The Mission: Understand the Ministry of the Spirit (Part 2: Transforms)
Acts: The Mission of the Church • Sermon • Submitted
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· 18 viewsHow can we be led by and live by the Holy Spirit unless we really know who he is?
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When I preach, sometimes I don’t always effectively highlight the sermon notes that you are trying to fill in on the bulletin. Sometimes, the sermon changes and that is just a part of the Spirit’s leading through the sermon preparation and delivery process. Also, I am trying to grow in this area to highlight these elements better. One way you can get information for parts I have glossed over is to go to our new website and on both the top and bottom of our new site, click on the flame logo. That will take you to Faithlife Groups. When you connect there, you will be able to view sermon manuscripts which have the outline, scripture references, and anything else you might need to complete your notes and to enhance your study and meditation throughout the week. The Faithlife platform also has a variety of other tools, which I am working to build up, and I welcome you to connect with us there.
Maybe you have heard this quote, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Every once in a while when I was growing up my dad would load the whole family in the car and just start driving with no particular destination mind. He would turn down one road he had never explored, then we eventually come to something that either he or mom found interesting and we would turn again and so on for an hour or so until we came to an area he was familiar with and we would return home. Any road was likely to contain an adventure any turn was made on a seemingly unguided whim. Fortunately for those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus, our journey is taken on a whim. God has destined us to become like Him. We are to be holy because He is holy. Holiness is our destination and we are unable to arrive at that destination on our own. Mercifully, God has given the Holy Spirit to each of us as a guide. Last week, we considered how the Spirit empowers us to live. He lives in us and works through us all while deliberately moving us to become more like Christ.
The Holy Spirit Transforms Us...
The Holy Spirit Transforms Us...
…to be more like Christ the longer we live.
This transformative process is called “sanctification” which begins before one’s salvation, continues through salvation and the rest one’s life. Transformation means God called and set apart people to be living temples where the Holy Spirit resides. At salvation, a person is declared new, changed, transformed as declared in...
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Transformation is the lifelong process whereby the Spirit causes the people He indwells to look progressively more like Christ. Spirit empowered living relies on the transformation process. If we can better understand the Spirit’s part in and what He is trying to accomplish in us, we should be more prone to walking in step with the Spirit.
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
The Spirit’s role of transforming was symbolized by the flaming tongues as of fire that rested on the apostles during Pentecost. Fire refines and purifies and so does the Spirit.
Transformation begins through the salvation process. The Holy Spirit transforms us 1. to be more like Christ 2....
…through the Salvation “process”
The Holy Spirit plays a significant role in our transformation. Salvation as a “process” includes everything pre-salvation that God and the Spirit work together up to that verbal proclamation when a person publicly declares himself as a sinner and confesses with his mouth that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only source of eternal life. The Spirit begins the transformation process long before that declaration. He has to be at work in a person before that salvation moment because of…
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
We cannot do good. We cannot save ourselves because we are completely dead, completely stuck in the quicksand pit and cannot get ourselves out. Someone else, the Spirit must initiate that work of transforming: taking the old and refurbishing it into something brand new. So His pre-salvation ministry causes the sinner to begin understanding spiritual things and prepares that person to respond to the Gospel call. Without the pre-salvation work of the Spirit, salvation would not be possible.
1 Peter 1:1–2 (ESV)
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Our triune God knew and elected beforehand those who would be saved and the Spirit works to accomplish God the Father’s will for salvation in those people. We can also read about this in...
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
People do not become saved through a prayer or confession, that would be a good work which we have done on our own. People are saved and purified solely through the Spirit’s ministry pre-salvation. Before salvation, there is a moment where a person feels a significant weight of sin and guilt. That is because the Spirit convicts. We can read of this in...
John 16:8 (ESV)
8 And when he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
“Convict” means the Spirit rebukes, proves, convinces, sheds light on dark things, and He exposes and points out something that is naturally missed on our own. Conviction is only possible because the brilliant and glorious light of the Gospel falls on the darkest places of our hearts. Left to ourselves, we would never have responded in a God-honoring way to the Gospel. We learn in...
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
Natural man avoids the light of the Word at all costs. If the Spirit didn’t expose and convict, according to Jn 3:20, we would innately be unable and unwilling to accept Spiritual things. We would be cringing and cowering in a corner or hiding under the covers waiting for the light to go away. The mighty power of the Spirit has to move us to respond to the Gospel’s call. Look at...
John 16:13 (ESV)
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth
The Spirit first began guiding pre-salvation, but Jn 16:13 also means something to those of us who have already believed in Jesus name...
In Acts 8 we have read of the great persecution being poured out by children of darkness onto children of light. Unbelievers hate the light. “Hate” doesn’t just mean “I don’t like peas.” When Jesus said “for everyone who does wicked things hates the light” He means it in the strongest possible use of the word. I hate it when one of my children shine my 1,000 lumen flashlight straight into my eyes in the dead of night. The world passionately hates the light. For this reason, we need the strength to stand in that evil day when people pour out their vitriol on us. This is another reason why the Spirit transforms us throughout life. The Holy Spirit transforms us to be more like Christ through the salvation process and, point 3, He enables us...
