The Republican., 1929-01-24

INTERMEDIARY AND SENIOR TOP
IC-How the Holy Spirit Helps Us.
. YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
IC-Ths Work of the Molly Spirit
!. The Personality Of the Splr,k
:(John 1877, 81.
Personality Is here implied by the
use Of the personal pronOun. In the
original Scriptures personal prenouns
are used uniformly In speaking OF
the Spirit. Then. too. He Is called the
Comforter. The word comforter" lit
orally means one called to stand by
the side Of another as helper, coun.
sellor and guide. While Jesus so
jOurned In the world He was such to
His disciples. He assured them that
upon His withdrawal the Holy Spirit
would take His place as friend, helper
and counsellor. The personality Of the
Spirit is also proved by the fact that
He performs acts only possible to per-
sons. In John 14:26 He performs the
function of a teacher. He not only
teaches, but He speaks as person,
giving direction to the disciples as in
Acts S:29 and 1872. His personality
is again proved by the fact that men
act toward Him as they could act only
toward person. In Isaiah 63:10 the
prophet declared that men vexed the
Holy Spirit. 1t would be manifestly
improper to speak Of veXing an intlu-
ence; only person can be vexed. In
Matthew 1913 Jesus speaks of men
disappearing against the Holy Spirit.
1t would be impossible to blaspheme
against an influence. In Ephesians
4:30 Paul speaks of grieving the Spirit.
Again, it would be manifestly improper
to speak Of grieving an influence.
Further, in l Corinthians 2:11 Paul
speaks of the Holy Spirit exercising
the function of will. One of the es-
sential characteristics of personality
Is that of volition. The Holy Spirit
is represented as divine. He has the
attributes of deity. In Psalm 139 10
He is declared to be omnipresent; in
I Corinthians 2:9-11 omniscient. He
also performs the works of God. He
Is the creator and renewer (Ps.
104 :30). He is called God in Acts
ii IA, and II Corinthians lis.
II. How Believers are Related to
the Holy Spirit. They are regenerated
by Him John 1853; they are in
idwelt by Him q Cor. $40 Gal. 4:6).
He also fills (Eph. 5:18 and Acts
4:3D. To be filled with the Holy
Spirit is the duty Of every believer.
No one has the right to perform any
work for Christ without this filling
(Luke "a AS, 40; Acts / :S). Even the
temporalities of the church should be
in the hands of Spirlt-filled men (Acts
i6:1-3).
III. What the Holy Spirit Does
(John 16 SID.
l. Convicts the world of sin ". s..
The one awful sin of the world is
unbelief. The Holy Spirit convicts the
people of the world of their error con-
cerning sin and shows their guilt be-
fore God.
2. He convicts the world of right
eousnesS ". 10Y.
The resurrection and ascension Of
Christ prove that He is the Righteous
One, and that righteousness is only
possible as He is accepted as Savior.
8. He convinces the world of judg-
ment.
To be convinced of the reality of
judgment is the crying need of the
world today. Sin unatoned for shall
ho nupiShad Tho Sinnpr who rafuSnc
the righteousness which God provided
in Jesus Christ also shall be judged.
4 The Spirit mortifies the deeds Of
the flesh (Rom. S:12, 13).
The only way to get the victory over
our carnal natures is to give the place
of rulership to the Holy Spirit.
5. He leads the believer ". 14).
The Spirit-fiIled believer lives the
life of the Son of God.
9. He gives assurance to the be-
lever (Rom. S:15-1O.
The Holy Spirit witnesses together
with the human spirit to the reality
of the new birth.
Z. He enables the believer to pray
according to the will of God (Rom.
1926, 27).
While the believer does not know
how to pray as he ought, the Holy
Spirit helpeth his indrmity. All prayer
which the Holy Spirit indites the
Heavenly Father answers.
Partner of the Lord