"Knowing The Holy Spirit Part two"

Knowing The Holy Spirit – Part Two

In this series, we are going to focus on the Holy Spirit and just how important He is as being the third head of the trinity. Today we’re going to talk specifically about what Christians believe about the Holy Spirit.

God exists in three persons, but we often only hear about two: Father and Son. The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity. He is God living in us!

The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son as God. He is present in the world to make us aware of our need for Jesus. He also lives in every believer from the moment of salvation.

The 66 books of the Bible present God the Father as our creator, God the Son as our savior, and God the Holy Spirit as the one who takes what Jesus did and applies it to our lives. You might think of God the Father as God for us, God the Son as God with us, and God the Holy Spirit as God in us. X 2

The Holy Spirit provides Christians with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. As Christians, we seek to live under the Holy Spirit’s control daily.

The Holy Spirit seems to be the most controversial person of the Trinity. Even Christians cannot agree on who He is or what He does. Is the Holy Spirit the least of the three in the Trinity, or is He the power we’re lacking in our lives? There are many misconceptions about who the Holy Spirit is, but the following are some of the most common misunderstandings Christians have about the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not karma or a force; He’s a person.

The Holy Spirit is not reserved for super Christians; He’s a gift to all Christians.

The Holy Spirit does not come and go like goosebumps; He is with us always.

The Holy Spirit only does spectacular things. The Holy Spirit does many spectacular things, but He also guides and equips us for everyday interactions. Sometimes, His leading could be as simple as telling us to sit in a specific seat or to say hi to a specific person.

The Holy Spirit is extra or optional. (I hear things like – “If I know Jesus, I’ve got all I need.”) We can’t do all that Jesus calls us to without the Holy Spirit.

Who is the Holy Spirit? – The Holy Spirit is a person.

He is A Gift Giver who keeps on giving – some of you have gifts you don’t know you have.
What Does the Holy Spirit Do? – In short, a lot.

For starters, the Holy Spirit empowers us to share the Gospel. One of the promises Jesus gives us in Scripture is that we don’t have to fear sharing our faith. Even when we’re not sure what to say, we can trust the Holy Spirit will bring to mind what we need, when we need it.

The sad thing is this: There are so many Christians walking around and even sitting in this sanctuary or watching on-line who are defeated.

One of the things the Bible often associates the Holy Spirit with is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.” I want to look at four freedoms that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives. Last week, we looked at the Holy Spirit as a counselor and as a guarantee. This week, we will look at the Holy Spirit as a coach and as a giver.

#3 – The Holy Spirit As A Coach

As a counselor the Holy Spirit brings us to Christ, as a guarantee the Holy Spirit makes us secure with God, but what about after we’ve come to know Christ?

Galatians 5:16-17 (NKJV)

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

Galatians 5:25 (NKJV)

” If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

The word “walk” in verse 16 is literal and the picture here is that the spiritual life is a process of walking. This is where the idea of the spiritual life being a journey comes from—the idea that commitment to Christ isn’t a destination, but it’s the beginning of a journey, of a pilgrimage from where we are today to where God wants to take us. This walk is an uphill one. There’s conflict between the leftovers of our old way of life and where the Holy Spirit is leading us to go. The only way to progress in this walk is to keep in step with the Spirit, like a marching band keeps in step with its band leader.

This image of walking presents the Holy Spirit as being kind of like a coach. Coaching is a hands-on, relational process of helping a person be successful. A coach offers encouragement, resources, and help for an athlete to live up to his or her athletic potential. Similarly, the Holy Spirit offers us hands on encouragement, resources, and help as we walk up this sometimes steep hill of spiritual growth and maturity.

Like a good coach, the Holy Spirit won’t walk for us, but he walks beside us, inviting us to keep in step with his promptings, to follow his direction, to rely on his encouragement and strengthening. Here we find the third freedom: since the Holy Spirit empowers our lives, we are free to move forward spiritually.

Being filled with the Spirit is not the same thing as being indwelt by the Spirit. Every genuine Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit; it’s automatic. But we’re only filled by the Holy Spirit when we allow him to empower our lives on a moment by moment basis.

The spiritual life of following Jesus Christ is an uphill climb. It’s not an easy stroll through the park; it’s a lifelong journey of transformation where we are changed into people who love God with our whole hearts and who love other people sacrificially.
Sometimes the trail looks dangerous; sometimes it looks outright impossible when we face challenges that threaten to overwhelm us; sometimes we get lost, or we defiantly sit down and refuse to go any further. Some people find the road too difficult and turn away and start back down the hill. Yet no matter what we encounter along this incredible lifelong trail, our coach is there with us, offering us everything we need to take the next step.

