John 14:16, 26
Our understanding and experience of the Holy Spirit must be under the
authority of the Scripture.
Last Sunday we studied the deity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is equally God, no lesser God. He is also personal, constantly with us and within us. We learned that one of his works is to convict us of our sins and bring us to God. He is always there pointing us to Jesus Christ. The holy spirit is like a floodlight, aimed at Jesus Christ.
This morning we'll continue to look at the work of the Holy Spirit. In recent years, whenever we discuss the Holy Spirit, we like to link it to those supernatural phenomena such as speaking in tongues, miraculous physical healing. On the one hand its not right to ignore such phenomena, and on the other, we must not let our experience or the lack of experience define how the spirit works in us. Often we say, because I have this experience, therefore the Spirit must work this way. Or because I don't have this experience, therefore the Spirit could not have worked this way. I feel that we want to carefully focus on what the Bible teaches about how the holy spirit works in our lives. One important principle we are to remember is: our understanding and experience of the Spirit must be under the authority of the scripture.
"....seal of ownership on us..." The holy spirit is like a seal, a stamp. When your company buys an equipment, the first thing you do is to put the company's name on it. We put our names in our books, on our briefcases and computers, to show that they belong to us. When God puts his spirit in us, it? like his signature, his stamp, saying that we belong to him.
Do you ever feel bad and disappointed in yourself?
Discouraged about your Christian walk, feeling like a failure. You even start to wonder about your salvation, like do I really belong to God? If so, how can I be such a mess? What is God's response? When you first put your faith in me, I have already given you the holy spirit. The presence of the spirit is proof that you belong to me. Nothing can change this. You see, our assurance of salvation and that we belong to God, does not depend on our feelings or circumstances, but based on the fact that the holy spirit is within us.
1. Future hope.
In 2Cor 1:22, we read about the spirit being the seal of God's ownership over us. We also learn about his being the guarantor of things to come. The word "guarantor" is equivalent to an engagement ring. When I give you this ring, I am promising that I will marry you someday. "Guarantor" is also like the down payment. When I put this amount of money as a down payment, I am promising you that I will continue to pay, and am committed to this deal. Here we learn that as God gives us the holy spirit, he is committing himself to things to come. He is saying, the holy spirit is the down payment, and you can be assured of what is to come. So what is the future? It has to do with salvation.
When we first put our faith in Christ, our spirit/soul is being delivered from the bondage of sin. We're still being tempted by the evil one to sin and to go astray from God, but we can say no to it. As we grow spiritually, we rejoice over the progress we make, but also frustrated at the failures. Sometimes it seems its 1 step forward, two steps backward. Our physical body still suffers from the result of sin in this world. We experience physical and emotional pain and suffering. Here Jesus is promising us that one day, both the spirit and the body will be
completely delivered from sins' influence and bondage. We will be like him and our physical bodies will be transformed, there'll be no more pain or suffering. We can be certain of this because of the presence of the holy spirit within us. He is the down payment, the guarantee. He is the reason for our hope.
2. About the baptism of spirit.
At this point, I feel the need to briefly address the topic of the baptism of the spirit. I remember reading a newsletter from a church in HK. It reported how it recently spent an entire day in certain part of China, teaching the churches the "baptism of the spirit". In some churches, there's the teaching that our experience of the holy spirit is in two steps. At our conversion, we receive the spirit. Then later we need the baptism of the spirit, which is
evident in the speaking of tongues.
When we look up the scriptures, the term 'baptized with the spirit' appeared 7 times. 6 times it was referred to John the Baptist's
saying, (Luke 3:16),"John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." This was fulfilled when the holy spirit came upon the disciples on Pentecost. The 7th time is found in 1
Corinthians 12:13,"For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body -- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free -- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." This is a clear reference to all believers. In the Bible, there is no teaching on two stages of our experience with the holy spirit. When we first believe, the spirit enters within us. As we mature spiritually, there will be a greater and deeper experience of the spirit? work in our lives. At times, we may have a keen and strong awareness of His presence among us.
I still remember on December 31, 1967, the last night of the Urbana Conference. When 12,000 people without a sound observed the holy communion together. One could almost feel the holy spirit walking among us. There are other times, such as during the worship service or communion, when the presence of God is strongly felt.
The holy spirit convicts us of our sins and points us to Jesus Christ. His presence inside gives us the assurance that we belong to God and one day, we'll experience salvation in its fullest sense.
What do you consider as the nature and chief objective in Christian life? In recent weeks there have been several feature articles in the Newsweek and Time magazines about a new generation of computer professionals. When asked,
"what is their main objective in life?" many answered that they wanted to make enough money so they can retire at 40 or even 30. You see, the chief objective in their lives is to make as much money as they can in a short few years. Now that you are a Christian, what is your main objective in life? Ephesians 1:4,"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." God chooses us, for what purpose? To be holy and blameless in his sight. To be holy is to be like God, like Jesus Christ. To have our thoughts and behaviors conform to God's standards. 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8,"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." Why was the spirit given to us? To help us live a holy life. You see, we are chosen and called to be holy. Holiness is a process. And God gave us the spirit to assist us in our journey of holiness. John Stott writes that the Holy Spirit not only shows us to Jesus Christ, but to also form Christ in us. You see, the main objective in a believer? life is to become Christ-like. The holy spirit works inside us, so we can become more Christ like, more holy.
