The Alpha Day Away: What Does the Holy Spirit Do? The Alpha New City: Is There More to Life Than This? May 10, 2008 By Kevin Haah

Transcription

1 The Alpha Day Away: What Does the Holy Spirit Do? The Alpha New City: Is There More to Life Than This? May 10, 2008 By Kevin Haah Let s start by reading John 3:5-8. This is a famous conversation between a person named Nicodemus, a religious leader, and Jesus. [Read] A Sunday school teacher was trying to teach children about being born again from this passage. She was trying to explain the different between being born physically and spiritually. So, she asked the children: Are you born a Christian? One little boy replied: No, Miss. You are born normal! This expression born again has become a cliché. Jesus, however, was the first person to use this expression to describe people who were born of the Spirit. Jesus is saying that physical birth is not good enough. You must be born again spiritually. This is what happens when we become a Christian. We are born again. When my daughter Kaetlyn was born, she was born into a family. She wasn t born into life and just abandoned. In the same way, when we are born spiritually, we are born into a spiritual family. That is what church is. The work of the Holy Spirit can be seen in terms of family and we will look at six categories of the work of the Holy Spirit: (1) He assures us of our relationship with our father; (2) He helps us to develop that relationship; (3) He produces in us family likeness; (4) He unites us with our brothers and sisters; (5) He gives each member of the family gifts and abilities; and (6) He enables the family to grow in size. We re going to look at the work of the Holy Spirit primarily for Christians. Until we become a Christian, the Spirit s work in us is primarily to convict us of our sin and our need for forgiveness and relationship with God in Jesus to enable us to put our faith in Jesus. (John 16:1-15) 1

2 First thing that the Holy Spirit does is to assure us of our relationship with father, our God. When we come to Christ and receive forgiveness, the barrier between God and us has been removed. Let s look at Romans 8. [Read verse 1] Jesus took all of our sins sins in the past, present and future and cast them into the depths of the sea. This is a metaphor from the Prophet Micah. As the Dutch author Corrie Ten Boom used to say: He puts up a sign saying No Fishing. God does not just forgive us; He brings us to a relationship with him as sons and daughters. According to the Bible, not everybody is a son or a daughter of God in this sense, although we are all created by God. John 1:12 says that it is only to those who receive Jesus that he gave the right to become children of God. We don t become sons and daughters of God by being born physically; we become sons and daughters of God by being born spiritually. Let s look at Romans 8 again. The Book of Romans has been described as the Himalayas of the New Testament. Chapter 8 has been described as the Mount Everest. And verses have been described as the peak of Mount Everest. Let s read them. [Read 14-17]. This passage says that the Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God s children. When the Bible says that God or the Spirit testified, we ve got to listen carefully. It is like God taking the witness stand and saying under oath, he s my son or she s my daughter. We have been adopted as sons and daughters of God. Under Roman law, adopted child has the same privilege as a biological child. In fact, I ve heard that the great Caesar Augustus was adopted. If God is the king of the universe and we are his adopted sons and daughters, what are we? We are princes and princesses of God. The passage also says by the Spirit we cry Abba, Father! Nowhere in the Old Testament is God addressed as Abba. Only Jesus used this word when he prayed to God. It is an Aramaic word, the language they spoke commonly in Palestine. It is a very difficult word to translate. The nearest equivalent translation is daddy, but this Aramaic word is not a juvenile word. It is the closest word of intimacy between father and child. When we become children of God, we have intimacy with our heavenly king. 2

3 John Wesley, who had been very religious before his conversion, said: I exchanged the faith of a servant for the faith of a son. The Holy Spirit is telling you that you are God s precious child. Do you sometimes feel like God has abandoned you? God loves you and has not abandoned you. I love my daughter Kaetlyn, and she means everything in this world to me. Multiply that affection by a million times and you have the love of God towards you. We have at times feel like we blew it, and we may be right. But this does not take away the love that God has for us. He is still our father no matter what happens. It is interesting that one of the first things that the Holy Spirit does is to tell us who we are our identity, our position. I think this is important because what we think about our identity or our position that we are princes and princesses of God determines our actions our condition. There is a difference between position and condition. Position is who you are, and condition is how you actually live. Let me try to explain this further by putting this passage in the context of what Apostle Paul is talking about. If you go back to Romans Chapter 7 Paul talks about our struggle with sin: he says in verse 5 [read verses 15-19]. Does this sound familiar? We feel like a slave. We feel trapped. We want to do what is right but we don t do it. What is wrong with us? Paul cries out in verse 24: [Read it] Who will rescue me from this body of death? He answers this question. In verse 25, he says: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! But he elaborates in Chapter 8:2. [Read it] So, somehow the Holy Spirit will deliver us from this body of sin from our bondage to sin from our condition. How will the Holy Spirit deliver us? That s where verses come in. He delivers us first all by telling us who we are. Why is it important to know who we are? Why is it the first thing that the Holy Spirit tells us? Because the knowledge and experience of our new identity and position is the first step to changing our condition our messed up lives. Let me illustrate. Billy is a 13 year old beggar. This is how he survived. As far as he knew, he was an orphan--all alone in the world. He grew up in the street and he did whatever it took to survive. The King had been searching the entire kingdom for his lost son. This King had everything but he did not have his son. This grieved him deeply. 3

