You can turn in your Bibles to 2nd Corinthians chapter 2. 2nd Corinthians chapter 2. Excuse me, I'm sorry, 1st Corinthians chapter 2. 1st Corinthians 2. We're going to read beginning at verse 6 to the end of the chapter. So be more of a topical sermon on the Holy Spirit using this particular passage as it speaks to the Holy Spirit as a launching pad to consider certain things that the Bible discloses concerning the third of the blessed triune God, God, the Holy Spirit.
We'll pick up reading in verse six of First Corinthians two. However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew. For had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.
But as it is written, eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. But God has revealed them to us through his spirit, for the spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. Nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Amen.
Let us again pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you again that we can gather for the preaching of your word. We do pray again. for the ministry of the Holy Spirit as we engage in this exercise. Might we not count it a small thing.
Might we certainly count it as a heavy privilege to gather, to hear what the Spirit has to say to his church. We might be well edified and instructed by your word, the Spirit illuminating our minds. Might we, Lord God, be the present witnesses of that work of the Holy Spirit and saving sinners unto the praise of your glory. Might you, by your spirit and by your word, save this night that salvation might be found gloried in by the mouths of those whom you visit salvation upon.
Might we, as your present saints, marvel in glory and rejoice in the work of the spirit and the conversion of sinners. We do pray that you be with us again, Lord God. We acknowledge the fact that we need you to listen, to be properly focused and attentive. And of course, for the preacher to proclaim rightly and truly your word, might you give him aid.
And might again all that we do be done unto your glory. And might we sing the praises of Christ as we gather together for your worship. And it is in his name that we pray. Amen.
Introduction
Well, this passage follows on the heels of and is actually included within the context of the Apostle Paul pitting the wisdom of God, or what he would call in a sort of play on words, the foolishness of God, setting that in opposition to the so-called wisdom of man. Man, humanity, has its own wisdom, the world has its own wisdom so-called, but true wisdom is seen in the so-called foolishness of God, which is seen ultimately and primarily in a crucified Messiah. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ or the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. It is the wisdom of God.
And we see here that this wisdom of God, this understanding and knowledge of God can only come to us by the intercession and the activity of the Holy Spirit. the third person of our blessed triune God. And it is to that person that we will turn our focus to this evening as we consider pneumatology, or if you don't think the P in Greek words should be removed or made silent, pneumatology. We have those blessed ologies of Christian faith and of Christian theology. Remember, we have theology or theology proper, the study or doctrine of God.
We have Christology, the study or doctrine of Christ. We have soteriology, the study or doctrine of salvation. Well, here we have, and tonight we will engage in, pneumatology. Pneuma meaning spirit.
So the study or doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Now, of course, when it comes to a study of the Holy Spirit, yes, we certainly must consider the person of the Holy Spirit. He is one of the members of the triune Godhead. There is one God, and this one God, or the Godhead, exists eternally in three co-eternal, co-glorious, and co-blessed persons.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is not the case that the Holy Spirit is some effectual force, impersonal force dispensed by God to accomplish various ends. The Holy Spirit has personality and deity. It is not the case that the Holy Spirit is the present modern church manifestation of Jesus, who was the time and history manifestation of the Father, but rather the Holy Spirit is distinct. from the Son, distinct from the Father, yet all three are co-eternal, co-glorious.
We are not going to consider, though, the person of the Holy Spirit. When it comes to a study of the Holy Spirit, that's not going to be the study of our focus tonight. To be sure, as Christians, we consider and we glory in the person of the Holy Spirit. But tonight we're going to be concerned with the works of the Holy Spirit.
Now, we know His works of old. He was a co-agent at creation with the Son, and of course, by the direction and by the presence of the Father. He was there at creation, hovering over the waters. We see Him, or we know from our Bibles, that He was that agent and the inspiration of the Scriptures.
In 2 Peter 1, we read that holy men of old spoke as they were moved or carried along by the Holy Spirit. We know that the Holy Spirit was effectual in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The power of the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and the Holy Spirit was effectual in the virgin conception. We know that the Holy Spirit anointed and empowered Christ in his earthly ministry.
