The Inner Ministry Of The Holy Spirit (Tamil) — Zac Poonen

The Resurrection, New Birth, and Receiving the Holy Spirit

So, we have been thinking about the full gospel and there's a reason why this gospel was not understood in the Old Testament. And they couldn't experience it also. It's not only because Christ had not died and risen.

Because I want you to see something in John's gospel in chapter 20. And this is something that happened after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We read here in John chapter 20 verse 19. On the first day of the week, when the doors were shut for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, On the first day of the week, when the doors were shut for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, Now, you know, they never expected that.

Even though they had gone to the tomb and seen it was empty, they didn't really believe that Jesus was risen. Even though they had gone to the tomb and seen it was empty, they didn't really believe that Jesus was risen.

But now, when they saw him, they rejoiced when they saw the Lord. And he breathed on them, it says in verse 22, and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. And he breathed on them, it says in verse 22, and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.

Now, it's very difficult to explain what actually happened there. We know that when Jesus does something, it always something happens. When he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit, we can't say that nothing happened.

When he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit, we can't say that nothing happened. And he was just clay. And then we read that God breathed on them and he became a living soul. That was the old creation.

Now, Jesus breathes on them. So, they may have been born again. We can't be definite about that. But something happened. And then, we would have thought, Okay, now they won't be afraid anymore, because now they don't have to sit inside closed doors in fear.

After all this, verse 26, after 8 days, again, the disciples were inside doors shut out of fear. So, Jesus breathing on them and saying, Receive the Holy Spirit, didn't deliver them from the fear. Now, the Lord appeared to them a second time.

And told Thomas, Put your hands, finger here and your hand into my side, verse 27. And still, they haven't overcome their discouragement. Because you read in chapter 21, verse 3. Simon Peter said to all the other disciples, I'm going to go fishing.

Now, what he was saying was, I'm going to go back to my old trade of fishing. It's no use being an apostle. So, what I want to say is, even though they saw Jesus risen, they knew He had risen from the dead.

They touched His body, He breathed on them, they were still the same. But, when the day of Pentecost came, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, everything changed completely. So, I want you to see this difference.

And Jesus Himself said that in Acts 1, verse 8. That you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Everybody who receives the Holy Spirit is not necessarily filled full of the Holy Spirit.

Because, as I said, when Jesus said to them, receive the Holy Spirit, they must have received the Holy Spirit. And I think personally, we can't be dogmatic about it, but I think that is the equivalent of being born again.

But, people who are born again can still be full of fear, living inside closed doors. To such people, I mean, imagine, in some of these situations in the Gospels, you have to picture yourself as if you were there.

Imagine, you were sitting there, one of the disciples, and you see the risen Lord, and He comes to you and breathes on you and says, receive the Holy Spirit. You know, we read of times when Jesus touched somebody's ears and said, be opened.

The ear was opened immediately. Or, He touched people's eyes and their eyes were opened. Even dead people, Lazarus, come forth. I read somebody say this, that if Jesus had only said, come forth without mentioning Lazarus' name, if He had said, come forth, everybody dead in history would have come out.

He didn't want all of them to come out, so He said, Lazarus, only you come out. What I'm trying to say is, there's such tremendous power in the word of Jesus Christ. Because it's the same word that created the universe from nothing.

Isaiah 55 says, God says, no word that comes out of my mouth will be without accomplishing what it goes forth to accomplish. So when Jesus breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit, I believe they must have received.

So when Jesus breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit, I believe they must have received. But Jesus tells them in Acts 1 .8, you still got to wait. He says in Acts 1 .8, the Holy Spirit will come upon you.

And He told them in Acts 1 .4, wait in Jerusalem. And He told them in Acts 1 .4, wait in Jerusalem. So there was something they still needed. And that was being filled with the Holy Spirit. Now today we don't have to wait.

They have to wait because God's timing was for the Spirit to come on the day of Pentecost. Now it's important to understand this because this is part of the full gospel. I want you to turn to John 7 .39.

