SERMON MANUSCRIPT
Holy, holy, holy / Lord God almighty / early in the morning / our song shall rise to thee / holy, holy, holy / merciful and mighty / God in three persons / blessed trinity.
If you’ve been around the church for a while you’ve likely heard that last word: trinity. It’s an important word, not because it’s found anywhere in the Bible—it’s not—but because of what it represents. The church has used that term for centuries as a bit of a placeholder for all that we find in Scripture about the nature of God. [Dr. K]
The God who is one. [Deut 4:35; 6:4; Psa 86:10; 1 Cor 8:4; Jas 2:19] The Bible is crystal clear: there is only one true God and, so, Christians are monotheists.
At the same time, however, our monotheism is different than that of, say, Islam. [Yahweh/Allah] The God of the Bible is not synonymous with the God of the Koran because our singular God is plural. In fact, there are hints to this even early on in Scripture [Gen 1:1] The Hebrew word for God, elohim, is plural. [1:26a] Who’s he talking to? It can’t be angels because human beings aren’t made in the image of angels. [Isa 48:16] Here we have the Messiah speaking of God and God’s Spirit. We know there’s only one God but, at the same time, there seems to be a plurality in that singularity. As one second century theologian wrote, “Though alone [before creation], [God] was multiple.”
And, as Scripture—God’s self disclosure—continues to unfold, more pieces are added to this puzzle. We’re told that the Father is God (John 2:27; 1 Pet 1:2), the Son is God (John 1:1; Col 2:9), and the Spirit is God (Acts 5:3–4; 2 Cor 3:17–18). So, there’s one God, but three.
And to make it more complicated, all three are distinct. [Mark 1:10–11; John 14:26] It isn’t that there’s one God who sometimes shows up as Father, sometimes as Son, and sometimes as Spirit. No, they are separate persons who do separate activities, while, at the same time, indivisibly and eternally one.
Yes, we are monotheists, but trinitarian monotheists. The Bible teaches that there is one God existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—eternal in being, identical in nature, equal in power and glory, having the same attributes and perfections, and worthy of the same worship, confidence, and obedience. God is trinity. Holy, holy, holy / merciful and mighty / God in three persons / blessed trinity.
Now, most Christians today eagerly worship God the Father, praying “Our Father, who art in heaven!” And most of us long to know and serve God the Son, he who died in our place. But, relatively speaking, many are ignorant when it comes to God the Spirit. What is the Spirit of God? What does the Holy Spirit do? How are we to relate to the Spirit?
When it comes to the Holy Spirit, there’s often much we don’t know, things we think we know, and lots we’d like to know. And, just as in our relationships with one another, the more ignorance that remains the more barriers to intimacy.
So, this summer as a church family, we want to become more familiar with the third person of the the godhead, the Holy Spirit—the God who lives in us, by the way—so that our relationship with him can become increasingly enjoyable, fruitful, and meaningful.
My job for this morning is simply to introduce us afresh to the Holy Spirit’s identity and history, his person and his past, who he is and what he’s been up to. Please turn to Matthew 12.
When I first met my wife, I remember wanting to know everything about her—her background and family, interests and fears, hopes and dreams, her thoughts on short men as potential partners. I wanted to know everything because I wanted to know her. And that’s where our study has to begin, with a look at the Holy Spirit as a Person.
In 2022, an American survey found that 60% of evangelicals believe that “the Holy Spirit is a force but is not a personal being.” This is a tragic statistic at least in part because you can’t have an intimate relationship with a force. Also because, it’s the opposite of what the Bible teaches.
In Matthew 12 Jesus is being confronted by Israel’s leadership and, in the context of that gospel, this is actually when the nation rejects him as Messiah and King. Jesus had been doing miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Pharisees claimed he was doing them by the power of Satan. So, Jesus responds. [Matt 12:31–32] Notice the distinctions between the persons again.
But also notice that blasphemy assumes a person who can be blasphemed. [Josie’s “stupid doll”] You think the doll cares? No! Why? Because you can’t insult an inanimate object. You can’t offend a force. You can’t denigrate an aura. But you can blaspheme a person.
[John 14:16, 26] The person of the Holy Spirit actively and knowingly helps and teaches and reminds. He also speaks. [Acts 8:29; 13:2] The Spirit of God can be pleased. [Acts 15:28] He can also be grieved. [Eph 4:30] This assumes love. I can’t be disappointed and hurt by people I don’t care about. It’s those I’m close to, those I’m invested in, that can make my heart heavy. The Spirit also leads, confirms our status with God, and helps us pray. [Rom 8:14, 16, 26]
[1 Cor 2:10–11] So, the Spirit searches the depths of God because he is God and yet is distinct from God. The Spirit also manifests himself for the good of the people of God. [1 Cor 12:4–7, 11]
These are all the actions of a personal entity, not of an impersonal force. This is the description of the Holy Spirit as a person. He can be disappointed, resisted, stifled, and lied to. He can also teach, lead, guide, convict, and testify. The Spirit of God is not a force or emanation from God. He is God, just like the Son and Father are God. He is a person.
