The Holy Spirit Voice of God and Jesus Christ

ut you, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
¹²Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. ¹³For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, ¹⁴because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. ¹⁷Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 8:9-17

Whenever your kids are out of control, you can take comfort from the thought that even God's omnipotence did not extend to God's kids. After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the first thing He said to them was: "Don't."

"Don't what?" Adam asked.

"Don't eat the Forbidden Fruit." God replied.

"Forbidden fruit? We got Forbidden Fruit?

Hey, Eve..we got Forbidden Fruit!"

"No way!"

"Where?"

"Don't eat that fruit!" said God.

"Why?"

"Because I am your Creator and I said so!" said God, wondering why he hadn't stopped after making the elephants.

A few minutes later God saw the kids having an apple break and was angry.

"Didn't I tell you not to eat that fruit?" the 'First Parent' asked.

"Uh huh," Adam replied.

"Then why did you?"

"I dunno," Eve answered.

"She started it!" Adam said.

"Did not!"

"DID so!"

"DID NOT!"

Having had it with the two of them, God's punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own...and children have been this way ever since.

It’s a simple story to explain how sin and alienation from God came into the world. It’s believed to be written by Moses. Of course, no one was there when it happened but Adam and Eve, so it was either carefully passed down through the generations to Moses, or God inspired Moses directly with a revelation of the story. As simple as it is, we believe it is true. And the more you study it in detail, the more you realize it is filled with profound truth. One of the profound truths hidden in that story, is the great and wonderful truth that God is our Parent. That God is our Father is perhaps the most significant Truth which Jesus taught us.

Most Bible teachers and lovers of the Word of God seem to agree that the eighth chapter of the Book of Romans is the center, the heart and the brilliant diamond of the whole Bible. For in this chapter Paul helps us to understand how God is truly our Father. Here’s how he does it!

Paul teaches that all the Scriptures and the whole plan for God’s people throughout the ages is completed in the coming and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and it’s the Spirit in us which convinces us that God is our Father. In effect, Paul wants us to know that the most important thing that can happen to a person in this life is to receive the Holy Spirit in his heart. For to receive the Holy Spirit is to receive the very supernatural, eternal life of God and become a child of God our Father. The Holy Spirit in our hearts makes us eternally inseparable from God. The most important work of God in us is the fact that the Spirit of God has come to actually live and dwell and work in you and I. The same life-giving Spirit which the Father breathed into the nostrils of Adam to create man, he now breathes, by his life-giving Spirit, into the hearts of those who believe in Christ Jesus, his Son, and makes them new men and women.

So how sad it is! And what a shame that there is so little evidence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians! For even in his time, when Paul traveled to Ephesus one day, he met some people who said they were disciples and believers in Christ. But as Paul questioned them, he wondered if they really were disciples of Christ rather than disciples of John the Baptist only. Something was missing. There was little enthusiasm in them; they were cold and complacent; they knew little about Christ. They were unable to pray with Paul. They were unfamiliar with the writings of the Apostles. They had little reverence for the Name of God as Father; they never used the word "Jesus" with affection. They told Paul they had never shared their faith with anyone, nor were they engaged in any kind of ministry or good works.

Then Paul realized what was wrong, so he asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you came to believe in Christ?" And they said, "Holy Spirit"? "HUH!" "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit!" You can read about this in Acts 19:2-7.

Apparently, these disciples had only received John’s baptism of repentance. They did not know about Christ’s redeeming death and resurrection, nor the gift of the Holy Spirit. So Paul taught them these things, and then, laying hands on them as a sign, they received the Spirit of Christ. The moment a person makes a personal commitment of faith in Jesus Christ, he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. When he says, "Jesus, I believe that you are God’s Son, and the Savior of mankind, and I receive you as my personal Savior, for you died for me, a sinner;" the door opens to receive his Spirit and he becomes a temple of God’s Spirit.

You see, it’s the Holy Spirit who gives us a real, alive relationship to God the Father and Christ our Lord. If we call ourselves Christians but we don’t have the Holy Spirit in us, then all we have is a religion, but not a relationship with God.

This scene at Ephesus could be repeated over and over again in our own day; in our own churches! How little do contemporary Christians know about the Holy Spirit; and how little the church teaches or preaches about the Holy Spirit; and worst of all, how little we know of the personal presence, power and experience of the Holy Spirit in our own lives. The average Christian, when asked about the Holy Spirit, might answer, "Oh yes, I’ve heard of the Holy Spirit. But I know nothing of his personal presence, power and experience in my life. And yet, Paul tells us, that the coming and indwelling of the Spirit in our lives is the vital heartbeat of the Christian life.

