24 Series Devotionals - Day 57
The Five-Fold Function of the Holy Spirit (Cont.)
3. The Holy Spirit Grows Us in Jesus (Part 4)
A. Know Him
If we are to allow the Holy Spirit to grow us in Jesus, we must know Him; to know Him, we must know the scriptures. Note how they progress:
John 14:26 - "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."
- John 16:13 - "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth..." For that guidance, He gave us the epistles - the letters of Paul, Peter, James, John and the letter to the Hebrews.
- John 16:13b - "...for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come." That gave us the prophetic books, specifically Revelation.
The scriptures are not given to us so we can argue our faith. We certainly need to know what we believe and why, but we are witnesses, not prosecuting attorneys, not defense attorneys, and certainly not judges.
B. Serve Him (with spiritual gifts)
John 16:14 - "He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you."
The Holy Spirit glorifies God the Son. He gives spiritual gifts to His followers so they can build up the church and bring glory to Jesus, the Head of the body.
Spiritual gifts make up the body of Christ. The church in total has the gifts that Jesus possesses in full. We bring Jesus glory through the Spirit by serving Him in the endowment of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit Guides us to Jesus: He glorifies Jesus; He grows us in Jesus. Do you see the pattern? It's not about us; it's all about Jesus.