[Scripture: Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:1-4]

Today, I want to share with you about the Holy Spirit because doctrine of the Holy Spirit is one of the most difficult theological concepts for all Christians. If you are confused about the Holy Spirit, don’t worry because no one has fully understood the concept of the Holy Spirit of the trinity. Even the early Church fathers did not have a clear understanding, so in 325 AD and 451 AD, the Councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon made creeds.

Trinitarian theology recognizes two natures united as a one without confusion, mixture, separation, or division. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son, comes out from the Father through Son, and He dwells in the hearts of believers.

When early Church theologians established the doctrinal foundations of Christianity, they only knew a few things about the trinity. They said God is not one but three, and also, God is not three but one. I believe that no one can truly understand the trinitarian concept. However, if you are confused about it, do not forget these three things. The first is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons and that each person is fully God. The second is there is only one God.

Misconceptions of the Holy Spirit

Christians today also have many misconceptions about who the Holy Spirit is and what He does in a Christian’s life. The first misconception some believe is that the Holy Spirit is just God’s active force. These people translate the Greek word “Pneuma” as “wind” and “breath”; therefore, they say the Holy Spirit is an “it” rather than “He.” (Jehovah’s Witnesses do that).

However, the Bible says the Holy Spirit is a helper and counselor who is working for us. In John 14:16, John described the Holy Spirit as the Comforter. In Romans 8:26, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us through wordless groans. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is not only described as a wind but also a comforter, a personal being.

The other misconception is thinking of the Holy Spirit as an agent that works for us. Some Christians think too often that gifts of the Holy Spirit like divine healing, the power to do miracles, the ability to prophesy, and speaking in tongues are their own spiritual abilities.

Sometimes some Christians think “the Holy Spirit should come and fix my problem” when they pray. However, He is not our personal handyman who fixes our problems when we ask. This is not the proper Christian attitude. Instead, we must ask the Holy Spirit to tell us what we should do.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God Dwelling in Humanity

In today’s passage, Joel 3:28 says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” Joel prophesied the Spirit of God would return to humanity again. In Acts 2, the Bible tells us about the day that the Spirit of God came to people who believed in Jesus Christ as the Savior. When the day of Pentecost came, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said, “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.”

The Spirit of God in Genesis

In Genesis 1:27, we knew that God made us in His image, and in Genesis 2:7, God breathed life into the man and “the man became a living being.” When God created Adam, God formed him from dirt on the ground. After that, God sent his breath (ruah), which means “life” or
“spirit” into the first human being. When God shared his “Ruah,” human beings became spiritual beings who contained the spiritual image of God.

But God decided he would take His Spirit away from humans. In Genesis 6:3, it says, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” When the Spirit of God, “the life-giving Spirit,” left humanity, people became flesh. This meant that instead of living eternally, people can live no more than a hundred and twenty years. Since that time, people haven’t been able to contain the Spirit of God, and they became disconnected from the source of eternal life because of sin. Since then, all humanity has lost the Spirit of God.

How Can We Have the Spirit of God Again?

Jesus is the door through which the Spirit of God is brought to us again, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us through him. Jesus Christ clearly said in John 20:22, “he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jesus is the only One who can bring the Spirit of God to us. Through Him, the Holy Spirit becomes our counselor who came from heaven because no one can come to the Father except through Jesus Christ.

If any miraculous signs are not based on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and His teaching, there is room for doubt. Because works of the Holy Spirit are always within Jesus Christ, He is not a free agent but submissively works for God through Christ. Jesus said in John 7:38-39, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” Only through Jesus Christ, by faith, can we receive the promise of the Spirit of God to dwell in us.

Conclusion

I conclude my sermon with this question: How can you and I be filled with the Spirit of God and let the Holy Spirit dwell in us? The biblical answer is to be honest before God at all times and in any situation and also to not test God. “Testing” means not accepting the correction and instruction from the Bible when the Holy Spirit tells us the truth in our consciences.

When King Saul tried testing God with a deceitful heart and attitude, the Spirit of God left him. In 1 Samuel 16:14, “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” If the Spirit of the God leaves people, a spirit of evil takes its place.

I have a story to tell you as an example. My brother-in-law and I built a house when I was in Korea. When we built the house, we dug up a deep and wide pit so we could have dirt to make the house’s foundation. The pit initially filled with water, but when the water dried up and the pit emptied, the wind blew in all kinds of waste. At that moment, I realized that whenever there is an empty place, something will fill it.

In the same way, if the Spirit of God leaves us, we may experience all kinds of spiritual distress, such as anger, anxiety, and fear that will fill that empty place in our hearts. So, 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”

John Wesley said that Jesus Christ died for us, and the Holy Spirit works in us to teach and sanctify us. Be filled with the Spirit of God in your heart and life because joy and peace are coming from God through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.

The best way to be a spiritual Christian is not only to have the gift of the Holy Spirit but also to trust and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit in your heart and life. Our Church will help you to be a person of the Holy Spirit. Let us be spiritual Christians together.  

2021.09.05. Pastor Cloud Poy

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