God wants us to know him deeply and intimately, and the way we know and experience God is through the Holy Spirit. To know the Holy Spirit is to know God.
KNOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT
Millard Erickson writes, “The Holy Spirit is the point at which the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit) becomes personal to the believer.” Can you say with confidence: I know the Holy Spirit? He is unique – one of a kind, transcendent and pure - completely separate from sin. He is on your side from the moment you become a Christian. His agenda is to be committed to you. Many Christians think that the Holy Spirit lives elsewhere and visits. The New Testament doesn’t teach that. He is more ingrained in our lives than we could dare to believe.
1. WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?
He is a person – the third person of the Trinity. Not at the bottom of a hierarchy but equal to Father and Son. In the New Testament, we see him in his Personhood
The Holy Spirit is God among us.The face of the Godhead in our life. Where the Spirit is, there is Jesus and God. How might reflecting on these characteristics cause you to expect or look for him differently?
THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES THE WORKS OF GOD.
The Holy Spirit’s power is behind every salvation story. We cannot be united to Jesus, or adopted as his children, or united to the body of Christ.
John 6:44 (ESV): no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him
HE MAKES HIS HOME IN US
1 Cor 6:19: your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, you are not your own
HE ASSURES US THAT WE ARE GOD’S CHILDREN.
Romans 8:16 (NIV): The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
HE FILLS US WITH POWER: The purpose of being filled with the Spirit is so that Jesus can complete the mission he began through us. This power is for service and evangelism.
Acts 1:8 (NLT): But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere
HE TRANSFORMS BELIEVERS TO BECOME MORE LIKE JESUS (SANCTIFICATION): This is how we grow in Jesus’ characteristics, which are the fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22
Several metaphors in the Bible give us clues about his grandeur:
We can miss him because:
We misunderstand who He is and why he exists.
We don’t realise his commitment to us.
We don’t know that he wants to be involved in our everyday lives.
If Jesus, the Messiah, needed the promised empowering of the Spirit, how much more do we? If baptism in the Holy Spirit is the promise of Jesus for us, we should ensure we have received him in this way.
Theologian David Paulson says “you are not living a full Christian life until you have received Jesus as Lord, been water baptised and Holy Spirit baptism”.
Reading scripture is the primary way we hear God’s voice. We miss the opportunity to experience him and know him if we neglect the word. If the bible is one of his major ways to speak to us – and we neglect it - no wonder we can feel God is silent. Many of us don’t have an appreciation of His remarkable commitment to us, because we have not explored the bible.
2 Timothy 3: 16- 17 NIC: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2. LEARNING TO BE LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT DAILY
We cannot claim we are led by him without submission – especially when we disagree or don’t understand.
Romans 8:14-15 (ESV): For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!
Those who keep in step with the Spirit stand in the family circle of God Himself. Being led is not the means to being a child of God; it is evidence that you are a child of God. “Led” is an ongoing, habitual reality, not a one–time experience. He doesn’t give directions and leave; He continually guides every step. Led implies that we listen for His promptings in the Word.
WALKING IN THE WAY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We cannot walk in the Spirit and not walk in love. The Holy Spirit is more committed to you than you realise. The Spirit has been sent to your life because you are more special than you think. He walks with you because he DESIRES to do so, not because of your merit.
To be led by the Holy Spirit is to be led by love — God’s love shaping your heart, directing your steps, and transforming the way you live. And that love is never meant to stop with you.
The Holy Spirit empowers and sends you into the world with a mission of love: to live out the greatest commandments that fulfil all others — to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love others as you love yourself. He fills you, He leads you, and He sends you.
PERSONAL REFLECTION
- Write down the “One Thing” that stood out to you from the message. How can you see this in your day-to-day life and apply it this week? Who can you share it with?
- When was the last time you clearly sensed the Holy Spirit speaking to you? Are you intentionally creating consistent space in your life to be still, listen, and be led by Him?
- Take a moment this week to reflect. Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to guide your decisions, or are you relying solely on your own understanding?
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit, Your presence living within us. Thank You that through the Holy Spirit, we can know You deeply and personally. Help us to create space to hear You clearly through Your Word and be sensitive to Your leading. Fill us afresh with Your Spirit, make us more like Jesus, and teach us to walk in obedience, love, and faith every day, Amen.