The Person of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity (Gifted Series)

Believer in the room, what a great gift you have, and that the spirit of the living God dwells in you.

Romans chapter 8, you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if in fact the spirit of God dwells in you.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

A couple verses later, Romans 8 11, the same spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.

Of course, then that brings the question, what does that mean?

And then maybe another question, well, who who is the Holy Spirit?

And then another question, what effect does the Holy Spirit have in my life?

And so that's what we want to aim to kind of answer throughout this series.

I'll tell you the titles of every sermon for the next eight weeks.

They are this The Person of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity.

That's today.

Next week, the work of the Holy Spirit in history, the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the function of the Holy Spirit in redemption, the presence of the Holy Spirit in a disciple, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, the fruit of the Holy Spirit in a Christian, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church.

This morning, I want us to comprehend who the person of the Holy Spirit is in the Trinity to the best of our limited capability.

We'll be looking at his personhood.

We'll be looking at his nature and the magnificent mystery that is a God we can't fully comprehend.

Now, when it comes to the person of God, especially the person of the Holy Spirit, we need to think carefully about what the Bible reveals about Him.

And you may say, why be so careful?

In a culture with hot takes, short videos, quick thoughts, where the most creative person, right, gets the most attention and the loudest person often gets the last word.

Why be so careful?

Let me give you a story.

Imagine if I was at work, I was teaching at a school, and all of a sudden my heart just was uniquely geared toward wanting to see my wife, spend time with my wife.

My heart's particularly stirred for my wife.

I think of her all day long.

I got butterflies in my stomach.

I can't focus.

I can't get her off my mind.

And so when I get home, uh I'm trying to think through what I'm going to communicate to her.

I'm going to get on my knees, I'm going to think about what I'm going to communicate to her when I get home.

And I look at her in the eyes when I get there and I say, babe, you are captivating.

There is no one who comes close.

I don't know what it is today.

Maybe it's your long flowing blonde hair and your beautiful green eyes.

Now, maybe you think that's sweet if you don't know my wife.

My wife does not have blonde hair and she does not have green eyes.

She has brown hair and she has beautiful brown eyes.

There's a big problem.

Because the focus of my attention all the day, when I was captivated, and that scenario doesn't match the attributes of the one I say I love.

My attention is in the wrong place.

And so my affection is stirred for things that aren't even true.

My affection is misplaced.

It's not on her for who she is.

So how we see God, especially in the person of the Holy Spirit, is important because if we don't see him for who he is, that is how he's revealed himself in Scripture, we aren't worshiping him.

If our attention's wrongly focused, at a minimum, it can lead to underappreciation.

At maximum, worship of a false God we've constructed ourselves.

We need to think carefully about the Holy Spirit, especially about the Holy Spirit, because as Abraham Kuyper said, Abraham Kuyper was a minister in the Netherlands in the early 1900s, and he said, The Holy Spirit doesn't leave footprints in the sand.

What does he mean?

Well, while Jesus left footprints in the sand as a person of human nature, talking, touching, laughing, and bleeding, the Holy Spirit doesn't.

Maybe think of R.

C.

Sproull's words here for a moment.

The Holy Spirit is like the wind.

Jesus said the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and cannot tell where it goes.

You cannot capture the wind in a bottle.

It's elusive and mysterious, but nonetheless real.

And you see the wind's effects in your world.

You see the flag blowing in a breeze.

You see sailboats carried along on the water.

You see the devastation of fierce hurricanes.

You see the ocean become violent.

You refresh on a hot summer day.

We know the wind is there.

So it is with the Holy Spirit.

He is intangible and invisible.

But his effect?

Well, his work is more powerful than the strongest wind.

His love is more caring than a nursing mother.

His instruction, greater than the most prestigious teacher.

And because the Holy Spirit is so mysterious, we are prone to distortions of his person and superstitions of his work.

So, going back, we must think carefully, very carefully, and listen carefully to Scripture as God reveals his nature to us in the Bible.

