Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Unity of Purpose
“Driven by the Spirit”
Breaking
Barriers
Sometimes
it is hard to hear the Word of God because of the weight that we carry. The weight of struggles, of sin, of
temptations; there can be a deep sense of spiritual hopelessness, even
depression as we prepare to receive the Word of God. Intellectually, we can sense a spirit of
defeat, of condemnation. We might even
say, “Look at me God, I am a failure”, or “God, it is too much”, or “God, I
just want to quit.” So how do I hear when
I feel so inadequate to be in God’s presence?
What
if I was to tell you, “You are the ark of His glory?” Would you believe me? Why do we only believe the things that speak
to our sin nature and never the things that speak to glorified nature? Why do we look to the things to come and
endure the present? Why do we “slug” our
way through the present in drudgery and never sing the song of our present glory?
John
17:22-23 “…And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be
one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they
may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me,
and have loved them as You have loved Me.” NKJV
The
musician David Fitzgerald in his song “We are an Ark” sings:
I
am an ark of you glory,
You
made your home in me,
I
am thankful because you made your home in me,
I
am alive because you made your home in me
We
are an ark of your glory
The
passage of scripture is uniquely prophetic.
It was the last portion of Jesus’ High-Priestly prayer over himself, his
disciples, and you. Yes, you! Jesus prayed for those who would come to
believe, for those who were “afar off.”
Prayer
of Preparation:
Holy
Spirit, I cast off the spirit of drudgery in Jesus’ Name! I declare before God, I am the ark of His
Glory! I am remembering that I am made
perfect in Christ and in God. I want the
world to know that you love me! Never let
me forget, by the Holy Spirit I am one with You. I want to hear with my heart, to learn with
my mind, I want to live, to live by the Word of Christ! Cause hearing today, cause learning today,
cause life in me today…in Jesus Name.
Sermon
This
series of sermons about the unity between Jesus and the Holy Spirit is
important because we have a very immature understanding of the Person of the
Holy Spirit. We define the Holy Spirit
by His capacities and not as God. The
other day I was thinking about the Holy Spirit, the person of the Holy Spirit. As I was thinking about the attributes of the
Holy Spirit, I heard in my mine mind, “I am tired of being defined by gifts,
signs and wonders, I am much more than these, and I am God.” I immediately sensed a hunger to preach the
Holy Spirit as God and not as a series of behaviors, like gifts, signs and
wonders. And let me say this now, I am
not diminishing the great works of the Holy Spirit, rather we are be called to
a mature understanding of the Person of the Holy Spirit.
Mark
1:9-13 Now in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized
by John in the Jordan River. 10 And just
as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and
the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
11 And a voice came from heaven: "You are my one dear Son; in you I
take great delight." 12 The Spirit immediately drove him into the
wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, enduring temptations from
Satan. He was with wild animals, and angels were ministering to his needs.
This
morning I want to focus on shortest version of the temptation of Jesus recorded
in the Synoptic Gospels. In very few
words, Mark summarizes some of the greatest themes in scripture:
·
The baptism of Jesus
·
The Spirit descending on Jesus
·
God’s identification of His Son
·
And the Holy Spirit compelling Jesus
into the wilderness
Too
often, we preach the great truths of the baptism of Jesus, the descent of the
Holy Spirit and the actual temptation events during the fast of 40 day in the
wilderness. Yet, I am intrigued by the
brevity and sense of urgency I see in verses 12 and 13. In this account there is urgency to move into
conflict. There is no resting in the
glory of the baptism; “immediately” the Holy Spirit calls Jesus to the
wilderness. There is great danger
waiting for Jesus, there is temptation from Satan, there are wild animals,
there is a great struggle, wounds requiring ministering angels. What is happening here?
Too
often our description of the Holy Spirit centers on the miraculous acts of the
Holy Spirit. There is so much emphasis
on the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, like children we want to see more and
more of these manifestations. We are
intrigued by the miracles, the power, signs and so we can become rather
demanding about these things. We want to
see these great things displayed by the Holy Spirit. Let us be truthful, we have been taught to
seek these manifestations, to seek the gifts, to pray for them, to “fast” for
them, there are all kinds of gyrations we put ourselves through to receive the
Gifts of the Holy Spirit. But what about
the Holy Spirit himself, as God?
In
verse 12, Jesus models for us the authority of the Holy Spirit. Jesus submits to the leadership of the Holy
Spirit and follows the urgent call of the Holy Spirit into the greatest battle
to be waged for our salvation. The
foundation of the Cross is about to happen.
The testing of the perfect sacrifice, Jesus, is about to occur
over the next 40 days and nights. In the
deepest parts of the desert, where the wild animals run free, Jesus is being
led to fast and to be confronted by Satan, to endure the circumstances of his
surroundings.
What
Adam and Eve failed to do in the Garden of Eden, Jesus is about to do in the
desert. Here in the process of hunger,
exhaustion from fighting off the wild animals for forty days and nights, Jesus
is confronted by Satan. Here the battle
for the sufficiency of the sacrifice on the cross is being waged by Jesus and
Satan. And the Holy Spirit leads Jesus
to the battle ground!
In
the relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Jesus is led by the Holy
Spirit and will be empowered by the Holy Spirit. There is a significant leadership issue
modeled for us that is a necessary precursor to the manifestation of the
capacities of the Holy Spirit.
Luke
introduces the event this way:
Luke
4:4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led
by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where
for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days,
and at the end of them he was hungry. NIV
Paul
in Romans speaks forcefully to the leadership role of the Holy Spirit:
Rom
8:5 “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what
that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have
their minds set on what the Spirit desires… 9 You, however, are controlled not
by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you... 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised
Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will
also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” NIV
·
The mindset of the Holy Spirit
·
Controlled by the Holy Spirit
·
Life through the Holy Spirit
·
Holy Spirit lives in us
These
four principles of the Holy Spirit center on leadership, the Leadership of the
Holy Spirit. The question this morning
is “Who is leading who?” Do our lives,
desires, prayers reflect the leadership of the Holy Spirit? Do we understand the urgency of the Holy Spirit?
The
battle was waged and Jesus overcame. But
the story does not end there. Two great
event occurred in the end. First the
angels descend and served Jesus. Second
we read in Luke:
Luke
4:14-15 “Jesus Returned To Galilee In The Power Of The Spirit,
and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.” NIV
Being
“full of the Holy Spirit” like Jesus, is to be led by the Holy Spirit; that is
the initial evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Power comes after submission to the
leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Lifting the Veil
2
Cor. 3:16-18 “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with
ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. NIV
by Grace Alone!
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