1 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:12,120 Good evening again, welcome. Ordinarily we teach through book 2 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:15,000 in the Bible. We finished our series through 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,560 First Corinthians. We're taking six weeks to do a 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,080 study on the Holy Spirit, and then we'll be back in the book 5 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:24,920 of Second Corinthians. So tonight I'd invite you to 6 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,520 open your Bible to John chapter 14. 7 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:32,119 Let's move this down a bit. I'm going to read a number of 8 00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:36,200 scriptures to begin with and now again form a bit of a backdrop 9 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,040 tonight. The title of the message is who 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,400 is the Holy Spirit and what does he do? 11 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,480 We'll revisit a little bit of what we covered last week. 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:47,480 So if you missed last week, that's OK. 13 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:51,320 You'll get a nice little summary as we're looking at the Holy 14 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,480 Spirit who's who's often been titled the Forgotten member of 15 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:59,720 the Godhead. John 14 verse 16. 16 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,680 Jesus said I will pray the Father and he will give you 17 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,760 another help at capital H that he may abide with you forever. 18 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:13,480 The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it 19 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:17,760 neither sees Him nor knows him, but you know him, for he dwells 20 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:24,520 with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans, I 21 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,840 will come to you. Verse 18, Move ahead to verse 22 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,960 25. These things I've spoken to you 23 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:35,680 while being present with you. Verse 26 But the Helper, the 24 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,280 Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will 25 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:41,880 teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things 26 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,680 that I said to you. We've head into chapter 15 and 27 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:51,920 verse 26. When the Helper comes, whom I 28 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,160 shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who 29 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:59,960 proceeds from the Father, He will testify of me, and you also 30 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:02,040 will bear witness, because you have been with me from the 31 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,120 beginning. And then move ahead into John 16 32 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,759 and last verses We'll read together verse 7. 33 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:11,320 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. 34 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:16,400 It is to your advantage, maybe your Bible translation, as it is 35 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:22,160 expedient or it is beneficial for you, that I go away. 36 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:25,320 And the disciples would have been shaking the head going, ah, 37 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,240 I don't think so. Look what he says. 38 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,760 For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. 39 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:34,280 But if I depart, I will send him to you. 40 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:36,400 We'll explain this a little more later on. 41 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,920 When he has come, verse 8, He will convict the world of sin 42 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,680 and of righteousness and of judgement of sin, because they 43 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,680 not, do not believe in me of righteousness. 44 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,560 Verse 10 Because I go to my Father, and you see me no more, 45 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,080 there's 11 of judgement, because the ruler of this world is 46 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,040 judged. Verse 12 I still have many 47 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,800 things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 48 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,040 However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide 49 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,520 you into all truth, but He will not speak on His own authority. 50 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:12,680 But whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will tell you 51 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,720 things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will 52 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,240 take of what is mine and declare it to you. 53 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,160 Jesus. In these words, in what is 54 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:25,200 called His farewell discourse, which is from John 13 through to 55 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,320 17. He's preparing His disciples for 56 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:33,480 His departure, first of all by way of the cross and His death 57 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:35,480 and His burial, and then His resurrection, but then His 58 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,720 ascension into heaven, and readying them for the fact that 59 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:43,160 He must depart, but that in order for Him to go, somebody 60 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,600 else would come. And His name is the Holy Spirit. 61 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,800 We commence this last week and he introduces that is Jesus, the 62 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,960 Holy Spirit as another helper. The word in Greek is paracletos 63 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:59,280 who will come to comfort, guide and empower them to come 64 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,200 alongside is literally what it means. 65 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,800 I don't know if you've ever experienced that, where somebody 66 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,880 has been of great comfort to you and for you maybe in time of 67 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,760 mourning or in time of doubt or uncertainty, and they've just 68 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:15,240 been able to to just be there to be alongside you, to support you 69 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,519 and to help you in that way. And Jesus said that he would not 70 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:23,360 leave his disciples as orphans. And so the Holy Spirit would 71 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,520 bring comfort to them. He would come alongside and be 72 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,880 there in the absence of Jesus, that Jesus would not leave them 73 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:32,920 without some help, without some assistance. 74 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,280 And the Holy Spirit is in mind that he would come and that he 75 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:38,120 would be with them. Billy Graham in his book I 76 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,120 recommend to you on the Holy Spirit, observe that that 77 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,360 humanity, mankind has 2 great spiritual needs. 78 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:49,160 He said firstly forgiveness and secondly goodness. 79 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,640 The forgiveness we experience through the finished work of 80 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:56,560 Jesus Christ on the cross that what Jesus did and accomplished 81 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:01,360 there brings to that great need for you and I forgiveness in our 82 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:03,680 lives. Christ's work at Calvary but 83 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,160 goodness comes to us at Pentecost through the falling of 84 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,840 the Holy Spirit where the Holy Spirit is in US and working out 85 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,960 that sanctification process making us more like Jesus Christ 86 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,640 and again the Holy Spirit is is often a misunderstood entity 87 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,600 being people have this vagueness about him. 88 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:25,840 What, what is the Spirit? What is the Holy Ghost is the 89 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:30,040 King James words him and emotionalism and mysticism seem 90 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,320 to abound. And we must remember that we're 91 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:37,480 not guided by our experiences, though valid at times they they 92 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,120 are and might be. But we must think biblically and 93 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,920 theologically about the Holy Spirit in particular. 