was crucified, before he was resurrected, and before he ascended up into heaven. And so the Holy Spirit has not come yet. And Jesus says, I'm going to pray to the Father and the Father will give you another helper. Who is that helper? It's the Spirit of Truth. And the world can't receive this helper. Only followers of Jesus can receive this helper.

He says, the world doesn't see him, the world can't know him, but you know him. And then he says, for he dwells with you, and then notice, and then he will be in you. Right now he's with you, he says to the disciples, and then, as I pray to the Father, he's going to be in you. There was a change that was going to take place for the disciples, and it's the same change that takes place today when a person becomes born again.

Before we are born again, the Spirit is with us. That is, alongside of us, leading us to Jesus. But once we receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, there's a change that takes place with our relationship with the Holy Spirit. He's not just on the outside, alongside, with us, to lead us to Jesus, but the Holy Spirit then comes within us.

Now, not just the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus said, if anyone hears my knock, hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come in and dine with him. And Jesus also explained in the book of John that that he's in the father and the father's in him and we receive him. We're in Jesus and they're in us and the whole Godhead dwells within us. But this evening we're focusing on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And so the Holy Spirit, he says, will be in you.

And as believers in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. That is, He lives within us. He abides within us. It's His permanent place of residence. His permanent address is your heart, my heart. He says there in verse 16, He says, He will give you another helper that He may abide with you, how long? Forever. Forever.

Forever. This abiding of the Holy Spirit is permanent. It's forever that the Holy Spirit abides within you. This is important for us to understand. As believers, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. He does not come and go.

Sometimes he's there, sometimes he's not. Hopefully, you know, when you need him, he's there. You knock on the door and he's there to answer. Hopefully, right? No, he's dwelling within you. Now, if you're anything like me, sometimes you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, right? If you ask my wife, you know, do you wake up grumpy? She says, no, I let him sleep. Sometimes you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and you're just having a bad day. Did you know...

The Holy Spirit dwells within you even when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. It's forever. The Holy Spirit is dwelling within you. Consider what Paul said in Romans 8, verse 9. He says, "...you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If the Spirit of God dwells within you, and if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his." That is, if the Holy Spirit's not within you, then you don't belong to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit dwells within us. He takes up residence. It's a permanent condition for the Christian. Now, if the Holy Spirit came and went, depending on how your day was going and how faithful you were to read your Bible or how faithful you were to do religious things, if it was depending on your activities or your faithfulness, well, you would be in and out of Christ constantly. I'm a Christian now, I'm not. I'm a Christian now, I'm not. I'm a Christian now, I'm not.

It would be constant. But that's not the relationship that the Holy Spirit has with us. As believers, He dwells with us that He may abide with us forever. Now, some people feel that sometimes they're Christian and sometimes they're not. And they act that way because that's how they feel, because that's their perception. Today, I'm a Christian, but yesterday, man, I blew it. I don't think the Lord was with me at all yesterday. But the reality is the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

He abides within us, and it's a permanent condition. In Ephesians 1, verse 13, Paul tells us, He says you were sealed with the Holy Spirit when you believed. Not only does He abide in you, but there's a sealing that goes on. You're sealed with the Holy Spirit.

A seal would be a seal of ownership. The Holy Spirit dwelling within you is God's stamp of ownership upon you. That you belong to Him, that you are His child. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30 tells us that we're sealed for the day of redemption. It's a condition, a permanent condition of the Christian that we are sealed. We have His ownership upon us until the day that we're redeemed. The Holy Spirit dwells within us.

Paul also tells us in 2 Corinthians 1.22 that the Spirit is given in our hearts as a guarantee. The Spirit dwells within us and it's a guarantee. That word guarantee, it means it's a deposit or a down payment. So if you're going to go buy something, but you don't have all the money right there and you can give a deposit, you can say, look, hold this for me. I'm coming back. I'm going to get, I'm going to get, I'm just going to go get the money. I'm going to come back and buy it.

In a similar fashion, the Holy Spirit is given to us as a guarantee. It's God's deposit that he's going to redeem us. We're his. We belong to him. Paul tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you. Now consider who he's writing to when he says that. In 1 Corinthians 6.19, he's writing to the church of Corinth. What was going on in Corinth?

