The Holy Spirit - The Heart of Life
It has been a real hectic weekend for me. I had the opportunity and privilege to share the Word on both Saturday and Sunday, but I had to sacrifice my social time for the whole week to prepare! Saturday was real interesting for me because I was invited to speak at the "commissioning class" for a group of people working with ex-gays. There were 2 speakers including me and the person following after me, a female speaker from PJ drove the message home with her encouraging testimony.
Sunday at Church was an amazing time. I felt that the entire service was just really beautiful and I really enjoyed speaking at the service. We had a good altar call where people prayed to be filled with the Holy Spirit and several people came up to me afterwards to say that they felt ministered to. I'm just happy that the time I put in preparing paid off and just thankful that the job got done! =)
Anyway, I've done up a transcript for our Church website. I hope it will minister to you too. Do feel free to leave any feedback you may have!
THE HOLY SPIRIT - THE HEART OF LIFE
- Membership Foundations Series
27 Nov 2005
Gary Chan, Free Community Church
+ + +
KEY VERSE
Luk 3:18-19
(18)"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
(19)to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
INTRODUCTION
I want to begin our time today by talking about “air”. Have you ever stopped to consider how wonderfully powerful “air” is?
For example: it is air that makes it possible for huge planes carrying hundreds of people and tons of cargo to cruise at thirty-, forty-thousand feet above sea level. That same air in pressurized ballast tanks is what enables huge nuclear submarines to travel to tremendous depths in the world’s oceans and then resurface when and where they want to.
And this year we have witnessed so many typhoons and hurricanes that we’ve run out of names to give them. Given enough velocity, air becomes a devastating wind that can throw cars around and push waves far inland.
When I was serving as an automotive technician in the Army, I learnt that if you put air in a network of hoses and valves and put it under enough pressure, it can bring 7-ton trucks to a screeching stop! And when air is used in a pneumatic drill, it is strong enough to break thick pieces of concrete.
Think about it. All that power contained in common, every day air! You can’t feel it, unless it is in the wind. You can’t see it or smell it - well unless you live in Bangkok maybe. You can’t hold it in your hand, but at the same time, it is the very stuff that keeps us alive, as we draw in breath after breath. We can’t live without air!
The reason why I’ve talked a lot about air is to help you realize that just because something is invisible does not mean it is unimportant or weak. I think grasping this principle goes a long way to helping us understand the topic for our Fourth Session in our Membership Series - the Holy Spirit as the Heart of Life.
Incidentally, one of the most common words used in Scripture to represent the Holy Spirit is the word for “air”. In the Old Testament it is the Hebrew word, “ruach”. In the New Testament it is the Greek word “pneuma” from which we get our English word, pneumatic. And today I want us to understand that even though the third Person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit - is invisible, He is certainly not weak or insignificant. In fact, He is just as vital to the life of a Christian as is air itself!
As I was preparing this message, I realized that the Bible had a lot to say about the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now, many of us have a good understanding of God the Father, and God the Son as the person of Jesus Christ, but what about the Holy Spirit? He seems to be the least known and least understood “third” member of the Trinity. Why do you think that’s the case?
Maybe it’s because the Holy Spirit is seldom talked about in sermons. When was the last time you recall listening to a sermon specifically about the Holy Spirit in FCC?
Maybe it’s because for a long time, we have side-stepped talking about the Holy Spirit. Misunderstanding and disagreements often surround talking about the Holy Spirit. It has even resulted in Church splits - like Clarence’s previous church over differences in the understanding the ministry and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And maybe, in the course of your life, you may have met Christians that have simply misrepresented the Holy Spirit. They think they are all “spiritual”, but talk and act like they live on another planet. Some are actually totally imbalanced, or plain “flaky”. Some Christians claim that because they are under the influence of the Holy Spirit, they become out of control, or start barking like dogs. Imagine if you didn’t understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and you went into a service where thousands of people were fervently praying away in an unknown language, your hair would be standing or you’d be totally spooked out too.
This has caused many Christians to steer clear of dealing with the Holy Spirit altogether.
But do you know that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us? In Luke 11 and Acts 1, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit as God’s gift to us.
Luk 11:13
(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!"
