A. Let’s start today’s sermon with an illustration comparing two amazing women.
1. Katie Spotz and Laura Dekker have a lot in common – they are both endurance athletes and they both have boats.
2. Both ladies made headlines when they completed solo trips – Katie across the Atlantic and Laura around the world.
3. Yet for all they have in common, one of the biggest differences is that one lady rowed her boat and the other sailed her boat.
4. 23 year old Katie, rowed her boat from West Africa to South America – her 2,817 mile trip took her 75 days.
5. Laura became the youngest person to solo circumnavigate the world – she was 14 years old when she departed on her 5,600 mile journey that took 1 year and five months to complete and she was 16 years old when she finished.
6. As you can imagine, both young ladies faced many grueling and terrifying moments along the way, but both overcame them and completed their goals.
7. How many of us would be interested in attempting a feat like theirs? Not me.
8. But if any of us did decide to make such a journey, which would you choose? Rowing or sailing? I think I would choose sailing, how about you?
B. Let’s use that illustration as the launching pad to discuss the spiritual journey we have taken on.
1. Consider how long and challenging is the Christian trek we are on.
2. Consider the impossible task of our calling – “Be holy as I am Holy.” (1 Pt. 1:16)
3. More specifically, consider the stiff winds of God’s commands: care for the poor, forgive others, love your enemies, pray constantly, and serve unselfishly.
4. And the waves of God’s commands keep coming: be generous and good stewards of money, be good spouses, and parents, be good employers and employees, and be good neighbors.
5. And then there’s the challenges of ministry: find your gifts and use them, find the lost and reach them, find the hurting and help them, and find the prodigals and bring them back.
6. On top of all that there are the internal storms we face: control your temper and lust, greed and arrogance; and overcome your laziness and grumpiness.
7. Are you tired yet? The Christian journey is demanding and exhausting!
C. But there are two ways of approaching that journey and accomplishing that task that are illustrated in the picture of rowing and sailing.
1. Rowing and sailing both require knowledge and skill, but the power or energy to move the boat along come from two very different sources.
2. Rowing represents the person who is trying to live the Christian life by their own power.
3. Sailing represents the person who is trying to live the Christian life by the power of the Spirit.
4. We dare not think for a moment that we have the power, in and of ourselves, to be the person God wants us to be and to complete the mission that God has called us to accomplish.
5. The good news for us is that God doesn’t expect us to depend on our own power to become who we should be nor do what we should do.
6. We don’t have to row our way through the Christian life, rather we can sail our way being carried along by the wind of the Holy Spirit.
7. God has promised to empower us to be what He calls us to be and to do what He has called us to do! Hallelujah!!
D. This is the spiritual truth that Jesus explained to Nicodemus, the Jewish religious leader who paid Jesus a visit one night as recorded in John chapter 3.
1. The Bible says: 1 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.” (Jn. 3:1-2)
2. There were six thousand Pharisees in Israel and Nicodemus was one of them.
3. It appears that Nicodemus came to Jesus alone and we wonder how he was able to arrange a private meeting with Jesus, but there he was.
4. It has been assumed that Nicodemus came at night and away from the crowds so that he could converse with Jesus without being spotted with this upstart and controversial rabbi.
5. We notice that Nicodemus was tactful and began with a word of praise, but as tactful and complementary as Nicodemus was, Jesus responded somewhat abruptly and forcefully.
E. The Bible says: Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn. 3:3)
1. Even though Nicodemus had asked no question, Jesus gave him an answer that left Nicodemus with more questions.
2. Keep in mind that Jesus was talking to a high-ranking, accomplished religious leader.
a. Nicodemus’ office wall was likely lined with diplomas and awards for outstanding service.
3. But Jesus, rather than acknowledging Nicodemus’ status and achievements, suggested that Nicodemus needed to go back to the beginning and start over – Jesus said, “You must be born again in order to participate in the kingdom of God.”