4 The king s men searched for many years. And finally, they found Billy. They carefully examined his birthmark and determined that Billy was the lost prince of the King. So, they brought him to the palace and cleaned him up, put rings on his fingers, and gave him the finest cloths. He met his father, the King, and the overjoyed father told Billy that everything he had was Billy s. But Billy continued to go around the Palace begging for food. What is wrong with this picture? Why is Billy like this? What is the only explanation for Billy being like this? Billy does not know who he is. He doesn t realize that everything is his. He does not realize that he is the prince. He does not realize his position. He does not know that with the position as prince comes rights and privileges. What would make Billy stop? It is only through a continuous relationship with his father and the deep realization that he is indeed the prince. Ultimately, the key to changing his condition is to fully understand his position. This is why the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit testifies to us that we are the sons and daughters of the God of the Universe. You matter to God. The more intimate your relationship with God becomes, the more you realize your position in your heart and in your head, more the Holy Spirit changes your condition. The Holy Spirit will change your life. He will empower you to live a victorious Christian life. Going back to the struggles of Chapter 7, who will rescue us from this body of death? The Holy Spirit. The first step to declaring victory over our sins is to know who we are. That s why the Holy Spirit s first task is to tell us who we are. Often times, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, what we experience are the overwhelming feeling of love from God and the conviction that we are sons and daughters of God. Bishop Bill Burnett, who was the Archbishop of Capetown in South Africa, experienced the power of the Holy Spirit late in his ministry. He said: When I became a bishop I believed in theology [the truth about God], but not in God. I was a practical atheist. I sought righteousness by doing good. One day after he had been a bishop for fifteen years, he spoke on Romans 5:5 at a confirmation service: God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. After the service, he came home and was relaxing with a drink 4

5 and a newspaper. He felt the Lord saying Go pray. So, he went into the chapel and started to pray. Then, he felt the Lord saying to him, I want your body. He did not understand why because he was a tall and thin man and he said he is not exactly Mr. Universe. But, he submitted his body to the Lord. He said: Then, what I preached about happened. I experienced the electric shocks of love. He ended up flat on the floor of the chapel and heard the Lord saying: You are my son. This became a turning point in his ministry. Since then, through his ministry, many people have come to experience sonship through the witness of the Spirit. So, the first thing that the Holy Spirit does is to testify that we are sons and daughters of God. He tells us our identity and position. Remember, when we are born again, we are born into a new spiritual family. We are continuing the metaphor of family in explaining what the Holy Spirit does. The second thing that the Holy Spirit does is to help us develop our relationship with Abba father. When Kaetlyn was born, it was a strange sensation. I did not know whether I would feel a sense of love immediately. But when I first saw her, it was the most amazing thing. I felt a reservoir of love that I never knew I had. I had instant love for her. However, it has been seven years now. Now, I can say that we have developed a relationship. She has a sense of love for me and my love for her has grown since her birth. This did not happen overnight. Our relationship has grown. In the same way, our relationship with God develops and grows and the Holy Spirit helps us develop that relationship. The Holy Spirit helps us grow by bringing us into the presence of the father. Ephesians 2:18 says: For through him [Jesus] we both [Jews and Gentiles alike] have access to the Father by one Spirit. In other words, through the Holy Spirit, we have access to the presence of God. Jesus, through His death on the cross, removed the barrier between us and God. That s why we can come into God s presence. 5

