How to Stir Up and Grow in God's Spirit

The Day of Pentecost, just five weeks away. On the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, we know the New Testament Church of God began, the one that Jesus said He would build. And the church began with power and with awesome miracles that God performed. And that power came from the power of the Holy Spirit. We see in the book of Acts and in the epistles of the letters of the apostles that God's Spirit continued to work powerfully with the early church. And today God's Spirit continues, that same Spirit continues to work powerfully in the preaching of the gospel and in the lives of many, many people that God has brought to His church. What I'd like for us to consider this afternoon is what is the Holy Spirit and why do we need it? Why do we need the Holy Spirit and how do we receive it? What does the Holy Spirit do in our lives? How do we know if we even have the Holy Spirit? How does it change our lives? How does that help us to grow and to be different? What does it mean to grieve the Spirit of God? We read a verse about that. What does that mean? What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? What does that mean? We certainly don't want to grieve or blaspheme God's Spirit. How can we have God's Spirit and how can we have more of it? How can we stir up God's Spirit and grow? We're going to briefly then answer these questions. Let's begin with the first one. What is the Holy Spirit? You know, many people in the world falsely believe the Holy Spirit is a person, a third personage in a trinity in the Godhead. But the Bible does not reveal that the Holy Spirit is a personage. There are just two beings. Both are God beings. One is God the Father and the other is Jesus Christ the Son. Both dwell at the level of God. They're in the God family, but the Holy Spirit is not a separate person. We encourage you, if you've not had a chance to study into that, to really read and study our booklet, Is God a Trinity? And it brings out, there are even quotes that many people realize that the word trinity is not even found in the Bible.

So trinity, the word, look it up. You don't even find it. And the teaching of the trinity is not found in the Bible either. And this first or second chapter in this booklet, the first one after the introduction, brings out quotes from many Bible study aids that just say, well, the teaching is not in the Bible. It came into the Catholic Church two or three hundred years after the Bible was written and after the age of the early church. So you can look that up and prove beyond the doubt that this teaching of the trinity is false. It is not biblical. It is not something we then accept or believe in the Church of God. We reject the trinity doctrine. And the Bible clearly reveals there are two beings dwelling at the level of God and one is God the Father and the other is Jesus Christ. So what is the Holy Spirit then? It is described in the Bible as the power of God, the power of Almighty God. Let's read just a couple of verses on that real quickly in Mark, pardon me, rather Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24 and verse 47, Jesus commissioned His disciples to take this message of God's kingdom and repentance to all nations beginning at Jerusalem.

And verse 48, He said, you are witnesses of these things. They were to be witnesses of the message Jesus brought and also His sacrifice for the sins of mankind. They were indeed witnesses. Verse 49, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem, or wait in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with power from on high.

And that power would be the power of the Holy Spirit, which was sent on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. Let's go to the book of Acts chapter 1, and we have the same verse here that likewise proves that the Holy Spirit is the power of Almighty God. It's the power of the family of God. It's what God is composed of Spirit, and His Spirit is that by which He created the universe, that by which God accomplishes, He sends out even verses that show that God's Spirit radiates out from Him, and where can you go from it? I mean, it just permeates out like air, like sunshine through the universe. So you can't get away from the power of God's Spirit, even though God dwells in a certain location, His Spirit emanates out. And when He wants to do something, He sends forth His Spirit, and it's done. Think about that. A remote quality that man has very limited ability to do things remotely as well. You can do the remote control on your TV. You can turn it on. You can up the volume or down it. You can change channels. Certain things man is able to do by remote control as well. But God's Spirit has that ability to go out and proceed from Him to accomplish what He commands it to do. In Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth. So these are just a couple of verses. We could read many other verses showing that the Holy Spirit is the power of Almighty God that proceeds out from Him, that it is not a separate personage in a trinity. Okay, well, the Holy Spirit then is the power of Almighty God. Why do we need the Holy Spirit? Well, we need it very much. And the reason is that we have spiritual work to be done, but we are not born with spiritual power to do it. We have a spiritual job that we need to accomplish, and yet we don't have the spiritual power to accomplish it. You know, that helps to explain why we have so many troubles in the world today. This world desperately needs spiritual power, but doesn't have it yet. God just doesn't granted it to the world at large. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and we see here our need to have the Spirit of God. In order to understand what God is doing and to understand His purpose with humanity and to understand how we can fulfill that purpose, we cannot fulfill the purpose of God with humanity unless we have the Spirit of God. We cannot do it on our own human power. We need the power of God's Spirit. You can try all your life if you want to to do God's will and fulfill your purpose on your own power, but you will fail. Each and every one of us must learn to rely upon the power to draw upon the power of Almighty God if we are to succeed with the very purpose for which we exist.

