Having Communion with God - Introduction

Introduction

Introduce this series dealing with the Holy Spirit / Ghost

Oftentimes you have various denominations that will take one part of the Triune God and emphasize them more than the other two:

As Baptists, we’re often guilty of stressing the importance of Jesus, to the neglect of the Father and the Holy Ghost.

However, let me state this: One is not greater, nor more important that the other. They each are equally important in their function and in their necessity to the Christian life.

That being said, we are going to spend the next 6 weeks examining the doctrine, the person, the function and importance of the Holy Ghost to you and I.

The passage in which I’ve chosen to use as the jumping off point for this series is here in Act. 1.

(Background) In Act. 1:1-12 is what is known as the ascension of the LORD Jesus. He had finished His ministry - having lived upon this earth in the form of a man for between 33-34 years, the last 3.5 in ministry.

Having gone to the Cross and suffering for the sins of man.

Raising from the tomb 3 days later in victory

Showing & proving His Resurrection for 40 days

He is now ascending to:

Go and prepare a place for you and I

Sit down at the right hand of the Father

This passage is the signalling of the ‘Changing of the Guard’ if you will. Jesus’ ministry has now finished on earth, now the Holy Spirit of God is coming to minister in the hearts of believers everywhere.

Today’s message will serve as an overview of the Holy Spirt and the work thereof. Through this series, we’ll not exhaust every doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit - there are some false teachings in the church today concerning Him, but that is not the focus. In this series, we will:

Examine the overview of the Holy Ghost

Deal with Five Specific Commands for you and I concerning our Interactions with Him.

The first thing that I want us to look at concerning the Holy Spirit is the Promise of the Spirit

I. The Promise of the Spirit

When speaking on the topic of a promise, I want to take a moment and put it into perspective.

Promise (def) In a general sense, a declaration, written or verbal made by one person to another, which binds the person who makes it, either in honor, conscience or law, to do or forbear a certain act specified; a declaration which gives to the person to whom it is made, a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of the act.

The first thing to recognize is that this promise is spoken from the Saviour of the Father

Spoke from the Saviour given of the Father (v4)

In here we have a two-fold promise.

Jesus is declaring it to be true

He says it’s a ‘promise of the Father’

Therefore, it’s a promise by Jesus and God the Father.

Now I don’t know about you - but one reason I wanted to define the word ‘promise’ is because it’s a word that has lost it’s meaning over the years. (Ill.) you have people who will say something, and the other party will be like ‘oh, do you promise?’ and they’ll say ‘oh I promise’ then they’ll say ‘do you swear?’

Do you know why they want you to swear? Because they don’t expect a promise to be kept. They’ve had too many people say they promise something, only for them not to follow through on it.

(Ill.) My children will testify that I rarely make a promise - ultimately, because there’s so many things that are not in our control. But when I do - they can take it to the bank.

I wanted to point out that the promise is important - BECAUSE OF WHO IS THE MAKER OF IT! God is both ABLE to keep His Promises, FAITHFUL to do so, and IN CONTROL so He can!

Spoken from the Saviour, given by the Father

To be Sent (Joh. 14:26)

We see that Jesus was not going to leave us alone - but that God promised to send Him unto us!

In Acts 1:8a “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:”

It’s a surety that God would send the Spirit unto us!

God Promised to Send the Holy Spirit

To be Saturated (v5)

The word baptize (def) to make whelmed or to be immersed

The word ‘baptize’ is not exclusive in regards to water, but is a Biblical term that is used in a variety of ways.

Spoken of as water, and the Holy Ghost and Fire all three - Mat. 3:11

Jesus’ sufferings described using the word baptism in - Mat. 20:20-23

Baptism unto Moses in the cloud & sea - 1Cor. 10:1-4

I say all that to say this: In every instance it’s meaning to ‘be immersed; whelmed - totally saturated’.

So if you were born again - you didn’t get a little bit of the Holy Ghost. You didn’t get ‘enough to get by’ - but you were baptized! You were whelmed, immersed; totally saturated by the Holy Ghost of God!

