HOLY WHAT?
Notes
Transcript
I want to welcome you again this morning.
First, to those joining us online, we are so thankful for our online technology that allows you to be a part of our church family today.
I also want to welcome those who may be joining us for the first time today. I hope your time with us today is encouraging and helpful, and I look forward to meeting you.
I would also say if you are new to our church today, it would be helpful for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.
What that means, is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Our goal, to better understand not only what God’s Word says, but how to practically apply it in our lives on a daily basis.
With that said, we are currently doing that through the NT book of Act. A book written by a First Century disciple named Luke, who wrote it for a couple of reasons:
First, to give us a history of the church. How it started, who was there, and the circumstances that surrounded it.
Second, to give us a template of sorts. A template that teaches us how to accomplish the mission Jesus gave us to take the Gospel into the rest of the world.
So, if you haven’t been with us, I would encourage you to go online to www.mcf.life or to our Facebook page where you can watch and listen to messages leading up to today.
Today however, we are picking back up in Acts 19 as we rejoin Paul on his third missionary journey.
You may recall from last week that Paul is back in the city of Ephesus. A city where God will work through Paul in a way that Luke refers too as “extraordinary”. In verse 11 Luke puts it like this:
11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
The question then is, “What exactly were these extraordinary miracles that God was doing through Paul?”
That’s a great question, and we are going to get to that as we move through this chapter.
But as I said last week, maybe a better question to ask first would be, “What precipitated the extraordinary work?” In other words, what did Paul do that caused God to work through him in such an extraordinary way? Or what was happening that led to it?
And the reason it’s important for us to ask that question, is because if we want God to work through us in an extraordinary way, then we need to be aware of what opens the door for such a work.
Because I don’t know about you MCF, but I believe God has raised this church up to reach this community, county, and region in an extraordinary way. But for that to happen, we have to be willing to do what it takes for God to work in and through us extraordinarily.
So, what does it take?
Well, as I suggested last week, it requires us to be committed to three specific priorities that Paul models for us as he begins his ministry in Ephesus.
Last week we looked at the first priority, and we stated it like this:
Priority #1 - If we want to be a church that God works extraordinarily in and through, we have to be a church that leads people to the knowledge and truth of who Jesus is.
This is exactly what Paul did as he entered Ephesus. Because if you recall, having entered the city, he encountered some disciples who didn’t know about Jesus and the salvation He provides. We know this based on what Luke tells us. Because in verse 1 he writes:
1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”
In this passage Luke confirms, that while these disciples were are on the right track, they hadn’t heard about Jesus and didn’t know the truth about who He was. And it’s at that point that Paul reveals the truth about Jesus to them. A truth that then leads them to a decision of faith. Because Luke goes on to write:
5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Luke says after listening and learning about Jesus, they put their faith and hope in Him, and then demonstrated their new faith by being water baptized into their new faith.
Why was this so important? It’s important because until a person has a right understanding of who Jesus is and what He’s done for them, they can’t be saved.
Which means, if we want God to work in and through our church in an extraordinary way, it starts with us telling people the truth about Jesus.
Because the reality is, there are a lot of people who don’t know the truth about Jesus, and that includes people in the church.
You may recall last week I gave some statistics from a new Barna Survey where 2000 Christians were asked a series of questions concerning their faith. And as we discovered, when it comes to the truth about Jesus, a majority of Christians don’t know the truth.
For example, according to the Barna Survey, 53% of practicing Christians don’t believe Jesus was sinless. Which is alarming, because ifJesus wasn’t sinless, then our faith is useless. Because everything we believe about salvation is based on the belief and Biblical fact that Jesus was without sin.
In addition to that, when asked if a person can be saved through goodness and good works, 61% of Christians said yes. That if a person performs enough good works they will go to heaven. Which again is alarming since the Bible doesn’t say that. In fact, according to Romans 3, Paul says there’s not a person on planet earth that is good enough or righteous enough to please God.
And if that wasn’t enough, when asked if faith in Jesus is the only way for a person to be saved, 51% of Christians said, “No, Jesus isn’t the only way for a person to be saved or go to heaven.”
Which is contrary to what Jesus says, because Jesus says:
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
All that to say, there are a lot of people who don’t know the truth about Jesus. And so, if we want to be a church that God works in and through in an extraordinary way, we need to start there. We need to start where Paul started, by telling people the truth about Jesus.
