The Helper We Ignore: A Review of ‘101 of The Holy Spirit’

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Well, hey, if you have not found a serving team, then let me encourage you to go find one.
[00:00:06] I promise you this, you will grow in your faith in a way that you have never before once you use your God-given gifts and to serve alongside somebody else.
[00:00:14] It just grows you.
[00:00:15] And so if you've been here for some time or even just started coming and you're like, man, I'm not in a serving team, go find one.
[00:00:21] You should be able to find that.
[00:00:23] But all of the campuses, which by the way,
[00:00:24] Let me welcome all of our campuses today.
[00:00:27] We are being joined across Statesville.
[00:00:29] Give it up for Statesville, for Salisbury.
[00:00:32] And a big welcome from my home campus, Denver campus.
[00:00:35] And then everybody right here in the room at Mooresville.
[00:00:38] We are excited to be one church.
[00:00:41] are coming together from all of our locations.
[00:00:44] My name is Josh, by the way.
[00:00:45] It is a privilege to be able to meet you.
[00:00:47] I serve as the Denver campus pastor.
[00:00:50] And today I'm pretty excited because we are starting a brand new series called More Than a Feeling.
[00:00:58] And some of you are already thinking the song.
[00:00:59] No, that's not what we're talking about.
[00:01:01] We're gonna be taking a deeper look at the Holy Spirit.
[00:01:04] For a lot of us, the Holy Spirit is shrouded in mystery.
[00:01:08] Depending on who you talk to or maybe what denomination you might have grown up in, there's a whole bunch of different beliefs surrounding the Holy Spirit.
[00:01:19] This created a lot of confusion for many of us.
[00:01:22] And so as Christians, I think sometimes we just kind of avoid the topic of the Holy Spirit altogether.
[00:01:29] I'm not really sure.
[00:01:29] And so we've been told the Holy Spirit is important, but I think for many of us, we just don't really know why.
[00:01:38] My wife, Samantha, and I, we've got two boys, Jackson, who is our six-year-old, and Titus, who is our two-year-old, but thinks he's 22.
[00:01:48] He's in this age, and really this stage of life, where he questions everything.
[00:01:55] like it's always a why and I read somewhere in a parenting book that you're never supposed to say because I said so and I totally regret reading that book now because I just want to be like because I said so I mean the other day I was like Ty Ty it's time to take a bath and he's like why I'm like well because you stink why well because you're all sweaty why well because like you were outside and you got hot and so God made our bodies to cool down that's how we cool down from getting hot and he goes why and I was like I don't know ask God like I don't know
[00:02:24] Figure it out.
[00:02:25] So they're just full of energy, always full of questions, both of them all day long.
[00:02:30] It's why and this, and we love it, but we've got to calm them down at night.
[00:02:35] And so one of the things we do to do that is we've got to, every evening, we do a bedtime routine.
[00:02:39] Anyone else do bedtime routines for yourself?
[00:02:42] Maybe you're in a dollar and you're like, I do a bedtime routine for me.
[00:02:45] I need it.
[00:02:46] And so usually this consists of us, every night we will pray together and then we will sing a song and dance.
[00:02:53] And I don't know how this always happens, but it's usually either one or two songs.
[00:02:57] It is either church clap or baby shark.
[00:03:01] And if I never hear any of those again, I'm fine with it because we hear like every single night.
[00:03:04] So we have a good time.
[00:03:05] And then their favorite part is when we read a book together, whether it's a Bible story or a kid's book.
[00:03:12] And so we let the boys take turns picking which book they want to read and they love it.
[00:03:16] They're so excited.
[00:03:18] But every once in a while, we run into a problem.
[00:03:21] See, both my boys, Jackson and Titus, they went through this phase where they decided it would be a great idea to take random pages and rip them out of books.
[00:03:28] And so sometimes we'll start reading and we'll get along to a certain part of this book and the whole page is missing or multiple pages are missing and
[00:03:39] We just kind of make things up right there on the spot because we don't really know how the story goes.
[00:03:45] And so it's always changing or we skip it.
[00:03:47] And we're always just missing.
[00:03:49] We get that part of the book, the pages are gone, and we're like, all right, I guess we'll make something up right there on the spot.
[00:03:53] And honestly, I kind of feel bad because
[00:03:55] My boys will grow up and they'll never actually know what happened to the big bad wolf and the three little pigs.
[00:04:01] They have no idea.
[00:04:02] And so I kind of laugh at that, but that might be okay to get by with a kid's book and kind of make things up right on the spot, but that's probably not a good idea to do with your theology.
[00:04:13] I think for many of us that's kind of what happens we don't really know much about the Holy Spirit we're kind of unsure and so the Holy Spirit is the missing page in our faith and so we kind of like hey that sounds good that's what someone else has told me before or maybe that sounds good to me or I've maybe heard someone else reference that before and so this has created so much misconception and misunderstanding around the Holy Spirit to some the Holy Spirit is kind of like this this feeling that you chase
[00:04:42] And on Sunday, it's like, man, the worship is really good and I want that feeling.
[00:04:46] Or maybe it's this experience, some sort of supernatural high that I can experience.
[00:04:51] And if I can just get back to that moment.
[00:04:53] For some, that's what the Holy Spirit is.
[00:04:55] For others, the Holy Spirit is kind of avoided because He's associated with sensationalism, like being slain in the Spirit or holy laughter or some of these different more behaviors that are a little bit more dramatic.
