Sermon Cloud

Do we really need the Holy Spirit?  Couldn’t we get along just fine in the Christian faith without this third rather vague member of the Trinity?  Indeed, some Christians have sometimes been accused of making too little of the Holy Spirit as others have been over making too much of him. A friend of mine said we could get into danger if our Christianity became Spiritianity.  Let’s be careful here with the word balance. The balance we need is not 1/3 of each person of the Trinity but the full 100% the Bible gives to each.

In a sense the Holy Spirit does everything the other members do; he’s involved in creation; he’s involved in redemption, gives new life. The Father is in heaven holding the world together; the Lord Jesus, who’s earthly work is finished, is with him. As the Father sent the son, the Son has now sent the Holy Spirit. He is the one who is here with us. And what is he doing? He’s always pointing us to Jesus and applying Jesus work of salvation. 

We believe .. The Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven to glorify Christ and to apply his work of salvation. He convicts sinners, imparts spiritual life and gives a true understanding of the Scriptures.  He indwells all believers, brings assurance of salvation and produces increasing likeness to Christ.     He builds up the Church and empowers its members for worship, service and mission.

• To glorify Christ, Jn 16:13-14

These words are spoken to Jesus’ followers; they (not us here) will be guided into all truth that they have recorded in Scripture. Now the Spirit’s work is to lift up Jesus; he brings glory to Jesus by taking Jesus words and making them known; he will make Jesus truths known to us by both inscripturating them, and writing them on our hearts.  As we learn new things about God, by reading our Bibles and seeing something more clearly than before – we can thank the Holy Spirit for bringing it to our attention.

• to apply the work of salvation

The Holy Spirit points us both to Jesus’ person and his work. He first shows us our sin. See Jn 16:8-11.

Did you know that before you came to true faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit was working in you?  You probably didn’t know that at the time - only afterwards. To realise that you were guilty before a holy God; to understand that Jesus is the Righteous One and to fear that you would stand before him as your Judge – all those are God’s work in you, being applied by the Holy Spirit.

That’s why we can be confident that people WILL become true believers. If it was all down to us to persuade people, they’d never come to trust Christ.  But God is at work – long before we are – by his own Spirit.

Furthermore, when we come to new life in Christ – this life is the life of the Spirit. John tells Nicodemus that he must be born of the Spirit, born from above. Physical birth is not sufficient; a spiritual birth – a birth of the Holy Spirit – is required. Jn 3:5-9. The Holy Spirit imparts spiritual life. We need to remind ourselves that once we were dead to God; now we are alive. It’s a bit like that splendid poster outside a church – are you really living or just walking around to avoid the funeral expenses?

We can physically exist but not be spiritually alive. God comes to us in our dead condition, and breathes His life into us. That’s why Jesus calls it being born again. God by his spirit re-creates our relationship with himself. The Holy Spirit brings us full life; he gets our spiritual heart beating again.

And not only does he impart the life of God, he stays with us – he indwells us. 

Sometimes we say that we opened the door of our life and Jesus came in. I think this is unhelpful language since it implies we are the heroes who did something great. The truth is we were dead in our sins; the devil had blinded us. We needed a work of God to bring us to faith; this is what the Holy Spirit does. And then he takes up residence within us. 1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? 

God calls us to himself; we respond, we see our terrible plight, and run to Christ. God then opened our eyes; he humbled us to bow to Jesus Christ as our Rescuer. No longer are we our own kings; Jesus rules

Some Christians have been confused over this; they think they have received Christ at conversion (came to him as Saviour) and then received Holy Spirit at a later stage (= baptism of Spirit, or calling Jesus Lord (as at Keswick).

This is not Biblical – it may have happened in personal experience – but the Bible says the Holy Spirit comes to live in us as soon as we truly trust Christ. Rom 8:9 you however are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.  If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.  The Holy Spirit – the spirit of God and of Jesus – enables us to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord of the universe and of our lives, 1 Cor 12:3. He indwells us. 

