Declaring Doctrine (Part 15) | The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
Alright well we’re there in Acts 5. On Sunday nights we’ve been going through this series called “Declaring Doctrine”. And we’ve been doing a systematic study through the major doctrines of the Bible. We’ve been dividing this up by sections. Once we finish this section up, we will move on to something else. Towards the beginning of the year we did a section on “The Word of God”. We learned about the doctrine of the Word of God. And then in the fall of this year we came back and we’ve been doing this section on the Godhead. And we’re learning about the theology of God. We learned about the attributes of God and the natural attributes and the moral attributes and spent several weeks talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course Jesus is the pivotal person in Christianity for us. So we spent a lot of time talking about his deity, his humanity, his eternal Sonship. Tonight I’m dealing with the subject of the Holy Spirit.
Tonight is going to be only an overview of the most important things that I think you should know regarding the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The reason I say that is because there’s way too much to cover about the Holy Spirit. Instead of taking several weeks, I’m going to give an overview tonight. But I’m going to encourage you that if you want to learn more about the Holy Spirit, I actually preached a 10-part sermon series on the Holy Spirit in the spring of 2019. If you go on our website or you go on our YouTube channel, you can find a sermon series called “By My Spirit”. And it is ten sermons I preached on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. So as you can imagine, there’s lots to say about the Holy Spirit. Tonight I’m going to preach an overview to remind you of some of the most important things. But I want to let you know about these sermons in case you are interested in learning about the Holy Spirit.
In this sermon series, I preached a sermon called the person of the Holy Spirit. That was the part 1. Part 2 was the Holy Spirit as God. Part 3 was the Holy Spirit in the trinity. Part 4 was the work of the Holy Spirit. Part 5 the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Part 6 the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Part 7 the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament versus the New Testament. Part 8 the filling of the Holy Spirit. Part 9 the fruit of the Spirit. And the last sermon, the 10th sermon, was the Holy Spirit and speaking with tongues. So again, I’m not going to cover all of that tonight. There’s no way I could. I’m going to do just a quick overview but we’ve done a deep study in the Holy Spirit. So, I would encourage you to check out those sermons if that’s something you’re interested in or something you want to know.
Tonight what I’m going to do is I’m going to give you just kind of the 5 top things you should know about the Holy Spirit. The 5 top things you should know about the Holy Spirit of God. So. if you would, I’d like you to write some of these things down. We’re there in Acts chapter 5. And I’d like you to look down at verse number 1. Acts 5:1 and the Bible says this “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,”. I’m not preaching about this tonight but for your reference, they’re taking a special offering kind of like how every year we take our Vision Offering. They’re taking a special offering. They actually sold a piece of property in order to give this offering. Verse two “2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”. So they sold the property for a certain amount and then they kept some of that money for themselves which was fine. We’ll see it in the text here in a minute. There’s nothing wrong with that. It was theirs to begin with. The problem is that they told the church that they sold this property and gave all of the money. They were lying and really just trying to look more spiritual than they really were. There is nothing with saying “I sold this property. I’m going to get half of it to the church and I’m going to keep the other half for myself.”. That was within their rights. But they said “Oh, we’re giving all of this to the church.”.
Verse 2 says “2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it,” Meaning that she was in on it. “and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”. Notice verse 3. “3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?”. Let me just say this. The book of Acts is a book that highlights the work of the Holy Ghost. We call it the Acts of the apostles. But it could honestly be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. And you’ll notice that the Holy Spirit is emphasized throughout the book of Acts. At the beginning of the book we see the empowering of the believers. And even in this chapter there’s lots of emphasis to the Holy Spirit. Here Peter calls them out on their lie. It says “3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?”.
Notice verse 4 “4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?”. Here’s what Peter is saying. It was your property. You didn’t have to sell it and give any of it to the church. You didn’t have to give. He said it’s a free will offering. He said “4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?”. He’s saying you didn’t have to give all of it. Nobody asked them to give all of it. They didn’t have to lie about it. They could have said that they were giving part of it. They could have given none of it. But then he says in verse 4 “why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”.
