WEBVTT 00:00:02.165 --> 00:00:02.466 Thank you. 00:00:02.466 --> 00:00:05.299 Isaac, it's great to have you back. 00:00:05.299 --> 00:00:15.932 It was nice that you got a break as well, but we always appreciate having you lead, and it's great to be back in our series on knowing God is loving God. 00:00:15.965 --> 00:00:25.500 We've been walking through the chapters of this book called You Are a Theologian, and this week we'll be talking about the topic of the Holy Spirit. 00:00:26.265 --> 00:00:29.399 Obviously, we've already been singing on that. 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:31.065 Who is the Holy Spirit? 00:00:31.065 --> 00:00:32.832 How does he work in our lives? 00:00:32.832 --> 00:00:34.566 What does he do? 00:00:34.566 --> 00:00:38.466 There's a lot of confusion in the world around that topic. 00:00:38.466 --> 00:00:45.832 Yesterday I needed to trim up part of our yard, kind of in the back area near some woods. 00:00:45.832 --> 00:00:50.100 And so I got out the weed eater, and I walked down there. 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:51.299 And you know how this goes. 00:00:51.299 --> 00:00:53.633 It takes forever to start those things up. 00:00:53.633 --> 00:00:56.066 Like when you buy it, they show you right away. 00:00:56.066 --> 00:00:56.865 Yeah. Just one. 00:00:56.865 --> 00:00:58.665 It starts and never does that again. 00:00:58.665 --> 00:00:59.832 Ever. 00:00:59.832 --> 00:01:04.965 And so I'm down there priming in, yanking it, priming it, checking it, yep, there's fuel. 00:01:04.965 --> 00:01:08.400 You know a half hour goes by, my right arm's just about to fall off. 00:01:09.632 --> 00:01:13.632 And then finally, I think maybe something's wrong. 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:17.766 And I look down and of course, I don't know why they put this. 00:01:17.766 --> 00:01:20.665 I think this is evil, that the manufacturers even come up with this. 00:01:20.665 --> 00:01:23.700 But there's a switch on there that turns the fuel off and on. 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:26.400 Why would I ever want it off? 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:31.099 Of course it was off and I flipped it on. 00:01:31.099 --> 00:01:34.233 And on the next pull, it starts right up. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:44.233 And there's something with that where many times in life you're trying and you're trying and you're not connected to the power source. 00:01:44.233 --> 00:01:45.599 You know what I'm saying? 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:49.066 I think we all want to live the spiritual life full of power. 00:01:49.066 --> 00:01:53.700 We want to experience the abundance that God has for us at the source of his power. 00:01:53.700 --> 00:01:56.200 But a lot of times, we're not connected to it. 00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:57.766 We're not taking advantage of it. 00:01:57.766 --> 00:02:02.700 We've got our weed eater and we're swinging it around, wondering why it's not doing anything when we haven't turned on the fuel. 00:02:04.632 --> 00:02:09.265 The power for us in the spiritual life is the Holy Spirit. 00:02:09.432 --> 00:02:15.532 And I want to make sure as much as we can, we understand the Holy Spirit and are connected to the Holy Spirit. 00:02:15.532 --> 00:02:22.699 That's where you're going to experience the fullness of the spiritual life in fact, that's going to be the theme of our message today and next week. 00:02:22.699 --> 00:02:24.133 And I've put that in your notes. 00:02:24.133 --> 00:02:24.966 I'm just going to read it. 00:02:24.966 --> 00:02:27.332 I want you to look at it here at the top of your notes. 00:02:27.332 --> 00:02:39.566 It says the key idea of this week, the power in your spiritual life is found in the strength of your connection to and dependance on the Holy Spirit. 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:48.866 If you want to live a power filled spiritual life, and we all want that, you've had those moments where you feel the power of the Holy Spirit working in you, and it's a whole different thing. 00:02:50.699 --> 00:02:57.900 But if you want that, the power in your spiritual life, reading it again, because it's an important statement is your connection. 00:02:57.900 --> 00:03:03.000 It's found in the strength of your connection to and dependance on the Holy Spirit. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:05.099 That's where you're going to find the power. 00:03:05.099 --> 00:03:10.932 Live out the power of the spiritual life rooted in the Holy Spirit. 00:03:10.932 --> 00:03:14.699 You know, last week we had Bob Russell come and speak to us. 00:03:14.699 --> 00:03:24.199 Bob Russell, who built Southeast Christian into what it is today, speaking to tens of thousands every week, came to our church, came to speak to us and encourage us. 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:25.366 He was a huge encouragement. 00:03:25.366 --> 00:03:27.300 I don't know if you got time to interact with him. 00:03:27.300 --> 00:03:29.400 I mean, this says a lot about what a class act is. 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:31.165 He stayed for the picnic. 00:03:31.165 --> 00:03:31.800 He hung out. 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:37.900 I mean, he was here as long as anybody wanted to talk to him, interacted with tons of people afterwards, he spent time. 00:03:37.900 --> 00:03:44.099 John, I would just want you to know I'm really encouraged about what God is doing at Valley View, and he shared a number of different things he saw here. 00:03:44.099 --> 00:03:45.300 I put those in the midweek update. 