A Christian needs to know that making a personal, sincere commitment of faith in Christ means that God’s Spirit comes to dwell and work in his life. He becomes a temple of the Trinity God. But this knowledge is only the first step. He then needs to learn to recognize, cooperate, become sensitive to, seek, listen to, and obey the Spirit’s Voice – for the Holy Spirit is the Voice of God- in him. He must become Spirit-led. And this leading is fostered and developed by his study of the Word, by personal prayer and by Christian fellowship.

When I read the eighth chapter of Romans, and especially when I read verses 9-17, I see the word "Spirit" used nine times in these nine verses. Four times it is "The Spirit". Once it is "his Spirit," meaning Christ’s Spirit. Once it is explicitly "the Spirit of Christ". Twice it is the "Spirit of God". And once more it is the "Spirit of adoption".

Different ways of talking about the Spirit, but they all refer to the same Holy Spirit of God. One of the three Persons Who comprises the Trinity personality of God. We speak of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We often think of the Father as the Creator, the Son as the Redeemer, and the Spirit as the Sanctifier. But all three persons are involved in creation, redemption and our sanctification, for wherever one Person of the Trinity is, so are all. The Trinity of God is an inseparable unity.

What’s clear from the Bible, and especially the blessed writings of St Paul, is that the Father’s plan to share his supernatural, eternal life with us and make us his children, which was made humanly possible through Christ Jesus his Son, is accomplished and carried out only by the work of the Holy Spirit in each of our personal lives.

So, if you were to ask – as every sincere Christian asks at some point – "How do I know God is real and I have a real relationship with God?"; the answer is, we know our relationship to God is real because we "experience" – that’s the key word – the Holy Spirit causes us to experience God and makes God real to us.

Jesus said, "John 14: ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- ¹⁷the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ²⁰On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." And Paul says, "Romans 8:¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."

How do I know? What is it that tells me? What is it that I experience which convinces me of this real relationship with the Trinity God who has come to dwell in me and lead me? What tells me of the presence, power, and activity of God the Holy Trinity in my heart and in my life? Answer: the Trinity, acting as One, becomes active in our lives. We experience God saying, "See, I am doing this!", "Thus says the Lord!" But more specifically, let’s look at the experience we have of each Person of the Trinity. Sometimes it is the Father’s touch which we experience. At other times, we are drawn to the Lord Jesus or he is drawing us to himself. As his sheep we hear the voice of our Shepherd. Many times it is the clear Voice of God’s Spirit that we hear, especially in the Word of God.

The Father! We experience the indwelling God as our loving Father in three ways. First, I come to know that I belong to a God Who is my Father. Deep inside me there is a sense of a Father loving me, his child, and my heart (spirit) cries out and calls out to him as "Abba, my Father!" The very word Father is full of endearment and affection.

Secondly, I know he is a Father to me because I experience his activity in my life. He disciplines me (Hebrews 12:5-11). He protects, provides, preserves, prepares, and prescribes or teaches me. He has predestinated me and prevents evil things from happening to me. I see his power manifested in my life. He forgives me and shows me mercy when I have sinned or failed. I look around and see all that the loving Father has created for my enjoyment and use.

Thirdly, I know I am his child, because like a child, I feel I can depend on him and rely on him. I pray to him and talk to him in private and ask him for what I need as a humble child. I notice that love and gratitude and thankfulness to him wells up in my heart and I desire to praise, honor and worship him. I enjoy him and always talk to him. I trust him completely.

First, I hear and see Christ in the written and preached Word and I believe that he is the Son of God, the eternal, perfect image of the Father.

Secondly, I receive him and accept him as my personal Savior, who died for me a sinner.

Thirdly, I am attached and drawn to Jesus, and his Name is most precious to me. I am amazed and drawn to his ministries of teaching/preaching, healing/deliverance, power and authority. I am captured by his words; his message of love of the Father and love to each other. He truly has the words of eternal life.

Fourthly, I am attracted to his miracles over mind, body, spirit, evil, nature, life and death itself.

Fifth, his manhood captivates me. The way he lived his life, his example of kindness, love, forgiveness, enthusiasm, love of the Father, goodness, sympathy for others, burden for the souls of people, appreciation of Creation, value of women and children, truthfulness, integrity, strength, wisdom. I am drawn to imitate and identify with him.

Lastly, I see that his character, image and likeness is being formed in me.

The Holy Spirit! I experience the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, the Father’s love-giving, light-giving, life-giving Voice in three ways.