Our mind has to be guided in the things we cannot see by the light of the glory of Christ and what he has said in his word.

So this morning, beginning our series, I want to walk away with a simple biblical understanding of the person of the Holy Spirit, as well as, I pray, the beginning of a greater appreciation for his work in your life as we walk through this series.

And I just need to give you a caveat here.

This sermon will feel a little more academic than immediately applicable.

But it is the necessary base for the rest of the series because it is very important you know who the Holy Spirit is, who cares for you, who loves you, who's sealing you, that you might rightly appreciate his work in your life.

It is important we begin here.

So are you ready?

Two main points.

First point in your notes the Holy Spirit is a person.

The Holy Spirit is a person.

As we begin theologically, let's be very clear.

Christians are monotheistic.

We worship one God.

Mono meaning one theistic theos from the Greek, meaning God, we believe there is one God.

The Israelites worship God in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy chapter six, verse four through nine, passage that's referred to as the Shema.

The word Shema in Hebrew means hear.

You probably know this passage of scripture, Deuteronomy chapter six, verse four.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.

This was a daily verse for the Israelite people.

The Lord your God is one.

We worship one God.

Yet Scripture clearly describes three divine persons.

Now, it's probably true to say that the scriptures or this, it's probably easier to say, it's probably right to say that it's easier for us to understand the first two persons of the triune Godhead, the Father, as he's been known by culture, the you know, the big man in the sky, right?

Sitting on the throne, the Son, the Middle Eastern Jewish man, Jesus the Christ walking to Calvary 2,000 years ago.

We can even find it easier to understand their relationship.

As humans, you know, we know a father-son relationship.

But what are we to do with God the Spirit?

It's tempting to think of the third person of the Trinity as as distant.

Almost cold.

But when we listen to the Bible, we seek something different.

The Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit as a person.

What do I mean by a person?

Well, I don't mean that the Holy Spirit is a human and just like you can't see him.

The only person of the Trinity who took on flesh is Jesus.

What I mean is that the Holy Spirit is an intelligent, living being with understanding and will.

This is in your notes.

When Jesus and the apostles speak of the Holy Spirit, they always use personal pronouns.

Always.

I'm going to give you a lot of examples.

John chapter 14, verses 16 through 17, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper.

John 14:16–17

This is Jesus speaking, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth.

The word another, Alon in the Greek, there is another of the same essence, the same kind, implying continuity with Jesus.

John 14, 26, the helper, that is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Even though spirit, pneuma in the Greek is grammatically neuter, Jesus intentionally uses a masculine pronoun, Iconos, to refer to him.

He will help you.

John 15, 26, when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

John 16, 7 through 14, when he comes, he will convict the world.

When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.

For he will not speak on his own authority, he will glorify me.

So Jesus repeatedly piles on personal actions.

The Holy Spirit teaches, guides, speaks, hears, declares, glorifies.

These are actions of a person, not an impersonal power.

Romans 8 16.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God.

Romans 8 26, likewise the Spirit Himself helps us in our weakness.

Ephesians 4, verse 30, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

Ephesians 4:30

Only a person can be grieved in that sense.

One more.

So to summarize a bit here, the Bible presents the Holy Spirit as a person through personal pronouns, he himself, personal actions, teaching, speaking, guiding, personal attributes, will, knowledge, personal relationships, he can be grieved, he can be lied to.

In all these things we see a distinct identity of the person of the Holy Spirit.

He is unique.

So while the Holy Spirit doesn't have footprints, like Abraham Kuiper said, He is a person with whom we have a unique relationship with through Christ.

The Holy Spirit should be regarded as a person we know, not a power we grow into or as a force we wield at will.

A person, a helper, a comforter, a paraclete, one who seals us into the day of redemption, one who gifts us as we need in our local churches, one who speaks for us when we do not know what to pray and do not know what to say.

We don't wield him at will.

We don't try to control his power.

He indwells us for ministry and to keep us for eternity.

He is a person we can know.

Second main point that we have to talk about for quite a while.