This now leads us to the second and third priority today. And to be honest, my original plan was to cover both today. But after giving it some thought and prayer, I’ve decided to break them into two separate weeks.
Because while they both cover the same subject matter, they cover different aspects of it. And since both are extremely important to our faith and ability for God to use us, they both deserve adequate explanation, which I can’t do in one message. That being said, we are going to break it up.
In addition to that, it’s a subject matter that tends to be one of the least talked about, most confusing, most feared, and at times most criticized both inside and outside of the church. A subject matter that even among Christians there is a lot of misunderstanding and disagreement.
So, what is this subject matter? It’s the subject matter of the Holy Spirit. A subject matter that Paul makes a priority as he leads these men to faith in Jesus. Because as he tells them about Jesus, listen to what else he asks them. Going back to verse 1 Luke writes:
1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
Notice what Paul asks them. He asks them if they had recieved the Holy Spirit when they believed. And their response is, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
In other words, “Paul, we have no idea what you are talking about. We’ve never heard of the Holy Spirit”.
Why is this important? It’s important because it highlights our second priority. A priority I would state like this:
Priority #2 - If we want to be a church that God works in and through in an extraordinary way, we have to be a church that is committed to teaching people about the Holy Spirit.
So, maybe a great question to start out with would be, “Why is teaching people about the Holy Spirit so important?”
It’s important because as we are going to learn today and next week, without the Holy Spirit, we can’t know or be extraordinarily used by God. In fact, let me put it like this. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no conviction, no regeneration, no sanctification, and no power for the person who has put their faith in Jesus.
That’s kind of a big deal, right? So, that’s why we need to make sure we understand who the Holy Spirit is and what He does.
The challenge with that though, is even within the church today, there are still a lot of people who don’t know who the Holy Spirit is or what His purpose in their life is.
In fact, in the Barna Survey I’ve been referencing, Christians were asked some questions concerning the Holy Spirit. One question was especially concerning. Because when asked if the Holy Spirit was just a symbol of God or an actual being, here’s what Christians said:
Of those professing to being Evangelical Christians, 58% said a symbol.
Of those professing to be Pentecostal Christians, 66% said a symbol.
Of those professing to be Main Line Protestant, 73% said a symbol.
Of those professing to be Catholic, 74% said a symbol.
Which means on average, 51% of those practicing Christian Faith don’t believe the Holy Spirit is a real being or person, but just a symbol of God’s presence.
The problem with that though is, the Bible doesn’t teach that. In fact, the Bible teaches the exact opposite. Because the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a real being with a specific purpose.
And to be frank, it’s this lack of understanding on the Holy Spirit that keeps many Christians and many churches powerless and ill equipped to accomplish what God has called them to do. And I would even go as far to say, it’s what keeps some people from experiencing a true salvation experience and an empowered life.
And so as we come back to Acts 19 and this second priority today, I have two goals over the next two weeks.
Goal # 1 - Today to identify and define who the Holy Spirit is.
To discover exactly who the Holy Spirit is. Because if we don’t know who He is, then how would we ever know Him.
Goal #2 - Next week, to identify and define His purpose in our life and the power He provides.
Because the fact is, in the world we live in today, we need the Holy Spirit’s help. And He has the power we need to accomplish what God has called us to do.
And so, with that as our basis, let’s get started as we begin to identify and define who the Holy Spirit is. And to get us started, I want to begin by giving you three facts concerning the identity of the Holy Spirit.
Fact #1 - The Holy Spirit is a real person.
What we need to understand first and foremost, is that when we talk about the Holy Spirit, we are not talking about a symbol, but a person.
No, you might be thinking, “Ok Pastor, that’s great, but how do you know that? How do you know the Holy Spirit is a person? I know it based on three Biblical insights:
Biblical Insight #1 - When referencing the HS, the Bible uses personal pronouns to describe Him.
We see this in several passages throughout the Bible, specifically in the NT. For example, as Jesus describes the Holy Spirit and His purpose, listen to how Jesus refers to Him. In John 15 Jesus says:
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” John 15:26 ESV
What I want you to notice is that Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit not as an “it” or a “symbol”, but as a “he”.
But this isn’t the only place Jesus does this. Because in John 16 Jesus says this about the Holy Spirit:
“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.” John 16:13 ESV
Notice again, five times in this passage Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit with the personal pronoun “he”.