All types of carnality. Carnality. All types of... Carnality, that's funny. That's a little corny. All types of carnality. In fact, the context of 1 Corinthians 6.19 where Paul says your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, the context is saying, hey, how can you take your body and unite it with a harlot when the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you, when you are the temple of God?

And so he's writing to people who are carnal, some of whom are practicing sin. And yet he says, don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit dwells within you always and forever as a believer.

Now the point that I'm making here with all of these passages is that the Holy Spirit dwells within you no matter what. Whether you're in a good mood or a bad mood, whether you've been doing good deeds or whether you've been involved in sin, always and forever the Holy Spirit dwells within you. It's a permanent condition of the child of God. And since that is our permanent condition, Jesus said it's to your advantage that I go away because I will send the helper, the Holy Spirit.

And He's going to dwell within you. You know Him because He's with you. And very soon, He told His disciples, He'll be in you. For us as believers, we have that relationship with the Holy Spirit that He dwells within us. And so what does that mean?

Beyond the things that we've looked at here, being sealed and Him being with us, what does that mean for us in our lives? What are the advantages? Because Jesus said, it's to your advantage that I go away. And so what are the advantages of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us? Well, I want to share with you some specific advantages of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you.

We're going to bounce around a little bit, so bear with me here, but go back to John chapter 16, verse 7 again. We've looked at the doctrine. Now, what does it mean to us? What advantages do we have?

And here in John chapter 16, verse 7, the first advantage that we see is that the Spirit comes alongside you. Verse 7 again says, Jesus said, you need the helper. So I'm going to send him to you. That's why it's better for me to go away because then I can send him to you.

Well, that word helper literally means someone who's called to another's side in order to give aid. It's a helper. Someone who's called to one side in order to give aid. This is part of the advantage of the Spirit dwelling within you. And that is that the Holy Spirit comes alongside of you in order to help, in order to give aid. Have you ever been involved in

in some type of work or project, and then someone else comes along and jumps in with you and helps you accomplish the task that you're involved in. It was just last week, I was tearing down the booths from the Light the Night event, and I was working out there, and I completely forgot that Carlos said he was going to come help me. And so I stood up, and then all of a sudden, there's Carlos. And I was like, praise the Lord!

He came in and he helped. I was rejoicing because it wasn't just me. Then I had this help and he came and we were able to accomplish much more. In the same way, the Holy Spirit comes alongside of us to help us. I think we misunderstand sometimes as Christians this relationship with the Holy Spirit and the role that he plays within our hearts. Sometimes as believers, we

We wait and we wait and we wait and we're waiting for some kind of takeover. We're waiting for him to just take control of us so that we no longer have control. And then once he takes over and takes control of us, then he'll accomplish whatever it is that God wants to do. You know, we have some kind of prompting on our heart, right? I'm sure you've experienced this. Oh, I should go pray for that person or I should go share with that person. I should go be a witness to that person.

And so we wait. Okay, Lord, go ahead. Anytime now. Just take over. Go ahead. And we sit there and we wait and we wait and we wait. And then nothing happens. Why? Because we're waiting for some kind of takeover. But the reality is you need to take the step. And if the Lord is putting something upon your heart, then you need to respond. You need to start the conversation. You need to go over and begin to pray. And as you do, then the Spirit comes alongside of you.

Now, if Carlos showed up and I was just sitting here in the sanctuary, guess what? He would have just sat there in the sanctuary with me. But as I'm doing the work and then the helper comes, now together we're doing the work. And the same way, we need to engage in the work of God and respond to the promptings that he puts upon our heart. And as we do that, the Holy Spirit is alongside of us. He's the helper to help us accomplish those things that God has set before us.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14.32 that the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. And the point that he's making there is in the church service, it's not going to happen by the Holy Spirit that someone is just overwhelmed by the Spirit and they can't control themselves and they have to burst forth in some type of prophecy. That's not the way the Holy Spirit works. And too many times as Christians we're waiting for that. We don't lose control. It's not like demon possession, okay?

Where you just can't control yourself and the Holy Spirit just comes upon you and there you go. No, we need to do the work. We need to take the steps. We need to start the conversations. And as we do, the Holy Spirit comes alongside of us. And He engages with us in that prayer, in that conversation. He directs and leads the conversation. He works alongside of us to accomplish the things of God. He doesn't work instead of you. He works alongside of you.

