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Podcast 44 - The Holy Spirit
1 Playsin 4 hours
Join us as we discuss the role the Holy Spirit plays in the life of a Christian.
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Transcript
Introduction to Grove Hill Podcast
00:00:09
Speaker
Welcome back to the Grove Hill Podcast. Glad you're here with us today. Again, got my friend Kyle Hess across from the table. Hi. Man, with all the answers, or at least no very good at faking it. here we go.
Significance of the Holy Spirit
00:00:23
Speaker
We started a little bit of a journey the last time we were together, talking about ah the Trinitarian nature of God. That's right. And today I want to dig in specifically on the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Mm-hmm. I would say there's there's two sides of that, and I know you're not done talking, but I'm going to say it.
00:00:44
Speaker
I feel like some people diminish the Holy Spirit, and then some people blow them out of proportion. And so I think there's different denominations, different sects of the Christian religion that either just rely 100% and credit everything and go for it, and then there's other ones that really don't give them enough credit for what he is. Yeah.
00:01:07
Speaker
So what Kyle is saying very nicely is if you're one of our charismatic friends today, you're going really hyped and excited about this. That's right. Because you love the Holy Spirit. If you're one of our Roman Catholic friends, you're probably not real thrilled. You're uncomfortable right now. You're probably turning to the station. And then for some of you Southern Baptists, you're shocked to know that there is even such a thing going on in the church. So...
Roles of the Holy Spirit
00:01:27
Speaker
ah Yeah, so we're going talk about him a little bit because he is indeed a person. That's right. He's not some mystical force that's out there. That's right. um He's not a ghost. We talked about that last episode. that That was my growing up as a kid. That's right. Me too. Casper the friendly ghost. That was it. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about what the Holy Spirit does as a person. What are some of His responsibilities? You have anywhere from intercedes, teaches, comforts, leads, guides...
00:01:57
Speaker
um bring salvation is a little bit of a few of them. Yeah, yeah. i mean, it really is. It's a pretty pretty long list of things that he accomplishes for us. I think for me, probably the most astounding reality about the Holy Spirit was when somebody pointed out to me that when Jesus was introducing the idea of the Holy Spirit to his disciples,
00:02:18
Speaker
that he said, it's better for you if I go away so he can come. I mean, you got to know that those guys in the last minutes of their time with Jesus are going, ain't no way it's better not having you here. right So their minds probably couldn't even begin to fathom what was coming. I think 2,000 years later, we still don't have a very good grasp on it. You're right. I think we we... And I wonder why that was. i mean i mean, you can kind of reason through it, but you know Jesus at that time could only be... he was human. right At that point, He could only be at one place at a time where the Holy Spirit can be dwelling hundreds of thousands at the same time. right And so there's obvious and consistent. I mean, He's there
00:02:58
Speaker
Once you accept Him, He lives within you and has the ability to guide you through any situation at any point. That's my understanding of it, that the Holy Spirit is that much more powerful because of His ability to be in all of us at all times doing all things. Whereas Jesus, because
Holy Spirit in Church and Individual Life
00:03:16
Speaker
He willingly put Himself inside the container of a human flesh, human body, was limited to being one place at at at any given moment. That's right. So um the Holy Spirit does a whole lot of things for us. Primarily, His job is to call sinners to come to know Jesus Christ. That's right. He's the one that, as Paul describes it, quickens the life of a dead person, causes them to come alive to the the message, the news of the good news. Mm-hmm.
00:03:45
Speaker
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in a church? Not in an individual, but in a church. Well, it starts in the individual. um So like conviction of the Holy Spirit, right? um If I'm not responding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, I'm not acting in obedience. um And then if you put a bunch of disobedient people together in a room, your church isn't very effective, right? Mm-hmm. But if if each individual is responding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, dealing with their sin, being sanctified as a church, as a church as a whole, an obedient church is an effective church. A disobedient church is dead, really yeah stale. I feel like one of the things that the Holy Spirit does in the church, and you're right, it starts at the individual level, is but he keeps us all corporately centered on Christ. Sure, that's right. That keeps the church focused in the right direction.