This is the Promise that we have of Him!

The Promise of the Spirit. Secondly, the Power of the Spirit

II. The Power of the Spirit

This is where we’ll examine the Ability of the Holy Ghost of God

I mean, if we’re promised it as believers, we immersed - totally whelmed in it - what difference could that make in our lives.

It’s Immeasurable

The Power of God is literally immeasurable.

(Ill.) As some might know, my son has taken me under his wing and begun to train me. He’s showing me how to lift weights & trying to help me with my eating. But one thing that I notice is, we go and get on the machine, I select the weight that I’m going to lift and I begin my reps. Sometimes, by the end of the set, I’m struggling. I reach my limit.

But while I have limits in what I can and can’t do - there is no limit to the power of God!

There is not weight to heavy

There is no distance too far

There is no mountain too high or ocean too deep

There is no sin too great that He cannot deliver me from

There is no chain to strong that He cannot break

There is no problem too complex that He cannot solve

We’re talking about God! We’re not talking about man!

(Ill.) You take many of those guys lifting at the gym - many can lift more than I can, but EVERY ONE OF THEM HAS A LIMIT - BUT THERE’S NO LIMIT TO WHAT MY GOD CAN DO!

The Power of the Holy Ghost of God is Immeasurable

It’s Irrefutable

What I mean is that it’s a power that’s proven!

Look at what the Bible says in Acts 1:2 “Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:”

We see that in this verse, Jesus spoke through the Holy Spirit

Also we see after Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, the Bible says: Luke 4:14 “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.”

We see in this verse that the Spirit worked through Jesus and gave Him Power

So what I’m saying is that the Power of the Holy Spirit is not something of unknown commodity - The Spirit has Proven Himself time and again - in many things, but surely through the Words and Work of Jesus Himself!

The Power of the Holy Spirit is Irrefutable

The Promise of the Spirit. Secondly, the Power of the Spirit. Next, the Performance of the Spirit

III. The Performance of the Spirit

So we see that God Promised us His Spirit

We see the Power that it has

But what does that mean to us? What kind of Power should we expect from the Spirit of Promise to Perform in our lives?

It’s Definite (v8)

We see that Jesus Promised the Spirit (the first ‘shall’ in Act. 1:8)

Look at the 2nd ‘shall’ - Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

The Promise that Jesus gave was that the Spirit would enable them to accomplish the task in which Jesus was giving them.

It’s Definite - and Directed

It’s Directed

So what IS the task that Jesus is speaking about?

To be a Witness

What God has charged EVERY CHRISTIAN - not just the apostles or preachers - is to be a Witness. And why not?

He Promised He’d endow us with the Power, right?

Church, this is not a “Call to Some”, but a “Command to ALL”!

All to whom He’s sent His Spirit!

All to whom has been bestowed this Power!

Jesus’ last directive was that we would be witnesses of Jesus!

It’s Directed to be a Witness, and it’s Directed to Wherever

To Wherever

The Gospel cannot be simply relegated to the church house! We need God’s people to be willing to share the Gospel in the ‘Highways and Hedges’ - unto the Rich, poor, educated, simple, old, young - to WHOEVER, WHEREVER!

This command to utilize the Gospel through the Power of the Spirit is Definite & Directed. But speaking of the Power of the Spirit, it’s also Defined

It’s Defined

What I mean is, this power that God has provided through the Holy Spirit is not LIMITED in the sharing of the Gospel. It’s power has a tremendous impact on the Christian life!

He Seals (Eph. 1:13)

Ephesians 1:13 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”

(Ill.) When I got saved, God baptized me with the Holy Ghost. In doing so, God put His mark upon me! He Sealed me and Secured me!

A Seal is an imprint that marks the item sealed as the property of the one who sealed him.

(Ill.) In the old days, a king would have a seal that would mark official communications. Even today, the President has a ‘Presidential Seal’ that marks official documents originating and belonging to the president.