Acts 1:4-5
(4)On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. (5)For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
Before we look at “who” the Holy Spirit is, we’d better debunk some myths and start by looking at who the Holy Spirit is not.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON
Firstly, the Holy Spirit is not an “it”. The Holy Spirit is a person. It is not some mystical impersonal “Force” like in Star Wars lore that can only be harnessed by those with a high “metachlorian” count in their bodies. Neither is the Holy Spirit an influence, apparition or “ghost” like some old Bible translations put it. The Holy “Ghost’. Woooo…
So the Holy Spirit is really a person. He has all the characteristics of a person. We won’t look at all the passages today, but from the Bible we see that He thinks (Acts 15:28), speaks (Acts 1:16), leads (Rom 8:14) and can even be grieved (Eph 4:30). He is sometimes described as the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9) or the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7). He is the way in which Jesus is present with His people, even today. A definition I like is from the original Greek word “parakletos” found in John 14:16 - which means, “one who will come alongside” - like a comforter, counselor or encourager.
Let me read to you Susan’s take on the Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit is to me, simply God’s Spirit - sometimes the fire and wind, other times the small still voice - but always breathing life into me as it were, into my tasks, my relationships, my problems, renewing me and refreshing me day by day.
Adrian Rogers calls the Holy Spirit “Christ in the Christian”. Herschel Ford said, “the simplest definition of the Holy Spirit I know is this: The Holy Spirit is God in the human heart.” But, I think Gordon Fee says it best when He describes the Holy Spirit as “God’s empowering presence”.
THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Some people think that the ministry of the Holy Spirit started only in twentieth-century with the start of the “Pentecostal” or “Charismatic” Christian movement. That’s actually far, far from the truth because the Spirit of God was right there from the beginning of creation in Genesis 1, hovering over the chaos when the Earth still wasn’t formed.
Gen 1:2
(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.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit usually came only upon specific people at specific times for specific tasks. For example in Book of Judges, we see people like Samson was given strength and power by the Holy Spirit to break free from his chains (Jud 15:4) and Gideon was given the ability to lead Israel by the power of the Holy Spirit despite him feeling weak and inadequate (Jud 6:15,34).
But even as you go through the Old Testament, the prophets foretold that God would one day make a new covenant with His people. This covenant would be different.
Jer 31:33
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.”
In other words, under the new covenant the law will be internal instead of external. What God promised through Jeremiah was that a time was coming when the law would no longer be a weight on the outside but a source of energy on the inside.
And the prophet Ezekiel tells us how this is going to happen.
Eze 36:26-27
(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.
God was saying through the prophet Ezekiel that this is what was going to happen when God puts His spirit within us. He will change our hearts and make them soft like hearts of flesh, rather than hard like hearts of stone.
Jackie Pullinger has spent the last 30 over years as a missionary in Kowloon working among the prostitutes, heroin addicts and gang members. She once began a talk saying, “God wants us to have soft hearts and hard feet. The trouble with many of us is that we have hard hearts and soft feet.” Jackie Pullinger is a wonderful example of this in her willingness to help these people God has placed on her heart sacrificing comfort, sleep and many times even personal safety. Yet she does this with a soft heart - one that is filled with compassion.
And finally, the prophet Joel tells us to whom this new covenant will be given:
Joel 2:28-29
(28) "And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
(29) Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Joel foretells that the Holy Spirit will be poured out on all - regardless of sex, age, background, or status. And as Christians, there will be a new ability to hear God for ourselves. But these promises were not fulfilled for another 300 years after Joel, not until after the resurrection Jesus was the promise fulfilled.
THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Now let’s move from the Old Testament to the New Testamet.
In the Jewish calendar, there is one very important event on known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Thousands of Jews would go to back to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast, looking back to the time when Moses brought water from a rock. They thank God for providing water in the past year and pray that He would do the same in the coming year, while looking forward to the time when water would pour out from the temple bringing life, fruitfulness and healing as prophesized by the prophet Ezekiel in Eze 47.
Jesus attended the feast in His time and on the last day of the feast, He stood up and declared:
John 7:37b-39
(37) ..."If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. (38) Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (39) By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
By this Jesus was saying that the promises of Eze 47 would not be fulfilled in a place, but in a Person. It is out of the being of Jesus that the river of life will flow. And that THIS living water will flow from every believer bringing life, fruitfulness and healing to others.
But even after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the Spirit was still not poured out yet. When Jesus appeared to the disciples, He told them:
Luk 24:49
(49) I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
And just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He again told His disciples:
Acts 1:8a
(8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…
But then they had to wait and pray for another 10 days after Jesus ascended to heaven. Then finally on the last day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the 120 that were praying and waiting in the upper room.
Acts 2:2-4
(2) Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. (3) They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. (4) All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
It finally happened! The promise of the Father had finally been fulfilled and the crowd who had gathered was amazed and mystified at what had taken place.