I liken it in my own mind, and it's kind of a bad example, so please forgive me, but I liken it to power tools. Again, tearing apart the booths for Light the Night, we had to take out some screws. Now, if we had to do it with a screwdriver, it would have been very, very difficult. Now, it's still work.

To use the drill and to pull out the screws. It still takes effort. It still takes work. But a whole lot more is accomplished with the power tool than if we were just trying to do it on our own. And that's kind of what life is like with the Holy Spirit. It still takes work. It still takes effort. But as He is working alongside of us,

The work and the effort is much more effective than if we were just trying to do it on our own. That is why it is to our advantage that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Now the Holy Spirit is way more important than a power tool. Way off the charts, it doesn't even compare. But He works with us in that similar way. That there's power that comes from Him dwelling within us and engaging in the work with us.

Now as we look at each of these advantages, I think the question that we need to ask is how? So great, the Holy Spirit works alongside of us. He comes alongside us. Wonderful. How? And I think the answer in every case is going to be the same. Ask and walk. First ask in Luke chapter 11 verse 13 says,

Jesus there talking about the Holy Spirit says, look, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? Jesus says, look, you're evil, but you know how to bless your kids and give good gifts to them. How much more then will the heavenly father give you the Holy Spirit when you ask?

We need to ask. The Spirit dwells within you. It's a permanent place of residency for Him, but we still need to ask. We need to rely upon Him. We need to ask not to beg and plead, but we need to ask because that's the method that is used for us to turn and rely upon the Holy Spirit and to rely upon the work that God wants to do in us.

And I think it's important to understand as well. You don't just ask once for your whole life. Okay, Lord, give me the Holy Spirit. And then you just go on and live the rest of your life. No, Jesus makes it clear, the tense there that he's telling us to do, and the verses leading up to verse 13 in Luke 11, he says to keep on asking, to keep on seeking, and to keep on knocking. And so it's to be a continual thing that we're asking, Lord, you come alongside me. Lord, you do the work by your Holy Spirit.

And so how do we have the Spirit come alongside of us? We ask. As we walk into that conversation, as we walk into that situation, we ask. And then we walk. Galatians chapter 5 verse 25, Paul tells us there, If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. If we live in the Spirit, the Spirit lives within us. And if we're going to live the spiritual life, he says, let us walk in the Spirit.

And so it's one thing to ask and to have him dwelling within us, but then to take the steps accordingly as he prompts our heart, as he speaks to us, then to do the things that the Spirit is speaking to us to do. In Isaiah chapter 30, verse 21, there God, talking to his people, talks to them about the relationship that they will have

He says, Now, if you don't know the voice of God,

then I would encourage you stop everything. That's first and foremost. You need to hear from God. You need to learn to hear His voice. Take some vacation time if you need to and spend some time alone with the Lord until you hear from the Lord. Because that's first and foremost. How can you walk according to what He's speaking to you if you don't know if He's speaking to you? But as He speaks to you, then we need to walk accordingly. And so how does the Spirit come alongside us? Ask and then walk.

I think a good example of that is Nehemiah. You remember back in Nehemiah chapter 2 there, he has a heart for the city of Jerusalem. He wants to rebuild it, but he's the cupbearer of the king. And so he's a little bit nervous. He's like, oh, should I ask for the time to go and do that? And how's that going to work? He could just be upset and kill me on the spot if he doesn't like my request. And the king sees that he's kind of in turmoil within. He says, look, you look troubled. I never see you troubled. What's going on?

So the king says, well, what do you want? You know, what do you need? And it tells us in Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 4, the king says, what do you request? And then it says, so I prayed to the God of heaven and said to the king. See that asking and then walking? He prayed to the God of heaven and then he began the conversation. And I said to the king, this is what I want. This is what I want to do. That is the example. As we look at all of these advantages this evening, that is the example. We ask and

And then we walk. We ask and then we go forward. And so the first thing we see here in John chapter 16 verse 7 is that the Spirit comes alongside of you. He is the helper that God has sent to us to come alongside and help us accomplish the things that he sets before us. Well, the next advantage that we have with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us is found in John chapter 14 verse 25. In John chapter 14 verse 25 and 26 says,

We find the advantage that we have is that the Spirit teaches you all things. You have a great advantage with the Spirit dwelling within you because the Spirit teaches you all things. There in John 14, verse 25, it says, These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.

