Spirit Directed Supplication
This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude:20). Last week, we were introduced to this man, Jude, a faithful shepherd, a humble servant of the Most High God. He was a man of conviction and a man of zeal for the Word of God, a man who loved God and loved the people of God. He tells us about his aim as he set out to write. He was seeking to write about the common salvation of which believers were partakers, in which they all share. However, in that moment, as he set out to write, he felt compelled to address another subject altogether.
God impressed upon his heart the need to address the matter of contending for the faith. With all your being, with all your heart, contend for the faith, Jude says. Jude says, verse 3, apparently, there were those infiltrating the church with their own agenda. We read in verse 4 that they were denying the gospel of free and saving grace. They were living ungodly lives. They were living for themselves. They were denying the reality of the gospel. And more than that, they were denying the only Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. They denied the very deity of Jesus Christ.
And Jude sounds the alarm. Be on your guard. Be on the lookout. "Beloved, I was writing to you about salvation, but I felt compelled by the Spirit of God in that moment to change direction and to set before you this need to contend for the faith." Obviously, the faith was being denied by some. He says the faith, however, must be defended. It is to be proclaimed and protected. And he says the faith is clearly defined.
And we looked at the definition of faith last week, what it is. The faith we now understand from verse 3. That faith which was once for all handed down to the saints is not our human act of believing, but rather it refers to the core doctrines that make up the Christian faith. The fundamentals of the faith. The basic tenets of Christianity; that tell us about the way of salvation and the way to eternal life. And Jude sounds the alarm, giving a passionate plea, a strong admonition to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
The faith. That is the inspired revelation of God. The inerrant Word of God that sets forth the way of salvation and eternal life in Jesus Christ the Lord. The faith, as one commentator defines it, and as we reminded you last week, "It is the Scripturally revealed message of the person and the work of Jesus Christ the Lord. By whom God alone in His grace, by grace, gives sinners salvation. Salvation from sin’s penalty and promising to bring them to enjoy eternal life and glory in the presence of God forever." That's the message of Jude. And that's the faith that he tells us to earnestly contend for.
And yet at the heart of that message is a person. At the heart of the faith is the truth that Jesus Christ must be your Lord and Master. He must rule and reign in your life and in your heart. And so he says in contradistinction to those who are going away from the truth. As he sets them down in verses 5 to 16, their characteristics and examples of such. He says, "But as for you," verse 17, "as for you, beloved, you must remember, remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." And he says in verse 20, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for that future glory."
Thomas Manton, the Puritan, said it is the holy ambition of Christians to be like God every day. That should be our desire as the people of God. And this first admonition that we were considering last week, the admonition to be built up in the Lord and in sound doctrine—in other words, to be built up upon the living Word of God. “Building yourselves up on your most holy faith.” There's a tremendous need, Jude says, there's a tremendous need for doctrinal clarity and conviction in this day. You must have a sure foundation. You must be built upon the Word of God.
What good is a roof without a foundation? This foundational truth upon which you are to build is the Word of God. And God's purpose in calling believers to Himself out of the world, calling them beloved, setting them apart, is to see them built up in the faith. And as we reminded you last week, that's God's design for the church. We are to be built up ourselves in the faith, and we are to build up one another, edify one another. And so Jude gives here in the first place a call for a consistent attendance to the divinely ordained means for your edification in order that you would be built up.
So we embrace the truth. We embrace the Word of God. We let it shape our personal convictions. We seek to live it out day by day. We seek to exemplify the power of the gospel by living it out. We seek to edify one another, build up one another in the faith. And we do that by way of comfort, by way of prayer, by way of love, by way of bearing one another's burdens. Attending to the Word. Attending to the place of worship. Using the means that God has ordained for the edification of His church. Giving attendance to the Word and to doctrine. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.
And so the first weapon, if you were to contend for the faith, the first of four weapons, he says, you need to be edified. Edification. You need to be built up. As a good student, know the Word of God. Be built upon the foundation of the Word. And the Word here, “building yourselves up on your most holy faith,” suggests that there's a continuance of work upon a foundation that has already been laid. The work must continue. It goes on. Having been rooted and grounded in Christ, you grow up, as it tells us in Colossians. You must mature and grow in the Word and in the faith.
But I want us to consider the second weapon in the arsenal of faith that we are to take up as we contend for the faith. He gives us here in verse 20 and 21 four strategies to survive the assaults of the enemy. And today we're going to look at the second one. Not only “building yourselves up in your most holy faith,” but he says, “praying.” “Praying in the Holy Spirit.” “Praying in the Holy Spirit.
I love what Matthew Henry had to say about this. He said, “Our prayers are most likely to prevail when we pray in the Holy Spirit. Under His guidance and influence. According to the rule of His Word. With faith. With fervency. With earnestness.” This is praying in the Holy Spirit. That's a great definition of praying in the Holy Spirit. Of what it means to pray in the Holy Spirit.
As you contend for the faith, how are you going to withstand the attacks of the enemy? You need power. You don't have it in yourselves. You need the help of the Most High God. And for that, we have been given the Holy Spirit. “Praying in the Holy Spirit.” And I want us to see a number of things here about this matter of praying in the Holy Spirit. What it means. There's a lot of confusion and misinformation about the work and the function of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.
But as we begin, there's first of all an assumption here. And what is that assumption? The assumption is that Christians pray. Christians pray. God's people are praying people. And that's why we have such an emphasis on prayer in this church, and a call to meet week by week in the corporate prayer meeting—that you would be built up in the faith. The life-giving, regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in us moves us, calls us to pray and to seek the face of our God.
God's people pray. That is what is assumed here. He says, praying in the Holy Spirit. As we read in Titus chapter 3 and verse 4: " When the kindness and affection of God our Saviour appeared”, when we came to know Christ as our Saviour, when we trusted in Him as our Lord, “He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy”. How? “Through the washing of regeneration, the renewing which is by the Holy Spirit, whom He has poured out upon us richly through Christ Jesus, our Savior." God's people ought to be a praying people. That's assumed here. In fact, it's one of the first marks of the believer. One of the first characteristics of believing faith is the spirit of prayer and of supplication.
Remember what it was said of Saul of Tarsus in Acts chapter 9 verse 11. As he came to know the Lord on the Damascus road, he had that sight of Christ. And after his conversion, as Ananias was sent to find Saul and minister to him, he said he would find him at the house of Judas. And what was he doing? "Behold, he is praying." He is praying. The very first mark, evidence of conversion, of regeneration, of this washing of the Spirit, the renewing of a dead soul, bringing that soul to life is given in this: he prays. He is praying.