Peter seizes the opportunity to witness to the people and proclaim Jesus as Lord and Christ. He explains how the promises that God had made in the Old Testament has been fulfilled, and how this gift of the Holy Spirit is for all who repent of their sins and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
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."
And at the first altar call ever made in Christian history by Peter, 3000 people responded and were added to the Kingdom that day! The first outpouring of the spirit of God saw the salvation of 3000 souls.
THE POWER FOR CHRISTIAN WITNESS
In a moment, we are going to look at the various roles the Holy Spirit plays in our lives. But from this account I want you to see that the FIRST and primary purpose of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is for Christian witness - to reach the world for Christ.
We have been given the Holy Spirit, the very life of God inside of us, so that we will reflect the light of Jesus into world that we live in.
Look at Acts 1:8 again. These were last words of Jesus on Earth. The last thing He was going to leave the disciples with. If you were Jesus had one thing to say before you leave your disciples, it is definitely going to be an important reminder!
Acts 1:8a
(8) ...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…”
Now many Christians stop reading the verse at this point. Yay, we are going to be empowered by the Holy Spirit! But what does the rest of the verse say? The empowerment is not for ourselves, but for the purpose of Christian witness!
Acts 1:8
(8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Don’t miss this. That is the primary purpose for the outpouring of the Spirit. For witnessing the good news of the Gospel.
And who are we called to witness to? We are called to witness first in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth.
Where’s our Jerusalem? Well, you can consider the people that you are closest to in life - your inner circle of friends and family - as your Jerusalem. And then in our Judea - people of the same culture and language. What would FCC’s Judea be? Firstly, the GLBT community and also the people that you interact with in your life - colleagues, extended family, friends, and the people you meet in life. And then Samaria - people in other cultures that maybe God places in your heart. Like the marginalized in our Singapore society, those who are handicapped or disadvantaged, the uncles outside the doors of this Church. And then, to the ends of the earth.
So basically, everyone! Starting the people that we are already in relationship with today - your loved ones, your family, your close friends. How many of you know that the gospel is good news! It reconciles people to God through Jesus Christ. It enters people into a wonderful relationship with God, where there is freedom and liberty and healing and joy and peace for the believer!
But how does the Holy Spirit help us become effective witnesses?
EMPOWERMENT AND THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Firstly, we are empowered and given different Gifts of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of helping us be effective witnesses for Christ and for service in building His Church. The Apostle Paul gives us a list of individual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12.
1 Cor 12:1,4-11
(1) Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
(4) There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. (5) There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. (6) There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
(7) Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (8) To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, (10) to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. (11) All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
Another list of ministry specific gifts is give in Ephesians 4.
Eph 4:11-13
(11) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, (12) to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (13) until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
So the gifts of the Spirit are simply God enabling believers to do what He has called us to do - to build up the body of Christ and be His witness to the world.
2 Peter 1:3 says:
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are part of the "everything we need" to fulfill His purposes for our lives!
Let me share with you how the gifts of the Holy Spirit have operated in my life. You guys see me up here week in and week out. I spend almost every week in Church serving on the worship team, ministering the Word or helping out in the administration of the Church. But if you had known be before I came back to God and was filled with the Holy Spirit 8 years ago, I was an entirely different person. You would have met a very introverted and shy person that was a total social misfit, wasn’t sure of himself and didn’t speak very well. I was an awful pianist, and a terrible singer. In fact, I only passed my Grade 4 piano and the first time I participated in my school concert, I was so bad no one clapped. The second time I played in the concert I got smarter that time, so I pre-sequenced everything into my keyboard before I went on and faked it by “play-synching” along so I wouldn’t make any mistakes. And still no one liked it! I was just plain awful.
But when I came back to God and was filled with the Holy Spirit, I placed what little I had in His Hands, and over time, He just anointed me and poured out His gifts generously upon my life to build His Church. My abilities in ministry are entirely a gift from Him - worship leading, playing the piano, ministering the Word, my passion and enthusiasm for the things of God, my love for Church administration - they are all gifts from Him.
So the tools of heaven for you be an effective minister and witness are the gifts of the Spirit, not to use on ourselves so we feel all spiritual, but they are there to touch and reach the world for Christ.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE
In addition to being an amazing gift giver, the Holy Spirit is also our teacher and our guide in life. As I mentioned earlier, the word “parakletos” literally means “the one who comes alongside” or the “counselor”. In our lives we all need guidance. In fact, counseling is becoming big business these days. I remember reading that many of the people in the entertainment business in Los Angeles even have their own “shrinks”! Who here knows that life is full of challenges and difficult decisions? Absolutely!
