How The Holy Spirit Works In Your Life

How the Holy Spirit Works in the life of a believer is our focus this today as we continue to look at John fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. You understand that from John thirteen onward, that is the last nine chapters up through chapter twenty-one center on the last two weeks of Jesus life. When you understand that Jesus handpicked and groomed these disciples to take His place because He was going back to the Father, you will realize that the information He shares becomes extra vital in nature. Jesus talked a great deal about the Holy Spirit to these men. Just as they had worked with Jesus in ministry so now they were going to work with the Holy Spirit in a similar way. One of the things that Jesus wanted His disciples to know is that the same Holy Spirit that came upon Him in Matthew 3:16 and was responsible for the miracles in Jesus ministry would now come to settle down in the disciples. The indwelling Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit within a believer is the topic today. One writer said the following concerning Him, the Holy Spirit. “Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit we are helpless to fulfill the holiness expected of us because of our relationship to a holy God. Norman Harrison describes the results of this process: This indwelling Spirit, who is one with our spirit, is more than a presence with us. He is a moulding, transforming power. To the end of Jesus’ ministry, His followers, even His remained unstable, cowardly and undependable. When, however, the Spirit was come, these same men became at once the embodiment of fidelity, courage and conviction. True, Jesus had left them, but His Spirit within made them as new men. So does He desire to work in every believer. Amen to these words — Emphasis on the word ‘IN.’ This is well said today. We need to recognize how He moves in us and so that’s why we’re talking “How The Holy Spirit Works In Your Life,” all on this week’s Light On Life.

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Prepared Places: Lessons from the Life of a Baptist

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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:

Hearing the Lord may be a challenge, but don’t quit, hold back, or run away. Learn all you can from God’s Word about this vitally important concept.

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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 learned to hear God in your every day life. 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

Father God, I thank you today for the life-altering truth that man is a spirit being. I thank for the revelation work of the Holy Spirit of God. Grant unto us all, eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Podcast Notes

Well again, welcome.
Let’s talk to the Father.

Father God, in the Mighty Name of Jesus, the Name that’s above every name, we bow our hearts before. You are God alone — there is none like unto you. Help us today to tap into the great plan of God of the Holy Spirit living in us. Help us to cooperate with Him so that He be in us all that you intended by your great wisdom. And we thank you for that today. Amen, and Amen.

Holy Spirit Works: A Challenge

Today, we are going to learn or refresh some precious life defining truths about the Holy Spirit.
You may have heard my testimony about hearing God.
And with that thought, here is the Testimony of the Day.

I was born again on July 26, 1976. That’s 48 years ago. I remembered this encounter with God like it happened yesterday because it marked my life even to this day. I was raised as a Catholic boy but became disenchanted with all things Catholic. At 18 years of age, I gave my life to Jesus. There are other podcasts where I share that testimony. But, for the sake of this one, just know that I received the infilling of the Holy Ghost two weeks after I gave my heart to Jesus. For the next six months, I had a strong desire to hear the voice of God. The people in my church talked about it often. I read about it in books. Six months went by, and I heard nothing. One day I was in my parents home reading the ‘Cross and the Switchblade’ where God led a country preacher from Pennsylvania into New York City to minister to the gangs. In that book, David Wilkerson detailed how the Lord spoke to him and gave him all kinds of direction. When I read that my frustrations were let out. “I said God, I’ve been walking with you six months and You haven’t said anything to me. That’s not fair. Your talking to all of these people and you’re not talking to me.“ It was then that the Spirit of God spoke to me. It was loud man — He scared the fire out of me. He said, “Son it’s because you haven’t learned how to listen.”

Today, we are going to talk about the Holy Spirit of God in us.
We are going to talk about how the Holy Spirit works in you.
Now one thing is evident.
Jesus made the Holy Spirit available for us and we need Him.
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 you need Him for?
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.
I want to encourage you today.
Lynne Hammond said the following, and with that thought here is the Quote of the Day.

It takes great grace, great discipline, and great desire, to come to a place where we consistently hear God’s voice. It is the highest challenge of the Christian life.[Lynne Hammond, The Masters Calling: Discovering the Wonders of Spirit-Led Prayer, (Mac Hammond Ministries, aka Living Word Minsitries, 1995, 89]

Now, while it may be a challenge, be encouraged to rise up to meet it.
I want to hear the following words.
This is called the Lion Chasers Manifesto.
It goes like this.

