The Holy Spirit

Welcome to Built on God's Word, the preaching and teaching ministry of Highland Park Baptist Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.! Jeremy Norton teaches on the Holy Spirit.!

And that's the other handout. We'll be kind of going through those in the order I've got them laid out there. So if I mention a scripture and then read it, it should kind of be next in order. There's a couple of extras in there as well that I may not explicitly read but are good for reference.

So let me open us in a word of prayer and then we'll jump in. Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time this evening. We pray that you'll guide my words, help them to be honoring to you and faithful to what your word teaches about your Holy Spirit.

We pray that you'll be in this room tonight as I teach and as people listen. We pray that you'll impress upon their hearts the importance of your spirit in dwelling them and what that means in their Christian life.

That you'll help them to live faithfully according to what you have for each person here. Thank you so much for our time together this evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'm going to endeavor tonight in 45 minutes to give you an overview of some of the activities of the Holy Spirit.

And for that purpose, we're going to use the outline Grudem provided in the chapter of the book. But to set the groundwork, I want to define the work of the Holy Spirit.

And that's there at the top of your handout. The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world and especially in the church. The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world and especially in the church.

This definition indicates the Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity whom Scripture most often represents as being present to do God's work in the world. Now when I use the word present, I mean present to bless.

Because the Holy Spirit is God, He has the omnipresent characteristic of God, meaning that He's everywhere. But He does not always show His presence in activities to bring blessing.

So when I say present, I mean the Holy Spirit is present to bless. When we survey the whole of Scripture, we see the Spirit at the very beginning. Genesis 1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit was moving over the surface of the waters. He then appears throughout the Old Testament in various places.

In the Old Testament, the presence of God was many times manifested in the glory of God and in theophanies. And in the Gospels, Jesus Himself manifested the presence of God among men.

But after Jesus ascended into heaven and continuing into the church age, the Holy Spirit, indwelling believers, is now the primary manifestation of the presence of the Trinity among us. So when we look at the Old Testament, we see that predicted.

We see that presence of God and the Holy Spirit being predicted. Isaiah 32, 14-18 Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken, hill and watchtower have become caves forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.

Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is considered as a forest, then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will abide in the fertile field.

And the work of the righteous will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness, and confidence forever. Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, and in secure dwellings, and in undisturbed resting places.

So we see there the promise of the Holy Spirit being poured out on high. Isaiah further prophesied blessing on God's people through his Spirit in Isaiah 44-3. For I will pour out water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground, I will pour out my Spirit on your offering, and my blessing on your descendants.

By contrast, the departure of the Holy Spirit removed the blessing from God's people. Isaiah 63-10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.

Therefore he turned himself to become their enemy, and he fought against them. So we see the presence being blessing, and the removal being strife, or removal of blessing.

The Old Testament saints understood this. We see David, in his prayer of repentance for his sins, makes the following statement. Psalm 51-11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

He's asking God's blessing to remain on him. Despite the prophecies of the removal of the Holy Spirit for rebellion, Ezekiel and Joel prophesied at a time when the Holy Spirit would come in greater fullness, and God would make his new covenant with his people.

In Ezekiel 36-27 We read, Moreover, I give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh.

I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. This is the period in which we live, under the new covenant, where the Holy Spirit comes and indwells every believer, and brings blessing.

MacArthur notes that this is one of the most dominant themes of the New Testament. So, now moving into our outline, Grudem provides four aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit to bring evidence of God's presence and to bless.

For the remainder of our time this evening, we're going to work through these one by one. So, the first one, the Holy Spirit purifies. The second one, the Holy Spirit unifies.

The third one, the Holy Spirit reveals. And the fourth, the Holy Spirit empowers. And if you didn't get all those, we'll hit them as we go through, and you can fill in the blanks. We'll begin with the Holy Spirit purifies. After listing a series of unrighteous behavior that will cause people not to inherit the kingdom of God, Paul reminds the Corinthians that because of the Holy Spirit, they are made right with God.

1 Corinthians 6-11 says, Such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

So right ahead of that, Paul lists a whole series of unrighteous behavior. And then he says that you were justified, you were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God.

So we see the Holy Spirit purifying people. Paul is saying that before the conviction by the Holy Spirit and subsequent repentance, we are all unrighteous and cannot inherit the kingdom. But you were washed, sanctified, justified.

