We Believe: The Holy Spirit
Text: Jn. 16:5-15
Introduction
1. So, I found this amazing quote this week, from a man who lived a long time ago named William Granall. He said, “Without the Spirit you lie like a ship on dry ground. It is the Spirit that is both the tide and the wind that sets your soul afloat to carry you on. — William Gurnall (1617-1679)
2. Every week, Christians all over the world recite the words of the Apostle’s Creed, which says, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” And yet He is the most misunderstood member of the Trinity.
3. We understand the Father as the creator of heaven and earth, and we understand Jesus His Son as our Savior and Lord. But who is the Holy Spirit?
4. Let me be clear, there is no way that I could explain to you everything about the Holy Spirit in one sermon, or we would be here a very long time. However, it is imperative that we have at least a basic understanding about the third member of the Trinity is and why He is so important to the church today.
5. Read John 16:5-16
Transition: Let’s take a journey together as we explore the answer to the question…
I. Who is the Holy Spirit?
A. The Apostle’s Creed now moves from Jesus to the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit?
1. First of all, the Holy Spirit is not an “it,” but a “who.” The Holy Spirit is a spiritual being, and not an inanimate object.
2. Second, He is the third member of the Trinity. As Methodists we believe in the Holy Trinity, which is one God consisting of three persons -the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
a. “After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” (Matt. 3:16-17).
b. So, here we have Jesus after being baptized, the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove, and the Father speaking from heaven. Now, there’s either a Trinity or God’s a really good ventriloquist!
3. Third, He is the giver of spiritual gifts. “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” (1 Cor. 12:4-7).
4. Another thing that the Holy Spirit does for us is He teaches us.
a. “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” (Jn 14:26).
b. The Holy Spirit teaches us by reminding us of what Jesus said.
c. In fact, we can go so far as to say it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit, we wouldn’t have most of the New Testament, because it was the Holy Spirit reminding the different writers of what Jesus taught His disciples.
B. As believers, when do we receive the Holy Spirit? The Bible tells us that we receive the presence of the Holy Spirit inside of us when we receive Christ.
1. “And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.” (Eph 1:13-14).
2. We call this “regeneration.” The Holy Spirit comes into our lives and begins changing us from who we were before Christ, into who He created us to be.
C. However, the Bible also teaches us that there is a second work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers called the “Baptism in the Holy Spirit.”
1. In the Book of Acts 1:4-5, it says, “Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
2. Why do we believe that this is a second work of the Holy Spirit?
a. Well, before Pentecost came, the disciples already had the Holy Spirit living inside of them.
b. “Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (Jn. 20:22).
c. Now, did the disciples receive the Holy Spirit that night? Of course they did! Have you ever heard Jesus say something that didn’t happen?
d. To be a little more technical, the word “breathed,” is the same word that is used when God breathed life into Adam in Genesis 2:7.
e. So, if Adam received life when God breathed on Him, then the disciples received the Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed on them!
f. Now, keep in mind, this happened before Pentecost, because Pentecost didn’t happen until after Jesus ascended into heaven.
g. So, if the disciples already had the Holy Spirit living inside of them, what happened to them on Pentecost?
h. A second work of the Holy Spirit, or as a Methodist minister named Phoebe Palmer called it, “a second work of grace.”
i. It was an in filling of power. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).
j. Jesus told them to go into all the world and tell people about Him, and they couldn’t do this without the power of the Holy Spirit.
D. Now let’s dive into our text for today. In vv. 5-6 it says, “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you.”
1. Jesus is looking for a response here. He is expecting them to ask where He’s going, but instead they are filled with sorrow because He said He’s going away.
2. They are wondering what is going to become of us if Jesus goes away.
3. They were dependent upon Him and were worried how they were going to survive without Him.
4. What they didn’t realize that His going away was actually good for them.
E. Jesus now explains why it’s good for them that He goes away. “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.”
1. First, without Jesus’ death and resurrection we couldn’t be saved.
2. Second, if He didn’t go away, the Advocate wouldn’t come. The Advocate of course is the Holy Spirit.
3. The word Advocate is a translation of the Greek word paraklatos, and it means “one who is called to your side.”
4. Outside of the Bible the word is used for an attorney who comes and stands by your side in court and defends you.
5. The Spirit would carry out Jesus’ work to a more intense level during the history of the church.
6. Through the Holy Spirit they would be able to take the Good News to all the world.
F. In vv. 8-11, Jesus said, “And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.”
1. Jesus said that the Spirit would convict the world of sin.
2. The word convict means “to convince and expose the facts.”
a. And the biggest sin that the Holy Spirit would convince people of was their unbelief in Jesus.
b. Anyone who refuses to believe in Jesus is in danger of eternal separation from God for all eternity.
c. The world wants to believe that Hell will be one big party, but nothing could be further from the truth.
d. It will be constant torment and pain, all because they wouldn’t believe in Jesus.
