Why You Need To Know What Jesus Said about The Holy Spirit Within

We’re continuing this week on how the Holy Spirit works in us and why we need to be in the know concerning that. You know the more we know, the better we are able to cooperate with God in His great plan. One such area where the Holy Spirit works in us is to show us how and what we should pray for as we ought. You know there is a great gospel song that says, “No one ever cared for me like Jesus.” But in Romans 8:26, Scripture says, “No one ever prayed for me like the Holy Spirit.” How many times have you cried out to God but were at a loss for words? God plainly says there is hope even in those times: the Holy Spirit not only knows what needs to be said, He says it for you [He intercedes for you]. As the following story shows, calling on the right person is the key to solving your problems. One day Sue’s television quit working properly. She called the repair shop to report the problem, but got frustrated trying to explain what was happening. All she knew was that her television wasn’t working right and needed to be fixed. When the repairman arrived, he took off the back of the television and examined it for a few minutes. Then he said, “Ma’am, what you’ve got here is … blah, blah, blah,” and rattled off a string of strange terms. “I’m going to call the store to see if we have these parts in stock.” After the repairman talked with the parts manager, Sue overheard him say, “Great! I’ll pick up the parts and fix the television this afternoon.” Later that day, Sue’s television was as good as new, even though she had no idea what the repairman had done. She knew enough, however, to ask for help. The repairman and the parts manager understood the problem and Sue’s need was taken care of because these two men knew the problem and what it would take to fix it. This is exactly what the Holy Spirit does for believers. Sometimes, all we can do is call for help. We don’t even know what to ask for. When we don’t know how to pray, the Holy Spirit not only understands our problems, but He also carries our problems to the Heavenly Father, speaking in a language that only they understand. The next time words fail you in prayer, remember that the Holy Spirit is right there with you—interceding in prayer for you.¹ Prayer is just one of the areas where the Holy Spirit works huge in our lives. You know, there are other areas and that’s why our focus today is Why You Need To Know What Jesus Said about The Holy Spirit Within, all on this week’s Light on Life.

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You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Familiarize yourself with God’s Word concerning the Holy Spirit Within you. Begin to look to Him who lives big in you.

Join the Conversation

Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: Share a testimony on how you learned to yield to the Holy Spirit within. Share your story in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

For more teaching on the book of John, please click on the links below to listen to some of those podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 47 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Prayer

Well again, welcome.

Let’s talk to the Lord.

Father God, in Jesus most holy Name, we thank you for your goodness and your mercies. They are new and fresh every morning. Great is your faithfulness. We approach your Word today, humbly and reverently looking to your Holy Spirit to lead us guide us into all the truth in Jesus Name, we pray, Amen.

Podcast Notes

The Holy Spirit Within: A Challenge

In a previous podcast, we began looking at what Jesus shared about the Holy Spirit in John 14–16.
In that podcast entitled, “How The Holy Spirit Works In Your Life,” we specifically focused on the Holy Spirit within.
We said one thing is evident: Jesus made the Holy Spirit available for us and we need Him.
How do we know that?
Well, if you knew everything you should know on your own, and if you could be everything you need to be without the Holy Spirit, what would Jesus say you need Him?
The truth is, you can’t know everything you need to know on your own and you can’t be everything you need to be by yourself.
You need a Helper — you need THE Helper, the Holy Spirit of God working in your life.

The Holy Spirit Within: What Jesus Said in John

We are in John’s gospel, chapter fourteen.
We’re going to read the verses on the Holy Spirit in John 14–16.

John 14:15–17 (ESV) — 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:26 (ESV) — 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Move over one chapter now to John fifteen.

John 15:26 (ESV) — 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

Now, lastly in John sixteen, Jesus saidthe following.
We are starting at verse seven.

John 16:7–15 (ESV) — 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Jesus said to His disciples concerning the Holy Spirit in John fourteen: “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Focus on the words ‘will be IN you.’
Jesus tells us three things about the Helper, the Holy Spirit.
First, ‘You know Him.’
Second, ‘He dwells with you.’
Third, ‘He will be in you.’

The Holy Spirit Within Leads You

Now, we finished that podcast up in Romans eight with one of the things the Holy Spirit does once He is in you — that is, He leads you.

Romans 8:14–16 (ESV) — 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

So, we started off in verse fourteen with “all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
We ended in verse 16 with “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit…”
This is the main way that the Holy Spirit leads you.
So, this truth — that the Spirit is in you is vital because all of us need to have the Holy Spirit directing us.
Concerning our life, we’re directionally challenged on our own.

The Holy Spirit Within: Ezekiel’s Prophecy

Now, there are other things that the Holy Spirit will do in you.
Jesus said in John sixteen.

John 16:13 (ESV) — 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…

Did you know that this very fact of the Spirit being in you and leading you into all the truth of God was prophesied in the Old Testament?
Sure it was.
Turn to Ezekiel thirty-six — verse twenty-five.

