I Believe in the Holy Spirit
Notes
Transcript
This phrase starts the final section of the Creed and talks about the things that we know and things that are true about our faith.
As a result of all the things mentioned up to this point we no start looking at the things that are the result of the pervious statements.
This phrase of the creed contains only six words, revealing the mystery of God and reminding believers of our continual dependence on the Holy Spirit.
7 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.
Jesus told His disciples and all of us that to have the Spirit is actually better than to have the physical Christ in our presence.
The Ministry of the Spirit John 14-16
The Ministry of the Spirit John 14-16
As Jesus prepared for His passion, He left His disciples with parting words of comfort.
Jesus instructed them on the ministry of the Spirit and the crucial role He would exert in their lives and ministry.
Jesus described the Spirit as the One who abides, the One who teaches, the One who testifies, and the One who bears truth.
The Spirit who Abides
The Spirit who Abides
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 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.
The Spirit is truth and is known by us.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
The disciples recognized as we must that without God we have no hope, no life.
Without God we are dead and helpless.
The fear of being left behind without Jesus gnawed away at the hearts of the disciples.
Jesus promised an unfathomable unity and inexplicable bond that will exist between the people of God and the Holy Spirit.
The intimacy of the believer and the spirit rises to the sacred language of ABIDING.
The Spirit Himself, the third member of the trinity abides in you, in me, and in all who belong to Jesus Christ through faith.
The Spirits ministry of abiding in us restores all hope and secures us on the sure foundation of faith.
Jesus promised the Spirit as an abiding presence forever.
Thus, the Spirit does not come in seasons of difficulty only.
The Spirit does not flee from you when you continually struggle with sin.
His presence in you does not hinge upon your obedience or effort.
His presence in you rests upon the infinite grace and love of God for you.
God knows that without the Spirit, we will perish.
He promises the Spirit, therefore, to dwell intimately in us forever.
The Spirit who Teaches
The Spirit who Teaches
26 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.
The disciples began to understand that Jesus was going to be with the Father.
Jesus promised the coming of the Spirit as one who will not only abide but also teach.
The Spirit, teaches all the people of God through the Word and through the preaching of the word.
This means that the Spirit brings us together in covenant communities to learn together as one people of God.
Without him our own understanding of God would fail and the church itself would crumble under the weight of false teaching.
The Spirit, through His teaching ministry, preserves and protects each individual believer as well as ensures the doctrinal purity of the whole body of Christ.
21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Carried along by the Holy Spirit, and the promise of God is that the very Holy Spirit who gave us the holy Scriptures enables Christians to read and to understand the Bible today.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Holy Spirit gave us the Scriptures, opens our eyes to see the Scriptures, and opens our hearts to believe God’s Word.
The Holy Spirit empowers the preaching of the Word and ensures that it never returns void. Isa 55:11
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
The Spirit Who Testifies
The Spirit Who Testifies
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
A wonderful mystery surrounds this passage as Jesus revealed an order of authority in the Trinity.
The order of authority in no way postulates a hierarchy of divinity and power within the Trinity.
Each member of the Trinity is consubstantial, equal in divinity and power, very God of very God.
In these verses from John, Jesus revealed that the Spirit will come and not bear witness of himself but of Christ.
The Holy Spirit comes to bear witness and testify to the person and work of Christ.
The Holy Spirit, therefore, exalts the Son and testifies to His accomplished work at Calvary.
Where you find the Spirit of God present, you do not find so much testimony about the Holy Spirit as you find a testimony about Christ.
The Spirit becomes the center of the faith.
The Spirit consumes their thoughts as they try to arouse manifestations of the Spirit in their own lives and congregations.
Jesus, however reminded His disciples what the testimony the Spirit will bring: a testimony about Jesus, exalting Christ, and pointing us to the hope we have in the union with Him.
The Spirit Who Bears Truth
The Spirit Who Bears Truth
13 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. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
We learn here from Jesus that the Spirit comes to bear the truth.
In fact, this passage tells us that the Spirit is truth.
The truth therefore, comes and dwells in and among God’s people.
Christ could claim his departure benefited the disciples only because the spirit would dwell in Gods people and proclaim the truth of God inwardly in His people.
The Holy Spirit does not deliver contradictory testimony in Gods people.
He testifies to the truth.
At times the truth He bears brings about conviction of our own actions and conduct.
The Holy Spirit calls us to the truth of God and His will for our lives. As He does this, Christians must remember that the truth will set you free. John 8:32
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Life in the Spirit
Life in the Spirit
The Bible calls us to walk by the Spirit.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Our lives must be led by the Spirit.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
It is necessary therefore in light of the Spirit’s ministry to explore the relationship believers must have with Spirit.
Christians, therefore, must kill sin and pursue holiness.
How can Christians hope to live Holy lives in the midst of a sinful world, with satan continually prowling around, looking for someone to devour.
How can Christians pursue Christlikeness while beset with indwelling sin and living in a body of flesh.
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Paul exclaimed that, by nature of our union with Christ, we must not live according to the flesh.
If however we put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit we will live.
We cannot hope to put sin to death if we do not depend upon the power of the Spirit.
The ministry of the Spirit (His abiding, teaching, testifying, and truth-bearing) must not remain a theological concept only believed in the mind.
Our hearts also need to experience it.
Do you pray to the Spirit every day and ask Him to aid you in your fight against sin?
Do you cry out, as David did in Ps 51:11
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
The Christian life, therefore, sows to the Spirit, which reaps not only a harvest free from the poison of sin but also bears the fruit of the Spirit.
Our life in the Spirit means that the virtues of godliness grow and manifest themselves in our daily lives.
Our walk with the Spirit is meant to be a fruitful, powerful, and joyful walk.
The cultivation of Christian virtue can only be accomplished through the ministry of the Spirit in our lives. You, however, must seek him and walk with him.
You must pursue God in His word, and press in toward vibrant community and fellowship with Gods people.
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Conclusion
Conclusion
“I believe in the Holy Spirit” Never have six short words confessed something so magnificent, glorious, powerful, and beautiful.
This confession asserts nothing less than the power that indwells every believer of Jesus Christ.
This confession affirms the truth of the One who abides in us, teaches us, testifies to Christ, and bears the fullness of Gods truth in our lives.
This confession also encompasses the splendid promises of God contained in the gift of the Spirit.