We Are Not Orphans

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”    John 14:15-18

    One of the greatest fears of a young child is abandonment.  It’s terrifying to be left alone.  We are totally dependent on these “big people” for our every need!  We soon learn that the “little big person” with the soft voice is there much more often than the “big big person” with the deeper voice.  But we love it when either give us attention; we feel safe, secure, and loved.  It is obvious from the way God designed for babies to be fed that He never intended a baby to be away from mother for very long.

■  Story:  I remember an traumatic event that happened when I was six years old and in the first grade .  Mother worked at a fireworks factory a couple of miles from the house, and for some reason I was supposed to get off the bus where she worked instead of at our house.  I knew which building she worked in and where I was to get off.  The bus driver insisted I was to get off at the office which was some distance from where mother worked.  He said this is Pan American Fireworks plant, or Engelke’s Fireworks as we called it.  I was very much afraid and started crying.  Somehow I got to where I was supposed to go.  Being alone and in the care of strangers, no matter how caring, can be terrifying!  Jesus promised this would not happen to us!

Another Comforter
    When Jesus was going away, He promised that He would not leave us orphans.  He also promised that He would not leave us in the care of a stranger.  The One who would be with us is none other than the blessed Holy Spirit, our Comforter!  We know Him because He has been with us the whole time. 

    He is “Another," one who is like Jesus.  He is to be to us all that Jesus was to His disciples.  He is not limited to one location, but is with believers everywhere!  Jesus called Him “Another Comforter” or “Another just like Me!”  When we have questions, He is there to answer.  When we need guidance, He is there.  When we need comfort, He is ever near.  When we don’t know how to pray, He helps us.  He even makes intercession for us according to the will of God.  When we pray and lay hands on people, through the Holy Spirit it is as if Jesus is also laying His hands on them.  Jesus also promised, “I will come to you.”  Through the Holy Spirit Jesus has come to us, and soon, He will return for us at His Second Coming!

He is not a Stranger
    The Holy Spirit is the One who introduces us to Jesus.    He is involved in our lives even before conversion.  Jesus said: “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”  (John 16:8-11).

    The word used here, “to convict” means to reproves, convicts, or convinces.  The word used comes from a court of law and means to cross examine a person.  The meaning includes both obtaining an confession or acknowledgment and also convincing the person of a fact.  The Holy Spirit brings us face to fact with these spiritual realities in ways we cannot refute!  He convinces us of our sin, of Christ’s righteousness, and of the reality of judgment.  The essence of sin is unbelief, not believing in Jesus.  The “sins” we commit are the fruit of unbelief!  He makes us realize convinces us that Jesus is the Righteous One and the One who can make us righteous.  He makes us aware of judgment and danger of rejecting Christ.  He also shows us the answer!  He points us to the cross of Jesus where we find forgiveness and life.

■ Important point.  Two things are very important in leading a person to Christ.  First, we must pray for that person.  It has been said before anyone is won to Christ at an altar is that person is first won to Christ in someone’s prayer closet.  Often times when we pray in the Spirit we are not be aware of who or what we are praying for, but God is using our prayers to accomplish His will.  Next, the gospel must be proclaimed!  God has chosen by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.  The Word and Spirit work together in the human heart to bring a person to faith in Christ.

The Miracle of the New Birth
    Through faith the new believer is now justified by his faith in Christ, as if he had never sinned!  The Holy Spirit comes into the new believer's life as the Spirit of Christ  imprinting the loveliness of Jesus upon every fiber of believer's being.  (Romans 3:24; 5:9).  He comes as the Spirit of Adoption allowing us to call God our Father.  (Romans 8:9; Colossians 2:27).  He is the "earnest (or guarantee) of our inheritance" (Ephesians 1:14) giving a taste of the joy and powers of the world to come!  (Hebrews 6:4).  We know what it is like to stand accepted before a holy God in the righteousness of Christ!

■ Story.  There is a story about a person who came to church every day to pray.  He didn’t look like much, just a street person in rather shabby clothes.  The pastor, watching him come to pray day after day, became curious as to what he prayed.  So he found a place where he could eaves drop and listen to the prayers.  Each day he said the same prayer three times,“Jesus, this is Jim.  Jesus, this is Jim.  Jesus, this is Jim.”  Then he would leave.  One day someone came to the pastor and said, “Pastor, remember that street person that’s been hanging around?  Well, there’s been an accident.  He was hit by a car and is badly injured.  He’s at the hospital now.  The pastor rushed to the hospital and was admitted to see him.  To his surprise Jim was sitting up in bed with a glow on his face and a smile on his lips.  “Pastor, you can’t believe what happened.  I thought surely I was going to die, but Jesus came into my room.  He looked at me so wonderfully and said, ‘Jim, this is Jesus; Jim, this is Jesus; Jim, this is Jesus.’  And then He was gone.  It was wonderful!”  We each have our own unique experience in coming to Christ, but each is precious!

