The Blessing Of The Spirit - Part 5

And that's what the devil has done in breaking up marriages where husbands and wives all do what they used to do their own thing and That's how marriages break up They don't care for one another I'm not saying we have to do the same thing. I mean, you know, I mean you don't have to go your own Go to the kitchen tomorrow and say hey, but it's actually you got to help. I got to help you mess it up. I mean I'm talking about the spirit of it. I don't go to help my wife in the kitchen because I wouldn't know what to do I mean, I'd be less of a nuisance if I'm outside. So I mean the spirit that we we do everything together in spirit not each individual action but the spirit of being together and working together in raising our children doing it together and I'm applying that now to the Holy Spirit You know that the Holy Spirit wants to be like that in your life that he says let's all do it Let's do it together. Let's do why do you want to try and do that alone here? I'm your helper I'm here to help you. How much? How much do we honor the Holy Spirit like that? You know, just like a lot of husbands neglect their wives Hey mind your own business. Let me do it. That's exactly what we're saying to the Holy Spirit Not in so many words because we respect the Holy Spirit more than we respect our wives We don't say it in the same language, but the attitude is the same Yeah, I can do it on my own. I don't need your help. I Don't need your gifts. Why do I need your gifts? I Can serve God on my own without your gifts? Spirits is okay. Go ahead. You know, what is the main purpose of the Holy Spirit's? is to The word Jesus used here is I'll give you another helper So that he can be with you forever So he was telling them I'm going away now. This is remember. This is the last night that he was with them next morning And that night itself he was gone and they could never be with him again after that There's just a few hours before he was going to leave them forever They were all upset You know this one we never had a problem and he was here whether it was a storm in the sea or Somebody sick or somebody dead or whatever the problem was and not enough food doesn't make a difference. He was there he had a solution for everything and Now this person with whom he lived for three and a half years says he's going what are we going to do? And the Lord says it's better for me view that I go away You read in John 16. He says it's better for you that I go away Because if I don't go away, I'll only be here in Jerusalem or Galilee. What about all the other believers somewhere else? How can I be with them? Did I go away? I'm gonna send the Holy Spirit Then that'll be exactly the same. See this is what we got to understand. It'll be exactly the same as Jesus being with me here in our particular calling. I mean if I'm called to preach I Want Jesus with me right here? Telling me what to say how to say And that's the Holy Spirit and in everything in life you face a particular problem Which was doesn't face problems some something can crop up tomorrow, which you don't even anticipate today But it may take you by surprise when it happens tomorrow, but it doesn't take God by surprise God doesn't say I didn't know that would happen. No, he already knows it. He knows it right now that is gonna happen tomorrow In fact, he knew it before you were born That something would happen tomorrow and he's already made provision for it And the Holy Spirit says I'm right here Why did you seek my help? Is it a sickness? Is it a failure? Is it a financial crisis? Is it something else? Is it a problem you have in your home? Is it a difficult son or daughter? Is it a difficult husband or wife? Whatever it is. The Holy Spirit says I'm right here Why are you trying to do it alone? It's like, you know a wife telling a proud husband. Why do you want to do it alone? Don't you believe God's given me to you as a helper? do you want my help or not and That's exactly what the Holy Spirit in his humility the humility of the Holy Spirit To oh, it really challenges me. He's my Lord He should rule me But he says I'm your helper He takes something of that That he takes a position of a helper a humble position Everything I see about God is humility humility humility humility It's father son and Holy Spirit Jesus washing the disciples feet like a servant And we really need to be gripped by that. I feel that a lot of Christians are not gripped by it And that's the reason why grace doesn't come upon them. I See so many believers They haven't seen the value of humility You haven't seen that their whole calling in life is to be like Jesus who was a servant Like the Holy Spirit was just a helper Just a helper in Romans 16. I think Paul speaks about a sister was a helper of many She must have been really filled with the Holy Spirit But she also got the title of helper same title as the Holy Spirit. It's really amazing Now are you challenged by that? Let me see if I can find that verse It's in Romans 16 Yeah, verse 2 He says I want to commend to you, you know when he talks about even Priscilla and Aquila He talks about later on in verse 3 and some of those other men Andronicus and Junius and all hang on we can talk about that later. First of all, I want to talk to you about our sister Phoebe Who's a servant? She is a servant. That's the name Jesus had And Receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the Saints You help her whatever she may have need for you because she herself has been a helper of many and of myself That's the title of the Holy Spirit. Imagine a woman who got the title of Jesus and the Holy Spirit servant and helper That's fantastic What a woman that sister was I? Don't think she got up and in a bossy way in the church No, I mean she helpers and servants don't behave like that You go into a home and you see a bossy servant ruling and shouting and ruling and that's what it's not a servant The real servant is someone who's in the background and you don't even see servants. They're really good servants. You won't even see them That's how this sister was, you know godly godly woman who did things quietly in the background It didn't want any honor for it But Paul sort of found out she's been a helper Spirit-filled woman I Tell you the churches need more people like that Anyway, the Holy Spirit is called a helper who comes alongside to do what to be to me Listen to this to be to me What the presence of Jesus was to the apostles during those three and a half years? the solver of every problem The one to whom I can go immediately and say Lord, this is my problem. Can you do something to help her and in other words I'd say to make the presence of Jesus real to me that I can talk to Jesus just like I talked to a friend who's standing right here and Who I believe can talk to me The Holy Spirit has come to make the presence of Jesus real You know one of the things I've been challenged about and I'm getting challenged about more and more and I feel I need to be stirred in my own spirit more for this is That our calling as a church Is to show the world That Jesus is risen from the dead and is alive. That's it And we've got it outside on that cross outside our building An empty cross to prove that he's not there That's the testimony of that empty cross. He's not there He was there, but he's not there We wouldn't put a crucifix there. Oh, no That would Matt tell people that's the last we saw from we don't know what happened to him after that But he's not there. He was there, but he's not there and that's why we've got some words written on it saying he's alive But it's easy to put those words But you know why we put those words because that is the primary calling of our church More than anything else To demonstrate to the world around us that Jesus Christ is not dead. He rose. He's alive And the Apostles always used to say we are witnesses of his resurrection. We are witnesses of his resurrection They never saw their resurrection actually to actually take place. They saw the crucifixion They should have said we are witnesses of his crucifixion, no, they never said that even once they said we are witnesses of his resurrections We saw him alive after he died We know he's alive