God Revealed #6: Our Secret Weapon

           Look up there in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No it’s superman! Who is that in the sky? No, it’s not Clark Kent, it is the Holy Spirit. But what super powers does He have?

The Holy Spirit has 3 primary functions in our world today. Each one of these functions reveal God’s love for us.

First, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). God does not want us to experience judgment. However, to a righteous Judge, justice must be served, and any sin, regardless of what mankind may think, is deserving of eternity in hell (Rom. 6:23). Therefore, the Holy Spirit convicts us so that we might receive the cure which Jesus made available through what He did on the cross.

The Holy Spirit’s conviction is similar to that of a doctor telling a patient that they have cancer. The patient is overwhelmed with the thoughts of dying; however, the doctor reassures the patient that while the cancer is life threatening, a procedure can be done which will remove the cancer and thereby enable the patient to enjoy life for many years yet to come.  

Likewise, the Holy Spirit’s conviction is really a display of God’s grace since He does not want us to end up in the location where our sins are leading us. So through the Holy Spirit’s conviction/leading, He seeks to get us on the right path, which leads to eternal life.

Once a person becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit will continue to convict us of sin and righteousness, refining us into the people we were always meant to be: holy and righteous. Thus, in this first function of the Holy Spirit, we are being transformed from a sinner headed for hell to a righteous saint headed for heaven. God has great things in store for us, but it is going to take having our rough edges knocked off through the work of the Holy Spirit.  

The second primary function of the Holy Spirit is the seal of our salvation. According to Acts 2:38, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in a person’s life at baptism. This is called the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. From this point on, He in a sense becomes our conscience, guiding us as Christians, enabling us to arrive safely at our true home, heaven.

Jesus taught that when people saw Him, they saw the Father (John 14:7-11), likewise, when we have the Holy Spirit living within us, Jesus is present (Acts 1:1-2). Therefore, in this manor, Jesus explained this guidance to our heavenly home by saying, “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand” (John 10:27-29). Thus, God’s loving hand is safely guiding through the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, as the seal of our salvation, the Holy Spirit testifies within us that we are a child of God (Rom. 8:9). It is interesting to note that the Greek word which speaks of the Holy Spirit being the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance in heaven is the same word which is used for that of an engagement ring (Eph. 1:13-14). Just think about that! We are wearing a picture of the wondrous marriage celebration which will take place one day in heaven between Jesus and the church.

The third primary function of the Holy Spirit is to empower us as Christians. This is God’s loving hand giving us the resources/spiritual gifts necessary to complete the task He places before us. These spiritual gifts vary greatly, yet everyone’s gift has a very unique and special purpose. No one’s gift is better than anyone else’s. Therefore, the Holy Spirit has gifted you in a very special way.

EQUIPPING GIFTS		KEY WORDS	DESIRES	LEADS BY
1	Pastoring	Shepherd	To care for/protect	People sensitivity
2	Leadership	Orchestrator	To give direction	Vision/team sense
3	Exhortation	Encourager	To motivate	Inspiration/practical application
4	Evangelism	Soul winner	New Christians	Strength of conviction
5	Missionary	Foundation builder	New churches	God-given authority
6	Teaching	Doctrine developer	To teach	Biblical facts
7	Wisdom	Understanding	To apply knowledge	God-given insight
SERVING GIFTS		KEY WORDS	DESIRES	SERVES BY
8	Helps	Assisting	Free others to use gifts	Helping
9	Administration	Planner	Organization	Providing the details
10	Service	Need meter	Help however, wherever	Practical support
11	Mercy	Comforter	To show compassion	Kindness
12	Giving	Liberally give away	To share resources	sharing
13	Hospitality	Hosting for God	To open home	Openness
14	Intercession	Prayer warrior	Intercede	Praying

These gifts assist us in building up others within the church in order to unite all who are following the true faith. Additionally, these gifts assist us in leading others to a saving knowledge of Christ; as all of us are enabled in our own way to reach out to those around us telling them of the great love of God. (Eph. 4:12).

A good way to recognize the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has empowered you with is to consider what bothers you in church. If you are bothered that our church does not do more outreach, you are probably gifted in evangelism. If you are bothered by a lack of caring within the church, you probably have the gift of mercy. If you are looking around and think, “This church needs to be more organized!” you are probably a gifted as an administrator.

When one considers the 3 primary functions of the Holy Spirit, they realize that He is our secret weapon. He is our secret weapon which aids us in coming to Christ, thus, receiving salvation. He is our secret weapon which gives us great assurance and confidence about where we will spend eternity. And He is our secret weapon for living the lives we were always meant to live, for He gives us the abilities and gifting to accomplish things we could never accomplish by ourselves.

Because of God’s love,

     Matt