You don't need washing if you're clean. You don't need justification or sanctification if you're right with God. We are in none of these states prior to faith in Christ. John quoting Jesus tells us the Holy Spirit convicts of sin.

John 16, 8-11. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me. And concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me.

And concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. When an unbeliever is convicted because he doesn't believe in Jesus, then he repents and places his faith in Christ.

He is washed, sanctified, and justified. This is all done by the power of the Holy Spirit. No human of his own accord turns to Christ. It is the convicting power of the Holy Spirit that causes repentance.

And we saw in 1 Corinthians that it is the power of the Holy Spirit that purifies the believer and makes him right with God. If you're here tonight, and this is news to you, and you're feeling convicted, then I encourage you to come talk to Me, or find one of our elders to understand what it means to believe in Jesus Christ, and be made right with God.

After initial purification, the Holy Spirit brings forth growth that appears as fruit of the Spirit. Now, you're all likely familiar with Galatians 5, 22-23.

Some of you probably have it memorized. It's the fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Since that's a familiar verse, I want to highlight a couple of things for you. First, fruit is a foregone conclusion of the Spirit. If one is saved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, then one will necessarily bear fruit.

This contradicts the idea of a so-called carnal Christian, one who claims faith but doesn't live it. Secondarily, and I don't know if you guys have ever noticed this, but verse 22 says, fruit and not fruits.

Why is this important? Because fruit, without an S, means that true believers will manifest all of these simultaneously.

Now, they may be to varying degrees from person to person, but we expect to see all of these elements in the life of a true Spirit-indwelt believer in Christ. Paul can make this statement because while we are all different, the Spirit that indwells us is the same.

Well, it might look different from believer to believer. The fruit listed here in Galatians that comes from the Spirit will be the same.

God is so consistent. I think it's hard for us to even wrap our brains around how consistent God is because we struggle to be consistent. Right? We think we're consistent. I want to think I'm consistent in my parenting.

I want to think that I consistently give the same instructions to my kids and all my kids at the same time. But I'm not. Right? I'll tell them to do something and then two days later, I'll ignore whatever I told them to do because I'm not able to be that consistent.

God is. When God says, God does. So if God the Holy Spirit indwells you, that fruit that Paul says will come from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will happen and it will be the same fruit.

The final item I want to cover here under the heading of the Holy Spirit purifies is sanctification. Like I mentioned, you can't save yourself. It's only in the power of the Holy Spirit.

You also can't sanctify yourself. But it does require your participation. God does the saving, but when it comes to sanctification, you have to participate in that process.

Sanctification is the process of becoming more and more like Christ and to be made holy or righteous. Only in the power of the Holy Spirit can our character be refined to be more like Jesus. Paul tells the Galatians to walk by the Spirit in Galatians 5, 16, and 25.

He also reminds the Thessalonians that they are to be sanctified by the Spirit in 2 Thessalonians 2, 13. But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and the faith in the truth.

As you yield to the Spirit's work in your life, your character will be more and more like Jesus. I think R.C. Sproul put this well in describing what it means to be a saint.

He says, The Spirit works to produce sanctified human beings, not deified creatures. When the Spirit indwells, He does not become human and we do not become gods.

The Holy Spirit does not destroy our personal identities as human beings. In our sanctification, we are to become godlike in character, but not in being. End quote.

So the Holy Spirit purifies. The second blank there, the Holy Spirit unifies. The Holy Spirit unifies. The Holy Spirit unifies. Hopefully this seems logically straightforward.

The same Holy Spirit indwells all believers and therefore creates unity among believers. There's one Holy Spirit and He doesn't have a split personality. It's kind of like God is three in one. Right?

There's some things, I think Mike mentioned this, we can't fully wrap our brains around it. Scripture says it and it's true, so we believe it. But just because God is three persons doesn't mean His character is any different across those three people.

When the Holy Spirit came on the community of believers at Pentecost, unprecedented unity followed in the initial church. Acts 2, 44-47 says, And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common.

And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might have need. Day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all people.

And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. They had all things in common. They shared one mind. They were moving from house to house and eating together and praising God.

Paul further iterates on this unifying function in his letters to the various churches. So after Acts as he's writing to the churches. Philippians 2, 1-2. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consideration of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in Spirit, intent on one purpose.

