THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT - June 12

From the website Magickal-Musings comes these words:  “All of us have them.  They are all around us if we could only perceive them.  Often confused with angels, they are souls who walk amongst us who are here to help, offer guidance, comfort, and yes - even advice.  Just what are these spirits and where do they come from?  They are what are known as Spirit Guides and they come from the Realm of Spirit, or the Other Side.  A Spirit Guide, unlike an Angel, was once a human being, like you and I.  They lived their life, performed their tasks, died, and crossed over to the Other Side.  Some choose to come back, to reincarnate in a new life, in a new place.  Others, however, make the choice to remain in Spirit so they can learn and spiritually advance while helping others still living to learn their life’s lessons. This is a Spirit Guide.

Now I don’t believe in spirit guides.  I’m not saying they don’t exist.  It’s just that I believe they are demons and not human beings who have crossed to the other side.  I bring up this idea of a spirit guide because there are many people who do believe in them and because someone might confuse a spirit guide with the Biblical Holy Spirit.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Today is Pentecost Sunday.  In Judaism the feast of Pentecost came 50 days after the beginning of Passover.  After Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers.  Unlike a spirit guide, the Holy Spirit is fully God and God has given the Holy Spirit to indwell every believer.

I. WE SEE A POWERFUL PROMISE. Acts 1:4-5

We are first introduced to the Holy Spirit in Gen.1:2.  There we read, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” As Christians we are Trinitarian in our beliefs.  We believe that God exists as a complex unity. There is one God who exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  In the Old Testament we find the Holy Spirit empowering various people to accomplish the work of God on the earth.  In other words, not every believer had the Holy Spirit.  It does not appear that the Holy Spirit indwelt believers.  But in Ezk. 36 we read about a time when God would put his Holy Spirit in the lives of his people.  When Ezekiel describes the new covenant that would be put into effect by the death and resurrection of Jesus, he says in v.26-27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.  This is reiterated in Ezk. 37:14.  In Joel 2:28-29 we find another prophecy about the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Joel writes, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”

So here in Acts after Jesus has risen from the dead, he is with his disciples and he tells them that the time for this prophecy to be fulfilled is very soon.  “John baptized you with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” On the Day of Pentecost, God poured out his Holy Spirit upon his people in Jerusalem.  In 1Cor.6:19-20, Paul writes, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.” Brothers and sisters, it is imperative that we understand that believers are indwelt by the Spirit of God.  If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, if you have embraced Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, then you have the Holy Spirit in you.  In fact, in Rom.8:9, Paul says, “And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” So if you belong to Jesus, then you have the Holy Spirit.

As I was thinking about this I was reminded of the old SciFi T.V. program called Stargate.  In that series there are some people who have a snake-like creature living in them.  These snake-like creatures are known as symbiotes.  Many of the symbiotes are evil, but some are good.  The good symbiotes live in a harmonious relationship with the person.  The person provides the body for the symbiote who gives power and healing to the person.  So there is a separate, objective being living in the person.  Now I don’t want to suggest that the Holy Spirit is like a Stargate symbiote, but you can see the comparison.  The Holy Spirit is a separate person living within every believer.  If you know Christ, then right now the Holy Spirit of God is living in you.  There is another person living inside your body.  It’s the person of God.  In fact, God the Father and God the Son dwell within you through God the Holy Spirit.

The Old Testament temple was considered to be the dwelling place of God.  The temple was holy because God is holy.  So if God the Holy Spirit dwells in us that means our bodies are like temples.  Our bodies are host to the Spirit of God.  This is why Paul says our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.  Listen to what Jesus says in Jn. 14:16-18, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever“the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Jesus is with us through the Holy Spirit.

Before going further, I just want you to stop and think about this.  God lives in you every moment of every day.  This isn’t just a theological concept or a psychological feeling.  In fact there may be no feelings associated with it at all.  It’s a living reality.  You are never by yourself because the Holy Spirit dwells in you and in a relationship with you.  But if we don’t recognize this, then what kind of relationship with God can we possibly have?  It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the new life of Jesus Christ and brings us into the kingdom of God through faith or trust in Jesus.

II. WE SEE A PROMISE OF POWER. Acts 1:6-8a

If you were to read through the New Testament, you would find various titles or names given to the Holy Spirit.  For example he is called, “the Spirit of truth,” “...of God,” “...of Christ,” “...of power,” “...of grace,” “...of wisdom,” “...of sonship,” “...of glory,” “...of life,” and “...of holiness.” All these phrases describe what the Holy Spirit is like.  The fact that he is the Spirit of holiness tells us that he is holy.  The fact that he is the Spirit of life, means he gives life.  These names or titles are an indication of what the Holy Spirit brings to the tables of our lives.

