"Who Is the Holy Spirit and What Does He Do?"

Good evening again, welcome. Ordinarily we teach through book

in the Bible. We finished our series through

First Corinthians. We're taking six weeks to do a

study on the Holy Spirit, and then we'll be back in the book

of Second Corinthians. So tonight I'd invite you to

open your Bible to John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

Let's move this down a bit. I'm going to read a number of

scriptures to begin with and now again form a bit of a backdrop

tonight. The title of the message is who

is the Holy Spirit and what does he do?

We'll revisit a little bit of what we covered last week.

So if you missed last week, that's OK.

You'll get a nice little summary as we're looking at the Holy

Spirit who's who's often been titled the Forgotten member of

the Godhead. John 14 verse 16.

John 14:16

Jesus said I will pray the Father and he will give you

another help at capital H that he may abide with you forever.

The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it

neither sees Him nor knows him, but you know him, for he dwells

with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans, I

will come to you. Verse 18, Move ahead to verse

25. These things I've spoken to you

while being present with you. Verse 26 But the Helper, the

Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will

teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things

that I said to you. We've head into chapter 15 and

verse 26. When the Helper comes, whom I

shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who

proceeds from the Father, He will testify of me, and you also

will bear witness, because you have been with me from the

beginning. And then move ahead into John 16

and last verses We'll read together verse 7.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth.

It is to your advantage, maybe your Bible translation, as it is

expedient or it is beneficial for you, that I go away.

And the disciples would have been shaking the head going, ah,

I don't think so. Look what he says.

For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you.

But if I depart, I will send him to you.

We'll explain this a little more later on.

When he has come, verse 8, He will convict the world of sin

and of righteousness and of judgement of sin, because they

not, do not believe in me of righteousness.

Verse 10 Because I go to my Father, and you see me no more,

there's 11 of judgement, because the ruler of this world is

judged. Verse 12 I still have many

things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide

you into all truth, but He will not speak on His own authority.

But whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will tell you

things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will

take of what is mine and declare it to you.

Jesus. In these words, in what is

called His farewell discourse, which is from John 13 through to

17. He's preparing His disciples for

His departure, first of all by way of the cross and His death

and His burial, and then His resurrection, but then His

ascension into heaven, and readying them for the fact that

He must depart, but that in order for Him to go, somebody

else would come. And His name is the Holy Spirit.

We commence this last week and he introduces that is Jesus, the

Holy Spirit as another helper. The word in Greek is paracletos

who will come to comfort, guide and empower them to come

alongside is literally what it means.

I don't know if you've ever experienced that, where somebody

has been of great comfort to you and for you maybe in time of

mourning or in time of doubt or uncertainty, and they've just

been able to to just be there to be alongside you, to support you

and to help you in that way. And Jesus said that he would not

leave his disciples as orphans. And so the Holy Spirit would

bring comfort to them. He would come alongside and be

there in the absence of Jesus, that Jesus would not leave them

without some help, without some assistance.

And the Holy Spirit is in mind that he would come and that he

would be with them. Billy Graham in his book I

recommend to you on the Holy Spirit, observe that that

humanity, mankind has 2 great spiritual needs.

He said firstly forgiveness and secondly goodness.

The forgiveness we experience through the finished work of

Jesus Christ on the cross that what Jesus did and accomplished

there brings to that great need for you and I forgiveness in our

lives. Christ's work at Calvary but

goodness comes to us at Pentecost through the falling of

the Holy Spirit where the Holy Spirit is in US and working out

that sanctification process making us more like Jesus Christ

and again the Holy Spirit is is often a misunderstood entity

being people have this vagueness about him.

What, what is the Spirit? What is the Holy Ghost is the

King James words him and emotionalism and mysticism seem

to abound. And we must remember that we're

not guided by our experiences, though valid at times they they

are and might be. But we must think biblically and

theologically about the Holy Spirit in particular.

So two key questions guide this message tonight.

And again, revisit some territory from last week.