00:03:45.300 --> 00:03:47.466 You have to go back and read it if you didn't read it. 00:03:47.466 --> 00:03:50.633 But he just spent some time loving on us and encouraging us. 00:03:50.633 --> 00:03:52.300 But he also challenged us. 00:03:53.532 --> 00:03:56.932 You know, if you were here in the service, you felt it. 00:03:57.665 --> 00:04:00.099 Make sure you're spreading the Word of Christ. 00:04:00.099 --> 00:04:02.532 Make sure you're investing in others. 00:04:02.532 --> 00:04:04.832 Make sure you're talking about what God has done in your life. 00:04:04.832 --> 00:04:12.000 Make sure you're inviting others that can only happen successfully in the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.866 Walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:04:14.866 --> 00:04:18.733 That's how we want to go about any aspect of our spiritual life. 00:04:18.733 --> 00:04:26.100 So today we're going to look at John chapter 14, because we could look all over Scripture to talk about the Holy Spirit. 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:29.333 I just want to look at one passage on the Holy Spirit. 00:04:29.333 --> 00:04:33.065 We're going to talk this week about who is the Holy Spirit. 00:04:33.065 --> 00:04:35.266 Who is he? What does he do? 00:04:35.266 --> 00:04:35.966 That'll be this week. 00:04:35.966 --> 00:04:36.699 Next week will be. 00:04:36.699 --> 00:04:39.699 How do you live out a spirit filled life? 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:42.665 So this week, who he is, we've got to understand who he is. 00:04:42.665 --> 00:04:49.699 Before we talk about how we live in the power and influence of him, we're going to be in John chapter 14. 00:04:49.699 --> 00:04:51.333 And so if you have a Bible, turn there. 00:04:51.333 --> 00:04:53.600 If you don't have a Bible, we have those out in the lobby for you. 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:56.333 We'd love for you to have a copy. 00:04:56.333 --> 00:04:57.533 You can turn there as well. 00:04:57.533 --> 00:05:00.533 John 14, in that Bibles on page 858. 00:05:01.665 --> 00:05:03.100 In fact, I'm going to do what Bob did. 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:07.800 I'm stealing ideas I, any good idea I have I stole from somebody I try to give him credit. 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:09.665 Obviously, Bob had this idea last week. 00:05:09.665 --> 00:05:12.432 I've seen others do it, but let's stand for the reading of the word. 00:05:12.432 --> 00:05:14.000 Let's all stand together. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:14.932 As I read through this. 00:05:14.932 --> 00:05:23.632 I don't know that we'll do this every week, but sitting out in the congregation experiencing it last week, I, I appreciated that, I enjoyed that. 00:05:23.632 --> 00:05:24.333 So let's do that. 00:05:24.333 --> 00:05:32.000 And I'll read in John 14 verses 15 through 27 and listen along while I read. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:48.033 if you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. 00:05:49.165 --> 00:05:54.199 You know him, for he dwells within you and will be in you. 00:05:55.233 --> 00:05:56.833 I will not leave you as orphans. 00:05:56.833 --> 00:06:01.100 I will come to you yet a little while, and the world will see me no more. 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:04.699 But you will see me because I live. 00:06:05.165 --> 00:06:08.100 You also will live. 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:13.665 In that day you will know that I am in my father, and you in me, and I in you. 00:06:13.665 --> 00:06:25.132 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:33.966 Judas not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? 00:06:34.100 --> 00:06:42.399 Jesus answered him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and he will come to him and make our home with him. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:48.632 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine. 00:06:48.632 --> 00:06:55.300 But the fathers who sent me these things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 00:06:55.300 --> 00:06:58.266 And here's probably the key verse that we'll focus on today, verse 26. 00:06:58.266 --> 00:07:09.565 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 that I have said to you. 00:07:09.565 --> 00:07:12.132 Peace I leave with you. 00:07:12.132 --> 00:07:15.132 My peace I give to you. 00:07:15.432 --> 00:07:16.399 Thank you for your word. 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:16.766 Lord. 00:07:16.766 --> 00:07:21.165 Help us to be aware of your spirit with us as we study your word. 00:07:22.132 --> 00:07:22.600 Amen. 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:25.600 You can be seated. 00:07:26.733 --> 00:07:34.100 Here we have in John chapter 14, the section of Scripture often referred to as the Upper Room Discourse. 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:37.665 The disciples have gathered in the Upper Room. 00:07:37.665 --> 00:07:45.766 This is where they're going to have, the Last Supper they didn't know was the last one, but it would have been the meal to celebrate the Passover together. 00:07:45.766 --> 00:07:47.699 Jesus has already washed their feet. 00:07:47.699 --> 00:07:53.665 He sent out Judas to go do what you're going to do to betray Jesus. 00:07:53.665 --> 00:07:58.432 And now they're now they’re together, and Jesus has given them just some final teaching. 00:07:58.432 --> 00:08:00.000 Here's our last few moments together. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.033 I've got some powerful words to share with you. 00:08:02.033 --> 00:08:06.432 This is one of the longest sections where Jesus just teaches people you know. 00:08:06.432 --> 00:08:08.333 We have the sermon on the Mount in Matthew. 