Have you ever had an overwhelming desire to draw close to God and really sense His presence?
I think most of us have if we're Christians.
Last Sunday night's storms may have had that effect on you.
When the phone rings in the middle of the night with tragic news,
one of the first things that we will do as Christians is call out to the Lord.
We desperately want to sense His presence then, don't we?
Sometimes we have to make major life-changing decisions.
And so we pray.
And we really want to have a sense of God's, not just His presence, but His guidance.
His giving us direction concerning this decision we've got to make.
You know, all of us, no matter what your walk in life,
all of us have times when we're just stressed out, when we're afraid, when we're uncertain.
And we want to experience God's presence and have Him to assure us that He's with us,
that He's for us, that He cares, and that He is in control.
Those are some things that we as Christians, children of God, desire, want.
And hopefully we do experience that.
That's the Lord's will.
The Lord Jesus Christ wants us to have that kind of relationship with Himself and our Heavenly Father.
In fact, both Jesus and our Heavenly Father have already acted to make it possible
for us to experience every day His presence, the Lord's presence, the Father's presence.
What they've done in providing this for us, they've sent the Holy Spirit to live within us.
Last Sunday, Easter Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of the Lord.
And I called attention to some of the major points of the Gospel.
I pointed out how Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
How He arose from the grave by the power of God
and appeared to over 500 people over a period of 40 days.
The Lord's ascension was something we also looked at last week
when the Father seated Jesus following the resurrection at His right hand,
the place of power and authority.
But you know, there is one vitally important part of the Gospel missing from what I just said.
God the Father and the Lord Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to indwell every person who believes the Gospel.
Every person who trusts in Jesus as their Lord and Savior receives the Holy Spirit within them.
Think about this.
Jesus saves us not just so we can be forgiven and miss hell,
but to bring us into a new relationship with Himself and our Heavenly Father.
This is not just a new relationship.
It's a right one.
It's a healthy one.
It's close and personal.
And the way we experience that kind of fellowship with our Heavenly Father and the Lord
is through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
I want us to look at several passages this morning about how this is possible.
We're going to look first.
We have the presence of the Holy Spirit within us.
All of us as Christians.
This message is to believers.
People who have a real relationship with Jesus.
If that's you, you need to understand the presence of the Holy Spirit is with you.
He is with you.
Jesus promised that He and the Father would send the Holy Spirit to live in us after He returned to heaven.
During His last night with His disciples, Jesus had an extended teaching time with them.
John records this.
John chapters 13 through 16.
In those verses, specifically chapters 14, 15, and 16, Jesus refers to sending the Holy Spirit four times.
Here's one example that emphasizes how Jesus is going to send the Holy Spirit to live in us.
Look at the scripture from John 14.
Jesus said,
Jesus is promising, comforting His disciples.
That after He leaves them, He is going to send His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, to be with them and in them.
Now, the book of Acts describes how Jesus and the Father originally fulfilled that promise.
And they did it in a very powerful and unique way.
In Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 13, we read how the Holy Spirit came upon those first disciples on the day of Pentecost.
I encourage you to open your Bibles and read that sometime later today.
As you read that, I want you to notice all those believers were Jews.
But the Christian faith is not just for Jews, obviously, if you just look at us.
The Christian faith is for all people.
Paul said it very clearly in Romans 10, 13,
For all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
The book of Acts intentionally shows that salvation is for all people.
And it describes how all believers, not just Jews, received the Holy Spirit.
If you move on in Acts chapter 8, verses 14 through 17,
We read how the Holy Spirit came upon the Samaritans,
the group that the Jews hated, despised.
Yet when God saved those people,
the Holy Spirit came upon them just like He had the Jews.
And then later on in Acts chapter 10,
we read this entire chapter tells us this story,
how the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles who believed in Jesus,
just as He had originally on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.
The book of Acts shows us how the Lord got His church started
by sending the Holy Spirit in a unique way
to all who believed in Jesus.
