“I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT”
1 John 4:13
FBCF – 8/20/23
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen – one of the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole & to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips, he took a homing pigeon w/ him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird’s cage & set it free. Imagine delight of his wife back in Norway when she looked up from the doorway of her home & the saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. No doubt she exclaimed, “He’s alive! My husband is still alive!”
That’s akin to what happened when Jesus ascended back to heaven. He was gone physically, but His disciples clung to His promise that He would send them the Holy Spirit. Imagine how pumped they were when that promise was realized on the Day of Pentecost! They had w/ them the continual reminder that Jesus was alive & victorious at the right hand of the Father. And the Holy Spirit continues to speak to us through to let us know of the reality of who Jesus is, the reality of His love & GRACE & salvation, & the reality of what He desires to do in our lives right now here today.
The Holy Spirit has come just as Jesus promised He would. John 14:16-17 – “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate [Comforter, Encourager] who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him because He lives with you now and later will be in you.” (NLT) Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit & that’s exactly what He did. And the Holy Spirit is doing exactly what Jesus promised He would do.
So today, we continue in this series in 1 John entitled, “I Want to Know About.” So far, “Fellowship & Forgiveness” – “True Love.” Today, “I Want to Know About the Holy Spirit.”
EXPLANATION – 1 John 4:13 (p. 1023)
Some people are afraid of the Holy Spirit, confused about who He is, uncertain about what He does.
- See or hear about some people who say that the Holy Spirit made them fall down on the floor when a preacher touched them.
- See or hear people speaking strange words that sound like gibberish in an unbiblical way in a church service.
- See or hear about people screaming or laughing or shaking uncontrollably or dancing or running around the building in a worship service.
- Watched some videos this week of these types of unbiblical practices & it just made me sick to see the deception, the fakeness, the ridiculous comical abuses leading so many people astray.
Things like this are attributed to the Holy Spirit. They cause confusion among believers. They cause division among believers. And yet when you look carefully at the Scriptures & study them diligently, you find that they are not supported biblically.
Here's what our Baptist Faith & Message doctrinal statement states about the Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service. (https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/)
Here's our simple application for this message today:
APPLICATION – All Christ-followers have the Holy Spirit in them.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON – Jehovah’s Witnesses – If you were to look at their website “WHAT is the holy spirit?” Right off bat, see problems:
- “What” – not “Who”
- “holy spirit” – all lowercase
- This statement: “The holy spirit is God’s power in action, his active force…God sent out his spirit by projecting his energy to any place to accomplish his will…The holy spirit is not a person…Misconceptions about the holy spirit [list of reasons they believe the the Holy Spirit is not a Person]”
John 14:17 – “HE is the Holy Spirit [not IT is the holy spirit], who leads into all truth….He dwells w/ you & will be in you.” Francis Chan: “He’s not an indistinct ‘power’ or ‘thing’…In John 14:17, we read that the Spirit ‘dwells in you & will be w/ you.’ This calls us to relationship w/ the Spirit, instead of allowing us to think we can treat the Spirit as a power to be harnessed in order to accomplish our own purpose.” (Forgotten God, p. 70)
THE HOLY SPIRIT CONFIRMS GOD’S PROMISE – “This is how we KNOW…” God promises to save anyone who will call out to Him in faith, believing that Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved. He promises to hold you in the palm of His hand & never let you go (John 10:28-29). Jesus promised that He would prepare a place for us in heaven (John 14). How do we know that these promises are all true? The Holy Spirit confirms them in our hearts.
- Romans 8:16 – “The Spirit Himself testifies and confirms together with our spirit [assuring us] that we [believers] are children of God.” (AMP)
- The inner working of the Holy Spirit in us continually tells us that we truly belong to the Lord. He does that when He convicts us of sin…when we have a longing for a deeper walk w/ the Lord…when He illumines the truth of Scripture to us – those “lightbulb” moments…when we desire to worship Him truly & authentically.
- If you don’t have that inner confirmation from the Spirit, you need to ask yourself if you’re truly saved.
THE HOLY SPIRIT BRINGS GOD’S PRESENCE – “…that we abide in Him…” – Word “abide” used at least 19 times in 1 John. Means to “stay, stand fast, remain, remain at home & don’t wander off, sustain unbroken fellowship.” This is the awesome work of the Holy Spirit in us as He empowers us & encourages us to stay in God’s presence.
- He brings God’s presence to us as we remain steadfast in prayer.
- He brings God’s presence to us as we confess our sins when we have wandered off.
- He brings us back home & brings God’s presence back to us as we stand fast on the promises & truths of His Word.
- He brings God’s presence to us as we join other believers in joyous, truth-filled, passionate, Spirit-led worship.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PROVIDER – “…He has given us of His Spirit.” The Spirit is given to us at the exact moment we are saved. And when God gives Him to us, the Spirit provides us w/ all we need to live the life God commands us to live.
- Fruit of the Spirit to live for Him
- Spiritual gifts to serve Him & His Church
- Discernment, wisdom, knowledge, strength, endurance
- 2 Peter 1:3a – “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life…” (NIV)
- And who is that Power?
THE HOLY SPIRIT IMPARTS GOD’S POWER – Acts 1:8 probably most familiar verse regarding God’s power coming through the Holy Spirit – “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” I read Acts 1:8 in over 60 translations on BibleGateway website. Every one of them that I read said that the Holy Spirit would come upon you, or on you, or into your life. Do you know when that happens? At the moment of your salvation, not at a later time w/ some sort of second blessing. The baptism of the Holy Spirit happens once at the moment of our salvation. 1 Corinthians 12:13 – “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.” (NLT)
There is only one baptism of the Holy Spirit. But there are many fillings of the Holy Spirit. What’s the difference? Here’s a story that might help explain it:
- Story of revival meeting at a church. This church had lots of revival meetings. At every single one of them, a certain man would walk down the aisle at every invitation to recommit his life to Christ. Each time, he’d fall on knees at altar & make a bit of a scene crying out, “Fill me, Jesus! Fill me up, Lord!” Then after revival meeting was over, he’d get all fired up about his faith for a few weeks, then fall back into old lifestyle until next evangelist came to town & then he’d do it all over again. After seeing this over & over, the members of church grew cynical. Finally on one occasion after he walked the aisle for the umpteenth time & was at the front crying out, “Fill me, Jesus! Fill me up, Lord!”, a lady stood up at back of church – “Don’t do it, Lord! He leaks!”
We may laugh, but the truth is that we all leak. That’s the great struggle of the Christian life. Due to the fact that we are still going to sin, the effects of the power of the Holy Spirit will diminish in our lives. Our sin hinders the ongoing work of the Spirit in our lives & that’s when we “leak” & begin to falter in our spiritual lives. A leak in the radiator of your car will lead to a disastrous breakdown & expensive repairs. Spiritual “leaks” in our lives through ongoing sin will lead to a disastrous breakdown in our lives & be extremely costly to us & to others in our lives.
CONCLUSION – Listen to the Spirit today as He leads you. Is there a decision you need to make today?
