Sermon Series: “God, The Holy Spirit”
Sermon #1 “Pentecost; The Spirit Has Arrived!”
Text: Acts 2:1-4
OPENING JOKE: “The Boy Who Believes in the Holy Spirit Isn’t Here” A children’s class was learning the Apostles Creed. Each child had been assigned a sentence to repeat. The first one said, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” The second child said, “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son…” When he had completed his sentence, there was an embarrassing silence. Finally, one child piped up, “Teacher, the boy who believes in the Holy Spirit isn’t here.”
INTRODUCTION: Did you know that it might have been appropriate for our organist to play birthday music today?
Does anyone know why?
Because today we are here in the Lord’s House to worship and celebrate the day of Pentecost – the Birthday of the New Testament Church
Pentecost means ‘fiftieth’ and it is held every year fifty days after the Jewish Passover.
In the Old Testament it is referred to as ‘The Feast of Weeks’ (Ex 34:22) or Harvest (Lev 23:16).
It was on this day in the Jewish calendar year that they offered the ‘First Fruits’ of their harvest
Appropriately so, God in His Wisdom gave the Church the first fruits of our inheritance on the Day of Pentecost: The Gift of the Holy Spirit
You see…
In the Old Testament, God the Father (Yahweh) is revealed
a. He spoke to Adam in the Garden
b. He spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai
c. He spoke to the prophets
In the Gospels, God the Son (Jesus) is revealed
a. Jesus was present in the Old Testament because He and the Father are eternally existent (without beginning or ending)
b. Christ was not created, He always was
c. But it was in His incarnation that we see His work revealed
In Acts, at Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit is revealed
a. The Spirit, like Christ, is eternally existent
b. He was not created at Pentecost – nor was this His first appearance
i. He is actually talked about all the way back in Genesis
ii. Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
c. Even though this was not His first appearance, Pentecost was where the full revelation of the work of the Holy Spirit was made manifest
a. It was the first time He came and made His abode in the hearts of people
b. 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,”
c. In the Old Testament time God’s Holy Spirit was in the physical temple
d. He might come upon a person to empower them as He did David, Samson and others – but He did not make His abode in people’s hearts until the day of Pentecost
e. By His indwelling at Pentecost, His purpose is revealed to us
In the weeks to come I am going to preach a series of messages on the Holy Spirit
It is my goal to give a Biblical perspective on the inner and outer working of the Third Person of the Trinity
This will include:
• The promise of His arrival
• His work in drawing unbelievers to Jesus
• His indwelling of the believer
• His convicting of sin in the life of believers
• His ministry of illumination to the truth of God’s Word
• And His role in the sovereign act of salvation
And through this series I pray that you will come to a fuller understanding of the Holy Spirit
This morning I want to begin this series with an overview of God, in the Person of the Holy Spirit
I. THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
a. The Holy Spirit is fully God
i. He is not a force, an energy or an after thought
ii. He is the Third Person of the Trinity, with all of the power and glory of the Godhead
iii. To understand the relationship of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit would mean a full understanding of the Trinity, which none of us have
1. But if you are like me, and a good ol’ country answer will satisfy, just think about it this way:
2. Illustration #1: “Water” H2O comes in three forms – liquid, solid and gas – The essence never changes, but because of different purposes, the forms do
3. Illustration #2: “Holy, Holy, Holy” Personally, I have an even simpler way of looking at it – I was watching a movie once where the song “Holy, Holy, Holy” was being sung. Now I must have heard that song a hundred times in our church. But ya’ know, it was in this movie that I picked up what the song said in the last words: “God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity”
4. And something clicked in my head and I said, “I get that!”
a. Now, of course, I don’t fully understand the Trinity as none of us do
b. But hearing it said so plain, at a time I needed to hear it, God’s Spirit illuminated my mind to a better understanding
5. ‘1’ God in ‘3’ persons – that’s the Trinity!