But that’s not the only place we see this. Because if we go to Acts 13, we see another instance where a personal pronoun is used, but this time it’s the Holy Spirit using it when speaking of Himself. Listen to how Luke puts it:
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Acts 13:2 ESV
In this passage Luke is highlighting the moment that Paul and Barnabas are called into ministry. A calling that is announced by the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit says, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
So, not only does Jesus refer to the Holy Spirit as a person, but the Holy Spirit Himself refers to Himself as a person as He uses the personal pronouns “me” and “I”.
So, that’s the first Biblical insight. The Holy Spirit is always referenced with a personal pronoun. The second is this:
Biblical Insight #2 - As Christians, we are called to have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit.
What I mean by that, is that the Bible calls us to “believe” in the Holy Spirit. In fact, we are to be baptized into His name along with the Father and the Son. We see this in Matthew 28 as Jesus gives His disciples what is known as the Great Commission. Matthew records it like this:
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,
In this passage Jesus directs the disciples to lead people to faith through the belief in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What that means then is, the Holy Spirit is an object of prayer. Someone we pray too in a personal way. The Apostle Paul actually encourages this kind of communion. In 2 Corinthians 13 he puts it like this:
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Notice what Paul says. He says we are to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. So, let me ask you this, “How does a person have fellowship with someone? How does a person commune with someone?” By spending time with them, right? By talking to them, right?
This leads to one final Biblical insight:
Biblical Insight #3 - The Holy Spirit performs personal tasks.
According to Jesus the Holy Spirit performs certain tasks. Look again at what Jesus says:
“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.” John 16:13 ESV
Jesus says the HS will guide us, speak to us, and proclaim truth to us. All of which are personal tasks given too and performed by the Holy Spirit. Activities that can’t be achieved by impersonal objects. Activities that involve intelligence, will, feeling, and power.
All that to say, you can’t have fellowship, relationship, be led, be taught, or be guided by an “it” or a “symbol”, or an “impersonal object”.
Which means, the Holy Spirit isn’t a symbol. The Holy Spirit is a real being that we are meant to have relationship with.
This leads us to a second fact about the Holy Spirit. Because not only is the Holy Spirit a real person:
Fact #2 - The Holy Spirit is God.
So how do we know that? Again, I offer you some Biblical insights:
Biblical Insight #1 - The Bible is full of references of the Holy Spirit, and always in relation to God.
For example, in the OT, the expressions “God said” and “The Spirit said” are repeatedly interchanged with one another. Which means the activity of the Holy Spirit is said to be the activity of God.
For example, in Isaiah 6:9, God instructs Isaiah to give the people of Israel a message. Look at what God says:
9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
In this passage God is rebuking the people of Israel for their spiritual deafness. What’s intersting though, is in Acts 28, Paul actually references this passage of scripture, and I want you to look at how he states it:
25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
26 “ ‘Go to this people, and say,
“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
Notice what Paul says. As he quotes this passage, he says, “The HS was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet...”
You see, what Paul has shown us here, is that when you talk about God, you’re talking about the HS. Or that when you talk about the HS, you’re talking about God.
Another example would be how Paul declares that Christians are the temple of God because the Holy Spirit dwells in them. For example, in Ephesians 2 Paul writes:
22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
And in 1 Corinthians 6:
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
And finally in Romans 8:
9 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. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
In all three instances Paul implies that when we talk about God we’re talking about the HS and vice versa. This leads us to a second Biblical insight:
Biblical Insight #2 - The Holy Spirit is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.
What I mean by that is that the HS is all knowing, ever present, and all powerful.
Again, we see this throughout the Bible.
For example, concerning His omniscience, Paul writes:
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
In this passage Paul says the HS knows the very thoughts of God, which are all knowing. Which means whatever God knows, the HS knows as well. Which makes the HS omniscience.
Concerning His omnipresence, the Psalmist writes:
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
The Psalmist says the HS is identified with the presence of God. Which means where God is, the HS is. Which means, there’s no place you can hide from the HS because He’s everywhere.
Finally, concerning his omnipotence, the HS has the power to create. How do we know? We know because the HS was there when creation took place. Listen to what Genesis 1 tells us:
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.
The writer says when God created the world, the HS was present and active in that creation. And not only that, but He continues to be involved.
Here’s what I mean by that. The word “hover” in this passage implies the idea of keeping something intact. And so, to use a musical term, what that implies then is that creation is not a staccato work.
So, what do I mean by staccato. In music a staccato note is a short, crisp, strike on the keyboard. In other words, it’s not a sustained note. You strike it and its over. It’s not a note you press and hold with a long lasting sound like you might hear on an organ.