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Run to the roar. Set God-size goals. Pursue God-given passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Stop pointing out problems. Become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past. Start creating the future. Face your fears. Fight for your dreams. Grab opportunity by the mane and don’t let go! Live life today like its the first day and the last day of your life. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Live for the applause of nail-scarred hands. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God. Dare to fail. Dare to be different. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase, the Lion.¹

Hearing God may be a challenge but Chase the Lion.
Hearing the Lord may be a challenge, but don’t quit, hold back, or run away.
Run to the roar!

Holy Spirit Works: What Jesus Said in John

We are in John’s gospel, chapter fourteen.

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 the 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.

In the three chapters, John fourteen through sixteen, we have several significant references to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life — or we could say in the life of a Jesus follower.
How does the Holy Spirit work?
We plan on looking at these verses but what’s vital is that you allow these verses to be Lord over your life.
So let’s start out with John fourteen.

Holy Spirit Works: The Holy Spirit On the Inside

Now we have already done a podcast on ‘the Spirit of truth’whom the world cannot receive.’
That podcast was named ‘Why The Holy Spirit Of God Is Your Ultimate Helper.’
That was season eleven episode 25.
So, Jesus shares with us the fact that we need a Helper.
He says that this Helper will be with you forever.
Jesus also shares that the world cannot receive this Helper — the Holy Spirit of God.
Again for more on this, reference the aforementioned podcast.
But, Jesus also said something else.

You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Focus on the words ‘will be IN you.’
Now, the context of these remarks is vital to understand what Jesus said.
First, you must ask the ‘who’ question.
That is ‘who is Jesus talking to here when He says, ‘You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you?’
Well, He is speaking to His disciples.
His disciples were not born again at this point.
Nobody was, Jesus hadn’t died and rose again yet.
And so He 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.’
So, all of this begs the question and with that thought, here is the Question of the Day.

Here’s the question: How did the disciples know the Holy Spirit? How did the Holy Spirit dwell with them when He was not in them?

Let’s reason it out in line with God’s Word.
Well, if the Holy Spirit was not in them, then He was outside of them.
So, where outside?
They can’t feel Him, He is Spirit.
The disciples can’t see Him for the same reason — He is a Spirit.
Now, while the disciples couldn’t see the Holy Spirit, they could see the effect of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus.

Holy Spirit Works: John the Baptist

Matthew 3:16 (ESV) — 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;

Whose the ‘he’ that saw the Spirit of God descending.
John the Baptist saw the Spirit descending and ‘coming to rest ON Him.’
John saw it — now — you could have an only seen Him one way because as we said, the Holy Spirit is invisible to the human eye.
So, the Lord opened the eyes of John the Baptist and he saw into the Spirit realm.
You know John the Baptist had manifestations of the Spirit along this line because he was a prophet of God under the Old Testament.

Matthew 11:12–15 (ESV) — 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Elijah was a prophet — Jesus said John the Baptist was a prophet in Elijah’s class.
Because he was a prophet, John the Baptist, as the Spirit of God willed, saw into the realm of God.
He saw the Holy Spirit descend.
Now, John the Baptist didn’t see a dove descend.
He saw the Holy Spirit Himself and His descent on Jesus was dove-like.
Now, John the Baptist reported that and I’m sure the disciples heard that report.
I’m talking about what Jesus said to His disciples concerning the Holy Spirit, He dwells with you.
What the disciples saw was the byproduct of how the Holy Spirit works when He is upon a person.
They saw miracles.
They saw the Spirit of seeing and knowing: that is Words of Wisdom and Words of Knowledge.
They heard Jesus prophesy by the Spirit of God.
They saw the Holy Spirit perform seven signs which John recorded in his gospel as well as tons of other signs that were not recorded.
Again, the disciples didn’t see the Holy Spirit — they saw the effect of the Holy Spirit on a person — upon Jesus.
So that’s how they knew the Holy Spirit — that’s how the Holy Spirit dwelled with them.

Holy Spirit Works: Holy Spirit In You

But, there’s a third part: you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
He will be in you.
This marvelous Spirit of God upon will be in you.
Now, what an amazing promise.

