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Transcript 013B — The Work of the Holy Spirit
CALLER: I'd like to know, how does the Holy Spirit work?
HC: The Holy Spirit is Eternal God. The Holy Spirit has always been present on the earth. He is active in every aspect of God's program. He was active at creation, Genesis 1:2: "The Spirit brooded upon the face of the waters." The Holy Spirit came upon various kings of Israel, to qualify them as king. The Holy Spirit came upon saved as well as unsaved men, so that they might declare God's Word. Balaam would be an example of an unsaved man. The prophets would be examples of saved men.
The Holy Spirit restrains sin in the world. God keeps mankind from being more sinful than they are. Otherwise mankind would destroy themselves. And then, particularly in relationship to the born again believer, the Holy Spirit cleanses us from our sins. He is the One Who takes the shed blood of Christ, as it were, and applies it to our lives. He is the One who washes away our sins, as the Father draws us to Himself. And then the Holy Spirit indwells us and fills us so that we are qualified to be a witness. This is all the activity of the Holy Spirit.
It is the Holy Spirit who is the One who gives us various gifts, so that we can be used of the Lord. He gives us the gift of faith, so that we might believe on Him. He gives us the gift, if we have it, to be a preacher, or an evangelist, or whatever. These are all part of the activity of eternal God in the Person of the Holy Spirit.
CALLER: Is it your conscience that bothers you after you read the Word of God, or what is it?
HC: Well, God works through our conscience. And this is because God's laws are written on our hearts. If we are saved, or if we are in the process of being saved, God Himself will prick our conscience and apply that Word to our heart. It's the Word itself that becomes the Living Word. As we read the Word, it's a two-edged sword, and it pierces right into our hearts and exposes us. It cuts us open, so that we are face to face with our sin. And because we were created in the image of God, and therefore we know intuitively that this is sin. And then if God has given us the faith to draw us to Himself, we'll become very sensitive to this sin, and exercised by it, so that we will begin to call out to God for help.
CALLER: I still don't understand how the Holy Spirit works, though.
HC: You're thinking in relationship to salvation? The Holy Spirit is Eternal God. Let's get that before us, number one. He is Eternal God, and God deals with mankind. The Holy Spirit restrains sin in natural man. Otherwise man would destroy himself. "Out of the heart of man comes murder, adultery, fornication, thefts," and so on. And unless God the Holy Spirit actually kept the lid on, so to speak, we'd all become Stalins and Hitlers in the shortest possible time.
The Holy Spirit also is the Person of the Godhead who is used of God to apply the Word of God to our lives, to make us sensitive to it and to be conscious of it. It is God the Father who actually draws us to Christ.
CALLER: Well, could it be like an inner voice or something like that?
HC: Well, God does not articulate to us except through the Word, but when we get under conviction, when we really begin to have a real sensitivity in our soul that we're sinners, and that we're under the wrath of God, this is because the Holy Spirit has put it there. He has begun to apply God's Word to our life.