The Holy Spirit Is Active

00:00 And we want to have this message and probably one more message in the series that we've been preaching on the Holy Spirit. And this message this morning is kind of a continuation of the last message. But we're looking this morning at John 16:7-11. 00:21 John 16:7-11. The story is told of a Norwegian explorer, one of the early explorers up into the Arctic wasteland. And that was back in the days when there were not satellites and there was no way to communicate. 00:41 So what he did was he took a homing pigeon with him, maybe a number of them. And when he got to his destination up in the Arctic to communicate with his wife and the homeland back in Norway that he had made it to his destination, he tied a message, a little message onto the leg of that homing pigeon. 01:01 And he released it. And that homing pigeon flew over a thousand miles of wasteland and a thousand miles of ocean, about 2,000 miles, and arrived safely back at his wife's location. And when she saw the homing pigeon and when it came down and delivered to her the message, she said, "I know that he made it. 01:23 I know that he is safe." And so it is with our Lord Jesus Christ when He said, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away." And so He went back to His Father and said, "I will send to you another comforter," which we talked about the other message, 01:42 our last message, "for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come. But if I depart, I will send Him to you." And this is our theme this morning is the Holy Spirit is active. The Holy Spirit is active in the world. Jesus has gone away and He did send the Holy Spirit. 02:04 And now He is working on Christ's behalf. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin because they do not believe in Me. Of righteousness because I go to My Father and you see Me no more. 02:25 Of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. And so what He does here, He lays out three of the primary ministries and activities of the Holy Spirit. He said He will convict. That is, He will convince the world of sin. 02:44 He has a ministry to the world and then He has a ministry to the believer. And so He will convict the world of sin. He will show beyond the shadow of a doubt that the world is guilty of sin. And the proof of that sin is that they do not believe in Me. 03:03 The root of all sin and the proof that man is a sinner is what they do with the Lord Jesus Christ. Some time ago it hit me. What would man do with God if he had the opportunity? What would man do with God if he had the opportunity? I'll tell you what he would do with God. They'd hang Him on a cross and try to eliminate Him. 03:24 That's what they did with our Lord Jesus Christ. And you take some of the mobs today that are guilty of mob rule around the world, anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-values, anti-anything that has to do with Scripture. And I'm convinced that mankind would do the same thing all over again if Jesus showed up as the representation of God. 03:44 And the essence of that sin is that they believe not in Me. They rejected Jesus Christ. The second thing is that He would reprove and convince and instruct and set the record straight about righteousness. Righteousness which is established because Jesus went back to the Father. 04:05 You see, had Jesus not gone back to the Father, our righteousness would not have been established. Had Jesus not been raised from the dead, we would have been left with a dead Savior which is no Savior at all. In fact, if Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then you could put upon Jesus' record and historical record failure. Failure. 04:25 He failed to accomplish the work. He failed to please His Father. And He failed to have a satisfactory payment for our sins before the Father. 04:34 But by virtue of the resurrection, by virtue of the ascension, and by virtue of the ongoing work of Christ in the presence of the Father, we have assurance that there is righteousness and we have assurance that we, when we trust in Christ, are made righteous. And then He says in verse 11, 04:54 the Holy Spirit will again convince, convict, reprove, establish the fact beyond the shadow of a doubt that judgment is coming. And the proof of that is that the prince of this world is judged. And so this morning, 05:12 as we look here at the ministries of the Holy Spirit, we see that He reproves of sin because they believe not on Me. And He reproves of righteousness because I go to My Father and you see Me no more. And of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. And also, 05:33 let me just go on into verse 12 and 13, the first part of verse 13. "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." Who's He talking to? Who's He talking to? He's talking to the apostles. He's talking to the apostles. He's talking to the disciples. 05:51 And He's talking to those who would write Scripture and those who, under their authority, would write Scripture. He said, "However," so I have some things to tell you. You're not going to be able to hear them now. "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak. 06:12 And He will tell you things to come." That is a very specific promise to the disciples, to the apostles, that He would complete the gospel message and revelation in the near future as the Holy Spirit revealed to them the rest of the Scripture. 06:31 And Marv read it this morning here at the end of the book. The book closes. And there is a back cover to the Bible. And at the closing verses, He says, "If you add to this message or if you take away from this message, it will not go well with you. 06:47 You will have the plagues added and you will have your name removed." And I think that is not just coincidental that it's at the end of John's message in the book of Revelation, but it's at the end of the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Scriptures. And when John said that, there was a close. There was a close of the canon of Scripture. 07:06 And the authoritative Word of God has been closed. 07:10 There is no more Scripture being written in our day. And so this is one of the verses that those who believe in ongoing revelation would like to make you believe that, well, He has many things to tell us. And so we're not going to be able to get in. And He'll give us more revelation as time goes on. 07:30 That was for the apostles. The application for that today is that God, through His Spirit, will continue to reveal to us the Word of God from Scripture as He illuminates us and gives us more understanding of His Word. 07:48 Now, the second thing that we see of the Holy Spirit in this message this morning, I want to just go through and give you some of the message or some of the scriptural basis of His work in our lives. The Holy Spirit is active in that He regenerates hearts. He regenerates hearts. 08:08 Titus 3:5-6 says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior." If you were born again this morning, you've been born of the Spirit. 08:30 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Jesus answered, "Verily I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 08:45 Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again." What is the agent that creates in our hearts that born-again reality? It's the work of the Holy Spirit as He takes the things of Christ, as we saw in 13, He takes the things of Christ and applies it. 09:06 Applies it to our lives. Applies it to our hearts. We don't have anything from God without the Holy Spirit. 09:14 There's no access to God without the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Bible says that through Him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Another ministry of the Holy Spirit is that He reveals Christ. "He shall glorify me." Look at verse 14. 09:35 "He will glorify me, for He will take of what is mine and declare it to you." And so one of the ministries, the primary ministries of the Holy Spirit, is to draw attention to Jesus. What did our Sunday school lesson say this morning? 09:53 That the Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. And so don't worship me, the angel said. Worship Jesus. And so as Christ is exalted, that is a work of the Spirit of God. 10:09 The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12:3, "Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God, called of Jesus, is cursed. And that no man can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit." He reveals Christ. And so when the light comes on and people understand, 10:30 "Ah, I see Him. I know who He is," that's not flesh and blood revealing that. It is the work of God the Father through the Holy Spirit. The next ministry of the Holy Spirit is He seals and confirms our salvation. "In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the Word of truth, 10:51 the gospel of your salvation. In whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory." The Holy Spirit is the down payment signifying that more is coming. 11:12 When you put a down payment on, it reserves that as your property now. But it signifies that there's more coming. And so when Jesus puts His down payment on us, He puts His Spirit in our hearts as an indication that there's more glory coming. 11:32 Just wait. Just wait. It's coming. And when we see Him, we will be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is. Romans 8:15, "For ye have not received the Spirit of adoption again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of sonship," or Spirit of... yeah, have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear. 11:52 "But ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, 11:56 Father." And so it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that makes us His sons, sons and daughters of God, and confirms that sonship in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is active in that He comforts us in our loneliness and in our afflictions. John 14:18, "I will not leave you comfortless. 12:18 I will come to you." That word comfortless in the King James Version is very graphic, very vivid. He says, "I will not leave you as..." No, that's not King James. This is King James. But the newer translation says, "I will not leave you as orphans. I will not leave you as orphans. I will not leave you childless or fatherless. I will not leave you... 12:38 I will not leave you without a parent, without someone looking over your shoulder, without someone caring for you, without someone assisting you, without someone drawing near to you and walking with you." Now, I remember a chaplain, friend of mine, when he had been many years up at Indiana State Prison, 12:57 how he walked those ranges where there were men there that hate anything about God and hate the Word of God and hate the Lord Jesus Christ. Just hate everything. Some of those ranges are awful places. We go in there at Christmas time when they're on their best behavior, some of you that have been with us. But many times they're not on their best behavior and throw things out at the officers in one of those dorms. 13:19 And even human waste, throw them out at the officers. And yet that chaplain said, he said, "I've walked many, many, many times those ranges, five high cages topped on top of cages, on top of cages." He said, "I've walked those ranges many times by myself, but I have never walked them alone. 