Emotions and the Holy Spirit
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Good morning! we are in this sermon series entitled Unashamed - where we have been looking at this hidden emotion called Shame.. its often consider more subjective than objective and is easily ignored..
However what we have been seeing is that Shame is an INFLUENCER - IT is one of those emotions that impacts/ or binds itself onto other emotions…
It is in someways silent emotion because Shame always wants us to hide.. it’s that that emotion that tells us that we are never match up to certain standards…these can Either be expectations that we have placed on ourselves or the expectations others have placed upon us..…the result is that we never quite feel good enough…
Emotions are essentially good because it is the way that God designed us to experience and process life… We don’t want to ignore our emotions…--However, we don’t want our emotions to control us… when our Emotions Drive our lives it leads to problems.
There is a good reason for this… Especially when we consider that our hearts have been impacted by the Fall… When Adam and Eve took of the tree of the Knowledge
of Good and Evil — they realized immediately that they were naked.. they went from enjoying a relationship with God and each other to hiding — they went from Grace… to disgrace…
The heart was impacted… In Hebrews
which is consider to be the seat or center of emotions...
Jeremiah marvelled at the deceitfulness of the heart...
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Jeremiah tells us that heart is deceitful and desperately sick…(incurable) — these are strong words… not just deceitful but above all things… but incurably sick…
Have you ever thought of your Heart being Sick and incurable?
Jeremiah tells us there is a problem that lies deep inside the heart of man… that sometimes we don’t recognize..
Some of you may remember watching the live launch of the space shuttle Challenger...… It was April 1986 and I was about 16 years old at the time… Our whole class was watching… Christa McAuliffe had planned to give a lesson from space..
We all watch anticipating that things would go with out hitch.
all systems were cleared… and the count down began... nobody knew there was any problem… …and they went ahead with the Launch..
but there was something very wrong…Watch in horror as one of the tanks external tanks exploded before our eyes.…Even though everything on the outside look right…There was something very wrong with the Challenger was wrong...
As Jeremiah Examines the Inner life… He sees that Houston there is a problem.. What is interesting is that is examing his own heart and he concludes the heart is deceitful above or else… the word diceitfulness means.. duplicitous.... Isn’t that the truth...
Our emotions pull us in different directions…
One moment we can be full with elation and joy the next minute full of frustration, anger and sadness… One moment you confident the next minute we are feel threatened and fearful..
So the Big question is ...
How do we deal with our emotions?
How do we deal with our emotions?
The first thing we need to have We is a Right view of Our hearts… We can assume like the challenger… that nothing is wrong… or avoid… dealing with our emotions… but really setting ourselves up.
Your emotions are gauges not a guide...
Our emotions are meant to report to you, not dictate you.
The pattern of your emotions will give you a reading on the gauge where your hope is -- because they are wired into what you believe and value — BUT we are not to be guided by those emotions…
Our Emotions are indicators --- but they shouldn’t guide us…
Jeremiah Enquires further about the heart… Who can understand the HEART? Who can deal with the heart… who can help the heart?
God answers Jeremiah's question in the very next verse.
10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
God says--- He is the one who searches the heart and examines the mind.
God knows those innermost thoughts and motives of our hearts.. He knows how to deal with each of us at a personal level....The Bible tells us that... We are wonderfully and fearfully made --- You and I unique… .. Think about that they way that God deals with each of us is totally different ---
And He doses that Through His Spirit..
One of the greatest privileges we have as being Children of God is that we have the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, influence and guidance in our lives..
It is the Holy Spirit who brings us into sonship… we cannot be children of God without the Spirit of God…But at the same time we still dealing with our nature that has been impacted by the Fall… Our sinful nature was not eradicated… when we came to Christ...
But having his Spirit doesn’t mean that that we don’t struggle...
Paul tells us of his own struggle between his heart and his actions..
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
In chapter 7 He shares the problem and then in Chapter 8 he share the Remedy… That there is a CURE for the Heart…
There is another Law that is in operation and its the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus...
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
When we live under the law of the spirit there in no more condemnation.… Even though we struggle with the flesh we are no longer under its power to SHAME US… Condemnation is a legal term to declare one Guilty..,, Even though we struggle with the Flesh we are not under the condemnation or the Shame of Sin…
In Verse 12 Paul tells us How we are to deal with the Conflict between Flesh and Spirit..