But you know, no matter how good professional counselors are, they usually only specialize in one area of need. Some are trained to deal with family issues; others know a lot about anger management; still others have expertise in helping people deal with their addictions. So the guidance human counselors can provide is very limited at best. Plus you have to fit yourself into their very busy schedules and go to their office at their convenience to get their help.
This is not so with the Holy Spirit! He has been poured out for every believer! Not only is He available at all hours of the day or night, he is qualified to counsel or guide us in every area of life. As the prophet Isaiah proclaimed in Isa 28:29, “the Lord of hosts is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance”!
1 John 2:26-27 puts it like this:
(27) As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit-just as it has taught you, remain in him.
But the Holy Spirit is not just a good guide, He is an effective corrector and helps convict us of the sin in our lives and the things that God wants us to change.
John 16:7-8, 12-13
(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. (8) When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.
(12) "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. (13) But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
One instance I can remember the Holy Spirit working clearly in my life like it was just yesterday. I used to have a lot of pornography in my computer. I always turned to it as what I thought was a safe way to get relief when I was horny - or as I like to put it - when I felt the urge for a merge. Anyway, I would use it about 3 or 4 times a week then to get off.
One night about 3 years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a fright. And I felt the Holy Spirit convicting me of my addictive dependence on porn and calling me to a deeper level of consecration with Him and get up immediately and delete all the porn off my computer. It was a very difficult moment for me. The gigabytes that had painfully taken me months to download! But I obeyed him and dragged everything into the Windows “recycling bin” and went back to bed. As I was lying down to sleep, I felt the Holy Spirit tugging at me again. What about “emptying” the “recycling bin”? So I got up again and emptied the recycling bin and there went all my porn forever. And I’m very glad I obeyed.
In order for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, like Jackie Pullinger said earlier, we need to have soft, malleable hearts. Fleshy hearts for the Holy Spirit to work in. Not fleshly hearts or hearts of stone. So that as the Holy Spirit works in our lives, we become good witnesses for Christ, and draw people to Him.
IN CLOSING
This morning as we draw this sermon to a close, I think this is a very important message for the entire church to hear right now. In the last 12 months of the Church, our growth has been stagnant. And a part of the problem is that we have NOT been good witnesses of Christ have we? And I feel that many of us here are not working with God effectively because we are not empowered to. And empowerment comes by being filled with the Holy Spirit!
How do you know if you are filled with the Holy Spirit?
1. Spirit-filled Christians make room for God in their lives. They are consumed by the things of God. God takes first place in their lives.
2. The spirit-filled Christian is hungry for the Word and the desire to grow towards maturity. They set aside an altar for God - a time for prayer and reading the Word.
3. Spirit-filled Christians are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and are in relationship with God. Relationship means communication. They communicate to God through prayer and they know His voice through the Holy Spirit.
4. Spirit-filled Christians are the most liberated and free people. They are victorious, full of joy and enthusiasm! Do you know the word enthusiasm comes from the root word “en-theos” which means “in God”?
5. Spirit-filled Christians have the fire of God upon their lives. Do you know that the Bible calls our worship and prayer is like a sweet-smelling incense going up to heaven? Without the fire of God inside of us, it’s just dust? On the day of Pentecost, the Apostles had tongues of fire coming to rest upon them.
If that doesn’t sound like you, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Try doing ministry all own your on strength and you will burn out.
If you were once on fire for God but you have slipped away, you need to be filled again today.
But what is the key to being filled with the Holy Spirit?
1. We need to DRAW NEAR to Him. To focus on God. Not our problems. Not on the cute guy sitting in the next row. We need to quieten our hearts and come into His Holy presence.
2. The next thing we need to do is to SURRENDER. The Holy Spirit can only work in yielded hearts. The gifts of the Holy Spirit will not be given to people with an unyielded heart because they will be seeking to glorify themselves or push their own agendas.
3. Then we have to simply ASK God humbly in prayer.
Luk 11:9-13
(9) "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (10) For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
(11) "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? (12) Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? (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!"
Shall we all stand up? Let’s close our eyes, open up our hearts, spend some time and just draw near to God this morning. Put aside everything. Just focus on Him. He’s waiting for you.
Lord I thank you for every person in the room. I thank you for the blessing, for the favour, I thank you that we are your servants. God we’re not members with agendas, we are members with a servant heart. God let our hearts be yielded and submitted to you for the spirit of God to move in great power, gifts of the Spirit father - words of knowledge, wisdom, healing, power gifts flow through us right now for the lost, for our family, for our friends, for the people we meet in our daily life. This morning, God let you spirit fall upon us right now, in the name of Jesus we worship you and praise you. Amen!
