2nd Timothy #3:
Chapter One
Yesterday,
We read about Paul admonishing Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God" (2 Tim. 1:6 NIV). Here he is talking about the Holy Spirit, Whom Timothy had received at his conversion/regeneration.
Today,
I want to talk about how we can join Timothy in "fanning into flame the gift of God." Here Paul is talking about fully working under the control of the Holy Spirit Who is Indwelt in every "regenerate" believer.
Here is a Powerful Truth for each of us to consider!
First: The Holy Spirit is Fully God!
Therefore:
1. God is Triune. Meaning He manifests Himself in Plurality as three Person in One Supernatural Being. God is multidimensional, He is not limited to the confines of one personality or one manifestation of Himself.
2. The Eternal God is:
a. Beyond the dimension of time and space.
b. Beyond the natural order.
c. Beyond fully knowing.
d. Beyond any limitation except that which He imposed on Himself. He is the only Being in the universe that is absolutely free. 3. God is One in His indivisible essence manifested in Three Persons.
4. "The divine nature is distinguished from the human nature in that it can subsist wholly and indivisibly in more than one person." Louis Berkhof.
Therefore:
1. The Holy Spirit's power is unlimited.
2. The Holy Spirit's wisdom is unlimited.
3. The Holy Spirit's resources are unlimited.
4. The Holy Spirit's love for us in Christ is unlimited.
5. The Holy Spirit's compassion for us in Christ is unlimited.*
* "Eye hath not see, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him" (1 Cor. 2;9 KJV).
A. W. Pink, "How often this passage is quoted only that far; how rarely are the words added, "But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit" (1 Cor. 2:10 KJV). Why is this? Is it because so few of God's people search out and enjoy what the Spirit has revealed in the Word about those things God has prepared for them that love Him? If we were more occupied with God's riches than with our poverty, Christ's fullness than our emptiness, the divine bounties than our leanness, on what a different plane of experience we would live!"
Second: We Must Learn To Yield/Surrender To The Holy Spirit!
1. Jesus told the disciples, "All this I have spoken while still with you. But, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you" (John 14:25-26 NIV).
2. Sin will "devitalize" the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life. The Holy Spirit (Being All God) will not fellowship with a man who is in willful sin. God's Spirit will convict, rebuke, correct a believer in sin, but not have full fellowship. Willful sin poison's every relationship in a believer's life, especially his relationship with and power received from "abiding" in the power of the Holy Spirit.
3. Sin has been forgiven. But, the life enriching power of the Holy Spirit (in our lives) takes a willing and submissive believer (combined with the Almighty Power of the Holy Spirit) to slowly remove sin's power in our lives.
4. Listen to the 18th Century British Cleric Samuel Pike wrote regarding "grieving Holy Spirit,
We must indeed acknowledge, that the Lord may, for wise and holy ends, withdraw from his people those comforts and quickenings which they have been favored with, and that without any immediate respect unto any particular sin or sins committed by them. Sometimes this withdrawment is rather for the prevention of sin, or for the discovery of sin, than as a punishment for it.
But generally divine withdrawments are in consequence of some iniquity, whereby the Holy Spirit has been grieved; and it is the duty and business of every gracious soul, when he finds himself deprived of these tokens of divine love, which he hath usually enjoyed, to ask this serious question, "Why does the Lord contend with me?"
And on all such occasions he has reason to suspect himself, as being the proper cause of his complaints. Thus the holy Psalmist seems to maintain a godly jealousy over himself, when he says,
Ps. 139:24. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
To "fan the flame of the Holy Spirit," we must first rid ourselves of all sin. Otherwise, our walk will be anemic, powerless, fearful and prone to anxiety and desperation,especially in times like we are living in today.
The Lesson for today is this: Examine yourselves to see if there is unrepentant sin in your heart and rid your self of it as to allow the sweet wind of the Holy Spirit to Flow. For you need Him!
May God Richly Bless you My Beloved,
Pastor Brad
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