The Spirit of The Lord

Q: What does the Bible say about the Holy Spirit's role in prayer?

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit helps us pray by interceding for us. In Jude 20, believers are instructed to build themselves up in their most holy faith and to pray in the Holy Ghost. This indicates that prayer in the Spirit is integral to our spiritual growth. Romans 8 further elaborates on this, stating that the Holy Spirit assists our weaknesses and makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. This highlights the Spirit's active role in our prayer life, enabling us to communicate with God in ways that transcend our limited understanding.

Q: How do we know the Holy Spirit exists?

The existence of the Holy Spirit is confirmed in Scripture as part of the Trinity and His active involvement in our lives. The Scripture affirms the existence of the Holy Spirit, presenting Him as God active in creation, redemption, and sustaining believers. For instance, in Acts 8, we see the Spirit directing Philip to share the Gospel. His involvement in our lives includes interceding for us and guiding us in truth. The Holy Spirit is not an abstract concept but a personal divine presence who empowers believers to live according to God's will, validated by biblical accounts and the transformative experiences of individuals in the faith.

Q: Why is the Holy Spirit important for Christians?

The Holy Spirit is crucial as He empowers Christians to live holy lives and understand God’s truth. According to Scripture, the Holy Spirit plays an essential role in the life of a believer. He not only intercedes for us but also reveals the mysteries of God's Word and convicts us of sin. In Ephesians and Jude, believers are encouraged to rely on the Spirit for spiritual growth and guidance. This dependence on the Spirit enables Christians to live out their faith authentically, navigate life's challenges, and contribute to the building up of the Church, reflecting the glory of God through their transformed lives.

I'd like to turn after quite a while now back into the book of Jude and I love how, just as we read in Proverbs chapter 7 and in many other places in the scriptures, In the beginning, God. In the beginning, God. And at the end, God. And Jude is one of those glorious pictures where we have these extraordinary declarations of what it is for those who are religious and do not have the spirit of God to operate in this world in opposition. and in deceit in the churches. And the summary of their activities in Jude verse 19 is that these be they who separate themselves, sensual, not having the spirit. And then he says, but ye beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, and of some have compassion making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh, Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.

Amen. The Lord has given us so many pictures, but he's given us so many wonderful promises. And we began with a promise, and I just wanted to spend a little bit of time as we prepare to have the Lord's Supper to go back to those promises and go back to what it is for us to have the Spirit. And I love that phrase in verse 20.

It begins with, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith. The only true faith is most holy faith. But praying in the Holy Ghost, what is it to pray in the Holy Ghost? Well, that word in means with and by and on account of the Holy Spirit.

And you know from John chapter, I mean Romans chapter eight, that the Holy Spirit is now in heaven as we are here, the Holy Spirit is in heaven. interceding for us. And I love what he describes, how he is described here. It's so helpful and so wonderful. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. We're infirmed. We're infirmed in so many ways. We have so many infirmities. But he helps.

Don't you love that fact? No wonder he's called the comforter in the scriptures. And we are encouraged at the beginning of Jude to exhort you. That word is the same word as comfort. It's the same word as used as a spirit. It's the comforter, isn't it? Likewise, the spirit also helpeth. It means that he's helping and helping and helping and helping all the time. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought. Does that describe your prayers? How many of our prayers are just selfish prayers? That's why I love what the Lord said, isn't it? Hallowed be thy name. God is holy. God is infinitely and gloriously and wonderfully holy. We know not what we should pray as we ought, but This is one of the most glorious buts in all of the scripture.

You think about this. But the spirit itself, the spirit himself, listen to it, maketh, and the ETHs are wonderful, aren't they? He helps and helps and helps and helps and helps and never stops helping, and he makes and makes and makes intercession, and he keeps making intercession. He's making intercession right now for us with groanings. which cannot be uttered. There is a language of heaven and it's a language of groanings. It's extraordinary, isn't it? And he's helping and he's helping and he's helping. And the Lord Jesus Christ, in verse 34 of that same chapter, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ.

