MD - Holy Spirit is a HOLY spirit

Sunday 29 th May, 2022 Moura

Pray

I want to focus on the ‘HOLY’ aspect of who Holy Spirit is, and the calling that we have as

Christians to be holy as well.

* Holy according to dictionary.com:

Consecrated; set apart; dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion;

saintly; godly; pious; devout; having a spiritually pure quality.

1. Because Holy Spirit is holy, He won’t lead you astray.

He won’t lead you up the garden path, he just won’t – because He is perfect in goodness

and righteousness.

Moses and the Israelites were lead by Holy Spirit through the dessert for 40 years -

evidenced by the fire and cloud.

Num 9:15-23

15  Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the

tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the

appearance of fire.  16  So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of

fire by night.  17  Whenever the cloud was  [a] taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the

children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children

of Israel would pitch their tents.  18  At the  [b] command of the LORD the children of Israel would

journey, and at the command of the LORD they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed

above the tabernacle they remained encamped.  19  Even when the cloud continued long,

many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD and did

not journey.  20  So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to

the command of the LORD they would remain encamped, and according to the command of

the LORD they would journey.  21  So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until

morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by

day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey.  22  Whether it was two

days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of

Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would

journey.  23  At the command of the LORD they remained encamped, and at the command of

the LORD they journeyed; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by

the hand of Moses.

Sometimes it was 2 days, a month, a year.

Just as the Israelites would start to get comfortable, the cloud moved. Perhaps they had

stopped at a place that they couldn’t wait to get away from, but the cloud ended up staying

for a year.

*I planned to marry at 22 and have 5 kids, but when I hit 30 and was still single, I pretty well

resigned to the fact and I was totally ok to stay that way. Then the cloud moved, and a

certain young man started coming to Oasis and joined the young adults group I was running

at the time. The rest is history and I followed the cloud and was married at 32.

*Then I started to have babies – I resigned from my position as a school chaplain to be a

stay at home mum, which was where I planned to stay until our youngest (of however many

kids I had before I turned 40) was in Kindy. Then the cloud moved. Out of necessity for

our family, I was back to teaching (which is what I was before becoming a full time chaplain),

when Lydia, our 2 nd child, was 5months old. And I can tell you, Mum guilt was so real back

then!

*When Levi turned 3, we noticed some things that weren’t quite right and started noticing

him getting quite unwell. In the lead up to us taking him to the doctor, in my daily reading I

read Isaiah 41:13 “For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Fear

not, I will help you.” I had suspicions about what was going on with Levi, and when I read

that verse, it was like the Holy Spirit was reaching into that place of fear and saying, ‘it’s ok,

I’ve got this. I’m here to help’. So without a doctor’s diagnosis, my fears had become reality.

BUT through this passage of scripture, Holy Spirit spoke a promise that both Matt and I still

cling to and continue to even nearly 4 years to the day later. So on the 5 th June, we got Levi

into the doctors, and was an immediate hospital admission with the diagnosis of T1

Diabetes. The cloud moved.

* Just recently the cloud moved again for me, and I didn’t think I was ready. But I’m glad I

was watching and listening because it actually proved that I was ready.

God is preparing us for the things he has prepared FOR us. He sees our integrity, our

hearts, the things we do in private, even when no one else does. We need to make

ourselves ready for when the cloud moves – when Holy Spirit breathes a word and tells us to

get ready to move.

Christine Caine put it like this - “You’ve got to be ready so that you can be already ready.” I

love that. The way to get ready is to be getting ready while we’re waiting to get ready, so

that when he calls, we’re ready.

*The things you do today, the here and now moments matter. It may not feel like you’re

doing much, but every time you worship, read the Word, not lie, not cheat, have integrity,

you are getting ready. So that when Holy Spirit moves, you’re already ready to pack up and

move right along with Him.

Holy Spirit has perfect timing and wants to guide us, whether we are expecting it or not – it’s

so important for us to be so in tune with hearing that still, small voice to be able to recognise

when the cloud is moving and to be ready to move right along with it and not be left behind.

2. Because Holy Spirit is holy, he will illuminate our hearts with his truth.

Holy Spirit comes as a Spirit of wisdom and revelation to, as Paul prayed in Ephesians,

"enlighten the eyes of our understanding, that we may know what is the hope of his calling,

and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding

greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty

power." (Eph 1:18-19)

As we align ourselves close to him and His holiness, He comes and sheds light upon our own

hearts, and shows us ourselves. He shows us truths as we read the Bible, and reveals Christ

to us in ways that humanly we cannot explain or understand.

Sometimes to help us understand what something or someone does, we have a look at what

they don’t do. I’ve put together just a small list of things that you won’t hear Holy Spirit

telling you –

* You don’t have what it takes

* If you ignore it, it will go away

* You’re too young, or you’re too old

* It’s ok to watch that one thing that you know you shouldn’t

* If you follow your ‘heart’, you can’t be wrong (If it ‘feels’ right it must be ok)

* You don’t have a choice

* You must be perfect

Some of these things you will hear more and more in today’s society, but they’re not truths

that Holy Spirit will enlighten you with. Don’t believe them – know the truths that God says

about and to you.

3. Because Holy Spirit is a HOLY spirit, BE holy as He is holy

* 1 Peter 1:13-16

(NKJV)

  Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace

that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;  14  as obedient children,

not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;  15  but as He who called

you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  16  because it is written, “Be holy, for I am

holy.”

(MESSAGE)

13-16  So roll up your sleeves, get your head in the game, be totally ready to receive the gift

that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing

just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient

children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and

blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”

And in Hebrews 12:14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life,

for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

How are we to live a holy life if we are still human? That is an impossible task, right? That to

me, at first, connotates being perfect in all we do. But is that what Paul’s really praying?

Remember our definition of ‘holy’ at the beginning?

Consecrated; set apart; dedicated or devoted to the service of God; saintly; godly; pious;

devout; having a spiritually pure quality.

For God, holiness is not an action or way of behaving. It is not just following laws and rules.

Holiness is His essence. There is a need to stay mentally and spiritually alert which requires a

level of trust in God that He’s ‘got this’.

There needs to be a distinct difference between Christians and non- Christians in the way

that we live and act, because of the working of Holy Spirit in our lives from the inside out!

When our inner attitudes and mindsets change and come in line with Holy Spirit, our outer

behaviours, will naturally alter also. Our obedience to God’s word is ultimately forming

God’s character in us. If we set ourselves apart, devoted fully to the work of God, we are

living out the essence of holiness and therefore following what Paul said – be holy, as He is

holy. But we cannot achieve this without us first allowing Holy Spirit to do the deep

illuminating work within us.

We need to recognise and trust that we won’t be misguided and allow Holy Spirit to come

and shed light on our hearts, to understand that the things we do today are preparing us for

what God has for us tomorrow, so that when the cloud moves, when Holy Spirit says “Come,

journey here with me”, we are ready!

Pray