00:04:37
Speaker
um I do think a church has the ability to redirect and disobey the Spirit. That's right. um It's described as grieving the Spirit. That's right. You know, in the Scriptures. As our friend Jeff reminded us before we came online. Come over here, Jeff. and Jeff, come join the conversation. um Another big responsibility, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, both before and after. That's right. there's there's no um There would be no reason for us to know that we need a Savior unless the Holy Spirit was convicting us of that fact. right and so ah God's Word points that out.
00:05:10
Speaker
um and Then there's a point where You feel convicted of your sin and you have the choice whether to follow the Lord or reject him. And so the Holy Spirit's job is to take the information that we hear about the truth of who we are as broken people, who Christ is, and then the Holy Spirit puts that conviction, giving us the opportunity to decide or reject. And then, like you said, even before you're a Christian, that's the conviction. once you become a Christian, then he's dwelling with you. And that's that feeling of, man, I've always watched these movies with this language my whole life. Mm-hmm.
00:05:44
Speaker
wow, something's different now. I get uncomfortable when I hear this language now. right and That's conviction saying, man, there's there shouldn't be this garbage going into you. Let's refine,
Justification and Sanctification through the Holy Spirit
00:05:55
Speaker
right? let's Let's sanctify. And so you're probably familiar with those things where things start to shed off of you. We talk about all the time. Come to Jesus as you are, but he's not going to leave you there. um The Holy Spirit starts to convict you of the things that are in your life that aren't fruitful or beneficial. Yeah. So to that point, the Holy Spirit plays a role in our justification when we come to know Christ because He convicts us to the point where we hear His voice and we respond to His awakening in our souls.
00:06:22
Speaker
He plays a role in our sanctification all of our lives because he's the refiner who's working on us. He's pointing out the different areas of our lives that need to be brought under the submission of God's or Christ's lordship. ah What do you think his role is in glorification at the very end?
00:06:37
Speaker
e I don't know. I don't know that I could speak to that right now without doing some type of looking it up. I ask that question because I really don't know myself other than maybe he just puts the final seal on it and says, this is done. Sure. I don't know that the Bible actually speaks to that kind of thing, but I do know that he plays a role in justification and sanctification, obviously very big role in sanctification, because he's working to regenerate us and to move us in directions that benefit our growth. Yeah, Scripture talks about us being separated or set apart. And like you're saying, the justification, that happens. We're set apart for His use, His purpose, His glory. And then through that sanctification, we're continuously being set apart each day as we start to make different choices according to what His convictions are of us. The glorification, don't know. I'm glad I didn't answer that. Yeah. Because I probably would have been making something up. Yeah.
00:07:34
Speaker
Sorry to put you on the spot like that. So the Holy Spirit indwells every believer. Now this is a part where many Christian brothers start to to diverge from one another about this whole thing. um when We believe that when you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes into your life that' right at that point. He and intersects your life at that point.
00:07:56
Speaker
We do not believe that you get additional gifts of the Holy Spirit, that there's an ah additional blessing, a word that some other denominations might use. So what is what is the question we're really dealing with when we talk about being under the influence of the Holy these Spirit?
00:08:12
Speaker
Yeah, so I can receive the Holy Spirit and then I can still act on my own will and harbor areas of sin in my life. right I could refuse to obey. um But like you said, we don't get we don't get more of the Holy Spirit, but it's very possible that He gets more of us. yes What that means is just more submission, um cleaning out the clutter in the areas of our lives, opening up those dark closets that we we like to keep their sin in, right and allowing Him to infiltrate all those areas of our life, which is part of the sanctification process. yeah And so we're you know we're learning through James right now, and James says, don't be just hearers of the Word, but to be doers of the Word. And so um I could hear the good things that Scripture tells me to do,
00:08:58
Speaker
But until I submit to the Holy Spirit and do those things, um really I'm walking under my own will, not the will of the Father. And so the question becomes, again, as the Holy Spirit's working in the sanctification process, not do I have the Holy Spirit, but how much of the me does the Holy Spirit have? That's right. have
Spiritual Gifts vs. Fruit of the Spirit
00:09:16
Speaker
Are all these areas in my life, my thought life, my actions, my words, um just all those things, that are they under His control?
00:09:24
Speaker
What are some of the tools the Spirit gives us as we walk the Christian life? Oh, mercy. Are you talking like spiritual gift areas or? Okay, cool. You're reading my mind, doing great. I'm following you. um So each one of us has talents, obviously.
