My husband played a song to practice for Sunday morning. The lyrics beckoned the Holy Spirit to come, for He is welcome in our midst. The song was beautiful. As I pondered the words, I asked myself, “Do we really want the Holy Spirit to come? Do we understand what we are asking in this?” Too often, I think the church has a misguided perception of the Holy Spirit. We expect His presence to be like cotton candy, soft and fluffy. We forgot that He is the fullness of the Holy God who reigns over the entire universe.
I began asking these questions to my husband, but realized that this early morning, pre-caffeine setting would not be a good time for the conversation. However, later Kevin mentioned in the worship service that we often want the Holy Spirit to come as our Teacher and our Guide. But do we truly want to accept Him as the One who convicts us of sin and our need of transformation? (My husband listens to me even before he is officially “awake” in the morning. Miracles do happen!)
In some of the final words Jesus spoke before His crucifixion, He foretells the coming of the Holy Spirit.
John 16:7
But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Jesus knew that it was for our good that He was going away, so the gift of the Spirit could come. Jesus wanted to send the Spirit to us. He understood the necessity of all of the Spirit’s roles on earth. The Spirit came not just for believers, but for the entire world.
John 16:8-11
When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Jesus was limited on earth by time and space, being contained in a human body. However, the Spirit is limitless, exercising His ministry to the whole world! His powerful ministry points out sin to bring people to belief, to give a picture of what righteousness looks like, and to understand the judgment of the enemy. The Spirit is moving on a global scale to change lives.
When we ask the Holy Spirit to come, we are asking for more than a “feel good” feeling. We are asking for transformation.
1 Peter 1:1b, 2a
To God’s elect…who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood…
Part of the ministry of the Spirit to the believer is to sanctify us. That means the Spirit is in the process of purifying us, making us more holy, bringing us into righteousness. The point is to bring every aspect of our lives into obedience to Jesus. The Spirit enables us to do this. When we ask for the Spirit to come, we are inviting Him to do whatever it takes to help us to look more like Jesus. He decides what is righteous and unrighteous, allowed or disallowed, holy or profane. The Spirit should have the final say in our lives because He is Lord.
I do not want to minimize the amazing fact that the Holy Spirit is Comforter, Guide, Teacher, Advocate, Intercessor, and so much more. However, I do want us to know that He is Sanctifier. When we ask for His Presence, we need to give Him the freedom to do whatever He wants in our lives. It is not about us just wanting a super-charged emotional feeling, preferring cotton candy spiritual fluff over the substance and even the difficulty of sanctification. The Holy Spirit is to be God over every part of our lives.
Holy Spirit, come. We need to be transformed. Forgive us for staying comfortable in our unrighteousness. Highlight the areas of our lives You want to change, so that we can be made more like Jesus.