6 I used to go up to the roof of the five story dormitory I lived in as a freshman in college to sing, dance and pray to God all at the same time. I used to do this all the time, holding a guitar and dancing around, making up new songs, and just singing my heart out to God as a prayer. My room was on the fifth floor, the top floor. One day in Spring, I had my window opened and I was studying in my room. I heard people on the roof whispering to one another. I heard the entire conversation. Then, I realized it. There was no sound barrier between the roof and the top floor. In the same way, the barrier between God and us has been removed. There is no sound barrier. How do we develop this relationship with our father? By prayer. Let s go on to Romans 8:26. [Read] Not only does the Holy Spirit bring us to the presence of God, he also helps us to pray. The most important thing about prayer is not where we pray, or the position we pray in, or even the form of our prayers. The most important thing is whether or not we are praying in the Spirit. All prayers should be led by the Spirit. Without him, it can become lifeless and dull. We also develop this relationship with the father by understanding what he is saying to us. Let s go on to Ephesians 1: [Read] The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. He enlightens our eyes and opens our ears so that we can understand what God is saying through the Bible. Although I grew up in the church and knew all kinds things about the Bible, I did not understand it until after my faith was awakened and I experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit. I thought being a Christian was about being righteous, following the law: the do s and don t s and feeling bummed that I had to live so morally. However, after the awakening of my faith when I was in high school, I remember reading the Book of Romans and actually understanding it. I believe it was the Holy Spirit who opened my eyes to see and understand. Ultimately, we will never understanding Christianity without the Holy Spirit enlightening our eyes. The Holy Spirit will guide us and help us understand enough for us to take the step of faith, which is not a blind leap of faith; but I believe that real understanding only follows faith. Anselm of Canterbury said: I believe in order that I 6

7 might understand. Only when we believe and receive the Holy Spirit, we can fully understand God s revelation. So, the Holy Spirit helps to develop our relationship with God. Some of you may be thinking, I can t sustain this relationship. I am going to blow it, give up, and lose steam. Don t worry. You are right. You can t do it on your own. That s why God has given us the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that brings us to a relationship with God and it is the Holy Spirit that maintains our relationship with God. We just have to depend on him. We have to follow his lead. So, first, the Holy Spirit tells us we are sons and daughters of God. Second, the Holy Spirit develops that relationship. Continuing in our metaphor of being born into a new spiritual family, the third thing that the Holy Spirit does is to develop family likeness. I always find it fascinating how children of two people who look very different can look like both parents. It is even more fascinating to see two people who get married grow to look like each other more and more. [Even people and their dogs] In the same way, as we grow in our relationship with God, the Holy Spirit transforms us. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:18: And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. In other words, we are transformed into the moral likeness of Jesus Christ. Let s look at this in more detail. Let s open up to Galatians 5:22. [Read]. These are the characteristics that the Holy Spirit develops in our lives. These are the family likeness that the Holy Spirit is producing. They are fruits of the Holy Spirit, meaning that they are the results of the Holy Spirit in our lives. They are the results of our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. You can t produce the fruit by itself. I remember when I was in high school, our church used to sing this song called I ve got peace like a river I ve got joy like and fountain I ve got love like an ocean. I remember feeling so fake singing that song. I tried to psych myself out to feel this peace, which I could not feel. I tried to produce joy and love and they weren t coming. I just felt like a fake. I think that is why the Scripture calls these things the fruit of the Spirit. You can t produce 7

8 an apple no matter how hard you try. You can t produce an orange no matter how hard you try. You have to grow an apple tree and an orange tree if you want apples and oranges. In the same way, the results of a Spirit filled life are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It is not that we immediately produce these fruits, but over a period of time we are transformed. The first and most important fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. Love is at the heart of Christian faith. The Bible is the story of God s love for us. The cross is God s love in action. The relationship with God is based on love. His desire is that we respond to his love by loving him and our neighbors. The best evidence of the work of the Spirit of God and the filling of the Spirit is whether there is an increase in love for God and an increase in our love for other people. Without love, everything is for nothing. The second in the list is joy. This joy is not about the absence of suffering. It is the transformation of suffering into a powerful experience of God s presence. That s what joy is in Christ. Richard Wurmbrand, who was imprisoned for many years and frequently tortured on account of his faith, wrote of this joy: Alone in my cell, cold, hungry and in rags, I danced for joy every night.... Sometimes I was so filled with joy that I felt I would burst if I did not give it expression. The third fruit listed is peace. Without Christ, inner peace is a kind of spiritual marshmallow full of softness and sweetness but without much actual substance. The Greek word for peace that is used here comes from the Hebrew word shalom, which means wholeness, soundness, wellbeing, and oneness with God. Every human heart longs for peace like that. Our hearts are in turmoil, but there is peace that comes not because of the absence of suffering, but because of God s presence and love in our lives. How about the last characteristic on the list? Self-control. Living a victorious Christian life comes from living by the Spirit. Knowing who the Spirit says we are our position, and allowing the knowledge of our position to transform our condition. 8

