Word of Salvation – Vol. 29 No. 19 – May 1984

 

I Believe In The Holy Spirit

 

Sermon by Rev. S. Voorwinde, v.d.m. on 1Cor.12:3

(Belgic Confession Art. 11)

Scriptures: John 14:15-31 & 1Cor.12:1-11

Suggested Hymns: 206; 178; 295; 317:3,4; 378; BoW.602

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus,

"The need of divine guidance is never more deeply felt than when one undertakes to give instruction in the work of the Holy Spirit, so unspeakably tender is the subject, touching the inmost secrets of God and our soul's deepest mysteries.”

These are the opening words of Abraham Kuyper's famous book on the Holy Spirit.  And there's a lot of wisdom in this statement, because when we talk about the Holy Spirit we are talking about something very intimate, very personal and very sensitive.  We cannot really speak about the Holy Spirit and not say anything about our own personal relationship with God.  And so when I speak to you publicly about the Holy Spirit in a sermon like this, how careful must I be and how much do I need the Lord's special help, not to force my experiences on you and not to give just my personal point of view, but to actually proclaim what God says in His Word.  That's difficult and that's why we've prayed for the Lord's special guidance.

In the Apostle's Creed each Sunday we all make the confession: "I believe in the Holy Spirit."  We all confess that.  We all believe that.  And yet once we go beyond that simple confession that the Holy Spirit is God, our views and experiences become varied.  One experiences it this way and another sees it that way, and it's the easiest thing in the world to become quite confused.  A group of Christians may be in total agreement when it comes to the Father and they may have no differences of opinion when it comes to the Son, but when it comes to the Spirit, well, it seems so much more difficult to be unanimous.

Why?  Why is it so hard to be of one mind when we talk about the work of the Holy Spirit?  I would suggest two reasons:

(i)  The Holy Spirit is the most mysterious member of the Trinity.  Even as children we can appreciate the Father and we can understand His love.  And when it comes to the Son, well, we can almost touch Him and see Him.  How well do we know the stories of His birth, His life and His death.  After all, Jesus took on our flesh and blood and became one of us.

But the Spirit..?  He's different.  He's intangible and invisible.  He's like the wind; you can't tell where it comes from and where it's going.  Compared to the Father and the Son, the Spirit is still a mystery.

(ii)  And then the second reason why it's so easy to have different opinions about the Spirit, is that we are so inclined to draw upon our own experience.  And yet we can never use our experience as the basis for instructing others.  That basis must always and only be the Word of God.  The spiritual experiences that I have had may be good and right and true for me, but I can never make them the standard for someone else.  The way the Holy Spirit works in me may not be the way He works in the next person.  The way God deals with me may not be the way He deals with somebody else.  And what is so beautiful about the Christian life is the variety of ways in which the Spirit works among God's people.  In a living Christian community like ours that's what keeps things exciting and new.  The Holy Spirit is not in the business of casting moulds or making stereotypes.  He's the Master of infinite variety.

So our only source of sure knowledge about the Holy Spirit is not our experience (which can sometimes be quite misleading unfortunately), but it can only ever be the Word of God.  So I'd like to give you an over-view, a bird's eye picture as it were, of what the Bible teaches about the work of the Holy Spirit.  I'd like us to look at:

(I)  The Holy Spirit's work outside of us.

(II)  The Holy Spirit's work within us.

(III)  Some aspects of the modern Charismatic movement.

I.  The Holy Spirit's Work Outside Of Us:

Here there are three main areas: In creation, in Scripture and in Jesus Christ.

In the second verse of the Bible it says that: "The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters."

The activity of the Holy Spirit here can be compared to a mother bird hovering over the nest of her young.  The Spirit is the Lord and Giver of Life.  In the words of Hymn 206, vs.7 (Ps.Hymnal) we sing:
            "Thy Spirit, O Lord, makes life to abound,
            The earth is renewed, and fruitful the ground."

The Holy Spirit is also the Giver of Scripture.  He was the One who inspired the Bible writers.  As the apostle Peter said: "Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."  Just as the wind guides a sailing vessel and drives it along, so it was the Holy Spirit who carried the Bible writers along.  He inspired their words and kept them from error.  He is the divine author of Scripture, and because He is so modest only a small part of that Book is an autobiography.  The Bible says so much more about the Father and the Son than it does about the Holy Spirit.

And then supremely we come to see the Spirit in Jesus Christ "who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary."

When the angel Gabriel visited Mary he announced that she would have a son.  In response Mary asked: "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"  The angel answered: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35).

The Holy Spirit was responsible for that supernatural birth.

The miracle of Christmas was ultimately performed by the Holy Spirit.  And so Jesus is the Christ, "the Anointed One", anointed by the Holy Spirit, baptized in the Holy Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit.  His is the prime example of the Spirit filled life.

And so outside of ourselves we see the work of the Holy Spirit:

(a) In creation – He is the Lord and Giver of Life.

(b) In the Bible – He inspired it.

(c) In Christ He is the Anointed One
            and from the moment of conception was filled with the Spirit.

II.  And now as we turn to the Spirit's work within us, we see the Holy Spirit as the Lord and Giver of new life.  And in this new life: too, three aspects stand out:

(i)  Regeneration or new birth;

(ii)  Sanctification;

(iii)  Spiritual gifts.

