Reawaken to the Spirit of Christ
Jesus did not leave us as orphans; rather, he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell and fill those who put their trust in him. This week, we will explore various aspects of the Spirit’s ministry to us. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be present and to open up your eyes and heart.
Transcript
Welcome back to the second week of our 40 Days of Prayer series. Today, we’re going to learn how the Holy Spirit reawakens us to Jesus’ truth.
Now, if you’ve ever been in church long enough, you probably know that the Holy Spirit is important, but sometimes we don’t really know why because we don’t know what the Holy Spirit does. We might feel better off knowing that we have the Holy Spirit, but we have no idea how to fully utilize him. Like this peeler. This week, while watching one of my favorite YouTubers, I learned that a peeler is double-bladed so you can peel in both directions! It’s messy but so much quicker and more fun!
It’s a game changer when you can use your tools correctly, and similarly it’s a game changer when we know how the Holy Spirit works in our lives.
Do you know how the Holy Spirit is working in your life? Let’s learn more about the Holy Spirit and understand how He works.
We find the Holy Spirit’s presence throughout the entire Bible, but John 14 gives us the clearest understanding of who the Holy Spirit is. In a little bit here, I’m going to read John 14:15-17, 26, so I invite you to pull it up on another phone, device, or screen if you can, and I’d like you to read it aloud with me. I’ll be reading it from the New Living Translation.
In John 14, Jesus gathers with his disciples for the last time before he is crucified. Although Jesus knows death is imminent, he assures his disciples to be obedient and promises the Holy Spirit to take Jesus’ place. Let’s see what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit reawakens us to Jesus’ truth.
15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
Before we understand how the Holy Spirit reawakens us, we need to understand the Holy Spirit as an advocate. Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as the Advocate. Advocate is a term we don’t use very often, but when we do use it, we typically find it used for social causes like being an advocate for human rights, women’s rights, civil rights, individual rights, social justice, etc.
The biblical understanding of advocate describes someone called alongside a person who needs help in the courtroom, like a defense attorney. So, the Holy Spirit is like an attorney who comes alongside us to speak in our defense and provide counsel. Attorneys help protect us from what we’re up against. Similarly, the Holy Spirit protects us from losing our faith and hope in Jesus. The Holy Spirit protects us by reminding us about God’s truth and who Jesus is by teaching and reminding us of everything that Jesus told us.
So, what does that look like? We need to know how Holy Spirit comes beside us so that we can be reawakened to Jesus’ truth, so here are 2 ways.
First, the Holy Spirit is personal. We can be assured that the Holy Spirit knows every one of us personally. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit is his representative, so everything that Jesus did, the Holy Spirit does.
In John 10, Jesus tells us that he is not a stranger to us, but rather when we hear his voice and call us by name, we follow him. Now, it may not be an audible voice, but if we believe in Jesus, we should be certain of what his voice sounds like, and it starts by calling us by our name.
Paul goes on to describe this as being adopted as children of God and we can refer to God as a loving Father. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is personal and caring. The Holy Spirit comes alongside us personally and caring. Have you experienced that?
For me, I can tell when the Holy Spirit is beside me when I hear a gentle inner voice calling me by name. It is very distinct, and it often directs me to pause and listen to what the Holy Spirit wants to teach and remind me about Jesus. I’ll hear the Holy Spirit’s voice the most often when something aligns with Jesus’ teaching, whether it’s loving the marginalized, loving my enemies, or asking for forgiveness.
So, take a moment; can you relate? I think we all connect to the Holy Spirit in unique ways so the way you experience Him can be different, but I believe we should all hear Him call us by name. Does the Holy Spirit call you by name? And if you don’t hear Him call you by name or at all, do you love Jesus and obey his commandments?
We need to believe in Jesus, which includes loving him and obeying what he has taught us so that we can personally experience the Spirit. Knowing that the Holy Spirit is a person allows us to discover the truth that God loves us and all of humanity deeply and wants to see us experience that perfect love.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit comes beside us when we seek Him.
In verse 17, it says that the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit because they neither look for him nor recognize him, but if we do seek him, the Holy Spirit will never leave us. It says it right in our passage! Though the Holy Spirit never leaves us, we can be distracted by other things that prevent us from being aware that the Holy Spirit is beside us.
Throughout the 4 gospels, Jesus leaves his disciples and crowds to go pray in solitude. When was the last time you unplugged and voluntarily experienced silence? I’m going to invite you to take the next minute with me and just be silent. If there’s something else playing in the background or if you’re doing something while watching this, I’m going to invite you to just put it down for a minute, settle down, and engage in being silent.
And while we engage in silence, I want you to notice what you experience. What is amplified when you are silent? What do you hear, see, feel, touch, taste, and notice?
So, take a moment and get yourself comfortable. And let’s start our minute of silence now. What did you notice in your minute of silence? What did you hear, see, feel, touch, taste, or notice in that minute?
I’d love to hear you share what you experienced with me and with others. Would you be willing to share what you noticed? I’m going to read what some of us experienced.
Often, I think silence offers nothing, but when I’m intentional about being silent, there’s something stirring. I think it’s similar with the Holy Spirit. I think we need to be intentional in seeking the Holy Spirit because He is always with us, and that means he is always doing something. The truth is we might not be aware of what He is doing.
Another way that the Bible describes the Holy Spirit is breath or wind, and in John 3, Jesus says, “the wind (referencing the Holy Spirit) blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.”
I wonder the last time I paused and listened to the wind. I can imagine what wind sounds like, but I don’t pause to listen to the wind. Similarly, do we ever pause to listen to the Holy Spirit?
We each experience silence and stillness differently, so I’d encourage you to find ways to unplug and listen to how the Spirit comes beside us. Knowing that the Spirit comes beside us allows us to discover the truth that God is with us.
I’ve said a lot, and if I were to summarize these 2 points, it’d be this: The Holy Spirit comes beside us and reawakens us to Jesus’ truth.
We need to be reawakened to the promises Jesus made for us. And it can feel like we’re trapped in a nightmare, but we must remember that Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to come beside us so that we know his truth. So let us be aware that the Holy Spirit is personal and comes beside us when we seek Him. Let us be attentive that when God connects with us, he calls us by name.
And it might be hard to be aware when it’s noisy, so we need to find quiet places, literally and figuratively, to listen to where he is and where he is going. The Holy Spirit is with us so let us be attentive and aware so that we can be reminded of God’s truth and live out what he taught us.
REFLECTION
What are one or two words that characterize this sermon?
What did the Holy Spirit say to you during the sermon?
What are you going to do in response to what the Holy Spirit said to you?
What can we do to help?