Holy Spirit is a Person – Part II

April 14th 2024

Series: Who is the Holy Spirit?

Sermon Title: Holy Spirit is a Person – Part II

Topic: Journey to help us learn who the Holy Spirit was, is, and will always be and how the Holy Spirit is active in our lives today.

Key Passages: Genesis 1:1-2, Genesis 1:26, Ephesians 4:30, John 14: 16-20, John 16: 7-10, Matthew 12:31-32

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message, we will continue to unpack how the Holy Spirit is a person just like the Father and Son. We will also discover what the ONLY unforgiveable sin is.

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Dedication, Baptism, or Ministry Highlight:

Sermon:

Hello Family Church!

Family Moment –

Start with something personal from your family life recently to help people get to know you.

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Those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church we are SUPER happy you are with us today!

Today, we are continuing our new series that we launched last week about the Holy Spirit.

We are beginning a study into who the Holy Spirit actually was, is, and will always be.

This series is designed to help us learn about Who the Holy Spirit is!

And it is going to be a FUN journey you are NOT going to want to miss!!!!

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We know….

In a room of this size…

There are a LOT of different opinions on the Holy Spirit.

And that is ok….

In this series we are simply going to open our Bibles and learn from God what God reveals to us about the PERSON of the Holy Spirit.

That is what we did last week, and that is what we will continue to do today.

Our focus today is again on the PERSON who we know as the Holy Spirit.

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And it is our hope that as we all learn about the Holy Spirit in the months… or years… ahead, it will change our lives as well….

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So…. Let’s begin!

And we need to begin by making sure we all understand the Holy Spirit is a person just like God the Father is and Jesus is.

In fact, write that down…. Again!

The Holy Spirit is a person.

Repeat

It is impossible to understand the work of the Holy Spirit until we get to know Him personally.

The problem is so many Christians discredit the Holy Spirit because we think of Him as just a force…

Just a spirit…

Just a part of God…

Just an impersonal influencer for God…

And if you are not sure if you are in that camp, let me remind you of what we said last week…

Think about this…

When you pray to God…

Do you ever pray to the Holy Spirit?

Or do you pray to the Father and Jesus?

When you ask God for help…

Do you ever ask the Holy Spirit to help?

Or do you only ask Jesus and the Father?

When you thank God…

Do you ever thank the Holy Spirit for guiding you?

Or do you thank Jesus and the Father only?

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See… When you think about the Holy Spirit as just a power or force for influence or help…

Then you will constantly be seeking to get a hold of the Holy Spirit to USE it…

To get more of it…

Because you want what it has for you…

When you think about the Holy Spirit as just a power or force for influence or help…

We need to just get a hold of the Holy Spirit to use it…

Which leads to self-confidence if we can…

Self-exaltation if we are more successful than other people…

And an endless parade of showing off how HOLY we are compared to others who are not as FILLED with the Holy Spirit as we are…

Then we can strut around thinking we are a superior class of Christians…

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But when you think about the Holy Spirit as FULLY God, it changes everything…

Because when we come before God, we realize we are the one who needs to change….

We are the one who has to submit…

We don’t seek God to just take from him…

But to be changed by him…

And the Holy Spirit is God living inside us to do that!

To change us!!!!

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So today, I am simply going to show you so passages from the Bible to help us clearly see the Holy Spirit is an active person in our lives JUST LIKE God the Father and Jesus.

If you have your Bible with you, open it up to the book of Genesis.

Let me show you at the very start of creation the power and influence of the Holy Spirit….

New Person Bible Connection:

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After service, we will give you an AMAZING leather-bound study Bible!

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Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Ok so pause there….

Do you see that…

The SPIRIT of God was there…

From the very first words of the Bible & creation the Holy Spirit…God’s Spirit…is there…present…and active!

But you might say….

Well….

That does not make the Holy Spirit a person…the Holy Spirit is JUST God’s spirit…

Let’s keep reading….drop down to verse 26….

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,

over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Two words in this verse make the Holy Spirit JUST being God’s spirit and not something more…problematic…

The words, “OUR LIKENESS.”

Circle those words….or underline them in your Bible….

We are created to be in the LIKENESS of God the Father, Son, AND Holy Spirit.

That is what we call the Trinity….

In the ways we are like all three, we are LIKE God!

In fact, write that down…

We are created in the image of the Father, Son, AND Holy Spirit.

Repeat…

PAUSE

And let me invite you to come back next week….

Next week, we are going to talk about the trinity…

Because it is hard to understand how God is one person…and three people…and how all that works….

So next week we will spend the entire message dedicated to helping us try and understand that concept…

So…come back next week….

PAUSE

But today….let’s keep unpacking the personhood of the Holy Spirit…

See we just saw how we are created in the LIKNESS of the Holy Spirit.

Let me show you something else that clearly shows us the Holy Spirit is NOT just the force or power behind God…but much more…

Move to Ephesians 4 in your Bibles…

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Note what the Bible says…

Do not GRIEVE the Holy Spirit of God….

Grief is attributed to the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not some blind, impersonal force of influence.

No….

He is a person….

Who loves…

Who is holy…

A person who recoils from sin…

He sees everything you and I do…

He hears everything we say…

He knows our inner thoughts…

And the Holy Spirit is GREIVED when we CHOOSE to NOT obey his leading in our lives and instead CHOOSE the sinful paths….

PAUSE

Think about it this way….

How many of you growing up…

The ONLY reason you did NOT do something is because you thought your mom or dad might see you?

