Holy Spirit Pt. 1

 This is the manuscript for the sermon I preached at West Bradenton Baptist Southside on Sunday February 9, 2020.

Today we are starting a new series titled “The Holy Spirit”.  For the next 8-weeks I will be talking extensively about the Holy Spirit.  There is so much written in the Bible about the Holy Spirit and yet it is a topic we seem to shy away from.  The Spirit plays a significant role in the transformative life and church and yet so many neglect to acknowledge the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives and churches.  Pastor Jim Cymbala wrote in his book FRESH POWER, “A Church cannot be a Church without the abiding and empowering of the Holy Spirit.”  And I would ad that a Christian cannot be a Christian without the abiding and empowering Holy Spirit.  This quote struck me because I have noticed that more and more Christians and/or churches are depending less and less on the power of the Holy Spirit. 
 
Today we are going to spend some time searching the Bible to answer the question… “What or who is the Holy Spirit?” This is message is in no way an exhaustive or complete revelation of what/who the Spirit is because the Holy Spirit cannot be sufficiently explained nor packaged in a nice little box of understanding and clarity.  I think the early church theologian Cyril of Jerusalem said it best when he said, “When we speak of the Holy Spirit, whatever we say will be inadequate.  There is nothing any theologian, preacher, priest, co-worker, teacher, spiritualist, author, believer, or I can say or write to paint sufficient picture or description the Holy Spirit.  It is impossible.  However, we can learn and understand what we do by searching the Scripture to see what God has revealed about the Holy Spirit in His Word.  
           
Before we can answer the question, “Who or what is the Holy Spirit?” we will have to tackle some challenges that hinder a proper understanding of who or what the Holy Spirit is. 

1. The first challenge is the nearly impossible task of trying to define something that is indefinable.  I cannot give you a nice packaged definition of the Holy Spirit.  It is complex to define and neither words nor pictures can paint a true portrait or give us a full and comprehensive understanding of the Holy Spirit.  Yet the great irony is that we cannot fully define the Holy Spirit, but we can fully know and experience the Holy Spirit fully in our lives and church. 
2. A second challenge is unregenerate people cannot grasp or understand the concept, or power of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, you must be a believer in Christ to both have the Spirit and understand the purpose of the Spirit.  For example, scripture tells us it is impossible for someone to understand who the Holy Spirit is when he has no natural disposition of the Spirit in him/her.  1 Corinthians 2:14 states, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”  In other words, this means the natural (or unregenerate) person cannot understand things concerning the Spirit of God.  And this is important because none of us before we came to follow Jesus Christ naturally desire or pursue God or His Spirit.  It is the Spirit Himself who pursues us and reveals himself to the unregenerate person.  This is where many find the difficulty in understanding the role of Holy Spirit because in order for unregenerate people to know or experience the Holy Spirit, the Spirit must make himself known and call one from his state of Spiritual deadness to life.
3. The final challenge is dealing with the extra biblical and personal perceptions of who the Spirit is.  In the book SURPRISED BY THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT author Jack Deere writes, “The majority of what Christians believe is not derived from their own patient and careful study of the Scriptures.  The majority of Christians believe what they believe because godly and respected teachers told them what was correct.”  In other words, we believe what we believe because someone (Pastor, professor, author etc.) told us what we believe is right.  Very few conclude what they believe or know about the Holy Spirit because they have diligently or spent time in God’s Word.  For some of us our biggest challenge may be that we need to unlearn some things we may have been taught about the Holy Spirit.  This is always a painful and faith shaking process, but in the end, it is freeing and faith building.

 
My goal and purpose for today is to open our Bible and look as comprehensively as time will permit about what it says about the Holy Spirit.  So, in our remaining time together we will look at these three things…

1. Biblical view of the Holy Spirit
   
2. The names of the Spirit.
   
3. Who the Holy Spirit is as He is revealed in Scripture?

 
A Biblical View of the Holy Spirit    
Who or what is the Holy Spirit?”  This is a question many have asked and will continue to ask.  Keep in mind that a concise and complete definition does not exist. 
           
