The Spirit and Jesus

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 13th of October, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

I’m sure you remember the story of John, a kinsman of (and born just a few months before) Jesus.  We call him the Baptist, for he lived out in the wilds, along the Jordan River, preaching repentance and baptizing people from Jerusalem and all over Judea.

Now Jesus didn’t begin His actual ministry, not in earnest, until He was around 30 years old, and it started with John there at the River Jordan.  Please listen and follow along to the enormously important event the Apostle Matthew recorded for us in chapter 3 of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

Make His paths straight.’”

4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

--Matthew 3 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You announced to all who could hear that day that Jesus was Your beloved Son, in whom You were well pleased.  Those words were recorded and saved for us by one of His closest followers, Matthew, so that we could hear Your announcement, too.  This is huge!  This is momentous!  Because of this announcement, there should be no reason for anyone to doubt the authenticity and authority of Jesus, nor to reject Him as Lord.  Because to do so is to reject You.  Please help us truly understand what it means to accept Jesus, to believe in Him as Your Son and our Master.  Speak to us now, Father, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us what You would have us do in our service to You and Jesus.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


Gregory of Nazianzus was a 4th century Archbishop of Constantinople and noted theologian.  Much of his work, which continues to influence theologians today, regarded the relationship among the three Persons of God - the Trinity.  Gregory wrote:

The deity of the Holy Spirit ought to be clearly recognized in Scripture.  Look at these facts: Christ is born; the Spirit is His forerunner.  Christ is baptized; the Spirit bears witness.  Christ is tempted; the Spirit leads Him up.  Christ ascends; the Spirit takes His place.  What great things are there in the character of God which are not found in the Spirit?  What titles which belong to God are not also applied to Him?  He is called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the mind of Christ, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of adoption, of truth, of liberty; the Spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge, of godliness, of the fear of God.  This only begins to show how unlimited He is.


God is infinite, without limits, and so is His Spirit.  As Gregory noted, scripture from both testaments bear this out.  God is all-powerful, and so is His Spirit.  And God’s Spirit lives within us.  Doesn’t that imply that we, through God’s Holy Spirit within us, might also be all-powerful and without limits?  That, my dear brothers and sisters, is a very humbling thought.


Matthew opens chapter 3 by telling us that, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’”  And then one day Jesus walked up and the Kingdom of heaven was indeed at hand, and standing right there in front of him.  Although John thought it highly inappropriate that he should be baptizing the Christ, he did so because Jesus asked him to.

And then came that announcement to the world, heard and recorded so that no one should doubt, no one should refuse to believe or accept, yet some still do.  God recognized Jesus as His own Son, His beloved Son, and said so!  Not only that, He sent His Spirit to alight on Jesus in a visible appearance like a dove.

How can anyone not believe?  Why can’t they see that rejecting Jesus is rejecting God Himself?


A few weeks ago we looked at the Spirit's role as regards Jesus.  In our scripture reading this morning, we can see how He came to Jesus the Man in the first place.  But what we may have missed is that God promised to send His Spirit to Jesus long, long before Jesus came to earth as one of us.

The prophet Isaiah foretold this over 600 years before Jesus was born, that Jesus would bear God’s Spirit.  Opening the 11th chapter of his book of prophecy, Isaiah wrote in verses 1 and 2…

1 There shall come forth a Shoot from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

--Isaiah 11:1-2 (NKJV)

There’s some of those descriptions of the Holy Spirit that Gregory mentioned in my illustration at the start.  The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might and knowledge.  The Spirit of the Lord.

We know that Jesus was born of the line of Jesse, and Matthew told of God’s Spirit coming down and resting upon Him.  Oh, and there’s a little bit more of what we’ve talked about recently that Isaiah verifies.  Some time back, I mentioned how God's plan all along included salvation for the Gentiles.  Well, Isaiah spoke that promise for God, also, and again, long before Jesus came to us as a Man.

Starting in chapter 42 of his book of prophecy, Isaiah refers to the Christ as being the Servant of God, with a capital “S”.  He introduces us to the Servant in verse 1 with these words…

1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles."

--Isaiah 42:1 (NKJV)

God’s Servant, His Elect One, in whom His soul delights.  “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”  The very same sentiment, if not the same words, yet recorded nearly 700 years apart.  And “He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles”.  What greater justice is there than salvation?


God’s Spirit came to Jesus and through the Spirit Jesus was able to do wondrous things, to perform incredible miracles, even to return life to the dead.  I think it a miracle that Jesus could stand out in the open, on level ground or a mountainside, and speak and thousands of people could hear and understand Him, seemingly with no trouble.  I have to use a microphone and amplification just to be heard clearly in the back of this sanctuary!

God’s Spirit empowered Jesus to serve God.  The same Spirit now lives within us.  The same power, wisdom, counsel, understanding, might, godliness, and knowledge is available to us, within us.  Now we may or may not be able to perform miraculous acts, but with the Spirit always at our side, we should never be afraid to try.  If the power would suddenly go out, I know the Spirit would help me be heard by everyone here.  I may not be able to raise someone from the dead, but I can help keep them alive within the hearts of their loved ones.

The thing is, the Spirit is within us to help us serve God, and God doesn’t really give us the tough jobs that He gave Jesus.  Our tasks, for the most part, are much easier, requiring less a miracle, but more a determination on our part to do what God would have us do.

We are the beloved sons and daughters of God.  How pleased He is with us, how delighted He is, I think depends on how well we strive to serve Him.  If our baptism by water is an outward sign of our inward commitment to Jesus, then how do we outwardly show evidence of our baptism by God’s Spirit?  By humbly serving God, just as Jesus did.

Let’s give the Spirit free rein to work within us, empowering us, emboldening us.  Believe in Jesus, feel the Spirit, serve God.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You announced that Jesus was Your own beloved Son, and then You sent Your Holy Spirit to rest upon Him and empower Him in His ministry.  This should have been all people needed, or need today, to believe in Jesus and accept Him as Lord.  But too many don’t.  They reject Him, and they reject You.  Help us, please Father, in our belief.  Help us stay strong and faithful in the face of so much disbelief around us.  Empower us through Your Spirit in our service to You.

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, for those who believe, there is no doubt that You are God’s beloved Son.  And through You, we who believe have the same Spirit living within us that rested upon You and empowered You during Your ministry on earth, the same Spirit that took part in the creation of all there is, the same Spirit that raised You from the dead.  Thank You, Jesus, for asking God to send His Spirit to us.  Please help us to not only heed the Spirit, but to allow Him to use us in service to You and our Father God.  Help us feel His power and use His power, that we may carry out the task God has given us.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.