Building Through The Holy Spirit

Today, I'm going to be speaking about building through the Holy Spirit.

! Building through the Holy Spirit.

I'm going to pray before we jump into some of the texts.

I'm going to be kind of all over the scriptures,

but we'll primarily be in 1 Corinthians 12, a little bit of 13 and 14.

So I'm going to pray and we'll dive in.

Lord, I thank you, God, for the Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us the Holy Spirit as our comforter.

I pray, Lord, that you would be with my mouth now as I speak your word.

I pray that you would help me to speak faithfully, Lord,

and say the things you want me to say.

I pray, Lord, in Jesus' name, that you would pour out your spirit

on this gathering now as we hear your word.

I pray, Lord, that you would deposit faith in Christchurch as a corporate body.

Lord, you would have an outpouring of faith and a deposit of faith to us this morning.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Okay, so building through the Holy Spirit.

Before we get into the idea of building through the Spirit,

I wanted to kind of say that Christchurch believes that the gifts of the Holy Spirit,

the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, are for today.

The official word for this is continuationism,

which basically just means that we believe that the gifts continue,

as opposed to the opposite view, cessationism.

And we believe that the scriptures teach not to despise prophecies.

1 Thessalonians 5 and then 1 Corinthians 14, in many places,

Paul says to earnestly desire the gifts,

to not despise prophecies,

to desire prophecy, to not forbid tongues.

He actually says that this, he says, is a command from the Lord.

So he actually commands these things.

And that there's no expectation in the scripture that alludes to the cessation at any point,

but that we're expected to pursue these things and them to continue.

In Acts 2, we see that when Peter quotes Joel,

the prophet Joel,

he says that in the last days,

God says, I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

So this is for us.

Okay?

We don't believe that prophecy,

modern day prophecy is the same as scripture,

carries the same weight.

But we do believe that the function of prophecy is for us today,

as well as the other spiritual gifts,

including the miraculous one.

So I wanted to give a little disclaimer and say that we believe that at Christ Church.

Although this sermon is not a defense for continuationism,

just wanted to intro and say that it's a huge backdrop for what I'm about to say.

So, building through the Holy Spirit.

Why I titled this that is,

there are many places in the New Testament that speak about building,

building up, these kind of things.

And I think it's Psalm 127.

It says, unless the Lord builds the house,

its labor is labor in vain.

So there's got to be a way that we build,

as New Testament believers,

build one another, build up the church,

that is in a right way.

And I believe that this is through the Spirit.

Okay?

I believe that Christ Church is in need of faith.

You know, how many of you think that we need faith,

or an increase of faith?

I believe we have faith,

that faith exists,

but we need a regular filling of faith.

And we need more faith, you know?

Even if it's small,

you know, even a mustard seed size,

God wants to use that in specific ways.

And so,

building through the Holy Spirit.

Before we talk about the building aspect,

when I say the Holy Spirit,

a lot of you guys know exactly what I'm referring to,

but for clarity,

I'm talking about the third person of the Trinity.

Okay?

The third member of the Godhead,

the Holy Spirit,

which Jesus talks about in John 14,

and says,

these things I have spoken to you

while I'm still with you,

but the Helper,

the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name,

He will teach you all things

and bring to remembrance

all that I've said to you.

And again,

in John 16,

Jesus literally says

that it's better that He leaves

and send the Holy Spirit.

Okay?

The idea,

well, first of all,

taking a step back,

if you were Jesus' disciples,

you know,

literal eyewitnesses of the Lamb,

and Jesus is about to leave,

imagine how you would probably feel.

Right?

Like,

the Messiah has come,

we've seen His works that He's done,

right?

Like,

He's taught us,

and now He's like,

I'm going back to my Father.

It's kind of like,

oh,

what are we going to do?

You know,

like,

I kind of need you.

You just got here.

You know,

well,

He literally says in John 16,

it's better,

or He says,

it's to your advantage

that I go.

For if I do not go away,

the Helper

will not come to you.

But if I go,

I will send Him to you.