Number one, who is the Holy Spirit #2 what does the Holy

Spirit do? Firstly, the Holy Spirit, He is

a person. The Bible tells us in no

uncertain terms when Speaking of the Holy Spirit that He is a He,

not an It. There are personal pronouns that

are utilised in discussion about the Holy Spirit used in our

reading that we just went through.

He will be with you. The Greek ikanos means a He, not

an It, and many people talk about the Spirit in that way, as

an it, as an entity, in that, in that vagueness of terminology.

Secondly, the name paracledos in Greek again that Jesus gave of

the Holy Spirit, it implies personhood, because the very

functionality of paracledos is to bring comfort.

A force has great difficulty bringing comfort into our lives,

but a comforting presence, a person who walks alongside us,

paracledos can do that. Thirdly, he speaks.

Revelation chapter 2, verse 7 says he who has an ear, let him

Revelation 2:7

hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

As we've been studying through the Book of Revelation, we've

been seeing that repeated again and again and again in Christ's

messages to the church. The Spirit communicates to us

through God's Word. John 1613 says he will not speak

on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak.

Did you know that the Holy Spirit speaks?

That it is possible for you and I to hear the Holy Spirit

communicating to us? When the Bible is taught, when

the Bible is preached, when the Bible is heard, when you read

the Scriptures, the Spirit of God takes the word of God and

speaks to the child of God. You are hearing God the Holy

Spirit speak to you when you read the Bible.

Some people say, well, I want to hear God speak to me audibly.

I want to hear the Holy Spirit speak to me audibly.

Let me tell you, read the Bible out loud then and you'll hear

God speak to you audibly. If you want to hear God speak to

you, get into the word and the Holy Spirit is speaking as we

study God's word. Fourthly, he testifies of Jesus

Christ. John 15 verse 26, you know the

John 15:26

Holy Spirit never points to himself, He always points to

Jesus. John 1526 says the Spirit of

truth that proceeds from the Father.

He will what testify, witness, declare of me.

You know that means that the Spirit is always talking, is

always pointing, is always directing you towards Jesus, who

he is, what he has done, what he has accomplished.

You know, one of the most important roles of the Holy

Spirit is to point people to Jesus Christ.

We'll get into that later. That's part of his convicting

work in wooing people and in drawing them unto salvation.

And the Holy Spirit never points people to himself.

And so when the Holy Spirit is moving in a church or in a

person's life, again, all praise, all focus, all glory is

on who Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit witnesses, the Holy

Spirit testifies, the Holy Spirit points to Jesus.

And so if you ever go to a church service where the focus

is on an individual or on a person or on a group, anything

other than Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is not a part of

that. The Holy Spirit's focus is about

drawing our attention to worship and to honour and the praise of

Jesus. Fifthly, the Holy Spirit, he

leads, he actively guides us as believers in decisions and

direction. If you're ever lost and, and

wandering around and and trying to figure out what to do and

where to go, seek out the wisdom, the guidance, the

leading of the Holy Spirit. Remember the story in the book

of Acts where Philip is being used by God mightily in a

particular area and the Holy Spirit draws him to to head to

encounter a fellow, an Ethiopian eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to

seek out God and Jesus, namely, and he's reading and it.

And it tells us there in in the book of Acts, verse 29, that the

Holy Spirit said to Philip go up to the chariot and and speak and

minister to this bellow. And it was the leading of the

Holy Spirit in that situation. Romans 814 puts it this way.

As many as are led by the Spirit.

These are the children of God. So you and I, our lives as sons,

as daughters of God are to be LED, are to be guided by the

Holy Spirit. And in that guidance, sixthly,

he guides us into truth. If you're trying to figure out

in a day and age where there's so much fake news, so much false

information, so much misinformation, I don't know if

you've ever been duped or if you've ever been conned in any

particular way and, and how you feel robbed of, of innocence

and, and robbed of certain sort of faculties in your mind.

I can't believe I was deceived or duped in that way.

The Holy Spirit will never do that to you.

The Holy Spirit speaks, He leads and he guides into truth.