[00:05:12] And so there's all this confusion, but fortunately, we don't have to make it up as we go when it comes to the Holy Spirit because the Bible gives us everything we need to know.
[00:05:22] The Holy Spirit is more than a feeling.
[00:05:26] The Holy Spirit is who fuels our faith.
[00:05:32] In fact, this is how Jesus describes the Holy Spirit to his disciples in John chapter 16.
[00:05:36] That's where we're gonna be in our text today.
[00:05:38] John chapter 16, verse number seven, Jesus says, he speaks to his disciples.
[00:05:42] He says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth.
[00:05:46] It is to your advantage that I go away.
[00:05:48] For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.
[00:05:54] But if I go, I will send him to you.
[00:05:56] And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin,
[00:06:01] and Righteousness and Judgment.
[00:06:05] I've got one goal for all of us this morning, and that is when you walk away today, you will know what the Holy Spirit is and exactly what it is that the Holy Spirit does.
[00:06:17] Let's pray.
[00:06:17] Father, thank you for this time together as we unpack, Lord, the Holy Spirit.
[00:06:23] And right now, I ask for the Holy Spirit's power.
[00:06:26] I ask that you would move in our hearts.
[00:06:29] And Lord, we know that
[00:06:31] You are present, that you are listening, that you are here, that you are living, breathing God.
[00:06:37] And so would your Holy Spirit right now in this place, across all of our campuses, for those that may be listening online, Lord, that you would fill our hearts, that you would be
[00:06:47] We ask that you would be so clear to us that you would allow, Lord, our hearts to be softened, our ears to be opened.
[00:06:53] Lord, I pray that you would be with me this morning, Lord, that there's nothing I can do, nothing I can say, nothing, Lord, in my own power.
[00:07:00] Lord, would you do something special today because of your Holy Spirit?
[00:07:05] Lord, move me out of the way.
[00:07:07] Would you speak?
[00:07:08] Would you give authority?
[00:07:08] Would you give power?
[00:07:09] We ask of these things from your Holy Spirit.
[00:07:15] Amen.
[00:07:16] So question number one as we unpack this is who is the Holy Spirit?
[00:07:22] Who is the Holy Spirit?
[00:07:23] There's a little hint there even in the question.
[00:07:25] And we'll go back to verse number seven.
[00:07:27] Nevertheless, Jesus says, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away.
[00:07:32] For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.
[00:07:38] But if I go, I will send Him to you.
[00:07:41] Some hints there.
[00:07:42] But to give you a bit of background, Jesus and the 12 disciples are gathered in the upper room
[00:07:49] For the Last Supper, and Jesus knowing that in less than 24 hours, he's gonna be betrayed and crucified, he looks at the disciples and he says, I'm leaving.
[00:08:00] Now just imagine for a moment how you would take that as one of the disciples.
[00:08:05] For three and a half years, you have given up everything.
[00:08:08] You have walked with Jesus.
[00:08:10] You have seen all the things that he has done.
[00:08:13] You have left everything to follow him.
[00:08:15] You've left your homes, your families, your jobs, everything to follow Jesus.
[00:08:23] And now he's looking at you and he's saying, I'm gonna leave.
[00:08:27] Understandably, they are shaken.
[00:08:29] They are upset.
[00:08:30] They're confused.
[00:08:32] They don't know what's happening.
[00:08:33] Why is Jesus leaving?
[00:08:35] They don't understand.
[00:08:37] I mean, think about it again.
[00:08:38] For all this time, you have spent three and a half years of your life all for what?
[00:08:43] For Jesus just to abandon you.
[00:08:46] But Jesus knows something that they don't know.
[00:08:49] And in what's often referred to as the farewell discourse in John 14 through 16, if you want to look up the rest of it later, Jesus tells the disciples something that is astonishing and extraordinary.
[00:09:04] He says, it's better if I leave.
[00:09:08] It's actually better for you if I leave.
[00:09:11] Well, why?
[00:09:12] Because I'm going to send the Holy Spirit, the Helper,
[00:09:19] to come and be with you.
[00:09:23] Now this would have been mind blowing for the disciples to hear.
[00:09:27] Not just because that Jesus was sending the Holy Spirit, not just because they knew now that Jesus was sending the Holy Spirit,
[00:09:35] because of the way in which Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit.
[00:09:39] In verse number seven, the specific word that Jesus uses for the Holy Spirit you saw is helper.
[00:09:45] Now that word is translated from the Greek word, which is parakletos.
[00:09:50] You'll see a definition.
[00:09:52] That is a legal term describing someone who comes alongside to help, advocate, or intercede on your behalf.
[00:10:03] And so the fact that Jesus uses
[00:10:06] The term Holy Spirit for Paracletos, in other words, he uses Paracletos to refer to the Holy Spirit, would have been shocking for the disciples to hear.
[00:10:17] Because while they were certainly familiar with the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, they would have viewed the Holy Spirit more like a presence, a symbol, a power of God.
[00:10:27] But by using the word Paracletos, Jesus is definitively saying, hey, the Holy Spirit isn't a something,
[00:10:35] The Holy Spirit is a someone.
[00:10:39] This is reinforced again at the end of verse number seven by the fact that Jesus refers the Holy Spirit as Him.
[00:10:46] So this is so important for us to understand because today there's a lot of people who still view the Holy Spirit as some sort of force or spiritual power up.
[00:10:56] In fact, there was a survey that was done by Barner Research just in 2021.
[00:11:01] In a survey, it is showed that 62% of Americans who identify as born again Christians say that the Holy Spirit is not a real living being, but merely a symbol
[00:11:16] of God's power, presence, or purity.
[00:11:19] That means two out of three Christians, that might be you in there today, that you have assumed that the Holy Spirit is not really a person, that he's just a power, a symbol of God.
