The Holy Spirit

we're beginning today a little mini
series on the Holy Spirit based on the
first seven verses in Acts chapter 19
it's been four months since last we
looked at the book of Acts we've been
doing and many of you will recall an
extended study in the book of Acts the
reason being that the book of Acts is
the ongoing work of the Lord Jesus
through his church that's why it's
called the Acts of the Apostles and when
last we looked at the book of Acts we
looked at Acts chapter 17 and in Acts
chapter 17 the Apostle Paul finds
himself and one of the great
metropolitan areas of the Greek Empire
the city of Athens let me just bring you
up to date on his second missionary
journey he spends time in Athens and
then when he is finished in Athens in
Acts chapter 17 he moves on to the city
of Corinth we're skipping that chapter
for the time being he spends quite a bit
of time in Corinth then he goes to a
city called kinkin kriya where he gets
his hair cut and you can read all about
that in the previous chapter why he got
his hair cut then he decides he's going
back home to Syria with a stopover in
the city of Ephesus very brief but he
says I'm coming back to see you again so
he goes to Caesaria goes to Jerusalem
ends up going back to Antioch which is
of course his home church they are the
ones who commissioned him for his first
and second missionary journeys so he
spends a couple of months there and now
he starts his third missionary journey
and he decides to revisit all the places
where he has established churches so he
goes to Tarsus which is his home city
originally then
derby Lystra Iconium antioch and then he
goes overland to the city of Ephesus and
that's where we pick up the story this
morning in Acts chapter 19 listen to
these seven verses Y lipolysis was in
Corinth keep that name in mind because
he's referenced earlier on in chapter 18
why lipolysis was in Corinth Paul took
the road through the interior and
arrived at Ephesus there he found some
disciples and asked them did you receive
the Holy Spirit when or after you
believed they answered no we have not
even heard that there is a Holy Spirit
so paul asked then what baptism did you
receive John's baptism there replied
Paul said John's baptism was a baptism
of repentance he told the people to
believe in the one coming after him that
is in Jesus on hearing this they were
baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus
when Paul placed his hands on them the
Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke
in tongues or other languages and
prophesied there were about twelve men
in all that passage will be our text as
we launch this little mini series before
we get into that please join me in
prayer father we look last week at the
story of dry bones in Ezekiel chapter 37
and we echoed that cry can these bones
live in Ezekiel's response only you
Sovereign Lord no and we know that by
your spirit the dead come to life the
blind see the lame walk and so the
prayer of our own heart is that in any
place where deadness remains in
us places where we have lost sight of
you perhaps are where the burdens and
the difficulties of life have just
become overwhelming or we have just
fallen back in love with the world Lord
light the fire again grant us an
anointing of the Holy Spirit so powerful
so real so alive that we cannot but
speak of the things that we have heard
and seen so that the nation's right now
Jesus is the Christ the Son of the
Living broad so bless us in these
moments together give me liberty and
freedom to share your word and all of us
Lord here hearts that are like soil well
prepared to receive that word that it
may spring up and cause righteousness to
grow forth among the nations of the
world and we will be careful to give you
the glory through Jesus Christ it's in
his name that we pray amen well this
passage in Ephesians chapter 9 that we
have just read this morning is actually
one of the more perplexing passages in
the book of Acts perplexing because here
you have a small group of Christians
that can best be described as half-baked
they've come to faith in Jesus but
there's something missing Paul notices
there is something missing and so he
asks them point-blank did you receive
the Holy Spirit when you believed and
their response i think is fascinating
not only have they not received the Holy
Spirit their responses we didn't even
know there was a Holy Spirit well what
baptism were you baptized in them
well the baptism of John John the
Baptist and if you read chapter 18 that
we have just skipped over you discover
that a man by the name of a policy had
been preaching in Ephesus but he only
knew about the baptism of John he didn't
know about the baptism in the Holy
Spirit until Paul's companions Aquila
and Priscilla took him aside and
explained to him the way more adequately
so I wonder are these twelve believers
in Ephesus the fruit of that ministry
whatever the case they are half in the
kingdom but they're missing the power
they need to leave in the kingdom so
Paul explains the fullness of the gospel
to them John preached Jesus baptized
them into the name of Jesus laid hands
on them just like we did this morning
with the installation of office-bearers
and invoked the Holy Spirit who came
upon them the result was they spoke in
tongues and they prophesied now the
reason then that this passage is
perplexing is because it raises a very
interesting question can you be a
believer in Jesus and not have the Holy
Spirit it's interesting question isn't
that and if the answer to that is yes
you can because that appeared to be the
case here then what do you do with
