Print this page

HOW CAN I FEEL THE HOLY SPIRIT?

John 14:15-17,26; John 16:12-13
4-22-07

Jesus said, “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach You all things . . .” (John 14:25-26, niv).

Now, what legacy was Jesus leaving to his followers? What did he say would teach us and guide us?

Was it a list of written commandments? No! Was it a priest or authority figure? No! Was it an institution or organization? No!
None of these would do. They would be too limited. They wouldn’t be universal. They wouldn’t be timeless. They wouldn’t be adaptable to different situations and cultures. They wouldn’t provide solutions to new problems as they arise.

Instead, Jesus said, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach You all things . . .” (John 14:26).
He promised that this Holy Spirit would live in each of us. God’s insights and inspiration would combine with our own knowledge and experience to form a conscience. Paul refers to this: “My conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 9:1, niv).

Therefore, moral decisions are to be made personally by each man and women. They are not to be imposed by some external system. I can’t speak for you and you can’t speak for me. My relationship to God and my ethical behavior is my responsibility and mine alone. Paul was definite about this. He said, “Why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? ” (I Cor. 10:29b, niv).

Unfortunately, the Holy Spirit is a much misunderstood concept. Some groups emphasize the Holy Spirit as a strange, supernatural power that allows people to perform miracles and speak in tongues. Other groups avoid the subject altogether. But Jesus spoke as if the Holy Spirit was to be a great helper, comforter and guide for Christians. He said the Holy Spirit is the presence of God within.
So, what is the role of the Holy Spirit? How does the Holy Spirit make a difference in our lives?

I. The first function of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin.

Jesus said, “When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness . . .” (John 16:8).
In a complex world, differentiating between good and evil isn’t easy. The Holy Spirit aids us in this respect. If we have integrity we can trust our internal evaluation system. Jesus seemed to know instinctively what was right and what was wrong. He said the Holy Spirit he was sending would help us in this regard.
Peter insinuated that the Holy Spirit helped in decisions concerning moral standards in the early church. “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials” (Acts 15:28).
Paul says the Spirit enables us to overcome temptation. “If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13).
This function of the Holy Spirit is being neglected. In all the recent research data little difference is found in the ethical views and behavior of those who go to church and those who do not. When it came to lying, cheating, and theft on the job, Christians did not raise moral standards. That’s unfortunate, because conviction concerning sin can save many regrets.
In this respect, prevention is so much better than reparation. A little girl was learning to sew. As she slowly and painstakingly worked she remarked, “The best thing about not putting in crooked stitches is that you don’t have to pick them out again.”
This truth seems obvious! Yet, how long it takes many of us to learn it! How many bitter hours we spend picking out life’s crooked stitches that should have never been put in, in the first place!

II. The second function of the Holy Spirit is to assure.

Everyone wants assurance. Paul says those who believe are sealed with an unbreakable promise. “You were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13).

Inner peace comes when doubt and anxiety are alleviated. Since God knew that such a sense of security is essential to our well being, he gave us an unconditional warranty. The Holy Spirit is the tangible proof of our divine inheritance. “Who also sealed us and gave us the spirit in our hearts as a pledge” (II Cor. 1:22).

He tells us this helper is dependable and permanent. “He will give you another helper, that he may be with you forever . . .” (John 14:16-17).

The Holy Spirit cooperates with our own personalities to prove our status as children of God. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16).

John says, “The one who keeps his commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us” (I John 3:24).

Nothing gives assurance like a clear conscience. A farmer was looking for a hired hand. He interviewed one after another until he came to a fellow that impressed him by his straight forward appearance.

“I need someone who can look after horses and cattle. I want someone to tend and feed the stock. Can you do that?” The young man answered, “I can sleep on a stormy night.”

The farmer was a bit confused, but he kept questioning. “I need a man to keep up the fences and do a little carpenter work on the barn. Can you do that?” The young man gave the same answer, “I can sleep on a stormy night.”

The farmer was dumfounded by the answers, but he hired the man anyway. The employee worked hard and everything went well for several weeks. Then one night a storm broke. The lightening flashed, the thunder rolled, and the rain came down in torrents. The wind shook the house. The farmer jumped up, rushed to the bunkhouse and pounded on the door. No answer. All he could hear was snoring.