[00:11:28] But as Jesus himself points out, the Holy Spirit is not a what, the Holy Spirit is a who.
[00:11:33] The Holy Spirit is not just the presence of God, he is God.
[00:11:40] You say, well, wait a minute.
[00:11:43] I thought that Jesus is God.
[00:11:45] He is.
[00:11:47] Just like the Father is God.
[00:11:50] These is known as the doctrine of the Trinity.
[00:11:53] And what that is, is it's one God who exists in three co-equal and co-eternal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:12:04] And we see the Trinity, the doctrine of the Trinity all throughout Scripture, but one of the clearest examples of this is at the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3.
[00:12:13] Take a look, I want you to follow.
[00:12:15] As soon as Jesus, there's the Son, was baptized, he went up out of the water, and at that moment, heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit, there's the Spirit of God, descending like a dove and alighting on him, and a voice, there's the Father, from heaven said, this is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased.
[00:12:41] And so there you have it, three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yet only one God.
[00:12:48] Now to try to help you visualize this, I'm gonna show you a diagram of what's called the Shield of the Trinity.
[00:12:54] So take a look here.
[00:12:55] The shield of the Trinity.
[00:12:57] You see that the Holy Spirit is God.
[00:13:00] The Father is God.
[00:13:02] The Son is God.
[00:13:04] But you can also see the Father is not the Son.
[00:13:07] The Son is not the Father.
[00:13:09] The Father is not the Holy Spirit.
[00:13:10] The Holy Spirit is not the Son.
[00:13:12] Three distinct persons, yet one God.
[00:13:18] Everybody got it?
[00:13:20] You're like, nope.
[00:13:23] So listen, if after all of that, I put a diagram on the screen, I tried to explain to you, you can't fully understand the Holy Spirit, well, welcome to the club.
[00:13:33] Welcome to the club.
[00:13:34] There is nothing that we have on this earth to try to compare or understand who God is and comprehend that God is one God, yet distinctly three different persons.
[00:13:46] And maybe people have used illustrations.
[00:13:48] You've probably heard them out before.
[00:13:50] It's like, well, it's like an element.
[00:13:51] You've got ice and you got water and you got vapor and see, so it's like one element, but three different parts or properties.
[00:13:59] Well, that's not the same thing.
[00:14:00] Or maybe you've heard like, hey, I'm a dad, and I'm also a husband, and I'm also a son, right?
[00:14:07] I have three different roles, but I'm one person.
[00:14:09] None of those add up.
[00:14:10] They still fall short.
[00:14:12] And listen, that's a good thing, because if you could fully understand God, that would put you on the level of God.
[00:14:22] That would mean that you would be able to be at the same place as God.
[00:14:26] Okay, imagine trying to explain quantum physics to a squirrel.
[00:14:31] Some of you are like, imagine trying to explain quantum physics to me.
[00:14:35] Right, that's impossible.
[00:14:38] Why?
[00:14:38] Because the squirrel does not even have the capacity to understand.
[00:14:42] Even if you had the best teacher in the world, it would never be able to explain to a squirrel quantum physics.
[00:14:48] Why?
[00:14:48] Because the concept is greater than the capacity of that squirrel's understanding.
[00:14:52] That's why Isaiah says, God's ways are above ours.
[00:14:57] And honestly, I don't know about you, but I'm so thankful that I don't serve a God who's on my level.
[00:15:03] I don't want a God who's on my level.
[00:15:05] I want a God who's greater, a God who is Alpha and Omega, a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-presence.
[00:15:12] That's the God we serve.
[00:15:14] And that's not even the main point.
[00:15:15] The main point is that the Holy Spirit isn't just a persona.
[00:15:21] He is a person, a distinct person, and He is also fully God.
[00:15:27] Now, I could spend the rest of this time together this morning unpacking verse after verse of proof
[00:15:32] But Acts chapter five really captures this well to show that the Holy Spirit is distinctly God and distinctly person.
[00:15:39] Let's see Acts chapter five, verse three and four.
[00:15:41] It's the story of Ananias and Sapphira.
[00:15:43] It says, but Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the lamb?
[00:15:54] While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?
[00:15:57] And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?
[00:15:59] Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?
[00:16:03] You have not lied to man, but to God.
[00:16:08] You can't lie to a force or a symbol.
[00:16:11] You can't lie to a thing.
[00:16:13] You lie to people.
[00:16:15] And as Peter puts it to Ananias, you have not lied to man, but to God.
[00:16:20] So Josh, why do you keep harping on this over and over again?
[00:16:22] Why is this such a big deal?
[00:16:24] Because if the Holy Spirit is just some kind of impersonal force or symbol, then there's nothing to relate to.
[00:16:32] There's no relationship.
[00:16:34] Listen, a something can't sit with you in your grief.
[00:16:38] A something can't understand your pain.
[00:16:42] A something can't speak to your soul.
[00:16:45] Only a someone can.
[00:16:48] Church, the Holy Spirit is more than a feeling.
[00:16:51] He's your friend.
[00:16:54] He's your friend.
[00:16:55] He's the person of God that comes to dwell inside that is near you, a friend who sticks closer than a brother, a friend who will never leave you or forsake you, a friend who will stand with you in victory and strengthen you in the valleys, a friend who will never give up, and a friend who never lets go.
[00:17:12] What I want you to hear today is that if you have accepted Jesus as Savior, you got the best friend in the whole universe.
[00:17:20] That's a wonderful thing.
[00:17:22] You got the best friend in the universe.
[00:17:25] But here's what I'm afraid of.
[00:17:29] For a lot of Christians, the Holy Spirit is the friend who always gets ignored.
