The Holy Spirit
I said in an earlier sermon in this series that the Creed tells a story. And the flow of that story moves with the main actors of that story:
It begins with the Father’s work of creating; it moves on to the Son’s work of rescue; and now it ends with the Spirit’s work of re-creating – in which the spirit brings us into a new community – the holy catholic church; gives us a new relationship with God – the forgiveness of sins; and in fact promises a whole new existence – the resurrection and the life everlasting.
We’ll look at those things in future weeks but for here all we see is an introduction to the Holy Spirit.
This section of the creed rounds out the Trinity, with the sometimes forgotten person of the Trinity and the often misunderstood person of the Trinity.
It seems that the Holy Spirit is often either neglected possibly because of misunderstanding or just un-understanding; or when not neglected – misunderstood – and even in that misunderstanding, focused on in a way that is confusing at best or unhealthily and unhelpful at worst.
But the Holy Spirit ought never to be neglected or misunderstood – for one simple reason.
Because: the Holy Spirit is God.
The Trinity – the belief that there is only one God, but in that God there are three persons who exist in perfect unity and equal power and glory and divinity – is utterly unique to the Christian Faith – and utterly essential to the Christian Faith.
One God, who exists in three eternal persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – Not one God who shifts modes of existence from Father to Son to Holy Spirit; not one God who is part Father, part Son, and part Spirit; nor three gods; but One God, in Three persons.
Which means that the Holy Spirit isn’t an “it” – the Holy Spirit is a person.
the Holy Spirit isn’t just a force – because a force is impersonal. A force like gravity or fate may have power but it is indiscriminating in that power and so can neither love nor hate nor care, but a person does those things.
The Holy Spirit grieves; and the Holy Spirit loves. And when we know the Spirit we learn by the work of the Spirit in us to grieve what the Spirit grieves and love what the Spirit loves.
A force is impersonal; but a person is personal. And so is related to; and known; and loved; and a divine person is worshiped.
The Holy Spirit is a person – a divine person – and so, in the words of the Nicene Creed – with the Father and the Son together is Worshipped and Glorified.
The Holy Spirit is our God – whom we worship.
- The Life-giving Power of the Spirit
- The Purifying Presence of the Spirit
- The Unifying Work of the Spirit
- The Comforting Witness of the Spirit
- The Spirit’s Fruit & Gifts
The Spirit brings life out of nothing and brings new life out of death.
In Genesis 1 we see that God’s Spirit was present at creation where in the beginning of the chapter there was nothing – just formlessness and emptiness – but the Spirit of God is there and so it doesn’t remain that way – but the formlessness takes shape to sustain life and the emptiness is filled with life until it’s overflowing with life abundant from the Lord of Life.
And then in chapter 2 we see that God breathes life into the man he has formed out of the dirt; and he becomes a living being. And in both Hebrew and Greek the word for wind or breath is the same as the word for Spirit – and so in Genesis and throughout the bible we see these images for the Spirit of God who brings life out of nothing and new life out of death.
Just as the Spirit is active & present to bring life at creation; so is the Spirit active & present to bring new life in redemption.
This passage in Titus 3 sums up this biblical theme: that we are “saved through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
In Ezekiel 37, the Spirit of God comes in the form of wind and takes dry bones of death and makes them alive. And here in Acts 2, at the birth of the New Covenant church, God’s Spirit comes in the form of wind and brings the community of God’s new people into existence as the church of Jesus; in John 3 when Nicodemus comes to Jesus he tells him of the necessity of being born again – receiving new spiritual life by being reborn by the Spirit of God – because even though we are physically alive, because of sin we are spiritually dead and can’t see God or enter the kingdom of God – until we are born of not just flesh, but of the Spirit.
This is a reference to the promise of Ezekiel 36 – in which Jesus is declaring that he ushers in the new age of fulfillment – of the pouring out of the Spirit – in which our dead heart of stone that is dead towards God is removed, and God promises to put a new heart and a new spirit in us – that is alive towards him and such that we are enabled to love and obey him in new life – in the new life of the Spirit.
This is describing inner renewal – new life – that enables us to be in fellowship with the living God – given to us by the Spirit applying Jesus’ redemption to our hearts.
The pouring out of the Spirit of God – which we see in Acts 2 – which by the way we’re not too big on church calendar here but today is actually Pentecost Sunday – the day that Christians celebrate this unique once-for-all event when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Church –
Much of the NT contrasts life under the old covenant – life under the law – 8 describing life in the new covenant – life in the Spirit.
This pouring out of the Spirit is one of the characteristic & distinctive elements of the new covenant. And this Spirit doesn’t just create new life in those who were dead but it sustains and empowers that new life such that by the power of the Spirit we can put to death the old body of sin and live the new life of righteousness.
Romans 8:12-13 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
That is a struggle; that is a battle; that throughout this life is a irreconcilable war in which we may experience set-backs but we will have the victory because of the Spirit of God in us.
Made possible by the sending of the Spirit, which was poured out upon the church – all believers.
