Episode 58 - The Holy Spirit and Discipleship

Perhaps the most misunderstood member of the Godhead is the Holy Spirit.  Yet the Holy Spirit plays a critical role in the life and growth of a disciple.  We cannot be successful in our role without the Holy Spirit guiding us.  

I invite you to listen as in this episode we look at some of the elements of the Holy Spirit and how He helps us grow spiritually.  He does so in more ways than we know.

I invite you to follow our podcast and share it with others as together we walk with our Master.

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Transcript

Hello friends, I'm your host Dave Laton and welcome to the podcast, Walking With Our Master, an outreach of the Prattville Church of Christ designed to inform, encourage, and teach as we daily walk with our Master. 

 We are continuing our series on Applied Discipleship ~ More Than You Know.  We’re looking at different elements of what it means to be a disciple of Christ.  

 When I was going through cancer treatment, I learned a valuable lesson.  I found out that I was not alone.  To many going through cancer treatment or other debilitating illnesses, it is easy to feel that, as they face the treatments, they face them alone.  This is quickly overcome as we realize that we have a tremendous number of medical staff and others focused on helping us win the battle. It was a lesson I learned and rejoiced in every day. 

The Apostles and early disciples felt this fear of being left alone as Jesus relayed that He soon would be departing from them.  To comfort them and to perhaps give them courage to continue, He promised that God’s Holy Spirit would be with them.

Sometimes, in our service as disciples, we may feel we are alone or perhaps part of a small community of believers.  This is a mistaken view.  We have God our Father, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God, and each other.  Paul spoke to this in Romans 8:31, with the question, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  The Hebrew writer described it as being surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1).  The witnesses the writer speaks of are those who have gone before us and faced incredible challenges to their faith and faithfulness.  And today, like those spoken of in Hebrews 12, we too are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses as we see the faith and faithfulness of our fellow disciples.  We can draw strength and encouragement from them.  By the way, if you are a disciple of our Lord, be like Barnabas of old and be an encourager.  We’re going to explore Barnabas in a later episode.  He’s one of my favorite early church examples of faithful discipleship.

In this episode we will explore a bit about how the Holy Spirit works in our lives to help us develop our knowledge of Jesus and to spiritually mature as His disciples.  I think perhaps  of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, is the most misunderstood and least acknowledged.  When we understand how the Spirit works, it helps us remain committed to serving and growing as disciples.  It also helps us tune in to the Spirit’s teaching and guidance.  It helps us understand that indeed, we are not alone.

God’s Spirit has been part of man’s history from creation and continues to be with us today.  Sometimes we fail to fully recognize His role and importance.  But we simply cannot function as disciples without the Holy Spirit active in our lives. 

Like a study of the life and teachings of Jesus, a complete study of the Holy Spirit is a life-time study that continues to richly reward us as we learn. Let’s begin with a brief explanation of who the Holy Spirit is.

The Holy Spirit is part of God and was a part of creation.  He has a distinctive role and purpose today as guide and teacher.  

Jesus was referred to as teacher throughout the Gospels showing us that this was a major element of His earthly ministry, how He was seen, and what he did.  The Holy Spirit extended the ministry of Jesus.

Another dimension of the Holy Spirit’s role is to bear witness to the truth about Jesus and to lead His disciples to the truth.  Jesus stated this in John 16:13.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

 The truth Jesus speaks of (and the Holy Spirit shows) is objective, not subjective, based on Himself and God the Father. An objective view is based on clearly observable information and authority.  This differs from a subjective view, which is based on a personal perspective or preference and often based on emotion rather than fact.  

 The Holy Spirit never contradicts God’s revelation in scripture, thereby removing subjectivity.  Some argue you can interpret scripture as you wish, but God’s word is not contradictory or subjective.

 Another role of the Holy Spirit is to remind us of the teachings of Jesus as recorded in scripture.  We learn and apply the principles and teachings of Jesus as we serve as disciples.  Perhaps this is another reason Jesus used everyday examples to illustrate His teachings.  We see this in the object lessons from the sermon on the mount, and the many parables Jesus taught.

 Not only does the Holy Spirit help us understand what to do as disciples but also encourages us to follow through.

II Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

 Psalm 19:9-11 - “the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”

 As we grow spiritually, we learn to recognize the presence of God’s Spirit working in our life.   Let’s shift a little bit now and look at how the Holy Spirit is directly involved in our spiritual growth.

