John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

The entire point of last week was salvation, making Jesus Lord of your life.
Because of the cross of Christ, because of his resurrection, upon our confession of Jesus’ lordship, we are saved. We have access to the life that Jesus Christ lives when we put our faith and trust in him as our Lord and savior.

I really want to emphasize the notion of life. Not only is Jesus the way, not only is he the truth, but he is the life as well.

Colossians 3:3-4
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

So many people embrace Jesus at the beginning simply because they do not want to go to hell. They want eternal life. At one point in my life I used to get frustrated about evangelistic outreaches that tried to scare people into heaven. Glory and the fire was a traveling dramatic production that did just that. I found it agitating because I wanted people to experience a relationship with Jesus, not say yes to him out of fear.

But I came to the place where I understood that no matter how somebody gets to Jesus, the important thing is to get to him. I never want a person’s relationship with Jesus to operate in fear, having that relationship born out of a genuine terror of hell, but as Paul says, whatever it takes! However, at some point you have to realize that you are not saved from something but for something. You have a purpose and God has a plan. We aren’t being saved just to keep us from hell, but for relationship with God.

But in emphasizing the life that we have in Christ Jesus, we have to understand not just why we have that life (Jesus and resurrection), but how we have that life. Remember, you are not only a lost sheep who was found. You are a dead person who has been raised to life! And because of that, we are empowered to live the life God called us to live!

Romans 8:11
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

What does this mean?
If you want to experience what it really means to be alive in Christ Jesus, it is through the person of the Holy Spirit.

1. The Holy Spirit leads us into truth
John 16:13
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Initially, this is in the form of drawing us unto salvation. Draw us unto salvation is a phrase we find in John 6:44
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him

Why does God need to draw us to salvation?
Simply put, if He didn’t, we would never come. The natural man has no ability to come to God, nor does he even have the desire to come because his heart is hard and his mind is darkened. So the lost person doesn’t desire God and is actually an enemy of God. When Jesus says that no man can come without God’s drawing him, He is making a statement about the total depravity of the sinner and the universality of that condition. So darkened is the unsaved person’s heart that he doesn’t even realize it, as Jeremiah says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, it is only by the merciful and gracious drawing of God that we are saved.

How does God do this? Through the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1:16-17
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you

In the conversion of the sinner, God enlightens the mind (Ephesians 1), convicts the heart (John 16:8), inclines the will toward Himself, and influences the soul, without which influence the soul remains darkened and rebellious against God. All of this is involved in the drawing process.

This process of drawing is so important because it it through this initial inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we recognize our state, our sinfulness, our need of a savior, our need for a relationship with Jesus, and respond/

Salvation outside without the Holy Spirit can’t happen! The Father draws you by the Spirit to the Son. The Trinity works in perfect harmony initiate your salvation.

Initially the Holy Spirit leads us into the truth of the Gospel, however, as we mature, the Spirit leads us into embracing truth every stage of our relationship with Jesus.

There is more truth than just the Gospel. Just as a refresher, the Gospel is John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

John 16:13
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth

We are cool with the Holy Spirit leading us into the truth of the Gospel, but are we cool with the Holy Spirit leading us into the truth of sanctification?

What truth do you need to hear right now?
- Your past is no excuse for your current thoughts, beliefs, and actions.
- You aren’t good enough. But Jesus is. If you’ll embrace him, being good enough won’t matter anymore.
- Your addiction is not helping you cope. It is holding you back.
- I know what they did was horrible, but you not forgiving them is hurting you more.
- No matter how you justify it, what you’re doing is wrong.
- You are loved more than you can imagine.
- God has a better plan for you than you can imagine.
- God will use that hurt and pain if you’ll let him have it.

I can say these truths to you and they could possibly make an impact,
but when the Holy Spirit guides us into these truths, our lives change.

Humans have a unique and terrible ability to ignore the truth when it is inconvenient.

What would happen if you asked the Holy Spirit to speak the truth to you about a situation you are facing?
Two questions:
Would you listen? Would you respond well?

The answer to those two questions will tell you if you are really allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you into truth, or whether your flesh is the one you’re following.

2. The Holy Spirit overcomes the flesh
Let’s say the Holy Spirit is speaking the truth to you and you hear the truth and you know now that you need to do something about the truth you’ve heard. Prepare for war.

Your flesh will never stop warring against the Spirit. In fact, a really good sign that you are truly saved is that you feel that constant battle raging in you. Satan wants you to think that means you aren’t really saved, but this feeling is the conviction and influence of the Holy Spirit in your life. If the Holy Spirit is there convicting and influencing you, it is evidence of your salvation!

That battle rages within and is a war. the Spirit versus the flesh. Paul described it like this, which we can all relate to in Romans 7:15-25
15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul here says the answer is in Jesus. What about the Holy Spirit?
Romans 6:3-4
3 have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

The “glorious power of the Father” is the very same power that God uses to draw you unto himself, the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:16-17
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

The reason we are commanded to walk in the Spirit is because if we are going to do everything that we need to do to live lives that honor God, to be totally alive, we have to eliminate the barriers that keep us from being alive.

Your flesh, not satan, is the single greatest threat to your relationship with Jesus. I know we all love to blame satan for what goes wrong in our lives, however, often, satan doesn’t need to tempt us because we are being led by our flesh to begin with.

Romans 6:12
Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.
Don’t let SIN control your lives. Not the devil. Not demons. Sin.

Where does sin come from?
Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

It also comes from disobedience in us. Sin is lawlessness in us and is the result of disobedience to God. The Holy Spirit is the only thing restraining lawlessness.

2 Thessalonians 2:7
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.

If lawlessness is present, it is evidence that the Holy Spirit isn’t.

