If God promises in 1 Peter 4:14 that the Spirit of glory and of God is going to rest upon you with that much personal, precious helpfulness in the hour of trial, why wouldn’t you want to seek him? Why wouldn’t you want to spend all of your life getting as near to him and as much of him as you possibly can?
And if we add to 1 Peter 4:14, the wider scope of the Spirit’s work, the enticements get better and better, and more and more.
- We know from John 3:5 that it’s the Holy Spirit that causes us to be born again. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
- We know from 1 Corinthians 12:3, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”
- We know from Romans 8:13 that you must put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit or perish.
- We know from 2 Thessalonians 2:13 that all our efforts to pursue holiness will be hopeless because sanctification is by the Spirit.
- We know from Ephesians 1:17 that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom and that, without him, you will live lives of absolute foolishness. Look around the world. Insanity. Because the Holy Spirit inhabits so few. And he’s the Spirit of wisdom.
- We know from 1 Corinthians 12:7, that “to each [believer] is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
- We know from Romans 8:11 that “if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
No Spirit, no resurrection. No Spirit, no new birth. No Spirit, no confession of the lordship of Jesus. No Spirit, no victory over sin. No Spirit, no progress in sanctification. No Spirit, no spiritual wisdom. No Spirit, no spiritual gifts, and no resurrection.
Why would you not seek him? Why would you not, day after day, cry out for him?
