What's the Role of the Holy Spirit in Our Lives

Disciple U

Read John 14:15-31 Holy Spirit Promised

What kind of teacher, coach, pastor, and/or leader do you like the most?
a) the one who gives me peace
b) the one who comforts me
c) the one who challenges me
d) the one who never gives up on me
e) the one who encourages me
f) the one who is really tough on me
g) one who helps me win regardless of the cost
What leader do you need the most?
a) Mother Teresa b) Martin Luther King c) Colin Powell d) Michael Jordan e) David Robinson f) Donald Trump
g) Abraham Lincoln h) Malcom X i) Hellen Keller
j) Nelson Mandela k) Ronald Reagan l) Corrie Ten Boom
Does what the type of leader you want match the type of leader you need? Explain.
Why do you like the person you chose? What did they do that you admired?

What command do you need right now in your life?
a) Obey me (15)

b) Don’t be troubled or afraid (27)
c) Remember what I told you (27)

Why? What’s going on that made you pick this command from Jesus?

Which one of these promises is your favorite promise?
a) The Father will give you an Advocate, who will never leave you. (15)
b) The Holy Spirit will live in you. (17)
c) I will not abandon you as orphans. (18)
d) The Holy Spirit will teach you everything and remind you of everything I have told you. (26)
e) I am going away, but I will come back to you again. (28)

Why is this one your favorite? What does this have to do with your prayer life?
How does this promise match with the leader you like and need?
BeOne2MakeOne *LearnHisWords FollowHisWays TrustHisWisdom
*John 14:15-31 Holy Spirit Promised What is your favorite truth in this passage?
a) The Holy Spirit leads to all truth. (17)
b) Jesus leaves a gift—peace of mind and heart. (27)
c) The peace Jesus gives is a gift the world cannot give. (27)
d) The ruler of this world has no power over Jesus. (30)

What is the difference between personal truth and absolute truth?
Name a personal truth that the Spirit removed and replaced with absolute truth.
On a scale from 1-10…1 being calm waters and 10 being a hurricane—how would you rate your peace of mind and heart? Why the score?

What is the your favorite Biblical theme in this passage?
a) Love is active—it is more than words. It creates commitment and conduct.
b) God empowers, guides, and comforts His children with the Holy Spirit.
c) The believer is intimately united with Christ who is eternally united with God.
d) The peace of Christ is deep and long lasting. It is eternal.
What do you need more of love, guidance, intimacy, or peace? Rank in order.
What does your family need? Your workplace?

Which quote is your favorite quote?
a) What the teacher is, is more important than what the teacher does.
b) A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
c) Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
d) A good teacher is like a candle—it consumes itself to light the way for others.
e) The average teacher explains complexity; the gifted teacher reveals simplicity.

Can these quotes be related to the Holy Spirit? Explain.

What is your favorite lesson in this passage? Why?
a) The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within us.
b) The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Encourager, Teacher, and Advocate.
c) The peace of God is based on the Spirit’s presence in our lives, not the absence of conflict or stress in our lives.
d) Satan has power only because God allows it—but He has no power over what God gives us.
Who are you sharing this lesson with this week? Let’s pray for them to be open.
BeOne2MakeOne LearnHisWords FollowHisWays TrustHisWisdom

READ: John 14:15-31
LEARN: What are the themes, truths, commands, and promises God wants you to learn?
EXAMINE: What is the Holy Spirit telling you?
APPLY: How does God want you to change?
PRAY: How can you pray these principles back to Jesus?
GOT QUESTIONS: What is the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives?

Of all the gifts given to mankind by God, there is none greater than the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has many functions, roles, and activities. First, He does a work in the hearts of all people everywhere. Jesus told the disciples that He would send the Spirit into the world to “will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment” (John 16:8, NASB). Everyone has a “God consciousness,” whether or not they admit it. The Spirit applies God’s truths to people's minds to convince them by fair and sufficient arguments that they are sinners. Responding to that conviction brings us to salvation.

Once we are saved and belong to God, the Spirit takes up residence in our hearts forever, sealing us with the confirming, certifying, and assuring pledge of our eternal state as His children. Jesus said He would send the Spirit to us to be our Helper, Comforter, and Guide. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” (John 14:16). The Greek word translated here “Counselor” means “one who is called alongside” and has the idea of someone who encourages and exhorts. The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the hearts of believers (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 12:13). Jesus gave the Spirit as a “compensation” for His absence, to perform the functions toward us that He would have done if He had remained personally with us.

Among those functions is that of revealer of truth. The Spirit’s presence within us enables us to understand and interpret God’s Word. Jesus told His disciples that “when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). He reveals to our minds the whole counsel of God as it relates to worship, doctrine, and Christian living. He is the ultimate guide, going before, leading the way, removing obstructions, opening the understanding, and making all things plain and clear. He leads in the way we should go in all spiritual things. Without such a guide, we would be apt to fall into error. A crucial part of the truth He reveals is that Jesus is who He said He is (John 15:26; 1 Corinthians 12:3). The Spirit convinces us of Christ’s deity and incarnation, His being the Messiah, His suffering and death, His resurrection and ascension, His exaltation at the right hand of God, and His role as the judge of all. He gives glory to Christ in all things (John 16:14).

Another one of the Holy Spirit’s roles is that of gift-giver. First Corinthians 12 describes the spiritual gifts given to believers in order that we may function as the body of Christ on earth. All these gifts, both great and small, are given by the Spirit so that we may be His ambassadors to the world, showing forth His grace and glorifying Him.

The Spirit also functions as fruit-producer in our lives. When He indwells us, He begins the work of harvesting His fruit in our lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These are not works of our flesh, which is incapable of producing such fruit, but they are products of the Spirit’s presence in our lives.

The knowledge that the Holy Spirit of God has taken up residence in our lives, that He performs all these miraculous functions, that He dwells with us forever, and that He will never leave or forsake us is cause for great joy and comfort. Thank God for this precious gift—the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives!