Walking in the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit
Notes
Transcript
I grew up in conservative churches. By that I mean that each of these places had a high view of scripture and taught me to revere the Word of God. These churches sought to live out the gospel faithfully and instilled in me a passion and vision for the lost around the world. They awakened in me a heart for missions.
Throughout my teenage and college years, I was given several opportunities to travel overseas on short term mission trips - Papua New Guinea, Venezuela, and Chile.
The trips to Venezuela and Chile were with a group that was quite different from the churches that I grew up with. They had too had a deep love for Scripture and the lost, but they also had a different view of the Holy Spirit than the one that I had grown up with.
In 1989, I found myself in Miami Florida with hundreds of other teenagers. We were there for a time of training and preparation. During one of our times of worship, the topic of speaking and praying in tongues became a big deal. We were encouraged to pray for and seek the desire to speak in tongues - a gift (as we read earlier) that the Holy Spirit gave. This experience was quite new to me.
Now, the churches in which I grew up believed fully in the Trinity - they believed and taught about the Holy Spirit - but did so from the conviction that several of the so-called “sign gifts” had ceased during the Apostolic age - in the early years of the church. They taught that things like speaking in tongues, prophecy, and healing had stopped - especially once Scripture was fully canonized.
So, here I was in this large room with hundreds of teenagers speaking in languages that were unknown to me - and likely unknown to all of them.
What was this? Was this real? Was this from God? Was this for me?
As we continued to worship, I sat on the floor and engaged in worshipping God. I sang. I prayed. I asked God if this was real - if this was from him - and if he would give me the gift of speaking in tongues. Sure, I wanted to fit in with my new friends, but I also wanted to be biblically appropriate in my worship and service of God.
A great sense of peace came over me. It’s as though the Holy Spirit was saying - “Some of this is real, but this is not for you.” I continued to worship. Training commenced. We went on to Venezuela and had a fruitful time of ministry - sharing the gospel through drama. People continued to pray and speak in “tongues.” I never did. I never have.
Now, I realize that experience may be unique. We all have come to faith from different situations and backgrounds. Maybe you’ve been in circles where sign gifts are more prevalent. Maybe, like me, you’ve grown up in churches that believed in the Holy Spirit, but did not experience His presence that way.
As we read Scripture, we come across references to the Holy Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments. Scripture reveals a lot about how He works. With today being Pentecost, it seemed like it would be an appropriate day for us to look a bit a the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, we won’t be able to dive into all that is written. I have hundreds - even thousands of pages of commentaries and reference materials in my office and on my computer regarding the Holy Spirit. Today, we’re going to look at a few small sections of scripture and a few extra resources in order to understand how we can walk in the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. (title slide here)
We will do so by asking three questions - who is the Holy Spirit? What does He do? How do I walk with Him?
So let’s begin with that first question...
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Notice, the question asks - “who” and not “what”. That’s because the Holy Spirit - like you and me is...
A Personal Being
A Personal Being
The Holy Spirit is seen throughout scripture in a very personal and active way. He is not a mystical force or a vague sense of the divine - rather He is seen as a personal being - referred to as “He” and not “it”.
The night before Jesus was crucified, he told his disciples that he would send a helper and referred to him in a personal way.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
I think this is sometimes difficult for us to grasp because the Holy Spirit is a spirit - he does not have a body or a face and yet He is real and he is personal.
Sam Storms notes in the New City Catechism Devotional that...
The Spirit is personal in every sense of the term. He has a mind and thinks (Isa. 11:2; Rom. 8:27). He is capable of experiencing deep affections and feelings (Rom. 8:26; 15:30). The Spirit has a will and makes choices regarding what is best for God’s people and what will most glorify the Son (Acts 16:7; 1 Cor. 2:11).
If the Holy Spirit is Personal then he would have some sort of personality. Now we may not be able to classify the Spirit with something like the Enneagram or DISC model - but he has a personality.
John Walvoord defines personality as “containing essential elements of intellect, sensibility, and will.” (p. 6) Which means that for something to have personality or to be personal, it must exhibit each of those attributes.
Walvoord goes on to note several ways that the Holy Spirit demonstrates those elements...
Intellect - 1 Cor. 2:10-11 “...For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” - searching, comprehension, knowledge all point to the presence of an intellect in the Holy Spirit.
Sensibility - He can be grieved - Eph. 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” - The Spirit is not emotionless - he feels - just like you and me.
Will - 1 Cor. 12:11 “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” - This is referring specifically to spiritual gifts (which we will touch on in a few lmoments). The Spirit decides or wills who will receive which gifts.
RC Sproul notes that the Spirit “does things that we associate with personality. He teaches, He inspires, He guides, He leads, He grieves, He convicts us of sin, and more.” We’ll consider more of his active attributes in a few moments, but I think it’s important for us to understand that the Holy Spirit, this Third person of the trinity - is personal. He is someone with whom we can interact and relate.