So,

there's something about

the Holy Spirit,

the Helper,

the scriptures call Him

the Comforter or Counselor,

that is to our advantage

as believers.

God,

Jesus is reigning in heaven,

interceding on our behalf,

and we have an intercessory

working through us

that's the Holy Spirit

presently in us.

Okay?

So,

when I talk about

the Holy Spirit,

that's who I'm talking about.

The Spirit of God

is actually living

inside every

born-again believer.

Another way

to describe

the Holy Spirit,

or,

I was reading about it,

and,

I don't know

if some of you

are familiar

with the word

paraclete.

This is how

the Holy Spirit

is described,

and the Greek word

translated

Comforter or Counselor,

found in John,

is paracletos.

Paracletos,

and this form

of the word

is unquestionably

passive,

and proper means,

which means

one called

to the side

of another.

Okay?

The helper,

the counselor,

the counselor,

the paraclete,

called to the side

of another.

The word carries

a secondary notion

concerning the purpose

of the calling

alongside to counsel,

support,

the one who needs it.

This counselor,

or paraclete,

is God,

the Holy Spirit,

the third person

of the Trinity,

who has been called

to our side,

and he's a personal

being who indwells us.

He's our paraclete.

That's the

technical word

for that.

So,

building through

the paraclete,

the Holy Spirit,

this is what I want

to talk to you guys

about.

Specifically,

there's many avenues

we could talk about.

I wanted to hone in

on an aspect

of building,

which,

also building

in very specific ways

that God

has gifted us

with the spiritual

giftings outlined

in Scripture.

Jeff Vanderstelt

says that

he defines the church

as the

people of God

saved by the power

of God

for the purpose

of God

in this world.

So,

not only

when you were

saved by God,

did God

deposit in you,

or did he forgive you

of your sins

and cleanse you,

but he deposited

something in you

to

complete his

purposes

in this world.

And he gave you

the Holy Spirit,

and it says that

he gave

giftings to men.

Right?

So,

if you're a believer,

you have gifts

from God

for specific

purposes.

Okay?

And so,

the Bible speaks

about the gifts

and power

of the Spirit

that are given

for building.

This is what I mean,

building through

the Holy Spirit.

In Ephesians

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4,

11,

it says that

he gave

the apostles,

the prophets,

the evangelists,

the shepherds,

and teachers

to equip the saints

for the work

of ministry

for the building

up of the body

of Christ.

There's that word

for the building up.

Again,

he says,

later,

let no corrupting

talk come out

of your mouth.

Only such is good

for building up.

And then,

more specifically,

the spiritual gifts,

this is going to be

the main text

if you want to turn

there,

1 Corinthians 14.

Paul says

to the Corinthian church,

pursue love

and earnestly

!

desire the spiritual

gifts,

especially

that you may

prophesy.

For the one

who speaks

in a tongue

speaks not

to men

but to God

for no one

understands him

but he utters

mysteries

in the spirit.

On the other hand,

the one who

prophesies

speaks to people

for their upbuilding.

That word

upbuilding

and encouragement

and consolation.

For the one

who speaks

in a tongue

builds up

himself

but the one

who prophesies

builds up

the church.

In verse 5

he says,

Now I want you

all to speak

in tongues

but even more

to prophesy.

For the one

who prophesies

is greater

than the one

who speaks

in tongues

unless someone

interprets

so that

the church

is built up.

So there's

this constant

language

of being built

and

Christchurch

is in the midst

of being built

and we

are all

builders

contributing

to that

as members

of one

another

but the

way is super

important.

Do you

guys naturally

think about

the giftings

you have

as

tools

or members

to build?

I know

when I was

burning earlier

this week

thinking about

this topic

I was really

convicted

that naturally

I kind

of suppress

the giftings

I have.