13:42 I have never walked them alone." That is the Holy Spirit. "I will not leave you as an orphan to walk alone." The Holy Spirit takes the presence of Christ and makes Christ real to us. He sanctifies us. That word sanctifies. He makes us holy and causes us to grow. 14:03 He sanctifies us. He puts us in Christ, in that heavenly realms. He walks with us creating holiness in our actions and progressive spiritual growth. "And such were some of you," speaking of a list of sins in 1 Corinthians 6:11, "and such were some of you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, 14:24 but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." It is the Holy Spirit who takes the sanctifying work of Christ and applies it to our heart. In fact, J.B. 14:38 Phillips said it like this: "Every time we say, 'I believe in the Holy Spirit,' we mean that we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it." I like that. I like that. "We believe in the Holy Spirit." Every time we say that, 14:57 we are saying that we believe in the living God who is able to enter into human personality and change us from the inside out. "The Holy Spirit is active in that He teaches the things of God." I mentioned that and we looked at that briefly in John 14:26. "He shall teach you all things. 15:18 He will bring to you remembrance." No, we didn't look at that. So let's read that whole verse. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." Now, I want you to just take a look there at that remembrance word. 15:39 "He shall teach you all things and bring you all things to remembrance." Sometimes we think that we want God to bail us out of years of not studying and not hearing the Word of God and not remembering the Word of God and not memorizing the Word of God. And then we send up some flare prayers and say, 15:59 "God, help me." I want you to notice he says, "I'll bring to remembrance the things that you have heard, the things that you have learned, the things that you've committed to memory, the things that you have studied, 16:10 the things that I have taught you that you have actually embraced." And so don't blame the Holy Spirit if there's nothing there in the mind and in the heart to bring to remembrance. But 1 John 2 says, "But the anointing which you have received of Him abideth in you. 16:30 And you need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth and is no lie, even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him." And so the Holy Spirit is our teacher. He teaches us the things of God. He takes the Word of God and reveals it and makes us understand that Word. 16:52 He creates Christ's character in us. That's part of the sanctifying work of the Spirit. But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed or are being changed into that same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 17:11 It is the Spirit of the Lord connecting with our spirit and changing us and transforming us more and more to be like Christ. He brings unity among believers. He brings unity among believers. 17:28 Ephesians 4:3, "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 17:36 For by one Spirit are you all baptized into one body, whether ye be Jews or Gentiles, whether ye be bond or free, and have all made to drink into one Spirit." If you take a powerful enough magnet, let's say if you take an electrical current, 17:55 a magnetic current from a... well, a man did this with experimenting in electromagnetism. And he took a dynamo and he put current through it. And through a board, he had a bunch of finish nails and a bunch of horse hoof nails on the table. 18:16 And when he applied the magnetic power, all of a sudden those nails kind of all went together. And under that board, he could move those nails. He could move them around and they would move. They would move together. But when you cut the current and there's no magnetic current anymore, 18:36 then things begin to separate. And so the Holy Spirit is that magnetic current which brings hearts together around the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He creates character in us. He teaches us the things of God. 18:56 He brings unity among believers. And he assists us in prayer. He assists us in prayer. Romans 8:26, "Likewise, the Spirit also helps our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit itself..." that's an unfortunate King Jamesism. That's an unfortunate translation. 19:16 It should be the Spirit Himself. Himself. The Spirit is not an it. He's not an it. He is a him. He is a person. And so your modern, more up-to-date translations translate that, that the Spirit Himself helps us in our weaknesses, in our infirmities. Infirmities are weaknesses. "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought. 19:37 But the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Some time ago I was praying for someone. And the Lord just laid on my heart, just impressed me that I should pray in a specific area of their need. 19:57 And I didn't know for sure if that was an area of need, but I prayed for it. Afterwards the person said, "How did you know to pray for that specific area of need? That's a place where I'm struggling." That was the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us to know how to pray. And when we listen to the Holy Spirit and He prompts us and He lays on our hearts things to pray for in specific ways, 20:18 that is a blessing. He makes our prayer life real. 20:22 He makes it empowered rather than just rote recitation. Ephesians 2:18, "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." What a blessing to know that the Holy Spirit, through the finished work of Jesus Christ, 20:41 through the name of Jesus and the person of Christ, will take us right up into the throne room of heaven, into the throne room of heaven, and allow us direct access to the Father. What an awesome privilege. You know, 20:59 no longer do you have to go into a holy of holies behind a curtain. 