The Holy Spirit

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Introduction

The Baptist Faith and Message tells us concerning the Holy Spirit...

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Tonight we want to look at what Baptists believe about God the Holy Spirit.
[Illus] Sometime back the Associated Press carried this dispatch: “Glasgow, Ky.—Leslie Puckett, after struggling to start his car, lifted the hood and discovered that someone had stolen the motor.”
Without the Holy Spirit, we’ve got no motor.
Without the Holy Spirit, we’ve got no power.
Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002).
Without the Holy Spirit, we’ve got nothing.
As we study tonight, let’s ask God the Holy Spirit to master us and fill us so that we can live the Christian life as we were meant — with Holy Spirit driven energy and power.
[TS] Let’s see four TRUTHS about the Holy Spirit that Baptists believe...

Major Ideas

The Holy Spirit is God.

[Illus] Sunday School / J. Todd asking, “Wait. So Jesus is God?”
Many people would have the same question about the Holy Spirit, but the Bible makes it abundantly clear that the Holy Spirit is God.
As W. A. Criswell said, “The Holy Spirit is God. He has all the attributes of God. He is eternal, according to ; He is omnipotent, according to ; He is omniscient, according to ; He is omnipresent, according to .”
[Exp] But not only does the Holy Spirit share the attributes of God, He also bears the Name of God.
Matthew 28:19–20 ESV
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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Furthermore, our bodies are called temples, dwelling places of God, if they are filled with the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19 NASB95
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
And perhaps most convincingly, equates lying to the Holy Spirit with lying to God.
Acts 5:3–4 ESV
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”
[App] There can be no doubt that the Holy Spirit is God. And we should marvel that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence within us if we have come to faith in Christ.
In fact, if we’ve come to faith in Christ, it’s because of the Holy Spirit.
But before we get to that, we should talk about our second TRUTH...
[TS] {see below}

The Holy Spirit inspired God’s Word.

[Illus] Decades ago Carly Simon had a hit song called, Your’re So Vain.
For 38 years people guessed which of her ex-boyfriends inspired her to write the song. What is Warren Beaty? Kris Kristofferson? Cat Stevens? Mick Jagger? One of the others?
But in 2010 she released a new version of the song in which she whispered the name of the person who inspired her to write it — turns out it was a former record producer, David Geffen.
No word if he was so vain to ever think the song was about him.
[Exp] But when it comes to the Bible there is no mystery to its inspiration — we know it was inspired by the Holy Spirit — but here we mean something different by inspiration than the way we normally use that word today.
When we say the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit we mean that the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible through varied personalities of the human authors of Scripture.
2 Peter 1:21 ESV
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.
These are the prophecies and words we have recorded for us in the pages of the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The phrase “breathed out by God” is a combination of the Greek words for God and breath, but that word for breath is also the word for Spirit. Thus, the idea we are to get here is the idea of God’s Word not only being God-breathed but God-Spirited, i.e., spoken by the Holy Spirit.
[App] What an amazing thing it is to have the Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God in our hands! What an amazing thing to have it available to us so that anytime we want to hear from God all we have to do is read from His Word!
[TS] The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit inspired God’s Word.

The Holy Spirit ministers to God’s people.

