You Have A Helper Who Empowers You, I Promse! Series

A. The Apostles’ Creed is an early statement of Christian belief that has been embraced by many Christians over the years.

1. I like the story told about a children’s catechism class that was learning the Apostles Creed.

2. Each child in the class had been assigned a sentence from the creed to recite.

3. The first one said, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”

4. The second child said, “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.”

5. After a number of other children followed with their additional statements about Jesus (His virgin birth, death and resurrection), there was an awkward silence.

6. Everyone waited for the next line of the creed to be recited, which is about the Holy Spirit.

7. Finally, one of the children said, “Teacher, the boy who believes in the Holy Spirit isn’t here.”

B. I hope that everyone who is here today and everyone who is watching at home are people who believe in the Holy Spirit.

1. As Christians we believe that there is one God in three persons– the Father Almighty, Jesus Christ, His only Son, and the Holy Spirit.

2. As we continue in our sermon series on hope in the promises of God, we have been learning about the promise that we can defeat Satan, our enemy, and win the spiritual battle.

3. These past two weeks, we have learned that we can win the spiritual battle because we have a Savior who understands us and can help us, and because we have a Savior who prays for us.

4. Today, we want to explore the promise that we have a Helper who empowers us.

5. Jesus, our Savior, Lord, and High Priest, is at the right hand of God in heaven and lives to intercede for us – which is so helpful and is such a blessing.

6. But in addition to our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother, we have an earthly helper, the Holy Spirit, who lives right inside of us.

C. Francis Chan wrote an excellent, recent book about the Holy Spirit that he titled “Forgotten God.”

1. And that’s a good title, because the Holy Spirit is often forgotten, or overlooked.

2. If you ask a Christian to describe who is God the Father, they usually have an answer.

3. If you ask them to describe who is God the Son, they have no trouble giving an answer.

4. But if you ask them “Who is God the Holy Spirit?” all you will hear are the crickets chirping.

5. I think there are many reasons why the Holy Spirit is harder to pin down and to describe, but we must not overlook or undervalue the Holy Spirit.

D. The Holy Spirit is spoken of often in the New Testament, and this third member of the Godhead plays a very important role in our lives.

1. The apostle John devoted a significant amount of space in his Gospel to the teachings Jesus gave His disciples on the night before His crucifixion.

2. A lot of Jesus’ teachings that night focused on the Holy Spirit and His role going forward.

3. In John 14, Jesus said, 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.” (Jn. 14:15-17)

a. Here Jesus identifies the Holy Spirit as the Counselor who would be with the followers of Jesus forever.

b. Jesus identifies Him as the Spirit of truth, and declares that He will be not only with us, but in us.

4. A few verses later, Jesus added, 25 “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.” (Jn. 14:25-26)

a. Another role of the Spirit is to remind us of all that Jesus taught.

5. In John 15, Jesus said, 26 “When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father —the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.” (Jn. 15:26-27)

a. Another role of the Spirit is to testify about Jesus.

6. In John 16, Jesus added this information about the Holy Spirit: 7 “Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment…” (Jn. 16:7-8).