Why Did Jesus Send Us the Holy Spirit?

John 16:7

George E. Hicks

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781098087708
• eBook ISBN: 9781098087715

When I was pastoring a church in Canada, one of the members came to me, asking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He said that he had heard a lot of teaching about the Trinity, explanations about God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ), but very little about the Holy Spirit. When the subject of the Holy Spirit came up, the teaching was vague and very limited. As a result, he didn't understand what the Holy Spirit did. He knew that the Holy Spirit was part of the Trinity and was more or less God, but what did the Holy Spirit do? He didn't have the slightest idea.

The purpose of this book is not to write a thesis on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I want it to be a practical book explaining the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives in such a way that He is no longer seen as a mysterious or mystical "force" and becomes known as a person (God) acting in and guiding our lives in a way that we can understand. The Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity. We all (at least the born-again believer in Christ should) know that God the Father is seated on His throne in Heaven and controls everything that happens in the universe. We know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born in Bethlehem of Judea, grew up, walked on this earth, and died on the cross of Calvary in our place for our sins, and today is seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. Today He is our advocate before the Father. And the Holy Spirit? Today I believe that the ignorance about the Holy Spirit is partially the fault of us, as pastors, who have not taught what we know to be our responsibility: teaching what the Bible says about the ministries of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

I hope to change this problem with this book!

Preface

Several years ago, a man came to my office saying he was seeking a Bible school that could teach him how to have the “unction of the Holy Spirit.” He wanted to know how to preach with the power of the Holy Spirit in such a way that it would move people. Afterward, another man came defending his “gift” of speaking in tongues saying that when the Spirit came upon him, he couldn’t help but speak in tongues. The Holy Spirit controlled him to the point of his losing control of himself.

This caused me to think, “What is our God like?” or better, “Who is our God?” Is the Holy Spirit like the force of the Jedi in the film Star Wars? Or are we like He-Man? And if we can just find the right magic sword (do we just have to learn to use the Bible in a certain way?), we will have the power (of the Holy Spirit).

It’s a pity that so many people think that way. God is not a mysterious God who does things we can’t understand. We don’t have to learn to use God’s “force” or try to manipulate Him to receive the anointing of the Spirit. He is a God of order. He is the God who created the order in the universe. He is the God who wants to have a special relationship with us. He revealed Himself to us—as He is, who He is, what He wants of us, how He wants to act in our lives—in His Word, the Bible. We don’t need any other special force, power, or anointing to do God’s work other than what is revealed in the Scriptures. God the Holy Spirit is a person. He is not a mysterious, mystical force that we can’t understand. The Bible reveals everything that we need to know about the Holy Spirit and what He wants of us, or better, how He wants to act in our lives. This was the reason I was compelled to write this book, WHY Did Jesus Send Us the HOLY SPIRIT? (John 16:7).

The purpose of this book is not to write a thesis on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I want it to be a practical book explaining the ministry of the Holy Spirit in such a way that He is no longer seen as a mysterious or mystical force and becomes known as a person (God) acting in and guiding our lives in a way that we can understand. The Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity. We all (at least the born-again believer in Christ should) know that God the Father is seated on His throne in heaven and controls everything that happens in the universe. We know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born in Bethlehem of Judea, grew up, walked on this earth, and died on the cross of Calvary in our place for our sins, and today is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. Today He is our advocate before the Father. And the Holy Spirit? Today I believe that the ignorance about the Holy Spirit is partially the fault of us pastors who have not taught what we know to be our responsibility: teaching about the ministries of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

I hope to change this problem with this book!

Acknowledgments

A special thanks to my wife, Anne Marina! Without your help, encouragement, and many hours of editing, this work would not have been possible. She is the love of my life, and without her, I wouldn’t be the man that I am. Te amo muito! (I love you a lot!)

My Brazilian daughter-in-law, Glauciana, for spending so much time correcting my Portuguese (in the Portuguese edition) and giving so many suggestions to make this work understandable for Brazilians. Te amo como filha! (I love you as a daughter!)

My children: Glenn Andrew, Alan Scott and Julie Lynn Hendry. They sacrificed a lot so that I was able to serve God in Brazil. Also, for the seven grandchildren that you have given me. Amo todos vocês! (I love all of you!)

To SIBIMA (Maranatha Bible College) where God stretched me to the point that I was able to do things that I never thought possible, where God was able to perfect my gifts of teaching and administration, where God gave me the privilege of having a part in the preparation of God’s servants and also seeing some of them serve God in transcultural missions.

