TOTALLY AWESOME 4 THE COMFORTER HAS COME! (or ) You Can’t Have One Without the Other
TEXT: John 16:7-11
INTRO.: A. O.K., my prayer is that we now have a basic understanding of God the Father and God the Son through the previous 3 messages – I hope - so now we want to learn about God the Holy Spirit. Of course, the titles of this message should begin our quest for a deeper knowledge of the third Person of the Blessed Holy Trinity. We know that Jesus’ promise in our text speaks of the coming Comforter. The sub-title lets us know that in order to have the Holy Spirit, we must first have Christ as our Savior. (This is basically the difference between salvation in the Old Testament and the New Testament.) Praise the Lord the Holy Spirit indwells us as promised in our text, unlike O.T. saints! Jesus was still on O.T. ground when He made this promise. He was about to leave them and so He needed to assure them that they would not be left alone.
B. Let’s just say that you have a permanent resident in your home. He has total freedom to enjoy all the privileges there along with all the inconveniences. But you completely ignore this guest. When you get up in the morning you ignore the guest’s presence. You make breakfast and don’t invite the guest to join you. But he sits at the table while you talk with family members. You go to work and he rides along but there is no conversation. He also joins you on the way home, but you completely ignore Him and don’t invite Him for dinner although he would be delighted to do so. When it is time for bed, you may speak with him for a couple of hurried minutes, but that is it.
QUESTION: Does this describe how you treat your permanent Guest, the Holy Spirit, Who indwells you 24/7? I have been guilty of doing this at times. What about you? He is often the most ignored, misunderstood and under-appreciated Member of the Holy Trinity. He is a complete gentleman & will not push for recognition.
I. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR COMPANION:
A. He is Our Comforter:
1. He is a “He” not an “It”:
a. He can be grieved (or made sorry).
Eph 4:30-32 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
b. He can be quenched (like throwing water on a fire).
1 Thes. 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
c. He can be lied to (as Ananias and Sapphira did in Acts 5:4 Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God.)
B. He Charts Our Course:
1. He wants to teach us, assist us, and comfort us through life’s journey as a believer. 2. He can only do His job and perform these ministries as we yield to Him.
a. Our yieldedness has to be on a daily basis. b. We should not just wait for circumstances to change before we yield to Him. c. Don’t wait for someone close to you to die before you yield to the Comforter. d. Jesus sets the prime example to yielding to the Holy Spirit…His power and insights came from the Holy Spirit.
C. He Convicts the Sinner: (text)
1. When we witness He speaks through His Book, the Word of God to the sinner’s heart (or not!). 2. The unsaved may resist conviction and harden his heart, but the Spirit witnesses to him.
NOTE: There is nothing quite as sweet as to see the Holy Spirit melt the heart of a hardened sinner and that person yield to His witness and receive Christ. Without the Spirit’s witness no one can or will be saved.
3. But the Spirit’s witness speaks to the heart of the believer as well.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
II. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GIFT:
John 14:16-18 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
A. He is a Gift We Must Willingly Receive:
1. Perhaps the sweetest prayer and promise from our Savior in found in the text above. 2. The Lord knew how helpless we are and that the world is against us, so we needed the promise and assurance of the Comforter. 3. Like with any gift it must be graciously and willingly received.
ILLUS.: Imagine how hurt someone would be if they purchased a beautiful, expensive and useful gift for you, only to have you refuse it! So it is with the Holy Spirit every time someone rejects Him.
As a pastor preaching many funerals I have seen unbelievers throw themselves on the corpse in a coffin weeping and wailing for the permanent loss of a loved one. They have no hope of ever seeing that person again. They have no Comforter! When a believer loses a loved one they are not to react as those who have no hope.
1 Thes. 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
4. Believer you have received the Gift…won’t you please acknowledge His presence in your life, be constantly aware of Him in your home, the workplace, in your relationships, in your daily activities?
III. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR ETERNAL SECURITY:
A. He is Our Permanent Resident:
1. God the Father is on His Heavenly Throne: Rev. 4:6,7 (”throne” 43 times in Rev.) 2. God the Son is seated next to Him on His Throne: Heb. 12:2 – Rev. 3:21 3. God the Spirit is enthroned in our life. “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee”
B. He is Our Permanent Seal:
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise…
1. A seal speaks of ownership. 2. A seal speaks of protection. 3.This seal speaks of permanency.
NOTE: Those who speak of losing their salvation, do not understand God’s redemptive program and the permanency of salvation. Those who are saved are “sealed unto the day of redemption”.
❓Can God lose His purchased possession? NEVER! ❓Can that which He owns be stolen, lost, destroyed? ❓Will God take back the gift He has given us?
CONCL.: The Holy Spirit lives within each believer. Isn’t it about time we recognized His person, speak with Him, fellowship with Him and enjoy His presence?
💥To be our Comforter, we must be aware of His desire... 💥tocalm us in trials, 💥to assure us in times of grief, 💥to protect us when we are threatened, 💥to bear with us in troubles, 💥to uphold us when we are discouraged, 💥to enable us when we are tempted, 💥to help us when we witness, 💥to restore us when we sin and 💥to take us to heaven when we die.