The Holy Spirit

Thus far in our study of the Apostles’ Creed, we have looked at God the Father and God the Son. Now, we complete the three personed trinity

I bring this up because we are looking at what we believe as a Christian people. A couple years ago our church established a mission statement that begins like this: We exist to worship the Triune God by proclaiming the truth of the gospel, training disciples who make disciples, and serving families and community with the love of Jesus Christ.

The first part of that statement is important because it clearly communicates that we believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in alignment with orthodox Christian tradition.

The last two weeks we looked at the departure of Jesus from the earth. If the story had just ended there, obviously we look forward to eternity with Christ in the New Heavens and New earth. Yet, there would be a certain lack of the presence of God here on earth.

But the good news that we encounter today is that God has not left us alone here on earth. In fact, He has given us His Spirit. Let’s read together John 14:15-26.

Read John 14:15-26

We see evidence of the Spirit of God throughout the scriptures. Although the Holy Spirit does not come and interact with mankind in the way that we experience Him now until Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost, there is evidence from Genesis all the way through the bible of interactions with the Holy Spirit. To begin this morning, I want to give two actions of the Holy Spirit that are consistent in all of human history.

To best understand this, it is important that we remember that the word for spirit in the Bible is maintained when speaking of wind or breath. We will see this take place in a number of ways as we look at these first two points. First

The Holy Spirit Brings Life

God chooses to give life to man through breathing into his nostrils in Genesis 2:7

Genesis 2:7 ESV

then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

God could have gone about providing life to man in any number of ways but instead chooses to give life by providing breath. This makes sense on physical and biological level because one of the primary ways to determine whether a human being is alive is to determine if they are breathing or not.

A second example that we can see of the Spirit of God giving life is in Ezekiel 37:7-10.

Ezekiel 37:7–10 ESV

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Again, we have a situation where a valley of bodies is without life and it is only because of the divine spirit of God that these bodies are made alive.

But I want to look beyond that and help us to understand the concept of life that is gained through salvation. These two passages point to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the reality that a person is made alive in Christ at the point of conversion.

Next, we can see

The Holy Spirit Brings Power

When we do a brief word study on the word “wind” in the Old Testament, nearly every time the power of God is put on display. For instance, think about the people of Israel who stood pinned between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea. We read how God split the sea in Exodus 14:21.

Exodus 14:21 ESV

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

It was because of the power of God, not a random wind, that parted the sea so that Israel could escape to safety.

We also see evidence of this same divine power in the New Testament, this time in direct reference to the Holy Spirit. Just prior to Pentecost, Jesus says these words in Acts 1:8.

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Because of the coming of the Holy Spirit, those that believe in Jesus receive power. There is a direct correlation between the Holy Spirit and the power that a Christian receives. We will look at a later point at what exactly comes about because of that power.

After providing some context regarding the Spirit of God, I want to turn our attention back to John 14 and see how the Holy Spirit directs our lives. First,

The Holy Spirit is our Helper

Directly following the reminder that those who follow Jesus will keep His commandments, Jesus informs those who were listening to Him that they have a helper that will assist them in obedience to the commandments that He gives.

The word for helper in the Greek is parakletos which quite literally means “called to be by” or “called to the stand by the side of”. In a courtroom setting, a helper would have been seen as an advocate or a defender. Even in times of sorrow, it would be the job of the parakletos to comfort the defendant in a moment of sorrow. The reminder for Jesus’ disciples here is that though there will be a day when Jesus was no longer with them, they would not be left alone to obey the commands of Jesus without assistance.

Jesus goes on to note that the world will not see the Holy Spirit because they will not notice the effect of the Holy Spirit because He is not in them. A helpful reminder for each of us today is that we have a Helper in many different aspects of life that helps us when we are most in need of it.

Jesus continues on in an attempt to provide comfort to the disciples by telling them that they will not be left as orphans, ones who cannot fend for themselves.

So, in our remaining time, I want to use the Word of God to show us how the Holy Spirit is our helper and do so in the order of the life of a Christian.

The Holy Spirit Convicts of Sin

In John 16:7-11, Jesus gives the first way that the Holy Spirit ought to be seen as a helper.

John 16:7–11 ESV

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Just as a competent doctor is able to look at scans of our body and point out cancer, something that ought to be cut out, so also the Holy Spirit helps the world by pointing out that there are ways that humanity has missed the mark. I bring this up to remind us today that if Jesus’ death on the cross was necessary to save the world from their sins, then it would be necessary for us to have sinned in the first place. We have to come to an understanding that we have sinned against the Almighty in order to be saved in the first place.

Next we see that

The Holy Spirit Regenerates Us

Once a person is convinced of their own need for a savior, they simply must confess and believe. And then what?

John 3:5–6 ESV

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

It is the Holy Spirit who regenerates our souls and makes us a new man. It is at this point that we are saved, though it is not something that can be seen on the outside immediately. But praise be to God that we have been made alive in that moment.

The Holy Spirit Seals Salvation

One of the significant topics that we have covered in our Sunday Evening study through the book of revelation is the frequency of mentioning the sealing of the Christians. We see evidence of the idea of sealing in Ephesians 1:13.

Ephesians 1:13 ESV

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

After belief comes a sealing of the Holy Spirit but I want to remind you that the sealing accomplishes two things. First, it marks the Christian with things such as the fruit of the spirit, listed in Galatians 5. Those who have the Holy Spirit will be marked by consistent with the people of God.

Additionally, the sealing that is mentioned here is a protection because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Holy Spirit Helps in Our Sanctification

This past week I actually spent time talking to our teenagers about the doctrine of sanctification. It is God who does the saving but the Holy Spirit continues to work in us to make us more like Christ.

Romans 8:8–11 ESV

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

When we consider the impact of the Holy Spirit, there is now life in us, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

_____

How do we respond to this information about the Holy Spirit? I want to give two specific things we ought to do with this.

First, we ought to thank the Lord for all of the works of the Spirit in our lives.

Second, it is hugely beneficial for us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we feel his leading, we ought to follow. When we sense conviction and the need for repentance, it is vital that we confess our sins.