Introduction

While I was studying at the New Brunswick Bible Institute (NBBI) in Victoria Connor, New Brunswick, Canada, for practical work, another student and I were visiting on one of the streets in Woodstock (about ten miles from NBBI), inviting children to attend a Good News Club1 that we were going to teach. It happened (are really happenstances in God’s economy?) that we knocked on the door of the pastor of the United Pentecostal Church. Of course, he wanted to know why we were visiting on his street (as if he owned it). After a long conversation, the pastor finally conceded that we could teach a Good News Club on his street if we promised not to teach doctrine. So I asked him, “If we were going to teach the Bible with the purpose of leading these boys and girls to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, how would we be able to do this without teaching doctrine?” With this, he presented his preoccupation—his favorite doctrine was something new to me in my second year of Bible college. He came right out and said, “What they teach there at NBBI about the trinity is completely wrong. The Bible does not say anything about a trinity—there is only one God. In the Old Testament, He appeared as the Father. In the Gospels, He appeared as the Son [Jesus Christ]. Today He works in the world as the Holy Spirit. He is the same one and only God but manifested Himself in three different ways in different times of history.” Today after studying the Bible for many years, I have to strongly disagree with him. In the first five chapters of the Bible, when the word God appears in the Hebrew, it is Elohiym, which is God in the plural form (it appears sixty-four times between Genesis 1:1 and 6:4, showing that all the work of creation was done by Elohiym). God acted in the Old Testament as God the Father (El, Elohiym, Adonai), as the Son (Jehovah, Angel of the Lord), and as the Holy Spirit (Spirit of God, Spirit of the Lord).

In the light of all this, why is there so much confusion about the Holy Spirit?

When I was pastoring a church in Canada, one of the members came to me asking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He said that in church, he had heard much teaching about the Trinity, explanations about God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ), but very little about the Holy Spirit. When the subject of the Holy Spirit came up, the teaching was vague and very limited. As a result, he didn’t understand what the Holy Spirit did. He knew that the Holy Spirit was part of the Trinity and was more or less God. But what did the Holy Spirit do? He didn’t have the slightest idea.

Therefore, what was Jesus’s purpose in sending us the “Helper” (“Comforter” [KJV]) who is the Holy Spirit in John 16:7 and 15:26? We know what God the Father and Jesus Christ do; but what about the Holy Spirit?

I believe that Chris Tiegreen2 does a good job in explaining our problem in his book. He writes, “We, humans with a sinful nature, normally make our decisions according to our feelings instead of seeking God’s direction. Normally, by allowing our feelings to guide us, they take one or more of three forms: (1) We allow our emotions to guide us. In other words, we do what we really want to do, and our pride and feelings take preeminence; (2) we allow reason to take control, trying to understand by weighing the options, considering advantages versus disadvantages and the risks involved in considering every possible avenue of action; or (3) we seek supernatural guidance, normally in the way that the world seeks help by consulting horoscopes, spiritism, self-help books, meditation, or even a special mystic revelation from the Holy Spirit.”

Each method has profound problems. Many believers are prisoners of the first. God created our emotions. He wants our emotions to be satisfied, but He does not want them to control our lives. When they do control our lives, we become unstable, being driven by every wind of doctrine, fashion, and style that comes along (Ephesians 4:14). Our lives become full of many highs and lows. The result is that we have no stability in life, and we never really experience real fellowship with God. The wisdom of God is far above our emotions. When we place our emotions above the will of God, we are in reality placing our ego on the throne of our lives—in the place that only God should occupy in the believer’s life.

If we only allow reason to control our lives, in the end, we leave God out of our decisions. Yes, God does want us to use our intelligence. He gave us this ability. This is what makes us different from the animals. But He didn’t give us intelligence to leave Him out of the picture in things where only He has the solution. God’s wisdom and knowledge is far above our ability to understand (1 Corinthians 1:21, 25). We need His direction and wisdom in all the decisions that we make.

Where do we seek spiritual direction? Or maybe the question is, What do we seek, supernatural or spiritual direction? Many times, the believer prays: “Lord, reveal to me what I should do.” With this prayer, what are we really expecting: a voice from heaven, a bright light to appear in front of us to direct us step-by-step, a dream with all the details of what we should do? We are looking for some type of supernatural revelation. God does not work that way. He speaks to us through His Word, the Bible, in accordance with the principles set forth in the Word of God. He wants to guide us in all things. This is why Jesus gave every believer His Holy Spirit after He was caught up into heaven. But the Holy Spirit does not work through the supernatural and spectacular methods that we seek. He works in accordance with the Bible, the Word of God, that He inspired holy men to write (2 Peter 1:21). Because of this, it is necessary that we study the Word of God so we can discover who the Holy Spirit is and...

Table of contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• To Convict the World of Sin
• To Regenerate Man
• To Baptize the Believer
• To Seal the Believer
• To Indwell the Believer
• To Fill or Give His Fullness to the Believer
• To Give Spiritual Gifts to the Believer
• Other Ministries of the Holy Spirit
• Bibliography