I think

oh it's just

you know

like it's

not really

a gifting

it's kind

of just

like you

know

personality

mingled

in there

and just

you know

a guy

like yeah

a guy

can work

but like

wouldn't

really work

like profoundly

you know

and I was

realizing how

much unbelief

I had

around this

topic

and I

think it's

really easy

in a

culture

that's

like a

naturalist

culture

no miracles

anti-supernaturalist

culture

to succumb

to kind

of the

spirit

of like

yeah

we believe

that God

can do

anything

but really

we actually

subtly believe

that God

won't

God can

but he

probably

won't

and I

was convicted

because I

think I've

started to

fall in line

with that

spirit

but

one of

the ways

I think

that we

can revive

our faith

in Christ's

church

is by

looking at

God's

ways

the ways

that he

has gifted

us

that he's

poured out

through the

Holy Spirit

different

giftings in

the body

and saying

let's

actually have

faith

and believe

that God

will work

not that he

can but he

will work

through these

things

and from

one degree

to another

there is

that happening

I don't

think it's

non-existent

but I

think you

and me

both know

that we

need more

faith

right

and so

he says

pursue

love

and earnestly

desire the

gifts

for their

upbuilding

to build

up the

church

so the

Bible speaks

about building

up

building up

I think

just really

simply

means to

strengthen

to nurture

and encourage

to equip

right

and

we have

to do

it

through

the

Spirit

okay

when's

the last

time

that you

like

showed up

at a

gathering

or showed

up at a

you know

friend's

house

one of the

saints

you know

and you

thought to

yourself

how can I

build these

people up

when you

when you

show up

with other

believers

and you're

in the

room

are you

thinking

about

like

how can I

encourage

this

person

how can I

encourage

this group

or maybe

not like

how can I

like

myobically

just like

boost

somebody

but how

do I

like if

God

if God

the Holy

Spirit

dwells in

me

then every

opportunity

that you

have

to interact

with somebody

is an

opportunity

to be

built up

in the

Spirit

or more

specifically

for a

manifestation

of the

Spirit

do you

guys

believe

that

that

the

Spirit

manifests

whenever

the saints

are together

or whenever

the saints

go out

to an

unbelieving

world

I know

that I

was struggling

to believe

that this

week

but this

is what

God has

gifted us

with

is the

manifestations

of the

Spirit

it says

in

1 Corinthians

12

that to

each is

given

by the

same

Spirit

to each

is given

the

manifestation

of the

Spirit

for the

common

good

do you

believe

that it's

for the

common

good

or maybe

the

uncommon

good

you know

like

this is

supposed to

be something

we expect

we expect

God to

move

that means

that every

time Michael

opens his

mouth

it's an

opportunity

right

for

for the

Spirit

to go

forth

you know

it sounds

ridiculous

sometimes

right

to be

like

well

you know

I don't

know

but

but it's

true

like

does the

Spirit

of God

genuinely

live in

us

or

does he

kind of

does he

lie dormant

you know

a little

bit

do we

believe

for gifts

of healing

impartation

of tongues

interpretation

of tongues

utterances

of knowledge

that words

of knowledge

that you

would never

know about

somebody

had the

Lord

not

prompted

you

right

these

things

are real

we believe

that

and

sometimes

although

our

orthodoxy

you know

what we

say

we believe

doesn't

actually

line up

with what

we

do

with our

actions

we don't

really believe

that in our

actions

right

and I

would love

in my

own life

and the

life of

this church

for us

to deny

and despise

the unbelief

that says

you know

the Lord

won't

work

you know

the Lord

will

or maybe

maybe just

a passive

attitude

like hey

the Lord

is going

to do

what he

wants

you know

I don't

have to

earnestly

desire

the gifts

you know

the Lord

is going

to do

what he

wants

he can't

do

anything

that's

not

the

testimony

of

scripture

here

Paul

says

urgently

to

actually

a church

Corinth

was a

really

messed up

church

there were

so many

problems

right

in chapter

five

there was

someone

sleeping

with

his

step

mother

the Lord's

table

was

completely

out of

whack

all the

spiritual

gifts

he actually

says that

they're

exercising

the gifts

but wrongly

so there

was the

spirit

at work

to some

degree

but

it was

also

kind of

being

quenched

by the

way

they were

using

the gifts

there's

a lot

of

correction

coming

here

but

Paul

doesn't

say

hey

you know

what

these

whole

gifts

!