It does require the power of God's Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and in verse 10, it talks about eye has not seen, ear has not heard, or things have not entered into the heart of man. Verse 9, but verse 10 goes on to say that God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.

God's Spirit begins to open our hearts and minds. It begins to help us to understand things that we otherwise could not understand. For the Spirit searches all things. Yes, the deep things of God helps us to begin to understand what God is like, what God's purpose is, how He is accomplishing His purpose, what we need to be doing if we are to fulfill the purpose that God has put us here for. So God's Spirit begins to open up our hearts and minds so that we can comprehend. Without God's Spirit, we cannot even understand God's purpose and plan, much less begin to do something about it. We're going on down to verse 11, for what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man that's in him, the human spirit. The human spirit helps man to understand human things, physical things, but not the spiritual things. Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. You see, without God's Spirit, we just can't really understand. We just don't really get it. We don't really comprehend what God's purpose and plan is and what we need to be doing in our lives. Now, verse 12, we have received not the spirit of the world. He's talking about those in God's church that God's called out of the world. We have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit that is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. Understand then the spiritual purpose and plan and knowledge and understanding of God. These things we also speak not in words that man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. They're spiritually understood. So, brethren, this shows why we need the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit because God seeks people that worship Him in spirit and in truth. We need the Holy Spirit because it is the flesh prophets nothing, Jesus said. No prophet from just having a fleshly, physical type understanding like we're born with. That doesn't get us anywhere. It'll get us through this short, maybe 70 or 80 years, but that's all. The flesh, then, in the long run, prophets nothing. It doesn't get us anywhere, but it is the Spirit that gives life. The Spirit of God. Jesus said that in John 6 in verse 63. So that's why we need the Spirit of God. Let's ask the next question then. How can we receive the Holy Spirit? We need it desperately. We cannot begin to get started. We can't go get anywhere or go anywhere without that power, but the good news is that God has made it available to us, and we can have that power, then, that makes it possible to understand God's purpose and to understand what what God's will is and what we need to be busy doing. God is God is given that understanding, but actually today He's not giving it to the world at large, and that's why the world is in such trouble. They don't have God's Spirit. Many times we're kind of hard on the world, but this world is in the dark. This world is under Satan's sway and influence.

This world is cut off from God. This world does not have the spiritual power that it needs to resolve its spiritual needs and problems, and so maybe instead of being too hard on the world, we should realize this is the way God the Creator has ordained it to be. Some people, you know, that takes some thinking about that God is allowing things to be as they are today to go the wrong way because He is indeed a master psychologist, and in the end He is going to bring everything around, and mankind is going to agree with God, and God will bring it all together in one. So by His great power and might, God is working out a purpose and plan, and one day we're going to be able to understand that better, how it needed to go the wrong way for so long before God stepped in and turned things around the right way, and He's well able to do that. So we need to appreciate His wisdom, which we cannot fully even begin to comprehend at this time in the way God is working out His purpose and plan. But God's Spirit helps us to even understand that, to begin to see, well, this is the way it needs to go. It needs to go this way so that some very bitter lessons will be learned that we will never forget for all eternity. So how can we receive the Holy Spirit? That power is available not to everyone yet, but it is God's purpose to pour out that Spirit upon all flesh. In the last of the second chapter in Joel, it is God's purpose to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, every human being. That is God's will, and that is God's purpose. But today, He is only pouring out His Spirit upon the Church, those few that He is calling to be a part of His Church.