And we know that the Holy Spirit anointed and empowered the early ambassadors and heralds of Jesus Christ in, for example, the pages of the book of Acts. We're not going to consider his works of old, though. We're going to look at the Holy Spirit and what he does, what the Holy Spirit is doing in the current New Testament church, what the Holy Spirit is doing in the modern church. And we're going to consider this under four headings.
Those four headings are publication, application, illumination and confirmation. That is, the Holy Spirit is involved in the present New Testament church in publication. The Holy Spirit is involved and active in application. The Holy Spirit is involved in illumination and finally in confirmation.
What do these mean? First off, publication. And we're going to, of course, turn to our Bibles as we consider these various activities of the Holy Spirit.
First Work: Publication
Publication. The Holy Spirit is active in publishing Christ, in making him known and in proclaiming his gospel. The Holy Spirit is active in the work of publication. That is, the Holy Spirit actively brings the message, the proclamation of Christ and His gospel to Christ's people and to the world generally.
Where do we find that? In our Bibles, we'll find that the Old Testament prophesied this.
Old Testament Prophecy of Publication
The Old Testament prophesied this. You can turn to Acts chapter two. You may be saying, well, didn't you just say that the Old Testament prophesied this? Well, yes, I did.
We read from that passage in our call to worship this morning, Joel chapter two. But in Acts chapter two, we see the fulfillment of that Old Testament promise. But just to note that the Old Testament prophesied the publication, the the publicating activity of the Holy Spirit in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 2, we see Peter on the day of Pentecost in verse 14.
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, Let this be known to you and heed my words for these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My servants and on My maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, we need to note that this prophecy of Joel was fulfilled in its entirety prior to the destruction and at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. But nevertheless, the Old Testament announces the publicating work of the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit would be sent to bring the message of Christ to both Jew and Gentile.
We'll look at more of that in a moment. But
Christ's Promise of the Spirit
let's move to the book of John where we see, secondly, that Christ promised this. Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would be given to publish the glorious truth of Jesus Christ to the world. In John 14, we read at verse 25, These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." So we have this announcement given to the apostles by Christ, this promise that Jesus gives to His apostles that the Holy Spirit will empower them to proclaim the message that of Jesus Christ, Him crucified and resurrected.
We see a general statement in Acts 15 with regards to the testimony of the Holy Spirit and the apostles. Notice in John 15 at verse 26, But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of me. We see Christ giving the promise that the Holy Spirit will be given by God in order to testify of Jesus Christ. This is the Holy Spirit's primary role in redemptive history.
To testify concerning the doing, the dying, the rising again of Jesus Christ. To proclaim all centered around Christ's redemptive and perfect work. Christ promises what the Old Testament prophesied. And then
Early Church Fulfillment
we come to the witness and testimony of the early church, and we find this to be true, don't we? Acts 4, which we read from this morning, what we see there and what we see in the rest of the book of Acts is the fulfillment of that Old Testament promise, the fulfillment of that promise that Christ gave to His apostles that the Spirit will be engaged in the activity of publication. of preaching, of testifying to the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect work. Again, we see that in the testimony of Peter, the proclamation of Peter in Acts 4 in verse 8. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them.
And he opens up a word concerning the healing of the man and how that testifies to the reality of Jesus Christ who was crucified by you and raised by God from the dead." He says, by Him. This man stands here before you whole. But you see here, we see the Holy Spirit in that work of publication. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, brings a message concerning Jesus.
And then we noted this morning at the end of Acts 4, we see that God answers the prayer of the gathered church by filling them with the Holy Spirit. verse 31. The result of that Holy Spirit filling is that they spoke the Word of God with boldness. So the Holy Spirit is involved in publication. We need to see here something of the intercession of the triune God and their respective roles in history.
Brethren, we have a glorious Bible that is harmonious, that is characterized by the consent of all the parts, that is characterized by a chronological and perfect and progressive consistency. The Bible sets forth God, the Father, before the foundation of the world, predestinating and electing persons unto the praise of his glory. We see Jesus Christ in time and in history coming in fulfillment of that purpose and that predetermined plan, living perfectly, dying perfectly, rising again the third day victoriously for sinners. Then we have the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit coming, sent by the Father and by Christ to publish that message of victory, that gospel message, and to apply the benefits of that perfect work to his people.