he brings

correction

and says

earnestly

desire

the gifts

especially

prophecy

because he

wants the

church to

be built

up

and so

we need to

know about

these things

part of the

I think some of the

ignorance too

around this issue

is

or some of the

issue is

ignorance

like

some of us

just don't

really know

what the

gifts are

and how to

use them

I think a lot

of us

do

and it's

a matter

of actually

just having

faith in

God that

will work

and

in ways

that we

might not

expect

and so

when you

read through

the gospels

and you

see all

that

Jesus

did

and you

see even

in Acts

this kind

of testimony

of signs

and

prophecy

it's

undeniable

that

God

wants

to

work

it's

not

an

issue

on

God's

part

of

does

God

want

to

give

us

these

things

right

he

absolutely

does

but

there's

a verse

in 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 5:19

5

verse 19

that Paul

gives

which is

very clear

he says

do not

quench

the spirit

I was

actually

looking in

other

translations

and it's

like the

same

phrase

like in

three or

four

translations

like do

not

quench

the spirit

right

and so

I believe

that if

if any of

us are

functioning in

a passive

way towards

the gifts

or if

you're not

earnestly

!

desiring

earnestly

as in

like sincerely

with intense

conviction

desiring

the gifts

then you

are quenching

the spirit

of God

like quenching

in the sense

of like

extinguishing

putting out

the spirit

of God

like

like Paul

literally says

to a

messed up

church

earnestly

desire

them

he's not

saying put

out the

spirit

here

he's saying

do it

rightly

decently

and in

order

right

there is

a way

but we

as a

church

have to

desire

these

gifts

and we

should

pursue

them

as if

the flame

of the

Holy Spirit

needs to

be

fanned

right

Paul says

to Timothy

fan in

fan in

the flame

the gift

of God

right

are we

believing

for that

or are we

kind of

passive

are we

like

you know

what

I'll

desire

the gifts

maybe

in

halfway

through

the year

a couple

times

a year

or are we

regularly

praying

for that

or are we

regularly

desiring

Lord

work

among us

I believe

he is

at work

a lot

of times

we

can get

you know

so pigeonholed

into thinking

like the

gifts are

only really

like prophecy

healings

these things

but there's

many other

gifts

gifts of

encouragement

you know

we see

those gifts

of wisdom

gifts of

administration

different things

like this

and when we

when we

reduce the

gifts to

just a

naturalist

like oh

that's just

personality

and kind

of bent

you know

we start

walking in

unbelief

on this

topic

you know

may we

not do

that

and so

that's

that's

the

that's

the chunk

of

my burden

is

building up

one another

through the

earnest desire

of the

gifts

I believe

there's a

lot of

gifted

people

in this

room

and it

is possible

that those

gifts

will be

quenched

can be

quenched

and not

use

may we

not do

that

may we

fan into

flame

like a

roaring

flame

the gifts

that God

has given

us

may we

use

them

right

that's

my

burden

let's

build

through

the

Holy

Spirit

build up

one

another

pray for

the

lost

pray for

words of

knowledge

and

prophetic

words

for the

lost

you know

it's so

easy to

live your

life without

any

testimony

but praise

be to

God

that

there

are

many

many

testimonies

I was

just

talking

to

Michael

about

this

how

faith

building

testimony

is

I'll

share

with you

one

story

I think

I've

shared

this to

some

of you

but

such

an

encouraging

thing

there was

a

man

at

a

prayer

meeting

I can't

remember

where

I think

it was

actually

Jack

Deer

he's

at a

prayer

meeting

there's

a man

at a

prayer

meeting

goes into

this

prayer

meeting

and

there's

a

young

girl

that

came

for the

first

time

perceivably

a young

struggling

girl

sat down

at the

meeting

and they're

praying

and it

might have

been at

the end

of the

meeting

or

something

