Sermon Tone Analysis

*Introduction*:

As we begin there are two difficulties that we need to address

* Our Task is Big

* Our Knowledge is Small

* “Because the Spirit is mysterious, we are vulnerable to superstitions and distortions of His person and work.

Here we must listen carefully to Scripture as it reveals to us the character of God the Holy Spirit.”

(Sproul, 1990)

* “…The average Christian, deep down, is in a complete fog as to what work the Holy Spirit does.”

(Packer, 1993)

 

*Who is the Holy Spirit?

*

/“The Trinity is one God who eternally exists as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Spirit—who are each fully and equally God.”/    Mark Driscoll

* “The Holy Spirit is a /divine person/, one of the three persons of the Trinity.”

(Cottrell, 2002)

* Sometimes the Holy Spirit is referred to as the third member of the Trinity.

Two points: these are going to seem a bit obvious but they are important.

/The Holy Spirit is spirit /

* "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”"

(John 4:24)

* "…every spiritual being is living, personal, nonmaterial, and invisible.

All these characteristics apply to the Holy Spirit.”

(Cottrell, 2002)

 

/The Holy Spirit is holy /

* Holy describes both the Spirit’s nature and his work.

* Holy means set apart, distinct, separate

* Illustrating "holy"

* Sabbath - set apart a day for rest and worship

* Money in the building of the tabernacle, your gift was seperated from your normal resources  

* Nature: The Holy Spirit is God and as such is set apart from all created spirits

* Work: The Holy Spirit will make you holy.

*How does the Holy Spirit work?

*

“The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world, and especially in the church.”

(Grudem, 2000)

“We shall see that the Spirit’s main work is twofold: he gives us /knowledge/ and he gives us /power/.”

(Cottrell, 2002)

 

*Why do we have such difficulty understanding the Holy Spirit?

*

“But when I come to deal with the Holy Spirit, his operations are so mysterious, his doings are so secret, his acts are so removed from everything that is of sense, and of the body, that I cannot so easily get the idea of his being a person; but a person he is.

God the Holy Spirit is not an influence, an emanation, a stream of something flowing from the Father; but he is as much an actual person as either God the Son, or God the Father.”

(Spurgeon, 1855)

 

Three common problems with our understanding of the Holy Spirit.

/Unknowing /

* No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

(Acts 19:2)

/Uninformed/ (confused) (car hood illustration )

* Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

(1 Corinthians 12:21)

/Untrue/ (just plain wrong)  

* Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

(Acts 8:18-19)

* Sometimes we don’t know so we just make something up

Some Application:

* We need to understand that the Holy Spirit exists.

* We need to seek not to just know a little bit about him but rather we need to seek a full, scriptural understanding.

* There will be places in our understanding where we may just be flat out wrong, we need to, as we become aware, not hold on to those things but we need to change.

This morning I want to begin to introduce you to the Holy Spirit.

There are several things that you need to know…

 

*(1) You need to know the Holy Spirit is God *

* Scripture calls the Holy Spirit God

* Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit… you have not lied to men but to God. (Acts 5:3-4)

* The Holy Spirit exhibits divine characteristics (those things that make God, God)

* The Holy Spirit is /eternal /(He has no beginning and no end)/ /

* How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

(Hebrews 9:14)

* The Holy Spirit is /omniscient /(He is all knowing)

* These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.

For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

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.

(1 Corinthians 2:10-11)

* Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel?

(Isaiah 40:13)

* The Holy Spirit is /omnipresent/ (He is everywhere)

* Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

(Psalm 139:7, see vs. 8-12)

* The Holy Spirit is /omnipotent/ (He is all powerful)

* Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

(Zechariah 4:6, see also Genesis 1:2, Psalm 104:30)

* Furthermore, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the worst of all sins.

* And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

(Matthew 12:32)

* “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28-29)

*(2) You need to know the Holy Spirit is a person*

“It is best to understand “person” as thinking, willing center of consciousness.

“ (Cottrell 2002)

“Person” does not mean that God the Father or God the Spirit became human beings.

Rather, it means that each member of the Trinity thinks, acts, feels, speaks, and relates because they are persons and not impersonal forces.

Further, each member of the Trinity is equally God, which means that they share the divine attributes, such as eternality, omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence.

“ /Mark Driscoll /

 

* The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force.

* It is essential that we understand this because wrong thoughts lead to wrong actions.

* Theological error (what we believe) always translates into our actions (what we do)

* Snake Illustration (Justin and Brandon)

* How do we know the Holy Spirit is a person?

* He spoken of with other persons

* 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 (Matthew 28:19)

* The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

(2 Corinthians 13:14)

* 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  (1 Peter 1:2)

* Illustration: who came to ______________ (list people, and electricity)

* He thinks (intellectual activity)