This is what this long quotation from the prophet Joel I think is referring to. The promise here, is that in the last days – which we arrive at in Acts 2 – the last days – the Spirit is promised to be poured out
Stott: out-pouring of Spirit emphasizes:
it’s abundance (not a drop or drizzle but “pouring out” – more like a down-pour; it’s finality (wont’ be taken back or gathered back up; it’s universality (all flesh – not everyone irrespective of internal faith; but everyone irrespective of outward status. No distinctions of sex (sons/daughters); age (young men/old men); rank (even on my servants – those who would be lowly in the sight of the world are called “my servants” by God – they belong to him and aren’t except from the gift of the Spirit being poured out into their hearts. ).
In the OT, the Spirit seems to have been poured out in small bits, only on certain people for a certain time to accomplish certain tasks; and usually on only the most important people;
but now, it is poured out abundantly, with finality, on all of God’s people.
Such that all of God’s people in the new covenant receive the gift of the Spirit and can live with the assurance that the Spirit of God lives in them and gives them what they need to live in their renewed relationship with God.
Paul:
“If you are in Christ, you are new creation. The old has gone, the new has come”. Not perfectly new yet – but genuinely new, renewed and strengthened by the Holy Spirit within us.
This is the new-life-giving power of the Spirit
2. The Purifying Presence of the Spirit
In Acts 2 the Spirit comes in tongues of fire – and in the OT fire was a common symbol of the presence of God – and it was a symbol of purification.
Because the Holy Spirit is God’s purifying presence in us.
The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Cor 3:16 “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”
When someone comes to your house, you make it ready. You clean it up. You make it fitting and accommodating for their presence. Especially when someone really important comes to your house –
and when we are aware of the Spirit’s presence with us – it transforms us because we learn to love what the Spirit loves and walk in the fear of God. The Spirit’s presence in & among us isn’t to make us merely enthusiastic or emotional, or even to act in strange ways – but the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of holiness, is present in our lives to make us holy – holiness is strange enough in God’s world that that’s enough strangeness without adding to it in other ways.
To use a negative example that I read: A pastor tells the story of a man he counseled who committed adultery: Bad. In his own home: worse. But even worse: After it had came to light and ruined his life, he recalled that before engaging in this in his house he go through the house and turn over all the pictures of his wife – because even the presence of her represented in pictures affected what he could and couldn’t do.
And so, our awareness of the presence of the Spirit should be so clear and sharp and penetrating that it affects what we can and can’t do – what we want to do and don’t want to do – such that even when no one else sees, we are aware of the presence of the Spirit and want to be holy, as he is, and live to please God.
“May my one desire be to have my spirit be the worthy dwelling of Thy Spirit.”
The purifying presence of the Spirit;
3. The unifying work of the Spirit
In the beginning God created one human family; but sin fractured the unity of humanity such that it was characterized by conflict and division; but the Spirit is at work to restore unity to the family of God by healing conflict and division and building bridges over differences that would otherwise divide us.
In Acts 2 – these tongues of fire enable the disciples to speak in the tongues of all those present – from nations which cover all the places where the Jewish nation had been dispersed – foreshadowing that the gospel will spread to the ends of the earth and reach people from every tribe and nation and bring them into the new family of God.
And, undoing the judgment of Babel.
And if you are familiar with the story of the tower of Babel from Genesis 11, you’ll recognize that what happens in Acts 2 is sort of a reversal of what happened at Babel.
At Babel, sinful humanity – at that point all speaking the same language – came together in opposition of God, trying to make a name for themselves, by building a tower to reach heaven.
And, God comes down in judgment of their pursuit of self-glory— and confuses them through the introduction of different languages, and then scatters them, as his judgment against their sin and to cease their joint-opposition to him.
At Babel, God put obstacles in the way to prevent humanity from building their kingdom & seeking their glory.
But at Pentecost, God removes obstacles so that the gospel can go forth and build God’s kingdom & spread his glory.
The church is enabled to fulfill their mission of serving God and building a name for him – spreading his glory to the ends of the earth through the preaching of the Gospel.
This happens through the unifying work of the Spirit.
A reversal of the splintering of humanity at Babel – but not an exact reversal: a reversal of the confusion and resulting frustration from different languages; but, not a return to one common language; but rather, communication at pentecost came about through the diversity of the languages present there.
This looks ahead to God’s ultimate intention to build his church from peoples spreading all across the ends of the earth – Rev 5:9-10
“from every tribe and language and people and nation”.
If you think the church ought to be white and english-speaking and waving the american flag, you’re going to feel uncomfortable in heaven.
Patriotism has its rightful place in the individual lives of Christians, but not in the Church – because the church transcends those things.
And, how terrible if we as a church work against the unifying work of the Holy Spirit by increasing the conflict and division among us or living according to the boundaries of external differences that have been overcome in Jesus, instead of living as the One family of God?