When we worship a great and glorious triune God, it's a God of harmony, it's a God of consistency, it's a God of perfect unity. We don't have a Father purposing Christ and then Christ coming, being unable to fulfill that purpose. No, we have God the Father purposing. Christ's coming and perfectly fulfilling that purpose set before Him.
We don't then have a Holy Spirit who is ineffectual to apply to all whom salvation is targeted. We don't have Him ineffectual to work that work of application. But the Holy Spirit comes and applies the perfect work of Christ to all for whom it was intended. The publicating work of the Holy Spirit wherein He actively discloses and proclaims Christ to the world is the work and the current work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, again, publishes Jesus.
Second Work: Application
Secondly, the Holy Spirit applies Jesus. And what I mean by that, the Holy Spirit, in His work of application, actively applies the benefits of Christ's redemptive work to the elect, to His people. You see, Christ comes in time and in history and does the perfect work of the Father. The Holy Spirit then, according to divine commission and according to His own sovereignty, comes and applies the saving work of Jesus to the people of Jesus.
It is a perfect, perfect triune plan of salvation. And again, the Holy Spirit's role here is one of application. Question 29 of the Westminster Confession of Faith. Chapter 29 of the Westminster Confession of Faith reads this way with regards to the application of the work of Jesus Christ.
How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? Answer. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit. You see, the men of old knew the role of the Holy Spirit in the church is to apply the benefits of Christ's cross work to his people.
Where do we see this in our Bibles? Well, first off, we see this as we did with the first point announced or prophesied in the Old Testament. If you are able,
Old Testament Promise of Application
you can turn with me to the book of Ezekiel. We see that the Holy Spirit's work of application is announced in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 36, first off. Ezekiel chapter 36, beginning at verse 27.
I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them. You see there in the announcement of the coming covenant, the new covenant, that glorious announcement of a new work that the Lord God will do, we see that He will put His Spirit within His people and He will cause us to walk in His statutes. This is a promise that the Old Testament gives to the remnants of the old covenant that the Spirit would be given. to apply those salvific benefits to God's covenant people. We see also, if you just turn the page to Ezekiel 37, we see this as well in Ezekiel 37.
It's the language of regeneration, the language of resurrection in Ezekiel 37, beginning at verse 12. Therefore, prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you and you shall live and I will place you in your own land." As we get to the New Testament, to which we'll turn now, we will see that this covenant announcement These realities concerning the spirit have peculiar reference to the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This was, again, this work of the application by the spirit is promised in the old covenant. We just saw that. And then it's announced by Jesus in the new. If you
Christ's Announcement of Application
turn to John chapter three to see these various addresses of Holy Scripture that speak to the current work of the Holy Spirit. in the lives of Christ's people. In John 3, beginning at verse 5, Jesus answered, this is in His discourse with Nicodemus, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Now, perhaps you may have wondered in hearing this verse, or in reading this verse, or in reading about this verse, what it means to be born of water and spirit.
Well, Jesus is exegeting and applying what we just read in Ezekiel 36 and Ezekiel 37. He indicts Nicodemus for not knowing what the Scriptures spoke concerning the New Covenant promises. You're a teacher of Israel and you don't even know these things. Ezekiel 36 and 37 uses the language of, I will sprinkle clean water on you and put my Spirit within you.
Here Jesus comes and uses that language this way. Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. He is pointing to Nicodemus and taking Nicodemus and pointing to the Old Testament and saying, you should know these things. God promised that he would send his spirit, that he would remove those stony hearts, replace them with fleshly hearts and implant his spirit within his people that they might walk in his statutes and glory in him.
Jesus announces this reality in his life and in his ministry. And then we see this demonstrated in the early church. We see this demonstrated in the early church. First Corinthians chapter six. 1 Corinthians chapter 6.