Paul's assertion in Romans 8 verse 9
where he says if anyone does not have
the Spirit of Christ he does not belong
to Christ Paul makes it clear you cannot
belong to Christ and not have the spirit
of Jesus so if the answer to that
question is no
all you cannot be a believer in Jesus
and not have received the Holy Spirit
then what's happening in this particular
story and more importantly for our
considerations why are there so many of
God's people around the world who also
appeared to be half-baked Christians
that is to say they miss the passion the
fire that burns within God's people to
follow the Lord Jesus and instead
they're conformed to the world and their
testimony withers on the vine I don't
think that's too hard to judgment we all
know people like that and not
infrequently we find ourselves to our
dismay at least I hope it's to our
dismay we find ourselves in places where
our love has grown cold where the fire
is barely glowing and the world is much
more attractive than the kingdom of God
so these are very important questions
and that's why we're starting this
little mini series then on the person in
the work of the Holy Spirit we're going
to talk about questions like who is he
what has he come to do what can we
reasonably expect to experience in our
lives when the Holy Spirit is they here
and and how can we experience much more
of who he is and what he has come to do
so we're going to begin this morning
than with the question of who is the
Holy Spirit and let me say the outlet
are the the outset that there's going to
be times this morning as we go through
this that some of you are going to think
this is way too heady for me this
doesn't apply to the practical issues of
my life let me encourage you to resist
that temptation and to stick it out
because who God is and what he is like
in the long run will translate into who
you are how you live life and what you
value because the reality is show me
your God and i will show you your life
give you an example why does islam
produce suicide killers and why are
there at least a significant number of
adherence to islam who cheer on the
martyrs who do that when in Christianity
there are no significant suicide killers
and generally speaking if there are it
is condemned by Christians wouldn't you
agree that's a big difference between
the two religions why well it traces
back to the God we serve Allah and
yahwah are not the same God they don't
have the same values they don't have the
same characteristics and therefore their
followers embrace an entirely different
way of life and that's why what are the
most important things that you and I can
do is to have a proper and biblical
understanding of the God of Abraham
Isaac and Jacob so back to the question
who's the Holy Spirit well if you're
even remotely schooled in biblical
theology then you will know that the
Holy Spirit in Orthodox Christianity is
said to be the third person of the
Godhead for many many centuries now
the Christian Orthodox faith has
maintained that God reveals himself in
the scriptures as three in one that is
to say one God but three persons Father
Son and Holy Spirit here is how one of
the ancient Creed's of the church
expresses it this is the Athanasian
Creed it says in the Catholic faith the
Catholic faith there being the universal
faith not just the Roman Catholic faith
the word Catholic means Universal and
the Catholic faith is this that we
worship one God in Trinity and Trinity
in unity and if you ever have occasion
to read through the Athanasian Creed it
then goes into great detail to explain
what is meant by that and there is this
particular diagram that has been around
for many many years that is known as the
Trinity shield that tries to capture the
essence of the Athanasian Creed as it
tries to express the relationship of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
notice what it says the father is not
the son is not the Holy Spirit is not
the father the father is gone the Sun is
God the Holy Spirit is God so you have
one God but three persons in the Godhead
and if that makes your head explode a
little bit welcome to the club because
that has been the challenge for God's
people throughout all the years and for
that reason trying to grapple with what
doesn't make any sense to us
historically God's people try to come up
with analogies and some are better than
others one analogy that I've often heard
is the analogy of an egg where the egg
is composed of three parts the shell
corresponding let's say to the Father
the yolk corresponding to the Sun and
the light of the eight quarters
to the Holy Spirit and then the argument
is well you've got these three parts but
they're really one egg not bad not good
because you still have three separate
parts that added together become a go on
whereas in biblical reality Father Son
and Holy Spirit are three different
persons but they're still in substance
one God and that is why there's an
analogy that I always come back to that
to me captures it better than anything
else that I know and that is the analogy
of a prism if you've ever done this
experiment in school or if you've ever
watched a rainbow form in the sky then
you will know that rainbow colors are
formed by the refraction of light and
when you take white light and you pass
it through a prism you get the seven
colors of the rainbow but of those seven
colors red green and blue are known as
the primary colors so these three colors
RGB in computer language together make
up white and i love that particular
analogy because here you have light it's
one substance when you see it but it has
three different parts somehow working