And that should be a lesson for us on how God sees lying. Because of course we read the whole chapter in its context. But the next thing that happens is that they drop dead. God kills them because they lied about these things. He kills them because they were trying to look more spiritual than they really were. They were trying to do things to be seen of men. And again, I’m not preaching on that. That’s the context. But I want you to notice that in this chapter we have verse 3 where Peter says “3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost,”. And then in verse 4, he says at the end of the verse “thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”.
Point 1 is the deity of the Holy Spirit. And that is to say that the Holy Spirit is God. Now when it comes to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is the third member of the Godhead. And I’m not preaching on the trinity tonight but we believe that the trinity teaches that there is one God that exists in three persons. And we’ve got God the Father. And we have the second member of the Godhead; God the Son. And we have the third member of the Godhead; the Holy Spirit. And often the Holy Spirit is the forgotten member of the Godhead. Often, he’s the one that we don’t really think about and maybe don’t acknowledge like we should. But I want you to notice and I want you to understand this, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is God just like the Father is God, just like the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God in his own right. And again, I can preach a whole sermon on this. I have preached a whole sermon on this and you can go back and listen to that.
But I want to show you a proof text here where in verse 3 Peter says “You’re lying to the Holy Ghost”. And then in verse 4 he says that he has not lied unto men but unto God. He says you’re lying to the Holy Ghost. And then he says you’ve lied to God. You say “Why did he say that they are lying to the Holy Ghost and you’re lying to God”. Why do you use those terms synonymously? Here’s why. Because the Holy Ghost is God. Because the Holy Spirit is God. So the first thing you should know is the deity of the Holy Ghost. Look, every member of the Godhead is God. They are completely God. They are all God. The Holy Spirit is God in his own right. And again, I’m not preaching a sermon on just the deity of the Holy Spirit. But we could take the time to look and see how the Holy Spirit is the creator and how the Holy Spirit is omniscient and how the Holy Spirit is omnipotent and how the Holy Spirit has all the same attributes that we’ve seen for God in general. Why is that? Because the Holy Ghost is God. And here we see Peter saying “You’re lying to the Holy Ghost”. And then he says in the next breath “You’re lying to God”. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is God. So number one, you need to realize that the Holy Ghost is God.
Number one you should know that the Holy Spirit is God. You should know about the deity of the Holy Spirit. Here’s number two. You should know about the person of the Holy Spirit. Not only is the Holy Spirit God but also the Holy Spirit is a person. Again, we believe in the trinity. 1 God that exists in 3 persons. God the father is a person. God the Son is a person. And the Holy Spirit is also a person. It is one God that exists in three persons. And this is a teaching that a lot of churches, a lot of religions teach against. They don’t want to acknowledge the person of the Holy Spirit. Now you look at Jesus and obviously he was a person. He was a man. The man Christ Jesus. But the Bible even refers to the Father being a person. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the express image of his person (referring to the Father’s person). But oftentimes people don’t want to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is a person. In fact, many churches and religions will teach that the Holy Spirit is simply a force like in Star Wars or just a power. It’s like they believe he is a magnetic force or the gravitational pull or just this force that is out there. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a person. We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit. He is the third member of the Godhead. He is God and he is a person.
Now let me just give you 1 example of this about the Holy Spirit being a person. In Mark 1 we have the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark 1:10 “10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”. And even in this baptism of Christ, we see the trinity completely. We see the Son being baptized but yet there is a voice from the Father in heaven which says thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And at the same time, “and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:”. All 3 members of the Godhead are represented there in the baptism of Christ.
