We must all be willing to yield to the Holy Spirit. What does the word yield mean? It means that we are to give the right of way to another. It means that we do not go ahead, but we are to follow behind the Holy Spirit. It means that we must allow Him to be in front of us, not on the side of us and certainly not behind us. Proverbs 3:6 says, “We are to acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths.”

This takes us into another question, “What does it mean to acknowledge?” It means that we are to accept or admit the existence of the truth of the Holy Spirit. It means that we recognize the fact or the importance or the quality of the Holy Spirit. In essence, we should discuss every aspect of our lives with the person of the Holy Spirit and we should consult Him about all the issues that we are facing.

Let us take a hard look in the Bible and just see for ourselves what the Word has to say, Let us begin our search for truth in Acts 9:6, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Please take a look at this, We have always asked God, “What do You want me to do?” This question is a legit one, and it is a question that we can ask the Holy Spirit, but sadly though, we are willing to ask the question, but we are not ready to wait for the answer. What happens is that we do something before we have been given an answer, or we rebel when we get an answer that we do not like. When Paul asked this question, God told him, “Arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.” Sometimes God will have us go somewhere and once we are obedient to Him, then He will gives us further instructions. I believe that He does this, so that He can see, how far we are willing to follow Him and are we willing to yield ourselves to him. God wants to teach us the most important thing that any born again believer can do and that is to live life under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

God wants to take us to a place of excellence! What is excellence? It is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. God does not just want us to be average anymore, He wants us to be in excellence. Matter-a-fact, being average will actually becoming boring to us. When we make the decision to walk under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our lives will change and we will put on excellence.

How do we do this? First and foremost, we must know the person of the Holy Spirit. We must have His identification upon us. We must walk daily with Him! Again let us go into the Bible and see what we need to know, turn to Acts 19:1-10, “And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples  he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”  And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”  When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.  Now the men were about twelve in all.  And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.  But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.  And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.'” They all heard the word of the Lord Jesus and they all heard the gospel of Grace.

Look what it says again in verse five, “When Paul had laid his hands on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.” Speaking in tongues is a gift, it is gift to anyone who wants to have it. Don’t get this gift confused with the gift of the Holy Spirit, where speaking in tongues and interpretation are given. This gift is given when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. This gift of tongues is not for the benefit of the church, but it is a personal, love language to God. The gift for the church, is the gift of tongues and interpretation for the uplifting of the church. The tongues here, in this verse of Scripture is for us to communicate with the Father. There are some people who say that tongues ceased with the apostles. This is very far from the truth. They actually have misinterpreted First Corinthians 13:8-10, “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” Let me continue, the Scriptures says, ‘Whether there are prophecies, they will fall; whether there are tongues, they will cease…” This is where most people believe that in this time in history, there are no more tongues. Let me ask you, “How can this be? Why would God take away our direct line of communication with Him?” He wouldn’t, instead He would increase it. That is why He gave us the person of the Holy Spirit. He gave us the promise of the Holy Spirit with the edification of speaking in tongues. Paul was not saying that tongues would cease now, but that they would when the Lord Jesus comes to claim His Bride, we will not need tongues anymore because we will be with the Father. Some people believe that tongues ceased with the apostles. This is also far from the truth. We must read the Scriptures and understand it, for its content. “For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part will be done away.” Let us highlight the words, “When that which is perfect is come…” Look at this for clarity, verse eight says, “Love never fails.” Paul is saying that everything else will fail. Why is this? Because they are not perfect. Only God is perfect and Jesus has not returned, therefore we can conclude that tongues and prophecy are still here until He returns, because when He returns, they will no longer be needed.

Let me show you some more, “Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.” In this time in history what Daniel prophesied is coming to pass, Turn to Daniel 12:4, “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Knowledge will increase in the last days. Paul didn’t say, knowledge would vanish away after the apostles left the earth, but when all of us are taken up to be with the Lord, then knowledge will vanish, because we will be filled with God, and He is love.