The Holy Spirit Creates a Thirst

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious” 1 Peter 2:1-3

    Discipleship begins with a thirst.  With conversion we are new babes in Christ, ready to grow, to learn, to assume our place in his family.  The Holy Spirit gives us a taste of God’s goodness that creates a tremendous thirst for more of God.  An oft quoted scripture in Proverbs has an amazing application to the new believer growth.

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”   Proverbs 22:6.

■ Definition and Illustration.  We all start our Christian walk as children.  The Holy Spirit is working to “train up” the new believer in the family of God.  The word translated “Train up” has the meaning of “to initiate or to dedicate.”  The root comes from a Hebrew word meaning “narrow” indicating that it includes setting boundaries.  The phrase “train up” in the original Hebrew speaks of the actions of a midwife who would dip her finger into crushed dates and then put it in the mouth of a newborn child. The purpose of this was to stimulate the infant’s thirst for milk. So drawing from this concept, we see that to “train up” a child means to create a thirst within him or her.  The Holy Spirit gives us a taste that the Lord is gracious, creating a thirst in us for God and the “pure milk of the word.”

The psalmist cried, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”   Psalms 34:8.

    You can study cookbooks, look a beautiful pictures of luscious meals, even listen to people describe how good something is, but until you taste it’s all theory!

“How sweet are Your words to my taste , Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”  Psalms 119:103-104

    We must allow the Holy Spirit to use us to create a hunger and thirst in people for the good Word of God!  Nothing can take the place of the Gospel preached with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven!  It’s more than education, it is experiencing God through His word!  God’s people hunger to hear His voice!

■ Story.  When I was the pastor of First Assemble in Seminole, Texas, we went through a time that everything was going well, but I just wasn’t satisfied with what was happening (or not happening) when I preached.  I was preaching good sermons, people were listening, at least somewhat.  Everyone seemed content, no problems, but I felt something was missing.  I was missing the excitement, the revival atmosphere, those times when everything is electrified.  When I sought the Lord about this, these words came to me, “My sheep know my voice and another they won’t hear.  What voice are they hearing through you when you preach?  Are they hearing the voice of the commentaries you’ve been reading, or the voice of the preacher you watched on TV on Saturday night, or do they hear my voice through you?”  Needless to say, this shook me.  So I started really praying and seeking to hear His voice myself and to allow Him to speak through me.  Soon I noticed something different was happening when I preached.  When that “second voice” started coming through, the congregation came alive.  The best I can describe it is to picture a flock of sheep in green pastures.  They are contented, daydreaming, chewing the cud, doing all the things that sheep do, then they hear the Shepherd’s voice.  You see their ears prick up, they raise their heads, then begin to stand and get excited, and start moving toward the Shepherd.  I could see this kind of response from the congregation as the leaned forward at their seats to listen, a few “amens” started ringing out, heads nodding and hands lifted.  People hunger to hear the Voice of Jesus!  The Holy Spirit opens the Word of God to us, just as Jesus did with His disciples.

“The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.”  Psalms 119:130

“Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  Luke 24:32

The Holy Spirit Sets boundaries
    This is part of the meaning of “Train Up, ” the “narrow” part.  Peter said to lay aside all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and all evil speaking.  The Holy Spirit sets boundaries for us and teaches us separation for evil.  Being a “Christ Follower” is a process of laying aside things that pertain to the old life and putting on things that pertain to the new life.  It is continually being renewed in Him.  Daily the believer is to “reckon himself dead to sin and alive to God.”  (Romans 6:11)

“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.  But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. . .And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”  Ephesians 4:17-32.

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”  Galatians 5:25

■ We must turn loose of hell if we are to gain heaven!
    We never earn or deserve God favor; God saves and blesses us solely on by grace on the merits of Christ.  But we must turn loose of trusting in ourselves to trust in His grace!  This is repentance!  Growth in the Lord requires a new way of life.
    ❖    Will you turn loose of lying to seize the truth?
    ❖    Are you willing to turn loose of unforgiveness to know the joy of a clean heart?
    ❖    Turn loose of anger to know the sweetness of love?
    ❖    Turn loose of the garbage to feast on the heavenly manna?
    ❖    Turn loose of lasciviousness that you might know the joy of purity and godly relationships?  Note: lust was in the world before the internet!
We must turn loose of self-righteousness to be clothed in the “Righteousness of Christ!” There is always a turning loose of the lesser to obtain the greater.

