Week 6

QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT AND SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

What Believers Believe, Week Six: The Holy Spirit

Before jumping into this week’s questions, please take some time to read slowly and carefully through John 14:15-27 and John 16:5-15.

As you begin your discussion time with your group, please take a moment to read or recite together the following words of the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,

and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead. On the third day, He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Read: John 14:15-27

In the introductory video to this week’s study materials, Pastor Billy raced through twenty-six of the absolutely crucial things the Holy Spirit does, yet the Apostles’ Creed deals with Him in just six words: “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is God at work in this world, moving and acting moment by moment to manifest God’s presence and accomplish His will; but in spite of that reality, so often the attention goes to God the Father or the Lord Jesus.

Why do you think that is?

For some people, part of the confusion centers around the actual nature of the Holy Spirit. They fail to recognize the Spirit as a Person and think of Him more as some sort of divine energy or force, more of an “It” than a “He.” But a failure to recognize and honor the Spirit for the Person He is robs Him of the love, devotion, and surrender He deserves. You cannot really know, love, or interact with a force. In spite of this common error, the Bible clearly portrays the Holy Spirit as demonstrating all the attributes of personhood.

Read the following Scriptures and tell how each reveals the Holy Spirit to be a Person:

John 14:26

I Timothy 4:1; Revelation 2:7

I Corinthians 2:10-11

Ephesians 4:30

Romans 8:26

Romans 8:27

I Corinthians 12:11

Acts 5:9

To view the Holy Spirit as an impersonal energy or power often leads to an attitude of wanting to get hold of and use that power for our purposes. On the other hand, to recognize the Holy Spirit as a Person – specifically as the infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely great third Person of the Trinity – should lead to an attitude of love, awe, and submission. It is He who is to get hold of and use us for His purposes, not the other way around. To approach the Spirit of God as some kind of power to be attained and used is a sacrilege more akin to witchcraft than to Christianity.

Is your own approach to the Holy Spirit marked more by a desire to access His wisdom and power or a desire to yield to His leading – whatever that may be? What are some practical things you can do to know the Holy Spirit more personally?

Read John 14:15-27 out loud in your group. In v. 16, the Lord Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit initially as the Counselor, Comforter, Advocate, or Helper, depending on the English language translation you use. In Greek, the word is parakletos and most literally means one called alongside (presumably to help). It’s worth noting that the Holy Spirit has been called to come alongside you by the Lord Himself. He comes at the behest of the Father and the Son. God the Holy Spirit has been sent to help you by God the Father and God the Son. What an incredible gift!

What sorts of things are implied by the English words Counselor, Comforter, Advocate, and Helper? Which do you think best captures the essence of what Jesus is seeking to communicate here?

In v. 17, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth.

What does this name tell you about the Holy Spirit? For that matter, what does the name Holy Spirit tell you about Him?

Read: John 16:5-15

Study Questions:

Read John 16:5-7. The Lord’s comments in John 14-16 are given in the context of preparing His followers for His upcoming departure. In John 14:13, Jesus says, “I am going to the Father;” and in John 16:7, He says, “I am going away.” In fact, the verse in its entirety says: “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

How could it possibly have been for the disciples’ benefit for Jesus to leave them? What does this tell you about the importance of the coming and work of the Holy Spirit?

Notice back in John 14:16, that Jesus said the Father “will give you another Counselor.”

What does He mean by another? If the Holy Spirit is another Counselor/Helper, who was Counselor/Helper before Him?

The clear implication is that, once the Lord Jesus returns to the Father, the Holy Spirit will teach, lead, help, and disciple the believers just as Christ had done. And that suggests that the disciples were intended to relate to the Holy Spirit precisely like they had related to the Lord Jesus Himself – genuinely, directly, personally, and submissively.

How often do you speak to the Spirit of God? What sorts of things do you say to Him? How consistently do you listen for the voice – the leading – of the Holy Spirit? Are you as committed to obeying the leadings of the Spirit as you are to obeying the words of the Lord Jesus? Is there a difference between obeying the leading of the Spirit and obeying the words of Christ?

The Holy Spirit is God just as Jesus Christ is God; but the words of the Lord as found in the Bible are clearly visible, while the leading of the Holy Spirit often comes more subjectively, in the form of thoughts or impressions on the heart. As a result, the words of God in Scripture should always be the standard by which subjective impressions are tested; and it’s also frequently a good idea to seek input from the godly, Spirit-filled, biblically-grounded saints God has placed around you.

Read John 16:8-11.

According to these verses, what is part of the work of the Holy Spirit in this world? What implications does this passage have for the sharing and advancement of the gospel? Read John 15:26-27. How do these verses relate to the sharing and advancement of the gospel?

Read John 16:12-15.

Here Jesus says the Holy Spirit “will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Does this mean that, once someone has received the Holy Spirit, they are incapable of being deceived? And if not, what does it mean? How is it that someone who has the Spirit of Truth within them could ever be deceived?

Look again at John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7, 13b-15, and notice the incredible interaction and cooperation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. None acts without regard for the other, as each Person of the Trinity works within the majesty and mystery of the Godhead to accomplish to glory and the will of God.

As you close your small group gathering this week, take some time to pray and offer yourself to the service of the Spirit of God. Then place an empty chair in the middle of the room and pray for the lost, asking the Lord in His mercy to fill that chair with the people He’s calling to Himself.