together to becoming the one still
doesn't solve the total mystery but it
helps us to understand that even in
nature there are manifestations of the
Trinitarian nature of God now to me it's
more important to understand the working
relationship of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit then how together
they become one go on and if you've been
around this church for a long long time
you may remember that on one or two
occasions I've walked you through this
before but the analogy that I prefer is
this analogy this is an electric circuit
the G is a generator these are wires and
this is a light bulb lit up and in this
analogy you find I think the biblical
dynamic working relationship of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
both in the act of creation is we're
going to see in a few moments and in the
act of redemption if we can keep that
drawing up for just a moment the
generator represents God the Father the
G can stand for God and the reason I
pick a generator to represent God the
Father is because what do you think is
the first and foremost primary quality
power yes he's many many things people
often think of God the Father as the
provider and the sustainer but the most
primary characteristic of God the Father
is that he generates life he calls
creation into being because you cannot
be a father without having a son and so
understand this that for all eternity
past and God has been around forever and
if that blows your mind welcome to the
world that's only because we live in
time God lives outside of time time
doesn't apply to him so God's been there
forever when I was a kid I try to figure
that one out gave up still don't know
how that works decided I don't need to
figure that one out God's always been
there but he's always had a son and he's
always had a relationship with his son a
son who was in His image and a son with
whom he could
share the fullness of his love that's
why a biblical view of the Trinity is so
important because whenever Christians
talk about relationship whenever
Christians talk about community whenever
Christians talk about loving your
neighbor as you love yourself it comes
out of the heart of who God is that's
why Islam and Christianity are very
different in their practical out
workings when the migrants flood into
Europe it's the European nations who
have in a lot of ways rejected the
Christian heritage but who are still the
fruit of the Christian heritage embrace
them with wide open arms because they
know that's what you're supposed to do
is a human being do you know that none
of the big Islam nations in the Middle
East they've ever taken in more than a
handful of migrants it's not part of
their view of who God is because they
reject the Trinitarian nature of God and
they think it's a heresy and they do not
believe that God ever had a son so God
the Father is the generator if we can
have that back up then who do you think
the wires are no good try but we'll get
there who are the wires Jesus is the
wires why is Jesus the lawyers because
this is how the Trinity works God the
Father is the architect of creation he's
the one who sits down designs at all
Jesus is the general contractor who says
to the Father all right give me the
plans I'll go make it happen now here
comes the trick question I'm warning
I can't hear you you got to speak up the
temptation is to say it's the Holy
Spirit but it's no on we'll get to that
in a moment the light bulb is us or all
of creation because the power of the of
empowers all of creation as we'll see in
a few moments cause all of creation
forth so now the big question is where's
the holy spirit in this the Holy Spirit
is the electrical power who lights up
the light bulb here with me in this the
generator generates life God the Father
is the architect Jesus is the general
contractor the Holy Spirit represents
the trades who makes it happen he is the
power that comes from the father through
the Sun that's been a big theological
discussion historically and still
appoint a difference between the eastern
and the Western Orthodox churches it's
known as the filioque clause in the
Nicene Creed they don't believe that the
Nicene Creed says the Spirit proceeds
from the father and the son the Eastern
Orthodox Church says it only pro he only
proceeds from the father that's a whole
complicated issue that a lot of
theological battles were fought over
years and years ago the father is the
architect the Sun is the general
contractor and the Holy Spirit is the
one who hits the road and he actually
makes it happen with his power now if
you're still with me let's apply this
first of all to the creation story and
then to the story of redemption because
remember Redemption is creation
revisited it's to undo the damage caused
by say
so let's talk then about the role of the
father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
in terms of creation we've already
alluded to it God the Father is the
creator he is the designer he is the one
who decides so to speak to call all of
creation into being and if I ask you
this this morning the question why did
God who has been eternally satisfied
within him his own self he doesn't need
anybody from the outside why did God
create you and me not because he was
lonely not because we were going to be
such a great addition to his family just
in case you think you are why because
God wanted children like Jesus with whom
he could share himself my go to verse
for that and the Revised Standard
Version reads it a little bit clearer
than the NIV and it says that God
destined us in love to be his sons