94 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,520 So two key questions guide this message tonight. 95 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,280 And again, revisit some territory from last week. 96 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:55,120 Number one, who is the Holy Spirit #2 what does the Holy 97 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:59,080 Spirit do? Firstly, the Holy Spirit, He is 98 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:02,240 a person. The Bible tells us in no 99 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:07,400 uncertain terms when Speaking of the Holy Spirit that He is a He, 100 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,440 not an It. There are personal pronouns that 101 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,040 are utilised in discussion about the Holy Spirit used in our 102 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:15,400 reading that we just went through. 103 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:24,200 He will be with you. The Greek ikanos means a He, not 104 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,800 an It, and many people talk about the Spirit in that way, as 105 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,440 an it, as an entity, in that, in that vagueness of terminology. 106 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,600 Secondly, the name paracledos in Greek again that Jesus gave of 107 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,960 the Holy Spirit, it implies personhood, because the very 108 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,080 functionality of paracledos is to bring comfort. 109 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:48,600 A force has great difficulty bringing comfort into our lives, 110 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:53,120 but a comforting presence, a person who walks alongside us, 111 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:57,280 paracledos can do that. Thirdly, he speaks. 112 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:03,960 Revelation chapter 2, verse 7 says he who has an ear, let him 113 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,680 hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 114 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:08,880 As we've been studying through the Book of Revelation, we've 115 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,760 been seeing that repeated again and again and again in Christ's 116 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:18,640 messages to the church. The Spirit communicates to us 117 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:23,840 through God's Word. John 1613 says he will not speak 118 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:28,000 on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak. 119 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:31,760 Did you know that the Holy Spirit speaks? 120 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,720 That it is possible for you and I to hear the Holy Spirit 121 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,120 communicating to us? When the Bible is taught, when 122 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,760 the Bible is preached, when the Bible is heard, when you read 123 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,400 the Scriptures, the Spirit of God takes the word of God and 124 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:49,680 speaks to the child of God. You are hearing God the Holy 125 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,240 Spirit speak to you when you read the Bible. 126 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,280 Some people say, well, I want to hear God speak to me audibly. 127 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,320 I want to hear the Holy Spirit speak to me audibly. 128 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,760 Let me tell you, read the Bible out loud then and you'll hear 129 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:07,440 God speak to you audibly. If you want to hear God speak to 130 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,640 you, get into the word and the Holy Spirit is speaking as we 131 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:15,520 study God's word. Fourthly, he testifies of Jesus 132 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:17,840 Christ. John 15 verse 26, you know the 133 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,240 Holy Spirit never points to himself, He always points to 134 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,640 Jesus. John 1526 says the Spirit of 135 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:26,080 truth that proceeds from the Father. 136 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,800 He will what testify, witness, declare of me. 137 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:35,000 You know that means that the Spirit is always talking, is 138 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,679 always pointing, is always directing you towards Jesus, who 139 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:40,799 he is, what he has done, what he has accomplished. 140 00:08:41,159 --> 00:08:44,400 You know, one of the most important roles of the Holy 141 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,520 Spirit is to point people to Jesus Christ. 142 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,280 We'll get into that later. That's part of his convicting 143 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,880 work in wooing people and in drawing them unto salvation. 144 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,600 And the Holy Spirit never points people to himself. 145 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:00,920 And so when the Holy Spirit is moving in a church or in a 146 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:05,720 person's life, again, all praise, all focus, all glory is 147 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:09,640 on who Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit witnesses, the Holy 148 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,360 Spirit testifies, the Holy Spirit points to Jesus. 149 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,440 And so if you ever go to a church service where the focus 150 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:18,960 is on an individual or on a person or on a group, anything 151 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,720 other than Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is not a part of 152 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:25,280 that. The Holy Spirit's focus is about 153 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,920 drawing our attention to worship and to honour and the praise of 154 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:32,760 Jesus. Fifthly, the Holy Spirit, he 155 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:38,680 leads, he actively guides us as believers in decisions and 156 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:41,080 direction. If you're ever lost and, and 157 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,480 wandering around and and trying to figure out what to do and 158 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,520 where to go, seek out the wisdom, the guidance, the 159 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,560 leading of the Holy Spirit. Remember the story in the book 160 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:53,880 of Acts where Philip is being used by God mightily in a 161 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,040 particular area and the Holy Spirit draws him to to head to 162 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:02,280 encounter a fellow, an Ethiopian eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to 163 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:06,640 seek out God and Jesus, namely, and he's reading and it. 164 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:10,040 And it tells us there in in the book of Acts, verse 29, that the 165 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,640 Holy Spirit said to Philip go up to the chariot and and speak and 166 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,600 minister to this bellow. And it was the leading of the 167 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,320 Holy Spirit in that situation. Romans 814 puts it this way. 168 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,680 As many as are led by the Spirit. 169 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:29,560 These are the children of God. So you and I, our lives as sons, 170 00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:33,680 as daughters of God are to be LED, are to be guided by the 171 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:35,880 Holy Spirit. And in that guidance, sixthly, 172 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:40,200 he guides us into truth. If you're trying to figure out 173 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,800 in a day and age where there's so much fake news, so much false 174 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,080 information, so much misinformation, I don't know if 175 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,800 you've ever been duped or if you've ever been conned in any 176 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,680 particular way and, and how you feel robbed of, of innocence 177 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:57,680 and, and robbed of certain sort of faculties in your mind. 178 00:10:57,680 --> 00:10:59,880 I can't believe I was deceived or duped in that way. 179 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:01,560 The Holy Spirit will never do that to you. 180 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:08,320 The Holy Spirit speaks, He leads and he guides into truth. 181 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:13,120 And this particularly isn't an in illumination. 182 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,840 That's the word I was trying to spit out illumination and 183 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:21,600 application of Scripture. Jesus said John 1613. 184 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:26,880 When he, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all 185 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:32,560 truth. 7th we touched on this again last week. 186 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:37,640 He can actually be lied to. The story in the book of Acts 187 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,880 chapter 5 of Ananias and Sapphira who conjured up this 188 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:46,840 story to try and deceive the early church and Peter when 189 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:52,560 questioning them on it said that you have lied to God and namely 190 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,400 you have lied to who? The Holy Spirit. 191 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:05,000 You know you can't lie to an it, you can't lie to a force, but 192 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,800 being a person, the Holy Spirit was lied to in that example, in 193 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,480 the book of Acts chapter 5 and in our lives. 194 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,120 The 8th point on this is that he can be grieved. 195 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:22,280 You know, our sin, our sins of Commission, what we commit, our 196 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,480 sins of omission, what we failed to do can actually cause grief, 197 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:31,240 hurt, wounding to the Holy Spirit who indwells us. 198 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,880 Ephesians 4 verse 30 to 32, it says do not grieve the Holy 199 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:40,520 Spirit of God. And then in those verses Paul 200 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:42,760 tells us what will grieve the Spirit of God. 201 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:49,560 He says it's bitterness, it's wrath, anger, clamour, evil 202 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:55,320 speaking, malice, and then he says to offer a flip side of of 203 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,320 what we're to focus on instead that what would please the Holy 204 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,160 Spirit. He says instead be kind to one 205 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:05,240 another, tender hearted, forgiving one another. 206 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,880 Why even as God in Christ forgave you. 207 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,960 These, you see, are the attitudes of the hearts and 208 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:16,640 lives that please the Spirit of God. 209 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,440 But the flip side of that, when we hold bitterness, when we have 210 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,880 wrath, when we have anger, when we're not forgiving, when we're 211 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,160 evil, Speaking of others, particularly brothers and 212 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:27,120 especially brothers and sisters in the Lord. 213 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,880 Oh, it grieves the Holy Spirit. Many of you who are parents, you 214 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,920 know, when your children fight with one another, how that 215 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,880 breaks your heart to see that conflict in the home. 216 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,640 And I think that's just a, a glimpse of the Holy Spirit's 217 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,760 heart towards us as, as the people of God, when there are, 218 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,280 are those attitudes in our hearts towards each other as the 219 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,000 family of God. And so these attitudes in our 220 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,280 hearts cause grief to the Holy Spirit of God. 221 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:59,240 And, and like a dove that he was, he's very sensitive and 222 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:01,720 he'll fly away. And, and there's in that sense, 223 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:06,560 a sense of, of, of losing the presence of the Spirit in our 224 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,480 midst as a consequence. So we don't want to grieve the 225 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:12,680 Holy Spirit, rather instead be kind and forgiving and 226 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:14,440 tenderhearted. 1 towards another. 227 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:19,360 And ninthly, on this point of the of the Spirit's personage, 228 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:23,600 he can be blasphemed. Matthew 12 verses 31 to 32. 229 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:28,240 Jesus said that a rejection of the Holy Spirit's work of 230 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:32,280 conviction would be attributed to, and he calls it blasphemy of 231 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:34,400 the Holy Spirit. And that is the unforgivable, 232 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,640 unpardonable sin that that any human being can commit. 233 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,280 Jesus, in fact, said that if you were to sin against the Son 234 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,760 himself, Speaking of Himself, then it can be forgiven if you 235 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,280 desire and seek it. But if you reject and are 236 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,720 dismissive of the Holy Spirit's work, and He's convicting power 237 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,520 in the way that He points to Jesus as the need and as the 238 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,920 solution for salvation, if you reject that, then then that 239 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:03,520 rejection is unforgivable. Persistent rejection of His 240 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:06,720 conviction can harden a heart beyond repentance. 241 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,400 So if the Holy Spirit in this way with all of those elements 242 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:14,600 is a person, then that means that He deserves our respect, 243 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:20,560 our attention, our focus, our reverence, our worship when we 244 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:24,240 dig into the the divine personage that He is, our honour 245 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:26,480 and devotion and love and obedience. 246 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,640 So let's look at this other aspect, the divine person that 247 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:34,120 is the Holy Spirit, because Jesus firstly called him when 248 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaking of the Holy Spirit, another of the same kind in John 249 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,840 14 verse 16. And what that means is that the 250 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:47,080 Holy Spirit is equal in nature to the Son Jesus and equal in 251 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,960 nature to the Father God. You know, that's why when we 252 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:56,800 baptise, we baptise what we do it so in the name of the Father 253 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:00,000 and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 254 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,280 It would in fact be blasphemous of us to bring the Holy Spirit 255 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:06,800 into that if he were not divine, wouldn't it? 256 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,880 It would be an insult to God the Son. 257 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,400 It would be an insult to God the Father for us to bring in the 258 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,800 Holy Spirit and equate Him as divine if He were not so. 259 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:22,560 And so Jesus said another of the same kind, a helper I will send 260 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,800 and the Father will sin. So let's look at some of the 261 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:30,720 attributes of deity that are in the divine person of the Holy 262 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:31,840 Spirit. He is eternal. 263 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,640 Hebrews 9 verse 14 makes reference to the eternal Spirit. 264 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:39,880 He is omnipotent. That means all powerful. 265 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:41,840 We attribute that to God the Father. 266 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,280 We understand the power of Jesus as we read through the Gospels, 267 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,760 but the Holy Spirit is all powerful. 268 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:53,000 In Luke chapter one, verse 35, when the Angel Gabriel visited 269 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,560 Mary and gave the promise of of the what we call the Immaculate 270 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:02,320 Conception, Gabriel said that it would be the work of the Holy 271 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:05,400 Spirit in bringing about this Immaculate Conception, that the 272 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,480 Holy Spirit in power would come upon you, Mary. 273 00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:13,920 We're told in Psalm 139, verse seven that the Holy Spirit is 274 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,240 omnipresent, that there is nowhere that we can go on the 275 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,560 face of this planet that we can escape from the presence of God, 276 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,800 namely the Holy Spirit. Where can I go from your Spirit 277 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,480 or flee from your presence? Psalm 139, verse 7. 278 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,680 And in that the same attributes that we've spoken of God's 279 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:35,720 omnipotence, God's omnipresence, and now we have God's 280 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,280 omniscience that He is all knowing one. 281 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,560 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 10 to 11, when Speaking of the Holy 282 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:45,600 Spirit, says God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. 283 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:49,720 For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of 284 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,360 God. For what man knows the things of 285 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:56,080 a man except the spirit of a man, which is in him? 286 00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:00,480 Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 287 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:04,760 So the argument that Paul has there of the Holy Spirit is 288 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:06,640 this. Maybe you've had conversations 289 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,880 with people where you go, you don't know what I'm thinking. 290 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,880 And they presume to assert certain thoughts into your, you 291 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:15,840 know, vocabulary as you've expressed things, but they don't 292 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,880 know exactly your thoughts. And so Paul says just as a man 293 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:23,160 knows their thoughts and the spirit of the man knows that, so 294 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:29,680 too the Spirit of God knows the deep things of God, possessive 295 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:35,600 of that all knowing capacity of God, the omniscience, He is in 296 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,040 fact called God. In Acts 5 verse 3 to 4, when we 297 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,880 spoke of the example of Ananias and Sapphira lying to the Holy 298 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:47,840 Spirit, Peter again said you've been lying to God, emphatically 299 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,400 declares the Holy Spirit is God in that. 300 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,640 And then going all the way back to the book of Genesis, we see 301 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:00,320 that he is involved in creation, active in creation alongside the 302 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:02,080 Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit. 303 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:05,560 It's said there in Genesis one verse 2 was hovering over the 304 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,320 waters. And so to again, like I said 305 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:12,760 last week, to deny the personhood or deity of the 306 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,280 Spirit, the Holy Spirit is heretical. 307 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:19,520 It's not optional for us as as those who name the name of 308 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,720 Christ to purport to be believers, to deny that the Holy 309 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,640 Spirit is God. He is essential to Christian 310 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,040 faith and our lives as followers of Jesus. 311 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:34,200 So that's to revisit some territory from last week and now 312 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:35,760 for the rest of our time together. 313 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,520 Let's let's really dive into in a bit more detail. 314 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,880 What does the Holy Spirit do? We've understood that he's a 315 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,680 person, that he's a he, that he is divine. 316 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:49,240 And we could take many weeks to answer this particular question 317 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,560 about what it is that the Holy Spirit does. 318 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,000 Again, we could go all the way back to Genesis chapter one, 319 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,160 verse 2, where he's part of the creation of the heavens and the 320 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,560 earth. We could go all the way through 321 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:04,640 the Old Testament and into the Gospels and see the way that the 322 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,600 Holy Spirit worked in humanity and in the world. 323 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:11,320 An amazing study would be to actually look at the Holy 324 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:15,000 Spirit's work in the life of Jesus here on earth, and that 325 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,640 might be a wonderful study for us into the future how it was 326 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:19,280 that Jesus was led by the Spirit. 327 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,720 How it was that Jesus was filled with the Spirit, how he was 328 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:28,240 anointed by the Spirit. So what does the Holy Spirit do 329 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:33,280 again? Jesus said in John 16 verse 7, I 330 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:38,640 tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. 331 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,840 And the disciples again shaking their heads, freaking out, 332 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,920 misunderstanding that. How could that possibly be so 333 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,200 Jesus? Jesus, did you just say that it 334 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:51,360 would be better for us that you go away? 335 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:54,280 I don't understand. I can't compute that. 336 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:55,600 How? How would that be? 337 00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:02,880 And that's why Jesus later sorry earlier said John 14 verse 27. 338 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,640 Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 339 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:10,560 And then in verse 3 of John 14, I go and prepare a place for 340 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:12,800 you. I will come again and receive 341 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,680 you to myself that where I am there you may be also. 342 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,600 So in in that text, what we read earlier, what I'm reminding you 343 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:26,400 of here in John 14 and and into 16, Jesus really wants his 344 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,480 disciples to know something significant, don't you think? 345 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:35,480 He said it was important, beneficial, advantageous 346 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:41,760 expedient that I go away and that somebody else come in my 347 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:47,720 stead. So why is it that for Jesus to 348 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,120 go away the the comforter who is the Holy Spirit to come? 349 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,840 If Jesus departs, the Holy Spirit would be there. 350 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,240 Why is that beneficial? I don't think we think about 351 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,480 this or fully understand this a lot. 352 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,320 So let me hopefully help explain it. 353 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:05,240 Why was it better expedient, advantageous for Jesus to go 354 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:07,720 back to the Father and not stay with the disciples? 355 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,840 I mean, he could very well have in resurrected form, could be 356 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:16,560 here on the earth now for some 2000 years in his physical 357 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:20,600 resurrected body. So let me explain this two 358 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,600 reasons. First, if Jesus went back to the 359 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:28,320 Father and sent the Holy Spirit, then here's what happens. 360 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,880 The presence of Jesus is universalized. 361 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,920 You know, when Jesus was on earth in his resurrected body, 362 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:42,400 if he was in Galilee, he wasn't in Jerusalem. 363 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,560 If he's in Jerusalem, he wasn't in the Galilee region. 364 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,600 That means if he was still on the earth now, 2000 years later, 365 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:56,400 in Galilee or in Jerusalem, he wouldn't be in secret harbour. 366 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:02,200 But when he went back into heaven, sent the Holy Spirit, 367 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:07,720 wherever you go, wherever you travel, Jesus is there. 368 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:12,200 Isn't that awesome? And so it universalizes the 369 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:16,040 presence of Jesus, and hand in hand with that second, it 370 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,520 internalises the presence of Jesus. 371 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:23,680 Christ is now in every believer. And we talk about Jesus Christ 372 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:28,360 being in US, right? Christ goes with you wherever 373 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:30,200 you go. That couldn't happen if Jesus 374 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,160 didn't go back to heaven and send the Holy Spirit. 375 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,120 That's why Jesus said it was better for you and on top of 376 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:40,600 that final preparatory comment before digging into this further 377 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:44,120 John 1412. Again, he's upper in discourse. 378 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,960 Jesus told his disciples that through the Holy Spirit coming 379 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:51,120 upon them greater works than these. 380 00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:55,840 All that Jesus had done individually present on earth. 381 00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:00,760 You will do because I go to my father. 382 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:06,840 He didn't mean greater in equality, but greater in 383 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:13,360 quantity because the disciples, they, you and I, the disciples 384 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:17,840 today will take the Holy Spirit with us and go around the world. 385 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,240 That's why in Acts One, verse 8, He told them not to move out of 386 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,800 Jerusalem until what? Until they had received the Holy 387 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,720 Spirit, that He had come upon them, and then they would be 388 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:35,360 witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost 389 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:38,560 parts of the earth. And so the coming of the Holy 390 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,960 Spirit was significant. On the day of Pentecost, the 391 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,000 Church was born. Christ's presence was 392 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,680 universalized and His presence was internalised in every 393 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,760 believer. So the first category of the 394 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,960 work of the Holy Spirit I want to focus our attention on now is 395 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:58,200 the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures. 396 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,720 Let's look at the Holy Spirit's work in the Scripture. 397 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:06,320 The Holy Spirit is instrumental, is pivotal, pivotal in the 398 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:11,680 inspiration that makes these more than just words on a page. 399 00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:17,680 That makes this the living Word of God, the divine Word of God. 400 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:21,600 John 14, verse 26. Jesus said to his disciples the 401 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:24,920 help of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. 402 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,840 He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all 403 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:34,720 things I said to you. So this is a reference to their 404 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:39,840 ability to have Holy Spirit recall in writing the Gospels 405 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,000 that we read of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then on through 406 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,040 into the epistles as Paul would write, as Peter would write, as 407 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:49,800 James would write, and so on. And to write about Christ and 408 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,840 the words that he spoke and revealed that ability, that 409 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,240 capacity was through inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 410 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,440 Now, it could secondarily be applied to you and I to us, but 411 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:04,320 it's primarily applied to the apostles in their work in 412 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,920 writing the Scriptures. They would have perfect recall 413 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,240 of everything Jesus said, of everything Jesus did, and of 414 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,040 everything that he taught them that would be applicable and 415 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:17,800 beneficial for us to receive as the word of God as we know it 416 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:21,560 now in the Canon of Scripture. The classic passage on the 417 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:24,560 inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures is this second 418 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:30,440 Peter chapter 120 to 21. And Peter says this, knowing 419 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,840 this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private 420 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:38,440 interpretation, which means that they, when they wrote the 421 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,520 Scripture, didn't make it up and didn't invent it and didn't 422 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,600 write out of their own mind. Oh, I think this will be good. 423 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,760 I think this will be beneficial and helpful for them to know. 424 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:50,320 It was the Holy Spirit. Four, he goes on. 425 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:54,120 Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God 426 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:58,240 spoke as they were moved. And what that phrase meant means 427 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:03,520 moved there, means carried along or borne along by the Holy 428 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,400 Spirit. And so when the Scriptures were 429 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:11,000 written, the writers were carried along, were borne along 430 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,520 by the Holy Spirit in that process. 431 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:19,040 And what that picture is, is of a sailboat with the wind filling 432 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,920 its sails and carrying the boat over the water. 433 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,600 And so when they wrote the Scripture, the writers were 434 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:30,040 being born along, carried along, guided, directed by the 435 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,560 Comforter or Helper, the paracledos, the third person of 436 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:38,120 the Trinity, who would bring to remembrance all that Jesus 437 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:41,760 spoke. And so we can say and know that 438 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,520 all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, the Holy 439 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,920 Spirit. And not only inspiration, but 440 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:55,360 secondly, on that illumination he reveals God's truth to us 441 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:58,520 from Scripture. One Corinthians chapter 2, verse 442 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,360 9 to 13. There are two important 443 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:06,280 doctrines of the Holy Spirit in relation to this in in the 444 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,920 inspiring and illuminating of the Scripture. 445 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,040 You see, the Holy Spirit gives revelation, that means unveils 446 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:18,440 what was mysteriously unknown before and makes it apparent, 447 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:23,880 makes it evident for us. And he gives illumination. 448 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,720 So revelation and illumination, Paul says, but as it is written, 449 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:32,520 eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart 450 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,800 of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. 