Engage Part 2: The Holy Spirit
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Introduction
Introduction
In every area of your life, God desires to move you from here to there, from where you are today to where he desires you to be.
But in order for him to move you from here to there, you have to engage wholeheartedly in the journey by giving up control, becoming discontent, and by believing that there is better than here.
Engage - attract, participate or become involved in
Recap Engage Part 1
If you talk to most Christians, they have no problem in their understanding of God as Father, or Jesus as the Son, but most have difficulty accepting or understanding the Holy Spirit.
According to Lifeway Research, 69% of Americans agree there’s only one true God—one in essence, three in person: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Evangelicals, by definition, believe trusting in Jesus is the only way of salvation. Yet two-thirds of evangelicals—more than Americans as a whole—claim Heaven is a place where all people will ultimately be reunited with loved ones. Nearly half agreed that, “God accepts the worship of all religions including Christianity, Judaism and Islam.”
But if evangelicals sometime misunderstand doctrines about Jesus, the third member of the Trinity has it much worse because 56% believe the Holy Spirit “is a divine force but not a personal being.”
“The Forgotten God: Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit” by Francis Chan
“From my perspective, the Holy Spirit is tragically neglected and, for all practical purposes, forgotten. While no evangelical would deny His existence…there are millions of churchgoers across America who cannot confidently say they have experienced His presence or action in their lives over the past year. And many of them do not believe they can.”
James David Greear is the Pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina and the 62nd President of the Southern Baptist Convention.
In this message I desire to give you some practical scriptural advice on how we can Engage more with the Holy Spirit and by engaging more with Him, God will help us to get to where he wants us to be.
**I am preaching to you today with a bias towards the Holy Spirit! (explain why)
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit:
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—
john 14.
Before we jump in, I want to draw your attention to the word “Helper” that is used to describe the Holy Spirit: ; ;
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
“Advocate” - (parakletos) “One called alongside to help; One who comes forward on behalf of and as the representative of another”
This is a rich word that refers to a wide range of spiritual roles, such as Counselor, Strengthener, Comforter, Helper, Advisor, Advocate, Intercessor, Ally or Friend.
“Another” - (allon)The word “another” means, “one of the same kind or quality.” The idea is that of “sameness.” Jesus is saying the Holy Spirit will be like Himself and will take His place.
Example: The New Impossible Whopper
The Advocate/Helper will be us forever. In the Old Testament the Spirit is mentioned nearly 100 times and came upon people to enable them to accomplish God-given tasks and then would depart.
He is the Spirit of truth.
17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Believers “know” Him, meaning He is personal, not just a mystical force like in Star Wars or an impersonal power. He’s not a power to experience but a Person to know.
The Holy Spirit is a “He” not an “it.” We see this grammatically. The Greek word for Spirit (pneuma) is neutral in gender, yet the Bible uses masculine pronouns “He” and “Him” to refer to the Holy Spirit. He’s not an “it,” He’s a He!
Believers “know” Him, meaning He is personal, not just a mystical force like in Star Wars or an impersonal power. He’s not a power to experience but a Person to know.
If you study the beliefs of the Jehovah Witnesses, you’ll find that not only do they not believe in the Trinity but they …
The Nicene Creed, written first in A.D. 325, as a response to those who denied the divinity of Christ, was revised in 381 in reaction to a heresy that denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. No doubt they had this verse in mind when these words were formulated:
“We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son He (the Holy Spirit) is worshiped and glorified...”
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
J.D. Greear (President of the Southern Baptist Conv)
“Some seem obsessed, relating to him in strange, mystical ways. Their experiences with the Spirit always seem to coincide with an emotionally ecstatic moment created by the swell of music in a worship service or a weird confluence of events … Other Christians neglect his ministry altogether. They believe in the Holy Spirit, but they relate to him the same way I relate to my pituitary gland: I’m really grateful it’s in there; I know it’s essential for something; I would never want to lose it . . . but I don’t really interact with it. For these Christians, the Holy Spirit is not a moving, dynamic person. He’s more of a theory.”
3 Ways to Engage with the Holy Spirit:
Prayer
Prayer
1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Jesus not only teaches His disciples the foundational principles of prayer but He also teaches them to be persistent in prayer.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
The Holy Spirit wants to continue to teach us to pray!
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.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Paul clearly explains why we need the Holy Spirit’s help when we pray. We need the Spirit’s intercession because, left to ourselves, we are too weak. Due to our pride, we may not like to admit that we really don’t know as much as we think we do. In fact, Paul reveals that too often we don’t even know what or how to pray.
Romans
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
What use is the Spiritual Armor if we don’t go to battle? We get all dressed up and we have no place to go. Remember what Paul wrote in verse 12:
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
romans
Ephesians 7. How to Use Spiritual Strength and the Armor of God (18–20)
Praying always with all prayer: The idea is all kinds of prayer or prayer upon prayer. We should use every kind of prayer we can think of. Group prayer, individual prayer, silent prayer, shouting prayer, walking prayer, kneeling prayer, eloquent prayer, groaning prayer, constant prayer, fervent prayer—just pray.
The Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray and what to pray for by putting within us the heart of the Father!
The Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray and what to pray for by putting within us the heart of the Father!
Power
Power
17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
john 14.
The Holy Spirit had been with the disciples, and Christ promises them that in the future he will “be in you.”
16 Fundamental Truths of the AG
#7 The Baptism in the Holy Spirit
All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry.
49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
You might remember this very provocative quote by A.W. Tozer – “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”
Purpose
Purpose
Teach
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
There is NO subject in which God is not an expert!
Reveal Truth
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
Empowerment to Witness
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.”
“Witness” (martys) one who is a spectator of anything, e.g. of a contest; one who testifies concerning something they have knowledge.
You can only testify about what you know, if not you’re bearing false witness!
You can only testify about what you know, if not you’re bearing false witness
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
john 14.
Practical Advice
Lean in, listen and obey the Holy Spirit’s daily leading. Take one step this week, two the next … (What if Jesus offered to meet with you daily?)
If you have questions about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, ask, study, pray! (example: the revival of the modern Pentecostal movement - Charles Parham’s Bible school / one of his students William Joseph Seymour & the rescue mission on Azusa Street in LA)
If you are already Baptized in the Holy Spirit, pray in Tongues more often in private (). Seek God to be used in the gifts with LOVE! () Be a Witness! () Let the Holy Spirit develop fruit in your life ().
Satan is absolutely TERRIFIED by the thought of God’s people becoming fully open to the help of the Holy Spirit!