And this particularly isn't an in illumination.

That's the word I was trying to spit out illumination and

application of Scripture. Jesus said John 1613.

When he, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all

truth. 7th we touched on this again last week.

He can actually be lied to. The story in the book of Acts

Acts 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 of Ananias and Sapphira who conjured up this

story to try and deceive the early church and Peter when

questioning them on it said that you have lied to God and namely

you have lied to who? The Holy Spirit.

You know you can't lie to an it, you can't lie to a force, but

being a person, the Holy Spirit was lied to in that example, in

the book of Acts chapter 5 and in our lives.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

The 8th point on this is that he can be grieved.

You know, our sin, our sins of Commission, what we commit, our

sins of omission, what we failed to do can actually cause grief,

hurt, wounding to the Holy Spirit who indwells us.

Ephesians 4 verse 30 to 32, it says do not grieve the Holy

Ephesians 4:30–32

Spirit of God. And then in those verses Paul

tells us what will grieve the Spirit of God.

He says it's bitterness, it's wrath, anger, clamour, evil

speaking, malice, and then he says to offer a flip side of of

what we're to focus on instead that what would please the Holy

Spirit. He says instead be kind to one

another, tender hearted, forgiving one another.

Why even as God in Christ forgave you.

These, you see, are the attitudes of the hearts and

lives that please the Spirit of God.

But the flip side of that, when we hold bitterness, when we have

wrath, when we have anger, when we're not forgiving, when we're

evil, Speaking of others, particularly brothers and

especially brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Oh, it grieves the Holy Spirit. Many of you who are parents, you

know, when your children fight with one another, how that

breaks your heart to see that conflict in the home.

And I think that's just a, a glimpse of the Holy Spirit's

heart towards us as, as the people of God, when there are,

are those attitudes in our hearts towards each other as the

family of God. And so these attitudes in our

hearts cause grief to the Holy Spirit of God.

And, and like a dove that he was, he's very sensitive and

he'll fly away. And, and there's in that sense,

a sense of, of, of losing the presence of the Spirit in our

midst as a consequence. So we don't want to grieve the

Holy Spirit, rather instead be kind and forgiving and

tenderhearted. 1 towards another.

And ninthly, on this point of the of the Spirit's personage,

he can be blasphemed. Matthew 12 verses 31 to 32.

Matthew 12:31–32

Jesus said that a rejection of the Holy Spirit's work of

conviction would be attributed to, and he calls it blasphemy of

the Holy Spirit. And that is the unforgivable,

unpardonable sin that that any human being can commit.

Jesus, in fact, said that if you were to sin against the Son

himself, Speaking of Himself, then it can be forgiven if you

desire and seek it. But if you reject and are

dismissive of the Holy Spirit's work, and He's convicting power

in the way that He points to Jesus as the need and as the

solution for salvation, if you reject that, then then that

rejection is unforgivable. Persistent rejection of His

conviction can harden a heart beyond repentance.

So if the Holy Spirit in this way with all of those elements

is a person, then that means that He deserves our respect,

our attention, our focus, our reverence, our worship when we

dig into the the divine personage that He is, our honour

and devotion and love and obedience.

So let's look at this other aspect, the divine person that

is the Holy Spirit, because Jesus firstly called him when

Speaking of the Holy Spirit, another of the same kind in John

John 14:16

14 verse 16. And what that means is that the

Holy Spirit is equal in nature to the Son Jesus and equal in

nature to the Father God. You know, that's why when we

baptise, we baptise what we do it so in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

It would in fact be blasphemous of us to bring the Holy Spirit

into that if he were not divine, wouldn't it?

It would be an insult to God the Son.

It would be an insult to God the Father for us to bring in the

Holy Spirit and equate Him as divine if He were not so.

And so Jesus said another of the same kind, a helper I will send

and the Father will sin. So let's look at some of the

attributes of deity that are in the divine person of the Holy

Spirit. He is eternal.

Hebrews 9 verse 14 makes reference to the eternal Spirit.

