The Spirit's Role

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 29th of September, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

We’ve been talking about God’s Holy Spirit the last few weeks now.  We took note of His presence and His part in the creation of the universe and all within it.  We’ve looked mostly at how He has interacted in the lives of mankind.  We saw how He touched specific people as directed by God to help them in the tasks God assigned them.  And we celebrated in His coming to live within all believers, to be our ever-present Guide and Companion.

But today I want us to understand what I think is the greatest role the Holy Spirit plays.  Please listen and follow along to the Gospel account of the Apostle John, chapter 16, verses 7 through 15, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

7 “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. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”

--John 16:7-15 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your Holy Spirit has played a crucial role throughout the history of our universe.  From the creation on, He has helped us, guided us, led us in our tasks serving You.  And now, Father, He even lives within those who believe in and follow Your Son Jesus.  Please help us to not only recognize Your Spirit within us, but to do as He directs us.  Please help us to glorify Jesus just as does Your Spirit.  Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us Your will for our lives, and the role You would have us fill.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


James Packer, in his book Your Father Loves You, describes the Holy Spirit's distinctive role in relation to Jesus as that of being a floodlight.  Packer wrote: "When floodlighting is done well, the floodlights are placed so that you do not see them; in fact, you are not supposed to see where the light is coming from; what you are meant to see is just the building on which the floodlights are trained.  The intended effect is to make it visible when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness, and to maximize its dignity by throwing all its details into relief so that you can see it properly."

Packer continues: "It is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over our shoulder on to Jesus who stands facing us. The Spirit's message to us is never, 'Look at Me; listen to Me; come to Me; get to know Me', but always, 'Look at Him, and see His glory; listen to Him and hear His word; go to Him and have life; get to know Him and taste His gift of joy and peace.'"


Isn’t that a great way to describe the role of God’s Spirit?  Shining a spotlight on Jesus.  We tend to consider the Spirit to be our Helper, our Companion, our Guide through this life.  But even in those roles, He is showing the way to Jesus, highlighting Jesus, calling attention to Jesus.

In this regard, I think we – all who profess Jesus as Lord -  we should all try to be more like the Holy Spirit.  We should make it our primary role and duty to shine a light on Jesus, to show the way to Him and the salvation He offers, to let others see Him in us and in our actions, in our love.  We should gladly proclaim, “Look at Jesus and see His glory!  Listen to Him and hear His word.  Go to Him and have life.  Get to know Him, and taste His gift of joy and peace.”


One thing people often wonder is why did Jesus have to suffer and die.  Last week we answered part of that.  He had to sacrifice Himself so that His blood could atone for our sins and bring us God’s forgiveness.  But in our scripture reading this morning, we see another reason.  Jesus tells His disciples that He must return to His Father in heaven so that God’s Holy Spirit can come to all believers.

In the first part, Jesus relates a crucial task the Spirit will carry out.  He will convict the world – the entire world, all mankind who do  not believe Jesus is God – of sin and righteousness.  He will judge the world because the world’s ruler – Satan – is judged.  In the second part, Jesus shares what the Spirit will do for us – guiding us, helping us, revealing some of God’s mysteries to us as we are able to grasp them.

Then comes the part that James Packer described in my little illustration at the start.  The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus.  He shines all the light, all the attention, on Jesus.  He does nothing on His own but acts only under the authority of God Almighty.

And in verse 15, Jesus says that everything our Father God has – which is indeed everything – also belong to Jesus, and that the Spirit will take from what is His and make it available to us.  In other words, all that the Spirit does for us – the guidance, the strength and power, the instruction and comfort – all of this first belonged to Christ Jesus and is now given to us through the Spirit!  And that is a very humbling thought, that we have been given what God gave His Son.


This isn’t the only time Jesus told us of the Spirit’s coming, nor even the first.  In chapter 14 of John’s Gospel account, verses 25 and 26, Jesus told His disciples, and us…

25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 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.”

--John 14:25-26 (NKJV)

Note what Jesus said there: the Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us of all the things that Jesus said to us.  The Spirit will be focused on Jesus, not Himself.

