THE HOLY SPIRIT IN
THE GOSPELS
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Bill Gates died and went to heaven where Peter gave him a nice house with a pool.
2. One day, he bumped into another man and saw that the other guy had a lot nicer things than he had.
3. So Gates asked him, "Were you a minister or something?" "No, I was the captain of the Titanic."
4. Gates was very upset to hear this. He marched off to see Peter. "Hey, how come the captain of a boat that sank on its maiden voyage gets all of that stuff, and I, the inventor of Windows operating system, only get my house & pool?"
5. "Well," said Peter. "We use Windows up here, and the Titanic only crashed once."
B. THESIS
1. Tonight we’re on our 5th installment on a series on the Holy Spirit. Tonight we’re moving from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
2. We’re covering the ministry of the Spirit during the earthly life of the Lord Jesus.
3. The title of tonight’s message is “The Holy Spirit in the Gospels.”
I. EVENTS NEAR CHRIST’S BIRTH
A. FETUS FILLED WITH SPIRIT
1. “He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born” Lk. 1:15. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” Lk. 1:41.
2. John the Baptist was the first person ever said to be filled with the Spirit before he was even born. Others, such as Samson (Judges 13:4-7) and Samuel (1 Sam. 1:11) were Nazirites from birth.
3. Jeremiah (1:5) had personal knowledge of God, but only about John the Baptist does it say an unborn baby was filled with the Spirit.
4. Both these verses highlight that life begins at conception and that an unborn baby is a not a “blob of tissue,” but a viable human being in God’s sight.
5. God obviously believes in the sanctity of Life!
B. A GENETIC PATTERN ORIGINATING IN SPIRIT
1. Matt. 1:18, “Mary…was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” Matt. 1:20, “Joseph…do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Also Luke 1:35.
2. Unheard of in human history, a woman still a virgin, who’d never been with a man, would have the Holy Spirit place in one of her eggs the genes of God, supplying the male side of the genetic pattern. (David’s line was supplied through Mary.)
3. The genes implanted weren’t just the genes of a male, but were the genes of God Himself. “The Word became flesh” John 1:14; “God was manifest in the flesh” 1 Tim. 3:16. “Bethlehem… out of you shall he come… whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” Mic. 5:2. See Isa. 7:14; 9:6.
4. This combination allowed Christ, as part of humankind, to take their place; and as God, to bear their sins. He had to be God and man in one Person to accomplish our redemption.
C. THE SPIRIT & MESSIANIC EXPECTATION
1. “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus….“You may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your Salvation” Luke 2:25-30.
2. Simeon represents the ideal Israel, waiting for the promise of the Messiah to be revealed. The Holy Spirit personally revealed and guided Simeon (not unlike the Wise Men) to find the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The Promise was fulfilled.
II. THE SPIRIT ON JESUS CHRIST
A. JESUS -- THE BAPTIZER IN SPIRIT
1. “John [the Baptist] answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come….He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’” Luke 3:16 (Mt. 3:11; Mk. 1:8).
2. “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives [*him] the Spirit without limit,” John 3:34, NIV. [*context implies & KJV has].
3. Jesus later told the disciples that they MUST have this experience of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit! He commanded them not to go into all the world as witnesses until they were “endued with power from on high” Lk. 24:49.
4. We’ll see next week that this experience revolutionized the early church and gave it its power. We still must have this if we would participate in the Great Commission!
B. SPIRIT DESCENDING LIKE A DOVE
1. “…Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:21-22 (Mt. 3:16; Mk. 1:10).
2. We see here the Trinity Godhead; the Son baptized, the Spirit as a dove descends, and the Father speaks from Heaven.
3. Never before in the Bible, had the Holy Spirit been revealed in the form of a Dove. John said this sign was how God told him he’d know the Messiah (John 1:32-33).
4. Why did God choose the form of the Dove to represent the Holy Spirit? Doves are known for their PURITY (eat only clean food, mate for life), their GENTLENESS, their AGILITY (Philip caught away by the Spirit), LOOKING FOR A PLACE OF REST, HOMING INSTINCT, their HOVERING (Gen. 1:2), and SANCTIFYING power (used for sacrifices). All these are qualities of the Holy Spirit!
C. SPIRIT LEADS INTO TEMPTING, TRIALS
1. “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” Matt. 4:1 (Mk. 1:12; Lk. 4:1).
