The Holy Spirit

Scripture: John 15:26-27, 1 John 1:9, Genesis 1:1-2, John 1:1-2, Genesis 41:38, Isaiah 61:1-2, Psalm 51:10-11, Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:8, 1 Cor 2:12-14, Galatians 5:16-24, 1 Peter 3:15.

I do hope that you had an enjoyable time over Thanksgiving, as no matter what is going on in our lives, we have much to be thankful for. These holidays, Thanksgiving through Christmas and the New Year can be very difficult for many of us. Sometimes it’s because we’re seeing family members, maybe we didn’t want to see? There are tensions there? We also of course are missing family members.

When I went through my divorce several years ago, which was quite devastating for me, because my identity was wrapped up in the earthly fact that I was the provider for the family, taking care of my wife and children for over 30 years. So to me, that meant that I was such a failure that I didn’t have a purpose here on earth any more. My mom, who lived alone in Southern California, asked that I call her every day, even more so once COVID hit. So with very few exceptions, we talked every day for several years, until last year she had a stroke on the 4th of July, and I had to move her to assisted living here in Michigan, and visited her, whether she know who I was or not, nearly every day until by the Grace of God, in answer to prayer, He took her home this past March.

So the season that we are in right now is full of love, joy, and happiness, but can also for many of us be a season of sadness and depression. And those swings take a great toll on our heart, our spirit, and they can be damaging to our physical body as well. And I share this with you because I want you to be very clear that you are not alone, even if you live by yourself, in whatever you’re facing or feeling throughout not only this holiday season, but ever. Right? We have each other here in this congregation, and even if you’re watching by video today or another day, we will take care of each other as the Lord not only calls us to do, but provides for us the ability to do so.

We also have, if we have confessed Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior with our mouths, believed in our hearts that God in the power of His Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, the gift of the Holy Spirit to turn to. Which is our focus today as we continue in our series of what we believe as the Burlington Church of God.

(SLIDE) In the gospels Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as our comforter in four places in John. John 14:16, John 14:26, John 15:26 and John 16:7. 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.

(SLIDE) While it’s amazing to think about we really today, just want to take a 30,000 foot view of the Holy Spirit if you will. Any dictionary we can look at generally defines comfort as “to give strength and hope to, to cheer; to ease the grief or trouble of, to console.” So whether we need encouragement, strength, consoling, or hope, Jesus is always there for us through the Holy Spirit. If, and I know this is repetitive, but if we have really confessed Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior with our mouth and believe God raised him from the dead. Then we can hear His still small voice by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

(SLIDE) If we have no sense of the Holy Spirit at all at work in our lives, inside of us, around us. If we can’t hear His still small voice. That doesn’t mean we’re not saved necessarily. Now that’s a possibility because going to church, coming to church, watching church online, doesn’t save you. Right? But if we are assured of our salvation previously, and cannot sense the presence of the Holy Spirit, well then there’s something in our lives that’s offensive to the Lord which we need forgiveness and maybe healing from. Praise God, who if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

So let’s really seek Him today. As we sang this morning, Holy Spirit you are welcome here. That’s here in this space, but also here, in the space inside of us, our hearts, minds and souls. The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who are one. They are always in unity together.

(SLIDE) So let’s go back to the beginning of the Old Testament. In Hebrew the word ruach stands for God’s personal presence, breath in our lungs (life), wind, mind and spirit. The word appears in the Old appears in the Old Testament 377 times, translated into spirit, wind, cool of the day, breath, mind, sometimes blast, as in a blast of God’s breath, temper, thoughts, courage, but most often Spirit, as in spirit of the Lord. And I only mention that because clearly the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God is very active from the beginning of creation and over the history of humanity.

It is the ruachthat imparts the divine image of God into humanity. You also need to know that the word ruach is feminine. Hebrew is a gendered language, so every word is either male or female. The Spirit of God, is assigned a feminine aspect. Remember He created them equally, both male and female? So the next time you hear someone suggesting women are lesser than, you may suggest they are offending the Holy Spirit. But that’s a different sermon coming up in January.

Ruach Elohim is the specific translation in Genesis 1:1-2 And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. In the very beginning we see that it is the Holy Spirit carrying out God’s plans for creation. (SLIDE) Now everywhere you find the use of Elohim in your bible, what’s really interesting about Elohim is that it’s a plural word in Hebrew. So although we read the capitalized word “God” in the Old Testament which looks singular, Elohim means the Godhead. Plural. Meaning the God the Father, The Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. As I reminded you the opening of John’s Gospel.