21:05 That curtain has been rent from top to bottom, signifying, the scripture says, signifying that the way to the Father and to the presence of God is for those who come through Jesus Christ and His finished work applied by the Holy Spirit. 21:23 And the Holy Spirit connecting our spirit with Jesus and with the Father, we have access. We have access. That changes the way that we view prayer. He pours the love of God into our hearts. 21:38 Romans 5:5, "And hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad or is poured out by the Holy Spirit in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us." I remember many years ago getting a call in the middle of the night or late 21:57 at night at least from a friend who was drunk. He was an alcoholic. And we had reached out to him. Our church had reached out to him. Our deacon in the church in Oregon had reached out to him. And I would go to his home weekly for a while and have Bible studies with him. But he just could not leave alcohol alone for some reason. 22:17 He was under bondage. And I remember one night getting this call. Getting this call, "I need help." And he's crying on the other end of the phone. And I got myself up out of bed and got in the car, drove several miles to get to his house. And when I got there, it was as usual. It was a mess. 22:37 It was dark or it was dirty. One time I went in for Bible study and I'm pretty sure the cat had peed on the chair that I was supposed to sit on. "Oh, let me wipe that up for you." And that's kind of the environment that it was. And he was dirty. And I had taken a bath and had clean clothes on. And he was dirty and greasy. 22:56 And I just remember God, and this isn't me, this isn't me, but it was the Holy Spirit that just poured love out into my heart for him. And I reached out and I grabbed him and we hugged and embraced in that kitchen, middle of that kitchen. 23:17 And he just cried and poured his heart out. That wasn't me. I didn't feel like I didn't feel very loving at that time. But the Holy Spirit, with willing vessels, will give us love. Where we fail to have it on our own. He loosens spiritual chains. 23:39 He loosens spiritual chains. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is that Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." There is freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from sin. The greatest bondage of all is sin. Freedom from habits, freedom from addictions, 24:00 freedom from enslaving sinful behaviors and lustful attitudes in mind. And to set us free to be what God created us to be in fellowship with Him, walking as fully functional Christians in victory over sin. Praise God for that freedom. He loosens the spiritual chains. 24:21 And the Bible says in the book of Zechariah, I believe, that it is the Spirit that breaks the yoke. The yoke of sin is broken by the Holy Spirit. It is not broken by our self-efforts. 24:35 Even though there is a disciplined life that needs to apply the work of Christ and and and and and and act on it, but chains are not broken by self-effort. Chains are broken by the Spirit of God. And He produces spiritual fruit. 24:54 Spiritual fruit. Oh my, we spend a lot of time trying to be nice. We spend a lot of time trying to be kind. We spend a lot of time trying to be patient. But you know what? It is the work of the Spirit of God that creates this in us. 25:11 But the fruit of the Spirit, the proof that the Spirit of God is at work in our lives, is love, joy, peace, long suffering. I prefer the term long suffering over the term patience because patience can be kind of glib. 25:32 "Lord, just give me more patience." And my patience is being tried because I have to sit in Goshen for the second or third train. That's not the impact that really God wants to make. He wants to make an impact where people suffer long. Not for the purpose of suffering, but for the purpose of exemplifying Christ. 25:52 We suffer long sometimes with the weak. We suffer long sometimes with the sinner. We suffer long sometimes with our own weaknesses and imperfections as God suffers long with us. And gentleness and goodness and faith and meekness and temperance, against such there is no law, neither can any law create it, 26:14 these things. The works of the flesh are contrasted with those, but the Holy Spirit is active to bring forth spiritual fruit. The Holy Spirit is active to change dryness into refreshment, into refreshment. Have you ever been just dry spiritually? 26:34 Have you ever been dry spiritually and you just cry out to God, "God, I need a touch from Your Spirit. I need You to refresh me, Lord." And we go to His Word and we find refreshment. Or we go to prayer and we find refreshment. 26:52 Or maybe we go and hear the Word ministered to us and we find refreshment. It's a work of the Holy Spirit to refresh us and make us well-watered gardens, the Bible says, in a time of drought. 27:05 John 7, "He that believeth in me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." Rivers of living water. Not just streams, not just a creek, not just a drinking fountain, but a river of living water. "But this spoke He of the Spirit, 27:26 which they that believe on Him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified." That was pre-Pentecost. That was before the crucifixion and the resurrection. After that, things have changed. Things have changed. The Holy Spirit is available to all. 27:46 He is available to all. And He lives within the believer, all believers. Romans 14:17, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Brother Dave talked about that joy this morning in the Sunday school class. 