But let’s revisit now Romans 6:13
Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life.

If you want to eliminate sin, you have to deal with the thing in which sin originates and lives in, your flesh. How? The Holy Spirit.

Three steps:
Be filled with the Spirit, Be led by the Spirit, Delight in the Spirit.

Be filled with the Spirit.
There is an internal church argument on when you are filled with the Spirit, be that at salvation or in a second experience. Seriously who cares? Just be filled with the Spirit! Pray daily “Holy Spirit I receive you today. Fill me to overflowing.” You don’t have to have some emotional moment at the altar. You don’t have to shake and jitter.

Luke 11:13
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

It is as simple as asking!

“Father you promised through Jesus that you’d give us the Holy Spirit.
I’m asking now. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit.
I receive your Spirit God. In Jesus name, amen.”

Be led by the Spirit.
This is more difficult because it requires you to constantly nail the flesh to the cross. But as you, through the Holy Spirit do this, you begin to produce spiritual fruit.

Galatians 5:16, 22-24
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If you are going to be led by the Spirit, you are going to have to constantly recognize his presence in your life. It is tapping into him before you make a decision. It is asking him for help in a tough spot. It is sourcing power from him to say no to temptation. But even more amazing, when you are led by the Spirit, you have access to his ability to help you embrace God’s plan and will for your life, even when you don’t know what that is!

Romans 8:26-27
26 …the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.

If you aren’t acknowledging the Holy Spirit daily, hourly, then you simply won’t be led by him. The voice that yells the loudest is what you will hear the most. That voice is your flesh!!

John 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Most people don’t listen to the Holy Spirit when he is leading them. They’re only listening when he is convicting them. But if you listened to his leading you, he wouldn’t have to be constantly convicting. This is the same principle as sin loops. What would the Holy Spirit be telling you if he didn’t have to waste his time convicting you?

Refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit or receive his guidance has consequences.

Last step: Delight in the Holy Spirit.
What do I mean? Don’t grieve him. Don’t quench him.

Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

NLT: And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

How do you grieve the Holy Spirit?
Paul’s command not to grieve the Spirit seems to be inspired by two Old Testament verses that speak of God’s Spirit being “distressed,” “grieved,” and “made bitter”

Specific ways we grieve the Spirit:
- by living as we used to before our salvation when we were “separated from the life of God” (Ephesians 4:17–19).
- when we don’t speak truthfully to our brothers and sisters in Christ (Ephesians 4:25),
- when we let anger control our actions (4:26–27),
- when we steal from each other (4:28)
- when we speak foul and abusive words to one another, instead of uplifting and encouraging words (4:29).
- when we don’t “get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior” (Ephesians 4:31)
- when we fail to “be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

We grieve the Spirit when we do not live a life worthy of the calling you have received, being completely humble and gentle; patient, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace

1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit.

Paul warns his readers against dousing or smothering the ministry of the Holy Spirit. When we refuse to act upon what the Holy Spirit leads us to do, we are quenching the Spirit and stopping him from working through us. When we add sin to that refusal, we are grieving him.

A grieved, quenched Spirit is incapable of killing our flesh. That is not because the Holy Spirit is powerless. It is because we refuse to allow him the opportunity to do what he does.

So what does he do?

3. The Holy Spirit empowers us.
2 Peter 1:3
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.
If you go look at the Greek, this is more than just a godly life, but “life and godliness.” That life is both physical AND spiritual. Righteousness is “eusebeia,” someone's inner response to the things of God which shows itself in godly piety, in other words, a godly heart-response.

What this means is that every single thing in your life, both physical and spiritual, was designed to be empowered so that you could live as God intended, and so that you could live righteously where even your heart response is godly.

So many people want to get caught up in the pew jumping and tongue talking that we normally associate with being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Too many people have focused on what they consider signs of the Holy Spirit rather than actually living an empower life because of him.

You don’t have to roll around and shake to experience the Holy Spirit. Even Paul said that not everyone could speak in tongues. Even in that statement, some of you want me to draw a hard line on whether we believe in the gift of speaking in tongues or not.

What I want you to see is that speaking in tongues is only a minute part of what it means to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is amazing how we can be so quick to use a gift but so slow to be obedient. What if I told you that forgiving someone who hurt you is just as an empowered moment as anything else? What if I told you simply obeying what God told you to do is even better than some outpouring on a Sunday morning?

If you don’t believe me, then go read 1st Corinthians. This entire book is Paul aggressively correcting the Corinthian church for being so wrapped up in what gift of the Spirit they had that they stopped loving each other and started grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit.

If you really want to experience the power of the Holy Spirit, obey God and fully embrace the Holy Spirit’s leading.

What does the Holy Spirit do?
Conviction of sin, brings about regeneration, give us assurance of salvation, enlightens us, transforms, guides us, comfort us, intercedes for us, empowers us, helps us with sanctification, gives gifts, reminds us of God’s teachings, and empowers us for witnessing.
That’s a great list.

But let me make it super easy.
The Holy Spirit helps you become everything Jesus said you could be.

You want to get over your past?
You want to stop that sin?
You want to fulfill your purpose?
You grow in your relationship with Jesus?
You want to experience every promise Jesus has for you?
It is all found in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Why do you need the Holy Spirit?
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit in John 14. He commanded the disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they were filled with the Spirit. But here’s one last reason:

John 12:49-50
49 I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

John 16:15
All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

The Father tells Jesus. Jesus tells the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit tells you.

Jesus bridged the gap between you and God with his death and resurrection.

But if you feel distance between you and God, if you can’t seem to hear him, then it is time to be filled with the Holy Spirit, be led by the Holy Spirit, and delight in the Holy Spirit.

The challenge to you today is that simple.

Let’s pray.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?