“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

The Holy Spirit Makes Us Ministers.

“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”  Acts 20:28

    It is the Holy Spirit who makes a person an overseer or pastor.  He is the One who calls and sends.  He speaks, guides, and assigns us our place of service.  He qualifies the minister, giving the minister the heart and character needed for the ministry.  He empowers, enables and equips through spiritual gifts.  Note the character of a pastor in the Apostle Paul’s example:

“But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.”  1 Thessalonians 2:7-8

“. . .as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”  1 Thessalonians 2:11-12

    Paul was both mother and father to the church!  A pastor must have that kind of sacrificial love for his church!

The Holy Spirit Directs and Guides

■ Story: On December 26, 1968, I quit my job at General Dynamics aircraft plant in Fort Worth and went full time as an evangelist.  I had one revival scheduled starting on New Year’s Eve.  After this revival I felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to go to Leesville, Louisiana, and look up a pastor I had met a couple of years before.  It was on a Wednesday.  We were driving through east Texas and I heard the Holy Spirit speak in my heart to turn off on a road I’d just past.  In my heart I head the Spirit tell me that there was a country church up this road that I was to preach at tonight.  I’d never been in here before.  I stopped and turned the car around.  June asked, “where are you going.”  I told her, “there is a country church up here that we are going to preach at tonight.”  As we went along the road I passed one church on the right but felt the Spirit say, “that’s not the one.”  After driving a bit further we came to a church on the left side of the road call “Highway Tabernacle.”  I felt the witness that this was the church.  We got ready in the car, and after a while an elderly lady came and unlocked the church.  We went in an begin to get acquainted with folks as they came in.  After a while the pastor came in and I introduced myself.  He said, “you are preaching tonight!”  Well, even though I already knew that I was surprised a bit.  When he was introducing me to speak he said, “When I was praying before the service asking God what I was to preach the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “you are not preaching tonight, I’m sending someone to preach.”  Needless to say we had a great service and they received a great offering for us.  The next day we continued to Leesville.  When I knocked on the pastor’s door, he answered and said, “You are two weeks late.  We’ve been praying for revival for two weeks.  Come on in here and we will get on the phone and start revival tomorrow night!  After starting the month with only one revival I ended up preaching twenty-nine times in the month of January!  God leads His servants and opens doors!

■ Story:  Prophecy at Seminole.  When I was pastor of First Assembly of God at Seminole, Texas, in the 1980s God gave me a wonderful confirmation on a sermon.  I had felt led to prepare a sermon addressing the “works of the flesh” from Galatians 5:19-21.  This was a heavy sermon.  The service that morning was very upbeat, a real celebration mood.  I wondered if I had the wrong sermon.  When I was thinking about switching to something I bowed my head and silently breathed a prayer, “Lord, am I to preach this message today?  I never said anything out loud.  A dear sister stood to her feet and said, “Thus saith the Lord, my son, preach the message I gave you.  I am going to use it to do a work in the live of the people today.”  All I could say was, “Yes Sir!”  I had great attention as I delivered the message.  The Holy Spirit still speaks and guides!

The Holy Spirit Shares His Heart With Us.
    He gives dreams and visions.  He shares possibilities with us.  We must act by faith to see these come to pass.  We have the stewardship of this ministry and must act according to our faith.  Nothing is impossible to the person who believes!  When you have a great vision, you will have great trials!  But if you will allow Him to fill your mind with His dreams for you, and have faith in God, you will see great things happen!

He Gives Power
    He give special fillings and gifts of the Spirit for every time of need.  Acts 4:8 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit. . .”  He still works through the mighty gifts of the Spirit: Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Discerning of Spirits, Gift of Faith, Working of Miracles, Gifts of Healings, Prophecies, Utterances of Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues.  Nothing is impossible with God!  He is a miracle working God!

    We are not orphans.  We have one with us that shares whatever He hears in heaven, calls us to holiness and righteousness, teaches us the truths of God’s Word, reveals Christ to us in all His loveliness, speaks to us, guides, helps, empowers, and makes heaven real in our lives!  We are never orphans!  He will guide through every struggle and empower for every task!