In that Day, He will come with a new spirit to dwell in new hearts forever.
1) The Indwelling Holy Spirit
| Sinners could not keep God’s commandments. So God sent his Son in the form of sinful flesh. On the cross, He died in our place as a sinner, fulfilling the demands of the law and completing the Gospel. The Gospel meets the demands of the law for those of us who walk by the Spirit of God. Walking by the Spirit of God is the blessing and power of living as a child of God. Paul states, “The law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2). The new life the Gospel gives us is a life empowered by the Holy Spirit. This life does not require my effort or exertion. This truth is the conclusion of the Scriptures. The words of Jeremiah in Chapter 31 could be stated as the leading motive of all of scripture and the conclusion of the Old Testament. “31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”(Jeremiah 31:31, 33) Through Jeremiah, the Lord speaks of an “old covenant” and a “new covenant. The old covenant is a covenant of works. The people of Israel broke their promises to God by sinning. As a result, the law condemned and judged all lawbreakers. However, the Lord declared, “The days are coming” when He will make a new covenant, a new covenant that will be written on the heart. People are beings who move according to their own hearts. Therefore, if the truth is inscribed on the heart, they will live according to the truth. In other words, the new covenant will give us ‘a law empowering us to live’. The prophet Ezekiel speaks even more clearly, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26) The Lord revealed to Ezekiel how He will fulfill His covenant of ‘writing the law on their hearts’. God will turn these people, whose hearts have turned away from God, to the new covenant. He will remove the heart of stone, give us a heart of flesh, and pour out a new spirit. This ‘new spirit’ is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, would come into our hearts and empower us to live by the Word. The purpose and the promise of the Holy Spirit is clear. The Holy Spirit Himself comes to live the Gospel of God in us. This is the core of the New Covenant. The Old Testament prophets, although they failed, died looking towards God’s promise of the counseling Holy Spirit, who would empower us to live out the Gospel. “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Joel 2:28-29) On the day of Pentecost, God revealed through Peter’s sermon the meaning of Joel’s dream. It is impossible for a holy God to dwell in the heart of a sinner, but through the atonement of the Cross, we now have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I am now captivated by the glory of God and live a life pleasing to God. The Old Testament prophets dreamed of and looked forward to this promise. The promise of the Indwelling Holy Spirit who would empower us to live the Gospel life has been fulfilled! |
》Scripture Prayer
(Jeremiah 31:31-34) 31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
(Ezekiel 36:26-28) 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. God took many measures to perfect the Gospel, but His most perfect measure was to send the Holy Spirit into us in order to live the gospel. Therefore, it is impossible to live the Gospel without the Holy Spirit. Pray that the indwelling Holy Spirit would lead us to live the Gospel.
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)
2. The Holy Spirit came into us to help us live the life of Jesus. Only then we are able to enjoy the Glory, and the Power, and the Blessings of the Gospel. Let us pray that we will live each day by faith, bearing His beautiful fruit by following the Holy Spirit.
until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. (Isaiah 32:15-17)
2) The Holy Spirit, the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth who testifies to Jesus Christ
| Before his crucifixion, Jesus continued to tell his anxious disciples that he would send them the Helper, the Spirit of Truth. That “another Helper,” also known as the Holy Spirit, would come and indwell, or “abide with” them, for all eternity. Jesus comforted his disciples, saying, “It is for your good that I am going away,” because if he did not go away, the Helper could not come. After Jesus died on the cross, was buried, resurrected on the third day, and ascended into heaven, he promised the indwelling Holy Spirit of Truth. This promise was fulfilled in the book of Acts to the disciples and the early church who were eagerly awaiting the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave a clear testimony about the Holy Spirit: He is the Counselor who comes into us and helps us live the Gospel life. The Holy Spirit did not come as a gift-giver of the spiritual gifts we so eagerly want (healing, miracles, power, exorcising demons, tongues, prophecy, etc.), but to forever indwell in the born-again believer to help them live the Gospel life. The Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live the Gospel life, is the Spirit of truth who reveals not himself but only Jesus. He comes in the name of Jesus and testifies and reminds the believer of the Words of Jesus. He never speaks of himself, but only through the Word of God, making known the complete gospel of the Cross of Jesus Christ, enabling the Gospel life. |
》Scripture Prayer
(John 14:16-18, 26) 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
(John 16:6-7, 13-15) 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 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 go, I will send him to you. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. We have attempted and strained to live the Gospel life. And yet, despite our efforts, our souls could not be satisfied. Why do I thirst? Let us take an honest look at ourselves. Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Let us decide to believe in the perfect Gospel of the Cross. Pray that the indwelling Holy Spirit would lead me, a sinner, by the fullness of His grace to live a life of faith in the death and resurrection with Jesus Christ.
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39)
2. Let us turn from misunderstanding the Holy Spirit and from seeking the Holy Spirit for gifts or power. The Holy Spirit is not a god for my problems and my wishes; He is one of the three persons of the Trinity God. Pray that the Holy Spirit of Truth would testify to me and my church about the Gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ, calling many witnesses of the Gospel.
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. (John 15:26)
3) The Holy Spirit of Life who empowers us to live the Gospel life
| God sends us the Holy Spirit to enable us to live the life of Jesus. The Holy Spirit, who dwells in me, is the perfect God who has flawless intelligence, emotion, and will. For the Holy Spirit to indwell in me, my old self must first die on the cross, for it is impossible to live the Gospel by the old self. But when the Holy Spirit comes into us, the glorious, powerful, and blessed life of the Gospel becomes a reality. In Romans 8, the apostle Paul offers a clear testimony of the Holy Spirit’s power to enable us to live the Gospel life. Romans 8 is, therefore, the ‘victorious chapter’ of the Gospel life. “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” fills those who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit with life and peace. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit enables us to hate and deny the fleshly mind (the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of this life) the old self, and to take up our cross daily and live as followers of Jesus. Those who have become God’s holy children call Him ‘Abba Father’. They live abundantly in the fellowship of love and joy with the Father and are honored to suffer with Christ as heirs of God’s inheritance. Being one body in the unity of the Trinity, we, the Church, are filled with all the fullness of Him who fills all in all by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The church also strives to glorify the Gospel at all costs. And we move forward, boldly proclaiming that there is nothing in the world that can separate us from the love of Christ. Hallelujah! |
》Scripture Prayer
(Romans 8:1-11) 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. When we do not know what to pray for, let us give thanks for the Holy Spirit who makes intercession with groans and prayers for us who are weak. Pray that the Holy Spirit would awaken our spirit to intercede for the saints according to the will of God. Pray as we completely offer our lives to the Gospel.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
2. A life living by the Spirit naturally produces the fruit of the Gospel. Jesus loved his people to the end, washing their feet and joyfully obeying, even death on the cross. He now lives with me. Make the decision to obey, firmly believing that my lust and greed have already been crucified, along with the flesh that prevented me from bearing the fruits of the Spirit as a follower of Jesus.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25)
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