I won't force you to turn to all of these places of Holy Scripture if you're getting tired of moving your fingers. But again, it's good to know where we can read of the Holy Spirit's activity in the lives of his people. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 11. This is after identifying certain sins. marking those who are outside of Christ, marking those before conversion. And we see in v. 11, Paul writes, and such were some of you.
Note, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. You see, the Spirit of God comes and based upon the victorious work of Jesus Christ, applies the benefits of that redemptive work by converting sinners, by washing them, by sanctifying them, by justifying them. Again, this language of washing has to do with regeneration, has to do with cleansing, has to do with being made anew by virtue of Christ's saving work and by amazing grace. We also see this, that the early church demonstrates this work of the Holy Spirit of application in the book of Titus.
And this is glorious language, brethren, that we find here in the book of Titus, in Titus chapter 3. With regards to salvation, as Protestant Christians, we are marked, of course, by that certain and biblical belief that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. We are not saved by faith plus works. We are not saved by a little bit of faith and a lot of works.
We are not saved by our good deeds. But from first to last, midst and throughout, we are saved by the perfect work of the triune God who saves without a helper. Notice with regards to the application of the benefits of Christ's crosswork, the Holy Spirit bringing those salvific benefits to his people. Verse one of Titus three, remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities to obey, to be ready for every good work. to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another, but When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Isn't that a glorious chronological picture of God's work in the lives of his people? We have that before picture of the sinner who is foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice, envy, hateful and hating one another. And then we have the intercession of the triune God, the kindness and the love of God, our Savior appears.
And it comes by virtue of the Holy Spirit bringing the redemptive benefits of Christ in the washing of regeneration and renewing that He performs. And not only is the Holy Spirit just given in this small measure. God just doesn't bestow this small portion, if we can use that language of the Holy Spirit's effectual work. But rather, verse 6, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
We have the perfect abundance of the work of the Holy Spirit given to us by God, applying the benefits of salvation. And again, brethren, it's important to note that we confess a God who has a perfect plan and who executes that perfect plan. Never consider that lightly, because there are those out there within professing Christendom that would suppose a theology that has the members of the Trinity at discord, at some measure of disunity. But again, we have God the Father predestinating, God the Son performing the work, the Holy Spirit applying the benefits of that work, all to the praise of His glorious grace.
That's what Ephesians 1 is all about. Ephesians 1, by virtue of giving a doxology only. I say only because Paul there in Ephesians 1 isn't delivering an apologetic for Calvinism. He's praising the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
Then he speaks of God the predestinator, Christ the fulfiller, and the Holy Spirit, the one who applies. glorious truth regarding the applying work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christ's people.
Third Work: Illumination
Thirdly, the work of the Holy Spirit is seen in illumination. Illumination, by this we mean the Holy Spirit is active in instructing the people of God in and through the ministry of the word. The Holy Spirit is active in instructing the people of God in and through the ministry of the word. Our London Baptist confession of faith puts this very well as it speaks in chapter one of the Holy Scriptures.
You see, as reformed Christians who the doctrine of cessationism, that is, that the revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit seen in tongues, prophecy and knowledge have ceased. We most certainly do uphold, though, the ongoing and great and marvelous work of the Holy Spirit in illumination, one of many activities that he engages in. We read this in paragraph five of our confession. And I would make a note of this chapter, if you don't know it well already, to read it, because it speaks of two things that are very important for us in our Christian lives.
The perfection, the inerrancy, the infallibility of the Word of God, its power in disclosing God's truth, and then the necessity of the Holy Spirit, specifically at the point of illumination. Notice, we may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church of God, to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures, and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, and the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God, the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, and many other incomparable excellencies and entire perfections thereof, note, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God. Our confession upholds the self-attesting and self-authentication aspect, character of the Holy Scriptures. All of those things do abundantly evidence the Scriptures to be the Word of God.
Yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts. So you see that the Holy Spirit is involved in the work of illumination, in actively instructing the people of God in and through the ministry of the Word. Where do we see this in the Scriptures? We see this,
Convicting, Communicating, Sanctifying
first of all, by the announcement of Christ in John 16. In John 16, we see the Lord Jesus declaring this reality, the Holy Spirit, will be sent and will be involved in this activity of illumination. John 16, beginning at verse 5, But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, where are you going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you.