Ezekiel 36:25–27 (ESV) — 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Did you hear verse 27 — I will put my Spirit within you?
So we’re talking the same thing — the Holy Spirit in you.
This reality was prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus spoke in John fourteen.
So having the Holy Spirit within a believer was always part of God’s big plan.
God, being as close to you as the breath of your mouth has always been the Father’s heart.
He wants to be with you.
Isn’t that nice?
He really likes your face.
How it must have pained the Father God to drive Adam and Eve out of the Garden.
If you’ll look closely at the scriptures, you will see the great lengths that God the Father went to so that He could eliminate the sin separation between you and Him.
God never wants a repeat of what happened in the Garden.
He wants to retire the Angel with the flaming sword who drove man out of the Garden to protect the Tree of Life.
Never again will there be a separation between God and man.
Now, it will help you to personalize this statement.
Say it this way: “Because of Jesus, there will never be a separation between God and me.”
That’s how much He loves you.
God bridged the gap by recreating your spirit man via the new birth and then He moved into your spirit man via the Holy Spirit so there will never be a separation again.
God is in you now and He’s not leaving.
Now, Ezekiel gives us three things the Holy Spirit will do in us.

Holy Spirit Within: Sprinkle You With Clean Water

You will see a few of the elements that Jesus spoke of concerning the Holy Spirit here in Ezekiels prophecy.
If you recall, Jesus said in John four.

John 4:13–14 (ESV) —13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Now we know that the ‘spring of water’ Jesus is talking about is a reference to the Holy Spirit.
We know that by comparing a similar reference in John seven.

John 7:37–39 (ESV) — 37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water — this He [Jesus] said about the Spirit.
Looking closely at these two verses in John you will note that in John four, you have a well of water springing up.
In John seven, you have a river of water flowing out.
Now, comparing these two passages to Ezekiel, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean.”
So in all three verses you have water.
And, from these three verses, we can see that the water in Ezekiel is the cleansing of sin by the Holy Spirit.
The well of water springing up in John four is the Holy Spirit refreshing or building up the believer.
Rivers of living water flowing out in John seven is the Holy Spirit ministering to other people through you.
Water in all cases, a type of the Spirit.
Let’s drill down a bit in this reference in Ezekiel, the Lord said through His prophet.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

This sounds like something Paul wrote Titus.

Titus 3:4–5 (ESV) — 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Can you see that the washing of regeneration is the same as the sprinkling with clean water in Ezekiel thirty-six?
This regenerative washing or sprinkling with clean water [same thing] is one of the works of the Holy Spirit within.
Before the Holy Spirit moved in, He cleaned the place up first.
He completely washed you clean of all sin.
This thread concerning this particular work of the Spirit, runs throughout the Word of God.

Ephesians 5:26 (ESV) — Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

Similar language right — washing of water with the Word.
Water used in connection with being cleansed from sin.
Now, the Word of God is where we learn about God’s great ‘cleansing’ plan of salvation.
When a person says ‘yes’ to the Word, to all that the Word says about Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes that Word and cleanses that person from all sin.
One day, Jesus shared these words with His disciples.

John 15:3 (ESV) — 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Clean, washed, sprinkling with water, water of regeneration all point to the same work of the Holy Spirit.
We must accept the record!
You are clean.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t do a half-job.
God said you are clean.
You may have images in your mind of the mud you sloshed around in before you came to Jesus.
But it’s only an image — it is no longer reality.
And with that thought, here is the Illustration of the Day.
This is a Tony Evan’s illustration — Tony said…

My wife loves to keep a clean home. But there is one thing my wife despises when it comes to cleaning: she hates cleaning bathtubs. She doesn’t like cleaning tubs. She asked me when we first got married if I would be willing to do two housekeeping things: one was to take out the trash; the other was to clean the tubs. I’ve cleaned my share of tubs and it’s hard work. Number one, it’s uncomfortable. You’ve got to get down on your knees. You’ve got to lean over and scrub. Then you have to rinse. If the tub is not fully clean, then you have to go through the whole process again. But as technology got better, I went to the store one day and I saw that they had come up with a cleaner that you simply poured on the tub or sprayed on the ring, and it penetrated the dirt. You would know it was working because it would bubble and foam up. It would begin to remove the dirt that had accumulated on the tub. Many of us are getting down on our knees and trying to scrub the mess out of our lives. However, there is a shelf cleaner in the heavenly supermarket that has been designed to do the work for you. If you’ll simply apply walking in the Spirit in your spiritual life, He will bubble up the mess that is in you so that all you’ve got to do is wipe it clean, not work it out. All you’ll have to do is take advantage of what He’s already done. The anointing of the Spirit means that when you think in terms of the Spirit and then you act in terms of what you think based on your new identity in Christ, He sets you free.²

Accept the record.
Acknowledge the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit.
You are clean!

Holy Spirit Within: The New Birth

What else did Ezekiel say about the work of the Holy Spirit within?

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

A new heart and a new spirit means God via the Holy Spirit didn’t just clean you up and leave you to yourself.
Why is that important to know — well, you know how children are.
Clean them up and what do they do? Jump in the mud pile.
Roll around in it a bit.
You clean them up — you give them a bath and what happens?
They get dirty again.
You told them — you warned then not to do it and they got tempted again — ignored you and did it again.
From a spiritual standpoint, God said, I’m going to solve this problem that would make you live life like a yo-yo if all He did was clean you.
No, He did more than clean you up.
He changed your spiritual nature.

