Well, it's a great pleasure to be with you here this morning and to preach in this series.
It's always tricky when you preach at the, I think, the end of the series, I suppose,
and not knowing exactly what's come before, not knowing whether what you're going to say
might contradict what's gone before or they might contradict you.
So, but of course, teaching will continue on here week after week anyway after I've gone.
But it's great to hear, to be here and to speak to you about the Holy Spirit and knowing God as Spirit.
So with that in mind and that task before us, let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Holy Spirit.
We thank you for your Spirit who inspired these words of the Apostle John so long ago.
And we pray, Father, that your Spirit might do his work in our hearts and minds and lives this morning.
Father, we pray that my words might be your words, that you would bless us through your Word and by your Spirit
to the praise and glory of your Son.
And we ask it in his name. Amen.
John's Gospel is a deep and rich reservoir for understanding God.
An ancient writer in the early church described John's Gospel as a pool in which a child may play and an elephant may wait.
Or in our view, perhaps a deep sea diver might continue to never fathom the depths of John's Gospel.
John's Gospel begins, as you well know, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.
John deliberately evokes Genesis 1.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
And in Genesis 1, there's a reference to and the Spirit of God moved over the waters.
And God said, let there be light, and there was light.
And there you see that Trinitarian aspect of God with regard to the creation of the world, the heavens and the earth,
by the breath of his mouth, speaking words.
And it's not surprising, therefore, as the Bible moves on through the Old Testament and the New Testament,
that the language of breath, which of course is exactly the same word as spirit, both in Hebrew and in Greek,
the Spirit of God, the empowerment of God, speaks words.
And the Word of God is characteristic of the Son of God, the incarnate Jesus.
So here you get this interconnection of God, his Word and his Spirit.
If I was to quote to you from Psalm 33, verse 6, where the psalmist says,
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
So John introduces his gospel with this concept and understanding of God in three persons.
And yet you may say, well, where is the Spirit in John chapter 1?
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
There you can clearly see the divinity of the Son of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
But as you move through John's gospel, you see that it's the Spirit of God that empowers not only his people, but also Jesus himself.
So when you get to chapter 3 of John, you have that extraordinary encounter with Nicodemus.
Nicodemus, a ruler in Jerusalem, comes to Jesus by night, no doubt for fear of being seen by the other Jews and his fellow elders in Jerusalem.
And Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus reveals that he must be born again.
You must be born of water and the Spirit.
And here the reference to the Spirit is arresting.
We've already seen the Spirit descend upon Jesus as a dove with regard to in Jesus' baptism.
We've seen the way in which the Spirit has actually empowered, not in John's gospel, empowered him to go into the wilderness for the temptation.
But here Jesus enunciates the important role of the Spirit in being born again.
And the interesting thing is, that is not new teaching.
It's new language, but not new teaching.
And you can tell that because Jesus says to Nicodemus, are you a teacher in Israel and you don't know this?
You don't know that unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, they can't enter the kingdom of God.
What does it mean to be born of water and the Spirit?
Well, being born of the Spirit is a reference to the work of the Spirit to change us from within.
The work of the Spirit to enliven us.
To bring us from death to life.
And the Bible's testimony with regard to that is as old as Adam.
Adam and Eve were told, if you eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, on that day you shall die.
In God's mercy, Adam and Eve did not die physically that day, but they did die spiritually.
There was a spiritual death that entered the human race.
A spiritual death which was not characteristic of Adam and Eve's relationship with God in the garden of Genesis 1 and 2.
Whereby they could talk with God and walk with God and they do God's work in the garden, till the garden, eat of the fruit.
But that all changed when they rebelled against him.
And a spiritual death took place for Adam and Eve.
By God's mercy, they did not die physically that day, because to have died physically that day in a state of spiritual death would have meant an eternal death.
There are three aspects to death in the Bible.
The spiritual, the physical, and the eternal.
If you die physically in a state of spiritual death, then the outcome will be eternal death.
What the Bible chillingly describes as the second death.
But God, in his mercy, protected Adam and Eve from actually eating of the tree of life, which would have perpetuated their state of spiritual death.
