THE WORK AND MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF A SINNER AND A BELIEVER

John 3:1-8
"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?
Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again.
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Ephesians 2:1-6
"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

In our previous study, we considered the Person of the Holy Spirit. We concluded that the work of the Holy Spirit seems to bring to completion the work that has been planned by God the Father and begun by God the Son. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, active in the creation of the world, and possessing all the characteristics of personality. The Holy Spirit is not a mere "something," but a divine SOMEONE!

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In our lesson today, we want to explore the Scriptures and observe the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the sinner and the life of the believer.
In John 16:7-15 we find these words:
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper, will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
However, when He the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His authority, but what ever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
All things that the Father has are Mine.
Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."
AN UNBELIEVER IS INCAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING OR RECEIVING SPIRITUAL TRUTH.
"But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (Meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them (or progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them) because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated." (1 Corinthians 2:14). Amplified
THE SPIRITUAL EYES OF THE SINNER ARE BLINDED TO ETERNAL TRUTH AND THE CLAIMS OF THE GOSPEL.
"But if our Gospel (the glad tidings) also be hidden (obscured and covered up with a veil that hinders the knowledge of God), it is hidden [only] to those who are perishing and obscured [only] to those who are spiritually dying and veiled [only to those who are lost.
For the god of this world has blinded the unbeliever's minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4)
THE UNBELIEVER CONSIDERS SPIRITUAL THINGS AS FOOLISHNESS AND FOLLY AND HE HAS NO SPIRITUAL CAPACITY TO SEE AND UNDERSTAND ETERNAL VALUES .

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THE UNBELIEVER IS SPIRITUALLY DEAD AND CANNOT receive the impartation of spiritual life without the work of the Holy Spirit in His ministry of REGENERATION. Regeneration is an act of God in which He imparts new spiritual life to us. It is totally a work of God. John, speaking of Jesus, says: "He came to that which belonged to Him [to His own—His domain, creation, things, world], and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him.
But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name.
Who owe their birth neither to bloods, nor to the will of the flesh [that of physical impulse] nor to the will of man [that of a natural father], but to God. [They are born of God]. (John 1:12-14)
In the passage we quoted from John 16:7-15, we have a summary of the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.
THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL CONVICT MEN OF SIN.
When the Jews crucified Jesus, they did not believe that they were sinning; they believed that they were serving God. But when the story of that crucifixion was later preached, they were pricked in their heart (Acts 2:37). They suddenly had the terrible conviction that the crucifixion was the greatest crime in history and their sin had caused it. What is it that gives a man a sense of sin? It is the work of the Holy Spirit!
THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL CONVINCE MEN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. It becomes clear what this means when we see that it is Jesus Christ's righteousness of which men will be convinced. Jesus was crucified as a criminal. He was tried; he was found guilty; he was regarded by the Jews as an evil heretic, and by the Romans as a dangerous character; he was given the punishment that the worst criminals had to suffer, branded as a felon and an enemy of God. What changed that? What made men see in this crucified figure the Son of God, as the centurion saw at the Cross when he said: "Truly this was the Son of God." It was the work of the Holy Spirit. It is He who convinces men of the sheer righteousness of Christ, backed by the fact that Jesus rose again and went to His Father.
THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVINCES MEN OF JUDGMENT.
On the Cross evil stands condemned and defeated. What makes a man feel certain that judgment lies ahead? It is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is He Who gives us the inner and unshakeable conviction that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God!

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It is the Holy Spirit who places a new heart within us. Who opens our mind to receive the spiritual truths of eternity and the gospel, and takes off the blindfold that Satan has blinded our eyes to the glorious person of Jesus Christ...It is the Holy Spirit Who imparts new life!
This sovereign work of God in regeneration was predicted in the prophecy of Ezekiel.
Through him God promised a time in the future when He would give new spiritual life to His people:
"A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to observe My ordinances." (Ezek. 36:26:25).
When Jesus speaks of being "born of the Spirit" (John 3:8), He indicates that it is especially God the Holy Spirit who produces regeneration.
Exactly what happens in regeneration is mysterious to us. We know that somehow we who were spiritually dead, have been made alive to God and in a very real sense we have been "born again." But we really don't know how this happens. As Jesus said to Nicodemus...The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes, so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus was driven back...his reply was:
"This new birth about which You talk may be possible; but I can't understand how it works."
The answer of Jesus depends for its point on the fact that the Greek word for spirit, PNEUMA, has two meanings. It is the word for spirit, but it is also the regular word for wind. The same is true of the Hebrew word RUACH; it too means both spirit and wind. So Jesus said to Nicodemus; "You can hear and see and feel the wind (PNEUMA); but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going to. You may not understand how and why the wind blows; but you can see what it does.
You may not understand where a gale comes from or where it is going to, but you can see the trail of flattened fields and uprooted trees that it leaves behind. There are many things about the wind you may not understand; but its effect is plain for all to see." He went on, "The Spirit is exactly the same!
You may not know how the Spirit works; but you can see the effects of the Spirit in human lives!
SO, THE WORK AND MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF THE UNBELIEVER IS TO DRAW THAT PERSON UNTO GOD, OPEN THE BLIND EYES TO SEE THE WONDERS OF SALVATION, AND IMPLANT THE LIFE OF GOD INTO THAT PERSON, THUS BRINGING HIM OR HER INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD AND HIS KINGDOM.