where

this

man

looks

intently

at her

and thinks

he gets

a word

prophetic

word

he's

impressed

with a

word

to tell

this

young

lady

very

specific

words

to tell

this

young

lady

that

God

hates

mommies

and

daddies

what

it's a

weird

thing

to say

he was

thinking

to himself

uh

Lord

like

this is

clearly

against

scripture

like

God

loves

moms

and

dads

like

why

would

I

go

up

with

this

woman

and

say

that

and

he

said

it

as

clear

as

that

he

couldn't

shake

it

he's

just

like

I

have

to

go

tell

this

this

young

lady

so

they

find

out

that

she

was

sexually

abused

by

her

mom

and

dad

and

before

the

abuse

would

happen

the

parents

would

say

let's

play

mommies

and

daddies

so

this

is

the

use

of

the

Holy

Spirit

which

seemed

on

the

surface

to

be

you

know

something

outlandish

and

crazy

that

could

easily

be

discarded

and

dismissed

!

give

deliverance

and

freedom

to

this

woman

and

she

was

set

free

that

night

these

are

the

kind

of

things

that

we

have

to

believe

for

that

God

actually

works

okay

and

I'm

not

saying

that

every

waking

moment

will

be

this

way

right

but

we

have

to

earnestly

desire

it

we

have

to

say

God

if

you

don't

speak

you

know

if

your

spirit

doesn't

work

then

we've

got

nothing

you

no

help

at

all

right

it's

the

spirit

who

gives

life

Jesus

says

I

was

just

talking

before

about

a time

that

Brian

Firtle

had

spent

a long

night

in prayer

praying

for people

and

he

got a

phone

call

to a

man

who

was

dying

from

liver

failure

and

he

was

already

extremely

discouraged

that

night

exhausted

in

prayer

ended

up

going

to

the

hospital

walking

into

the

hospital

room

all

the

nurses

were

standing

there

like

what

is

this

guy

going

to

do

he

was

called

there

to

pray

for

this

man

the

man

was

laying

on

the

bed

groaning

in

pain

and

Brian

was

telling me

earlier

this week

he's

like

I've

never

experienced

anything

like

this

but

in

that

moment

I

looked

at

the

man

and

I

just

knew

it's

like

I

received

this

word

from

God

whole

you

will

be

healed

but

something

was

stirred

up

in

Brian

with

confidence

and

faith

he

knew

that

he

knew

this

guy

is

going

to

be

healed

so

he

lays

his

hands

he

brings

Audrey

over

they

both

lay

their

hands

on

the

man

saying

Jesus

name

be

healed

and

sure

enough

he

gets

out

of

his

fetal

position

that

he's

crouching

in

he

calms

down

sits

up

and

he's

like

I

don't

feel

any

pain

you

know

and

Brian

is

like

Jesus

did

this

for

you

then

he

walks

out

you

know

like

these

are

the

type

of

things

that

testify

that

not

only

can

God

can

God

right

can

God

do

miraculous

things

can

God

work

but

God

does

okay

it's

important

for us

to believe

this

we live

in a

culture

that

suppresses

this

and

that

spirit

comes

to

you

guys

and

tells

you to

suppress

your own

gift

things

you know

God

can't

work

through

me

you know

but here's

the deal

your old man

was crucified

with Christ

and a new man

lives in you

to do his

will

through the

spirit

and Jesus

said it's

better that I

leave and

send you

the spirit

right

we have

to be

burdened

to

earnestly

pursue

the work

of the

spirit

in our

life

I was

so

convicted

I was

just like

Lord

forgive me

for falling

into

unbelief

in this

area

may the

body

be built

up

may we

build

through

the

Holy

Spirit

amen

so I

see

a couple

of

ditches

here

I already

talked about

one which

is the

the error

of passivity

towards the

giftings

I think the

Corinthian church

made the

other error

they were

pursuing the

gifts but

they were

doing it

in a completely

wrong way

they were

selfishly

ambitious

trying to

be the

best

you know

one upping

one another

and

Paul says

in 1st

15

it's

14

what then

brothers

when you

come together