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Now It would be easy if we could clearly see this line between the spiritual and flesh realm… It’s not simply these people out there in the world of ruled by the flesh and Christians are not.... It simply not true or the case… because the fall had 100% impact on humanity.... When the scripture says the heart is desperately incurably sick… He is not thinking about your neighbor --- He is thinking about us...
One commentator put it like this.
“The boundaries between the realm of the Spirit and the realm of the flesh … do not run simply and clearly between the believers on the one side and the nonbelievers, but go right through the believers, through each individual believer” (Kuss, 596–97)
Paul tells us the Way we deal with the Flesh — and the condemnation that comes with the law of sin and death...
1.. We Stop all Payments…
These days business do things via Subscriptions… Business know that if they can get you to subscribe they will have your income for much longer… The problem happens when you forget about a subscription… or you want to cancel a subscription…
Well this is the same thing going on in our Text… We were subscribed to the Flesh… but now in Christ the subscription has been cancelled and you are no longer obligated..
Jesus paid for the whole thing in full… on the cross.... We need to stop payments.... the way we do this is through the Power of the HS -
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live
2. We surrender to the Holy Spirit...
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
When we are led by emotions — We judge everything according to our feelings… We judges something as good because “feels good.” Life is Good when I feel Good… But What the Spirit does is lead us into Truth… Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure.. And he said that the Holy Spirit would come --- He would would guide into truth..
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Just like Jesus was sent into the World so the Holy Spirt was sent.. Jesus said that he would goto the father and ask Him to send the Holy Spirit… The Holy Spirit would not just come upon people like in the OT.. but he would endwel believers..
One of his Roles is that he would lead an guide...
John Chrysostom - bishop in the 3rd Century… said is helpful...
“ For as believers we do not merely live in the Spirit; we are led by him as well. The Spirit is meant to have the same power over us as a pilot has over his ship or a charioteer over his horses. And it is not only the body but the soul also which is meant to be controlled in this way.
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Who is the Holy Spirit?
One of the common mistakes that is made with the Holy Spirit has to do with confusing the Work of the HS (that His power) with the person of the HS (His relationship to God and the world)— I grew up in a tradition that emphasized the Power of the Holy Spirit… This idea comes from the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts… Before Jesus ascended he commanded his disciples to go to Jerusalem and to wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit...
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.”
The emphasis is on the Work (ministry of the Holy Spirit… that the church would be empowered to be witnesses - But there is a big difference between the work of the Holy Spirit and the person of the Holy Spirit…
Have you noticed that Jesus never referred to the Holy Spirit as it or an energy or a force… but rather used the Pronoun He.. when speaking of the HS… Because the HS is a person.
There is a big difference between personality and a power..
He … a person. In Ephesians 4:30, the Holy Spirit is said to be grieved. You can grieve the Holy Spirit.
In Hebrews 10:29, it says you can outrage the Holy Spirit.
In Romans 15, it says the Holy Spirit loves. So he loves, he’s grieved, he’s outraged. An impersonal force cannot feel those feelings. That’s a person.
A person has a mind, Emotions and a Will.
Here is the thing…
If we think of the Holy Spirit as a mysterious power, our thought will continually be, “How can I get more of the Holy Spirit?”
Tim Keller - says that if we see the Holy Spirit as a Force - we are always going to go about it in a mechanical way.. In middle eastern thought - god is conceived as a impersonal force… therefore, its approach is meditation, but the meditation is always emptying the mind of rational thought, emptying the mind of words. Why? Because we’re trying to get in touch with the force.
However If we think of the Holy Spirit as a person, our thought will be, “How can the Holy Spirit have more of me?”
Not only is the HS a person… but..
2. The Holy Spirit is God!
He’s not only a person; he’s God. For example,
In John 14 Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to be leaving them but not be alarmed because he is going to send them another helper! The comforter… the Holy Spirit — Holy Spirit would be with them forever..
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
The first thing we notice in our text is that Jesus doesn’t say I’m sending you my power… or simply a helper… but he uses the word Another… Another Helper. There are two GR word for Another..
