November 08 2026

I believe in the Holy Spirit

1.1 For the past several weeks, we have been exploring what we truly believe through the historic Creeds of the Church. We began with "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth." Then we walked through our confession in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, and the wonder of the cross where our sins are fully forgiven. And, today, we arrive at the third section of the Creed: "I believe in the Holy Spirit." So today, I invite you to recite the Apostles' Creed together as we begin.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy and true Christian church, the communion of believers, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. (The Apostles’ Creed)

Now, this confession brings us to an essential question: 

Who is the Holy Spirit to us? And what does His presence actually look like in our lives?

1.2 To begin, I'd like to take you back to a personal memory from when I was in Grade 9. Back then, a guest missionary came to our youth group to lead a special revival retreat about the Holy Spirit. I still remember the intense atmosphere in that room. He told us very clearly: if we didn't speak in tongues, and if we didn't experience physical healing, it meant the Holy Spirit was not truly in us.

1.3 As a young Grade 9 student, that message filled me with a deep, unsettling fear. None of us felt we could question the missionary or his theology; instead, we turned all that anxiety inward. We convinced ourselves that the problem was entirely our own fault—that our faith was just too weak, or that we had unconfessed sins blocking God. So, we wept and prayed desperately, trying harder and harder to produce some outward sign of power just to prove we belonged to God. But let me be clear. Speaking in tongues, healing, and other spiritual gifts are not wrong. They are gifts of God's grace, and the Holy Spirit still works in powerful and extraordinary ways. But the presence of the Holy Spirit cannot be measured by whether we possess a particular gift. As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12, the Spirit distributes different gifts according to His will. Not everyone receives the same gifts, but every believer belongs to the same body of Christ. The Spirit is not someone we must prove we have through extraordinary experiences. He is God's gracious presence given to those who belong to Christ.

1.4 Looking back, we were seeking the Holy Spirit in the wrong direction. We were treating the Spirit of God merely as a sensational force—a supernatural power that hands out dramatic gifts, physical healings, or emotional highs. 

1.5 But power and gifts are only a part of His work. When Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to His disciples in the Upper Room in John 14, they weren't asking for spiritual superpowers; they were terrified, grieving, and broken-hearted. To those troubled hearts, Jesus did not give a performance test. He promised "another Helper"—the Paraclete—who brings true peace: peace with the Father, peace within our church family, and peace to a divided world. Today, let us set aside our misunderstandings of power of the Spirit and hear the Saviour's gentle promise.

John 14:25–27 NKJV

These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

2.1 To truly grasp why Jesus makes this promise, we need to step into the dramatic scene between John chapters 13 and 14. This all takes place during the Last Supper. 

John 13:1 MSG

Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end.

In chapter 13, the tension in the room is suffocating: Jesus has just washed their feet, exposed the coming betrayal, and Judas Iscariot has slipped out into the dark night. 

John 13:3–5 ESV

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

2.2 Right after Judas leaves, the shadow of the cross falls heavily over the remaining eleven disciples. Jesus foretells His impending death and tells Peter that he will deny Him three times. The disciples are staring into an abyss of abandonment, political execution, and total collapse. Their hearts are shaking with dread and confusion.

2.3 Yet, right in the middle of this heartbreak, Jesus does not give them a battlefield speech or call for armed resistance. Instead, He leaves them with a new commandment.

John 13:34 NLT

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

 In a moment when fear would naturally drive them apart—making them doubt each other, reject one another, and scatter in self-preservation—Jesus calls them to radical unity, unbroken fellowship, and mutual embrace. But how could terrified, fragile human beings ever love like that? Jesus gives the answer: they will not be left as orphans. He promises, "The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you" (John 14:26).   

The Greek word Jesus uses for the Holy Spirit is Paraklētos, often translated as Helper, Comforter, or Advocate. It describes someone who comes alongside another to help, encourage, and stand with them. But notice what Jesus specifically says the Holy Spirit will do. In John 14:26, He says that the Spirit will teach the disciples and remind them of everything He has said.

This is important. The Holy Spirit does not come to replace Jesus or introduce a different message. He comes to keep the words and presence of Christ alive among His people. The disciples may no longer see Jesus standing physically beside them, but they will not be abandoned. Through the Holy Spirit, they will continue to know His truth, remember His love, and live according to His teaching.

And what was one of the most important commands Jesus had just given them? "Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other" (John 13:34, NLT). The Spirit who reminds us of Christ's words also enables us to live by those words. This is how the promise of the Helper connects with the new commandment of love.

2.4 Here lies the profound meaning of the Holy Spirit as our Helper (the Paraclete). The Spirit is not given to grant us supernatural prestige or individual power trips. He is sent to heal our divided hearts, to keep us from rejecting and abandoning one another in times of crisis, and to empower us to love just as Christ loved us. The Holy Spirit is the Divine Comforter who binds the community together in supernatural Shalom—a holy peace that shelters one another when the world outside is breaking apart. 

