There Is One Spirit Series

Alba 4-2-2023

There Is One Spirit

Ephesians 4:4

This morning's message is entitled “There Is One Spirit” from Ephesians chapter four, verse four.

Sometime back the Associated Press carried this news article: "Glasgow, Ky.--Leslie Puckett, after struggling to start his car, lifted the hood and discovered that someone had stolen the motor."

In the same way, trying to get ourselves going spiritually without the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are like a car without an engine.

Trying to start anything without the Spirit of God is an exercise in futility. We are reliant on the Holy Spirit for the power to start up each new day, each new project and each new relationship.

That is why Jesus told the disciples in John 14:16“I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.” He said this to His disciples after His jubilant ride into Jerusalem and just before His crucifixion and ascension because Jesus does not want, nor does He intend, to leave us alone.

In John 14:18 Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans”. He knew that we would need help – divine help – if we are going to be His disciples in his “absence.” The Spirit is the “Helper” He sent.

John 16:5-7 records His words, “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”

Jesus uses the Greek term “parakletos” to describe the person and work of the Spirit as our helper. This word is translated in different ways: counselor, comforter, helper, friend, and advocate. Translated literally it means, “one called alongside.”

Back in 1945, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers recruited Jackie Robinson to play for them. Now to people who don’t know much about baseball, that may not seem all that important.

But back then, it was very important – because Jackie Robinson was a black man… And until that time black men were not allowed to play ball with white men.

The owner of the Dodgers told Robinson he intended to change baseball and break the racial barrier. As expected this decision was not accepted well. Robinson endured mistreatment from opposing teams, and crowds would boo him and insult him, calling him all kinds of nasty things.

In a game they played in Boston during his second year with the Dodgers, the insults and taunts became almost unbearable. It was at that point the short stop, a white southern boy named Pee Wee Reese, called time out and walked over to Robinson and put his arm around him.

In that simple gesture Pee Wee Reese was telling the crowd, “This is my friend. This is my teammate. And I stand with him.” From that point on the crowd settled down and backed off their insults.

It was such a powerful gesture that there is a statue in New York that commemorates it. (slate.com/articles/sports)

It is a powerful thing for someone to come along side another to help, comfort and be a friend. That's why Jesus sent His Spirit to dwell with us.

Just as Jesus is our comforter, counselor, advocate, helper, and teacher, so the Holy Spirit also has this role, expressly to continue the work of Jesus. The Spirit takes up where Jesus left off.

Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell His people, and to empower us for His work. It is the Holy Spirit who has been given to us to guide us to live our lives as Christians and meet the challenges we face in this life.

After the apostle Paul was converted from being a persecutor of the church to a follower of Jesus Christ, it says in Acts 9:31 “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord (and note this) and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.”

The Holy Spirit brought comfort to the churches, coming “along side” of them, indwelling them, providing growth in their numbers and in their spiritual walk.

The indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit is promised to those who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and are baptized. In Acts 2:38, the apostle Peter responded to people who believed his message about Jesus telling them:

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”