I can remember a
conversation with a pastor about the subject of the Holy Spirit. He expressed to me that for the most part the
young adults in the church followed Jesus, but the Holy Spirit was like a
surprise at the bottom of their backpack.
Needless to say there can be a lot of confusion and neglect when it
comes to understanding the Person and the work of the Holy Spirit. Francis Chan wrote a book not too long ago
titled, Forgotten God, about the Holy Spirit and another pastor, Robert Morris,
wrote, ‘The God I Never Knew’.
So, our desire over
the next few months is to explore the Person of the Holy Spirit and friendship
with Him. We also want to embrace His
work and power in our lives and understand and use the gifts He has given us
for the express purpose of building up believers and being a bold witness.
Today we will look at
the person of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s take a bird’s
eye view of the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testament and then we will zero
in on his role. Is everyone ready to fly with me this morning?
Check out this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNNZO9i1Gjc
The Holy Spirit is
likened to wind, fire, breath, anointing oil and a dove. The Spirit of God is creative and powerful
but most importantly Holy Spirit is a person who has a mind, will and emotions.
He is the third person
of the Godhead and Holy Spirit had a role from the very beginning of creation.
The earth was formless and void and darkness
was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the
surface of the waters. Genesis 1:2
The Holy Spirit also
was also active in the creation of man.
JUST BREATHE!
Then Lord God formed
man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living being.
The word ‘breath’
‘RUACH’ in Hebrew also means spirit and wind. (Take time to breathe)
The OT also reveals how
the presence of Holy Spirit also came on
people such as Gideon, Samson and David to name a few.
What happened when
Holy Spirit came upon these people?
They had supernatural
strength, boldness, wisdom!
When Jesus came to
earth we see Holy Spirit come upon Him
like a dove. Right after His baptism,
the HS led Jesus into the wilderness.
We also see Jesus
breathing on his disciples the Holy Spirit John 20:22
We see Holy Spirit active in the writing of the
Scriptures 2 Timothy 3:16,17 God breathed (Holy Spirit infused). 2 Peter 1:21 Men were carried along by HS.
This does not mean that God dictated every
word. Rather his Spirit so pervaded the mind of the human writer that he chose
out of his own vocabulary and experience precisely those words, thoughts and
expressions that conveyed God's message with precision. (LaSor,
Hubbard, and Bush, Old Testament Survey, p. 15)
In John 14:16 as Jesus
prepares the disciples for He will leave them, He states,
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth.
Then in John 16:7
7 But very truly I
tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the
Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
In John 14:26 we see
that the Holy Spirit is our teacher. He
makes the Word of God come alive and relevant.
He brings understanding to the deeper things of God
In John 15:26 it is
Holy Spirit who reveals Jesus to us and make Him more real in our lives.
John 14:12
12 Very truly I tell
you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will
do even greater things than these,
because I am going to the Father.
Greater
things..really? How is that even
possible?
This is only possible
through the power and overflow of the Holy Spirit of God!
I’ll never forget
being in a small village in the mountains of Nepal where I heard the story of a
funeral service for a young woman.
Through a translator I listened as they shared how they had a worship
service for the lady and that while they worshipped she came back to life! God is doing the greater things though His
Holy Spirit all over the world!
Let’s look at the Holy Spirit’s ROLE in this
world as Jesus described in John 16:8-11
And when He has come,
He will convict (convince, prove) the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement: of sin, because they do
not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father and you see Me
no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
1.
It is the Holy Spirit’s role to convict the
unbeliever of sin.
I can remember going
to a car dealership for a job interview shortly after Sharon and I were
married. I was volunteering at that time
as a youth worker, but of course needed work.
When he asked me about my sales experience, I looked at him and said, “well, I sell
Jesus!” He looked at me, smiled and we had a moment, but I
didn’t get the job.
However, back then,
that’s how I kind of operated. I felt I
had this evangelist title and I had to convince people that they needed Jesus.
Here’s the truth
though…that’s not my job, it’s not your job.
