Thinking about the work of the Holy Spirit has made me search some really good quotes:
His Presense:
"The Holy Spirit is the most involved in our lives and the least honored." - John MacArthur, 2012 Shepherds Conference
"In an authentic spiritual experience, emotion, feelings, and the senses often become intense, transcending the normal. These may include strong feelings of remorse over sin, a mighty sense of trust that surpasses the pain of a traumatic situation, an overpowering peace in the midst of trouble, the overwhelming sense of joy related to confidence and hope in God, intense sorrow over the lost, the exhilarating praise in understanding the glory of God, or a heightened zeal for ministry. Spiritual experience by definition is an internal awareness that involves strong emotion in response to the truth of God’s Word, amplified by the Holy Spirit and applied by Him to us personally." John MacArthur Charismatic Chaos, Zondervan, 1992, p. 26.
"It is the Holy Spirit who is causing you to persevere. In those times when you are lazy and have no enthusiasm for any Spiritual Discipline, or when you haven’t practiced a particular Discipline as you habitually do, it is the Holy Spirit who prompts you to pick it up in spite of your feelings. Left to yourself you would have forsaken these means of sustaining grace long ago, but the Holy Spirit preserves you by granting to you the grace to persevere in them." Donald Whitney
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 1991, p. 238
“When God hides His face from His people, it is almost always behind clouds of dust which they have made themselves. You will have sorrow enough in the ordinary way to Heaven—do not make an extra rod for your own back.”—C.H. Spurgeon 1892, Sermon #2284
"All that we spiritually know of ourselves, all that we know of God, and of Jesus, and His Word, we owe to the teaching of the Holy Spirit; and all the real light, sanctification, strength and comfort we are made to possess on our way to glory, we must ascribe to Him… Where He is honoured, and adoring thoughts of His person, and tender, loving views of His work are cherished, then are experienced, in an enlarged degree, His quickening, enlightening, sanctifying and comforting influence." Octavius Winslow
His Illumination
"Apart from the Spirit, [the Bible] cannot quicken, nor sanctify, nor comfort. It may be read constantly, and searched deeply, and known accurately, and understood partially, and quoted appropriately. Yet, left to its own unassisted power, “it comes but in word only” (1 Thes. 1:5), producing no hallowing, no abiding, no saving results." Octavius Winslow
"Unaccompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Bible is inactive, inoperative; a mere dead letter!" Octavius Winslow
His Empowerment
Without the Spirit of God we can do nothing. We are as ships without wind or chariots without steeds. Like branches without sap, we are withered. Like coals without fire, we are useless. As an offering without the sacrificial flame, we are unaccepted. C.H. Spurgeon
"For Jesus, time alone with God was not an option… The gospel of Luke tells us that “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Lk. 5:16)…This is precisely where you and I so often miss out on all that God has for us. Unlike Jesus, we attempt to live life in our own energy. We think we can keep giving out without getting replenished. Then, wearied and weakened by the demands of life and ministry, we become impatient and annoyed with the very ones God has sent us to serve. Rather than exhibiting a gracious, calm, joyous spirit, we become uptight, frazzled, and frenzied (people), resenting, rather than welcoming, the people and opportunities God brings into our lives." Nancy Leigh DeMoss, A Place of Quiet Rest, Moody, 2000, p. 29.
1. Spiritual counsel and edifying praise – Eph. 5:19.
2. Frequent worship of God – Eph. 5:19.
3. Constant attitude of thanksgiving – Eph. 5:20.
4. Humility and submission to those in authority – Eph. 5:21-6:9.
5. Greater victory over concentrated spiritual attack – Eph. 6:10-19.
6. More spiritual gifts in the church since the Spirit is the one who gives gifts.
7. More specific understanding of God’s will in the decisions which face us in life – Eph. 1:17, Gal. 5:18.
8. Greater holiness in life – Rom. 8:13.
9. More answers to prayer – Eph. 6:18.
10. Amazingly fruitful ministry – Zech. 4:6.
11. Much greater peace in our hearts – Rom. 8:6.
Wayne Grudem
Being “filled with the Spirit” as Paul speaks of in Ephesians 5:18 is not getting more of the Spirit, but yielding every area of our lives to the Spirit's empowering and direction – having our lives filled with God's Spirit as opposed to self. Eddie Rasnake The Book of Ephesians
“All the good that is ever done in the world is worked by the Holy Spirit and, as the Holy Spirit honors Jesus Christ, so He puts great honor upon the Holy Spirit. If you and I try, either as a Church or as individuals, to do without the Holy Spirit, God will soon do without us. Unless we reverently worship Him and believingly trust in Him, we shall find that we shall be like Samson when his locks were shorn. He shook himself as he had done before, but when the Philistines were upon him, he could do nothing against them. Our prayer must always be, ‘Holy Spirit, dwell with me! Holy Spirit, dwell with Your servants!’ We know that we are utterly dependent upon Him. Such is the teaching of our Master and Jesus Christ is ‘the same yesterday, and today, and forever.’”—C.H. Spurgeon 1894, Sermon #2358
“When I lie dying, when heart and flesh are failing me, when I shall have little else to think of but my Lord and the eternal state, then shall thoughts of Him pull up the floodgates of the river of bliss and let the very joy of Heaven into my heart! And, by His Grace, I shall be eager to be up and away! I shall not dread the pains, and groans, and dying strife of which some talk so much—but the sweetness of “my meditation of Him” shall make me forget even the bitterness of death, itself.”—C.H. Spurgeon 1895, Sermon #2403