However, when it comes to creation, creation is that long lasting note. Creation is this key that God has pressed and it continues to be pressed as it holds creation together. And the one pressing it is the Holy Spirit.
Which means, the Holy Spirit is the one who sustains and holds creation in tact. Who holds the structure of creation together and even the cosmos as a whole. It’s because of the Holy Spirit that we have structure and not chaos in the universe.
Which means, figuratively speaking, if the Holy Spirit were to let up on the key, creation as we know it would unravel.
I don’t know about you, but I would call that being all powerful.
But not only that, the HS is the power source for the resurrection. Listen to how Paul explains it:
11 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.
Paul says it was the HS that raised Christ from the dead and who will also give resurrection life to us who have put our faith in Jesus. Which means the HS has the power to instill life. Which shouldn’t surprise us since it was the breath of God that awakened Adam’s lifeless body.
And we could go on, because the Bible is full of references to the Holy Spirit’s power.
So, the bottom line is this. Not only is the Holy Spirit a person, He’s God.
Which leads us to a third fact about the Holy Spirit:
Fact #3 - The Holy Spirit is His own person.
To be honest, this is where people tend to get confused about the Holy Spirit, especially in relation to God the Father and God the Son. And the confusion is all wrapped up in a term that we in church world refer to as “The Trinity”.
So, maybe a great question to ask would be, “What does the word Trinity mean?”
Well, the first thing you need to know about the word, is that it’s not a Biblical word, but a theological word. A theological word which honestly bothers a lot of people. And it bothers them because for some it doesn’t make since that we would need to use a word from outside of the Bible to describe God.
And I get that, but here’s what we need to understand about theological words. Theological words in a sense are like containers with labels on them. Containers that are meant to protect and hold biblical truths in place, with labels attached to them for our reference when it comes to protecting, defining, and explaining certain Biblical topics.
And so really all the word Trinity is, is a container that holds Biblical truths concerning who God is, and how the relationship between the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit works.
Everybody tracking with me on that?
So, the next question would be, “What’s in the Trinity container? Or, what does this term say about God?”
It simply states this. That, “God is one in essence, three in person.”
Pretty clear, right? No, not really.
So, what exactly does that mean?
Well, let’s start by getting our minds around the term itself, and to do that I want you to think of it like a quarter.
As you all know, a quarter has two sides, one is heads, and the other is tales. And on each side you have two different images. On the front side is the image of George Washington, the first President, and on the back side you have the presidential coat of arms with the statement E PLURIBUS UNUM" (which means, "Out of many, one"). Kind of interesting, right?
In way, that’s how you can think of the statement, “God is one in essence, three in persons”. Because in a sense it’s a two sided statement that represents one object, which in our case isn’t a quarter, but God.
On the heads side we have the statement “God is one in essence”, and on the tails side we have the statement “three in person”, and combined together they represent one being, God.
Everybody with me so far? Because here’s where it can start to get confusing as we look at what the term actually means.
Because here’s what the term implies. It implies that God is one being, but that he exists as three persons.
Makes sense, right? No not really. Because on the surface, that doesn’t seem to be possible. Because how can one being be three?
So, let’s dig a little deeper and see if we can make a little more sense of it.
And to do that, let’s start with the statement, “God is one in essence”.
This means simply that there is only one Being whom we call God. We see this declared in scripture in Deuteronomy 6:
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
And to be frank, this is essential to the Christian faith. Because as Christians we are what is called Monotheists. Which means we believe in one God and only one God. In other words, we believe there is no other God than the God that is introduced to us in the Bible.
The alternative would be to be atheist or polytheist. Atheist meaning we believe in no God, and polytheist meaning we believe in many gods and goddesses, like we see in Greek mythology.
But we are monotheists, and we base that on what the Bible teaches us. For example, in Exodus 20 God says this:
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
The idea here isn’t that we would put God in first place ahead of other gods. NO. The idea here is that there is no other god, but only one God that we give our devotion too.
So, that’s what the term “God is one in essence” means. One God and no other gods. And that, I think we all can understand.
Where it gets tricky is in the next part of the term, which states, while God is one in essence, He’s three in person.
So, what does that mean?
The idea here is that God is one being, but He exists as three. Now, you might be thinking, “That’s kind of weird pastor. Where are you getting that idea from?”
I’m getting it from the bible, because the proof of it is found throughout scripture as God is portrayed to us in three different persons.
