WE BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT (JOHN 16:5-14)

SERIES: THIS WE BELIEVE, PART 6

GCEFC: AUGUST 8, 2010

INTRODUCTION

1. One of the challenges I had in preparing this sermon was deciding where to begin. Where do you begin to describe the character, role, and ministry of the Holy Spirit?

2. What must be included in the brief time I have? And what’s okay to leave out?

3. We can’t say everything in one sermon, so we must be selective. There are things that must be included and there are things that will have to be left out.

4. And because this series is exploring the Free Church doctrinal statement—I don’t want to stray from what is contained in that document. So there are obvious parameters.

5. By its very nature, a doctrinal statement must be limited in scope. Some groups have stated that the Bible is their “Doctrinal Statement.” But this isn’t very helpful.

a. When you ask me what time it is, you don’t need to know how my watch works. Or the history of timekeeping.

b. You just want to know where the big hand and the little hand are. There’s an important time and place for detail. But a doctrinal statement is about focus.

c. It’s not all that can be said. Or even all that would be valuable to know. It’s a selection of the most relevant and central truths.

A. THE 6^TH ARTICLE

1. So let’s begin with the 6^th article of the statement.

2. As you can see, this statement focuses almost entirely on what the Holy Spirit DOES. So I’d like to step back for a moment and explore who the Holy Spirit IS.

B. WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

1. So who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, being fully God, eternal and spirit in nature. The Holy Spirit possesses all the attributes of God.

2. The Holy Spirit is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Only God possesses these attributes, so if the Spirit possesses them, then the Holy Spirit must be God.

3. Here are some things we know about the Holy Spirit.

a. We know the Holy Spirit is not just a force—but a person. How do we know? Because the Spirit has the attributes of personhood.

b. The Holy Spirit has intellect. The Spirit knows things. The Spirit is said in the Bible to possess a mind. The Spirit teaches. Intellect is an attribute of personhood.

c. The Holy Spirit also has emotions and feelings. The Spirit can be grieved and the Spirit loves. Persons have emotions.

d. The Spirit has volition or will. The Spirit distributes spiritual gifts as he wills. The Spirit leads and convicts according to his will. Persons have volition.

e. It’s probably worth pointing out that the Holy Spirit is a….spirit. A spirit is a non-material being. The Spirit does not have a physical nature.

f. The word “Spirit” in the Bible is neutral in gender. And usually the article connected to the Spirit is neutral as well.

g. But sometimes the masculine gender article is associated with the Holy Spirit. Another indicator that the Spirit is a person and not just a force.

h. This doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit is male. The Spirit is not a sexual being. So when we read the word “He” in reference to the Spirit—think person being—not male being.

i. The Spirit does things that are characteristic of one with personality—not a mere thing or influence or force.

j. The Spirit teaches, witnesses, directs, commands, convicts, guides, performs miracles, and intercedes for us.

k. I have great respect for Obi Wan Kenobi—but I’d much rather have a powerful person with me than a powerful force.

C. WHAT DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT DO?

1. So with this background, let’s devote the rest of our time to what the Holy Spirit DOES—the focus of Article 6 in the doctrinal statement.

2. As an overarching principle, the article begins with the words: We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Though the Holy Spirit is fully God and has been fully God for eternity—the Spirit of God has a particular role within the Godhead.

4. In fact, every member of the Trinity has a particular role—even though they all possess equal natures and attributes as God.

5. The focus of the Holy Spirit’s work is to bring glory to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit was sent primarily to glorify Christ.

6. This is affirmed in JN 16 through Jesus’ himself: I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.

7. All members of the Trinity are to be honored and glorified. But the special role of the Spirit seems to be one of bringing glory to Christ.

8. There are 8 specific things mentioned in Article 6 that the Holy Spirit does.

9. First of all, the Holy Spirit…convicts the world of its guilt.

a. This takes us back to JN 16:8: When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment…

b. It’s interesting that Christians often talk about our conviction from the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit does bring conviction of sin.

c. But the primary focus of the Spirit’s convicting ministry is directed toward unbelievers—not believers.

d. The number one sin of unbelievers that brings guilt is unbelief in what God and His Word declare about Christ. This is the guilt that condemns the unbeliever.

e. God is not so interested in the social and ethical sins of man as he is in the sin of unbelief in the gospel. This is because all other sins can be forgiven. But the sin of unbelief brings eternal judgment and condemnation.

f. So a major work of the Holy Spirit is to bring about this conviction. Three specific areas are mentioned.

g. He says: in regard to sin because men do not believe in me. The Spirit brings conviction on who Jesus is—but people still don’t believe. This brings guilt.

h. He continues: in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father. That is, Jesus is the perfect standard of righteousness. To reject who he is and what he said and what he did brings guilt. And he’s about to leave—the standard leaving with him.

i. And finally: in regard to judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned. Meaning that the Cross sealed Satan’s fate and judgment. But the Spirit wants people to escape this same fate.

j. They can only escape it through belief in Christ. And if there is no saving belief—then they will share in Satan’s judgment. In fact, his judgment was already sealed.

k. God wants people to be godly, sure. But his main concern is not moral reformation or personal ethics. His main concern is redemption through faith in Christ. No amount of social, ethical, or personal improvement will do it.