A new heart will I give you — a new spirit I will put in you — that’s the next part of Ezekiel thirty-six.

Paul adresses this in his letter to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians (5:17) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

So the Lord prophesied through Ezekiel this concept of the new birth way in advance of Paul’s writing to the Corinthians.
I’m going to change your nature so that you not are clean, you can remain that way.

Holy Spirit Within: Walk in the Word

Now, there’s yet one more thing Ezekiel says about the Holy Spirit within.

“And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

God’s Spirit within helps us to walk out the Word.
How’s that work exactly?
Hebrews lets us in on it.

Hebrews 8:10–12 (ESV) — 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

If you move two more chapters over in Hebrews ten, you will see the same thing functioning of the Spirit within.

Hebrews 10:16–17 (ESV) — 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

Look at this three things, the Word, hearts, and minds.
I will put my laws on their hearts — I will put my Word in your heart.
Also, I will write my Word in your mind.
Understand the language here.
God is talking about the end result.
He is talking process here.
None of this Word being put in your heart and the Word being written on your mind is automatic.
Nothing in God is automatic.
It’s not like, ‘You said, “Yes to Jesus” and 5 seconds later — the Word is in your heart and in your mind.
What the Lord is saying is that this is what will happen to you when you give yourself to the Word.
The Word will impact your mind because the Holy Spirit will see to it.
The Word will impact your spirit because the Spirit of God is at work in you to do just this.
And with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day.
This quote is from my spiritual dad, Kenneth E. Hagin.

Daily renewals of your spirit by the Holy Spirit and the Word will positively affect your mind. Renewing the mind doesn’t happen just because you memorize scriptures and make right confessions. No, the Holy Spirit is involved in renewing your mind as you study and meditate on the Word.

John 16:13 (ESV) — 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Romans 12:2 (ESV) — 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the [renewal of your mind,] that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

So, according to Jesus, Ezekiel, and the writer of Hebrews, the Holy Spirit in you will cause you to walk in His statutes by writing the Word in your heart and mind.
That means we need this interaction.
If you could walk in the Word, if you could keep His statutes because of your personal efforts, and your untiring study, you wouldn’t need the Holy Spirit’s ministry.
The bottom line is we need His help.
We must look to Him for all things for apart from Him, we can do nothing.
Now, once the Holy Spirit has scribed the Word of God in your heart, that still is not the end of the story.

2 Timothy 1:13–14 (ESV) — 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

The Greek word ‘pattern’ is the one we want to look at and with that thought here is the Definition of the Day.
The Greek word ‘pattern’ which is the word used in the ESV translation [KJV has ‘form of sound words’] means a pattern by which one can maintain the sameness of a thing.³
Paul exhorts Timothy to hold fast the pattern of the sound words committed to him.
That is, say it the same way I delivered it to you.
Use the same words.
Repeat the ‘the doctrinal phraseology’ the same way when you communicate it.
There’s a lot of truth here to take in.
You can’t say a thing, a scripture better than the way God says it.
Quote God’s Word the way He says it.
That verbiage — that concept — the Holy Spirit wrote on your heart.
We must allow that that good deposit must be guarded with the help of the Holy Spirit.
So, from beginning to end, we must trust and look to the Holy Spirit within to help us.
For apart from Him, we are as lost as a goose in a snow storm.

Now Father God, thank you once more for the precious blessing of having your Holy Spirit living big inside of us. Help us to continue to learn to yield to and be sensitive to His promptings, and His urgings. We give you all the glory and honor for these things in Jesus Name, Amen.

Why You Need To Know What Jesus Said about The Holy Spirit Within.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next week for another edition of Light on Life.

Why Daniel 9 Is the Bedrock of Bible Prophecy?

__________

References:

Leadership Ministries Worldwide, Practical Illustrations: Romans (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2004), 44–45. ↩
Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 289–290. ↩
Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 125. ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Why You Need To Know What Jesus Said about The Holy Spirit Within

Podcast: Light on Life Season Eleven Episode Forty-One

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

For more teaching on the book of John, please click on the links below to listen to some of those podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

The Holy Spirit Within: A Challenge

The Holy Spirit Within: What Jesus Said in John

The Holy Spirit Within Leads You

The Holy Spirit Within: Ezekiel’s Prophecy

Holy Spirit Within: Sprinkle You With Clean Water

Holy Spirit Within: The New Birth

Holy Spirit Within: Walk in the Word

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

For more teaching on the book of John, please click on the links below to listen to some of those podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

The Holy Spirit Within: A Challenge

The Holy Spirit Within: What Jesus Said in John

The Holy Spirit Within Leads You

The Holy Spirit Within: Ezekiel’s Prophecy

Holy Spirit Within: Sprinkle You With Clean Water

Holy Spirit Within: The New Birth

Holy Spirit Within: Walk in the Word

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