And by the way, let me just say this, it doesn’t say that the Holy Spirit came down in the shape of a dove or in the form of a dove. It says that the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. The dove is referring to how the Spirit descended. And if you look up videos about doves, they have a different way of flying than other birds. And that’s what it’s referring to. Because today you see these pictures like the Holy Spirit being a physical dove coming down or you’ll see people put a dove in their car and it’s supposed to represent the Holy Spirit. But look, the Bible tells us in the Old Testament that we’re not supposed to make images of things in heaven or under the earth or on the earth. So look, God forbids images that are supposed to represent religious things. It’s funny how God tells us this in the ten commandments. I mean I don’t think you have to be that religious to be familiar with the ten commandments. I mean how many years of Bible college do you have to go through to be familiar with the ten commandments. I think everybody has heard of the ten commandments. And in the ten commandments, he’s telling you “Hey, don’t make any images of things on the earth or under the earth or in the sky.”. He tells us not to make these images and then Christians decide to represent Christianity with a fish or a dove. We shouldn’t represent Christianity with anything. God is not a symbol. God is God. We must worship him in Spirit and in truth.
And look, you don’t need to have all these symbols that did not come from Christianity, that came from paganism. And by the way, you may or may have not noticed but at Verity Baptist Church, we don’t have any symbols anywhere. There’s no cross on this pulpit. There’s no cross. You know the only symbol we have is the one that upsets the flat earthers which is a sphere for an earth. But you know, we purposely don’t use symbols and things of nature because God tells us that we’re not supposed to be making these symbols to represent Him. So the Bible says here that the Holy Ghost descended like a dove. And the dove is referring to how he descended but not what he looked like or the shape that he looked like. But I want you to notice that he descended in a bodily form.
Luke 3:21 “21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy Ghost” Notice these words “descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.”. I want you to notice that the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape. And again, I don’t believe that he descended in the shape of a dove. It is referring to how he descended. He did descend in a bodily form. He descended in a way that people could see and say “That is the Holy Spirit”. He descended in a bodily shape, in a bodily form. And that’s just one example of the person of the Holy Spirit. See, people say “Well, the Holy Spirit is not a person.”. But wait a minute. He has a body. I mean he descended in a bodily shape.
And again, I don’t have time to preach a whole sermon on the person of the Holy Spirit. But if you go back and listen to my sermon on it, you’ll find that the Holy Spirit has a body like we just saw. The Holy Spirit has a will. The Holy Spirit communicates. He has a language. The Holy Spirit has intellect. He has thoughts and he reasons. The Holy Spirit has emotions. These are things that a person has. He’s not a force. He’s not just a power that’s kind of out there. He has a body. He has a will. He communicates. He has an intellect. He has an emotion. Why? Because he is a person. So you know, when it comes to just an overview of the top things you need to know about the Holy Spirit, the first thing is the deity of the Holy Spirit. You should know that the Holy Spirit is God. The second thing you should know is about the person of the Holy Spirit. You should know that he is a not just a force but he is a person. He is the third person or the third member of the Godhead. And he has a body. He has a will. He communicates. He has intellect. He has an emotion.
Let me give you the 3rd one. John 14:16. The Bible says this. “16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”. The Comforter is referring to the Holy Spirit. John 14:17 “17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you,”. Notice these words “and shall be in you.”. So Jesus said, “Look, the Comforter that’s coming, the Holy Spirit of truth, he’s going to dwell with you and he shall be in you”. The third thing you should know about the Holy Spirit is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit indwells us when you get saved. The Holy Spirit comes to reside inside of you. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you.
1 Corinthians 3:16 “16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”. And look, this this ought to be quite a sobering thought that you are the temple of the Holy Ghost. Your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost. And the Bible says when you got saved, the Holy Ghost indwells you. And God says for that reason, you should not defile the temple of God because the Holy Spirit is dwelling inside of you. I mean think about that, if any man defiles the temple of God then God will destroy Him.
You say look, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal if I go to a bar and drink alcohol. But wait a minute. Think about this. Would you take the Holy Spirit, would you take God into a bar and force him to sit there with you and drink alcohol there while you’re drinking alcohol and be there with you? Because that’s exactly what you’re doing when you’re saved. You’ve got the Holy Spirit inside of you and you’re the temple of the Holy Ghost. And then you take them and you know consume alcohol, consume drugs, consume whatever. You know you’re watching pornography or bad movies or whatever. You’re letting that into your eyes. Look, that’s why the Bible says grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Why would we grieve Him? Because when we sin, he is stuck with us. He’s indwelling us. And we grieve him and we quench him when we defile the temple of God. So look, before you light up a cigarette and smoke it, ask yourself if you do that if God was here and you were in his presence. Because if you are saved then that is exactly what you are doing.