[00:17:33] Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of AI.
[00:17:42] It seems to be taking over everything.
[00:17:44] We've got AI-generated music.
[00:17:46] We've got AI videos.
[00:17:49] I read last week that there is now an AI actress that is potentially gonna get signed with a talent agency.
[00:17:56] How does that even work?
[00:17:57] How do you pay?
[00:17:58] Like what?
[00:17:58] I don't understand.
[00:17:59] And a lot of people aren't fans of AI.
[00:18:03] And I get it.
[00:18:03] In fact, I heard just recently, apparently there was Taco Bell released recently this AI ordering system.
[00:18:12] And in some of the locations, anyone know what I'm talking about?
[00:18:14] Is anyone?
[00:18:15] Okay, maybe just me.
[00:18:17] Anyway, this is just, it's true, I saw this.
[00:18:19] So some guy, this is one of the locations he went to, he got so fed up with it that he ordered 18,000 water cups.
[00:18:26] so he could break the AI and talk to a human being.
[00:18:30] And I'm like, I don't blame the guy, right?
[00:18:32] As advanced as AI maybe has become, it's still got a long way to go.
[00:18:35] It doesn't get it right.
[00:18:38] We have an Amazon Alexa device at our house.
[00:18:42] Anyone have an Alexa, right?
[00:18:43] All right, so we have an Amazon Alexa, and I'll tell you, for the most part, it does pretty good, but there are some times Amazon Alexa will just flat out ignore you.
[00:18:52] Like, you don't even exist.
[00:18:53] Like, you'll talk to it, and it'll be like, no response.
[00:18:56] And I'm like, what?
[00:18:57] Like, what's going on?
[00:18:58] Just completely ignore you.
[00:19:00] The other day I was upstairs and I heard some yelling down in the kitchen.
[00:19:05] And I was like, oh, what's going on?
[00:19:07] What's wrong?
[00:19:07] And so I quickly run down the stairs.
[00:19:09] And as I round the corner, I see my son Jackson, our six-year-old, and his face is just inches from the Amazon Alexa Echo.
[00:19:18] And he's going with desperation on his face.
[00:19:20] He's going, Alexa, would you please play a kid's song?
[00:19:26] Alexa was cold shouldering the poor kid.
[00:19:28] Just didn't even realize.
[00:19:30] And then, you know, we laugh about that story, but then I wonder, I wonder how many times we do that to the Holy Spirit.
[00:19:38] I wonder how many times that he's speaking to us.
[00:19:42] He's right there with us.
[00:19:43] He's trying to get our attention, and yet we just kind of blow him off.
[00:19:47] Don't even realize that he's there speaking.
[00:19:49] We just don't even hear his voice.
[00:19:52] Just kind of ignore him.
[00:19:54] How often have we gone the whole day, maybe even the whole week, without acknowledging his presence?
[00:19:59] But yet, here's what I want you to hear about the Holy Spirit.
[00:20:01] Paul says this in Romans 8.25, Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
[00:20:08] For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
[00:20:18] Just let that sink in for a moment.
[00:20:21] Do you realize that even if everyone else fails to pray for you, your friend, the Holy Spirit, is praying for you?
[00:20:31] Did you know that even if someone says, hey, I'll pray for you, and they forget about it, you still always have at least one person, your friend, the Holy Spirit, 24-7 is praying for you, is bathing you in prayer.
[00:20:43] He is interceding.
[00:20:44] Watch this.
[00:20:44] Even when you don't have the words to speak, He'll speak them for you.
[00:20:48] Man, that's a good friend.
[00:20:50] That's a great friend.
[00:20:51] That's the best friend.
[00:20:53] But here's the thing.
[00:20:54] How is the Holy Spirit supposed to help us if we ignore him, if we're not aware of how he's speaking to us?
[00:21:07] All I'm trying to say this morning is if the Holy Spirit is the greatest friend you have, how is he supposed to be your friend if we're always missing him?
[00:21:16] He's always being kind of pushed to the corner.
[00:21:19] I mean, I wonder how many times have we missed out on His peace because we didn't listen for His voice?
[00:21:27] How many times have we missed out on His guidance because we rushed ahead of Him?
[00:21:31] How many times have we missed out on His strength because we just tried to muscle through it on our own?
[00:21:37] And we are always talking and singing about getting more of the Holy Spirit.
[00:21:42] God, I want more of you, or fill me with your Holy Spirit.
[00:21:45] God, I need more of the Holy Spirit.
[00:21:48] But may I suggest to all of us this morning that maybe we got it backwards.
[00:21:53] You see, at the moment of your salvation, you didn't just get a part of the Holy Spirit, you got all of Him.
[00:21:59] And may I suggest that we don't need more of the Holy Spirit.
[00:22:03] The Holy Spirit needs more of us.
[00:22:06] He needs more of our attention.
[00:22:08] He needs more of our intentionality.
[00:22:10] He needs more of us to listen, to hear more of our ear.
[00:22:13] We need more of Him in our marriage, not because we need more of Him, but because He needs more of us.
[00:22:19] And so may I suggest to you this morning that
[00:22:21] Before you had to work or you go to school, invite him in.
[00:22:25] When was the last time you invited the Holy Spirit into your day?
[00:22:29] When was the last time you intentionally said, Holy Spirit, direct me, guide me, encourage me, give me strength.
[00:22:35] Holy Spirit, I need you.
[00:22:36] Before you have that hard conversation, invite the Holy Spirit in.
[00:22:40] Before you have to make a big decision, invite the Holy Spirit in.
[00:22:45] Before you try to numb that pain, invite the Holy Spirit in.
[00:22:52] You already have all of the Holy Spirit.
[00:22:55] But the question is, does the Holy Spirit have all of you?
[00:22:59] Does the Holy Spirit have all of you?
[00:23:01] Maybe it's time we stopped ignoring the Holy Spirit and let the Helper actually help.
[00:23:07] Which leads me to number two, how does He help?
[00:23:10] What does the Holy Spirit do?
[00:23:12] What does the Holy Spirit do?
[00:23:14] Let's go back to verse number eight, and it says, Jesus says, and when He comes,