00:08:08.333 --> 00:08:20.665 We have the sermon on the plain, and Luke here is just as long of a section, one of the longest sections of Jesus just teaching and what he's reminding them of and telling them here now is I am going to go away. 00:08:20.665 --> 00:08:21.533 They don't understand it. 00:08:21.533 --> 00:08:22.100 They don't get it. 00:08:22.100 --> 00:08:24.865 Where are you going? Why? How is it? 00:08:24.865 --> 00:08:29.100 But I'm telling you, this is important because you're going to remember this. 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:31.833 In fact, I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit to help you remember it. 00:08:31.833 --> 00:08:33.100 You're going to need to remember it. 00:08:33.100 --> 00:08:34.265 Times are going to get hard. 00:08:34.265 --> 00:08:36.765 You're going to have to lean on what I'm saying right now. 00:08:36.765 --> 00:08:37.700 And they don't understand it. 00:08:37.700 --> 00:08:38.432 They don't get it. 00:08:38.432 --> 00:08:41.432 It'll come to mind later. 00:08:41.566 --> 00:08:50.500 And the key part of what he's teaching them about is something that is changing in the way he interacts with his people, and that he's giving them the Holy Spirit. 00:08:52.133 --> 00:08:54.732 And he's talking to them about the Holy Spirit. 00:08:54.732 --> 00:08:59.100 And they had some familiarity with the concept of the spirit. 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:02.100 But things are changing. 00:09:02.466 --> 00:09:05.332 And he's telling them, you have got to be dependent on the Holy Spirit. 00:09:05.332 --> 00:09:07.000 And so here's what he says about the Holy Spirit. 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:14.265 I'm going to look at a few words that describe who he is and what he says here in chapter 14, and the very first word he uses. 00:09:14.265 --> 00:09:19.732 And this will be the first word in your outline to describe the Holy Spirit is the word helper, right? 00:09:19.732 --> 00:09:21.600 You see that word in verse 16? 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:22.600 I will ask the father. 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:25.600 He will give you another helper. 00:09:25.966 --> 00:09:26.765 He says that as well. 00:09:26.765 --> 00:09:32.332 In verse 26, the helper, the Holy Spirit, he describes the Holy Spirit as a helper. 00:09:32.332 --> 00:09:34.133 Now that's the word in the ESV. 00:09:34.133 --> 00:09:36.932 If you have other translations, you'll see it's translated differently. 00:09:36.932 --> 00:09:42.533 In fact, it's one of those words that gets translated differently across a lot of translations. 00:09:42.533 --> 00:09:45.932 That's often the sign that the Bible scholars are struggling with. 00:09:45.932 --> 00:09:49.066 What's the best way to try to convey this complex word? 00:09:50.100 --> 00:09:54.066 So you see, like the NIV uses words like advocate. 00:09:54.332 --> 00:10:00.166 And by the way, each translation has a strength and has a weakness in whatever word they decided to choose. 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:01.533 We come up with the word advocate. 00:10:01.533 --> 00:10:11.865 I love the power of that word, someone who's fighting for you on your behalf, but it also has maybe a little too legal, a little too formal, or we don't only want to view God that way. 00:10:11.865 --> 00:10:29.100 So the NIV also, and other versions, the same Bible, when they updated the translation, they call him counselor advocate might feel a little too too harsh, too formal. Counselor, that's someone who comes alongside you, helps you process life, maybe gives you advice, but that also may feel maybe a little too official. 00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:30.966 Maybe a little too formal. 00:10:32.033 --> 00:10:40.533 So the message it's a maybe more of a paraphrase than a translation, but he he translates it as friend and I loved it. 00:10:40.533 --> 00:10:43.765 I mean, don't we all love to view God as a friend? 00:10:43.765 --> 00:10:48.500 And Jesus even said that to his disciples, I'm I no longer call you servant. 00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:51.332 I call you friend. 00:10:51.332 --> 00:10:57.732 But yet also that can sometimes feel maybe a little too familiar, a little too close to God. 00:10:57.732 --> 00:11:03.100 We should have maybe more respect and reverence for him than just we would our normal friends. 00:11:03.100 --> 00:11:05.365 One translation just called him the Paraclete. 00:11:05.365 --> 00:11:07.765 That's just the Greek word that is here. 00:11:07.765 --> 00:11:11.966 We don't know what else to say, so we'll just take that Greek word and put it in English. He's Paraclete. 00:11:11.966 --> 00:11:13.600 That's kind of a cop out, I think. 00:11:14.633 --> 00:11:17.332 We don't really want to take a stand. 00:11:17.332 --> 00:11:26.066 You can see they're all wrestling with how do we sum up this word that describes the Holy Spirit and how he comes alongside us? 00:11:26.066 --> 00:11:26.966 And he does all that. 00:11:26.966 --> 00:11:27.865 He helps us. 00:11:27.865 --> 00:11:31.066 He guides us, he comforts, he intercedes. 00:11:31.232 --> 00:11:34.232 He's our advocate. 00:11:35.332 --> 00:11:40.200 The important point to take away from this is that we all desperately need that. 00:11:41.432 --> 00:11:44.066 None of us are going through spiritual life on our own. 00:11:44.066 --> 00:11:45.600 We can't figure it out on our own. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.265 We gotta lean on the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:11:48.265 --> 00:11:49.533 We do this in everyday life. 00:11:49.533 --> 00:11:52.500 You've had someone else in life you've had to lean on to get through. 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:55.299 Sometimes I remember a guy coming to me. 00:11:55.299 --> 00:11:57.000 I was going through a very hard season. 