6. JOKE: I figure if we can make 3 in 1 oil…well you understand
b. Because the Holy Spirit is Fully God, He should not be an afterthought in our devotional life
i. Think About It: We often ponder the works of Jesus, but we miss the working of the Holy Spirit
1. In looking for books these last few weeks to begin studying for this series, I was surprised by the lack of commentaries concerning the Holy Spirit
2. Quote: And much of what I did find was people commenting about how the Spirit made them feel, not what the Bible actually says about Him
ii. It was hard to find a true, Biblical perspective about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer
c. Quote: In our devotional life, which we should all have, we should be seeking not only a meaningful relationship with God and Jesus, but with the Person of Holy Spirit Who come to dwell within us at conversion
II. THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
a. He promise of the Gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost goes back into the Old Testament
i. Our reader this morning read from Joel 2:28 which God said, “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh”
ii. God pouring out His Spirit is illustrating the indwelling of the Holy Spirit into the heart of the believer at conversion
iii. The Holy Spirit comes and lives within us at conversion
b. John (The Baptist) reiterated the same promise
i. Matthew 3:11: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”
ii. ‘Baptize’ comes from the Greek word “Baptizo” which means to dip, to immerse, to submerge or overwhelm
iii. It also means ‘to make clean with water’
1. John promised that while He was Baptizing with water, Christ’s baptism would be with the Holy Spirit
2. The baptism we go through in the water is a picture of the baptism that occurs on our inside, when the Holy Spirit converts our heart
3. The Holy Spirit coming into our hearts is what makes us clean, not the water
c. Of course, the greatest promise of the Spirit was by the mouth of Jesus Himself
i. John 14:16: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”
ii. Did you know the key word in this passage is ‘another’?
1. The Greek word ‘Allos’ actually means ‘another of the same kind’
2. Christ was saying that when He goes, another just like Him will come
3. Christ walked beside the believer when He was on the earth, the Spirit lives inside the believer on the earth
4. The Spirit continued Christ’s earthly ministry after His ascension
iii. In fact, the word “Paraclete”, which is the word translated “comforter”, actually means ‘one who walks beside’
d. Quote: The great and glorious promise of the Spirit is that we are not forced to walk alone in this world, but we have one just like Christ who walks with us: The Holy Spirit
III. THE PURPOSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
a. In the coming weeks we will discuss the various ministries of the Holy Spirit, but today I wanted to just mark a few of His wonderful purposes in the plan of salvation
b. (1) He Regenerates our Heart at Conversion
i. Titus 3:5 “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”
ii. Regeneration is when our hearts are made new
iii. This is also known as being born again – the Holy Spirit making our hearts new is the New Birth
c. (2) He Seals our Heart at Conversion
i. II Corinthians 1:21-22 “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
ii. In the old days my great-grandmother used to make ‘preserves’
1. When we went to clean out the old house in Georgia after my grandmother passed, we found jars of them still sealed and fresh
2. This is the picture I think of when I read where the Spirit seals us
3. Kept fresh, safe and guaranteed
iii. Ephesians 4:30 “the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption”
1. Aren’t you glad it doesn’t say, ‘sealed until you make a mistake’?
2. But it says ‘sealed unto the day of redemption’
iv. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of eternal redemption for those who who believe in Christ
d. (3) He Begins a Process of Cleaning at Conversion
i. This is known as ‘sanctification’
ii. Immediately at conversion, a believer is sanctified (set apart for cleansing)
iii. But then he must also be progressively sanctified, or continually cleansed
iv. Hebrews 10:14 “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
v. This is the process by which the Spirit makes us more and more like Christ
e. The Holy Spirit’s purposes do not stop at conversion, but it is amazing how much of a role the Holy Spirit plays in it!
CONCLUSION: The Holy Spirit is God, eternally existent and possesses all attributes, personality and deity with God the Father and Jesus
And the best part is, He lives within us
He is here to provide us with comfort, insight, conviction and assurance concerning the things of God.
ILLUSTRATION: “SENT FROM HEAVEN” One of the most moving passages in English literature comes towards the end of Charles Dickens’s Tale of Two Cities, a story of the French revolution.
Each day, a grim procession of prisoners made its way on the streets of Paris to the guillotine. One prisoner, Sidney Carton, a brave man who had once lost his soul but had now found it again, was now giving his life for his friend.
Beside him there was a young girl. They had met before in the prison, and the girl had noticed the man’s gentleness and courage. She said to him, "If I may ride with you, will you let me hold your hand? I am not afraid, but I am little and weak, and it will give me more courage."
So they rode together, her hand in his; and when they reached the place of execution, there was no fear in her eyes. She looked up into the quiet composed face of her companion, and said, "I think you were sent to me by heaven."
In all the dark valleys of life, God our Father, the God of all comfort, in the person of the Holy Spirit, is at our side
Quote: We need not look at life in fear, for we know that if we have trusted Christ for salvation, God has given us the great and powerful One ‘who walks beside us’
And with that assurance, we can have the faith that we will never face a trial alone
So this week when you are facing life’s inevitable trials, remember this:
As a believer you have God’s very presence with you always
He is here to do what Christ did when He walked the earth…
You should never feel totally alone, but know that God the Father in His grand provision sent His Spirit to dwell with you as the first fruit of redemption that you received at conversion.
(Let us pray)
