This study consist of a section with questions & answers and the weekly programs.
There are 96 references to the "Spirit" in the Bible. We will, in our exploration, only study some of these references.
Romans 8:14 - "...because
those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."
Romans 8:16 - "The Spirit
himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."
Proverbs 20:27 - "The lamp
of the Lord searches the spirit of man, it searches out his inmost being."
We will be discussing the following items in this study of the Holy Spirit:
God is a spirit and we were made in the image of God. Jn 4:24
What are the three parts of man's being? 1 Thess 5:23
The three parts of man's being are (1) spirit; (2) soul; and (3) body.
Paul begins with the inside, the innermost part of man, the heart of his being, which is his spirit, and comes to the outside. Yet most people misquote this verse. They say, body, soul, and spirit.
Why do people put the body first?
Because they are more body-conscious than spirit-conscious. Natural things mean more to them than spiritual things. The physical always comes first. Sometimes we are more mental-conscious because we live in a mental world.
But man is a spirit being!!
We need to be spirit conscious. Spiritual things will become more real to us the more spirit-conscious we become. Put S(s)pirit first. Become more spirit conscious. Become more conscious of the inward man. Realize you are a spirit being. Realize that in the new birth you became a new creation created by God in Christ Jesus. It will help you grow - spiritually.
Genesis 6:3 - "Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not contend with (or My Spirit will not remain in) man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
Fill in the missing words taking into consideration the verses of Gen 1:26-27 & Gen 6:3.
The Holy Spirit lives IN us once we become a believer. Rom 8:9
What does Paul mean when he talks about "the new creation"? 2 Cor 5:17
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."
Paul is talking about the inward man. Not the outward man. When you are "born again" and become a new creature you do not get a new body. The outward man is just like it was before. If you were bald before you were born again, you are still bald afterwards. If you had brown eyes before, you still have brown eyes. The outward man does not change. God does not do anything with the outward man.
Who then is responsible for the outward man and what must be done?
You have to do something with the outward man. You will find out what God wants you to do with the outward man from the Bible. God does something with the inward man. He makes the man on the inside a new man in Christ, a new creature, a new creation.
What is the norm for a born again Christian today? Rom 8:9
"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." (Rom. 8:9) This shows that it is impossible to be a Christian today and not be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He takes up permanent residence in each believer.
By the logic of the above Bible passage, at what point does the Holy Spirit dwell in our spirit?
We must realize that every believer today is indwelt by the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation.
What are the two important truths to draw from all this?
That we must be Spirit conscious and CHOOSE to be led by the Spirit of God. Gal 5:16-18
What can we expect as children of God?
Through the Spirit of God. It is His means of communication with us.
First, God is a spirit. Second, God created man in his own image. Man is a spirit being. He is made in the likeness of God.
How are we given strength? Phil 4:13
Christ pours his strength into us through the Spirit into our spirit. "I can do everything through him (Christ) who gives me strength." (Phil. 4:13).
What kind of confidence does this teach?
The Bible teaches Christ-confidence, not self-confidence. You can be confident because you know that Christ works through you by the Holy Spirit.
What is taught in Gal 5:16-18?
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." (Gal 5:16-18) We are promised victory over the desires and lusts that come into our minds from the sin nature. It does not say that we will NOT have lusts, but it does promise that we will not fulfill them and sin. Our part is to say NO to the desires, and then, BY FAITH, to depend on the Holy Spirit to suppress and put them away.
What does being led by the Spirit of God mean?
Being led by the Spirit or being filled by the Spirit means to be controlled, guided, and empowered by the Holy Spirit by our deliberate CHOICE to yield Him our wills and depend on Him.
That when we CHOOSE to be led by the Spirit of God we become "sons of God". Rom 8:14&16
What tells us that when we choose to be led by the Spirit of God we will become "sons of God? Rom 8:14
Rom 8:14. "...because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."