And again, a little later in John’s account, chapter 15 verse 26, Jesus reminds us…

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."

--John 15:26 (NKJV)

The Spirit of truth, who comes from God.  He will bring the truth, will speak the truth of Jesus, will testify of Jesus, be a witness for Jesus!  The Spirit glorifies Jesus; shines all the light on Him.


There’s one last piece of scripture I’d like to share with you, and one which is important for us to grasp.  This comes from the Apostle Luke, written in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, from the book’s opening in chapter 1, verses 4 through 8…

4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

--Acts 1:4-8 (NKJV)

Most of us have been baptized by water.  It is our outward sign of our inward commitment to Jesus, or the sign made for us by our parents.  But we have also been baptized by God’s Holy Spirit, when we committed ourselves to serve our Lord, when the Spirit came to dwell within us.  We have received the power of the Holy Spirit, the power that belonged to Jesus.

And here’s the kicker…  Now it is up to us to be witnesses to Jesus, in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.  Just as does the Holy Spirit, we are to glorify Jesus, shine the floodlight on Him.  We are to testify to Him, witness to Him, by our words and our life.

By our service and our love we can give our testimony.  Be a floodlight, be a witness, glorify Jesus.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You have given us Your own Holy Spirit to live within us, to guide us and help us and be our constant Companion.  Help us, please Father, to emulate Your Spirit, to do as He does and glorify Your Son, our Lord Jesus.  Help us to follow the direction Your Spirit leads us so that we too can testify to Jesus to all the earth.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You had to leave us so that the Spirit could come.  Thank You, Jesus, for so great a gift, and for the wonderful opportunity to serve You by shining a light on You, just as the Spirit does.  Please help us to glorify You, Lord, and only You.  Help us to be a better witness for You, in our actions, our deeds, and our words.  Help us to serve You as the Spirit serves.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.

The Holy Spirit Comes

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 22nd of September, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Do you remember the story of the Roman centurion named Cornelius?  Cornelius was a devout man who feared God, prayed to God, and gave generously to the people, even though he was a Gentile.  One day, an angel of God came to him in a vision and instructed him to send for Simon Peter to come and speak with his household.  The angel said that Peter would tell Cornelius what he must do.  So Cornelius did just as instructed, sending two loyal servants and a devout soldier to seek Peter and implore him to come.

While they traveled, Peter also had a vision, where he was shown a giant sheet upheld at the four corners coming down to the earth.  On the sheet were every type and manner of creature in God’s creation.  Then Peter hears the voice of Jesus telling him to kill and eat of the beasts.  Peter protests, saying he cannot eat anything common or unclean.  Jesus replies that what God has cleansed can no longer be considered common or unclean.

When the emissaries from Cornelius arrive, Peter accompanies them back to Caesarea.  As he entered the centurion’s home and saw all the people who had gathered there to hear him, he spoke words that should be a key for us:  "God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean."  For the rest of the story, please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Luke recorded for us in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10, verses 34 through 48, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 36 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ — He is Lord of all — 37 that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And the Jews who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

--Acts 10:34-48 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your word saved for us in our Bibles is for our instruction.  It tells us how we should feel and think and believe, and how to act on our faith.  Father, we can be so blind and too often so stubborn as to what we should do in our service to You.  Please help us see other people as You see them.  Please help us understand that we should not call any man unclean or common.  For we don’t always know who You might already have cleansed.  Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us Your will for our lives, our role in Your plan.  This we pray in the glorious name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


What does it mean to us to have God's Holy Spirit come to us, to be in us?  Andrew Murray was a South African pastor and son of a Dutch Reformed Church pastor sent as a missionary to South Africa.  Murray once said, "May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love and joy of God's presence and not a moment without the entire surrender of my self as a vessel for Him to fill full of His Spirit and His love."

Consider Murray’s statement for a moment, and then think of what it would be like not to have the light, the love, and the joy of God's presence with us always.  What if we were not willing to surrender ourselves entirely so that we could be fully filled by the Spirit and His love?  Or worse, what if God had not sent His Spirit to live within any of us?