By the way, this indwelling idea of the Holy Spirit will change your life. Sometimes people get mad and upset. They use words they shouldn’t use and they cuss and they scream and they yell and they get all angry. But would you do that if God was standing right next to you? You say “No. Of course I wouldn’t.”. Well, the Holy Spirit is God. He’s in you.
1 Corinthians 6:19 “19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God,”. Look at these words “and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”. You say, “I don’t know about this church. You guys are kind of mean when you preach. I come on Sunday morning and you are yelling and then on Sunday night you are telling me that I should read the Bible on Monday. Then you’re telling me that I should open up my Bible and read it on Tuesday. Then you’re telling me I should open up my Bible and read it on Wednesday. Then you’re telling me I should show up for Wednesday night Bible study. Then you tell me I should read the Bible on Thursday and read the Bible on Friday and read the Bible on Sunday. And then you want me to spend time in prayer all those days as well, read the Bible, and spend time praying and talking to God on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday. And then you want me to get up on a Saturday morning and go knock on a stranger’s door and try to keep them from going to hell. I mean you’re kind of asking a lot.”.
Well yeah, that’s asking a lot if you belong to yourself. But the Bible says that you are not your own for you are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your Spirit, which are God’s. Look, you belong to God. Your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost and he’s dwelling and residing in you. This is the teaching of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God.
2 Corinthians 6:16 “16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”. So look, when you got saved, your body became the temple of the Holy Ghost. You are not your own. You’re bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body which are Gods and your Spirit which are Gods.
2 Timothy 1:14 ” 14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.”. So, the Bible teaches clearly this idea of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And let me just answer one question. Some people wonder “Were people in the Old Testament indwelled with the Holy Spirit?”. Being indwelled with the Holy Spirit is a New Testament thing. In the Old Testament they were saved just like you and I are saved by faith, believing and calling upon Jesus Christ, calling upon the Lord. The name Jesus was not revealed in the Old Testament but calling upon the Lord for salvation. They’re saved just like you and I are saved by faith, the calling upon the Lord. And you know the way it worked in the Old Testament was that they by faith they were believing that the Messiah was coming and you and I by faith are believing that the Messiah has come. We’re all looking back at the same event whether you’re before the cross looking forward in faith or whether you’re after the cross looking back in faith. It’s all believing that the Lord would pay for our sins, that the lamb of God would pay for our sins. They were saved in the Old Testament the same way you and I are saved in the New Testament. However, one difference was that they were not indwelled by the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. We are indwelled by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.
For years I had people ask me “Why is that?”. That’s a question that for years I had to say “I don’t know but that’s what the Bible says and we just believe it by faith”. I didn’t have an answer for that. Because you know, I don’t have an answer for everything. I’m not God. And I’m not going to lie to you either. If you ask me a question and I don’t know, I’m going to say that I don’t know but when you figure it out let me know and I’ll preach something about it. But when I was actually studying for that ten-part series that I did a couple of years ago on the Holy Spirit, its kind of just opened up to me. What I believe is the answer to that question or the reason that New Testament believers are indwelled with the Holy Spirit has less to do with you and how special you are and more to do with the temple. Because in the Old Testament the temple was indwelled by the Spirit of God. In fact we read about it this morning in the passage 2 Chronicles 7. When Solomon created his temple or later on Ezra’s temple, whenever the temple was built or rebuilt or the tabernacle was brought up, there was always this idea where it was consecrated unto the Lord. And the Lord would answer by filling the tabernacle or the temple with his glory and God would fill it with his glory. And that was God putting his approval on it with the Holy Spirit indwelling that temple. Well in the New Testament there was a change to the temple. We no longer have a physical building that we look at or that we have to go do some pilgrimage to. The Holy Spirit still indwells the temple but now in the New Testament you are the temple. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. So that is why we are indwelled with the Spirit of God. Because in the New Testament, under the new covenant, the temple is not a physical building but it is your physical body.
