The Work of the Holy Spirit - Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
Introduction & Summary
We spent our time together last week establishing that the Holy Spirit is a person.
He’s not it or a what; he’s not an essence, a power, or a mystical force; he’s a person – the third person of the Trinity.
Today it seems that there’s an erroneous belief that the Spirit’s work is somehow unconnected from the work of the Father and the Son.
But we know from the Bible that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit fully united, working out the one plan of God.
We see this clearly in texts such as…
“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.
Here we see that the Father authors, the Son accomplishes, and the Spirit applies.
We see three persons, yet one God, with all their collective activities representing a unified work.
The Holy Spirit’s work is centered on Jesus… imagine that, it’s ALL about JESUS!!!
The chief role of the Holy Spirit in our salvation is to make us one with Christ.
It’s the work of the Holy Spirit that unites us to Christ and all the blessings that come with that union (regeneration, quickening, enlightening, convicting, conversion, adoption, sanctification, etc.).
That’s why the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ.
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.
inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
And the Spirit of God’s Son.
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
To participate with the Spirit is to participate in Christ.
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.
Any understanding of the Spirit that isn’t Trinitarian and Christological in this way, any understanding that doesn’t uplift the Spirit — dishonors him and isn’t Christian.
That’s why we’ve begun our study by biblically defining who the Spirit is.
The Holy Spirit at work in the Old Testament
The Holy Spirit at work in the Old Testament
Question: Where do you think the Holy Spirit is first seen in Scripture? “In the beginning…”
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
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.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Let’s begin by noting two things the text says are present…
1. The Spirit of God
2. The Word of God
God speaks, “Let there be light,” and it comes into being by the power of His Spirit.
In other words… God creates by His Word through His Spirit.
The Spirit brings about the Father’s will in creation – bringing order out of chaos, creating what is, out of that which was not.
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
In other words, the work of the Spirit in creation is to extend God’s presence into creation in such a way as to order and complete what has been planned in the mind of God.
The Holy Spirit shows up throughout the OT in a similar fashion.
The divine presence that guided God’s people in the Exodus out of Egypt – a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night – was none other than the Holy Spirit.
It’s the Spirit of God that gifted certain men in constructing the Tabernacle and inspiring the OT prophets with the word of God.
Again, the OT is filled with references to the Spirit’s work. Still, overall, the Spirit’s activity in the OT was “external, mysterious, selective and sporadic.”
The prophets longed for better days, as we see from the words of Moses…
But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
Moses longed for a day when all God’s people would possess God’s Spirit.
So, does this mean that the OT believers didn’t possess the Spirit?
Well, the OT never speaks of the Holy Spirit indwelling believers.
“Dwelling” language is covenant language, the language of God’s presence.
It’s relational and takes us back to the Garden of Eden.
But in the OT, God’s dwelling is always external, in the Tabernacle and the temple, never “in” believers.
In the OT we do see the Spirit empowering believers, but not equally, and not indefinitely.
Another testimony to the Holy Spirit’s selective work is King David’s prayer found in Psalm 51; there he prays for God to not take the Holy Spirit from him.
In the OT, the Spirit’s work was predominantly reserved for leaders such as prophets, priests, and kings.
But too, there’s the hope that what Moses sought after – for all people to possess God’s Spirit – would eventually come to pass.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
We see the beginning of the fulfillment of these promises in the person of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit at work in the Person of Christ
The Holy Spirit at work in the Person of Christ
When we arrive at the NT, our understanding of the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit comes into greater focus and clarity.
Let’s take a few minutes and look at the work of the Spirit in the Person of Christ.
Yes, you heard me correctly; the work of the Holy Spirit in the Person of Jesus Christ.
We can trace the Holy Spirit at work in Christ through three stages.
1. The Conception of Christ
1. The Conception of Christ
In Luke’s gospel, we hear the angel speaking to Mary saying…
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
The word “overshadow” is used in the Greek translation of the OT to refer to the cloud of God’s glory that hovered about the Tabernacle.
Luke is saying the promised New Temple of the OT is the person Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the promised glory of the Father, dwelling with his people.
2. The Baptism and Ministry of Christ
2. The Baptism and Ministry of Christ
The second stage of the Spirit’s work in Christ begins with his baptism.
The heavens open and prepares us for a new revelation. A dove descends and God says… “this is my son, whom I love, with him I am well-pleased.”
And immediately following, “full of the Spirit,” Jesus is led through a re-run of Eden.
