I Believe in the Holy Spirit

Minister:
Date: AM
Text: John 16; Lord's Day 20
Psalters: 409, 65, 78, 287
  1. Who He is.
    1. The Holy Spirit is a real Person (not an impersonal force of nature). Three thoughts:
      1. He is a distinct Person in the Godhead, the third Person, God the Spirit.
      2. He is not just any person, but a divine person, the third person equal with God the Father and God the Son.
      3. His name (“Spirit”) describes His relationship to the other two Persons: makes possible communion within the Godhead.
    2. He is the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9; Phil. 1:19; I Peter 1:11).
  2. The work of the Spirit.
    1. He works generally - more than just in each believer. Four things.
    2. And His work is deeply personal: “given me, to make me….”
      1. He indwells each elect (I Cor. 6:19; Rom. 8:15), uniting each elect to Christ and to each other (I Cor. 12:12,13; Eph. 4:3).
      2. The Spirit regenerates, giving the new life in Christ to those previously dead in sin (John 3:8; Rom. 8:10,11; Ezek. 37).
      3. The Spirit convicts of sin (John 16:9).
      4. The Spirit convinces the regenerated that Jesus is the Son of God who earned forgiveness in His suffering and death.
      5. The Spirit sanctifies, conforming us more and more to the image of God’s Son (Titus 3:5; II Thess. 2:13; I Peter 1:2).
  3. The blessing of the Spirit.
    1. By true faith, the Spirit makes each elect a partaker of Christ and of all His benefits (Rom. 8:9).
    2. Another benefit of the Spirit is His comforting presence (“Comforter,” John 14:16).
    3. The Spirit seals us “to the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).
    4. We do experience His presence and observe the result of His work, for we see the evidence of the Spirit at work in us (Jn. 3:8):