Now, the normal, or what you might call the regular way
God intends for His people to receive the Holy Spirit
is at conversion.
When we trust in Christ as our Lord and Savior,
the Holy Spirit comes to live within us at that time.
I want you to note how Peter explains
this is to be the norm in his first sermon.
In Acts chapter 2, look with me beginning at verse 7.
Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart
and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,
Brothers, what shall we do?
Peter had presented the gospel.
Jesus Christ died for their sins.
He had risen.
He had ascended.
Verse 38,
And Peter said to them,
Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ,
for the forgiveness of your sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is for you and for your children,
for all who are far off,
everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.
Now, I want you to note how Peter told those people
who were under conviction how to respond to the gospel.
He said, First, repent.
And then he said,
Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins.
Then it says,
The result would be they would receive the gift of the Spirit.
Now, let's pause here for a moment.
I want to make sure that no one misunderstands
what Peter meant
when he said,
Repent and be baptized.
Peter was not talking about
baptism taking the place of faith,
baptism being a requirement for salvation.
I think the English Standard Version Study Bible
explains this very clearly and concisely.
Look at it with me.
It says,
This does not imply that people can be saved
without having faith in Christ
as Savior because the need to believe
is implied both in the command to repent
and also in the command to be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins.
The willingness to submit to baptism
is an outward expression
of inward faith in Christ.
baptism is a sign,
not a substitute for faith.
When Jesus was dying on the cross,
there was a man on another cross beside him.
And at some point during the crucifixion,
that man looked to Jesus in faith.
And Jesus responded to him immediately,
Today, you will be with me in paradise.
Now think about that.
That man looked to Jesus in faith
and Jesus assured him,
Today, as we die here today,
you're going to open your eyes with me in paradise.
That man did not have a chance
to be baptized, did he?
But it didn't matter
because baptism is not essential for salvation.
Salvation is by the grace of God,
through faith in Jesus Christ, period.
Nothing else.
Today, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
the moment we put our faith in Jesus
as Lord and Savior.
Every Christian,
every Christian
is indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6.
Do you not know that your bodies
are temples of the Holy Spirit
who is in you,
whom you have received from God?
Think about it.
Look at yourself.
Your body,
if you're a Christian,
is the temple,
the residence of the Holy Spirit right now.
Every Christian is indwelled by the Spirit.
Look also,
if the Holy Spirit does not live in us,
we're not Christians.
Paul made that plain in Romans 8.
anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ
does not belong to Him.
Think with me.
If you are a Christian,
the Holy Spirit,
sometimes called the Spirit of God,
sometimes called the Spirit of Christ,
lives within you.
He lives within you right now,
and He has since the day you put your faith in Jesus.
Now, the question I want to ask you is,
are you experiencing His power?
That's the next thing I want us to look at.
We have the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
After Jesus' resurrection,
He clearly told His disciples
that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit
for their mission,
but He also told them,
don't start until you receive the Holy Spirit.
I want you to note two statements
Jesus gave His disciples
in which He made it clear,
you cannot do what I've called you to do
on your own power.
So wait for this special power that I will send.
Look at it.
First from Luke's Gospel.
And behold,
I am sending the promise of my Father upon you,
but stay in the city
until you are clothed with power from on high.
And then a very well-known verse in Acts 1.8,
Jesus said,
but you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria
and to the end of the earth.
The Holy Spirit lives in us today
to empower us to live the Christian life
as the Lord intends
and as we really desire
if we are the Lord's people.
John Stott gives us a good summary
of the comprehensive work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
I want you to look with me
at how Stott describes,
really summarizes
what all the Spirit does
in every one of us as Christians.
Look at it.
His ministry is both to reveal Christ to us
and to form Christ in us
so that we grow steadily in our knowledge of Christ
and in our likeness to Christ.
He goes on,
It is by the power of the indwelling Spirit
that the evil desires of our fallen nature
are restrained
and the good fruit of Christian character
is produced.
He also unites us to the body of Christ, the church.
