by Carl John Fechner | Dec 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
Holy Spirit, — A new era begins
Jesus taught His disciples that when He left this earth, He would send the Holy Spirit.
In John 14:16 & 17 His arrival was foretold and Jesus said this to His disciples,
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. NLT
The word Counsellor is also translated Helper. This means someone who has been called alongside as a barrister in court to plead our case.
There are two other things the Holy Spirit does for us.
Firstly, He helps us as believers to understand God’s truth.
Secondly, He gives us strength to live a life that is completely different from the world’s value system which is hostile to the way God wants us to live.
In John 14:16, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is another Helper, that is, another of exactly the same kind as He Himself is.
Now The scene is set for the third Person of the Godhead to come and empower the disciples.
They were to continue what Jesus had begun to do and teach, to be just the same as He was on earth.
The Holy Spirit would enable them to perform signs and wonders and to teach with God’s authority, which would reveal God’s power through them.
In Acts 1:8 Jesus said,
8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” NLT
Notice that the disciples were to be witnesses. They would experience the coming of the Holy Spirit powerfully and be so touched that they could not help but tell everyone what they had seen and heard.
In Acts 2 we read of
The Holy Spirit’s arrival
Acts 1 tells us that there were 120 disciples who had been meeting together to wait and to pray. The disciples were all assembled in one accord, waiting.
Now we come to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, Pentecost was a Jewish festival celebrated annually at Jerusalem. People from all over the known world from many countries and languages came for this festival.
When the Holy Spirit came, it was
A noisy arrival
The Holy Spirit did not come secretly. He announced His arrival with plenty of noise!
Acts 2:2 & 3 tells us what happened.
2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them, and it filled the house where they were meeting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. NLT
On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came in mighty power. The sound of a rushing mighty
wind announced to the physical and spiritual world that the Holy Spirit had arrived!
His arrival fulfilled Joel’s prophecy as well as the promise of Jesus to His disciples that He would send another Helper of the same kind as Himself.
As we read on through the story, we see that the Holy Spirit filled the waiting disciples with His power. Here are the main things that happened.
- The disciples began to speak in languages which were unknown to them, but understood by the international visitors.
- The visitors heard the disciples speaking of the wonderful works of God in their own language.
- The Holy Spirit’s power was so strong that some onlookers supposed that the disciples were drunk. They were not; they were under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
- From the Day of Pentecost on, no one ever again needed to wait to receive the Holy Spirit.
- From now on He was available to all who believed and asked for Him.
The people rushed together and were amazed at what they saw. They needed the
Phenomenon explained
So, Peter became the spokesman for the disciples and told the crowd what was happening. He told them that they were not drunk, as the crowd supposed, but they were under the influence of the Holy Spirit who had come upon them. He mentions that what they were witnessing was the fulfilment of a prophetic word that had been spoken by Joel almost 800 years previously.
In Acts 2:15-18 we read Peter’s account.
15 Some of you are saying these people are drunk. It isn’t true! It’s much too early for that. People don’t get drunk by nine o’clock in the morning.
16 No, what you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days, God said, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.
18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit upon all my servants, men and women alike, and they will prophesy. NLT
Holy Spirit Transformed Believers
Previously, the disciples and the people who were with them were uneducated fishermen, tax collectors, cowards, and people unskilled in public speaking. But now the Holy Spirit transformed them.
They became courageous men and women who spoke boldly about Jesus Christ and particularly about His resurrection without any fear of those who might oppose them.
They became channels of God’s blessings as they performed miracles, which were visible signs of God’s power. All that they did was now empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Take a look at Peter. He was weak and cowardly. At the time of Jesus’ arrest and before His crucifixion, Peter denied Him three times.
Now, filled with the Holy Spirit, he is completely transformed. He boldly steps forward and addresses the crowd who had heard the sound of the wind and the disciples speaking in other languages, but did not understand what was happening.
