The Holy Spirit

This morning, I invite you to turn with me to Isaiah 6. This is his vision of the Lord. Isaiah 6.

We are continuing today through our study of the major doctrines of our faith. About a month back we talked about God and His attributes. The following week we talked about the Trinity. We mentioned that throughout the Old Testament, the plurality of God was hinted at. Well, here in Isaiah 6, we get another hint in verse 8, when God says, “Who will go for US?”

After getting a glimpse of His glory, God’s message for the people comes in verses 9-10. Turn with me now to John 12. This is a verse we looked at last week when we talked about the deity of Jesus Christ. Chapter 12, verse 40 quotes Isaiah 6:10 saying that it was a message about Israel’s rejection of Jesus. And verse 41 says that Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory. This verse clearly links Jesus with the God of the Old Testament.

Go with me now to Acts chapter 28, verse 25. This is the last chapter of the book. It hasn’t been too long since we finished preaching through the book. Paul, after he finally arrived in Rome, preaches to the Jews in the city about who Jesus is. Some believed, others rejected. And verse 25 tells us what Paul’s last words to the men as they were leaving. Acts 28:25-27.

Here is another reference to Isaiah 6. But Isaiah 6 says it was the Lord, Yahweh. John 12 links Isaiah 6 to Jesus Christ. And here we have Paul. And to whom does Paul credit these words?...

Verse 25. The Holy Spirit said this through Isaiah. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Again, they are united and equal as God, and yet they are distinct persons.

And today is our turn to talk about the Holy Spirit. Who (or what) is the Holy Spirit? … Sometimes, a discussion of the Holy Spirit can be a little uncomfortable. I think as a kid, whenever somebody prayed and made a reference to the Holy Spirit, even though my eyes were closed, I still rolled them. I thought they were some kind of fanatic.

You see, whenever you talk about the Holy Spirit, there are two extremes you can run into. On one side you have this unbalanced overly-emotional superstition. And on the other side there is a cold-hearted, rational rigidity. Both sides are wrong. And you probably know which side of the spectrum you tend to lean toward. The side that tells other people to calm down, or the side that tells other people to wake up.

For one side, it seems like all they talk about is the Holy Spirit. And on the other side, they are so turned off by it that they NEVER talk about Him. As a result, the Holy Spirit becomes what one author calls “the neglected step-child of Christian theology.” Nobody talks about Him. So nobody understands Him. As a result, He is not just invisible, but irrelevant and insignificant. It is true that the Holy Spirit is invisible, but it is certainly not true that He is irrelevant or insignificant.

But the only way we’re ever going to get a real understanding of the Holy Spirit is by learning what God has told us about Him in His word.

Who is the Holy Spirit? The main thing you need to understand here is that the Holy Spirit is God. We spent some time making that point in our sermon on the Trinity. We saw that again in Isaiah 6. The Holy Spirit is just as much God as the Father and the Son. And one way that is significant is that we need to keep in mind that we’re talking about a person, not just a power or a force or an influence.

Some people think of the Holy Spirit like the Force in Star Wars. It had some kind of power, but it’s something that actually has personhood. Well, that’s not what the Bible teaches. The Holy Spirit is a He not an It. He’s a person, not a thing.

We’re going to talk about some of the specific functions of the Holy Spirit, some of what He does, and what you’ll see is that the Holy Spirit demonstrates intelligence, knowledge, freedom. He makes decisions. He loves. He speaks. He helps. He teaches. He can be resisted. He can be lied to. He can be grieved (which implies emotions). He can be insulted. It’s not just a force. It’s a person.

You can do a study of what the Spirit’s role was in the Old Testament. You can study the Spirit’s role in the life of Jesus as well. But for our time today, I’d like to start by looking at Jesus’ promise to His disciples concerning the Holy Spirit.

And for that, a good place to start is John, chapter 7. These are the words of Jesus, and John includes them to give us a preview of what is to come. John 7:37-39.

So believers are supposed to receive a living Spirit after Jesus is glorified. But John doesn’t give us any more information until we get to chapter 14. Go ahead and turn there. These are the words of Jesus in the Upper Room on the night before His arrest.

