The Gift We Cannot Do Without

I will be here for the next 4 Sundays and the elders have asked me to speak about the Holy Spirit.

I am really happy to do that but I am also a bit nervous. Yes, I can talk about the Holy Spirit. Yes, I can unpack what the scriptures say, but how much am I personally experiencing the Holy Spirit? I have a suspicion that there is an awful lot more to the Holy Spirit than I am experiencing and than most churches are experiencing. It seems to me that the Holy Spirit is much more prominent in scripture than He is in our lives – at least for most of us. Maybe we start by saying, “We need to know the Holy Spirit better.”

In Acts 8, not long after Pentecost, Peter and John went to Samaria where people had accepted the word of God and had been baptised in the name of Jesus. When they arrived, they placed their hands on them (presumably also praying) and they received the Holy Spirit.

Two questions:

1. Why was receiving the Holy Spirit a priority?

2. How did they know that they had received the Holy Spirit? Was the coming of the Holy Spirit visible, tangible, discernible in some way? How was it obvious that the Holy Spirit was present?

In Acts 19, Paul went to Ephesus where there were disciples. He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

“No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

“Then what baptism did you receive?”, Paul asked.

It transpired that they had receive John’s baptism. They had repented. Fantastic! But they didn’t seem to know about even Jesus let alone about the provision God has made for them to live a new life: the Holy Spirit. There was more than just repenting. Paul then baptised them in the name of Jesus. When he placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

In this instance, we know how they knew the Holy Spirit had come upon them. They spoke in tongues and prophesied. But why did Paul ask them if they had received the Holy Spirit? Why ask that?

I can think of only two possible reasons: either it was very important, and he was checking, or he sensed that something was wrong. Maybe they hadn’t received the Holy Spirit.

How could he tell? How is a church that has received the Holy Spirit different from one that has not?

I convene a Presbytery workgroup to promote spiritual renewal and growth. We thought that we could share stories of what God is doing in the churches in our region as a way of encouraging other churches that God is alive and active. But what we have found is that people tell us about a programme their church has run, or a decision that the elders have made, or a new youth pastor, or whatever, who has been appointed. We are left thinking, “That is great but what is God doing? Not what are you doing; what is God doing?” And, actually, we have found it hard to find stories of what God is doing.

That seems to contrast with what we see in the New Testament. The story of the church in Acts is riddled with references to the Holy Spirit. People have suggested that the Acts of the Apostles should really be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. There are 58 references to the Holy Spirit in that book’s 28 chapters. The whole life of the church was inhabited by the Holy Spirit. People were:

• Baptised by the Spirit.

• Filled with the Spirit.

• Led by the Spirit.

• Empowered by the Spirit.

• Enabled to speak boldly by the Spirit.

• Performed miracles by the Holy Spirit.

• Encouraged by the Spirit.

• Spoken to and guided by the Spirit.

The presence of the Holy Spirit was obvious. People knew that God was supernaturally at work. When miracles happened, when people were transformed, when supernatural guidance was received, people knew that God was present.

I would go so far as to say that the Holy Spirit is so central to what it means to be a church that a church without the Holy Spirit is not a church. A church without the Holy Spirit is simply a club. A church without the Holy Spirit is simply a human organisation. The one thing that makes a church different from any other community organisation is the discernible presence of God.

1 Corinthians 14:24-25 imagine an unbeliever being in a Christian gathering where there is prophecy, being convicted of his sin, falling down, worshipping God and exclaiming “God is really among you!”.

When people look at our churches, is that their reaction? God is really among you.

Jesus spent a lot of time teaching the disciples about the Holy Spirit – especially at the last Supper when He was preparing them for life without Him. When Jesus would no longer be physical present, the Holy Spirit would be with them.

READ John 14:15-31

Jesus promised another advocate to help us and to be with us forever. An advocate is someone who argues on our behalf or supports us. In other words, the Holy Spirit is for us, and Jesus emphasised that by saying that He would be sent to help us. The disciples were worried about being abandoned by Jesus. How could they carry on without Jesus? But He said they would not be on their own. There would be another advocate. The first advocate was Jesus Himself but there would be another; someone just like Jesus. This other advocate, the Holy Spirit, would help them and would be with the church forever.

