Holy Spirit


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Grow in Grace Holy Spirit * John 15:1-5 Go ahead and grab your Bibles and turn with me to the gospel of John, chapter 15. While you are turning, I want you consider something for a moment. I want you to consider what you would believe to be the greatest current need at Harmony Bible Church. And don’t think too much about it; just go with the first thing that pops into your head. I’m guessing if you are at our Burlington or Ft. Madison campus, your answer might be a permanent facility. Or maybe if you serve in our children and student ministries it might be for more people to disciple our kids. Maybe you are passionate about Bible studies and small groups and know we need a lot more of that going on here. Or perhaps you have a real heart for our community and world and think that we really need to get more people out there serving in word and deed. And you know what, I would agree that every single one of these needs is legitimate, and they’re actually all on my prayer list and wish list for our church. However, I believe that our greatest need by far is not new facilities, or more volunteers, or even more Bible studies and small groups, but rather a much greater experience of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Let me show you why I believe this to be true from John 15, starting in v. 1. Jesus tells his disciples this: I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. [2] Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. [3] Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. [4] Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. [5] I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:1-5 ESV) Let make this really simple for you. The power and presence of the Holy

Spirit is our greatest need here at Harmony Bible Church because without him, we can do nothing. So, yes, we can plan and deliver really good services, and yes, we can run great children and student ministries, and yes, we can send out field staff and do lots of good work in our community, but without the Holy Spirit, all of it will be for not, because only through him can we truly bear fruit. Now, if you were paying attention when we just read the passage, you might be confused as to where I came up with the Holy Spirit, because it’s Jesus talking here in John 15. He tells the disciples they will bear fruit if they abide in him, so where does the Holy Spirit fit into all of this? Well, we have to understand that we abide in Jesus through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Look back with me now at John 14, verses 15-17. Note what Jesus says here: If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:15-17 ESV) So, listen. When Jesus ascended back to the Father after his resurrection, he sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. Jesus went to the Father, and the Holy Spirit went from the Father to us. This means that now we all have Jesus living within us through His Spirit. So, back to John 15; if we abide in Jesus in and through the Spirit, we will bear much fruit, but if we don’t we can do absolutely nothing. And listen, we can’t really overstate how important the Holy Spirit is. In his book Forgotten God, Francis Chan states that the Holy Spirit is as essential to our existence as air is to staying alive. And you know what, he is absolutely correct. Let me share a fear I have with you. Not of you, but with you. Well, I am afraid of some of you but not most of you. Anyway, one of my greatest fears  

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is that we become a church with a lot of activity but without a lot of fruit. Do you know what I mean by this? That we become a group of people who are doing lots of stuff and appear to have many good things going on, but in reality we aren’t producing any fruit. You see, there’s a real danger here for our church. We have a lot of talented people and we have a lot of resources. And because of that it’s possible for us to do “church” on our own, without the Holy Spirit’s help. But you know what we can’t do without the Holy Spirit’s help? We can’t see lost people saved. We can’t see lives transformed. And, in the theme of our current preaching series, we can’t grow in grace. To paraphrase Jesus in John 15 again, without the Holy Spirit we can do absolutely nothing of eternal value. Zero. Zilch, nada and any other word you can use for nothing. And so let me share with you what I desire for our church as a whole and for you individually. I want us to be a supernatural church and I want you to be supernatural Christians. I’m not referring to the so-called supernatural gifts. I’m referring to a church and Christians who produce fruit that can only be explained by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. I want us to be a group of people who produce so much fruit that when other people see it they know that it’s only explainable by something outside of ourselves, and that this gives us the opportunity to explain to them that that something is a someone known as the Holy Spirit. Are you with me on that? Let me ask you; is this the kind of church that you want to be a part of? Is this the kind of Christian you want to be? Well, if so there are three things we need to know about the Holy Spirit. One, we need to know who he is, two, we need to know what he does, and three, we need to know how we can see him work in our lives in a greater way. Who He Is Let’s start by talking about who he is.

 

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1. The Holy Spirit is God. Who is the Holy Spirit? Well, for starters the Bible tells us that he is the third person of the Trinity. Now when we come to the Trinity, we come to one of the core doctrines of the Christian faith, and whenever we come to a core doctrine it’s good to take a moment to review it. So, the doctrine of the Trinity teaches that there is one God who has eternally existed in three persons, each of whom is fully God. Let me tease this out just for a moment. The Bible tells us that there is one God, not 2, or 3, or 300 million. At the same time, however, the Bible also tells us that this one God has eternally existed in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and that each of these three persons is fully and equally God. This means, for the sake of our discussion today, that the Holy Spirit is just as much God as the Father and the Son. He’s not part God, nor is he simply a manifestation of God, but rather he is God himself. Now, if your head is spinning a little right now and your going a little crosseyed, that’s ok. I don’t fully understand how the Trinity works, and no human ever has or ever will. But you know what, as I often say, that’s ok, because here at Harmony we are all right with not being able to understand everything about God, because we want and need a God that’s bigger than us and we can’t fully get our minds around. Now, that said, we can affirm what the Bible clearly teaches, and the Bible clearly teaches that there is one God in three persons and each of those persons is fully God, including the Holy Spirit. 2. The Holy Spirit is a person. The second thing we need to know is that the Holy Spirit is a person. He’s not a force as in Star Wars nor is he simply a source of power like an electrical outlet. You may note that I am avoiding analogies for the Trinity and the Holy Spirit, and that’s because all analogies fall short, and most of them by a long shot. I’ve heard people talk about the Holy Spirit in terms of getting plugged into God. In other words, just like we get electricity by  