And how then does a person receive the Holy Spirit? Well, it begins with an act of God. God opens the heart and mind of a person. God grants a person the ability to comprehend about the kingdom of God and about God's purpose and what we need to do, the changes we need to make. In other words, God leads a person to knowledge that then leads him to change, leads him to repentance, where a person can repent and set his focus on the kingdom of God.

And begin to seek God's kingdom instead of the physical things on this earth.

Well, let's go to Acts 2, verse 38. God then leads an individual, this calling that He gives, leads an individual to repentance and baptism. Acts 2, verse 38. They were asking there on the day of Pentecost, men and brethren, what shall we do? Acts 2, verse 37. And then, verse 38, Peter said to them, repent. Here's what you need to do. Very simple, really. Just repent. Change your whole direction in life. Change your focus. Set it on the kingdom of God first. Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins. Yes, those two things then are required before God will grant the gift of the Holy Spirit. A person must repent. He must have a sense of remorse. He must be sorry for the sins he has committed. He must want to begin keeping God's laws and commandments.

He must want then God's kingdom ahead of everything else. So, repent and then be baptized. Baptism is a very simple ceremony. It doesn't take long to do it. We say a few words. We ask a few questions about repentance and accepting Jesus Christ as personal Savior. And then we say a few more words as to what we're doing and place this a person's body under the water. And it is a type of burial of the old former self and way of life. And then we help to draw this person out of the water. He comes bursting out of the water and that is symbolic of newness of life. So Peter said, repent. Be baptized, every one of you. And notice the last part of verse 38. You shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's a promise that God has made. And God will not renege on that promise. In fact, he's very eager. He's very eager to give his Holy Spirit when one does repent and does respond then to the calling that he has offered. There's one more thing that we must do. Acts chapter 8. Let's turn to that. There is the laying on of hands. That is the time when right after baptism, the time when God grants the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 8 and verse 14. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John, who when they came down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Well, these people have been baptized, but it says in verse 16 that the Holy Spirit had not fallen upon any of them. They were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So what did Peter and John do? Verse 17. Peter and John laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. And we have another example of the laying on of hands in Acts chapter 19. So the Church of God follows those examples today, and after baptism we do lay hands upon baptized people and ask God to grant them the gift of His Holy Spirit. So that's how we receive the Holy Spirit. But I'll tell you, a person has to repent, first of all. And Acts 5.38 says that God only grants the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him, those who have had a change of heart and want to obey God's laws. How does the Holy Spirit begin to act in our lives once we receive the Holy Spirit? Is there a great big change right away? I've had people come to me after a few years in the Church and say, I don't know if I have God's Spirit or not. I just don't seem to be changing all that much. And we go back over their baptism. Did you really repent? Were you sorry and remorseful of your sins? Yes. Did you accept Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? Well, yes.

The minister baptized you and laid hands upon you? Yes. So, you know, when you think about it, this change which God is making in our lives, which is a transformation, a process of conversion, it doesn't happen just immediately. It takes time. What God is doing and the writing of His laws and development of His nature and His character takes time. And even after many years, we still find ourselves falling short and we still have more transforming that needs to be done.

So, God's Holy Spirit does begin working. God grants His gift of the Holy Spirit, and it begins working. And little by little, changes do begin to take place. You know, our spiritual conception may be compared to our physical one to see that it's not noticeable at first.

When a woman, a mother, becomes pregnant, she doesn't know right away that she's pregnant the first day or maybe a week or a few weeks. But when she misses her monthly period and when she begins to have morning sickness, she begins to suspect. And I'll tell you, after a few months and she begins to show size in her abdomen, then there's no denying that she's expecting. So, you know, takes a little bit of time. It begins so tiny that it's it's unnoticeable right at first. And so, maybe our spiritual conception is the same way. It takes a little time for, you know, for us to really notice that changes are taking place and we are we are growing. But God's Spirit begins to work right away and it begins to write God's laws upon our hearts and minds. And God begins to actually, it's the beginning of us being spiritually minded instead of carnally minded.