Jesus is going to leave them, but He wants to comfort them and prepare them for ministry. So He gives them a promise. Look at John 14:15. We’ll start there. John 14:15-17.

Jesus is going to personally ask the Father for something, or rather someone. Jesus obviously helped the disciples, but there is another Helper coming. The Greek word is a parákleitos. So you will sometimes hear people refer to the Spirit as the Paraclete. And it carries a pretty broad range of meaning. The word points to someone who is called for the benefit of someone else. So the broadest translation is Helper. Some people like to narrow it a little bit and point to the help that was used in a legal situation so they translate it as Counselor or Advocate.

Well what kind of help are we talking about? Well the rest of the Bible fills this out for us. The end of verse 16 says He will be with you forever. So this is a constant Helper. A faithful Helper. Verse 17 calls Him the Spirit of truth. So this includes a teaching and protective function. He gives understanding. And the end of verse 17 says He will be in you. He is an indwelling Helper. Skip down to verse 25. John 14:25-26.

So again, this is a Helper that the Father sends. And He functions as a Teacher. And specifically, Jesus says He will enable the Apostles to remember all that Jesus taught. Now why would that be significant? … Because they were going to teach others. They were the foundation of the church. They were going to write the Scriptures. And we know from our study on the Bible that it is the Holy Spirit who is specifically credited with moving the writers along as they wrote parts of the Bible. That’s from 2 Peter 1.

Jesus goes on to promise His disciples peace. He tells them to abide in Him. He tells them to love one another, even though they will be hated by the world. But look at John 15:26. Again, Jesus brings up the role of the Holy Spirit. John 15:26.

So it’s accurate to say that the Father sends the Spirit. But it’s also accurate to say that the Son sends the Spirit. And here Jesus says that the role of the Spirit is to bear witness about Jesus. And this is connected to verse 27, which says that the Apostles will bear witness about Jesus as well.

Now look with me at John 16:7. And here Jesus talks a little longer about the Spirit. John 16:7-11.

So once Jesus leaves the Apostles, He is going to send this Helper. And what will He do? He is going to bring conviction. What does that mean? It means to expose. To expose what? To expose the truth about sin and righteousness and judgment. To convince people about the truth of your sin, God’s righteousness, and the judgment of Jesus Christ.

If you’ve responded to these truths, it’s not because you’re smarter than those who haven’t. It’s because the Holy Spirit has been working in your life. Look at the next few verses. John 16:12-15.

This is the function of the Holy Spirit. He leads us to Christ. He glorifies Christ. He teaches us about Christ. He enters us into communion with Christ.  He enters us into the New Covenant. And that seems like a great introduction to talk about the role of the Holy Spirit in our own lives. If you are a Christian, what role does the Holy Spirit play in your own life?

We’re going to go through these pretty fast, so hang in there. We’ve got eight of them. Remember this is just an introduction, so we won’t go into a lot of detail for each one.

Let’s continue this idea of conviction and talk about, number 1, the Regeneration of the Spirit. Regeneration. The word regeneration means to be born again. A lot of people today use that phrase: I’m a born again Christian. But that can be misunderstood if it sounds like you can be a Christian who is NOT born again, which isn’t true. To be born again mean you are a Christian.

Go to John 3. This is the conversation of Jesus and a Pharisee names Nicodemus. John 3:2-8. Being born again (or from above) is talking about a cleansing from sin. That’s what the reference to water points to. And Jesus says it is the work of the Holy Spirit. We don’t see it happening, but the Spirit is working. The Spirit does it TO a person. It’s not something a person can do for themselves. It is the Spirit that gives new life. It is the Spirit that cleanses.

Titus 3:5 says that God saved us, not because of our righteous deeds, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. That’s talking about being born again with a new life. He works through your conscience to bring conviction and He uses God’s Word to give you new life. It is the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

So… and here’s the application. We don’t trust in ourselves for saving someone. And we don’t credit ourselves for our salvation. It was by the mercy of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Number 2, there is the Illumination of the Spirit. That just means to turn the light on. Sometimes this is called the internal testimony of the Spirit. This is the work of the Spirit to persuade you that God’s Word is true. It starts at the moment of your conversion, but it continues throughout the rest of your life. Why do you think you can sit here and listen to a sermon from God’s word, and agree with what you’re hearing, and then a visitor next to you is unaffected? Because the Holy Spirit is working in you. Go to 1 Corinthians 2.

