“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14).
Introduction:
You will have notice that I finished that prayer with the words, “O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen” … because it is a pretty standard ending … but I could have finished the prayer with the more common ending, “in nominee patris, et filii et spiritus sancti“ … “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” because we are all familiar with that ending and those relationships … one God, three in one …
• God the Father, to whom Jesus constantly referred),
• God the Son, (our Lord Jesus Christ), and
• God the Holy Spirit … (well that last relationship is confusing).
We all know Jesus, or we try our best to know him, after all, the Christian religion is all about the living resurrected Jesus Christ, who once walked amongst us.
And God the father, is also quite well understood. He is studied and worshipped all throughout the Old Testament; and we have all studied God the father at some point.
But God the Holy Spirit, well that’s a different story, as “he” is more difficult to conceptualize and relate … as the bible tells us that he, (or maybe “she”), is a person … in fact, many people refer to the Holy Spirit simply as “it”, and not a gendered entity which is even more difficult to relate, however I will use the term ”he” for this sermon … for simplicities sake, as in the bible … but we simply don’t know for sure … and so straight away, we are in confusion.
And then we then ask, how can a spirit be a person? … Some people think of the Holy Spirit as a force, or as an energy, and we all have your own definition which we try to relate … but again, it is difficult.
Does the bible then help us to define him more clearly? Well not really, the bible refers to him at times as the Holy Ghost, where the word “Ghost”, (as in scary woo), adds another level of confusion; and that’s not to mention the impersonal symbols … such as the wind, and fire, and oil, and of course, the dove. … We all therefore struggle, and so we have not come very far in this exposition of the Holy Spirit, and we are at loggerheads with each other.
The Holy Spirit, the “Comforter” or “Advocate” or “Councillor”.
Now, in our Gospel reading this morning, Jesus knew that his disciples, were about to feel lost and abandoned … and so he says or introduces something very strange to re-assured them … that they would continue to experience the presence of the divine; … a presence not with Him … but with (or through), the presence of the “Comforter” or “Advocate” or “Councillor”, the Holy Spirit, depending on which interpretation of the bible you are reading, but basically Jesus is saying that this comforter, this Holy Spirit, is his replacement; … a replacement that can only work through him, (or though those who have accepted Jesus as their lord).
And so, the subject of the Holy Spirit is very difficult concept to understand and teach, even to fellow Christians; … not to mention the rest of the world and its many faiths. … And I will give you an example of that. … How many songs do you know about the Holy Spirit? … I will make it easier; how many times have you heard the Holy Spirit mentioned in a song? … There are some, but not many, … ok, I will try something else … how many times have you heard the Lord’s name taken in vain … I mean, how many times have you heard, “God this, and God that”, and that is before we get home from a church service … and equally, how many times have you heard the name of Jesus taken in vain? … A lot I am sure, in fact we are almost immune to it, (I didn’t say that we liked it), but in today’s modern society, we try our best to switch off from it … but tell me … … how many times, have you heard the Holy Spirits name taken in vain?
Taking the Holy Spirits name in vain is a completely different proposition, we just don’t … not by us, and not by non-Christians alike … because we know instinctively, something deep down tells us that we won’t get very far with that one. … I am saying this to prove the power and awe … associate with the Holy Spirit, and the respect we show him. … In fact, I am preaching a sermon today on the Holy Spirit and I am worried about what I say here; I am not comfortable with this topic, and neither are most preachers … because there is a respect and majesty and reverence and an unknown given to the Holy Spirit that we do not question … nor do we cross, and we certainly don’t challenge or upset or provoke him. … He is so powerful, and we somehow know that.
Yet the Holy Spirit wasn’t a new concept. Jesus’
Earlier I mentioned that the bible suddenly introduces the Holy Spirit in these verses, but did you notice that the disciples here did not question Jesus about this? … They didn’t question him because they must have been familiar with him through the teachings of Jesus throughout his ministry, (probably when they were alone and separate from the crowds) … but we can be sure Jesus made constant reference to the Holy Spirit throughout all his references to the Old Testament.
For example, in Psalms 139 … where David prays to God, “Where can I go from “Your” Spirit? … Clearly you can see two deities mentioned here. It couldn’t be Jesus because he hadn’t been born yet, so the other must have been the Holy Spirit himself, whom … David recognised. … And there are many many more such references through the whole of the Old Testament … and the New Testament too, as we all know. …
1. Is the Holy Spirit is working in our lives?
So, from this reading this morning, we learn that this Holy Spirit is alive and working in our lives, so I will now try and show that this is true … because are we sure that the Holy Spirit is working in our lives? … Well, the bible tells us so, the bible tells us that it was the Holy Spirit who drew us to the Lord in the first place … and it is him who keeps us there … and this is very important … because we must realise that it is the Holy Spirit who is continually convicting us our sin … and this can be quite brutal … continually correcting, but refining us all the time.