In fact, no one can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit. And God has given to us—every believer—His Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, in every child of God without exception. The Spirit of God dwells in you, child of God. And Paul reminds us that if you do not have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, then you don't really know God. In Romans 8 verse 9, a wonderful chapter that sets before us the work of the Spirit of God, he says in verse 9 of Romans 8: "You are not in the flesh, but now you are in the Spirit. You are in the spirit , if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him."
And what a great verse that sets before us the Trinitarian nature of our salvation. You have the Spirit of God the Father dwelling in you. That's the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit that Christ promised to give to the people of God. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you if you are trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. So the admonition is to be built up. How are we to be built up? We need to be praying in the Holy Spirit. And it is assumed then that God's people are a praying people.
As those who are distinct from the apostates, he mentions in verse 19 those who cause divisions, who are worldly minded. Why? Because they are devoid of the Holy Spirit. They do not have the Spirit of God. You have the Spirit of God dwelling in you. He is with you. In fact, that was the very word that Christ gave to His disciples in John chapter 14. Jesus said to His disciples that just prior to His departure, He would send His Spirit to be with them.
You have in John 14 that wonderful promise of the Holy Spirit in verse 16: "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate, that He may be with you forever." Who is He? "He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him. But you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." You know Him. He abides with you. He is in you. And those wonderful words of comfort: "I will not leave you as orphans. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you."
The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in each and every believer. "You know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." So you have this assumption here that Christians pray. We pray as the people of God. But how are we to pray? We pray in the Spirit, in the Holy Spirit. The Greek word *en pneumati* (ἐν Πνεύματι) —it could be read in the Spirit, by the Spirit, even with the Spirit at times. In the Spirit, by the Spirit, with the Spirit. That is, you pray as one who is directed by the Holy Spirit, one who is under the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our prayers are to be shaped and guided by the Spirit of truth.
In the Spirit, with the Spirit, by the Spirit. That is, with the aid of, by the means of the Spirit, within the sphere of the Spirit, dependent on the Spirit. We pray, and we pray dependent on the Spirit. And this in-the-Spirit life doesn't just relate to our praying. It relates to our whole Christian walk. How are we to walk? How are we to live in the world? We are to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
How are we to worship God? We are to worship God, Philippians 3, in the Spirit. How do we confess Christ as Lord, 1 Corinthians 12:3? It is in or by the Spirit. In other words, the whole Christian life, our whole life, is to be lived in the sphere of the Holy Spirit, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, of the One who dwells in us by faith and is with us. Praying in the Holy Spirit, living under His influence, knowing His help in harmony with His will for the development of our faith.
If you want to grow and to be built up in the faith, then you first of all must abide in the Word and you must pray, "Spirit of God, open my eyes that I would behold wonderful things out of Your law. That I would see above all, I would see Christ." And our whole life is to be a testimony to the power of God's saving grace and love. A witness to the fact that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of holiness, now dwells in us and has changed us by His power. The Spirit of God who now dwells in the believer directs the renewed heart in prayer.
And so we seek God for our help. And if your faith does not lead you to pray and to seek God, then I would say that faith is most suspect. Because true faith will lead us to pray and to seek God. And then I want you to see there's an affirmation here as we pray. Praying in the Holy Spirit. The Word tells us that the Spirit of God has been given to every believer as a pledge of our sonship.
And Paul declares in Romans 8, and I would encourage you to turn there to Romans chapter 8 and to verse 14. He says, we have received the Spirit of adoption as the people of God. We've been called out of the world, called to Christ. We have been brought into the family of God, and now we are the children of God. And what's the proof? God's Spirit dwells in us, is guiding us in the way of God. The Spirit of God is given as a pledge of our sonship.
Look at Romans 8, verse 14: "For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received what? The spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out"—there it is—"Abba, Father." There is this affirmation as we pray. God is my Father. I am His child. The Spirit of God bears witness that we are the children of God.
Verse 16: "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, we are heirs, heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may be glorified with Him." We are the children of God, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, and we have a future glorious prospect. And the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. That is, Spirit Himself is committed to giving you this assurance of sonship. You are a child of God. That is what is affirmed as we pray in the Spirit—the affirmation of sonship.
And so, as sons, we come near to God. We have been brought here, and we can ask for what is needful. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And so, when we ask, when we seek our Father in Heaven, when we call upon His name, when we ask for that which is necessary and that which is in line with His will, our Father gives it. He has blessed us abundantly in Christ so that when we come in childlike faith and call upon God as our Father who is in Heaven, we demonstrate a spirit of humble dependence, and we're affirming our sonship as those who have received the Spirit of adoption.
We're the children of God. And when we come to our Father in Heaven, asking for those things that are in accord with His will, He gives it. Isn't that what it says in John 15 and the verse :7–8? "If you abide in Me, My words abide in you. Whatever you wish, it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples." You're affirming your discipleship. You're affirming your sonship. You're not an orphan. You're not alone. You don't have to figure it out in your own power. You have One who dwells in you, who helps you, as we'll see in a moment.
"What father among you," Jesus said, "if his son asks for a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if his son asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more? How much more shall your heavenly Father give good gifts to them that ask?" And it tells us in Luke, in the parallel passage, He says, "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" (Luke 11:11–13). So we have the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God dwells in us. We are the children of God, and we come as children to our heavenly Father, and the Spirit of God bears witness to the fact that we are now the children of God.
But praying in the Holy Spirit also signifies a way of approach. How are we to come to God? How can we come to God? He says praying in, by, or with the Holy Spirit, under the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. And I guess the first question would be, what is prayer? Prayer is very simply coming to God. Prayer is an offering up of our desires to God for the things that are agreeable to His will, as the Shorter Catechism tells us. It's an offering up to God of our needs, and it's seeking God in adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. It's approaching God, asking in His name so that the Father will be glorified in His Son.
And so that says something about our attitude or the approach we must have as we come to God our Father. How should we come to God in prayer? Well, prayer is, in its very essence, it's an acknowledgment of our need. We are coming with a spirit of humble dependence, right? I need You, Lord. That's how we approach God our Father—with this spirit of humble dependence. I come fully aware of my needs. I come fully aware that I lack strength. I come fully aware that I am not as holy as I ought to be. I come weak and dependent upon God. That's how we approach God.