The first avenue through which the Holy Spirit works in our spiritual growth is indirectly through those that teach us.  Today, God’s way to reveal His will is through scripture and those that teach us.  Their role is to show His truth to others.  This is another role as disciples that we may not be aware of as we begin our journey as disciples.

 Matthew 28:18-20, Making disciples for Jesus, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey is accomplished through teachers.

 2 Corinthians 4:5-7 – Paul teaches that we are vehicle through which God’s word is taught to show God’s power and glory.

 2 Timothy 2:2 – Paul told Timothy, and us by extension to take his teachings and teach others, who will in turn teach others.

 While it is true that all Christians are to be teachers, some are specifically gifted by the Holy Spirit with teaching abilities.  Teaching others is so critical that those who teach God’s will are held to a higher standard by God.  Teachers especially must become aware of and sensitive to the Spirit’s influence as they study, prepare, and perform their roles.  Teaching is also listed in Ephesians 4:12 to equip disciples for service as we encourage the Body of Christ.

Another area of the Holy Spirit’s work is in our role as learners.  In a later episode we will look closer at learning.  But for now, learning involves acquiring and applying knowledge and skills.  Learning has not taken place unless the change is observable.  No matter how gifted or spiritual a teacher may be, spiritual growth will not take place unless the learner allows the Holy Spirit to work in our heart to change us into becoming who God wants us to be.  As disciples we must have an open heart to the Holy Spirit as we continue to learn.  

Let’s look at how this happens.  

One way is through Enlightenment – Perhaps the most exciting and motivating aspect of spiritual growth is when our eyes are opened to an element of God’s truth.  This is done through the Holy Spirit helping us grow to maturity.  It is often described as a candle lighting up a dark room or the sun rising to remove the darkness of night.  Darkness is often associated with a lack of knowledge where light is associated with gaining knowledge.

Another way is through continuing to learn – We continue to learn and grow beyond our basic understanding.  Again, the Holy Spirit helps us grow to greater levels of understanding and maturity.  The enlightenment we initially felt expands into the full brightness of understanding.

We also apply our knowledge in our life – It does no good to just become aware of something, we must put it into action and live as God wishes us to (James 2:22-25).  This also serves to reinforce our expanding knowledge of God’s will for our life.

And finally, we continue to involve ourselves in discipling.  As we discussed in an earlier episode, discipleship involves action.  As a minimum, we are encouraged as disciples to associate with one another on a continual basis.  We help them grow and stay faithful as disciples.  This is what “discipling” means; going beyond making a disciple to now helping them grow spiritually.  This was seen in the phenomenal growth of the early church.  The early Christians continued to gain and apply the teachings of Jesus.  They were led in this through the teachings of the apostles as they were inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit.

God never forces His will on us.  Rather, He grants us understanding and gives us the choice to accept it and grow or to reject it.  The Holy Spirit works in this process to bring together the elements of God’s word, a teacher’s desire, knowledge and abilities, and our open and willing heart.  But again, God does not force us.  The choice to accept or reject is ours.

Each of us as disciples must be seekers.  We must continue to seek deeper understanding and application of God’s will. We must be open to the quiet still voice that speaks to us as we seek to grow in all areas of our lives.  That voice is the Holy Spirit working to help us remain faithful and grow.  When we do, we grow and learn more than we know. 

 As I stated earlier, this is not a complete explanation of the Holy Spirit.  We will not fully understand the Spirit in this life time.  But we can study and begin to understand the all important role of God’s Spirit and begin to see it working in our life.  There is more to this relationship than we know.

 As I begin to wrap up this episode, I offer some questions to help us better understand the role the Holy Spirit plays in our discipleship.

How do you describe the Holy Spirit?

What is a major role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians?

Why was it important for the Holy Spirit to remain active in the lives of Christians?

Why is the role of a teacher of God's word important?

Describe the process of the Holy Spirit in the lives of learners.

In our next episode we will look at the importance of learning as a disciple.

I'm your host Dave Laton.  Thank you for joining me in this podcast.  I hope you will continue to do so. If you wish to share with me something from your walk with our Master or you would like to learn more, please email me at: walkingwithourmaster@gmail.com.

 I invite you to follow our podcast and share it with others as together we walk with our Master.  And until next time, remember, we give all glory to God the Father.