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The Work of God the Holy Spirit
"O gives thanks unto the LORD, for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
1) They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
2) Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore He brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.
3) Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and He saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.
4) They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" Psalm 107
In this Psalm you find the work of God first with the nation of Israel. It is very significant to note the way in which God deals with this nation. What we will look attentively to in this Psalm is the Work of God the Holy Spirit in the salvation of Israel, but more specifically with a sinner, of whom this portion of Scripture also can be interpreted. This Psalm, show in such a clear and beautiful way, the work and method of the Holy Spirit in saving a sinner, and the things that accompany true salvation. This is very important to look at these very elements that one may truly comprehend God’s approach, work and method in salvation and deliverance.
Today more than ever in an increasing way we must know and be acquainted with the way and method of God the Holy Spirit than ever before because there is powers at work in these last days that is busy through deception to replace the work of Christ, the Holy Spirit and is setting up a god that have all the same language but a different outcome and effect of live and true godliness. Few can even discern these realities at work in the name of Christ and under the umbrella of the Holy Spirit, posing as the blessed Holy Spirit but is not at all.
We need to definitely know and are acquainted with the Work, method, character etc, of the Holy Spirit. Whatever we can we must know the true from the false and how can we know the truth if we don’t know what to look for. If you would try to know the truth and seek after it how will you be able to discern if you have never come to know the truth and been taught in and have been established in the truth. And this is the real dilemma. Few know the truth and have been taught in the truth.
"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.
For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. “Hebrews 13:9
That is, they should have settled and fixed points of belief, and not yield to every new opinion which was started. Some dwell only in the realm of intellectual endeavor that they think this is what faith and knowing God all about.
A religious opinion, once embraced on what was regarded as good evidence, or in which we have been trained, should not be abandoned for slight causes. Truth indeed should always be followed, but it should be only after careful inquiry. When a man is thrown into trials and temptations, he ought to have some settled principles on which he can rely; some fixed points of belief that will sustain his soul.
"...For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace" The TRUE work of Grace is what is needed today. Hebrews 13 tells us that the heart must be established with grace and not with divers and different doctrines and teachings. The more the church learns the more she departs from True Grace. Where there is only an increase in knowledge, there also is an increase in pride and arrogance. "...we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." (1 Cor 8:1) The word used here for "puffeth up" means "to inflate, to blow up, to cause to swell up, be proud..." Mere increase in knowledge increase man's heads and ego's to become inflated and cause men to think more about themselves than thy should. What is noteworthy is the fact that if true knowledge of God increases, which is shown in love towards God there is "edification." The word use here means to build up or to erect a building and give the essence to promote growth in Christ like wisdom, affection, grace, virtue, holiness and blessedness. Just the opposite occurs in the growth of the heart. The more true knowledge of God increases in one's life the more there is the mind and heart of Christ.
The more people learn today even the more arrogant and self-righteous many become. The more knowledge increases, the more slackness and carelessness of life and worldly many become. Growth and Increase in True knowledge leads one back to real brokenness and submission. True grace is found only in a heart that has been dealt with by the Spirit in the transforming work of the cross of Christ. Today the cross of Christ and what it stands for is being mocked and neglected. Few know it by heart. Many posses knowledge of the things of God, but few know the very reality of what it points to. Many speak about the Holy Spirit and His power, but very few know His transforming power that makes one more heavenly minded than earthly bound. Many speak about the Spirit of Christ and His guidance, but few shares Christ's life in reality!
We need to know the true grace of God today and the way we can be established in it. Peter said, “I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand. “ (1 Peter 5:12) This means that there are some that does not stand or even are in the grace of God. There is a false grace, a grace that does not accomplish what the true grace of God accomplishes. Jude says that some have change the grace of God into unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness and shamelessness. They turn it to mean something it does not. They change it to mean that one can know God but still remain lawless, that one can boast in the cross of Christ, but still live in practice as enemies of that selfsame cross, in a life of sin, as if God’s grace overlooks it or even ignores it so that it does not trouble God in any way. This is the very aspect that we need to identify when we speak about the Holy Spirit’s work and way in salvation that will distinguish Him and His work from the spirit of error posing himself as the Holy Spirit.
“For there are certain men crept in unawares,
who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. “(Jude 4)
The Holy Spirit at work in man never leaves sin untouched. God hates all sin, and because God is Love He hates evil. Let me explain it like this: I love marriage therefore I hate divorce, I love children therefore I hate abortion. I can never truly love marriage and permit divorce. If I truly love babies, I will hate abortion, because it destroys what I love. For God to be love He must hate what is against love, otherwise God can never be love. He loves righteousness and therefore He hates unrighteousness.
We find this characteristic of the Holy Spirit in His work distinguishing Him from other workings posing as the Spirit of Christ. Let us look to it in this Psalm. You see this quality of the Spirit and His Work and methods clearly in this Psalm (107):
Note its beginning: Grace
See the workings of God creating the need
Bring a heart cry out
Always deliverance out of
Always a leading to opposites
Before anything else verse one and two conveys the very essence of the work of God the Holy Spirit in something so insightful that it should be established among the redeemed. In the light of God’s salvation and redemption, this is where it all started. It was all because of this that there could have ever been such a work done among men. Some think and teach that salvation happens because of the worth of man. They say that man is precious that’s why God purposed to save man. It all has to do with the worth of men. Although this may sound quite good and may stir man to some kind of personal worth that one ought to think more highly about himself as many do, this is not the truth. God did not and does not redeem man because he is so precious and worthy! This is not the case. The only worth does not lie in man’s worth but wholly in something else. Man’s worth is only estimated by the price Christ has set forth in redeeming unworthy, unthankful enemies of God.
