Who Is the Holy Spirit?—God Through Us

Have you ever wondered:  Why am I here?  What purpose does my life have? Why did God create me?  Does He have something for me to do?

The answer is yes. He does have something for you to do. Both specifically and generally.  He has things for you that are specific to you.  Things that fit with how He specifically created you, as well as the specific circumstances and relationships in your life.  God knows you and everything about you, and He has a purpose for you.

He also has a purpose for all of us, generally.  It is a purpose that all of us who are Jesus’ disciples have been given to participate in.  It doesn’t matter how long you’ve known Jesus, it doesn’t matter how old or young you are, and it doesn’t matter what your background, financial, or marital status is.  God has a purpose that He wants to accomplish through you by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is week three in our series called: Who Is the Holy Spirit?

On Week 1, we said the Holy Spirit is God With Us.  He is the helper, comforter, and advocate that Jesus promised would come to the disciples after He left.  The Holy Spirit comes to us at the moment we declare our belief in Jesus, God’s only Son, who died on the cross and rose from the dead three days later. It is important to understand when He comes to us because receiving the Holy Spirit isn’t the next level of spirituality.  It’s not something that happens when you earn it or when you finally decide to get serious about your relationship with God.  It happens the moment you receive Him.  You may not be aware of His presence, and you may even ignore His presence, but He is there, abiding with you.

Last week, we said the Holy Spirit is God In Us.  He doesn’t simply come to be with us, but God’s presence lives in us through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  God in us convicts, guides, and teaches us.  As He does that, we are transformed into the image of Jesus.  Our lives begin to reflect the holiness, the righteousness, and the character of Jesus.  Remember, transformation is a process, and as long as we are living on this side of eternity, we will always be in process.

Not only is God with us, and not only is He in us, but He also works through us.  The title for today’s sermon is God Through Us.

Remember how I said that the Bible is the story of God getting His family back?  You and I are a part of that story.  In a general sense, all of us who are Jesus’ disciples are participants in the story of God getting His family back.  Not just because we are the recipients of His mercy and grace, but also because we are distributors of God’s mercy and grace.

How does God get His family back?  He works through us.  He works through us to accomplish His mission to seek and save the lost.  We are the workers in His fields that Jesus said are white unto harvest.  God’s presence in us is also God’s presence through us.  The Creator of the Universe has chosen you to be His hands and His feet.  

We are God’s agents, His representatives, and His ambassadors in the world.  That is exactly what He told the disciples at the beginning of Acts.  

Acts 1:4-8 (CSB)—While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”  He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Just a little background here:  Jesus has risen from the dead, and He is getting ready to ascend back to Heaven.  These are some of Jesus’ final instructions to His disciples before He ascended.

At the beginning of His ministry, He said, I’ve come to seek and save the lost. He is now passing that mission on to His disciples.  But Jesus didn’t send the disciples out and say, “Good luck.” He said wait — wait for the power you’ll need. Because it is through the empowering presence of God that you will show the world who I am and what I have done.

Here’s what I want you to see here:

The Holy Spirit works through us to:

1. Be His Witnesses

We are the physical evidence of what God is doing in the world.  We bear testimony to God’s work. He actually empowers us to be those witnesses.  We are power-filled witnesses.  God is present, working through us.

That doesn’t mean we have all the answers about faith and God.  What that means is we simply need to be willing to testify to what we have seen God do in other people’s lives and in our own lives.

It is the Holy Spirit who convicts and the Holy Spirit who draws people to God.  Our role is to be a witness.  Simply be ready to do what the Apostle Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:

1 Ptr. 3:15 (CSB)—but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

When people see something different in you, be prepared to give a reason for your hope.

First of all, do people see a difference in your life? Is there something different about your life?  Is God working in you to transform you?  

When someone comes to you and says, I see something different in you.  You don’t talk bad about people, even when things aren’t going great you don’t get too rattled.  You don’t badmouth your spouse.  You don’t go out to the bars and get hammered with the rest of our crew.  Why?  Why are you different?

If they ask, what would you say?  Peter says, ” Be prepared to be His witness and talk about the hope Jesus has given you.”  

It really begins with being willing to trust the Holy Spirit will empower you to do what God has asked you to do.

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Not only does the Holy Spirit work through you to be His witness.  He also works through you:

2. Help Others Grow

The Bible has a lot to say about how the Holy Spirit works through you to help others grow in their knowledge, understanding, and relationship with God.

Eph 4:11-13 (CSB)—And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.

Does God grow people just through prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers? No.

Eph 4:16 (CSB)— From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

And again, here in 1 Corinthians:

1 Cor 12:4-7 (CSB)—Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good:

1 Peter 4:10 (CSB)—Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

What do we know by reading these verses?  

• Everyone who has given their life to Christ has a gift.  
• That gift comes from the Holy Spirit.  
• The purpose of the gift is to help the church grow and mature.

When did I receive my gift?  

• When you believed in Christ.  

The gift is the result of the Holy Spirit’s presence in you. Eph. 1 and Rom 8 are very clear that the moment you believe, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your life.  That may not have been an emotional experience; you may not have even seen the result of His presence until later in your life.  But I guarantee He was there, working in you and through you.

What if I don’t know what my gift is?

• (Pray) Pray and ask God to show you what it is.
• (Serve) Find somewhere you are passionate about to serve.  That’s a good way to find your niche. If you serve somewhere that doesn’t energize you, or you’re just not effective, try serving somewhere else.
• (Ask) Ask someone who knows you.

Here’s a list of spiritual gifts the Bible talks about.  Is this an exhaustive list.  Probably not.  Are there other gifts that may not be listed in the Bible?  I don’t know.  Probably.  But this is a really good place to start.