The Holy Spirit is God.

You see, scripture not only teaches that the Holy Spirit is a person, but identifies him as truly God.

I'm gonna take you to a passage.

You're welcome to actually go there yourself if you'd like.

Acts chapter 5, beginning of the church in Jerusalem.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

This is the story of Ananias and Sapphira.

And I want you to notice something in the story of Ananias and Sapphira.

If you know the story, Ananias and Sapphira, two members of the church in Jerusalem.

People are selling things, giving their proceeds to the church to help support the poor.

Ananias and Sapphira sell their home.

They give the proceeds, they lie about what they didn't have to do, but they lie to the church.

And Peter says they lied to the Holy Spirit.

Peter said, Ananias, this is verse 3 of chapter 5 of the book of Acts, but Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

It wasn't that they did it, it's what it was that they lied.

They could have kept back proceeds.

They lied about it.

While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?

And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?

Why is it that you contrived this deed in your heart?

You have not lied to man but to God.

Do you see it there?

According to Peter, the disciple of Jesus, Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, verse three.

And when Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, verse three, he verse four, lied to God.

So if lying to the Holy Spirit is synonymous with lying to God, it follows, then the Holy Spirit must be God.

Second, in your notes, the Holy Spirit possesses divine attributes.

The Bible tells us three things I'm going to point out.

The Holy Spirit is eternal, always existing.

Hebrews 9, verse 14.

Hebrews 9:14

How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit, offered himself without blemish to God?

The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit is eternal.

Hebrews 9 14.

Bible tells us the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, meaning everywhere at once.

David says in Psalm 139, as Zach read, Where shall I go from your spirit?

implying uh nowhere.

Where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you're there.

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

Omniscient.

Meaning all knowing.

We take this from 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 10 and 11.

1 Corinthians 2:10

These things that is the good news of the gospel of Christ, God has revealed to us, Paul speaking to Christians in Corinth, through the Spirit.

For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him.

So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Bible tells us here, and I don't want to go down this rabbit trail too far, but the Bible tells us, hey, you can't understand the gospel in your heart unless you have the Spirit of God to open blind eyes to see Jesus and see him, not as a only as a historical figure, but as beautiful your Savior.

And the Holy Spirit does that work, opening your eyes, softening your heart so that you see Jesus and what he has done for you.

Only with the Spirit can you see the gospel, embrace the gospel, believe the gospel, and walk in glad submission to Jesus.

The third point the Holy Spirit is both equal and distinct within the Godhead.

While the word Trinity is nowhere to be found in the Scriptures, it is a term that the Church has adopted to best describe the nature of God as he has revealed himself in Scripture.

The doctrine of the Trinity teaches that God is one.

That God does not consist of parts, that's partialism.

Nor does he appear in different modes over time or roles over time.

That's modalism.

That all persons are eternal, of one divine essence.

Combating an early church heresy called Arianism.

We believe there is one eternal God who exists as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father.

Yet the Father is fully God.

The Son is fully God, the Spirit fully God.

The three persons are co equal, co eternal, uncreated, and of one divine essence, not three gods, not one person appearing in three different modes, and not parts of God.

Now, this is difficult to understand and comprehend with our limited minds.

But we see it, this truth, this doctrine in Scripture.

I'm going to share passages with you.

In passages like Matthew chapter three, verse 16, we see the distinction of each person.

When Jesus was baptized, Jesus the Son going under the water, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.

And behold, then a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

The Son is baptized, the Spirit descends, the Father speaks.

All three persons of the Triune Godhead.

In passages like Matthew 28, verse 19, we see the equality of the persons of the Trinity.

Matthew 28:19

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Now, notice that Jesus does not say, baptize them in the names of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but in the name.

Singular, intentional here.

We are not dealing with three different beings, but just as Jesus says he and the Father are one, here he includes the Holy Spirit in that unity of essence.

Maybe we look at Romans 8.27, we see the relationship between the persons.

In Romans 8.27, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God.

So scripture tells us the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer to the Father.

