God so Loved the World that He Gave His Son: The greatest Spiritual battle ever fought – part six!
As I promised you last week, now is the time to explain why we spent so much time talking about Elijah and Elisha. If you stayed with me for the past six weeks, I’m sure you will agree that these two powerful men of God performed some pretty amazing miracles in the power of Almighty God! Think about it… waters parted, people healed, enemies defeated, people brought back to life and much, much more!
Question… Would you like to see those kinds of miracles happen today? Or… do you even believe that miracles like that could happen today? It is one thing to read about them in the Old Testament of the Bible but it’s quite another to believe those things could actually occur today! What does the Bible say about it?
John 14:8-14 (NIV)
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
At this point you must be thinking… okay, Jesus said it and I believe Jesus! But (there it is “the but”), exactly how does it work? How does John 14:8-14 play out in our lives today? Let’s not stop at verse 14. Let’s go on to verse 15 and view Jesus’ statement in context:
John 14:15-31 (NIV)
15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me,31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Come now; let us leave.”
This is all about the Holy Spirit’s role in our lives!
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God the Father!
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus the Son!
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit!!!
Lot’s more coming regarding the Holy Spirit, and how it is the Holy Spirit within us who gives us the power to do the will of GOD!