First as God the Father, then as God the Holy Spirit, and third as God the Son. With all three of them being separate beings on the pages of scripture. And in one instance all three of them showing up together at the same time. We read about it in Matthew 3:
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
What I want you to notice is in this instance, all three persons of the Godhead are present. God the Son, who is Jesus, the Holy Spirit who descends like a dove, and the Father who speaks from heaven and gives approval to His Son.
All three are present, yet all three are one. Because remember what Deuteronomy 6 said:
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
The challenge though is, when it comes to God being one, yet three persons, we struggle to get our heads around that. Why?
Well, for one, it sounds like a contradiction. And what I mean by contradiction, is it sounds like a statement or set of ideas that are opposed to one another.
Let me explain it like this. For something not to be a contradiction, you have to be able to say, “If I do A, then B will follow”.
So, for example, If I touch that hot stove, I’m going to get burned. That statement isn’t a contradiction, is it? Because if you touch the hot stove, you will get burned. We know that’s a fact.
A contradiction then would be If I do A, non-B will follow.
It would be like me saying, “If I touch the hot stove, I won’t get burned”. Not true, right? Because that’s a contradiction.
Let me give you a Biblical example of this.
In Genesis 3, God gives Eve an If I do A, then B will follow statement. Listen to what God says:
3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
In reference to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God gave Eve an If A, then B statement. And the statement was, “If you eat from that tree, you will die.”
And that was a true statement. Because the minute Adam and Eve ate from it, they died spiritually and death was introduced to the world.
So, maybe a great question would be, “Why did Adam and Eve eat from the tree? Why didn’t they listen to God?”
They ate from it because they put their trust in a contradiction. Because while God gave them an If A, then B statement, Satan gave them an If A, then non-B statement. And it went something like this:
4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
What Satan is basically saying here is, “Eve, I know God said, if A, then B. But that’s not true. It’s actually non-B. Eve you won’t die. God is lying to you.”
You see, what Satan tricked Adam and Eve into believing was a contradiction. A contradiction to the very nature of God. Because God doesn’t lie.
Make sense?
So, back to our term “God is one in essence, three in person”. Is that statement a contradiction?
It’s only a contradiction if God isn’t three in person. But according to the Bible, He is. Which honestly, doesn’t make sense. Why doesn’t it make sense? It doesn’t make sense because our idea of what a “being” is, is solely based on what we know.
Because for you and I, our view of a being is based on ourselves. How we are made. How we exist.
But the fact is, we are nothing like God. Yes, we are created in His image, but we are created beings. God is not a created being. God has always been. He’s the author of creation. He exists in a way we frankly can’t comprehend, no more than an ant can comprehend how your Smartphone works. Or your cat can operate and drive your car. It’s not possible.
What that means then is, the fact that God, as one being, can exist as three may not make sense to us, but it doesn’t mean it’s not true, since we are dealing with a God that is beyond our mental comprehension.
Which then means, we are not dealing with a contradiction. What we are instead dealing with is a paradoxal mystery.
Here’s what I mean by that. A paradox is something that, when it stands alongside something else, appears to be a contradiction.
In fact, it can actually look so contradictory that it is often mistaken for a contradiction.
Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. In the opening lines of the classic story “A Tale of Two Cities”, Charles Dickens makes use of a paradox as he writes:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.
Kind of sounds contradictory, right? Because how can it be the best of times and worst of times all at once?
Well, it can only be that way if two or more relationships are considered. Because for some, it may have been the best of times. But for others, the same period could have been the worst, depending on their circumstances or situation.
For example, when it comes to the last four years of President Trump, for some it’s been the best of times, and for others the worst. Kind of depends on what party you affiliate with.
And what was true for Dicken’s novel is true for the Bible. Because the Bible is full of paradoxes. Here’s just a couple of examples:
Example #1 - The Bible says Jesus was both man and God. That’s a paradox. Because how can Jesus be 100% God and 100% man all at the same time? Well, according to scripture He was, and the proof of that is seen in His virgin birth, sinless life, and His resurrection from the dead. We talked a lot about that last week.
Example #2 - The Bible says to be truly free we must become servants. That’s a paradox. Because how can you be a servant and free at the same time.
Well from a spiritual standpoint, it true because until you give your life up to God, you can’t be truly and fully free from sin.
And while these Biblical paradoxes are confusing and difficult to grasp at times, they are not contradictory.
And the same is true of the statement, “God is one in essence, three in person”. It’s not a contradiction, it’s a paradox. Because according to the Bible, both are true.
