The Spirit of Truth (part 4)

A Coach and a Partner

10.3.2021

Review

In a strange way today, we seem surrounded by lies, distortions, deceptions, and twisted truths that only present a partial picture of whatever we are dealing with.

Matthew 24:4 (TPT)

Jesus answered, “At that time deception will run rampant. So beware that you are not fooled!”

1 Timothy 4:1-2 (TPT)

The Holy Spirit has explicitly revealed: At the end of this age, many will depart from the true faith one after another, devoting themselves to spirits of deception and following demon-inspired revelations and theories. 2 Hypocritical liars will deceive many, and their consciences won’t bother them at all!

We have an internal antidote for today. He is the Spirit of Truth.

There is such a distinction between how a believer deals with stress and how a person who doesn’t know Jesus deals with it.

Pain looks for pleasure.

Overeating, alcohol, drugs, porn, sex, mobile phone.

Psalm 16:11 – In your presence is fullness of joy; pleasures forevermore.

Get ready for what is coming and keep your focus on the positive!

Isaiah 60:1-3 (NKJV)

Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. 3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.

How do I make room for the Holy Spirit in my life?

 

Repentance

Repentance is the open door to Him in every life.

Whether you are not yet a Christian or you have known Jesus for many years, repentance opens the door in your life for the Holy Spirit to work in a fresh way…

When you walk through a door into another room, everything is different. The door of repentance changes what we value inside and opens us up to God’s power.

Acts 3:19-21 (NKJV)

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

Repentance always precedes a fresh move of God individually, corporately in churches, and in a nation.

Today –

You have been given a personal coach.

In an age of great change, challenge, and danger, God has given us a personal coach to help us navigate through these troubled times.

What is ahead?

Matthew 24:3-12

Deception, false messiah’s or things to give personal peace, war, national and international conflict, famines or weather disruptions, lots of earthquakes, lawlessness, lovelessness, persecution, and for some martyrdom.

He will show you what you need to do as things change in our nation and world.

John 14:15-18 (ESV)

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. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:15-18 (TPT)

Loving me empowers you to obey my commands. 16–17 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. 18 I promise that I will never leave you helpless or abandon you as orphans—I will come back to you!

Amplified

Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby.

Helper – The Parakletos

(Olive Tree Enhanced Strong’s Dictionary) g3875. παράκλητος paraklētos; an intercessor, consoler: — advocate, comforter.

AV (5) – comforter 4, advocate 1;

summoned, called to one’s side, esp. called to one’s aid, one who pleads another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate, one who pleads another’s cause with one, an intercessor of Christ in his exaltation at God’s right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins

in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant – used of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom.

One called along to aid or to help.

 

The Latin word for helper means one who comes with strength.

God never planned that we navigate life alone.

In 2016 I hired a coach to help me through changes I needed to make as a leader. He stuck with me and helped me make some needed changes as senior pastor here.

He held my feet to the fire and did not allow me to go back to my old habits.

We likewise have a coach that has taken up residence on the inside that can help us navigate through everyday challenges we face today and in our future.

The Holy Spirit is to us what Jesus was to the disciples.

When He told them that He would send another comforter, it literally reads in the Greek, another comforter of the same kind. Everything Jesus was to them, this coming person would be to them.

 

Jesus wanted the disciples to know that He was not leaving them as orphans. He told them that He would send someone to take His place in their lives. That someone would be everything that He was to them.

 

The Holy Spirit is to us everything that Jesus was to the disciples.

 

We actually have it better than they did!

 

John 16:7

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 depart, I will send Him to you.

Beginning with John 12, Jesus is preparing His disciples for His departure to heaven. He had been with them for 3 ½ years. They trusted Him for everything.

 

If they didn’t understand a scripture, they would go to Him and He would explain it to them.

 

Once they needed money to pay taxes and Jesus told Peter to go fishing, and the first fish he caught would have the tax money in its mouth!

 

When they had trouble ministering healing to an epileptic boy, Jesus set him free.

 

When they needed to feed a large crowd, Jesus was there to multiply a little boy’s lunch and feed over five thousand with it.

Jesus was everything they needed.

He can become the best friend you have ever had…

Right now, He is saying … Clean up! Get ready for God’s power…

The Holy Spirit is a person.

He is not an influence. He is a person.

A person has knowledge, emotion, and will.

You think, you feel, you desire or will.

The Holy Spirit has knowledge…He knows…

 

1 Corinthians 2:9-13 (NKJV)

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Acts 10:19 (NLT)

Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you.”

 

The Holy Spirit has emotions…

Ephesians 4:30 (NLT)

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

Hebrews 10:29 (NLT)

Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.

Matthew 12:31-32 (NLT)

So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be

forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.

 

The Holy Spirit has a will…volition

1 Corinthians 12:11 (NKJV)

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

 

Acts 16:6-7 (NLT)

A Call from Macedonia

Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. 7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.

(Hebrews 10:29; Acts 10:19; Acts 16:6,7; Acts 5:3; Matthew 12:31)

 

The Holy Spirit is a person! A Divine Personality!

 

If you think of the Holy Spirit as a power you use, that could lead to self-exaltation and spiritual pride.

 

If we think of Him as merely a power or an influence, we will think – How can I get more of the Holy Spirit?

But if we think of Him correctly – as a person, a personality, then we will think – How can I yield myself to Him…How can He get more of me?

The Holy Spirit’s calling is to be your partner or coach in life, to help you do life right.

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NKJV)

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

 

2 Corinthians 13:14 (AMPC)

The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the presence and fellowship (the communion and sharing together, and participation) in the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (so be it).

 

2 Corinthians 13:14 (Wuest)

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the partnership of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Communion

Greek – Koinonia

Joint participation, belonging in common to, a partnership, an association, sharing, a relation between two individuals which involves a common interest, and a mutual, active participation in that interest and in each other.

– from Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies in the Greek New Testament

Communion or koinonia involves 2 things:

1. Partnership – a mutual interest in something.

 

2. Two people actively working together in that interest.

A building contractor has a skill. A financier has capital to buy lands and materials. They both need each other.

The builder has a skill with building craftsmanship. A financier has a skill with investing money for profit.

Alone they can succeed, but together they can soar. They prosper.

You are human. God needs you to be His eyes, ears, hands, feet, mouth, to others.

The Holy Spirit has ability, healing, wisdom, knowledge, insight into the future.

Together, you can touch the world for Jesus. He needs a body and a mind. You need foresight, wisdom, and spiritual strength. You have what He needs. He has what you need.

The Holy Spirit wants to coach you, or to be a life partner with you so that you can navigate the dark days ahead and help others come to Jesus and grow.

The Holy Spirit wants to coach you, or to be a life partner with you.

What is the Holy Spirit interested in?

1. He is interested in making Jesus real to you and in you.

 

2. He is interested in empowering you to minister to others.

What are you interested in?

If it is just money, leisure, things, entertainment, and flesh things, He can’t help you.

If our interests do not match His interests, He will not manifest!

How to invite the Holy Spirit in as your coach and partner:

1. Give your heart away.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV)

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Decide to put Jesus first. In your home, marriage, job, thoughts, leisure, money, you name it. It’s His.

2. Get into the Word of God. Get God’s Word into you!

Colossians 3:16 (NKJV)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

3. Learn to pray.

Challenges have a way of developing your ability to pray!

Philippians 4:6 (PHILLIPS)

Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.

Action Points:

1. Do I live as though I have a coach inside of me that is ready to help with all of life?
2. Am I interested in what the Holy Spirit is interested in each day?
3. Does what I do with my time and my attention show that I am interested in spiritual things more than natural and fleshly things?