This is not that Week 2

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Review

Last week we talked about the fact that the Holy Spirit is “Not Just Gifts.”

The gifts of the Spirit are the seed of the Spirit

The ultimate goal of HS in our lives is to produce fruit.

The gifts will never contradict the fruit.

It is my hope that as we continue to progress in this series that each of us see an increase in the fruit of the Spirit in our personal lives.

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Misinformation Defense

One of the purposes behind this series is to address the misinformation that commonly gets propagated regarding the HS.

There have been some pretty crazy happenings that have taken place under the guise of the HS.

Story of Uncle Brian and the message in tongues - “yea, yea, yea, I hath made a mistake.”

There are plenty of opportunities available for individuals to make inaccurate assumptions regarding the nature and purpose of the HS in the life of believers.

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You’re Hearing Him Wrong

Today, I want us to take some time and address a misconception that you might not have considered before...

I want us to consider the misconception regarding the tone of the Holy Spirit.

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ILLUSTRATION

When I was a sophomore in HS I received an F on one of my report cards.

This disqualified you from playing in any basketball games until the grade was raised to a proper level.

I showed up and dressed out hoping no-one would notice!

The next week, my lunch was interrupted with an invitation to the principals office!

I will never forget the feeling of sitting in that office and being reprimanded for making such a stupid decision!

I believe a lot of us hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in the tone of a disappointed principal.

I felt little relational equity in our conversation…I just felt like I had done something wrong and he was making me aware of it.

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Separation by expectation.

This creates a problem in our walk with God because when we hear him as a disappointed principle…it changes the way we interact with him.

When you constantly expect to be addressed in a tone of correction and condemnation…you are apprehensive to enter into conversation.

This is the primary reason many people struggle to maintain a prayer life.

You don’t want to talk to the person who is going to get you in trouble.

Today I want us to adjust our perspective on the tone of the Holy Spirit.

We can do that by understanding one of the primary purposes of the Holy Spirit!

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The Ultimate Reminder

The Holy Spirit is presented to us in several different ways.

Healer, Preacher, Confronter, Spotter

But when Jesus was rolling out his plan for the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives He told us He would be a reminder.

John 14:26 NKJV

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 things that I said to you.

John 16:13–15 NKJV

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

The Holy Spirit is a teacher…but the primary means of teaching that He does for the believer is repetition of what Jesus has said!

When we understand that the Holy Spirit primarily reminds us of what Jesus says about us…We can also understand that He speaks in the same tone as Jesus did....

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What is the tone of Jesus? John 3:16-19

John 3:16–19 NKJV

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

We just read one of the most well known and most quoted verses in all of scripture.

We get caught up in the love of Jesus in this verse

But somehow one of the primary revelations about God and his relationship with man is missed

God is not the originator of condemnation in the lives of people.

Jesus did not come to the world to condemn the world.

We must understand that God does not send people to hell!

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Condemnation was never the intention of God for man.

Ultimately the consummation of condemnation (hell) was not created for man.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t condemn us…however this doesn’t mean that condemnation is not a reality.

John three doesn’t negate the reality of condemnation…it simply reveals it’s source.

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John 3:19 NKJV

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

The word love in this passage is = agapoo = to take pleasure in.

It is essentially saying “to choose.”

The condemnation that you and make ourself subject to is not one that is initiated by God but rather one that is initiated by our choices.

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God is a God who has given us choices.

Deuteronomy 30:19 NKJV

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

Every instant of every day…you and I are faced with a choice between doing the will of our father and doing the will of our flesh.

While the Holy Spirit does not condemn us for our choices…

He does convict us of our choices.

Condemnation and conviction seem to be synonymous terms but they are vastly different.

Condemnation says you did this - so now you will always be..

Conviction says you did this - but you could be...

The Holy Spirit reminds us of the words of Jesus and in doing so convicts us of the choices that we have made and are making that are contrary to the ultimate plan that God has for us.

Condemnation calls us hopeless, conviction calls us higher.

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The Holy Spirit is just like Jesus

When we understand the fact that Jesus didn’t come to the world to condemn the world, we can hyper-impose that relational reality on the other members of the trinity.

We have to do away with a relational dichotomy and trichotomy when it comes to the trinity!

We often think of Jesus one way, the Father one way, and The Spirit one way.

The father is the one with anger issues

The Son is the one who calms the Father down

The Spirit is the butler and maid who takes care of all the tasks for the God family.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit make up a triune Godhead. This is three equal-authority entities functioning in complete unity as one God.

They operate in a perpetual state of voluntary submission to one another.

The Son submits Himself to the will of the Father

The Father places everything under the authority of the Son

The Holy Spirit functions in obedience to the Father and the Son in this circle of submission.

When we walk in the level of understanding that they are different in nature...it negatively effects our relationship with God as a whole

We have a disconnect from the Father

We have a devaluation of the Holy Spirit

When this is the case we cannot walk in proper relationship with God…because our relationship with the Son and Holy Spirit is based on our submission to the will of the Father.

Matthew 12:48–50 NLT

Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit work in complete unity and equal authority. ____________

When we understand the complete unity of the trinity we understand that if Jesus is not the originator of condemnation…neither is the Holy Spirit.

My goal for today is that you would understand that the most powerful reality about the person of Jesus is the fact that He is the full expression of the nature of God.

He is not the good cop to the Father’s bad cop

He is who God is.

Jesus did not come to condemn…so neither does the Holy Spirit condemn.

When you approach a relationship with the Holy Spirit understanding he does not condemn you…you are more open to hearing his words of conviction.