And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26
But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about me. John 15:26
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. John 16:7
Who is your Helper? And how does He help you? Really? Specifically? Can you relate to others how He helps you? Do you have stories from yesterday how He helped you? From this morning? In American Evangelicalism the Holy Spirit has been relegated to the ‘back corner’ of the discussion. He is a footnote in their scholarly dissertation of their understanding of the Word. He is NOT the Helper or Teacher or Counselor in the Christian academic world – He is a mystery to them. They may give a tiny reference to Him in their verbal statements – but have zero life experience with Him. So, a doctrine was created to make them feel better about themselves and their academic pursuits … and it is called Cessationism. An academic pursuit and doctrine to say their interpretation of the scripture is the only way to view certain passages of scripture, that they have the ‘right’ view of the Holy Spirit and how He moves and works within believers. Also, that the Holy Spirit only moved that way until the scriptures were made “complete”. So, if you want to study this extreme schism in the Church just look up Cessationism versus Continuationism. One side believes the Holy Spirit’s gifts have stopped and one side believes His gifts have not stopped.
So, what do you do with those who have had experiences with the Holy Spirit that run counter to the academic’s view and doctrine? (this scenario has been happening from the very beginning of the Church)
Does the Holy Spirit still do miracles today? Or has He closed off all of His power to the faithful now that we have the printed Bible? Ask the Chinese persecuted Christians. Ask the Iranian persecuted Christians. Ask all the persecuted Christians in Africa. Their personal life experiences with the Holy Spirit are widely different than the American Christian academic.
This author’s life experience? I literally wouldn’t be here but for the miraculous healing and physical saving power of the Holy Spirit. On numerous occasions He has demonstrated His power and help on my behalf. It is His life (Jesus) that I now live – I should have died in 1974 from AML. Since then, I have had MANY experiences with the Holy Spirit and He has intervened on my behalf over and over and ‘saved’ me from absolute disaster many times.
I cannot put the Holy Spirit in a ‘box’ or closet. Can you?
What is the Holy Spirit to you? How has He moved in your life miraculously? Are you interacting with Him daily now?