As we move on to Acts 4, we continue to be impressed with the
The boldness of uneducated men
As they went into the temple, Peter and John used their new power to command a man lame from birth to rise up and walk in the name of Jesus. He was totally healed and went with them into the temple walking and leaping and praising God.
When the people saw the man now walking, they gathered together to find out what was going on. Peter couldn’t help himself!
The Holy Spirit empowered him to speak boldly about the fact that the man was healed by the name of Jesus who had risen from the dead and that they needed to repent and believe in Him too.
The temple leaders were offended at this disorder in their place of worship and at the bold preaching. So, the Jewish leaders arrested Peter and John because of their bold preaching about Jesus.
In Acts 4:8 & 13 we read that they appeared before the Council of the Jews to answer for what they preached.
8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Leaders and elders of our nation,
…………”
and went on to explain what had happened. Then verse 13 says,
13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men who had had no special training. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. NLT
The Jewish Council recognized that these disciples were different. They recognised that they had been with Jesus because the Holy Spirit filled them with boldness as they opened their mouths to speak.
The word boldness means the ability to speak with freedom, courage and assurance, which is given by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Council could only threaten them not to speak in this name of Jesus again. The man who had been miraculously healed was standing right next to them, and they couldn’t argue against what they saw for themselves.
They had to let them go because they could find no charge to bring against them. Immediately Peter and John went back to the other disciples and told them what had taken place.
Then they had a powerful time of prayer as
The Disciples prayed for boldness
Listen to their prayer in Acts 4:29-31.
29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give your servants great boldness in their preaching.
30 Send your healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they preached God’s message with boldness. NLT
And what incredible results came as they prayed! The whole house where they were gathered was shaken. The Holy Spirit filled them afresh and they spoke God’s message with boldness.
Powerful preaching that transformed the lives of those who heard! They worked miracles, healed sick people, and the needs of the disciples were met as they lived in one accord.
Whereas Jesus commanded the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit to come in power upon them, Peter told the crowd on the Day of Pentecost that they did not need to wait to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,
because now that He had come,
Holy Spirit is available to all
who would receive Him.
In Acts 2:38 & 39 we read this
38 Peter replied, “Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 This promise is to you and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” NLT
We can apply what Jesus promised to His disciples to ourselves today.
- The Holy Spirit has come to be with us forever.
- He is available to all who believe and receive Jesus Christ—now!
- Today the Holy Spirit does not come upon a person just for a specific task, as He did in
the Old Testament.
- He remains with and in each believer forever.
- Peter promises that the Holy Spirit is available to whoever will repent and receive Jesus
Christ, from whatever race or culture they have come from. It makes no difference,
because God so loved the world,
What we have just considered is great because it includes you and me! No one is excluded! Just as the Holy Spirit worked among those who believed God in Bible times, He is still just as
active among us who believe today.
Let’s look at the work of Holy Spirit in our lives today.
Holy Spirit came to commune with us.
2 Corinthians 13:13 says,
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The Holy Spirit is the One who communicates God’s love to us, talks to us about His mind and will, and personally relates to us because He is in us.
What a privilege to grow a relationship of love with the Holy Spirit! Then we can share life with Him and get to know Him personally.
That makes it easy to receive His good gifts with thankfulness because He knows us so well and we know Him, too.
Holy Spirit is our Helper
In John 16:7 & 13, Jesus said this to His disciples
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 c o m e to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come NKJV
The following is the Strong’s explanation of the term Helper and an extract from the NKJV Spirit Filled Life Bible we use in our ®Growing Deep and Strong Discipleship and leadership series.
*Helper
helper, parakletos (par-ak-lay-toss); Strong’s #3875: From para “beside,” and kaleo “to call,” hence, called to one’s side.
The word signifies an intercessor, comforter, helper, advocate, counselor. In nonbiblical literature, parakletos had the technical meaning of an attorney who appears in court in another’s behalf.
The Holy Spirit leads believers to a greater apprehension of gospel truths. In addition to general help and guidance, He gives the strength to endure the hostility of the world system.
In John 14:16, Jesus said
16 “And I will pray the Father, and a He will give you *another Helper that He may abide with you forever.
