Sovereign Grace Bible Church
These are the sermons and teachings of Sovereign Grace Bible Church in Biggsville, Illinois. We exist to fulfill the Great Commission through the Great Commandment within Gospel Community.
Sovereign Grace Bible Church
The Paraclete: God the Spirit
The Holy Spirit may be the most misunderstood member of the Trinity. Some believers grew up in churches where He was barely mentioned, while others experienced environments where He seemed to overshadow Jesus and the Father entirely. This polarization leads to confusion about who the Holy Spirit actually is and what He does in our lives.
Jesus called the Holy Spirit "another Helper" who would be with believers forever. This Greek word "Paraclete" carries rich meaning as comforter, teacher, advocate, and counselor. Remarkably, Jesus told His disciples it was better for them that He leave so the Spirit could come—because unlike Jesus in physical form, the Spirit would dwell within them without limitations of space or time.
The Spirit's ministry includes convicting the world of sin (showing people their true condition), righteousness (revealing God's perfect standard), and judgment (making clear our accountability before God). For believers, the Spirit brings transformation from within. Romans 8 reveals that "to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace," while focusing on the flesh produces death experiences in our daily lives.
When we're weak and uncertain—especially in prayer—the Holy Spirit intercedes for us "with groanings too deep for words." This means even when we don't know what to pray, the Spirit aligns our needs perfectly with God's will. The promise that "the Spirit helps us in our weakness" provides tremendous comfort when we feel inadequate.
Understanding the Holy Spirit correctly means recognizing Him as fully God, co-equal with the Father and Son. He's not merely God's power or influence, but a divine person worthy of worship who actively works in us. As you examine your own view of the Trinity, consider whether you've maintained biblical balance or neglected the essential ministry of the Holy Spirit in your spiritual growth.
What would happen if believers were truly transformed by the Spirit's presence? In an anxiety-driven world, perhaps the most powerful testimony we could offer is the peace that comes only through walking in step with God's indwelling Spirit.
One of the most important things for us to understand is of the Trinity we have God the Father, god the Son and God the Holy Spirit. None is more polarizing than God the Spirit, and there is none of the three persons of the Trinity that you and I come to with preconceived notions more of than the Holy Spirit. So I'll ask for a show of hands and we'll see if you guys have any experience with this and if you didn't grow up in church, you might not have an answer. Usually there's two different kinds of people. You grew up in church and the Holy Spirit almost was not spoken of. Right, the Holy Spirit was this thing and like it was God, but like never heard a sermon on it, never heard anything talked about it. You better not raise your hand in service because you will get jumped on. And then there's the other side where, like the Holy Spirit is like the most important person of the Trinity and it's like someone prays and they begin with like God the Spirit, we come to you and you're like, oh wow, I haven't heard someone pray to God the Spirit in a public prayer in a long time. And like they don't talk about Jesus or God the Father at all in the prayers, just the Spirit. You're like, okay, there's over-emphasis on this side. So, as a rule of thumb, let me just see hands, if you can. If you grew up not really knowing anything about the Holy Spirit, please raise your hand. Yeah, okay. And then the other end if you grew up knowing a little too much, maybe, about the Holy Spirit, you raise your hand. I know a couple of you that should have raised your hands, but that's okay. So, as a rule of thumb, we land in one of those two camps.
Speaker 1:And so today the goal is to get to center mass. The goal is what does the Bible say about the Holy Spirit? And now again, we could preach about this for weeks. We only have one. So what we're going to do is we're just going to skip into John, the gospel of John, and then Romans, chapter eight. So turn to John, chapter 14. We'll be there for just a moment and then we'll be in Romans, chapter eight, in just a little bit. So in John chapter 14 through 16, we'll hit a handful of verses there, and you should have your slides in the binder that was given to you.
Speaker 1:John chapter 14 through 16 is a part of what's called the Upper Room Discourse. And this is the last thing that Jesus is teaching his disciples before he is going to die, his disciples before he is going to die. And so it's a beautiful thing that it has some of the most full teaching on the Holy Spirit that can be found in the scriptures. What did Jesus want to comfort his disciples with before they were going to be all by themselves? That they weren't going to be all by themselves, that he would send a helper. So turn to John, chapter 14. We'll start in verses 16 and 17.
Speaker 1:And let me remind you that this is God's holy word. Jesus says 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. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. Continue to verse 26. Let's skip a little bit ahead there. 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. And then we'll take one verse from chapter 15. There, chapter 15, verse 26. It says but when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
Speaker 1:Okay, so there's a lot here, but also I want you to see that I've kind of cherry-picked some verses through a lot of dialogue here, a lot of monologue. So it's very important to see that the Holy Spirit, jesus, didn't think of him as like this, like separate doctrine of truth that needed to be like its own thing and was not interwoven with anything else. If anything, he looked at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, of God, the Spirit, and said this is mixed into everything. This is going to be mixed into your suffering, into your teaching, into your encouragement. So he says in verse 16, let's go verse by verse through this. I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. So this is important. He's comparing and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. So this is important. He's comparing and contrasting. So, another helper. What does that mean?