The H/Spirit is active in producing holiness in every believer.  He produces increasing likeness to Christ

We see this in fruit of the spirit, Gal 5:22; the ways we behave are different from before, as in 19f. 

The interesting feature of such fruit is it isn’t merely achieved by will-power alone; we don’t just grit our teeth and live by new rules. No, we work hard at reforming ourselves while at the same time asking God by his Spirit to change us. A new co-operative process begins when the Holy Spirit takes up residence with us.

Before the Spirit was in us, the pull was always towards SELF, now the magnet is on the other side, and we’re pulled towards wanting to please Christ.  But we can’t so this solo – so we need the inner help of the Holy Spirit. Look at Rom 8:5-11. The believer is now controlled by the Spirit, 9. Paul prays for the Colossians that they might live a life worthy of the Christ and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 1:10. 

Now the life we are to live, generated by the Holy Spirit, is the life we find in the Scriptures. Not only does the Bible describe what we should be like, but along with the Spirit it enables us to be like Christ.

• to connect us to the Scriptures

The Holy Spirit made sure that what we have recorded in the Bible is truly a word from God.1 Pet 2:19f

The Bible writers wrote down what they believed to be true, but God by his Spirit ensured that it was so; they were carried along by the Holy Spirit – lit. the Spirit of God blew through their sails

Just as the Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, so too he interprets them for us. See 1 Cor 2:6-12. This means that he helps us to understand the truths written down. When you read your Bible it is good to ask God to help you grasp what is written and to apply it to you. The Holy Spirit works in tandem with the Scriptures; it is very dangerous to separate them. Just as speech & breath go together, so word & spirit are connected. The word without the Spirit is sterile; but the Spirit without the word is far too mystical. To be a whole believer we need the objective word as well as the subjective Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us a true understanding of the bible, cos he was there at the beginning overseeing the writers.  Our current danger is always to be too individualistic; so the Holy Spirit works collectively. That’s why we study in groups, and read what others have said.

• to build up church

Some years ago Christians got hung up over spiritual gifts; maybe we still are!  But when we look at 1 Cor 12, we find that the gifts are given for the whole body. Selfish Christianty is a contradiction; to be a Christian is to be part of a body of Christians – the local church. We are here to build up one another. 1 Cor 12:7 for the common good As believers we form one body, 12 together. Yes there is a variety of personalities, styles & gifts – but there’s a functioning unity. On a trip to the Tate Modern there was this machine that was working – but it didn’t do anything – the parts just moved. That’s no use. A church isn’t just believers enjoying being together; we are here for a purpose – to do something.

Ultimately we are to bring glory to Jesus Christ; we do this as we honour him together – that’s our worship. But we do so as we serve together; as we do mission together.  Have you noticed that the best ministries – those aspects of church life that go really well – are usually team-ministries?  When we go on mission trips, or do evangelism – the best work is done TOGETHER.  The Holy Spirit empowers believers for worship, service and mission. David Jackman says

“Without the Spirit’s ministry there would be no Bible, no gospel, no new birth, no progress in holiness, no unity amongst believers. No one would know Jesus as Lord were it not for the work of the Holy Spirit”

We believe .. The Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven to glorify Christ and to apply his work of salvation. He convicts sinners, imparts spiritual life and gives a true understanding of the Scriptures. He indwells all believers, brings assurance of salvation and produces increasing likeness to Christ. He builds up the Church and empowers its members for worship, service and mission.

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Pray:  Almighty God we thank you for sending down the Lord Jesus and then giving us your Holy Spirit. It is a joy and relief to know that you are with us and in us by your Spirit. We are well aware ho far our lives fall short of your standards and we sincerely apologise for being so sinful and stupid. But out of your remarkable love you want to shape us to be more like Jesus.  We appreciate our Bibles; we are grateful for one another in the church; would you please not give up on us, but continue to fashion us into Christ’s likeness; make us more hungry for Christ; more willing to worship and serve him. Give us a love for lost people; those who do not have His Spirit. Give us a greater desire to make Jesus known as your Spirit pushes us out in mission. For your glory O Lord Amen.