In our scripture reading this morning, we see the Gentiles in the household of Cornelius receiving God’s Holy Spirit, to live within them.  This is of the greatest importance to us, as I believe we here at Pilgrim are all Gentiles.

First, Jesus let Peter know that we should not consider anyone to be “common”, or “unclean” in any manner.  After all, God may have already cleansed them, so we should never call them unclean, and never consider anyone “common” because that would be putting ourselves over them, superior to them.  And then God showed Peter that all people – Jew and Gentile – can receive the indwelling Holy Spirit if they accept His Son Jesus as Lord and Master.


God’s indwelling Spirit…  Do you recall my saying a few weeks ago that before the Pentecost, God’s Spirit only came to special people at God’s direction, helping them with tasks God had assigned.  The Spirit did not live within anyone.  But then, in Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, Luke tells us…

1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

--Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV)

This was the first Pentecost, the first instance recorded in our Bible of the Spirit coming down to live within mankind, as our constant Companion and Guide.  It is also occasionally called the Jewish Pentecost, as those filled by the Spirit that day were Jews.  What happened at the home of Cornelius is sometimes referred to as the Gentile Pentecost, since the Spirit came into only the Gentiles that day.

There is one other recorded event in our Bible that some consider the second Pentecost, and this one occurred to the Samaritans, so is referred to as the Samaritan Pentecost.  After Christ’s execution and resurrection, His disciple Philip left Jerusalem and went through Samaria, preaching the Gospel and all about Jesus.  Many listened, believed, and were saved.  Here is how Luke tells it, in chapter 8 of his Book of Acts, verses 5 through 7 and verse 12…

5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 

--Acts 8:5-7, 12 (NKJV)

In the Jewish world-view, there are two kinds of people:  Jews and Gentiles.  The Samaritans were considered the black sheep of the Israeli family, not quite Jew but not quite Gentile.  Since God wanted to make sure that all the world’s people could be included in His plan of salvation,  He sent His Spirit to dwell in every possible class of people: Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles.  Jesus came to offer salvation to all of mankind.

Of course, not everyone accepts Him as Lord and Master, not everyone acknowledges Him as the one true Son of God, not everyone recognizes Him as the Christ, the Messiah.  But those who do are saved and receive God’s Holy Spirit as their own personal indwelling Companion, Helper, Counselor, and Guide.

It doesn’t matter if we are Jew or Samaritan or Gentile.  It doesn’t matter our race or ethnicity or country of origin.  It doesn’t matter our gender or age or physical appearance.  God knows no borders, prefers no race, has no favorites.  He calls us all to be His, to join His family.  It’s up to us to answer that call by giving ourselves to Christ Jesus.


God sent His Son into this world to carry out His great plan that all the world might be saved.  And if that weren’t enough, God sent His own Holy Spirit to live within the very hearts of believers.  For each new believer, when anyone first professes Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit comes.

The Holy Spirit comes to all who follow Jesus, since God plays no favorites.  With His Spirit living within us, we should mimic our Father God and show no favoritism, too.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You have no favorites but want all of mankind to be saved.  Your Holy Spirit moves among men, convicting us of our sins, showing us Jesus and the way of the cross, calling us to a higher faith.  And Your Spirit comes down to live within all those who believe in Jesus and accept Him as Lord.  Help us, please Father, to fully accept the leadership and counsel Your Spirit offers.  Help us to accept His authority and to recognize His voice.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, all who believe in You and accept You as Lord have God’s own Holy Spirit living within us.  Thank You, Jesus, for offering salvation to all.  Please help us to truly be Yours, Lord.  Help us to obey Your commands and to remain faithful no matter what we face.  Help us to heed the directions the Spirit gives us.  And help us to make more disciples so that the Spirit may come to them as well.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.

Led By the Spirit

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 15th of September, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

You’ve heard me say before that I was led by the Spirit to do something, or that I felt the Spirit prod me or nudge me.  I’ve never “heard” Him speak, either physically through my ears or even just in my head.  But I’ve certainly felt His active presence.

