20231112 The Holy Spirit and Salvation
The Holy Spirit • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Handout
Call to Worship
1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come. Amen.
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-9
If you want to hear God speak, all you need to do is open the Bible and start reading
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-9
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Prayer -
Introduction:
The Holy Spirit: The Person Who is Always Beside You
Our Triune God: Living in the Love of the Three-in-One (The Three-Personed God)
It is true that the biblical doctrine of the Trinity is mysterious. It is such a great mystery, in fact, that we may never be able fully to understand it, let alone explain it. One thing we must do, however, is to believe in the Trinity, for in his perfect Word God has revealed himself as one God in three Persons. The true God is a triunity.
For all its complexity, the biblical doctrine of the Trinity can be stated in seven simple propositions:
1. God the Father is God.
2. God the Son is God.
3. God the Holy Spirit is God.
4. The Father is not the Son.
5. The Son is not the Spirit.
6. The Spirit is not the Father.
7. Nevertheless, there is only one God.
This is the doctrine of the Trinity, stated in propositional form, as distilled from Scripture. In his treatise On Christian Doctrine, Augustine used somewhat different language to express the same eternal truths:
The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and each of these by Himself, is God, and at the same time they are all one God.… The Father is not the Son nor the Holy Spirit; the Son is not the Father nor the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is not the Father nor the Son: but the Father is only Father, the Son is only Son, and the Holy Spirit is only Holy Spirit. - Augustine
(1) The Person of the Spirit Gives Us Life and Faith in Order to Accomplish Salvation
Salvation is purposed by the Father, accomplished by the Son, and applied by the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit's agency in salvation, all that Christ has accomplished brings no value to us.
The three persons of the Godhead.
The Father is invisible, but he is a person.
The Holy Spirit is invisible but He is a person
The Son was invisible but then He took on flesh and walked upon the earth, but is currently not visible
The Spirit creates life in the believer and that we might have faith and be able to believe.
(2) The Person of the Spirit Joins Us and Helps Us in Order to Allow Salvation to Do Its Work
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.
If the Holy Spirit creates spiritual life which produces faith for salvation
One of my favorite words: συναντιλαμβάνεται syn anti lambanetai “to join” “opposite” “to take to oneself, to undergo, to experience”
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
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.
“help” is a weak translation of a word (συναντιλαμβάνεται) which means “to take something” and has two prefixes, the prefix syn (to do something alongside) and another which means “opposite or over against.” “It is to take something along with but opposite, to lift something that you can’t lift on your own, to stand opposite someone and to carry the heavy end.” This is vital to the pneumatology of Ferguson: “The Spirit doesn’t just take over, the Spirit wants salvation to work throughout the whole of your life and, when you are in need, to be given the strength to serve the Lord. If it’s too big a burden then the Spirit comes and takes the heavy end and by his power he enables us to live for the glory of God.” The Spirit helps us in our weakness.
(3) The Person of the Holy Spirit is the Constant Companion of Those Who are “in Christ”
29 And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”
38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”
8 At last Daniel came in before me—he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods—and I told him the dream, saying, 9 “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation.
11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.” 13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.
29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Zechariah 4:6 (ESV)
6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
Benediction:
Grace Be with You: Benedictions from Dale Ralph Davis (14)
Now the Savior, who died and
rose and who reigns, grant
you joy in the midst of labor,
peace in the midst of troubles,
hope in the midst of despair,
and faithfulness in the midst of
temptation. Amen.