Now let me answer this. There are those who teach, and this is usually the charismatic Pentecostals, that you get the Holy Spirit eventually. They think that first you believe and they make salvation a process. They say that first you have to believe but then you have to repent of your sins. And look, if you teach someone, they have to repent of their sins to be saved then you added works to salvation. And they say that you go through all these steps and then you get filled with the Holy Ghost eventually after many steps. And the proof of being indwelled with the Holy Spirit is that you speak in tongues and other things. Now that’s a sermon for another day and I don’t have time to preach that now. But I want to show you the Bible teaches that you get the Holy Spirit the moment you get saved, the moment you believe.
Ephesians 1:13 “13 In whom ye also trusted,” And that word trusted is a synonym for the word believe or father. When we say believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are saying trust on the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not just believing that he exists but it is a faith that is trusting in Him. “13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”. So you got sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise after you believed. It’s not this process where I have to get it eventually someday. The moment you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. “14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”. So the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is something that happens to New Testament believers and it happens the moment you believe, the moment you got saved.
Let me give you the fourth important thing you need to know about the Holy Spirit. We’re talking about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I’m talking about things you should know. Number one you should know about the deity of the Holy Spirit. Number two you should know about the person of the Holy Spirit. Number three you should know about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Number four you should know about the teaching of the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that it is the Holy Spirit that teaches us the word of God.
1 John 2:27 “27 But the anointing which ye have received”. And by the way, I don’t have time to develop this tonight but the word anointing there is referring to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit anointing is a reference to being having oil poured upon you. And throughout the Bible, oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. If you remember David when he was anointed as the king of Israel, the Bible says the Holy Spirit came upon him and those are all pictures that are used there about the Spirit. It says “27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you,”. That’s the Holy Spirit living inside of you. And then he says this “and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”. The Bible says here, and I want you to notice, it says the same anointing teacheth you of all things. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is the one that teaches us, that guides us in truth. “and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”.
The Bible teaches us that it is the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to learn the word of God. 1 Corinthians 2:7 “7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom,”. Paul is saying we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. He says look, the wisdom of God is a mystery. Now he’s talking to unbelievers. See, the mystery of God is hidden to the world. Do you understand that? That’s why the world’s a mess. I mean you and I look at the world and we think it’s not that complicated and we should just follow what the Bible says. But the world looks at what we believe and say “Oh that’s crazy”. But it’s because they can’t understand it. It’s a mystery. “7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:”.
Look at verse 8. “8 Which none of the princes”. And again, this is talking about leaders and politicians. “8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”. Here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying look, the world doesn’t understand the mysteries of God. It’s a mystery to them. It’s hidden wisdom. They didn’t know it. If they would have known it, they would not have crucified Jesus.
The Bible says “9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”. Look at verse 10. “10 But God hath revealed them unto us”. He says look, it’s a hidden mystery. They don’t understand it. It’s a hidden wisdom. But the Bible says that God has revealed it to us. It’s not hidden to us. It’s not a mystery to us. God hath revealed it to us. But how did God reveal them unto us? “10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man,”. And I’ve taught you this before but I want you to see it again. “11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”.
In verse 11 the Bible is teaching that the reason that you and I can communicate with each other, the reason I can talk to you and you can talk to me and I can understand you and you can understand me is because we are both human beings and we have the Spirit of a man, the Spirit of a human being. That’s why we can communicate. And by the way, I hate to break it to you, I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, you can’t communicate with your dog. You think you can communicate with your dog and you cannot because it’s a different nature. It’s a different Spirit. We can’t communicate with elephants. We can’t communicate with animals. But we can compete with human beings even when a human being doesn’t speak the same language. You can communicate with them. You can walk up to a human being and you speak a different language but you smile and they smile and you can communicate because of the same Spirit.