Can you imagine John sitting down and trying to write his testimony of the risen Christ. Let’s see, I was watching John the Baptist when he pointed out “Behold the Lamb of God. No, that’s true, but that won’t get their attention and doesn’t fully describe the miracle of our Messiah, the power of God that I saw move through Him. (SLIDE) Let’s try, 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

Most of us are very familiar with the story of Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son, whose brothers were envious and sold him into slavery. There are any number of sermons we will have some day on Joseph’s story, but at the point that Joseph interprets Pharoah’s dreams, the Pharaoh says in (SLIDE) Genesis 41:38 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God? Here you have the ruler of all Egypt, who doesn’t know Yahweh, Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews. The Pharaoh Sesostris the first believes he’s divine. He’s god, with a little “g”. That’s a very simplistic understanding of the Egyptian religion but this is about 300 years before the Israelites are enslaved by a future Pharoah. But if you study the bible enough, you’ll find that God presents himself to, and uses at times, nonbelievers, to accomplish His plans.

Moving forward we have Ruach Adonai which is used in combination with Elohim in (SLIDE) Isaiah 61:1-2. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; . Jesus quotes this verse in Luke 4. Now Adonai is a Hebrew word that translates to "Lord" or "Lord Master" but note that Adonai, is the plural of the word Adon, which means "Lord, Lord, LORD, master, or owner". So again, within the full meaning of the word, we are in plural again. Do you see a pattern here?

We’re going to look at one more from the Old Testament and this is a Psalm from David, after the prophet Nathan confronted David about his affair with Bathsheba. (SLIDE) Ruach HaKodesh – Psalm 51:10-11 10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.So first off, a better way to think of verse 10 would be not create a brand new clean heart, but that his heart would be cleansed, so that he can actually enter into God’s presence. Note that in asking God to renew a right “spirit” within him, that’s a small ‘s” as opposed to verse 11 where Holy Spirit is capitalized. The use here of Ruach HaKodesh is important, because the Hebrew word Kadesh translates to "holy" or "sacred" in English. It can also mean "to be set apart" or distinct from the rest. It's used to describe something that is consecrated for a special purpose or dedicated to God.

(SLIDE) We’re still talking about the Holy Spirit, but now there’s an emphasis on His holiness. The Holy Spirit is both God, and of God, depending on how He moves and in whom He is moving. So in the Old Testament Christ is present with the Father & the Holy Spirit. But in the Old Testament, as a broad overview the Holy Spirit came upon people.

We see the Holy Spirit filling and speaking through others in the Old Testament (prophets) and giving them power: Joshua (NU 27:18), Othniel (Judges 3:10), Gideon (Judges 6:34), Samson (Judges 13:25; 14:6), & Saul (1 Samuel 10:9, 10) - though for his disobedience the Spirit of God later departed Saul. God’s Spirit temporarily filled the prophets and other individuals to accomplish God’s purposes. At the same time, the Lord God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus, exist together in unity as one throughout the Old Testament because Jesus wasn’t in the flesh until at the right time God sent His only begotten son, not to condemn the world, but to save the world.

In the new testament. Let’s look at the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

First, this is after the resurrection and right before the ascension. Now, given Matthew was a tax collector, we should expect that paying attention to detail is part of his nature and his work habits. So when Matthew says some of them doubted. The disciples who over three years watched Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit heal hundreds, more than hundreds? Raise Lazarus from the dead. Be crucified, buried, and resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit and now has spent 40 days showing himself to hundreds, and some of them doubted?

Doubting Thomas didn’t see Jesus until 8 days after the resurrection according to John, who was there, and what happened. John 20:29 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” But sticking here with Matthew, we are commanded as we’ll discuss again next week to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (SLIDE) They are one. In Unity, at all times.

Let’s back to the the gospel of John we looked at earlier. John 15:26-27 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. When the helper, the counselor, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus, that God the Father, the trinity, together, in Unity, always speaking truth, the Spirit of truth, will bear witness to Jesus words, Jesus life, Jesus resurrection so that we can also bear witness. Not on our own power. If I were sharing the word of God with you today on my power, we’d all be in trouble I think. My power doesn’t exist, and I can find a long list of folks who will tell you that on my own, I was a terrible witness before I gave up trying to be in control. But that’s a testimony for another day.

Note that Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit here as a person. One third of the trinity. He will be bear witness, so you can bear witness. Now you’re saying, but Jon, He’s talking to his disciples. They knew him from the beginning of answering his call to follow him, walking with him, listening to Jesus while He taught and healed. Let me say that again so that sinks in. They knew him from the beginning of answering his call to follow him, walking with him, listening to Jesus while He taught and healed. So, is that really different from you, if as I expect, you answered the call to follow Him, to walk with Him, to listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the word? It’s not. Blessed are those who have not seen, and believed. And what did Christ say before ascending to the right hand of God as witnessed in Acts 1:8? 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

I asked earlier, are you sensing, feeling if you are careful with the word “feeling”, hearing, the power of the Holy Spirit in your life? John Parks before he and Diane headed to Florida for the winter left a set of scriptures that we, and I mean be we, those who have been doing adult bible study here starting at 9:30 on Sunday mornings. For the past two weeks, I’ve wanted to review that, and maybe include it here. I even drove back to Burlington twice to make sure I had it. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring it when I headed out of town for Thanksgiving. At the same time, God provides all kinds of tools for us study His word, and hear from the Holy Spirit right.