And yet - as Francis Chan has said He is often forgotten.
In addition to being personal, the Holy Spirit is Divine - the Holy Spirit is...
Fully God
Fully God
Theologians often refer to him as the third person of the Trinity - fully God, but distinct from the Father and the Son.
Consider some of these attributes that Scripture uses to describe the Holy Spirit that are also consistent with attributes of God. (Beeke)
Omniscience - he is all knowing
Isaiah 40:13 “Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel?”
Omnipotence - he is all powerful -nothing is impossible for him
Luke 1:34-37 “And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.””
Omnipresence - just as God is everywhere, so too His Spirit is everywhere...
Psalm 139:7 “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”
Eternality - from before the beginning - always existing
Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Foreknowledge - God knows the end from the beginning - it’s as though hHe sees the timeline of history from above it and reveals things. Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit has that same kind of foreknowledge.
1 Peter 1:11-12 “inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.”
Goodness - another attribute of God is his goodness - he is perfectly good.
Psalm 143:10-11 “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!”
Love - Scripture tells us that God is love - and yet His Spirit also expresses that love in his interaction with us...
Romans 15:30 “I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,”
We could go on and on talking about the various divine attributes that the Holy Spirit exhibits - but I hope you see that Scripture reveals the Holy Spirit as part of the triune Godhead. He is distinct from the Father and the Son, but equally God.
In fact, when we go and make disciples, we are urged to do so in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” )
Now, we’ve really only scratched the surface of who the Holy Spirit is. Let’s next ask the question...
What does He do?
What does He do?
Scripture’s description of what the Holy Spirit does is immense. In fact, RC Sproul, in his booklet on the Spirit describes his work in...
Creation
Salvation
Sanctification
Advocacy
Illumination
Anointing
…in all of these he uses biblical references to help us understand his work.
But let’s consider what Jesus said.
As we already read - Jesus referred to the Spirit as a Helper or probably more accurately an “advocate.” (John 14:16-17) A bit later in that same passage, Jesus states:
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Here, Jesus specifically references two things that the advocate will do - he will teach and remind.
Teach - there is a part of this teaching reference that was likely specific to the Disciples. Over the next several months and years, the disciples would play an instrumental role in establishing the church. We have the benefit of that instruction in the letters of the NT. But, I believe there is something that the HS does ongoing - teaching or illuminating us - helping us understand God’s Word and how to apply it.
Sometimes people want to say that the Spirit gave them a new word or a new teaching. It is important to recognize that the Spirit’s instruction is in line with Scripture. Part of the challenge with several of the pseudo-Christian groups is that they claim to have a new word or teaching but that word contradicts Scripture.
Secondly, Jesus said in this passage that the advocate, the Holy Spirit would...
Remind - For the disciples, as they lived in the post-ascension time - as the church was expanding - they would need the Spirit’s reminding presence. So much of what they had learned they did so aurally - by hearing. As they began to write letters to the various churches, the reminder from the Holy Spirit would be crucial.
For us, I think it’s important to continue to be in the Word - reading on our own, reading with our families, reading in church community - so that at those moments when we need it, the Spirit can remind us what Jesus has said, what Scripture speaks.
Jesus, on that same night (before the crucifixion), also shared this information about the Holy Spirit
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
In this passage, Jesus gets a bit more specific about the work of the Spirit.
Convicting work - of sin, righteousness, judgment - I believe that when we come to faith, we do so because the Holy Spirit has brought to our minds some awareness or conviction of our sinful condition. RC Sproul has shared that when he became a believer, he was prompted by the Holy Spirit through what we might see as an unexpected passage of scripture. He writes...
“I was converted to Christ through a discussion in a college dormitory one evening in 1957. A fellow student who was a Christian was talking to me about the things of God and quoting all kinds of things from the Bible. Most of it went right over my head and I do not remember what he said. But he began to speak about the wisdom of God, and when he did, he opened his Bible to the book of Ecclesiastes and read a few verses, including this one: “If a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie” (11:3b). As I heard those words, suddenly I was overwhelmed by thinking about myself as a tree that had fallen and was lying inert, torpid, rotting in the woods. I saw that I was in just that spiritual condition; I was a fallen tree, and I would lie there forever unless God did something. That was not a misapplication of that text. I believe that God the Holy Spirit used that text to awaken me to saving faith.”
The Holy Spirit convicted RC Sproul of his sin. He does the same for each of us as well. Maybe he’s convicting you, right now, where you sit. Maybe he’s raising an awareness of your sin through the same obscure passage that He used in Sproul’s life - if so - admit your need of God’s saving grace though Jesus Christ, Believe that he paid the price for your sin - come to him.
In addition to convicting of sin...
