Holy Spirit: Sustaining Presence

INTRO

SLIDE: HOPECITY VISION STATEMENT: Partnering With The Presence Of God To Impact Everyone For The Kingdom Of God.

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Theologians say He is the Third Person of the Godhead

The Bible says He is the comforter, the helper, the advocate.

He’s an experience: we see Him move, we feel His presence, or hear His voice.

PREFACE

SLIDE:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. ... Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. ...” - A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy,

OUR FOCUS TODAY IS WHO DOES THE BIBLE SAY THE HOLY SPIRIT IS?

READ JOHN 17:1-5

John 17:1–5 ESV

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

SLIDE: GOD HAS ALWAYS BEEN A DIVINE, COMMITTED, ETERNAL, LOVING, RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT.

WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND ANY PERSON OF THE GODHEAD OUTSIDE THE CONTEXT OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP

IMPORTANT: HOLD ONTO TO EACH DETAIL AS WE JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE TO SEE WHO THE HOLY SPIRIT IS AND WHY THAT MATTERS TO US.

IN THE BEGINNING...

READ GENESIS 1:1-2

Genesis 1:1–2 ESV

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.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS HOVERING

Like a Dove

Genesis 8:8–12 (ESV)

Like a Cloud & Fire

Exodus 19:18, Exodus 40:34-35, Numbers 10:34, Nehemiah 9:12,

THE WORDS IN GENESIS 1:2 PAINT A PICTURE OF A BIRD BROODING OVER ITS EGGS

SLIDE: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GIVING AND SUSTAINING LIFE

RECAP: A DOVE, A CLOUD, & FIRE…

READ JOHN 14:15-17 [ESV]

John 14:15–17 (ESV)

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

THIS IS SAID DAYS BEFORE… READ ACTS 2:1-4 [ESV]

Acts 2:1–4 ESV

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.

WE NEED A HELPER

John 16:7–11 (ESV)

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. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

"YOU WILL SEE ME NO LONGER...” THIS IS OUR BIGGEST OBSTACLE IN THE CHURCH TODAY

EXPERIENCE AND OBEDIENCE DON’T HAVE TO BE AT ODDS

SLIDE: WHAT JESUS CALLED AN ADVANTAGE WE SEE AS AN ABSENCE

BEDTIME ROUTINE ILLUSTRATION

MANY OF US LIVE A VISION STATEMENT THAT SAYS: “BARTERING WITH THE PRESENCE OF GOD”

WHEN THE SPIRIT WAS GIVEN AT PENTECOST HE RESTS ON EVERY BELIEVER, HE IS INSIDE “YOUR HOUSE” WHETHER YOU SEE HIM, FEEL HIM, OR HEAR HIM.

SLIDE: WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? HE IS OUR SUSTAINING PRESENCE

JESUS REMINDED US IN JOHN 15 APART FROM HIM, WE CAN DO NOTHING

GOD GAVE US HIS SPIRIT BECAUSE WE WERE MADE TO BE WITH HIM

THE HOLY SPIRIT BRINGS US INTO THE LOVE THE FATHER HAS FOR THE SON

Galatians 4:4–6 (ESV)

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

THE HOLY SPIRIT FOCUSES OUR LIVES ON LOVING GOD

INVITATION FOR ENCOURAGEMENT AND SALVATION

PRAY