Well, according to the Apostle Luke, in his narrative to Theophilus, God’s Holy Spirit spoke to the early church leaders and told them exactly what they should do.  Please listen and follow along to what Luke recorded for us in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 13, verses 1 through 5, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.

--Acts 13:1-5 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your Spirit acts on Your behalf, delivering Your messages and carrying out the tasks You assign Him.  Because of Your blessing and adoption of us into Your family, Your Spirit lives within us and can speak to us all the time.  Father, please help us recognize when He is trying to tell us something.  Help us to not only hear but to follow what He tells us to do, just as did the early church leaders.  Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Separate us from the world and send us where You would have us go.  This we pray in the glorious name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


American academic, professor Myron Rush, once identified tough issues facing every Christian leader:

• You must be willing to stand alone.
• You must be willing to go against public opinion in order to promote what you believe.
• You must be willing to risk failure.
• You must become master of your emotions.
• You must strive to remain above reproach.
• You must be willing to make decisions others don't want to make.
• You must be willing to say no at times, even when you'd like to say yes.
• You must sometimes be willing to sacrifice personal interests for the good of the group.
• You must never be content with the average; you must always strive for the best.
• People must be more important to you than possessions.
• You will have to work harder to keep your life in balance than people do who are not leaders.

Can you relate to those?  Many of them apply not only to the Christian leader, but to any Christian in general, anyone who is truly trying to follow Christ Jesus in how they live.  And really, all Christians are leaders, in a way.  We’re trying to lead the lost back to Jesus.

I'd like to add one more item to that list:  You must be willing to be led by a higher authority - you must accept the leadership of God's Holy Spirit.  I think all of those attributes can clearly be applied to the Apostle Paul.  And especially the part I added, about accepting the leadership of God’s Spirit.

Throughout the Book of Acts and from references in his letters, we see Paul being led by the Holy Spirit.  He is shown where to go, and directed in what to do.  In Acts chapter 18, verses 5 and 6, we see an instance where the Spirit nudged Paul…

5 When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. 6 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

--Acts 18:5-6 (NKJV)

Family, this represents a crucial turning point for us.  Now this was God’s plan all along, that salvation not only be available to His chosen people, the children of Israel, but to all people, the Gentiles as well.  We see this evident even back in the Old Testament of our Bible, when the great prophet Isaiah spoke for God as He promised salvation to all, in the first 8 verses of chapter 56.

But here we see quite clearly that Jesus and the Good News He brings were rejected by the very people He came to save.  So the man who was separated by the Spirit in the first place was then given the task to carry out God’s fuller plan by carrying the Gospel to the Gentiles.


Sometimes the Holy Spirit would not only tell Paul where to go, but He would also block the Apostle from going into places or from doing things when it was not yet time for them, according to God’s plan.  One such example can be found a little earlier, in Acts chapter 16, verses 6 through 8, when Luke tells us…

6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

--Acts 16:6-8 (NKJV)

At this point, Paul is being accompanied by Silas on his missions, after he and had Barnabas parted ways.  These two were joined in Lystra by Timothy, and the three continued going from town to town preaching the Gospel and making disciples.  Their path took them east, into Asia, but the Spirit stopped them from preaching in any town there.  Reaching Mysia, they tried to enter the region of Bithynia and Pontus, but were blocked by the Spirit from doing so.  The time just wasn’t right yet.


We Americans are an independent lot.  We don’t like being told what to do, by anyone.  We elect people to represent us, but then bicker with them if they don’t do exactly what we want them to do.

Society as a whole is very “self” conscious today.  The self is supremely important, the individual is all that matters.  No one wants to be held accountable for anything.  There is no absolute right or wrong, so what feels best for the individual at any time must be right.  To think otherwise would be harmful to that individual, and would not be a very loving, Christian way to act.

Well, the thing is, if we are indeed a Christian, a true follower of Christ, then we know we are accountable to a higher authority: God.  We also have the active, living, life-giving emissary of that authority living within us: God’s Holy Spirit.  God has a plan, and the Spirit works to see that plan carried out.  Just as He did for Paul, the Spirit will guide us and show us where we should go and what we should do in our service to God.  He will also try to block us from going somewhere we should not go and from doing things we should not do.

