Unmasking the Holy Spirit Week 1 – The Holy Spirit Revealed

Announcements:

Offering box is in the back

2. Bible reading plan for October is on the back table

3. Next TableTalk is Sunday, October 26th at 5PM. Theme is around the world.

Worship:

I Know A Name

2. What An Awesome God

3. Fire Fall Down 4. Freedom Reigns

4. BGMC

Prayer for Des

Introduction:

In this season, we see masks everywhere. Whether it’s for Halloween or even the medical masks we’ve worn in recent years, masks are designed to hide something — our face, our expressions, even our true identity.

But when it comes to the Holy Spirit, He is not masked, hidden, or mysterious. Jesus makes it clear: the Spirit is revealed. He is not some vague, ghostly force that we cannot know. He is a Person — our Helper, our Advocate, and the One who brings truth into the open.

Just as Halloween masks conceal, the Holy Spirit reveals. He shows us the reality of God, the love of the Father, and the presence of Jesus in our lives.

Main Point

The Holy Spirit is not hidden or mysterious; He is our Helper and Advocate.

Exposition of the Text (John 14:16–17)

John 14:16–17 CSB

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.

1. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force (John 14:16–17).

Jesus calls Him “another Counselor” (or Advocate, Helper). Just as Jesus personally walked with His disciples, so the Holy Spirit personally walks with us.

The translation of the Greek word parakletos, which signifies “one called alongside to help.” Parakletos is used of the Holy Spirit in the following passages:

(John 14:16 “16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.”, 

John 14:26 “26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.” ; 

John 15:26 “26 “When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me.” ; 

John 16:7 “7 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you.” ),

where it is translated “Comforter,” with the sense that He is the believer’s advocate, helper, and intercessor (see Romans 8:26 “26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.” ).

It is also used of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1 “1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one.” ), and shows Him to be our intercessor, pleading the merits of His own propitiatory sacrifice on our behalf.

Illustration: Born in 1865 in Breslau, Germany as Carl August Rudolph Steinmetz, Carl Americanized his name to Charles Steinmetz. He stood just four feet tall, his body contorted by a hump in his back and a crooked gait, and his stunted torso gave the illusion that his head, hands and feet were too big. But he was a giant among scientific thinkers, counting Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison as friends, and his contributions to mathematics and electrical engineering made him one of the most beloved and instantly recognizable men of his time.

Jack B. Scott wrote in to tell of his father’s encounter with Charles Steinmetz at Henry Ford’s River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan. His father, Burt Scott, was an employee at the Ford plant.

Ford, whose electrical engineers couldn’t solve some problems they were having with a gigantic generator, called Steinmetz in to the plant. Upon arriving, Steinmetz rejected all assistance and asked only for a notebook, pencil and cot. According to Scott, Steinmetz listened to the generator and scribbled computations on the notepad for two straight days and nights. On the second night, he asked for a ladder, climbed up the generator and made a chalk mark on its side. Then he told Ford’s skeptical engineers to remove a plate at the mark and replace sixteen windings from the field coil. They did, and the generator performed to perfection. Henry Ford was thrilled until he got an invoice from General Electric in the amount of $10,000 (rough equivalent of getting a check for $150k-$200k today). Ford acknowledged Steinmetz’s success but balked at the figure. He asked for an itemized bill.

Steinmetz, Scott wrote, responded personally to Ford’s request with the following:

Making chalk mark on generator $1.

Knowing where to make mark $9,999.

Ford paid the bill.

The Spirit isn’t just a vague “force” floating around; He is the One who knows us and knows exactly where to work in our lives and specifically in each area, guiding and interceding for us personally and specifically.

So, the Holy Spirit is not impersonal but a person who wants to help, advocate and guide you! Just like Jesus, He knows you better than you know yourself!

Transition: Not only is the Holy Spirit personal, but…

2. The Holy Spirit reveals the Father and the Son to us (2 Cor. 3:17–18).

2 Corinthians 3:17–18 CSB

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

The Spirit takes the veil off our eyes. He reveals the glory of Christ and transforms us into His likeness.

Illustration: Imagine walking into a dark room with a priceless painting covered by a sheet. You can sense something is there, but you can’t enjoy it. Then someone removes the sheet, and suddenly you see beauty and detail you never imagined. That’s what the Spirit does — He pulls back the veil so we can see the glory of Jesus. Without Him, Christ can feel distant or hidden. With Him, Jesus becomes living, real, and beautiful to us.

The Holy Spirit is not only our personal guide, advocate and helper, but He also reveals to us God the Father and God the Son! He takes off the veil of our biases and preconceived ideas and helps us see God the Father and God the Son as Who they truly are!

Transition: Lastly,

3. The Holy Spirit is always present, never leaving us (John 14:16).

John 14:16 CSB

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.

Jesus promises, “He will be with you forever.” Unlike human relationships that fade or break, the Spirit abides.

Illustration: During World War II, a group of soldiers dug into the ground at night to protect themselves from bombings. One young man, terrified, began reciting Psalm 23 softly under his breath. A fellow soldier whispered, “You don’t really think God is here in this hole with us, do you?” The young man replied, “I don’t think it — I know it. He promised He would never leave me.” That’s the Spirit’s role — not a seasonal presence, not an occasional visitor, but a constant companion, even in our darkest trenches.

Application

If we’re honest, many of us live with masks of our own.

The mask of self-reliance — trying to handle everything on our own strength.

The mask of fear — hiding our true struggles because we don’t want others to see.

The mask of religion — putting on a good face at church but lacking intimacy with God.

But the Holy Spirit invites us to remove those masks. He reminds us that God already sees us as we are, and His presence gives us the strength we need.

So the call today is this: take off the mask and trust in the Holy Spirit’s presence.

Conclusion:

At the end of the day, masks always come off. Whether it’s a costume party, after a medical appt, or the daily masks we hide behind in life — they don’t last forever.

But the Holy Spirit’s presence does. He is here to reveal truth, to guide us into freedom, and to assure us that we are never alone.

So today, let’s live unmasked — fully open to the Holy Spirit who has been revealed to us.

Communion

And what better way to unmask before God than to come to the Lord’s Table.

Communion is where the Spirit reveals to us the depth of God’s love through Christ.

Communion is a time when we are reminded that nothing is hidden from God. He sees our sin, our brokenness, our masks — and yet He gave His Son to die for us. Through the Spirit, the bread and cup are not empty rituals but living reminders of Christ’s presence with us.

As we get ready to participate in Communion this morning, I want to encourage you to remove the mask of self-reliance, fear, religion, etc.

Come honestly. Come open. Come ready for the Spirit to reveal Jesus to you afresh.

For “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” And at this Table, that freedom is found in the body and blood of Christ.

Take time for spiritual reflection

1 Corinthians 11:27–28 CSB

27 So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.

Jordan do communion and close out service

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 CSB

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.