It is Christ that died, Yahweh rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. The Spirit, in verse 27, to go back to verse 27, it's just wonderful to think that our God, those two glorious members of the Trinity, are both there making intercession and they keep doing it all the time. And listen to verse 27 of Romans 8. He that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints. according to the will of God.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. His will is being done. And heaven's praying, heaven's a place of prayer, heaven's a place of communion, heaven's a place of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious God we have, what a glorious salvation we have. And that's why I just love what, at the end of that section in Luke chapter 11 in verse 13, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? We're asking this particular God. We're asking this particular God who sits on that particular throne that we read about in that particular place.

And that particular God who has a son that he sent into this world to achieve his purpose. And his purpose must be achieved. His purpose must be fulfilled. And the spirit then is this glorious, glorious, God. He is God. The Holy Spirit is God. And as the Holy Spirit being God, we've just heard that he intercedes, but he speaks.

You remember in Acts chapter eight, he says to Philip, you go and run along beside that chariot. And you will just happen to find that fellow on the chariot and you will find a proud man made humble. I love the words of that eunuch. The spirit had gone before, obviously. And the spirit and God's will had been done. And I love the fact that this man who had every reason to be intensely proud.

Where is it? Oh, my Bible's getting stuck together. I'm sorry. Where is that passage of scripture? This is Luke. It's Acts chapter 8. My Bible. I'm training a new Bible and this old one's getting to be disobedient. I'm trying to memorise the places on the page where it is.

But the eunuch said, in response to Philip's questioning and the spirit leading, Philip ran hither to him and heard him read of the prophet Isaiah and said, understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, this is a man, an incredibly wealthy, prominent man, "'How can I accept some man should guide me?' And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. And the place of the scripture from which he read was this, "'He was led as a lamb to the sheep of the slaughter, "'and like a lamb done before her shearer, "'so he opened he not his mouth. "'In his humiliation and his judgment, he was taken away. "'And who shall declare his generation? "'For his life was taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, whom speaketh of the prophet this, of himself or some other man?

Then Philip, it was the spirit who does this, then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached Jesus unto him. That spirit is interceding. That spirit is alive and active in this world. I pray the Lord uses us. He speaks. He speaks. And when he speaks, he speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he leads and he directs his church. And he's still doing exactly as he did all of those years ago.

You remember when Peter was in Joppa and he had a vision, didn't he? And he says, three men are coming to you. Three men are coming to you. And you go with them. And what did he do? He went down there to Cornelius's house. And what did he do? He preached the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the spirit fell upon those people, came upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit. It fell on them, all them which heard the word. Acts 10, 44. And they of the circumcision which bleed were astonished, and as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For when they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God, then answered Peter, can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized, which received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit is active right now in heaven. The Holy Spirit is active right now on this earth, leading and guiding and directing his people. And my prayer for us is that we ask, as the Lord encouraged us to in Luke chapter 11, we keep asking and we keep asking and we keep asking. And I'm asking that he just will continue to use us for his glory, that we can be a place where we say, hallowed be his name. Hallowed be his name. Hallowed be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That we might. as a body that he has put together, be those who just feed the trees of righteousness. What's the food of the trees of righteousness? The planting of the law? What are they drinking beside that river? They're drinking Christ and him crucified.

The Holy Spirit, which is so essential to avoid all of the all of the dangers of Jude and all of the terrible wiles of Satan that we read about in Proverbs 7 and other places. We needed Him continually. We are dependent upon Him. We are dependent on Him to open up the Scriptures. We can't preach, we can't study, we can't hear, we can't witness without the Spirit of God. He's got to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ. He's got to open hearts. He's got to open ears. He's got to open mouths. And He's got to reveal the beauties of holiness in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Holy Spirit is the author of natural life, isn't it? The Spirit was breathed into Adam and he became a living being. Human beings are different from the animals. They are different from the... They have the Spirit of God. God breathed into them.

