I often joke that preaching a sermon is comparable to trying to put a size 36-inch waist into a size 32 pair of jeans. In each and every message, there is just so much that I want to squeeze into a small amount of time. To take this a step further, I may be able to pull it off (no pun intended), but it will be one amazing challenge, to use a horrible Billyism, to pack it all in. (Please don’t use your imagination to picture what I’ve just described. It might cause you to have nightmares tonight!). Every time that I minister, I am definitely challenged to “pack it all in” with just a few words.
In reading the gospels, I have found Jesus to be what I call the Master Packer. We can see this in the following revelation about the Holy Spirit.
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not
speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
John 16:13
(Side note: Anytime that you can throw in a “howbeit”, you are showing that you’ve got some “edjumenkayshun”.)
In what could have been hours of teaching, Jesus used just forty words to share powerful insights about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is … (I’ve made this super easy to remember by using an alliteration with the letter “P”.)
- PROMISED. “Howbeit when …” The sending of the Holy Spirit wasn’t an afterthought in the mind of the Father.
- POURED OUT. “… is come …” The prophet Joel foretold that God would pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh.
- PURPOSED. The Holy Spirit wasn’t sent to the world to enjoy a vacation. Read the verse and notice that Jesus used auxiliary verbs (used to help the main verb to describe action … is, will, shall) six times to emphasize that the Holy Spirit would be active in our lives.
- POSITIONED. “… whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak …” The Holy Spirit is to focus upon the word of the Father so that He can pass the message on to us.
- PROTECTIVE. “… he will guide you … he will shew you things to come.” I love to illustrate this truth by saying that the Holy Spirit is constantly flying reconnaissance missions for us. He goes before us and then tells us what lies ahead!
There … I’ve accomplished a “pack it all in” message. I’ll ask you to go unpack it for others.