Let's notice this in Romans chapter 8. And this is something then, as we see, that we are seeking after God's kingdom and we do want to do God's will and we do keep His Sabbath and His holy days and do those things that are pleasing in His sight and we make all these major changes in our lives. I tell you, all of this begins to make an to have an impact upon us. And yes, changes begin to take place and as we go along, we know that this is not our doing, it's God's doing. God's the Master Potter. We're just the clay in which He is creating His masterpiece. In Romans chapter 8 and in verse 4, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. And so that is what begins to happen at the time we receive God's Holy Spirit. The righteous requirements of God's law will begin to be etched upon our hearts and minds. In verse 5, for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh. Well, most people in the world, that's what they set their minds on, the physical things, the here and the now. But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on things of the Spirit. They're more interested in God's kingdom and the spiritual things.

Verse 6, to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

You know, to be spiritually minded means that we have God's Spirit and that God's Spirit is, that we're filled with that Spirit, that we're led by that Spirit. To be carnally minded is just not to be using God's Spirit at all and to be thinking about the physical things.

Well, the carnal mind is enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be, and they who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. But changes begin to take place. And again, how can we really know that God's Spirit is at work in our lives? Well, we know we have a new direction in life than we had before. We know that we are seeking something totally different than what we did the rest of our lives, but the fruits that begin to be born that we can observe and see show that, yes, we do have the Spirit of God. Let's go to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. And this chapter is a contrast of those who are walking carnally and those who are walking spiritually who have God's Spirit. In Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16, I say then walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So, walk in the Spirit means to use God's Spirit to be led by his Spirit day by day. And if we do, we do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. And we still do have to fight that battle. Once we have God's Spirit, we still have to fight against the flesh and those downward pulls of the flesh that Paul described at Romans 7, the law of sin that is in our members. We have a battle. We're fighting against the law of sin, our carnal fleshly nature. And he goes on to say, the works of the flesh, verse 19, are evident. And they certainly are. They're all around us, aren't they? Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. What a list of evils that we see in this world all around us, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in the past time, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But in verse 22, by contrast, we have the fruit of God's Spirit. Here's what we are going to see produced in our lives if we continue on this journey of transformation that began at the time of repentance and baptism. We're going to see more and more of this fruit. I don't think any of us right here now can say that we are perfected yet in the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but I hope that we do see, especially if we've been around for a while, that we do see some of this or even a lot of this in our lives.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, and it's not a human type of love, it's the love of God.

It's the love of God where you really do love everyone, including your enemies.

And someday you'd like to have your enemies to be your friends and be members of God's family.

And that's the love of God. God wants everyone to be in his family. And so you'll see more of that type of thinking, the thinking that God has toward people. The love of God. Joy. Are you seeing more of that in your life? More happiness, more abundance, less unhappiness and misery like is in the world? Peace. Is there peace in your life? Are you at peace with yourself? Are you at peace with fellow man? Are you at peace with everyone? You know, you can be at peace in your own heart and mind toward an enemy. He might consider you an enemy and mistreat you, but you know, you don't feel that way toward him. So it's the love of God. That's the fruit that we should be seeing in our lives more and more. Long suffering. God is just full of that and we need more of it. Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there's no law.

I'll say there's no law against any of those things. God's law, in fact, promotes them. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. So brethren, we begin to see these fruits in our lives and that is the proof that yes, God's Spirit, we have God's Spirit. It is at work. It's not done yet, but we're on the way.

As time goes by, we see more and more of these fruits and we grow in truth and we understanding in knowledge and in love and in peace and self-control. And we have an obedient heart and mind yielded and surrendered to God. We see the old man, he's still there, but we're working on him and keeping him well under control. Let's read about that in Ephesians chapter 4. Just a few chapters forward, a few pages forward. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 23, be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. And verse 22 says to put off concerning your former conduct the old man that grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.