I'm not trying to stand in my own strength. I don't stand in my own righteousness. I have none. I stand in Christ, and I come relying on the grace and the mercy of Another. I come relying upon the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed to me, and I approach God with this spirit of humble dependence. But I come to God with a spirit of holy reverence, right? Praying in the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of God, the blessed third person of the Trinity, God Himself, whom we sometimes relegate to a lesser position than the Father or the Son. But the Spirit is God. He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of holiness.
And so I must come to God in prayer with holy reverence and adoration, as one who has been made fit to stand before this holy God—not because of anything in me, but because of the Spirit of holiness, who abides in me, is with me. And He is the One who seeks always to glorify Christ and to glorify Christ in me and through me. And so I must come with that humble dependence. I must come with that holy reverence. But praise God, I can come with confidence, with boldness. I don't need to fear rejection as a son. I'm a child of God. I can come as a child to my Heavenly Father. I can draw near with boldness and with confidence as one who is accepted in the Beloved.
Therefore, "let us draw near with confidence," the author of Hebrews says, "to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need." In fact, Paul says the same thing in Ephesians chapter 2, how we can approach God with confidence. He says in chapter 2 of Ephesians in verse 18 that we have this free access as the children of God to come to our Father in Heaven. How do we come? Ephesians 2:18, we come through Him, through Christ. "We have both our access in one Spirit to the Father."
That Spirit which was given to us as a seal back in chapter 1 verse 13, "after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having believed the gospel, you were sealed with Him in the Holy Spirit of promise," the Spirit that was promised to every believer, which is given to you as a pledge of your inheritance. You are a child of God, and you're redeemed. And as those who are redeemed, covered, washed in the precious blood of Christ, who have the righteousness of Christ imputed to your account, you can come with confidence.
There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ, and you can approach the throne of grace with boldness, praying in confidence as one with access to the Father. And we are to continue in prayer, praying, he says, with perseverance, dependence, reverence, confidence, perseverance. Look again at Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 18. As the Apostle Paul sets before the Ephesians the armor of God which is given, which is provided for your protection, he says, verse 18, "praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints."
Notice the all's there. You can come with confidence at all times, any time, wherever you are, whoever you are. Child of God, you have a standing before God, and you can bring all prayer to your Father in Heaven, whether you're confessing your sins, whether you are interceding on behalf of another, whether you are supplicating and praying for the needs of your own soul. Praying for all the saints—again, the idea of edification and building up one another by prayer—praying with all prayer for the saints at all times with perseverance.
There's never a time when you will be shut out. You can come, and you can continue coming, and you can come again, and your Father will receive you as His child. You're never rejected, you're never refused in all circumstances, whatever your trial, whatever the situation, whatever you're going through. For all your needs, you can seek God. That's what praying in the Holy Spirit is. It's a right approach to God as your Father with this attitude of humble dependence, reverence, confidence, perseverance.
Prayer is a child coming to His Heavenly Father for that which He needs, offering up the desires of His heart to God for those things that are agreeable to His will. And so the prayer that is in accord with the Holy Spirit's will, that is a prayer that is in harmony or consistent with the will of God, is a prayer that is built upon the authority of the Word of God. Where is the will of God revealed for your life? The Scriptures of truth. The Word tells us, "This is the will of God"—what?—"your sanctification." That is God's will for your life, believer. That you would be built up in your most holy faith, built up in the Word of God. Praying the Word, as we'll see.
So you have this assumption: Christians pray. You have this affirmation of sonship. But you have a way of approach. But more than that, you have assistance as you pray. And I want us to think about the assistance, the help of God, praying in, with, or by the Holy Spirit. Here you have the promise of divine assistance as we strive and labor for God. Again, that encouraging word of Christ to His disciples in John chapter 14, as He told them He would be leaving them soon, but He would not leave them alone. He would not leave them comfortless. He would send another—a comforter, a helper, an advocate, an intercessor.
That's the word “paraclete”. John 14:16, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate, comforter, helper, that He may be with you forever." Verse 26, "But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." Chapter 15 verse 26, it says that this Spirit of truth, , "When the advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me." Chapter 16 verse 13, "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, and He will not speak for Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you."
What a wonderful word of encouragement as we set out to pray. We have a helper, one who assists us—our paraclete; our comforter, our advocate—as it is translated in 1 John 2:1, "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Believers have two great advocates. We have Christ the High Priest in Heaven praying for us, and we have the intercessor, the advocate, the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and who helps us even as we set out to prayer, to pray.
And that word “paraclete” that appears in John 14 is used of one who comes alongside to help you, and it refers to the act of calling someone to your side to be with you, to be beside you in order to help you, to assist you. That's the work of God the Holy Spirit. It was used in law for an advocate who would come to your defense, one who would plead your case, who would plead on behalf of another, one who pleads your cause. That's the work and the function of God the Holy Spirit. He intercedes on our behalf before the face of the Father.
The Holy Spirit is our helper, our advocate, sent by the Father. He comes to the aid of the Christian. He ministers to our heart. He pleads our case. He seeks to promote within us that spiritual life and godliness and holiness, convicting us of our sin. That's the work of the Holy Spirit—convicting us of righteousness and judgment and things to come. It's the work of the Holy Spirit, our intercessor. The Spirit intercedes for us.
And what are some of the ways in which the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf? Look again to Romans chapter 8, that wonderful word in verse 26: Romans 8:26, "And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." Verse 27, "And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
Here you have the promised assistance of the Holy Spirit as we come in our weakness, when we don't know how to pray, what to pray for, how to express our prayers. We have the promised assistance—the divine help of God the Holy Spirit—who intercedes on our behalf. And so in our weakness, when we find words hard, when you're so burdened by the things of life that are weighing down upon you and it's difficult even to quantify it, to express it, to put words to it, and you groan and you don't know how to express what is in your heart and you find it difficult to find words, you're groaning under the burden. The Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes with groanings. He hears the groanings of our heart. He knows our hearts.
What man who knows the mind of man but the spirit of man? And so the Spirit of God who dwells in us knows what's in our hearts, and He intercedes on our behalf. Who knows the mind of man but the spirit of man? The Spirit of God dwells in us, and He intercedes for us so that when we find it even difficult to express the desires and longings of our heart, the Spirit of God is interceding before the Father on our behalf because He knows what is the mind and the will of God for us.