through Jesus Christ according to the
purpose of his wheel for all eternity
past God has had this great relationship
with his son the Holy Spirit has been
part of them and they have so much love
to give that they decided they wanted to
share it with creation particularly with
the human race made in the image of God
and so the opening chapters of Genesis
tells you all about how God creates the
heavens and the earth and makes every
living thing upon the face of the earth
and then on the sixth day of creation
creates Adam and ultimately Eve image
bearers of God people who can reflect
his character and his likeness now most
of you know I'm a little bit of a
science buff and I'm fascinated by space
exploration and I am fascinated by the
discovery
of science and of late science has come
up with a very interesting dilemma and
the dilemma is this the big bang theory
states that the universe let's put up
that next picture of a shot of the
universe with modern telescopes and the
Hubble telescope and we get glimpses of
the universe beyond anything that we
have previously been able to understand
and you know by now I trust that the
universe is made up of galaxies there's
hundreds hundreds of billions of
galaxies in the universe each galaxy has
hundreds of billions of stars now here's
what they've discovered in the last
little while the universe according to
normal understandings of science are
that the gravitational force of all the
stars should collapse upon itself so
that it should begin to shrink in other
words the expansion ought to be slowing
down it's like you throw a ball up in
the air I was going to bring along one
just to show you but forgot what happens
when you throw a ball up in the air
while what goes up comes down right it
goes up slows down reaches a point of
being stationary and then that's what
the universe is supposed to do and a
couple of years ago they discovered to
their amazement instead of slowing down
it's speeding up and you know how
they're trying to explain that I just
told you how big the universe's right I
mean talk about blowing your mind they
now believe that the physical universe
that we see is only five percent of
what's out there twenty-seven percent
they think is a thing called dark matter
nobody knows what that is and
sixty-eight percent
is dark energy they don't know what that
is either but that's the only way that
they can explain how the universe is
functioning I think one of these days
they're going to wake up when they're
going to see Jesus's fingerprints all
over this that's our god of creation and
the purpose of all of that is to
demonstrate how big our God is next time
you think you wonder if God's big enough
to look after you you look at one of
these pictures and you understand the
incredible amount of time space and
energy that is out there all of which is
a product of God the Father that's what
the father did that's who he is and the
universe displays as Bible says is
anywhere all right now what's the role
of Jesus in this more remember Jesus is
a general contractor so Jesus is the one
who takes the father's plans for the
whole universe including human race and
he says I'm going to make it happen and
so repeatedly throughout Scripture we're
told of her in verses that otherwise
don't make any sense at all that the
universe is created through the Lord
Jesus Christ listen to these passages
first of all there is Colossians 1 15 16
and 17 he is the image of the invisible
God the firstborn over all creation that
doesn't mean that he was born it means
that he inherits all of creation for by
him all things were created things in
heaven and on earth visible and
invisible whether Thrones or powers or
rulers or authorities all things were
created by him and for him he is before
all things and in him all things hold
together that's why I keep saying one of
these days they're going to find out
that Jesus's fingerprints are all over
the universe
because he keeps it functioning that's
how big he is and remember this is Jesus
before he is born as a human being he
existed eternally as Co Co God if you
will with God the Father and God the
Holy Spirit Hebrews 1 same thing in the
past God spoke to our forefathers
through the prophets at many times and
in various ways but in these last days
he has spoken to us by his son whom he
appointed heir of all things through
whom he made the universe the son is the
radiance of God's glory the exact
representation of his being sustaining
all things by his powerful word why
doesn't the universe blow up or collapse
or destroy itself because Jesus is
holding on to it by the power of his
word that is how strong the father and
the son are together also explains the
tragedy of his rejection when he comes
to the earth that he had created John
puts it this way he says he that is
Jesus was in the world now notice notice
the contrast here though the world was
made through him the world did not
recognize him he came to that which was
his own but his own did not receive him
this is like you and me investing an
enormous amount of time and energy
building a big company let's say and we
are providing employment for who knows
how many people and products to improve
people's lives and you come into the
plant and they won't let you in in fact
they throw stones at you because they
don't recognize that you are the
architect of creation
that's how Jesus would have felt when he
came into the world and the world
rejected him and not only the world but
he came to his own home he came to his
own people and his own people said who
are you we don't know you that is the
tragedy of the Incarnation and the