Sunday at Church was an amazing time. I felt that the entire service was just really beautiful and I really enjoyed speaking at the service. We had a good altar call where people prayed to be filled with the Holy Spirit and several people came up to me afterwards to say that they felt ministered to. I'm just happy that the time I put in preparing paid off and just thankful that the job got done! =)
Anyway, I've done up a transcript for our Church website. I hope it will minister to you too. Do feel free to leave any feedback you may have!
THE HOLY SPIRIT - THE HEART OF LIFE
- Membership Foundations Series
27 Nov 2005
Gary Chan, Free Community Church
+ + +
KEY VERSE
Luk 3:18-19
(18)"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
(19)to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
INTRODUCTION
I want to begin our time today by talking about “air”. Have you ever stopped to consider how wonderfully powerful “air” is?
For example: it is air that makes it possible for huge planes carrying hundreds of people and tons of cargo to cruise at thirty-, forty-thousand feet above sea level. That same air in pressurized ballast tanks is what enables huge nuclear submarines to travel to tremendous depths in the world’s oceans and then resurface when and where they want to.
And this year we have witnessed so many typhoons and hurricanes that we’ve run out of names to give them. Given enough velocity, air becomes a devastating wind that can throw cars around and push waves far inland.
When I was serving as an automotive technician in the Army, I learnt that if you put air in a network of hoses and valves and put it under enough pressure, it can bring 7-ton trucks to a screeching stop! And when air is used in a pneumatic drill, it is strong enough to break thick pieces of concrete.
Think about it. All that power contained in common, every day air! You can’t feel it, unless it is in the wind. You can’t see it or smell it - well unless you live in Bangkok maybe. You can’t hold it in your hand, but at the same time, it is the very stuff that keeps us alive, as we draw in breath after breath. We can’t live without air!
The reason why I’ve talked a lot about air is to help you realize that just because something is invisible does not mean it is unimportant or weak. I think grasping this principle goes a long way to helping us understand the topic for our Fourth Session in our Membership Series - the Holy Spirit as the Heart of Life.
Incidentally, one of the most common words used in Scripture to represent the Holy Spirit is the word for “air”. In the Old Testament it is the Hebrew word, “ruach”. In the New Testament it is the Greek word “pneuma” from which we get our English word, pneumatic. And today I want us to understand that even though the third Person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit - is invisible, He is certainly not weak or insignificant. In fact, He is just as vital to the life of a Christian as is air itself!
As I was preparing this message, I realized that the Bible had a lot to say about the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now, many of us have a good understanding of God the Father, and God the Son as the person of Jesus Christ, but what about the Holy Spirit? He seems to be the least known and least understood “third” member of the Trinity. Why do you think that’s the case?
Maybe it’s because the Holy Spirit is seldom talked about in sermons. When was the last time you recall listening to a sermon specifically about the Holy Spirit in FCC?
Maybe it’s because for a long time, we have side-stepped talking about the Holy Spirit. Misunderstanding and disagreements often surround talking about the Holy Spirit. It has even resulted in Church splits - like Clarence’s previous church over differences in the understanding the ministry and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And maybe, in the course of your life, you may have met Christians that have simply misrepresented the Holy Spirit. They think they are all “spiritual”, but talk and act like they live on another planet. Some are actually totally imbalanced, or plain “flaky”. Some Christians claim that because they are under the influence of the Holy Spirit, they become out of control, or start barking like dogs. Imagine if you didn’t understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and you went into a service where thousands of people were fervently praying away in an unknown language, your hair would be standing or you’d be totally spooked out too.
This has caused many Christians to steer clear of dealing with the Holy Spirit altogether.
But do you know that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us? In Luke 11 and Acts 1, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit as God’s gift to us.
Luk 11:13
(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!"
Acts 1:4-5
(4)On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. (5)For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
Before we look at “who” the Holy Spirit is, we’d better debunk some myths and start by looking at who the Holy Spirit is not.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON
Firstly, the Holy Spirit is not an “it”. The Holy Spirit is a person. It is not some mystical impersonal “Force” like in Star Wars lore that can only be harnessed by those with a high “metachlorian” count in their bodies. Neither is the Holy Spirit an influence, apparition or “ghost” like some old Bible translations put it. The Holy “Ghost’. Woooo…
So the Holy Spirit is really a person. He has all the characteristics of a person. We won’t look at all the passages today, but from the Bible we see that He thinks (Acts 15:28), speaks (Acts 1:16), leads (Rom 8:14) and can even be grieved (Eph 4:30). He is sometimes described as the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9) or the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7). He is the way in which Jesus is present with His people, even today. A definition I like is from the original Greek word “parakletos” found in John 14:16 - which means, “one who will come alongside” - like a comforter, counselor or encourager.