The Spirit Within Versus the Spirit Upon

And there's a little expression there in the last part of verse 39 that the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Many times in the Old Testament we read of the Holy Spirit coming upon certain people.

But then it says here the Spirit was not yet given. So what it means is the Spirit was not yet given in this way. And the way is described in verse 38 where from the innermost being, the power of the Spirit will flow out.

In the Old Testament, the Spirit came upon people, equipped them, empowered them. The power did not flow from their innermost being. So this was a new age that was going to come on the day of Pentecost.

Where power will not be outside of me. But it will first come inside of me and then flow out. Now this is a very important distinction that we must understand. Because then we will not be deceived by all the false preachers today who seem to have a lot of power on the outside but don't seem to have power inside.

In the Old Testament it was like that. The Spirit was on the outside. But here it says from this innermost being, the Spirit was not yet given in that way because Jesus was not yet glorified. So this power could flow from the inside of people only after Jesus was glorified.

And that didn't take place in Acts 1 till verse 10. Where Jesus went up to heaven and then he was glorified. And so only after that the Holy Spirit could come inside and flow from the inside. Now a lot of believers today are seeking for the power of the Holy Spirit.

Which is a good thing. But we must seek for that power to flow from the inside not just external. You know speaking in tongues can sometimes be just an external thing. It's not necessarily an indication that power has come inside the heart.

So we read that finally on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit fell on them. And we read that there were tongues of fire resting on top of them. If you go back to the Old Testament you see little symbols of what God wanted man to experience in the New Covenant.

God’s Desire to Dwell Within Humanity

When God created Adam God wanted to dwell in him. But God was not dwelling in Adam because Adam had to make a choice for that. He had to say I don't want the tree of knowledge of good and evil I want the tree of life.

If he had gone there then God could dwell in him. See God doesn't force anybody that he wants to dwell in someone. A man has to choose that. That's why God sent Adam into the garden with a choice. And when he did not make the right choice then he was put out of the garden.

But God's desire for man never changed. God's desire was to dwell in man. You must remember that God's desire is to dwell inside all of us. And the first picture of that is in Exodus chapter 3. In Exodus chapter 3 we read of Moses seeing a bush on fire.

Exodus 3 verse 2 He saw a bush burning with fire. There was a fire inside that bush. And see verse 4 it says from inside the bush God spoke. This is a picture of what was going to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.

It was not upon the bush. The fire was from inside and God spoke. It says very clearly from inside the bush. It says very clearly that God spoke from inside the bush. And many years later, actually 40 years later We read in Exodus chapter 33.

We read in Deuteronomy 33 When Moses is blessing all the tribes of Israel. When Moses is blessing all the tribes of Israel He uses a title for God. Now God was known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

But what is here that Moses uses another title for God. He blesses Joseph in verse 13 onwards. Exodus 33 verse 13 And one of the blessings he blesses Joseph with He says I pray that you will have verse 16 the favor of him who dwelt inside the bush.

How does he call God? The God who dwelt inside the bush. So there is a picture of God wanting to dwell in man. And from inside to speak through man. Later on God told Moses in Exodus 25 to build a tabernacle.

And you read about that in Exodus 25 verse 8. And there God says let them construct a sanctuary for me that I may dwell among them. And there God gave them the pattern for that tabernacle. And in all these Old Testament pictures was a picture.

All these Old Testament things were a picture of what was going to be fulfilled in the new covenant. So I want to tell you something very important here because I believe there is a lot of confusion concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

And a lot of that can be eliminated from your mind if you understand something about the tabernacle. See even though the old covenant has been abolished. And all these things in the Old Testament were a picture of what is to be fulfilled in the new covenant.

These 39 books of the Bible, the first 39 books have not been abolished. Do you know that it is man who has called the first 39 books Old Testament? In your Bible that is called Old Testament. But God never gave that title to the 39 books.

That is a title God and man has given. And the 27 books in the end of the Bible, man has called it New Testament. But actually the whole thing is the Bible. No part of the Bible is abolished. The whole of it is the word of God.