[00:23:19] He, the Holy Spirit, will convict the world of, convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
[00:23:28] So in verse number eight, Jesus tells the disciples exactly what the Holy Spirit has been sent, and he's been primarily sent to do one thing.
[00:23:34] What's that?
[00:23:35] To convict.
[00:23:37] Now today, when we hear the word convict, it's almost always in a negative context, right?
[00:23:43] Like we think of a courtroom, we think of a criminal, we think of someone who's condemned for a crime.
[00:23:49] Convict is always negative.
[00:23:52] In our modern ears, that's what that means.
[00:23:53] But that's not what Jesus is saying here.
[00:23:55] That's not the meaning.
[00:23:56] The Greek word that he uses for convict is actually much richer.
[00:24:00] It's much deeper.
[00:24:01] What it means is to convince with solid evidence or to expose what's hidden.
[00:24:10] It's kind of like a light being flipped on in a dark room.
[00:24:14] You flip the light on and then what?
[00:24:16] You can see what you couldn't see before.
[00:24:19] You can now see what was hidden.
[00:24:20] You see reality for what it is because the light flips on and all of a sudden you can see because the darkness is gone.
[00:24:26] This is why you can also never argue somebody into heaven.
[00:24:32] because as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers.
[00:24:38] Listen, you can preach the gospel to somebody all day long.
[00:24:42] You can tell them about the good news, but unless the Holy Spirit illuminates, turns the light switch on, convicts of sin, explains, hey, this is true, then no one can get saved.
[00:24:53] The only reason, if you are a follower of Jesus today, if you are born again, it's because the Holy Spirit flipped the light bulb on in your life.
[00:25:00] And so he comes to convict, to reveal, to convince, hey, this is true, this is right.
[00:25:05] He always speaks not on his own authority, but on behalf of the Father and to the Son.
[00:25:09] That's what the Holy Spirit's job is to do.
[00:25:11] He's the only one who can turn the spiritual light on in someone's heart.
[00:25:16] But the Holy Spirit doesn't just reveal what's hidden to unbelievers.
[00:25:20] He does the same thing for those of us who are saved.
[00:25:23] In fact, Jesus points this out in verse number 12.
[00:25:25] If you skip down to John chapter 16, Jesus continues on with his disciples.
[00:25:29] He says, listen, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
[00:25:38] When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.
[00:25:44] 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.
[00:25:51] Essentially, Jesus tells his disciples, hey, listen, there's a whole lot more that I need to tell you.
[00:25:56] You just can't understand it.
[00:25:59] You can't understand it right now, why?
[00:26:00] Because you need the Holy Spirit.
[00:26:03] You need the Holy Spirit.
[00:26:04] That's why he says, it's better if I go because then you'll have understanding.
[00:26:07] Then you'll actually be able to understand because I'm gonna send you the Holy Spirit.
[00:26:10] See, the conviction of the Holy Spirit doesn't just point out what's wrong.
[00:26:14] The conviction pushes you to what's right.
[00:26:20] See, the Holy Spirit doesn't just flip the light on and says, look how messed up you are.
[00:26:27] No, he flips the light on and he says, let me help you clean up your mess.
[00:26:35] Right?
[00:26:36] He is there to not just expose, but to empower.
[00:26:39] And so let me be very clear here.
[00:26:40] The Holy Spirit always convicts.
[00:26:42] He doesn't send guilt.
[00:26:44] There's a difference between conviction and guilt.
[00:26:46] And some of you are like, well, what's the difference between it?
[00:26:49] Okay, guilt is always from your flesh.
[00:26:51] It's always from the devil.
[00:26:52] It's always from the enemy.
[00:26:53] Guilt is never from God.
[00:26:55] Guilt is this.
[00:26:56] I'm terrible.
[00:26:57] I'm horrible.
[00:26:58] I'm a loser.
[00:26:59] I can't move forward anymore.
[00:27:01] Guilt is always general.
[00:27:03] It's never specific.
[00:27:03] It's just general.
[00:27:05] And then second of all, guilt never gives you a plan.
[00:27:07] It just says, you just need to sit in that.
[00:27:09] You're just terrible.
[00:27:10] You're horrible.
[00:27:11] You messed up in this area.
[00:27:12] You'll never be good enough.
[00:27:13] God will never love you.
[00:27:15] That's guilt.
[00:27:16] That's never from the Holy Spirit.
[00:27:18] Conviction though is specific.
[00:27:20] Conviction is, hey, you know the way that you just talked to your wife?
[00:27:23] Hey, you know the thing that you just looked at?
[00:27:25] Hey, no, no, no, you shouldn't be doing that.
[00:27:27] It exposes, it puts light.
[00:27:29] And then the Holy Spirit always sends us for an exit, always a way out.
[00:27:35] He says, hey, listen, you ought not to look at that.
[00:27:38] Instead, go confess that, go tell somebody else.
[00:27:41] Make sure that there's some repentance in your heart.
[00:27:44] There's always an exit plan.
[00:27:45] There's always healing when the Holy Spirit sends conviction.
[00:27:48] That's the difference between conviction and guilt.
[00:27:50] And I would say that some of us today, we've got a lot of guilt, and that's not from God.
[00:27:54] Shun that away.
[00:27:55] Move that out of the way.
[00:27:56] Say, hey, that's not from you.
[00:27:58] But some of us have conviction, and the Holy Spirit has been trying to knock at your door, and He says, hey, you need to stop looking at that.
[00:28:03] Hey, you need to stop drinking that.
[00:28:05] Hey, you need to stop going that place.
[00:28:06] Hey, you need to not do that anymore.
[00:28:08] What he's doing is he's saying, hey, I'm trying to flip the light on, but I'm not just gonna expose it, I'm gonna empower you.
[00:28:13] In fact, I want you to see this.
[00:28:14] This is what Jesus says later to his disciples in Acts chapter one, verse eight.
[00:28:18] He says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
[00:28:32] Now think about this for just a moment.

