Today we celebrate what is arguably the most important Holiday in the Christian year. Of course there could be no Christian year without the birth of Christ, so Christmas always ranks up there as an important Holiday. And without his death for our sins, he would simply have been another religious leader so we have to give credence to Good Friday. And I simply have yet to find another day as remarkable as Resurrection Sunday, when this dead man Jesus raised himself up from the grave after conquering our sin and our death. That is incomparable. Yet today is marks another remarkable event that in some churches hardly even gets mentioned. Yet without this event, I doubt there would be a single Christian church in the world today, or for that matter a single Christian. For although God had created us to be his children, and Christ died for us to be reconciled, it wasn’t until Pentecost that the individual miracle of personal salvation became apparent when the Holy Spirit came to live in us! God with us- Emmanuel, became God in Us, the Holy Spirit.
Of course this event had been foretold for centuries, as Peter reminds the Jews by quoting from Joel. And Jesus himself had foretold it just weeks and days before. Yet now it was happening. As we read the Scripture from Acts 2 every year on this occasion (or at least we should) it always catches our attention at what great thing was happening there. I’m afraid, however, that we often think of this as simply another one time event, like Good Friday and Easter, that happened that one time but has effects that continue. Well that is true, but it is not true. It is an event that happened and has effects that continue, but this was not a one time only event. The coming of the Holy Spirit was not something that was to happen just to the disciples and those gathered in the upper room, but it was to happen to all those who believed. Peter actually closes out his message in chapter 2 saying this very thing.
Look with me if you will to Acts chapter 2 verses 37-39. See what Peter says to those who realize that they need to do something about their relationship with God and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him."
You see here, Peter declares that the Holy Spirit is for all who repent and are baptized in Christ. But it is not simply for those of that day, for he continues by saying this is a promise for you, and for your children, and all who will believe on the Lord Jesus and answer the call of God. I hope that we all know this and realize that this was not simply an event in Jerusalem among some witnesses of the resurrection. The book of Acts actually goes further to prove that point by showing the Holy Spirit coming again on new converts in Samaria in chapter 8 and on Gentiles in chapter 10. So clearly, having the Holy Spirit is a mark of a Christian. And each one of us who has believed in Jesus Christ and put our trust in him not only for our eternal destination, but for our everyday lives has the Holy Spirit living within us.
But what does that mean? What does it mean to have the God of the Universe living within you? I tried to explain this to my seven year old, Samuel and at first he said “No wonder you’re so big.” But then he thought, “shouldn’t I be bigger?” It really is a fascinating concept and one that is difficult to grasp. What does it mean to have the Holy Spirit in us. So often we focus on Jesus and what he has accomplished, or we focus on the wonderful works of the Creator, but what does the Holy Spirit do in all this? This is what we are to determine this morning as we look at the words of Jesus from John 15 and 16 and also from Paul’s writings in Romans 8. Let’s begin by looking at the words of Jesus himself.
John 15:26-27 "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
I would like us to notice the word that Jesus uses for the Holy Spirit. He calls him the Advocate. It is the same sense of a legal advocate, or someone who represents the interest of someone else. The Holy Spirit is the representative of Christ, of God, when Christ has gone to be with the father. God is in the world as the Holy Spirit. And as the representative of Christ, this “Spirit of truth” as he also calls him will testify or witness for Christ. But notice where this spirit that is sent from God comes. Does it come to the world as a whole? Does it come to the earth at large? No, it comes to the believers, as Jesus was talking to believers. And part of what the Holy Spirit will do is to help us witness and testify to Christ. Remember the Holy Spirit is a gift to those who believe and as such have already experienced and know something of Christ. Therefore the Holy Spirit will help us to testify to Christ, just as he does for the disciples in Acts chapter 2.