The sons of God can expect to be led by the Spirit of God. They are not led by somebody else telling them what to do. The Holy Spirit is going to lead us. We have the Scripture that tells us.
How does he lead? Rom 8:16
The 16th verse gives us a clue. "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." Rom 8:16.
Let's look at the story of Ezekiel and how the Spirit of God gave him:
It is the conviction of the Old Testament that no man can prophesy without the Spirit.
What does that mean?
No man can teach others unless he himself be taught. The Spirit is God's witness in any human situation. It is through the Spirit that with the need there always comes the power. And it is the Spirit who gives the prophet the strength and the courage to bring to men the message of God, whether that message be consolation or condemnation.
How do you know you are God's child and how do you identify the Spirit of God?
His Spirit, God's Spirit, talks with our spirit. Rom 8:16
Sometimes you can't really explain how you know. But you just know, right down on the inside of you. You know it! You know it by the inward witness.
The number one way the Spirit guides is through the inward witness or spirit. Number two is by the inward voice. The inward man, who is a spirit, has a voice - just as the outward man has a voice. We call this inward voice conscience. Sometimes we call it the "still small voice". Your spirit has a voice. Your spirit will speak to you.
What is conscience?
Conscience. Webster defines this word as, "conscious (or awareness - my addition) of the moral right and wrong of one's own acts or motives".
What does the Bible say about conscience? Acts 23:1
It is interesting to go through the Epistles of Paul and see what he said about his conscience. You will notice that he always obeyed it. Paul's conscience was a safe guide.
Is your conscience a safe guide? 2 Cor 5:17
You can answer "yes" to that question if your spirit has become a new man in Christ. Your conscience is the voice of your spirit. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17.
What three things take place in man's spirit, the inward man? Lk 23:46; Rom 8:9; 2 Cor 4:16
What about this "renewal" thing? 2 Cor 4:16
2 Corinthians 4:16 - "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."
There is an inward man. And there is an outward man. The outward man is not the real you. It is only the shell in which you live. The inward man is the real you. The inward man never grows older. He is renewed day by day. He is the spirit man.
How do we have, in the present, eternal life? Jn 3:16; Rom 6:23; 2 Cor 4:16; 1 Jn 5:1-13
Read 2 Corinthians 4:16. When you have the Life of God in you, your conscience will not permit you to do just anything. If you are "born again", YOU HAVE THE LIFE OF GOD. Read John 3:16, Romans 6:23, and 1 John 5:1-13. Verse 13 says that to those who believe in the name of the Son of God...you HAVE eternal life. Not you will receive (future tense), but HAVE (present tense) received. Once you believe and are saved, your eternal spirit has eternal LIFE. If we could only learn to follow our spirits we could take advantage of the Life that is in them.
Let's review a little.
If we are born again, who is living and abiding in our spirits?
If you are born again, the Holy Spirit is living and abiding in your spirit. Think about that for just a moment.
What does that really say to you? Where, inside, is the Spirit of God living? In your head? No. In your body?
In a sense, yes, but not exactly the way we think. The only reason your body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit is because your body is the temple of your own spirit. Read 1Cor 3:16, 1Cor 6:19, and 2Cor 6:16. He abides in your spirit. He does not communicate directly with your mind. He is not in your mind. He is in your spirit. He communicates with you through your spirit. Of course, your spirit does reach and influence your mentality. Take heed of your inward voice. The Holy Spirit can and will direct your every move if you only listen.
What must be developed between our spirit and the Holy Spirit?
Developing a dialog between your spirit and the Holy Spirit is the first step. Read Jn 14:23. In this passage, Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit's coming. Jesus and the Father in the Person of the Holy Spirit come to abide in us. An abode is the place where one lives. God is living inside of us!
What exactly is "God's rest? Ps 95:7-11; Heb 3:7
After the Holy Spirit lives inside of us He introduces us to an experience available to every believer called, "God's rest". Read Ps 95:7-11 and Heb 3:7 - 4:11.
