Mentoring Men for the Master

UNDER THE INFLUENCE?

UNDER THE INFLUENCE?

Ephesians 5:18-19

If I asked “Are you under the influence?” Most would answer, “Absolutely Not”  But they would be absolutely wrong.  Why?  Because every person on earth is “UNDER THE INFLUENCE,” not just those who are consuming liquor.  You are under the Influences

Of Self or the Holy Spirit

Of the World or the Word

Of the Word of the World or the Word of God

Of Satan or the Savior

Of Sin or Righteousness

Since this is true, God through the Apostle Paul gives us two very specific commands in Ephesians 5:18 which in essence says, “Be not under the influence of the destructive forces of the world but under the influence of the life giving power of the Holy Spirit.”

How powerful is influence?  I read of two sons both of whom went to sea.  Their parents were surprised they chose such life styles and began to ask themselves, why did our sons both go in that direction?  And suddenly they looked above the mantel in their living room and saw three ships sailing majestically on the Atlantic Ocean.  These boys grew up looking at that beautiful scene and chose the sea for their lives.  If a picture on the wall, can influence a life, what about the influence of the wonderful Person of the Holy Spirit?

So please observe with me how the Holy Spirit influences the believer if He will surrender to Him:

  1. The Holy Spirit Prays Perfect Prayers for the believer on the inside of him.  Illus:  Just suppose you have a friend who knew all about you and had the power to help you in all your weaknesses and did help you, that would be absolutely wonderful.  Well, you have that in the Holy Spirit, who knows all about you, your every need, and prays to the Father perfect prayers which He answers.  (Romans 8:26-27).

 

  1. The Holy Spirit Confirms on the inside of us that we are truly saved and the sons of God (Romans 8:16).  Why do we need this internal witness, since we have the outward witness of the written Word?  Because it’s not enough to have only the external Word.  That may mean you possess only an intellectual faith but not a saving one.  We must have the inward witness.  Illus:  Ed Hackney.

 

  1. The Holy Spirit Is Our Great Remembrancer.   (John 14:26).  This does not mean we are not to study, memorize and mediate on the Word.  For the same Bible which says the Holy Spirit is our Remembrancer commands us to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15).  When we do our part, we will be amazed how the Holy Spirit brings to remembrance the Scriptures when we need them.  Ex:  Often when I teach or preach the Holy Spirit brings to mind Scripture I had forgotten.  And He will do the same for you.

 

  1. The Holy Spirit Is Our Great Teacher, now the perfect substitute for Jesus (John 14:26).  “He will teach you all things.”  All things you need to know.  Read 1 Cor. 2:9-10 please.

 

  1. The Holy Spirit Keeps Your Hope Alive And Abounding.  The Greek word is “bubbling up” (Romans 15:13).  Unless you have this experience, you will often live in the doldrums, and when without hope you can’t help yourself and you will be a burden to those around you.  Illus:  A great theologian said some time ago, “The problem of modern man is not sin as much as despair.”  Illus:  One thing I miss in not having Doris at my side is that she was used of the Holy Spirit to keep my hope bubbling.  Ex.  When I was working on my doctorate.

 

  1. The Holy Spirit Unlocks The Bible for You.  The Bible  will remain a closed book to the guy who undertakes to grasp its message by his intellect alone.  Two things are  necessary before the Bible will yield its treasures, and both depend upon the Holy Spirit:
    1. A man must be born of the Spirit.  Without that he cannot even get the idea of the kingdom, as Jesus plainly said to Nicodemus (John 3:3,5).  “The natural man received not the things of God…” (1Cor. 2:14).
    2. A man must come to a point in spiritual maturity that he will be thoroughly surrendered to the Lordship of the Holy Spirit.  Illus:  Just think it is our highest privilege to study the Bible under the personal tutelage of the One who wrote it.  Ex:  I was Assistant to the world’s authority on Medieval History, Dr. Ray Petry, in Duke University – what a privilege, but nothing compares to the teacher called the Holy Spirit.

 

  1. The Holy Spirit Prompts Us With The Promises We Need in Time of Trials.  He did this for Jesus in His temptation (Matthew 4:4) and He will do it for us.  This is the Word men live by – not just the literal Word written eons ago, but the Word which under the Holy Spirit’s quickening “proceedeth” note present tense – out of the mouth of God.  Ex:  Psalm 119:93;

97, 103.

  1. The Holy Spirit Explains The Great Mysteries of Life,  including our illnesses.  Illus:  Two women in the ward of a hospital were overheard discussing their respective physicians.  “I like my doctor just fine,” one said to another.  “He takes time to explain what is going on and what he is trying to do, and I can stand anything if I know it’s helping me to get well.”  The Holy Spirit is like that physician.  If we listen to Him, He’ll explain, if not all, at least enough fro us to bear the pain and confusions of life in full assurance that God is with us.

 

  1. The Holy Spirit Imparts To The Surrendered Believer The MUCH-NEEDED STRENGTH OF THE JOY OF THE LORD.  The Book of Acts is misnamed, “The Acts of the Apostles,” when its real name should be “The Acts of the Apostles through the Holy Spirit.”  Therefore, through Acts, you find the Joy of the Lord associated with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:46; 8:8; 13:52; 15:3, etc.)  Why is Joy indispensable in one’s Christian life?  Neh. 8:10 answers this question.

 

 

  1. The Holy Spirit Imparts Boldness to Witness.  Jesus instructed His disciples to preach the gospel to the whole world (Luke 24:47) but He warned them not to undertake this until the Holy Spirit “endued” them with the power of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.  They waited and experienced the power of boldness to witness.  “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall

 

 

 

be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).  “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31).  The early Christians had to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  We moderns do not have to wait for the Holy Spirit has come and is waiting for us to surrender to Him and with Him we possess the boldness to witness but without which we lack the nerve.

 

  1. The Holy Spirit Makes Us Aware of God’s Presence , and removes the greatest cause of human grief – that sense of aloneness.  Jesus promises, “I will not leave you orphans.  I will come unto you.”  (John 14:18).  Who came on the day of Pentecost- Jesus or the Holy Spirit?  The answer is “Yes.”  Here is God’s supreme answer to the trials and tribulations of this life.  He cannot always remove them and at the same time accomplish His purpose in our life.  But He enters into them with us and that is better than removing them.

 

“I would rather walk in the dark with God

Than go alone in the light

I would rather walk with Him by faith than walk

Alone by sight.”  (Mary Gardiner Brainard)

This sharing with us in life’s joys and sorrows is the climax of God’s blessings on this earth, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 3:14) is Paul’s prayer for every believer today.  The sense of God’s presence will bring rest to troubled hearts and the calming of nerves in the raging storms in an insane world.  Even the rugged Moses found the burdens of life too much to bear, and God promised, “MY PRESENCE SHALL GO WITH THEE ANDI WILL GIVE YOU REST.” (Ex. 33:14), and He will do the same for every guy in our Mentoring School.  Will you permit Him to do so?

Questions and Answers:

  1. If one grieves the Holy Spirit, how does that affect His influence in his life?
  2. If one quenches the Holy Spirit, how does that affect His influence in his life?
  3. Can one be under the influence of the Holy Spirit and also alcohol?
  4. Can one internalize the Word without the Holy Spirit’s influence?
  5. Can one possess the presence of the Holy Spirit and not be under His influence?
  6. How are the influences under alcohol and the Holy Spirit alike but different?
  7. Fear keeps most people from witnessing.  What is the cure for fear?