4. How did Nicodemus respond to Jesus’ statement? The Bible says: “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” (Jn. 3:4)
5. Notice that verses 2 and 4, Nicodemus had only spoken three sentences and yet those three sentences contained the word “can” three times.
a. In verse 2, “No one can…”
b. In verse 4, “How can…” and “Can he…”
c. Later in verse 9, Nicodemus will ask, “How can these things be?”
6. It seems that Nicodemus was obsessed with what a person can and cannot do.
a. Nicodemus was focused on human effort and human achievement; on physical things.
F. Jesus’ reply contained more information that would only leave Nicodemus with more questions.
1. 5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (Jn. 3:5-8)
2. Jesus’ reply made four references to human inability absent of help from heaven: without God’s help...
a. a person cannot see (i.e., experience) the kingdom of God (vs. 3)
b. a person cannot enter the kingdom of God (vs. 5)
c. a person cannot give birth to the Spirit (vs. 6)
d. a person cannot discern the movements of the Spirit (vs. 8).
3. The phrase “kingdom of God” refers to a relationship with God in this life and entrance into heaven in the next.
4. In our first birth, we became brand-new humans, but in our second birth, we became brand-new creations.
5. And who is it who oversees our second birth? The Holy Spirit.
a. If it were not for the work of the Holy Spirit, the new birth would be impossible.
b. In 1 Cor. 12:3, Paul wrote: No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
G. If Nicodemus was having trouble keeping up with Jesus’ comments, we can hardly fault him.
1. Nicodemus had barely said, “Good evening,” and Jesus, in rapid fire, told him about a new kingdom, a new birth, and the power to experience them both.
2. And when it came to describing the Holy Spirit, Jesus had a universe worth of metaphors to choose from: comets and galaxies, ocean depths and mountain peeks, plants and animals, but out of His entire catalog, Jesus chose the wind to describe the Holy Spirit.
3. What is the Holy Spirit like? How does the Holy Spirit work? The Holy Spirit is like the wind.
a. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “spirit” has several meanings, including spirit, wind, and breath.
b. The same is true for the New Testament Greek word “pneuma” which can mean spirit, wind, or breath. (We get our English words pneumatic and pneumonia from the Greek)
c. Here in John 3:8, we see that Jesus used the word “pnuema” in two ways: for wind and for Spirit.
4. Abraham Kuyper, a Dutch theologian dedicated many years and more than a thousand pages to the study of the Holy Spirit.
a. The first chapter of his book entitled “Careful Treatment Required” contains this statement about the Holy Spirit: Of Him nothing appears in visible form; He never steps out from the intangible void. Hovering, undefined, incomprehensible, He remains a mystery. He is as the wind! We hear its sound, but cannot tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. Eye cannot see Him, ear cannot hear Him, but less the hand handle Him.
H. The wind serves as a particularly good symbol of the Holy Spirit.
1. The wind by its very nature is invisible and unpredictable.
2. The wind that blows today from the north may blow from the south tomorrow or from the east or west or not at all.
3. We feel its effect and hear it whistling through the leaves, but the wind itself is totally free from man’s control.
4. Wind exists everywhere on the earth, is continually in motion, and may be experienced in varying degrees—from a slight breeze to a mighty rushing wind to the destructive force of a tornado.
5. In a closed room, the air soon becomes stagnant, but when the window is open, the incoming wind blows out the stifling air - on a hot summer’s day, a cool breeze refreshes everyone.
6. Just as the wind is everywhere in the world, even so the Holy Spirit’s work is universal, not limited to one country, region, or race of humanity.
7. Similar to the unpredictability of the wind, no one can say for certain where the Spirit will blow in great power today or tomorrow.