How do we enter this "rest"?
We can only enter this rest by FAITH. Each Christian must crack the faith barrier. There is really nothing we must do to crack the faith barrier but stand still and accept God's forgiving grace.
How often must we crack the faith barrier? Ps 95; Rom :1-4 & 15:4
This does not just happen once in a Christians life but constantly. When we approach the faith barrier, there are great pressures and turbulence that have built up in our lives from seeking to cope with our problems in our own strength. The resistance comes from our trying to cope by the same old means of the flesh we have used all our lives. It is very difficult to let go and simply believe the Lord. But when we crack through the faith barrier by believing God's promises, we then enter into that most wonderful Christian experience called "God's rest". We must practice breaking the faith barrier every day. It is basic to living a victorious and fruitful life for and in the Lord. "God's rest" is available to us, as a promise from God, just as it was available to David, as a promise from God, when he wrote about it in Ps.95. Read Rom. 15:4. The picture that God wants to draw here is how to live a Christian life today. Although we are in the midst of a great spiritual war, we can rest inwardly and have perfect peace. Read Rom. 8:1-4.
What do you learn from Mk 11:23-24?
The Faith Passage. It is what I call these verses. Read Mark 11:23-24.
It is your own spirit who condemns you. The Holy Spirit will not condemn you. Read John 16:7-11 and 1John 3:16-24. It is our own conscience - the voice of our own spirit (sometimes referred to as the "heart") - that knows when we have done something wrong. But when we do something wrong, the Holy Spirit is right there to comfort us. That is why He is called the Comforter. We will study about the references to the Comforter in a later session.
What did Jesus promise us about the Holy Spirit? Jn 14:15-21
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would remain with us forever. Read John 14:15-21. This is truly a wonderful promise! Every time we say or do something wrong, our spirit tells us we've made a mistake. Our spirit condemns us. Our "new creature" cannot do anything but condemn us.
What can we learn from 1 Tim 4:1-2?
We must beware that we do not fall into the situation described in 1Timothy 4:1-2 (read). Romans 8:16 does not say that the Spirit bears witness with our bodies or with our feelings. It says it bears witness with our spirit. Feeling is the voice of the body. Reason is the voice of the soul or mind. Conscience is the voice of our spirit. To go by feelings usually means that you will find yourself in trouble of some kind. It is the reason so many Christians are up and down like roller-coasters. When they "feel" good they say, "Glory to God!". When they feel bad they say, "I've lost it all." You cannot understand yourself by feelings. Understand yourself as a born-again, Spirit-filled Christian by what the Word of God says about you. Then, whether you feel like it or not, say, "Yes, that's me. I have that. The Word says I have that. I can do what the Word says I can do. I am what the Word says I am." You will then begin to develop spiritually.
What does Jesus say about the Holy Spirit? Jn 16:12-15
Discussion.
John 16:13. The Spirit really speaks to us. He speaks whatever He hears God or Jesus say. He speaks through our spirits. He is IN our spirit and that is where He speaks. A really interesting point which is paid little attention is that "he will tell you what is yet to come." The Holy Spirit will tell us the future. He can do this in many ways but always with that "inward voice".
Do we have to memorize the entire Bible to be effective witnesses? Jn 14:26
What a wonderful promise. We don't have to memorize the entire Bible. The Holy Spirit will "remind" us of everything. The Holy Spirit will show us things to come and bring things to our memory if we could only learn to cooperate with Him.
What does the Bible teach about the Spirit of God and the Word of God?
The Bible teaches that the Spirit of God and the Word of God agree. Anytime the Spirit of God speaks to you it will always be in line with the Word of God. If a voice speaks to you then you should be able to verify whether it is the Holy Spirit or not by "checking it out in the Bible". We should not seek out voices. We should not follow voices. We should only follow the Word of God.