2. The Holy Spirit is also within us.
Next, the Holy Spirit also helps us when we pray, to better express our inner concerns, and help us focus on a resolution of them … and notice … if we go too far in our own resolutions of problems without his help, or if we go off at a tangent, or do things for our selfish gratification, he can be quick to return us to reality. …
Basically, The Holy Spirit is like a good councillor, he allows us to go so far … and then he reels us in, and think about this, have you been pulled unexpectedly back from something you so wished to pursue with all you heart, (usually for the most trivial of reasons), but later, became grateful that you were not allowed to pursue your so-called dream at that time, because it would have been disastrous? … Think of the person who failed to get the last ticket on the Titanic … I bet you he was raging at the time … but this is symbolic of the Holy spirit working in us, and guiding us, and as I mentioned earlier, it not always without pain.
3. The Spirit purifies us
Next, as I have also mentioned, the Holy Spirit not only guides us, but he purifies us within; … whether we wish it or not. … This is a constant on-going process, of spiritual growth. The Holy Spirit sanctifies or purifies us, making us “new creations”, leading us toward holiness. … … Now, think back to some of the lessons you have learned over the years, have they, (would you say), been unnecessary painful … but at the same time, do you also recognise that that you have changed for the better because of them? …
I have said this many times before, but when we look back at our lives, and doubt our progress, we only need to ask, “do I wish to be that person I was say, 10, 20 30 or more years ago”? … And if you are like me, and you cringe at the thought, then there is the proof that the Spirit is alive and working within … because it needs the Holy Spirit to recognise our faults in the first place, and then … enable its correction. … I certainly wish I was as fit and healthy as I was, but I do not wish to be that person again.
As the bible says, the Holy Spirit works inside those who believe in Jesus, and the Holy Spirits job is to make us more like Jesus … in order to produce God’s character within us, and enables us … to get rid of all that built up anger and stress, and bitterness, and jealousy, and hatred, and all the selfishness within us … and replace it, or cultivate within us, the “fruits of his Spirit”, which we know from Galatians 5:22 are: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”.
And again, you can see that to replace those dreadful traits, it takes a lot of work, because we cannot purify ourselves, particularly if we do not see a problem in the first place … and, we therefore not only need to be born from above, but we need God’s power to transform us from above. … The apostle Paul says in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect to the will of God”.
This verse stresses the importance of that spiritual transformation and not conforming to ways of this world, (but you know that of course), but we need the Holy Spirits help to do this, as we are not in charge of our own personal environments or circumstances, so that is where the Holy Spirit steps in, and transforms us whether we want it or not.
4. The Spirit reveals to us his divine truth, who exactly taught Jesus?
Next, the Holy Spirit also reveals to us the Lords divine truth. … Who do we think taught Jesus. … I aways wondered that one, because all we are told in the bible is that the Holy Spirit was active in Jesus from before his birth, and stayed with him all his life … but is that same Holy Spirit that is alive, and living within us today, if we only knew.
5. The holy spirit unites us.
Finally, for now, the Holy Spirit unifies us, he gives us a sense that we are part of an extended family, the family of God, which connects us to all believers. … The world today is a turbulent society, but if we think that God has lost control, then we do not realise the power of the Holy Spirit. …
Yes, sometimes we struggle to feel his presence in our lives, but through the power of the Holy Spirit we need to be aware that he is alive and living inside us … just like the poem of the footprints in the sand. … He is as close as a prayer within us … he doesn’t speak to us audibly, but impresses on us gently, (like a dove), so that we live by his divine guidance and grace.
While writing this sermon I was suddenly struck with the revelation of my first point, (which we have all heard before), that the Holy Spirit selected us … towards our faith in Jesus. … That we did not decide to become Christians, it simply happened that way … that our environments and our circumstances somehow pointed our lives in his direction … and if we can accept that … then we will accept that the same Holy Spirit is alive and working in us … working in this world … protecting us from this world, and preparing us to meet with the Lord at a later date. … What a wonderful position to be in.
Amen
This sermon was delivered to Holy Trinity Church in Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 25th May 2025 (a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
