Experiencing God’s Presence Series

Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit?

Experiencing God’s Presence

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The title of our current message series is: Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit? Some people are afraid of the Holy Spirit because a spirit is invisible and mysterious. We are afraid of what we cannot control. We may be afraid because we know very little about the Holy Spirit.

Francis Chan calls the Holy Spirit the Forgotten God. Others have pointed out that the Holy Spirit is the substituted member of the 3-Person God: Father, Son and Holy Bible. Many rather read a book than relate to a Spirit.

Some people are afraid of the Holy Spirit because of what they know about the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 3 we read that Jesus was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. And then we read in Matthew 4:1, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit [of God] into the desert to be tempted by the devil.”

Is that a good reason to be afraid? That’s good reason to be afraid.

I remember being led by the Holy Spirit to pray with a stranger in a hospital. Her husband was in a coma. Half an hour after we prayed, her husband awoke from his coma.

The Holy Bible didn’t tell me to pray with the stranger in the hospital. I didn't have a Bible with me. I wasn't reading the Bible. It was the Holy Spirit.

Let me say that there were times when the Holy Spirit led me, and I didn’t follow. I missed out on the blessings. And there were times when the Holy Spirit gave me a way out of a temptation, but I didn’t take it. I gave into the temptations.

There were also times when I wasn’t sure if it was the Holy Spirit leading me or if it were my own thinking. But the more I follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, the more confidently I can discern His leading. Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Some people settle for relating to God through His written Word, the Bible. Others have read the Bible and learned that we can experience God more fully through

the Holy Spirit. Let me share with us three reasons why we can experience God more fully through the Holy Spirit.

First, the Holy Spirit is the God we worship.

Most Christians hear this will think, “Of course.” You’ve been taught about the Trinity in Sunday school and Sunday sermons. But the word Trinity is not found in the Bible. Trinity is a term given to capture the Bible’s description of the one true God who exists in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is mentioned three times in the Old Testament, in Psalm 51:11, Isaiah 63:10 and 11. But the Spirit of God is mentioned as early as the first book of the Old Testament, in Genesis 1:2.

John F. Walvoord, the past president of Dallas Theological Seminary, summarized it this way: “The Spirit of God was the source of wisdom, special skills, unusual strength, of miracles, and of divine revelation in the Old Testament.”

In the New Testament, in Romans 8:1-17, the Holy Spirit is described in a number of ways: The Spirit of life. The Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of God. The Spirit of sonship.

Acts 5:3-4 records: Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

The Bible reveals that the Holy Spirit is God, Himself. He is the God we worship. And the worship center or sanctuary of the Holy Spirit is you and me.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 reads, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

The God we worship, the Creator of you, me and the universe has chosen to live in our bodies. This is not metaphorical but supernatural. Take a moment to wrap your mind

around this reality.

How many of us clean up our house when important guests visit? God’s Holy Spirit has come not to visit but to stay. What then do we need to do or to stop doing with our bodies in order to honor God? (Pause, pray and listen to the Holy Spirit. He will answer and assist you in living to honor Him with your body.)