[Illus] Gordon Brownville’s Symbols of the Holy Spirit tells about the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird’s cage and set it free. Imagine the delight of Amundsen’s wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. Perhaps she thought to herself, “He’s alive! My husband is still alive!
This is how we should feel when we see the Spirit working in us and among us in various.
Consider that...
Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002).
The Holy Spirit convicts of sin.
John 16:8 ESV
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
Without the Holy Spirit we would not see sin as sin and, therefore, would not see ourselves as sinners.
In addition, we would not be concerned about God’s judgment that will come upon humanity because of sin.
It is because of the Holy Spirit that we are convicted of sin.
The Holy Spirit calls to salvation.
Revelation 22:17 ESV
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
The Holy Spirit calls to salvation.
As the church (i.e., the Bride) preaches the Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God, the Spirit (i.e., the Holy Spirit) calls sinners to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit brings regeneration.
As Peter preached in , the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. They were born again by the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said in ...
John 3:6 ESV
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
If we have passed from spiritual death to spiritual life it is only because of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
The Holy Spirit indwells believers.
Some teach that Christians should look for a second blessing of the Holy Spirit. This is usually described as a baptism of the Holy Spirit and is subsequent to the gift of the Holy Spirit all receive the moment they are regenerated by the Spirit.
Baptists don’t believe this.
Baptists believe that you receive the gift of the Spirit at the moment of regeneration, which is the very moment you are baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ.
As Peter said in ...
Acts 2:38 ESV
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit seals believers.
Ephesians 4:30 ESV
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
The Holy Spirit is the seal or guarantee of our salvation, and He is the ultimate assurance of our salvation.
1 John 4:13 ESV
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
The Holy Spirit teaches believers.
The Holy Spirit illuminates the truth of God’s Word so that He can teach us the truth of God’s Word. speaks about the illuminating and teaching role of the Holy Spirit...
1 Corinthians 2:12–13 ESV
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
This illuminating and teaching is what Jesus promised the Spirit would do when He was sent...
John 16:13–14 ESV
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. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
And finally, the Spirit intercedes for believers.
Romans 8:26 NASB95
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
From beginning to end in the walk of salvation, the Holy Spirit is with us — convicting, calling, regenerating, bringing, indwelling, sealing, teaching, interceding, and more.
What a comforting truth that the Holy Spirit is ministering to God’s people.
What a comforting truth that the Holy Spirit is ministering to us.
[TS] The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit inspired God’s Word. The Holy Spirit ministers to God’s people. And finally...

The Holy Spirit builds God’s church.

[Illus] R. C. Sproul’s story about the man on the deserted island who built a house, a church, and another church when he decided he couldn’t get along with the people in the first church
A church made alive by the Holy Spirit is a church that is unified and gifted.
[Exp] Those are two primary ways that the Holy Spirit builds the church...
The Holy Spirit unifies the church.
The Apostle Paul talks about the unity of the Spirit in the church in 1 Corinthians 12:13...
1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
And then Paul argues that we who have been convicted by the Spirit, called by the Spirit, regenerated by the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit, sealed by the Spirit, and taught by the Spirit — we ought to be...
1 Corinthians 12
Ephesians 4:3 ESV
eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Are we eager to maintain unity or eager to take offense?
The Holy Spirit gifts the church.
The Holy Spirit gives at least one spiritual gift to every believer in the church, and the Spirit gives gifts for the good of the church. Peter says as much in 0...
1 Peter 4:10 ESV
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
Paul says in ...
1 Corinthians 12:4 ESV
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
And then he refers to those spiritual gifts as manifestations of the Spirit, saying in ...
1 Corinthians 12:7–11 ESV
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
[App] Every gift of the Spirit is meant to be used in service to the church in order to bring unity to the church.
No spiritual gift is an occasion to glorify self, which is a ready recipe for disunity.
Do you know what your spiritual gift is?
Are you using it to serve others in the church?
If so, the Holy Spirit is using you to build the church.
[TS] {see below}

Conclusion

10,000 Sermon Illustrations Great Norwegian Explorer

Gordon Brownville’s SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT tells about the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird’s cage and set it free. Imagine the delight of Amundsen’s wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. No doubt she exclaimed, “He’s alive! My husband is still alive!”

So it was when Jesus ascended. He was gone, but the disciples clung to his promise to send them the Holy Spirit. What joy, then, when the dovelike Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. The disciples had with them the continual reminder that Jesus was alive and victorious at the right of the Father. This continues to be the Spirit’s message. - Thomas Lindbe

[Illus] The evangelist, D. L. Moody, was set to arrive and preach in some place. At a meeting of local ministers one piped up, “Why do you need D. L. Moody here? He doesn’t have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit!”
Another minister responded, “You’re right. He doesn’t have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit, but it does appear that the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on him.”
May we described in the same way.
This is what all baptists — indeed all true Christians — want concerning the Holy Spirit.
This is (at least some of) what baptists believe about the Holy Spirit.
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