Let us look further just to confirm what I just said, turn to First Corinthians 13:9-10, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” Please make note of what Paul has said, “But that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part will be done away.” Who is perfect? Jesus, He alone is perfect! When we see Him face to face, then that which is perfect has come. Perfect love has come! Prophecies will fail, tongues will cease and knowledge will vanish. We will have no more need of them, because we will be forever with the Lord. I hope that I have put this lie to rest that tongues are not for today?

Tongues are only beneficial for us while we are in these physical bodies. This gift is to benefit us while we are in this body. When we are changed, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be placed in our glorified bodies and the speaking of tongues will not be needed. God has given us this gift, when He baptized us in the Holy Spirit. This gift is for our benefit, therefore, we should be using this gift daily. When we pray in the spirit, then what is unknown to us becomes known, wisdom comes to us and prophecies are made powerful. God has not done away with tongues! When we pray in the Holy Ghost, we always end up in peace. Peace floods our very souls. The peace comes, because we know that Jesus has already done it all. The devil has no defense against us when we pray in tongues. It drives him insane, because of the power that it produces. Look at this now, go to Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Know tis that these weaknesses are not sickness, but in fact they are weaknesses of the flesh. How can we pray about something in English if we don’t know what we are praying about? The Holy Spirit will be the intercessor for us, He will come out and step in and speak for us as we pray. He will speak through groanings which cannot be uttered. He already knows the situation that we are to be praying about and He uses us as the conduit to speak to the situation. We may not understand all that is said, but when we yield ourselves to Him, then He brings peace to our spirits.

We have been talking about ‘Yielding to the Holy Spirit.” We have been given this promise, that is from the Father, that He will never leave us, nor forsake us. When no other person is around us, the Holy Spirit will always be with us. Know this, that when we feel alone, that He is God with us. This is a guarantee and we can always rely on Him. We have been talking about the subject of “Speaking in Tongues,” and we have seen for ourselves that tongues comes from the Holy Spirit baptism. Everywhere in the Bible we have seen that when people are baptized in the Holy Ghost, they receive the evidence of that baptism, through the ability to pray in tongues. This is the language that is given to us by the person of the Holy Spirit, so that we may communicate directly with God the Father. This gift is full of power, but it is only for us while we are in these physical bodies and while we are here upon the earth. When we leave these bodies, we will no longer need tongues, because we will be with the Lord forever. Let me show you what I mean, turn to the Book of Romans, let us read Chapter eight, verse twenty-six, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” What weaknesses is the apostle talking about? He is talking about weaknesses of the flesh. The Holy Spirit will have us pray in the Spirit about something that He grieves us with. This could be for someone, somewhere to something. You see, when we pray in English, we pray for things that we have knowledge about, but when we pray for things in the Spirit, we are able to pray for things that the Holy Spirit knows about. When we are praying in tongues, we don’t have the weaknesses of the flesh of not knowing what to pray, because the Holy Spirit knows. He knows it all. Let us look a little deeper into this Scripture, “…but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us….” What does “intercession” mean? It is the action of intervening on behalf of another and the action of saying a prayer on behalf of another person. When we pray in tongues, we are praying for things that the Holy Spirit knows about, this could be a person, place or a thing. We do not know, but He does know, again we can see that it all comes to the point of yielding to the Holy Spirit.

Think about this now, the Holy Spirit wants us to pray for things that He knows about. This could be someone in our own family that may be dealing with something that we do not even know about. It could be a friend or even a man or woman that we may pass by on the street. You know, that the Spirit wants us to pray for them, because He will grieve our spirits to pray in tongues. God wants us to use this gift, this grace gift. We need to remember that when we speak in tongues, we speak to God. Amazing as it is, yet some churches do not believe that tongues is for today, Let me show you this false news, turn in the Bible to First Corinthians 14:2, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” God wants us to have all of this even today. Turn to Luke 11:11-13, “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  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 wants to give us the promise, even more than we want it. We can be assured just by reading verse thirteen, that the Father will give us the Holy Spirit when we ask for it. There are some people say that in order for us to receive the Holy Spirit, we have to have “No Sin” in our lives, have you ever heard this? These people believe that the reason people do not receive the Holy Spirit, is because God will not fill a dirty vessel. Let’s be real, God doesn’t have any other vessels to fill. Turn to First John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” If we were perfect without the Holy Spirit, why then would we need the Holy Spirit in our lives? The Holy Spirit comes into our dirty, messed up lives to help us. God gives Him to us, to guide us through this lifetime.