But the Old Covenant or Old Testament same thing is a covenant God made with Israel. That has been abolished. That is like saying British rule was abolished in India 62 years ago. Today we are not under the British.

In the same way we are not under the Old Covenant. The British rule is for the British people. Not for us in India. Once it was there but not now. Same way the Old Covenant was for the Jewish people not for Christians.

That has been abolished. But the Bible is still for all of us. But in God's dealings with Israel was a picture, a shadow of what was to be fulfilled in the New Covenant. That is why studying the Old Testament will make clear some of the confusing things in the New Covenant.

Being Born Again and Being Filled With the Holy Spirit

I will tell you in my case. My understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit has become clear through studying the Tabernacle. So what I want to share with you is something about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the full Gospel.

We saw that in the New Covenant it has to come from the innermost being. We saw that being born again is not the same as being filled with the Holy Spirit. I will give you one more proof of that before I go to this Tabernacle.

You know in Acts chapter 6 there was a disturbance among the early believers concerning the distribution of food. So the Apostle said, See our calling verse 2 is to preach God's word. We can't neglect that and start serving tables.

But you select seven people to do that. And the number one qualification for these seven people is verse 3 They must be men full of the Holy Spirit. Why didn't he just say they must be born again people?

Now today we would say they must be born again people. But the Apostle said they must not be just born again people. They must be born again people who are full of the Holy Spirit. So they made a distinction.

Okay all these 5000 people are born again. But not all of them are full of the Holy Spirit. So among them you must select some people who are full of the Holy Spirit to do this job. Now if you listen carefully to all I am telling you today a lot of confusion concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit will be removed from your mind.

Let me show you another verse. God's word is so clear. Acts 11 verse 22 We read about certain people in Antioch who were converted and it says here they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 22 They sent Barnabas to Antioch.

And Barnabas is described in verse 24 as a good man who was full of the Holy Spirit. So it doesn't say he was a born again man. There were many born again people. But among the born again people some were full of the Holy Spirit.

Most of us here may be born again. But not all are full of the Holy Spirit. And you will never be full of the Holy Spirit unless you see this distinction. Jesus breathed on people and said receive the Holy Spirit and after that he said wait now for the Holy Spirit to come upon you.

Now some of us are very intellectual, clever, educated. There's nothing wrong with that. That's good for worldly things. But if you use that to study the Bible you'll get thoroughly confused. When some people come to me with questions I can immediately discern this is a clever educated fellow, God is confusing him.

Because other simple people understand it immediately. Why is that? Because Jesus said in Matthew 11 .25 I thank you Father you have hidden these truths from all the clever intelligent people. And you have revealed them to babes.

What quality do babes have which clever people don't have? Humility. Clever people usually don't have it. They are quite proud of their cleverness. But clever people can humble themselves. Then they can understand.

So we have to become like babes to understand God's word. So here we read about people who are full of the Holy Spirit. And not all were full of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament tabernacle we can understand that.

The Three Parts of the Tabernacle

The Old Testament tabernacle had three parts. It was a big compound maybe about 150 feet by 75 feet or so. 150 feet. 150 feet. And in the middle was this little tent. And the tent had a partition. So there were two compartments in the tent.

The tent was about 45 feet by 15 feet. The first 30 feet was one room and the next 15 feet was another room. The height was about 15 feet. So the open part was called the outer court. And these two covered parts were called Holy Place and Most Holy Place.

Just think of a small building inside a big compound. And the building has got two rooms. So this was the tabernacle. Three parts. One part everybody could see. Two parts were covered. Everybody couldn't see.

And between these two parts was a thick veil. And nobody could go inside except the high priest once a year. Now don't think this is all unimportant because it will remove a lot of confusion from your mind concerning the Holy Spirit.

What was this a picture of? Everything in the Old Testament was a picture of something in the New Testament. See Colossians 2. Colossians 2 and verse 16 and 17. We read here that Let no one judge you concerning food, drink, new moon, sabbath day, anything.

Because all this is only a shadow. And the reality is in Christ. He is saying this is only a picture, like a photograph. I mean, you know the difference between the photograph of your wife and your wife.