And only believers have the Spirit of God. Only believers are spiritual. Everyone wants to be a spiritual person these days. But the only spiritual people are the ones who have the Holy Spirit, and the ones who have the Holy Spirit are the ones who hear of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to look at a couple of passages of Scripture in the Old Testament that talk about the Spirit coming upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And some of them you know well, others we probably haven't looked at as closely as we ought. In Isaiah chapter 11 there's a lovely description of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you turn with me there. So to have the Spirit of God is to declare the Lord Jesus Christ.

What did they do on the day of Acts, on the day of Pentecost? What were they declaring? All of them were declaring in all of those languages one thing. the wonderful works of God. And what were the wonderful works of God that they had just witnessed?

The Lord Jesus Christ crucified, the Lord Jesus Christ buried, the Lord Jesus Christ risen, the Lord Jesus Christ reigning, the Lord Jesus Christ pouring out this Spirit sent into this world. Listen to these verses that describe the Lord Jesus Christ in such wonderful, wonderful declarations.

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow up out of his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. Listen to this. The spirit of wisdom and understanding. The spirit of counsel and might. The spirit of knowledge, and listen to this, and of the fear of the Lord. Hallowed be thy name is to be in reverence and awe of the God that we are talking about and the God that we're dealing with, the God in whose presence we live and move and have our being. And listen to what the Spirit will do in the Lord. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.

And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither approve after the hearing of his ears. But listen to this. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor. and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." What an amazing description of our Lord Jesus Christ. Twice it's mentioned there, the fear of the Lord. Shall make him quick of understanding in the fear of the Lord, spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And listen to what he shall do.

And the wolf shall also dwell with the lamb and the leopard lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fat link together and a little child shall lead them and the cow and the bear shall feed their young ones shall lie down together. And the lion shall eat straw like an ox, and the suckling child shall play at the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the cockatrice's den. And they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.

For the earth, listen to this, isn't it glorious? The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Isn't that wonderful? What an amazing promise. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse. Why is Jesse mentioned and not David? He seemingly comes out of nothing rather than coming out of greatness. He was the son of David and he's declared so to be with power by the Holy Spirit.

Don't you love that? That's the banner. That's the ensign. That's, in a sense, the banner that the church waves and declares. That's what we're declaring as a church. All of God's churches are declaring that. His rest is glorious. He rests in his love. He makes his people to rest in him.

And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant, listen to them, what he's going to do, the remnant of his people. which shall be left to the Assyrians of Egypt and Pathos and Cush and Elam from Shinar and Hamath and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign, a banner, a banner for the nations and assemble the outcasts of Israel.

Do you feel like an outcast from this world? The longer I spend in this world, the more I feel like I'm an outcast from one. I just don't belong here. I listen to their conversations and I try and love them and I try and care and I try but I just don't feel like I belong anymore and it's getting worse and well better and better anyway.

I hope that's not mistaken for the intention of it. The Spirit of the Lord. Let's turn to a passage of scripture that we read often because it's quoted in Acts chapter 1 but in Isaiah 61. This is what happens when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon someone and this is what happened when the Spirit of the Lord came upon the Lord Jesus Christ and this is the spirit by which we preach and this is the spirit by whom we are praying in that verse in Jude 20. You build yourselves up in your most holy faith, you're praying in the Holy Ghost, this spirit, and the spirit of the Lord God is upon me, this is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.

How do they get to be meek? Blessed are the meek. They're blessed by God to be made meek, rather than being proud. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted. What's a broken heart? A broken heart's a heart that doesn't work anymore. Not a heart that can do a few things if you just push it in the right direction and nudge it here and there like religion does. A broken heart. God gives his people a new heart. Broken heart. Set me to bind up the broken heart to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.

He says to them, like Lazarus, you come out. Lazarus was bound in that prison, wasn't he? Bound and dead and rotten and the Lord just comes and he speaks and life comes into Lazarus. And Lazarus comes out of that tomb and he was still bound when he came out, had to get out of there. Exactly the same way God saves all of his children from the captivity of Satan and sin and the law and all the other things we're held captive to.

