Holy Spirit, week 2

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0:00 The rest of us we are looking at coming out of Pentecost. Remember that at Easter we celebrate the resurrection and then for the season of Easter we looked at specifically who our God is. So we worship a God not a general God but a specific God, a God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And last week we talked about Pentecost and this release of the Spirit of God out into

0:30 the world. And I've been reading this book by Rhaenyra Consulamesh called The Holy Spirit and the Life of Jesus. And we're going to walk through, in that book he kind of points out for us what we talked through last week which was that this unique thing had to happen to release the Holy Spirit on humanity. But there had been instances in the previous covenant relationship, the Old Covenant in

1:03 the Jewish Bible in the Old Testament where the Spirit came upon certain people for task. But something different happens after Pentecost. We talked about how Peter had this transformation where he was afraid to admit to a slave girl that knew Jesus. And then after Pentecost he's standing in front of the temple telling the Jewish leaders that they killed them aside they've been waiting for. That Paul had been persecuting the church and pursuing the church on foot through Asia

1:37 Minor to arrest and kill followers of Jesus. And then he becomes perhaps the greatest evangelist the church has ever known. These great transformations happen in people but really after Pentecost, the biggest move we see inside people in the Old Testament we see Moses wanting to liberate Israel on his own strength and then Moses wanting to liberate people with the strength of God. We see Abraham have faith in big demonstrations of faith and then we see Abraham have faith

2:09 in small demonstrations. We see small movements but after Pentecost great transformation happens and what we learn is because something new is able to happen after the birth and then the death and resurrection of Christ that the release of the Holy Spirit is now this indwelling reality. What we talked about last week is when the Holy Spirit comes down and constitutes the second person of eternity in the womb of Mary a whole new type of human is created

2:39 without what theologians call iniquity. So in my head the example that endures is because Yosemite Valley is the kind of echoing in my memory these giant sequoia trees that are thousands of years old and whether you like it or not right they continue to grow for thousands of years tucked in the little valley in central California these trees grow and have been growing for thousands of years and inside the fabric of every cell of every giant sequoia is woven the reality

3:14 of death that the world exists with a half life on it it's coming to an end and all humanity exists in this state of iniquity where no matter how healthy you are looking at my VO2 max on my phone congratulating myself how much oxygen my body can metabolize right like better keep running and swimming it doesn't matter how healthy I keep my body there's a half life I live in a state of iniquity and that in the incarnation God imagines a

3:49 new state for humanity separate from iniquity separate from death Jesus the Christ is the first one the new Adam right born separate from death and then and then so that we have this opportunity to live in this state without iniquity and then after the crucifixion resurrection he releases the Holy Spirit so that now you have the capacity to be separate from sin to join with God and the Holy Spirit comes and gives you the will to live according to

4:22 God so that in your new creation you have the capacity to choose to align with God so we're going to look at the next couple of weeks what it means for us that we have this Holy Spirit what does it mean that we get to live with this Holy Spirit and the way we're going to do it is look at what the Holy Spirit does in the life of Jesus specifically we know that Jesus is like I said constituted in spirit and then anointed with the spirit for ministry at his baptism and there are actually three times in the synoptic gospels where the writers

4:55 tell us that the Holy Spirit urged pushed or encouraged Jesus to do something specific and the first time is right after his baptism so if you want to look with me at mark chapter two each of the synoptic gospels has this story but we'll look at it in mark's account this morning in mark chapter two

5:30 I like mark's gospels my favorite of the four it's not just because it's the shortest federally but I like it it's like action oriented it drives towards movement all of the time the interesting thing about mark's gospel is some people think it was the earliest gospel written because it is so succinct it's missing several stories that Matthew and Luke tell one of my professors at seminary thought made might be argument that it was the

6:05 last gospel written so it's hard to tell exactly where it falls in the kind of chronology one of the things most scholars agree on is the earliest forms of mark's gospel had no resurrection appearances which really makes mark's gospel kind of compelling that the disciples come on the empty tomb and then it ends but one that thing that's specific to mark's gospel is he's always driving the action forward immediately is one of the most common words and he jumps right into he doesn't have a birth narrative right he jumps right into the baptism of Jesus so we're actually

6:40 not in mark chapter two but in mark chapter one verse nine in those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan and when he came up out of the water immediately he saw the heavens open and the spirit descending on him like a dove and the voice came from heaven you are my beloved son with you I am well please