And He prompts us to pray. He helps us to pray. He is with us, and He is for us.
He is interceding on our behalf, and He's reviving us and strengthening us by the dynamic power of His Spirit that dwells within us. He helps us recall the words of promise. He brings to our mind the Scriptures of truth that will uphold us and sustain us, and by His mysterious internal work, the Spirit of God helps us to see Christ in it all, to behold Him, to rest in Christ, to trust in Christ. He helps us to see Christ more clearly in the darkness, and He gives comfort to our weary, groaning souls.
That's the help we need, not leaning in our own strength. "In all your ways, acknowledge Him. He will direct your path." (Proverbs 3:6) The Holy Spirit is our helper, and He makes the gospel realities real to us. He makes the Word live in our experience. He shows us the things of Christ so that He gives us an understanding of the truth. We come to understand the sovereign purposes of God and to rest that God is in control. He knows what is best. He knows what I need.
And if I am to know how to pray and what to pray for, above all, you and I need the guidance and the assistance of the Holy Spirit, our advocate, our intercessor, our comforter, our helper. Where are we to find power, the enabling power to perform our duty and to live as we should, worthy of Christ, worthy of the gospel, as a testimony to others around, contending for the faith? Where do we find grace to do what God has called us to do, to evangelize the lost, as Jude calls us to, to snatch them as brands for the burning, to speak a word for Christ, to edify our soul, to edify one another?
Our help comes from the Lord. The enabling power to do what God has called us to do comes from God, from our helper, the Holy Spirit. It is by His power working in us, Ephesians 3:16. We come to understand more and more the depths, the breadth, the length, the height of God's love. We come into a greater experience of the fullness of God's love. Spurgeon said, "Be much more in prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration. Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly. Watch your lives more carefully. Live nearer to God."
That's our calling, beloved—to live near God. It is the holy ambition of the Christian to be more like God, more like our Savior every day, praying in the Holy Spirit. It's assumed. It's affirmed. We approach in a right manner, with right motives, in a right way, knowing the assistance and help of the Holy Spirit.
But one more thing: what authority do we have as we come to God in prayer? Praying in the Holy Spirit suggests that we are praying that which agrees with the authority of God's Word—praying the Scriptures. And praying according to the authority of Scripture is praying that is consistent with the will of God. Because believe me, child of God, the Spirit of God will never lead you in a way that is contrary to the Word of God.
If you are saying in your heart, "Well, I just feel the Holy Spirit leading me to do this or that, x, y, or z," whatever it is, and whatever you're pursuing is in violation of the Word of God, is opposed to the Word of God, contrary to the Word of God, I can say to you with all confidence: that is not the Holy Spirit leading you. That is not an expression of the Holy Spirit's leading. God the Holy Spirit, the Author of the Word, will always lead you in accord with the truth. He's the Spirit of truth, right?
And so, praying the Scripture—as we would encourage you to do—pray the promises of God. Pray upon the authority of God's Word. Pray those promises back to God: "Lord, this is what You have said. You're the God of truth. You have given me the Spirit of truth. I believe You, Lord. Now fulfill Your Word. Do as You have said. I'm praying with confidence upon the authority of Your Word that You will do just as You have said."
That is praying with confidence, with reverence, with adoration, dependence, perseverance. That is praying consistent to the will of God. Praying the Scripture equals praying in the Spirit. The two are synonymous. And one of the simplest ways of praying in the Holy Spirit, child of God, is praying the Scriptures—praying over the Word. And don't you see? The two go together. We know that by experience. We see it in the Word. We see it here in Jude. Notice the order—it's so intentional. Building yourselves up in what? In your most holy faith, in the Word, in sound doctrine. What comes next? Praying in the Holy Spirit. The Word and prayer go together. The two go together.
The Word is a reflection of the will of God. So when we pray over the Scriptures, when we pray the Scriptures back to God, you're praying in line with the will of God. Because the Word of God expresses God's will. This Word that you hold in your hand is a reflection of who God is, what He is like, of His nature and character, what He expects of us, and how we are to live for Him.
And the Word teaches us what we need to know about God and how we are to live for God, how we are to exemplify the power of the gospel in our lives. And praying the Scriptures, if anything, is a way to keep you focused and on track from wandering thoughts. And praying in earnest—it sets the heart aright, praying the Word.
When approaching the Scriptures, we come with that prayer—the prayer of a psalmist: "Lord, open my eyes. Oh, open my eyes that I would see wonderful things out of Your law. Help me to understand Your truth." Pray the Scripture. Pray the prayers of Scripture. Read Ephesians 1—Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. Ephesians 3—the other prayers of the New Testament and what they prayed for. I commend to you a study of the prayers of Scripture. You'll find it so beneficial for your own soul. And it will help you in your own walk with God, in your own prayer life. The prayers of Scripture are so beneficial and profitable, teaching you how to pray and what to pray.
And praying the Scriptures is a safeguard for your soul. Peter says we have a more sure word of prophecy. I could tell you about my eyewitness account, how I heard the voice from Heaven. I saw the majestic glory. But we have a more sure word, a confirmed word. Pray the Word. Praying in accord with the Word of God is safe praying. But praying in accord with the Word of God is powerful praying, because you're praying upon the authority of God's Word, because the Word of God and the Spirit of God agree. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. And the Spirit of truth will never lead you in a way that is contrary to the Word of God.
And so we conclude with the word in Ephesians 6, as Paul encourages you to put on your armor. You want to contend for the faith? Put on your armor. And what does he say? Again, he puts the Word and the Spirit together. Verse 17, "Put on the helmet of salvation." Think about the truth. "And take up the sword of the Spirit." What is that sword, Paul? "It's the Word of God. Take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, to this end, being alert with all perseverance, and petition for all the saints." And what do we pray? We can pray as Paul prayed. Our prayer must be for edification, that we would be built up in the Word, that we would develop and progress in the Gospel. And that was Paul's prayer for the church.
It's a prayer for the progress of the Gospel, "as well as on my behalf, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known the boldness of the mystery. With boldness, the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, so that in proclaiming it, I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." There's your authority for preaching and teaching, declaring the Word of God, for evangelizing the lost. As an ambassador of Jesus Christ, you go forward praying for God's help, confident of His assistance, knowing that you are desirous of His glory above all.