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. The Holy Spirit, Jesus says, will teach you all things. We need to be taught. There's a lot of information that we lack. There's a lot of know-how that we lack. There's a lot of things that we need to be taught. All things spiritual,

the Holy Spirit will teach us. Do you ever have questions about the Bible? If you don't, you're not reading it. Do you ever need to know the truth about things that are going on, events that are happening, things that you're reading about in the scriptures or elsewhere? Do you ever need to be taught? Do you ever need to know how to be a good parent or a good spouse? Do you need to be taught how to be a good Christian in the workplace?

The Holy Spirit has been given and the advantage that we have is that the Spirit teaches us all things. The things that we need to know, the things that we need to learn how to do, the Spirit is given to us in order to teach us. Now, you can call Pastor's Perspective and get an answer live on the air, and that's good. God uses teachers that are gifted by the Holy Spirit to teach us. But I would suggest to you that that's not the primary method.

the Holy Spirit teaching you the primary method is for us to go meet with the Lord and spend time with him and as we do the Spirit will teach us those things that we need to be taught some people need to learn not to run to others first it's easy this day you know communication is so accessible to call up someone text message Pastor Jerry hey what does this verse mean where's this verse found

What do you think I should do in this situation? It's easy to ask people, and there's wisdom in that. There's wisdom in counsel. In a multitude of counselors, the Proverbs says. But you have the ultimate counselor right there with you. The Spirit teaches you all things. Ask God to show you by His Spirit. Now, the problem with that that we have is that when God speaks to us and teaches us by His Spirit, it's not usually...

as fast as or in the timing that we want. It's not usually instant. And we like those instant answers, don't we? It usually takes some time. Now, I would ask you to consider, though, do you think that pastors read a passage and then instantly know everything about it and how to teach it and how to apply it? Do you think, you know, five minutes before service, I just looked and flipped a couple pages in my Bible and said, well, okay, yeah, I got it. All right, let's go. I'm ready to teach.

No, it takes great labor to understand. It takes time in prayer, asking God to reveal and to teach me these things that I might share them with you in the same way. Don't give up because it's a little bit difficult. Don't pass over the passage because it's confusing. Wrestle with it. Spend time with it. Let the Holy Spirit teach you. That's an advantage that you have. The Spirit teaches you all things.

Now, I would say all things spiritual, but also all things natural. It would be impossible for me to count how many times the Holy Spirit helped me working technical support for paychecks. I can't tell you how many times I walked into a situation clueless, completely clueless, how to resolve, how to fix the issue that the client was having.

And wrestling and wrestling and sometimes working, you know, eight hours with a client's computer trying to figure out what in the world is going on. And then hearing the voice of the Lord. Hey, do this. And I know it's the Lord because that doesn't make any sense. That's not logical. That's not how computers work, Lord. Let me give you some instruction here. But you know what? If I would follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. And so I learned...

Don't go through my own logical troubleshooting list. As I'm going to the client, I'm praying, Lord, you teach me. What do I need to know? What needs to happen for this situation? How do you want to work in this situation? I would encourage you to consider the example of Bezalel in Exodus chapter 31, where the Holy Spirit gave Bezalel the skills to be able to fashion the tabernacle the way that God had instructed Moses.

In the workplace, there's some things that you need to be taught. And the Holy Spirit has been given to teach you all things. We need to have this relationship with the Holy Spirit. So how? How does the Holy Spirit teach us? And how do we get taught by the Holy Spirit? Ask and then walk. Ask, pray, seek God, but then go forward. And He will come alongside you and teach you all things.

Well, the third advantage that we have, staying here in John chapter 14, but focusing on the last part of verse 26 there, we see that the Spirit brings all things to your remembrance. That's what Jesus said. Look, He says, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit, and the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

Now, you can ask anybody that knows me well. I have an incredibly terrible memory. It's very bad. Sometimes people ask me about things that happened yesterday, and it takes them quite a while of explaining the situation before I actually know what they're talking about. And sometimes you can see kind of like the...

physical look on my face like what in the world i remember this one time we were doing a yard sale and uh there was a lady that was lived across the street and she came over and she bought some stuff and she paid a little bit extra and then she was going to come back with a little bit more to to buy the the thing that she really wanted well it's like 15 minutes later she comes back and she says you know here's the money i'm like hey this isn't enough it's this much

And she says, well, I already gave it to you. Now, she was also speaking Spanish. And so there was a little bit of a communication issue. And then my mother-in-law was there.