The one Greek word for another is hetero, which means, actually, opposed or different to the former.
The other Greek word that could be used is allos, which means just like the former
This second usage is what is being used in our text.. - The helper who he would be sending would be just like the former comforter...
What is Jesus saying?
As we know Jesus made huge claims about himself… which ultimately led him to his crucifixion… her
Jesus claimed to forgive sins… Jesus constantly said that He was equal to God…Jesus claimed that he would one day judge the world..
Jesus was constantly saying, “I am equal to God,” — If you had seen him you had seen the father...
Jesus claimed Equally with God — Now, he has the audacity to come along and say, “I’m sending you someone who’s just like me.”
3. The Holy Spirit is Part of the Trinity...
The teaching of God being a Trinity goes back to the Early Church… and has been passed down through various creeds and Statements…
EFCA statement says this about God..exists in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Even we don’t find the word Trinity in the Bible You will find —the God in three persons “formula” being taught or implied… for Example … Matt 28:18
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
It was 2nd Century Tellurian who…Brought the three in one formula into theological concept of the Trinity.... who saw a triad of three… which later became incorporated in the Niceane Creed.325 Ad.. Creed Statement reads..
“And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and Son together is worshipped and glorified.”
The Bible clearly teaches that there is only one God (Deut 6:4; Isa 42:8; Jas 2:19)
The Bible just as clearly teaches that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God. Each of them do things only God can do and receive the worship due to God alone...
The Trinity Teaches us that these two ideas are not in conflict… God is one in Essence and substance..
These persons are not detachable parts of God, nor are they merely different masks that he wears according to particular times or functions… This diagram sometimes is helpful..
This Diagram some times helps
What is important about the Trinity is knowing that God is made up of 3 persons yet the same in substance.. The all of God - Even though they are three persons they share the same purposes...
Why is the Trinity Important? The reason is that Trinity explains how we Experience God.. Because God is Three persons we understand that each has a specific role.. .
If you and I were going to build a house, what would we need to do? Well, we would need to hire an architect, a foreman, and workers (subcontractors) to actually build the house.
THE TRINITY HELPS US UNDERSTAND FUCTIONS
In this illustration, God the Father is the architect, Jesus is the foreman, and the Holy Spirit is represented by the workers who build the house—He’s the “manifester” of creation. All three roles are essential to the construction of any house.
The Father operates or initiates ,Son administrates and the Holy Spirit manifests; yet all of them work together for the same purpose.
We believe that the Father sent his Son and Spirit to bring us to salvation. We believe that the Son, and not the Father or the Holy Spirit, became a man, suffered, died and rose again for our salvation, although not apart from the saving work of the Father and the Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts by faith, but the Father and the Son participate in this presence in their own distinct ways.
What the Holy Spirit Does?
What the Holy Spirit Does?
When we think about the Work of the Holy Spirit.. Often we start with the Holy Spirit coming on the day of Pentecost.... But that was not so. As the third person of the Trinity the Holy Spirit is eternal and was actively present at the commencement of creation
We told that
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
What is interesting is that the first member of the Godhead identified by function is actually the Holy Spirit.. When we say the HS is the Third preson of the Trinity it is not in the order of Importance… The Holy Spirit had a Role in creation
The Holy Spirit was the life-giving energizer who activated the material world. In the Old Testament we have the progressive revelation of the person and power of the Holy Spirit which reaches its fullness in the outpouring at Pentecost… What we see is the Holy Spirit involvement in Creation and Recreation…
The welsh Theologian John Owen tells us that
Christianity Today, 1961–1962, Volume 6, Numbers 1–25 Basic Christian Doctrines: 25: The Work of the Holy Spirit
“Without Him, all was a dead sea; a rude inform chaos; a confused heap covered with darkness: but by the moving of the Spirit of God upon it, He communicated a quickening prolific virtue” (p. 56)
The Holy Spirit Creates and Recreates.. takes chaos and brings it back into Order.
2. Holy Spirit and Revelation
The Scriptures themselves came through the leading and guiding of the Spirit. Peter said that the HS was the source of all prophecy… He is the author of the Bible...