451 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,280 Now this verse is often quoted. You might have it as a memory 452 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,520 verse and know it right. And many people stop right there 453 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:49,680 on that verse and they say that, well, when we get to heaven, you 454 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:51,920 know, we can't imagine what we'll see there. 455 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:54,960 And you know, it gives us hope in that way. 456 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:58,600 We can't imagine what we're going to hear or what it'll be 457 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,080 like. We can't imagine in our hearts 458 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:03,920 what God has prepared for us. But you know, that's actually 459 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:08,960 not what that verse is about because notice verse 10. 460 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:13,120 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. 461 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:16,960 Why? For the Spirit searches all 462 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:19,000 things, yes, the deep things of God. 463 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,560 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the 464 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,440 man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things 465 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,360 of God except the Spirit of God. And so the natural mind, the 466 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:34,080 natural eye of the human heart, the human eye cannot imagine the 467 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:37,800 things of God. But God has revealed them to us 468 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:42,480 by His Holy Spirit, illuminates for us. 469 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:46,800 Where once before it was a mystery, unknown, we couldn't 470 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,320 ascertain it, but now through the Scriptures we have that. 471 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,800 And so verse 12, now we have received not the Spirit of the 472 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:57,600 world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the 473 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,240 things that have been freely given to us by God. 474 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,160 So this is the doctrine of illumination. 475 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:06,000 The Holy Spirit gives us the things of God. 476 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:10,800 Verse 13 These things we also speak not in words which man's 477 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:15,360 wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing 478 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:19,280 spiritual things with spiritual. So this is teaching that the 479 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:25,520 Holy Spirit not only inspires Scripture, but also illuminates 480 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:30,080 it for us. You have as as a child of God 481 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,200 with the the Spirit within you, you have the Spirit of God 482 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,640 explaining the word of God to you. 483 00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:39,520 That's why before you were a Christian, when you tried to 484 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:41,560 read the Bible, it was like gobbledygook. 485 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:44,920 What is this about? And, and your mind would just 486 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,000 fog over and, and the words would be difficult to ascertain. 487 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,920 Or you could maybe deduce bits and pieces of narrative and 488 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:52,600 characters and who said and did what. 489 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:59,000 But the the power of the word of God needs the Holy Spirit, the 490 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:04,880 regenerative work that happens. Thirdly on this transformation 491 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:07,320 happens. You know the Holy Spirit makes 492 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:12,080 us more like Christ as we behold him in the word. 2 Corinthians 3 493 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:16,920 verses 17 to 18. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and 494 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:19,720 where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, freedom. 495 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:24,960 But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the 496 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:30,200 glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image 497 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:33,840 from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 498 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,160 You know what that means? That means that when a Christian 499 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:42,440 reads the Bible, you not only have illumination, oh, I see 500 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:45,560 that, I understand that, I know that, but you have 501 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:49,360 transformation. Now because of that, God's word 502 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:54,040 starts to do a work in your life to bring about change that is 503 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:57,960 radically for the better and for the good in your life and flying 504 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:01,680 on out to others. It's like seeing Jesus in a 505 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:05,240 mirror and we're transformed into his image and likeness. 506 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,680 I, I, I want that. I need that God help me to be 507 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,200 more like this in that way. And the Holy Spirit enables, 508 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:15,240 empowers you to do that. He transforms you and I. 509 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:19,200 So that's His work in the Scriptures. 510 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:21,080 Let's look at His work in salvation. 511 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:28,160 Conviction takes place in John 16 verse 8 to 11. 512 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,560 Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit convicting of sin, convicting of 513 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:36,000 righteousness, and convicting of judgement that would be brought 514 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,280 to light in our lives. You know you cannot become a 515 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:41,480 Christian apart from the Holy Spirit. 516 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:46,280 You can't think yourself, Oh, I've, I've studied all of the, 517 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:49,240 the religions of the world and I've read so many books and I, I 518 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:53,920 feel like that this is probably the most sensible thing, not to 519 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,480 dismiss the intellect in that, but it is, it is the divine work 520 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,840 of the Holy Spirit in, in bringing about the convicting 521 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:04,720 work in our lives of sin and of righteousness and of judgement 522 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:08,120 that sits upon us. You don't just try Jesus. 523 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,160 You don't just give him a chance in your life. 524 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,240 You don't come to Jesus because you want to be wealthy or 525 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:18,440 healthy or wise. You know, I think there's some 526 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:21,760 good words here in that and you know, I'd like to apply that 527 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:24,360 now. You come because the Holy Spirit 528 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:30,920 identifies of sin in your life and identifies of God's 529 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:35,320 righteousness and if he standard and of the judgement of God that 530 00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:40,080 sits heavy upon sinful, depraved humanity, that the heart is 531 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:43,680 deceitful and desperately wicked and that without a Saviour we're 532 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:47,960 lost and, and, and we're doomed in our sin and in our depravity 533 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:51,000 and, and, and the failings and fallings of humanity. 534 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:55,000 And so the Holy Spirit convicts or convinces you that you need 535 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,720 salvation and that Jesus is the answer your Saviour. 536 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:03,200 That's the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting and then in 537 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,560 doing that, the Holy Spirit secondly brings about the the 538 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:10,159 regeneration. Jesus said to a fellow called 539 00:34:10,159 --> 00:34:13,239 Nicodemus who knew all of the Scriptures. 