It has nothing to do about man’s abilities or worth or value but it has everything to do with God’s mercy and grace and through the One by which God could bestow it upon a God forgotten and God hating humanity. This is where salvation originates from, not from man’s preciousness or worth but from God’s mercy set forth in Christ. "...For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) There is nothing in any man that stirred any reason that God decided to make man the object of His mercy.
“Understand, then, that it
is not because of your righteousness or your integrity
that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess,
for you are a stiff-necked people. “Deut 9:5,
Today's gospel is not out and out based on this important fact. Man's worth is being set forth as if although he needs change, it's not at all so important. Man's very nature are sometimes portraits as good and not to bad and even his self worth and image - the way he sees himself - must be improved by the gospel. This may seem to fit many people, but this is in no way the truth of Scripture portraying man's true state and nature. Man's problem does not lie in his head and merely in the way he sees himself! It does not lie in his thoughts about himself and God as if changing ones thoughts to have more self worth and to think only better and positively, one can change his own world! This is another gospel! This is so far from the truth. It's not ones thoughts that need to altar its man's heart that needs to be dealt with! Man's thoughts are only a by-product of the heart. Heart and thought are not the same thing! Jesus said: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31, 32) Jesus deals with this error solemnly in Mark 7:21
"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness,
an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man." (22-23).
What many are being taught is not the Words of Christ, but those of antichrist. Doesn't Proverbs 23:7 says "...For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" so that changing the thought changes the man? No, far from the truth! Man is not what he thinks he is but he is what he thinks! His thoughts do not determine the man, but shows what kind of man he really is. It is a barometer of the soul! It cannot change the man; it can only reveal the heart of the man! Changing one's thoughts cannot change one's personality or life. Those that belief you can change your world by changing your thoughts needs to be confronted with this widely accepted error! Many today preach a gospel that is based on merely changing ones thought and profession, reject negativity and began to think positively about life, self esteem, your finances, etc. These things do not deliver man from sin. What one thinks doesn’t change you; it only reveals what you truly are. Paul emphasizes this in Romans 8:5
"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit."
Your thoughts reveal if you are "fleshly" or "spiritual." It only reveals in what state the heart is. It is "out of the heart" that "evil thoughts" proceeds. (Mark 7:21) That’s why changing my thoughts and thinking and understanding things better cannot by itself change me; it is my heart that is the problem.
But God's work doesn't originate with man. It originates with God Himself, His mercy to all men. All the religions in the world is based on man seeking to appease God. But the true gospel is wholly based on God seeking man. We have a God that seeks man. All other religions is based on man approaching God, but here you have God approaching man. In all other religions of the world you find man trying to appease their gods by sacrifices, worships, feasts, etc. But what is most noteworthy is the real essence of God's revelation, for without this man will not give the praise that is due only to Him. "O gives thanks unto the LORD, for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever"
It is the truth that God is a loving reconciler God! Man's salvation does not begins with man seeking God, but with God seeking man, to reconcile man to Himself, it is not man doing the reconciliation in offers and works to appease God, but God who works reconciliation for man.
"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them..." (2 Cor 5:18-19)
Any work that starts with man is not God's work. Any work that focuses more on man's actions is void of true praise to God. We have in the work of God, God reconciling, working, man's redemption to the very last detail. When Paul states these things, he talked about the new creature. Some still fancy themselves that their reconciling to God, past, present and even future is the product of their acts of appeasing God. But truth is it is God who is the seeker, the loving reconciler, to reconcile the world to Himself!
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)
"...Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou..." (Genesis 3:8-9)
"...My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." John 5:17
"We love him, because he first loved us... “1 John 4:19
What we find in this Psalm is God’s work in the salvation of man. You will find all praise to God for His mercy and kindness which He bestows on all men, without any exception.
“The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. “ Psalm 145:9
Furthermore what follows this is God at work in creating the need whereby man will be brought to that sacred ground on which He will meet the man. Read this Psalm again and you will find God working salvation portraits in four different areas or spheres of life. Thus God works in all spheres so to bring man to that point where man will “cry unto Him”. Without this HEART cry there is no deliverance. Please read this passage again, what you find is God’s work in real salvation. In all cases mentioned in this Psalm portraying God’s deliverance, you will find each and every time in all spheres of different conditions, God’s salvation and deliverance are always “OUT OF” the condition man was held in. What’s even more astounding is what follows after man is delivered out of their bondage, read this passage again and you will find there is always a leading away to opposites. “He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation” God does not deliver out of the bondage of sin to leave man to remain in the same bondage. He bringeth man out to lead them forth, as Israel, out of the house of bondage, out of Egypt BY THE RIGHT WAY and into Canaan, INTO their true dwelling place – Christ Jesus our Lord! He leads one away from the old and into the new liberty to be sons – to serve in the newness of the Spirit!
“Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God,
ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Romans 6:22
This is the work of God the Holy Spirit in salvation. Do you know this work of God in your own life and experience? Do you have the Holy Spirit, if you do, you will be partakers of this gracious work of God in Christ!
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Romans 8:9
Note its beginning: Grace
See the workings of God creating the need
Bring a heart cry out
Always deliverance out of
Always a leading to opposites
May God bless you richly through His Word!