Speaker 1:Well, first off, he's pointing to himself. Jesus is pointing to himself and saying I have been your helper thus far, which is really important, because the disciples are just as weak as you and I are. So if we have physical Jesus here on a Sunday morning, we're like hugs, cuddles. Don't leave me, please don't leave me. Answer my questions, thank you, protect me. And so if Jesus says, all right, I'm going to head off to the next church, I'll see you guys in 50 years because he has to go travel to all the other churches, you're not going to be like, no, you're going to stay right here. Okay, I am weak and I need you, and you're physically here, I can hold you. We're like Mary.
Speaker 1:When Jesus is resurrected, jesus is like holding onto his feet for dear life, like, no, I'm not, no, I'm not letting go. We are just as weak as the disciples, but in this moment Jesus is trying to pastorally shepherd them. And so he's saying, guys, don't worry. I know it feels like I'm leaving you and you're high and dry, right, you're not going to have this physical presence of me here. When you have a question, you can't just look over to Jesus and say what's the answer, don't worry, I'm going to ask God, the Father, and he will give you another helper. The idea is just like me, but this one, what's the qualification there Will be with you forever. You're like oh See Jesus, when he was here, he went off by himself to pray.
Speaker 1:When Jesus was here, he was busy doing ministry and couldn't always pour into his disciples. So there was this natural relational barrier, because Jesus had put himself into a finite body. And Jesus says no, no, no, no, no, god's going to send you a helper, just like me, but better, because he'll be with you forever. No bathroom breaks, no prayer time forever. And the human mind's like yeah, I don't no, comprehendo, I got nothing, I don't understand. Forever in any sense of any kind.
Speaker 1:So he continues, verse 17. He says even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. World cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. Oh, thank God, there's a water here, Okay. So Jesus now refers to the Holy Spirit, who he just called the Helper, as the Spirit of Truth.
Speaker 1:Now, the Holy Spirit has many titles, actually throughout God's Word. This one's important though, because it's pointing to what that word helper is illuminating, is describing that word. Helper is where we're going to eventually turn around in just a second. Is that word paraclete in the greek? So the helper who will be with you forever. How would you describe him further?
Speaker 1:The holy spirit is the spirit of truth, and it's important because we learned that God's word is truth, right In John 17,. Jesus says sanctify them with the truth. Your word is truth. We learned that Jesus is the truth, right, the way, the truth and the life John 14, 6. And so we have all these connections.
Speaker 1:And then what does Jesus do with the Holy Spirit? He describes him exactly as God. It says the Holy Spirit is truth, not the truth, not some of the truth, not a third of the truth. He is truth itself. So how then does that affect the Spirit's ministry, the Spirit's object in this world? Well, it is continuing in verse 17,.
Speaker 1:Whom the world cannot receive. Again, that's that word that we love to use in the Gospel of John. It means not able. They are unable to receive. This is so important because you and I, we look at the broken world and we say come to Jesus. He's the answer. Your life's going to continue to be terrible if you don't do this, and it's like you're talking Swahili to them. They get nothing and you'll go nuts trying to understand it, like why Don't you see your life's getting worse, don't you see? There's not an answer there and we forget the most simple truths of the scripture. The answer is they're not even able. It's not willing, it's able, they're not able to see the truth. The world cannot, not, doesn't want to, cannot. Now, they also don't want to on top of that but that's a different story for a different time why? Because it neither sees him or knows him.
Speaker 1:We've talked about this before. What is saving faith? And I'm going to say this until I'm blue in the face and you have it memorized Saving faith is knowing something, agreeing with it and then trusting in it fully. That is what faith is Knowing, agreeing, trusting. We pretty much see this in this text here. They neither see him nor know him. They don't understand him because they can't see him as God. When he says I am God, they don't see it, they don't know it and they are unable to even process to get there.
Speaker 1:Now he contrasts this completely perfectly, with the bumbling band of disciples and he looks at them. They're shivering in their boots, they're having a panic attack because Jesus is talking about leaving, and he looks at them and says don't worry, you know him and you can imagine in that moment, right, we're all having a panic attack like Jesus, don't leave us. And he's like, don't worry, I will send a helper who will be with you forever. And the world does not know him. And you're like this helper sounds pretty cool, yeah, I like that. And he goes, don't worry, you know him. And you're like, no, jesus, no, no, we just heard about this guy. I'm not sure what you're saying. He says you know him why? For he dwells with you and will be in you. So now he's again pointing to this, this forever aspect, this difference of the ministry of the Spirit. Why is it better that the Spirit is here? Because the Spirit will dwell in you and will be with you. So the Spirit, then, is indwelling us, it's inside.
