Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

Heb 8:10-13  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.  For I will forgive their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Introduction – would someone just make being a Christian and living for Christ simple?

We’ve been talking about life under the New Covenant

The concept of the NC is not a new to us:

Mat 26:26-28 “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

It is this New Covenant which Hebrews 8-10 talks about.

Life Under the New Covenant

1.         New understanding of truth and internal motivation –
“I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts”

This is the practical experience of the promise of the NC to give new and inner understanding to the ways and will of God.

2.  Close relationship with God – Intimacy!
“I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me”

3.         Absolute forgiveness for all sins
“For I will forgive their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Rom 8:1-4; Psalm 103:10-14; Isaiah 43:25

This is the personal, moment by moment reality experienced by every believer.

4.         There is another great realities of life under the New Covenant

John 14:16-17 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

He goes on to say…
John 14:18  “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
John 14:23  “Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Romans 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. ”

Romans 5:5 “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”
1 Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

So I asked myself the question: What would being close to God look like?
Genesis 6:9 “Noah walked with God.”
Genesis 32:30 “Jacob said, “I have seen God face to face”
Exodus 33:11 “The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

Part of the answer is that the way to stay close to Christ is to learn to live in power of the Holy Spirit
Zechariah 4:6  “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.”

TS: And so today, I want to talk about…

B.I.: The positive side of living close to God.
One way this is described is
Gal 5:25  “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

I.          Identity of the Holy Spirit

A.The Holy Spirit is a person, not a force or a part of God.
Many people view the Holy Spirit as a force/power source that can be tapped into. Against this, the Bible emphasizes the personhood of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is a person, not a force or a part of God.

He has the elements of personality:

Intelligence 1 Cor. 2:l0,11 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.”

Emotion Eph. 4:30  “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Will 1 Cor. l2:11 “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”

B. The Holy Spirit is fully God.

He is grouped equally with other known persons of the Trinity
Matt. 28:19 “Go tf and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
2 Cor 13:14  “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  1 Pet. 1:2; Acts 2:33,38; Gal. 4:6; 2 Cor. 1:21,22).

The use of the personal pronoun “he” (as opposed to “it”) indicates personhood.
John 16:13,14 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (14) He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you.”

He is equated with God
2 Cor. 3:l7 “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

Acts 5:3,4 “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? (4) “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.”

II. After we become Christians what does the Holy Spirit do in our lives?
These categories outline different ways the Holy Spirit ministers to Christians. They are interrelated

1. He gives us assurance of our salvation by enabling us to relate to God personally.

Rom. 8:15,16 “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”

Gal. 4:6 “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

This is often subtle enough that it requires sensitivity to recognize this in your own life. You also need to be able to point it out in the lives of younger Christians.

2. He enables us to understand meaning and significance of God’s Word, and how it personally applies to our lives. Most of us have had the experience of thinking that a teaching was directed specifically to us.

1 Cor. 2:12 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God”

Eph. 1:17-19 “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might”

3. He leads us by personally guiding us into God’s will for our lives.
This leadership consists primarily of personal guidance in the areas of character transformation and ministry purpose.
Contrasted to an impersonal list of rules that dictate a desired behavior or when we mindlessly imitate other Christians.
Many have experienced empowering when sharing our faith after an initial feeling of fear.

Acts 1:8 “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Act 8:4-5, 27-31  “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ…Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.  And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship  and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Acts 16:6-10 “And they passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and when they had come to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

4. He empowers us to please God by transforming our character and making our ministry fruitful.

The gradual character transformation is just as miraculous as being led to share your faith!

Rom 8:4,11 “in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit . . . But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you”

Rom. 8:12-15 “So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh–for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

Gal 5:16-18 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Gal. 5:22,23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

5. He comforts us and impart hope to us in the midst of our sufferings by providing purpose and strength to endure.
Acts 9:31 “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

Acts 13:50-52 “But the Jews aroused the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district . . . And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

Rom. 5:3-5 “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Rom. 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

6. He enable Christians to be effective in prayer.
Rom 8:26,27 “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

He intercedes for us according to God’s will. He leads us in what to pray for.”

Note: These ministries of the Holy Spirit are always available to Christians, but they are contingent on our willingness to walk by, or be filled with, the Spirit. That is what we will be covering next week.

Next Sunday: Walking by God’s Spirit involves 3 things…