Sermon Tone Analysis

TEXT: Ephesians 5:18

TOPIC:  The Holy Spirit

Baptist Faith and Message Sermon 4, *Written by Calvin Wittman*

May 11, 2009

 

Introduction: One of my favorite stories to tell is about the little boy in Sunday School, who, while the other children were listening to the bible story for the day, was off by himself drawing feverishly with a blue crayon on bright yellow construction paper.

One of the teachers noticed little Johnny was not with the other children and walked over to him and said, “Johnny, what are you doing?” to which Johnny said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.”

The teacher said, “But Johnny, no one knows what God looks like.”

Without missing a beat Johnny kept drawing and said, “They will when I get finished.”

* *

When we talk about God most people think about God the Father and perhaps they picture Him on His throne, dressed in robes of white with a long flowing beard.

Others, when they think of God, think of Jesus, and everyone at one time or another has seen what some artist thinks Jesus must have looked like, but when someone mentions the Holy Spirit what comes to mind?

Today, as we continue our series in the Foundations of our Faith, we come to the third message on God.

Today we will concentrate our thoughts on the doctrine of God the Holy Spirit, often referred to as Pneumatology, literally meaning, “A word about the Spirit.”

The confessional statement which we as Southern Baptist set forth as being descriptive of our doctrine is the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

It has this to say about God the Holy Spirit.

“The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine.

He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures.

Through illumination He enables men to understand truth.

He exalts Christ.

He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration.

At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the body of Christ.

He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.

He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption.

His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ.

He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism and service.”

The fact of the matter is that many Christians know a lot about Jesus, they understand less about God the Father but God the Holy Spirit is somewhat of a mystery to them.

They have heard about Him, sang about Him and read scriptures where He is mentioned, but if the truth be known, their understanding of His person and His work remain somewhat obscure in their minds.

The purpose of our study this morning will be to try and come to a better understanding of how God the Holy Spirit reveals Himself to us through His word.

Again, since the Holy Spirit is fully God, it would be impossible for us to be exhaustive in our scope so, because of our limited time I will try and show you several things about the Holy Spirit about which every believer should be aware.

We will begin by saying a word about the person and nature of the Holy Spirit.

From there we will cover some of His major activities outlined for us in Scripture, and finally we will consider how you and I are to respond to Him.

 

*I.

The Person and Nature of the Holy Spirit*

 

As our confessional statement sets forth in the first sentence, “The Holy Spirit of God is the Spirit of God, fully divine.”

That means that in every way He is equal with God the Father and God the Son.

He possesses their attributes and character.

He is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent and holy.

He is eternal, immutable, righteous, just and loving.

And, as the third person of the Holy Trinity, He is a person.

This is an important point to understand.

Many people make the mistake of referring to the Holy Spirit with the impersonal pronoun, “It.”

But this is not how scripture reveals Him to us.

When Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit, say in John 14:26 for example He uses the masculine personal pronoun when He says, “/But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit – the Father will send Him in My name – will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.”/

Remember, our understanding of God is that He is one God who expresses Himself in three equal and yet unique persons.

The Holy Spirit of God is the third person of the Godhead.

He is not merely some impersonal force as the Jehovah’s Witnesses would have us believe.

He is not simply Jesus or God the Father appearing in a different mode, as one branch of heresy taught.

The Holy Spirit is a unique person with the characteristics which define a person.

One can be in fellowship with Him or one can be out of fellowship with Him.

One can invite Him to be present or one can grieve Him and quench His presence.

Acts 5:3 tells us that it is possible to lie to Him and Acts 7:51 tells us it is possible to resist Him.

And Acts 13:2 tells us that He speaks, all of these are characteristics of a person.

As we study the Bible we see Him in the very beginning, involved in creation.

Genesis 1:2 says, /“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”/

And we find Him in the last chapter of the Bible, extending an invitation.

Revelation 22:17 says, “Both the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!

Anyone who hears should say, ‘Come!’

And the one who is thirsty should come.

Whoever desires should take the living water as a gift.

”

 

He is active in the Old Testament and active in the New Testament.

At Pentecost He came upon believers in a new and powerful way to indwell them and enable them to accomplish the work of the kingdom that Jesus had begun.

That brings us to our second consideration today, the work of the Holy Spirit

 

*II.

The Work of the Holy Spirit*

 

In his excellent book on Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem, defines the work of the Holy Spirit by saying, “The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world, and especially in the church.”

He is God present and active in the life of every believer.”

While the work of the Holy Spirit in totality is far beyond our ability to address this morning, allow me to mention to you, ten things the Holy Spirit does.

 

A.

He is a Spirit of Revelation

 

The Bible is filled with instances where the Holy Spirit is actively working.

In fact, one of the key roles the Holy Spirit played was that of revelation. 2 Peter 1:21 assures us that “…because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead moved by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from God.”

The Holy Spirit inspired the scripture; one of His primary roles is in the area of revelation.

So everything the scripture tells us about the work of the Holy Spirit is self revelation.

B.

He brings Conviction –

 

John 16:8 tells us that the Holy Spirit reproves, or convicts the world about sin, righteousness and judgment.

In the original language, this word reprove, means to convict or to prove.

But interestingly it carries with it the idea of reconciliation, that is, God the Holy Spirit, reveals our sin to us and convicts us of it, shows us how unrighteous we are and warns us of the coming judgment because He loves us and wants us to be in fellowship with the Father through Jesus the Son.

 

C.

He extends an Invitation –

 

As we have noted the Holy Spirit is actively involved in inviting people to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

It is through God the Holy Spirit that people are able to see their sin for what it is and are invited to respond to the good faith offer of forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Without the work of the Holy Spirit none of us would want to become Christians.

The Bible assures us in Romans 3:10-111 that there is none that is righteous, not even one and tells us that no one, on their own initiative seeks after God.

It is the Holy Spirit Who invites us to come.

It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to see ourselves for what we are and invites us to allow Jesus to change us.

D.

He affects Regeneration –

 

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit regenerates us, or makes us new in Christ.

In John 3:5-6 Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again.

He says, “Jesus answered, ‘I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.’”

It is the Holy Spirit who affects this new birth in the life of the one who believes.

In fact, the Bible tells us in Romans 8:10 that the Holy Spirit brings life.

The Spirit of God gives life.

He regenerates.

E.

He indwells believers –

 

Contrary to what some may teach, there is no second blessing where you have to beg and beg to get the Holy Spirit after you are saved.

Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that at the moment of salvation God puts His Spirit in us as His seal of ownership and as an assurance that We are His and that He will never forsake us.