Hebrews 9:14

He is omnipotent. That means all powerful.

We attribute that to God the Father.

We understand the power of Jesus as we read through the Gospels,

but the Holy Spirit is all powerful.

In Luke chapter one, verse 35, when the Angel Gabriel visited

Mary and gave the promise of of the what we call the Immaculate

Conception, Gabriel said that it would be the work of the Holy

Spirit in bringing about this Immaculate Conception, that the

Holy Spirit in power would come upon you, Mary.

We're told in Psalm 139, verse seven that the Holy Spirit is

omnipresent, that there is nowhere that we can go on the

face of this planet that we can escape from the presence of God,

namely the Holy Spirit. Where can I go from your Spirit

or flee from your presence? Psalm 139, verse 7.

Psalms 139:7

And in that the same attributes that we've spoken of God's

omnipotence, God's omnipresence, and now we have God's

omniscience that He is all knowing one.

Corinthians chapter 2 verse 10 to 11, when Speaking of the Holy

Spirit, says God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.

For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of

God. For what man knows the things of

a man except the spirit of a man, which is in him?

Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

So the argument that Paul has there of the Holy Spirit is

this. Maybe you've had conversations

with people where you go, you don't know what I'm thinking.

And they presume to assert certain thoughts into your, you

know, vocabulary as you've expressed things, but they don't

know exactly your thoughts. And so Paul says just as a man

knows their thoughts and the spirit of the man knows that, so

too the Spirit of God knows the deep things of God, possessive

of that all knowing capacity of God, the omniscience, He is in

fact called God. In Acts 5 verse 3 to 4, when we

Acts 5:3–4

spoke of the example of Ananias and Sapphira lying to the Holy

Spirit, Peter again said you've been lying to God, emphatically

declares the Holy Spirit is God in that.

And then going all the way back to the book of Genesis, we see

that he is involved in creation, active in creation alongside the

Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit.

It's said there in Genesis one verse 2 was hovering over the

waters. And so to again, like I said

last week, to deny the personhood or deity of the

Spirit, the Holy Spirit is heretical.

It's not optional for us as as those who name the name of

Christ to purport to be believers, to deny that the Holy

Spirit is God. He is essential to Christian

faith and our lives as followers of Jesus.

So that's to revisit some territory from last week and now

for the rest of our time together.

Let's let's really dive into in a bit more detail.

What does the Holy Spirit do? We've understood that he's a

person, that he's a he, that he is divine.

And we could take many weeks to answer this particular question

about what it is that the Holy Spirit does.

Again, we could go all the way back to Genesis chapter one,

verse 2, where he's part of the creation of the heavens and the

earth. We could go all the way through

the Old Testament and into the Gospels and see the way that the

Holy Spirit worked in humanity and in the world.

An amazing study would be to actually look at the Holy

Spirit's work in the life of Jesus here on earth, and that

might be a wonderful study for us into the future how it was

that Jesus was led by the Spirit.

How it was that Jesus was filled with the Spirit, how he was

anointed by the Spirit. So what does the Holy Spirit do

again? Jesus said in John 16 verse 7, I

John 16:7

tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away.

And the disciples again shaking their heads, freaking out,

misunderstanding that. How could that possibly be so

Jesus? Jesus, did you just say that it

would be better for us that you go away?

I don't understand. I can't compute that.

How? How would that be?

And that's why Jesus later sorry earlier said John 14 verse 27.

John 14:27

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

And then in verse 3 of John 14, I go and prepare a place for

you. I will come again and receive

you to myself that where I am there you may be also.

So in in that text, what we read earlier, what I'm reminding you

of here in John 14 and and into 16, Jesus really wants his

disciples to know something significant, don't you think?

He said it was important, beneficial, advantageous

expedient that I go away and that somebody else come in my

stead. So why is it that for Jesus to

go away the the comforter who is the Holy Spirit to come?

If Jesus departs, the Holy Spirit would be there.

Why is that beneficial? I don't think we think about

this or fully understand this a lot.

So let me hopefully help explain it.

