So in John 14, Verses 16 to 18, He's about to go to heaven. He's about to finish His course on this earth, pay the price for sin and He makes a statement to them. He says He's about to go and then He says, Verse 16, I'll pray the Father, He'll give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world can't receive, because it doesn't see Him or know Him; you know Him, He dwells with you. He will be in you. Now here it is - "I will not leave you orphans." I will not abandon you. I will not leave you fatherless. I will not leave you without a father to comfort you, love you, embrace you, stand with you, discipline you, speak into your life, speak into your heart. I will not leave you an orphan. The Biblical word there for orphan is fatherless. Father shapes identity. He said I will not leave you fatherless.
He spoke to His disciples. He was fathering them. He was a spiritual father to them for three years. He's about to leave them. He said I won't leave you fatherless. He said I'm going to send you another that's exactly the same as the one you've had, no difference. I'm going to send you another comforter or father. He's called the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth. He has been the one in me. He's been the one that's been with you. It's the spirit of God in Me that has manifested what fatherhood looks like and He says that spirit, that same spirit that's in Me, once I've gone to heaven that Holy Spirit's going to be released into every one of you. He said the comforter, the fathering I've given you, the spirit of God will come into your life and there's some things He's going to do inside you. I will not abandon you and leave you as orphans.
So what does the spirit of God do? In Romans 8, Verses 14 to 17, He said now as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons or mature ones in God. So one of the goals in our Christian life is to learn and to cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit and learn how to be led by Him into experiences with God and to be led in life. If we're going to be a king, then we have the seed of a king, the spirit of a king in us. We need to learn to get to know Him, know the Holy Ghost, learn how to express His life through us, so we can be kingly.
What He's saying then is keeping rules and regulations, do's and don'ts, is not going to cut it. What is needed is a life filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with the spirit of God, filled with the spirit of the Father, filled with the life of God. That is the life that will represent God. That's the mature life. He said you've not received a spirit of bondage again to fear. That word bondage is slavery. He said you've not got something from Me that's going to bring you back into slavery, do this, don't do that. I'm giving you something completely different. I'm giving you the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the Father Himself will come in the person of the Holy Spirit. He's identical to Me. He will come inside you. He's going to lead you into liberty, because wherever the Holy Ghost is LIBERTY!
We mistake churchianity for Christianity. Most of churchianity is bound and miserable. It's under the law and in slavery, but the life that God intended is in incredibly free, so free it becomes offensive to churchianity. It's so free it offends the church people. It really is. It is so free. He will offend you by His freedom. The Holy Ghost is wild. The Holy Ghost is absolutely wild, believe me He's wild and He's so free. When we learn to yield to Him our lives become free. Most of us are far too uptight. Most of us are living in slavery rather than the freedom, kingly freedom that the Holy Ghost wants. ... [Yeah!] ... Kingly freedom! Joy! Life in the Holy Ghost! Joy, peace, patience, long-suffering - all the fruits in the spirit and the life of the Holy Ghost! Whoa! That's what He's calling us into.
So He said I haven't given you a spirit of slavery. When you got born again you didn't get born into keeping lots of laws; cut your hair, don't do this, don't do that, put on a suit, shape up - you didn't get born into that. You got born into another kingdom. It's on the inside. It's full of the Holy Ghost, full of joy unspeakable, full of glory! That's the kingdom! ... [Applause] ... That's what Jesus has for us! Notice He said you've received the spirit of adoption, the spirit that positions you into sonship that helps you grow to maturity, so the work of the Holy Spirit is to bear witness in our spirit, you are no longer an orphan. You belong to someone. You belong to God! You belong to Almighty God! You are one with Almighty God! The spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is inside you. You're in vital union with the Holy Ghost! Oh, we need to get that into our heart and spirit! ... [Applause] ... Full of it. Meditate on it 'til it gets free, free inside.