*Another
The following is the Strong’s explanation of the term Another and an extract from the NKJV Spirit Filled Life Bible we use in our ®Growing Deep and Strong Discipleship and leadership series.
another, allos (al-loss); Strong’s #243: One besides, another of the s a m e kind. The word shows similarities but diversities of operation and ministries.
Jesus’ use of allos for sending another Comforter equals “one besides Me and in addition to Me but one just like Me.
He will do in My absence what I would do if I were physically present with you.” The Spirit’s coming assures continuity with what Jesus did and taught.
Wow, how exciting is that? Jesus has given us One just like Him, to assist as we journey through our time here on earth.
This 5-part series on Holy Spirit is part of The Growing Deep and Strong® Series, an intentional Christian discipleship and small group leadership program to help you fast track and transform the life of a new Christian.
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by Carl John Fechner | Nov 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
Holy Spirit, the birth and the Ministry of Jesus Christ
Part 4 of the 5-part series is about
Holy Spirit, the birth and ministry of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us Jesus’ conception was unique in all of human history. God’s plan was that Jesus should be conceived by the Holy Spirit so that the chain of sin inherited through our human ancestry could be broken.
And God had to send His angel Gabriel to reassure Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, that she had not been immoral, but had submitted to His plan to bring His Son into the world as a human being, to become the perfect sacrifice for the sin of mankind.
Here is the record in Matthew 1:20-21.
20 As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” NLT
The Bible tells us about…
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRIST
At the age of thirty, before Jesus began what God the Father had Him called to do, Jesus was baptized in water in the Jordan River and in the Spirit by John the Baptist.
As He emerged from the water, the Holy Spirit came upon Him, and He began His ministry empowered by the Holy Spirit. Prior to His baptism he was known as Jesus of Nazareth, which just indicated where He lived.
Matthew 3:16 & 17 says,
16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him.” NLT
Jesus became the first human in history on whom the Holy Spirit descended and remained. After His baptism, Jesus of Nazareth became known as Jesus Christ, which means, Jesus the Anointed One. The Holy Spirit anointed Him in every aspect of His life and teaching. Even the miracles that Jesus did were empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Led By the Spirit
Even when Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil, He was Led by the Holy Spirit
Luke 4:1 THEN JESUS, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit (AMPC)
And as He began to minister to the people in His country, He announced that as the Son of God He would be
Empowered by the Holy Spirit
Luke 4:14 Then Jesus went back full of and under the power of the [Holy] Spirit into Galilee, and the fame of Him spread through the whole region round about. (AMPC)
Matthew 4:23 Jesus travelled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.
Vs.24 News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralysed—he healed them all. (AMPC)
Act 10:38 How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him. (AMPC)
As He ministered to His people, He
Fulfilled prophecy
Jesus Christ acknowledges the empowering of the Holy Spirit in His life.
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, Vs. 19 and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come. “(NLT)
A new era begins
About 800 years earlier than the time of Jesus, God told a prophet by the name of Joel to write down in his prophecy that God’s Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, that is, on all human beings who believe in Jesus.
Joel 2:28 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. Vs.29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. NLT
Jesus Christ told His disciples that He was going to leave this earth and he would send the Holy Spirit to help us while He was physically absent.
In John 14:16 & 17 we read what Jesus asked our heavenly Father
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. NLT
The word Counsellor is also translated Helper. This means someone who has been called alongside as a barrister in court to plead our case. There are two other things the Holy Spirit does for us.
Firstly, He helps us as believers to understand God’s truth.
Secondly, He gives us strength to live a life that is completely different from the world’s value system which is hostile to the way God wants us to live.
In John 14:16, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is another Helper, that is, another of exactly the same kind as He Himself is.
Wow, what an exciting concept, Jesus prayed that the same Holy Spirit who empowered Him would
empower us to replicate the same style of ministry on earth as He did.