2. God Himself tempts no one (James 1:13) but He does ALLOW US to be tempted, so that we can develop moral muscle.
3. Being filled with the Spirit is an equipping for warfare with the enemy. So we shouldn’t be surprised if, after being filled, we are put into situations requiring supernatural agencies.
4. We can do ALL THINGS through Him who loves us. We must lean more heavily on God to fight our battles for us! Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world!
D. SPIRIT-POWER = KINGDOM OF GOD
1. “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” Mt. 12:28.
2. God’s kingdom rule in Heaven is extended into this earthly sphere whenever we cooperate with the Holy Spirit and are used in the Gifts of the Spirit.
3. Jesus noted the Signs which SHOULD follow believers in Mark 16:17-18, which are only accomplished by the power of the Spirit. Let’s get full & be useful!
4. “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit….‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news….freedom for the prisoners…sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free’” Luke 4:14,18 (Mt. 12:18).
5. When Jesus saw His disciples do these things, He was filled with joy through the Holy Spirit (Lk. 10:21).
E. BLASPHEMY OF THE SPIRIT
1. “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” Mt. 12:31; “…they are guilty of an eternal sin.” Mk. 3:29 (also Lk. 12:10).
2. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, as a ‘spoken’ unforgiveable sin, is never known to have been performed. Jesus only warned the Pharisees that they were in danger of it for saying the spirit by which He performed miracles was the spirit of Beelzebub (prince of devils).
3. Many Christians unnecessarily worry that they’ve committed this sin. If you have ANY desire to approach God or be right with God, you HAVEN’T committed this sin.
4. A depraved mind no longer thinks “it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God” Rom. 1:28.
5. There’s another form of this sin you’re much more likely to do: to so often & so consistently refuse to listen and obey God’s Spirit that in the end you no longer even recognize His voice.
6. This is the sin we should fret over, as Stephen pointed out, “You stiff-necked people….You always resist the Holy Spirit!” Acts 7:51.
III. JESUS’ TEACHINGS ON THE SPIRIT
A. JESUS PROMISES BELIEVERS THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Lk. 11:13.
2. While Jesus was still on Earth, the Holy Spirit was WITH the disciples, and after His resurrection would be IN the disciples (John 7:39; 14:17).
3. In other words, the disciples weren’t “Born Again” until after Jesus rose from the dead. The Age of the Spirit wasn’t possible until after the Atonement at the Cross, so that our bodily Temples could be indwelt permanently.
4. The first thing Jesus did after rising from the dead was to breath on the 12(11); “And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jn. 20:22.
5. This is the renewal of the original creative act of God when He made Adam & Eve and “breathed” His Spirit into them (Gen. 2:7). God did it again in the N.T.
B. REGENERATION, A WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[a] gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ John 3:6-7.
2. “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life” John 6:63.
C. ONLY BY SPIRIT WE WORSHIP ACCEPTABLY
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” John 4:23-24.
D. THE SPIRIT WILL TEACH & REMIND US
1. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit…will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” John 14:26. “…He will testify about me” John 15:26.
2. “All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you” John 16:15.
E. THE SPIRIT WILL GUIDE US
“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” John 16:13.
F. THE SPIRIT WILL SPEAK THROUGH YOU
1. “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit” Mk. 13:11. (Mt. 10:20)
2. “…for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” Lk. 12:12.
G. BAPTISMAL WORDS TO INVOKE THE SPIRIT
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Mt. 28:19.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Donald Gee tells the story of when he was young and tried to plant tomatoes. That particular summer was not very good for growing plants.
2. His tomatoes never developed on the plants, not even little green tomatoes. He was thrilled when he came outside one day to find big red ripe tomatoes on his vines.
3. When he got closer he realized they were tied on by his mother. Sometimes, we also try to fake the fruit of the Spirit. We try to tie it onto an unchanged life.
4. Jesus said, “These signs shall follow them that believe…” and then He listed the evidence of a Spirit-filled life.
B. THE CALL
1. My question tonight is, “Do we have the evidence that we’re filled with the Spirit?”
2. Are we proclaiming the good news? Giving freedom to the prisoners? Sight for the blind? Setting the oppressed free? (Luke 4:18).
3. Let’s ask God to fill us up and use us to reach our generation with the Gospel. God’s need Spirit-empowered believers like He never has before!
4. Let’s Pray!