Which actually makes this idea of the Trinity what we would call a “Mystery”.
So, what does that mean? It means it’s something we don’t understand. Why don’t we understand it? We don’t understand it because we need more information. And until that information is presented to us, it eludes us. The apostle Paul explains spiritual mystery like this:
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
Paul says for now, there are just some things that spiritually speaking are difficult for us to grasp. And as a result, we only see it in part. The good news though is, there is coming a day when we will fully see and understand. Because that’s how mysteries work.
And the fact is, the Bible is full of mysteries, some of which have been revealed, and some that are still to be revealed.
For example, in the OT, there are numerous references and promises of the Messiah. But for the most part, it was difficult for OT saints to understand exactly what the Messiah would be and what he would do.
At best, they determined he would be an earthly king that would deliver them from foreign powers.
But never did they imagine he would be God himself in the flesh. Never did they imagine he would die on the cross and be raised from the dead. Never did they imagine he would come for eternal purposes and not just temporal. Never did they imagine he would come to save not just Jewish people, but Gentiles as well.
So, how do we know they never imagined all that? We know because of what Paul says in Colossians 1, because concerning this he writes:
26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Paul says the mystery of who Jesus would be and what He would do has now been revealed to us. To those us of us living on the other side of the cross. What was a mystery to the OT saints has now been revealed to NT saints.
You see the difference between a mystery and a contradiction, is a mystery may be understood with additional information, but a contradiction can never be understood.
And that’s why the concept of the Trinity isn’t a contradiction, because according to the Bible, one day more information will be given, and the mystery will be understood. Listen to how Paul puts it:
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
Paul says there is a day coming when the Lord will return. And in that moment the mystery will be revealed. The Apostle John says it like this:
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
John says we will see God as He is, and in that moment, the mystery will be revealed. In that moment, God is one in essence, three in person will all of a sudden make sense, as the uncreated God of the universe presents Himself to us as we have never seen Him before. As we visibly seem Him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three, but one.
Now, at this point, some of you might be thinking, “Wow pastor, this is a lot to process. I feel like my brain is going to explode?”
I totally get that. Because even as I studied this week I found myself getting a little overwhelmed as I tried to comprehend who the Holy Spirit is.
So, as we close, and maybe to minimize the mind blow, I want to leave you with two takeaways I want you to consider this week.
Takeaway #1 - The Holy Spirit is a person not a symbol.
The fact is, in order to begin to understand who the Holy Spirit is, you have to stop thinking of Him as a non-person, and you have to start recognizing He’s a real being.
Takeaway #2 - The Holy Spirit is God, and He wants to have a relationship with me.
What that means then is, He’s somebody you need to talk to. Somebody you need to learn to engage with, which we are going to talk more about next week.
But for now, here’s what I would challenge you to do this week. In your prayer time, this week, I just want you to acknowledge the HS. To simply acknowledge His presence. To maybe even pray something like this, “Holy Spirit, I want to have a relationship with you. Holy Spirit, I want to know who you are. Holy Spirit, like Paul encourages us to do, I want to have fellowship with you. Holy Spirit, just like Jesus said in John 16, I want you to be my Helper, and guide and lead me this week.”
Now, I know for some of you, that may sound or feel a little weird. But can I just tell you, it’s 100% Biblical and 100% necessary if you want to experience the relationship with God that He desires to have with you.
Because the truth is, some of you are missing this. And you know you’re missing it. You know there’s more that God has and wants for you.
So, why are you missing it?
Well, for some, you’re missing it because just like the disciples that Paul encountered, you haven’t heard of the HS. You didn’t even know about Him.
Or you’re missing it because maybe you’ve heard of the HS, but you didn’t know all the facts.
Or maybe your missing it because you’ve heard of the HS, but you’ve heard weird stuff, stuff that happens out at churches by Taco Bell, and you’re fearful to embrace Him.
Can I just tell you, if you want to experience all God has for you, it’s time to drop the ignorance and fear and embrace the Biblical truth about the HS. The truth that He’s someone who wants to have a relationship with you. The truth that Jesus has sent Him too help us. The truth that without the HS, we can’t and won’t accomplish the extraordinary work that God has called us to do. The truth that He is absolutely necessary if we want to live the life God has called us to live.
It’s time to embrace that truth and open our hearts and minds to all that God has for us.
Let’s Pray
In order to receive the Holy Spirit, you have to put your faith in Jesus.