11 June 2017
[Modified from 18 August 2002]
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Acts 2:1-4
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together
in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent
rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And
there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they
rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
-- An old sailor
repeatedly got lost at sea, so his friends gave him a compass and urged him to
use it. The next time he went out in his boat, he followed their advice and
took the compass with him. But as usual he became hopelessly confused and was
unable to find land -- finally he was rescued by his friends
-- Disgusted and
impatient with him, they asked, "Why didn't you use that compass we gave
you? You could have saved us a lot of
trouble
-- The sailor responded,
"I didn't dare to! I wanted to go north, but as hard as I tried to make
the needle aim in that direction, it kept pointing southeast
-- That old sailor was
so certain he knew which was was north that he stubbornly tried to force his
own personal persuasion on his compass. Unable to do so, he tossed it aside as
worthless and failed to benefit from the guidance it offered
-- we do the same thing
in our lives, as well -- we have a compass in our lives -- the Holy Spirit --
but sometimes we think we know better than Him so we head off in the wrong
direction and end up outside of God's will
-- this
evening, we’re going to talk about the Holy Spirit -- the one thing you really
need to know about the Holy Spirit is that once we are saved -- once we have
accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and repented of our sins -- immediately
-- the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us -- 1 Cor 6:19 says, "Do you
not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you
have received from God?" -- the Holy Spirit lives within us -- He is God's
living presence inside of us -- and He works in us and through us to accomplish
God's will in our lives and in the lives of all those we meet along the way --
whether they are in Uganda or they are sitting next to you in the pew
-- so let’s
talk about what the Holy Spirit does in our lives and what He wants to do
through us
II. Purposes of the Spirit
-- when you
look at the work of the Holy Spirit in the world, you see Him moving in five
main ways -- just like we have the means of the grace -- the ordinary means or
ways that God graces our lives -- we have five means of the Spirit -- five ways
He works in the world and in our lives today
-- these
five are salvation, sanctification, strengthening, enlightening, and empowering
-- that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit doesn't work in different ways --
these are just the usual ways that we recognize His works in and through us
A.
Salvation and Evangelism
--
let's start with the first one -- salvation -- turn over to John 16:8-11
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.
-- now when
we think of salvation, our first thoughts, of course, turn to Jesus and His
work on the cross -- and rightly it should, because it was on the cross of
Calvary that Jesus won for us our salvation by dying in our place for our sins
-- so how
does the Holy Spirit figure in to the Salvation equation? -- the Holy Spirit
points us to the cross that Jesus died on and pushes us in that direction --
this verse says that He convicts the world of guilt in regard to sin and
righteousness and judgement -- it is the Spirit that makes us aware that we are
sinners in need of salvation -- it is the Spirit that reveals the truth of the gospel
and it is the Spirit that takes us to the foot of the cross where we can repent
of our sins
-- you've
heard people say that God only listens to the prayers of Christians -- that He
only works in the lives of Christians -- well, if that was true, then none of
us would be here, because we were all once sinners in need of salvation -- but
thanks be to God that He sent the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin and lead
us to the cross where Jesus died
-- you know
what this is called -- we’ve talked about it before many times -- the
theological term that we use for this is prevenient grace -- the grace that
goes before -- the grace that leads sinners to salvation -- the grace that
causes that neighbor who doesn't know Christ to ask you about God
-- another
aspect of this work of the Spirit is that He puts in us the desire to reach out
to others -- the desire to evangelize and to spread the good news of Christ to
all we come in contact with -- I am going to read now from Acts 1:8 -- in this
verse, the risen Christ is speaking to His disciples before the ascension --
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth."
-- when we
have been saved and have the very Spirit of God living within us, we just can't
help but talk about it -- that is what Jesus is saying in this verse -- because
of the Spirit in us, we will tell others about Him -- in the next chapter of
Acts, when Pentecost came and the Holy Spirit filled all the disciples, the
entire focus of the Spirit's work was evangelistic -- He spoke through Peter as
He preached to the crowd, and 3000 people were saved
B.
Sanctification
-- the next
major area of emphasis by the Spirit is sanctification -- I am going to read
from 2 Thes 2:13 -- this verse reads, "But we ought always to thank God
for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose
you to be saved through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth."