7:16 it's hard to tell depending on which gospel you're reading whether everyone heard this affirmation from God and the spirit or just Jesus did but one of the things that we look at if you think about this where this comes in the life of Jesus and what if what's about to happen most theologians agree that Jesus like we said carried the Holy Spirit from his birth but that act of baptism a holy the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus for this specific job of going into ministry that something

7:52 happened where Jesus is in Nazareth where he's like in the household or around the household of Joseph and Mary where he knows it's time for him to leave and go start something different he makes the couple days journey maybe two days journey from Nazareth down to the desert outside of Jerusalem where his cousin John the Baptist has been making a name for himself prophesying that the Messiah is coming and baptized in people he goes into the waters of baptism and then has this moment of recognition which is like would be a very powerful experience right it's a big deal

8:31 like when your parents tell you they're proud of you right like and especially if your parents tell you that they're proud of you publicly like it's hard to hold it together for most of us right that the the affirmation acceptance even blessing of parents is a big deal I can't imagine what Jesus feels like standing in the Jordan River and having the audible affirmation of God's

9:04 Father but it's safe to say that that God knows the God who willed incarnation and imagined a future for humanity without iniquity or sin that endures forever without death knew that Jesus of Nazareth was going into some particular challenge where he needed all of the goodwill he and confidence he could muster that now was the time when Jesus needed the

9:39 pride of his father personally or publicly to go out into this next thing right and so then verse 12 the spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan and was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him most scholars note here that it's interesting the synoptic gospels the three that follow the life of Jesus most chronologically each have this story about the baptism and Jesus

10:18 going out into the desert but what's interesting is that they emphasize different things Matthew and Luke tend to emphasize the nature of it being 40 days and in the desert because they're wanting to communicate that Jesus completes what Israel couldn't when Israel was goes through the red sea the water of the Red Sea and into the desert for 40 years Jesus goes through the waters of baptism and into the desert for 40 days and completes the temptation whereas Israel fails the temptation

10:51 and the whole generation dies but what's interesting I had heard that before but I hadn't heard this in in Mark most people think Mark Gothal is written more to a Greek or a Gentile believer who who doesn't have and has and had the benefit of seeing the resurrected Jesus remember the resurrected Jesus appeared to 500 people before his ascension all in and around Jerusalem and that this is why Mark this is why Mark's gospel doesn't include resurrection appearances because

11:21 he wants to communicate you can believe in Jesus without having seen him and because he goes back to the Gentile then we look at this and see where he goes and he was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him it calls almost back to Adam and Eve the first ones who are with the wild animals that he that Jesus goes back to a place and starts again that Jesus is the second Adam starting something new so it's fun to think about the place what is happening in the person of Jesus that that Jesus really does he completes the call of Israel he is the second Adam a new

11:57 creation that starts a line of people without iniquity which means no death or separation from God and then he's going to demonstrate with the spirits anointing the capacity to choose the way of God over his own way it's compelling that the first thing the spirit does when when he comes on Jesus is push him out into the desert right the spirit immediately drove not in the wilderness and he was tempted by Satan that this is the first thing in in Mark's gospel Jesus has another place

12:35 as before you're going to go attack an area you got to bind up the person who's in charge of the area the strong person of the area and so it seems like God is acknowledging in the person of the spirit for Jesus the Christ that he's going to make any progress in the world there is this a poser to his work in the world that the scriptures call Satan other places they call the deceiver

13:07 the liar one of my favorites is the accuser of the brethren but if we're going to ask what does it mean that we live on this side of Pentecost an honest assessment of the story of scripture tells us that one of the things it means is that we have a tool in the kind of fight or challenge of a real enemy in the world

13:39 that the scriptures call Satan or liar or deceiver or a fuser of the brethren I wonder how comfortable you are with that idea it's funny how much easier it is to be comfortable with the idea of God than it is to be comfortable with the idea of a devil that it feels much less risky to say there is a God than it does to say that there is a devil

14:13 it's interesting for me that I like would pause to go I want to talk this morning about a story in the scriptures but because it contains this character I'm like I get I get more trepidacious than normal because it sounds superstitious to say there's a devil in the world that there might be a Satan in the world a liar or a deceiver an enemy of the people of God but the story of scripture is

14:44 clear the first thing the spirit urges them to do is go how to battle do face temptations from states and the liar deceivers and it plays out it's not only in the life of Jesus the main place I want us to look is in Ephesians chapter 2 if you look there with me Paul like we mentioned the one that goes through that great transformation that builds most of the early church maybe 13 churches about Asia mining in Ephesians chapter 2 man some of it this Ephesians is really good