Why was it better expedient, advantageous for Jesus to go

back to the Father and not stay with the disciples?

I mean, he could very well have in resurrected form, could be

here on the earth now for some 2000 years in his physical

resurrected body. So let me explain this two

reasons. First, if Jesus went back to the

Father and sent the Holy Spirit, then here's what happens.

The presence of Jesus is universalized.

You know, when Jesus was on earth in his resurrected body,

if he was in Galilee, he wasn't in Jerusalem.

If he's in Jerusalem, he wasn't in the Galilee region.

That means if he was still on the earth now, 2000 years later,

in Galilee or in Jerusalem, he wouldn't be in secret harbour.

But when he went back into heaven, sent the Holy Spirit,

wherever you go, wherever you travel, Jesus is there.

Isn't that awesome? And so it universalizes the

presence of Jesus, and hand in hand with that second, it

internalises the presence of Jesus.

Christ is now in every believer. And we talk about Jesus Christ

being in US, right? Christ goes with you wherever

you go. That couldn't happen if Jesus

didn't go back to heaven and send the Holy Spirit.

That's why Jesus said it was better for you and on top of

that final preparatory comment before digging into this further

John 1412. Again, he's upper in discourse.

Jesus told his disciples that through the Holy Spirit coming

upon them greater works than these.

All that Jesus had done individually present on earth.

You will do because I go to my father.

He didn't mean greater in equality, but greater in

quantity because the disciples, they, you and I, the disciples

today will take the Holy Spirit with us and go around the world.

That's why in Acts One, verse 8, He told them not to move out of

Jerusalem until what? Until they had received the Holy

Spirit, that He had come upon them, and then they would be

witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost

parts of the earth. And so the coming of the Holy

Spirit was significant. On the day of Pentecost, the

Church was born. Christ's presence was

universalized and His presence was internalised in every

believer. So the first category of the

work of the Holy Spirit I want to focus our attention on now is

the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures.

Let's look at the Holy Spirit's work in the Scripture.

The Holy Spirit is instrumental, is pivotal, pivotal in the

inspiration that makes these more than just words on a page.

That makes this the living Word of God, the divine Word of God.

John 14, verse 26. Jesus said to his disciples the

John 14:26

help of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name.

He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all

things I said to you. So this is a reference to their

ability to have Holy Spirit recall in writing the Gospels

that we read of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then on through

into the epistles as Paul would write, as Peter would write, as

James would write, and so on. And to write about Christ and

the words that he spoke and revealed that ability, that

capacity was through inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Now, it could secondarily be applied to you and I to us, but

it's primarily applied to the apostles in their work in

writing the Scriptures. They would have perfect recall

of everything Jesus said, of everything Jesus did, and of

everything that he taught them that would be applicable and

beneficial for us to receive as the word of God as we know it

now in the Canon of Scripture. The classic passage on the

inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures is this second

Peter chapter 120 to 21. And Peter says this, knowing

this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private

interpretation, which means that they, when they wrote the

Scripture, didn't make it up and didn't invent it and didn't

write out of their own mind. Oh, I think this will be good.

I think this will be beneficial and helpful for them to know.

It was the Holy Spirit. Four, he goes on.

Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God

spoke as they were moved. And what that phrase meant means

moved there, means carried along or borne along by the Holy

Spirit. And so when the Scriptures were

written, the writers were carried along, were borne along

by the Holy Spirit in that process.

And what that picture is, is of a sailboat with the wind filling

its sails and carrying the boat over the water.

And so when they wrote the Scripture, the writers were

being born along, carried along, guided, directed by the

Comforter or Helper, the paracledos, the third person of

the Trinity, who would bring to remembrance all that Jesus

spoke. And so we can say and know that

all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, the Holy

Spirit. And not only inspiration, but

secondly, on that illumination he reveals God's truth to us

from Scripture. One Corinthians chapter 2, verse

9 to 13. There are two important

doctrines of the Holy Spirit in relation to this in in the

inspiring and illuminating of the Scripture.