We don't know what to pray.

The Holy Spirit guides and speaks for us to the Father.

This is all true.

This is how the Bible speaks of His, uh God speaks in the Bible of His nature.

Yet we can all admit I mean, can we admit the divine nature of God in the doctrine of the Trinity is difficult for us with finite minds to understand?

Can we admit that?

Every night, my routine with my son Judah is exactly the same.

Every night, after he's gotten his water and brushed his teeth, he lays down in his bed.

I will kneel beside his bed, I will pray, and then he will pray, and then I will ask him, Judah, who have you been kind to today?

And then I'll say, I love you.

And then I will say to him, Judah, we can sleep, and he'll respond, because God doesn't.

But before we do all those things, we read from a book.

It's a storybook.

It's from Kevin DeYoung.

It's the biggest story book.

And it's a different, it's like think 256 different stories of the Bible.

It's like a student or a kid's Bible.

And we read from it.

That routine never changes unless throughout the process of the routine, Judah has a question about what we read in the storybook Bible, the biggest story, which will derail a lot of the routine sometimes.

Well, when we first got the book, around five years old, Judah asks a question, and that still kind of rings in my mind.

We were on the first lesson, the first story, and it was God creating the heavens and the earth.

And as a kid's Bible would, there's a lot of illustrations, there's pictures.

And in this illustration, the artist creatively drew an outline of three persons cascading both in and behind one another, present at creation.

And so Judah asked, Who is that?

And I answered, buddy, that's that's God.

He said, It looks like Jesus.

And mind you, proud dad moment.

Yes.

I said, That's right, buddy.

Jesus is God.

He says, No, Jesus is God's son.

And I said, You're right, buddy.

He said confidently, I know.

For all of us, even those who've spent years studying Scripture, there is a level of understanding the magnificent mystery of God that none of us will grasp, at least this side of eternity.

And if you feel like trying to wrap your head around the doctrine of the Trinity is difficult, know that you are not alone.

The Apostle Paul, after writing the most dense theological work we have in the New Testament, in the just letters, Romans 1 through Romans 11, Paul concludes in poetry, and this is what he says: Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways.

For who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been his counselor, who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?

For from him and through him and to him are all things, to him be glory and dominion forever.

So, even if you feel the difficulty of trying to wrap your head around the doctrine of the Trinity, let me plead with you something.

Do not let the difficulty become an excuse to dismiss seeing God for how he has revealed himself in scripture.

Studying how he's shown you who he is, reading about his attributes, his work, his person, knowing God who is both incredible and inscrutable.

Don't neglect the difficulty, don't dismiss the opportunity and miss the beauty of the God who is incredible.

You know, when Jesus speaks to his disciples in John 14 through John 16, he's speaking of the day he will ascend to the right hand of the Father with all dominion and authority over this world, and he says he will send a comforter.

And he says this phrase, it is to your advantage that I go away and I send my spirit.

Hard to comprehend.

Well, in Acts 16, we learn that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ.

So when Christ ascended, he sent his spirit to his church so that he would not only be around his people, but dwell within his people, empowering us for the mission he gave us believer.

What a great gift you have that the Spirit of the Living God dwells in you.

Let's pray.

God, there is much more to say this morning.

Your spirit was promised through the mouths and the writings of prophets.

Cleanse our hearts, to enable us to obey with gladness, to empower us for ministry, to lead us unto righteousness.

To empower the apostles to write the scriptures, to comfort us in times of trial and speak through us in times of grief.

To gift us for service in your church.

To bear fruit for a witness to the world, and to seal us until the day you return.

I pray, Lord, that a greater understanding will lead to greater appreciation in our hearts.

Your word was written not only so that we might know how to live, but so that we might know you.

We want to know you.

Lord, by your spirit, would you grow us to be more like your son as we draw near to you in faith and walk by the Spirit every day?

We love you, Lord.

We thank you for so deeply and dearly loving us.

It is in your name we pray these things by your spirit.

And everybody said.