00:09:42
Speaker
um God gave you at birth talents to use. But there's certain things that we receive when once we come to Christ that are spiritual giftings. um And you know there's lists of them in scripture that says, you know some were given the gift of prophecy, some were given the gift of whatever it may be. And you know there's debate on how many there are.
00:10:02
Speaker
But the point is, is that when we accept Christ, He gives us tools that He wants us to use for His glory. And so you know you might have the gift of evangelism, and if you're sitting on your hands on your couch not going to tell people about Jesus, you're acting in disobedience um to what He has for you.
00:10:20
Speaker
if you have the gift of evangelism, it's very easy for you to speak the name of Jesus to others, serve them, and then share the gospel. um And so if you need help identifying those gifts, there's plenty of tools out there, even online. But I would reach out to the office, um and we can give you something that you could take a little test. And at the end of that test, it says, hey, these are the strong points that you have. Once you know them, you actually see it Daily yeah, where you a man. God gave me this gift That's why I feel this way right and so it gives you a kind of a starting point on um How to live your faith actively yeah, and I think it's important we underline this and you touched on this Just because I don't have the gift of evangelism does not mean i don't participate 100% yeah, it just means it's a more natural thing. That's right. I mean Kyle and kyle and I have talked about this before. um
00:11:09
Speaker
From almost the moment I knew Kyle, it was really easy to detect. He has the gift of evangelism. He never meets a stranger. He has a very great comfort level walking up and just talking to people about his relationship with Jesus.
00:11:19
Speaker
I am very much a strong discipler. It's very natural for me to walk with people on a journey. He and I make a great fit. That's one of the reasons why I brought him on board with me, because i just I love his heart for evangelism. Do I still have a responsibility to have gospel conversations? Absolutely. um Am I as comfortable as Kyle is? Probably not. um And sometimes people are actually shocked to hear me em admit that as a pastor.
00:11:43
Speaker
Why? The Bible says very clearly that we are given different gifts so that we can benefit them. But like look at even, I mean, looking at scripture again with the body of Christ, if he made everybody the same, what good would a bunch of hands be? Right. What good would a bunch of heads be? Right. And so he gives everybody this different aspect. And so I was talking about this with a student the other day, and they said they're contemplating whether to come on a Wednesday night. Mm-hmm.
00:12:09
Speaker
And I said, hey, sometimes it's not just about you being fed. It's about what gifts you bring to that setting to positively affect other people. That's right. Because as the body of Christ, um when you enter the realm of the body, you have a task. And God's given you a specific gift for a specific reason. And Scripture says not one of them is more important than the other because they all need each other. All right. One last thing. Let's talk about this real quick because it's really important um because Paul took time to mention it. The fruit of the Spirit. Mm-hmm. again misconceptions about the fruit of the Spirit there are nine fruit of the Spirit they're listed notice I said it fruit not fruit right because they are all part of the fruit um one of the things the misconceptions I was saying is that people think oh well then I get love first and then I'll get joy and then I'll get peace and then I'll get patience they don't don don't get added on progress it's not like some you know journey you're on to add gifts to yourself or whatever the fruit of the Spirit are all used
00:13:09
Speaker
in conjunction with one another to bring glory to God. That's right. And the more you are surrendered to the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit, the more the fruit shows in your life. Yeah, so um that's one where Christians will use it as an excuse. Hey, I've got love and joy covered. Right. But patience, that's someone else's gift.
00:13:26
Speaker
Yeah. False. False, exactly. If you don't have patience, that's a gift that you need to work on with the Holy Spirit, right? and That's giving... giving more of yourself away and bringing more of the Holy Spirit in that area. And
Walking in the Spirit
00:13:39
Speaker
so you can't just discredit, oh, I'm good at these three.
00:13:42
Speaker
that one That one someone else is going to handle. right No, when it comes to the fruit of the Spirit, um that's our that's our that's our job to pursue those. each one of those okay Kyle told me before he came on to do this thing, he liked to be surprised sometimes. Oh, no. So we're going to play a little game. We're going to test Kyle, see how he does. I'm pretty confident he'll get this right. All right, we're to play a little game. I'm going to throw a word out. Okay. And you're going to say fruit versus gift. Okay. Are you ready? Yes. Patience.