And he says, the opening of the prisons to them that are bound And don't you love this, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. That's the jubilee year when everything that you have lost is restored to you legally under the law of God. seven times seven, and then there was a jubilee trumpet that was to sound. And everyone that had lost land and possession, everything was restored to them. It's a glorious, glorious picture of what we lost in Adam and what is restored. And that's the gospel is a proclamation of the Jubilee trumpet, isn't it?

That God has done it and God is restoring to proclaim the acceptable year, the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes. the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. That he might be glorified. And what's the gathering of the church about? What is the church? The church is the gathering of God's people that he might be glorified.

We bow, I love how Paul finished that prayer in Ephesians chapter three and beginning in verse 14. For this cause I bow my knees under the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is encouraging, and Jude is encouraging his readers, build yourself up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. This is a Holy Spirit-led prayer. I bow my knees under the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, he would give you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.

That is the new man, that is the new creation, the new creation that's created in righteousness and true holiness, that new creation that God puts into his people. That new creation has to live with the old creation that causes him to mourn and causes him to know that he's a captive and causes him to know again and again and again that he needs a saviour. And there is a saviour, a perfectly suited saviour for sinners. Listen to what happens.

This is what Jude is encouraging us to rejoice in. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you be rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. We began our service by saying, ask. God will give the Holy Spirit. Well, ask Him, which means that you're a beggar, you're a mercy beggar, before a holy and glorious God, whose will is done in heaven, whose will is done in this earth.

And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. How much of it? If you have the Lord Jesus Christ, you have absolutely everything. If you don't have the Lord Jesus Christ, you don't have anything. That's why I love what Donny used to say, don't miss Christ. I don't want to miss Christ. Don't leave here without the Lord Jesus Christ.

And now unto him, That is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. It works, and it works, and it never stops working. pray in the Holy Spirit, build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Now unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. And in chapter four, he begins to tell you how he builds his church. And what he does, his church on this earth right now is the evidence and the glory of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Listen to what he says. This grace is given in verse seven of chapter four, but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. What's the measure of the gift? We just read about it. He gives himself fully to all of his people. Now he that ascended, what is? it, but he that also descended first into the lower parts of the earth, he that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.

And he gave some apostles We're reading them. Some prophets, we've read them. And some evangelists, we've heard them. And some pastor teachers, listen to this, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Is it done well? Did he do it well? He said he did. He said he did.

And to know the love of God, of Christ, which passes knowledge. That you might be filled with all the fullness of God. To be filled with all the fullness of God is to have all of your sins taken away. God can only dwell where there is holiness. Hallowed be your name. Ask, ask, and it will be given unto you. More, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. What a glorious saviour, what a glorious witness, what a glorious destiny. What to be kept by the power of God. Be kept by those promises. Let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you again for your word of truth, and we praise you, Heavenly Father, that the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, and that truth is a revelation of He who is the truth. And we praise you, Heavenly Father, that the blood-bought gifts that are poured out upon all of your people in this world. Cause all of your children, Heavenly Father, to look to the Lord Jesus Christ and to look to him alone and to look away from everything else and look to him and look to the glory, the glory of who he is and the glory of his promises. that he makes to those his children. O Heavenly Father, may you cause us to eat and drink in remembrance of him and to do so, Heavenly Father, rejoicing in the fact that he blesses the meek, he blesses the hungry and the thirsty, he sets the captives free, he comes to where we are and he abides with us. Oh, our Father, glorify, cause your Son to be glorified in the way you cause us to conduct ourselves in this world, Heavenly Father, and before this world, and especially, Heavenly Father, before each other. Help us to rejoice in who he is, our dear and precious Saviour. Help us, Heavenly Father, to know that all of your children are washed and made spotless in his blood. Sprinkle that on our hearts yet again, Heavenly Father, and glorify your Son amongst us. For we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Spirit of The Lord

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the Holy Spirit's role in prayer?

How do we know the Holy Spirit exists?

Why is the Holy Spirit important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Angus Fisher

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The Spirit of The Lord

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the Holy Spirit's role in prayer?

How do we know the Holy Spirit exists?

Why is the Holy Spirit important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Angus Fisher

Comments

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