You carry your photograph of your wife with you when your wife is not with you. But if your wife is there, you don't need her photograph. That's why we don't need the Old Covenant today because the reality has come.

The reality comes through the Holy Spirit. So if you are full of the Holy Spirit, you don't need to be in the Old Covenant. Because the Holy Spirit brings Christ Himself to us. But if you are not full of the Holy Spirit, then you need the Old Covenant.

And that's why you find so many Christians today who live by rules and regulations. Because they don't know what it is to live life full of the Holy Spirit. See Galatians chapter 5 and verse 18. Galatians 5 .18.

If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Let me put it another way. If you don't allow the Holy Spirit to lead you, then you have to be under the law. The law had not only ten commandments.

The law had not only ten commandments. From Exodus to Deuteronomy, there are 613 commandments. To please God, to obey the commandments, you have to study so much. By the Holy Spirit coming inside. So we can read this verse like this.

If you are led by the Holy Spirit, you don't have all these rules. Wherever you find a Christian who is living by rules, he can say he is under the law. He may believe in Jesus Christ. But he has only got the photograph of his husband.

Not the husband himself. That means Jesus the husband is not there. Only the photograph is there. The Holy Spirit replaces the photograph with Christ himself. The real person of Christ comes in. And the presence of Jesus is there.

And you can talk to Jesus just like you talk to anybody else. Because he is there. And he speaks to you. Now in the old covenant, nobody could have that. Even the great prophets and Abraham and all, God spoke to them from outside.

They would hear a voice like that. They would hear it with these ears. There was no voice from inside to anybody in the old covenant. That's why Jesus told his disciples, it's better that I go away because then the Holy Spirit will come inside you.

Otherwise you remember when they were in the boat, and Jesus was sleeping, they got afraid when the storm came. But if the Holy Spirit is inside, then Jesus is inside, then when the storm comes you are not afraid.

The answer to every problem that you can ever have, is to have the Holy Spirit inside and filling you. For that you have to finish with the law. See many of our elder brothers, they try to control their churches with a whole lot of rules.

You must dress like this. You must remove your ornaments. You must do this, do that, do the other thing. And you can sense these people don't know what it is to live by the Holy Spirit. As soon as they see somebody, this is what they are examining.

Righteous Discernment Beyond Outward Appearance

Now if you are a brother who looks at a sister, and the first thing you see is whether they wear ornaments or not. I can almost certainly say that you are under the law. I was like that. But I said Lord deliver me from that.

When I see a sister, I want to see a soul whom Jesus loves. Just like I don't want to see whether they are poor or rich. I don't want to see the external things. Shall I tell you why? Because the Bible says, Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

The Bible says, Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Lord, I don't want to look at anybody the way a man looks. I want to look at the way you look. I want to see that person's heart.

I want to see that person's heart. I want to love them in the same pure love that God loves them. This has completely changed my ministry. All of us are learning to look on the outside being children of Adam.

In Isaiah chapter 11, we are reading about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We are meditating on the complete deliverance from the law. Here we see the Holy Spirit resting on Jesus. When the Holy Spirit was on Jesus, He dwelt inside Him, not just upon Him like all the Old Testament prophets.

So even though it is written here, His Spirit of the Lord resting upon Him, it was more than that. I'll come back to this. Let me show you Isaiah 61 first. Before looking at this, I want to show you Isaiah 61.

Here we read that the Holy Spirit is upon Jesus for the ministry of Jesus. The Holy Spirit was given to do two things upon Jesus. We need these two things. The Holy Spirit works in our life exactly like He worked in Jesus.

The Spirit of God came upon Jesus. He quoted this in Luke chapter 4. But it's all about ministry here. To preach good news to the poor. To bind up the broken hearted. To preach liberty to the captives.

To preach freedom to the prisoners. To proclaim verse 2, the favorable year of the Lord. That last part was left out by Jesus when He quoted it. The day of vengeance was left out in Luke chapter 4 because that has not yet come.