Praying for the progress of the Gospel in your own soul, in your church, in your city, in your land, and that God, by His Spirit, would revive us. And that God, by His Spirit, would open doors, that Christ would be made known, and that God the Father would be glorified in this. And for that, we need the ministry and the help of God the Holy Spirit, praying in the Holy Spirit.
Let's pray.
God impressed upon his heart the need to address the matter of contending for the faith. With all your being, with all your heart, contend for the faith, Jude says. Jude says, verse 3, apparently, there were those infiltrating the church with their own agenda. We read in verse 4 that they were denying the gospel of free and saving grace. They were living ungodly lives. They were living for themselves. They were denying the reality of the gospel. And more than that, they were denying the only Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. They denied the very deity of Jesus Christ.
And Jude sounds the alarm. Be on your guard. Be on the lookout. "Beloved, I was writing to you about salvation, but I felt compelled by the Spirit of God in that moment to change direction and to set before you this need to contend for the faith." Obviously, the faith was being denied by some. He says the faith, however, must be defended. It is to be proclaimed and protected. And he says the faith is clearly defined.
And we looked at the definition of faith last week, what it is. The faith we now understand from verse 3. That faith which was once for all handed down to the saints is not our human act of believing, but rather it refers to the core doctrines that make up the Christian faith. The fundamentals of the faith. The basic tenets of Christianity; that tell us about the way of salvation and the way to eternal life. And Jude sounds the alarm, giving a passionate plea, a strong admonition to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
The faith. That is the inspired revelation of God. The inerrant Word of God that sets forth the way of salvation and eternal life in Jesus Christ the Lord. The faith, as one commentator defines it, and as we reminded you last week, "It is the Scripturally revealed message of the person and the work of Jesus Christ the Lord. By whom God alone in His grace, by grace, gives sinners salvation. Salvation from sin’s penalty and promising to bring them to enjoy eternal life and glory in the presence of God forever." That's the message of Jude. And that's the faith that he tells us to earnestly contend for.
And yet at the heart of that message is a person. At the heart of the faith is the truth that Jesus Christ must be your Lord and Master. He must rule and reign in your life and in your heart. And so he says in contradistinction to those who are going away from the truth. As he sets them down in verses 5 to 16, their characteristics and examples of such. He says, "But as for you," verse 17, "as for you, beloved, you must remember, remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." And he says in verse 20, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for that future glory."
Thomas Manton, the Puritan, said it is the holy ambition of Christians to be like God every day. That should be our desire as the people of God. And this first admonition that we were considering last week, the admonition to be built up in the Lord and in sound doctrine—in other words, to be built up upon the living Word of God. “Building yourselves up on your most holy faith.” There's a tremendous need, Jude says, there's a tremendous need for doctrinal clarity and conviction in this day. You must have a sure foundation. You must be built upon the Word of God.
What good is a roof without a foundation? This foundational truth upon which you are to build is the Word of God. And God's purpose in calling believers to Himself out of the world, calling them beloved, setting them apart, is to see them built up in the faith. And as we reminded you last week, that's God's design for the church. We are to be built up ourselves in the faith, and we are to build up one another, edify one another. And so Jude gives here in the first place a call for a consistent attendance to the divinely ordained means for your edification in order that you would be built up.
So we embrace the truth. We embrace the Word of God. We let it shape our personal convictions. We seek to live it out day by day. We seek to exemplify the power of the gospel by living it out. We seek to edify one another, build up one another in the faith. And we do that by way of comfort, by way of prayer, by way of love, by way of bearing one another's burdens. Attending to the Word. Attending to the place of worship. Using the means that God has ordained for the edification of His church. Giving attendance to the Word and to doctrine. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.
And so the first weapon, if you were to contend for the faith, the first of four weapons, he says, you need to be edified. Edification. You need to be built up. As a good student, know the Word of God. Be built upon the foundation of the Word. And the Word here, “building yourselves up on your most holy faith,” suggests that there's a continuance of work upon a foundation that has already been laid. The work must continue. It goes on. Having been rooted and grounded in Christ, you grow up, as it tells us in Colossians. You must mature and grow in the Word and in the faith.
But I want us to consider the second weapon in the arsenal of faith that we are to take up as we contend for the faith. He gives us here in verse 20 and 21 four strategies to survive the assaults of the enemy. And today we're going to look at the second one. Not only “building yourselves up in your most holy faith,” but he says, “praying.” “Praying in the Holy Spirit.” “Praying in the Holy Spirit.
I love what Matthew Henry had to say about this. He said, “Our prayers are most likely to prevail when we pray in the Holy Spirit. Under His guidance and influence. According to the rule of His Word. With faith. With fervency. With earnestness.” This is praying in the Holy Spirit. That's a great definition of praying in the Holy Spirit. Of what it means to pray in the Holy Spirit.
As you contend for the faith, how are you going to withstand the attacks of the enemy? You need power. You don't have it in yourselves. You need the help of the Most High God. And for that, we have been given the Holy Spirit. “Praying in the Holy Spirit.” And I want us to see a number of things here about this matter of praying in the Holy Spirit. What it means. There's a lot of confusion and misinformation about the work and the function of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.
But as we begin, there's first of all an assumption here. And what is that assumption? The assumption is that Christians pray. Christians pray. God's people are praying people. And that's why we have such an emphasis on prayer in this church, and a call to meet week by week in the corporate prayer meeting—that you would be built up in the faith. The life-giving, regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in us moves us, calls us to pray and to seek the face of our God.
God's people pray. That is what is assumed here. He says, praying in the Holy Spirit. As we read in Titus chapter 3 and verse 4: " When the kindness and affection of God our Saviour appeared”, when we came to know Christ as our Saviour, when we trusted in Him as our Lord, “He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy”. How? “Through the washing of regeneration, the renewing which is by the Holy Spirit, whom He has poured out upon us richly through Christ Jesus, our Savior." God's people ought to be a praying people. That's assumed here. In fact, it's one of the first marks of the believer. One of the first characteristics of believing faith is the spirit of prayer and of supplication.
Remember what it was said of Saul of Tarsus in Acts chapter 9 verse 11. As he came to know the Lord on the Damascus road, he had that sight of Christ. And after his conversion, as Ananias was sent to find Saul and minister to him, he said he would find him at the house of Judas. And what was he doing? "Behold, he is praying." He is praying. The very first mark, evidence of conversion, of regeneration, of this washing of the Spirit, the renewing of a dead soul, bringing that soul to life is given in this: he prays. He is praying.