How can we tell whether it is our own spirit or the Spirit of God telling me what to do? 1 Jn 3:9; 2 Peter 1:3-4
If your spirit is a new creature in Christ Jesus, and old things are passed away, and all things are become new, and your spirit has the Life and Nature of God in it, and the Holy Spirit in it, and your spirit is in fellowship with God, it is not going to tell you to do something that is not right. If you are a Spirit-filled Christian, your inward man has the Holy Spirit as a resident. Read 1John 3:9. Because of God's Divine power which lives in us as Christians, our spirits cannot tell us to do something that is wrong. Our spirits have the Nature of God in them, the Life of God in them, the Love of God in them, and the Spirit of God in them. Read 2Peter 1:3-4.
We are born of God. Then we feed on the Word of God. By so doing we are partakers of the divine nature, God's nature. If we have the divine nature in us, our spirits will always tell us to do the right thing.
Why is it so important to develop a dialog or communication with the Holy Spirit? Acts 27:9-10
Read Acts 27:9-10. Paul did
not say, "The Lord told me." He simply said, "I can see...". In his spirit,
Paul had an inward perception, and inward premonition, an inward witness.
This is the primary way God leads all of us. Paul did not see it mentally.
He did not have some sort of "vibration". Paul did not see it physically.
In his spirit he had a witness. That belongs to all of us. The Holy Spirit
abiding in our spirits must communicate with us through our spirits - not
through our minds. That is why your spirit knows things your head doesn't
know. We just have not been taught to listen to our spirits. And sometimes
we are reluctant to listen to our spirits. The reason that we as Spirit-filled
believers continually miss the mark, make mistakes, and fail is because
our spirits which should guide us are kept locked away in prison so to
speak. Knowledge, or intellect, has taken the "throne". We must practice
communicating with the Spirit with our spirits. If we wait around for the
Spirit to tell us what to do, and we never have communicated with the Spirit
before, we will not recognize how the Spirit sounds. Daily communication
between the Spirit and our spirit will solve that problem.
Review
Week 1: Introduction
There are 96 references to the "Spirit" in the Bible. We will, in our exploration try and discuss most or all of these references.
Romans 8:14 - "...because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."Children of God can expect to be led by the Spirit of God. God will enlighten us. He will guide us through our own spirit. How does he do this? Through the Spirit of God. It is his means of communication with us.
Romans 8:16 - "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."
Proverbs 20:27 - "The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of man, it searches out his inmost being."
John 4:24 - "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."First, God is a spirit. Second, God created man in his own image. Man is a spirit being. He is made in the likeness of God. The three parts of man's being are (1) spirit; (2) soul; and (3) body. (1 Thess. 5:23)
Genesis 1:26,27 - "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
Genesis 6:3 - "Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not contend with (or My Spirit will not remain in) man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."The Spirit of God is immortal. The spirit of man is immortal. The in-dwelling of the Spirit of God gives man's mortal body immortality. But, God said that he would not allow man to be immortal, at this time, so he did not allow the Spirit to dwell in our bodies. This will change when Christ returns and establishes his kingdom and subsequently creates a new heaven and earth. Then the Spirit will dwell within our new bodies permanently and we will live forever in and with God.
Week 2 - The beginning and the inward man.
Genesis 1:2 - "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."The Spirit of God was present during the creation. The stating of this fact is quite significant. It shows that from the beginning (of the earth), the Spirit was present and active. The earth had no form until the Spirit of God entered and became the energizing force which "moved upon the face of the waters".
2 Corinthians 4:16 - "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."There is an inward man. And there is an outward man. The outward man is not the real you. It is only the shell in which you live. The inward man is the real you. The inward man never grows older. He is renewed day by day. He is the spirit man.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."Paul is talking about the inward man. Not the outward man. When you are "born again" and become a new creature you do not get a new body. The outward man is just like it was before. If you were bald before you were born again, you are still bald afterwards. If you had brown eyes before, you still have brown eyes. The outward man does not change. God does not do anything with the outward man. (You have to do something with the outward man. You will find out what God wants you to do with the outward man from the Bible.) God does something with the inward man. He makes the man on the inside a new man in Christ, a new creature, a new creation.