15:18 I was reading through collage and this week collage is really good but look at Ephesians chapter 2 he's writing to the church there in Ephesus and he's saying this you were dead in in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by

15:56 nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind that doesn't sound great and I don't really like I don't really resonate real strongly with most of it like I didn't really have a pre I didn't have like a wild day there's no direct correlation for me and then like when he says and you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of the world

16:29 following the prince of the power of the air Paul like this I wish he would say it a little bit more plainly for me than the prince of the power of the air like I don't know if that's a tough translation but they're doing the best they can to get it to us and what it actually means the nearest I can find out is that that and reading this guy console amessa the prince of the power of the air says that there is like a if we recognize that there is a god with the holy spirit then

17:06 certainly this is not the only spirit act is in the world the spirit of god that there is a spirit of the age but there is a movement a line of thinking that has spiritual realities behind it and that there is that there is one the prince the one that's saying that Jesus thousand the devil who aligns with this spirit of the air to move people away from the way of god what might the spirit of the age be

17:43 that moves us away from acknowledging and living as though Jesus of Nazareth were in charge as though the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob were the beginning and the end

18:17 if I start to think about it that way I begin to resonate with this phrase that says um you follow the course of the world following the prince of the power of the spirit of the air it's hard for me to see the the line between providing for myself and trusting god to provide for me but I know that the spirit of the world is that individuals that I just need to take care of myself that no one else is going to take care of me that I'm only as secure as my retirement fund

18:50 that I'm only as successful as the house I have and the clothes that I wear that I'm only as loved as the affirmations and uh ad adulation of the people around me or the number of followers I have in one particular arena or another Paul says that there is a prince of the power of the spirit of the air that is aligned against the certain people that get you to walk in a certain way of thinking that ends up counter moving you away from the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the god of Christ and the church

19:41 the spirit of the air that is now at work in the sums of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body when I begin to believe that I am only as significant as the possessions that I have then I align the large and small decisions of my life to accumulate as many possessions as possible in order to vault my sense of significance and feel like my life is worth something you know

20:12 and what Paul is saying is that there is spiritual realities behind those rabbit trails in life but he says god being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together in christ and by grace you have been saved and raised up within and seated within in the heaven the ages

20:42 Paul is talking about if we took more time we would break down how Paul is talking about this iniquity less life the new nature that is doesn't have death woven into it but has eternity with god woven into it that god while you were yet dead while you were separated from god destined for death god made the capacity for a new you separate from death and destined for eternity

21:16 that god works this out for you who goes on further to talk about them what that means that how we are one in christ the mystery of the gospel received the unity but I want to go down to the towards the end of this letter in Ephesians Ephesians chapter six because I'm trying to get us to what it means that we live on this side of Pentecost that god went through the trouble of creating a new creation and then releasing the spirit giving us the capacity

21:48 to live according to the the intent of god and then the will to follow him out and forward in that in part of the reason he gives us the spirit to do this is because there is a spiritual reality set against us following god forever right and he goes as as direct in chapter six is saying that there's like a spiritual armor which is why I asked that question I did it beginning but let's look at chapter six verse 10

22:19 finally be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might put on the whole armor of god i want to pause here for a second because it's hard for me even to like go through the armor of god with a straight face do you know what I mean like it feels like a children's sundae school lesson for me to read it out loud and talk about put on the full armor of god remember that call is writing to

22:50 churches that are meeting in homes under fear of life in patikom's right to keep it secret they have like handshakes and passwords so that no one knows that they don't worship the emperor but they worship jesus of nadra these letters have been written by hand and carried by hand walked miles through dusty roads and paths and then copies are made and they're passed surreptitiously to other churches they're hidden in caves and in pods they're passed around copies

23:23 made by hand over generations for hundreds of years this letter was written down passed among churches red in front of people and finally at the council of nysia in like 300 after they've been doing that for hundreds of years they've made a definitive copies and still copied them by hand and each time this story these words were not relegated to sundae school lessons but kept in the message for all of us to hear it feels small and trite but paul is saying there

23:55 is something serious at stake for you that god goes through the trouble of the incarnation and the pain of the crucifixion in order to ascend and send down the spirit because you need it because you need it because there are things at work that you cannot see and if we can believe that there is a god and a spirit then we might also want to consider that there is an enemy and if there is an enemy or because there is an enemy I am glad

24:37 he has not left me defenseless glad he has not left me defenseless part of what made the Romans so successful at the time of paul is that they understood warfare right and they knew how to win it in the in the ways it was thought in the day the right kind of armor and the right kind of sword sharp on both sides broad enough but