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:03.700 He was a good friend and he came to me and said, John, I can tell you are struggling to get through this season and you need someone to help you get through it. 00:12:05.066 --> 00:12:07.932 And normally I would have been like, leave me alone, weirdo, you know? 00:12:07.932 --> 00:12:08.700 What are you doing? 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:11.700 I got this. 00:12:12.066 --> 00:12:14.500 But I knew he was right. 00:12:14.500 --> 00:12:17.133 And I said, thank you, let's talk. 00:12:17.133 --> 00:12:24.033 And he sat and listened to me for hours, whine and complain and go on and on. 00:12:24.033 --> 00:12:31.966 And he listened and he asked questions and he engaged, and he helped, and he counseled and he comforted, and he challenged. 00:12:32.332 --> 00:12:33.865 And then he said, let's do it again tomorrow. 00:12:33.865 --> 00:12:38.299 And I thought, who why would you go through that again? 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:45.033 And I wept because of the love he showed me to just listen, to come alongside. 00:12:45.033 --> 00:12:56.700 And as powerful as it was that he did that, the Holy Spirit, even more so, is there to come alongside, to help, to be with you. 00:12:58.365 --> 00:13:00.466 So first he describes him as a helper. 00:13:00.466 --> 00:13:05.066 Now the next three words all work together that I'm going to mention here. 00:13:05.066 --> 00:13:11.832 They build on one another and two of them are very obvious and they build towards the third. 00:13:11.832 --> 00:13:14.633 The first is that he is holy. 00:13:14.633 --> 00:13:19.865 Thanks, John, for the brilliant flash of the obvious that the Holy Spirit is holy. 00:13:19.865 --> 00:13:21.432 But this is important. 00:13:21.432 --> 00:13:22.700 This is number two in your outline. 00:13:22.700 --> 00:13:30.000 This is important to highlight and to point out because we're building towards this third, fourth point in the outline. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:35.332 And when you look at the Old Testament and you look at the idea of spirit, you don't see the words holy and spirit together hardly at all. 00:13:35.332 --> 00:13:37.732 Just a few times, just three times. 00:13:37.732 --> 00:13:42.033 Famously, in Psalm 51, David says, take not your Holy Spirit from me. 00:13:42.033 --> 00:13:44.133 But mostly he just talks about the spirit. 00:13:44.133 --> 00:13:49.200 But the concept of holiness is very strong in the Old Testament. 00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:54.466 The idea of holiness is the idea that something is set apart. 00:13:54.466 --> 00:13:56.666 But God is separate, set apart. 00:13:56.666 --> 00:13:59.666 He's holy. 00:14:02.100 --> 00:14:05.166 When Moses was approaching the burning bush, he said, this is holy. 00:14:05.166 --> 00:14:06.500 Take off your shoes. 00:14:06.500 --> 00:14:09.133 This is a holy place. 00:14:09.133 --> 00:14:10.700 Don't come any closer. 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:12.666 Irreverently. 00:14:12.666 --> 00:14:15.666 This is different than normal life. 00:14:15.832 --> 00:14:25.000 When God was ready to pass down the law and Moses was to go up on the mountain and receive it, and the people started to approach the mountain, he said, don't come any closer. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:26.033 Do not even touch it. 00:14:26.033 --> 00:14:28.799 Don't get any closer. This is holy. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:30.832 The angels around the throne. 00:14:30.832 --> 00:14:32.166 They repeat over and over again. 00:14:32.166 --> 00:14:33.899 Holy, holy, holy. 00:14:33.899 --> 00:14:36.200 Isaiah said, I am a man of unclean lips. 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:37.700 I fell down on his face. 00:14:40.265 --> 00:14:44.066 There's something about his holiness, his separateness that's unlike normal life. 00:14:44.066 --> 00:14:44.732 It's set apart. 00:14:44.732 --> 00:14:45.932 And you know what? 00:14:45.932 --> 00:14:49.000 Maybe you have had some of those holy moments. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:51.500 You know what I'm talking about. 00:14:51.500 --> 00:14:54.533 You go through the normal life, daily life, routine, even your spiritual life. 00:14:54.533 --> 00:14:58.533 But then there's these holy moments that stand out. 00:14:58.533 --> 00:15:09.700 I mentioned on Easter, I felt like I had one of those when I went over to Garry Ott’s house right after he had passed away, and I watched Barbara, who set aside her own grief in the minute. 00:15:09.700 --> 00:15:21.166 Her husband of many years, 50 plus years, who just passed away, set aside her own grief for a moment and just started ministering to the EMTs. 00:15:21.966 --> 00:15:22.966 Do you know Jesus? 00:15:22.966 --> 00:15:25.966 Do you believe in Jesus love? 00:15:25.966 --> 00:15:28.700 For me, that was a holy moment. 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:37.200 I thought, I need to stay as still as possible right now, I'm not even going to breathe if possible. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:40.700 There's something happening here that's not normal life. 00:15:40.700 --> 00:15:41.732 This stands out. 00:15:41.732 --> 00:15:50.066 It's set apart from the normal, just busyness of life where we blow past everything. 00:15:51.033 --> 00:15:54.899 I don't know if I would have the strength to do that. 00:15:54.966 --> 00:16:03.000 You've had those holy moments as holy as that was and as holy as any moment you've had. 00:16:03.500 --> 00:16:07.765 He is even more infinitely holier than that. 00:16:08.932 --> 00:16:11.033 And we were connected in to the Holy Spirit. 00:16:11.033 --> 00:16:12.265 We get just a glimpse of that. 00:16:12.265 --> 00:16:17.633 We get a taste of how holy and special and amazing he is. 00:16:17.633 --> 00:16:20.566 So he's holy. 00:16:20.566 --> 00:16:25.500 But he's also number three, another brilliant flash of the obvious. 