The scene is set
for the third Person of the Godhead to come and empower the disciples. They were to continue what Jesus had begun to do and teach, to be just the same as He was on earth. The Holy Spirit would enable them to perform signs and wonders and to teach with God’s authority, which would reveal God’s power through them.
In Acts 1:8 Jesus said,
8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” NLT
Notice that the disciples were to be witnesses. They would experience the coming of the Holy Spirit powerfully and be so touched that they could not help but tell everyone what they had seen and heard.
I trust you have enjoyed reading this, the above is an extract from what we teach on the Holy Spirit in the transformational ®Growing Deep and Strong series.
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In His Service
Carl John Fechner
by Carl John Fechner | Nov 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
HOLY SPIRIT—AUTHOR OF GOD’S WORD—THE BIBLE Part 3
The Bible was written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, God is the Author of the Bible, and the Holy Spirit communicated to the human writers what God wanted to be written.
Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16 & 17,
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.
17 It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. NLT
The Bible doesn’t just contain the Word of God; it is the Word of God. The Holy Spirit inspired every word used in the Bible. (That is, as it was written originally).
The human writers of the Bible were not just like dictating machines. Their whole personality and intellect was involved as they wrote the various books of the Bible. Let’s have a look at
THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
and how the Bible is divided up.
The Bible has two main parts, the Old Testament and The New Testament.
The Old Testament consists of 39 books written by various human writers over 1500 years. The New Testament consists of 27 books written by various human writers over some 50 years or so.
The Bible was not written from our 21st century perspective. It was written in different countries, in different periods of history and in different cultures, and in different languages as well.
To understand what God wants to say to us, we must understand the Bible in the context in which it was written.
Truth is the same truth in every generation, and God was speaking truth to the people of Bible times as well. We need to understand their culture and history, so that we can apply those same truths in our culture and historical context today.
The more we understand of Bible times and culture, the more we will be able to hear what God wants to say to us today.
HOLY SPIRIT—AUTHOR OF GOD’S WORD—THE BIBLE
As He inspired these 40 humans to write the 66 books, even to the words they chose to use. This is seen in the fact that there is an amazing unity in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, from beginning to end.
There is harmony, progression of thought and an absence of contradiction in these 66 books. Humanly speaking, it would have been impossible for 40 writers, living in different countries, in different cultures and in different periods of history to have composed such an amazingly unified book.
The Bible is God’s Word, which is supported by the fact that almost 4000 times, words to the effect, “God said” — is used in the Bible. God is interested in talking to us personally, and one way He does that is through the Bible.
The Bible is not the product of elevated human consciousness or enlightened human intellect, but is directly “breathed” from God Himself.
2 Pet. 1:20, 21 elaborates this truth, and adds that none of what was given was merely the private opinion of the writer (v. 20) and that each writer involved in the production of the Holy Scriptures was “moved by” (literally, “being borne along”) the Holy Spirit.
This biblical view of the Bible’s derivation is called the plenary verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, meaning every word is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God.
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by Carl John Fechner | Nov 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
THE HOLY SPIRIT ACTIVITY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
In Old Testament times the Holy Spirit was not available to all who believe, as He is today. He only came upon a few select people to empower them for specific purposes that God had for them.
Here are some examples of the Holy Spirit activity in the Old Testament.
The Holy Spirit was at work right in the beginning when the earth was created. He was hovering over the primeval waters.
Genesis 1:2 says,
The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. NLT
When God spoke His creative word, the Holy Spirit took that word and brought what was spoken into existence.
Right through the Bible the Holy Spirit always works with the Word of God to bring it into being. God speaks; the Holy Spirit acts, and something happens!
As The Executive
of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit carries out the plans and purposes of God the Father.
Later in Genesis we read the story of Joseph. He was a young man who was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and ended up in Egypt as the slave of a high official in the royal court.
Even as a slave, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, who gave him integrity and good success in everything he did. He was falsely accused by the official’s wife and thrown into prison for thirteen years in the prime of his life.
But even there, he was empowered by the Holy Spirit, and that was evident in his daily activities. While he was there in prison, he was summoned to interpret the dreams of the king of Egypt.