In fact, no one can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit. And God has given to us—every believer—His Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, in every child of God without exception. The Spirit of God dwells in you, child of God. And Paul reminds us that if you do not have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, then you don't really know God. In Romans 8 verse 9, a wonderful chapter that sets before us the work of the Spirit of God, he says in verse 9 of Romans 8: "You are not in the flesh, but now you are in the Spirit. You are in the spirit , if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him."
And what a great verse that sets before us the Trinitarian nature of our salvation. You have the Spirit of God the Father dwelling in you. That's the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit that Christ promised to give to the people of God. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you if you are trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. So the admonition is to be built up. How are we to be built up? We need to be praying in the Holy Spirit. And it is assumed then that God's people are a praying people.
As those who are distinct from the apostates, he mentions in verse 19 those who cause divisions, who are worldly minded. Why? Because they are devoid of the Holy Spirit. They do not have the Spirit of God. You have the Spirit of God dwelling in you. He is with you. In fact, that was the very word that Christ gave to His disciples in John chapter 14. Jesus said to His disciples that just prior to His departure, He would send His Spirit to be with them.
You have in John 14 that wonderful promise of the Holy Spirit in verse 16: "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate, that He may be with you forever." Who is He? "He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him. But you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." You know Him. He abides with you. He is in you. And those wonderful words of comfort: "I will not leave you as orphans. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you."
The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in each and every believer. "You know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." So you have this assumption here that Christians pray. We pray as the people of God. But how are we to pray? We pray in the Spirit, in the Holy Spirit. The Greek word *en pneumati* (ἐν Πνεύματι) —it could be read in the Spirit, by the Spirit, even with the Spirit at times. In the Spirit, by the Spirit, with the Spirit. That is, you pray as one who is directed by the Holy Spirit, one who is under the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our prayers are to be shaped and guided by the Spirit of truth.
In the Spirit, with the Spirit, by the Spirit. That is, with the aid of, by the means of the Spirit, within the sphere of the Spirit, dependent on the Spirit. We pray, and we pray dependent on the Spirit. And this in-the-Spirit life doesn't just relate to our praying. It relates to our whole Christian walk. How are we to walk? How are we to live in the world? We are to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
How are we to worship God? We are to worship God, Philippians 3, in the Spirit. How do we confess Christ as Lord, 1 Corinthians 12:3? It is in or by the Spirit. In other words, the whole Christian life, our whole life, is to be lived in the sphere of the Holy Spirit, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, of the One who dwells in us by faith and is with us. Praying in the Holy Spirit, living under His influence, knowing His help in harmony with His will for the development of our faith.
If you want to grow and to be built up in the faith, then you first of all must abide in the Word and you must pray, "Spirit of God, open my eyes that I would behold wonderful things out of Your law. That I would see above all, I would see Christ." And our whole life is to be a testimony to the power of God's saving grace and love. A witness to the fact that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of holiness, now dwells in us and has changed us by His power. The Spirit of God who now dwells in the believer directs the renewed heart in prayer.
And so we seek God for our help. And if your faith does not lead you to pray and to seek God, then I would say that faith is most suspect. Because true faith will lead us to pray and to seek God. And then I want you to see there's an affirmation here as we pray. Praying in the Holy Spirit. The Word tells us that the Spirit of God has been given to every believer as a pledge of our sonship.
And Paul declares in Romans 8, and I would encourage you to turn there to Romans chapter 8 and to verse 14. He says, we have received the Spirit of adoption as the people of God. We've been called out of the world, called to Christ. We have been brought into the family of God, and now we are the children of God. And what's the proof? God's Spirit dwells in us, is guiding us in the way of God. The Spirit of God is given as a pledge of our sonship.
Look at Romans 8, verse 14: "For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received what? The spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out"—there it is—"Abba, Father." There is this affirmation as we pray. God is my Father. I am His child. The Spirit of God bears witness that we are the children of God.
Verse 16: "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, we are heirs, heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may be glorified with Him." We are the children of God, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, and we have a future glorious prospect. And the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. That is, Spirit Himself is committed to giving you this assurance of sonship. You are a child of God. That is what is affirmed as we pray in the Spirit—the affirmation of sonship.
And so, as sons, we come near to God. We have been brought here, and we can ask for what is needful. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And so, when we ask, when we seek our Father in Heaven, when we call upon His name, when we ask for that which is necessary and that which is in line with His will, our Father gives it. He has blessed us abundantly in Christ so that when we come in childlike faith and call upon God as our Father who is in Heaven, we demonstrate a spirit of humble dependence, and we're affirming our sonship as those who have received the Spirit of adoption.
We're the children of God. And when we come to our Father in Heaven, asking for those things that are in accord with His will, He gives it. Isn't that what it says in John 15 and the verse :7–8? "If you abide in Me, My words abide in you. Whatever you wish, it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples." You're affirming your discipleship. You're affirming your sonship. You're not an orphan. You're not alone. You don't have to figure it out in your own power. You have One who dwells in you, who helps you, as we'll see in a moment.
"What father among you," Jesus said, "if his son asks for a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if his son asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more? How much more shall your heavenly Father give good gifts to them that ask?" And it tells us in Luke, in the parallel passage, He says, "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" (Luke 11:11–13). So we have the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God dwells in us. We are the children of God, and we come as children to our heavenly Father, and the Spirit of God bears witness to the fact that we are now the children of God.
But praying in the Holy Spirit also signifies a way of approach. How are we to come to God? How can we come to God? He says praying in, by, or with the Holy Spirit, under the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. And I guess the first question would be, what is prayer? Prayer is very simply coming to God. Prayer is an offering up of our desires to God for the things that are agreeable to His will, as the Shorter Catechism tells us. It's an offering up to God of our needs, and it's seeking God in adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. It's approaching God, asking in His name so that the Father will be glorified in His Son.
And so that says something about our attitude or the approach we must have as we come to God our Father. How should we come to God in prayer? Well, prayer is, in its very essence, it's an acknowledgment of our need. We are coming with a spirit of humble dependence, right? I need You, Lord. That's how we approach God our Father—with this spirit of humble dependence. I come fully aware of my needs. I come fully aware that I lack strength. I come fully aware that I am not as holy as I ought to be. I come weak and dependent upon God. That's how we approach God.