And so my mother-in-law, she jumps in and she's explaining to the lady, he would not cheat you. He's a pastor. He would not. If he says you didn't give him the money, you didn't give him the money. And she's going on and on and on. And then finally it dawns on me, oh, that's right. I remember now. That's the kind of memory that I have. Okay. But it's so interesting to me. You know, the Holy Spirit brings to remembrance things that I forgot I knew. When it comes to the things of the Word of God,

Man, I'm so thankful for the Holy Spirit. There's a lot of times, again, too many to count, but as I'm sharing the Word, I don't know the rest of the verse sometimes when I'm quoting it. I know what the beginning says, and I say, Lord, you've got to finish this one for me because I don't remember exactly. And so I ask, and then I walk. And so I begin to quote the verse, and then I trust the Lord to give me the rest, to bring all things to remembrance as He's speaking to me.

In order for God to be able to bring to your remembrance the things that he's taught, though, there has to be something to remember. And that's an important point as well. There has to be something for you to remember, right? That means you need to have spent time in the Word of God. This is the reason why it's so important for you and I as believers to spend time regularly reading the Bible.

So that later on in the situation that we'll be facing, then those things that we read, the Lord can use them and bring them back to our remembrance so that we have what we need for the situation that we face. So when we're making that decision, when we're in that conversation, when we're sharing with that person, then we're able to remember, as the Holy Spirit brings it to our remembrance, those things that God has taught us. And so it's important for you to

To be spending time in the Word of God. Now, even if you don't get anything out of it, or at least you don't feel like you're getting anything out of it, you need to be spending time in the Word of God for two reasons. Number one, the Word of God does not return void.

That's clear. And so spending time in the Word of God, you may not feel like anything's happening, but God is working. And so be faithful and spend time in the Word of God. But then the second thing is, God will bring it back to your remembrance when you need it. And sometimes you read a passage and you go, well, that's meaningless. I don't have any idea what that's saying. And then later on, you're in the situation where

You're presented with a difficulty, with a problem or an opportunity, and then God brings that passage back and, oh, it's so clear now. It makes so much sense. The Holy Spirit brings it back to remembrance. And so the Holy Spirit dwelling within us gives us this great advantage. We don't have to memorize everything, but we can spend time in the Word of God. And as we do, as we're learning, as we're spending time with God and His Word, we're

Then later on, the Holy Spirit is able to use those things and bring them back to our remembrance. How? Ask and walk. Ask, Lord, bring back to my remembrance by your Holy Spirit those things that I need for this situation that I'm facing and this decision that I'm making. How do we do this? We ask the Holy Spirit to remind us.

Lord, what is that verse that talks about that? Where is that found? What do you want me to do? What type of principle should I be applying to this situation? And then walk. As you ask him, as he speaks to you, then you walk and you share. And even if you don't remember the last half of the verse, you only remember the first half, just start to share the first half and watch what God can do in bringing to your remembrance those things that he has taught you.

The fourth advantage that we find, jumping back now to John chapter 16...

John chapter 16, and we're jumping back and forth here because these are the two chapters where Jesus talks a lot about the Holy Spirit. And so we're spending a lot of time here in John 14 and 16. But in John 16, verse 12 and 13, we find that the Spirit guides you into all truth. The Spirit guides you into all truth. Jesus said in John 16, 12, I still have many things to say to you, but I will not say them to you.

Here Jesus says, there's a lot more, guys, and you're not able to receive it right now. It's more than you can handle. However, I am still going to speak it to you, but just listen.

Not right here audibly with you face to face. I'm going to reveal it to you through the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is going to guide you into all truth. The rest of the New Testament after the Gospels is the result of the Spirit coming and guiding the apostles into all truth. And that's how we have the writings of Peter and John and Paul. It's the guiding of the Holy Spirit. And He works the same way in our lives too.