We must realize that every believer today is indwelt by the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation. After a short transition period of the initial giving of the Holy Spirit that was recorded in the book of Acts, the norm became this: "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." (Rom. 8:9) This shows that it is impossible to be a Christian today and not be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He takes up permanent residence in each believer.
There are two important truths to draw from this. First, since the Holy Spirit now lives in every believer, it is possible for us to live a supernatural life for God that was not available to the Old Testament saints. Second, even though the Holy Spirit does dwell in every Christian, we are not filled with the Holy Spirit until we learn and believe the instructions and promises of the Word of God concerning this indispensable ministry.
Week 3 - Spirit Conscious - spirit or Spirit
Readings:
Ex 31:3 1Sa 10:10 Ne 9:30
Ps 143:10
Nu 11:25 1Sa 16:13 Job 33:4
Jdg 6:34 1Sa 16:14 Ps 51:11
Jdg 11:29 2Sa 23:2 Ps 106:33
Jdg 13:25 Ne 9:20 Ps 139:7
"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess 5:23)Paul begins with the inside, the innermost part of man, the heart of his being, which is his spirit, and comes to the outside. Yet most people misquote this verse. They say, body, soul, and spirit. Why do they put the body first? Because they are more body-conscious than spirit-conscious. Natural things mean more to them than spiritual things. The physical always comes first. Sometimes we are more mental-conscious because we live in a mental world.
But man is a spirit being!!
We need to be spirit conscious. Spiritual things will become more real to us the more spirit-conscious we become. Put S(s)pirit first. Become more spirit conscious. Become more conscious of the inward man. Realize you are a spirit being. Realize that in the new birth you became a new creation created by God in Christ Jesus. It will help you grow - spiritually.
Say this over and over to yourself or even out-loud:
"I am a spirit being. I have a soul. I live in a body."
Christ pours his strength into us through the Spirit into our spirit. "I can do everything through him (Christ) who gives me strength." (Phil. 4:13) The Bible teaches Christ-confidence, not self-confidence. You can be confident because you know that Christ works through you by the Holy Spirit. "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." (Gal 5:16-18) We are promised victory over the desires and lusts that come into our minds from the sin nature. It does not say that we will NOT have lusts, but it does promise that we will not fulfill them and sin. Our part is to say NO to the desires, and then, BY FAITH, to depend on the Holy Spirit to suppress and put them away.
Being led by the Spirit or being filled by the Spirit means to be controlled, guided, and empowered by the Holy Spirit by our deliberate CHOICE to yield Him our wills and depend on Him.
Readings:
Ezek 2:2; 11:5; 36:27
Is 11:2 Is 30:1 Is 32:15
Is 44:3 Is 61:1 Is 63:10
Joel 2:28 Zec 4:6 1 Jn 5:10
Rom 8:14 Rom 8:16
"Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart." 1 John 5:10The sons of God can expect to be led by the Spirit of God. They are not led by somebody else telling them what to do. The Holy Spirit is going to lead us. We have the Scripture that tells us. How does he lead? The 16th verse gives us a clue. "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." Rom 8:16.
"...because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." Rom 8:14
There is no prophet in whom the work of the Spirit is more constant and vivid and illuminating then Ezekiel. The Spirit of the Lord gave Ezekiel his commission and his message. "Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and he told me to say:..." Ezekiel 11:5 The Spirit of the Lord gave Ezekiel courage to face the message and the situation. "As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me." Ezekiel 2:2 The Spirit of the Lord promised Ezekiel strength and power to obey his own commands. "And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." Ezekiel 36:27 It is the conviction of the Old Testament that no man can prophesy without the Spirit. No man can teach others unless he himself be taught. The Spirit is God's witness in any human situation. It is through the Spirit that with the need there always comes the power. And it is the Spirit who gives the prophet the strength and the courage to bring to men the message of God, whether that message be consolation or condemnation.
