The Holy Who?

The Holy Spirit & the Christian Life ~ Selected Passages from the Gospel of John! March 9, 2014 (The First Sunday of Lent) ~ New City Church of Calgary ~ Pastor John Ferguson! Intro: Famous last words.!

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Today, we are going to look at a some of the last words of Jesus. Not his nal words on the cross, but his nal words given to his disciples on the night that he was arrested, tried illegally, and sentenced to death. ! In the midst of telling his disciples that he is about to go somewhere where they cannot come, they were understandably concerned and uncertain about the future. But he assures them, and reassures them that it is a good thing for him to go away, because when he does so, he would give them a Gift unlike anything they had ever experienced before. Jesus was literally dying to give them this Gift.! Exploring: You that God is a gift-giving God, and He gives gifts including (1) the gift of eternal life through ! LJX; (2) the gift of his personal presence, The Holy Spirit.! Christian: You will deepen in your understanding of who God is, and the power that is available to you to ! live the extraordinary life that he is calling you to: the Spirit-lled Christian life.!

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This Season of Lent will focus upon the person and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, because the Holy Spirit enables us to live the kind of life that Jesus died to give us. So well begin this week by asking the question, Who is the Holy Spirit?!

! The Holy Who? The Holy Spirit & The Christian Life ~ John 14:1-6, 16-17; 15:25-26; 16:7, 14! ! !
Jesus washes the disciples feet (13:1-20) ! Jesus gives them a new commandment to love one another (13:31-35)! Where I am going, you cannot come (13:33)! Sorrow has lled their hearts (16:6)!

Context: Now before the Feast of the Passover,when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end (John 13:1).!

! 14:1 Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ! ! Who in their right mind would say such a thing? In the say way you trust in God, trust also in me.! ! ! What a statement of condence in the face of his impending death!! !

2 In my Fathers house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. !

4 And you know the way to where I am going. 5 Thomas said to him, Lord we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? 6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.!

! Jesus opened the door to heaven for everyone who will enter through him. ! !
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14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with your forever, 17 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 14:25 These things I have spoken to you while I

am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.!

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The Holy Spirit is a Needed Being! Jesus promises another Helper = paraklaton (para kalew = call alongside) =! Helper = One who gives strength for the task and needed aid! Comforter = One who can console and give encouragement ! Counselor / Advocate = One who guides and defends! GJ Keddie, The Greek advocate was not a paid lawyer, but a friend who stood with you in court, helping, testifying, and encouraging. The heaven-sent Advocate is a powerful and comprehensive enabler.!

! Bottom line: When I go to be with the Father, I will send the Holy Spirit because you need the Holy Spirit.! ! 2) The Holy Spirit is a Personal Being! ! ! !
The Spirit has the attributes of a person:# an intellect (1 Cor. 2:10-11)! emotions (Rom. 15:13)! a will (1 Cor. 12:11)! The Spirit acts:# speaks (Acts 13:12)! teaches (John 14:26)! guides (Acts 8:29)! searches (1 Cor. 2:10)! ! The Spirit is affected by the actions of others:# he can be obeyed (Acts 10:19-21)! he can be lied to (Acts 5:3)! he can be resisted (Acts 7:51)! has desires (Gal. 5:17)! he can be known (John 14:17)#

convicts (john 16:7-8) ! intercedes (Rom. 8:26)! dwells (John 14:17)! accomplishes (1 Cor. 12:11)#

! 3) The Holy Spirit is Divine Being (The Deep Things of God)! ! The Christian faith is a monotheistic, trinitarian faith, not a polytheistic faith. ! ! One true God exists in three persons: Father, Son, & Holy Spirit! ! ! ! ! !

he can be grieved (Eph. 4:30)! he can be insulted (Heb. 10:29)! he can be blasphemed (Mt. 12:31-32)#

The Father is not the Son or HS; the Son is not the F or Hs; & the HS is not he Son or the F; but the Father, Son, & HS are all the one true God. !

What this tells us is that a community of seless, other-centred love is at the heart of the universe. God is essentially a relational being!! The Spirit unites us to Christ and we are brought into the happy land of the Trinity.!

15:26 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.! Part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to spotlight the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. ! And he does this in and through our lives. !
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16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. !

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Jesus actually says that it is to your advantage that I go away b/c I will send you the Holy Spirit. ! The Holy Spirit serves as a spotlight to glorify Jesus. ! One of the ways you can see the work of the Spirit in your life is if the person of Jesus is becoming more weightymore signicantto you. !

Main Idea: The Holy Spirit is (one of) the Gift (s) that Jesus died to give you. !

! Implications:! ! 1. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force, but the personal presence of God in our lives.! ! Some people are afraid of any talk about the Holy Spirit.! ! Some people are afraid of what the Holy Spirit might do in their lives.! ! ! ! 2. !
So, do you want the Gift he wants to give you?! The Holy Spirit is meant to be the experienced, empowering reality of God in our lives. !

But Jesus says, If youre going to be my follower, you are going to need the empowering gift of the Spirit to do so. IOW, you need the Spirit just like you need Jesus. !

! Is it possible that you have been trying to live the Christian life in your own power? ! ! ! Application: This weeks homework!! ! Tune in to what Jesus through His Holy Spirit wants to do in your life and through your life.! ! If Jesus says you need the Holy Spirit for your life & mission, how in tune are you with the Spirit? ! ! ! ! !

Why did Jesus promise to send the Holy Spirit? Because we cannot live the Christian life and engage in the mission of Jesus without him. !

G. Fee, The secret to the success of the early believers in their culture lay rst with their good news centered in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But their success also lay with their experienced life of the Spirit who made the work of Christ an effective reality in their lives, thus making them a radical alternative within their culture. !

As we reect on the suffering and death of Jesus during this season of Lent, lets remember that one of the most important things he died to give us was the personal presence of His Holy Spirit. ! Am I experiencing the Gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus died to give me?!

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