What Then Is The Purpose Of Speaking In Tongues?

There are three purposes for us to speak in tongues. The first purpose for us to know why it is important for us to “Speak in Tongues,” is that it “Builds Our Faith.” The second purpose is that it “Draws Out The Power That Has Been Placed Within Us” when we were born again. You see, God placed His power inside of us, power that we have haven’t even tapped into yet. The Bible says in Proverbs 20:5, “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, But a man of understanding will draw it out.” The third purpose for us to speak in tongues, “It Draws Out Knowledge,” that is in our spirits. Each one of us have been given wisdom that is inside of our spirits. which our minds do not even know about. It is here, inside of our spirits, that when we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit it gets drawn out. After this study, you will be able to know things like never before. God is going to make us “Smarter.” We may not be able to know everything, but we will be able to know how to get it. It all will come to us as we yield to the Holy Spirit. Know this that the world is in fear right now, but we shouldn’t be. Why? It is because the Holy Spirit will give us the knowledge and the wisdom to overcome any situation. All that is required is for us to yield ourselves to Him.

Let us read further, turn to Acts 2:4, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” We can see for ourselves, that whenever a person was filled with the Holy Spirit, the evidence shows that they spoke in tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. It is not our words, it is the Holy Spirit. It is the language that we do not understand, but the Holy Spirit understand it. He has the knowledge of the language. Let us look further, read First Corinthians 2:14, “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.” Natural man is a man who depends on his or her five senses. It is a person who can see, hear, touch, taste and smell. The person who is like this, has what the Bible likes to call a “Carnal Mind.” If this person cannot use his or her five senses, then it can never be real. The Scripture says, “The natural or carnal minded man doesn’t receive the things of God.” Why is this so? The verse tells us, “For they are foolish to him.” They are foolish, because to him they can never be real. The Scripture further tells us, “Nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The things of the Spirit can only be understood by people who have the Holy Spirit. A natural man is not able to understand, because he is trying to analyze everything with his carnal mind. Conflict arises, when the natural tries to discern the supernatural.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 14:1-5, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.  For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.  But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.  He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.  I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.” Paul is saying that we must “Pursue Love.” This is what it means to be a Christian. If we are not walking in love, we do not know who Jesus is. The hallmark of being a born again Christian is love. We are to “Desire Spiritual Gifts.” We should desire these gifts so that we can be a blessing to others. Paul said, that we may prophecy. We have to understand that the Old Testament prophets were different from the New Testament prophets. The Old Testament prophets would guide people as God directed them, but in the New Testament, people are guided by the Holy Spirit. This is another wonderful thing about our yielding to the Spirit. He will guide us into all truth. Prophecy today, is used to edify and for confirmation of the things of God. Paul say it this way, “He who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God.” Paul is saying to us that those who are baptized in the Holy Ghost, who have the gift of tongues, we should use this gift, because we are not speaking to men, but to God. We have a direct communication with the Father. The verse goes on to say, “No one understands him, however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” Let us look at this verse in another version, and I am reading from the Amplified Version, “For one who speaks in an [unknown] tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or his meaning, because in the [Holy] Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things [not obvious to the understanding].” I would like you to take a look at this now, Paul said, that when we speak in tongues, we utter secret truths and hidden things [not obvious to the understanding]. These are things that are hidden from the comprehension of our minds. These are things that are hidden from our understanding. When we speak in this heavenly language, we are speaking those secret truths and those hidden things. We are speaking of things that aren’t obvious to our physical understanding.