28:05 Where does it come from? Comes from Jesus. How does it get here? Through the Holy Spirit. Same as with the righteousness and peace. Isaiah said, "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy offspring, 28:24 and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses." Where the Spirit of God is, there is life. There is water. There is refreshment. There is nourishment. There is cleansing. Water for cleansing. Water for refreshment. Water for life. Comes from the Holy Spirit. 28:46 The Holy Spirit calls into ministry. Acts 13:2-4, "The early church was gathered. And then as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, 'Separate me, Barnabas, and Saul for the work whereinto I have called them.'" We don't know exactly what that looked like. 29:06 We don't know if they were looking for leaders to send out, if they were looking for missionaries to send out. We don't know exactly what kind of format this took. That's not the important thing. What's important is that the Holy Spirit called men. And when they had fasted and prayed, we know that much, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 29:26 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed into Seleucia. And from thence they sailed to Cyprus. It is the Spirit of God that calls people to ministry. That's why we pray before ordinations. 29:40 That's why we pray before calling people into various official ministries. And that's why we pray for people in those ministries. That's why we pray for people in unofficial ministries because it is the Holy Spirit that not only calls to ministry, but then equips for ministry. 30:00 The Holy Spirit directs our paths. He directs our paths. 30:04 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." So when we follow the Spirit of God, when we follow the Holy Spirit, when we look to Him for leadership and guidance and direction, this is an indication of our sonship because that's what sons of God do. 30:23 Sons of God follow the Holy Spirit as He reveals Christ to us and the will of Christ and the will of God. "This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. There you have it. 30:42 There you have God's part, our part. God's part, fill us. Our part, walk in it. That's why Ephesians is so beautiful. We're seated in the heavenly places. God has done so much for us. 30:55 And then the last half of the book, we're right down here walking worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called in all lowliness and humbleness of mind with gentleness and meekness. So the Holy Spirit is active as He directs us and leads our paths. And then finally, the Holy Spirit empowers us for service. 31:18 The Holy Spirit empowers us for service. The early church disciples were told in Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power." He said, "Go back to Jerusalem and wait. Wait. 31:31 Sequester yourselves and wait for the power of the Holy Spirit, and you shall receive power." That's the Greek word dunamis. 31:42 It's kind of related to the word dynamite, but it's more like the concept of a magnetic current giving energy and strength. Turn the magnet on and there's power. You turn it off. You disconnect from it. There's no power. "You will receive power. 32:02 After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me." What's this power in relation to? It's a relationship to witnessing, to sharing our faith, to walking with God, to modeling Him, to living out His life through us. Both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 32:22 And I'll refer to Zechariah 4:6, "Not by my might." No, that was the anointing that breaks the yoke. This is Zechariah 4:6, "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says the Lord of hosts. So I hope you get the impression it is a correct one, 32:42 that the Holy Spirit is extremely important in the life of the believer. In fact, we could say and can accurately say that the Holy Spirit is a requirement in the life of the believer. And next Sunday, Lord willing, 33:02 and if the Lord leads, I'll be coming home from MEW and share one more message on this subject on how you receive the Holy Spirit and how you are filled with the Holy Spirit. We'll be looking at some scriptures in relation to that. I believe there's more here than what many of us have experienced. 33:23 There's more here than what you could ever run out of. And so let us bow our heads for prayer. 33:33 "Father, forgive us where we have minimized and therefore and thereby grieved the Holy Spirit." We know that there are some that overemphasize His ministry to the exclusion of glorifying Christ. 33:48 They glorify the Holy Spirit, but then there are others, probably more likely us. Our problem is we don't emphasize His work enough. And so, Father, forgive us where we have grieved the Holy Spirit by ignoring Him. But Lord, 34:09 we worship You today as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We worship You as the triune God, Creator, Sustainer, Savior of the universe, of the world, and of all who come to You through faith in Christ. 34:25 And I pray, Father, that You would just make us aware of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to a greater degree than we have been. Not to be afraid, afraid of Him or His working or of overemphasizing His ministry. 34:41 Not to be afraid, but to be true and faithful and recognize the tremendous ministry and strength and power that is ours as we appropriate this wonderful gift in our lives. And so, 35:00 Lord, make Your Word come alive to us. Your Spirit refresh us and guide us, direct us, empower us, and fill us. We ask in Jesus' name for His glory. Amen.