You see, the Holy Spirit gives revelation, that means unveils

what was mysteriously unknown before and makes it apparent,

makes it evident for us. And he gives illumination.

So revelation and illumination, Paul says, but as it is written,

eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart

of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.

Now this verse is often quoted. You might have it as a memory

verse and know it right. And many people stop right there

on that verse and they say that, well, when we get to heaven, you

know, we can't imagine what we'll see there.

And you know, it gives us hope in that way.

We can't imagine what we're going to hear or what it'll be

like. We can't imagine in our hearts

what God has prepared for us. But you know, that's actually

not what that verse is about because notice verse 10.

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.

Why? For the Spirit searches all

things, yes, the deep things of God.

For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the

man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things

of God except the Spirit of God. And so the natural mind, the

natural eye of the human heart, the human eye cannot imagine the

things of God. But God has revealed them to us

by His Holy Spirit, illuminates for us.

Where once before it was a mystery, unknown, we couldn't

ascertain it, but now through the Scriptures we have that.

And so verse 12, now we have received not the Spirit of the

world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the

things that have been freely given to us by God.

So this is the doctrine of illumination.

The Holy Spirit gives us the things of God.

Verse 13 These things we also speak not in words which man's

wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing

spiritual things with spiritual. So this is teaching that the

Holy Spirit not only inspires Scripture, but also illuminates

it for us. You have as as a child of God

with the the Spirit within you, you have the Spirit of God

explaining the word of God to you.

That's why before you were a Christian, when you tried to

read the Bible, it was like gobbledygook.

What is this about? And, and your mind would just

fog over and, and the words would be difficult to ascertain.

Or you could maybe deduce bits and pieces of narrative and

characters and who said and did what.

But the the power of the word of God needs the Holy Spirit, the

regenerative work that happens. Thirdly on this transformation

happens. You know the Holy Spirit makes

us more like Christ as we behold him in the word. 2 Corinthians 3

2 Corinthians 3:17–18

verses 17 to 18. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and

where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, freedom.

But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the

glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image

from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

You know what that means? That means that when a Christian

reads the Bible, you not only have illumination, oh, I see

that, I understand that, I know that, but you have

transformation. Now because of that, God's word

starts to do a work in your life to bring about change that is

radically for the better and for the good in your life and flying

on out to others. It's like seeing Jesus in a

mirror and we're transformed into his image and likeness.

I, I, I want that. I need that God help me to be

more like this in that way. And the Holy Spirit enables,

empowers you to do that. He transforms you and I.

So that's His work in the Scriptures.

Let's look at His work in salvation.

Conviction takes place in John 16 verse 8 to 11.

John 16:8–11

Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit convicting of sin, convicting of

righteousness, and convicting of judgement that would be brought

to light in our lives. You know you cannot become a

Christian apart from the Holy Spirit.

You can't think yourself, Oh, I've, I've studied all of the,

the religions of the world and I've read so many books and I, I

feel like that this is probably the most sensible thing, not to

dismiss the intellect in that, but it is, it is the divine work

of the Holy Spirit in, in bringing about the convicting

work in our lives of sin and of righteousness and of judgement

that sits upon us. You don't just try Jesus.

You don't just give him a chance in your life.

You don't come to Jesus because you want to be wealthy or

healthy or wise. You know, I think there's some

good words here in that and you know, I'd like to apply that

now. You come because the Holy Spirit

identifies of sin in your life and identifies of God's

righteousness and if he standard and of the judgement of God that

sits heavy upon sinful, depraved humanity, that the heart is

deceitful and desperately wicked and that without a Saviour we're

lost and, and, and we're doomed in our sin and in our depravity

and, and, and the failings and fallings of humanity.

And so the Holy Spirit convicts or convinces you that you need

salvation and that Jesus is the answer your Saviour.

That's the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting and then in

doing that, the Holy Spirit secondly brings about the the

regeneration. Jesus said to a fellow called

Nicodemus who knew all of the Scriptures.

He had been studying the Old Testament.