He reaches out through us to others,
prompting us to witness to Christ
and equipping us with gifts
for the service to which He summons us.
That's just a general statement
of all that the Holy Spirit does
in us and through us
throughout our lives as Christians.
He helps us to know the Lord better.
He helps us to grow in Christ's likeness.
He helps us to overcome sinful habits,
to say no to temptation.
He enables us to truly develop
Christ-like character qualities.
The Holy Spirit works in a way
to really help us love and enjoy one another
as Christians, as brothers and sisters.
And the Holy Spirit,
when He is working in our lives
and we're being sensitive to His presence,
He will compel us
to share the gospel,
to live out our faith,
to try to reach people who don't know Christ
with this good news
that will change them from the inside out.
The Holy Spirit is at work
in your life and in mine
right now in these ways.
And He will be.
He'll continue to work
as long as we're alive.
We need to be sensitive to His presence
and obedient to His leadership
in each of these ways.
Now, R.C. Sproul gives an example
of one specific way the Holy Spirit works
to help us to understand and apply Scripture.
As Christians, we read the Bible.
It's a part of,
it's one of the ways,
one of the means of grace
that God has given us along with prayer
to grow in our knowledge of Him,
to grow in our knowledge of His will,
to know how to please Him,
to know how to live life the way
that He designed it to be lived.
Well, Sproul explains how the Holy Spirit works
to help us to understand
what God is saying in His Word.
He begins by quoting a passage of Scripture
that ends with this verse in 1 Corinthians 2.
He says,
These things God has revealed to us
through the Spirit.
For the Spirit searches everything,
even the depths of God.
Now, Sproul explains what Paul's talking about there,
how the Spirit searches everything,
even the depths of God.
He says,
Paul is telling us here
that the Holy Spirit
acts as a searchlight
and shines on the text of Scripture
when we read it,
giving us the capacity
to understand the meaning of it.
When this happens,
we see the truth of God
intensely and sharply.
Every one of us who is a Christian
has had this experience
sometime in his or her life.
We are reading from the Scriptures,
and suddenly a particular truth
seems to jump off the page
and pierce our souls.
That's the work of the Holy Spirit.
I want to give you a personal example.
A personal example that I had,
I experienced a few days ago
in my devotional Bible reading.
I was reading through Luke chapter 6.
Luke chapter 6 has 49 verses.
As I just read through that chapter,
three verses just stood out to me.
It's as if the Holy Spirit
directed my mind,
my eyes and my mind
to three verses,
not back to back,
and said something to me.
I want you to look at the verses first.
Verse 31 of Luke 6.
And as you wish
that others would do to you,
do so to them.
Verse 36.
That was verse 31.
This is verse 36.
Be merciful,
even as your Father is merciful.
Then verse 38,
the last sentence.
For with the measure you use,
it will be measured back to you.
Now when I was reading that,
I underlined those three verses.
And I just thought,
I need to show more grace and mercy
to the people who are in my life.
I thought about how God has been gracious
and merciful to me.
He's not giving me what I deserve.
He has been so gracious and loving
and giving me things I in no way deserve.
And so as I was just thinking about those verses,
I thought,
why would I not be gracious
and merciful to other people?
That's what I want them to do to me.
That's the way God has set the example
in the way He treats me.
This is just an example
of how the Holy Spirit
can take the Word of God
and just make it come alive to us.
It may not happen.
It won't happen every time you read the Bible.
But if we're going to read God's Word
prayerfully,
expectantly,
willing to be taught,
God will work through His Spirit
to open our eyes
and to apply His Word
in ways that we need to change,
in ways that we need to mature,
I encourage you,
listen to the Lord,
listen to His Spirit
as you read the Bible.
I want to ask you,
can you see signs
of the Holy Spirit's presence
and power
in your life
the way that you're living right now?
Just think about this past week.
How have you experienced,
how could you describe
the Holy Spirit's presence
and power
in your life?
Are you growing
in your knowledge of Christ?
