Sabbath School for Adults: Making Friends for God: The Joy of Sharing in God’s Mission: Lesson 5: Spirit-Empowered Witnessing

Sunday July 26

Jesus and the Promise

of the Holy Spirit

With the promise of the Holy Spirit, Jesus met the disciples’ concern about His leaving them and returning to heaven. “ ‘It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you’ ” (John 16:7, NKJV). The Greek word for “helper” is parakletos. It refers to “one who comes alongside of ” for the purpose of helping. One of the prime functions of the Holy Spirit is to come alongside of all believers to empower and to guide them in their witnessing activities. When we witness for Jesus, we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is beside us to guide us to those honest-hearted seekers. He prepares their hearts before we ever meet them. He guides our words, brings conviction to the seekers’ minds, and strengthens them to respond to His promptings.

Read John 15:26, 27 and John 16:8. What do these verses tell us about the Holy Spirit’s role in witnessing?

The Holy Spirit testifies, or witnesses, of Jesus. His ultimate goal is to lead as many people to Jesus as possible. His mission is to glorify Jesus. In this role, He convicts all believers of their responsibility to witness. He opens our eyes to see the possibilities in people all around us and works behind the scenes to create a receptivity to the gospel message.

The Gospel of John states it clearly. He “ ‘will convict the world of sin’ ” (John 16:8, NKJV). In other words, He moves upon hearts to bring a deepening sense of alienation from God and the need of repentance. He also convicts the world “of righteousness.” Not only does the Holy Spirit reveal sin, but He also instructs us in righteousness. He reveals the magnificence of Jesus’ righteousness in contrast to our own filthiness. The Holy Spirit’s role is not merely to point out how bad we are; it is to reveal how good, how kind, how compassionate, and how loving Jesus is and to mold us into His image.

Witnessing is simply cooperating with the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus. In the Spirit’s power and under His guidance, we testify of this amazing Christ who has transformed our lives.

In our desire to work for souls, why must we always remember that only the Holy Spirit, not us, can do the converting?