Jesus could have said, “For 3 years I have trained you. You have seen my example. You have heard my teaching. You know what to do. Now you are on your own.” But He didn’t. He said the opposite.

In v.18, He said, “I will not leave you alone like orphans; I will come to you.” They would not be abandoned. Jesus said, “I will come to you”? He spoke of the Holy Spirit and Himself interchangeably. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. The disciples would not be abandoned. Jesus would not be present physically but Jesus would be with them by His Spirit.

Again, in v.19, He promised that, even though the world would not see Him, they would. They would see Jesus at work through His Spirit. Are we seeing Jesus?

Jesus went even further. They would not only see Jesus, Jesus said he would be in them.

Notice how Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as a gift: I will ask the Father and He will give you the Spirit of truth. This is pure gift. God, in His goodness, has chosen to give us the gift of His presence and His indwelling. Christians should never say, “I am only human”. No, Christians can be God-filled humans – Holy Spirit-led, Holy Spirit-empowered, Holy Spirit-taught humans. In John 14, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would teach us all things and remind us of everything He said. The Holy Spirit is supernaturally active in the lives of Christians.

This should not be strange; this should be normal. The normal Christian life is the Holy Spirit indwelt life.

How can we, in practical terms, experience more of the Holy Spirit? Two things: obedience and prayer.

Did you notice the emphasis in our passage on obedience and the link between obedience and the Holy Spirit?

vv.15-16          If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.

v.21                  Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. Anyone who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.

vv.24                Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with them.

We will experience the Holy Spirit when we obey Jesus. It is when we step out in faith choosing to do as Jesus has commanded us that we need God – and God has promised to be present. In the Great Commission in Matthew 28, Jesus said, “Go and make disciples… and I will be with you to the very end of the age.” Is there a link between the going and the gift?

When we sit and watch TV, or watch YouTube videos, or weed our gardens or the most challenging thing we do as a church is have a potluck lunch, we do not need the Holy Spirit. Every single reference to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is in conjunction with Christians acting in obedience to Jesus.

Secondly, pray. Our John 14 passage did not mention prayer except that Jesus said that He would ask the Father; He would intercede for us. But, do you remember the Acts 8 example where Peter and John prioritised praying for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit? And the Acts 19 example where Paul prayed for the Ephesians to receive the Holy Spirit? And Pentecost, when the Apostles were constantly in prayer before the Holy Spirit was poured out (Acts 1:14)? Or Jesus’ words: If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13)

When I was wondering how I might speak about this, I picked up the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala. The subtitle is “What Happens When God’s Spirit Invades The Hearts Of His People”  It tells the story of the growth of the Brooklyn Tabernacle from 15-20 people in a rundown building to a congregation of thousands. Utterly discouraged and empty of ideas, Jim Cymbala heard God say, “If you and your wife will lead my people to pray and call on my name, you will never lack for something fresh to preach. I will supply all the money that’s needed, both for the church and for your family, and you will never have a building large enough to contain the crowds I will send in response.” (p.25).

New York is bigger than Tapanui. I am not talking about the numbers; I am talking about the power. God had not been apparent in the church until they prayed. That is when God poured out His Spirit.

When Jim Cymbala told the church what he believed God was saying, a minister from Australia (or, it might have been New Zealand, he says) came up to him and said, “You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning. You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night. But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting.” (p.28)

The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to the church. The Holy Spirit is the supernatural presence of God. The Holy Spirit is essential. In John 15:5, Jesus said, ‘Without me you can do nothing”. He commissioned the disciples to go into the whole world and make disciples but He also told them not to leave Jerusalem… until they had received the Holy Spirit. We cannot do the work of God without the power of God.

The presence of God in our churches is meant to be normal. Two keys are obedience and prayer. How hungry are you for the Holy Spirit?

What is the obvious thing we should do now?

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