For many people who sit in church every Sunday, their faith is merely an intellectual decision to acknowledge a fact claim about Jesus. There is no love, no powerful, life-altering force driving them towards Christ thereafter. They simply come each Sunday, sit, sing, and otherwise go about their lives as if nothing has happened. They are right. Nothing has happened to them.
Let me ask a question. If someone came up to you and asked you if you’d received the Holy Spirit, how would you answer? Most people would assume that because they have said they believed on Jesus, they have the Holy Spirit. Would it surprise you to know, that the Bible doesn’t make that assumption? Would you be able to say how you have experienced the Holy Spirit in the last year, the last month, the last week? The American church has long downplayed the role of the Holy Spirit, because it does not know how to deal with people who claim to believe on Christ, but have not knowingly experienced the Holy Spirit at work in themselves. Some for sure are due to false professions of faith, but others are simply because they do not know what is of the Spirit vs. of themselves. So you have some churches, where everyone in the church claims to be able to speak in tongues as evidence of the Holy Spirit, and you have other churches that never bring up the Holy Spirit’s work at all, because they don’t want to ruffle anyone’s feathers. Well, my goal today isn’t to ruffle feathers, although that may be God’s plan anyway. I simply want to show 3 things Biblically:
1) The Holy Spirit’s indwelling should be experienced, not merely assumed based upon a proclamation of faith
2) What are the evidences of the Spirit that can be experienced?
3) How can we gain more of the Holy Spirit/experience Him more fully?
This is a lot of ground, but I’m going to try to move quickly. First, what evidence Biblically, do we have that the Holy Spirit should be experienced? (ans. The entire New Testament) We know that the Holy Spirit is given to all who truly believe on Christ and the gospel, but what about false professions? Could there be some who claim to have believed, but do not have the Holy Spirit? (hint.. yes.)
Acts 19:1-6 – “And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.”
Paul’s question is interesting here. Paul assumes that the men he was talking to would know whether or not they received the Spirit. When they did receive the Spirit, their experience was manifested in speaking in tongues and prophesying. How would these men answer Paul’s question now? Clearly what would be foremost in their mind would not be understanding that the Holy Spirit exists and is given to all who believe on Jesus, but their own experience of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in power.
So what are some of the evidences of the Spirit that we can see from the Bible? It’s important to know that it is very unlikely that one will see all of these in their life personally, but everyone who is truly saved should see some.
1) Fruit of the Spirit (in one’s heart/life) – Galatians 5:22 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
2) Giftings of the Spirit – 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 – “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”
Lastly, how can we gain more of the Spirit in our lives? Prayer and obedience to the Word of God.
We are commanded by God in Ephesians 5:19, not to be controlled by wine, but by the Spirit. The verb tense used, is essentially saying “keep being filled by the Spirit”. This implies a daily filling, and for that we need prayer, and God’s always faithful grace and mercy.
Ephesians 5:18 – “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,“
Acts 5:32 – “And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
Ok, now that I did we did a whirlwind overview of the Holy Spirit, I realize I likely created questions for you. Why did I want go through this, knowing I would only have time to skim the surface of this topic? My hope is threefold, one that you will recognize and give praise to God for the work of the Spirit in your life now, second is that you would draw assurance of your salvation from the Spirit’s work, and lastly, that you would begin to pray daily for the Spirit to come in power to lead you in every way. My encouragement is to be a Berean (Acts 17:10-11), and search the scriptures yourself to see if what I’ve said is true, and to fill in gaps. I’ve enclosed below links to a few articles that might be helpful as well. May the Holy Spirit have His way in us, to the praise of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Grace and Peace,
Adam
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/what-does-it-mean-to-receive-the-holy-spirit
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Study+Guides/40-5215_Security-in-the-Spirit?q=evidence+holy+Spirit
Following the Way 