And he cast them out of the garden and put before him, put the cherubim there with a flaming sword.
The cherubim, of course, are not just ordinary old seraphim.
They're not your ordinary garden common angels.
The cherubim have a special place in scripture as cherubim of glory.
They're throne attendant angels.
They guard the throne of God.
And the Garden of Eden was seen very much symbolically as God's dwelling place.
The Garden of God, described as such in the Old Testament.
So here are Adam and Eve in this state of spiritual death.
And they, before they can be in relationship with God, must be born again.
The language of being spiritually born, coming to life in God, is evident by the way in which Eve, in chapter 4, speaks of getting a child with the help of the Lord.
There is a woman of faith.
There is her expression of faith.
And so we see the godly line which would have begun with Abel, had he not been killed by his brother Cain.
And there you get the battle between the spiritually alive and the spiritually dead.
And that battle of the seeds between those who are of God and those who are not of God, seen actually from that first human family of Cain and Abel, is demonstrated in the death of Abel and the judgment that falls upon Cain.
The line of faith continues through Seth and through generations.
But throughout the Old Testament, there is the reality that you can be part of the family of Abraham, but not be alive to God.
You can have all the aspects of being part of God's people, but not be alive to God.
And the difference is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Theologians have described that as regeneration.
For obvious reasons, regeneration is new birth, regenerating, bringing a person to life.
So when Paul writes to the Ephesians, he says,
You who were dead and trespassers in your sins, you he made alive.
And raised you to be with Christ and seated you in the heavenly places.
That's all a work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit actually enables us to see things as they truly are.
Enables us to see reality.
Enables us to hear God's word.
Enables us to come to life spiritually.
That's a work of the Spirit of God.
Enables us to hear God's word.
Forward and appeal at a crusade, for example.
May have been taught by your parents.
Became a Christian in scripture at schools.
Or in Sunday school.
Or some other venue.
Or a neighbour or a friend.
Or just by reading your Bible.
But what's actually happened is,
God has brought you from death to life.
He's actually enabled you to see the truth.
Whether it's from the words on the page of the Bible.
The testimony of a friend or teacher or parent.
Or pastor.
What God has done has brought you to life.
You see,
we're all humans are dead in trespassers and sins.
Unless God brings us to life,
there is no hope.
We can't bring ourselves to life.
We can't believe or by ourselves.
If you can think of,
if a dead person,
if after a ship has sunk and there's a life raft
and there are dead people floating in the sea,
it doesn't matter how many life boys you throw them,
they can't hold on to it.
Because they're dead.
They need to be made alive
before they can actually hold on to that life raft.
In John's Gospel,
you get the beautiful story of Lazarus.
And there, you recall,
when Lazarus was dead in the tomb,
Jesus speaks and says,
Lazarus, come forth.
Now, if anyone else had spoken like that,
nothing would have happened, would it?
Lazarus would remain dead in the tomb.
In fact, you can imagine,
you wonder what on earth the people thought
as they were gathering around that tomb.
What was Jesus doing?
Lazarus, come forth.
Jesus didn't go into the tomb
to pick up Lazarus and bring him out.
Notice that?
What Jesus did was he spoke
life-giving words.
The very words he uttered
brought life into Lazarus.
And when Lazarus was brought
from death to life,
he hears in that instance,
Lazarus, come forth.
And he gets up and walks out.
He responds to the invitation of Jesus.
He responds because he's been made alive.
You can't imagine him, can you,
waking up in that tomb and saying,
oh, Jesus is calling me,
but it's not too bad here.
I've been here four days.
I can stay a bit longer.
It's a bit damp, it's smelly,
but I think it's all right, a bit dark.
No.
Once he knows the condition of death
that he's in,
it's irresistible for him to come forth.
It's the spirit of God
that brings him to life
and enables him to walk out.
Actually, he didn't walk out.
He hopped out
because it's all bound up with linen,
but that's not the story.
What's interesting here is
Jesus is the focus.