Look at verse 11 “11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”. No man can understand the things of God. Why? Because it’s a different Spirit. So how can we understand the things of God? By the Spirit of God. “12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”. The only time that a human spirit can understand spiritual truths from the word of God is when that human being has the Holy Spirit. Why? Because it is the Holy Spirit that teaches us that guides us in all truth.
Look at verse 12. “12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”. See, how do we know the things of God? Because we have the Holy Spirit of God. Look at verse 13. “13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”. Notice verse 14, the quintessential verse on this subject. “14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”. Look, the natural man, the unsaved man, the unregenerate man, the man that doesn’t have the Holy Spirit of God, they can’t understand the things of God. The unsaved man can’t understand the Spirit of God. An unsaved person cannot open up a Bible and understand it. That’s what the Bible says. You can pass out as many tracts as you want. You can pass out as many Bibles as you’d like. “14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”.
If an unsaved person opens up the Bible and tries to read it, do you realize what they’ll come up with? Catholicism. I mean how could it be that over and over the Bible says salvation is not of works and a free gift and then an unsaved person opens up the Bible and creates a religion called Catholicism. And they say you got to work your way to heaven. How do they get that? Because the natural man received not the things of Spirit of God. They are foolishness unto them. You give a Bible to an unsaved man, do you know what you come up with? Mormonism. You give a Bible to an unsaved person and they come up with Jehovah’s Witness. You give a Bible to them and they’ll come up with the 7th Day Adventists. And by the way, there’s only two religions in this world. Those who believe it’s not of works and those that believe it’s of works. People think there are so many religions in this world but the truth is that unless they are Bible believing Christians, they all teach you have to work your way to heaven. They all say that you have to live a good life. That’s what they all teach. But the Bible emphasizes the opposite. How can you get that? Here’s how they get it. “14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”.
That’s why you and I as soul winners have to go and preach the gospel to them and explain it to them. We have the Holy Spirit and we help them understand it. When they get saved, they get sealed with the Spirit of God and now they can begin to learn and understand the Bible. The Holy Spirit teaches us. The Holy Spirit is the only way that you and I can learn and understand the things of God. Sometimes soul winners want to argue with someone that’s not saved. They want to try to teach them all this deep theology and doctrine. But look, just get them saved. Until they’re saved, they can’t even understand all that stuff. They can’t even get it. They don’t understand. “14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:”. Now obviously when we explain it to someone, we plant that seed. The reason we hand out various materials is because after we’ve explained to someone and let’s say they don’t get saved but we’ve already planted that seed, then yeah, they could read something and it might help them and somebody else might come along and get them saved. Look, we understand all that. But the point is this the natural man on his own with a King James Bible by themselves and nobody explains them the gospel, they will never understand it. That’s what the Bible teaches.
John 14:26 “26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”. You say “Well Pastor, I don’t like that illustration. Then what are we to do if he can’t get saved?”. I don’t know. Maybe go to that island and get him saved. Maybe “Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”. I mean look, if people can get saved by just reading the Bible then why even go? We can ship a Bible to every address in Sacramento and call it good. Or better yet, we’ll just email it to them or we’ll just send them a link to Alexander Scourby reading the Bible on YouTube. But the problem is that they won’t get it. They need somebody with the Holy Spirit of God to explain to them, to teach it to them and help them understand it so they can get saved and they get the Holy Spirit. Then they can begin to learn. And look, once someone is saved and they have the Holy Spirit of God then they can learn everything in the Bible. Now don’t misunderstand me. It doesn’t mean that they will learn everything in the Bible. The Bible is a deep book. But every saved person has the ability to learn everything in the Bible. That’s why the Bible says in John 14 which we just read that the Spirit will teach you all things.
1 John 2:27 “27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things,”. And look, this is not saying that you don’t need a teacher because the Bible says that God gave you prophets and pastors and evangelists for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry. But here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying anything that a preacher, a Holy Spirit-filled preacher can teach you, you could learn on your own from the Bible. That’s what he’s saying. You say “Well Pastor, why are you around? Why have a Pastor? What do the spiritual leaders do?”. We help you go further faster.