Now look at the next verse, “But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.” If we prophecy, we will do it towards men’s understanding. If we prophesy in tongues, no one can understand and prophesy has to be exhortation and comfort to the church. In this verse Paul is explaining, that when we gather together and when we prophesy, this is given, so that men will understand. God will never prophesy to us that will produce fear. The Bible clearly shows us that God only gives us prophecy that produces edification. What is edification? It is the instruction or improvement of a person morally or intellectually. Look what else prophecy does for us. Prophesy gives us comfort. Nothing is intended to harm us.

Let us move on to see what Paul further has to say, let us read the next verse, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” Here Paul is saying to us that when we speak in tongues, we are edifying ourselves. When we speak in tongues, we are building ourselves up spiritually, mentally, and physically. We are strengthening our lives.

Now let us turn to verse four, “But he that prophesies edifies the church.” This means that when a word of prophesy is given, it is given, so that the body of believers can understand what is being said.

Turn to verse five, “I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.” Paul is saying this, if someone prophesies in tongues, than there has to be some kind of order. If the tongues are spoken there must be an interpretation so that the church can understand what God is saying. This makes the church strengthened and all are of understanding.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 14:6-12, “But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? For if the trumpet makes a certain sound who will prepare for battle? So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be foreigner to me. Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.”

The Main Objective Is For The Church To Be Edified!

Let us now read 1 Corinthians 14:13-17, “Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.  For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.  What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.  Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say?  For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.” We have to listen to what Paul is saying, he is saying this, that we are spirit beings, we have a soul and we live in a body. When we pray in tongues, our spirits are praying. Our understanding is not there, because our minds cannot comprehend what our spirit is saying. So, when we pray in tongues, we are to ask the Holy Spirit for the interpretation. If He wants us to know, He will interpret it for us, if He doesn’t, He will not. Know this, that the Holy Spirit does things only for our good. Paul goes on to say, that we can sing in the spirit and that we can also ask for understanding.

When we were “Born Again,” our spirits were re-born. The Bible says that when we accepted Christ Jesus into our lives, our old spirits were born again into perfection. We were sealed by the Holy Spirit. When we pray in the Spirit, our prayers are perfected. Our spirit man is just like god. We are heaven ready! When we renew our minds with the Word of God, our souls line-up with our spirits and when our soul and spirit are in-line with the Word, then our physical bodies will also come into alinement. When this happens then the Word will renew our bodies. This means that we can pray a perfect prayer, by praying in the Spirit. We are not to risk praying in English, but we are to pray prayers of perfection in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has come into our lives to help us to walk in the plan of God. First, we have to dispel our thoughts about the Holy Spirit’s purpose. His purpose is not to jerk us, jiggle us, or have us speak in tongues. I know what your thinking, Paul said that we are to be baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, but know this, that is not His purpose. The actual purpose of the Holy Spirit is huge. You see, He has come to do a job inside of us. We have to understand what His specific purpose is and not what men think it is. We already know that He has come to make His dwelling inside of us, to help us live our lives. He has come to give us all that we need to know in order for us to walk in God’s plan for us. He is there to assist us in discovering the plan that God has for our lives. He will assist us in finding God’s will for our lives and He will assist us in taking the right steps that God has set for us.

Let us look into God’s Word and see what He says. Turn to 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, “But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” Paul says something very important, “It is written.” Who wrote it? God did! “It is written by God, eyes have not seen, nor has ears heard, nor have entered into the heart.” This is telling us, that God has not yet revealed it to us. He hasn’t yet reveled the things of God has prepared for us. God has prepared things for us, but right now He has not made them known to us.

