It is important that we grasp the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. The Holy Spirit is not just the power of Christian living, but He is also the power of the Living Church. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit. In John 14, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit will be given after his resurrection. Initially, this promise of the Spirit was given to the Disciples, or as they would soon be known as the Apostles. The Apostles were fearful that Jesus was about to leave them. What would they do? How would they continue without Jesus? Jesus, said, if I leave, I will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever (Jn 14: 16) He calls the Holy Spirit, the PARAKLETOS, the One called along side to help. This word was used to describe a lawyer, an intercessor, a counselor, and a helper. The Promise of the Holy Spirit is a promise of help, counsel and guidance in the form of the ubiquitous presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is fully God, the third part of the Trinity and he is omnipresent, that is, there is no place where the Holy Spirit is not. Further, the promise is that the Holy Spirit will always be with us. He is given to us forever.

While it is true that the holy Spirit was given first to the Apostles and I believe given to them in a special way, he was also given to all who believe in Christ. There are works of the Spirit that were only done in the life and times of the Apostles and those works have ceased. Yet, the Holy Spirit still operates among us today as promised. In Acts 1: 8, Jesus was about to ascend to the Father. Jesus promised all who were present, Apostles and other believers, that power would soon come upon them. In this context, the power would be so that they could be witnesses to the world concerning Jesus. That power is the Holy Spirit. That promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. On that day, the world entered into a new age. The sign and seal of the Christian faith is the Holy Spirit. When we become a Christian, we are born of the Spirit according to John 3. There is no second experience in which the Holy Spirit comes later. To be saved means that the Holy Spirit has convicted you of your sin and quickened your soul. To be a Christian means you have come to faith in Christ, and are immediately possessed by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit transforms individuals into the Body of Christ. It is because of the Holy Spirit that we are a Church. The Holy Spirit transforms us and empowers us to be the people of God. The Holy Spirit continues to work in us to purify us and produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit. He reveals God’s will to us through Scripture. The Holy Spirit makes known to us the presence of God. We are guided by the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to guess as to what we need to do. The Holy Spirit leads us in all righteousness. It is only the Holy Spirit who is able to unify us. He brings us together as a people and instills in us a sense of community. We have fellowship with each other because we have fellowship with the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit gifts us so that we can be the Church to each other and the Church to the world.

What a task we have, to be the Church of God, the Body of Christ! How is it possible that ordinary folk like you and I can be such a thing? It is by the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul says that it is a work of the Holy Spirit that causes us to confess Jesus as Lord. To the Corinthians, he reminded them that they were once pagans worshiping other gods, being lead by dumb idols. But, now we confess that Jesus is God, that he is Lord and Savior.

But, the work of the Holy Spirit continues in the life of the Church. The Holy Spirit specially equips the Church through grace gifts that are given to each believer. All of you are gifted to contribute to the life of the body of Christ. You are empowered by the Holy Spirit and in turn, the Church is empowered to serve God.

It is true that this business of Spiritual or Grace gifts can be a controversial thing. It was the same way in Corinth. There was division in Corinth because of spiritual gifts. Some were gifted with outward gifts and were making all the others to feel either less gifted or not gifted at all. There was division in the Church. Now, this is a contradiction because the Spirit brings unity to the Body of Christ. What was going on? Well, while Paul did not say it, it is always good to first ask the question, am I really saved? The sure sign of salvation is the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. A friend of mine says that you are either a missionary or a mission field. If you have the Spirit, you are a missionary. If you don’t, you are a mission field. So, when there is this kind of division, we need to ask the serious question, am I saved?

But, accepting the fact that they were all Christians, what could have been the problem? In the Book of Ephesians, Paul warned the Ephesian Christians not to be filled with wine, but to be filled with the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit to those who are already possessed by the Spirit? It means to be controlled. The warning was not to be controlled by wine but by the Spirit. We must seek Christ on a daily basis. We are called to continually put our old way of life, our sinful life to death so that we may be alive to Christ. On a daily basis, we must allow the Holy Spirit to control us. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we do what is contrary to our calling as a Holy people.

I think the Corinthian Christians were doing what was contrary to their calling and thus were grieving the Holy Spirit. They had allowed the idea of spiritual gifts to go to their head. But, Paul reminded them that there are a variety of gifts but the same Spirit. In fact, we probably do not have an exhaustive list of gifts but it is just one Spirit who gives them. And there are a variety of ministries but just one Lord. And there are all sorts of effects from those gifts but just one God who works in all men.

The Holy Spirit gives these gifts, not for the benefit of the individual person, but for the common good of the Church. Later own when we study the gifts of the Spirit, this point needs to be remembered. The Corinthians were divided because they had forgotten that the gifts were given by a sovereign God as he chose to distribute them. Each gift was just as important the other. Why would they take something that was meant to unite the church and use it to divide the church? It was sinful, human nature. They failed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They thought they were being spiritual, in fact, they were the opposite.

Today, the modern church runs the same risk as did the Corinthians. In some churches, there are excesses because people think they are being spiritual when in reality they are living in the flesh. We need to understand these things because that behavior is not something we want to copy. But, we can be just as bad on the other side. We often deny the power of the holy Spirit in our lives and we fail to do anything. We can become a dull, lifeless church when we fail to exercise the gifts that God has given us.

We are often powerless as a church because we fail to be filled with the Spirit. We would rather control ourselves than to let the Holy Spirit control us. We have too many outside interests, to many hobbies, too many wants and desires. To be controlled by the Holy Spirit may divert us from our wants. That is fleshly living. The failure to exercise our spiritual gifts is as bad as the excesses of the Charismatic movement. We are quick to criticize them. But we fail to see that we are often powerless because we are not being controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Do you think we are a powerful Church? Are we accomplishing what God has called us to do? Can we honestly answer that question? Only to the degree that we are controlled by the Holy Spirit can we use our Spiritual gifts for the benefit of the Church. What do you think? Are we doing it?

If we want to be a healthy, thriving, and growing church, we must seek the only source of power that can sustain us. The power that makes us a true community of faith is the Holy Spirit.

I think we need to put away our sinful wants and desires and be controlled by the Holy Spirit. What a difference it would make in the life of our church.