First, I experience his leading and guiding me. I see that at times he Convicts, Convinces, Counsels, Corrects, Converts, Communes, Comforts, draws me to Confession, Cleanses me, Confronts me, forms Christ’s Character in me, and Congratulates me.

Secondly, I see that the Fruit of the Spirit listed in Gal 5:22 –love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, humility, faithfulness, self-control; are being manifested in my life.

Lastly, I see that he bestows certain of his Gifts on me. Gifts to teach, preach, write, counsel, witness, evangelize, encourage others, give to others, minister to others, stirring in me a burden for souls, a love of others, forgiveness and mercy to my enemies.

All of these many personal experiences of the indwelling Trinity God is evidence of that a person has entered into the sonship relationship; the Abba relationship; the filial fellowship of a child of God.

Have you ever called out or cried out, "Father, my dear Father?" Do you find yourself drawn over and over again to Jesus Christ in the Bible? Do you hear the still, small, quiet Voice of the Spirit of God leading, directing and loving you as God’s child? If so, then the greatest things that can happen to a person in this life has happened to you. You have become a child of God and know that you have an Abba Father, and nothing can ever separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

O Little Child of Bethlehem, descend on us today,

Come to my heart, abide with me,

And always, ever stay!

Let us Pray!

Abba, Father God, Father my dear Father! How blessed we are by you that you should call us, choose us, convert us and care for us as your own children. Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit of God, keep us alive and aware, sensitive and ever seeking your Spirit Voice in us, and draw us ever closer to your Son Jesus. Amen!

Title: The Absence of the Presence, or, Lead Us Home
Text: John 16: 5-15

⁵"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' ⁶Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. ⁷But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt^[1] in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; ¹⁰in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
¹²"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. ¹⁵All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

1. The gospel passage is time between the resurrection and the ascension., Jesus is preparing them for his departure back to the Father.
2. He tells them it is to their advantage that he goes. Why is this so? Because it allows the Holy Spirit to come; the Other Comforter!

How could anything be better than to have Christ with us? There is something better! It is having Christ in us!

3. Why is it to our advantage that Christ left and sent the Holy Spirit? The HS is Christ’s Spirit. He is the Presence of God the Father and Christ. He is the Persistant Assistant; but He is unfortunately more the Absent Presence for Christians. He is the love, life, light, the voice of God in our world. We are in the second last dispensation before the return of Christ. We are in the era or dispensation of the Holy Spirit.

1. What is His work? Deep spiritual work which Christ can do through his Spirit which he always wanted to do when he was on earth. How often the disciples took him literally when he meant it spiritually!
2. It is universal work which Christ’s Spirit does; to anyone, everyone, anywhere. Not confined to Jerusalem, the Holy land or to Jews.
3. What is the one main objective or goal of the Spirit of Christ? It is to point people to Christ. The HS points to Jesus!
4. He directs Himself to two groups of people. Two targets of His work: The World of Unbelievers and the Church of Believers.
5. What is His work in the World? Convince, reprove, convict, confront and convert. Of Sin, Righteousness, Judgment.
6. What is His work in the Church? To comfort, counsel, commune, connect us with the Presence of Christ and the Father.
7. He is the Spirit of Truth, speak about Christ, remind us of Christ’s words, enlighten the Word of God, the Bible; testify about Christ, glorify Christ, and tell of things to come.
8. The world does not see or experience or know the Spirit, but Christians should and do.

I have two DOG jokes for you.

A man is showing off his new pet dog to his neighbor. The man says, "I'll bet you twenty dollars that my dog can talk."

The Neighbor says: "Yeah! Sure...go ahead."

The Man says to the dog: "What covers a house?"

The Dog says: "Roof!"

The Man says to the dog: "How does sandpaper feel?"

The Dog says: "Rough!"

The Man says: "Who was the greatest ball player of all time?"

The Dog says: "Ruth!"

The Man says to the Neighbor: "Pay up. I told you he could talk."

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We really are impressed with our pets sometimes. There’s something about the animal kingdom that has always amazed me.

I’m especially intrigued by the "homing" instinct in animals. I remember a neighbor in my childhood neighborhood that had pigeons on his rooftop and they would fly far and wide over all the houses and then they’d all return to their cages.

Biologists have studied this homing instinct of birds by shipping them off in darkened cages to different parts of the world. Then released them, some taking up to a week to accurately return to their homes.

In a similar ways, bees set free from great distances from their hives knew their way home, except when released over a large body of water where they could not identify familiar landmarks.

Bees and Birds and Bats all have this remarkable "homing" instinct. They know the way home.

