If you have been around Restored Church for some time you have probably heard us mention the book, Gospel, by J.D. Greear. We are huge fans of it and believe it is an essential book for all Christians to read as they grow in their understanding of the Gospel and seek to live in light of the good news of Jesus everyday. Fortunately, Greear just released a new book on the Holy Spirit titled, Jesus, Continued, and we think it is excellent and can’t encourage you enough to read it!
In Jesus, Continued, Greear helps us see who the Holy Spirit is and what His role is in the Trinity and our lives. Jesus made a bold promise to his disciples in John 16:7 when He said, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper [Holy Spirit] will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you." If we are honest, it is difficult to believe that it is better to have the Holy Spirit in us instead of Jesus beside us, but this is the very heart of Greear’s book.
Not only does Greear give us an excellent theological framework on who the Holy Spirit is, but he also spends the last few chapters of the book with very practical steps on how we are to walk with and experience the Spirit in our lives. If you feel like you would prefer Jesus beside instead of the Spirit inside you, I cannot encourage you enough to read this book as Greear shows us the reality of Jesus’s promise.
Great QUOTES FROM JESUS, CONTINUED
“Jesus believed that the Holy Spirit would be a better teacher than even he was. That may sound hard to believe, but the Spirit, Jesus explained, could apply the Word more powerfully than he did, because he could speak it into the deep recesses of our heart at just the right moments.” p.26
“The Spirit of God in the heart produces the Word of God on the tongue. Every time.” p.55
“Leading someone to forgiveness of sins, you see, is a greater work than making a lame man walk, because the latter is temporary and the former is eternal.” p.64
“The more intimate we become with the gospel, the more the Spirit manifests himself to us. The more I embrace that I am his son, the more I am filled with his Spirit.” p.105
“Discovering your vocational abilities is part of learning how the Spirit wants to use you on earth.” p.128
“When God makes you weak, it’s not because he has forgotten you. Quite the opposite. He is inviting you to lean into the power of his Spirit. And that’s the greatest invitation you’ll ever receive.” p.221
“So let’s cease to be satisfied with building big churches and instead strive to see our churches become extraordinarily effective at equipping people to move out in the power of the Spirit. Let’s cease judging a church’s ‘success’ by its seating capacity and put more emphasis on its sending capacity.” p.227