00:14:10
Speaker
Fruit. Giving. Gift. Teaching. Gift. Love. Fruit. He's doing good so far. He's doing really good. um Evangelism.
00:14:24
Speaker
Gift. Kindness. Fruit. Wow, very good. All right, one more. let this Give him a tough one here. I don't know that know tough one. Mercy.
00:14:36
Speaker
gift yes mercy the good job mercy oh mercy was it very good so the fruit of the spirit are love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness and self-control um and yes all of them should be worked on at the same time all the time as part of walking with the Spirit. So let's wrap this up with that. What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? You said it and I had a verse picked out beforehand. Go ahead. And it's talking about, i love the little headings yeah in the Bible where it gives you an indication of what it's talking about. And in Galatians 5 it says,
00:15:09
Speaker
ah life by the Spirit. And so basically living life by the Spirit. And in verse 25 it says, since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking, or envying each other. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
00:15:27
Speaker
Submission. Right? good um if i If I act on my own will, I'm likely going to split from the the will of the Father and the Holy Spirit's desire for me. but if i keep in the Word and stay in tune to what the Holy Spirit is saying to me, then as I walk, I'm going to be walking with Him. And so when the urge comes to send an angry text message, my will,
00:15:51
Speaker
sends the text message to keep in step with the spirit says you know what i'm going to yield to the holy spirit and what he wants for me and so by walking in the holy spirit means that you keep what scripture says at the forefront of everything you do yes and you respond to the leading of the holy spirit in those situations yeah that's really good um i feel like walking in the spirit um that part of the reason why the bible tells us to be you know slow to speak, slow to become angry, quick to listen, those kinds of things, is because it's saying to us, slow down and let the Spirit catch with you. That's right Because when you run ahead, you get into trouble. That's
Hearing the Holy Spirit
00:16:29
Speaker
right, you do. So give give time for the Spirit to say what it's got to say. yeah um
00:16:33
Speaker
So it's really, really important. ah Walking with the Spirit daily involves the things that we talk about here all the time. reading the scriptures, praying, obeying when you're clear, you're hearing something, staying confessed and repented before God about sin in your life. Don't keep these long lists of sin going and all that kind of stuff. Tell me one time where you go, you know what, I have no doubt in my mind the Holy Spirit was dealing with me. do you have a moment where you can go back?
00:17:02
Speaker
i Yes. Okay. Yesterday? Well, I'm trying to think of which one I want to use. This week for sure, there were certain things. But um when I was in high school, I was 17 years old. I fell asleep at the wheel and I crashed my car.
00:17:19
Speaker
Almost potentially could have killed my sister. um Everything turned out fine in that aspect. um But I resisted what the Holy Spirit wanted to do through me for months and because I had the question of why would God allow this to happen, right? And so i it was almost a fight every single night, and I wasn't sleeping. It was almost like this debate between me and God. um And then finally i submitted to the Holy Spirit and what He had for me. And basically the call was that um He wasn't done with me, and and and that's why I'm here, right? And so um it almost felt like a wrestle, right?
00:17:54
Speaker
It almost felt like this debate with God. um I knew He was right. I wanted to follow my own will. And then finally, as he just submitted to the will of the Father. But that was probably the most realistic, like almost tug of war. Where, I mean, obviously the Holy Spirit could have won pretty quickly. But um that was probably the most real time in my life where I experienced the almost the struggle.
00:18:17
Speaker
So one other thing, and we'll wrap this up. um Holy Spirit still speaking today? Yes, sir. Okay. Absolutely. i agree with that. I believe the Holy Spirit, one of His assignments is to guide believers, to to walk us through our daily journey, to help us steer clear of things we need to stay away from, and to urge us towards the things that will make us... better followers of Christ Jesus. um I am a believer. I think you would would say the same thing. i am a believer that 95% of what God wants to tell us has already been given to us in the Word of God. yes And part of the Holy Spirit's job is to remind you of those. hundred percent you know When you get into that bad situation and you want to spout off at somebody, the Holy Spirit kicks in and says, remember this. And if you're ever wondering, like, is this the Holy Spirit?
00:19:01
Speaker
Is it backed by Scripture? Exactly. And so there's never going to be, the Holy Spirit's not going to tell you to do something that contradicts Scripture. And so if you're getting word that you're supposed to you know, date this non-Christian dude or whatever it may be, that's probably your personal desires. Yes. And it's not backed up by Scripture.