3. Furthermore, because Jesus goes to the Father, righteousness is available to people.
4. The Spirit will show everyone that only Christ can provide the kind of righteousness that fits God’s standard.
5. “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.” (Is. 64:6).
6. But the Holy Spirit will show us how to live righteous lives.
7. He will also show us the uselessness of empty ceremony and rituals in becoming right with God.
8. Furthermore, the Spirit will show that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the ruler of this world has been judged and defeated!
9. Although the devil tries to intimidate and deceive us, we are to treat him like a defeated enemy, and God as determined the date of his execution.
a. “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years… Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Rev. 20:1-2, 10).
b. Now, we can see how important it was for Jesus to return to heaven, and for Him to send the Holy Spirit.
c. Imagine how much harder it would be to follow Jesus without Him working in our lives.
G. Now Jesus moves from what the Spirit would do for His disciples to what the Spirit would do for Him. In vv. 14-15, Jesus says, “He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’”
1. The Holy Spirit doesn’t glorify Himself, but rather He glorifies Jesus.
2. He reminds and teaches us the words of Jesus, then teaches us to obey.
3. He teaches us what Jesus said, and then He teaches us how to apply it to our lives.
4. Now, Jesus shows the unity between the members of the Trinity. He says that “all that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever He receives from Me.’”
a. There is no pride or individualism among the members of the Godhead.
b. They share everything equally, and they pass it on to us, the ones They love.
c. This ought to be a lesson to us. Imagine how fewer church squabbles they would be if the church was as other centered as the Trinity.
d. If we shared things the way They do. If we worked together the way They do. If we loved others the way They do.
Transition: Now let’s take a look at…
II. What Does the Holy Spirit Do For Us Today?
A. Like Jesus, the Holy Spirit prays for us.
1. “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” (Rom. 8:26-27).
2. The word “Advocate” that we talked about earlier, can also be translated “helper.”
3. He helps us to pray by letting us know what God wants us to pray about.
4. I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of being frustrated and stressed out, and we at a loss for words as to how to pray.
5. This is where the Holy Spirit steps in and prays for us in words that cannot be uttered.
6. He also tells us what not to pray for. Once, when I was in high school, and friend of mine, who wasn’t a Christian, ask me to pray for God to give him a Corvette. But I told him “no,” because the Lord knew that he would do something stupid with it, like get drunk and go driving at insane speeds, perhaps killing himself and somebody else.
7. The Holy Spirit helps us to know what to pray for and what not to pray for.
B. The Holy Spirit leads us and directs us.
1. “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (Rom. 8:14).
2. What a tremendous blessing that the Holy Spirit leads us and directs us.
3. He’s like our spiritual GPS.
4. He leads us through Scripture.
5. He leads us with answers to prayer.
6. He leads us through words of wisdom that He gives to us through other people.
7. Sometimes He leads us through events in our lives. We just need to step back and watch Him work.
8. But whatever the means, we need to understand that we are not in this alone. He is our advocate who directs our steps all along the way.
C. The Holy Spirit empowers us to tell people about Jesus.
1. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).
2. Jesus told His disciples that one of the greatest things the Holy Spirit would do for them was to empower them to be His witnesses.
3. The Spirit gives us the power to do things we cannot do in our own power.
4. The Spirit gives us to power to speak to someone about Jesus, even when that is something that is out of character for us.
5. The Spirit gives us the words to say when we think we don’t know how to witness.
6. The Spirit leads us to speak to people we don’t even know, and sometimes He even moves them into our paths.
7. If you recall, once in the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit directed Phillip to go over and talk to someone who was reading the book of Isaiah. As a result, Phillip was able to lead him to Christ and was baptized. And then, all of the sudden, He just took Phillip and instantaneously moved Phillip somewhere else. And you thought Gene Rodenberry invented that on Star Trek!
Conclusion
What’s the point preacher? When Jesus ascended to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to be our teacher, Advocate, guide, helper, and to empower us as Jesus witnesses. So, let us live in the power of the Holy Spirit!