540 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,360 He had been studying the Old Testament. 541 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:20,560 He knew it inside and out. And he came into the cover of 542 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,360 night and Jesus said to him, Nicodemus, you what? 543 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:28,520 You must be born again, and to be born again you must be born 544 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,719 of the Spirit. Where once you were born of 545 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:35,560 water, now you need to be born of the Spirit regenerated anew. 546 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:37,080 That, that. That's what we're talking about 547 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:38,719 here. It's not by works of 548 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:42,600 righteousness, Titus 35 says, which we have done, but 549 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:47,000 according to his mercy. He saved us through the washing 550 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,679 of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. 551 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:54,040 This is one of the great verses of the work of the Holy Spirit 552 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,920 in our lives. He washes us, cleanses us, 553 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:02,400 regenerates us, makes us new. That means to give new life, 554 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:07,920 literally to regenerate. So before you were saved, the 555 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,120 Bible declares that you were dead in trespasses and sin. 556 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:14,480 Oh, you were alive physically, but you were like a walking 557 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:19,120 zombie, dead on the inside, and you needed to be born again in 558 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,360 your spirit. And the moment you believed and 559 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:26,760 trusted in Jesus as the Christ, you were regenerated. 560 00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:30,280 And that regenerative work is the work of the Holy Spirit. 561 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:35,800 And Jesus told Nicodemus that unless one is born of water and 562 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,120 the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. 563 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,080 That's what constitutes being saved. 564 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:43,280 It's a divine work. It's the work of the Holy 565 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:47,680 Spirit, who is God. He does what God can only do. 566 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:54,040 He gives life to dead sinners. He regenerates and then we're 567 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:57,400 indwelled. That means that the Holy Spirit 568 00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:01,840 comes and sets up residence in our lives. 569 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:06,880 The Bible tells us that every believer is the temple of the 570 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:11,440 Holy Spirit. A temple was in ancient times a 571 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:15,920 place physically on earth, set aside as a sacred space, where 572 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:19,080 it was felt that whatever deity was worshipped there was 573 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,720 actually present in that place considered a holy ground. 574 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:27,520 And so for the Bible to declare that now you and I as believers, 575 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:32,080 as followers of Jesus, that our bodies are now temples of the 576 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:36,360 Holy Spirit, it tells us that the presence of the divine in 577 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:42,160 the Holy Spirit indwells us. Romans 8 verse 9 says you are 578 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,720 not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of 579 00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:49,520 God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the 580 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:53,680 Spirit of Christ, he is not His. It's pretty clear. 581 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,480 And in that indwelling the the next component of the work of 582 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:03,360 the Spirit in our salvation is of what's called sealing and 583 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,720 guaranteeing. This speaks of security and 584 00:37:06,720 --> 00:37:09,520 assurance of salvation. And you can read into Ephesians 585 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,680 chapter one, verse 13 and 14 in detail about this. 586 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:18,120 But let me explain that in in those times, particularly if 587 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:21,520 you're a merchant, but if you're an owner of any any property or 588 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:24,720 goods and you were shipping said property around parts of the 589 00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:29,760 empire, you would seal it with your mark as a sign of 590 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,200 ownership. And it would also function as a 591 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:37,240 guarantee in in many contractual arrangements that you would 592 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:40,560 follow through on on words agreed upon as a part of that 593 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,400 contract that that you know, my word is my bond. 594 00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:47,200 And so for the Holy Spirit to be a seal, a guarantee is in our 595 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:51,240 lives as believers that just as Jesus said, I've begun a good 596 00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:54,960 work in you, I'm going to be faithful to complete it here, 597 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:57,600 have the seal, the guarantee of the Holy Spirit. 598 00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:03,240 And he said that I will go and prepare a place for you that 599 00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:06,120 where I am, you may be also. Let me give you the guarantee 600 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:10,200 that you will arrive, that you will get to the destination of, 601 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:12,360 of being with me for all of eternity. 602 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:16,400 That's the seal, that's the guarantee, the work of the Holy 603 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:19,120 Spirit. And so at times when you doubt 604 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:21,440 or when you question or you wonder, am I saved? 605 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:24,800 Is, is God really real? You know, is, is what the Bible 606 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:26,960 says and speaks of? No, you must remember that. 607 00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:29,800 The seal and the guarantee of the Holy Spirit's presence in 608 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:35,280 you. No, He's there, He's present and 609 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:37,160 he's going to get me through to the end. 610 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:39,840 He's promised it. It's as good as done. 611 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:42,360 The seal, the guarantee of the Holy Spirit. 612 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:46,200 And we have fifthly and finally on, on this particular point, 613 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:50,280 the filling of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5, verse 18, where it 614 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:54,280 speaks of being not drunk or controlled by wine. 615 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:58,960 And, and Paul uses that example. We all know what somebody looks 616 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:02,120 like and sounds like an axe and behaves like when they're 617 00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:06,320 intoxicated, when they're under the influence of alcohol. 618 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:10,520 And it starts to take control over their faculties, effects 619 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:13,200 their movement and their thinking and their behaviours. 620 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:16,160 And, and some people become all sorts of things that they're not 621 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:19,440 ordinarily when they're under that, when they're not under the 622 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:23,560 influence of alcohol. And so using that understanding, 623 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:27,160 he is saying not to get out of control, though some people 624 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,960 misinterpret that text in the way of, of saying, well, you 625 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:32,800 know, see, I'm, I'm filled with the Holy Spirit and they start 626 00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:37,080 acting all crazy and weird. But the opposite is that a life 627 00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:42,640 that is filled by the Holy Spirit is controlled, is under 628 00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:49,320 the influence of the Holy Spirit and, and the fruit, the the 629 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:53,520 evidence of the Holy Spirit is that we have a life that is 630 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:55,320 filled with the fruits of the Spirit. 