Speaker 1:So again, you and I will look at this like if you're older in this group and you had to look up something back in the day and understand a word, you probably at some point in time got sold that giant set of encyclopedias, like I mean, we're talking like 30 volumes and you never read all of them, but they're there and they exist. And if you had to look up a word, you'd have to go over there and go to your encyclopedia and look up the word and it would have like a paragraph of thought If you had more questions you just had more questions you maybe could go find an expert, go to the library, ask other things. Now we have this thing and there's stuff on it that will tell you things. So you can just talk to your phone like it's a human being and be like hello, I don't understand the basics of quantum physics. Can you explain that to me? And by golly your phone will be like look here, chippy, here's five steps to understanding quantum physics. And you're like okay, and then you sound really smart. Because then you kind of like know a couple sentences. It has been so nice to have information so much easier to get.
Speaker 1:So much greater is the Holy Spirit being with us than Jesus. And you and I again, we don't agree with that Experientially in our lives. We're like no, I would much prefer a counseling session with Jesus once a year where I get to sit down and talk with him, give him a hug, cry with him, have him hold my hand and say it's going to be okay. He grabs me by the shoulders and says I believe in you. And you're like I would prefer that. Still, it's because we're growing in our faith and we don't understand how much greater it is to have the Holy Spirit inside of us as this eternal, forever resource that has all of the answers.
Speaker 1:So he continues in verse 26. He says but the helper. Now he defined it exactly as the Holy Spirit, 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. Now this is pointing specifically to the disciples. This is not a verse for you. This is a verse for the disciples.
Speaker 1:Jesus is looking at the disciples and says pretty much, you're going to be writing scripture soon and you're going to need to remember a lot of stuff, and we all know that you're not the most dependable bunch. So the good news is the Holy Spirit's going to teach you it and make sure you remember. That's nice. I don't know if you're a good test taker or not, but if you're not which most people aren't there would be something beautiful about like hey, I know you were in class. The Holy Spirit is going to help you remember stuff. Okay, you're like, it's like a cheat code. This is great. So the help of the Holy Spirit will teach you how many things, all things, okay.
Speaker 1:So my favorite with that is I'll take some men who are more mechanically inclined than I am and usually they'll say something like well, I just can't learn that kind of stuff, like those big words, those whatever, and I'll look at them and say I will have. You know, I am 31 years old and I just learned what a socket wrench was a couple of years ago. If I can learn what that is, by golly I can use the word pneumatology and you can figure it out with me. Why? Because the Holy Spirit lives inside you. Not because you're awesome, not because I'm awesome, but because God is awesome and he lives inside and he teaches all things, not just to the smart ones, not just to the dumb ones, but to everyone. The Spirit does it, and then thus, what's really good is then you get to say so.
Speaker 1:If you say I'm unable to learn this, what you're really saying is that God is not able to do what he has said he would do, and then usually the tone changes and the conversation changes and we stumble forward together. The Holy Spirit teaches you all things right. Again pointing specifically to the disciples, but also to you and I in a secondary way. Now we get to this and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. So again, this is talking specifically about the writing of scripture. That's going to happen, but in a secondary application. It points to the ministry the Holy Spirit does in us.
Speaker 1:It's probably one of the number one ways that you can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life Is when you've been walking with God for a bit and your children or your spouse or your family member, your coworker, does something really just bad and you want to pop off, you want to get angry. And then all of a sudden James, chapter 1 pops into your head and you're like the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Okay, yep, I'm not going to respond in anger, I am going to be slow to speak and slow to anger and quick to listen. Now, where does that come from? Are you just so hip and happening with the Bible that you just, like at all times, can just say here's a Bible verse for that and I got it? No, what happens is the Holy Spirit lives inside you and as you learn scripture, he just gently kind of pops up and is like you remember this, don't do it. And you and I are like, oh yeah, dang it, I'm stupid. This keeps happening. And the cool thing is that he's so patient with us. He lives inside you, so like he knows all the bad thoughts you had this week, and at no point in time did he give up on you and at no point in time did he say I'm not gonna bring that to your remembrance anymore.
Speaker 1:Our sanctification, our growing in Christ likeness is 100% God and 100% us. And what I always say is you never gotta worry about God's part. If you're not growing in Christlikeness, it's not because God's holding his part back, it's because you and I are not engaging fully. We need more accountability structures in our life. We need more time in God's word, we need to actually pray, we need to grow in sacrificial love. So the Holy Spirit teaches us not only that, he also brings things to our memory. This is also important. Actually, I'll hit one more thing on that.
Speaker 1:A lot of people will look at preaching and they'll say, like man, like that guy can preach, like when he was preaching I understood things and like it was. It just changed me. And this, this is awesome. That guy did a good job. And what you don't understand is that when god blesses preaching, it's not here usually, like it's a little bit here. The primary part that's blessed is your ears and your heart to be able to listen, to be able to receive, to be able to change. That is how the Holy Spirit teaches us through preaching. It's not because we're sitting there and we have this great preacher who's able to do all these things and he's just oh, the illustration was fantastic. No, no, no. It's because God, the Spirit, loved me enough that when I was tired and I hadn't prayed before service and I didn't prepare my heart last night and I woke up late and we got in a fight on the way here to church and I'm spazzed out about this thing and in the middle of the sermon I almost passed out. In all of that, god was kind and said I'm going to have you remember something. I'm going to have you learn something. That is why you should be thankful, because that's a lot better than I don't know Jesus being in the back row and like slapping you in the back of the head and being like hey, pay attention. What a blessing that the Holy Spirit would live inside of you and me. And when we're weak and unable, he would enable us and make us worthy to receive his word.
