Evidence of the Holy Spirit’s Presence
There is so much confusion on this subject. The gift of the Holy Spirit is supernatural, he causes God’s people to behave in ways that previously they would not have persisted in doing. He causes a long term change in a persons affections, purpose in life and hope for the future.
Spurious Signs
It is easy to confuse short-term emotional excitements for the presence of the Holy Spirit. I treated a young lady in her early thirties who had an aggressive form of breast cancer. She was naturally very upset and had many questions about why this had happened to her. She had had a very troubled youth, had been heavily involved with the drug and alcohol scene. She told me that in her early teens she had been attracted to a church that had an electrifying music scene and was very emotional. A preacher asked the congregation if they wanted to be saved and she put her hand up. In the next few weeks she became involved in the church but she had no inner peace. She asked one of the church leaders if she was really saved. He correctly replied that if the Holy Spirit is in a person they must be one of God’s people and he quoted,
“If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” Romans 8:9
But then he said a bizarre thing.
“Let me test whether you can speak in tongues as that is a sure sign of the Spirit’s presence.”
Oh dear! She had been to several meetings and had learned to make language-sounding noises. On hearing this, the minister assured her that she was saved as she had the mark of the Holy Spirit’s presence. After just a few weeks she left that church and had never been involved in a church again. However her plight had awakened a spiritual interest again. She joined us at a Christianity Explored course and it quickly became apparent that she understood little about sin, who Jesus was and what he came to do. However over the next five weeks she became engrossed in the Christian story and the evidence that Jesus really was God’s chosen king, the Messiah, for all people, including herself. She felt bad about the way she had lived her life, which she called ‘wasted’ and made a new start with Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour. She changed, her anger and attitudes were altered and the evidences of God’s presence in her life became apparent for all to see. She did die of her cancer within a year but she died well, looking forwards to being with her Saviour in the real life ahead.
Spurious experiences
How widespread is the misbelief that some religious experience guarantees that people have been born again by the Spirit of God. It is not experiences that save us but a changed heart that results in a changed life.
One lady started to come intermittently to church events because, after praying for a friend’s healing, she had had a very emotional experience of God being with her. She had equated this ‘WOW’ feeling with the coming of the Holy Spirit. The problem was that, although she enjoyed being in the company of Christians she did not seem to enjoy living as Christ wants, was not interested in the Bible or in sharing her faith and became increasingly upset with people in the church. The question must be asked whether such a ‘WOW’ experience is proof of the presence of the Holy Spirit if other evidences are not appearing.
Bishop J.C.Ryle, a Bishop of Liverpool, commenting on this false understanding of emotions, said,
“Worst of all, there are hundreds of young unestablished believers who are so infected with the same love of excitement, that they actually think it a duty to be always seeking it. Insensibly almost to themselves, they take up a kind of hysterical, sensational, sentimental Christianity, until they are never content with the "old paths," and, like the Athenians, are always running after something new.”
Spurious promises
After I had committed my life to Christ, in my first year as an undergraduate, I decided to be confirmed so that I could be a full member of my church. However I very nearly walked out of the confirmation service. The bishop told us that when he laid hands on us we would receive the Holy Spirit. This disturbed me as I knew that the Bible teaches that when I asked Christ into my life, it was the Spirit of Christ who enters and begins his life-changing work. I was already beginning to experience major changes in my life that were undoubtedly the work of the Holy Spirit so how could confirmation give me what I already had. However I resisted the urge to leave and was formally confirmed.
Spurious characteristics
An attractive personality can often be mistaken for the presence of God’s Spirit in a person. An attractive young man had been brought up in a loving Christian home. He had always attended a good teaching church and got to know his Bible well. We was tall and handsome and was a very good sportsman. At university he excelled and was appointed President of the Christian Union. He was very popular and people liked being with him. After graduating he entered a law firm, got married and became active in his local church where he came a popular preacher. But then things began to go wrong. He started getting angry with his wife. He found another church member’s wife more attractive than his own and eventually he left his family to go and live with the other woman. He stopped being involved in any church. The question must be asked whether the natural gifts or personality, attractiveness and gifting were evidence of the Holy Spirit in him. Could it be that all his life had been based on what pleased and benefitted him. He was appreciated in Christian circles because of his gifts and so he naturally went down that route but was he really sold out to the Lord Jesus? His pastor noted that everything in his Christian life had been to his advantage and wondered if he had ever been a true Christian.
