The Spirit and Our Relationship With God

11/21/1995

This is offered as some “food for thought.” Consider the following scripture from this perspective: The Holy Spirit is a PERSON and, if we LISTEN to Him, He can help us to know the Father. He does that through opening our eyes, by speaking to our hearts, by withholding affection when necessary, by turning us away from bad decisions (if we’re listening), and in many other ways. At the end, I’ll offer one practical example of a Way that He gets our attention, IF WE’RE LISTENING. First though, carefully consider the role of the Spirit in the following verses...

“It *seemed good to* the Holy Spirit, and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements.”

“For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, *that we may understand* what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in *words taught by* the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1Cor. 2:11-14).

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit *of adoption* *by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’* The Spirit Himself *bears witness* with our spirit that we are children of God.”

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He *anointed us,* set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

“Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son *into our hearts,* the Spirit *who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’* So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”

“But by faith we eagerly *await through* the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.”

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may *strengthen you with power through* his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

“I know that through your prayers and the *help given* by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”

“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the *sanctifying work of* the Spirit *and* through belief in the truth.”

“The Spirit *clearly says* that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it *with the help of* the Holy Spirit who lives *in* us.”

“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the *washing of rebirth and renewal by* the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have *shared in* the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

“How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has *insulted* the Spirit of grace?”

“...chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the *sanctifying work of* the Spirit, *for* obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

“...spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the “Spirit of Christ in them was pointing” when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”

“If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God *rests on you.”*

“Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

“We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.”

“We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”

“This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.”

“But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’ These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

“In the same way, the Spirit *helps us in our weakness.* We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself *intercedes for us* with groans that words cannot express.”

“I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by *the love of* the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.”

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any *fellowship* with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

“For it is we who are the circumcision, we who *worship by* the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh.”

“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must *worship in spirit* and truth.”

“You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the *joy given by* the Holy Spirit. *And so* you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.”

“The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to *please the Spirit,* from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

“And do not *grieve* the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

“They were *forbidden by* the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.”

“They tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus *would not allow* them to.”

Would it bother you if your wife or child or husband, or your closest companion in life wouldn’t look at you or talk to you? Would that break your heart? Would that be a tragedy to you and evoke feelings and tears and energy to recover what had been lost? Would you go after them vigorously and tirelessly, laying your gift down at the altar, to restore every inch of ground that was lost, plus EXTRA (just to shove it in satan’s face)?

[If you didn’t care about them much or love little, and someone wouldn’t speak with you or look at you, you would not be much motivated (except out of “what’s right”) to try to resolve it with Truth. Only if you CARE, would you pursue. Please care!!! God IS Love—that’s where we find Him!]

If the Holy Spirit would not let you sing to the Father would it break your heart? Notice above that we “worship” by and in the Spirit, and that He brings joy and intercession and the Testimony of Love and of Abba. Would you notice if the Spirit did not let you into the Most Holy Place at that moment to sing to Him, because of an unresolved controversy? Would you exert great energy to recover the flow of Life? (As you can see from the above scriptures, to one that is sensitive to the Spirit, it is possible that the Spirit would NOT let you sing to the Father. Of course you COULD, mechanically, but not “in Him.”) If you wouldn’t notice the LOSS of Life if the Spirit (or someone in your life) pulls back away from you, or you proceed matter-of-factly to right the theoretical wrong, then there is a serious and deadly lack of Love and true Fellowship. PLEASE drop to your knees and BEG God to infuse you with His Love and Life! Beg Him. “Give Him no rest!” He is ABBA, and wants you to draw near to Him that He might fulfill His Heart’s cry—to draw near to you. Listen... and let Him in!