Let us look at what He says in verse ten, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.” Notice this, God revealed His plan for our lives with the Holy Spirit. He shared His very thoughts with the Holy Spirit. He shares this with Holy Spirit, so that He can give us the revelation when the time is right. This sharing from the Father is so that we can know His plan for our lives. “The Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God.” These things are what we do not know yet, but they will be revealed to us. It is what the Holy Ghost will do. The plan that God has for us will be revealed to us, we can take that to the bank. Our destiny will be revealed to us. We will have the assurance that God will make sure that the right instructions are given to us. The plan for our lives will be clear! On the day that we were born again, the Holy Spirit was poured into us and then He began putting the directions within our spirits. He begins whispering them into our ears, so that the seed would take root in our hearts and grow. (See Romans 5:5) let us take a look at the Scripture in the Amplified Bible, “But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed]. Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny]. God, the Father, has made all things for us and He is keeping them ready for us to be given by the Holy Spirit. He is holding these things for us, because we have a relationship with Him. The Holy Spirit who resides within us, knows everything that God knows about us. Think on that for a moment, we are walking around with the Holy spirit who knows all things. Doesn’t that want to make you shout, ‘Halleluiah?” It does me! Our friend, the person of the Holy Spirit, knows all things and still wants to be our friend, this is powerful.

Revelation knowledge is the objective of the Holy Spirit. He has come to reveal things to us. Look, at how He brought revelation knowledge, turn to Matthew 16:13-16, “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”  So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” No one who knew Jesus was, except His early parents, mother Mary and father Joseph. But God’s Spirit gives this revelation knowledge to Simon Peter. It was unknown to Peter, but the Holy Spirit immediately gave the knowledge to Peter. This is what the Holy Spirit does, He reveals things to us. it is going to be spontaneous. Jesus now reply’s to Simon Peter with this read verse seventeen,  “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Jesus was saying to Peter and the apostles with him, that there would be no way for you to know these things. You are not able to sense it with your “five senses.” It wasn’t something that you heard from someone else. You heard this from the Holy Spirit, talking to your spirit from heaven.

Let us dive a little deeper into this by reading verse eighteen, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Jesus wasn’t calling Simon Peter by his name, because now he had given him a new name. Peter was now called “Petros,” which means a “piece of the rock.” Do you know who the Rock is? It is Jesus, He is the “Rock of Ages.” The church [the body of Christ] would be built and the disciples as well as us today will be “Petros, a Piece of the Rock.” What is being said by Jesus is that we will all be given a plan for our lives. This plan will lead us to the purpose of the Holy Spirit for today, to guide us into the plan of God. Know this that the gates of hell cannot stop it from growing. Nothing can, because the Word will continue forever. Jesus is saying to us that when we get a revelation of who Jesus is, we become more solid. Something happens to us when we get this revelation. When we can see Jesus and we have the revelation of who He is, then anything that the devil throws at us, will not work.

Let’s continue on with our reading with reading verse nineteen, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Jesus is saying this to us, that once we have the revelation of who He is, then He gives us the keys of the kingdom of heaven, they are ours and we now are given power to bind things on the earth and they will be bound in heaven and we have been given the power to loose things on the earth and they will be loosed in heaven. Why would He do this? He does this because we have been given the revelation of the Christ, the Son of the living God. Once we know who Jesus is, we also know who we are and once we know who we are, we know what authority that we have.

How does all this fit in with the question, ‘What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit? The person of the Holy Spirit has been sent to us to help us know the revelation of Christ Jesus, but there is a problem, many people are walking around with a veil of condemnation over their lives and this causes us not to receive the revelation of Christ Jesus. When we are full of shame, guilt and condemnation, it is hard for us to see Jesus. When we don’t see Jesus, then we are serving dead works. We want to do something to get something. Religion teaches us that we have to do something to get God’s love. We have to do something to receive God’s blessings. The Holy Spirit was sent to free us from these dead works and condemnation. Guilt blocks what Jesus has prepared for us. Shame dams up the flow of glory that Jesus gives to us. Condemnation causes us to not focus upon Jesus and who He is and what He has done. We cannot do what God wants us to do, because we are always dealing with our condemnation, guilt and shame. Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” The Holy Spirit is here to help us get rid of all this mess that we are in, so that we are free from the dead works, condemnation, guilt and shame.

