Who is the Holy Spirit?

Introduction

This is week 5 of our catechism sermon series

We have learned about two members of the Trinity, and today it is time for the third!

Today we will be talking about the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is certainly the least understood member of the Trinity.

I think a big reason for that is we can relate to the idea of a Father. We know what a father is.

We can also relate to the idea of a son, coming from a father.

Those are very tangible ideas for us.

But a spirit? That is outside the bounds of our natural realm, and so we have a hard time understanding how that works.

A.W. Tozer, a pastor and writer from the early 20th century known for his deep devotional books like The Pursuit of God, once said:

“The idea of the Holy Spirit to the average church member is so vague as to be nearly non-existent. When believers are asked about Him, they often confess they know very little about who He is or how He works.” - AW Tozer

I think he’s right!

Why don’t we know more about the Holy Spirit?

I think it is because we have experienced very little of his power in our lives.

Maybe it is because we simply do not know Who we have access to.

So that is the point of our time together today - to learn who The Holy Spirit is.

The Holy Spirit is God

First of all, the Holy Spirit is God.

We said that just a minute ago, and when we say third member, we don’t mean third wheel!

1 Corinthians 2:9–11 NIV

9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit knows the thoughts of God because He is God!

The Holy Spirit works both with the Father and the Son to reveal the things of God.

The Holy Spirit was present in the beginning, before creation.

In Genesis, we learn that The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters of the deep.

In the Old Testament, there are instances of specific individuals receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, such as the judges, King Saul, King David, and the prophets.

By the time of Jesus, the Jews believed that an outpouring of the Spirit of God would come as the “era of the Messiah” was ushered in at the end of time.

Jesus came to tell them that the kingdom of God was upon them.

The era of the Messiah had arrived with him!

John the Baptist told his followers that he (John) baptized them with water, but he (Jesus) would baptize them with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was even given to Jesus at his baptism!

If God himself in Jesus Christ needed the Holy Spirit to do his work, then how much more do we need the Holy Spirit!

Jesus tells his disciples that after he leaves the earth, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit will come.

After his resurrection, Jesus tells his disciples to go to Jerusalem to wait for the gift that his father will send.

So they do, and at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit enters the house as a rushing wind.

Tongues of fire separate and hover over each of them.

They speak in languages they have never learned.

Soon after, they learn that the Holy Spirit is not just for the disciples, but it is for new believers, and it is for Gentiles also.

We now know that God gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to anyone who professes faith in Christ Jesus.

But how is this gift given?

That is largely a mystery, but we know that some images that have been used in the Bible are breath, fire, and a dove.

What we are certain of, is that the Holy Spirit lives inside of each believer.

The Holy Spirit knows our thoughts, our motives, and our needs.

Anyone who has been a Christian for a long time knows that the Holy Spirit knows our every thought, motive, and he knows our hearts.

The Holy Spirit knows us better than we know ourselves!

Because God is all-knowing, and the Spirit is the Spirit of God, then the Holy Spirit is also all-knowing.

Does it give you comfort or make you nervous that the Spirit of God living inside you knows everything about you?

The Holy Spirit is Our Helper

This brings us to our next point, which is that the Holy Spirit is our helper.

The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us! We do not have to live this life alone, because God lives within us.

The Holy Spirit is our connection and lifeline to God!

There are several ways this happens:

Transformation

The Holy Spirit’s primary job is to transform us, the followers of Jesus, into the image of God.

The Holy Spirit works to restore us what was lost when sin entered the Garden.

2 Corinthians 3:18 “18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Because we have the Holy Spirit, God is able to do his transforming work in each of us, as we need it.

He is not confined to one place, but is given to every person who professes faith in Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is continuing the work that Jesus began in his earthly ministry.

Now, a question: how many of you feel like you hear the Holy Spirit?

You may not hear him audibly, but you know when He is telling you something.

Ok. For me, it is a thought that comes into my brain that I know is not from me.

It can sometimes be challenging to know if I am hearing from God, or from some other spirit, evil or otherwise!

But with practice, this has become easier over time.

I firmly believe that God, by way of the Holy Spirit, wants us to hear his voice.

I believe he wants to communicate with each one of us.

I hear people say all the time, “well, God never speaks to me.”

If that is you, then I would encourage you to begin praying to hear the voice of God.

Then, find a quiet place alone, and just sit and listen.

It probably won’t happen the first time, but it will happen. You will hear, and learn to listen.

But this is the way the Holy Spirit transforms us! When we are reading scripture and we suddenly realize something we have never understood before, that is the Holy Spirit.

When we are at the grocery store, and we feel the need to pray for or speak to someone we see, that is the Holy Spirit.

He uses our minds to bring forward scriptures, to recall sermons or talks we have heard, to reveal truths about God, about the world, about ourselves.

The more we listen, the more we hear.

Do you see the difference? Listening is the intentional time we give to God so he can speak. Hearing God is the result.

Intercessor

The Holy Spirit is also our intercessor and our comforter.

When we struggle in life, when we have grief or trials or pain, the Holy Spirit causes us to feel the presence and comfort of God.

When our hearts are aching, the Holy Spirit makes the ache subside.

Romans 8:26 “26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

Those of us who have the Holy Spirit living inside of us have someone who will speak to God on our behalf!

Have you ever been so confused, lonely, powerless, that you don’t even know what to pray for?

It’s ok. Because the Holy Spirit does.

God desires for us to rely on him every hour of every day. He has made his home within us to ensure that happens!

Do not think that you have to shoulder this life alone - because that is a lie from the enemy.

Do not think that you have no one, because that is a lie from the enemy!

Even Jesus himself would go to lonely places to be with his father through His Spirit.

Power

Next, I want to talk about the Holy Spirit’s power.

Acts 1:8 “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””

Jesus tells his disciples they will receive power! And this power comes from the Holy Spirit!

If they received power from the Holy Spirit, so should we!

Romans 8:11 “11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”

Now, if the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is living in me, I don’t know about you, but I think that is sufficient power to transform my life!

Have you ever found yourself standing up and walking towards someone, and words just come out of your mouth, like somehow you are having an out of body experience?

That is the power of the Holy Spirit!

We receive power to silence all fear in Jesus’ name, to say yes to God’s asking, to say no to material things, to share the gospel, to heal the sick, to overcome addiction and disease.

Now, some of you might say, “that is true for some, but that doesn’t happen in my life.”

Well, that is another topic for another sermon.

But if we believe the scriptures like we say we do, then we must believe that we have access to the power of the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Spirit is Largely a Mystery

Finally, the Holy Spirit is how God accomplishes His purposes here on earth.

A few weeks ago, I was at the New Room Conference in Montgomery Alabama.

It’s a conference put on by Seedbed, and I went to one of the breakout sessions, it was my first one.

It was called, “Hearing the Voice of God.”

I thought ok, this is a good one to get my feet wet with, shouldn’t be too heavy.

Boy was I wrong!

The leader of the session was a man named Ivan Filby. He is the current president of Seedbed and he is an Englishman living in Northern Ireland.

Now, he starts talking about some of the ways in which he hears the voice of God, and those of us sitting in the room are just amazed!

This man sees every day objects floating above people’s heads!

And he has come to realize this is the Holy Spirit speaking to him.

For example, he saw a banana above a Russian lady’s head in Croatia, he saw little red dots on people’s foreheads, like a sniper rifle!

He often will see a yellow kite, and the kite’s tail has something written on it for the person who’s head it is floating over.

Just crazy stuff. So, after his talk, he tells us to get with the group at the table we are sitting at, and while he prays, we are to open our minds to see a kite, or maybe a gift box with something inside of it.

So he prays, we listen.

We get done praying, and we are all looking at each other.

I have something that I saw, but I do NOT want to speak up, because no one else is saying anything! Finally, I get so anxious and antsy that I have to say it:

I saw a gift box, with a shoe in it.

Just a shoe. So my table asks, what kind of shoe? I dunno, a man’s dress shoe.

It means nothing to anyone! No one is exclaiming in excitement, so now I’m embarrassed and feeling really stupid.

Someone else talks about a blender, etc.

So our time ends, and someone collects all of our phone numbers to put into a chat, so later we can report whether what we shared meant anything.

The next morning I am sitting in the hotel at breakfast, and I get a text from the group.

It’s a young woman who really didn’t say much at the table.

She says, “Kat, when you saw the shoe, that was for me.”

“My husband and I have been trying to conceive and in the spring, we miscarried. Ever since, I have literally said the words, ‘I feel like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop.’”

God was telling her that he has the shoe. She doesn’t have to wait in anxious anticipation for the other shoe to drop, because he has it.

That was a really cool example of how the Holy Spirit can work.

I didn’t want to bring up what I saw, but because I was able to be faithful, God used that to reach this young lady.

Conclusion

The way the Holy Spirit works is largely a mystery to us.

We cannot fathom how He takes people and prompts them to do His will, or how He knows just what song we need to hear on the radio at the right time.

The good news is, we do not have to know all the answers. We don’t even have to come up with the plan.

We just have to be willing. Willing to look ridiculous! Willing to overstep the boundaries of polite society. Willing to be a vessel of God’s love poured out on the world around us.

Thank you God, for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.