Right at the beginning of the Christian life stands an experience called the new birth or regeneration.  In a sense it is the miracle of the Virgin Birth taking place in the life of the Christian.  The birth of Christ came as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit, and so our rebirth is also a work of the Holy Spirit.  We are born again, we are made new people inside, and it's the Spirit who does it.  It's the Spirit who gives us that new life.  And unless you have that new life you are not a Christian, but if you are a Christian you do have the Holy Spirit.  No one is a Christian without having the Holy Spirit living within him.  Like Christ every Christian is an anointed one, anointed by the Holy Spirit.

So when the Christian life begins, that's the work of the Holy Spirit, and when the Christian life continues that's also the work of the Holy Spirit.  We call that sanctification.  As the believer grows spiritually he becomes a more and more Christ-like person, he becomes more and more holy.  This work of sanctification goes on all the way from the beginning of the Christian life (the new birth) right through till death when the believer goes to be with the Lord.

And then as well as the new birth and sanctification there is the matter of spiritual gifts.  Every Christian has at least one gift, and he is to use it to serve Christ and build up the church.

But the Spirit bestows a variety of gifts; we are supposed to be different.  The New Testament mentions about 20 special gifts; but even that is probably only a sample.  No doubt there are many more.  So whatever special ability you have, whether it's teaching or administration or leadership or service or hospitality, whatever it is, whether it's exciting or quite ordinary, it's a gift of the Spirit.

So, very basically that's the work of the Spirit.
- Outside of ourselves there's His work in creation, in the Scriptures and in Jesus Christ; and...
- Within us there's the new birth, sanctification and the spiritual gifts.

III.  This brings us to my third point which is a question: How does all of this relate to the modern charismatic movement?

First of all, we must all recognize that the charismatic movement has done the Church a service by reminding us of the need of the Holy Spirit.  In places where the Church was about to become just another social institution, where the supernatural was played down and where spiritual life was at a low ebb, the charismatic movement has once again emphasized the power of the Holy Spirit and the reality of the supernatural.

That in itself is not out of keeping with what has happened in the history of the Reformed Churches.  At times of reformation and renewal people inevitably will focus their attention on the work of the Holy Spirit.  At the time of the Reformation John Calvin was known as the 'theologian of the Holy Spirit.'  And when there was renewal in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands at the end of the 19th Century Abraham Kuyper wrote a beautiful book on the Holy Spirit.  So when there is renewal it is not unusual that people should be preoccupied with the work of the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand how sad is it when believers, or even entire churches, neglect thinking about the Holy Spirit.  Eugene Osterhaven in his book on the Belgic Confession has this to say (p.73):

"Christian people, all of us sometimes, go on expecting nothing to happen.  So it never does.  We believe in God, but not in the living God who is a real power, a wonderful and a terrible power, in the world.  We want to keep Him at a safe distance, not in the almost terrifying, yet blessed closeness which He bears to us in the Holy Spirit.  Most Christians, and all of us sometimes, do not want to believe in a God who will possess us and fill us, who will cleanse us from sin and use us, really use us in His holy purpose."

I think we will all agree that the charismatic movement has done much to remind us of the reality and presence and power of the Holy Spirit.  And secondly it has stressed the gifts of the Spirit.  It has brought home again the much needed message that we all have gifts, we all have charismata, we are all charismatic, whatever our gift may be.  And that's something that many churches badly needed to hear.  All too often the church has been a one man show.  It was like a bus one driver and many drowsy passengers; rather than like an orchestra with each member fully employing his skills and abilities.

So the charismatic movement has reminded us of Biblical truths that we've all needed to hear again.  But having said this, I also want to sound a note of caution.  One of the worries is this: that some charismatics (by no means all) put an unhealthy stress on the spectacular.  When they talk of gifts they only think of three: tongues, miracles and healing, and perhaps prophecy.  The less spectacular ones are somehow not as spiritual.  And yet, how careful we must be when people begin to identify the spiritual and the spectacular.

Paul warns about the activity of Satan that comes with all power and signs and false wonders.  Spectacular, but wrong.  Remember those whom Jesus mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount: "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?"  Here were people with spectacular ministries – prophecy, exorcism and miracles; yet, what does Jesus say to them?  "I never knew you; depart from me you workers of iniquity.”  So even spectacular success may not necessarily be a sign.  of God's blessing.  Sometimes God may work in a spectacular way, but everything spectacular is not necessarily of God.  So, how careful we must be!

But how can we tell whether some preacher or healer or whatever comes from God or not?  How can we know?  Our text provides the answer: "No one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, 'Jesus is cursed', and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit."  If someone confesses with heart and mouth that Jesus is Lord then that comes from the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit will always give glory to the Son, will always point people to our crucified and risen Lord.  Where that is not done, no matter how successful or spectacular or inspiring it may seem, it is not a work of God.  That is the crucial test: is Jesus Christ acknowledged and proclaimed as Lord?  Is He upheld as the God and Saviour and King?

Therefore, as we look at one another, let's not be judgmental.  Whoever confesses and sincerely believes that Jesus is Lord and lives accordingly, however simple a believer he may be, or however different from you he may be, that person has the Holy Spirit and belongs to the family of God.

And if we have the Holy Spirit we belong to one another in that wonderful bond of love.  So, let's guard against spiritual snobbery and spiritual pride in whatever form they may come.  Let's not grieve the Spirit and let's not quench the Spirit.  But let us pray that forever we will remain "one in the Spirit and one in the Lord!"

Amen!