What is shame? It is a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong and foolish behavior. The devil uses shame to keep us from the plan of God. What is guilt? It is the fact of having committed a specific offense or crime. The devil loves to use shame and guilt as his main tools to keep us from following the Lord. Isn’t it always so coincidental that when we start speaking God’s Word, that everything that we have ever done in our lifetime comes up into our minds. What happens when it does? We begin to condemn ourselves! We say to Jesus that I am not good enough to be used by God, because I am too old, too bad, and too sinful still. We walk away because we feel rejected. We cannot see Jesus for who He really is, because we are filled with a mind full of condemnation.

But the day that we get the revelation of Christ Jesus and His finished works, that will be the day that condemnation, guilt, shame and rejection will be purged from our lives. We will be able to stand up against the devil and say to him, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.”

What causes our guilt and our shame? Paul said this about himself, read Galatians 1:11-12, “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.  For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.” These are words coming from a man who was a murderer, torturer, and a persecutor who persecuted anyone who followed Jesus of Nazareth. It came from a man who served the law, who was a person who upheld the Jewish laws no matter what. If the law was broken, He was the one who would find the people who broke it and chain them up and take them to prison. This man didn’t have a heart, but then something happened to this man while he was going to find people who disobeyed the law of Israel. On his way, He met the man he hated the most, He met Jesus and he was given revelation of who Jesus was. Paul is telling us that the gospel was given to him, but not from man, it came from from the revelation that the Holy Spirit gave him. It wasn’t the revelation from Jesus, it is the revelation of Jesus. The “Gospel of Grace” is the unveiling of who Jesus is. Grace is not a subject matter, grace is not a power, grace is the person of Jesus. The day that the Holy Spirit reveals this revelation to us, condemnation, fear, guilt, shame and rejection will cease to affect us. Why is this so? We will be able to see Christ Jesus for who He is.

The Holy Spirit has this specific purpose and that is to remove the veil that obstructs our view of Jesus. This gives our eyes the ability to see Him for who He is and our ears the ability to hear the voice of God telling us who He is. This in-turn will cause our hearts to comprehend that God has a plan prepared for us to walk in. When Jesus ascended, the Holy Spirit came to us and His number one priority is to “Remove the Veil.”

What Is The Veil?

The veil is the condemnation that comes from the law. The law says, “If you don’t measure up to all the law, you are to be punished and to be cursed.” What in one word does that describe? “Condemnation!” The Holy Spirit has come to remove condemnation. He has come to let us know that we deserve all of what Jesus has done for us. We are no longer cursed because of what Jesus has already done. We are blessed and we have a purpose for our lives. We have God’s plan for our lives. The Holy Spirit’s purpose is to get us to see Jesus and not the veil. The Holy Spirit is working in all of us right at this moment and everything that we feel guilty or shameful about, Jesus has already paid for it through the shedding of His blood on the cross. The problem that we keep running into, is that we keep wanting to hold onto the things that Jesus had already taken care of. Whatever we have done, has already been forgiven. It has already been taken care of and the Holy Spirit is working within us at this time to remove the veil, so that we can see what Jesus has already done. The things that we have been doing in secret can be removed from us, if will yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit. His job is to get rid of the condemnation. We will not even desire to sin anymore, because we will have the revelation of Jesus.

How do we deal with shame? We have to believe in Jesus and He will make us free from shame. We can go to church, read the Bible, and pray, these are all helpful. Does it help us with shame? Yes, by doing these things the Holy Spirit can reveal Jesus to us. He shows us the revelation of Christ Jesus and just like Paul, we will see Jesus and we will receive the Word into our lives and yes our lives will change. It is not a man or a woman giving us the Gospel of Grace. It is the Holy Spirit giving us the Gospel of Grace. We are able to know who Jesus is and we are able to know that we are free. John 8:36 says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” How is it that we maintain freedom? By believing in Jesus and what He has already done for us! When shame creeps back in, look at shame and say this, “I am the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus.” Every single time that ugly shame tries to show up or rejection shows up or guilt condemnation and fear show up say this; ‘I am the righteousness of God because of the blood of Jesus Christ and you need to leave now!” if we keep saying this over and over these enemies of God will have to leave until all condemnation fades away. Once we believe in the revelation of Christ Jesus, then the Holy Spirit can instruct us further along God’s plan for our lives.