incredible demonstration of God's love
so what then is the role of the holy
spirit I'll remember the Holy Spirit is
the one who engages the trades he's the
one who makes it happen and so God the
Father is the architect of creation
Jesus is the general contractor who says
I'm going to make it happen and the Holy
Spirit says give me the plans and i'll
go out and i will make it happen and so
what do we read in Scripture Genesis 1 1
& 2 God created the heavens and the
earth in the beginning the earth was
formless and empty darkness was over the
surface of the deep and what was the
Spirit of God doing hovering over the
waters the image here is that of a hen
brooding its eggs the image here is that
of the breath of the Holy Spirit
breathing life into Ezekiel's dry bones
the Holy Spirit is the power who goes
forth and he makes it all happen and he
brings it to life and that is why we
read in the creation story of Adam
Genesis 27 the Lord God formed man from
the dust of the ground and what did he
do breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life and the man became a living
being see often people will say well God
the Father is the god of creation Jesus
is the god of redemption the Holy Spirit
is the god of sanctification there's
some truth in that but it falls short of
the big
picture all three persons of the holy
spirit are involved in the creation of
the world God the Father God the Son and
God the Holy Spirit and I think when the
universe exploded into being and all of
creation came to life and Adam and Eve
stood there in the garden and God rested
on the seventh day I think the father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit did a
big dance of high-fives and they said my
land we do good work we do good work
don't you think I mean I'm believable
and what I love about science personally
is the more we dig into the universe
both in terms of its micro dimensions
and its macro dimensions the more amazed
we stand at the incredible nature of
God's brilliant creation isn't that true
now
if that's true for creation without
spending too much time on it it's also
true for redemption if you ever asked
yourself the question why if God knew
the world was going to fall into scene
and what ultimately cost his son why in
the world did he go through with it I
mean if you knew that your kid was going
to give you nothing but trouble and
caused you nothing but disaster wouldn't
you have thought twice about having that
kid if you had any say about it you
might not have had any say about it
because you don't know where it's going
to go but God did and nevertheless God
did choose to go ahead you know why
because he wanted to demonstrate the
character of his life and the best way
that I can demonstrate that is this
again picture yourself as rich and
famous and you've got all this love so
what do you want to do you you want it
you want to be get yourself a family so
that you can crown them with the glory
in the honor that you have and and and
and you place them in this amazing
position of leadership and then what do
they do they squander it all the way
they turn their back on you and they
throw your love back in your face so now
they're in jail they have ruined your
reputation they've cost you everything
and you go to jail you bail him out you
bring him home you wash him up and you
work with him until he is restored to a
position of glory do you understand how
in this second case your love is
demonstrated in a way in which it was
not demonstrated in creation that make
sense when you love at the expense of
your own well-being you are
demonstrating other
three of love which is beyond anything
ordinary and that is the heart of God
and so scripture will put it this way
listen to this Romans 58 God
demonstrates his own love for us in this
while we were still sinners Christ died
for us he demonstrates his love in the
gift of his son and John in 1 John it's
not there let me read it to you 1 John 4
9 in this the love of God was made
manifest among us there it is that God
sent His only Son into the world so that
we might live through him I've often
said this I'll say it again if you ever
doubt God's love for his people then
number one look at the fact that he
created you but secondly look at the
fact that when you sinned and rebelled
against you he did everything he could
to bring you back so I'm going to leave
you this morning with these questions
then because we're shortly running out
of time ask yourself the question if
this was the role of God the Father God
the Son and God the Holy Spirit in
creation and of redemption if redemption
is the turnaround of everything that was
caused by seein the number one what was
the role of the father number two what
was the role of the Son and number three
what is the role of the holy spirit and
then you'll begin to understand why each
of the person's of the Trinity is so
terribly important and why the Holy
Spirit
particularly is of critical importance
in terms of how we experience God and
how we experience Jesus he's the one who
breeds life into us and who enables us
to see who God is and to be so filled
with his passion that we cannot but
speak of the things that we have heard
and seen so what's the role of the
father what's the role of the Sun what's
the role of the holy spirit how do they
team up to make it possible for those of
us all of us who have wandered away from
God to be restored to the inheritance
that we've lost fair enough you'll do
your homework I do my work you do your
work this is like teamwork because this
is of critical importance if the church
is to be a flame with a glow of God's
Spirit
you