And when he has come, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment." So you see the Holy Spirit active today as He was yesterday in this function of instructing the people of God in and through the ministry of the Word. Again, we see this in three ways. We saw these other things under three subheadings. First, by convicting the individual of sin by means of the law.
The Holy Spirit comes to His people with the holiness and the righteousness of God's revealed Word. And He, by His power and His effectual working, convicts them of their sin. Not only of the reality of sin, not only of what sin means and what it means before God, so that they are a sinner. He convicts them of the holiness of God, of the law, and of the sinfulness of man in breaking it daily.
And he brings to bear the reality of their condemnation, the sting of the law coming the sting of the law and the sting of sin coming by condemnation for it. So he convicts the individual of sin by means of the law. Second, by communicating to him and helping him understand a knowledge of salvation by means of the gospel. You see, the graciousness of our God is seen that he doesn't stop at the declaration of the holiness of God and of the sinfulness of man.
You see, if God just stopped at that point in Romans 3, that every mouth may be stopped by the disclosure of the law, and everyone would be found guilty before God. If He just stopped there, He would have convicted us. The Holy Spirit would have disclosed. The Holy Spirit would have illuminated.
But there would be no good news. There would be no disclosure, no communication of salvation. But our gracious God continues by communicating again and helping us understand a knowledge of salvation by means of the gospel of grace. And we read that in 1 Corinthians 2 at the outset of our preaching.
We noted that the Holy Spirit is necessary for and is glorious, gloriously engaged in. the understanding of the people of God. Verse 10 of 1 Corinthians 2, But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows, the things of a man, except the spirit of the man which is in him.
Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things which have been freely given to us by God." You see, part of our glorying in the triune God is to be at this particular point. The Holy Spirit's illumination. Because in our native depravity, in our native sinfulness, our minds could not grasp, nor did they want to grasp, the things of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. You see, our minds were at a bent against the living and true God. We could cast our eyes upon the glory of his creation. We could look at the firmament.
We could look at his starry heavens and declare there is no glorious God. but knowing all the while that there truly is one. But we were set opposed to him. We can, in a state of unbelief, come to the Holy Scriptures and not see the gloriousness of its inspiration, its inerrancy, and its infallibility. Because as our confession says, the Holy Spirit is necessary for making that effectual, for causing us to know with a right mind and understand the glorious things of God.
Verse 14 in this text is striking. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. See, this is the stuff of Christ's preaching in John 6. All those people are gathered before Him and those so-called believers who depart Him because they cannot hear or listen to this saying.
Jesus Christ proclaims this very thing. You are not able to believe in my name. Something must happen. God must grant.
God must draw. God must do the effectual work. of spirit-wrought resurrection, before you can know the things of God, before you can understand spiritual things, the Holy Spirit must make you alive. He must raise you from that state of deadness and sin to life in Jesus Christ. Thirdly, under illumination, we see the Holy Spirit active by sanctifying His people through the truth.
So, the Holy Spirit convicts of sin. The Holy Spirit makes one alive in Christ Jesus by regenerating an effectual power. He then, throughout the life of that believer, throughout the life of that one upon whom He has bestowed the benefits of Christ's work, the Holy Spirit continues to work by sanctifying His people through the truth. We see that prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we, in His high priestly prayer to His Father.
He says, sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth. When Paul writes to the Ephesians, we see something of this continuing illumination, this continuing growth in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He says that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Paul is writing that to people who have already been saved, who have already been the blessed recipients of amazing and victorious grace.
He prays that God would give to them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. The Spirit is necessary to illuminate the minds of those already brought out of darkness and into light. The Spirit is necessary to sanctify His people, to bring to bear the truths of Holy Scripture, and to raise them from babes in Christ to mature members of the Church of the living and true God. He was upset with or disappointed in the fact that the Hebrew Christians were still babes in Christ, were still young, were still drinking the milk of first things, if you will.