Here is a brief spiritual gifts survey from Dr. Larry Gilbert (modified from “How Many Spiritual Gifts Are There?”):

1. Miraculous Gifts

• Apostleship (1 Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11)
• Tongues (1 Cor 12:10, 28, 30)
• Interpretation (1 Cor 12:10, 30)
• Miracles (1 Cor 12:10, 28)
• Healing (1 Cor 12:9, 28)

2. Enabling Gifts

• Faith (1 Corinthians 12:9)
• Discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10)
• Wisdom (1 Corinthians 12:8)
• Knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:8)

3. Team Gifts

• Evangelism (Eph 4:11)
• Teaching (Rom 12:7; 1 Cor 12:28)
• Exhortation (Rom 12:8)
• Shepherding (Eph 4:11)
• Serving (Rom 12:7; 1 Cor 12:28)
• Mercy-showing (Rom 12:8)
• Giving (Romans 12:8)
• Administration (Rom 12:8; 1 Cor 12:28)
• Teachers (1 Ptr 4:9–11)
• Exhorters (1 Ptr 4:9–11)
• Prophecy (Rom 12:6; Eph 4:11; 1 Cor 12:10, 28)

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What else is He doing through us by the empowering of the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit works through us to:

3. Comfort the Hurting

2 Cor 1:3-5 (CSB)—Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

Who did Jesus say He was sending?  The Comforter.  So, not only does the Holy Spirit comfort us when we need it, but He comforts others through us when they need comfort.  

When we are able to sit with someone who is struggling or grieving, or when we are able to encourage someone who is going through the wringer, that is God’s presence, the Holy Spirit, working through us.

Next, the Holy Spirit works through us to:

4. Intercede in Prayer

Rom 8:26 (CSB)—In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us, with inexpressible groanings.

Because we are finite creatures, we don’t always know what we should pray for.  We may not know what to ask for or what we need at any given moment.  But God does. And that is why He intercedes with what Paul describes as inexpressible groanings.  

He does the same when we pray for others.  Paul tells Timothy:

1 Tim 2:1 (CSB)—First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone,

Pray for the people around you.  Parents, pray for your children.  Husbands, pray for your wives.  Wives, pray for your husbands.  Pray for your pastor!  He really needs it.  Pray for our leaders.  When you’re offering comfort, pray for the hurting. Intercede on behalf of others before God’s throne of grace.

Even when we don’t know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit, God’s presence working through us, intercedes for us.

The Holy Spirit also works through us to:

5. Unify the Church

Unity was important to Jesus.  He said it is by your love for one another that the world will know you are my disciples.  At the Passover meal, before He goes to the garden and is arrested, Jesus prays for His disciples, and then He prays for all believers.

Jn 17:20-21 (CSB)—I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.

How is this unity achieved and maintained?  Eph. 4 tells us it is through the Holy Spirit, by humility, gentleness, patience, and love for one another; the fruit of the Spirit.  

Jesus told His disciples in Jn 13, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

The only way we can love one another this way is if the Holy Spirit is working in us, producing love. As we demonstrate the fruit of the Holy Spirit, we will experience the unity of the Holy Spirit.

I thank God constantly for the unity that exists at New Hope Community Church.  

Does that mean we are perfect?  No. Does that mean we never disagree about anything? No.  Does that mean we never have conflict? No.  But it does mean that even when we disagree, we can do so in love, with patience and gentleness, so we can maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, as Paul puts it.

Because how we treat one another is a Holy Spirit-empowered witness to the watching world.

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The Holy Spirit does a number of things through us.  The things we just talked about are but a few on a long list of what the Bible says He does through us.

But as we talk about these things, do you see the pattern emerging? 

Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  Now, through the Holy Spirit in us, He is seeking and saving the lost through us.

Jesus spent time developing a group of men and women.  He taught them and helped them grow in their understanding.  Now, through the Holy Spirit in us, He is teaching and growing those who give their lives to Him, through us.

Jesus came to heal the sick, comfort the discouraged, and offer hope to the hopeless.  Now, God is doing those things through us by the Holy Spirit’s empowering presence.

Jesus interceded and continues to intercede for us in Heaven.  The work of intercession has been passed to us as we pray for others.

Do you see what God is doing?  Do you understand why He sent the Holy Spirit to us?

God is with us, so He can work in us to transform us into the image of His Son, so He can work through us to do the things that Jesus did.  He comforts us, He loves us, He teaches us, so we can in turn, comfort, love, and teach others.

This was Jesus’ plan all along.  He doesn’t give all the details, but He tells His disciples this before His crucifixion.

Jn 14:12 (CSB)—Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.

The scope of what Jesus did while He was on the earth is multiplied many times over as He works through you and through me by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

Do you have a desire and a vision to see God work through you to accomplish His mission on the earth?  It begins with being willing to trust that God has empowered you and gifted you to do the things He has called you to do.

When I was in High School, I told the Lord that I would do whatever He called me to do.  “Just not to Africa, Lord.”  Just kidding, I’d have gone to Africa.  When I prayed, I didn’t know all the details, I didn’t see the plan in full, I just knew God told me to trust Him.

Have you ever expressed your willingness to trust the Holy Spirit to work through you?  Have you ever said to the Father, “Fill me and use me to be your hands and feet.”

We are going to take a few minutes to just be quiet before the Lord this morning, and I want to challenge you to offer that prayer and ask God to fill you and use you in whatever way He may want.  Maybe it is through one of the ways we talked about today, or maybe He has something for you that you may have never considered.

As you pray, ask God to give you a vision for one person. One person the Holy Spirit may be calling you to witness to, comfort, pray for, or invest in. Just one.  And then see what God is able to do as you reach out to just that one.

God with us, God in us, and God through us.  This is who the Holy Spirit is.