A re-run of Eden??? Yes! Look at this…
Satan tempts Jesus like he did Adam. But unlike the first Adam, who ignored the Spirit, the second Adam — Jesus — obeys and succeeds!
Full of the Spirit, Jesus walks into enemy territory in the wilderness to face Satan and be tempted for 40 days and nights where he fights for His people and wins.
After defeating Satan, he demands, “Be gone, Satan!”, and the devil obeys.
No wonder Jesus would strike fear in the demons during his earthly ministry!
The early days of Jesus’ ministry remind us that we as Christian fight from a position of our victory in Christ.
We only fight this fight by God’s Spirit’s power within us.
And thirdly we see the Holy Spirit at work in…
3. The Resurrection & Ascension of Christ
3. The Resurrection & Ascension of Christ
The third stage of the Spirit’s work in Christ began with Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.
Though often attributed to the Father and the Son, the resurrection and ascension are also the Holy Spirit’s work.
and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
The NT teaches that through his life and ministry, Jesus came into such complete possession of the Spirit, experiencing him without limit that he becomes “Lord of the Spirit.”
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
The Bible teaches us that much of what Jesus did was due to the Spirit’s work in him; his conception, his anointing, his resurrection & ascension; these were done in the power of the Spirit in Jesus.
So, since the Holy Spirit helped Jesus in his work, are there any examples from modern-day life that serve as a picture of what the Spirit does?
The Holy Spirit at Work in the Christian
The Holy Spirit at Work in the Christian
Jesus’ parting words prepared his people for the promised Holy Spirit.
And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Where is that promised fulfilled? Pentecost.
1. The Gift of the Holy Spirit
1. The Gift of the Holy Spirit
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Then Peter preaches, explaining what has happened, quoting Joel chapter 2 that we read earlier.
Then he quotes Psalm 110…
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
Please notice two things.
First, we see how the gift of the Spirit represented by violent winds and flames of fire isn’t some peculiar twist in God’s plan.
Instead, it’s the central element in the New Covenant promise that God had given to his people back in Joel chapter 2.
And secondly, in quoting Psalm 110, Peter shows how the gift of the Spirit to Christ from the Father, and then the delivery of the Spirit to believers by Christ fulfills the promise to the Son in Psalm 2:8.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
At Pentecost, we see the nations coming to Christ with the great commission being fulfilled and it’s primarily by whom? The work of the Holy Spirit.
Also, at Pentecost, we have the reversal of Babel… remember that story?
In Genesis 10, we’re given a list of nations, followed by God confusing their language and scattering them around the planet.
Here in Acts 2:8-12, we’re given another list of nations.
Except this time, their languages are understood as they’re gathered in Jerusalem.
The effects of sin are being reversed in a new community of both Jew and Gentile, united by who? Again, the Holy Spirit!
As I was studying this, I was amazed, absolutely amazed at the Holy Spirit’s connections between the OT to the NT.
After all fire, wind, and a divine tongue remind us of what Moses encountered at Mt. Sinai, right?
There Moses ascended, only to descend with the Ten Commandments, the Law of God.
In the same way in the NT, Christ had just ascended, and at Pentecost, he comes down, not with the law written on tablets of clay, but with the gift of his own Spirit to write the law on the believer’s heart.
This is how we’re enabled to fulfill the law’s commands.
This is the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31 and the great hope of Moses that we looked at in Numbers 11.
Whereas in the Old Covenant, the Spirit’s work was generally limited to a few, mostly men and leaders.
Now we read in Acts 2:17 that sons and daughters prophesy, young men have visions, old men have dreams.
These visions and dreams were modes of communicating the knowledge of God under the Old Covenant.
But in Christ and by the gift of the Spirit, ALL the Lord’s people possess the knowledge of God.
Jeremiah 31 looks forward to this point and says…
And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
You’re probably saying, “W-O-W… Steve – that’s a lot.”
Listen closely… here’s what I want you to see, Pentecost is the culmination of Jesus’ work!
Remember what Jesus said in…
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
By this, he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him would eventually receive.
Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given since “Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
The coming of the Spirit was evidence of Christ’s glorification, his heavenly enthronement.
Thus, the book of Acts is not so much about the acts of the Holy Spirit through the apostles, but the continuing acts of Jesus Christ through the Spirit.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
So, what benefits does the indwelling of the Spirit bring to believers?
That’s a great question, and that’s where we’ll pick up next week as we continue to study the Work of the Holy Spirit.
PRAY