Speaker 1:Chapter 15, verse 26 says but when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the portion of the Spirit's ministry, what does the Holy Spirit do? Well, he bears witness, he testifies. He is a living testimony About what? What did the Holy Spirit come to testify about? Did he come to testify about you having an experience, you having a dream, a vision, a moment, some wind passing by your hair, ruffled just right, some tea leaves that look kind of cool? No, his witnessing is one job, and one job alone. He testifies about Christ. This is really important because it's going to expand when we get to the verses in chapter 16. The helper is going to come, who is coming from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. He will bear witness about me. So again, that's why you and I, when we have a church, when we have a Christian life, we make Christ the focal point. Why? Because even the Holy Spirit has a sign pointing to Jesus that says focus here. That matters, that's important. That matters. That's important If God within himself says look here. By golly you and I had better learn to look there.
Speaker 1:Now this goes to our famous word, the paraclete. That's that word helper in the ESV, it might be comforter in yours, or advocate, all kinds of different stuff. What does it mean? This Greek word can and should be translated as all of the following Comforter, helper, teacher, advocate and counselor. The Holy Spirit's ministry in our lives is one where he comes alongside us and under our burden to carry it with us. This word is so full that, as they've tried to translate it throughout the years, every translator has said there's not a single word that properly reflects this word. There's a depth to it, you see, but one of the things we're going to point to now, specifically, is we start with this viewpoint where Jesus is talking about the paraclete, the Holy Spirit, the helper, and he's saying look at the comfort that's coming from him, look at the teaching that's coming from him, the counseling, the help. What he's transitioning to now is the advocate. And if you're like me, I mean I'm like an advocate what does that even mean? Like I think that was a protein shake at one point in time, or something like that. Like, what does advocate actually mean?
Speaker 1:Let's go to John, chapter 16. John, chapter 16, verses 7 through 11, and then 13,. We'll read all the way through here. Says nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away the helper will not come to you. But if I go I will send him to you and when he comes he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning because they do not believe in me. Concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer. Concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. And when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Speaker 1:So in this text we see the role of advocate of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says I tell you the truth. It's to your advantage that I go away. Again, the need to express the obvious here, because you and I, again, we're dense. We don't get things the first time and even when things are obvious, we have a hard time receiving it and understanding it. It's to your advantage that Jesus is not here. Why? Because if I'm not here, the helper will be, and if I go, I'll send him to you.
Speaker 1:Now, here's what's important. We see the ministry here. When he comes, he will convict the world. Okay, we're going to pause there for a second. I'm going to say it again. I'm going to pause after that, just so we can have some emphasis here. When the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict the world. Okay, why is that so important? Well, because I've heard lots of teachings on the holy spirit throughout my life and I don't think I've ever heard once someone talk about the ministry of the holy spirit convicting the world. And yet it is instrumental. It's primary in j Jesus's view here.
Speaker 1:What does the Holy Spirit do? It convicts the world of what? Sin, righteousness and judgment. Why does the world need that? Let me explain to you. Number one people don't know they're sinners. And you and I would say of course they do. They know they do terrible things. No, they don't. They think they're not that bad. They think the guy that murdered someone on TV, he's bad. The guy that cheated his taxes and is a billionaire and does all these little things, he's bad. Me, I make mistakes. I'm a work in progress. You could have a lot worse than me. That's what the world believes about itself. And guess what? There's always someone worse to compare to. So the world has an unending supply of. I'm not as bad, so the world needs to be convicted of.
Speaker 1:You are a sinner. And it's one of the most offensive things. I've had interactions with unbelievers where that was like I've talked about hell and all these different things to them and they were okay with hell and all these different things. But then they would say, but why do you call me a sinner? You're like. That was the worst. We talked about hell, damnation, eternity, fire. The worst part was I called you a name Sinner, really, and it's the truth.
Speaker 1:Why? Why is that sensitive to someone that doesn't care about Jesus? Why is that sensitive to someone that feels like they're secure, all on their own, because there's something inside them in their soul that says I agree. And the world system is set up to distract them from that. At all costs. Eat as much junk food as you can, throw yourself into your career, find greater idols, lust after this thing, lose your life over here. Whatever you do, just don't focus on the fact that you're a sinner in need of a savior. Don't focus on that. And let me tell you something After thousands of years, this world system's gotten really good. I mean it's efficient. I mean, if you put us back 2,000 years from now, you and I would still struggle with sin. But sin has never been more acceptable and available than it is today. The world system is impressive with how well it tempts you and I with exactly what we want. Yeah, that's important. With exactly what we want. Yeah, that's important With exactly what we want.