The Spirit also convicts of righteousness. Jesus said that he does this because Jesus would be gone - he would not be there in person to model righteousness. The Holy Spirit (along with the Word) - helps us to life rightly in the Christian life. He helps us to see where we need to confess besetting sins. He helps us to realize how we should treat people.
Thirdly,...
The convicting work of the spirit regarding judgment reveals that there will be a definite time of judgment - when the ruler of the world (and all of those who have followed him or all those who have rejected God’s saving grace) will be judged.
But in addition to the convicting work, Jesus discussed the...
Guiding work - Jesus referred to this as his work of guiding God’s people unto all truth and revealing what would happen in the future. I believe this happens most when we realize that human ways and God’s ways are contradictory - as the Spirit guides us into God’s truth he helps us see that a “soft answer turns away wrath” that “love covers a multitude of sin” and so much more.
If we were to expand our study into more of the Bible, we would also see how the Holy Spirit gifts His people - with spiritual gifts - wisdom, mercy, hospitality, shepherding, teaching, healing, prophecy, tongues, discernment, evangelism, and more. These are all gifts that are designed to provide edification and growth to the church. I believe each of us are given one or more of these gifts. We’ll look more at spiritual gifting another time.
While we’ve considered who the Spirit is and how he works, let’s conclude by asking..
How do I walk with Him?
How do I walk with Him?
A couple weeks ago, when we considered Micah 6:8 - we briefly read and considered what it means to “walk humbly” with God. We obviously can’t hold his hand or physically walk in step with him, but I do think those are good metaphors. I think that concept of walking with someone, walking with God, walking with the Spirit is helpful because there is a nearness that walking requires. But we also have to recognize that the Spirit is not only with us, he is in us.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
So how do we walk with him?
Recognize that He is in us - as a follower of Christ, you are indwelt by the Spirit. Being Spirit, he is not limited by space or location - he is able to indwell each of us. We will see that manifested a bit differently, but He is there.
Pay attention to how he is leading - just as Danielle and I might need to pay attention to how we may lead each other in a walk - adjusting our steps - so too the Holy Spirit will speak - often in soft, but sometimes in loud ways.
Soft Stillness - (1 Kings 19:12) - Elijah had an encounter where he was to stand before the Lord. There was a great earthquake, a fire, a strong wind - but it was in the “sound of a low whisper” that God spoke. Give heed to those promptings, those times when you may be walking through the lunch room and there is that gentle nudge to sit by that person or that prompting to pick up the phone and call someone. The Spirit often works in those soft and gentle ways. But he also works through ...
Suffering - C.S. Lewis famously said: “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” - Job experienced that - it was through his pain that he was given a greater understanding of the sovereign work of God. It’s in our pain that the Spirit draws us to Himself. He works through a still softness and a suffering, but the Spirit also works in...
Special ways - We’ve seen various ways and heard stories of how the Spirit uses dreams - He did so with Pharoah, Joseph, and the prisoners in Genesis (Gen. 37, 40, 41). He did so with Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel (Daniel 2, 4). He did so with Paul in directing him to go to a certain area (Acts 16). The Spirit continues to use dreams to awaken people to God’s work in them. Not every dream will be a sign from the spirit - sometimes it may just be your mind telling you that you ate something funny - but sometimes the Spirit will speak in dreams. These special ways might the he speaks might also include miraculous things - healing, divine intervention, maybe even speaking in a different language.
Pray for His guidance - consider daily asking the Holy Spirit to lead you. Make yourself available to His leading and pay attention. This is in part why we have been concluding in a time of silent reflection. The Holy Spirit can take the same word, the same message and apply it differently to you than he does to me.
Closing thoughts
Closing thoughts
Pentecost (which was 50 days or 7 weeks after the feast of first fruits) in the Old Testament was called the Feast of Weeks - also Shavout. According to Jewish tradition, in addition to being a celebration of God’s provision of food from the land, it was a celebration of when God have Moses the Law on Sinai - with fire.
In much the same way today, we celebrate Pentecost as the day when God fulfilled what he spoke through the prophets about His Spirit being in us. It is on Pentecost that we realize God’s Spirit is active in the world in our lives.
May we daily walk in the grateful recognition of the Spirit’s presence in our lives.
Let’s pray.
Benediction:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Sources:
Beeke, Joel R., Paul M. Smalley. Reformed Systematic Theology Vo. 3: Spirit and Salvation. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021.
Historic Creeds and Confessions. Electronic ed. Oak Harbor: Lexham Press, 1997.
Chan, Francis. Forgotten God. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook,
Deere, Jack. Surprised by the Power of the Spirit. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1993.
Edgar, Thomas R. Satisfied by the Promise of the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregal, 1996.
Keener, Craig. “Holy Spirit.” Edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.
Sproul, R.C. Who is the Holy Spirit? Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust. 2012.
Walvoord, John F. The Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991.
The New City Catechism Devotional: God’s Truth for our Hearts and Minds. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017.