But how good it is when we live as brothers and sisters in Christ and love one another – even with those that we would have no earthly commonality with but we recognize that we are 1 in Christ,
And the gifts of the Spirit to the church – which we’ll look at briefly at the end, are given in disparity – not everyone is given every gift such that such that we each would be self-sufficient and so could be independent; but each person is given different gifts such that each has something to offer and each stands in need of what others offer, such that we are bound together in mutual dependence upon one another – the very gifts that so often we exercise in ways that divide us are intended by how they are apportioned to bind us together in mutual need and dependence and loving service.
(The Unifying Work of the Spirit)
4. The Comforting Witness of the Spirit
In John’s gospel, the Holy Spirit is called the comforter, or counselor, or helper, or advocate. And the idea is that they aren’t to be troubled by his departure because his departure would bring about the sending of the Spirit who would give them what they need.
The Spirit witnesses to Jesus – John 15 Jesus tells the disciples that the Spirit who would be coming would witness to him.
The Spirit would shine a spotlight on Jesus in their hearts so that they can know him and follow him – understand who he is and what he’s done for us.
And so, when we see Jesus being worshiped in his person and for his work – that right there is a reflection of the SPirit’s presence and activity – witnessing to Jesus.
And the Spirit guided the apostles into all truth by reminding them of his words – such that they could write down God’s Word in Scripture – just as he did with the prophets of the OT. This is called revelation.
And we believe that God’s revelation is complete with he completion of our NT – such that we have by the Spirit the word of God, complete and finished.
But the Spirit isn’t done guiding his people into truth. Revelation is complete, but the Spirit continues in his work of illumination in which he opens up our eyes and hearts to understand the Scriptures – to make them real to us when we read them – otherwise they would fall on deaf ears, but because of the Spirit continuing to work in illumination we can know and understand it.
The Spirit speaking to us isn’t hearing a whisper in the wind – it’s hearing God’s voice in scripture.
Otherwise the Spirit’s speaking can become flooded in subjectivity where we’re in danger of equating God’s voice with our feelings and desires; or it can be twisted into manipulation where we try to twist people’s arms into doing what we think they ought to do because the Spirit told me – which takes away someone’s freedom to disagree with you because it equates disagreeing with you, with disagreeing with God.
And so if we want to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us and guiding us into all truth and knowing our Savior Jesus more and becoming more like him, we need to be people who love and know God’s word.
The Spirit helps and comforts us by pointing us to Jesus.
The Spirit witnesses to Jesus;
The Spirit witnesses to us:
He witnesses to us in Conviction – by convincing us that we are in fact sinners.
John 16:7 says that the Spirit comes to prove to the word that they are in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.
It’s no comfort to be convinced you’re a sinner if that’s it; but the Spirit’s convincing us we are sinners also convinces us that we are sinners who are in need of the savior. And that is comfort. That is peace. That is freedom.
And, if you wonder if the Holy Spirit of God is really necessary for this conviction then you haven’t really wrestled with the human pride that makes it a supernatural task to convince a human sinner that they are what they are, and that only Jesus can rescue them.
He witnesses to us in Conviction;
He witnesses to us in Assurance: By removing our fears and assuring us that we are in fact the children of God.
Romans 8:14-17 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,[g] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Being a child of God doesn’t mean not suffering in this life. But it means especially in those times of suffering, or fear, or doubt, we are reminded that God is still our Father; we are still his children; he loves us still and hasn’t forgotten us; and he is working all things for the good of those who love him which is maybe not more pleasant in the moment but is certainly more valuable than simply having all things go well for us in this life; because we know that God is using the not good circumstances we experience for our ultimate and eternal good, and to strengthen our faith which is of greater worth than gold.
The Spirit witnesses to Jesus; us;
The Spirit witnesses to the world, through us.
We looked at this last week in Acts chapter 1 when Jesus told his disciples “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses, to the ends of the earth.”
The church is called to go to the ends of the earth in witness to Jesus and make disciples of all nations.
How in the world are we supposed to do that? IN our own strength? certainly not, but in the strength of the Spirit the church has, and will continue to, until Jesus comes back.
When you feel inadequate to the task, remember the Spirit is at work through us to witness to the world.
One of the ways we witness to the world is by the preaching of the Gospel, which we see is enabled by the spirit in Acts 2. And one of the ways we witness to the world, is by our love for one another, which we see in the fruit and gifts of the Spirit.
Fruit & Gifts.
Both come from the Spirit;
Fruit of the Spirit is Spiritual fruit – growth and maturity in Jesus that is renewing the image of God in us that was distorted by sin; the spirit is making us more like Jesus – in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
And though I think the gifts get more prominence, I believe the fruit is more important. Because the gifts without the fruit is disastrous to the church, because the fruit is what enables us to use the gifts rightly – with love and service and maturity.
Your gifts, come from God. And God gives them to be used, and they increase as they are used. But they are to be used for the good of others.
Because the gifts aren’t given for us to use for ourselves to ourselves to benefit ourselves, but in love and service to others. And so we exercise the gifts of the Spirit in the way of the fruit of the Spirit – in the way of Jesus – and in doing so we live out the realities of the New community of God that is transformed and energized by the Spirit of Jesus.