You compare this with Luke 4, you'll find He left out that part. Because that is still in the future. But in Isaiah 11, you read about the Holy Spirit working within Jesus. We need the Isaiah 61 experience and the Isaiah 11 experience.

Because the Bible says, as Jesus is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4. So when I think of the operation of the Holy Spirit. I don't look at the examples of all these preachers who talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit in television screens and on platforms today.

They are not my example. I have no desire to touch people and make them fall down. I have no desire to touch people and make them fall down. Those who need that kind of people are the leaders of the earth, not the followers of Jesus Christ.

I am not following the preachers of today. To me, the perfect example of a spiritual person is Jesus Christ. And when He touched people, they stood up. They didn't fall down. He did not come to push people down.

He came to raise people up. You may think this is a small thing. It's not a small thing. If you do the opposite of what Jesus did, that's called the Antichrist. If you do the opposite of what Jesus did, that's called the Antichrist.

It's the spirit of the Antichrist. I don't want to have a smell of that in my life. I don't want to condemn people. I want to encourage them. I want to say to all of you. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world.

If your preaching condemns people, I want to say to you, you are being influenced by the spirit of the Antichrist. You may not be aware of it. Unconsciously, the spirit of the law is becoming the spirit of the Antichrist in your preaching.

People listen to you and they get condemned. They don't get encouraged to have faith and hope that Jesus can lift me up. They don't get encouraged to have faith and hope that Jesus can lift me up. I am not saying this to judge any of you.

Jesus said, he who is without sin, throw the first stone. I have been doing this for many years in my blindness. I don't do it now. I want to follow Jesus. Listen to how the Holy Spirit operated. It worked inside him.

The Sevenfold Spirit and Inner Counsel

Isaiah 11 gave him wisdom. It's called the spirit of wisdom in verse 2 of Isaiah 11. Wisdom is not on the outside. It's inside. Understanding. Inside. Counsel. That is advice. This is what you should do.

Inward strength. Knowledge. Knowledge of God. Not just academic knowledge of the Bible. And the fear of the Lord. This is the 7 fold Holy Spirit mentioned in Revelation. It's called here the spirit of Jehovah.

Spirit of the Father. Today we know him as Father. They knew him as Jehovah. The first thing the Holy Spirit shows us today is, God is your Father. Jesus lived like that all the time. He told his disciples once, on the last night, you will all leave me.

But I am not afraid. I am not alone. Father is with me. The spirit of the Father, number one. Spirit of wisdom. It's for me, for you. Of understanding. Of advice and counsel. You know, if you have the full of the Holy Spirit, even when there is no man to advise you, the Holy Spirit will advise you.

What TV program can you watch? What are you not supposed to watch? I don't have to give you a list. If you have the spirit of counsel in you, he will tell you. I don't have to give a list to you of all the false preachers today.

Who are on television or anywhere else. The Holy Spirit will tell you. That's not the spirit of Christ. That guy who is asking poor people for money, that's not the spirit of Christ. You don't need me to tell you that.

Spirit of counsel. Spirit of inner strength. You know, that saves you from discouragement. Spirit of knowledge of God. And finally, seventh. The spirit of the fear of the Lord of reverence for God. And this spirit will make you, verse 3, refuse to judge by what your eyes see.

Did you hear that? That when you look at a person, In the olden days, you judged by what you saw. But now, your spirit of reverence for God says, no, I do not judge by what my eyes see. I do not even judge by what my ears hear.

In the Old Testament, they couldn't do that. Because the Holy Spirit did not dwell inside. You know, when we grow up as children in the world, As children of Adam, All the information that you and I have in our mind, Has come from what we have seen, what we have heard, mostly.

We have five senses. Smelling, tasting, touching. But those three senses, we get very little bit of the information in our mind. You know, smell is just basically for good smell or bad smell. And taste is good food, bad food.

And touch is for hot, cold or a few external things. But more than 95 of the information in our head is from what we have seen or heard. You know, that's how a child learns. He sees, he hears and he develops.

And that's how all of us have developed. And we have learned from childhood to form our judgment by what we see and what we hear. In external worldly things, we still live like that. You see a red traffic light, you stop.