21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
When we read the Bible we don’t have to do it on our own.. We have the Helper… who comes along side us and he he leads us into to the Truth..
Jonathan Edwards, said that the primary effect of the Spirit’s work of illumination is to awaken in us a sense of the divine excellence of the things of God.
3. The Holy Spirit is the giver of Gifts and ablilies..
In the OT the Holy Spirit came upon men and woman of God to enable them to Serve God. When Gideon went to fight the Midianites we are told that “the Spirit of the Lord Clothed Gideon”.. Judges 6:24 - The spirit was the source of wisdom, special skills, unusual physical strength.. and miracles..
4. In the NT we see that the Holy Spirt was to be
..Jesus was totally dependent on the Holy Spirit -through his life and ministry… Infact..
Everything about Him, from His conception to His resurrection, was a result of the Spirit’s work. Scripture says …
He was conceived by the Spirit—Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:31–35.
He was led by the Spirit—Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1.
He was empowered by the Spirit—Luke 4:14, 18–19; John 3:34.
He was taught by the Spirit and obeyed Him—John 5:19–20, 30; 14:10.
Jesus said to the Jews, “I can guarantee this truth: The Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing. Indeed, the Son does exactly what the Father does.
The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing.… I can’t do anything on my own. As I listen to the Father, I make my judgments. My judgments are right because I don’t try to do what I want but what the one who sent me wants.
Just like Jesus we too are to depend fully on the Holy Spirit.. … D.L. Moody once said the reason is simply because “You leak” —
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
What does it mean to be filled with the person of the Holy Spirit.
Paul compared it to being drunk. We can all picture a drunk person—the way their speech and movements are impaired.
When your body is filled with alcohol, it affects everything. In the same way, when we are filled with the Spirit, we can’t do anything without His influence. We open our mouths and God comes out because we are filled with Him.
That’s why Spirit-filled people are “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (v. 19).
They are filled with praises for God, so when they talk to you, those praises come out. Spirit-filled people are singing and making melodies in their hearts because that is what the Spirit always wants to do. They are “giving thanks always” (v. 20) because the blessing of the Spirit’s presence makes them grateful. They submit to “one another out of reverence for Christ” (v. 21) because they are humble and respect the leadership God has appointed. The Spirit of God affects all their relationships.
How the Holy Spirit Moves?
How the Holy Spirit Moves?
In John 3 we have this story of Nicodemus a teacher of the law who comes to Jesus late to find out what it means to be a Christ follower… He has seen the miracles that Jesus has done.. and he is convinced that the kinds of works that Jesus was doing could only be done from one who was sent by God…
Jesus tell Nicodemus what it means to be part of his Kingdom..
Jesus says’s unless one is born of water and the Spirit — he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.. reason being is what is born of flesh is flesh and what is born is spirit… You must be born again… that the simplest answer to Salvation question… Then Jesus gives this Description of the Spirits activity in the believers life..
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
The image Jesus used describes the wonderful experience we can have of realizing that God actually moves in and through us by his Spirit. Just as we do not know the origin or the destination of the wind, we do not know or control the Spirit. What we do know are the effects of the wind and of the Spirit. Life in the Spirit is as radical and unexpected as being born of the Spirit.
How do we Respond to The Holy Spirit… We cant make the Holy Spirit wind blow upon — One of the things about God’s outpouring is that it is alway a Sovereign move… As much as I want to see Revival.. in our church.. in our community… God pouring out his Spirit is like the wind.... God blows where He wishes...
However, we can prepare ourselves.. to receive the Holy Spirit..
A.R Torrey Suggests that the way Respond the Holy Spirit - Is that We Build Windmills.. We living in an age of renewable Energy… I was reading that there is a powerful Windmill in Sweden…it’s World’s Most Powerful Wind Turbine: One Rotation ‘Can Power the Average UK Home for a Day’
Windmills can produce Power — But they are dependent on the wind… If the wind can produce Such Power… What happens when God begins to pour out his Spirit upon us and his churches.....What happens is what we see in the book of Acts… Where the church of God was mobilized to reach the world…
This morning we’ve been talking about the Holy Spirit and our emotions… What is God saying to you this morning?