Are you stuck? Is your spiritual life any different today than it was a year ago? Are you discouraged? Do you feel like quitting or turning back? Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom to move forward spiritually.

#4 – The Holy Spirit As A Giver

What do we do as we’re walking this spiritual path with God?

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NASB)

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

The Corinthian Christians were greatly confused about the role of these spiritual gifts in the spiritual life—as many Christians are today—so Paul devotes three entire chapters to discussing how they should and should not be used.

Paul says that each follower of Jesus is given at least one manifestation of the Spirit. This phrase “manifestation of the Spirit” is another way to describe the gifts of the Holy Spirit because it’s in using these gifts that the invisible presence of the Holy Spirit is manifested or made visible for people to see. Each one is given a manifestation of the Spirit to make visible the Holy Spirit’s invisible presence.

The purpose of this manifestation of the Spirit is for the common good—for the Christian community to be built up and strengthened, for the church to become vibrant, alive, and spiritually healthy. If the invisible presence of the Holy Spirit isn’t being experienced in a group of Christians, it’s not because the Spirit hasn’t given these manifestations; it’s because the individual Christians aren’t using these manifestations for the common good.

To give some practical examples of what he’s talking about, Paul lists several different kinds of spiritual gifts. Some Christians believe that some of these gifts are no longer active today, while other Christians believe that they’re all still active, but Paul’s point is that there are gifts and that it’s the Holy Spirit who gives them.

The Holy Spirit is the one who gives these gifts; they aren’t determined by me, by you, by the church, or by anyone other than him. He gives gifts according to his own wisdom and judgment. Here we find our final freedom: since the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts, we are free to serve God.

The Holy Spirit gives every single follower of Jesus Christ unique gifts, and these gifts are really gifts to the entire Christian community. Yet when we don’t use these gifts for the common good, when we either use them for our own comfort or when we neglect them through our refusal to use them, we’re guilty of a kind of spiritual fraud. You see, the Holy Spirit gives us these gifts, but it’s up to us to unwrap them. This means that every follower of Jesus is on a journey of discovering what his or her spiritual gifts are and using these spiritual gifts in specific areas of ministry.

The spiritual health of any church is determined not by how powerful the worship service is, not by how effective the speaker is, not by how great the facility is, but by how many individual members are using their spiritual gifts in ministry.

You see, it’s the Holy Spirit’s giving of these gifts that frees us to serve God. After all, what do we have to really offer God? Not much. But if we use that which he has given us to manifest his presence, to make his invisible work visible through our tangible service, then we are free to serve God.

Conclusion

There are many things Christians believe about the Holy Spirit. In fact, lots of Christians argue over these differences. Yet all Christians agree that the Holy Spirit brings freedom—the freedom to experience salvation, the freedom to be secure with God, the freedom to move forward spiritually, the freedom to serve God. They may disagree on exactly how that all happens, but all agree that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is salvation, security, growth, and service. This comes through the Holy Spirit’s work to draw us to Christ, through his indwelling, his empowering, and his giving.

Illustration – Pitching To Holy Spirit-And Refusing To Take His Signal

I’ve imagined this scene in my head: I’m playing baseball with the Holy Spirit. The stands are full of fans, but out there on the field it’s just him and me. I’m the pitcher. The Holy Spirit is the catcher, behind home plate. He settles into his crouch, ready to play, and I look for his signals—simple commands. What pitch will he want me to throw? I wait in anticipation, but also with one eye on the crowd. What will they think of me? He signals a fastball.

I think for a moment and shake my head—no, not a fastball.

Next, he signals a slider.

This time I look toward my teammates in the dugout for guidance. Then I glance up at the fans. No, I’m not comfortable with that one either.

He gives me yet a third signal. No, not today, thank you!

Then I imagine the Holy Spirit silently and slowly withdrawing his hand back into his mitt. There’s a deep disappointment in his eyes. He’s decided to let me throw whatever I want. So I do—and then I wonder why there’s just no team spirit anymore!

Has Jesus stopped giving you signals?

I doubt it. He never stops speaking to his children. Is there a signal God’s been trying to give you, even as you listen to this message, that you’ve ignored because you just don’t want to obey?