00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:28.000 He is spirit. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.566 Holy spirit, we're looking at both sides of that word. 00:16:30.566 --> 00:16:33.566 He's holy and he is spirit. 00:16:34.732 --> 00:16:37.066 So the spirit, that word spirit. 00:16:37.066 --> 00:16:40.033 And I've put this in your notes in the New Testament. 00:16:40.033 --> 00:16:40.899 It's the word pneuma. 00:16:40.899 --> 00:16:42.500 It's where we get the word pneumatic. 00:16:42.500 --> 00:16:52.232 If you think of air powered tools or air powered devices, and the word just can literally mean movement of air, it can mean wind. 00:16:52.232 --> 00:16:53.732 It often means breath. 00:16:53.732 --> 00:16:56.100 That's what I would feel in that line. 00:16:56.100 --> 00:16:57.600 There. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:01.232 Breath equals life often in Scripture. 00:17:01.232 --> 00:17:06.333 You think of when God shaped Adam, he shaped him out of dust. 00:17:06.333 --> 00:17:09.766 But until he breathed life into him, he wasn't alive. 00:17:09.766 --> 00:17:10.633 It was just dust. 00:17:10.633 --> 00:17:12.365 Still. 00:17:12.365 --> 00:17:14.099 But he breathed life into him. 00:17:14.099 --> 00:17:15.665 It gave him life through his breath. 00:17:15.665 --> 00:17:21.200 If you think of Ezekiel 37 and you've you've probably heard that story of the the vision of the valley of dry bones. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:26.066 It's the valley full of dead, dry bones. 00:17:26.865 --> 00:17:28.532 And God reassembles the bones. 00:17:28.532 --> 00:17:30.365 They take on shape of a human. 00:17:30.365 --> 00:17:31.700 But then they take on flesh. 00:17:31.700 --> 00:17:36.133 But they're still not alive until he breathes life into them. 00:17:37.232 --> 00:17:39.665 It's his breath that gives life. 00:17:39.665 --> 00:17:41.700 This is the idea. This is the foretaste. 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:46.766 This is the picture of how the spirit comes into us and gives us life. 00:17:48.299 --> 00:17:56.900 And if you know Christ, the spirit is in you and his breath, his life, the power of his life is in you. 00:17:56.900 --> 00:18:05.532 And look, you've experienced this in life in terms of the difference between something being full of power and not, and just using the word pneumatic. 00:18:05.532 --> 00:18:29.700 Whenever you take your car to get the tires rotated and you come back home and you get a flat tire and you've got to change the tire, it takes every ounce of your strength to get that wheel off, because they had pneumatic tools, they had impact drivers, air power drivers, and all I have is this rusty old ten year old tire iron that's been sitting in my trunk, and it probably doesn't even fit right, and I can't get enough leverage on it. 00:18:32.365 --> 00:18:35.732 They use the tool with power. 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:43.266 And so when we think of the Holy Spirit, we want to be leaning on the power that he has that's available to us. 00:18:44.232 --> 00:18:55.500 How many times in life are we just ignoring that, trying to strong arm it ourselves instead of leaning on the power of the Holy Spirit? 00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:56.865 He is holy. 00:18:56.865 --> 00:18:57.833 He is spirit. 00:18:57.833 --> 00:19:00.165 And this leads to the fourth one. 00:19:00.165 --> 00:19:03.900 All this points to the reality that He is God. 00:19:04.066 --> 00:19:05.732 The Holy Spirit is God. 00:19:05.732 --> 00:19:12.732 He's not just maybe an apparition that resembles Jesus or some force of the father. 00:19:12.932 --> 00:19:25.200 He is the third member of the Trinity, and he's not third like he's lesser third of three, equal in value, fully God. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:28.465 In fact, acts chapter five, I've listed in your notes. 00:19:28.465 --> 00:19:38.500 We're not going to turn that right now, but this is a section of Scripture that speaks to his divinity, because that's the section where Ananias and Sapphira both had sold a piece of property. 00:19:38.500 --> 00:19:47.099 And then they lied about how much they sold it for so that they could give less to the church, but still get all the credit and look really great. 00:19:47.099 --> 00:19:58.665 And they called him out on and said, don't you see, when you lied to the Holy Spirit, you lied not just to man, but to God, putting the Holy Spirit on the same level as God. 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:09.500 The other thing that's interesting here about the Holy Spirit is just the fact that we often get it wrong in terms of how we talk about the Holy Spirit. 00:20:09.500 --> 00:20:17.799 If you've listened carefully, whenever I've talked about the Holy Spirit today, I've said he, the Holy Spirit is a he, not an it. 00:20:18.032 --> 00:20:27.599 If you look in verse 26, Jesus uses he of the Holy Spirit, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:30.599 He will teach you all things. 00:20:32.266 --> 00:20:36.900 This is important because this personalizes the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and we use the word spirit. 00:20:36.900 --> 00:20:46.099 And if you're a King James, follower of the Holy Ghost makes him even more hard to understand, more or less real. 00:20:46.133 --> 00:20:56.200 The Holy Spirit is a person of the Trinity, someone you can know and follow and trust and love. 00:20:56.200 --> 00:20:59.400 And he is a real person, not just an IT. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:04.032 Some made up entity that we may try to maybe have a hope of understanding. 