How does the Bible say we know we are the children of God? His Spirit, God's Spirit, talks with our spirit. Rom 8:16
Sometimes you can't really explain how you know. But you just know, right down on the inside of you. You know it! You know it by the inward witness.
The number one way the Spirit guides is through the inward witness or spirit. Number two is by the inward voice. The inward man, who is a spirit, has a voice - just as the outward man has a voice. We call this inward voice conscience. Sometimes we call it the "still small voice". Your spirit has a voice. Your spirit will speak to you.
The Life of God can be yours!
Readings:
Zec. 4:6 Mt. 3:16 Mt. 12:31
Mt. 1:18 Mt. 4:1 Mt. 28:19
Mt. 3:11 Mt. 10:20
Conscience. Webster defines this word as, "conscious (or awareness - my addition) of the moral right and wrong of one's own acts or motives". But what does the Bible say about conscience. It is interesting to go through the Epistles of Paul and see what he said about his conscience. You will notice that he always obeyed it. Read Acts 23:1. Paul's conscience was a safe guide. Is your conscience a safe guide? You can answer "yes" to that question if your spirit has become a new man in Christ. Your conscience is the voice of your spirit. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. Three things take place in man's spirit, the inward man. First, he is a new creature - a brand new man in Christ. It reads, "in Christ". This is very important because we cannot be in Christ unless we are in spirit in Christ. A physical body cannot enter into a spirit and Christ is a spirit. Read Luke 23:46. Only a spirit can enter into another spirit. Second, old things have passed away. The nature of the devil in his spirit is gone. Third, ALL things have become new. This includes our spirit - it has become new. This has nothing to do with our body or mind. We now have the Nature of God in our spirits. Read Romans 8:9. Therefore, if your spirit is a new man with the Life and Nature of God in it, it is a safe guide. A person who has not been born again could not follow the voice of his spirit. His spirit cannot renew it self everyday. His spirit would permit him to do anything. Read 2 Corinthians 4:16. When you have the Life of God in you, your conscience will not permit you to do just anything. If you are "born again", YOU HAVE THE LIFE OF GOD. Read John 3:16, Romans 6:23, and 1 John 5:1-13. Verse 13 says that to those who believe in the name of the Son of God...you HAVE eternal life. Not you will receive (future tense), but HAVE (present tense) received. Once you believe and are saved, your eternal spirit has eternal LIFE. If we could only learn to follow our spirits we could take advantage of the Life that is in them.
Thank God that the Life of God is imparted in our spirits. The Holy Spirit is living and abiding in our spirits.
God's rest!
Readings:
Mk 1:8 Lk 4:18 Jn 1:33 Jn 7:39
Jn 20:22
Lk 1:35 Lk 11:13 Jn 3:5 Jn 14:26
Lk 3:16 Lk 23:46 Jn 6:63 Jn 16:13
If you are born again, the Holy Spirit is living and abiding in your spirit. Think about that for just a moment. What does that really say to you? Where, inside, is the Spirit of God living? In your head? No. In your body? In a sense, yes, but not exactly the way we think. The only reason your body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit is because your body is the temple of your own spirit. Read 1Cor 3:16, 1Cor 6:19, and 2Cor 6:16. He abides in your spirit. He does not communicate directly with your mind. He is not in your mind. He is in your spirit. He communicates with you through your spirit. Of course, your spirit does reach and influence your mentality. Take heed of your inward voice. The Holy Spirit can and will direct your every move if you only listen. Developing a dialog between your spirit and the Holy Spirit is the first step. Read Jn 14:23. In this passage, Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit's coming. Jesus and the Father in the Person of the Holy Spirit come to abide in us. An abode is the place where one lives. God is living inside of us!