Ephesians 2, 13-22. But now in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall but is abolishing in his flesh the enmity which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so that in himself he might make the two into one new man thus establishing peace and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross but it having put to death the enmity and he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near for through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father.

So then you were no longer strangers and aliens but you were fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you are being built together into a dwelling of God in the spirit.

It's a picture of a building a building isn't divided in pieces it's all unified right? It all fits together so Ephesians is broken down into the first half of doctrine what we just read and then application so if you look at Ephesians 4 1 through 6 Paul gives the application what does it mean that we are unified in the spirit?

Therefore I the prisoner of the Lord implore you to walk worthy in a manner of the calling which you have been called with all humility and gentleness with patience showing tolerance for one another in love being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace there is one body and one spirit just as also you were called in one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all Paul tells you the doctrine and then he gives you the application walk worthy of a manner of the calling in love and persevere in the unity of the spirit there is only one spirit true believers will unite around the truth of God's word we may not all agree about various details of how to get certain things accomplished in the church but we will all be united around the truth of scripture in a section of 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul is discussing spiritual gifts he uses the following semi-comical example of why we are united 1 Corinthians 12 21 and the eye cannot say to the hand

I have no need of you or again the head to the feet I have no need of you when I read this I get this image in my mind of the eye talking to the hand saying well I don't need you the hand gets mad and leaves so now you're without a hand right after the hand's gone the eye gets a splinter in it and has no way to get it out because the hand left he asked the foot to get it out and since his toes can't pinch things and get the splinter it gets pushed and rubbed around and it took a lot longer it finally got out but it took a lot longer than it should have and created unwanted irritation that wasn't how God designed it to happen he gave the eye a hand so he could deal with the problem but the eye got mad and told the hand to leave no one person can do everything because God has not set it up that way we need to be united because we need each other to most effectively accomplish the work God has for us as a quick side note take this as an encouragement to engage and serve the church needs gifted men and women serving to function at its best

God will accomplish his purposes but it goes a lot better if you're engaged in serving where he has gifted you third the Holy Spirit reveals hang with me here there's six sub points I've listed them there on your handout so you don't have to fill in any blanks we're going to go through these pretty quick the first one how does the Holy Spirit reveal he provided direct revelation to the prophets and the apostles so we have God's word 2 Peter 1 20-21 but know this first of all that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will that men moved along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God second the Holy Spirit reveals he provides evidence of God's presence the Holy Spirit made his presence evident when he appeared as a dove at Jesus' baptism in John 1-32 and at Pentecost through the sound of a rushing wind and tongues of fire on the disciples

Acts 2-3 while sometimes not as visible in this way today the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God see that in Romans 8-16 and manifests through gifts bestowed on each believer third he guides and directs God's people in the Old Testament God says in Isaiah 31 it was sin to enter into agreements that were not part of the spirit he says woe to the rebellious children declares the Lord who execute a plan but not mine and make an alliance but not of my spirit in order to add sin to sin in the New Testament the spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted so strong was this direction that Mark in Mark 1-12 describes it as immediately the Holy Spirit impelled him to go into the wilderness in Acts we see the Holy Spirit directly tell Philip to go over and join this chariot to cause the gospel interaction with the Ethiopian he tells Peter to go with the men that came from Cornelius the Gentile and brought the gospel there there are also instances where the Holy Spirit supernaturally transports people from one place to another but in the vast majority of cases leading and guiding by the Holy Spirit is not nearly as dramatic scripture talks about day by day guidance as being led by the Spirit

Romans 8-14 for all who are being led by the Spirit of God these are the sons of God Galatians 5-18 but if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law the Greek word Paul uses in these instances is ego which I put it in your handout in brackets there that's the Greek word this verb is common in the New Testament and gives the picture of someone specifically leading a person or even an animal from one location to another this would create the picture for the first century reader of detailed specific guidance in various choices and decisions of everyday life so I'm going to ask you a question here for reflection what do you do when you need to make a decision what do you do when you need to make a decision big or small do you consult with the Spirit of God that indwells you as a believer do you go to God's revealed word for guidance or do you rely on your own personal experience