The Holy Spirit is God’s Seal upon me. If you read on it says: Ephesians 1:14 “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

That seals is the earnest of our inheritance - and it lasts until the redemption. I am SEALED unto the Day of Redemption! That means I can’t go to Hell if I tried! God is the one who sealed me!

He Seals

He Shows (Joh. 14:26; 16:13-15)

John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

John 16:13–15 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

Another aspect of the Work of the Holy Spirit is that He teaches us.

You know, I’m thankful for pastors & teachers. And I’m thankful for Bible colleges. But the best teacher you’ll ever learn from is the Holy Spirit of God!

It’s the Spirit within you that gives you wisdom and discernment as you hear or read.

He Shows

He Intercedes (Rom. 8:26-27)

Romans 8:26–27 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

Sometimes you’re faced with something that you don’t know what to do. So the Holy Spirit moves on your behalf - to align your prayers with the Will of God!

He Intercedes

He Convicts (Joh. 16:8)

John 16:8 “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”

Anybody here ever sinned, then either immediately or later on you feel the conviction for your sin? You feel bad about it? That’s the Spirit speaking to you!

Anybody struggled with something you WANT to be right, but feel deep down it’s not? That’s the Holy Spirit instructing you in true righteousness!

The Holy Spirit brings Conviction

He Confirms (Joh. 15:26-27)

John 15:26–27 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”

(Ill.) When I had someone tell me about Jesus, before I got saved, the Spirit was confirming Him in my heart. Then when I got a Bible and I began to read about Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God spoke unto me and said ‘Son this is truth - you’d better pay attention!’

The Spirit of God was confirming the truth in my heart!

He Confirms

He Reveals (1Cor. 2:10-11)

1 Corinthians 2:10–11 “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”

The Holy Spirit not only Confirms the truth about Jesus, but reveals unto us truth hidden from the lost.

(Ill.) I used to wonder how so many people seemed so blinded to simple truth. Such as:

The truth that there is a God

Some say ‘How is there a God?’, my response is ‘How could there NOT be a God? The evidence is literally everywhere!’

The truth that there are only two genders, and you don’t get to pick

It’s amazing that a large portion of society today will say that you can pick whether you want to be a boy or girl. Yet the same people say that you cannot pick your race.

But now I understand that some simple things are easy for me, because they’ve been revealed to me by the Holy Spirit of God! The blinders of Satan don’t hinder me like they do lost people!

He Reveals

He Enables Godliness (Gal. 5:16-25)

Gal. 5:16-25 speaks of the fruit of the Spirit.

You know there’s many people who call themselves Christian but don’t have the fruit of the Spirit? Oftentimes it’s because you have to HAVE the Spirit before it can bear fruit! In other words, they’ve never been born again.

It’s difficult to live a Godly life in this ungodly world, yet the Holy Spirit empowers, enables us to live Godly!

He Enables Godliness

The Holy Spirit of God plays a HUGE role int he life of the Christian!

The Promise of the Spirit. Power of the Spirit. The Performance of the Spirit & Lastly, the Presence of the Spirit

IV. The Presence of the Spirit

The Communion

A Constant

In the life of the Christian, one thing to understand is that the Holy Spirit of God is a constant presence.

This of course has positives and negatives.

On the positive side, you are always present with God. He’s always there.

On the negative side, you have non secret sins. You have nowhere to run to for privacy from the Spirit of God.

He remains constant. This is why once we get into the series, there are positive commands and negative commands concerning the Spirit and our interactions with Him in life.

He is a Constant Presence

A Comfort (Joh. 16:7)

He’s also a Constant Comfort

John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

God communes with us through the Presence of His Spirit. And He can give us a constant comfort through this life.

Church we’re talking about ‘Having Communion with God’ - and the best way to do that is to allow the Spirit free reign in your life.

He is a Constant Comfort

Conclusion

If you’re lost I want to show you something.

(Give the Gospel)

Now I’ve been preaching about the Holy Spirit, and one thing that I said was that He confirms. Right now, in your heart - the Holy Spirit is confirming that what I’m speaking unto you is true. The question is, what are you going to do about it?