-- to sanctify means to set apart
-- to make holy -- so the Spirit works in us to set us apart for God -- to make
us holy as God is holy
-- I think one of the clearest
definitions of sanctification is in Ephesians 4:22-24
22 that, in reference to your
former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in
accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit
of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been
created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
-- sanctification then is putting
behind us the old corrupted self -- being renewed in our mind and in our spirit
-- and putting on our new self -- becoming more and more like God in
righteousness and holiness
-- this is the never-ending story
in our life -- the Holy Spirit works in us and helps us to grow in Christ -- to
become more and more mature -- to become more and more Holy and righteous and
Just as we let Him shape us and make us more like Him
-- do you know those times when
you're sitting there listening to a sermon or reading the Bible or listening to
a song and all of a sudden you're hit right between the eyes and you know that
that sermon or that verse is for you -- that is the Holy Spirit working in you
-- helping you clean out your life so you can be sanctified -- so you can be
more like Jesus
C.
Strengthening
-- as part
of sanctification, the Spirit strengthens us in our spiritual walk -- this is
the third major means of the Spirit in our lives
-- when we
are first saved, we are weak -- the Bible says we are "babes in
Christ" -- we can't seem to get this Christian thing down -- even after we
have been saved 5 - 10 - 20 years, there are still areas in our lives where we
are weak -- areas that we don't walk with the Lord
-- the
Spirit works in us through these areas -- when we are weak -- when we reach
those times that we just can't go on, the Spirit intercedes for us -- as John
14:26 says, the Holy Spirit serves as our advocate -- as our counselor -- as
our comforter -- He stands up for us when we can't stand on our own
-- look
over at Romans 8:26-27
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.
-- when we can't pray for ourselves, the Holy Spirit prays
for us -- He is always interceding on our behalf -- advocating for us --
holding us up to the Father
-- 2 Peter
1:21 says that men were carried along by the Holy Spirit -- when they couldn't
help themselves, He helped them
-- when we
are troubled by pain or doubt -- when we are weak in our spirits -- the Bible
tells us that the Holy Spirit fills us with assurance -- Romans 8:15-16 says
that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God
-- there have been times in my life, when this assurance was the only thing
that kept me going
D. Enlightenment
-- the next means of the
Spirit we will be talking about is enlightenment -- John 14:26 -- “But the
Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you
all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
-- in this verse, Jesus
tells us that the Holy Spirit -- our Counselor -- will teach us all things and
remind us of everything Jesus has told us -- He will enlighten us -- He will
illumine our minds with the things of God
-- there's a couple more
passages I want to look at about enlightenment -- flip on over to John 16:13 --
once again, this is Jesus talking to His disciples -- “But when he, the
Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak
on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet
to come.”
-- once again, Jesus
tells us that the Spirit will speak to us and tell us what He has heard from
Jesus and from the Father
-- one more passage on
this subject -- 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
9 but just as it is written,
“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT
SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED
THE HEART OF MAN,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED
FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches
all things, even the depths of God
-- Paul is telling us
the same thing in this passage -- he says that God has revealed to us the truth
by the Holy Spirit -- the Spirit living within us speaks to us the truth and
helps us to understand the spiritual side of things
-- this passage also
answers another question you may have had -- how do I know the will of God? --
how can I possibly understand what God is doing in my life or in this situation?
-- you understand what God has prepared for us because God reveals it to us
through His Spirit -- we are enlightened by the Spirit within us
-- verse 11-12
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. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God
-- verse 11 points out
that we have a mortal mind -- we do not know the ways of God -- on our own, we
cannot understand God -- that's why God says in Isaiah 55:8-9, ""For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares
the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." -- mortal man cannot
understand the ways or thoughts of God
-- but, this verse goes
on to say that the Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God the Father, and as
we have learned, He reveals them to us -- so that we may understand what God
has freely given us
-- verse 13
13which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in
those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
-- Paul goes on to say that what he is teaching the Corinthians, then,
comes from the Father through the Holy Spirit -- they are spiritual truth
taught in spiritual words that the Spirit has expressed through Paul
-- verse 14
14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually appraised.