25:10 sword enough to stab and kill quickly we are not going to get in a sword fight we do not need light sabers right we are going to go in brute force we have big seals we will make like battering rams of humans out of our shields we will put helmets on so that you try and get over the shield it hits our metal helmet you will not kill and we will walk with these shields in groups and then we will come out and stab you from behind the shield and come back part of what made the Romans successful is that they knew how to fight wars in the technology of the day

25:43 which is why I imagine paul uses this as a metaphor for us of how to survive in a world with a real enemy because his hearers of the day would see that the Romans were invincible when they used their armor correctly no one knew how to beat them if they came they won and paul says likewise you have real enemies and praise god real armors so don't get distracted

26:18 by the like no none of us are putting on armor don't get distracted by the triteness of the metaphor look at the meaning behind the things sorry that was long but it was because I was feeling like I was preaching a children's story and I wanted to tell you that wasn't it finally be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might but on the whole armor of god that you might be able to stand against the schemes of the devil paul says there is a devil like he's

26:50 not embarrassed or he's like there is an enemy for you for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the cosmic powers of this present darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places therefore take up the armor of god that you may be be able to withstand the evil day in the evil day and having done all the stand firm stand therefore having fastened the belt of

27:24 truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness what I like is that paul is saying that these things are available to us that god accomplished the incarnation in order that we might be able to adorn ourselves with these things and gave us the spirit in order that we would have the capacity and the will to take them up which means it is possible for you to uncover and apprehend take out actual truth

28:02 you have the capacity to find actual truth right in a world maybe where we but much is relative you can't see things outside of your own perspective but paul is saying that because the holy spirit has come and gifted you with iniquityless life and the capacity of live with god there is a truth that is worth you uh put wrapping around yourself truth somewhere right and having put on the breastplate of righteousness that it is that you have the capacity

28:35 to live in right standing with god you are not relegated forever to deeper and deeper spirals of addictive and destructive behavior you are not we live on this side of pentecost you have in you new creation destined for eternity and you carry with you spirit for the purposes of living forever choosing the will of god you have the capacity to move towards right action

29:07 that leads to love joy at peace patience kind of good and spacefulness gentlemen you can step out of the downward spike cycle of addictive behavior and into right this action that's open to you okay so belt of truth breastplate of righteousness and as choose for your uh feet having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace available to you is peace not the absence of conflict but the presence of rest hope

29:52 confidence contentment peace not the absence of conflict the presence of peace is available to you in life like as available as putting on your shoes in the morning is available to you the peace of god don't settle for life of strife and discontentment christ incarnated died rose ascended and dispatched the spirit in order that you would have peace in life in all

30:25 circumstances since this take up the shield of faith i love this um because you live on this side of pentecost you can just believe like i know it is hard to put down control or fear or doubt or anxiety and i'm not saying you will always perfectly believe the disciples

31:00 walking up to the mount of ascension on gallily in the face of the risen Jesus it says some of them believed and some of them doubted i'm not saying you will always believe but i am saying you have the primordial spirit of god the originator of life itself living inside of you you can find moments of faith and it will protect you faith will protect you from fear and anxiety

31:35 you can choose faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation you can live with the confidence that your future is secure outside of your choices or doubts you can wake up in the morning with the confidence that that your future is secure your eternity has been set the helmet of salvation

32:15 and the sword of the spirit which is the word of god you can then live the sword of the spirit you can dispatch the good news of god like wearing the helmet of salvation carrying faith in front of you adorned with truth and peace you can walk out in the world and remind people that there is a god and the god loves them in fact has given everything that they might have a future secure with them

32:51 you can dispatch the sword of the spirit that says you are not with some total of your worst choices you're not defined by your by your basis instincts you are defined by the god and made you on purpose not back then you can just walk around and wield this thing for its own purposes the word of god praying at all times in the spirit with prayer and supplication to the end to that end people are with all perseverance making supplication for all the things and also for me

33:23 that words may be given to me over the amount per county for which I just like guys uh that that this story has been preserved that we have in scriptures that god saw fit to call us into a group of people who would remind ourselves of these kind of basic articles of the faith of the people we can sit here this morning in the continuity with the church

33:54 throughout the ages because the spirit has protected faith the way the spirit does it is in opposition to the spirit of the age and it is available for you as well the spirit of god in opposition to the spirit of the age let's pray hey lord thank you for the gift of your spirit teach us what it means that we walk in your spirit give us the confidence and the hope to take up all the tools to live well

34:25 today in faith with you walking towards the future you have secured for us in Jesus name