I remember as a child, we took our pet collie with us on a picnic at some lake. The dog wandered off and after hours of searching and calling for her we finally started to drive home. There she was running after the car trying to catch up with us.

We have an outdoor cat who wanders off for days at a time. And I’ll say, "Well that’s the last we’ll see of her!" Then 4 or 5 days later she shows up , tired, thinner and hungry at the door.

I’ve never seen a contented cat being transported in a car, and always see that a dog has to have his snout out the window, to pick up the scent of his home territory.

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Insects and animals know their way home! You and I also have a homing instinct. We also have a built-in instinct to find our way home. Not just our physical home, but our eternal, spiritual homes.

You and I are also longing for the completion of all things; the making sense of all the mysteries of life and death; the return to our eternal home with God from whom we originated.

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Jesus told us how he would provide for us so that we could find our way home. That’s what today’s Gospel is about.

It was the time after Christ’s resurrection before his ascension or return to the Father. He is preparing his disciples for the reality that he is about to leave them. He knows that this is going to cause them great sorrow and anxiety.

So He says to them, "I tell you the truth: It is for your good (it is expedient) that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you".

Christ was speaking of the Third Person in the Trinity, Whom we call the Holy Spirit. In our Creed we use that old, unfortunate term when we say, "I believe in the Holy Ghost," meaning the Holy Spirit.

The HS is the least understood, least acknowledged, and least recognized Person of the Trinity Godhead. Christians are woefully ignorant and neglectful of the HS. A great spiritual author says, "The great loss in so many Christian lives, and the powerlessness, dullness, dormant, lifeless state of the Church is this neglect of the Holy Spirit’s Presence and activity".

Yet, it is the Holy Spirit Who guides us and leads us HOME to God.

This morning I want to share some Facts about the Holy Spirit:

1. The First important Fact is this: Wherever one Person of the Holy Trinity is; so are all three.

When we speak about the work of Creation by the Father, we know that creation was also the work of the Son and Spirit. When we speak about our Redemption by Christ the Son, we assume the involvement of the Father and the Spirit. Likewise, the work of Sanctification by the HS, means that the Father and Son are vitally active as well.

The unity of the Trinity in every work demands the cooperation of all three Persons of the Trinity. Less obvious in the OT, but very evident and clear in the NT is this principle.

Wherever one Person of the Holy Trinity is; so are all three. Our God is a Trinity of Persons who act in Unity.

This cooperative unity is the reason that, when speaking of the HS, we can properly say at one and the same time, that the HS is the Spirit of God the Father, or the Spirit of Christ, the Spiritual Presence of Jesus among us. Jesus makes it clear that in sending or releasing the HS, He, Jesus will be with us. That’s why He says,

"The Holy Spirit is Another Comforter; another manifestation of His Presence among us in a different but real way." Wherever one Person of the Holy Trinity is; so are all three. Wherever the Holy Spirit is; so is Jesus.

This is also the reason why the HS could not be released into the world until Christ ascended or returned to the Father. Jesus was so filled and full exclusively with the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit could not be released to us until Christ gave up his earthly body.

2. Which leads to a Second Fact about the HS. The Holy Spirit, as is true of all spirits on earth, must inhabit, dwell, or reside in a physical body.

A spiritual being-whether it’s an angel, an evil spirit or the Holy Spirit- may manifest itself in a spiritual state, but it cannot dwell or remain in a disembodied state on earth. When angels appear to people in the Bible, they take the form of someone. We call them Michael or Gabriel.

When Jesus casts out evil spirits from a person - you remember the story- the spirits want to be sent into the bodies of the swine.

Yes, there are people in our world –like serial rapists and murderers and pedophiles-

who are controlled, possessed, inhabited by evil spirits.

Spirits must inhabit, dwell, or reside a physical bodies on earth. This is especially true of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. Therefore when the Holy Spirit was sent to us. He came to reside and dwell and abide in us.

He is our Persistant Assistant to show us the way HOME! He is the Personal love, life, light, and voice of God in our world and in us, and yet the great tragedy is that He is unknown, unacknowledged in many Christian lives.

3. This explains a Third Fact about the Holy Spirit which Christians must understand: Jesus says, "It is expedient"; it is to our great advantage, that Christ returned to the Father.

You may say, "How could it be an advantage that Christ leave this earth? What could be anything better than to have lived when Christ was on earth; to talk with him, walk with him, touch him; see him and be touched by him? Could anything be better?"

Yes! It was better for all mankind that Christ leave and release His Spirit into the world; because; - and here is the Third Principle - Better than Christ being WITH us, is Christ being IN us.

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. ¹⁴He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."