00:19:17
Speaker
Yeah. um i'm I'm really cautious, really, really cautious, too, about people who start a statement by saying a fresh word from the Holy Spirit. Sure. Because i don't think the Spirit was sent here to give us fresh words. I think the Spirit was here sent here to tell us the words and remind us the words that have already been given. that's right And that's where we start to steer off into some of this, quite frankly, loony stuff that you see going on in churches today. Trying to rewrite scripture, trying to rearrange truth, trying to make things that are absolutely wrong right. that That's got nothing to do with the Spirit or with God's Word. That's right. Some good stuff. Again, i think probably this conversation could go on for a while because the Spirit such a critical part of our journey with Christ. I will tell you, um one of the best things that was ever taught to me as a young believer was... If you want to be more comfortable hearing the Spirit's voice, do a better job of just listening. And I know that sounds pretty logical, but it's kind of like right now. How long have you been my student pastor? oh Three and a half years. Three and a half years. so Wow, it's been fun. I know, yeah. It's flown. I could go stand at the other of the house and Kyle can walk into this office here and he can start talking and I can hear his voice. Why? Because we spend about six out of every seven days together that's right at some point. And so I have heard his voice enough and I know how to hear it and listen it. um
00:20:41
Speaker
It gets noisy in this house sometimes. has nothing to do with whether or not there are women or men here. It's a noisy thing. It it gets a little noisy in this place. It makes very little difference because I know Kyle's voice. The Spirit becomes that same kind of voice in our heart as it leads us and guides us and that's primarily by hearing it through the word. That's a good point because a lot of new believers may struggle with that. Yeah. May struggle with the idea of hearing the Holy Spirit or you know and it's not like an audible voice. It's not some special gift to hear the Holy Spirit, the more time you spend with God's Word, the more you're going to identify those situations and you'll you'll hear the Holy Spirit speaking to you. To where as lot of times new Christians will be like, should I do this or should I not do this? A seasoned Christian who spent time in the Word, spent time with the Holy Spirit, is more in tune with, this is a no, or this is a yes, right? Yeah. And that's a place where I would caution you, because if there's one way that you can
00:21:39
Speaker
really majorly interrupt your hearing the Spirit is keep disobeying it. That's right. And suddenly that voice becomes
Conclusion and Invitation
00:21:46
Speaker
numb in your head and in your heart and and you find a harder time finding direction from from the Spirit. Scary.
00:21:51
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. um Good stuff. um As we've been talking about the Trinity last week, now the Holy spirit spirit Spirit specifically this week. I hope it's engaged your interest enough that you're wanting to dig a little deeper. Go read the book of John. That's a great place to read about both of these. John's very, very... um I think detailed in the way he covers some of the stuff between the Spirit and and his role in the Trinity and his role in our lives, especially as you get towards John 14, 15, 16, the last prayer of Jesus yeah as he's getting ready to leave the earth. um
00:22:25
Speaker
Yeah, good stuff. And as always, if you have questions, we'd love to talk with you. Kyle, why don't you pray for us before we leave today? Yes, sir. Thank you. ah Father, thank you for who you are, and thank you for the Holy Spirit, Lord, that indwells with us and shapes us and guides us and leads us and teaches us, instructs us, comforts us in time of trial, ah Lord. So I just ask that we as individuals yield to the Holy Spirit, Lord, that we know your word well enough and We read more it daily that you would just reveal how to make decisions throughout our day when we don't have our word with you, but that you just reveal it to us. Father, I thank you for the many times that the Holy Spirit has kept me from harm, kept me from making bad decisions or sin.
00:23:13
Speaker
Lord, and I apologize for the times that I haven't yielded to the Holy Spirit, Lord. Father, thank you for this discussion. I pray that just spurs on me to even do more research on who you are and get to know you better. pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thanks for joining us again today. I'm going to go find out what happened to this spider on my iPad, and we'll look forward to having you back here 8, 9, 30, 11 on Sunday morning. If you're in the area, we would love to have you come and join us, be a part of what God is doing at Grove Hill Church. If not, we'll see you back next week on the podcast.
00:23:42
Speaker
Bye.