True characteristics of life in the Spirit
When a group of Christians were asked if they knew the main characteristics of a Spirit-filled life they found it hard to give a concise reply. This is the reason for this article – we should all be clear that there must be evidence of the Spirit’s indwelling in a person. Others must be able to see the real effects of his presence. We are what we do, not what we think we are. The following are a summary of the Holy Spirit’s work in all his people.
1. Love for Jesus
This is fundamental, we love him for who he is and what he has done for us all on the cross. This is a personal love for Jesus and he thrills us - it is much more than a devotion to serve God. Peter summarised this relationship,
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8
This love and devotion for Jesus is a mark of salvation, evidence of the Spirit’s presence. The Christian’s new life revolves around living for our Lord. Paul repeatedly stressed this,
“For to me, to live is Christ . . .” Philippians 1:21
“When Christ, who is your life, appears, . . . “ Colossians 3:4
It is the Holy Spirit who gives us this love. People can see this in the way we live and talk – our priorities are Jesus’ priorities. Jesus made it abundantly clear how this love will be expressed – in practical behaviour.
“If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
“Anyone who does not love me will not obey my commandments.” John 14:24
A real love for Jesus will always be associated with a longing to live God’s way.
“Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.” 1 John 1:4
All Christians should therefore love Christ by being zealous, eagerly and ardently living for their Lord. The godly Bishop J. C. Ryle wrote,
“A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He sees one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed-up in one thing — and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives — or whether he dies; whether he has health — or whether he has sickness; whether he is rich — or whether he is poor; whether he pleases man — or whether he gives offence; whether he is thought wise — or whether he is thought foolish; whether he gets blame — or whether he gets praise; whether he gets honour, or whether he gets shame — for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing — and that one thing is to please God, and to advance God's glory.”
This is why it is wrong for a Christian to get heavily involved in any activity or relationship where the Lord is not welcome – they will inevitably be drawn away from their first love, the Lord Jesus.
The Lord Jesus entered this world so that we could know God and be part of his kingdom and family. He wants us to be filled with a love for God through the work of Christ’s Spirit in us. The last words of Jesus’ final prayer to his Father, after teaching in the upper room, were,
“I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:26
This love for Jesus comes from the presence of Christ’s Spirit within us.
2. Love for God’s word
Jesus made it clear that he was teaching the very words of God.
“These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” John 14:24
The means by which we know all that God wants us to understand and how God wants us to live is through the Bible. God’s Spirit would enable his disciples to remember what Jesus had taught and that same Spirit will enable us to understand God’s Scripture.
“But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26
There are now some churchmen who take the Word of God lightly instead of it being their authority - the Word of God.
“All Scripture is God breathed . . .” 2 Timothy 3:16
“I give you this charge: preach the word . . . for the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:2-3
How can anyone call themselves a Christian if they reject the authority of Jesus? It is easy to say we believe the Bible to be the word of God but the evidence for this will be seen in the way we regularly read, study and obey what it teaches. Jesus words were those of His heavenly Father. The only way we can know what Jesus said is through the teaching of his apostles. To reject their authority is to reject the authority of Jesus and of God. Peter recognised the essential role of apostolic teaching when he wrote his final letter, shortly before his execution.
“I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the Holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Saviour through your apostles.” 2 Peter 3:4
This is so important, the teaching of Jesus cannot be divorced from the teaching of his apostles. No true Christian will deny all that Jesus’ apostles teach about the way to be saved or the way to live, and this will include their teaching on sexual ethics.
Bishop J.C Ryle recognised
“. . let me first of all ask everyone who reads this paper, to arm himself with a thorough knowledge of the written Word of God. Unless we do this we are at the mercy of any false teacher. We shall not see through the mistakes of an erring Peter. We shall not be able to imitate the faithfulness of a courageous Paul. An ignorant laity will always be the bane of a Church. A Bible-reading laity may save a Church from ruin. Let us read the Bible regularly, daily, and with fervent prayer, and become familiar with its contents. Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing, which is not in the Bible, nor can be proved by the Bible. Let our rule of faith, our touchstone of all teaching, be the written Word of God.”
As this chapter was being written, the news came that Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrat political party has resigned because of the conflict he faced because he was a Christian. As a Christian he accepts the authority of God’s word, and this includes matters such as abortion and sexual conduct. However others in his party have rejected this authority. We all need to understand the difference between teaching God’s principles, which is the churches role and putting them into practice which is the politician’s job. The German politician, Bismark, said,
“Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable – the art of the next best.”
It will not be easy to keep God’s will as the priority in our lives under such pressures. Great wisdom, such as Jesus demonstrated is needed, to answer the attacks. To want to do so is the work of the Holy Spirit. John describes Christians in these terms,
“We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us: but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognise the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” 1 John 4:8
3. Love for Christ’s people
One effect of God giving his Spirit to all Christians is a remarkable unity. I will never forget visiting a rural church in Uganda and being invited back to the round mud hut by a local Christian. He sacrificed one of his few chickens for the meal, to make us welcome. There was a remarkable unifying force binding us together as we talked, through an interpreter, about our Lord and his work in the world. Jesus prayed after his final teaching in the upper room,
“I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:23
Towards the end of his life, the apostle John wrote about this love Christians have for one another.
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. . . . Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. . . . Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, god lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:7-12
This love must be real practical love and not just wishful thinking. It involves caring especially for Christians who are in trouble or distressed. Jesus stressed that such love for his people was a feature of those destined for heaven.
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance . . . for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. . . . Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:34-40
4. Longing for righteousness
God’s Spirit convicts us of our sin and how short we all fall from God’s righteous standards. Jesus emphasised this role of the Holy Spirit when teaching his disciples in the upper room.
“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: . . .” John 16:8
Jesus goes on to explain these terms. The greatest sin is to reject Jesus as the Son of God. He alone has the right of access to the Father as he alone has led a perfectly holy life. When Jesus returned to be with his Father in heaven he left us his Spirit to teach and encourage us. The Spirit will remind people that there is a judgment to come for all who choose to remain under Satan’s authority.
“. . . in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” John 16:9-11
An essential mark of those who have the Spirit of God in them is that they want to live with Jesus’ standards. The Spirit will cause our consciences to become more acute over a particular sin we are prone to succumb to. It is worth adding that God’s spirit deals with specific sins, it is the devil who wants to rubbish us completely and fill us with an overwhelming, debilitating guilt. In this life we will never manage to always live as God wants – this is why we need Jesus’ forgiveness every day.
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8-9
Righteousness is not an outward thing, the Lord’s people long for an inner personal godliness. Jesus warns us,
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1
This development of an inner righteousness is a major theme in the whole Bible. The apostle Peter wrote,
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do: for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:14-16
The great evangelist, Billy Graham was walking along a street one night when he was recognised by a drunkard who was propping up a lamp-post.
“I’m one of your converts,” the man cried out.
Billy Graham replied,
“You may be one of my converts, but you are clearly not one of God’s!”
This desire to become like the Lord Jesus will apparent in the way we live. As the Spirit works in us we will change.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.” Galatians 5:22
These changes will inevitably be increasingly seen where the Spirit of Christ is present. If a hatred of sin in me is not present, then neither is God’s Spirit.
“No-one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.” 1 John 3:9-10
5. Longing to pray
When we have been accepted into God’s kingdom, to serve him, we are given direct access to speak with God. We are now children in our heavenly Father’s family. This gives us access to God’s supernatural power as we continue to live out for him. Jesus entered this world to establish God’s kingdom and we can pray that God will enable us to extend this work. There is no greater work than this.
“’Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:12-13
The Christian’s life is a constant relationship with our heavenly Father. We share our needs and desires with him. We acknowledge when we have failed. All these aspects of prayer are included in the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to use.
Bishop J.C.Ryle wrote,
“Prayer is to faith what breath is to the body. How a person can live and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a person can believe and not pray is past my comprehension too.”
6. Longing to evangelise
Jesus taught his disciples about the work of the Holy Spirit in his teaching in the upper room shortly before his crucifixion. He started with this saying,
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” John 15:26-27
The reason that Jesus appointed his disciples was that they should tell people all about Jesus. They did record this teaching for us in the apostolic writings we call the New Testament. One of the last things Jesus said to his disciples was,
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
This makes it clear that this instruction to evangelise was to be passed on to subsequent generations of Christians. It is as we fulfill this commandment that Jesus promises to give us an experience of the power of Christ’s Spirit with us. Paul wrote,
“He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” Colossians 1:28-29
7. Longing for heaven
Alice was a patient of mine who had advanced cancer and was in hospital for terminal care. I was on a teaching ward round with about twenty doctors, nurses and medical students. We came to Alice and I sat on her bed and held her hand when she asked,
“Mr. Palmer, when am I going home?”