Holy Spirit:  The word Holy – Kodesh (Heb) or Hageos (GK) means “the most Holy thing, separate, sacred, or set apart. The word Spirit – Ruah (Heb) or Pneuma (GK) means breath, wind, or air in motion.  So, we can define the Holy Spirit as a sacred or set apart from everything breath.  What does that mean?  Maybe this will be more helpful, it is the divine breath or wind of God. The Holy Spirit is the very essence of God.  We know that the Holy Spirit is referred to as the third person in the trinity (who was present at the Creation of the World) and the Spirit is present in both the Old and New Testament.  This Holy Spirit we have today is the same Spirit that indwelt the prophets, the Apostles and dwells in us today.  The very essence or breath of God resides in the believer; as 1 Corinthians 6:19 states, “The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…” The Spirit dwells in the body of every believer in Christ.  When one is called to become a follower of Jesus, the Spirit takes up residency in the believer’s life.  We will talk more in the weeks to come.

Even though, it seems in the O.T. the Spirit would come and go as it pleased, we read in John 20:19 – 22 that Jesus gives the disciples the Holy Spirit and it dwells in them, “When it was evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”  After saying this, he breathed on them and said,[c] “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” and from this moment on the Spirit dwells and abides within a person once he/she believes.
           
The Holy Spirit has many names in the Bible… (Not an exhaustive list)

• He is simply called the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7, 8)
• Spirit of Truth (John 16:13)
• Comforter (John 15:26) / Helper (John 16:7)/ Advocate (1 John 2:1) These two words are used interchangeably… Depends on your version of the Bible.  Greek word is Parakletos which is defined as “called to ones aid”.
• Spirit of Adoption (Rom 8:15) – The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children.
• Teacher (1 Cor. 2:10, Luke 12:12, John 14:26)
• Spirit of God, Spirit of wisdom, Spirit of judgment, Spirit of grace, Spirit of life and many, many more.

 
The Spirit is analogous to….

• A Wind (John 3:8)
• Fire (Acts 2:2,3)
• A Dove (Matthew 3:16)
• Water (John 7:37, 38)

 
The Holy Spirit is a person not an unknowable force

• Jesus refers to the Spirit as ANOTHER (one like himself) Helper to be with you forever.  John 14:16
• John 14:17 Even in these verses Jesus refers to the H.S. as a person or “him”.
• John 14:26 The Spirit is a teacher (Greek word denotes one who teaches.) 
• According to the Nicene Creed the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity.  This is an extra biblical source but is widely accepted by the Church as a whole.

 
The Holy Spirit is God

• In Acts 5:3 -4 Peter equates the Holy Spirit with God.
• The Holy Spirit is also referred to as Spirit of God. (1 Cor 2:14).
• Rom 8:9 – 11 refers to the Spirit as God, Jesus and the Spirit who dwells in you. 

He is one with the Father and the Son yet He has distinctive properties.

• John 15:26 mentions that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and is sent by the Father to testify of Jesus.

Who (Characteristics of) is the Holy Spirit?
            The Holy Spirit is omnipresent – Psalm 139:7 - 12
            The Spirit is Creator – Job 33:4
            The Spirit is eternal – Heb. 9:14
            The Spirit is omniscient – 1 Cor. 2:10
            The Spirit is the Truth – John 16:13, 14
            The Spirit is a teacher/helper/comforter – John 14:26
            He is unique because there is none like Him.
            He is not matter but He is substance.
           
Fundamentally the Holy Spirit is not an optional part of Christianity…  He isn’t something we can opt in or out of if we want Him.  He is a vital part of the life of a Christian.  In fact, he is essential to the Christian faith.  Without the Holy Spirit we cannot live the Christian life.  I conclude with these words that I believe to be true and will hopefully encourage us to be a people and church who are led by and dependent on the Holy Spirit.  Just as Christianity without Christ is a dead religion so a congregation without the Spirit is a dead church.  By the grace of God, may we be a congregation who is alive in the Spirit of God.