Let me read to you Susan’s take on the Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit is to me, simply God’s Spirit - sometimes the fire and wind, other times the small still voice - but always breathing life into me as it were, into my tasks, my relationships, my problems, renewing me and refreshing me day by day.
Adrian Rogers calls the Holy Spirit “Christ in the Christian”. Herschel Ford said, “the simplest definition of the Holy Spirit I know is this: The Holy Spirit is God in the human heart.” But, I think Gordon Fee says it best when He describes the Holy Spirit as “God’s empowering presence”.
THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Some people think that the ministry of the Holy Spirit started only in twentieth-century with the start of the “Pentecostal” or “Charismatic” Christian movement. That’s actually far, far from the truth because the Spirit of God was right there from the beginning of creation in Genesis 1, hovering over the chaos when the Earth still wasn’t formed.
Gen 1:2
(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.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit usually came only upon specific people at specific times for specific tasks. For example in Book of Judges, we see people like Samson was given strength and power by the Holy Spirit to break free from his chains (Jud 15:4) and Gideon was given the ability to lead Israel by the power of the Holy Spirit despite him feeling weak and inadequate (Jud 6:15,34).
But even as you go through the Old Testament, the prophets foretold that God would one day make a new covenant with His people. This covenant would be different.
Jer 31:33
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.”
In other words, under the new covenant the law will be internal instead of external. What God promised through Jeremiah was that a time was coming when the law would no longer be a weight on the outside but a source of energy on the inside.
And the prophet Ezekiel tells us how this is going to happen.
Eze 36:26-27
(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.
God was saying through the prophet Ezekiel that this is what was going to happen when God puts His spirit within us. He will change our hearts and make them soft like hearts of flesh, rather than hard like hearts of stone.
Jackie Pullinger has spent the last 30 over years as a missionary in Kowloon working among the prostitutes, heroin addicts and gang members. She once began a talk saying, “God wants us to have soft hearts and hard feet. The trouble with many of us is that we have hard hearts and soft feet.” Jackie Pullinger is a wonderful example of this in her willingness to help these people God has placed on her heart sacrificing comfort, sleep and many times even personal safety. Yet she does this with a soft heart - one that is filled with compassion.
And finally, the prophet Joel tells us to whom this new covenant will be given:
Joel 2:28-29
(28) "And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
(29) Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Joel foretells that the Holy Spirit will be poured out on all - regardless of sex, age, background, or status. And as Christians, there will be a new ability to hear God for ourselves. But these promises were not fulfilled for another 300 years after Joel, not until after the resurrection Jesus was the promise fulfilled.
THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Now let’s move from the Old Testament to the New Testamet.
In the Jewish calendar, there is one very important event on known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Thousands of Jews would go to back to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast, looking back to the time when Moses brought water from a rock. They thank God for providing water in the past year and pray that He would do the same in the coming year, while looking forward to the time when water would pour out from the temple bringing life, fruitfulness and healing as prophesized by the prophet Ezekiel in Eze 47.
Jesus attended the feast in His time and on the last day of the feast, He stood up and declared:
John 7:37b-39
(37) ..."If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. (38) Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (39) By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
By this Jesus was saying that the promises of Eze 47 would not be fulfilled in a place, but in a Person. It is out of the being of Jesus that the river of life will flow. And that THIS living water will flow from every believer bringing life, fruitfulness and healing to others.
But even after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the Spirit was still not poured out yet. When Jesus appeared to the disciples, He told them:
Luk 24:49
(49) I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
And just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He again told His disciples:
Acts 1:8a
(8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…
But then they had to wait and pray for another 10 days after Jesus ascended to heaven. Then finally on the last day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the 120 that were praying and waiting in the upper room.
Acts 2:2-4
(2) Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. (3) They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. (4) All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
It finally happened! The promise of the Father had finally been fulfilled and the crowd who had gathered was amazed and mystified at what had taken place.
Peter seizes the opportunity to witness to the people and proclaim Jesus as Lord and Christ. He explains how the promises that God had made in the Old Testament has been fulfilled, and how this gift of the Holy Spirit is for all who repent of their sins and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
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."