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
For three and a half years, the disciples spent every waking moment with Jesus.

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
They walked where he walked.
[00:28:48] They ate where he ate.
[00:28:50] They slept where he slept.
[00:28:53] They watched as he turned water into wine.
[00:28:59] They saw him feed 5,000 with just what?
[00:29:03] Five loaves and two fish.
[00:29:05] They saw him raise Lazarus from the dead.
[00:29:10] They watched miracle after miracle after miracle.
[00:29:14] They saw all those things.
[00:29:15] And sometimes I'm like, man, I wish I could have been alive to see that.
[00:29:18] You ever been there?
[00:29:19] Like, man, I would have a lot more faith if I saw Jesus walk on water.
[00:29:22] I'd have a lot more faith if I saw him raise people from the dead.
[00:29:26] I have a lot more faith if I saw all those miracles.
[00:29:28] But the disciples, they saw every single one of those things for three and a half years.
[00:29:33] And guess what they did when Jesus was arrested to be crucified?

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
They left him.
[00:29:45] Every single one of them.

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
They abandoned him.
[00:29:51] After all of that, after all of the miracles, after all the things that Jesus did and told them, they left.
[00:29:59] I mean, we gotta give Peter some credit because he stuck around the longest, but then he straight up denies knowing Jesus three separate times.
[00:30:08] Just let that sink in for a moment.
[00:30:10] All of those things, after all of those things, these disciples have abandoned and left, and even to the point that they've lost all faith, they're hiding in a room, and someone tells them, hey, Jesus is alive, and they don't believe it, to the point that Thomas says, unless I, what, see his nail-pierced hands and I can touch his side, I'm not gonna believe it.
[00:30:33] And so what does Jesus do?
[00:30:34] He appears to them.
[00:30:37] and they're still hesitant.
[00:30:41] In fact, after Jesus ascends to heaven, what do they do?
[00:30:44] They go to Jerusalem and they hole up in a place and they just stay there.
[00:30:52] They're just in a waiting pad.
[00:30:53] They're just stuck frozen in place, still in fear.
[00:30:59] And then something happens.

