Gift of the Spirit

          John 16 is full of so much, but I tuned in on the gift of the Spirit and the effects of that.  In John 16 Jesus is trying to explain to His disciples what He is talking about when He says He is going away to the Father.  Also all the persecution they are going to face as a price for believing in Him.  So not only are they losing Jesus, but they are also going to be tortured and put to death as well.  How are they going to deal with all this?  Jesus tells them they will have an Advocate that will come in His place.

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.

          The nice part is that we have this same promise of an Advocate to be with us and teach us all the things that Jesus would have taught us had He been here with us.  How is this?

John 16:8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:  9 about sin, because people do not believe in me;  10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;  11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

          If you are honest with yourself when you accepted Christ things seemed to change and you did not look at the things of the world quiet the same anymore.  They say you can tell if someone has really accepted Christ if you see a drastic change in their life style.  I mean if someone says they have just accepted Christ in their life and then go right out to the local bar to celebrate that by getting drunk just as they had before they accepted Christ then you can probably be fairly certain that they have not accepted Christ.  On the other hand if they say they have accepted Christ and never touch another drop the rest of their lives then they might be a good chance that they really did accept Christ. 

          So when it comes down to it listen to that Spirit of truth within you and heed what He is telling you for it comes from the Lord.

John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.