"Only the Holy Spirit can make possible the out-living of the in-living Christ". Dr. Billy Graham

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My prayer is that each of you have been following our study on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
We will have two more sessions on this topic. Please make an effort to come for these final two studies. Even if you have not kept up with all the lessons, join us for the final two sessions. Much of the material will be reviewed in these two sessions.

Sunday, February 2, 1014

From your resource book, we will discuss lesson 5: "How You Can Know When You Are Filled With the Holy Spirit." and lesson 6:"How You Can Continue to Be Filled With the Holy Spirit." pages 143 - 149.

I have gained much information from Dr. Billy Graham's Book, "The Holy Spirit" first printed in 1978.
I will summarize some of this information on the topic of the fruit of the Holy Spirit which he writes about in chapters 14 - 17.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to believers who will use them to minister to others. All believers receive at least one of the gifts and some receive more. However, with the fruit of the Holy Spirit, all believers receive all the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In our lesson on Sunday, we will discuss the nine characteristics of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Dr. Graham divides these characteristics into three clusters.
First Cluster is the believer's God Relationship which includes: Love, Joy, Peace
Second Cluster is the believer's Manward Relationship which includes: Patience, Kindness, Goodness.
Third Cluster is the believer's Inward Relationship which includes: Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control.

After reading Dr. Graham's writing on these three clusters, the fruit of the Holy Spirit given to all believers made more sense as to why I need all of these in my life. I had considered these characteristics many times and I thought of them as individual attributes that a person may have. Read this list again and think about how the three attributes fit together under the specific heading. I will list some scripture references for you to read.

God Relationship: Love: John 13:35; I John 3:14: Joy: I Thess. 1:6; Neh. 8:10; John 15:11
Peace: Romans 15:1
Manward Relationship: Patience:Colossians 1:11; James 1:2,3; Romans 12:12: Kindness: Psalm 18:35; I Corinthians 10:1; Galatians 5:23: Goodness: Ephesians 5:9; II Thessalonians 1:11,12; Romans 15:14.       
Inward Relationship: Faithfulness: Philippians 2:13; 1:6: Gentleness: Matthew 11:29: Self-Control: Romans 8:5; I Corinthians 9:25,27.

Charles Allen in his book "The Miracle of the Holy Spirit" on page 56 writes:
"Just as all the water in the world cannot quench the fire of the Holy Spirit, neither can all the troubles and tragedies of the world overwhelm the joy which the Spirit brings into the human heart."

Dr. Graham closes his discussion on page 211 with the following words: "And only the Holy Spirit can make possible the out-living of the in-living Christ. The kind of persons God wants us to be can never be produce through human effort. But when the Holy Spirit fills us, He brings forth His fruit in people who manifest a growing likeness to Christ, the prototype of what we will someday be."

I hope to see you on Sunday at 10:50 for our discussion and fellowship time together. Do not miss out on this information about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.