The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

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I am thankful for – is the gift of the Holy Spirit in my life. For without the Holy Spirit I would not know God the Son - Jesus Christ and I would not know God the Father. And without knowing Jesus - I would live in a dark – lost and hurting world. And that is where most of today’s humanity lives. And the sad part – they are oblivious to the darkness.

With the Holy Spirit active in our lives and active in the life of the world it is important that we understand and acknowledge who and what he is. But sometime - we relegate him to a lesser role than that of God the Father and God the Son in Jesus Christ. It’s not that we do so intentionally - but I think it is because Jesus and God seem “more real” to us. 

Clearly the Holy Spirit is very real and he is part of the Trinity of God the Father – God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. One God in three persons not three separate and distinct individuals in one God – as some religions claim. This is what Moses says to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6: 4; “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” One God who can express himself in three persons.

To us – it’s a mystery - how does God – who made all things seen and unseen - express himself in three persons. Unbelievers seem to get hung up on that part of the Trinity. I don’t - nor should any Christian. My faith is sufficient for me to believe and know it to be absolutely true. An all powerful God can do what ever God wants to do.

The attributes or characteristics of the Hoy Spirt are the same as those for all persons of the God head. They are all equally eternal – they existed before creation and the beginning of time – they are equally omnipotent – they are equally omnipresent and they are equally omniscient. They are equally loving – they are equally compassionate – they are equally wise – they are equally just and they are equally together.

Before I go any further here is a simple explanation of those three omni words.

Omnipotent – means all powerful. A powerfulness that is beyond our capability to comprehend and understand. A God who can create things as small as a quantum particle and things as large as the multitude of galaxies in the universe. God’s boundless power has to boggles our finite mind. It is a power we must deeply respect and fear with reverence and awe. Psalm 65: 8 the Psalmist says: “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades,” And it is God’s omnipotence that sustains our lives and sustains the church and sustains the universe. In Colossians 1: 16-17 Paul says about Jesus; “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” That is power beyond our ability to understand it.

Omnipresence – means being present everywhere at all the same time. We can only be in one place at one time. We are limited by time and space. In Psalm 139: 7 – David asks; “Where can I go from your Spirit Where can I flee from your presence?” The answer is -- no where. And the same answer applies to each of us. We cannot hide from God. He knows and sees everything about us. Nothing is hidden from his sight.

Omniscient – means to know everything. It’s like a scientist who observes and studies something to learn all that can be learnt about it. Well God knows everything – he didn’t have to study it – he just knows it. 

I said that the triune God existed before creation. And in the beginning of Genesis, we read: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” We might think of the Holy Spirit being ready to manifest the work of God in us and all of creation.

Now - without the Holy Spirit we could not know Jesus and because we can not know Jesus - we cannot know God the Father. Amongst other things - it is the work of the Holy Spirit through our hearts and minds to be receptive to – and to be drawn into Jesus. Jesus says to the Jews when he tells them he is the bread of life in John 6: 44; “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them,…” The Holy Spirit points us toward Jesus and God the Father draws us to him. 

And without Jesus there is no church.

Sadly there is a great swath of humanity who willingly deny the prompting of the Holy Spirit to acknowledge the deity of Jesus. Consequently – because they don’t know Jesus they cannot know God even though some religious groups claim to know him. 

I can’t imagine the eternal fate that awaits them.

So let’s be so very thankful for the gift of the Holy Spirit. For without him we would be dead in our sins.

This morning we read what Jesus says to his Disciples and by indirect inference to us; “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him…”

Note that the gift of the Holy Spirit is specifically attached to believers. We know him because he dwells inside of us with our spirit. Now I know this because I feel him and sometime, I know that he is pushing or pointing me in a particular direction. And when I get off course - I get a spiritual slap on the back of my head.

I’m sure it is something that each of us know and feel at different times of our lives when the Holy Spirit is telling us something or leading us in a particular way.

Now I need to provide some context here.

In chapter 12 of John’s gospel - Jesus – the Disciples and followers have triumphantly entered into Jerusalem where he is hailed as the King of Israel. But he was going to be the kind of secular King everyone was expecting. 

Now after two thousand years of Christian study - we know and the Disciples came to know - that Jesus came into the world to save people like you and me. To save us from the penalty of the sin that infects all of us. 

Prior to his arrest Jesus has communion with the Disciples and he says that one of them will betray him. In John 13: 21 we read; “Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” The Disciples try to figure out which one of them is the betrayer - but they are unable to do so. It would be hard for them to believe why anyone of them would betray Jesus.

Then as Jesus is sharing the bread with Judas Iscariot he says; “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.” 

Every time I read these verses it sends shivers down my spine. It is a scary thing to imagine that Satan enters Judas while he is taking in the broken body of Christ. I can’t help but notice the tragic symbolism. Then Judas leaves and I assume Satan leaves with him. 

Now that Judas and Satan are out of the room -Jesus is going to teach his faithful Disciples something important about himself, God the Farther and God the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus firsts explains that the Father will send to them the Spirit of Truth – That is, the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will be in them. Then Jesus tells them that he is in the Father and they are in Jesus and Jesus is in them. Therefore, the Father is also in them. Here is what Jesus said in John 14: 17-20; “But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

This is very important for us because what Jesus says to the Disciples, he says to all his followers – like each of us. Jesus as God the Son – God the Father and God the Holy Spirit lives in each of us.

For the next several days the Disciples and Jesus’s followers watch and live through his arrest – crucifixion and death. They are overcome with sorrow and grief and fear.

Jesus knows that his message of love and forgiveness and life will spread through out the whole world. That is – if those who witnessed everything, he said and did wrote it all down. However - our problem as humans is that we easily forget things after the passage of time.

When I was in the R.C.M.Police I had to keep detailed notes. Especially if the incident was criminal and might lead to a criminal trial. Some cases would not come to a trial for several years. Therefore, my notes would help me recall the incident. What happened and who did what and who said what. If I did not have good notes the charges could be dismissed.

So Jesus tells the Disciples that there is another purpose for the Holy Spirit to be with them. This we read in John 14: 26; “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

Then Jesus says something to the Disciples that we need to hear every day: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Y’see - Satan and the unfaithful Disciple – Judas – have no part in what Jesus tells them about the relationship between God the Father – God the Son as Jesus and God the Holy Spirit and us. These are word of love and life are for those whose faith is in Jesus. And these words do not have any part in the wisdom and peace that Jesus passes on to us.

As you read through chapter 14 – 15 and 16 – they are all about the Trinity of the God head and how they and us relate to each other. The Constitution and By-laws of this congregation proclaim and believe in the Trinity as fundamental to this church and to our faith as Christians.

As I thought about Jesus’s relationship to the Trinity I understood that during his life time Jesus was never alone – except maybe that short time on the cross as he took on all the sins of humanity such as ours – and the same is for us – we are never completely alone. We pray and speak and the triune God hears and sees us.

At the end of the gospel of John at 21:25 he says; “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

Suppose you were Andrew or Peter or Mary Magdelene or any of the other followers of Jesus. During the past three years you heard wonderful words of life and love and you witnessed the kind of miracles that only God could do. You are filled with an overwhelming sense of wonder and awe at all you heard and saw. And your heart is so full of joy at all these things that you need to share it with all you encounter. Well the Holy Spirit was there to help them remember so they could share the wonder of Jesus with us.

And now may the peace that Jesus Christ gives be with us all.

AMEN

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