Holy Spirit Indwelling Part 2
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
Theme: The Godhead.
Hope: To gain a better understanding of the Holy Spirit so as to draw closer to him as we do the Father and Son.
Providence Explained:
God has always used providence to bring about his will wherein miracles were not needed.
Remember a miracle is a supranatural event that breaks not manipulates the laws of nature.
Providence is there, a supernatural event wherein God manipulates nature, not breaking it, to bring his will about.
James tells of a great example of this when God stopped the rain for three years because of prayer and then started it again because of prayer, but no supranatural event took place (James 5:17-18).
The question then arises which of the Godhead has a direct influence providentially with mankind?
Now, to be clear all three of in the Godhead are active providentially speaking.
However, in our lesson today we are going to focus on the Holy Spirit’s role in this.
Because it is without a doubt that we are given the Holy Spirit for work in our lives to bring about the will of God.
Luke 11:13 (ESV)
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:11 (ESV)
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
So, with that in mind let’s examine our lesson for this morning.
A Favorable Environment
A Favorable Environment
God The Spirit Will Provide The Teacher & Student.
God The Spirit Will Provide The Teacher & Student.
It is without doubt that God has said that a person cannot learn on their own from God’s word what is necessary to be saved.
By that I mean, God inspired his word to be written in such a way that it requires human to human discussion for the one lost to understand that which saves.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Acts 8:30–31 (ESV)
30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
It is also without doubt that God has said he will provide the teacher to the that is seeking.
Matthew 7:7–8 (ESV)
7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
The question then arises “which of the Godhead” provides this favorable environment of engagement between teacher and student?
All indications are that it is the Holy Spirit that sends the teachers to the students and the students to the teachers.
It is the Spirit of God that brings Philip to the Ethiopian.
29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”
It is the Holy Spirit brought Peter and Cornelius’ household together.
Acts 10:15–17 (ESV)
15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate
Acts 10:18–20 (ESV)
18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.
It is the Spirit of Christ that sent Paul & Barnabas on their missionary journey.
Acts 13:2 (ESV)
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
The second question that arises out of this is “how does the Holy Spirit ‘today’ accomplish this favorable environment?
From the bible we find God uses Christian spouses to create a favorable environment for the lost spouse.
1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
Obviously this isn’t teaching that one can obey the gospel without studying God’s word (Romans 10:17) but it is teaching that God uses spouses to create an environment that is conducive to becoming willing to study God’s word.
Obviously there is no “list in the bible” of all the different ways God providentially uses man and other means to create a favorable environment but we know he does as just seen and as Jesus made abundantly clear to his disciples.
John 9:1–3 (ESV)
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Summary
Summary
So, we find scripturally that the Holy Spirit, providentially, creates a favorable environment wherein the work of God might be displayed through his word by way of teacher and student.
Again, God is only limited here by his nature in righteousness meaning he will not send his righteous into a strip club or bar to accomplish his will and it is actually insulting that anyone could suggest God is not capable to providing a better a place than those or the like.
We also find that the Holy Spirit works providentially in the area of…
Wisdom Creation
Wisdom Creation
Knowledge Vs Wisdom.
Knowledge Vs Wisdom.
There is no doubt that these two words overlap and in many ways are similar but there are also distinctions that cannot be ignored.
And when it comes to providence and the Holy Spirit in such we find the distinction is important to understand.
There is no denying that God’s word is the avenue by which knowledge of all that provides for life and godliness is found.
2 Peter 1:3 (ESV)
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence
As brother Roy H. Lanier Sr. wrote, “All the knowledge that is available, that pertains to life and godliness (II Peter 1:3), is to be gained from a study of the Bible; there is no other source.”
However, wisdom is not just knowledge.
Wisdom is the knowledge put to practice or put another way, wisdom is the application of knowledge.
The book of James points this very reality out in James 1:2-4.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Wisdom is insight into knowledge (Proverbs 4:7).
Notice in the following verse that James says what he is talking about here is “gaining wisdom.”
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
So, wisdom is the application of knowledge, but here in James 1:5 we find something important that we must consider.
Notice that…
Wisdom Is Given By God.
Wisdom Is Given By God.
Now there are different kinds of wisdom that are found in scripture.
There is worldly wisdom and godly wisdom.
Worldly wisdom is foolishness to God.
1 Corinthians 3:19 (ESV)
19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness”
Godly wisdom is far greater than gold or silver and so much more.
16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
When we pray for wisdom and God gives us wisdom through, as James puts it trials or tribulations, who leads us to this environment?
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Summary
Summary
Godly wisdom comes only by faithful prayer of the righteous that seek it.
It is not gained through studying God’s word but through answered prayers by the Father by way of trials and tribulations.
And as we have seen the only example of one being lead to temptation is by the Holy Spirit, which makes sense when we examine his role as a whole in the Godhead.
The last way I want us to consider this morning concerning the Holy Spirit’s word through providence is in the area of…
Prayer
Prayer
God The Spirit Makes Intercession.
God The Spirit Makes Intercession.
Once again this role of the Holy Spirit is very clearly stated by the apostle Paul in Romans 8:26-27.
Romans 8:26–27 (ESV)
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Let’s take a moment to break down this passage.
Likewise: This forces us to remember what was stated above and this chapter is rich when it comes to the Holy Spirit and his presence in our lives.
From Romans 8:1-25 we see this plea for an awareness of the Holy Spirit in our lives and how that awareness should proved us with hope for the future (Romans 8:9, 11, 23).
Thus, we have God telling us that the Holy Spirit not only helps us in hope for the future but also helps us in our present limitations.
Helps: This word in the Greek is interesting by definition and in the tense it is found.
We find that this compound Greek word means literally “with, to face, to take up” and thus means, “to share in a load” such as we find when Martha asks Jesus to make Mary her sister “help” her.
It is also in the present tense which means continuous action or sustained activity.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit is seen as working with us to carry the load of prayer continually.
Weakness…according to the will of God: This word weakness is a compound Greek word meaning “without strength” and suggest an inability to produce a desired result based on the context.
In this case the desired result is a prayer based on the precision of God’s will.
We are not machines that can memorize the entirety of God’s word and thus his will and because of that we need the Holy Spirit’s help or intercession to correct our weakness.
Summary
Summary
And thanks be to God that the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers so that they are not ineffective.
A. T. Robertson wrote, “The Holy Spirit lays hold of our weakness along with us and carries his part of the burden facing us as if two men were carrying a log, one at each end.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
v
13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.