Holy Spirit Dependent
Who are we? City Hope Vision and Values • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 43:07
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· 245 viewsWould your life be better if Jesus was physically walking among us? Because he says it will be better when he goes away and sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. Why do our lives not reflect that?
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Would your life be better if Jesus walked among us?
Would your life be better if Jesus walked among us?
Have you ever thought about that? Would you be more satisfied in your relationship with God if Jesus was here physically? Would you be more fulfilled if you were walking around with Jesus like his disciples. Would you feel more loved by him, would it be easier to follow him, or for those of you who don't know what you think about Jesus, would you have an easier time believing in Jesus if he was here physically tonight and you could talk to him?
I can't think of a time when someone told me no. And I so often think to myself, man it would be so much easier to feel loved by Jesus if he was right here. Especially when I think about what we talked about last week and how glorious Jesus is. The image of the invisible God, the way God reveals himself to us. So, when I read what Jesus has to say to his disciples I am shocked.
John 16:7
But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.
What? It is to your advantage that I go away. What? Why do we not think that its best? What are we missing? Why are we so thirsty, spiritually, and why do we think it would be better with Jesus here physically when he clearly tells us the opposite. I think it is because we neglect, we overlook, and we are scared of the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself in another place tells us this is where we should go with our thirst:
John 7:37-39
On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ ” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Who is the Holy Spirit?
It is very important for us to start with this question of who? And it is a question of who and not what as we will get to in a moment. I think for a lot of us, we neglect the Holy Spirit and don’t know how to depend on him in our lives because we don't know anything about him.
Some people see the Holy Spirit kind of like the force in Star Wars, or some sort of mystical strength from the universe like in Avatar- we all plug into it. Well, those are both false ways to view the Holy Spirit- false and offensive to God. So, if we are to depend on him we must know about him.
He is God.
He is God.
Acts 5:1-5
But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”
As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified.
In this passage- we have these two members of the early church who are lying about how much they are giving- it is not the amount- the fact that they didn't give it all- that causes God to strike them dead- but their lying- lest we think that a little white lie never hurt anyone- sin is serious. what I want us to see here is that Peter tells Ananias that he has lied to the Holy Spirit and then tells him you have lied not to man but to God. So- the Holy Spirit is fully God.
We will continue to see this and could go to a number of other passages but this will suffice for now. So- the personhood of the Holy Spirit.
He is Personal.
He is Personal.
Ephesians 4:30
And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
The key words here are do not bring sorrow. You do not bring sorrow to an impersonal force- a power source- you grieve a person. This is not to say that the Holy Spirit has a physical body- but it is to say that he possesses all the qualities of God- including that of personhood- he is not an impersonal force- a sort of electric charge- and to think of him as this power source or force is to think wrongly- He is a person-
Ok, so lets look at one of the foundational passages that we are going to land in this morning to see the relationship between the Holy Spirit being God, and a distinct person of the trinity- and how the Father and Son relate to Him
John 14:15-24
This passage comes right at the beginning of what is known as the upper-room discourse. This is one of the sweetest sections in all of Scripture. This is Jesus talking with his disciples and praying for them right before he is arrested and led to the cross. And the intimacy of this is not just for his 12 disciples but for us as well. Jesus prays and says-
I pray not just for these only but for those who will believe in me through their word.- thats us- if you believe in Jesus.
Ok, so this text has a lot of language in it- a lot of pronouns and a lot of pieces- so I want to look at it but notice I have words highlighted- Green is for the Father, red is for Jesus, and Blue is for the Holy Spirit- so lets read it and then we will notice a few things from it.
“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”
Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.
What do I want to draw out of this one?
-Father sends the Spirit- vs. 16
-Spirit will dwell in you- vs. 17
-The world will not see the Spirit or know him but you will- vs.17 -I will not leave you as orphans- Fatherly language- Adoption-
Father- vs.18
-I will come to you- Jesus will come?- vs. 18
-The world will not see me, but You will see me- vs. 19- see the
connection with the Spirit-
-I will manifest myself- I will show myself!-
-How? Lord- My Father and I will come and make our home- our dwelling with you- How- the Holy Spirit will live in us!
what does it mean that he indwells us- lives in us- who lives in us-God
1 Cor. 3:16
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Language of temple is very specific. The temple in the OT is the place where God dwelt with his people. God dwelt with his people in the temple. God dwells with his people now through the Holy Spirit living inside of them together.
Back to John- Jesus and the Father will come to make their home- in us- the whole point of all of this is to show- God dwells in you. God dwells in you!
-How do I know if God dwells in me? How does that happen.
-Well, for that lets turn to Romans 8:8-11
That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
Thus, to have the Spirit is to have Christ; to have Christ is to have the Spirit. Not to have the Spirit of Christ is to lack Christ. To have the Spirit of Christ is to be indwelt by Christ (Rom. 8:9-11). -Sinclair Ferguson
Do you have Christ Jesus?
Do you have Christ Jesus?
-Are you trusting in Him? He came and was condemned in the flesh to pay for the sin of all those who trust in him. So that we can be forgiven of our sin, we can be accepted by God and loved by Him. If you have repented of your sins- turned from them and turned to God and are trusting in Jesus by faith alone- you have the Spirit of God living in you!
What benefits do we have because of the Spirit?
What benefits do we have because of the Spirit?
His power
His power
- he gives power over sin, power for new life
His presence
His presence
God dwells in you- amazing promise- in Christ phrase- this is so huge.
Union with Christ
Union with Christ
Paul's favorite phrase- more often mentioned than anything else- is in Christ or some variation of that. Well... if Jesus is physically with the Father now, glorified- how is it that you are united with Him and "in Christ" the Holy Spirit!
This is huge- what does it mean to depend on the Spirit- be united to Christ. What does it mean to be united to Christ- depend on the Spirit.
In Christ and By the Spirit- those go together
-John 15 we just don't have time to unpack all the amazing things about this section- but here is the gist- Jesus says to abide in him- how- because he dwells in you through the Holy Spirit- lean on Him. He also says that his words will abide us-
Well, the section that we read in John 14- just after that it talks about how the Spirit will come and bring remembrance of all the things Jesus said to the Apostles. What is that promising. The Scriptures. The eyewitness accounts of the apostles and their associates of Jesus. So, how do we abide in Jesus and be filled with the Spirit- the Scriptures!
In 2nd Peter- 1 Peter talks about seeing the glory of Jesus in the transfiguration- when Jesus pulls back a bit of the fleshly veil he has to show them his true glory- awesome testimony of God's glory in Jesus right! Peter says we have something more sure- what- the Scriptures! Ok- there is so much more we could say here- but the point is- if you want more of the spirit- if you desperate for more spiritual growth and life? Drink deeply of Jesus in the Scriptures!
His love
His love
Romans 5:5-
And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
John 17:26
I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”