Of all the powerful things God did for us in sending Jesus to the Cross and His consequent resurrection this is the tippy top pinnacle — as they say it the cherry on top. After God recreated your spirit man making you a new creation in Christ, than He, in the person of the Holy Spirit, decided to make your body His home. If you desire to know God’s address, if you desire to know where He lives — He lives in your spirit.²

Now understand that the Holy Spirit is a person.
He has personal traits.
The Holy Spirit has emotions.
He communicates and you can get to know Him.
You received Him.
He is in you.
You go together every place, you and Him.
Where ever you go, He is there in you.
You do things together you and Him.
He has a ministry.
He wants to display and operate His ministry through you. * When you receive Jesus, the Holy Ghost, a divine personality, comes to live in you, to dwell in you, and to make his home in you.

Holy Spirit Works: Spirit In You Bible Verses

*So, let’s establish in our thinking this truth that the Holy Spirit of God is in you.

Of course, we see it here in John fourteen but, if you back up 10 chapters to John four we find this same truth starting in verse thirteen.

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.
How do we know that.

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.
Look closely at these two verses.
In John four, you have a well of water springing up.
In John seven, you have a river of water flowing out.
It’s water in both cases and so we can say with confidence that water is a type of the Spirit because Jesus established that in these two verses.
So, go back to John four and let’s reread it.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

The water that I give will be IN HIM.
So, this is a reference to the Spirit in you or in Jesus followers.
Now, go to Galatians four.

Galatians 4:4–6 (ESV) — 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons…

Look at these next words closely.

… God has sent the Spirit of his Son INTO OUR HEARTS, crying, “Abba! Father!”

Now, up in the podcast notes for this episode, I put the words ‘into our hearts’ in bold letters and underlined it.
The Spirit of adoption is another way of saying that the Spirit of God is in believers — or for short the Spirit within.
Look at Romans eight for more on this.

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…

[there it is again – 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, the Spirit of adoption is the Spirit in you.
What does the Spirit within you do?
We’re talking about how the Holy Spirit in your works.
It says it plainly in verse sixteen.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit…

He’s bearing witness that even though God has adopted you into His family, you are way more than the world’s version of an adoptee — you are a child of God — a son of God.
And the Spirit bears witness of that.
Now, let’s ask another question here.
The Holy Spirit is in you.
One of His works is to bear witness with your spirit that you belong to God.
Do you think, He might bear witness with your spirit about other areas as well?
I mean it stands to reason doesn’t it?
God the Father didn’t put the Holy Spirit in your spirit just to do one thing, right?
The Holy Spirit will bear witness with your spirit — just know that is the main way that He will lead you.
How do we know that?
Well the answer is in what we already read in Romans eight.

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,

Did you hear verse 14, all who are led by the Spirit of God?
Now tie that into verse sixteen.

all who are led by the Spirit of God… The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit.

So, this truth — that the Spirit is in you is vital because all of us need to have the Holy Spirit directing us.
Smith Wigglesworth said the following.

It is a great thing to know that God is loosing you from the world, loosing you from a thousand things. You must seek to have the mind of God on all things. If you don’t, you will stop His working.³

You must seek to have His mind on all things — if you don’t you stop His working.
Translating this into our language.
We need to know the witness of the Spirit so that we can follow God’s leading and not go our own way.
Going our way produces nothing.
Here’s another quote from Brother Wigglesworth.

Live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, walk in communion with the Spirit, talk with God. All leadings of the divine order are for you.⁴

Did you get anything out of this podcast?
If you did, drop us a line, share a comment, tell a friend.

Now, Father God, thank you so much for the Holy Spirit of God working in our lives. We do not know what we would do without Him! Help us today — teach us today so that we may be able to cooperate with Him and with you. We thank you for this in Jesus Name, Amen.

How the Holy Spirit of God works in your life.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

What It Means to See with the Eye of Faith

__________
References:

Mark Batterson, Chase the Lion: If Your Dream Doesn’t Scare You, It’s Too Small. (New York: Multnomah, 2016, ix. ↩
Adapted ↩
The Complete Smith Wigglesworth ↩
ibid ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

How The Holy Spirit Works In Your Life

Podcast: Light on Life Season Eleven Episode Forty

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

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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

Holy Spirit Works: A Challenge

Holy Spirit Works: What Jesus Said in John

Holy Spirit Works: The Holy Spirit On the Inside

Holy Spirit Works: John the Baptist

Holy Spirit Works: Holy Spirit In You

Holy Spirit Works: Spirit In You Bible Verses

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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

Holy Spirit Works: A Challenge

Holy Spirit Works: What Jesus Said in John

Holy Spirit Works: The Holy Spirit On the Inside

Holy Spirit Works: John the Baptist

Holy Spirit Works: Holy Spirit In You

Holy Spirit Works: Spirit In You Bible Verses

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