Seeing the Unseen
Week 8
God’s Ultimate Weapon: THE HOLY SPIRIT

It is kind of disheartening to hear SO MANY people today ask for God’s protection with Angels. People say things like “Right now I really need a guardian angel” Or “God, send me an angel right now”. But, we have all said, and probably will again. Will God answer this prayer?????? He just might…..then again maybe not. In my opinion though, there are not always enough angels to cover every follower of God at all times. I do not think they are everywhere, and I do not believe there are an unlimited number of them. Also, if it took God 3 weeks to get an angel to David, I feel pretty confident that he won’t always be sending me one every time I call for it! BUT WHO CARES?!?!?!?!? I think we are asking the wrong question and banking our hope in wrong places. We don’t need an army of angels at every struggle we’ll face. We already have something MUCH MORE powerful with us!!!! As Christians, we have God’s ultimate weapon in this fight! We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us! Our hope has never been in angels….it is in God only, and we have constant access to that!

The HOLY SPIRIT is the strongest weapon God has given us against Satan in this fight we have been discussing! Without it, we would be hopeless. I truly believe that.

So, if God places His Spirit in us, and with it we have ultimate protection, can anyone explain why Satan’s forces are still allowed to attack us?

Just what does the Holy Spirit do for in this great spiritual battle?
I hope to spend the rest of this study trying to look into this question and gain the best answer we can. I hope you’ll find it encouraging.

HE LIVES IN US

When Paul wrote the book of Romans, he reminded the Christians in his encouragement that the Holy Spirit lived in them (Romans 8). If your faith in Jesus has lead you to repent of your sinful life of the past and be baptized in His holy name, then the same Spirit also dwells in you! If you have forgotten this, or maybe even never fully understood or recognized it, it is time you understood it and gained strength from it! HE LIVES IN YOU!

How important is his presence? Read Romans 8:9. Did you pay attention there? Your Christianity depends on the Holy Spirit living in you! This Spirit who represents both God and Christ brings the power of the living God into you! Sounds good huh? Whose side would you rather be fighting on?

He Leads Us

Just having access to something does not always guarantee we will properly use it. The same is true with this “weapon” of the Holy Spirit. What do you think is the key to the Holy Spirit helping us fight Satan? I think the answer is simple. WE MUST ALLOW IT TO LEAD US OR WE WILL SURELY LOSE! Romans 8:13-14

How do we let the Spirit lead us? Many will argue that the words of the Spirit are given to us in the Bible to lead us. But is there more to it than that? I say yes!!!! It guides is in many ways beyond what is written in His word.
EX: Have you ever prayed for wisdom? Have any of you ever asked to be lead from temptation? Surely I am not the only one to ever ask for strength in a specific trial? Why do we ask these things? Because we need the spirit to lead us !!!!!

Here is a VERY important and somewhat difficult question: HOW CAN WE HEAR AND FOLLOW THE SPIRIT’S LEADING?

It is hard to do this. Truth is, we hear the voice of the sinful nature A LOT more clear than that of the Spirit many times don’t we? Our flesh demands more loudly and often gets more attention! If we are to be lead by the Spirit, it requires being able to hear it over all the other “noise”!! So, once again…HOW?????

It requires care and attention. God isn’t the only one sending messages! READ I John 4:1

How do you know when it is the SPIRIT talking to you? The only SURE test for any “received leading” is the word of God! Anything that contradicts His words comes from a source other than God. I believe thoughts come from one of three sources: they originate in us, floe from God or come from Satan.

I know all of us would like to follow leading that truly is from God and leads us to righteousness. We want to avoid leading that directs us towards sinfulness. But, truth be told, it is easier said than done. Do you ever ask God for wisdom when a thought comes to you?

So far we really have not answered the question at all. Let’s take a few minutes to do so now……here is how we can know when we are being lead by the Spirit:

LEARNING TO HEAR

Just like anything……this requires training! Those who are lead by the Spirit have trained themselves to do so! HOW would you go about this? I think that the 1st way to do so is always have God’s words on your heart and lips! Read Joshua 1:8 This is key! It must be more than empty recitation though. We must meditate on it day and night. I want you to read Psalm 119.

In these verses I think there is a guideline to learn how to hear God. Read the entire Psalm on your own and see if you agree! Here are the steps I see:

1- Love the Law of God

This might be tough. Have you ever said, “I love not doing all that fun stuff my friends do”? Maybe you should! Loving God should make loving his law easy. It is holy just like Him! A good grasp of God’s nature can be gained thorough understanding his law. Those who don’t know it, have no clue who God is or what he wants from them.

2-Obey it With Rejoicing

It has to be full obedience. Half hearted and reluctant action will render noting! Only when we desire to do his will are we open to hearing it!!!!! You WILL NEVER hear the Spirit’s direction if you don’t want to hear it!

3-Hide It in Your Heart

Memorizing the word is such a tool! It makes it readily available at any time for study, meditation or strength in resisting temptation. Jesus showed us this in Matthew 4! But it has to be more than just memorizing. Some VERY UNHOLY folks have passages of Scripture memorized! Fill yourself with as much of his word as possible!

4-Understand What it Means

I question the Christian who takes everything he’s taught at face value. Make sure you understand clearly what God meant! Misunderstood scripture is one of the devil’s greatest weapons! Learning what GOD said, rather than a teacher or preacher, is essential! If we don’t understand the word, then we don’t have the word at all!

5-Meditate on it and the Ways of God

This is where you begin to find spiritual sensitivity. If you are too busy to do this, you WILL be too busy to hear the Spirit guiding you! Meditating in it, helps us distinguish between all of the other noise. It will take you to a level of understanding and openness that makes us receptive to the Holy Spirit.

6-Reach a Level of Wisdom and REAL Understanding

When you do the first 5, you will reach a new level of wisdom and understanding. I believe this and am starting to see it in my personal life. I think with this new “level” comes the ability to greater recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life. This is where we ALL should strive to be, and what we should be pushing for!

NOW…..WHO’LL PUT THAT TO PRACTICE????

HE REPRESENTS US!

As the Spirit guides our lives, we will become more effective soldiers in this great spiritual war. As such, soldiers who listen and obey will accomplish great things for their commanders. Soldiers who do not hear will not even know what is wanted from them. BUT the Spirit doesn’t exist in us JUST to direct, but also to bless us and do things for us that we cannot do ourselves. One of these most important things it does is communicate God to us and us to God! Read I Cor. 2:9-16 The Spirit brings the mind of God to us!

He also reveals our minds to God. Read Romans 8:26-27. Don’t you love that the Spirit prays fro you and explains things to God that you just cannot clearly express? I sure do!

God knows your heart….the Spirit makes sure of that!

He Strengthens Us

Not only does he guide us and intercede for us, but the Spirit also offers us strength while here on earth. Read Eph. 3:16-17 We need this strength to endure! Sometimes we wouldn’t have the strength required to survive spiritual attack…..fortunately He does! Ask for it when you need it…it is there for you! You can believe this, because you will survive! We need the strength only he can provide.

For the Christian, the Spirit lives in you, leads you, represents you and strengthens you. I hope we all learn to take advantage of this unbelievable source of power that God makes available to us. What a weapon….a shield and a fortress! Surrender to Him, the true Spirit of the living God!


(Be sure to remember this is not a study in the Holy Spirit. This is but a brief description of its’ power. The focus was simply to show HOW it comes into play in this great battle)