And at the first altar call ever made in Christian history by Peter, 3000 people responded and were added to the Kingdom that day! The first outpouring of the spirit of God saw the salvation of 3000 souls.
THE POWER FOR CHRISTIAN WITNESS
In a moment, we are going to look at the various roles the Holy Spirit plays in our lives. But from this account I want you to see that the FIRST and primary purpose of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is for Christian witness - to reach the world for Christ.
We have been given the Holy Spirit, the very life of God inside of us, so that we will reflect the light of Jesus into world that we live in.
Look at Acts 1:8 again. These were last words of Jesus on Earth. The last thing He was going to leave the disciples with. If you were Jesus had one thing to say before you leave your disciples, it is definitely going to be an important reminder!
Acts 1:8a
(8) ...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…”
Now many Christians stop reading the verse at this point. Yay, we are going to be empowered by the Holy Spirit! But what does the rest of the verse say? The empowerment is not for ourselves, but for the purpose of Christian witness!
Acts 1:8
(8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Don’t miss this. That is the primary purpose for the outpouring of the Spirit. For witnessing the good news of the Gospel.
And who are we called to witness to? We are called to witness first in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth.
Where’s our Jerusalem? Well, you can consider the people that you are closest to in life - your inner circle of friends and family - as your Jerusalem. And then in our Judea - people of the same culture and language. What would FCC’s Judea be? Firstly, the GLBT community and also the people that you interact with in your life - colleagues, extended family, friends, and the people you meet in life. And then Samaria - people in other cultures that maybe God places in your heart. Like the marginalized in our Singapore society, those who are handicapped or disadvantaged, the uncles outside the doors of this Church. And then, to the ends of the earth.
So basically, everyone! Starting the people that we are already in relationship with today - your loved ones, your family, your close friends. How many of you know that the gospel is good news! It reconciles people to God through Jesus Christ. It enters people into a wonderful relationship with God, where there is freedom and liberty and healing and joy and peace for the believer!
But how does the Holy Spirit help us become effective witnesses?
EMPOWERMENT AND THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Firstly, we are empowered and given different Gifts of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of helping us be effective witnesses for Christ and for service in building His Church. The Apostle Paul gives us a list of individual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12.
1 Cor 12:1,4-11
(1) Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
(4) There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. (5) There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. (6) There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
(7) Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (8) To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, (10) to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. (11) All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
Another list of ministry specific gifts is give in Ephesians 4.
Eph 4:11-13
(11) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, (12) to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (13) until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
So the gifts of the Spirit are simply God enabling believers to do what He has called us to do - to build up the body of Christ and be His witness to the world.
2 Peter 1:3 says:
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are part of the "everything we need" to fulfill His purposes for our lives!
Let me share with you how the gifts of the Holy Spirit have operated in my life. You guys see me up here week in and week out. I spend almost every week in Church serving on the worship team, ministering the Word or helping out in the administration of the Church. But if you had known be before I came back to God and was filled with the Holy Spirit 8 years ago, I was an entirely different person. You would have met a very introverted and shy person that was a total social misfit, wasn’t sure of himself and didn’t speak very well. I was an awful pianist, and a terrible singer. In fact, I only passed my Grade 4 piano and the first time I participated in my school concert, I was so bad no one clapped. The second time I played in the concert I got smarter that time, so I pre-sequenced everything into my keyboard before I went on and faked it by “play-synching” along so I wouldn’t make any mistakes. And still no one liked it! I was just plain awful.
But when I came back to God and was filled with the Holy Spirit, I placed what little I had in His Hands, and over time, He just anointed me and poured out His gifts generously upon my life to build His Church. My abilities in ministry are entirely a gift from Him - worship leading, playing the piano, ministering the Word, my passion and enthusiasm for the things of God, my love for Church administration - they are all gifts from Him.
So the tools of heaven for you be an effective minister and witness are the gifts of the Spirit, not to use on ourselves so we feel all spiritual, but they are there to touch and reach the world for Christ.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE
In addition to being an amazing gift giver, the Holy Spirit is also our teacher and our guide in life. As I mentioned earlier, the word “parakletos” literally means “the one who comes alongside” or the “counselor”. In our lives we all need guidance. In fact, counseling is becoming big business these days. I remember reading that many of the people in the entertainment business in Los Angeles even have their own “shrinks”! Who here knows that life is full of challenges and difficult decisions? Absolutely!