The farmer couldn’t wake his hired hand so he ran to the barn himself. The cows were in their pens; the horses were in their stalls; the doors were locked and barred; and the gates were tightly shut. He ran to the henhouse. The windows were fastened. Everything was safe and quiet. The hayrack was staked out and tied down. The loose tin on the implement shed had been secured with new nails.
The next morning at breakfast, the farmer said, “We had quite a storm last night.” The hired hand said, “Did we? I didn’t even hear it. Storms don’t wake me up.” The old farmer said, “Yeah, that’s what I noticed. You were snoring away. I now understand what you meant when you said you could sleep on a stormy night.”

This young fellow had this philosophy of life: “I will do my job so thoroughly and plan for crises so carefully that when they come, I’ll be ready.” If you have assurance, you too can “sleep on a stormy night.”

III. The third function of the Holy Spirit is to teach.

“For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Luke 12:12).
Jesus says in moments of crisis the Holy Spirit will enable us to make the right response. Our own sub-conscience represents a vast area of wisdom. The appropriate answers will come naturally if we’re in touch with the Spirit within. The Holy Spirit uses our own mental faculties. It stirs our memories and reminds us of past information. Jesus said, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name . . . will . . . bring to your remembrance all that I said to you”
(I John 14:26).

As a teacher, the Holy Spirit imparts truth; but we must hear before learning can take place. They say that bats fly by “echolocation.” They emit high-frequency sounds and they can tell how close they are flying to objects by the rapidity with which the sounds come back. Experimenters have tried to confuse bats by making other sounds. However, even when the extraneous sounds were all louder than those the bats produced, each bat continued to navigate by his own echoes and stay on course.
Could we profit by the example of the bat? With all the loud voices clamoring for attention, don’t we need the sensitivity to line up the right sounds on our spiritual course? We can hear the Holy Spirit if we listen!

IV. The fourth function of the Holy Spirit is to guide.

“But when He, the spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth . . .” (John 16:13).
This spiritual sense of direction reminds us that we are children of God. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).

Guidance is an important part of any religion. We need help with choices. We need to feel sure of our actions. Unfortunately, many religions present their adherents with a globe or an atlas and say, “The way is marked!” If you’re lost in the wilderness, however, a globe isn’t very helpful. Jesus knew this, so he sent the Holy Spirit to act as our personal guide.

This is important because many of life’s paths are treacherous. A man was visiting a farm when he decided to go for a walk. He took a local boy with him. They chose an inviting path through the pasture. It was bright with clover blooms; but the boy stopped. “Why don’t you want to follow this path?” the visitor asked. “Well,” the child replied, “That path was made by pigs and before you go very far you’re gonna get in the awfullest patch of weeds and bogs you ever saw.”

Do we sometimes start on paths without stopping to ask where they lead? We can avoid this if the Holy Spirit guides us.

V. The fifth function of the Holy Spirit is to motivate.

Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses . . .” (Acts 1:8).
The Holy Spirit makes us uncomfortable with mediocrity. He pushes us on. He creates an inner restlessness that moves us upward. He causes us to become dissatisfied with lesser things. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63).

Life is hard. It requires effort. A freezing person who lies down dies! A tired swimmer who quits moving drowns! An immature Christian who and are life” (John 6:63).

Life is hard. It requires effort. A freezing person who lies down dies! A tired swimmer who quits moving drowns! An immature Christian who becomes complacent is useless!

It’s evident that few of us live up to our full potential. Most people use only a fraction of the powers they possess. Psychologists say most of us operate at about a twenty percent level of efficiency. That’s shocking! Imagine a football team that had eleven men, but only sent in two to play the game. What if the coach took nine men off the field and left just a center and a quarterback? That would be operating at about 20 percent efficiency.

They wouldn’t win! Neither can we! To conquer life we need to operate at peak efficiency. The Holy Spirit helps us do just that.
So, if we are convicted when we sin, we are feeling the power of the Holy Spirit! If we are assured of God’s presence, we are feeling the power of the Holy Spirit! If we are learning Christian principles, we are feeling the power of the Holy Spirit! If we are being guided in our daily life, we are feeling the power of the Holy Spirit! If we are motivated to grow and serve, we are feeling the power of the Holy Spirit!

(WC1981)

Miles E Wesner