I think we could avoid a lot of difficulties that we cause ourselves in this life if we would spend more time relying on the Spirit to guide our decisions rather than our own thoughts and experiences the fourth thing fourth way he reveals himself is he provides a God-like atmosphere when he manifests his presence because the Holy Spirit is God his influence will bring a God-like character or atmosphere to the situations in which he is active what would this look like I'm going to give you a few examples conviction of sin righteousness and judgment we see that in John supernatural love peace and joy if you've been around believers long enough you've seen them respond in odd ways like why did they do that it's usually the Holy Spirit because it's not how a normal person would respond okay other elements include truth wisdom comfort freedom hope an awareness of sonship or adoption glory unity power these elements exist in the world because God created it but when the Holy Spirit is present and active they are displayed in perfection because God is perfect these things can be displayed in perfection the fifth way he reveals himself is he gives assurance more than our intellect is involved in assurance of our salvation and by assurance

I mean you know you're saved right the Spirit works to give us assurance at the subjective level of spiritual and emotional perception as well Romans 8 16 through 17 the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God and if children heirs also heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him then in 1st John 3 24 the one who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him we know by this that he abides in us by the Spirit whom he has given us so the Spirit affirms our salvation gives us assurance that we're saved the sixth and final way the Holy Spirit reveals is by teaching and illumining this is the work of the Holy Spirit to help God's people understand God's word 1st Corinthians 1 18 for the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved is the power of God Paul continues in chapter 2 with verses 12 through 15 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 which things we also speak but in not in words taught by human wisdom but in those taught by the Spirit combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words 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 but he who is spiritual appraises all things yet he himself is appraised by no one

God the Holy Spirit is required to understand the things of God his thoughts are higher than our thoughts so it's not possible to understand his thoughts apart from him so we need to follow Paul's example in Ephesians 1 17 through 19 and pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation I also think this is why as believers when we share the gospel sometimes we're like why don't these people get it why don't they understand it's because they're not feeling that conviction of the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit has not changed them we need to continue to pray God is the one who does that through the power of his Holy Spirit no amount of me talking at you can change you I need to share the gospel with you I need to teach you I need to tell you what the word of God says but God is the one who does the same okay alright last the Holy Spirit empowers the last aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit we're going to cover and discuss this evening is the Holy Spirit empowers he does this in two primary ways he gives life and he gives power for service

John 3 6 through 8 that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit do not be amazed that I said to you you must be born again the wind blows where it wishes and you will hear the sound of it but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going so is everyone who is born of the spirit Jesus explaining salvation to Nicodemus tells him that the spirit is the one who gives spiritual life he reiterates this with his disciples when they are grumbling in response to his teaching that he is the bread of life this is a consistent theme we see in the gospels where the people focus on the physical and Jesus has to redirect them to the proper understanding of the spiritual implications of what he's teaching John 6 63 it is the spirit who gives life the flesh profits nothing and the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life so Jesus teaches them about the bread of life and they get hung up on this physical bread thing and Jesus says no what I am teaching you is spiritual the spirit also empowers for service in the Old Testament the spirit would come upon people for a specific task

David is one of many examples in 1 Samuel 16 13 when Samuel anointed him to be king in Saul's place we read then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him David in the midst of his brothers and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward and Samuel arose and went to Ramah in the New Testament the spirit empowers Jesus for public ministry Luke 4 1 Jesus full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led around by the spirit in the wilderness then if you skip down to verse 14 and Jesus returned so from the wilderness he returned to Galilee in the power of the spirit and news about him spread throughout all the surrounding district he empowers the disciples to spread the gospel in Acts 1 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be one witnesses of both Jerusalem Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth he gives spiritual gifts for service 1 Corinthians 12 11 but one in the same spirit works all these things distributing to each one individually just as he wills he empowers prayers and makes them effective