Or catch you!!!!

Anyone want to be honest?

I know that was me for a LOT of things!

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The Holy Spirit, when you accept Jesus, lives inside you…

And he is grieved when we choose sin over Godliness…

Because we are literally choosing to not live into who lives inside us!

When we sin we choose NOT to allow the image of God…imprinted on us by the Holy Spirit…to be seen!

And that HURTS the Holy Spirit…

Like it hurts us as parents when our kids choose not to follow our instructions in life and make bad choices…

PAUSE

Remember…

As you look at that screen… The Holy Spirit is there…

As you go to that place… The Holy Spirit is there…

As you are with your significant other… Holy Spirit is there…

As you go about your job… Holy Spirit is there…

As you are in the locker room… So is the Holy Spirit…

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Jesus taught us this!!!!

John 14: 16-20 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth.

The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

See that….

Jesus says we will KNOW the Spirit…

Because he will LIVE inside us!

18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Here we see Jesus explain this based on the way he was able to do what he did!

Here we see the Trinity again…

How God is the same…and yet different…

Jesus saying…The Holy Spirit lives inside us…

LIKE he lives in the Father…

He lives inside us…

We all are in unity THROUGH the Holy Spirit!

God’s Spirit!

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Which is why later in John 16 Jesus says this….

John 16: 7-10 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.

Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

Advocate is capitalized because it is another name for the Holy Spirit.

But it is GOOD for Jesus to return to heaven BECAUSE he will send us the Holy Spirit to LIVE inside all of us…..

And….next, it goes into talking about what we just did!!!!

8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:

9 about sin, because people do not believe in me;

10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;

11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

The Holy Spirit…

Like any good PERSON who is a teacher…

Will teach us truth…

Will guide us…

Will help us…

PAUSE

I will wrap up with one final thought for all of us today to ponder…

You will see this in your notes with a blank…

What is the ONLY sin God says in the Bible is un-forgivable? ____________________________________________________

Let me show you the answer to that in your Bible…

Flip to Matthew 12..

You will find the answer in Matthew 12: 31 & 32

Matthew 12:31-32 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

Did you hear that church?

Every sin….

Every blasphemy except one will be forgiven….

That means murder…will be forgiven….

That means adultery…will be forgiven…

That means abuse…will be forgiven…

That means even blasphemy of God the Father will be forgiven…

That means even the blasphemy Of Jesus will be forgiven…

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But God says… Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is an EXTERNAL sin…

The most heinous of sins.

God will never forgive an unpardonable or unforgivable sin.

Before we understand what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the meaning of blasphemy needs to be understood.

PAUSE

Now….I know we do not use that word a lot so let’s define it….

Blasphemy - the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk:

So, what is sacrilegious???

Well, that is?

That is having or showing a lack of respect for a person, place, or object.

So…to put those together, that would mean blaspheme of the Holy Spirit is showing a lack of proper respect for the Holy Spirit.

Let me say that again….

Blaspheme of the Holy Spirit shows a lack of proper respect for the Holy Spirit.

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Now what does that look like????

Well…. That would mean you do things like:

1. Deny the power of the Holy Spirit.

2. Attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil.

3. Insulate or desecrate the Bible.

Did you know that in many other countries, blasphemy against the state religion is a criminal offense that can lead to imprisonment?

In many countries, blasphemy is considered an offense of hate against a religious denomination.

It can be punishable by death even!!!

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The word blasphemy means injuring through speech.

It refers to the act of speaking evil of God and injuring or abusing beliefs.

In ancient times, blasphemy was considered a very serious offense.

Until the 17th century, blasphemy used to be an offense punishable by death.

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The answer to what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is that it is an unpardonable sin that is committed against God.

A sin that will not be forgiven by God.

An eternal sins.

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Really where this ends…. Is a person CONTINUALLY rejecting God the Father’s FREE gift of salvation….

Done by the work of Jesus Christ the Son…

Revealed to you by the work of the Holy Spirit…

Again….

You see the trinity….

The work of all three…

You are denying that collective work…

It is not just denying ONE of them…

This is denying the work of ALL three!!!!

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Now let me be clear….

This is NOT something you can do in a moment of ignorance or by accident…

This is a whole different level….

This is when your mindset is FIRMLY set against God and unwilling to acknowledge Him even when you know you should…

PAUSE

I will wrap it up with a thought from one of my favorite super old priestly philosophers…

St. Augustine said….

Blaspheme of the Holy Spirit is the only unforgiveable sin because is it denying the sin inside you, and me, that we KNOW is there but are unwilling to admit….

Therefore we CHOOSE not to repent…

That person CHOOSES not to seek God’s forgiveness….

To boil it down….

It is a person who is an un-repentant sinner…but knows they are a sinner…who would rather be condemned than humbly ask God for forgiveness….

DON’T BE THAT PERSON!!!!

You do not want to spend eternity separated from God because of PRIDE!!!!

PAUSE

Let me share your life application with you today….

For those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church.

We end our messages with a Life Application.

It is simply something to help you go home and process this message with someone else.

Something to help you continue to ponder how you can apply today's message into your life.

So here is what I want you all to spend some time processing and talking with someone about.

Life Application: The Holy Spirit knows everything you have ever done or thought about doing. Is there an area of your life that you need to ask the Holy Spirit to forgive you for not listening to His leading in your life?

Is there an area of your life that needs to shift to keep your life pure? As a result of today’s message, I will _________________________.

Prayer:

Make sure to do salvation call!

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