So if God puts his Holy Spirit in us, what does that mean for our lives?  This also is an important question.  Paul tells us again and again in Rom.8 that we must live by the Spirit.  It is by the Spirit that we resist and forsake the misdeeds of the body.  The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children.  In Ephesians Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit within us.  That fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” This is the Holy Spirit’s agenda for you and me.  In Rm.8:6 we read, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” In that same chapter we learn that the Holy Spirit actually helps us in our praying.  In 1Cor.12 we learn that the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts to use to build up the body of Christ, his church.  God gives us everything needed to live a life of godliness through his Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

This is a quick summary of what the scripture teaches about the Holy Spirit.  I’m not trying to be thorough here. I haven’t said anything about how the Holy Spirit seals of our life in Christ.  I haven’t said anything about the convicting wrk of the Holy Spirit.  I’m just trying to give us an idea of what the Holy Spirit is about in you and me.  Perhaps the bigger question is how does this work?  Does the Holy Spirit just come in and take over?  Well, no he doesn’t.  You will find that rarely does God just take over a person’s life apart from that person’s permission and cooperation.  There are professing Christians who live as if there is no Holy Spirit.  They do not think about living for God from one moment to the next.  Who knows if they really know the Lord at all?  Only God knows.  Paul tells us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God.  Paul tells to not be filled with wine but to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  In others words give yourself over to the control of the Holy Spirit.

There is no one who can live a godly life apart from work of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  I believe it is important that every day, on a regular basis, we take a moment or various moments, throughout the day to yield or surrender our lives to the Holy Spirit.  “O God I bow before you and acknowledge that you are my God and Jesus is my Savior and Lord.  I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to live for you today.” Trust him to work in you to help you live a godly life and develop a Christ like character.  And then take steps to fill your mind with the word of God. This will give the Holy Spirit something to work with as he brings transformation to your life.

III. WE SEE A WORLDWIDE WITNESS. Acts 1:8b

Jesus Christ is the Lord of life itself.  Only Jesus can bestow fullness of life in the Kingdom of God.  The Holy Spirit is the one who applies the eternal kingdom life that Jesus made possible through his death and resurrection.  When we turn to Christ as our Savior and Lord we enter into this new life and we become followers of Jesus and representatives of Jesus in this world.

So when Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit, He told them that when the Holy Spirit comes, the Spirit would empower them for a very important purpose.  That purpose is to be a witness for Christ in the world.  Now we know what a witness is.  When a witness is called to testify in court he is expected to tell the truth about what he saw, heard, and experienced concerning a situation.  Sometimes a witness puts himself in danger by telling the truth.  In our country we have a witness protection program that protects witnesses from danger.  A witness for Jesus is one who gives testimony about Jesus and how Jesus changed his or her life.  A witness for Jesus seeks to tell others how they can find this new life in Jesus Christ.

When we read the book of Acts, we quickly see that this mandate to witness is not given only to the twelve disciples.  As the church expanded, all the believers took up the privilege of bearing witness of Jesus.  We don’t do this on our own.  We don’t do this by ourselves.  The Holy Spirit enables us to witness for Christ.

You see the 12/12 signs posted at various places here in the church.  Twelve/twelve stands for the idea of speaking to one person a month about Jesus Christ.  We’re talking about saying a word for Jesus to someone else.  I can tell you that since I have taken this challenge from the Lord, I have found more than one opportunity in a month to say a word about Jesus to unbelievers.  Since taking this challenge I have become more aware of opportunities.  Since taking this challenge I actually find myself looking for opportunities.

Many believers find it difficult to witness for Christ.  There is a fear factor that often hinders us.  We’re afraid we may not be able to answer questions.  We’re afraid the person may not receive what we have to say.  We’re afraid we might experience rejection or that it might hinder our employment.  and let me just say that I’m not encouraging anyone to interrupt their work to witness.  We witness on our own time.  And yet, even at work sometimes there’s an opportunity to say a brief word for Jesus.  But we have fears.  We feel self conscious.  It has not been our normal way of being in the world.

Brothers and sisters, we must assess who we are in this world.  Are we followers of Jesus Christ?  Do we have the Holy Spirit?  Do we believe that the Holy Spirit will empower us in witness?  I think you will be surprised to find that most of the things you fear will not come to pass.

Last Sunday we attended the graduation ceremony at Walther High School.  The speaker was excellent.  He had a wonderful illustration at the end of his message.  He said that one day he had his little son with him as they went into the grocery store.  When his son saw the doors automatically open, he asked his dad how that could happen.  The speaker explained to his son that when you step up to the door, somehow the door knows you are there and opens.  It won’t open unless you step up to it.  Men and women, there are many doors for witnessing.  They will not open unless we step up to them with confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us.

Obviously over the years many believers have found courage to witness through the enabling of the Holy Spirit.  Many missionaries have gone out into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit.  What about you?  What is holding you back?  Do you think the Holy Spirit will not empower you?  What is keeping you from stepping up to the door?  I’m not suggesting anyone be unkind, arrogant, or pushy.  I am suggesting that we be who Jesus says we are.  We are his witnesses in this world.  Amen