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The work of REGENERATION in our life is the marvelous work of God and we become a new person!
"Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him]. (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).
Paul writes to the Ephesians these words:
"May blessing (praise, laudation, and eulogy) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm!
Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.
For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]--[So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In Him, we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor, which He lavished upon us in every kind of wisdom and understanding (practical insight and prudence). (Ephesians 1:3-8)
When a person has been drawn by the Holy Spirit, and regeneration takes place, the results can usually be noticed at once!
There is a heartfelt trusting in Christ for salvation, an assurance of sins forgiven, a desire to read the Bible and pray (and a sense that these are meaningful spiritual activities), a delight in worship, a desire for Christian fellowship, a sincere desire to be obedient to God's Word in Scripture, and a desire to tell others about Christ!
This is the moment we recognize that we have been born again, that God's Spirit now has taken residence in our heart and now we are children of God.

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In God's act of regeneration, He imparts to us His Holy Spirit. Paul writes to the Romans: "So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (Romans 8:8-11)
WITH GOD'S SPIRIT DWELLING IN US, WE BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND SPIRITUAL TRUTHS. 1 Corinthians 2:9 through 13 says: "But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual."
THE HOLY SPIRIT'S PRESENCE INDWELLING IN OUR HEART PRODUCES BEAUTIFUL FRUIT IN OUR LIVES!
"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:16-18)
Verse 22 says: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." (Galatians 5:22-25).
It was Paul's belief and experience that the Christian died with Christ and rose again to a new life, new and clean, in which the evil things of the old self were gone and the lovely things of the Spirit had come to fruition.
"Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life [which is]

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in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and death.

For God has done what the Law could not do, [it's power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice], so that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].
For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit" (Romans 8:1-5).
Regeneration is instantaneous, but the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is progressive. This is called SANCTIFICATION...it is the progressive work of the Holy Spirit and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.
It is a work in which God and man cooperate, each playing distinct roles.
SANCTIFICATION involves a definite break from the ruling power and love of sin, so that the new believer is no longer ruled or dominated by sin.
Paul says, "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin, and alive to God in Christ Jesus...For sin will have no dominion over you" (Romans 6:11,14).
Paul says that Christians have been "set free from sin" (Romans 6:18). In this context, to be dead to sin or to be set free from sin involves the power to overcome acts or patterns of sinful behavior in one's life. Paul tells the Romans not to let sin "reign in your mortal bodies," and he also says, "Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God" (Romans 6:12-13). To be dead to the ruling power of sin means that we as Christians, by virtue of the power of the Holy Spirit and the resurrection life of Christ working within us, have power to overcome the temptations and enticements of sin. Sin will no longer be our master, as once it was before we became Christians.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty...

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(emancipation from bondage, freedom), And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
In closing, I would like to quote again the passage from Ephesians 5:18. "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the Holy Spirit."
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Maybe a better translation would be: "Be continually being filled with the Holy Spirit."
Paul seems to imply that there is something that should be repeatedly happening to Christians. Such fullness of the Holy Spirit will result in renewed worship and thanksgiving.
In addition, since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit who sanctifies us, such a filling will often result in increased sanctification. Furthermore, since the Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us for Christian service and gives us spiritual gifts, such filling will often result in increased power for ministry and increased effectiveness and perhaps diversity in the use of spiritual gifts.
It is appropriate to understand filling with the Holy Spirit not as a one-time event, but as an event that can occur over and over again.
Someone might object that a person who is already "full" of the Holy Spirit cannot become more full—if a glass is full of water no more water can be put in it. But a water glass is a poor analogy for us as real people, for God is able to cause us to grow and to be able to contain much more of the Holy Spirit's fullness and power. Yes, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us at regeneration...but growing in our Christian faith is a process wherein we learn to yield more and more to His indwelling presence. And sometimes this matter of learning to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit within our lives can be very traumatic and deeply emotional. From these experiences, we become more sensitive to spiritual matters, and enjoy a fuller and deeper experience of worship and prayer.
Our study comes to a close, but the Scripture is full of many references to the Holy Spirit's work and ministry in the life of the believer. Life in the Spirit is an ever expanding and growing relationship with our wonderful Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ!