Presence & Empowerment

Welcome and Recap

Good morning, Cornerstone Fellowship!  Welcome back to our exploration of the Apostles’ Creed—we are in week eight.  We’ve spent the last six weeks lifting up the Second Person of the Trinity—today we shift to the Third Article: the Holy Spirit, who makes all we’ve confessed a living reality within us.

Our series, again, aims to find ourselves in Jesus, not reshaping Him to fit our views.  Being able to discern what are essential elements of orthodoxy—versus dogma, things we can agree to disagree about so that we are passing on the faith as faithful stewards as Paul reminds us through his epistles to both the Corinthians and Galatians, we’re to pass on the gospel we received and stand on—not something of human origin, but revealed by Christ Himself [1 Cor 15:1; Gal 1:11–12].

Our guiding question, again—what happens if we get this wrong, because if we don’t do so faithfully, it becomes something else.

Scriptural Illustration

In Acts 5, we see the Pharisees bringing the Apostles before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest, the same one who convicted Jesus.  Scholars place this 1-2 years later.  In verse 34, it says:

34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.  35 Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.  36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him.  He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt.  He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.  38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone!  Let them go!  For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

I want to come back to this—but first, I want to introduce our next stanza:

Introduction

The Creed says simply: “I believe in the Holy Spirit.”It’s the beginning of a list—unlike the six stanzas on Christ, and it’s intentional.  It honors the Spirit’s mystery while calling us to personal trust: not in a force or vague power, but in God Himself, the third Person of the Trinity.

In Genesis 1:2, we find the Spirit hovering over the formless void of creation.  That same Spirit hovers over our chaotic lives today—convicting, guiding, renewing, and guaranteeing our future hope.  As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:5, “He who has prepared us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a downpayment.”  After confessing Christ’s work finished and His return coming, the Creed asks: Who applies it all?  Who makes “God with us” true today, in the midst of the empty cross and hollow tomb?  The Holy Spirit!

Transition

We’ve seen how creeds guard orthodoxy against heresy.  Six of the first seven ecumenical councils defended Christ’s nature; the seventh (Constantinople, 381) affirmed the Spirit’s full divinity against those who reduced Him to a lesser power.  Misunderstandings of the Godhead aren’t minor—they’ve cost blood.  Our forefathers preserved truth with fear and trembling, knowing ‘woe’ to those who distort it.

But God has faithfully stewarded His truth.  The Spirit inspired Scripture and guarded its transmission.  

The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947, contained older manuscripts than many of those we had used to translate our texts that make up our Bible—this makes them more trustworthy, because they’re closer to original authorship—none of which we have, by the way.  But the Dead Sea Scrolls were over 1,000 years older than the oldest previously known Hebrew manuscripts.  The earliest texts medieval monks had when they translated the Bible were from the 900’s.  Archaeologists dated the Dead Sea Scrolls to 250 years before Christ for the Old Testament manuscripts and to the first century AD for the New Testament manuscripts.  This means these texts are copies of what was circulated during the time of Christ, and what was written during the lifetimes of the authors of our New Testament. 

Compared with the medieval copies, the variants were mostly spelling and phrasing errors; minor slips—the textual stability was 95–99%.  The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls did not cause a singular, radical reversal of established religious doctrine.  This isn’t chance; it’s divine preservation.  The same Spirit who brooded over creation guards the pattern of sound words.  But this isn’t just the Spirits’ job; we’ve been given the same directive.  2 Timothy 1:13 says, “Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”  

Why would Paul say this?  Earlier in his ministry, he was telling people not to marry—this is a beautiful display of how the Spirit superintends the writing of Scripture!  The epistles, written by men, have a context in which they were written, but the Spirit convicts us of truth.  Early in his ministry, all the believers understood The words of Jesus, “This generation shall not pass,” which is present in all three of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, Luke 21:32) to indicate that the people living then, contemporaries of Jesus, would witness the events described, the end-times signs, including the destruction of Jerusalem.  When this didn’t come to pass the way they thought it should, and they began dying of old age, they didn’t simply stop believing—they adapted their ways of understanding!

This is the Spirit—we don’t cover up the truths of the Bible, they provide truths that only aid credibility!

Paul knew his death was near here and was providing instruction for stewardship—instructing Timothy to remain steadfast in sound doctrine despite fear, persecution, and false teachers, warning him all of which are coming, and also offering encouragement so that we can hold fast and pass it on.  This is for us too!  The question is not if God’s will—will be done—the question is, will God’s will be accomplished through us, or in spite of us?

Illustration

Throughout our series, our slides have featured the Shield of the Trinity—a medieval diagram popularized in the Crusades.  Three circles at the points: “Father,” “Son,” “Holy Spirit.” The center circle says, “God.” And printed on the lines outward, lies the word, “Is.” The Father “is” God, The Son “is” God.  The Holy Spirit “is” God.  And on the lines between the three outer points, connecting “The Father,” “the Son,” and “the Holy Spirit,” is the word “Is not.”  The Father “Is not” the Son, The Son “Is not” The Spirit, and the Holy Spirit “is neither (not)” the Father nor the Son.”  All God, yet distinct persons in perfect communion—sharing one will, one essence, without confusion or division.

I use “persons” carefully—not “people.” We’re trying to avoid anthropomorphism—assigning human qualities and limits to what is divine.  They are not “people,” nor are they mere “its,” like when you accidentally call an unknown-gender baby “it” and cringe.  Scripture uses relationship analogies (marriage, family) because God reveals Himself relationally.  Three persons in perfect communion, sharing one will, perfect cooperation, without compromising identity—anyone who’s been married knows how rare that is on earth!  God uses relationship analogies to communicate truths, but they are limited by our earthly understandings—we have to remember that “They serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things” as we read in Hebrews 8:5.  Our earthly understandings are limited; the Trinity is eternal communion beyond our full grasp.

This Shield isn’t just a diagram—it’s a guardrail against heresy.  It’s been poorly explained throughout the centuries; most of the heresies that exist concern misunderstandings and inaccurate assertions, and mistaken identities of our Godhead.  It sounds like there’s just a lack of mercy, but there’s something communicated through this—that it’s essential.  What this should communicate to us is—woe to those who shamelessly and without care, mess this up!  Our call is to root out err here.  Their standard is clear; compromise here is not tolerated. 

Application

I don’t know if you’ve ever been misunderstood—For me, I can’t stand it, I do all I can to be clear, it’s annoying, because I feel misrepresented and somewhat helpless about it!  God, on the other hand, doesn’t tolerate it.  We can know that what we profess is true because of how it’s been preserved—through the Holy Spirit.  It’s why the pastorals were included in the canon: the epistles to Timothy, containing trustworthy counsel regarding worship and the organization of the Church, the responsibilities resting on overseers, and exhortations to faithfulness and to maintaining truth concerning mistakes.

Not only were we given the pastorals, but we also see smitings at key junctures in our history, recorded in the Bible, which are acts of love—mercy toward a fledgling church.  The hand of God, stewarding our faith, is also observable through our historical record. 

The fact that it was only minor spelling errors in documents spanning multiple languages and well over 1,000 years is actually a strong testimony to the trustworthiness of our Bible.  This is divine stewardship.  The fact that we know about two thieves who were nailed to a cross, and a man named Jesus who was executed with them—this is why our Scriptures are trustworthy.  Today, Christianity is the largest faith group, accounting for roughly one-third of the world’s population. 

Transition

I think one thing revealed about God through our Scripture is that God loves stories—most of the Bible is narrative because stories move hearts.  In Exodus 12:26–27, after the Passover deliverance, God commands Israel to reenact it forever.  When children ask, “What does this observance mean?” parents explain: “It’s the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover—He passed over our houses.” The ritual provokes questions and explanations—the story of our preservation becoming one and the same—are woven into the story of God’s interaction with His people.  God gives a story to tell from generation to generation.

The Gospel is our story: Creator God, fallen humanity, incarnate Son, crucified and risen, ascended Judge, returning King.  The Spirit makes this story alive—convicting us of sin (John 16:8), guiding us into truth and glorifying Jesus (John 16:13–14), empowering witness at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4), directing the Church (Acts 13:2).  Without the Spirit, it’s dead tradition; with Him, it’s living confession.

Point 1:

So, who is the Holy Spirit?  The Spirit is fully God—Lord and Giver of life.  He proceeds from the Father and I won’t dive into the Filioque debate here, if you want to look that one up, it’s the addition of a Latin phrase that means ‘and the Son’ that was added in the West, becoming a key factor in the 1054 Great Schism, but Christians generally affirm the first four to seven councils depending on your particular denomination; the second council affirms the Spirit’s divinity—again—essentials, Filioque was down the road, and certainly down a rabbit hole, and certainly not what we’re discussing as “essential.”

So, the Spirit, sent by the Son, is our Helper and Paraclete, which means Counselor, Advocate, and Comforter (John 14:16–17, 15:26; 16:7).  The Spirit is not an impersonal force—He speaks, intercedes, grieves, teaches, and convicts.  In perfect Trinitarian communion, He models the unity within the Godhead we long for; therefore, inspiring and sustaining unity within the Church.

Point 2:

The Spirit’s work is primarily in preservation and empowerment.  The Spirit inspired Scripture and preserves its faithful transmission—the Dead Sea Scrolls testify to this!  He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, judgment (John 16:8); guides believers in truth; and glorifies Jesus.  At Pentecost, ordinary people spoke boldly; the Church grew, and today He directs missions, equips us continuationists for obedience—I offer that qualification as someone who holds to the ongoing work of the Spirit today, as opposed to the cessationist view, I see these passages calling us to expect His empowering presence. 

Point 3:

So, the Spirit is our Helper, our Counselor, our Advocate, and Comforter.  Convicts the world of sin and judgment—testifying also to truth and righteousness, and finally:

The Spirit is God’s guarantee—down payment on our resurrection hope (2 Cor 5:5).  He sanctifies us by completing in us a good work (Phil 1:6); we work out salvation beginning at our acceptance of Jesus, because He works in us (Phil 2:12–13).  Like that salt-briny film of melting road mess on a windshield, transforming from completely translucent in daylight, becoming not only visible in the twilight of sunset lighting, but completely opaque.  In the same way, the Spirit illuminates sin more as grace grows—this, ideally, leading to humility, rather than despair.  There is, in that, an implied task… The epistle to the Hebrews includes a bit of an indictment, not mincing words, it says, “by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!” (5:12)

In judgment’s light, however, the Spirit gives courage amid groans.  We confess with mouth and believe in heart (Rom 10:9)—because words matter eternally.  The Spirit empowers true confession, not second-hand faith, as we discussed last week.

Application

Ever feel the Spirit distant?  Or convicting hard?  That’s Him at work—removing the spools blocking our access to the power that has dwelt in us.  This Lenten season, seek the Spirit’s conviction.  The Lord wants His will to be done, and it will be done—because of the Spirit.  But will it be accomplished through your faithfulness, or in spite of your hard-heartedness?

Close

Ronald Reagan often said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed on…” Our faith faces the same battle—not against flesh and blood, but spiritual forces, as Ephesians 6:12 tells us.  If we don’t fight to preserve and pass it on, we could become the first generation in over 2,000 years to let it fade—telling our children and grandchildren what it was once like to hope—to know a God who created Heaven and Earth, who came to us, born through a virgin;  who was convicted according to our law,  suffering death by crucifixion under a roman governor.  Who was buried, rose again, ascended to heaven, where He interceded for us and was to come again.  In His bodily absence, He sent the Spirit to build His Church—through which we could experience communion with one another and our saints, inasmuch as He did with His disciples while He was on earth.  That we believed in forgiveness, resurrection, and everlasting life…

That sounds profoundly sad in the past tense, doesn’t it?  This is why our guiding question in biblical study is always, ‘What’s lost if we mess this up?’  We can fail, but this IS the work of the Church on earth.  Through the Spirit, God’s will—WILL be done; either through us, or in spite of us—The plea we’re reading here from Paul is, let it not be, only for the rocks crying out!