Paul is talking about why He focuses on Christ, why he isn’t persuaded by human wisdom, why he focuses on teaching the Bible. Let’s start in verse 10. 1 Cor 2:10-14.

The reason some people can’t understand the Bible is spiritual. They reject the truth. They don’t accept it. But a believer accepts it. The Holy Spirit opens their eyes. And this is specifically talking about the ministry of that truth to your heart. It affects you. It confronts you or it comforts you.

And we can apply these truths by being grateful and humble but also by being faithful. We can stay faithful to God’s instructions because we know it will produce the result God wants. We don’t have to depend on an unbiblical strategy to change people. We can depend on the strategies He has given us. Just be faithful.

Number 3, we have the Seal of the Spirit. There are several passages that address this, but we’ll just look at one. Ephesians 1:13-14. This is near the end of Paul’s praise to God for salvation. Ephesians 1:13-14.

At the moment you came to faith. God gave you the Holy Spirit as a seal, as a guarantee or a down payment. In a sense, God sealed the deal. He owns you. He protects you. The Holy Spirit is like a down payment guaranteeing that more is coming. He locked you in to Himself, and there’s more on the way. There is not a Christian probationary period, as if God gives you a one-month trial period and then He decide if He wants to keep you. No. The work God began, He will complete. And the application here is joy. There is assurance and the confidence of a future salvation for you. God isn’t going to abandon you. He has sealed you with the Holy Spirit.

Number 4. We have the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. So the regeneration of the Spirit. The illumination of the Spirit. The Seal of the Spirit. And now the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

This is one that really confuses people. There are repeated references in the gospels to Jesus baptizing people with the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? It’s not complicated. Go with me to 1 Corinthians 12:13. This is where it is explained. And it’s really the only passage that explains what it means to be baptized by the Spirit. Paul is talking to a large church, and his topic is unity. 1 Cor 12:13.

What is that saying? It’s saying that every Christian has been united to the body of Christ. We’ve been placed into it. We’re member of the community of faith. That’s all the baptism of the Spirit is talking about. Have you been baptized by the Spirit? Well, if you are a Christian, then the answer is yes. We have all been immersed into the body of Christ. Just like our water baptism reflects a union with the death and resurrection of Jesus, our spirit baptism is a union to one another.

And the application of this is love and unity. There’s no such thing as a second-class Christian. There is no second blessing. There is no deeper experience that you need to be saved or be a contributing part of the Church. You’re in. You’re a full member!

Number 5: This is a familiar one. This is the indwelling of the Spirit. He lives in you. This is what Jesus was pointing to when he comforted His disciples. Go back one book to Romans 8, verse 9. Here, it’s talking about the difference between believers and non-believers. Rom 8:9-10.

So, in once sense we are “in the Spirit.” But at the same time the Spirit is “in us.” He dwells in us. He remains in us. And whose Spirit is this? Notice Paul calls Him “the Spirit of God” and he calls Him “the Spirit of Christ.” They are one. This is how Christ lives in you—through the Holy Spirit. And it is the Holy Spirit that empowers you for a godly life.

So what’s the application here? First, it is holiness. You’re no longer “in the flesh” you’re “in the Spirit.” So don’t live in the flesh. First Corinthians says we are God’s temple. So again, it’s also a call to unit. Don’t tear apart the temple by unnecessary divisions. And don’t corrupt the temple with sin. If you commit sexual sin, you are joining Christ to that sin. The indwelling of the Spirit is a very practical truth.

Number 6. And this is another aspect that people will get confused with—the Filling of the Spirit. The regeneration of the Spirit. The illumination of the Spirit. The Sealing of the Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit. The Indwelling of the Spirit. And number 6, the filling of the Spirit.

For this, go to Ephesians 5:15. This is in the second half of the book, which talks about the practical expression of your faith. It’s talking about a holy life. Eph 5:15-18.