I mean here’s the thing, if you’ve never read the Bible cover to cover, which sadly is the average Christian, or if you’ve only read the Bible cover the cover a few times, it’s hard to connect these dots. Once you’ve read the Bible cover to cover 20 times, you start being able to connect some dots. That’s why you’ll hear people say “Well I never saw that in the scripture.”. The whole reason that my wife and I can answer questions for you is not because we’re special. It’s because we’ve just spent a lot of time reading and studying the Bible. We help you go further faster but you could learn all of that on your own. A lot of the things we teach were taught to us by other preachers and then we’ve spent time learning and studying and memorizing and answering questions and digging into scripture and we’re helping you go further faster. We’re helping you connect the dots. I mean I’m spending 15 weeks on this series that it took me my whole life to learn and I’m giving it to you in a point-by-point alliterated format. But the point is this, the Holy Spirit is the one who teaches you the word of God. “…..but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”. And again, the point is this. You can read the Bible for yourself and learn it and apply it to your life.
And by the way that’s why I’m constantly trying to encourage you to read the Bible. You say “Well Pastor, you preach 3 sermons a week.”. But that’s not enough. The Bible says “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”. You need to be fed the word of God every day. You need to go home on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and before church on Sunday and read the Bible. Open it up and feed yourself spiritually from the word of God. You say “I’m new and haven’t read the Bible much.”. Well can you make the equivalent of a peanut butter and jelly spiritual sandwich. I mean make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and eat it spiritually and then you come to Verity Baptist Church and we’ll serve you up a steak on Sunday morning and ribs on Sunday night and you know salmon on Wednesday or whatever. We’ll cook you up a nice meal and help you. And then start to slowly build on that spiritual sandwich. Feed yourself. Read the Bible. Learn it. Babies are the ones that are spoon fed. And look, while you’re a baby, I’m not mocking you, while you’re a babe in Christ, we’ll spoon feed you and spoon feed you and spoon feed you. But there comes a point where the baby grabs the spoon and wants to feed himself. So eat. The Holy Spirit is given so that you can understand the Bible.
And by the way let me just say this. Not everybody that is saved is going to know everything. The Bible says in John 14 “26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,”. Here’s how he teaches you all things. He bringeth all things to your remembrance. See, it’s not like you get saved and you just know everything in the Bible. You actually have to read the Bible and read the Bible and read the Bible and eventually he brings things to your remembrance. And by the way, there are a lot of churches where the people are not getting spiritually fed. And the reason is because these Pastors are not spending a lot of time studying the Bible or reading the Bible. But you know, you come to a church like Verity or First Works or Faithful Word and people wonder how the Pastors connect so many things. Here’s why. Because the more you read the Bible, the Holy Ghost brings things to your remembrance. You start connecting things. It’s not because we’re special. You can do that too. You can learn and understand the word of God as well. But here’s the thing. The more you read, the more you study, the more you’ll know.
Look, my wife and I have been reading the Bible cover to cover multiple times a year since we were teenagers. That’s why we are able to help you and counsel you and answer your questions. And we don’t have every answer also. You know I spent the last 10 years preaching verse by verse, chapter by chapter through; Leviticus, Ezekiel, 1st Corinthians, Romans, Acts, John, Matthew, Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Job, Hosea, Isaiah. Obviously, all of that helps you too. But if you spend that much time studying in the Bible, you start connecting some dots. And look, all I’m trying to tell you is this, you should read the Bible. It’ll help you. Spend time in the Bible. Seek after the Lord. It’ll help you in your life.
So number one you should know about the deity of the Holy Spirit. Number two you should know about the person the Holy Spirit. Number three you should know about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Number four you should know about the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Number five. Go to Acts. You should know about the empowering of the Holy Spirit. The empowering of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one that empowers us.