It’s the Holy Spirit’s job! So,
what is our role…glad you asked. We are
called to be witnesses…. (Acts 1:8)
What does a witness
do? A witness is called to testify to
the things they saw and heard.
We are called to
testify to who Jesus is and how He has changed our life, we tell our story by
the power of the Holy Spirit. When? Another great
question…those that are the children of God are led by the Spirit of God (
Romans 8:14) and as I shared earlier He prepares it all in advance for us. He lines up our circumstances. He places us at the right place at the right
time and we know it’s our moment because it is stirring inside of us.
It also doesn’t mean
that a person will come to know Jesus when we share with them. We also know that it takes on average 5-6
different people sharing the gospel with someone for them to come to faith in
Jesus.
Bonnie was a
receptionist at Master Mechanic where I pastored in Milton. I would meet with her when I got work done on
my car. As it turned out, other people
from our church also met her through the recreational softball league in
town. As it also turned out, her
daughter was invited out to our youth ministry through one of the youth at the high
school. She knew something was up and
that God was pursuing her. Bonnie
eventually gave her life to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit
reveals and displays Jesus to the world.
In the kingdom, we are
in this together. I didn’t know that
there were other people witnessing. We
are not alone in this. Some sow seeds,
some water and some reap, but the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts of sin
and draws people to the Father.
2.
It is the Holy Spirit’s role to convict the world of righteousness.
Jesus says that the
Holy Spirit will convict this world of righteousness, that is, the Holy Spirit
will ultimately reveal to the world who is right and who is God’s Righteous
One.
The HS also imparts
His righteousness on us for our own justification and salvation.
The HS also enables us
to see that we are accepted as righteous in His sight.
The Holy Spirit’s role
was to take Jesus’ place on earth, to bring peace, joy and the kingdom through
His followers living out their faith!
3 The Holy Spirit has also been sent to convince
the world of judgment. The enemy of
their souls has been dealt a death blow.
Jesus is clearly identifying
Satan as the former ruler of this world.
He was judged over 2000 years ago through Jesus’ sacrifice and
subsequent victory over death, the grave and hell. He no longer has any authority in our lives.
When the world comes
to know Jesus, the enemy’s power is loosened.
He no longer has a strangle hold over them.
We need to know our
authority over our enemy, We need to remember he is defeated and he has no
power over us.
IF WE DON’T, it’s like
giving an opportunity, opening a door or as the Bible says ‘giving him a
foothold’ in our life.
Satan can wreak havoc
with our lives if we give any credibility to his lies. He comes to steal, kill and destroy and he
will do everything he can to move you away from your confidence, your hope and
your strength in the LORD.
He is masterful at
distraction. He can disguise himself as
an angel of light.
And no wonder, for
Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14
If you allow him he
will keep you feeling unworthy of God’s acceptance
He is called the
accuser of the brethren or followers of Christ.
(Revelation 12:10) He will want to drag you through the mud every time
you mess us. He will want you to relive
your mistakes, your past defeats and mire you in them.
He is the great
deceiver. John 8:44,45
He will do everything
he can to keep you from walking in a deeper relationship with HS because he
knows that is where the power lies in our life.
TAKEAWAY
Let’s review. There are three roles that HS plays as we see
in John 16:8
1.
He
convinces the unbeliever of sin – you are a witness, testify!
2.
He
convinces the believer of their righteousness – stand firm in who you are in
Christ
3.
He convinces
the world of judgement – the enemy has
no power over you.
We need to go deeper
with HS
We will move more into
Acts and the letters of Paul to see the ministry and outpouring of the Holy
Spirit in the life of the believer.
Amy Ward, a teacher at
YWAM, said it best.
The Holy Spirit wants to aid you, assist you,
help you, guide you, lead you, give you revelation of Scripture, release his
gifts through you, give you boldness, teach you, strengthen you, refresh you,
empower you, anoint you, protect you, fellowship with you, help you pray, give
you rest, give you wisdom, reveal Jesus in your life, be your friend, and
comfort you.