I'm not trying to stand in my own strength. I don't stand in my own righteousness. I have none. I stand in Christ, and I come relying on the grace and the mercy of Another. I come relying upon the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed to me, and I approach God with this spirit of humble dependence. But I come to God with a spirit of holy reverence, right? Praying in the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of God, the blessed third person of the Trinity, God Himself, whom we sometimes relegate to a lesser position than the Father or the Son. But the Spirit is God. He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of holiness.
And so I must come to God in prayer with holy reverence and adoration, as one who has been made fit to stand before this holy God—not because of anything in me, but because of the Spirit of holiness, who abides in me, is with me. And He is the One who seeks always to glorify Christ and to glorify Christ in me and through me. And so I must come with that humble dependence. I must come with that holy reverence. But praise God, I can come with confidence, with boldness. I don't need to fear rejection as a son. I'm a child of God. I can come as a child to my Heavenly Father. I can draw near with boldness and with confidence as one who is accepted in the Beloved.
Therefore, "let us draw near with confidence," the author of Hebrews says, "to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need." In fact, Paul says the same thing in Ephesians chapter 2, how we can approach God with confidence. He says in chapter 2 of Ephesians in verse 18 that we have this free access as the children of God to come to our Father in Heaven. How do we come? Ephesians 2:18, we come through Him, through Christ. "We have both our access in one Spirit to the Father."
That Spirit which was given to us as a seal back in chapter 1 verse 13, "after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having believed the gospel, you were sealed with Him in the Holy Spirit of promise," the Spirit that was promised to every believer, which is given to you as a pledge of your inheritance. You are a child of God, and you're redeemed. And as those who are redeemed, covered, washed in the precious blood of Christ, who have the righteousness of Christ imputed to your account, you can come with confidence.
There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ, and you can approach the throne of grace with boldness, praying in confidence as one with access to the Father. And we are to continue in prayer, praying, he says, with perseverance, dependence, reverence, confidence, perseverance. Look again at Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 18. As the Apostle Paul sets before the Ephesians the armor of God which is given, which is provided for your protection, he says, verse 18, "praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints."
Notice the all's there. You can come with confidence at all times, any time, wherever you are, whoever you are. Child of God, you have a standing before God, and you can bring all prayer to your Father in Heaven, whether you're confessing your sins, whether you are interceding on behalf of another, whether you are supplicating and praying for the needs of your own soul. Praying for all the saints—again, the idea of edification and building up one another by prayer—praying with all prayer for the saints at all times with perseverance.
There's never a time when you will be shut out. You can come, and you can continue coming, and you can come again, and your Father will receive you as His child. You're never rejected, you're never refused in all circumstances, whatever your trial, whatever the situation, whatever you're going through. For all your needs, you can seek God. That's what praying in the Holy Spirit is. It's a right approach to God as your Father with this attitude of humble dependence, reverence, confidence, perseverance.
Prayer is a child coming to His Heavenly Father for that which He needs, offering up the desires of His heart to God for those things that are agreeable to His will. And so the prayer that is in accord with the Holy Spirit's will, that is a prayer that is in harmony or consistent with the will of God, is a prayer that is built upon the authority of the Word of God. Where is the will of God revealed for your life? The Scriptures of truth. The Word tells us, "This is the will of God"—what?—"your sanctification." That is God's will for your life, believer. That you would be built up in your most holy faith, built up in the Word of God. Praying the Word, as we'll see.
So you have this assumption: Christians pray. You have this affirmation of sonship. But you have a way of approach. But more than that, you have assistance as you pray. And I want us to think about the assistance, the help of God, praying in, with, or by the Holy Spirit. Here you have the promise of divine assistance as we strive and labor for God. Again, that encouraging word of Christ to His disciples in John chapter 14, as He told them He would be leaving them soon, but He would not leave them alone. He would not leave them comfortless. He would send another—a comforter, a helper, an advocate, an intercessor.
That's the word “paraclete”. John 14:16, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate, comforter, helper, that He may be with you forever." Verse 26, "But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." Chapter 15 verse 26, it says that this Spirit of truth, , "When the advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me." Chapter 16 verse 13, "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, and He will not speak for Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you."
What a wonderful word of encouragement as we set out to pray. We have a helper, one who assists us—our paraclete; our comforter, our advocate—as it is translated in 1 John 2:1, "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Believers have two great advocates. We have Christ the High Priest in Heaven praying for us, and we have the intercessor, the advocate, the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and who helps us even as we set out to prayer, to pray.
And that word “paraclete” that appears in John 14 is used of one who comes alongside to help you, and it refers to the act of calling someone to your side to be with you, to be beside you in order to help you, to assist you. That's the work of God the Holy Spirit. It was used in law for an advocate who would come to your defense, one who would plead your case, who would plead on behalf of another, one who pleads your cause. That's the work and the function of God the Holy Spirit. He intercedes on our behalf before the face of the Father.
The Holy Spirit is our helper, our advocate, sent by the Father. He comes to the aid of the Christian. He ministers to our heart. He pleads our case. He seeks to promote within us that spiritual life and godliness and holiness, convicting us of our sin. That's the work of the Holy Spirit—convicting us of righteousness and judgment and things to come. It's the work of the Holy Spirit, our intercessor. The Spirit intercedes for us.
And what are some of the ways in which the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf? Look again to Romans chapter 8, that wonderful word in verse 26: Romans 8:26, "And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." Verse 27, "And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
Here you have the promised assistance of the Holy Spirit as we come in our weakness, when we don't know how to pray, what to pray for, how to express our prayers. We have the promised assistance—the divine help of God the Holy Spirit—who intercedes on our behalf. And so in our weakness, when we find words hard, when you're so burdened by the things of life that are weighing down upon you and it's difficult even to quantify it, to express it, to put words to it, and you groan and you don't know how to express what is in your heart and you find it difficult to find words, you're groaning under the burden. The Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes with groanings. He hears the groanings of our heart. He knows our hearts.
What man who knows the mind of man but the spirit of man? And so the Spirit of God who dwells in us knows what's in our hearts, and He intercedes on our behalf. Who knows the mind of man but the spirit of man? The Spirit of God dwells in us, and He intercedes for us so that when we find it even difficult to express the desires and longings of our heart, the Spirit of God is interceding before the Father on our behalf because He knows what is the mind and the will of God for us.
And He prompts us to pray. He helps us to pray. He is with us, and He is for us.