There's no reference to the spirit
in that episode
of the raising of Lazarus
because the spirit
never works for his own glory.
The spirit always works
for Jesus' glory.
Have you noticed that?
That's why it's almost subtle,
the way in which the spirit
is referenced in the Old Testament.
The spirit is always there
empowering, as it were,
the saints of old,
the prophets.
The prophets speak by the spirit of God.
The apostles speak by the spirit of God.
The spirit of God is actually there,
but he's always bringing glory to the Son.
And you'll find that there
in chapter 16 of John's Gospel,
which we're looking at,
where the spirit takes what is mine
and declares it to you.
And he glorifies me.
It's a bit like if you think of,
if you look at the Harbour Bridge at night,
and you'll see it's lit up by floodlights.
If you look carefully,
all you can see is the bridge.
You don't actually see the floodlights.
The floodlights' purpose
is to light up the bridge.
That's how the spirit works.
The spirit's purpose
is always to glorify Jesus
so that the attention
is upon Jesus,
not upon himself.
Whenever you hear
of Christian conversations
talking about the importance
of the spirit
and they're glorying in the spirit
or they're glorying in the fact
that they've got manifestations
of the spirit,
it's always a slight danger
if they're not glorifying Jesus.
For to have the spirit of God
means you'll be glorifying Jesus
because that's the spirit's
chief task.
Now let me come to parts
of this chapter in John 16.
Do the second part too
from verse 12
if you've got your Bibles open.
I have many things to say to you
but you cannot bear them now.
When the spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you into all 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.
He will glorify me
for he will take what is mine
and declare it to you.
Although the father has his mind
therefore I said that
he will take what is mine
and declare it to you.
Now he's talking to the apostles here
and I want you to realise
that he's actually talking about
the coming of the spirit
which is a bit strange
because I've just been saying to you
the spirit's already there.
The spirit's already been active
in the lives of the Old Testament saints.
No person could have believed in God
without the spirit of God
making them alive,
regenerating them.
So what is Jesus saying here
about the coming of the spirit?
What does he mean
in terms of the spirit coming?
Well hasn't the spirit
already been there?
Haven't they already been
baptised into Jesus?
Haven't they already been born again
in terms of John 3
which comes several chapters
before John 16?
Aren't they already clean
by the word that Jesus
has spoken to them?
True.
But what Jesus is saying is
the spirit of God
is now going to come
in a
quantitatively
different manner.
In a new manner.
And the language of the baptism
of the Holy Spirit
which you find
in the book of Acts
describes this
coming of the spirit of God
with power.
And what the
main difference
between the Old Testament
activity of the spirit
and the New Testament
activity of the spirit
is
the same spirit of Christ
which is in the Old Testament
prophets
we read of that
in 1 Peter chapter 1
that is the
unascended
spirit of Christ.
The spirit of Christ's
activity in the New Covenant
for us as Christians
is the spirit
of the
ascended Christ.
That's why Jesus says
I'm going to send
another counsellor to you
notice that
another
counsellor to you
but he cannot come
unless I leave you.
He cannot come
until I
go to the Father.
And what Jesus
here is saying
is that there's going to be
a
qualitative
difference between
the Old Covenant Christians
and the New Covenant Christians
and it all
focuses upon
Jesus
and his death.
Because after
his death and resurrection
Jesus ascends
to the Father
and from there
he sends
the Holy Spirit.
He sends
the spirit of truth.
He sends
the spirit of power.
He sends
the other
counsellor.
He does that
and in our church year
as you know
we have
Good Friday
Easter Day
and then
Ascension
and then
Pentecost
or Whitsunday
in the old form.
So that
movement
is that
Jesus sins
and why does he do that
from heaven?
Why couldn't God
have done that beforehand?
Because without
the death
and resurrection
of Jesus
we're still
dead in our sins.
the promise
of deliverance
is there
and now
the reality
of deliverance
is there.
So the
ascended Christ
sends the spirit
of Christ
in order that
we as Christians
can appropriate
salvation
won,
salvation
accomplished.
The Old Testament
were always looking
forward
to the future.