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plugging into an outlet, so too do we get plugged into God by connecting through the Holy Spirit. However, this is a terrible analogy. The Holy Spirit isn’t a thing, he’s a person. A person who dwells within all true believers. And since he’s a person and he dwells so closely we can have a personal relationship with him. We can talk to him, we can listen to him, and we can get to know him more and more and more. The Holy Spirit is not a theory to be mastered, but a person to be known. Are you experiencing his power and presence in your life? So, let me ask you this. If you knew someone who had unlimited power, unlimited resources, and was infinitely loving, kind, and generous, would you want to get to know that person more? Would you? If tomorrow this person moved into your neighborhood, how long would it take you to walk across the street and introduce yourself? You’d probably do it pretty quickly, right? Well, guess what folks? If you are a believer, that’s the person you have living inside of you, and even better is he really, really, really wants you to know him and to share with you his power, resources, and love. Which leads to the second thing we need to know about the Holy Spirit, and that is what he does. What He Does I’m going to give you an eight-part summary of the work of the Holy Spirit. We might call this the Holy Spirit’s job description. For the sake of time, I’m only going to briefly comment on each of these, and would encourage you to study them more on your own. 1. Teaches and guides us. (John 14) So, number one, the Holy Spirit teaches and guides us. He is the Spirit of truth who helps us understand God’s Word and how to obey it. 2. Helps us. (John 14-16, Acts 9) Number two, the Holy Spirit helps us. Helper is a name Jesus repeatedly uses for him. He specifically helps us by comforting, encouraging, assuring and  

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counseling us. 3. Convicts us of sin. (John 16) Number three, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. He speaks to our conscience and let’s us know when we have fallen into sin or our headed that way. 4. Empowers us for service. (1 Cor. 12; Eph. 6) Number four, the Holy Spirit empowers us for service. If you are a believer, the Holy Spirit has given you at least one gift, maybe more, and as you use your gift he makes it effective and produces fruit. 5. Makes our prayers effective. (Eph. 2) Number five, the Holy Spirit makes our prayers effective. In Ephesians 2 Paul tells us that we have access to God the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. 6. Produces his fruit in our lives. (Gal. 5) Number six, the Holy Spirit produces his fruit in our lives - love, joy, patience, peace, longsuffering, etc. – what are known as the fruit of the Spirit. 7. Carries out our salvation. • Regeneration (Titus 3) • Adoption (Rom. 8) • Sanctification (2 Cor. 3) Number seven, the Holy Spirit carries out our salvation, specifically regeneration, adoption, and sanctification. The Spirit is responsible for all of these. He is the one who wakes us from the dead and gives us new life. He is the one who adopts us into God’s family. And he is the one who is currently making us more and more like Jesus.  

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8. Makes the love of God known to us. (Romans 5 & 8) Number eight, the Holy Spirit makes the love of God known to us. I want to camp out here for just a second, because this one is really an overarching statement of everything the Holy Spirit does for us. In all that he does, the Holy Spirit is revealing God’s love for us. Let’s look at a few passages that show this very clearly. In Romans 5, Paul tells us this: Hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5: 5 ESV) Paul says that God gives us the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit floods our hearts with God’s love. A few chapters later, Paul explains how he does this. Romans 8: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” [16] The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17] and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. (Romans 8:1517 ESV) The Spirit’s job is to show us, to remind us, to teach us, that we are dearly loved children of God. Now, let’s talk about why this is so important. Why is it so important that we know that God loves us? Well, it really comes down to this. The degree to which we know that God loves us – and by know I mean not just mentally but experientially – determines the degree to which we live for him and experience all of the blessings that he has for us. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 1:19 ESV) So, that of course leads to a very important question, one that I hope you are all asking. Here it is: How do we see the Holy Spirit work in our lives in a greater way? How can I experience the power and presence of the Holy  

