Holy Spirit: Living the Spirit Driven Life (3)

Introduction

We’ve been in a series for the month of October where we’ve been looking at the Holy Spirit and how we can live the Spirit driven life.

By show of hands, has anyone learned something new?

I’ve loved studying about the Holy Spirit!

Recently, I’ve come to the realization that the Holy Spirit is the least talked about Person in the Trinity, but He is one of the most important people that helps us walk out our salvation.

I’m convinced that if we become Christians that tune our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit, there is nothing that we can’t overcome, conquer, the possibilities are endless.

Body

Over the past few weeks, we’ve looked at some major themes or points regarding the Holy Spirit.

If you haven’t made it for all the weeks, you can write some of this down. It will be on the screens.

We looked at how the Holy Spirit is God Himself.

The Holy Spirit is not a force or feeling, He is a Person. He is fully and completely God.\

The Holy Spirit is a promise. God promises the gift of the Holy Spirit to ALL Christians through salvation.

We looked at the promise Jesus made in John 16:4-11. In the passage Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as our advocate and friend.

Then, we looked at the 2 primary functions of the Holy Spirit: transformation and empowerment.

The Holy Spirit convicts us when we’re in His presence which leads to salvation (transformation).

The Holy Spirit then fills us and dwells within us; empowering us to flesh out our salvation (empowerment).

In Acts 2:1-11, the events of Pentecost take place. We see that God’s promise came to pass, because the Holy Spirit fell on the 120 people in the upper room.

People from all parts of places and people groups started declaring the wonders of God in their own tongues, yet everyone present knew what the other was saying.

Pentecost is the reversal of the cursed judgment of Babel.

In the Old Testament, God had cursed the people who built the Tower of Babel because of their rebellion and pride, but Pentecost was an act of submission and humility by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Through the events of Pentecost, you and I get to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and we get to live empowered by Him.

The Spirit’s presence manifested in our lives gives us a fresh understanding of the Gospel, it empowers us for service, grants us supernatural boldness to be witnesses wherever we go, and it enables us to persevere through anything we may encounter in life.

The Holy Spirit is the secret sauce to the Christian life.

[WENDY’S SECRET SAUCE]

We have to be people who rely on the Spirit. Jesus’ work on Earth is finished, but the work of the Holy Spirit is just getting started.

Last week, Sophia showed you guys things that can keep us from living the Spirit driven life. She also showed us that when we are living the Spirit driven life there are fruit that our life will have. This fruit is evidence of the Spirit dwelling and working within us.

Tonight, as we wrap up I want to use the rest of our time looking some common misconceptions about the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit.

5 Misconceptions about the Holy Spirit:

The Holy Spirit only does spectacular things.

Joel 2:28, says that when the Spirit is present great miracles, signs, and wonders will be done.

The Holy Spirit is at work in us all the time. He helps us know what to say in a hard conversation, when to encourage a friend, or when to invite a friend to church.

How do you know when the Spirit is speaking? You will know that the Spirit is speaking by: affirmation in wise council and by God’s Word.

The Holy Spirit is reserved for ‘super Christians’.

In the New Testament, the disciples raised people from the dead and healed the sick, but the disciples were just like you and me, ordinary people.

When we’re saved we receive the power of the Holy Spirit. He is not an extra or optional part of our faith.

The Holy Spirit is a force.

The Holy Spirit is not like [STAR WARS], He is a person that is just as much God as the Father and Jesus, only differing in His role.

The Holy Spirit comes and goes like goosebumps.

Our ability to sense the Holy Spirit can come and go, but He does not. Just because we cannot ‘feel’ His presence does not mean that He’s not there [PREGNANT WOMAN].

Having the gift of tongues means you’re saved.

The ability to pray in a spiritual language that has not been learned or is not known by the person praying.

We believe in tongues, because we believe in ALL the Gifts of the Spirit. Since the Spirit dwells within us, we possess them all (gift of tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge, gift of discernment, gift of healings + miracles) [TOOL BELT SPIRIT ACTIVATES].

Closing

Galatians 5:16–17 (NIV)

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

Paul tells us that our sinful nature has desires, but the Spirit that dwells within us has heavenly desires for our life. God is a jealous God because of His rich love for us.

The Holy Spirit has things He wants you to do with Him, in Him, by Him, and though Him.

So what can you do to walk/live the Spirit driven life?

Telling ourselves that we won’t sin again won’t work. Trust me, I’ve been there. It is tiring and emotionally draining to live that way.

You and I need to strengthen our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and obey Him. If we exercise praying for a sensitive spirit, listening to the Spirit, and obeying what He tells you to do, then you will build spiritual muscle memory.

Then when fleshly triggers spike up, we can be led by ‘spiritual senses’.

Prayer

Not saved — pray for salvation (own words); be filled and start living your life driven by the Spirit

Saved — pray for sensitivity to the Spirit, pray that the Spirit would illuminate areas that are choking out His voice (friends, pornography, tv shows, gossip, etc).