8. As the wind is beyond man’s control, in the same way no one can control the work of the Spirit.
9. As the wind blows from the heavens, so the Holy Spirit is sent from heaven.
I. And so, the Spirit is like the wind in many ways.
1. First, the wind is a transforming force, and so is the Spirit – the spirit is constantly working on us to change us and transform us into what God wants us to be.
a. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul declares: And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2. Second, the wind is a power generating force, and so is the Spirit.
a. Zechariah 4:6 says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of Armies.”
b. In one of my favorite verses on this subject, Paul talks about his effort to help others grow in Christ and Paul says: I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me. (Col. 1:29)
3. Finally, the wind is also a penetrating and destructive force, and so is the Spirit.
a. Strong hurricane and tornado force winds are destructive, they can move things that seem immovable, and can cause objects to penetrate other objects.
b. Paul wrote: The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Cor. 10:4)
c. The Spirit brings conviction and the sword of the Spirit judges the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. (Jn. 16:8; Heb. 4:12-13)
d. There are times when we need the Holy Spirit to move in our life like a warm, gentle, summer breeze, but there are other times when we need the wind of God to blow with destructive force to demolish every strong hold and obstacle in us and before us.
J. As we have already pointed out in this sermon series, Jesus knew His disciples needed the Holy Spirit’s power, and so He told them to remain in Jerusalem until the Spirit came upon them.
1. Ten days later, in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came upon them.
2. The Bible says: 1 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. 3 They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. 4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)
3. How awesome that the first coming of the Spirit was in the form of something that sounded like a rushing wind from heaven that blew through the building they were in and rested on them!
K. Just like the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, we need the ongoing wind of the Spirit blowing in and through our hearts today.
1. We don’t need to row harder, rather we need to allow the Spirit’s wind to fill our sails and move us forward.
2. Row-boat Christianity exhausts and frustrates and those who attempt it are left depleted and desperate in the attempt.
3. But those who let the Spirit do the work, on the other hand, find fresh power and perseverance.
L. My prayer for you and for me is that all of us will be filled with the fullness of God.
1. Allow me make the same request for us that Paul made for the Christians at Ephesus.
2. Paul said: 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:14-21)
a. There aren’t many verses greater than those verses, nor a prayer better than that prayer.
3. What an amazing thing for us to be asking God to do in us and through us!
a. Oh, how desperately we need power in our inner being through the Holy Spirit!
b. And oh, how desperately we need to be rooted and established in God’s love for us.
c. God wants to fill us with His fullness – His love and His power.
d. How awesome that God is able to do above and beyond what we can ask or imagine through His power that works in us by the Holy Spirit!
4. As believers who have been born again, we are now the containers of God’s Spirit, and God wants to fill us up with His love and power.
a. God doesn’t want us to be empty, but He desires to pour His life into ours until we are full!
5. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring us continually into a deeper and more profound experience of who God is and bring more of God into us as we bring more of ourselves to Him.
M. In the end, our job isn’t to work harder, but to seek God more and trust God more.
1. There is a yielding and submission that is necessary to experience God’s guidance and empowerment.
2. We must raise our sail and spread our wings and wait on the wind of the Spirit.
3. The spiritual disciplines of repentance, prayer, fasting, study and solitude are ways of opening the door for the Spirit to enter freely and do His work.
4. We who are born of the Spirit have the Spirit – we have the Spirit’s wind, His unseen power within us.
5. What we cannot do and what we cannot overcome, the Spirit can.
6. What uphill climb is taking your breath or what stronghold is holding you fast?
a. Forgiving an enemy? Breaking a habit? Overcoming your fear? Being consistent?
b. Whatever it is, remember, we have the force of heaven’s wind within us to empower us forward in the things of God.
N. And so, the choice is ours: will we choose row-boat Christianity or sail-boat Christianity?
1. It seems like a no-brainer to me!
2. I much prefer the Spirit’s power over will-power and self-power.
3. The Spirit is like the wind – let’s let Him catch us and carry us along – He can do way more in us and through us than we can even imagine!
Resources:
Help Is Here, Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson, 2022
The Life Changing Effects of the Wind of God, Sermon by Wayne Burnett, SermonCentral.com
The Wind Blows Wherever it Wills, Sermon by Ray Pritchard, Keep Believing Ministries.