There is also the human responsibility. We don't just sit and wait for the spirit to do his work. We have our part too. With the help of the spirit, we're to rid those characters traits, thoughts and behaviors inconsistent to God's holiness.
We maybe very disappointed or disillusioned about our marriage. We want to pack and just move out. But there is always that still and small voice, urging us not to, instead to trust God and ask him to bring changes into our lives.
The spirit is constantly urging us to do what is consistent to God's character. He is our enabler, quietly working within us, giving us the strength we need to live a holy life.
The Holy Spirit gives us assurance, enables us in our pursuit of holiness, furthermore:
In John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13, Jesus repeatedly referred to the Holy Spirit as the "spirit of truth". The holy spirit reveals and teaches God's truth.
1. Inspiration of the scripture.
Jesus promised his disciples in John 14:26,"….he will teach you all things.....will remind you everything I have taught you..." 16:13,"...(he) will guide you into all truths.." Jesus is telling his disciples that when the holy spirit comes, he will teach them everything, he will remind them of all the things Jesus had taught them, and the spirit will guide them into truths that will be revealed to them. Therefore, later on, as the holy spirit taught and reminded the disciples of Jesus' teaching and showed them new truth, they wrote them down. This the how the NT came about. Yes, there were many who wrote the NT, but all were inspired by
the same spirit.
Today, we have God's word before us. But there are situations when we find the holy spirit reminding us of the words we have studied. Some times they encourage us, other times they convict us. Many of us have experienced how the right scripture words come to our minds at the right time and the right place. In my conversation with people, frequently the spirit will remind me of a certain scripture verse. And it turned out that this is the verse the person needs to hear. Even to this day, the holy spirit is still reminding us of his teaching. Having said this, I also need to point out how important it is for us to read God's word regularly. You see, without reading the Bible, it will be very hard to be reminded of anything.
2. Our understanding of God's word.
The holy spirit is the author of the scriptures, and the interpreter of God's word. He helps us to understand what is revealed in the Bible.
In my study of the Bible for a class or sermon, very
often I would come to difficult passages. Then as I meditate upon them or look up some commentaries, I begin to understand it better, like a fog being lifted. I am certain that the holy spirit has also helped you in your understanding of the bible. When we try to look at a sundial on a cloudy day, we can't tell anything. But when the clouds are gone, the time marks become clear. The spirit removes those clouds in our minds so we can understand God's word more clearly.
3. Our understanding of truths outside the Bible.
The spirit of truth not only helps us to understand the truth in the Bible, but also other truths. Swindoll writes about truths outside the Scriptures. There are truths about our decision-making. What is the right decision. Shall I decide this way or that way? There are also truths about relationships. Is this the right person for me? How shall we lead this church, which is the right direction for her? And then regularly, I have to seek how to best explain and apply God's word to the congregation.
For example, I remember one particular Sunday morning, after I got up, I felt strongly that I needed to change the way I concluded my sermon. After retyping it, I asked, "is this really from the spirit?" What if I think so, but the congregation doesn't? What if I feel so strongly that the holy spirit wants me to say this, but it falls completely flat on the congregation? You see, because I am still under the influence of sin, my heart is still corrupt, my mind is not pure as it should be, plus there are times I don't even know what my motives are, therefore, it is hard for me to be 100% certain that this decision to change or to go is from the spirit. This is the reason we have to be cautious about making statements such
as, "the spirit told me to say this to you, or the spirit wants me to come here." I don't doubt for a second that the spirit can and will instruct us what to say and what to do. But we also have to remember that because of our sinfulness, we may not be 100% certain in distinguishing the spirit's prompting from wrong
human motives. People around me must affirm the inner prompting that I experience.
It's clear from God's word that the Holy Spirit is actively working in our lives. The spirit convicts us of our sins and points us to Jesus Christ. He helps us to understand the truth he has revealed to us in the Bible, assisting us to make the right decisions in our daily lives. He is also actively enabling us in our pursuit of holiness. As we examine these works closely, there is a common thread that goes through them. The Holy Spirit works in our lives for our good. He works inside us so we can be the person God wants us to be, to become more and more like Jesus Christ. He wants us to live lives that are joyous, meaningful and with purpose. But He doesn't do it alone. He respects and wants us to cooperate with him.
I think of the couple ice-skating. How one person takes the lead and the other one follows and responds, resulting in beauty and harmony. Or like the baseball game (remember baseball?), how the catcher is constantly sending signals to the pitcher telling him how to throw the next ball.
The same with the holy spirit's work in us. He gives us the signal, he leads, sometimes even pushes, but we have to respond. As we follow the spirit's leading, he'll turn our lives into a beautiful tapestry.
This is the reason I boldly ask you to once again join me in this prayer:
Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me.
I am confident when the spirit comes in to melt our hardened and callous hearts, mold us into his likeness, fill us with his power and use us to build up his kingdom, our lives will be so much more fulfilling and meaningful.
Sunday Oct 17th, 1999, Rev. William Hsueh, Houston Chinese Church, Houston, Texas.