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Series: Holy Spirit

Sun am 26 January 2014 – Kobus Swart

Isa. 66:1-2; John 14:16-23; Gen. 8:9; Matt. 10:16; Eph. 4:30-32; (John 16:8); Rom. 8:14

This word has the potential to further equip all of us in the finer detail of having a walk with God. Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word (Isa. 66:1-2). Does it sound possible that the Creator is looking for a place to stay? Becoming a home for Him is what it is all about.

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him (John 14:16-23). Father, Son and Holy Spirit are never separate from each other. What should His home be like? Jesus found a place in Bethany at the house of Lazarus with his two sisters, because of the atmosphere. I want the Holy Spirit to be very welcome in this household. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ. They are One! And they want to come and make Their abode with us. The Godhead never works separately. The Holy Spirit is not just God’s messenger, the Holy Spirit is God. Every quality belonging to God the Almighty is also attributed to the Holy Spirit. He is God in contact with His creatures. Every act of God is done by all three Persons. How can you separate Them? God is never present without the other two.

The Turtle Dove intrigues me. It has the most peaceful sound, a sound of innocence. Jesus said, be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matt. 10:16). Innocent can mean harmless, guile-less and without falsity.

AS the flood began to subside in the days of Noah, he released a dove from the Ark: The dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again. (Gen. 8:9-12). The Bible uses these symbols for a reason. When Jesus was baptized, in all four of the gospels the story is repeated, After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him (Matt. 3:16). I am talking about staying in harmony with God; walking in a sensitive relationship with Him.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you (Eph. 4:30-32). What grieves the Holy Spirit? These qualities mentioned in verse 30! You cannot afford not to forgive; you are the one who will suffer. You must walk with a constant forgiving spirit, just as God in Christ has forgiven you. Don’t let the “Dove” lift from you.

When you feel a sudden disruption in your sensitive relationship with God, stop right there, set it right, or else it can you become more and more insensitive. When you do something wrong, the Holy Spirit never condemns, but He will convict you of sin, righteousness and judgement (John 16:8). We need an unbroken fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

We need the sensitivity to stop in the middle of a sentence when we feel a ‘check’ from the Holy Spirit not to finish that sentence. We need to be sensitive enough to be arrested in our tracks. How many have written an angry letter and you hear a still small voice saying, “Do not write this letter”? Can we become so sensitive that we know when the Spirit of God is saying, “Don’t!” Do not scare the “Dove”; do not grieve the Spirit of God. Stop and listen when the Holy Spirit speaks. You may have all the latest apostolic revelations, but if you do not have this kind of walk, you are missing something big.