Always looking
forward to the future
of God's deliverance.
they walked
by faith.
Things into which
angels
longed to look
was a salvation
that God was going
to bring about
through the Lord Jesus.
But we
have seen that.
Abraham
rejoiced
in Jesus'
day.
He saw it
and was glad.
He didn't fully
comprehend
all that God had
but he knew
that God
had a plan
and that God
would execute
that plan.
Abraham
walked by faith.
But we
walk on the
other side
of the cross
and the spirit
of the
accomplishment
of redemption,
the spirit
of the ascended
Christ
has now come.
And what's
the spirit
going to do
among the
apostles?
With the
apostles
he's going
to be
another
counsellor.
But don't
go away,
the counsellor
will not
come to you.
But if I
do go,
I will
send him
to you.
Jesus
was the
first counsellor
if you like.
And when
the spirit
comes,
it's another
counsellor
but in actual
fact Jesus
says it's
him.
It's the
spirit of
Christ.
So to have
the spirit
in us as
Christians
is to have
Christ in
us.
You can't
separate their
activity.
Although they
are two
persons in
the Godhead,
it's the
spirit of
Christ who
comes to
us.
It's not an
alien spirit.
It's the
spirit of
the resurrected
Christ.
It's the
one who
brings to
us the
assurance of
our salvation,
the assurance
of our
forgiveness of
sins,
the assurance
of we are
heirs of
heaven and
the hope
of eternal
life,
the assurance
of victory
won.
That's the
spirit's task
in us.
He comes
as counsellor.
He comes
to defend us
from the
accusations of
the evil
one.
He comes
to support
us and
strengthen us
in our
daily life.
He is
there because
he brings
to us
all the
benefits of
Jesus.
And that's
why the
Holy Spirit
is described
as the
spirit of
Christ.
But the
spirit comes,
he guides
the apostles
into all
truth.
And he
doesn't speak
in his own
authority,
but whatever
he learns
from me,
he will
declare.
the spirit
is dependent
in that
sense upon
Jesus as
Jesus is
dependent upon
the father.
As you've
looked at the
trinity over
these last
three weeks,
you'll have
seen that there
is an ordered
relationship in
the trinity.
For example,
it's not the
twin brothers
and the
Holy Spirit.
It's the
father,
the son,
and the
Holy Spirit.
It's
interesting,
isn't it?
It's not
the triplets,
three brothers
as it were.
No,
it's father,
son,
and Holy
Spirit.
There's an
ordered
relationships.
That's why
in the
creed,
as we
said,
the Holy
Spirit
proceeds
from the
father and
the son.
The
spirit,
just as
the son
desires to
do the
father's
bidding,
so the
spirit
longs to
glorify the
son,
and in
glorifying the
son,
he glorifies
the father.
Jesus
speaks about
the way,
if you
know me,
you've seen
the father.
All that
the father
has is
mine.
There is
an equal
authority
among the
three of
them,
but there's
an ordered
relationship in
that devolving
of authority
to us.
So for
us,
the spirit
of God
comes and
dwells in
us.
To have
the spirit
of God
is to
have the
son,
to have
the son
is to
have the
father.
So we
have God
in us,
the hope
of glory.
And the
spirit teaches
the apostles,
and here this
is particular,
we sometimes
take these
verses as
being generic
to all of
us,
the spirit
guides us
into all
truth,
and there's
a sense
in which
that is
true.
But the
apostles had
a particular
focus in
terms of
delivering
revelation,
revelation.
So that
again,
you'll
notice that
we believe
in the
church which
is Catholic
and apostolic.
What does it
mean to be an
apostolic church?
Well,
an apostolic
church is a
church which
was founded
upon the
apostles.
In
Ephesians 2.20,
Paul says,
the church of
God is founded
upon the
apostles and
prophets,
with Christ
Jesus being
the cornerstone.
Here is the
foundation of
the church,
apostolic and
prophetic.
That's your
New Testament,
you see.
