I Believe in the Holy Spirit: Heaven’s Life in Earth’s People

John 14:15–18

INTRODUCTION – The Promise That Changes Everything

The first time I ever left Wesley and Iyla home by themselves, it was only for a few minutes. I told them, “I’ll be right back.” But to them, those minutes felt like hours. I could almost feel their little hearts racing. Where’s Dad? What if something happens? What do we do? They didn’t realize my leaving wasn’t about abandoning them; it was about helping them grow and showing them they were safe even when I wasn’t right there in the room.

On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus gathered His disciples in the Upper Room. The air was heavy. Their faces were pale with fear. These men had left their nets, their tax tables, and their reputations, everything to follow Him. And now He says, “I am going away.”

They could not imagine life without His voice calling their name, without His hands breaking bread, without His presence steadying their steps. In that moment of trembling hearts, Jesus spoke the words in John 14:15–18: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter to be with you forever… I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

This was not an announcement of absence, but a promise of a deeper presence. And that presence is not a vague feeling or impersonal force; the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity, coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Son.

As the Father planned salvation and the Son accomplished salvation, the Spirit applies salvation to our hearts.

Basil the Great called Him “the perfecting cause of all things,” the One who completes what the Father begins, and the Son secures.

To believe in the Holy Spirit is to believe that Jesus has not left us alone, but that the King of heaven has sent His Governor to live in us and bring the life of Heaven’s Kingdom to earth.

During one of his missionary trips, the Apostle Paul arrived in Ephesus and met a group of believers. He asked them a direct question: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Their reply? “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2).

If Paul was shocked, surely the Father and the Son were saddened. The ministry of the blessed third Person of the Trinity was ignored. His presence was misunderstood—his power, untapped. And yet, for the early church, life in Christ was unthinkable without the Spirit.

POINT 1 – THE SPIRIT BRINGS HEAVEN’S CULTURE

Jesus says the Father will send “another Comforter”. In Greek, allos parakletos, “another of the same kind.” What I was to you in person, He will be to you in presence and power.

In the Roman world, when the Emperor conquered new land, he didn’t move the capital; he sent a governor to ensure the new colony spoke the Emperor’s language, followed the Empire’s customs, and lived by the Empire’s laws.

Myles Munroe calls the Holy Spirit “the Governor of God’s Kingdom.” Without the Governor, the colony adopts the culture of the surrounding world; with the Governor, it reflects the language, customs, and priorities of the King.

Philippians 3:20 says, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” That means your life is not just a private faith, it’s an embassy of the Kingdom. The Spirit lives in you to make your life a little outpost of heaven. If your words, your values, and your decisions don’t look like the King’s, it’s not because the Governor left, it’s because you’ve stopped letting Him rule.

But the Spirit doesn’t just shape us inwardly for heaven’s culture; He empowers us outwardly for heaven’s mission.

POINT 2 – THE SPIRIT EMPOWERS GOD’S MISSION

Acts 1:8 declares, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…”

Think of your life as an embassy of heaven. In a foreign country, an embassy is sovereign territory. It represents the authority of its homeland, and the ambassador inside speaks for the king. You are that embassy, and the Holy Spirit is the Ambassador living in you. When you speak, serve, and love, you carry the King’s voice into enemy territory.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” Your workplace, your neighborhood, your online presence — all are embassy grounds where heaven’s laws apply.

We live in a world fractured by politics, loneliness, and distrust, but the Spirit connects people across every barrier. This is how the gospel advances in an era where unity seems impossible: through Spirit-empowered witnesses.

But if we’re going to live in His culture and fulfill His mission, we can’t rely on one big burst of power. We need the Spirit’s filling every single day.

POINT 3 – THE SPIRIT SUSTAINS OUR DAILY LIFE

Ephesians 5:18 says, “Be filled with the Spirit.” In Greek, it means to continue being filled. This is a continual dependence — not a one-time event.

Paul uses a nautical term for “filled.” The Ephesians, living by the Aegean Sea, were familiar with this picture: the sails of a ship billowing out when they fully catch the wind. That’s the Spirit’s role in your life to be the wind in your sails. Paul is saying, 'Open wide your spiritual sails.' Let His wisdom steer your thoughts. Let His power move your actions. Let His purposes set your priorities. Let His life fill yours.

Galatians 5:16 adds, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” That daily walking is how you stay filled.

Another image: Imagine buying the most advanced computer hardware in the world but never installing an operating system. It has potential, but it cannot function. The cross purchased the hardware, the resurrection guaranteed the warranty, and Pentecost installed the software. But if you don’t stay connected to the power source, it shuts down.

Without the Spirit, the Christian life freezes and crashes. David Jeremiah says, “Daily filling is not about getting more of Him — it’s about Him getting more of you.”

And this daily filling is never more precious than when life knocks the wind out of you, because the Spirit also brings God’s presence into our deepest weakness.

POINT 4 – THE SPIRIT BRINGS GOD’S PRESENCE INTO OUR WEAKNESS

Romans 8:26 says, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness… the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

The Spirit is like the breath in your lungs, invisible, constant, essential. You may not think about Him every moment, but without Him, you cannot live.

When you are too hurt to pray, the Spirit prays for you. When you don’t know what to say, the Spirit speaks for you. When life knocks the wind out of you, the Spirit breathes heaven back into you.

John 14:26 adds, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit… will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.” This is God saying to you, “You are not an orphan — you are mine.”

To say “I believe in the Holy Spirit” is to reject the orphan mindset and live as a child with the Father’s presence always near.

CLOSING – TRADITION & INNOVATION TOGETHER

Picture that Upper Room again. The disciples are still unsure, still afraid. But Jesus says, “I will come to you.” And He has.

He has come as the Governor bringing heaven’s culture.

He has come as the Ambassador empowering your mission.

He has come as the Wind filling your sails.

He has come as the Breath, reviving your soul.