Speaker 1:Now, if you're in Christ, you could say well, it's not me, me, it's this flesh, it's this darn earth tent that some stuck with for a bit here. But the rest of the world, when they do something and it's sinful and they say, oh, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I didn't mean that, that's my favorite right In marriage counseling, right. You walk through the kitchen, you stub your toe and all of a sudden you look over, you start just yelling at your spouse and you're like you always leave the stove open. Why do you do that? And you're like I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I didn't mean that. And we say you are a liar, you did mean that that suffering revealed I'm still angry at you. So I got exactly what I wanted when the balloon popped because there's so much pressure built up. The world gives exactly what sinners want deep inside themselves they have to be convicted of sin.
Speaker 1:So question Holy Spirit lives inside of you. Your life is supposed to be lived for Christ. What should you be doing? Should we be in a? Avoid talking about sin with other people, because I mean like it can be awkward, it can be strange, weird or my favorite in America uncomfortable. You and I are real bad with uncomfortable, whether it's a chair or a couch, conversation, a situation we are. No, I will not make myself uncomfortable. This is America. I will not sit on the floor. Do you know who sits on the floor? Nobody in America. Why are we like that? Because we're spoiled and rotten. And so we look at the scriptures and the scripture says what is the Holy Spirit here to do? To convict the world of sin. Why does that matter? Because eternity is going to be a heck of a lot longer than having uncomfortable furniture or relationships or conversations in this life, and we need to believe that Next, the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning righteousness, and you'd say that makes no sense.
Speaker 1:Like convicting sin, sure, fine, whatever. What does this mean the Spirit is convicting the world of righteousness. Let me give you the best example. When Jesus is dying on the cross, multiple people who were never Christians, who were killing him, said this man did nothing wrong. Said this man did nothing wrong. In that moment, the Holy Spirit convicted them of righteousness, of God's righteousness, and said this man is truly, actually innocent.
Speaker 1:Now how does it look like in your life? Again, because we're talking about like you got to do something, like you didn't come here to see some popcorn, listen to me and go home. Like there's something to do here. You and I are to live on mission and guess what your life should convict the world of righteousness. So some of you got a good testing of that over the last couple of months, where it's possible that people talked to you, talked poorly about you, did poor things to you, and in those moments you could stand up for yourself and say no, don't talk about me like that, I don't deserve this, I didn't do anything. Or you can suffer quietly. You cannot respond sinfully and, as we all know, just from the basics of school bullying, if the school bully comes up to you and does something to you and you don't respond, eventually they get bored, frustrated and give up.
Speaker 1:The sin of the world is the exact same when you and I stand in righteousness and say, no, I don't care that you just cussed me out, I'm not going, I'm not joining this, I don't care why. Because my security is not found in you thinking the right things about me, or this town not worrying about my business. My security is in Christ. And he has said I am a child of God. He has said I am loved. He has said I'm secure. And I can trust him a heck of a lot more than I can trust your opinion. That is the Christian life. The Holy Spirit is the only way you're ever going to be able to do that. So we continue the Holy Spirit, convicts concerning sin, righteousness and, lastly, judgment.
Speaker 1:Why? Because no gospel presentation is complete until hell is spoken of. And that's really important today. Because the last 20, 30 years of evangelism has said stay away from the hell word. We don't like that. There's been way too much hellfire and brimstone, preachers and all these different things saying you're going to go to hell. We're like okay, there may have been an overemphasis, that's right, but by golly we've got to do the human thing and overcorrect and say thus we don't talk about it ever. No gospel presentation is complete until hell is spoken of. Why? Because the world needs to be convicted that they are going to stand accountable one day. There is a payment. The wages of sin is death. What does that mean? And we have to care enough to tell them Now. It doesn't mean that you need to go get a billboard and go sit on the corner and start yelling at people when they're driving by, but it does mean that there's somebody in your circle, somebody in your life who needs to be warned that if they continue on this path and they're not guaranteed tomorrow, they will die in their sins and go to hell forever. And you don't want that because you love them. And you don't want that because you love them.
Speaker 1:Verse 13, when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. Are there any caveats to that? Are there any like? Except for this moment? This is an absolute statement. When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. All right, let's do another fun thing. All right, by show of hands.
Speaker 1:Who would say they have some trust issues? Maybe in this life you have an honest group. That's good. Why does that matter? Why do we have trust issues? Because you've depended on people before and guess what people fail. I mean they just. I mean they can't even help it. They just keep doing it. And you keep putting your hope and I'm like, all right, you're gonna not do it this time. I believe in you and guess what they do. They do it again and guess what? The greatest of us, the most humble of us, the most pure of us, will still fail. So you and I have trust issues, not because people are the problem. My heart is the problem. Why who's the only one going to guide me into all truth? Who's the only one who cannot lie? Who's the only one I can always depend on? Why? It's God, the Holy Spirit. So when I'm broken and needy and lonely and people betray me, I should not be shaken because I've built my house on the rock. My security is not in you not betraying me again or not lying about me or not cheating on me or not hating me. My security is in what God has already said and who he is, and that will never change. That is what we fight for.
