Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20041107.htm

APPLYING OUR CHURCH'S STATEMENT OF BIBLICAL FAITH
Article III, Part V Of The Nepaug Bible Church Bylaws: God The Holy Spirit
(John 16:7-14; 3:8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Ephesians 5:18; Acts 5:3-4)
  1. Introduction
    1. A great need exists in Christendom to "experience" God's power in life and service as many sense a lack of such power. A current flyer put out by a national Christian ministry illustrates this fact as it advertises several books on the matter including Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, A Passion for the Impossible and When God Says Go! Indeed, Christians often "flock after the preacher who has some new secret for victory, and we ignore the Holy Spirit who has been freely given to us and who wants to overflow our lives" with His great power for effective living and service, cf. Charles C. Ryrie, The Holy Spirit, p. 9.
    2. All we need for experiencing God's power has been given to us in the Holy Spirit according to our Statement of Faith; at Article III, Part V, it reads: "We believe in God the Holy Spirit Who was sent from the Father in the name of the Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. In the present age He regenerates all believers, baptizes each one into the body of Christ, indwells them permanently, seals them until the day of redemption, bestows spiritual gifts upon each one, and fills those who yield to Him. We believe He is the abiding Comforter, Helper, Teacher, Guide, and that He is coequal and coeternal with the Son and Father as God." We study the Scriptures behind this statement for insight into experiencing the power of God in our lives as follows:
  2. God The Holy Spirit, John 16:7-14; 3:8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Ephesians 5:18; Acts 5:3-4.
    1. The Holy Spirit is coequal and coeternal with God the Father and God the Son, for He is Himself God: Acts 5:3-4 reveals that when Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, he lied to God, so the Holy Spirit is God!
    2. As God, the Holy Spirit is all the human race needs to experience God's all-sufficient power in this life:
      1. The Holy Spirit is all the unsaved party needs to come to see his need of Christ to be justified by God:
        1. John 16:7-14 reveals the Holy Spirit currently convinces the unsaved world of men that they are in sin for not believing on Christ for salvation from sin, that Christ is righteous because the Father has taken Him to heaven in His resurrection and ascension, and that there is a day of judgment of sin and sinners coming since Christ has judged Satan at the cross.
        2. Revelation 22:17 reveals the Holy Spirit uses believers in the Bride of Christ to urge the lost to come to Christ, but that the Holy Spirit also works independent of Christians to do the same thing!
        3. Thus, no unsaved person is with any adequate excuse for not eventually coming to faith in Christ!
      2. The Holy Spirit is all the unsaved party needs to be saved completely and permanently:
        1. The Holy Spirit causes the unsaved to be spiritually, supernaturally born of God when he puts his faith in Christ and His atonement for his sin, John 3:8 with 3:5, 16.
        2. That new convert is at that time eternally sealed with the Holy Spirit, effectively preserving this salvation status unconditionally forever, Ephesians 1:13-14.
      3. The Holy Spirit is all the saved believer needs to experience the power of God in his life and service:
        1. The Holy Spirit equips the believer to live a righteous life that pleases God, and that providing the believer yields to the Holy Spirit's leading in his life to obey Scripture, Ephesians 5:18; 5:19-6:20.
        2. At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit also gives each believer a supernatural ability for service in a specific realm of activity, an ability we know as a "spiritual gift", 1 Pet. 4: 10-11; 1 Cor. 12:13, 11 with 4-7 NIV. These gifts include (for today's believers [the sign gifts no longer apply]) evangelist, pastor-teacher, pastor, teacher, helps, exhortation, discerning of spirits, showing mercy, giving, administration, and each of these with an emphasis on either faith or knowledge or wisdom (Eph. 4:11-12; Rom. 12:7-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-6, 9a; Acts 20:17, 28; 1 Pet. 5:1-4).
        3. The Holy Spirit acts as a divine Parent, not leaving us "orphaned," cf. John 14:16-18 NIV, ESV. As such, He is the believer's Comforter (John 14:16), Helper (John 15:26-27), Teacher (John 14:26) and Guide (Romans 8:14 with Acts 16:6-10) throughout his life.
Lesson: The Holy Spirit is God, and ministers with God's supernatural power to supply all the power anyone needs for fulfillment in "experiencing" God's power in spite of his current mortality.

Application: May we trust in Christ and yield to the Spirit's power for fulfilling blessing in our lives!