So there's an old man that we keep fighting against and putting out, putting down. There's a new man that we keep reaching out toward and the power of God's spirit is what makes it possible. I'll tell you what, that power then makes a transformation. It makes changes in our lives. And by the time we do this for a lifetime, guess what?

We come to have the divine and holy nature of God. How does God's spirit lead us? Let me just say a word or two about that. And I will mention along the way, already I mentioned, is God a Trinity? That would be good to read. But another booklet we have which is helpful in what we're speaking about is Transforming Your Life, the Process of Conversion.

And it mentions how the Spirit of God leads us. He gives six things. I'm sure there may be more, but these are very good. Number one, the Holy Spirit keeps us in contact with God's mind. It helps us to be in touch with God, the mind of God. So that's how God's spirit will lead us.

Number two, God's spirit inspires a deeper understanding of His Word, His purpose, and His will. God's spirit will help us to understand more deeply His Word, the Bible, and His purpose that He's working out and His will, what He wants us to do. Number three, the Holy Spirit makes overcoming possible. We do not have our weaknesses.

We all have our sins we have to fight against. And God's Spirit then helps us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Number four, the Spirit of God convicts our conscience and helps us see sin as it really is. I'll tell you what. God's Spirit will guide you to be more disgusted with sin all the time.

And guess where the sin is that you will be most disgusted with in yourself. You'll be disgusted with the sins of the world and of other people. You'll get disgusted at that as well, but you'll be most disgusted at your own sins, just like the apostle Paul in Romans 7. He said, oh, wretched man that I am. He didn't say somebody else himself. So you'll be most disgusted with sin that you see in your own self, and thoughts, and attitudes, and things like that.

God's Spirit will lead you in that direction. Number five, the Holy Spirit produces godly fruit in us. We already have discussed that one. And number six, the Spirit of God also comforts, encourages, and otherwise helps us. The Holy Spirit is called the comforter in the King James Version of the Bible, and it's called the helper in the new King James Version. So God's Spirit, you know the very word that comforter is taken from or helper is paracletos in the Greek. You know what it means? That which goes alongside to help. It's kind of a long definition of it, but that which goes alongside to help.

God's Spirit has been given to us to go alongside to help us. It is the helper then. It is the comforter. So that's how God's Spirit will lead us. It'd be very good to read that in more detail in Transforming Your Life booklet. Brethren, how did we get more of God's Spirit? We see already that we need more of it. How do we get more of it? In a way, it's very simple.

Let's go to Luke chapter 11. Luke chapter 11. Beginning to read here in verse 11, if a son asks bread from a father, will he give him a stone? If he wants a fish, will he give him a serpent? If he wants an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? Well, certainly not. Luke 11 verse 13, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? God is so eager to give us His Spirit, but I wonder, do you every day ask, God, give me more of your Spirit?

Give me more of the power of your Holy Spirit, because I need it. I need it to be able to be successful with this day and make it count and grow.

So I think many times we probably forget to ask for the Holy Spirit, and we need to ask for it every day. The Apostle Paul said the inner man is renewed day by day. We need God's Spirit. Ask for that power every day. What does it mean to grieve the Spirit of God? Let's briefly look at that.

Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you are sealed in the day of redemption. What does it mean? It simply means that when we do not do battle against our sins, we grieve the Spirit of God.