He is interceding on our behalf, and He's reviving us and strengthening us by the dynamic power of His Spirit that dwells within us. He helps us recall the words of promise. He brings to our mind the Scriptures of truth that will uphold us and sustain us, and by His mysterious internal work, the Spirit of God helps us to see Christ in it all, to behold Him, to rest in Christ, to trust in Christ. He helps us to see Christ more clearly in the darkness, and He gives comfort to our weary, groaning souls.
That's the help we need, not leaning in our own strength. "In all your ways, acknowledge Him. He will direct your path." (Proverbs 3:6) The Holy Spirit is our helper, and He makes the gospel realities real to us. He makes the Word live in our experience. He shows us the things of Christ so that He gives us an understanding of the truth. We come to understand the sovereign purposes of God and to rest that God is in control. He knows what is best. He knows what I need.
And if I am to know how to pray and what to pray for, above all, you and I need the guidance and the assistance of the Holy Spirit, our advocate, our intercessor, our comforter, our helper. Where are we to find power, the enabling power to perform our duty and to live as we should, worthy of Christ, worthy of the gospel, as a testimony to others around, contending for the faith? Where do we find grace to do what God has called us to do, to evangelize the lost, as Jude calls us to, to snatch them as brands for the burning, to speak a word for Christ, to edify our soul, to edify one another?
Our help comes from the Lord. The enabling power to do what God has called us to do comes from God, from our helper, the Holy Spirit. It is by His power working in us, Ephesians 3:16. We come to understand more and more the depths, the breadth, the length, the height of God's love. We come into a greater experience of the fullness of God's love. Spurgeon said, "Be much more in prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration. Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly. Watch your lives more carefully. Live nearer to God."
That's our calling, beloved—to live near God. It is the holy ambition of the Christian to be more like God, more like our Savior every day, praying in the Holy Spirit. It's assumed. It's affirmed. We approach in a right manner, with right motives, in a right way, knowing the assistance and help of the Holy Spirit.
But one more thing: what authority do we have as we come to God in prayer? Praying in the Holy Spirit suggests that we are praying that which agrees with the authority of God's Word—praying the Scriptures. And praying according to the authority of Scripture is praying that is consistent with the will of God. Because believe me, child of God, the Spirit of God will never lead you in a way that is contrary to the Word of God.
If you are saying in your heart, "Well, I just feel the Holy Spirit leading me to do this or that, x, y, or z," whatever it is, and whatever you're pursuing is in violation of the Word of God, is opposed to the Word of God, contrary to the Word of God, I can say to you with all confidence: that is not the Holy Spirit leading you. That is not an expression of the Holy Spirit's leading. God the Holy Spirit, the Author of the Word, will always lead you in accord with the truth. He's the Spirit of truth, right?
And so, praying the Scripture—as we would encourage you to do—pray the promises of God. Pray upon the authority of God's Word. Pray those promises back to God: "Lord, this is what You have said. You're the God of truth. You have given me the Spirit of truth. I believe You, Lord. Now fulfill Your Word. Do as You have said. I'm praying with confidence upon the authority of Your Word that You will do just as You have said."
That is praying with confidence, with reverence, with adoration, dependence, perseverance. That is praying consistent to the will of God. Praying the Scripture equals praying in the Spirit. The two are synonymous. And one of the simplest ways of praying in the Holy Spirit, child of God, is praying the Scriptures—praying over the Word. And don't you see? The two go together. We know that by experience. We see it in the Word. We see it here in Jude. Notice the order—it's so intentional. Building yourselves up in what? In your most holy faith, in the Word, in sound doctrine. What comes next? Praying in the Holy Spirit. The Word and prayer go together. The two go together.
The Word is a reflection of the will of God. So when we pray over the Scriptures, when we pray the Scriptures back to God, you're praying in line with the will of God. Because the Word of God expresses God's will. This Word that you hold in your hand is a reflection of who God is, what He is like, of His nature and character, what He expects of us, and how we are to live for Him.
And the Word teaches us what we need to know about God and how we are to live for God, how we are to exemplify the power of the gospel in our lives. And praying the Scriptures, if anything, is a way to keep you focused and on track from wandering thoughts. And praying in earnest—it sets the heart aright, praying the Word.
When approaching the Scriptures, we come with that prayer—the prayer of a psalmist: "Lord, open my eyes. Oh, open my eyes that I would see wonderful things out of Your law. Help me to understand Your truth." Pray the Scripture. Pray the prayers of Scripture. Read Ephesians 1—Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. Ephesians 3—the other prayers of the New Testament and what they prayed for. I commend to you a study of the prayers of Scripture. You'll find it so beneficial for your own soul. And it will help you in your own walk with God, in your own prayer life. The prayers of Scripture are so beneficial and profitable, teaching you how to pray and what to pray.
And praying the Scriptures is a safeguard for your soul. Peter says we have a more sure word of prophecy. I could tell you about my eyewitness account, how I heard the voice from Heaven. I saw the majestic glory. But we have a more sure word, a confirmed word. Pray the Word. Praying in accord with the Word of God is safe praying. But praying in accord with the Word of God is powerful praying, because you're praying upon the authority of God's Word, because the Word of God and the Spirit of God agree. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. And the Spirit of truth will never lead you in a way that is contrary to the Word of God.
And so we conclude with the word in Ephesians 6, as Paul encourages you to put on your armor. You want to contend for the faith? Put on your armor. And what does he say? Again, he puts the Word and the Spirit together. Verse 17, "Put on the helmet of salvation." Think about the truth. "And take up the sword of the Spirit." What is that sword, Paul? "It's the Word of God. Take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, to this end, being alert with all perseverance, and petition for all the saints." And what do we pray? We can pray as Paul prayed. Our prayer must be for edification, that we would be built up in the Word, that we would develop and progress in the Gospel. And that was Paul's prayer for the church.
It's a prayer for the progress of the Gospel, "as well as on my behalf, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known the boldness of the mystery. With boldness, the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, so that in proclaiming it, I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." There's your authority for preaching and teaching, declaring the Word of God, for evangelizing the lost. As an ambassador of Jesus Christ, you go forward praying for God's help, confident of His assistance, knowing that you are desirous of His glory above all.
Praying for the progress of the Gospel in your own soul, in your church, in your city, in your land, and that God, by His Spirit, would revive us. And that God, by His Spirit, would open doors, that Christ would be made known, and that God the Father would be glorified in this. And for that, we need the ministry and the help of God the Holy Spirit, praying in the Holy Spirit.
Let's pray.
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