10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
10250 North Freeway @ West
Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
Peculiar
Misunderstandings
Written by Dr.
Lester Hutson
Copyright
- Lester Hutson - 1989
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced
without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.
Message #10
MISUNDERSTANDING
THE CURRENT ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
(Part #6)
"The ,Spontaneous Results of Holy ,Spirit Control"
Text * Galatians 5:22-23
C. Once the Holy Spirit, who indwells the believer, is given control, He will spontaneously produce many excellent qualities in the life of that believer:
1. He produces the daily strength or power for service and fruitfulness in His work. I am not referring here to the special power to heal or perform miracles as generated by the Holy Spirit in the apostles and those upon whom they laid their hands. I am talking about strength or power to continue in acceptable service and fruitfulness to God as mentioned in Hebrews 12:28. This scripture says, "Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." The Holy Spirit of God can give courage, patience, stamina, meekness; and the ability to respond correctly to adversity, persecutions, and provocations. He can give the drive to win souls, and the zeal and boldness that transforms cowards into mighty warriors in the faith. He can produce wonderful spontaneous liberty in a believer's life. II Corinthians 3:17 specifically says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
Now brethren, the power we have to serve God daily is either of God, or of some other source. If it is of God, it is through His Spirit. If it is of some other source, that source must be Satanic or self-generated. I doubt that any believer is prepared to say that his power in serving God is of Satan or self. Surely Satan would empower no one in the work of the Lord; and surely no believer wants to admit that he is serving God in the energy of his own flesh. Most believers would be quick to admit that the daily power or strength they have for service is of "the Lord. "Although, some have trouble admitting this strength to be of the Holy Spirit. They'd rather say it's of "the Lord". But remember, "the Lord" is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and it is the Holy Spirit whose primary role is working on earth in believers today. No believer should be embarrassed to say that the power that enables him to do any good thing he does in the service of God is the power of the Holy Spirit in him.
The Bible is very emphatic about the power source of all acceptable service to God. It makes very clear the fact that no believer should ever function in the energy of his own flesh, but always in the power or strength of God. Listen to the scriptures say it in Hebrews 13:20-21, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord desus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through desus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever." It would be hard to say it clearer. It is God "working" in us who makes us complete, and who accomplishes that which "is well-pleasing in His sight." Philippians 2:13 says it even more emphatically, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." It is God the Holy Spirit who lives "in you" (believers), I Corinthians 3:16. Though Father, Son, and Spirit are inseparable; it is in His office as Spirit that Jesus Christ primarily works in us today "to will and to do of His good pleasure." This is exactly what II Corinthians 3:5 is confirming when it says, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." In giving daily strength, the Holy Spirit may use His Word, providence, another believer, or some other tool or source; but the power is His. In fact, His Word is His primary tool for generating daily power in us as believers; but it is highly incorrect for believers to think their daily strength comes from the Word apart from the person of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit works to produce power in believers largely through His Word. The Word is powerful and alive according to Hebrews 4:12, and as I Thessalonions 2:13 affirms, it "effectually worketh also in you that believe." Acts 20:32 speaks of "The Word of His grace, which is able to build you up." Yes, we gain strength for daily service and fruitfulness through His Word; but let us not forget that the Holy Spirit of God is the source of power in the Word. It only has power because it is the Word of God. The Word is not the Spirit; it is the Word of the Spirit. It is His power that makes it a power and strength to us. The fact is, the Holy Spirit is our source of daily power and strength; the Word of God is primarily how He administers this strength to us.
II Peter 1:2-9 is a stirring passage dealing with traits which should characterize the believer. As verses 2 and 3 reveal, through His "divine power," God "hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness"; and He has done so primarily through "the knowledge of Him that called us." He has given us "exceeding great and precious promises," and through these we can become partakers of the divine nature" as seen in Verse 4. In other words, God, through His Word, does much to strengthen us and make us more of what He wants us to be. In fact, as we delight in and abide by His Word, such qualities as "faith", "virtue", "knowledge", "temperance", "patience", "godliness", "brotherly kindness", and "charity" increase and abound in us, Verses 5-8. Along these same lines, Galatians 5:22-23 is discussing the fruit of the Holy Spirit given full control of a believers life. Once the Spirit gains control, the spontaneous result will be love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. Now notice how closely the qualities spontaneously produced by the Holy Spirit parallel those produced by the Word. Both passages speak of love, temperance, and faith. One mentions goodness while the other speaks of virtue. One speaks of longsuffering while the other calls it patience. Paul speaks of meekhess and gentleness while Peter speaks of kindness and godliness. What is the point of this parallel? It is certainly not that the Bible is the Holy Spirit or that it does all the work in believers today. The point is that the Holy Spirit uses His Word, the Bible, to do much of His work in us. He is the source of power. The Word is the tool or channel by which He flows much of His power into us.