Acts 1:8 “8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:”. Now notice. This is different than the indwelling. The indwelling is a seal. You are sealed. You are marked. There’s a seal that God puts on you. You are indwelled with the Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption. You’re not filled with the Spirit. You’ve got enough of the Holy Spirit sealed on you to keep you from hell. But then God says you can be filled with the Spirit. You can be empowered with the Spirit. And there’s different wording that’s used. And I like the book of Acts because it uses the different words but it uses them all synonymously. “8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”. He says the Holy Ghost will come upon you. Then go to Acts chapter 2.
Now in Acts 1:8 Jesus was referring to the day of Pentecost. He says look, he shall receive power after the Holy Ghost comes upon you. They were already sealed with the Spirit. They’d already received the Holy Spirit. But they had not yet been empowered by the Holy Spirit. He said the Holy Spirit’s going to empower you at the day of Pentecost. And Jesus called it “coming upon you”. The Holy Ghost will come upon you. And by the way, all throughout the Old Testament, it’s the Holy Ghost coming upon Samson when he does his great feats. It’s the Holy Ghost coming upon Saul when he was right with the Lord and doing things for God. It’s the Holy Ghost coming upon David. It’s always the Holy Ghost coming upon people. It’s the empowering of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:1 “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled”. Now look. In Acts 1:8 he said the Holy Ghost will come upon you. He’s talking about Acts 2:4. Here it says “4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”. Look at verse 14 in the same Chapter.
Acts 2:14 “14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:”. Verse 18 “18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:”. It’s the empowering of the Holy Spirit. And look, here’s all I’m trying to tell you. There’s a difference between the Christian who goes out soul winning because he has to and the Christian that goes out soul winning in the power of the Holy Spirit. There’s a difference between the preacher that gets up and is just going through the motions and notes and the preacher that gets up with the power of the Holy Spirit. There’s a difference.
God says that he will empower you. You say well how can I have the empowerment of the Holy Spirit? It’s connected to how much time you spend in the word of God. Because remember, it is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. The way the Spirit does his work on this earth is through his word. You want to be filled with the Spirit then memorize the word of God, read the word of God, hide it in your heart. To be filled with the Spirit you have to be filled with the word of God. And let me just say this. It’s not just about knowledge. And I don’t have time to develop all this but the Bible teaches that it is knowing and applying. It says “began both to teach and do”. Don’t be like the foolish man from the Sermon on the Mount but be like the wise man that built his house upon the rock. James said it’s like a man that looks into the law of liberty, the mirror of the word of God. And he beholdeth his face and he does something with it. Joshua said this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.
And by the way, let me just say this. The power of the word of God is found in your application of it. So you say “I showed up to church on Sunday night and I heard a sermon and nothing changed.”. Well did you do anything with what you heard? “I heard about being a good a husband that loves his wife.”. Did you love your wife? “I heard about being a submissive wife.”. Were you a submissive wife? “I heard about reading the Bible.”. Did you read the Bible? The power of the word of God is connected to our application of the word of God. You can sit there and listen to sermon after sermon but if you do nothing with it, it won’t help you. But when you apply it, the Holy Spirit begins to work in you. You begin to be filled with the Spirit of God and God empowers you and God pours his Spirit on you and God fills you and it comes upon.
I’m not trying to get all weird and holy and charismatic on you but there have been times I’ve been soul winning and I’ve just known that God was working through me. And somebody asked me a question and I start quoting a verse I don’t even remember memorizing. It’s like where did that come from? Obviously, I’ve read it before and that’s the Holy Spirit working in you. You get up to preach sometimes and you have a 4- or 5-page outline ready and start preaching. Then you start saying things that you didn’t plan to say or quoting things and people’s lives are changed. It’s the Holy Spirit that’s working.
This is not some mystical thing. God has a third person called the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you if you’re saved. He wants to empower you. He wants to teach you. He wants to guide you. He wants you to walk in him. Don’t ignore him. Don’t quench him. Don’t grieve him. Embrace the Holy Spirit of God. What do you need to know about it? Well you should know about the deity of the Holy Spirit. You should know about the person of the Holy Spirit. You should know about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. You know about the teaching of the Holy Spirit. And lastly you should know about the empowering of the Holy Spirit of God.
Let’s pray.