Easter 23 The Great Promise Part 3

[HKHaugan]

The Holy Spirit has three objectives, internal, external and functional. The internal is establish and grow a living relationship with Jesus and His family. The external is to be Jesus' disciple in order to grow Jesus' family and make disciples. The functional is to make the Scriptures, the Lord's growth manual, come alive in the minds and hearts of disciples. All three work together simultaneously under the Lord's personal direction. Through worship, prayer, shared study and ministry in the Body of Christ we become witnesses outside the Body in the environment we live in.

First, let's look at the internal relationship. Everything we do as disciples of Jesus depends on facing the reality of sin and the reality of being forgiven by God's grace. Our minds may grasp that and believe which, of course, is life for us. But are our hearts trusting what we believe? Trusting what we believe is a heart matter, a matter of will and a matter of embracing the reality of His presence in us. Jesus did that on the Cross. It is the Holy Spirit that brings our trust to life in us. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus working to transform our mind so that our heart trusts Him. This is why we take Scripture as His personal Word to us. There is no other source to bring the basic truth of Jesus into our lives. Scripture is the means and way the Holy Spirit works in us to restore the image of God in us.

Second, the external witness is the face of Christ the world around us sees as we go from one place to another and from one person to another. Three things stand out in our external witness. First, as disciples of Jesus, we see things spiritually, we hear things spiritually and we act on things spiritually. Everything has spiritual significance therefore everything requires a spiritual evaluation and response. The second follows the first, we everyone we come across as images of God regardless of their spiritual condition which is not for us to judge but to discern. If they are believers we encourage them. If they are not believers we pray for the discernment to find a way to penetrate their unbelief and offer them the Lord. It may be a need they have or something that calls for what only you at that moment can do. That may take time and patience but the Spirit will lead you in this. The third follows the second and that is to invite them into a small group or an event or even a church service. The Holy Spirit will guide this approach as well.

Third, as far as function is concerned we've already made a case for Scripture. But we need to see Scripture as the means by which the Holy Spirit makes us functional. Scripture is the door opener for the mind. That's why it covers a range of media from story, to poetry, to parable, to events, to biographies and documentaries. It introduces what we need most on every level of our humanity and that is to pry open a mind conditioned by sin to face a self-centered world. It's interesting how Paul tells Timothy that all Scripture is useful because it is the breath of God. Think of that image, God breathing on us. His breath is multipurpose (2Tim.3:16). It teaches everything we need when sin distracts us and then, recentering us in Jesus, it trains us how to be faithful in every next moment. It equips us to recognize the Spirit's leading in every situation. The Holy Spirit is our personal course corrector who is transforming us internally and externally, making us functional disciples through the Word. That is, if we'll just let Him direct the traffic. If you want to read how in detail go to John 14-16, Romans 8 and 12, 1Cor.2 and 12 and Eph.4 and that's just to name a few.

There is a purpose in all of this. Here's how James puts it, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created (1:17-18).”