After the Holy Spirit lives inside of us He introduces us to an experience available to every believer called, "God's rest". Read Ps 95:7-11 and Heb 3:7 - 4:11. We can only enter this rest by FAITH. Each Christian must crack the faith barrier. There is really nothing we must do to crack the faith barrier but stand still and accept God's forgiving grace. This does not just happen once in a Christians life but constantly. When we approach the faith barrier, there are great pressures and turbulence that have built up in our lives from seeking to cope with our problems in our own strength. The resistance comes from our trying to cope by the same old means of the flesh we have used all our lives. It is very difficult to let go and simply believe the Lord. But when we crack through the faith barrier by believing God's promises, we then enter into that most wonderful Christian experience called "God's rest". We must practice breaking the faith barrier every day. It is basic to living a victorious and fruitful life for and in the Lord. "God's rest" is available to us, as a promise from God, just as it was available to David, as a promise from God, when he wrote about it in Ps.95. Read Rom. 15:4. The picture that God wants to draw here is how to live a Christian life today. Although we are in the midst of a great spiritual war, we can rest inwardly and have perfect peace. Read Rom. 8:1-4.
Who said I did that?
Readings:
Acts 1:5 Acts 2:38 Acts 8:15 Acts
19:2 Rom 8:13
Acts 1:8 Acts 4:31 Acts 9:17 Rom
8:4 Rom 8:16
Acts 2:4 Acts 5:3 Acts 11:16 Rom
8:5 Rom 8:23
Acts 2:17 Acts 6:3 Acts 13:2 Rom
8:9 Rom 8:26
The Faith Passage. It is what I call these verses. Read Mark 11:23-24. We have to listen to our spirit. Faith is of the spirit. Your faith will not work to its fullest until you have learned that your faith is of the spirit. Learn to depend on the Spirit who is in you. Learn to develop your own spirit and have faith in your faith. Who is condemning you? The Holy Spirit or your own spirit? It is your own spirit who condemns you. The Holy Spirit will not condemn you. Read John 16:7-11 and 1John 3:16-24. It is our own conscience - the voice of our own spirit (sometimes referred to as the "heart") - that knows when we have done something wrong. But when we do something wrong, the Holy Spirit is right there to comfort us. That is why He is called the Comforter. We will study about the references to the Comforter in a later session.
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would remain with us forever. Read John 14:15-21. This is truly a wonderful promise! Every time we say or do something wrong, our spirit tells us we've made a mistake. Our spirit condemns us. Our "new creature" cannot do anything but condemn us. We must beware that we do not fall into the situation described in 1Timothy 4:1-2 (read). Romans 8:16 does not say that the Spirit bears witness with our bodies or with our feelings. It says it bears witness with our spirit. Feeling is the voice of the body. Reason is the voice of the soul or mind. Conscience is the voice of our spirit.
To go by feelings usually means that you will find yourself in trouble of some kind. It is the reason so many Christians are up and down like roller-coasters. When they "feel" good they say, "Glory to God!". When they feel bad they say, "I've lost it all." You cannot understand yourself by feelings. Understand yourself as a born-again, Spirit-filled Christian by what the Word of God says about you. Then, whether you feel like it or not, say, "Yes, that's me. I have that. The Word says I have that. I can do what the Word says I can do. I am what the Word says I am." You will then begin to develop spiritually.
Let's listen to what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit. Read John 16:12-15.
In line with the Word!
Readings:
1Cor 2:10 1Cor 6:19 2Cor 3:3 2Cor
7:1 Gal 5:22
1Cor 2:14 1Cor 12:13 2Cor 3:17 Gal 3:2
Gal 5:25
1Cor 5:3 2Cor 1:22 2Cor 5:5
Gal 5:16 Gal 6:8
What does Jesus say about the Holy Spirit? Read John 16:13. The Spirit really speaks to us. He speaks whatever He hears God or Jesus say. He speaks through our spirits. He is IN our spirit and that is where He speaks. A really interesting point which is paid little attention is that "he will tell you what is yet to come." The Holy Spirit will tell us the future. He can do this in many ways but always with that "inward voice".
