What happens if the Holy Spirit leaves me?
Judges 14:5-6 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his
father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a
young lion came roaring toward
him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, so that he
tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he
did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
As we return to story of Samson we encounter a statement in
verse 6 that deserves our attention so that we can understand the ministry of
the 3rd person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.
It is amazing to witness the incredible strengths of Samson,
which we will deal with in more detail as we go into this story, however, take
a moment to pause and if you’ve seen any video of lions in the wild or
if you’ve
ever been to the zoo, that allows you a close-up view of a lion, it is hard to
imagine how a man could tear an animal of that power and size the way that
Samson did! Why Samson did not tell his mother and father is not stated, so we
will not try to answer that.
We do encounter a statement in verse 6 that would be good for
us to discuss; “the spirit of the Lord
came upon him.” This is the term that
is used in the Old Testament to describe the interaction between the Old
Testament saint and the Holy Spirit of God. It is different from the ministry
and interaction Holy Spirit has with believers during the Church age. When the
Holy Spirit would come upon a person the outcome would look the same as when
the Holy Spirit “fills” a New Testament believer.
Basically the Holy Spirit takes control of the person and will do
through them what the desire of God is. This can be anything from, as in this
case, physical power to boldness in speech or willpower to resist
temptation. The difference between
what happens to the Old Testament believer and to the believer today is that
the Holy Spirit will not depart from a believer today; in the Old Testament the
Holy Spirit could come upon and then leave at His will.
It is important that we have a thorough understanding of the
wonderful blessing of the ministry of the Holy Spirit for all believers in this
age. The Old Testament saint was at a great disadvantage in comparison to the
blessings that God has bestowed upon us. The Old Testament saint could
experience the departure of the Holy Spirit and would be left again at the
mercy of the flesh. This is why David prayed the way he did in Psalm 51:
Psalm 51:10–11 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And
renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And
do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
The New Testament believer never
has to fear that experience; so as you can see, my title was a deliberate ploy
to get you to read. I did that because after 4 decades of ministry, I have been
astounded at the number of children of God that still believe they can lose
their connection to the Holy Spirit as far as relationship is concerned. At the moment of salvation the Holy
Spirit becomes one with that individual forever. The works of the Holy Spirit
in the believer’s life are multi-faceted and they are worth looking at them
again.
At the moment of salvation the Holy Spirit is:
The Regenerator -
God Creates A New Nature in you
Titus 3:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we
have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit
2 Pet. 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious
and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
God does not try and rework the old nature; He just discards it
because it was crucified with Christ. This does not mean it is eradicated, what
it means is that the old nature no longer has the right to rule you. You can
yield to its control, but it no longer can command you.
The “Baptizer”
–
Places you into the Body of Christ
1 Cor. 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into
one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made
to drink of one Spirit.
The original word simply means to place into, immerse or dip.
Some have tried to make this word mean a special enduing of power. It does not
mean that, nor is this a work that happens as a “second blessing” accompanied by some
special sign. This is a simple but essential work. The Holy Spirit places each
believer into the Body of Christ with spiritual gifts given to them
individuality to use for the glory of God and the edifying of the Body of
Christ.
The “Sealer”
- Marked With Ownership
Ephesians 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the
message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were
sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise
2 Corinthians 1:21–22 Now He who establishes us with you
in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in
our hearts as a pledge.
We belong to God and the Holy Spirit is our seal of ownership.
No power, no demonic being…nothing can touch us without having the
permission from God first.
The “Adopter”
- Placed in the Family of God
Romans 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery
leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by
which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
Galatians 4:6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
We have been made a part of the family of God and are joint
heirs with Christ. No longer spiritually orphaned!
The last two works are empowerments.
As the “Indweller” He Abides “IN” You
forever –
He empowers you to have the ability
to choose to live the Christian Life.
1 Cor. 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely
given to us by God,
1 Cor. 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
This work is all His, this gives every believer the ability to
experience a victorious spiritual life; it does not guarantee it.
Remember we never had free will. That was lost in the garden.
Adam had free will; but after the fall all humans are born with a nature that loves
to sin. So free will does not exist, our will is effected by our fallen nature
and desires to sin.
Romans 6:12–14 Do
not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not
let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead,
give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new
life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory
of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the
requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
Yet, we still had enough free choice to make a decision to seek
for truth, and when we find it, decide how to react to it. If we choose Christ
our freedom of choices expands greatly.
Now that the Holy Spirit has indwelt you, you can choose to
obey the new nature He placed in you at regeneration.
This is where the last and continuous work of the Holy Spirit
takes place.
He is the “Filler” and desires to control you and lead
you to live righteous and obediently toward the Lord.