631 00:39:55,320 --> 00:40:00,760 Lovejoy, peace, all of those fruits that we read of being 632 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:03,280 attributed to the Holy Spirit. That's how you know, oh, I'm 633 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:05,120 filled with the Holy Spirit. Not because you're flipping 634 00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:08,160 around and rolling around on the floor and, and doing cartwheels 635 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:11,400 and speaking all sorts of weird things saying, oh, I'm, I'm Holy 636 00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:14,280 Spirit controlled here. That's out of control. 637 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:19,880 We're to be controlled by, filled by the Holy Spirit. 638 00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:25,560 That means that he influences our thoughts, our actions. 639 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:30,800 Our attitudes, they're all under the power of the Holy Spirit. 640 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:35,560 It's about surrender, it's about our emotion being guided and 641 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:39,400 directed by Him. So that's the work of the Holy 642 00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:43,320 Spirit and salvation. And then lastly, we'll look at 643 00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:45,840 his work in sanctification and service. 644 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:53,120 Sanctification John 1717 Galatians 522 to 23 in our lives 645 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:57,200 the Holy Spirit is transforming us, is making us more like 646 00:40:57,240 --> 00:41:01,880 Christ he produces fruit evidence in our lives that we 647 00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:03,440 are no longer what we used to be. 648 00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:08,080 Many of you here could testify of the work of the Holy Spirit 649 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:10,560 in your life. Where if you were to have 650 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:14,640 somehow time travelled back to yourself five years ago, 10 651 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:21,720 years ago, and were to tell that former self that you would be 652 00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:24,720 what you are now, or you'd be scoffed, you'd be laughed out, 653 00:41:24,720 --> 00:41:26,000 you'd be derided, you'd be mocked. 654 00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:29,480 But now the Holy Spirit is doing the work in your life, 655 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:33,400 sanctifying you, changing you, transforming you, making you 656 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,160 more like Jesus Christ. And again, it's evident by the 657 00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:41,920 fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 522 to 23 of love, of 658 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:46,320 joy, of peace, of long suffering, where previously you 659 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:50,240 would have flipped out and gone crazy and just doing all sorts 660 00:41:50,240 --> 00:41:52,960 of things where where there wasn't kindness, but now you 661 00:41:52,960 --> 00:41:55,760 found it within yourself, man, that that colleague at work or 662 00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:57,720 that boss, they've said something insulting 663 00:41:57,920 --> 00:41:59,720 deliberately. They're being passive aggressive 664 00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:01,360 and now you just don't. I don't know why. 665 00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:03,800 I just feel like I need to be kind to them. 666 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:07,680 That's the Holy Spirit in you, transforming you, faithfulness, 667 00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:11,960 gentleness, self control, all of those things as evidence of the 668 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:15,040 transforming work, the sanctifying work of the Holy 669 00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:19,000 Spirit. And then the the empowering 670 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:25,280 lastly on this now of the Holy Spirit for you and I to be 671 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:26,800 about. We learnt this morning of the 672 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:31,080 Great Commission that we're called to the mission that Jesus 673 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:33,240 has given to us. You know what? 674 00:42:33,240 --> 00:42:36,120 We can't do that in our own strength. 675 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:41,080 We need the Holy Spirit's help to do that again. 676 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:44,480 That's why Jesus told the disciples explicitly, don't go 677 00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:48,240 out yet until the Holy Spirit comes upon you. 678 00:42:49,320 --> 00:42:53,480 And it's with the Holy Spirit's power that then we're able to 679 00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:59,520 serve in the mission that God has called us to go out into all 680 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:02,080 of the earth and make disciples of all men, teaching and 681 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:06,160 preaching and declaring the things of Jesus, the gospel 682 00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:11,160 message. So the Spirit is active in our 683 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,400 lives. His work, what is it? 684 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:20,840 He grows us, He matures us. If we're unsaved, He witnesses 685 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:25,760 to us and woos us and draws us to the need of a Saviour. 686 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:29,200 And then he transforms us. He regenerates us. 687 00:43:29,640 --> 00:43:32,960 And so again, we, we must not resist or quench the work of the 688 00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:37,400 Holy Spirit or grieve Him. All of these are wrapped up in 689 00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:41,040 what it is that the Holy Spirit does. 690 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:47,480 I want to close with John 16 verse 13 to 14. 691 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:55,480 Again Jesus said, however, when he, the Spirit of truth has 692 00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:59,360 come, He will guide you into all truth. 693 00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,960 He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He 694 00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:07,160 hears, He will speak and He will tell you things to come. 695 00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:14,040 He will glorify me. So He will take of what is mine 696 00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:18,880 and declare it to you. Again, the number one purpose of 697 00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:21,720 the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus. 698 00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:28,120 Holy Spirit's ultimate purpose, goal, reason for doing all that 699 00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:32,040 he does, motive is to go. How can, how can I get them 700 00:44:32,040 --> 00:44:34,200 closer and more connected to Jesus? 701 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:38,520 You know, there's the love that exists in the Godhead between 702 00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:41,160 the Father and the Son and, and the Holy Spirit. 703 00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:45,920 The Holy Spirit loves Jesus and he loves nothing more than us as 704 00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:50,960 believers, that the sons, the daughters of God to fall all the 705 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:54,040 more in love with Jesus and to experience that which the Holy 706 00:44:54,040 --> 00:45:00,400 Spirit knows about Jesus. And so the question is this, not 707 00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:06,920 just do you have the Spirit, but does the Spirit have you have 708 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:12,240 you yielded control of your life to him? 709 00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:18,560 John 737 to 39. Jesus said a number of things, 710 00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:22,600 but particularly out of his heart will flow rivers of living 711 00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:24,480 water. You see that the water is the 712 00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:29,280 Spirit's power flowing in and out through you. 713 00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:36,160 So today, I hope that you've been more than informed about 714 00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:43,840 who the Holy Spirit is, more than just understanding what the 715 00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:51,720 Holy Spirit does, but that you, as a consequence of this, invite 716 00:45:51,720 --> 00:45:56,800 more and desire more the fullness and influence of the 717 00:45:56,800 --> 00:46:01,840 Holy Spirit in your life. Become more intimately 718 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:07,760 acquainted and aware of Him and of His power, available to you 719 00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:10,720 as a son, as a daughter of God.