He guides us into all truth. You know, there is more to life that we will face than what is explicitly contained in the Word of God. Some of the situations you'll face at work, you try to find, you know, the exact replica of that. Okay, let's see. Did David face this exact situation? No. How about Moses? How about Samuel? And you try to find the... There's so many variables, right? It's different.

but the Spirit can still guide you into all truth. The principles are there, and He can use those things to guide you into the right direction, to guide you into the truth. Do you ever need to know the truth? Does that ever come up? Is that ever something that you wrestle with? What is the truth? Where do I need to be? What is God's will for my life? The Holy Spirit will guide you. He'll help you along. He'll point you in the right direction. He'll get you going.

so that you can know the truth and the fullness of all the things that Jesus has to say to you. That's a great advantage that we have in the Holy Spirit, that Jesus can speak to us and guide us in matters of doctrine, in matters of direction, in our personal lives, in the workplace. The Holy Spirit can guide us into all truth because He's in us. He uses the Word of God and He also speaks to us directly to give us insight and understanding. If you ever need to be guided into the truth,

Understand, this is the advantage that you have with the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. How? Ask and walk. Lord, what is the truth? Show me. Speak to me by your Holy Spirit. And then walk. Go in that direction, even if it doesn't make sense. Even if it doesn't all add up. Respond as the Spirit speaks to you. As He guides you. Be obedient. Well, the fifth thing that goes along with that there in verse John 16, 12, and 13 is that the Spirit shows you things to come.

Again, Jesus says, I have many things to say to you, but you can't bear them. However, when the Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truth, for He won't speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak. Then at the end of verse 13, and He will tell you things to come. We have a great advantage with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us because the Holy Spirit gives us insight into the things that are to come. The Holy Spirit speaks to us about things that we haven't faced yet.

He prepares us in advance for those situations that are around the corner that we don't even know about. He speaks to us about prophetic events. And so as we're studying through the book of Revelation on Sunday mornings, we have an advantage. If an unbeliever walks into the service and sits through a study in the book of Revelation, they have a disadvantage because they don't have the Spirit dwelling within them who will show them things to come.

You and I, however, we have this advantage. But the Spirit dwells within us to give us insight and understanding into the things that are yet to happen. And so don't be surprised when you share with an unbeliever some of the things that we're looking at in the book of Revelation or the book of Ezekiel, and they just don't get it. But it seems so plain. It seems so clear, right? Well, because you have this advantage of the Holy Spirit showing you those things that are to come. It's like what we talked about today yesterday.

And the idea of, you know, the question, how can all of this take place with the Antichrist when it's so well known and everybody knows about it? And as soon as these things start to happen, you know, won't everybody recognize this is the Antichrist? No. Because the world doesn't have the Holy Spirit giving insight and understanding in those things which are to come. So we have this advantage. The Spirit shows you things to come. How? Ask and walk. Ask and walk. Seek the Lord. Lord,

What is it that's happening? What is it that is around the corner? What is your word saying? And then walk. Spend time reading through the passages, meditating, seeking the Lord, and He will show you those things that are to come. Well, number six, jumping out of John into the book of Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 says,

Here in Romans chapter 8 verses 15 through 17, another advantage that we find of the Spirit dwelling within us is that the Spirit testifies that you are God's child. Did you know that? You are the child of God. Romans chapter 8 verse 15 says, For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, and this provides a great advantage because the Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. Do you ever have doubts?

about your faith? Do you ever have doubts about your relationship with God? Is that ever something that you have to wrestle with? Is that ever something that plagues your mind? Those wonderings? John talks about this as well in 1 John 3, verse 20. He says, If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. You know, there's times that our hearts condemn us. And our hearts tell us, You're miserable. You're a scumbag. You're a scoundrel. You're probably not even saved. Right?

But we have this advantage. Now, the unbeliever, their heart can tell them the same thing, but there's no advantage for them because they're not children of God. But for us as believers, the Spirit testifies with our spirit and says, no, you are a child of God. The Spirit works within us. Now, sometimes because of sin in our lives, we wrestle with, am I really saved? Am I really a child of God?

Sometimes because things are quiet and it really feels like God's not doing much and not a lot is happening and not a lot of things are being accomplished, we wonder, is it true? Am I a Christian? Am I saved? Sometimes it's because life is hard. And we begin to wonder, man, if I'm a Christian, why is all this stuff happening? Why am I going through all these things? Sometimes it's because of those trials that we face. We think, man, maybe I'm not a Christian. Maybe I'm not saved. Maybe...