2.5 This connection between the Holy Spirit and the life of the Church is also reflected in the Apostles' Creed. Notice how the third section of the Creed moves from our confession of the Holy Spirit to the Church, the communion of saints, and the forgiveness of sins: 

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic (the true Christian and believers) church, the communion of saints (All who believe and follow Jesus Christ), the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

2.6 Notice the beautiful divine order here. The Creed does not say, "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the power of signs, miracles, and personal glory." Instead, the confession immediately ties the Holy Spirit to the Church, the communion of saints, and the forgiveness of sins.   

2.7 Why? Because one of the most remarkable works of the Holy Spirit is bringing broken people together into a reconciled family through Jesus Christ. The Spirit does not simply give us spiritual gifts. He takes our selfish, fearful hearts and transforms us into a holy community where we learn to forgive, embrace, and care for one another in the peace of Christ. His power is seen when division turns into communion, when bitterness turns into forgiveness, and when anxiety surrenders to divine Shalom.

3.1 This deep connection between the Holy Spirit and peace is not a new idea that suddenly appeared in the Upper Room. Throughout the Old Testament, God constantly promised that when His Spirit arrived, true Shalom would follow. In Isaiah 32:15 and 17, the prophet declares:   

Isaiah 32:15 ESV

until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.

The Holy Spirit was promised as the One who transforms dry, barren wastelands into fruitful gardens, and troubled souls into places of quiet trust and enduring peace.   

3.2 Centuries later, the prophet Ezekiel delivered another tender promise from God:

Ezekiel 36:26 NKJV

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Notice what the Spirit does. He softens what was hard, stone-like, and resistant. When our relationships break down, when anger hardens into hatred, and when we build walls around ourselves, our hearts turn to stone. But when God pours out His Holy Spirit, He melts our stubborn defenses and replaces our stony hearts with soft, compassionate hearts that can actually love, forgive, and embrace. But notice that God's promise does not end with a new heart. In verse 27, God says, "I will put My Spirit within you." The transformation is not simply about becoming kinder or feeling more peaceful. It is about becoming a new people who live according to God's will.

The Holy Spirit changes not only how we feel but also how we live. He transforms our relationship with God, and that renewed relationship begins to reshape our relationships with one another. A heart of flesh is not merely a softer heart. It is a heart made responsive to God, a heart that learns to obey Him through love, forgiveness, and faithfulness.

3.3 In the early Church, a Christian writer named Hermas reflected on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the human heart. In The Shepherd of Hermas, he warned believers about the destructive power of anger and emphasized the importance of patience and gentleness. His teaching reminds us that bitterness and resentment are not small matters in our spiritual lives. They affect how we respond to God's Spirit and how we treat one another.This echoes Paul's instruction in Ephesians 4:30–32, where he warns believers not to grieve the Holy Spirit and then calls them to put away bitterness, anger, and malice, and to forgive one another as God has forgiven them in Christ. The Spirit who dwells among us calls us to become a community shaped by forgiveness rather than resentment.   

3.4 This biblical truth speaks directly to us on this Remembrance Day Sunday. As we see the poppies on our coats and remember those who suffered and sacrificed their lives during times of war, we are reminded of both the preciousness and the fragility of peace.

We honour those who served, those who never returned home, and the families who carried the sorrow of their loss. Their sacrifices remind us that peace should never be taken for granted.

Human efforts to establish peace are meaningful and necessary. Treaties, diplomacy, and acts of courage can bring an end to conflict and protect human lives. Yet even when wars end, the wounds of hatred, fear, and division may remain in the human heart.

This is where the peace of Christ reaches deeper. Through the Holy Spirit, God begins to transform the very hearts from which hostility and division arise. The peace Jesus promises is more than the absence of conflict. It is the presence of God's reconciling love, restoring our relationship with Him and teaching us to live in peace with one another.   

4.1 As we prepare to leave this place and step back into our world, what image of the Holy Spirit will we carry in our hearts? Will we still look for a sensational power to show off, or will we see the Lord and Giver of life who breathes Shalom into our dust?   

4.2 Look at the Cenotaph standing cold in the November wind. Its stones remind us of the cost of war and the precious lives we must never forget. Yet they also remind us of our longing for a peace that reaches beyond the battlefield and into the human heart.

In the Upper Room, Jesus knelt before His disciples and washed their feet. He showed them what divine love looks like. And now, through the Holy Spirit, that same love continues to work within us. The Spirit touches our cold, hardened hearts, softens our stubborn defenses, and gives us hearts of flesh, hearts that are willing to forgive, tender enough to show compassion, and courageous enough to love even when love is difficult.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples with extraordinary signs and power. But the miracle did not end with what they saw and heard. The Spirit formed them into a new community, devoted to Christ, sharing their lives, caring for one another, and bearing witness to the risen Lord. That same Spirit is still at work among us today.   

4.3 We are not standing alone before the dark shadows of this life. We are not left as orphans. Into our anxiety, into our troubled relationships, and into our war-torn world, Christ breathes His eternal gift:   

John 14:27 ESV

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.