The Holy Spirit gave him such practical wisdom as he interpreted those dreams that even the Egyptian king had to acknowledge Joseph was completely different from everyone else he knew.
Genesis 41:38-39 says,
38 As they discussed who should be appointed for the job, Pharaoh said, “Who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the spirit of God.” 39 Turning to Joseph, Pharaoh said, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in the land! NLT
Pharaoh recognized that the Holy Spirit spoke to Joseph; He was the One who revealed the meaning of the dreams.
In Exodus we read that the
Holy Spirit Enabled craftsmen
After Israel left Egypt, the Holy Spirit gave ability to Bezalel and those who were involved with him in making the Tabernacle of Moses, the place where Israel worshipped God. This Tabernacle was designed to display something of God’s glory to Israel in the very way it was built.
Exodus 31:1-6 says,
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
3 “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
4 “to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze,
5 “in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.
6 “And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all who are gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you. NLT
Even today the Holy Spirit wants to give us wisdom and understanding just like He gave Bezalel. God is interested in giving us ability to work at our daily occupation in the power of the Spirit. This is one way we can show others each day that God is real in our lives.
The Holy Spirit also helped in leadership
After the people of Israel left Egypt, Moses was facing the increasing difficulty of leading the nation in the wilderness. He needed help. So, the LORD gave him instructions about how to spread the load of leadership.
Numbers 11:16 & 17 says,
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Summon before me seventy of the leaders of Israel.
Bring them to the Tabernacle to stand there with you. 17 I will come down and talk to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you, and I will put the Spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone. NLT
The Holy Spirit empowered these seventy elders so that they could lead their people with the same care as Moses had and lead the nation according to God’s instructions.
When kings were commissioned in Old Testament Israel, they were anointed with oil, which indicated that the Holy Spirit would come upon them and empower them for leadership.
In 1 Samuel 16:13, we read that David was anointed with oil, and from that time the Holy Spirit came upon him. He became one of the greatest kings in Israel, because the Holy Spirit helped him to be an effective king.
Verse 13.13 So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the olive oil he had brought and poured it on David’s head. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah. NLT
Seeing that the Holy Spirit is now available to all who believe in Jesus Christ, we can also rely on the anointing of His Spirit when we are called into a position of leadership, either in our daily occupation, or in the church.
The Holy Spirit also Gave supernatural strength
In the book of Judges we read that the Holy Spirit came upon a leader of Israel called Samson, and enabled him to do things that were beyond his own strength to perform. This was to show that God was with him and with the nation as they trusted and obeyed God.
The Holy Spirit Gave God’s power
Zechariah 4:6 says,
Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. NLT
Zerubbabel, as the governor of Judah, was overseeing the rebuilding of the Temple, which had been destroyed around 600 BC. God told him to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to see the work completed.
Zerubbabel’s authority or strength as the contractor was not the issue. The Holy Spirit was the One who provided everything that Zerubbabel needed to get the job done, and the same truth applies to us today.
The Holy Spirit makes available to us the power and authority of the Father and the Son. He enables all those who believe in Jesus to do things in His strength, rather than by their own human effort.
This is just a very small example of Holy Spirit activity in the Old Testament.
Part 3 of Holy Spirit is about “Holy Spirit and the ministry of Jesus Christ.
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by Carl John Fechner | Nov 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR HELPER – Part 1
In the ®Growing Deep and Strong Series, we teach disciples of Jesus Christ about Holy Spirit and how Holy Spirit is our Helper.
This article is the introduction of who Holy Spirit is, He is our Helper and the most misunderstood Person of the Godhead.
In this five-part series,
I want to remove the myths and mystics about Holy Spirit and discuss,
- Holy Spirit is our Helper,
- Holy Spirit’s activity in Old Testament times,
- How He inspired the human writers of the Bible,
- How Holy Spirit was involved in the life of Jesus,
- How He transformed the disciples and empowered them, ✓ Holy Spirit as a Person, and what that means,
- And how He works in our lives today.