“Alice, I don’t think you would manage on your own at home,” I replied.
“No, I don’t mean that,” she said with a smile, “When am I going home to be with the Lord Jesus?”
When joining our Lord in heaven is our goal we become very free and bold. This longing is a work of the Holy Spirit. The writer to the Hebrews sees this desire as a characteristic of Christians.
“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus . . .” Hebrews 3:1
8. Perseverance
It is this longing to be with Jesus that keeps us living with him now. To turn our backs on Christ and his Church is a sign that we do not have the Spirit of god in us.
“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” 1 John 2:19
There will inevitably be opposition to prevent us keeping the Lord at the centre of our thinking, but our salvation depends on our remaining in Christ. He alone can save us.
“You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:22
One of the promises of the Lord Jesus is that those who truly turn to him will not be rejected but his spirit will enable us to keep going. This perseverance is a true mark of the presence of the Holy Spirit. jesus summarised this relationship:
“My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28
9. Joy and Peace
Joy is a characteristic of those who are living closely with the Lord Jesus. A Bishop visited our old church and after the service he sat on the church hall floor in the middle of all the children. The adults were looking on, drinking their coffee. The bishop taught us all about the source of joy. He explained that ‘J’ stands for ‘Jesus’ and ‘Y’ for ‘you’. He surprised us when he explained that ‘O’ stands for ‘nothing’. He emphasised that the source of joy is having nothing between the Lord Jesus and yourself, no distance, no unconfessed sin and no estrangement. We need to walk closely with him every day.
The word ‘joy’ comes 241 times in the Bible, 57 times in the book of Psalms itself. This joy is the natural response to the eternal security God’s people are given.
“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.“ Psalm 5:11
When a person knows they have been accepted into God’s kingdom and that nothing can remove this new status from them, there will naturally experience a great peace. God does not want his people to be anxious.
“Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” Psalm 119:165
These emotions are all the consequence of being given the Holy Spirit and our living closely with God, obeying what he demands. Note that the following characteristics come as a package, together they are the fruit, not fruits, of the Spirit’s presence. He changes our attitudes.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23
Summary
When the gospel was first preached in Thessalonica some Jews and a good number of God-fearing Greeks put their trust in Jesus. Paul later wrote to them. He recognised that although he used the words to explain the gospel, these were backed up by a working of the Holy Spirit – it was the Holy Spirit who caused his listeners to love the Lord Jesus.
“ . . . because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” 1 Thessalonians 1:5
It was not easy for them to be followers of the Lord but the Holy Spirit kept them persisting as church members,
“ . . . you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 1:6
They clearly became a godly church, a holy group of people, Paul being able to say of them,
“And so you became a model for all believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” 1 Thessalonians 1:7
It was this same Spirit that had led them to share their new faith with others around them.
“The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere.” 1 Thessalonians 1:8
They also had a determination to persevere, a longing to be with the Lord Jesus, after his return to earth to rule.
“ . . . you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
To bring about such a radical change is the reason why God has given his Spirit to all his people. He longs to change us into radically new people who love him and whose greatest longing is to please him.
“ . . . if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
We therefore all need to ask ourselves if we have this Spirit of Christ. If we don’t want to live with Christ’s priorities, the very essence of being filled with His Spirit, we will face eternal trouble.
“If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” Romans 8:9
As God’s chosen people we rely completely on Christ’s righteousness that has been credited to our account with God. But he gives us His Spirit that we should then be completely different people, with Christ’s ambitions as our own.
The characteristics mentioned above describe the character of the Lord Jesus. To be ‘filled with the Spirit’ describes those times when these characteristics of Christ are apparent. Unfortunately no-one lives continually in this state but it does not mean we are not Christians. To be filled with Christ’s Spirit is our ambition but we are saved when we believe, when we recognise the authority of the Lord Jesus as being the authority of God himself and have committed ourselves to live for him. It is that repentance and belief that is the key to being accepted into God’s kingdom. Paul reminded us,
“Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?” Galatians 3:2
The battle for Christ to rule in our lives begins when we first repent and believe. That is how we enter God’s kingdom and that is when we are given God’s Holy Spirit.
BVP