Just for fun when you think of the Holy Spirit filling you, how
would you finish this sentence?
"It Is Not A Matter Of Me Getting More Of The Holy Spirit,
But ____________________________________!
What does it mean to be filled?
Ephesians 5:18
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the
Spirit
Consider what the difference is between being Drunk vs. being Filled.
When you are drunk it means you have an over abundance of
alcohol in you. The outcome is the alcohol controls you.
When you are Filled, you do not get more of the Spirit, He gets
more of you! The outcome is the Spirit controls you.
Difference:
Drunk – You get more of the alcohol in you.
Filled – The Holy Spirit is allowed to get more of you.
Each time you choose to obey God you are yielding to the Spirit’s
control.
Each time you choose to yield your thoughts to God you are
yielding to the Spirit’s control.
This is a constant battle – it is NEVER settled once and for all, we
must yield Daily
Galatians 5:16–17
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what
your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just
the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are
the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly
fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
Filling happens when you simply yield yourself to God –
your future plans, your ego, your desires. The more you give in to Him the
deeper you will experience His presence.
Romans 8:7-8 For
the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and
it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful
nature can never please God.
Complete The Sentence; "It Is Not A Matter Of Me Getting
More Of The Spirit, But Of Him Getting More Of Me!"
The outcome is Christ likeness and is expressed in the Fruit of
the Spirit.
Have you thanked God the father and God the Son for sending the
Spirit of God to indwell you? Are you now allowing Him to control you? If not,
why? What should you do about that?
posted by Blogology - Nathan Leigh @ 9:09 PM
9 Comments
9 Comments:
Thanks for this, Pastor. I remember the early ears of my conversion when I used to doubt my salvation and then I'd read that verse about Samson, and I'd be even more afraid. Now, I stand by the Truth of His Word, and I know that God will never leave me to my own devices, and nothing can snatch me from the Father's hand. God bless!
-Bart from CCF
Its a good read but there could be a better way to say that part that says " then the H.S controls a person" (the HolySpirit is gentle he wouldnt control anyone as God has given us freewill. Nonetheless was blessed by reading this
Dear Anonymous,
I understand what you are saying, but I would encourage you to reconsider your terminology. I used to teach that we had free will, but after deeper study of Scripture and what our words mean, I realized I had been guilty of a miscommunication concerning our condition. Since the fall man does not have "free will" - to have a will that is free - it cannot be enslaved. Scripture makes it clear that since the fall all humans are bond slaves to sin. If your will is free you would not have a desire to sin. Adam had no desire to sin because he had a will that was free. But after he sinned all humans inherited a sin nature. We do not have a sin nature because we sin; we sin because we have a sin nature. We still have the ability to make free choices, but our will is affected by our sin nature, so it is not free. Jesus had a free will because He was sinless, but from the moment sin entered Adam and Eve, every human has been born with a propensity to sin. My flesh is naturally drawn to it. That impacts my will. If I truly had free will I could walk past a playboy and not feel a draw toward it, or be hurt and not desire revenge. That has never been true for me, nor the thousands of people I have dealt with in counseling for the past 38 years. However, I believe very much in free choice and our accountability because of it. As you stated, God is gentle, but more than that, God is generous. Being God He could make us do what He wants, but He has given us the stewardship of free choice. Most of the time He allows us to make our own decisions and deal with the consequences. There is the occasional Jonah in the Scripture, where his free choice was trumped by God’s purpose. I have found it more beneficial to disciple believers to understand that their will id tainted by sin nature and that is why they need to remain vigilant in being filled by the Spirit of God. He desires to control us, not in a dictatorial way, but in a guiding way. Thanks for your comment!
Amen!! Thanks for the comment - it is encouraging.
Amen God bless you Pastor Nate
The "free will" that most claim to have is not really free at all for it is enslaved to sin. The only freedom this "free will" has is when it freely wills to sin.
Thanks Nate.
Thank You Pastor Nate for this great article. I have always thought that free-will is a logical explanation on why we came to God or why we became a Christian.I am surprised that alot of people still cling to this belief that We chose God out of our own free-will.However how can a dead person (spiritually) choose God? He cannot unless God moves first and rescues you.
As you go deeper in understanding the Bible. Man’s heart is “deceitful and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). The Bible also teaches us that man is born dead in transgression and sin (Psalm 51:5, Psalm 58:3, Ephesians 2:1-5). The Bible teaches that because unregenerate man is “dead in transgressions” (Ephesians 2:5), he is held captive by a love for sin (John 3:19; John 8:34) so that he will not seek God (Romans 3:10-11) because he loves the darkness (John 3:19) and does not understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Marting Luther was right Mans will is in Bondage.
Hey
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