Romans 8 26 in the same way the Holy Spirit also helps our weaknesses for we do not know how to pray as we should but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words alright so tonight we've covered four aspects of the Holy Spirit's work at a very high level and I went through all that stuff very quickly and we hit a lot of verses the Holy Spirit purifies the Holy Spirit unifies the Holy Spirit reveals and the Holy Spirit empowers each of these could be a study unto itself the Holy Spirit is all throughout scripture so as you continue to read and study you will see him there I want to close with a risk of doing a theology study or a doctrinal study as we fill our heads with knowledge and skip over the application I've given you a bunch of scripture and information this evening and tried to ask a couple of questions throughout for you to consider but as I close I want to put a fine point of application in our study for the Holy Spirit nowhere in scripture are believers commanded to be indwelt baptized or sealed by the Holy Spirit these are matters of accomplished fact based on faith the only command is to be filled with the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 5 15-21 reads as follows therefore be careful how you walk not as unwise men but as wise making the most of your time because the days are evil so then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is do not get drunk with wine for that is dissipation but be filled with the Spirit speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord always giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God even the Father and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ being filled with the Spirit is not a dramatic experience of being energized and some spiritualized into a state of advanced godliness it's not some temporary effect that results in ecstatic experiences it's not a notion of the other extreme either stoically trying to do what God wants us to do with the Holy Spirit's blessing in our own power it is a continual process of yielding your will to God's and being made more and more into the image of His Son by the power of His Spirit it is a Spirit controlled life so I'm going to leave you with this question are you yielding to the Spirit's work in all areas of your life or are you holding on to parts of your life before Christ such that you aren't being filled are there things you haven't emptied out in order to be filled the vessel has to be empty are there things in your life that you haven't let go of that you're holding on to you need to yield those to God turn to Him repent and be filled with the Spirit questions so I said nowhere in Scripture are believers commanded to be indwelt baptized or sealed so it's not a command it's an accomplished fact you're told to place your faith in Christ

Christ does those things He sends the Spirit He promises He's going to send the Spirit before He leaves He tells His disciples I'm going to send you the Comforter I'm going to send you the Helper He indwells you He seals you baptizes baptizes you indwells you seals you those are just accomplished facts and that's the difference between faith in Christ and as we work toward being filled with the Spirit or as we are filled with the Spirit and we live out our Christian life we become more and more like Christ being sanctified right what are the evidence of being filled so we talked about the fruit right so we expect to see those things appearing in the lives of a believer I think there are other characteristics you will see yeah a humble holy submission to God's will for your life yeah so Bain said obedience and a love for Jesus

I didn't get into the details of that Wes but it was an interesting study as I read yeah as I read there was some question about is there this progressive filling or is it a you are filled right all at once and I didn't come to a conclusion on that it seemed like most of the commentators indicated you are filled right it's not a progressive filling so what you're what you're asking for is that filling works itself out in your life yeah we do need to continually be putting to death the things of the flesh and putting on the things of the spirit yeah I don't think you run out of Holy Spirit right so kind of that accomplished fact piece of you are in you're baptized you're indwelled and sealed baptized and dwelled and sealed right so that is an accomplished fact you will be indwelled not a degree to which that expresses itself is a matter of you're yielding to the spirit and that's what we're talking about when we talk about being filled with the spirit are we yielding that's why

I want to leave you with that question are there parts of your life that you haven't yielded to the spirit are there things on a daily basis that you're like you're always repentant of which we should be doing right are you allowing the holy spirit to do his work in your life spending time with in the scripture understanding what god wants what god has for you you're saved by faith alone and christ alone don't ever hear me say anything other than that that is a true fact but when it comes to sanctification becoming more and more like christ that does require your participation you can grieve the holy spirit it can be done by not listening and doing what god wants in your life and i will say that the commentators i read were it wasn't clear to me that one or the other i think you described it well there are things that in your life that you're getting rid of and emptying and removing thank you guys for your time this evening i'll go ahead and pray for us and we can wrap up heavenly father we thank you for our time this evening we pray that we will yield to the work of your holy spirit in our lives there's someone here tonight who is feeling convicted about something specific some specific sin or or unbelief or anything in their life that doesn't align with your word we pray that they will turn to you and repent of that lord and you will be faithful to forgive we know that you are you promised that promise that if we confess you are faithful to forgive us so pray that we will do that consistently lord you will help by the power of your holy spirit to work through us we believe you've gifted us to do things pray that we will use those gifts faithfully to serve you both in the church and in the world please help us to go out of here this week remembering that day in and day out we do belong to you we are children of god and you are a stronghold and help may that always and forever be at the top of our minds as we move through various conversations and interactions we have with people pray that it will spill over into their lives as well in jesus name we pray amen to learn more visit us in person or see the website at highlandparkbaptist.net