…to withstand the world’s hatred of spiritual light (Jn 16).
I believe Scripture tells us of a world that will become more evil every day. Scientists have proven we live in a world that is in a continual state of decay. History has proven the human race is prone to continual moral decay. In fact, we all know of at least one time recorded in Scripture when the world was completely wicked.
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
From the fall of man to the flood, people didn’t become better. They thought they could live without God and so evil abounded continually. In more modern history, public school officials thought they could live without God, so on June 25th, 1962 they kicked Him out of school. What is the state of our schools today because of that decision? Other proofs include the things we have witnessed ourselves? What happens when people decide God’s standard of marriage is antiquated? What happens when a husband or wife kick God out of their marriage? What happens to our children when they decide to live life on their own? Life apart from God only breeds continual evil. All life will become immoral and continually corrupt to the point where God will no longer restrain His great wrath. At that point, He will again destroy the earth, but this time, not by flood.
Because the whole world and also our culture is becoming increasingly vile the unsaved will not not be able to tolerate the light of the Word much longer. Persecution has to happen: it is the next natural step in the chain of events: this we have seen in Acts. Persecution is always a grievous and painful thing. Persecution will demand us to make a choice between prosperity and life or the Gospel and possible death. Many will fall away. God’s children are the only people equipped with the power to withstand terrible things. From the point of salvation, all God’s people were immediately transformed by the Spirit and given the power to live boldly, powerfully, and courageously in this present world. Upon His indewlling, the Spirit’s power is immediately available. I believe that is how the Samaritans in Acts 8 knew the Spirit had come upon their lives. They had God’s power and courage which they didn’t have before. It is a noticeable thing.
Throughout our lives, we should be growing so that we draw on the Spirit’s power more and more frequently. Spiritual maturity involves relying less on our own strength and relying more and more on the Spirit’s strength. This is also the transformative ministry of the Spirit.. Please locate Jn 15. This passage took place during the Last Supper in the upper room. To give you some context, Judas had just left the room to betray Jesus. When he went out, Jesus spoke the following words to teach the disciples about the ministry of the Spirit who was yet to come. Please read with me...
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ 26 “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. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
Obeying God is the hardest thing to do because 1) It is not natural for us to do and 2) because obeying Him reminds the wicked that God exists! They cannot tolerate any light! The world hates the light, even any pin prick of light because they are reminded of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and they are reminded of their sin when light falls on them.
We just read in Jn 15:26 that the Holy Spirit bears witness about Jesus. This means at least two things, for the disciples, this meant they would experience dreams and visions, such a Peter’s vision of a net in Acts 10 and such as John’s visions written in Revelation. These dreams and visions, through the Spirit’s power completed Scripture and quickly grew the church. These dreams and visions have passed away, there is no more need of them.
Second, this ministry of “bearing witness” applied from the day of Pentecost through the end of the earth. This means that the Spirit takes what has already been revealed, the Scripture, and causes us to understand it. This is critical. This knowledge transforms us, by sanctifying and purifying us so that in everything we do in life the world will clearly know Jesus Christ is risen and is the Savior of the world. Bearing witness was spoken in the context of persecution, especially in verse 20...
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
The Spirit gives us strength to endure in our faith and deep love of God in the face of difficulties, such as the passing of a loved one, loss of income, or loved one acting wickedly. The Spirit though especially transforms us so we can verse 15, “bear witness” by speaking boldly for Christ when all our possessions, influence, and lives are on the line. The power of the Spirit will be manifest through the miracle that enables us to stand firm in the toughest of days. For...
1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.
Didn’t we just read about this happening to the Jerusalem church? The apostles were commanded to stop preaching in the temple, but The Spirit made them resilient to persecution, just as he desires to make us resilient. As Saul and the other Sanhedrin killed thousands of Christians, they thought they were doing God a favor. Jesus knew what he was speaking about several months prior to the events written in Acts 8. I believe Jn 16:2 also applies to today’s church. I believe Scripture teaches that a day is coming when attending church will be forbidden and anyone found proclaiming God’s salvation will face dark and perilous things.
This is the beauty of the Spirit’s transformative work… in spite of our very dark sin nature, we, believers will not fall away from the faith. We can never lose our salvation and we will forever not only persevere in our faith, but bear public witness of God to our persecutors.
One clear way to know if you are living a Spirit empowered and Spirit transformed life is the level of your resiliency. Are you more resilient to spiritual warfare than you were yesterday? Are you willing to live a radically transformed life in dark and dangerous times? The Spirit will make us bear witness of God, but in order for that to happen, we must be growing everyday to love God more and more. This too is the transformation which the Spirit accomplishes. If we are not growing in love for God, we should question our reliance on the Holy Spirit. Jn 15:16 is critical...