00:21:04.032 --> 00:21:05.099 No, he's real. 00:21:07.365 --> 00:21:12.900 I mean, imagine if when I met you, I only referred to you as it. 00:21:14.266 --> 00:21:17.365 Never as he or she, you know, just it. 00:21:17.732 --> 00:21:20.566 How depersonalizing is that? 00:21:20.566 --> 00:21:24.799 I think sometimes in our mind, we've had that this part of the confusion here is legitimate. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:28.266 It goes back to the Greek language where they have gender in their language. 00:21:28.266 --> 00:21:30.099 You know, Spanish is like this. 00:21:30.099 --> 00:21:31.865 Things can be feminine or masculine. 00:21:31.865 --> 00:21:33.266 We don't really have that in English. 00:21:33.266 --> 00:21:36.333 Well, in Greek there's a neuter category as well. 00:21:36.333 --> 00:21:39.566 And the Holy Spirit follows the neuter gender. 00:21:39.566 --> 00:21:48.700 That doesn't mean he's an it, because the he pronouns are used of him he, Holy Spirit, personal God. 00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:54.165 All of this is driving towards the reality of how we view the spirit rightly. 00:21:55.566 --> 00:21:56.700 He is God. 00:21:56.700 --> 00:21:58.766 He is holy. He's our helper. 00:21:58.766 --> 00:21:59.799 He's personal. 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:02.799 He is there for you. 00:22:03.633 --> 00:22:07.865 In fact, here is how he is described number five in your outline. 00:22:07.865 --> 00:22:10.333 He is truth. 00:22:10.333 --> 00:22:13.099 Look at verse 17. 00:22:13.099 --> 00:22:13.900 Back at 16. 00:22:13.900 --> 00:22:14.799 I will ask the father. 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:17.500 He will give you another helper to be with you forever. 00:22:17.500 --> 00:22:20.500 Even the spirit of truth. 00:22:22.665 --> 00:22:23.500 24. 00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:24.165 It talks about this. 00:22:24.165 --> 00:22:29.400 It says those who worship me must worship in spirit and truth. 00:22:30.232 --> 00:22:37.500 The Holy Spirit, a key part of who he is, someone who is leading you into truth. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:55.400 And this is important because sometimes in some denominations, in some Christian circles, you get this idea that if I'm really spirit led, I'm being led somewhere novel, somewhere new, somewhere no one else has thought of that stands out as different. 00:22:57.566 --> 00:23:03.266 And look, by the way, there are times where the spirit leads you places you hadn't thought of before, you hadn't seen before. 00:23:03.266 --> 00:23:06.266 But it should never contradict Scripture. 00:23:06.266 --> 00:23:09.032 It should align with the truth of Scripture. 00:23:09.032 --> 00:23:13.299 If you have a thought and think, I think God told me this and it contradicts Scripture. 00:23:13.299 --> 00:23:17.599 He didn't tell you that he will lead you into truth. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:23.200 The spirit guides you into truth, not error. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:33.400 And so if you're feeling confused, if you're feeling like I'm not sure what to do, continue to cry out, Holy Spirit, would you guide me and lead me and wait on him? 00:23:34.900 --> 00:23:42.532 Many of the big mistakes I've made in life are when I could not wait patiently for the truth to become clear. 00:23:42.532 --> 00:23:44.066 Don't get out ahead of him. Wait on him. 00:23:46.532 --> 00:23:47.766 He is truth. 00:23:47.766 --> 00:23:50.200 He will guide you in truth. 00:23:50.200 --> 00:23:53.133 That's just a little bit of who the spirit is. 00:23:53.133 --> 00:24:01.599 Just in one chapter of Scripture, we could look across all of Scripture and see a lot about how the Holy Spirit is described. 00:24:03.165 --> 00:24:06.099 That's a little bit of who he is, but it also says some here. 00:24:06.099 --> 00:24:09.299 In fact, I want to look at three things about what he does. 00:24:09.299 --> 00:24:13.232 Just a couple of things mentioned here about what he does. 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:20.965 The first is look at verse 17 again, the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. 00:24:20.965 --> 00:24:24.900 You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 00:24:25.365 --> 00:24:26.566 This is what the spirit does. 00:24:26.566 --> 00:24:29.566 The spirit actually dwells in you. 00:24:29.665 --> 00:24:33.932 Everyone who knows Christ has the spirit dwelling in you. 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:36.865 You don't have to wonder. 00:24:36.865 --> 00:24:45.266 I wonder if I will ever have access to the Holy Spirit now, just like my weed eater had gasoline in it and I wasn't taking advantage of it, no, the spirit is in you. 00:24:45.266 --> 00:24:49.532 You may not be fully realizing the power of the spirit in your life, but he's in you. 00:24:49.532 --> 00:24:50.432 He is there. 00:24:50.432 --> 00:24:51.900 Jesus says this to his disciples. 00:24:51.900 --> 00:24:54.465 He will be in you. He will be with you. 00:24:54.465 --> 00:25:00.900 This is a difference between, by the way, the Old Testament and the New Testament. 00:25:00.900 --> 00:25:07.165 And in the Old Testament the spirit would often come upon people, and not everyone. 00:25:07.165 --> 00:25:10.500 And it was often a moment for empowering leaders. 00:25:10.500 --> 00:25:12.299 You see him come upon Samson. 00:25:12.299 --> 00:25:13.633 The spirit rushed upon him. 00:25:13.633 --> 00:25:15.633 It gave him power for leadership. 00:25:15.633 --> 00:25:18.299 You see him come upon David to lead the nation. 00:25:18.299 --> 00:25:21.432 You see him come upon the prophets to give them wisdom. 00:25:21.432 --> 00:25:23.266 But then you also see the spirit leave. 