Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
Title: Who is the Holy Spirit and what does he do?
Let me begin by saying it is not easy being the Holy Spirit!
It is not easy being the Holy Spirit because verse 14 tells us so.
“The man without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
It is not easy being the Holy Spirit since he has a history of being;
1. Resisted.
“The man without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God”
2. Ridiculed.
“For they are foolishness to him”
3. Misunderstood.
“And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned”
Therefore it is completely understandable that of the three; The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit we are the least knowledgeable about the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
This morning we want to look at who the Holy Spirit is and what the Holy Spirit does?
Lets begin by answering the question “Who is the Holy Spirit?”
The simple answer is that the Holy Spirit is God.
The Proof
If we look at our scripture passage we see that the words God and Spirit are interchangeable or one and the same. For example;
In verse 4 and 5 we see that the Spirit’s power is also called God’s power.
In verse 11 we see that the very thoughts of God are the very thoughts of the Spirit
The second thing we need to see is that the Holy Spirit is not some impersonal force.
He speaks to us
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him- but God has revealed it by his Spirit” (V9-10)
He searches all things
“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (V10)
He knows the thoughts of God
“In the same way nobody knows the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God” (V11)
He teaches us what God has freely given us.
“This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” (V13)
What does the Holy Spirit do?
1. He empowers us to share our testimony (V1-5)
“When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
Unlikely as it may seem the apostle Paul experienced all of the same difficulties we face when it comes to sharing our faith.
In verse 1 he was not eloquent nor did he have superior wisdom.
In verse 3 he confesses he came to them in weakness, fear and with much trembling.
And he begins verse 4 by saying “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words…”
Can we see that Paul could identify with every objection we have for not sharing our faith.
And it’s only because you and I are not qualified that we are given the Spirit’s power to share the gospel with others.
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.” (V4)
If we can only believe verse 4 it will set us free to share our faith in the demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit.
If not feeling qualified would be one of the biggest objection to sharing our faith what would be another?
What do we say?
“When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.”
Can we see who should be the central figure in any testimony we share? God!
We have to be careful that we don’t make the mistake of putting something else at the center of our testimony.The most important thing to share with someone is about what God has done for us.
God has done a lot for us but we see that in verse 2 the apostle Paul gives us the answer to what is the most important thing God has done for us.
“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (V2)
According to the Apostle Paul the most important thing God has done was the crucifixion of his son Jesus for our sins.
‘God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)
Since the crucifixion of Christ was the most important thing God did for us does not verse 2 also say that the Apostle Paul sought to be an expert on the subject.
“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (V2)
How committed are we to studying the crucifixion of Christ so we can apply its benefits to our own lives and the lives of others.
The Holy Spirit empowers us to share our faith.
We have seen that despite the fact that we are not qualified he wants to empower us.
We have seen that the most important thing to share with others is that Christ was crucified for their sins
But before we go on to the next point let us address another part of sharing our faith.
What is the goal of sharing our faith?
How do we know when someone is saved?
“So that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (V5)
Everyone is resting their faith on something but not everyone is resting their faith on the right thing.
The biggest thing that people are resting their faith on is their own good works.
A person is saved only when they rest their faith on the historical fact that Jesus Christ died for their sins on the Cross.
“We all like sheep have gone astray but he has laid on him the sins of us all.”
1. The Holy Spirit empowers us to share our testimony (V1-5)
2. The Holy Spirit helps to bring us to Christian Maturity (V6-16)
“We do, however speak a message of wisdom among the mature…”
What is the biblical definition of Christian Maturity?
According to the Apostle Paul it is having the mind of Christ (V16)
Having the mind of Christ is not
“The wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. (V6) “
“not in words taught us by human wisdom” (V13)
nor can anyone without the Spirit of God have the mind of Christ (V14)
We gain the mind of Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit as he reveals it to us through the word of God.
Only the Holy Spirit knows the mind of Christ (V11)
The mind of Christ is a secret wisdom
The mind of Christ is a hidden wisdom
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him- but he has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
This presents a problem in verse 13 and 14
In verse 13 the Apostle Paul tells us that since the person with the Spirit is expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words the person without the Spirit of God can not accept them.
This is why some people are not going to be excited about your growth in the Lord.
The more we have of the mind of the Lord the less we have the blessing of the world.
Having the mind of Christ will not automatically follow our placing our faith in Christ.
We have to resolve to cooperate with the Holy Spirit don’t we?
In conclusion
The Holy Spirit empowers us to share our faith and helps us to grow in Christian maturity.
But the most important thing that the Holy Spirit does is bring us the opportunity to receive salvation.
Perhaps you are here today and you have never heard that Jesus died on the cross for your sins.
Perhaps you have never placed your faith in what Christ did and instead you are trusting in what you might do.
Today you can know that you are free from the penalty of sin and today you can receive the Holy Spirit into your life.