Speaker 1:We go to Romans 8, and I'm just gonna skip through these because somebody took a long time preaching Romans chapter 8. We'll go through some of the verses here. Verse 2 says for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus, for the law from, from the law of sin and death. So Romans chapter 8 would be like the Holy Spirit's chapter of the New Testament. If there was a chapter that really focuses on him, it'd be this one. So what do we see here? The law of the Spirit of life has set you free. Okay, that's an absolute again here.
Speaker 1:Okay, and Paul just got done talking about how sinful he is. He keeps sinning and failing. And what is wrong with me? Who's going to save me from this body of death? And then he says but God, the spirit, has set me free. The end, there's nothing more there. Now, what did he set me free from? The law of sin and death? That there's a rule in this life that says that if I sin, I die, and that there's a perfect law of God that I have to uphold on my own and if I can't uphold it, I'm accountable for every action. How did he set me free In Christ Jesus? Why? How? Because Christ Jesus fulfilled the law. Christ Jesus lived a perfect life and he offers that perfect life to me, if I simply believe Verse 6, for to set the mind on the flesh is death. Aaron, I hope you're listening.
Speaker 1:We just talked about this. To set the mind on flesh is death, but to set the mind on spirit is life and peace. That means, as a Christian, I can live a dead life. I mean, I can. It's awful If I choose to do what with my mind, to set my mind on the things of the flesh. My life's terrible. It sucks.
Speaker 1:That person did this again. Oh my goodness, I don't know about tomorrow. I don't know if I'm going to make it. Why do they keep doing this? I'm suffering In those moments. Guess what you're going to get Death. You're focusing on the wrong things, or, in a relationship, you focus on the sin of the other person. This person continues to do this again and again and again. I can't handle it. Guess what you've done. You've set your mind on death. Guess what you're going to get Death.
Speaker 1:What we keep our mind focused on produces a fruit, and it takes years sometimes to learn that and understand. Wow, that actually is a reality of life. That's like a law of life. Understand. Wow, that actually is a reality of life. It's like a law of life. But if you and I keep our minds focused on the Spirit, on God, the Spirit, what do we get? We are guaranteed life and peace. You know how many people in this life you look at and say that's a peaceful person? I'm here to tell you probably almost none. What would happen, my dear friends, if all of us in this room, god slowly but surely transformed and the world was able to look in, and as we suffered and the world made fun of us and caused us all these different pains, we were at peace? What kind of testimony would that be? The world would not understand, but it might get them to ask questions. That's what a church is supposed to be a light on a hill. We don't blend in. We're supposed to look different. One of the greatest ways in this anxiety-driven, entertainment-focused world is to be at peace. You know what you and I are really bad at doing being at peace. So we all have homework.
Speaker 1:Now continue Verse 9. You, however, verse 9. So you and I don't have to live according to the flesh, according to the rules of this world, because God lives inside of us. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Very simple, very easy. If God does not live inside you, you are not saved. It's not like a first blessing, second blessing, maybe a third blessing down the road. At the moment you are saved, you're what's called baptized in the spirit. It's not this experience, it's not a thing. It is a moment when you're saved and the Holy Spirit lives inside you and begins to change you from the inside out.
Speaker 1:10, but if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, can I get an amen to that? Yeah, the body is dead because of sin. We all feel that, physically, emotionally, spiritually. But on the other side, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. So you and I, as we feel the aches and pains of this body as we fail continually, as other people fail, it shouldn't make us dreary or hopeless. It should point us to the fact God is perfect. God is perfect and my hope is not in this world or in these people, or in being pretty enough or strong enough or successful enough. My security is that the spirit is life. Everything I need is in him.
Speaker 1:Verse 11, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. That's the lifeline. The lifeline that connects us to heaven is the spirit living inside us. It's like an oxygen mask of beautiful heavenliness that's stuck to us as soon as we're saved. And you and I can tell when we're off, because we'll start to act cranky, rude, arrogant. We start to despair and usually that's a sign to you.
Speaker 1:I've taken my oxygen mask off. I'm not breathing in what I should be breathing right now. I'm not breathing in what I should be breathing right now. I'm not focusing on what I should be focusing. Why? Because the Spirit promises to give me life, continuing in chapter 8, verses 13 through 17,.
Speaker 1:It says for if you live according to the flesh, you will die. Okay, what happens if you live according to the flesh? Oh yeah, you die. Let's try it again. What happens if you live according to the flesh? That's right. So when you go home later today and you have an opportunity to choose your sin, you need to remember if I live according to the flesh as a Christian, as my security is in heaven, I have nothing to worry about. But if I choose my sin, I will live death here, and you and I feel that all the time.
