TheHelper

A Study of the Holy Spiritby

Catherine Marshall

Part 2.7How do I receive the Helper?

Accepting God’s GracePage 81

John 3:5-8Born of the Spirit

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Baptism of the Spirit

• Catherine Marshall earlier stated there are “Definite steps” to be taken if we are to receive the Baptism of the Spirit.

• Does it occur Prior to, With, or After salvation?• Is it a One-time or Ongoing activity?• Is it dramatic or subtle? • The more you Thirst and Seek God, the more you will want to

seek God (Jesus and the Spirit)!• Repentance, Forgiveness, and Obedience will allow the power of

the Spirit to grow.• The Christian life is one designed for HIS purpose and Service to

others (ministry).• To do the work Of the Spirit, the Spirit must be in you!• The Spirit is received BY FAITH and not though works.

Galatians 3:1-5Faith or Works of the Law

page 82

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

God gives the gift• How can a Holy God grant such a divine

measure of grace upon a sinful and unjust person?

• 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. Acts 2:32-33

Romans 5:88 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Watchman Nee“The Holy Spirit has not been poured out on you to prove how great we are, but to prove the greatness of the Son of God”

Ephesians 1:18-2118 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

Page 82 – Paul writes.

Don’t Waste the Powerpage 82

• “Then since Christ’s power, meant to be mediated through the Spirit, is our triumphant Lord’s gift to us, how tragic if any of us fail to appropriate it!

• Once I had realized this after I had spent the summer of 1944 studying the Scripture about it, I knew how impossible my Christian walk would be without the Helper.

The Promise of the Gift

You cannot put a formula to the receiving of the Spirit! God does what He wants and acts how he wants and each

person is different – What was true for one person may not be true for another.

Sometimes the Gift is dramatic and other times it is subtle.

Just because you don’t experience the Gift the same way as someone else, you cannot negate the individual's experience of receiving the gift.

It is impossible for us to live the Christian life without the power and guidance of the Spirit (HELPER).

Page 83: Various ways Believers received the Spirit in ACTSLaying of hands Baptism Come over you (Pentecost)

Jesus made a promise to the disciples that the Sprit would come to them!

21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. John 14:21

• 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about”. Acts 1:4

• 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:45-49

The Purpose of the Helper

• Page 83: The Helper is a person whose work it is to point to and reveal Jesus.–Personality–Ways–Deeds–Words

Spirit

Jesus

God Speaks in whispers (page 84)

1 Kings 19:10-1710 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

IF YOU SEEK – THEN YOU WILL FIND (and receive)

Page 84

Guard against looking for dramatic proof or great emotional changes to validate the

Baptism of the Spirit.

Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, Seek, Knock7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

2 Corinthians 3:1818 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[ the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Look for ways God (the Spirit) is at WORK IN YOU, transforming you into the likeness of Christ!

Romans 8:26-3026 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

You will be my WitnessPage 85:

“I also found, as has many another, that the manifestation of His presence on which the Spirit places highest value is the power to witness effectively to others of Jesus.”

Is one gift of the Spirit really valued over other Gifts?

1 Corinthians 12:7-15

1 Corinthians 12:7-15The Value and Purpose of Gifts

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom,

to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,9 to another faith by the same Spirit,

to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers,

to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits,

to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

A life long processHe would methodically bring one area of life after another under His control – Health, Finances, ambition, reputation. I soon realized that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was no “one-time” experience, rather a process that would continue throughout my lifetime. True, there was that initial infilling (may be dramatic or subtle – but it comes at conversion)

Besides the Gift of the Spirit, there are the Fruits of the Spirit of His presence and His Character within us

Fruits of the Spirit - Galatians 5:13-2513 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Luke 11:11-20

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”