Our Advocate

IV. THE HOLY SPIRIT: His personality (John16:7-15); and deity (Acts 5:3-4); and His work in each believer: baptism and indwelling at the moment of regeneration (I Cor 12:13; Rom 8:9); and filling (Eph 5:18) to empower for Christian life and service (Eph 3:16; Acts 1:8; Gal 5:22-23). [We believe that The Holy Spirit provides each believer one or more spiritual gifts “for serving one another" (1 Peter 4:10); and gifted men to the Church for perfecting (Eph 4:11-13). However, apostolic sign-gifts and miracles, even in the early Church, were not for all believers (1 Cor 12:28-30) and ended with the Apostolic era (1 Cor 13:8 ; 2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:3-4). We also believe that Spirit baptism is a once for all action, at the moment of regeneration (Eph 4:5; 1 Cor 12:13).]

Tony Evens, The Fire That Ignites (5-8)

Pretend with me for a moment that you need a new refrigerator. You walk into an appliance store one afternoon and quickly spot the 1 you want ,the most expensive model naturally with all the Bells and whistles. The shelves even slide out automatically when you open the door. This is the real thing the refrigerator for the 21st century.

You buy it for $10,000 they promise to deliver it that very day.

On your way home, you stop at a food market and buy plenty of groceries. And you've just carried the last bag into the kitchen when the delivery man arrive. They bring your new shiny appliance inside and set it in its place, and you immediately stock it full with all the wonderful food you've purchased. That night you fall asleep thinking of delicious meals to come.

The next morning, you go eagerly to the kitchen and open your refrigerator's door but the shelves do not come gliding out automatically they just sit there. What's worse, melted ice cream in the freezer section has run down and is all over everything. The vegetables are turning color and you discover that the milk has gone sour.

It dawns on you that your top of the line refrigerator is not functioning as you were led to believe it would.

You grab the phone, call the appliance store and ask to be connected with the sales person who sold you the merchandise. When he answers you give him a piece of your evangelical Christian mind.

Look, you say, I gave you $10000 you sold me a lemon.

The salesman is stupefied. Well, he says earnestly, will you please go and open the refrigerator door again and then tell me if the light comes on.

You step over and open it. No light.

well, do me a favor, the salesman continues would you put your ear down at the bottom where the motor is, and tell me if you hear a hum?

You bend over and listen. No hum. Now then, the salesman says, if you don't mind, would you kindly look under the back of the refrigerator and check to see if the cord is plugged in tight?

You go and look behind the refrigerator. The end of the cord is lying there, loose on the floor.

You get back on the phone. “I checked and the cord hasn’t been plugged in. But for ten thousand dollars, that shouldn’t matter. For ten thousand dollars, it ought to work just on general principle!

That’s when the sals man gently clarifies something for you. Appliances, he explains, are intricately designed to have astounding capabilities. They are, however, dependent in nature. While they have all the component parts needed to perform everything the manufacturer designs each appliance to do, they aren’t able to accomplish this on their own. The first need to be empowered by the fire that electricity provides. Only then can the parts do what the parts were designed to do.

When you and I gave our live to Jesus Christ, He gave us new parts. He gave us a new mind, a new heart, a new conscience and a new disposition. He granted us a whole e new nature inside our existing body.

We must clearly understand that we’re dependent by nature. We were never re-created in Christ to function on our own. We need power; we need enabling from another source to ignite the proper functioning of the new nature God has provided us.

I. Who Our Advocate Is.

A. He is God

1. The Holy Spirit is a part of the {one} {triune} God: Matthew 28:19 a. The Holy Spirit is the third {Person} of the Trinity:

John 16:7–15 NASB95

7 “But 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 He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

b. How does Acts 5:3-4 clearly demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is {God} ?

Acts 5:3–4 NASB95

3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4 “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

{When Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit he had lied to God} {cf Mt 28:19; 2 Cor. 3:17-18 (“now the LORD is the Spirit”)} Conclusion: We believe in the Holy Spirit’s personality and deity.