(SLIDE) So this chart, which is also printed in the bulletin, is that 30,000 foot few of some characteristics of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s characteristics are that of God because of course they are one: Eternal (Heb 9:14); Everlasting (Deut 33:27); Omnipotent & Powerful (Gen 1; PS 104:30; Matt 12:28; Matt 19:26; John 1:1-3; Acts 1:8). Omnipotent means, as we would expect from our understanding of God, the creator all that was, all this is and all that ever will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords – that powerful is unlimited power. Almighty God.

Empowering (Phil 2:11-12; 2 Cor 12:9); Omniscient & All-knowing (1 Cor 2:10-11; 1 John 3:20) That one’s easy because omniscient means all knowing. There is nothing that the Holy Spirit doesn’t know, that God doesn’t know; The Holy Spirit is Omnipresent (1 Kings 8:27; PS 139:7-10Jer 23:23-24). Omnipresent simply means that the Holy Spirit, Jesus and God the Father are present everywhere at the same time. They are both here in this room with us now, as they are all over the world and the universe.

The Holy Spirit indwells us fully (PS 33:6; Eph 1:13-14, Eph 3:14-19; Rom 8:11) giving us the power over the flesh and our earthly desires (Rom 7:24; Rom 8:2-4; Gal 5:22-23). We talked about that last week, as John Wesley, DS Warners and others talk about the second work of grace - the Holy Spirit guiding us in sanctification, purifying us and making us holy (which we cannot do on our own).

The day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4, 4:8, 4:31 and 13:9) is a critical point in God’s plan. If you remember earlier we talked about how before Christ came to earth, the Holy Spirit came upon whomever God chose, but temporarily. Full-time God’s spirit lived in the tabernacle and then the temple. Now when Jesus comes, being fully God. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity, being in Unity, Jesus has the full power of God within Him and the evidence from actual witnesses is right here for us to read. And Jesus extended the Spirit for his purposes to others during His ministry. Remember the 72 we talked about weeks ago in Luke that He sent out who came back saying “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” So when the day of Pentecost comes, as Jesus promised, now and forevermore the Holy Spirit can dwell within us when we are obedient to God’s word and God’s calling upon our lives.

Wrapping up our 30,000 foot view of the Holy Spirit, when we have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we’re inviting the Holy Spirit to come into us. To dwell within us, God’s Spirit working within us, and around us for His purposes. Right, which, and again we’ll dig much deeper into this after the new year. When the Holy Spirit, when God, when Jesus, His Spirit is working within us, both gifts of the Spirit and Fruit of the Spirit become evident in our lives. There’s a big difference between just working on the natural talents that God created in each of us when we were formed in our mother’s wombs, and what the Holy Spirit can do in and through us. So another chart.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, administration and helps (1 Cor 12:8-10; Eph 4:7-13, Isa 11:2-3, & Rom 12:3-8). From those four scriptures there is some variation and overlap which to me means that the Holy Spirit may have other gifts as the Lord determines them to be needed and useful for the building of His kingdom. These gifts are not for the building of our personal gain, but for His purposes. Right

I will tell you, because you see speaking in tongues there, but that at one point in time is in the Church of God history. Thought I don’t know about this congregation. And 40 years ago when I worked for the Assemblies of God, the confirmation that you were saved and had received the Holy Spirit was that could not only speak in tongues, but interpret them. I have spoken in tongues and interpreted others speaking in tongues.

Yet that would be such a hindrance to so many in coming to a knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, or in their walk with Christ, for lack of understanding of speaking in tongues that it would cause them to stumble. And so there are congregations which do, and congregations where it is not understood and so not acceptable if it would cause a brother or sister to fall away from their faith in Jesus Christ.

Note 1 Cor 2:12-14 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

The serving of others in Jesus name, the witnessing often through serving others and in His time through teaching or preaching brings forth the fruit of the Spirit. The difference between gifts, and the fruit of the Holy Spirit, is that when using our gifts according to God’s provision at work in our lives is demonstrated in the bearing of the fruit of the Spirit. Paul to the Galatians in chapter 5

First let’s look at this, well nearly, a command. Galatians 5:16-17 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Then the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-24. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

So, in utilizing the gifts God has given us, the Spirit shows the sanctification, the second work of grace that is taking place in our lives that others may come to ask us “to give a reason for the hope that is in us in Christ Jesus with gentleness & respect” (1 Pet 3:15).

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