And the Spirit testifies with our spirit. Hey, you are a child of God. And notice what he says. If you're a child, then you're an heir. You're a joint heir with Jesus. And if we suffer with him, so that is, if we begin to wrestle with, am I a child of God because we're suffering, because there's difficulty? You know, like Job's friends, he says, look, they say, hey, you're going through all this stuff. There must be some sin. You must not be right with God. God's upset with you. That's why you're going through this. Well, that's not the truth.

And so he says, look, if we suffer, it's not because we're not children of God. No, if we suffer, then we're also going to be glorified with Jesus. And the Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are his children. And if we're children, then we're heirs. We have the inheritance that's promised eternity with God. We're suffering with Jesus, and then we're going to be glorified with Jesus when we go to be with him. Sometimes when things are hard, we begin to doubt God.

But we need to be reminded that suffering leads to glory. Like Paul said, I count these present struggles as meaningless, as worthless, compared to the eternal weight of glory that awaits. There's no maybe. There's no hopefully. I'm a child of God. Hopefully I'm saved. Hopefully I'm a Christian. The Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit. I am a child of God. Are you?

I am a child of God. Not I hope I'm a child of God. Not maybe perhaps one day I'll make it to heaven. I am a child of God. The Holy Spirit testifies with my spirit. So this is an advantage that we have. The Spirit testifies that we are God's children. How? Ask and walk. Ask. If that's a doubt, if that's a struggle, if that's an issue, because of sin, because of trials, because of whatever you're facing, am I your child, Lord? Ask. Lord, show me. Speak to me.

testify with my spirit, remind my spirit. It's kind of like David, right? He's like, why are you downcast, oh my soul? I'm still going to praise God. We have to encourage ourselves. Lord, encourage me. Remind my spirit that I am your child. And then walk. That is, believe it and walk accordingly.

Again, don't wait for some control, you know, something to take over. Walk accordingly. I'm a child of God. I'm an heir. I'm a joint heir with Jesus. And although I'm suffering now and I face difficulty, I'm going to be with Him in glory. We have this great advantage. Number seven. We're almost done. The Spirit intercedes for you. Still here in Romans chapter 8, look at verse 26 and 27.

It says,

Or what to pray for. Or what words to use in your prayer. Here we have this great advantage that the Holy Spirit helps us to pray. He intercedes for us and on our behalf. Notice, I think it's very important to notice this. It does not say, when we do not know what to pray as we ought. It says, for we do not know what to pray as we ought. For we don't know.

Here's what Paul is saying. The fact is, you don't know what you should pray for. That's the fact. That's the reality. It's not that sometimes you don't know what you should pray for. Paul says, here's the reality. You don't know what you should pray for. And so the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. And so He helps us to pray. In fact, we can pray with confidence. Not confidence that, you know, I have all the right words. But confidence because the Holy Spirit

helps us in our weakness. And we have a weakness when it comes to prayer because we don't understand the full will of God. So we're praying for that person, you know, Oh Lord, please don't let them get fired, Lord. Please don't let this situation be resolved. The Lord says, the best thing in the world for them is to get fired. We don't know what we should pray for. We don't know what God's plans are. But here's the thing, that doesn't mean, okay, well, we don't know, so let's just not pray. No, no. The Holy Spirit then helps us in our weakness. So we're praying, okay,

And then the Lord, by the Holy Spirit, translates the prayer, conforms it to the will of God, and then submits it to the Lord. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don't know what we should pray for. But the Holy Spirit, He makes up our lack. And He takes that intercession before the Lord according to the will of God. It says He makes intercession for all the saints according to the will of God.

And so we need to pray. We need to pray with confidence, not because we have the right words or because we know what God is supposed to do, but because we know the Holy Spirit will help us in our weakness. And when we're off, He corrects it. And He submits our prayers according to the will of God. How? Ask. So when you pray, begin your prayer with a prayer saying, Lord, help me to pray according to your will. Lord, take these things like Jesus said in the garden, not my will, but your will be done.

