Sermon – The Holy Spirit, Our Best Friend --Sept. 18, 2005

Intro
Last week we spoke about walking in the strength of the Holy Spirit to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. But what does it mean to walk in the Holy Spirit? There is a great amount of mystery and confusion about the Holy Spirit and so it seems good that we should spend some time discussing the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit Timeline
If we take this chronologically we can go back to the very beginning of time in the book of Genesis.

Gen 1:1-2
1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

So far we can see that God was present, and His Spirit was present in the beginning. But there was actually One other who was present.

Gen 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,…”

To whom is God speaking when He uses the plural? Here is the answer:

John 1:1-3
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Down in verse 14 we find out Who the Word is:

John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus is the Word. So present in the beginning were God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Spirit-filled Patriarchs
Fast-forward on our timeline to the time of Moses. Here we find that the Holy Spirit helped Moses and some select leaders in a special way.

Num 11:16-17
16 The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.

All through the Old Testament we find special people filled with God’s Spirit to perform special tasks. Here are a couple more of many examples:

Judg 6:34
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.

Samson:
Judg 14:6
The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat.

King David also enjoyed the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life. He was grieved at the thought his sin would bar him from God’s Spirit.

Ps 51:11
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Prophecy of Filling
Fast forward again to the time of the prophets. Ezekiel foresaw that God would one day give His Holy Spirit to all who followed him.

Ezek 36:24-27
24 "'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Enter Jesus
Next comes a critical point on our timeline; the advent of Christ. From this point forward all who come to Christ will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38-39
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call."

Part of the confusion on the Holy Spirit is a false teaching that unless we speak in tongues or have some spectacular experience we don’t have the Holy Spirit. Yet Paul said:

1 Cor 12:27-31
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Paul was saying not everyone would have supernatural gifts. I personally don’t reject all present day demonstrations of supernatural gifts. I also think it is not important what I think on this subject. In light of Jesus’ passion for our unity, it is a tragedy the church has polarized into groups who do use gifts and groups who do not. The Holy Spirit lives in all Christians, whether or not there are supernatural demonstrations. Many passages promise the Spirit to all believers.

Luke 11:13
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Rom 5:4
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

1 Cor 6:19-20
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?

Eph 1:13-14
13 Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.

Titus 3:5-7
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior

You Have the Holy Spirit
You may not feel you have ever experienced anything from the Holy Spirit. But you heard the Holy Spirit speaking when you first responded to the gospel.

1 Peter 1:12
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.

According to this verse, whoever first shared the gospel with you was speaking by the Holy Spirit. And when you opened your heart to God’s truth it was the Holy Spirit speaking to you and saying, “I know you can hear me. Don’t harden your heart.”

Heb 3:7-8
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:

"Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts

That was the Holy Spirit drawing you. And when you were in a difficult conversation with somebody and didn’t know what to say, but suddenly you spoke the Lord’s truth—that was the Holy Spirit giving you words.

Mark 13:11
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

When you needed to understand a spiritual truth or recall the words of Jesus, the Holy Spirit spoke to you.

John 14:25-26
25 "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

Our Friend
The name Counselor in this passage is translated Comforter in the King James Version and the Helper in the New American Standard. The original Greek word is Paraclete, which means one who is called alongside. Listen for that same word in this passage:

John 14:16-18
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Notice that last phrase, “I will come to you.” Jesus is plainly telling us He comes to us in the form of the Holy Spirit; He comes alongside; He lives in us.

The World only believes in that which it can see. God’s Spirit is invisible and so unbelievers don’t accept that an external Helper is with us. Jesus told Nicodemus:

John 3:5-8
"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Let It Blow
You and I are to allow ourselves to be blown by the Spirit; to be changed and moved by Him. In fact, listen to Paul:

1 Thess 5:19-21
19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything.

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; let Him blow full strength across your soul. However, notice it also said to test everything. Let’s use an analogy to demonstrate this point. An Aeolian harp is a musical instrument made so that the wind blowing across the strings causes a kind of singing. But to get the box to vibrate with sound it must be carefully placed where the wind is strong. They are often placed in windows or doorways that are slightly opened to create a rush of air.

We must place our hearts where they can be strongly blown by the Holy Spirit. Places like meditation, fellowship, prayer, and singing are the best for the wind of the Spirit. But it is absolutely essential to test what we hear from our hearts against the written Word if God. Sometimes it is our hearts that are out of tune, other times it is an evil spirit blowing instead of the Holy Spirit.

1 John 4:1
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

The simple test is to listen for harmony between the Spirit blowing on our hearts and the music of the Bible. Those two sources will always be in agreement, always in harmony.

Now is the Time
Can you imagine if Jesus were still here on Earth? What questions might we get answered and what clarifications could He make? But Jesus knew the time we now live in, with the Holy Spirit in us, was more important than even if He Himself were to stay on earth:

John 16:7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

You and I have the blessing of living in the best possible time, with the best possible Friend right alongside of us. Let us take full advantage and allow the Spirit to blow strongly on our hearts and to listen to His harmony with the Word; after all, as we saw a moment ago, they have been One since the beginning.

Prayer

2 Cor 13:14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.