10. And the Holy Spirit…regenerates sinners.

a. It’s through the power and work of the Holy Spirit that we are born again through faith in Christ. It’s the Spirit that regenerates us and gives us new life in Christ.

b. TITUS 3:5 puts it like this: He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out generously through Jesus Christ, our Savior.

c. This rebirth was instantaneous—not a process. And it was based upon our belief in what God had done for us—not what we had done for God.

11. And the Holy Spirit…baptizes believers into union with Christ.

a. This is the Spirit’s act of joining each true believer into union with Christ Himself, and with every other true believer past, present, and future.

b. It occurs instantaneously at the moment of true saving faith.

c. It occurs universally among all true believers. All true believers are baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ. There are no exceptions.

d. It occurs once and only once in each believer.

e. Water baptism doesn’t cause it—water baptism merely symbolizes what causes it.

12. And the Holy Spirit…assures that believers are heirs in the family of God. One of the most encouraging things in the Bible is the assurance we have of eternal life.

a. Possibly the best assurance is the assurance of the Holy Spirit. For example:

b. EPH 1: Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance…

c. 2 COR 5:5: Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit—guaranteeing what is to come.

13. And the Holy Spirit…indwells all believers. Jesus made an amazing promise to his disciples and all future believers in JN 14. He said of the Holy Spirit: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

a. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon certain individuals for certain purposes for defined periods of time—then left.

b. But before Jesus left, he promised that the Holy Spirit would not only come to us. But the Spirit would be in us. Not just for a moment or even a season—but forever.

c. The Bible says in ROM 8:9: And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. If someone does not have the Spirit living within them—then they are not a believer—they don’t belong to Christ—they belong to someone else.

14. And the Holy Spirit…illuminates the Scriptures. Well, the Holy Spirit has two extremely important ministries that both relate to the Bible, the Word of God.

a. The first thing the Holy Spirit did regarding the Bible is He inspired the writing of the Bible. But banish the typical understanding of inspiration from your mind.

b. Biblical inspiration doesn’t mean that the Spirit motivated or excited the biblical authors to write. Inspiration literally means: God-breathed.

c. It means that the Holy Spirit guaranteed that what the biblical writers recorded was indeed the Word of God. That it was recorded accurately and without error.

d. So we can be assured that the Bible we possess accurately reflects both what God said, and what others said that God wanted recorded.

e. Illumination is the ministry of the Holy Spirit whereby believers can understand God’s inspired Word.

f. When we say “understand,” we don’t mean intellectually. Though there’s clearly an intellectual component in understanding the Bible.

g. We’re talking about spiritual discernment of what was written. Not so much “I understand what this says.” But “I know what this means and the spiritual significance.” Big difference.

h. This applies to the cults when they read the Bible. They may understand what it says—but the Spirit of God has not opened their eyes to the real meaning.

i. The word “illuminate” in its root sense means “to light up, to throw light on, to shine on.” When you shine light on something, it’s so you can…see it!

j. That’s the idea. The Holy Spirit illuminates the Word of God so we can see it. So we can understand it. So we can know what it means and what we’re to do about that.

15. And the Holy Spirit…guides believers. The Holy Spirit desires that we grow in Christlikeness. That our thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions reflect who he is.

a. This inevitably involves a direction and path, which is borne out of decisions and choices. So the Spirit guides us by the Word of God so we stay on the path of God.

b. The Holy Spirit has a vested interest in our growth because our growth brings glory and honor to God.

c. We could spend time on this, but I simply refer you to the recent Galatians sermon series. Galatians very effectively describes our sanctification process.

16. And the Holy Spirit…equips and empowers believers for spiritual growth, Christlikeness, and service. Actually this is a bit redundant. If we are like Christ, then growth and service are guaranteed.

a. No one can effectively live the Christian life without some necessary things in place.

b. First you must actually be a Christian. You must be a true believer through faith in Christ in whom the Holy Spirit of God lives.

c. And you must be committed to knowing what the will of God is before you can do it. You learn what the will of God is through his word, the Bible.

d. Even if you happen to find the will of God through some other source—it must still be squared with what the Bible says—it’s the only authority for God’s will.

e. And you must be committed to prayer. Prayer connects us to the source of spiritual power and provides spiritual relational stability. Neglecting prayer is like neglecting food. Sooner or later you’ll get hungry, weak, sick, and die.

f. And you must be committed to the community of other believers. This is taught throughout the New Testament. Jesus could have modeled anything he wanted to model—he chose to model community and the centrality of relationships.

g. And you must be committed to being filled with the Spirit. In other words—controlled by the Spirit.

h. You’ll remember from Galatians that every true believer has 2 natures battling within. There’s the old nature that only wants what is contrary to God’s will.

i. And there’s the new nature, that only wants what IS God’s will. The nature we submit to and obey is the one that prevails.

j. The Holy Spirit wants to guide us to Christlikeness. But he won’t force us to comply. Like that old saw: You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

k. The Holy Spirit is more than happy to lead us in the way we should go. But the Spirit will allow us to lead if we prefer to be in charge. It’s always our call.