Take these things and conform them to your will. And whatever is not of you, just get rid of it. That's okay. It doesn't have to be my way. And then walk. That is, pray. Ask, would help me to pray according to your will. And then pray. Let God guide you. Let the Spirit lead you in your prayer. Well, finally, number eight is,

The eighth advantage, now there's many more that we could look at, but the eighth advantage for this evening is that the Spirit reveals what God has given. Turn with me now to 1 Corinthians 2. The Spirit reveals what God has given. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 12, it says, Now we have received, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been given us,

Here Paul explains to us that we've received the Spirit of God in order that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

That's interesting. As an unbeliever, when we put our faith in Jesus Christ and become born again, we have a little bit of understanding. And the Holy Spirit is alongside of us to lead us to Christ. But as Christians, the Holy Spirit dwells within in order to give us insight and understanding to the reality of what God has given to us.

We believe in Jesus Christ dying upon the cross in order to get saved. But it's only after that we're saved that we really begin to understand what that means. Because the Spirit dwells within us to teach us, to show us that we might know the things that God has freely given to us. You know, there's this song, well, it's one song and it has the line in it that I'll never know how much it costs to see my sin upon that cross. And there's a reality to that.

It's going to take us the rest of eternity to learn what it meant for Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. And at the same time, we're in the progress of learning that the Holy Spirit is revealing to us what God has freely given to us. Lord, help me to know the things that you've freely given to me. If you want to learn about some of the things that God has freely given to you, I encourage you to spend some time in the book of Ephesians, where we learn all the things that happen because we are in Him.

Because we're in Him, we're blessed. We're adopted children of God. In Him, we have redemption. In Him, we have forgiveness. In Him, we get to discover His will. In Him, we have the guarantee of our inheritance, the Holy Spirit. In Him, we are made alive. We sit in the heavenly places. We're the workmanship of God. These are all samples of the things that have been freely given to us by God, by His grace, because of His love, not because we've earned it. And it takes the Holy Spirit dwelling within to...

to grasp hold of those things that God has freely given to us. And Lord, I need to know your grace. And so how? We ask and then we walk. Ask, Lord, show me those things that you've freely given, that I haven't deserved, that I haven't earned, but that you've done and that you want to do in my life. We need to ask and we need to walk.

Paul says in the book of Galatians chapter 5, if we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. Listen, we have the Spirit within us, but we also need to make the decision to walk in Him. Remember Jesus said in Luke chapter 11, keep on asking. God wants that constant communion. And so as you're getting that phone call, ask, Lord, give me the Holy Spirit for this conversation. Whatever it may be, whatever's going to happen,

But I need the Holy Spirit. I need your guidance. I need your strength. I need some help. Even if it's just to order a pizza, Lord, I need the Spirit. As you're changing the diaper, ask, Lord, I need. I need you. I need your Spirit. As you're spending time in the Bible study, ask, seek, and not keep on asking. As you're at that spot, there's a crossroads, you need direction, ask. As you're spending time devotionally in the Word of God, ask for God to speak to you by the Spirit.

As you're involved in that conversation, keep on asking and keep on asking. Keep on asking. Lord, turn this conversation to you. Lord, teach me all things. Bring to remembrance these things I need to share with these people. As you're driving down the freeway, ask. Lord, I need to be reminded that I'm your child here on the 91 freeway. There's some trials. There's some tribulations. And I need to remember to behave myself as you will. Ask. Keep on asking. Keep on seeking. As you're sitting down to the dinner table, as you're making decisions, as you're

parenting your children, whatever you might be doing, God desires that constant communion with you. So keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking. The Holy Spirit dwells within you, and it provides for you these great advantages. And yet James tells us sometimes we don't have because we do not ask. So I want to encourage you to ask and keep on asking and let God do the work in you that He desires to do. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your Holy Spirit. Lord, we thank you for the advantages that we have. Lord, in the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. God, I pray that you would help us to ever be mindful of our need of you. Lord, that we would never, not even for the simplest things, rely upon ourselves. Lord, Jesus told us without him we can do nothing. Help us, Lord, to believe that. And as a result, to ask and keep on asking and continually rely upon you.

Lord, I pray that as we do, that you would supply those needs. Lord, that you would give us help by your Holy Spirit. Lord, that we would not be defeated, lost, miserable Christians. But Lord, that we would experience the abundant, full life that you promised to your followers. Lord, I pray that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us. Help us, Lord, to believe you at your word, that you've given to us your Holy Spirit as we ask. And Lord, then help us to walk in faith.

believing you at your word and being obedient, regardless of how we feel or what we think or what logic says. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.