But you know, no matter how good professional counselors are, they usually only specialize in one area of need. Some are trained to deal with family issues; others know a lot about anger management; still others have expertise in helping people deal with their addictions. So the guidance human counselors can provide is very limited at best. Plus you have to fit yourself into their very busy schedules and go to their office at their convenience to get their help.
This is not so with the Holy Spirit! He has been poured out for every believer! Not only is He available at all hours of the day or night, he is qualified to counsel or guide us in every area of life. As the prophet Isaiah proclaimed in Isa 28:29, “the Lord of hosts is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance”!
1 John 2:26-27 puts it like this:
(27) As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit-just as it has taught you, remain in him.
But the Holy Spirit is not just a good guide, He is an effective corrector and helps convict us of the sin in our lives and the things that God wants us to change.
John 16:7-8, 12-13
(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. (8) When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.
(12) "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. (13) But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
One instance I can remember the Holy Spirit working clearly in my life like it was just yesterday. I used to have a lot of pornography in my computer. I always turned to it as what I thought was a safe way to get relief when I was horny - or as I like to put it - when I felt the urge for a merge. Anyway, I would use it about 3 or 4 times a week then to get off.
One night about 3 years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a fright. And I felt the Holy Spirit convicting me of my addictive dependence on porn and calling me to a deeper level of consecration with Him and get up immediately and delete all the porn off my computer. It was a very difficult moment for me. The gigabytes that had painfully taken me months to download! But I obeyed him and dragged everything into the Windows “recycling bin” and went back to bed. As I was lying down to sleep, I felt the Holy Spirit tugging at me again. What about “emptying” the “recycling bin”? So I got up again and emptied the recycling bin and there went all my porn forever. And I’m very glad I obeyed.
In order for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, like Jackie Pullinger said earlier, we need to have soft, malleable hearts. Fleshy hearts for the Holy Spirit to work in. Not fleshly hearts or hearts of stone. So that as the Holy Spirit works in our lives, we become good witnesses for Christ, and draw people to Him.
IN CLOSING
This morning as we draw this sermon to a close, I think this is a very important message for the entire church to hear right now. In the last 12 months of the Church, our growth has been stagnant. And a part of the problem is that we have NOT been good witnesses of Christ have we? And I feel that many of us here are not working with God effectively because we are not empowered to. And empowerment comes by being filled with the Holy Spirit!
How do you know if you are filled with the Holy Spirit?
1. Spirit-filled Christians make room for God in their lives. They are consumed by the things of God. God takes first place in their lives.
2. The spirit-filled Christian is hungry for the Word and the desire to grow towards maturity. They set aside an altar for God - a time for prayer and reading the Word.
3. Spirit-filled Christians are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and are in relationship with God. Relationship means communication. They communicate to God through prayer and they know His voice through the Holy Spirit.
4. Spirit-filled Christians are the most liberated and free people. They are victorious, full of joy and enthusiasm! Do you know the word enthusiasm comes from the root word “en-theos” which means “in God”?
5. Spirit-filled Christians have the fire of God upon their lives. Do you know that the Bible calls our worship and prayer is like a sweet-smelling incense going up to heaven? Without the fire of God inside of us, it’s just dust? On the day of Pentecost, the Apostles had tongues of fire coming to rest upon them.
If that doesn’t sound like you, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Try doing ministry all own your on strength and you will burn out.
If you were once on fire for God but you have slipped away, you need to be filled again today.
But what is the key to being filled with the Holy Spirit?
1. We need to DRAW NEAR to Him. To focus on God. Not our problems. Not on the cute guy sitting in the next row. We need to quieten our hearts and come into His Holy presence.
2. The next thing we need to do is to SURRENDER. The Holy Spirit can only work in yielded hearts. The gifts of the Holy Spirit will not be given to people with an unyielded heart because they will be seeking to glorify themselves or push their own agendas.
3. Then we have to simply ASK God humbly in prayer.
Luk 11:9-13
(9) "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (10) For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
(11) "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? (12) Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? (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!"
Shall we all stand up? Let’s close our eyes, open up our hearts, spend some time and just draw near to God this morning. Put aside everything. Just focus on Him. He’s waiting for you.
Lord I thank you for every person in the room. I thank you for the blessing, for the favour, I thank you that we are your servants. God we’re not members with agendas, we are members with a servant heart. God let our hearts be yielded and submitted to you for the spirit of God to move in great power, gifts of the Spirit father - words of knowledge, wisdom, healing, power gifts flow through us right now for the lost, for our family, for our friends, for the people we meet in our daily life. This morning, God let you spirit fall upon us right now, in the name of Jesus we worship you and praise you. Amen!