Do you see the Trinity? (v7,10,13-15); The Holy Spirit is a real person (v13)} i. He has {emotions} : Ephesians 4:30

Ephesians 4:30 NASB95

30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

B. He Is a Person

1. He Has His Own Will

ii. He has His own {will} :

Acts 16:6–7 NASB95

6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;

1 Corinthians 12:11 NASB95

11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

{the Holy Spirit can act whenever He wants}

2. He Is Intelligent

iii. He has a {mind} :

1 Corinthians 2:10–11 NASB95

10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

Romans 8:26–27 NASB95

26 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; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

{The Holy Spirit is intelligent – omniscient}

3. He Is Emotional

i. He has {emotions} : Ephesians 4:30

Ephesians 4:30 NASB95

30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

II. What Our Advocate Does for Us

A. He Helps Save Us

2. The Holy Spirit has a vital role in our {salvation} . {The Holy Spirit immerses all true believers into the Body of Christ} 1 Corinthians 12:13

1 Corinthians 12:13 NASB95

13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

B. He Lives In Us

The Holy Spirit's presence coincides with {receiving} Christ:

Romans 8:9 NASB95

9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

{see Rom 8:11; Titus 3:5; Eph 1:13-14} Conclusion: We believe in the Holy Spirit’s work in each believer: baptism and indwelling at the moment of regeneration.

C. He Fills Us

3. The Holy Spirit has a vital role in our progressive {sanctification} . a. What does it mean to be {filled} with the Holy Spirit?

Ephesians 5:18 NASB95

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

i. This is a command:we are to be under the Spirit’s {control} . ii. Spirit baptism happens {once} ,being filled happens {repeatedly} . {cf Acts 4:31} b. The Holy Spirit is needed for our spiritual {growth} :

D. He Strengthens Us

i. He bestows to us spiritual {strength} :

Ephesians 3:16 NASB95

16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

E. He Produces Fruit

ii. He produces in us spiritual {fruit} :

Galatians 5:22–23 NASB95

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

F. He Gives Us Power

iii. He empowers us as spiritual {witnesses} :

Acts 1:8 NASB95

8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

{cf Lk 24:49} Conclusion: We believe in the Holy Spirit’s work of filling to empower for Christian life and service.

G. He Teaches Us

4. How does the Holy Spirit {equip} us for ministry?

1 John 2:27 NASB95

27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

1 Corinthians 2:13 NASB95

13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

John 14:26 NASB95

26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Like a wifi signal. All access (you can learn anything on YouTube) but you need search the internet.

H. He Gifts Us

The Holy Spirit is the One who grants spiritual {gifts} to believers:

Each believer has at least {one} spiritual gift:

1 Peter 4:10 NASB95

10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

{we are responsible to exercise good stewardship over the gift(s) bestowed to us} c. The Holy Spirit gives to the Church gifted {men} to equip believers:

Ephesians 4:11–13 NASB95

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Conclusion: We believe that The Holy Spirit provides each believer one or more spiritual gifts “for serving one another" (1 Peter 4:10); and gifted men to the Church for perfecting.

6. There is no ‘ {second} {blessing} ’ in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. a. How many Spirit baptisms are there?

Eph 4:5 {ONE Spirit baptism}

Ephesians 4:5 NASB95

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

b. How many Christians are Spirit Baptized?

1 Cor 12:13 {ALL believers are baptized}

1 Corinthians 12:13 NASB95

13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

c. How many Old Testament saints were Spirit Baptized? {None,

Jn 14:17 cf. Acts 2}

John 14:17 NASB95

17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

d. How many Old Testament saints were regenerate (born again)? {all of them; key OT phrase for regeneration in the OT is circumcision of heart (Lev. 26:41; Dt. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4; 9:26; Ezk 44:7,9; cf Acts 7:51; Rom 2:29; Nicodemus needed the new birth)}

Conclusion: We also believe that Spirit baptism is a once for all action, at the moment of regeneration.

7. What is your response to the Holy Spirit's work in your life?