He knew it inside and out. And he came into the cover of

night and Jesus said to him, Nicodemus, you what?

You must be born again, and to be born again you must be born

of the Spirit. Where once you were born of

water, now you need to be born of the Spirit regenerated anew.

That, that. That's what we're talking about

here. It's not by works of

righteousness, Titus 35 says, which we have done, but

according to his mercy. He saved us through the washing

of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

This is one of the great verses of the work of the Holy Spirit

in our lives. He washes us, cleanses us,

regenerates us, makes us new. That means to give new life,

literally to regenerate. So before you were saved, the

Bible declares that you were dead in trespasses and sin.

Oh, you were alive physically, but you were like a walking

zombie, dead on the inside, and you needed to be born again in

your spirit. And the moment you believed and

trusted in Jesus as the Christ, you were regenerated.

And that regenerative work is the work of the Holy Spirit.

And Jesus told Nicodemus that unless one is born of water and

the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

That's what constitutes being saved.

It's a divine work. It's the work of the Holy

Spirit, who is God. He does what God can only do.

He gives life to dead sinners. He regenerates and then we're

indwelled. That means that the Holy Spirit

comes and sets up residence in our lives.

The Bible tells us that every believer is the temple of the

Holy Spirit. A temple was in ancient times a

place physically on earth, set aside as a sacred space, where

it was felt that whatever deity was worshipped there was

actually present in that place considered a holy ground.

And so for the Bible to declare that now you and I as believers,

as followers of Jesus, that our bodies are now temples of the

Holy Spirit, it tells us that the presence of the divine in

the Holy Spirit indwells us. Romans 8 verse 9 says you are

Romans 8:9

not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of

God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the

Spirit of Christ, he is not His. It's pretty clear.

And in that indwelling the the next component of the work of

the Spirit in our salvation is of what's called sealing and

guaranteeing. This speaks of security and

assurance of salvation. And you can read into Ephesians

chapter one, verse 13 and 14 in detail about this.

But let me explain that in in those times, particularly if

you're a merchant, but if you're an owner of any any property or

goods and you were shipping said property around parts of the

empire, you would seal it with your mark as a sign of

ownership. And it would also function as a

guarantee in in many contractual arrangements that you would

follow through on on words agreed upon as a part of that

contract that that you know, my word is my bond.

And so for the Holy Spirit to be a seal, a guarantee is in our

lives as believers that just as Jesus said, I've begun a good

work in you, I'm going to be faithful to complete it here,

have the seal, the guarantee of the Holy Spirit.

And he said that I will go and prepare a place for you that

where I am, you may be also. Let me give you the guarantee

that you will arrive, that you will get to the destination of,

of being with me for all of eternity.

That's the seal, that's the guarantee, the work of the Holy

Spirit. And so at times when you doubt

or when you question or you wonder, am I saved?

Is, is God really real? You know, is, is what the Bible

says and speaks of? No, you must remember that.

The seal and the guarantee of the Holy Spirit's presence in

you. No, He's there, He's present and

he's going to get me through to the end.

He's promised it. It's as good as done.

The seal, the guarantee of the Holy Spirit.

And we have fifthly and finally on, on this particular point,

the filling of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5, verse 18, where it

Ephesians 5:18

speaks of being not drunk or controlled by wine.

And, and Paul uses that example. We all know what somebody looks

like and sounds like an axe and behaves like when they're

intoxicated, when they're under the influence of alcohol.

And it starts to take control over their faculties, effects

their movement and their thinking and their behaviours.

And, and some people become all sorts of things that they're not

ordinarily when they're under that, when they're not under the

influence of alcohol. And so using that understanding,

he is saying not to get out of control, though some people

misinterpret that text in the way of, of saying, well, you

know, see, I'm, I'm filled with the Holy Spirit and they start

acting all crazy and weird. But the opposite is that a life

that is filled by the Holy Spirit is controlled, is under

the influence of the Holy Spirit and, and the fruit, the the

evidence of the Holy Spirit is that we have a life that is

filled with the fruits of the Spirit.