We know that the disciples had seen Jesus’ resurrection for seven weeks and they had yet to tell anyone who was not in the inner circle. Yet when the Holy Spirit came, they began to witness to the world what had happened, just as Christ said they would. They no longer were worried about what would happen to them, they simply knew they had to tell the world about God and the opportunity to know and experience him. You may wonder, where do people get the nerve to witness? How can they be so unashamed and brazen? The answer is, they are probably not, but the Holy Spirit within them is! He is the key to our evangelism and our witnessing strategy. But he is so much more. Look at what else Jesus says.
John 16:8-15 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: [9] about sin, because they do not believe in me; [10] about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; [11] about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
The Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin. In other words, as the NIV and the King James say, He will convict the world of sin. When people feel under conviction because of something you say, it is the Holy Spirit at work, for they should not, in a sense they can not feel comfortable in their sin when they are in the presence of God, and the Holy Spirit is God. However, this is not just for those we speak to and witness to, this is for us as well. We can not stay in our sin while in the presence of God and not feel under conviction. We cannot feel fine with our sin if we have the Holy Spirit living in us, for He will convict us of our sin. So the Holy Spirit is not only the Advocate, or the representative of Christ on the earth, he convicts the world of sin. And although there are many other things he does, time will only permit me to address one more. So let us turn our attention now to Romans 8.
As we have seen what the Spirit’s role is in our witnessing, and in cleansing the world from sin, he has another very personal role. This is the role that most of us cherish about the Holy Spirit. We see it mentioned in Romans 8:26-27.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.
How many of you know how to pray as you ought? This is a tremendous comfort for me for so often I have no idea how to pray about the things that are on my mind. Especially when I am, as Paul says in my weakness. I know that as the Pastor I am always supposed to know the things to say, the right words to pray, but often, perhaps too often, I am at a loss. I don’t know the words to pray for a couple who has just lost their child, or for a woman who is struggling with an abusive situation. I don’t know the words to pray for the family of a man who has died and they know he is not going to heaven. I don’t know what to pray! But the Holy Spirit meets me in my time of weakness. He is there when I am struggling with my own situations, not sure of which way to pray. And he prays for me. That is what it means when it says he intercedes with sighs too deep for words.
I’ll admit, I am glad there are no words during these times because I probably couldn’t say them through the sobbing and tears. Groans are enough, for God knows my heart because God is in my heart. He has my heart, he reads my heart and he transforms my heart. Listen to how this works in verse 27.
And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
God searches the heart, he knows what the problem or issue is, and the Spirit intercedes according to the will of God. He allows my prayer to be what is God’s will. He transforms my heart to his will by his intercession of my behalf. Have you ever wanted to pray the will of God? Then let the Holy Spirit do the praying, for God will always pray his will. We do not have to worry about Unanswered Prayers or misdirected prayers, for our prayers will be according to God’s will which will come to pass. This is great comfort to me; that the Spirit will not let me fail in my weakness, but will intercede, will speak on my behalf and direct it such that I will pray the right thing! That is so awesome! The Holy Spirit is not just the Advocate for Christ, but he is also our advocate with the Father, our intercessor.
Of course there is a lot more to learn about the Holy Spirit, for He is fully God and we can never fully cover God in one session, yet there are some very important truths about our relationship with God that depend on the Holy Spirit. First off, having a relationship with God means having the Holy Spirit. It is a gift of God for all who believe.
Secondly, The Holy Spirit will testify to the truth about Jesus Christ and will empower and embolden you to do the same. He is the authority and the force behind all witnessing, for he is the ultimate witness.
Thirdly, He has not come so that we can ignore sin and just go to heaven anyway. He has come to convict the world of sin. The Holy Spirit does not intend to allow you to feel comfortable in your sin, so if you feel guilt or shame, that is the Holy Spirit at work in you to purify you. Count that as joy, repent and be forgiven!
And lastly, when you don’t know what to pray, the Holy Spirit is there to carry you. Just like in that famous poem footprints, he will carry you through those difficult and weak times in your life, and he will do so in a way that will make you victorious through the will of God. Happy Pentecost! May the Spirit of God fill you afresh and daily Bless you!
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