In a very scriptural sense, the Word of God is to us spiritually as food is to us physically, I Peter 2:2. We take in food which is vital to life. Although, the food itself is of no value to us unless it is digested and assimilated into our bodies. The natural processes of the body must do their work of translating the food into body strength. Likewise, of God is our spiritual food for strength. Although, it only becomes useful and gives us strength as we allow the Holy Spirit of God to use it in our lives. And, He uses it effectively in us only as we submit ourselves to His control. So, don't get to thinking the Word is everything. It is great. Praise God for it. We couldn't get saved without it; and we couldn't serve God acceptably without it. It is our spiritual food, and our guiding light. But, it only works as it does because we have a great God, who in the person of His Holy Spirit, lives within us to make it for us power and strength for service and fruitfulness. Praise God for the fact that believers do not have to operate in the energy of their own flesh! How foolish and puny and useless such efforts are! "Man at his best state is altogether vanity," (Psalms 39:5), and "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags," Isaiah 64:6. The wonderful truth for believers is that we have the Holy Spirit of God to "work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure," Philipplans 2:13. Thus, we function; not in our own strength, but in the strength of the Lord, which efforts redound to the glory of God forever. Thus, Paul could write in II Timothy 4:8, "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. "This he could say; not because of who he was or what he had done in his own strength; but he could say it because of the Holy Spirit of God who had worked in him enabling him to be the fruitful servant he was. Even so, every believer can so yield himself to God, and claim the strength of God as his very own through His Holy Spirit.
2. Not only does the Holy Spirit spontaneously produce daily strength for service in believers, he also spontaneously produces the fruit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. These verses say "But the fruit of the Spirit is loue, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekhess, temperance: against such there is no law." These are excellent character qualities, which every believer should desire for his life. But, they are not qualities the believer can artificially manufacture in himself. They spontaneously eminate from one's life, even as heat eminates from fire. When conditions are right in a believers life, the qualities will automatically be there. What are the conditions? Primarily that the believer know the will of the Spirit through His Word, and be submitted in spirit to the authority and control of the Holy Spirit in him.
So, today the Holy Spirit produces "love"; not just sensuous, fickle love; but true committed, caring, righteous love. The more a believer learns the Word, the deeper the Spirit will make His love to be. And, He also produces "joy". True joy in the heart of believers rises or falls upon their commitment to the Holy Spirit. Those who will yield to Him will have joy. Listen to Romans 15:13 say so: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." Furthermore, Philipplans 4:7 speaks of "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding." That abiding peace is a current-day product of the Holy Spirit. His fruit is "peace". But, it is also "longsuffering", which is patience. In building patience, the Holy Spirit often uses providential troubles, Romans 5:3. Although, patience spontaneously begins to grow where the Holy Spirit is in control. And, when you see a believer who is gentle, you are seeing evidence of what the Holy Spirit is doing in his life. Likewise those in whom you see goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control or temperance are testimonies of the Holy Spirit of God's current work. These traits are not natural to the flesh, which is prone to envy, hatred, idolatry, wrath, and other such evils, as seen in Galatians 5:19-21. But, the Spirit of God works in believers to replace these evil traits with the good qualities we've been discussing. They are evidence or confirmation that He is at work through His Word in that believer's life.
In a very real sense, the Holy Spirit is at work in believers to strengthen and build their lives. He strengthens them, builds their character, and gives them resistance to temptations. That's what every believer is acknowledging when he prays, "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," Mathew 6:13. Who is he looking to for deliverance and defense against evil and temptation? He is looking to God. And, how does God do it? In a multitude of ways, primarily in His office of Holy Spirit. No wonder Jude wrote, "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Sauiour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever," Jude 24-25.
Yes, praise God for His Holy Spirit, who not only controls the universe; but who specializes in the life of the believer. He gives him the power to serve, and produces life's finest qualities in him. He uses His Word, His providence, and His power to make us any good thing we ever turn out to be. Truly we must say with Jude, "to God be the glory!"
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"