Along with the
Old Testament
prophets,
the New Testament
apostles and
prophets bring
to us the
revelation of
God, the
word of God
in written
form, the
covenant document
that God has
given us to
show us how
to live our
lives, to
enable us to
live in a way
which pleases
him.
Now that
apostolic word
is brought
about by the
spirit of God
bringing to
remembrance all
that Jesus
has said.
I mean,
Gen X and
Gen Y can't
imagine how
the apostles
could have
worked without
an iPad and
to remember
everything that
Jesus had
said.
But it's the
spirit of God
who's actually
enabled them to
remember those
things so they
can deliver them
to us.
To us.
If you
remember in
Jesus,
sometimes called
the high
priestly prayer
of John 17,
he prays for
himself firstly.
He prays for
the apostles
and then he
prays for
you.
In the third
section, you'll
notice it
begins,
Father, I
don't pray for
these only,
the apostles,
who have a
special place
in the divine
economy, but I
pray for everyone
who believes in
me through
their word.
That's you.
did you realise
that Jesus
prayed for
you?
He had you
in mind
when he spoke
those words.
He had your
name in his
heart and mind
before the
foundation of the
world.
Your name's
engrafted in the
palms of his
hand, for he
loved you from
eternity.
him.
And when
God the
Father sent
Jesus to
live the life
we could not
live and to
die the death
that we
deserve, he
did not leave
us alone, but
sent his Holy
Spirit to
empower us, to
enable us, to
live for him.
the wonderful
aspect of the
Holy Spirit, as
I said to you
before, is that
he never glorifies
himself.
His chief end
is to glorify
Jesus.
One of the, not
only the benefits,
but one of the
evidences of having
the Spirit of God
is where is
Jesus in your
consciousness, in
your purpose, in
your life?
Is Jesus the one
whom you want to
glorify?
Is he the one
whose name you
want to lift high?
Is he the one
that's going to
challenge you by
his Spirit to
eschew sin?
To defeat
temptation?
To love one
another as Christ
has loved us?
To have the
fruit of the
Spirit, and you
can see this
sermon could go
on and on, the
fruit of the
Spirit with all
its beauty and
glory of love,
peace, patience,
faithfulness,
self-control, all
those aspects of
the fruit of a
relationship with
God that God
brings about by
indwelling us.
Later in the
Apostle Paul's
teaching, he
talks about our
bodies as being
temples of the
Holy Spirit.
So the Spirit of
God takes up
temple residence in
us to sanctify us
so that everything
might be holy.
because God is
doing a work in us
to change us from
one degree of
glory to another
so we might be
perfected that last
day and then we
shall be given at
the last day
spiritual bodies.
Notice that?
Bodies empowered by
the Spirit.
A spiritual body
isn't like Casper the
Ghost whispering
around.
A spiritual body is
a bit like a steam
engine.
A steam engine isn't
composed of steam.
It's powered by
steam.
A spiritual body is
empowered by the
Spirit of God.
And in that
resurrection state,
there we shall be in
such harmony with
Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
For our spiritual bodies
will be in a state of
such perfection.
that death shall be
no more.
Temptation shall be
banished.
Disease and decay
will have gone.
And we shall enjoy
the inheritance of the
saints in light
with God forever,
Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
And there we shall
know in all our
fullness what it
means to know God
as Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
But above all, to
rejoice that God
knows us
and has given to
us the bounty of
his grace, the
glory of his
inheritance, the
forgiveness of sins
and the elevation and
adoption of sons and
daughters of the
Most High, which
he's done in the
Lord Jesus to whom
all be glory.
But through his
Holy Spirit in our
lives, applying all
that Jesus has won
for us, but
ensuring the glory
goes to him and
to him alone.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we
stand in awe at
the wonder of your
grace, at the
beauty of your
three persons,
Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
And as we've
reflected upon the
work of your Holy
Spirit, we just
rejoice that he
dwells in us,
changing us more
and more into the
likeness of Jesus.
Father, we pray
that you would so
enable us to
glorify you and
your Son by your
Holy Spirit, that
we might live lives
that please you and
by your mercies
would be a witness
to the world that
they too might put
their faith in you.
Amen.