16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. - John 14:16-17
Jesus calls upon the Father and sets the stage for the Holy Spirit to come and fill the believers. He does not bring us this far to drop us. His ministry and power continue to be evident in the form of the Holy Spirit. In John 16:7-15, Jesus begins to get very specific in His description of the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit. He reveals that the Holy Spirit’s ministry will look very much like His, except that He will indwell all believers and empower them to live and look like Jesus. Unfortunately, as A.W. Tozer has said, “Every believer has the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit does not have every believer.” What would happen if the Holy Spirit were suddenly removed from our safe, routine driven world where people are used to living on their own human strength? Probably about 95% of all we do would continue, unaffected by His absence. A.W. Tozer was a well-known author and pastor in the early 1900’s. Here is what he writes, “The doctrine of the Spirit as it relates to the believer has, over the last half century, been shrouded in a mist such as lies upon a mountain in stormy weather. A world of confusion has surrounded this truth. This confusion has not come by accident. An enemy has done this. Satan knows that Spiritless evangelicalism is as deadly as modernism or heresy, and he has done everything in his power to prevent us from enjoying our true Christian heritage.” Tozer died in 1963. The world has advanced in ungodly territory since then. Every step away from God seems extreme in the present time you are living. He was seeing it then and we are definitely seeing unprecedented evil amongst us today. They say that sinful living is the same today as it was many years ago. It just has a new coating. As a world, we just continue to slip further and further away from our spiritual heritage. The Holy Spirit desires to not only indwell but to empower us; to not simply be in us but be on us, in power. He wants us to not be dragged into the pattern of this world. He is a person, just like Jesus, who has a mind, will, and emotions and wants to gift and enable every Christian for supernatural ministry. Look at what the Holy Spirit’s role is:
This Sunday we will continue our Study of the Gospel of John. We will specifically look in John 3. I always look forward to worshipping the Father with my Church family. Consciously seek the Lord and His Spirit with all your heart. Give Him your all and follow with an unrelenting dedication to His ways. Joy in Jesus! Pastor Mike
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Rev. Mike McClurgSenior Pastor, Findlay First Church of the Nazarene Archives
March 2020
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