9 Allowing the Holy Spirit to develop that relationship. That s how self-control is developed by the Holy Spirit. The important thing is that we live our lives by the Spirit. When we do so, our character changes. What we focus on is our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. That s the apple tree. When we water the tree of relationship with God through the Spirit, we experience fruits. One elderly woman said of a pastor: He gets more and more like our Lord. I can t think of a higher compliment than that. It is the Holy Spirit that helps us become more and more like Christ and carry his fragrance everywhere we go. So, the Holy Spirit tells us who we are, develops our relationship, and develops our character the fruits of the Holy Spirit in us. The fourth thing that the Holy Spirit does is to bring us into the family of God. It is unity in the family. When we become sons and daughters of God, we become a part of this great family a community. We are born into a huge family. God s desire is that there should be unity in the family. Jesus prayed for unity among his followers. Let s look at Ephesians 4:3: [Read] Paul pleaded with Ephesian Christians to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. The same Holy Spirits lives in every Christian, wherever they are, whatever denomination they are from, whatever background, color, or race. The same Holy Spirit is in every child of God. So, it does not make any sense to be divided: Ephesians 4:4-6 says: [Read]. There was this Baptist pastor. Now this pastor could easily have been a Presbyterian or any other denomination. He just happens to be Baptist in this story. I have nothing against Baptist. In fact, I became awaken in my faith at a Baptist church. He was a very narrow minded and thought that only Baptists are saved. There was this unity Sunday worship. Somehow he was scheduled to preach. So, most people who were not Baptist kept away. During his sermon, he asked the audience how many were Baptists. Almost all of them raised their hand, except one old woman. The preacher said, what are you then? She said, I am a Methodist. Then he said, Why are you a Methodist? 9

10 She said, Well, my grand father was a Methodist, and my father and mother were Methodist. So, I am a Methodist. The Preacher said, Let s have some fun. Suppose your grandfather was a moron, and your father and mother was a moron, what would that make you? She said, Well if my grandfather was a moron, and my father and mother was a moron, I suppose that would make me a Baptist. Well, this kind of attitude is now very rare in the church. The fifth thing that the Holy Spirit does is to give gifts to all the children of God. Although we are all in the same family, we are all different. Each of us has been given a different gift. The New Testament list several gifts of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 lists nine gifts: [Read]. In other passages, other gifts are mentioned: apostles, teachers, helpers, administrators (1 Corinthians 12:28-30), evangelists and pastors (Ephesians 4), serving, encouraging, giving, leadership, showing mercy (Romans 12:7), hospitality, and speaking (1 Peter 4). None of these lists is intended to be exhaustive. Some of these gifts are pretty spectacular: the gift of healing and prophecy for example. But all gifts are from God. Spiritual gifts can include natural talents that have been transformed by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that all Christians have received a Spiritual gift. In the list above, it uses words like to each one. Every Christian is a part of the body of Christ and there are many parts in the body and we each play a different function in the body. There are no first class and second class Christians. All Christians receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and all Christians have spiritual gifts. The problem is that many of us don t exercise our gifts. Someone said church is like a soccer game where 22 thousands of people desperately in need of exercise are watching 22 people desperately in need of rest. The church cannot be fully effective until each of us does our part. The church will only reach its maximum effectiveness if every person is using his or her gifts. 10

11 The sixth thing that the Holy Spirit does is to grow our family. God said to Adam and Eve: Be fruitful and multiply. It is natural for families to grow. The Holy Spirit helps us to grow: Jesus said in Acts 1:8 right before he ascended: 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. The Holy Spirit gives us the desire and the ability to tell others. When we experience the love of Christ, we want to tell others. As we grow in Christ, so does our family. The Christian family should never be static. That s what Alpha course is all about. I have said over and over again that the Holy Spirit lives in each and every Christian. Romans 8:9 says: If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But, not every Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul says to Christians in Ephesus: Be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18). In the next talk, we will look at how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We started off this morning with Genesis 1:1, the first verse in the Bible, and I want to end by looking at one of the last verses in the Bible: Revelations 22:17. The Spirit of God is active all through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. [Read] God wants to fill every one of us with the Holy Spirit. If you are thirsty for the Holy Spirit, come and take the free gift of the water of life. If you are not sure if you want it maybe you are not thirsty you should pray that God will give you this thirst. When we ask, God will give us this free gift of the water of life. 11