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
The Spirit transforms horrible sinners into beautiful, God pleasing saints. A mark of a true believer and proof of the Spirit’s presence is fruit. Fruit will abide in trials and also through persecution because the Spirit desires to continually make us more like Christ every moment we are alive on this earth. The Spirit will not allow God’s chosen people to fall away nor fruit to shrivel up and die.
This brings us back to Jn 16 verses 7-8...
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
The Holy Spirit transforms us to be more like Christ through the salvation process, to withstand the world’s hatred of Spiritual light, 4...
…by convicting us of sin. (Jn 16:7-8)
Convicting the world of sin can mean a one time event such as the conviction that takes place just prior to salvation, the confession of sin to the the Saviour of of the world. Convicting the world of sin though has a much broader application. He doesn’t convict only one time: He continually exposes our sin and through us, He exposes sin in the lives of those around us. Transformed living means we should respond to the Spirit appropriately when we feel convicted.
Ephesians 1:4 (ESV)
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
“Be holy for I am Holy.” We cannot obey that command without the enabling power and ministry of the Holy Spirit and we cannot obey that command when we fight His convictions. Holy living requires us to obey the convictions of the Spirit. When we obey the Spirit’s convictions, we are transformed and the people around us cannot help but notice the difference between us and them. Godly living always brings conviction to those around us, but not by chance. Consider the apostles lives. They were radically different. They refused to disobey God, they were performing signs and wonders, they were doing marvelous and wonderful good deeds in their community, but that all meant absolutely nothing. Their works got the attention of the people, but the people didn’t understand what it meant until they opened their lips and boldly explained the reason for those good deeds. The Spirit’s good deeds mean nothing and are rarely bring sinners to repentance unless actions are coupled with Spirit empowered words… the words of the Gospel.
As we close this portion of our worship, I think it is important we understand that the entire fruit of the Spirit passage in Galatians 5 is key to walking a Spirit empowered and Spirit transformed life. Worship is not just singing. It is more than listening to a message. Worship is responding to God’s Word by daily keeping in step with the Spirit.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
“Walk by the Spirit” is an imperative. We are commanded to obey the convictions the Spirit places in our hearts. If God had to command us to be continually led by the Spirit, then it is also is possible to live empowered by things other than the Holy Spirit. For example, “Do not be drunk with wine, but be full of the Spirit.” We either live empowered by the Spirit or by the flesh. Gal 5:24 tells us...
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
The law exists for the lawless. The lawless care nothing for God’s law; they do whatever they feel like doing. Do you know how many books contain our national and state laws? Take a guess! Anyone?
in 1982 the Justice Department tried to determine this, but the law was so large, they only focused on one aspect: criminal law.
In a project that lasted two years, the Department compiled a list of approximately 3,000 criminal offenses. This effort, headed by Ronald Gainer, a Justice Department official, is considered the most exhaustive attempt to count the number of federal criminal laws. In a Wall Street Journal article, an author wrote, “this effort came as part of a long and ultimately failed campaign to persuade Congress to revise the criminal code, which by the 1980s was scattered among 50 titles and 23,000 pages of federal law.” Mr. Gainer who headed the project summarized his findings when he stated, “[y]ou will have died and [been] resurrected three times,” and still not have an answer to this question.” (The question of “How many federal laws were in existence.”)
23,000 pages of criminal law were written because humanity is totally and utterly depraved, confirming Romans 3:10-18. 23,000 pages of criminal law were written because people found that at least that many different ways to violate God’s perfect law. If a person was wholly devoted to keeping human law, he would have to memorize who knows how many thousand pages of other law and 23,000 pages of criminal law and in that lifetime of study, he would certainly have broken at least one law contained in those pages. “There is none righteous, no not one.” Living in the Spirit makes sense.
Matthew 22:34–40 (ESV)
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” (or in this context, Teacher, which out of 3,000 laws is the most important one to memorize and follow) 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
We only need to know and obey two laws to worship God. When you are tempted to grieve the Spirit or simply considering what choice to make in a given situation ask these two questions:
Am I loving God with all my heart, soul and mind?
Am I loving every person on the face of the planet as myself?
These two questions sum up all the law and all the writings of the prophets. Learning about the Spirit should enable us to live empowered and transformed live when we submit to the work He is trying to accomplish in us. Love God and Love others is a simple and yet powerful grid to base all our actions and reactions on. In our quest to love God and love others as sacrificially as God loves us, it would be good to memorize Galatians 5:24-25 which is printed in your bulletin.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
This week, we must choose to love God more than the pleasures of sin. We must choose to obey God when our bodies crave sinful living. This is proof of the Spirit who lives in us. This is the power the apostles faithfully lived out and the power God intends for us draw on every moment of every day. When we do this, God will receive much glory and His testimony to those around us will be very powerful.