BIBLE WAY MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
DR. W.G (WILL) JACKSON, II, SENIOR PASTOR
BIBLE STUDY- August 7, 2024
Responding to the Way of The Holy Spirit!
John 14:15-20 NKJV
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
Indwelling of the Father and the Son
19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
In John 14, Jesus introduces a new advocate or helper for the disciples once He is gone: the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is a part of the three-in-one God that Christians worship. He is the very presence of God in us who “leads us into all truth.”
Two functions of the Holy Spirit in our lives are to:
(1) convince us of truth and (2) convict us of sin. The Holy Spirit helps guide our understanding as we engage in God’s Word (the Bible).
It’s one thing to understand the words you are reading as far as definitions and meanings.
It’s another thing to learn how to rightly draw hope or even correction from the words you are reading.
The Holy Spirit helps us in that process.
We also feel conviction from the Holy Spirit when we are sinning.
Conviction can feel like and be confused with a guilty conscience, something most people feel, not just Christians.
But the Holy Spirit’s conviction is different in that it is not guilt over violating our own moral standards but a prompting to repent when we are violating God’s holy standard.
Conviction should lead to repentance and restoration, not guilt and shame.
Acting like a new guidance system in our lives, the Holy Spirit convinces us of God’s truth, convicts us of sin, and empowers real change in our lives. The Holy Spirit-led life is described in:
Galatians 5:16-26 NKJV
Walking in the Spirit
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
A struggle between two guidance systems, the sinful nature versus the Spirit, is explained and explored.
Ultimately, if we follow the Spirit’s leading, we look more like Jesus. If we don’t, we look more like this broken world.
What guidance system are you following? Are you trying to follow Jesus but still follow your sinful nature (desires that are self-serving)?
God’s Word and His Spirit can show us where this is happening in our lives. Ask for the Spirit’s help today to follow Him more closely.
1 Corinthians 15:45 NKJV
45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Romans 8:5 NKJV
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Prayer
“Jesus, help me to see the need for the Holy Spirit in my life. Help me accept this gift that I would walk in step with the Spirit.”