Grace Is Not A License To Sin

Grace is not a license to sin, it is an opportunity for freedom. We have looked at what the Holy Spirit’s purpose is, but what is our purpose? How do we work with the Holy Spirit? We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit and He will reveal mysteries to us that God wants us to know. John 6:29 says, “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” We are busy trying to do things for God to work for us, but this is not what God says, He says that we must believe in Jesus the One that He sent. Why is this so hard for us to understand? The only work that God wants from us, is for us to believe in Jesus. We need to ask ourselves, “Do I really believe in Jesus? Do I really believe that Jesus has forgiven me of my sins? Do I believe that I have access to all the finished works of Jesus Christ?”

Real belief is going to be tested and are we ready for the testing? Rest authenticates real belief, therefore we need to quit struggling to make something happen, when Jesus has already done it all already. We need to rest in knowing that Jesus has already completed it. This is hard for us to do, but nevertheless, we must learn to rest in the finished works of Jesus. Remember, the only work that God wants from us, is for us to believe on the One He sent. this of course will take place when we learn to “Renew Our Minds.” Our minds have been so filled with the world and with religion, that our thoughts must be renewed so that we can see Jesus. We have to get away from thinking that we need to do something in order for God to do something for us. This my friend, is nothing more than dead works. The blood of Jesus has already done away with the dead works. The Holy Spirit has been sent to help us renew our minds.

Let us dig deeper, turn to Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” God told us earlier in this study that He wanted us to only one thing and that is to believe in Jesus, but look at this Paul is saying that we need to “Work out our salvation.” To see what he is actually saying, let us look at these Scriptures in the New Living Translation, “Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.  For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” God does the work in us and He gives us the desire for godly things and He gives us the power to do what pleases Him. All we have to do is believe on the One that He has sent to us. We do not have to please God by doing something to get something because He does everything for us, if we will believe. The Scripture says, “God is working in you.” This is the Holy Spirit! He is setting our desires to His. This is the Holy Spirit! He is giving us the power to do what pleases God. Yes, this is the Holy Spirit, He is doing God’s work within us. He is changing us by changing our desires. If He can change our desires, then the secret sins that we have been holding onto, they will slip away from us and His desires will be all that we will want. The Holy Spirit came into our lives for the purpose to work on our desires. God said, that He is going to do the work of changing us. He is going to us the desire to change and He is going to give us the power to do what pleases Him. Think about the word, “Power.” What does it mean to you? Power means ability. God is saying that He is giving us the ability to overcome our secret sins and He is giving us the ability to do what is pleasing to God.

What we used to cover up, our sin, we know that it doesn’t please God and it has to be purged from us. The desires for the old way are being put away. God is changing us and delivering us from the shame, the guilt, the rejection, and the condemnation so that we can see the revelation of Christ Jesus in our lives. He is changing us to become more like Jesus. Good is doing all the work in us everyday. Every day God is chiseling away at , removing more of the old self and filling us up with more of Jesus. As God works in us, something happens, we are no longer wanting to do anything that hinders us from being in His presence. We see Jesus and we hear Jesus. We know that we are changing and God knows how to keep making that change continue, by our receiving the revelation of the One He sent.

I want to close with this, God wants to have a relationship with us. What is it that He wants from us in this relationship is this, He wants us to do nothing more than believe in Jesus and His finished works. That’s it, that is all He wants, because He has said that He will do all the rest. Actually this is pretty simple, but we still have the belief that we have to do something for God. That is the Old Testament thinking when we were under the covenant of the law, but not so with the New Testament, this is the covenant of grace, all we have to do is believe in the One who God sent. I will end with this from John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”