[00:31:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Acts chapter two, verse one.

[00:31:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
[00:31:13] And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind.
[00:31:19] And it filled the entire house where they were sitting and divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
[00:31:28] And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
[00:31:37] What happens?
[00:31:39] Immediately after that, they step out of their hiding.
[00:31:43] They stand up, all of them, and Peter, all of them are together, but Peter lifts up and he preaches Jesus Christ, the gospel, with a boldness, a supernatural boldness.
[00:31:53] And then what happens?
[00:31:54] 3,000 people get saved and baptized.
[00:31:59] They're not running anymore.
[00:32:01] in fact not only that listen watch this every single one of the disciples from that moment forward stood firm in their faith even despite persecution even despite death matthew was speared to death for his faith thomas or excuse me james was beheaded
[00:32:21] Peter was crucified upside down.
[00:32:24] John was thrown into boiling oil and he survived and then he was exiled.
[00:32:28] One minute they are running away from Jesus and the next they are willing to die for him.
[00:32:36] Same men, same mission that Jesus gave them.
[00:32:41] What happened?
[00:32:43] What changed them?

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Holy Spirit.

[00:32:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Holy Spirit changed them.
[00:32:51] And it wasn't until the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit that they received what?
[00:32:56] The power of God.
[00:32:58] That's when things changed.
[00:33:00] They were running before, but now they're running forward to faith.
[00:33:02] You see, the power wasn't in a message or a miracle.
[00:33:06] The power wasn't in a program or a production or a platform.
[00:33:10] No, the power was in a person, the person of the Holy Spirit.
[00:33:15] And what I wanna say here today is that here we are thousands of years later and we've got more resources.
[00:33:22] We got more reach.

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
We've got more opportunity.
[00:33:31] We got bigger buildings.
[00:33:38] Bigger budgets, better branding.
[00:33:43] We've got cooler lights, louder speakers.
[00:33:48] We've got all of these things.
[00:33:52] But may I submit to us this morning that maybe what's missing today is not a something, it is a someone.
[00:34:05] Maybe what we really need is the presence and the power of God.

[00:34:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
You see, the power wasn't in the message.
[00:34:14] The power wasn't in the miracles.
[00:34:15] The power wasn't in the building or a location.
[00:34:18] It wasn't in a really great, awesome worship.
[00:34:20] No, no, no.
[00:34:21] The power was in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
[00:34:23] Only the Holy Spirit gave the power.
[00:34:25] And so may I just suggest this morning, what we really need is space.
[00:34:28] We need Spirit-filled preaching.
[00:34:30] We need Spirit-filled worship.
[00:34:31] We need Spirit-filled moms and dads and husbands and wives.
[00:34:35] We need Spirit-filled young adults.
[00:34:37] We need Spirit-filled teenagers.
[00:34:39] We need Spirit-filled pastors and teachers and librarians and doctors and lawyers.
[00:34:44] We need a fresh wind.
[00:34:46] We need a holy fire.
[00:34:48] We need the Holy Spirit to breathe on us anew and pour out the river of revival
[00:34:57] And so if you're here this morning and you are tired of powerless faith, if you are sick of always letting the devil win in your marriage,
[00:35:10] and your parenting and your addiction.
[00:35:13] If you're like, I am done with this.
[00:35:15] I need more.
[00:35:17] I need more peace.
[00:35:18] I need more presence.
[00:35:20] I need more power.
[00:35:21] I need more love.
[00:35:22] I need more joy.
[00:35:23] Well, let me introduce you to more.
[00:35:26] His name is the Holy Spirit and He is more than a feeling.
[00:35:30] He is your friend.
[00:35:32] He wants to comfort you.
[00:35:33] He wants to guide you.
[00:35:35] He wants to protect you.
[00:35:36] He wants to give you the power to do the things that you are not capable of doing right now.
[00:35:41] The only question is, are you desperate for Him?
[00:35:45] Are you desperate for Him?
[00:35:48] He's never left.
[00:35:49] If you are a follower of Jesus today, all he is asking you to do is to invite him in to every corner of your life.
[00:35:56] And so maybe, just maybe, here this morning across all of our campuses, what we need to do is say, Holy Spirit, please fill my marriage, fill my anxiety, fill my depression, fill my defeat, fill all these areas of my life.
[00:36:11] God, I need your Holy Spirit.