Speaker 1:I remember one point in time I used to struggle really bad with a handful of sins, when I was first saved and I knew that in the morning I would have a lot of temptation saved, and I knew that in the morning I would have a lot of temptation, and so I almost made it like a sprint to like get out of bed and get out of my house to go somewhere else, cause I knew if I don't, I'm going to fail. And what I learned is, if I fail in a big way at the beginning of the day, the entire day might as well have been shipped down the road to some stink factory because it was awful. You and I have to wake up to this reality. If you live according to the flesh, if you allow your mind to think about things it shouldn't be thinking about, if you allow your heart to dwell on things it shouldn't, you're going to fail, not because you're like you just didn't make the right decisions or you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but because you chose to live according to the flesh. And there is a promise with that you will live death. But if, by the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. So what happens? If you put to death the deeds of the body, you live. Here's the cool thing you and I can see from that a promise Number one. Your promise the ability to put the deeds of the body to death. So you might say no, no, I've always been addicted to this. I can't help it, I'm stuck. It's my metabolism, it's my parents, it's that person, it's this phone? Guess what? You will find none of those.
Speaker 1:In this verse, the promises of god say you have the capacity, by the spirit, to put them to death. You can kill your sin and you must be killing your sin, but you are unable to do it on your own. If you use the wrong tool, you ain't gonna get there. The spirit is the only way. How do we put death to death, the deeds of body? By trusting in the spirit, by reading his word, by praying, accountable relationships, loving sacrifice.
Speaker 1:One of the best ways to avoid your sin is to start pouring into somebody else's life. As I sacrifice for someone else, I have a lot less time to worry about my sin and I used to say I used to disciple a group of young men there was probably four or five of them, all college age, and they used to talk about at nighttime, really struggling with porn and like what do I do? What do I do? And I used to say all the time the biggest problem you're having right now is you're not meant to go to bed until you're passing out. You're a man. You were made to go out until you're passing out. You're a man, you were made to go out, kill something, die while you're out there, come back limping and pass out. That's your job. So let me tell you something If you allow boredom or we'll call it mental meandering to happen, you're going to fail, because you weren't designed to be bored. You weren't designed to be wondering what you should be doing. You were designed to pour your life out for somebody else.
Speaker 1:Verse 14,. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Again, no qualifications. I don't know if you have great parental relationships or poor ones. No matter the case, you and I have a perfect heavenly Father who promises at the moment you're saved. You have a perfect heavenly Father. You are a son or daughter of God, and that will never change. It's a status that will never, ever go away.
Speaker 1:Why Verse 15,? For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. What does that mean? The temptation is, I'm going to fall back into fear. I'm going to say I'm worried about me and God, I'm worried about our relationship, I'm worried I'm not secure, I'm worried I'm not loved. We instead received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba, father, that's like the word Abba. There is, like Dada, you and I have this parental, this familial relationship with God to where, in our weakest moments, we're like a little toddler they can cry out to him and say I can't do it.
Speaker 1:Verse 16, the spirit himself bears witness, with our spirit, that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. The Spirit testifies to that truth in our hearts and our minds so that you know I am a child of God. You can know today I am a child of God. And then the homework is you must be willing to suffer in this life in order that one day you'll be glorified with him. And Paul says don't worry, the suffering of this life is not even worth comparing to the glory that we'll receive one day.
Speaker 1:Romans, chapter 8, verses 23, 26, and 27. It's our last part here in Romans, chapter 8. 23, 26, and 27. It's our last part here in Romans, chapter 8. It says and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly, as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. So we see here the ministry of the Spirit, that we are the first fruits of the Spirit. That means that of the Spirit's work we are the primary purpose of that ministry. So when the Spirit is doing the teaching and the encouraging and the coming alongside and the advocacy and standing in the gap for us and praying for us, in all those moments we see purpose.
Speaker 1:The Spirit has said I'm working on your behalf and you and I can say we were the first in line. Why? Not because we were the first ones saved, but because, in God's view, time is something he looks down on and sees all of it. And in the very beginning he chose you. Before the foundations of the world he chose you. That's why every Christian is the first fruits. Isn't that a beautiful little loophole? You're like no, first fruits makes no sense, except for maybe the first Christians. And you're like, no, no, no, no. God's above time Verse 26,.
Speaker 1:Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. What does the Spirit do? He helps us in our. What does the Spirit do? He helps us in our Weakness yeah, weakness. We all need to be reminded of that. He helps us in our weakness. Why? For we do not know what to pray for, as we ought. That is so important.
Speaker 1:A lot of people will say I don't know how to pray and I just tell them join the club. You never get to a point where you're like, all right, I got this prayer thing down, like no growth opportunities, no room to go anywhere, I'm good, we don't know what to pray for, as we ought, and really, what that's pointing to. When you look at the Greek language, it's actually pointing primarily to the amount of frequency, so like we don't realize how often we should be praying. And that's because you and I are very practical. So we look at prayer like this, like secondary aspect of the Christian life. It's like choosing to eat a snack during the day. It's like some days, another days having a cup of coffee. It's like some days, another days having a cup of coffee.