Read John 14:26. What a wonderful promise. We don't have to memorize the entire Bible. The Holy Spirit will "remind" us of everything. The Holy Spirit will show us things to come and bring things to our memory if we could only learn to cooperate with Him.
The Bible teaches that the Spirit of God and the Word of God agree. Anytime the Spirit of God speaks to you it will always be in line with the Word of God. If a voice speaks to you then you should be able to verify whether it is the Holy Spirit or not by "checking it out in the Bible". We should not seek out voices. We should not follow voices. We should only follow the Word of God. How can we tell whether it is our own spirit or the Spirit of God telling me what to do? If your spirit is a new creature in Christ Jesus, and old things are passed away, and all things are become new, and your spirit has the Life and Nature of God in it, and the Holy Spirit in it, and your spirit is in fellowship with God, it is not going to tell you to do something that is not right.
If you are a Spirit-filled Christian, your inward man has the Holy Spirit as a resident. Read 1John 3:9. Because of God's Divine power which lives in us as Christians, our spirits cannot tell us to do something that is wrong. Our spirits have the Nature of God in them, the Life of God in them, the Love of God in them, and the Spirit of God in them. Read 2Peter 1:3-4.
We are born of God. Then we feed on the Word of God. By so doing we are partakers of the divine nature, God's nature. If we have the divine nature in us, our spirits will always tell us to do the right thing.
Readings:
Eph 1:13 Eph 4:30 2Th 2:13 Heb 2:4
2Pe 1:21 1Jn 4:13
Eph 2:22 Eph 5:18 1Ti 3:16 Heb 4:12
1Jn 3:24 Jude :20
Eph 4:4 Eph 6:17 2Ti 1:7 Heb 10:29
1Jn 4:1 Rev 2:7
Read Acts 27:9-10. Paul did not say, "The Lord told me." He simply said, "I can see...". In his spirit, Paul had an inward perception, and inward premonition, an inward witness. This is the primary way God leads all of us. Paul did not see it mentally. He did not have some sort of "vibration". Paul did not see it physically. In his spirit he had a witness. That belongs to all of us. The Holy Spirit abiding in our spirits must communicate with us through our spirits - not through our minds. That is why your spirit knows things your head doesn't know.
We just have not been taught to listen to our spirits. And sometimes we are reluctant to listen to our spirits. The reason that we as Spirit-filled believers continually miss the mark, make mistakes, and fail is because our spirits which should guide us are kept locked away in prison so to speak. Knowledge, or intellect, has taken the "throne". We must practice communicating with the Spirit with our spirits. If we wait around for the Spirit to tell us what to do, and we never have communicated with the Spirit before, we will not recognize how the Spirit sounds.
Daily communication with the Spirit with our spirit will solve that problem. Let us now review what we have learned about the Holy Spirit and our spirits. (1) That God is a spirit and we were made in the image of God. John 4:24; (2) That the Holy Spirit lives IN us once we become a believer. Rom 8:9; (3) That we must be Spirit conscious and CHOOSE to be led by the Spirit of God. Gal 5:16-18; (4) That when we CHOOSE to be led by the Spirit of God we become "sons of God". Rom 8:14 & 16; (5) That the Spirit of God "renews" us daily. 2Cor 4:16; (6) That, as believers, we HAVE eternal life. RIGHT NOW! 1 John 5:1-13; (7) That we must seek God's rest. Heb 4:10-11; (8) That the Spirit of God speaks to us through our spirit. Rom 8:16; (9) That through the Spirit of God we can gain all knowledge of Jesus Christ (The Word). John 16:12-15
What a wonderful gift that God has given us. The Holy Spirit; Comforter, Counselor, and Teacher.