00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:26.365 He left Saul. 00:25:26.365 --> 00:25:28.500 He departed from Saul. 00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:30.165 So you see the spirit come and go. 00:25:30.165 --> 00:25:31.865 And it doesn't seem to come upon everyone. 00:25:31.865 --> 00:25:34.799 But you see the power associated with the spirit. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:41.200 But when we get to the New Testament, in fact, this was predicted in Ezekiel 36. Flip over there. 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:43.299 I talked about the valley of dry bones. 00:25:43.299 --> 00:25:51.365 But if you look at Ezekiel, this is one of the prophets in the Old Testament, called one of the major prophets because the books, one of the longer ones. 00:25:51.365 --> 00:25:55.333 This would be a few pages over, you know, Psalms is about in the middle. 00:25:55.333 --> 00:25:56.299 Ezekiel will be over. 00:25:56.299 --> 00:25:58.066 More towards the New Testament a little. 00:25:58.066 --> 00:26:10.700 And if you have a church Bible that will be on page 685, but in there there's a couple of passages that point to the promise of the New covenant, or things will change. 00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:21.532 The Old Covenant was driven by the law, but then predicted there was a moment in Ezekiel where he said, and other books said as well, you see in Jeremiah, you see in Joel, they'll come a day where things will change. 00:26:21.532 --> 00:26:25.532 It's not just about the outward external law anymore. 00:26:25.532 --> 00:26:28.532 Look at what he says in chapter 36. 00:26:32.532 --> 00:26:35.532 Let's look at verse 25. 00:26:36.133 --> 00:26:43.865 He says, I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. 00:26:43.865 --> 00:26:46.432 I will cleanse you. 00:26:46.432 --> 00:26:51.400 I'll give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. 00:26:51.932 --> 00:26:56.532 I'll remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 00:26:56.532 --> 00:27:03.833 I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules. 00:27:03.833 --> 00:27:06.000 You shall dwell in the land that I give to your fathers. 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:08.700 You shall be my people, and I will be your God. 00:27:10.133 --> 00:27:15.032 He's saying, there will come a day where my spirit will live in you, to guide you, to direct you. 00:27:15.032 --> 00:27:18.000 You don't just have to depend anymore on an external law. 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:19.333 But I will be within you. 00:27:19.333 --> 00:27:21.133 I will change your heart. 00:27:21.133 --> 00:27:22.732 I will renew your heart. 00:27:22.732 --> 00:27:25.665 I will make it new. 00:27:25.665 --> 00:27:33.299 Many believe that when John is talking, when Jesus is talking with Nicodemus in John chapter three and he says, you, you must be baptized with water and spirit. 00:27:33.299 --> 00:27:35.299 He's talking about this passage. 00:27:35.299 --> 00:27:37.500 You got to be made new. 00:27:37.500 --> 00:27:40.299 It's not just about following an outward set of rules. 00:27:40.299 --> 00:27:44.299 The spirit will come in you and dwell in you and change you. 00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:45.299 That's part of what he does. 00:27:45.299 --> 00:27:47.532 But secondly, look at what else he does. 00:27:47.532 --> 00:28:01.000 Number two, in verse 26, 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 that I have said to you. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:04.000 Teach and bring to remembrance. 00:28:05.099 --> 00:28:10.200 The Holy Spirit is within you to teach you, to guide you, to bring things to remembrance. 00:28:10.200 --> 00:28:17.200 Now, this would have been especially important for the disciples in this time, because they don't know what's about to happen. 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:21.432 And when Jesus leaves, they're wondering, how are we going to get through this? 00:28:21.432 --> 00:28:27.333 He's going to bring to remembrance the things he had told them, to guide them, to help them. 00:28:28.599 --> 00:28:30.432 But this is true for us as well. 00:28:30.432 --> 00:28:32.400 This applies to us as well. 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:36.432 How many times has the spirit brought to remembrance his Word? 00:28:38.066 --> 00:28:41.066 Maybe you're on the verge of sin. 00:28:41.165 --> 00:28:47.365 Maybe you're pointed a bad direction and he brings his word to mind. 00:28:48.633 --> 00:28:52.766 And he brings to remembrance what he's called you to do. 00:28:52.766 --> 00:28:59.266 In fact, in John 16 it says, part of what the Holy Spirit does is he convicts of sin. 00:29:03.099 --> 00:29:07.500 And the powerful part of that is he doesn't convict of sin to shame you. 00:29:07.865 --> 00:29:14.732 His conviction is not to beat you down, but it's to restore you. 00:29:14.766 --> 00:29:18.165 I mean, how many times has he brought to light sin in your life? 00:29:18.165 --> 00:29:24.900 And that may have been overwhelming, but when you repent and seek him and follow him, that brings life. 00:29:24.900 --> 00:29:26.932 That's how you find spiritual life. 00:29:26.932 --> 00:29:29.266 I'm going to set aside the sin that he's brought to mind. 00:29:29.266 --> 00:29:32.833 I'm going to repent of it, and I'm going to follow him. 00:29:32.833 --> 00:29:35.799 I'm going to do that in his power, not my own. 00:29:35.799 --> 00:29:43.833 We depend on him to do that, to bring that to mind, to teach us, to guide us, and to do it according to his word and following his word. 00:29:45.965 --> 00:29:48.965 Lastly, number three. 00:29:49.665 --> 00:29:58.266 All this leads to what we see in verse 27 when we're living the spirit filled life, when the spirit is guiding, teaching, bring to remembrance dwelling within you. 00:29:58.266 --> 00:30:00.599 Here's where this leads. 