Speaker 1:We don't know how often we should be praying. And then also number two the words we should be praying. So the good news is the Bible has promised you don't know, so you're scot-free, you don't gotta feel bad about that. You ain't gotta kick yourself and say I wish my prayers were like that person or this person, Because guess what the Spirit does? He says I know you don't know the words to pray. I know you don't know how often to pray, so I will pray for you with words that can't even be spoken. That's how deep that is.
Speaker 1:You and I, I want you to think about that for a second. Our prayer needs are so bad and so big that we need God to pray for us all the time in words that can't even be expressed in the English language. That's a big one. That's a big one. That's a big deal. But the Spirit does this and we should feel doubly honored, because guess who else prays for you Every day, all the time, jesus. So two persons in the Godhead pray for you every day when you're in your weakest moments, when you're failing and you're on your knees again and you're quibbling and you don't know what's going to happen, god is praying for you Verse 27,. And he who searches hearts knows what is in the mind of the Spirit. Because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. The perfect qualification. You and I.
Speaker 1:We don't get to say, god, I really want this job, may I have it please. And then, when we don't get it, get to stomp our feet and say God didn't answer my prayer, he did answer your prayer. The answer is usually, in my experience, no, and it's because of that last verse. We don't know what to pray for, and so we pray for the wrong things. Now I don't know about you, but I'm thankful for a lot of unanswered prayers. I remember when I was first saved I really wanted this job, working on trains in Alabama. Now I'm here to tell you that three years, four years after I got saved, I was in Alaska and met my wife. And if I had had my prayer answered and I got on the trains in Alabama, I would have never met my wife, my beautiful children would not be here and you guys wouldn't have to deal with me on a weekly basis.
Speaker 1:Thank God for unanswered prayers. Sometimes the best answer is no, sometimes the best answer is not yet, and you and I rest in the fact that God cares perfectly for me and he knows what is best. So he prays according to the will of God, which is why, if you ever hear me pray for something specifically, I almost always caveat it and I'll say something like God, if it is your will, we ask that you would give us a building we can fit into. We ask that you would help us to get into our house that we need to get into. But if not, we trust you. Right.
Speaker 1:And again, that goes back to the Christian saying the anthem of all Christians found back in Daniel. You guys probably know them as Shadrach, meshach and Abednego, or it's called Shadrach and Benny from Pitches. Yeah, my daughter just nodded at me. We're good. So what do they say? They're threatened with the fire. What do they say? They say three things. And this is your Christian life in a nutshell you ready, my God can, my God can, my God will. And even if he doesn't, that's the Christian life right there, like we're going to throw you in the fire and kill you, my God can save me. He will save me and even if he doesn't, it is still perfectly right and good and I will praise him. There's your prayer life in a nutshell. God, I know you can, god, I know you will, and even if you don't, I will still praise you.
Speaker 1:The Holy Spirit is magnificent in all these things and we have our last slide there, which is some of your favorites and some of your least favorites the right and wrong views of the Holy Spirit. So we have what's called Macedonianism, and that is the Holy Spirit is a created being, so there's a popular view of the Holy Spirit just having this being a creation. There's Binitarianism, which is Jesus and God are divine, but the Holy Spirit is not so, like the idea that the Holy Spirit is a part of God but isn't like God. God, god Subordinationism the Holy Spirit is subordinate to God in nature and role, so it's like Jesus and God are like super God and then like the Holy Spirit is lesser God, and then non-trinitarianism is the last one. This is probably one of the most popular negative views of the Holy Spirit is lesser God, and then non-Trinitarianism is the last one.
Speaker 1:This is probably one of the most popular negative views of the Holy Spirit. It has to do with his nature and that's that the Holy Spirit is only God's power or influence. So the greatest illustration of that is when people would use the sun as an illustration of the Trinity and they're like, yeah, god the Father is like the core of the sun and Jesus is like the light. And God the Father is like the core of the Son and Jesus is like the light and the Holy Spirit is like the heat that comes off of it. If you do that, you're going to have a very wrong view of the Trinity. So again, we've talked about like you don't use illustrations of the Trinity, you use negative illustrations.
Speaker 1:The Holy Spirit is not God's power or influence. He's not a created being. He is co-equal, co-eternal and co-substantial. That means he has the same essence as the Father and the Son. He is God and we are to worship him and to pray to him, to sing to him, to love him. And one of the greatest wrestling matches that we always have, as we end this now on the Trinity, we've had four weeks on the Trinity and now God the Father, god the Son and God the Spirit. One of the greatest things you can walk away with in all of this is to look at those three persons of the Trinity and to say which of these is out of balance for me, sometimes there's way too much of an emphasis on one or the other. There is a focal point on Christ, and yet we are never to forget the blessing and the beauty of God, the Spirit.