Are you growing
and becoming more like Him?
Slowly but surely,
all of us.
But are you?
Think about it more specifically.
Are you developing
a real hatred
for sin?
That's something
the Holy Spirit will do
within us
as He changes us.
Are you developing
a real hatred
for your personal
habits
of sin?
Are you making progress
in your efforts
to overcome the sin,
to resist the temptations?
Do you have a real desire
to develop
Christ-like character?
Do you really want to
become more loving,
joyful,
peaceful,
patient,
kind,
good,
faithful,
gentle,
self-controlled?
That's what Paul calls
the fruit of the Spirit.
And I heard it a long time ago
and it stuck with me.
That's some of the character
qualities that Jesus
demonstrated.
And it's some of the
character qualities
we will demonstrate
as we are obedient
to the Holy Spirit's leadership,
as we develop
Christ-like character.
It's not going to happen
overnight.
It's a lifetime process.
But it should be
a process
whereas we can look back
and see
we're moving forward.
We're moving forward.
You know,
one of the most obvious
signs of the Holy Spirit's
working in our lives
is that He gives us
a true desire
and then the ability
to please God.
Paul describes this
in Philippians chapter 2
verse 13.
He says,
For it is God
who works in you
both to will
and to work
for His good pleasure.
Think about it.
Do you have a real desire
to please God?
I mean,
do you think about it?
Do you think about
as you read the Bible
learning what pleases God,
what doesn't please Him?
Do you have a desire
to please God?
Do you have a real
heartfelt desire
to put forth the effort
to please God?
It's one thing
to think sometime
that I really would like
to please my spouse.
but it's totally
different
just to have that thought
and then to put forth
the effort
to please your spouse
by what you do
and see a smile
come over his or her face
as a result of you doing it.
You know,
the way that you answer
those two questions,
do I have a desire
to please God?
Do I have a desire
to put forth
the effort
to please God?
That will show you
if the Holy Spirit
is really at work
in your life.
If you don't see
clear signs
of the presence
and power
of the Holy Spirit,
something is terribly wrong
in your life.
Two possibilities mainly.
You may not be a Christian.
If there's absolutely
never been
and is not today
any signs
of the Holy Spirit's presence
or power in your life,
there's no reason
for you to think
you're a Christian.
And if that's the case
and that bothers you,
I want to encourage you
right now.
Turn from your sin.
Repent.
Put your trust in Jesus
as your Savior and Lord.
Call upon Him
to save you.
Call upon Him
to come into your life
right now.
Surrender control
of your life
to Him.
But it could be
that you are a Christian.
You know,
you've experienced
the presence
and power
of the Lord
at various times
and various degrees
throughout your Christian life.
But right now,
you see very little evidence
of the Holy Spirit's presence
and the Holy Spirit's power.
And if that's the case,
it may be that you've done
as Paul describes it,
you've grieved the Spirit
by your sin.
You've quenched the Spirit
by your refusal
to obey Him,
to do what you know
you should do
when it comes to pleasing God.
If that's true,
if you've grieved
or quenched the Spirit,
if you're not sensing
His presence
and His power,
if you're a Christian,
you're miserable,
aren't you?
We can't,
as Christians,
grieve and quench
the Spirit,
just ignore Him,
disobey Him,
and be at peace
with God.
we're going to be miserable
until we wake up spiritually,
confess our sin,
turn from it,
come back close to the Lord,
renew our faith,
our confidence,
our commitment to Him.
And if that's you
as a Christian,
I want to encourage you
to not wait
another hour,
but admit to God
where you are.
Tell Him how much
you hate it
and how miserable
you are
and ask Him
to work in you,
to change you,
to help you
willingly turn
from whatever it is
that's gotten in the way
between you
and the right relationship
with Him.
Ask Him to help you
to draw close to Him.
And the Scripture says
when we draw close
to God,
He will draw close
to us.
All Christians,
every Christian,
you and me,
we can live
a Spirit-filled,
Spirit-controlled,
Spirit-empowered life
if that's the kind
of life we want
to live.
