 If the Holy Spirit is holy, if the Holy Spirit is powerful, if the Holy Spirit is God, well then how come he doesn't always do what he's supposed to do? The Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit is God, and he works in us, he lives in us, he moves in us, and the Bible even tells us what he is going to do in us. Now obviously he is the one that regenerates our heart. He is the one that gives us a new heart so that we can function in God. And there are some things that the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will do in us. As a matter of fact, if we don't do or move with the way the Holy Spirit wants us to, the Bible says that we are literally quenching the Holy Spirit. So, what is it that the Bible says that we are supposed to do? What happens if we have the Holy Spirit in us? Well, the Bible says in Galatians 5-22, we all know this passage, the fruit of the Spirit, which is the result. The word, the Greek word here is karpos, which is the result, what happens as a result of having the Spirit, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, big one. We'll talk about that in a little bit. Again, such things, there is no law. Now, that's what the Holy Spirit will do in us. That's what we'll look like when the Holy Spirit is in us. But unfortunately, if you listen to some people who will tell us that certain things are the Holy Spirit, such as being slain in the Holy Spirit, falling out, speaking in a language that they have no idea what they're saying, doesn't that kind of go against what we're seeing here? Remember, if self-control is a result of having the Holy Spirit, well then how can the Holy Spirit then turn around and cause us to lose control and to not know what's going on? Something else people say who have this inordinary amount of Holy Spirit in them, this supernatural use of the Holy Spirit where the Holy Spirit comes upon them and they have these manifestations. They will tell you that you can be possessed or be oppressed or be demonized, whatever the term is, by a demonic force. But how could that be? Since the Holy Spirit lives in us, the Bible says greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world, well then how could that be? How could it be that some demonic force can come in and bind the strong man and then plunder his house? Is that possible? Well the only way that some of these things are possible is if we have a weak or a lazy Holy Spirit. My question's always been to those that make these statements is what is the Holy Spirit in you doing? What is the Holy Spirit doing in you where you can lose control? What is the Holy Spirit doing in you that unless you have some sort of outward manifestation that benefits only you that you don't grow, you're not edified? What is the Holy Spirit doing in you to where when you read, when you pray, when you fellowship that you don't grow in the Lord? What sort of Holy Spirit does that person have? Do they have the Holy Spirit? That's going to be the real question. Remember we were told in Ezekiel 36 that when he puts the Holy Spirit in us, when the Holy Spirit is in our heart, he says that he will cause us, and this word cause is to make to do. So it's him that's working, that's moving, that's causing us, not making it possible, but actually causing us. There's no way to get around this word. He will cause us to walk in his statues and to be careful to observe his ordinances. So if that's what he's going to cause us to do those things, if we're not doing those things, and I don't mean that sometimes we won't fight against or move against, I'm not saying that, but by and large we are going to follow the Lord because the Holy Spirit is in us. And if a person is not following the Lord, then the question needs to be asked, does that person have the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, the very same one that we have been, if we are safe, have been sealed by until the day of redemption, until we receive our ultimate reward. The question is, if a person has the Holy Spirit and they end up losing their salvation, as some would say, what was the Holy Spirit doing in them all along? How is it that the Holy Spirit would even allow such a thing? Remember, he is God, he is powerful, he is mighty. The Bible even tells us that it is him who is able, now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy. You mean to tell me that God is able to, but he doesn't? Are you telling me that he can do it, but he won't? The question needs to be asked, what in the world is the Holy Spirit doing when we are falling, when we are losing our salvation, when we're walking away? What is the Holy Spirit doing? Well, the only conclusion that we can come up with is that the Holy Spirit in that person is either too weak to fight, too weak to stop what's happening, not powerful enough, maybe lazy, I don't know. The Holy Spirit that we are seeing described in many Christians today is not the Holy Spirit that is described in the Bible. So the conclusion can only be either one, you don't have a Bible or the Spirit that's working in you is too weak, which means it's not the Holy Spirit. As we're told by many people that we will, and they say correctly, that we shall receive power. Now, obviously this is spoken of for the disciples, the apostles in Acts 1-8, they'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and they shall be his witnesses. And the same for us. If we have the Holy Spirit, we are going to be his witnesses. We are going to testify of him, but also we are going to testify to ourselves. We will be reminded all the time who we belong to. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which means he's moving in us, which means he can be grieved if we don't do what we're supposed to do, but because of what God said he's going to do, he is going to cause us to walk in him perfectly. No, that will only happen once we receive our glorified bodies, once we receive our eternal reward, once we're going to be in our eternal state. That will happen, then there will be no more sin. But now, until the time that we get there, Paul makes a statement that he is confident that he who began a good work in us is going to complete it. How is he going to do so? Well, the Holy Spirit who is the one according to John, according to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes in us. We are born of the Spirit. We don't know who is, how, when, where, as the Bible says in John 3, but we do know that all of us are born of the Holy Spirit, are born as a result of his will. And so he who began a good work in us, he is faithful. He is without question going to complete what he started. And so if he doesn't complete what he started, well, then the only thing that it could possibly be is that he didn't start it. He is not like us where he gives up. He is powerful. He is not lazy. He is not weak. And so if that's what's happening in a person's life, that person may very well not have that. If a person is being demonized, oppressed, possessed, and calls himself a Christian, one of two things. He either is not a Christian or he's not being attacked. If this person has lost their salvation, one of two things. Either they never lost their salvation or they were never Christian because the Holy Spirit does not work that way. For getting what others say or think or ascribe to the Holy Spirit, the Bible literally tells us what the Holy Spirit does. And if what's happening in your life, if the Holy Spirit is causing things to happen that aren't found in the Bible and aren't described, that's not the Holy Spirit. The Bible literally tells us what the Holy Spirit is going to do. He's powerful. He's error-moving. He's active. And so because of that, we can trust that he will do exactly what he says he's going to do. Why? Because he's God. And what's the one thing that he left us to remind us that is the Holy Spirit? His Word. Because all Scripture are breathed out by the Spirit of God in men so that we can have these things that we can be thoroughly equipped and lacking nothing. So don't let someone convince you that the Spirit that's in you isn't the Spirit at all. If it is the Spirit in you, then he is going to do exactly what his Word says he's going to do. Amen.