One of the members of “the Trinity” is misunderstood. Well…He does get a bad rap sometimes and, at times, is often forgotten. It is pretty obvious I’m not speaking about God the Father or God the Son. God the Holy Spirit is the One often looked at with shady eyes and raised brows. I think some of that is because of ignorance and some is because we treat Him with such mystery. We think He’s a ghost-like Casper- friendly, but oh so eerie.
I was ignorant of the Holy Spirit for many years. I knew He existed but was “afraid” of Him. I focused on Jesus and my first experience with raised hands brought a cold sweat to my body. I learned then and have continued learning about the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
John 16:8-11, part of the Scripture I read this morning, offers some help but, if you are like me, there may have been some confusion as to what those verses meant. As a result the Holy Spirit’s purpose stayed cloudy. I do know this: the Holy Spirit’s purpose was never to draw attention to Himself. His purpose was and is to always glorify Jesus. ALWAYS. That’s why to draw attention to the Spirit in song or to the manifestations of the Spirit is wrong. John 16 tells us He was to do three things: convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
- Convict of sin- the specific sin of not believing in Jesus as Messiah-the only sin not forgivable, that damns people to hell.
- Convict of righteousness- this might be better understood as self-righteousness (hypocrisy). He exposes the blackness of our own heart.
- Convict of judgement- the context is that of the world under Satan’s control. The world cannot judge itself because it is blind, sinful and evil. (Current events show that).
The Holy Spirit is not really a ghost- an apparition. He has a specific purpose. And He accomplishes it all by always drawing attention to Christ and the cross.
“Father, help me to understand more. Help me to see the Holy Spirit’s influence in my life and allow Him to do His work in me.”
Note: I’m indebted to Pastor John MacArthur for his “help” this morning.
I must agree, Bill. The job of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of our sin, and point us to the truth of Jesus, and how much we need Him in our lives. I often think of the Holy Spirit as God’s still, small voice within me.
Blessings!
Thanks for coming by Martha. He most definitely is active if we are listening.