[00:36:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Question today.
[00:36:18] is will you invite the Holy Spirit into every corner of your life?
[00:36:26] Father, we come before you here today and we recognize that we need you, that we need the Holy Spirit of God, the person of the Holy Spirit.

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
And Lord, we need
[00:36:48] to have a time of maybe repentance, a time to invite the Holy Spirit into all the areas of our lives to turn the light switch on and expose and empower us.

[00:37:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Maybe you're here today and you are a follower of Jesus, but your faith has been powerless.
[00:37:14] You feel stuck.
[00:37:16] You're hungry for more.
[00:37:17] You're thirsty for more.
[00:37:21] Well, you'll never be unstuck.
[00:37:25] You will never have more unless you invite the Holy Spirit to have more of you.

[00:37:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Maybe this morning what we need to do across all of our campuses and across all this place is just to invite the Holy Spirit in.
[00:37:39] And so what I wanna do for just this moment, I'm gonna ask, we even have some music playing in the background, just cut it out.
[00:37:45] I want nothing else to happen right now, just us in this moment.
[00:37:49] It's you and the Holy Spirit.

[00:37:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
It's quiet.
[00:37:57] And still your heart and let the Holy Spirit speak to you.
[00:38:15] Maybe you're here today and what the Holy Spirit is saying, you gotta confess this.
[00:38:24] You gotta repent.
[00:38:27] Or maybe you're here today and He's saying, man, you're missing joy.
[00:38:31] You're missing love.
[00:38:32] You're missing peace that I have for you.
[00:38:36] Will you invite me in?

[00:38:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Or maybe you're here today across all of our campuses and what the Holy Spirit has been doing constantly, maybe throughout more time than just this message, but during this message certainly, and He's been knocking on your heart.
[00:38:52] And He's saying, listen, I want to give you everlasting life.
[00:38:58] I want to forgive your sins.
[00:39:01] I want to give you a home in heaven.
[00:39:03] I want you to know Jesus as Savior.
[00:39:05] I want Him to be Lord of your life.
[00:39:08] And right now he has flipped the light bulb on.
[00:39:11] And for the first time ever, you understand that the gospel is not about religion, it's about a relationship.

[00:39:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
And maybe you're here today or across all of our campuses or watching online, and right now with the Holy Spirit, what he is speaking to you is that you need to accept Jesus as Savior and to be born again.
[00:39:38] and across all of our campuses, across online, if that is you, would you pray something like this?

[00:39:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Would you speak to the Holy Spirit?

[00:39:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Come to the Father and pray something like this.
[00:39:55] Heavenly Father, I know that you love me, that the Holy Spirit
[00:40:06] has been sent to illuminate, to convict, to convince me that there is something I'm missing.
[00:40:16] And so the best that I know how, I choose Jesus as my savior.

[00:40:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
I invite him into my life.
[00:40:25] I invite the presence of the Holy Spirit, the person of the Holy Spirit in.
[00:40:28] Will you forgive me of my sins?
[00:40:32] I repent, I trust you, what you say I will do.
[00:40:36] And even if I don't have the strength, I know you will give it to me.
[00:40:40] And so Jesus, I ask you to be my Lord and Savior through the power of the Holy Spirit and coming in on behalf of the Father.
[00:40:48] I pray those things, if that is you here today or across all of our campuses, I just wanna ask in this moment, if you just prayed
[00:40:55] and ask the Holy Spirit to come and indwell you if you just prayed and asked Jesus to save you right now across this place would you just lift up your hand and throw it up there for us all to see thank you very much anyone else i see hands here i see hands back there i see hands going over here hands back there i don't want to miss you across all of our campuses hey can we just say that is the holy spirit can we celebrate that together as a church father thank you for your love for your care thank you holy spirit for undoing us for helping us
[00:41:23] for empowering us.
[00:41:24] It's in Jesus' name we pray and all God's people said amen.