But the kicker is, we have to be willing to listen!  Just as did Paul and his companions, we have to do what the Spirit says, go where He leads us, speak and act as He directs us.  And just as importantly, we also have to listen and heed Him when He tries to block us!

I’m sure we’ve all said things we wish we could unsay.  If we had given the Spirit a moment to guide us, we might not have said them.  And haven’t we all been somewhere we shouldn’t have gone, done something we shouldn’t have done, and regretted it later?

The Spirit will keep us from straying if we let Him!  We must accept the authority and leadership of God’s Holy Spirit and allow Him to guide us as we walk through this life.

If we are to help lead others to Christ, we must allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit.  Submit to His leadership.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, since the dawn of existence, You have sent Your Holy Spirit to accomplish Your will among men.  And then, at Your Son’s request, You sent Your Spirit to live within us as our constant, ever-present Guide.  Help us, please Father, to accept the leadership Your Spirit offers.  Help us to accept His authority and to recognize His voice.  And Father, most of all, help us to serve You by doing what He says, by going where He tells us, by following His lead in all areas of our life.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, because of You, we have God’s own Holy Spirit living within us.  Thank You, Lord, for caring so much about us that You made sure we would never be alone.  Please help us to truly be Yours, Lord.  Help us to obey Your commands and to remain faithful no matter what we face.  Help us to heed the directions the Spirit gives us.  And in this way, we can serve You and accomplish God’s will.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.

More Than A Clean House

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 8th of September, 2019 - Homecoming Sunday at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

When we came in this morning, we found a nice, clean church home, didn’t we?  For those who have been away for a while, isn’t it reassuring to know we still keep a tidy house for worship?  We can thank Richard and Robin Beck for the great bulk of that.  All of this is physical: this sanctuary, this building.  And even though it requires a good bit of physical work, it’s still relatively easy to keep it clean.

But there is one home that isn’t so easy to keep clean, and that one is spiritual.  It is the home of God’s Holy Spirit.  Unfortunately, other spirits can move in too.  Please listen and follow along to what Jesus tells us as recorded in the Gospel account of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 12, verses 31 and 32, 36 and 37, and 43, 44, and 45, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

36 "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

--Matthew 12:31-32; 36-37; 43-45 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You are willing to forgive us of any disobedience except for any grievous sin against Your most Holy Spirit.  You will forgive us even if we speak out against Your Son Jesus, but any thoughts, words, or deeds against Your Spirit will not be forgiven.  Father, Your Spirit lives within each of us that believes in Your Son Jesus and follows Him.  Please help us keep His home clean.  Help us be pure of heart, loving and forgiving as we are loved and forgiven.

Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Imprint Your words on our hearts as a sign to Your Spirit that reads, “Home, Sweet Home”.  This we pray in the holy name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


In the 1800's, Charles Finney was an American Presbyterian minister and a leader in what is called the Second Great Awakening in the United States.  Finney moved and spoke under divine inspiration and revelation, holding individuals and crowds under the power of his every word spoken as an authoritative prophet of God. He once wrote:  "I received overwhelming baptisms of the Holy Spirit, that went through me, as it seemed to me, body and soul.  I immediately found myself endued with such power from on high that a few words dropped here and there to individuals were the means of their immediate conversion.  My words seemed to fasten like barbed arrows in the souls of men.  They cut like a sword.  They broke the heart like a hammer.  Multitudes can attest to this.  Oftentimes a word dropped without me remembering it, would fasten conviction."

But lest you think Finney to be boasting, he continues:  "Sometimes I would find myself, in a great measure, empty of this power.  I would go out and visit, and find that I made no saving impression.  I would exhort and pray, with the same result.  I would then set apart a day for private fasting and prayer, fearing that this power departed from me, and would inquire anxiously after the reason of this apparent emptiness.  After humbling myself and crying out for help, the power would return upon me with all its freshness.  This has been the experience of my life."