Lovejoy, peace, all of those fruits that we read of being

attributed to the Holy Spirit. That's how you know, oh, I'm

filled with the Holy Spirit. Not because you're flipping

around and rolling around on the floor and, and doing cartwheels

and speaking all sorts of weird things saying, oh, I'm, I'm Holy

Spirit controlled here. That's out of control.

We're to be controlled by, filled by the Holy Spirit.

That means that he influences our thoughts, our actions.

Our attitudes, they're all under the power of the Holy Spirit.

It's about surrender, it's about our emotion being guided and

directed by Him. So that's the work of the Holy

Spirit and salvation. And then lastly, we'll look at

his work in sanctification and service.

Sanctification John 1717 Galatians 522 to 23 in our lives

the Holy Spirit is transforming us, is making us more like

Christ he produces fruit evidence in our lives that we

are no longer what we used to be.

Many of you here could testify of the work of the Holy Spirit

in your life. Where if you were to have

somehow time travelled back to yourself five years ago, 10

years ago, and were to tell that former self that you would be

what you are now, or you'd be scoffed, you'd be laughed out,

you'd be derided, you'd be mocked.

But now the Holy Spirit is doing the work in your life,

sanctifying you, changing you, transforming you, making you

more like Jesus Christ. And again, it's evident by the

fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 522 to 23 of love, of

joy, of peace, of long suffering, where previously you

would have flipped out and gone crazy and just doing all sorts

of things where where there wasn't kindness, but now you

found it within yourself, man, that that colleague at work or

that boss, they've said something insulting

deliberately. They're being passive aggressive

and now you just don't. I don't know why.

I just feel like I need to be kind to them.

That's the Holy Spirit in you, transforming you, faithfulness,

gentleness, self control, all of those things as evidence of the

transforming work, the sanctifying work of the Holy

Spirit. And then the the empowering

lastly on this now of the Holy Spirit for you and I to be

about. We learnt this morning of the

Great Commission that we're called to the mission that Jesus

has given to us. You know what?

We can't do that in our own strength.

We need the Holy Spirit's help to do that again.

That's why Jesus told the disciples explicitly, don't go

out yet until the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

And it's with the Holy Spirit's power that then we're able to

serve in the mission that God has called us to go out into all

of the earth and make disciples of all men, teaching and

preaching and declaring the things of Jesus, the gospel

message. So the Spirit is active in our

lives. His work, what is it?

He grows us, He matures us. If we're unsaved, He witnesses

to us and woos us and draws us to the need of a Saviour.

And then he transforms us. He regenerates us.

And so again, we, we must not resist or quench the work of the

Holy Spirit or grieve Him. All of these are wrapped up in

what it is that the Holy Spirit does.

I want to close with John 16 verse 13 to 14.

John 16:13–14

Again Jesus said, however, when he, the Spirit of truth has

come, He will guide you into all truth.

He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He

hears, He will speak and He will tell you things to come.

He will glorify me. So He will take of what is mine

and declare it to you. Again, the number one purpose of

the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus.

Holy Spirit's ultimate purpose, goal, reason for doing all that

he does, motive is to go. How can, how can I get them

closer and more connected to Jesus?

You know, there's the love that exists in the Godhead between

the Father and the Son and, and the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit loves Jesus and he loves nothing more than us as

believers, that the sons, the daughters of God to fall all the

more in love with Jesus and to experience that which the Holy

Spirit knows about Jesus. And so the question is this, not

just do you have the Spirit, but does the Spirit have you have

you yielded control of your life to him?

John 737 to 39. Jesus said a number of things,

but particularly out of his heart will flow rivers of living

water. You see that the water is the

Spirit's power flowing in and out through you.

So today, I hope that you've been more than informed about

who the Holy Spirit is, more than just understanding what the

Holy Spirit does, but that you, as a consequence of this, invite

more and desire more the fullness and influence of the

Holy Spirit in your life. Become more intimately

acquainted and aware of Him and of His power, available to you

as a son, as a daughter of God.