Which means that you and I can have an intimate relationship with the Spirit of God. In fact, we must. We dare not ignore him, awarding him the bronze medal of the godhead. Remember, they are eternal in being, identical in nature, equal in power and glory, having the same attributes and perfections, and worthy of the same worship, confidence, and obedience.
Like any relationship our relationship with the Spirit of God can be improved with attention, time, love, respect, and thoughtfulness. Understanding that the Spirit of God is a distinct person of God can change the way we think about him, speak about and to him, submit to him, and worship him.
After Jesus’s resurrection and before his ascension back to the Father, he told his followers [Acts 1:5b, 8]. And so they wait and, in Acts 2 the Holy Spirit is poured out on Jesus’s disciples and, from that point onward—even until today—he works in this world in specific ways, ways in which we will explore together this summer.
But a question we might ask is what was the Holy Spirit doing before Acts 2? And that’s where I want to go next this morning. We’ve seen the Holy Spirit as a person and now I want us to consider the Holy Spirit in the past; from his identity to his history.
The first thing we might notice about the Holy Spirit in the OT is his enlivening work. When we open the Scriptures we immediately see the Spirit of God present at creation. [Gen 1:2] The Spirit is involved in bringing forth all life, including the life of people. [Job 33:4]
But while God’s Spirit brings life, sin brings death. And when sin was particularly bad on the earth, God declared [6:3]. So, God’s Spirit preserves life and, when the striving ceases, so does life. [Ps 104:30]
What was God’s Spirit doing in the past, before Acts 2? He was bringing, sustaining, and officiating over life. God’s Spirit was enlivening. But he was also, and more often it seems, empowering.
In Exodus, speaking of a man named Bezalel, God says [Ex 31:3–5]. This is the first time we see the Spirit filling an individual and, notice that here it has nothing to do with salvation and everything to do with ability and power for service to God.
Later on, speaking to Moses, God says [Num 11:17, 24–25]. Again, God’s Spirit is given to empower people for his work. The Spirit came upon Balaam and he spoke for God (Num 24:2).
Joshua was “a man in whom is the Spirit” and was commissioned for leadership. The Spirit came upon judges like Othniel (Jdg 3:10), Gideon (6:34), and Jephthah (11:29), raising them up to deliver God’s people from of oppression. The Spirit stirred Samson (13:25) and three times came upon him (14:6, 19; 15:14) to give supernatural strength.
The Spirit also came upon King Saul (1 Sam 10:6, 10; 11:6) but, in his rebellion, Saul scorned the Spirit and [16:14]. In contrast, David’s reign was surrounded by the Spirit. [1 Sam 16:13; 2 Sam 23:2]
And during his life, perhaps having seen what happened to Saul, David cries to the Lord, [Ps 51:11]. he knew he had the presence and power of God’s Spirit but that his sin with Bathsheba had grieved the Spirit, straining their relationship, and that his empowerment could be taken. Perhaps that’s also why he prayed, [Ps 143:10].
The Spirit also empowered groups of people and not just individuals. [1 Chr 12:16–18; Neh 9:30; Isa 63:11–12]
So what was the person of the Spirit of God up to in the OT? He was enlivening—bringing, sustaining, and officiating over life itself. And he was empowering—protecting, teaching, gifting, and equipping people to do his work his way.
And we all need those things, don’t we? We all need life, a better life, a life that won’t expire, a life that won’t disappoint, a life that won’t be snuffed out, and life of joy and purpose. We all need life and that’s the Spirit’s specialty!
And we all need power, don’t we? We all need skill and help, protection and ability, sustained competency and sufficient focus to do what we most need to do. And that’s always been how the Spirit works!
But we’re not living in the OT, so what about us? Well, the OT also predicts a time when the Holy Spirit of God would anoint a specific individual, a Servant-Messiah, to bring life and power. [Isa 11:1–2; 42:1] And when Jesus came, he would actually claim this for himself. [Luke 4:18] And this is exactly what his ministry looked like.
Jesus came to bring life. [John 3:3b, 5] And his was a ministry characterized by the enabling power of the Spirit, signs that testified to the veracity of his message. [20:30–31]
And as wonderful as the ministry of the Holy Spirit was in the OT, there’s a sense in which it is even more so today. In fact, Jesus promised it would be. [John 14:16–17, 25–26; 16:5–7, 12–14] And we’re going to spend the next couple of months exploring the wonderful enlivening and empowering work of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the eternal One—God in us.
Josiah has served the Oakridge Bible Chapel family as one of its elders and one of its pastoral staff members since September 2018, before which he ministered as an associate pastor to a local congregation in the Canadian prairies. Josiah's desire is to be used by God to help equip the church for ministry, both while gathered (edification) and while scattered (evangelization). He is married to Patricia, and together they have five children—Jonah, Henry, Nathaniel, Josephine, and Benjamin.