If we'll be obedient
to Him,
sensitive to Him,
do what He's calling us
to do.
If that's what you want
right now,
I encourage you
to just draw close
to the Lord.
Listen to Him.
Obey Him.
On a daily basis,
to maintain this presence
and power of the Holy Spirit,
spend time with the Lord
and confess your sin.
Don't let it build up
in your life.
Make it a daily practice.
Commit yourself
and you in afresh
every day
to walking with the Lord
in fellowship,
in obedience.
Spend time
every day
talking to the Lord,
listening to the Lord,
in prayer,
in Bible reading.
That's the only way
we're going to develop
a real,
close relationship
with Him.
And you can ask God,
and I encourage you
to do this,
ask God to fill you
with His Spirit
and you in afresh
every day.
You know,
what we're talking about
this morning,
this is not wishful thinking.
We're talking about
absolute fact
based on the Word of God.
we can experience
closeness with God,
but we'll only experience
by the presence
and power
of the Holy Spirit.
And one more thing,
I want you to think
about something
we looked at
for just a moment
last week
and I want to close
with this.
We can experience
closeness with God
by the presence
and power
of the Holy Spirit
and also
by the powerful
prayers
of our Lord Jesus
who is right now
at the right hand
of the Father.
R.C. Sproul
points this out
as a way
to encourage
us as Christians.
Look at what he says.
One of the chief ways
in which God
preserves His people
is through the priestly
intercession
of Jesus.
We see an example
from this
from the night
when Jesus was betrayed.
Jesus knew that Peter
was going to deny Him
later that night
so He told Peter,
Simon, Simon,
behold,
Satan demanded
to have you
that he might
sift you
like wheat
but I have prayed
for you
that your faith
may not fail
and when you have
turned again
strengthen your brothers.
Peter's denial,
Sproul says,
was a ghastly
and heinous crime
but Jesus
had prayed for him
and He commanded Peter
to strengthen
his brothers
when He returned
not if He returned
but when.
So the prayer
of Jesus
for Peter
was effective.
Today,
Jesus is in heaven
interceding
for you and me
if indeed
we belong to Him
and His prayers
for us
are equally
effective.
We can
live
faithful Christian
lives
in this world
because the Spirit
of God
indwells us
and the Son
of God
is praying
for us.
It is our
responsibility
to stay
sensitive
to the Holy Spirit's
presence
and obedient
to His leadership.
And I pray
we're all
going to pray
in a moment
but I pray
that you will
respond to what
the Lord is calling
you to do
right now
and that you
will respond
to Him
every day
in such a way
that you will
make
experiencing
the Holy Spirit's
presence
and His
power
your
normal
way of life.
Let's pray
together.
Father,
thank You
so much
for not
leaving us
alone
in this world.
Thank You
Father.
Thank You
Lord Jesus
for sending
Your Spirit
to indwell
us,
to teach
us,
to convict
us,
to comfort
us,
to encourage
us,
and to
enable
us
to live
our lives
in a way
that will
glorify You,
make a
difference in
other people's
lives,
and bring
joy and
satisfaction
to us.
Lord,
we pray
right now
that You
will so
work
in the
life of
whoever is
listening to
this message
and show
them how
they need
to respond.
If they're
not Christians,
Father,
we pray that
You will
draw them
to faith
in Jesus
now.
And Lord,
for any
Christian who
is
disobedient,
indifferent,
rebellious,
wake them
up,
overwhelm
them
with
conviction
and
brokenness.
Call them
to be truly
repentant
and to run
back to You
in total
commitment,
love,
trust.
rest.
And I
pray,
Father,
that You
will so
respond
that that
person will
experience
closeness
with You,
that they
will enjoy
a growing,
loving
relationship
with You
by the
power and
presence
of Your
Spirit.
Father,
we pray
this in
Jesus'
name.
Amen.
and
Dan
will
be
ση
on
of
my
fear
and
atra