00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:02.900 Verse 27. 00:30:02.900 --> 00:30:05.432 Peace I leave with you. 00:30:05.432 --> 00:30:10.633 My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. 00:30:10.633 --> 00:30:15.500 Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 00:30:16.932 --> 00:30:24.865 If you're living a spirit filled life, if you are leaning on the Holy Spirit to guide, direct convict, lead. 00:30:26.032 --> 00:30:28.932 That is the pathway to peace. 00:30:28.932 --> 00:30:31.599 I don't know about you, but I want peace. 00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:37.432 I think most everyone is struggling to find peace in this day and age. 00:30:37.432 --> 00:30:39.732 People are so weighed up with anxiety. 00:30:39.732 --> 00:30:42.099 He even says it here. Don't be troubled. 00:30:42.099 --> 00:30:44.032 Don't be afraid. 00:30:44.032 --> 00:30:45.299 Find peace. 00:30:49.532 --> 00:30:54.032 When I'm driving and I find myself. 00:30:56.766 --> 00:31:01.165 Let's say, frustrated with the whole rest of the world. 00:31:01.165 --> 00:31:09.066 Every single other driver on the road has never learned how to drive rightly like me. 00:31:09.165 --> 00:31:13.532 That's a sign that it's not everyone else. 00:31:13.532 --> 00:31:18.133 If everyone else around you frustrates you, it's not them. 00:31:18.900 --> 00:31:20.566 That's usually sometimes. 00:31:20.566 --> 00:31:23.566 Eventually I go, oh. 00:31:24.365 --> 00:31:28.500 I am leaning on my own strength right now, not the Holy Spirit. 00:31:28.500 --> 00:31:37.066 That is a sign that I'm not prayed up, that I'm not in the word enough, that I'm not depending on the Holy Spirit. 00:31:37.066 --> 00:31:40.066 The gasoline is turned off in my heart. 00:31:41.099 --> 00:31:42.266 It's a red flag. 00:31:42.266 --> 00:31:44.633 It's a signpost. 00:31:44.633 --> 00:31:51.299 But when the Holy Spirit, when the power of the Holy Spirit comes to life in you, it changes everything. 00:31:53.700 --> 00:32:00.400 I was talking with a mother this week, and we were talking about how God has worked in your life and in your family. 00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:05.732 And she said, let me tell you, John, my daughter, she used to be the meanest person you could ever meet. 00:32:05.732 --> 00:32:06.532 Like, really? 00:32:06.532 --> 00:32:08.032 Oh, yeah. No, she was terrible. 00:32:08.032 --> 00:32:09.266 She was hard to be around. 00:32:09.266 --> 00:32:10.566 She was angry and difficult. 00:32:10.566 --> 00:32:12.266 I was like, I think I got it now there's more. 00:32:12.266 --> 00:32:13.200 You need to hear it more. 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:15.599 Let me tell you how terrible she was. 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:16.900 No one wanted to be around her. 00:32:16.900 --> 00:32:19.900 I was like, okay, I get the picture. 00:32:20.633 --> 00:32:28.333 But one day she came home from church and she said, mom, something changed today. 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:31.400 I don't know what it is, but something changed. 00:32:32.700 --> 00:32:37.566 Tell me, God is at work in my life. 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:44.000 And from that day forward she went from the person demanding angry. 00:32:44.432 --> 00:32:50.266 No one wanted to be around by her own mother's description. 00:32:50.532 --> 00:32:55.865 To loving, caring, giving, serving. 00:32:55.865 --> 00:33:00.799 And she says, now, John, let me tell you, she will do anything for anybody. 00:33:01.900 --> 00:33:03.532 I love being around her. 00:33:03.532 --> 00:33:06.532 I'm so proud of her. 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:11.532 That is what the Holy Spirit does. 00:33:12.965 --> 00:33:17.700 There is someone in your life that you're thinking, I don't know if he could do that. 00:33:17.700 --> 00:33:20.700 He can. 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:23.700 He may not, but he can. 00:33:23.700 --> 00:33:26.232 Don't give up hope. 00:33:26.232 --> 00:33:28.500 Walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:32.766 Whatever you're facing, the Holy Spirit is more powerful. 00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:37.599 And if you depend on him, you can experience that peace. 00:33:40.232 --> 00:33:43.232 Let's pray. 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:48.566 God, we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit. 00:33:48.900 --> 00:33:52.766 We know I think most of us know in theory you live within us. 00:33:52.766 --> 00:33:57.000 And yet I think there's many days we wonder. 00:33:58.133 --> 00:34:02.333 Or many days where I wonder, am I leaning on the Holy Spirit or on myself? 00:34:02.333 --> 00:34:03.900 It doesn't feel like I'm. 00:34:03.900 --> 00:34:05.099 I'm not strong enough. 00:34:05.099 --> 00:34:07.700 I'm not doing it right. 00:34:07.700 --> 00:34:16.099 God, would you help us to grow and knowing who you are and leaning on you and loving you more and as a result, loving others and honoring you? 00:34:16.099 --> 00:34:19.000 May we feel the fullness of your power in our life today. 00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:23.400 We want to live a spirit filled, powerful life. 00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:26.800 I want that I know everyone here wants that. 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:28.333 Would you give us a breakthrough? 00:34:30.766 --> 00:34:34.099 Would your spirit just fall on us fresh today? 00:34:34.500 --> 00:34:39.900 May we become overwhelmed with your presence. 00:34:40.432 --> 00:34:46.865 May we experience the glory of your goodness. 00:34:46.865 --> 00:34:49.865 Thank you, Jesus, that we can gather. 00:34:51.465 --> 00:34:54.465 We love you. 00:34:54.465 --> 00:34:54.900 Amen.