When we coexist with our sins and shortcomings, we grieve the Spirit of God. Look at this in context. It's talking about lying. It's talking about corrupt communication. It's talking about being angry and giving place to the devil. When we do not use God's Spirit, then, to do battle against these things, we grieve the Spirit of God. Simply put, we grieve the Holy Spirit when we do not grow, and we do not change, and we do not overcome. And so with God's Spirit, we must then fight the carnal mind every day. What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Matthew 12, verse 31. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. What is this blasphemy against the Spirit that will not be forgiven? Verse 32, anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man it will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. What is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? You know what it is? Let's go to Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 4. The Hebrew people, the ones to whom this letter was written, were neglecting their salvation. They were actually letting down. Some of them were no longer attending church services. They were really, really letting down. In Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 4, it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and become partakers of the Holy Spirit. Oh, these are people that repented and were baptized, received the Holy Spirit. They've tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. Well, if they fall away, it's impossible to renew them again to repentance. So think about that. These are people, then, that knowing better, reject the Holy Spirit. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to reject the Holy Spirit and refuse to have the Holy Spirit working in your life. Well, that makes sense. If we're not going to use the power that God has made available that makes it possible to be in His family, we're going to reject it. We certainly will not make it into God's kingdom. In chapter 10 here, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 26, if we sin willfully, so this blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is a deliberate, willful type of sin.

If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there's no longer a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. So, the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit would be a deliberate and willful neglect of using the power of the Holy Spirit to grow and overcome. In other words, refusing the Holy Spirit to write God's laws and His divine nature upon our hearts and minds. So, brethren, what we want to do is to stir up the Spirit of God. We don't want to grieve it, we don't want to blaspheme it. There's also a verse that says, do not quench the Holy Spirit. That is in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 19. Do not quench it. Don't put it out. But we want to stir up that Spirit because it is the power that God has made available to us that makes it possible to be transformed. There's no other way. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 1. We want to stir up that Spirit. We want to use it in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6. I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind. And the word in the Greek for stir up here, to stir up the gift of God, means to rekindle the fire. It means to fan into flame. It's just like you have some coals, your fire is going out, but you fan it, you put some kindling on it, and fan it back to flame again. And how do we stir up God's Spirit? Extra prayer every day, Bible study, meditation, fasting, periodic fasting, obedience to all of God's laws, coming to church, every Sabbath, coming to Holy Days. All of that helps us to stir up God's Spirit.

Our booklet on transforming your life near the end has a section on stirring up the Spirit of God. So, brethren, as we come toward Pentecost, just five weeks away, let us stir up and use the Holy Spirit of God. Use that power of the Holy Spirit to grow and to overcome. Use it to face the challenges of each day. Use it when you're driving out on the highway and when you're on the job and at home with your family and your mate. Use it for trials and problems. When you're sick or discouraged, use the power of God's Spirit to overcome in problems that you face, to give you the power to be a better person, more pleasing to God, a better husband, a better father, a better wife, a better mother. Use God's Spirit to fight against Satan, the God of this world. We can be sure Satan is trying to get to us. Use the power of God's Spirit to overcome discouragement and to grow toward spiritual maturity. If facing a particular shortcoming or problem, there are sometimes certain problems we just can't seem to get to overcome. Use God's Holy Spirit to help you to overcome that problem. Let us be a people then that are led by the Holy Spirit of God, a people filled with the Holy Spirit that is mentioned in the Bible, filled with the Spirit.

That means we have a lot of God's Spirit that is guiding us, a people walking or living in the Spirit, a people that are spiritually minded, growing and increasing in all the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Brother, let's ask for the Holy Spirit and more of it. Let's stir it up. Let's fan it into flame and use that power to grow and to make changes we need to make and to bear fruit.

We have three booklets that I mentioned two of them already. I'll just mention here at the end is God at Trinity. The last two or three chapters would be especially good before Pentecost.

Transforming your life, the last couple of chapters would be very good.

Tools for spiritual growth, all seven chapters would be some good reading. We've got five weeks before Pentecost. If you want some good study and reading, then I think you would benefit from that.

In conclusion, in the Bible, God's Spirit is compared to water, rivers of living water, Jesus in John chapter 7, and that water quenches the human thirst.

It fills us with joy and love and really hits the spot. In John chapter 4, Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. Think about that. A fountain of water that comes up in as beautiful as it springs up out of the ground or out of a pool.

And God's Spirit is like a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

It's the power that makes it possible to prepare for everlasting life. Let that fountain of living water spring up in your life more than ever. And let's pray that God will pour out His Spirit upon His people this Pentecost.