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Spirit more? How We See the Holy Spirit Work in Our Lives in a Greater Way I’ve got two answers to this question. 1. By asking for him to do so. First, we see the Holy Spirit work in our lives in a greater way by asking for him to do so. Let me take you to one of my favorite passages in the gospels, Luke 11. The disciples have just asked Jesus to teach them to pray, and in response Jesus gives them what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. However, he doesn’t end with that; instead he goes on to give them this illustration: And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [10] For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [11] What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; [12] or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? [13] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-13 ESV) Let me use myself as an example to explain Jesus’ logic here; as a sinful human being, I am at my core self-centered. I am prone to care about my own needs and wants more than I am of others, and this includes my children. And yet, there are few things I enjoy more than giving gifts to my kids. Few things bring me more joy than to see the look on their face or hear the gratitude in their voice when I am able to give them something they need or want. I just love it. Most of you parents know what I mean. And Jesus’ point is that if I as a sinful, self-centered parent know how to give good gifts to my kids, don’t you think that God the Father, who is perfectly good and kind and generous, knows how to give good gifts to his children? Of course he does! But here’s what we can’t miss; what good gift does God love to give his children? The gift God loves to give is the Holy Spirit and he will give him if we simply ask!  

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Are you tracking with me on this? We’ve seen all the good things that Holy Spirit can do for us; we’ve seen all of the things he can provide. And what do we need to do in order to receive these good things? We just have to ask for them. 2. By submitting to his leading. Ok, that said, there is a second way we can see the Holy Spirit work in our lives in a greater way and that is by submitting to his leading. So, as we have seen, if you are a believer, you have the Holy Spirit living in you. At the moment you repented of your sins and placed your faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came into your life, and will be in your life forever. And contrary to what some teach, when the Holy Spirit came into your life at your conversion, you got all of him you are ever going to get and all of him you are ever going to need. In other words, at your conversion, you didn’t just get a little bit of the Holy Spirit, you got all of him. Therefore, the question isn’t really about how much of the Spirit do you have, but rather how much does the Spirit have of you? Are you with me? If you are a believer, you have the Holy Spirit of God living in you; that’s not a question. The question is, how much are you submitting to his leading and allowing him to work in your life? Let’s go to Ephesians 5 for a moment to see how Paul explains this. Ephesians 5, picking up in v. 15: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, [16] making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. [18] And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:15-18 ESV) Let me explain what it means to be filled with the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit means to be controlled by the Spirit. Just as someone who is drunk is under the control of alcohol, so are we to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. I’m sure most of us, maybe all of us have seen a drunk person or two. And we won’t raise any hands here, but I’m sure a number of us have been drunk a time or two ourselves. I won’t request audience participation on  

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that. But regardless, we all know that when someone is drunk they aren’t in control of themselves anymore. They aren’t in control of what they think, or say or do. Well, here in Ephesians 5, Paul is telling us that this is how we should relate to the Holy Spirit who lives in us. We should be under his control, not our own. He should be in control of what we think, say, and do. You will note that the verb be filled is in the present tense, which means that this is something we have to repeatedly do. We have to repeatedly give ourselves over to the Holy Spirit’s control. We have to repeatedly respond to his leading in our lives. When he convicts us of sin, we have to submit to that convicting and repent of our sin. When he leads us to serve in some way, we have to submit and serve in the way he is leading. When he urges us to close our mouth and not respond in the way we want to respond, we have to submit and keep our mouth closed. You get the point, right? To be filled means to repeatedly, over and over again, give up control of our lives and give it over to him. It’s a day by day, moment by moment, submitting to his direction, guidance, and leadership. And here’s what we need to realize. The more and more we submit to the Spirit, the easier it gets, the greater the blessings we receive, and the more of his fruit we produce. On the other hand of course, the less and less we submit to him, the harder and harder it gets, and the more fruit of the flesh we produce and the fewer blessings we receive. And that, my friends, is a great summary of the Christian life. When we submit to the Spirit, we grow in grace and bring much glory to God and good to others and ourselves. And when we don’t submit to the Spirit we fail to glorify to God and bring misery to others and ourselves. It really is that simple. It’s not easy, but it is simple. So, here’s how I want to conclude today. I want us to go to prayer, and we are going to do something I don’t think I’ve ever had us do. I’m ask you in a moment to publicly commit to do two things in the days ahead. I’m going to ask you to commit to pray that the Spirit will work in your life in a greater way in the days ahead. That you are going to regularly pray Luke 11:13; that you are going to ask the Father to give you the great gift of having the Spirit work in your life in a greater way. And then I’m going to ask you to also to  

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commit to respond to the Spirit by daily and repeatedly giving control of your life over to him. That you are going to trust that the Father is going to cause the Spirit to work more in your life and that as he does you are going to submit to that leading and do whatever the Spirit leads you to do. Let’s pray. Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. © 2015 by Chris Carr. You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author, (2) any modifications are clearly marked, (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, (4) you include Harmony Bible Church’s website address (www.harmonybiblechurch.org) on the copied resource.

 

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