They were to be eating the meat. They were to have developed teeth. sharpened on the implement of the Word and the sharpening power of the Word of the living and true God. They weren't supposed to stay in things elementary. They were supposed to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Spirit is necessary for that glorious activity.
Fourth Work: Confirmation
And then lastly, we see the Spirit actively involved in confirmation Confirmation. What do we mean by that? We mean, by confirmation, the Holy Spirit is active in confirming the certainty of our redemption. The Holy Spirit is active in confirming the certainty of our redemption.
We see that He does this in three ways, at least.
The Indwelling Seal
First, by being the indwelling seal. by being the indwelling seal. In Ephesians chapter one, Paul closes his doxology filled with triune salvation by recognizing the perfect work of the Holy Spirit. Still speaking of Christ in verse 13, he continues this way, "...in Him you also trusted after you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." You see, these who were predestined unto glory by Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, were then effectually saved by the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary and by virtue of his victorious resurrection. Then in time and in history, the Holy Spirit applies that salvation and seals them.
The Holy Spirit is our indwelling seal. And we need to appreciate the language here of sealing. It means that God has made known and made effectual his ownership over us. This language is the language that's been used, that theologians have noted, that ancients who had these signet rings would mark legal documents with an imprint upon them.
That is the type of sealing we have going on here. God, in His authoritative kingship, seals us with His mark, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This seal was one of legality. It carried with it legal weight.
In other words, many of these rulers and prominent people would seal their possessions, signifying their ownership and guarding them from theft. See, this is what God does with His people. No one can snatch us out of His hand. No one can snatch us out of the divine grip because Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are involved in salvation.
And at the point of the Holy Spirit, He is the indwelling seal, the divine stamp of ownership given to Christ's people. Secondly,
The Guarantee of Inheritance
the Holy Spirit is active in confirming the certainty of our redemption by being the guarantee, notice verse 14, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. The guarantee of our inheritance. You see, the Holy Spirit isn't like that guarantee that we might get from stores that we shop at, where you really can't return it. You buy something, oh, we'll guarantee that, but then you bring it back.
Oh, sorry, we can't really do anything for you. Some places are a little bit nicer than that and will actually return stuff. But you see, the Holy Spirit isn't a guarantee that there's some sort of loophole or wiggle room where the people can get themselves out of this securing grace. No, the Holy Spirit brings as a guarantee, the language is used in other translations as earnest or down payment.
He is a legal financial down payment given to God's people, declaring the certainty of eschatological redemption. In other words, the Holy Spirit is given as an authenticating down payment that most certainly our future redemption is secure and sure. There is an inheritance laid up for us in heaven and the Holy Spirit is an authenticating down payment of that blessed reality. Thirdly and lastly,
The Filial Witness
The Holy Spirit is active in confirming the certainty of our redemption by testifying to the filial relationship between God and us. Filial relationship means the relationship between a father and a son. Isn't it always heartwarming for the Christian to know that is our relationship with God? God's not this tyrannical leader who sits in the heavens and just throws down lightning bolts upon the heads of His people.
God's our Father. We're His sons and daughters, His children. By His graciousness, we've been brought into the household of faith, the household of God. We can, as John does, glory in the fact that what has been bestowed upon us is the reality that we can call God Father.
The Holy Spirit testifies to this reality in Romans 8. We read of this. Romans 8, verse 12. The Holy Spirit is active in confirming the certainty of our redemption by testifying to the filial relationship, the Father-to-Son relationship that we have with God.
It's wonderful language in Romans chapter 8 beginning in verse 9, but you are not in the flesh. but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin. The Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit which dwells in you. Now notice verse 12, Therefore, brethren, we are debtors. not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. But if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father." Verse 16, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. You see, the Spirit of God is that indwelling seal. The Spirit of God is that legal financial down payment, securing and testifying to the certainty of our glorious future, eschatological redemption.
And the Holy Spirit is that one who testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. What a blessed truth. And
Application
brethren, in closing, this brings us to consider three things based on the work of the Holy Spirit. First off, this should direct us in prayer as it concerns the ministry of the Holy Spirit. What do we want the Holy Spirit to do? We want the Holy Spirit to publish Christ Jesus.