You hear a loud sound, you shut your ear. So, we still use it for external things in the world. But the great problem is, that believers judge spiritual things also by what they see and what they hear.

Eyes and ears are very necessary for earthly things. Even to read the word of God, you need eyes. To hear me now, you need your ears. But if you judge by what you see and what you hear, then you are living like a child of Adam.

And here it says, he will never judge by what his eyes see. He will never make a decision by what his ears hear. Does it mean he will make no judgments? Is he going to live on the earth like a mindless zombie?

No. It says with righteousness, verse 4, that is through the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, he would make a judgment. So, the man who is full of the Holy Spirit has got another power to form a judgment.

He sees, he hears just like everybody else. But he doesn't form a judgment. He learns to live not by what he sees and hears. But by, after seeing and hearing, he evaluates them by the Holy Spirit. I will show you another verse which has got a connection with this.

Isaiah’s Servant Who Sees Without Judging

Which if you have read in the Old Testament, you may not have understood. And though this may have more than one meaning, this is one of the meanings I believe in Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42, verse 19, says, Isaiah 42, verse 19, 20.

How have you understood this verse when you have read it in the past? Who is blind but my servant? Is God's servant blind? Who is deaf like my messenger? Who is so blind as the one who is at peace with me?

Who is so blind as the servant of the Lord? This really seems to confuse us. But connect it with what I just said in Isaiah 11. Then you will understand. What it means is, he sees but he doesn't form a judgment.

He sees but he is blind to judging by what he sees. He hears but he is deaf to making a judgment by what he hears. See, verse 20. He sees many things but he doesn't form a judgment. He doesn't say, ah, now I know.

I saw it with my own eyes. He hears, his ears are open, verse 20. He doesn't form a judgment. That's certainly one of the meanings of that passage. It's helped me tremendously. We often make a mistake by what we see and hear.

I'll tell you from my experience. It's very difficult to get rid of it completely. We get better and better and better and better. Not saying, no, I will not judge by what I see, what I hear. I will not make a judgment by what I see, what I hear.

I will not make a judgment. Even after many years, we still make a mistake. When we have small children, they fall down and get up. Now they have learned to walk. But we all fall down now and then. I have seen it in my life too.

I am never going to judge by what my eyes see or my ears hear. I'm going to listen to the Holy Spirit. It gets better, better, better, better. And then all of a sudden, I suddenly find one day, I've judged something by what my eyes see and what my ears hear.

Then I realize my mistake. Then I realize my mistake. If this is wrong, a grown-up man will not fall down. Not every day, but it can happen once in a while. What does he do? Get up. Yes, I must be more careful from now on.

When I was riding my scooter, sometimes I fell down. I know how to ride a scooter. I don't fall down every day. But sometimes I fall down. The Lord will say to me, be careful. The same thing here. When in some situation, I would judge by what my eyes saw or ears heard.

It was just like a toss from the scooter. The Lord would say to me, be careful. Learn to live all the time by the witness of the Spirit. Learn to live all the time by the witness of the Spirit. So, when you see a sister with ornaments, don't judge.

When you see a brother with long hair, don't judge. Or some other things like that. You know, what is one of the most disobeyed commandments by believers among the commandments of Jesus? There are many of them, but here is one of them.

Judging With Righteous Judgment

Have you read this verse? John 7 verse 24. John 7 verse 24. This is a commandment by the Lord Jesus Christ. What does He say? Do not judge according to appearance. Can it be clearer than that? It is so clear.

Don't judge by what you see. Don't look at a person and form a judgment. Don't judge by his dress or his hair or his ornaments or his face or how he looks or anything. So, what should I do? Just walk through this world without any opinion?

See the rest of the verse. But, you must judge with righteous judgment. Some people say, Jesus said don't judge. That is half the truth. Look on the other side of the coin. This coin has got two sides.

Don't judge according to outward appearance. Turn the coin over. You must judge. That is the word which many people haven't heard. Because they don't read the Bible slowly. They are too fast in reading the Bible.