It’s a simple command. Don’t surrender control in your life to alcohol. Surrender control to the Holy Spirit. Don’t give yourself up to drunkenness. Yield to the Spirit of God. And so the question is: What does that look like? Paul tells us. Eph 5:19-21.

It means you encourage others. You teach others. You sing with joy. You serve others. You live a life of order and control. It doesn’t mean you bark like a dog or speak in tongues. It means you surrender to God’s commands for life. In fact, if you want a very specific example of what it looks like to be filled with the Spirit, look at verse 22. Wives, submit to your husbands. Verse 25. Husbands, love your wives. Chapter 6: Children, obey your parents. Verse 5, Slaves, obey your masters.

These are expressions of what it means to be filled with the Spirit. It means you live a life that is obedient to God’s commands. It means you’re controlled by God’s word. Being filled with the Spirit is not something you ask for. It’s not something you look for. It’s something you DO with obedience and with joy. It’s a command.

Number 7. And we’re almost done here. Number 7—we have the gifts of the Spirit. Go with me to 1 Corinthians 12:4. We’re not going to talk about what each gift does today. What I want you to see is the reason for these gifts. The Spirit’s purpose. 1 Cor 12:4-7.

Why do Christians have the ability to serve? What’s the purpose? Why did the Spirit give them? … for the common good! For the unity of God’s people. Whatever role or function or duties or abilities God has given you, use them for the building up of the church. That’s why God gave them to you! The application here is simple: Get to work! Use your gifts! Serve others. Contribute to the work of Christ in evangelism and in discipleship. If you don’t know what you can do, ask someone! Invite people over to your house. Ask the elders for money if you need to. Just get to work.

It amazes me that people will say: That church doesn’t do anything! And then they want to blame it all on the pastor. Well, the pastor may not be off the hook, but it’s actually the people who need to get to work. Plan an outing. Plan an event. Pray for others. Do something that will benefit somebody else. Pray! Give! Lead! Unite! Serve! These are how you use your spiritual gift! OK! It’s not complicated. Just don’t forget the purpose.

Last one, and we’ll be done for today. The regeneration of the Spirit. The illumination of the Spirit. The Seal of the Spirit. The Baptism of the Spirit. The Indwelling of the Spirit. The Filling of the Spirit. The Gifts of the Spirit. Number 8, and this is the easy one. The Sanctification of the Spirit. The Sanctification.

What is that? It’s the process of the Holy Spirit to make you more like Jesus Christ. That’s sanctification. And there are a many, many references to this, but we’ll go to Galatians 5. A passage a lot of you are familiar with. Paul is contrasting the expressions of the flesh with the expressions of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23.

What is the Spirit doing in your life? He is making you more like Jesus Christ. He is producing in you the desires for and the expression of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So what’s our task? We fight sin. Like it says in Romans 8, we put the deeds of the flesh to death by the Spirit. Not by our own power. It’s not just about will-power. It’s about depending on the Holy Spirit. It’s about expecting Him to be working in your life. It’s about being confident that He will work in you and produce these things in you.

(9) Intercession

(10) Affirmation, Assurance

Our time is up, so I’ll just wrap it up with a quick review and a summary of how the truths of the Holy Spirit get applied in our lives.

What does the Holy Spirit do? (1) He regenerates. He gives new life. (2) He illuminates. He opens our minds to understand and apply the truth of God. (3) He seals. He is the guarantee that we belong to Christ. (4) He baptizes. He joins people to the body of Christ. (5) He indwells. He lives within us, empowering us to obey. (6) He fills. He leads us and guides us to obey the commands of God. (7) He gives gifts. He enables us to serve others for the glory of Christ and the edification of the Church. (8) He sanctifies. He conforms us to the image of Christ and produces His fruit.

And how are we supposed to apply these truths? We respond in humility because He has done the work, not us. We respond with expectancy, getting ready for what he will do next. We respond with dependency, relying on His work. We respond with hope, knowing he will complete the work He began. We respond with joy, knowing we are secure unto the end. We respond with holiness, knowing that is what He is leading us to. And we respond with work. We recognize that He gave us gifts so that we would get to work for the glory of Christ and the good of others.

You need the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit matters. Because He connects you to Jesus Christ. And apart from Christ, you can do nothing.