Finney spoke of the great power that God’s Holy Spirit would work through him.  The Spirit would use Finney as His voice, His tool, to cut through to the very souls of people and bring them back into the light.  But then, at times, the Spirit and His power would seem to disappear.  Perhaps at those times Finney might have begun to think that all those convictions and conversions came from his own abilities, and not from the hand of God.

So the Spirit decided to let him actually try it on his own.  And on his own, Finney failed.  Humbled, the man turned back to God and prayed that the Spirit’s power would again work through him that others might be saved.

Family, this is a story of revival, of renewal.  While Finney may well indeed have been a leader in the Second Great Awakening in the US, this is not about a national revival, but one of a much more personal nature.  This is a man, humbled before the Almighty God, begging for revival in his own heart.  Each of us needs this kind of personal revival, one that starts in our own hearts.  From there it can spread, but it must begin here, within us.


Family, I’ve been emphasizing God’s Holy Spirit lately because He is the person of God usually given the least consideration and often the least understood.  Yet He is just as important to us as God the Father and Jesus His Son.

Jesus sacrificed Himself for the atonement of our sins, forgiven us by the mercy and grace of God who adopts us into His family once we accept Jesus as Lord.  But it’s the Holy Spirit who actually lives within us, within those who believe, who are members of the family of God.  In this way God is always with us, helping us, guiding us, speaking for us when we can’t find the words.  This is a great and wonderful gift that Jesus promised us just before He returned to heaven.  Listen to what the Apostle John recorded for us in his Gospel account, chapter 14, verses 15 through 17…

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

--John 14:15-17 (NKJV)

God’s Spirit dwells with us because we believe, but we must keep Jesus’ commandments: to love, to forgive, to make more disciples, more followers of Christ.  Our heart is a spiritual home, and I don’t mean that fleshy little blood pump but our innermost being, that which makes us “us”.  So this spiritual home extends throughout our being, and includes what we think in our minds.

Give that a few moments extra thought…  What we think, our most secret thoughts, are all part of the home of God’s most Holy Spirit.  The Apostle Paul speaks of this and issues a warning to us all, in his letter to the Romans, chapter 8, verses 7 through 11…

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

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. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 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 who dwells in you.

--Romans 8:7-11 (NKJV)

The realm of our mind is part of the Spirit’s home.  If our thoughts dwell on the carnal world, the world of the flesh with all its cravings and lusts, then we cannot please God and this is not a proper home for His Spirit.

Fortunately for us, if the Spirit does indeed live within us, He will help us sweep out those worldly thoughts and do a little housecleaning.  But we have to be careful to let Him completely fill every nook and cranny of our being.  Otherwise we leave room for that evil spirit of worldly thought to come back in, and bring along his friends, like Jesus warned us in the earlier reading.

And Paul also points out a great side-effect of having the awesome power of God’s Holy Spirit living within us.  Once our time on this mortal plane is finished, the Spirit will raise us to new life with God, just as He raised Jesus from the dead.


Today is homecoming at Pilgrim, and I hope we all do feel most welcome in this beautiful church family home and find it clean and inviting.  But I can’t help but wonder...  How welcome does God’s Spirit feel in His home?  Have we swept out all the cobwebs, dusted all the surfaces, fluffed up the pillows and put out fresh flowers?

In other words, how clean are our thoughts, how pure are our hearts?  How loving and forgiving are we towards others, even those who hate us and would do us harm?  How closely do we follow Jesus in our day-to-day lives?

Let’s clean house, so the Holy Spirit can truly feel at home.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You put the same power that raised Jesus from the dead right inside us when we accept Your Son as our Lord and Master.  You make us the home for Your Holy Spirit, who joins with our spirit to give us renewed life.  Help us feel the revival Your Spirit brings!  Help us be refreshed and reawakened each and every day through Your Spirit within us.  And Father, most of all, help us keep His home clean and tidy, free from the junk of this world.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You promised to never leave us alone, to be with us until the end of this age.  So You asked our Father God to send His Spirit to live within us and be our constant Companion, Counselor, and Guide, our ever-present Helper.  Thank You, Lord, for loving us so much.  Please help us to truly follow You in our daily lives, so that we might keep the Spirit’s home clean.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.