Memory Text: John 14:16 KJV “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.”

Sunday, April 16 The Promise of Water
What is God saying He will do for His people?
Ezekiel 36:25-27 Holman “25 ¶ I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances.”
Ezekiel 36:26 COMMENTARY JOHN WESLEY NOTES A new heart-A new frame of soul, a mind changed, from sinful to holy, from carnal to spiritual. A heart in which the law of God is written, Jer 31:33. A sanctified heart, in which the almighty grace of God is victorious, and turns it from all sin to God. A new spirit-A new, holy frame in the spirit of man; which is given to him, not wrought by his own power. The stony-The senseless unfeeling. Out of your flesh-Out of you. Of flesh-That is, quite of another temper, hearkening to God's law, trembling at his threats, moulded into a compliance with his whole will; to forbear, do, be, or suffer what God will, receiving the impress of God, as soft wax receives the impress of the seal.
Romans 8:9 Holman “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
2 Corinthians 3:3 Holman “since it is plain that you are Christ’s letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 Holman “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.”
2 Corinthians 7:1 Holman “Therefore dear friends, since we have such promises, we should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God.”
Galatians 5:16 MKJV “I say, then, Walk in [the] Spirit and you shall not fulfill [the] lusts of [the] flesh.”
Galatians 5:25 MKJV “If we live in [the] Spirit, let us also walk in [the] Spirit.”
Galatians 5:25 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES The sense of this verse probably is, "We who are Christians profess to be under the influences of the Holy Spirit. By his influences and agency is our spiritual life. We profess not to be under the dominion of the flesh; hot to be controlled by its appetites and desires. Let us then act in this manner, and as if we believed this. Let us yield ourselves to his influences, and show that we are controlled by that Spirit." It is an earnest exhortation to Christians to yield wholly to the agency of the Holy Spirit on their hearts, and to submit to his guidance.
Ephesians 5:26 MKJV “that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,”
1 Thessalonians 4:3 MKJV “For this is the will of God, your sanctification, for you to abstain from fornication,”

Monday, April 17 John the Baptist’s Promise
Matthew 3:11 NKJV “"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:11 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES The word here translated shoes, has a signification different from what it has in our language. At first, in order to keep the feet from the sharp stones, or the burning sand, small pieces of wood were fastened to the soles of the feet, called sandals. Leather, or skins of beasts dressed, afterwards were used. The foot was not covered at all; but the sandal, or piece of leather or wood, was bound by thongs.
The people put off these when they entered a house, and put them on when they left it. To loose and bind on sandals, on such occasions, was the business of the lowest servants; and their office was to loose and carry about their masters' sandals. The expression here, then, was an expression of great humility; and John says that he was not worthy to be the servant of Him who should come after him.
How do these texts help us understand this fire image?
Isaiah 6:1-7 NRSV “1 ¶ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. 5 ¶ And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out."”
Isaiah 48:10 NIV “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”
Malachi 3:2-3 NIV “2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,”
Malachi 3:2 COMMENTARY JOHN WESLEY NOTES A refiner's fire-Some are like metals, which nothing but a fierce fire can purge, such fire shall the troubles of these days be. Fuller's soap-As boiling waters, into which, spotted clothes are thrown, and as the rubbing of them with soap; so that day will prove to all, a day of great trial, to purge and refine.
Luke 12:49 KJ21 “"I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, if it be already kindled?”
Hebrews 12:29 Holman “for our God is a consuming fire.”

Tuesday, April 18 The Spirit Not Given In His Fullness
John 7:37-39 BBE “37 ¶ On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus got up and said in a loud voice, If any man is in need of drink let him come to me and I will give it to him. 38 He who has faith in me, out of his body, as the Writings have said, will come rivers of living water. 39 This he said of the Spirit which would be given to those who had faith in him: the Spirit had not been given then, because the glory of Jesus was still to come.”
John 7:39 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES Jesus had not yet ascended to heaven--to the glory and honour that awaited him there. It was a part of the arrangement in the work of redemption that the influences of the Holy Spirit should descend chiefly after the death of Jesus, as that death was the procuring cause of this great blessing.
Matthew 28:20 ASV “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
Acts 1:4-5 ASV “4 and, being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, [said he,] ye heard from me: 5 For John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence.”

Wednesday, April 19 Jesus’ Promise
John 14:16 NLT “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.”
John 14:16 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES Jesus had been to them a counsellor, a guide, a friend, while he was with them. He had instructed them, had borne with their prejudices and ignorance, and had administered consolation to them in the times of despondency. But he was about to leave them now to go alone into an unfriendly world. The other Comforter was to be given as a compensation for his absence, or to perform the offices toward them which he would have done if he had remained personally with them. And from this we may learn, in part, what is the office of the Spirit. It is to furnish to all Christians the instruction and consolation which would be given by the personal presence of Jesus.
What do these texts tell us about the Holy Spirit’s influence on people prior to Christ’s coming?
Exodus 31:3 NLT “I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts.”
Numbers 11:25 NLT “And the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Then he gave the seventy elders the same Spirit that was upon Moses. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But this never happened again.”
1 Samuel 10:6 NLT “At that time the Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person.”
Psalm 51:10-11 KJ21 “10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.”
Ezekiel 36:25-27 KJ21 “25 ¶ "‘Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do them.”

Thursday, April 20 Another Comforter
John 14:18 Holman “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.”
John 14:18 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY When friends are parting, it is a common request they make to each other, "Pray let us hear from you as often as you can:" this Christ engaged to his disciples, that out of sight they should not be out of mind.
1 John 3:24 KJ21 “And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us: by the Spirit which He hath given us.”
1 John 4:13 Holman “This is how we know that we remain in Him and He in us: He has given to us from His Spirit.”
1 John 4:13 COMMENTARY ROBERTSON’S NT WORD PICTURES The Christian's consciousness of the fact of God dwelling in him is due to the Spirit of God whom God has given….This gift of God is proof of our fellowship with God.