-- here we see the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian
when it comes to understanding spiritual things -- do you remember what it was
like before you were saved when you tried to understand the Bible -- do you
remember how hard you thought the Bible was? -- I know I did -- I just couldn't
understand it -- I'd read it and re-read it -- but it just didn't click -- I
couldn't understand what they were talking about
-- but then, after I was
saved, it started to come together -- I started to understand the different
passages -- I began to understand the beauty of the Psalms, the wisdom of the
Proverbs, and the life-changing lessons of the gospels -- when the Bible said
the veil was torn from top to bottom on Good Friday, I know knew -- not just in
my head but in my heart -- what it meant
-- what made the
difference? -- the Holy Spirit -- the Spirit of God inside of me enlightening
my soul and explaining to me the spiritual truths and the spiritual words
-- and the thing about
the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit is that it continues throughout life -- I
am constantly learning new things about the Bible -- I am constantly learning
new things about God
-- here's an important principle -- as you mature
in Christ, you will understand more and more of the truth -- as we mature in
our faith, the Holy Spirit will reveal more and more of the truth to us -- just
like when we were kids -- when we were in the first grade, they didn't teach us
algebra -- we had to mature in math -- we had to learn how to do the basics
before the teachers could reveal to us the higher mathematics -- it is the same
concept with the Holy Spirit
-- I think the key to understanding the Spirit's
work in enlightenment is in the next two verses -- verse 15-16
15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things,
yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE
LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.
-- we have the mind of Christ because of the Holy
Spirit living within us, enlightening and illumining our understanding of
spiritual things
E. Empowerment
-- the final area of
emphasis by the Holy Spirit I want to touch on is empowerment -- this is
probably the one area that you knew the Holy Spirit really worked in before we
started this series
-- when you think about
the Holy Spirit, what is the primary thing that comes to mind? -- the spiritual
gifts -- do you remember the passage in Acts 2 about Pentecost that we read
last week? -- it said that when the Spirit came upon the believers they were
filled with the Spirit and spoke in different languages -- different tongues --
as the Spirit enabled them
-- we have been over
these spiritual gifts before, so I’m not going to read these passages tonight
-- just jot them down and look at them on your own later this week -- we’ll
just talk about them generally right now
-- 1 Corinthians
12:1-11, 28-31
-- there are additional
Spiritual Gifts mentioned in Romans 12:6-8
-- and finally, in
Ephesians 4:11, we learn that God gifted some people to be apostles, some to be
evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers
-- these three passages
-- 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4:11 -- are the passages we find
the gifts of the Spirit
-- but turn back to 1
Corinthians 12:7 and you will see the key verse about spiritual gifts -- “Now
to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
-- here we see two main things -- first, these
characteristics -- prophecy, speaking in tongues, evangelism, administration,
faith, intercessory prayer, etc. -- these are called "gifts" -- but
in actuality, they are merely the manifestation of the Spirit in our lives
-- in other words, this
isn't some special power that God has given us -- it is actually the Spirit
working through us -- if you have the gift of prophecy, it isn't you who is
given the ability to tell the future -- it is the Spirit speaking the future
through you
-- if you have the gift
of speaking in tongues -- it isn't some magical ability you have just gotten --
it is the Holy Spirit -- the creator of all languages -- speaking through you
-- basically, when you
become filled with the Holy Spirit you become a glove -- He puts you on and
works through you in these different areas and in these different ways to
accomplish God's purposes on earth
-- the second thing we
see in this verse is that these manifestations -- the working of the Spirit
through us -- are solely given for the common good -- they are given to us for
others -- these gifts aren't ours -- they are to be shared and used as the
Spirit works through us -- as He empowers us to do God's ministry on earth
-- finally, let me just
remind you of the fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5 -- Jesus said that the
world would know us by our fruits -- this is what He was talking about -- how
does the world know we are saved -- how can I look at you and know that some of
you are saved, sanctified, and strengthened saints -- because I see the fruits
of the Spirit in your life -- these fruits of the Spirit and the gifts -- the
manifestation of the Spirit -- are the ways in which the Spirit empowers us in
the world today
III. Closing
-- so, to
sum up -- the Holy Spirit is here with us -- He indwells every believer with
His presence -- and He works within us in five distinct ways: salvation,
sanctification, strengthening, enlightening, and empowering
-- we need
to become more aware and more open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our
lives -- for too long, the church has ignored the presence and the purpose of
God’s Holy Spirit -- that’s why Francis Chan wrote a book called, “Forgotten
God”
-- as we
close, let’s commit to making a concerted effort to remember the Holy Spirit --
to allow Him to work in us and through us to make a difference in this world
today -- remember, God is always with you in the presence of the Holy Spirit,
and we need to be open to His presence if we are to grow in Christ
-- let us
pray
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