JESUS CHRIST SENDS THE HOLY SPIRIT
In John 16:5-7 & 13 we read how Jesus told His disciples that when He went away, He would send Holy Spirit to be with them and in them forever.
This is what He said to His disciples.
Verse 5 But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and none of you has asked me where I am going. 6 Instead, you are very sad. 7 But it is actually best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Counselor won’t come. If I do go away, he will come because I will send him to you.
In verse 13 he continues by saying,
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas; he will be telling you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. TPT
Jesus had to leave the disciples physically so that Holy Spirit could come and be everywhere at once. Being present with them on earth, Jesus was limited to one place at one time. That is why it was to their advantage that He go away.
But when Holy Spirit came, He could be in all disciples everywhere at once, and He would guide them into all truth.
In the NKJV, the term “Counselor” is “Helper” and the Greek definition in the Strong’s Concordance explains,
helper, parakletos (par-ak-lay-toss); Strong’s #3875: From para “beside,” and kaleo “to call,” hence, called to one’s side. The word signifies an intercessor, comforter, helper, advocate, counselor. In nonbiblical literature, parakletos had the technical meaning of an attorney who appears in court in another’s behalf. The Holy Spirit leads believers to a greater apprehension of gospel truths. In addition to general help and guidance, He gives the strength to endure the hostility of the world system.
In John 14:16, Jesus Said,
Verse 16 “And I will pray the Father, and a He will *give you another Helper, *that He may abide with you forever—
In the NKJV, the term “another” definition in the Strong’s Concordance explains
another, allos (al-loss); Strong’s #243: One besides, another of the same kind. The word shows similarities but diversities of operation and ministries.
Jesus’ use of allos for sending another Comforter equals “one besides Me and in addition to Me but one just like Me. He will do in My absence what I would do if I were physically present with you.” The Spirit’s coming assures continuity with what Jesus did and taught
John 14:16,17 in The Passion Translation explains what Jesus said.
“And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Savior, the Holy Spirit of Truth, who will be to you a friend just like me—and he will never leave you. The world won’t receive him because they can’t see him or know him. But you will know him intimately, because he will make his home in you and will live inside you.” NTL
Wow, read that again! Jesus said, “He will make His home in you and will live inside you.”
As a Born Again believer of Jesus Christ, Jesus said He would ask the Father to gift us the Holy Spirit who be our (best) friend, He won’t abandon us, we will know him intimately, He will make his home in us and live inside us!
What a great promise and gift.
In part two of this five-part series,
I will reveal some of Holy Spirit’s activity in the Old Testament
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by Carl John Fechner | Nov 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
Power of Unforgiveness
Forgiveness, it is pretty important topic to walk through. To live a full life and not what we hear from people saying, I will never forgive or some other people will say, I will forgive, but all of us have experienced things in life that have been absolutely atrocious. Things that should never have happened to us, and when you really understand the two kings of the two kingdoms, which is another topic that I will talk about, is that, bad stuffs is happening to us, and it comes out from the kingdom darkness, that it does not come out from the kingdom of life, because God is a God of love!
Let’s talk about, “What will happen when something really bad will happen to us, some of the stuffs that happened to us, always afflicted us from the kingdom of darkness, and that is really quite evil. It is important to understand how we are dealing with that. I want to talk about a bible verse or what Jesus said about unforgiveness.
Peter came to him and asked the Lord, “how often should I forgive someone who sins against me seven times”, and Jesus replied “no not seven times but seventy times seven”. Therefore the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king, who decided to bring his accounts up to date with his servants who borrowed money from him. What this parable that Jesus was speaking was a long-winded story, and I want to read the whole story for you to grasp the implications about what will happen when you don’t forgive someone, it continues.
In the process, one of his debtors that had been brought to him, who owned him millions of dollars that he couldn’t pay, his master ordered that he’d be sold along with his wife, his children and everything he owned to pay the debt, but the man fell down before his master and begged him, please be patient with me and I will pay at all now, like it’s million of dollars he’s got no chance of paying it back.
Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him, and he forgave his debt, and that’s important to understand, even though the debt was impossible to pay, he forgave him and released him of the debt. But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owned him a few thousand dollars, which was easily payable, and he grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment, but his fellow servant fell down and begged for a little bit more time, be patient with me and I will pay it, he pleaded, but his creditor who was the guy that was, you know forgiven for millions wouldn’t wait he had the man arrested and put in prison until a debt could be paid in full.
He didn’t even wait for him like he’d been forgiven millions and millions of dollars that was impossible this poor guy could pay it back, and he wouldn’t even allow it to do. When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset they went to the king and told him everything that had happened, and then the king called the man he had forgiven and said, “you evil servant, I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me, shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant just as I have mercy on you”. Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt, and that’s what my heavenly father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart now, this is in Matthew and its Matthew 21 to 36. Its Matthew 18 verses 21 to 35.
I just want to, that was new living translation I just want to read this out of the new King James version, and when I read this the first time man, its just the holy spirit just convicted me of the seriousness of unforgiveness, and I knew that even though some really bad stuff had happened in my life I had to forgive the other person.
So he’s now before the king and it says this and he was master was angry. And dill and this is the king and delivered him to the tortures and truly should pay all that was due to him, and then as the paints lie, so my heavenly father will also do to you if each of you from his heart does not forgive his trespasses.
In other words its important to understand that God is a God of love, but he’s also a righteous God, and a righteous judge, so what’s happening, you need to understand the spiritual realm that when you choose not to forgive now. I’m not saying that the perpetrator that, what did something bad to you gets off scot-free, that’s his issue with God, this is your relationship with God and how to stay pure in your heart.
Because what happens if you hold old unforgiveness in the spiritual realm, the enemy will take it into the courts of heaven and say to God look I’ve got a legal right to come against this person because they’re holding unforgiveness, and God is a God of righteousness, and a God a righteous judge, and he has no choice but to hand you over to the tormentors. Now that’s a fairly serious thing, and some people they just might not be able to get the head around it, but you need to understand God, and the courts of heaven and how it operates, and how judgement come and etc.
Regardless of what’s happening in your life, regardless of what happened, no matter how bad the thing is, that’s happened to you, and as I said I’m not excusing the perpetrator the important thing for your well-being, is to choose to forgive the other person. Now sometimes that is so hard to do, that you actually have to say, I choose to forgive even though in your head you’re saying it, but in your heart you know it’s like, it’s you’re going I’ll never forgive him or whatever, but trust me, I’ve seen this in many encounter weekends deliverance, where we’ve walked through and dealt with the spirit of unforgiveness of how people go through this.
They repent of it and they say I choose to, and then later on, the emotions and everything else catch up with that for to do it, but the important part is to understand if you choose not to forgive, God has no choice but to hand you over to the tormentors. And even for a non-believer, this principle is a spiritual principle whether you believe in God, whether you believe in Jesus or not, this is a spiritual law that applies, and I’m sure that depends on your age, or whatever but I’m sure that you’ve seen people on TV will go.
I’ll never forgive or you’ve seen someone or you might be in your circle thoughts, I’ll never forgive you know, and they just keep you know, they’re just so bent out of shape, and what it does, it eats into their soul because they don’t realize that in the spiritual realm, the enemy, the kingdom of darkness, the devil demons are attacking their soul.
Yet you’ll see other people Cory Benton, if you know her story, is and just look it up Cory Benton was a Jew that was in prison. But she chose to forgive the people, and you just saw the absolute peace in the heart. I’ve seen it plenty of times where people they’re not necessarily followers of Jesus, but they’ve chosen to forgive and you can just see a peace in their heart because they’re operating in spiritual principles. Now we talk through this in the growing deep strong series, and get away website growingdeepandstrong.com, we deal with the spirit of unforgiveness because there is a spirit of unforgiveness, we deal with that in the encounter weekend and help people get set free of that.
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