We want the Holy Spirit to testify and witness to the glorious and perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our prayers should be unto that end, that the Holy Spirit would move swiftly, empowering His people to proclaim purely and with propriety the true gospel of Jesus Christ to lost souls. We should pray for the application. Isn't this comforting to know?
As Christians, the Holy Spirit is the one who saves. The Holy Spirit is the one who applies the work of Jesus Christ. If you're like me, sometimes in the history of our evangelical endeavors with friends, with family members, with people who oppose the gospel, You sometimes, sinfully, want to shake them to believe the gospel, because it's so glorious. We need to repent of that.
We shouldn't want to physically harm anybody. But what I mean is, it becomes just this frustration sometimes that they don't believe in our glorious Savior. Now, it probably manifests itself better in things that the Bible says regarding the Apostle Paul, that he weeped for sin. He weeped that his countrymen, according to the flesh, would believe the Gospel.
But what I'm trying to get at is that we ought not to become frustrated, because the Holy Spirit is the One who applies salvation. The Holy Spirit is the One who illuminates, who makes and brings life to the heart of dead sinners, and who causes them to glory in the Savior. So be assured and be prayerful to that point, that the Holy Spirit is the One who applies. who illuminates. And we ought to pray for our own souls and for the souls of others for this confirmation.
We need to appreciate, brethren, and to glory in the assurance of salvation. You see, we can get down We can be downcast. We can lament sometimes when we stumble and fall into sin. We can have doubts and all these sorts of things.
We need to pray for that activity of the Holy Spirit. You see, because He will illuminate and He will testify to the fact that our perseverance does not depend upon our own free will, but upon the perfect Word of the Triune God. We find our all in all in the efficacy and the power of the saving work of our great triune God, centered and focused around that work of Jesus Christ at Calvary. This should secondly help us in our own Christian walk, understanding the Holy Spirit's activity in our own Christian walk.
As we go about our Christian walk, we should understand the Holy Spirit illuminates. The Holy Spirit has applied. The Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts and the Holy Spirit will confirm us unto the end. And lastly, hopefully a balanced view.
Of course, a study of the Holy Spirit would require more time and and more effort and more preaching to have a fully borne out exposition of the work of the Holy Spirit that the Bible presents. But thirdly and lastly, a study of the Holy Spirit will help us in how we deal with our brothers and sisters. You see, we're not the Holy Spirit, brothers and sisters. We are not the Holy Spirit.
We are not the ones who come with efficacy and sanctify people in our midst and around us. We are not the people who are to come and to illuminate, to apply, and all of these things. We need to treat our brothers and sisters at various levels of their Christian walk and know that the Holy Spirit really does exist, that the Holy Spirit really does actively work in the lives of His people. We don't need to chase every rabbit trail until we're satisfied with people's repentance, with people's forgiveness, with people's sanctified walk.
We need to be prayerful that the Holy Spirit will in time and in history do that which he does a lot better than us, infinitely better than us, applying, illuminating and confirming in the hearts and in the lives of his people. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the work of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for what your work discloses concerning the perfection of his work, the multifaceted reality of the Holy Spirit in doing so many things in the lives of his people. that our Holy Spirit is active in publishing the Gospel to Jew and to Gentile throughout the ages. We thank You so much for the fact that the Holy Spirit applies that finished work of Jesus Christ to His people and that He does so perfectly. We pray for that continuing illumination in our own lives and in our own hearts.
We pray that You would conform us unto the image of Christ by that sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit who works by Your Word. We thank you so much for that confirming activity of the Holy Spirit. That He is our guarantee. And we rejoice in the fact, Lord God, that by your Holy Spirit, testifying to our spirit that we are children of God, we can find such joy in that reality.
We pray that we would be your children, your grateful children, rejoicing in God our Father. We would sing your praises, that we would receive chastisement, and that we would seek to honor you in this lower world. We need, of course, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in this, and we pray for Him now. We pray, Holy Spirit, come.
Help us in our daily lives as Christians that we might glory in our Savior, who has done all the work, and that you would help us to work in this lower world, to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. And it's in His most precious name that we pray. Amen.