The Work of the Holy Spirit — Titus 3

0:00 Thank you for choosing to spend your Saturday afternoon with with us here and we trust it'll be a good time together. The the topic I believe has been announced that we're going to be looking at the the person of the Holy Spirit and so our our theme I guess you could say would be some teaching built around the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is a person, the Holy Spirit is as a member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the work that the Holy Spirit does and the impact it has in our own life. Now this is a result of some personal study and I think that perhaps we we have some things in common. Mean like if for ones that grew up in a Christian home, maybe that's your situation, you grew up in a Christian home, you've been to Sunday school, you've heard about the Holy Spirit, you have this knowledge of the Holy Spirit, but there's some things out there that are confusing in Christendom, right? And I know as a even as a believer accepting Christ as my savior as a young child and growing up in a Christian home, there were still things that I didn't quite understand about the Holy Spirit even, you know, up until recently.

1:22 Right? I mean like, but I'm a slow learner. So, but then you may have gotten saved later in life and you may hear these terms and some terms that are confusing and you I don't know if you're like me, sometimes I think, oh, I'm going to study that, you know, when I get around to it and that kind of thing and maybe it happens, maybe it doesn't. So anyway, I hope this will be informative for us all. I personally have benefited from this study and hope it will be a help to you.

1:55 So if I say the Trinity, let's identify people, the three persons of the Trinity. Let me do one more thing. This is going to be interactive. It's okay to answer questions. And if you've got a question you can raise your hand.

2:17 I would encourage you to maybe jot down a question if you are more comfortable doing that. We've got some breaks I believe. We're going to do like a session here now. We're going take a break, then we'll have another session, then we'll have dinner, then we'll have an after dinner session. All right.

2:31 So we've got some a lot of material to cover, but I think it we'll keep it interactive, keep it engaging for everybody so that would be good. So kids can participate too. When we say Trinity, what do you think of? I'll just take one. God the Father.

2:54 God the Son. God the Holy Spirit. Alright. And I appreciate that you you all put that, they all all put God in their title, right. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

3:10 Now Bob set me up here with this little whiteboard, electronic whiteboard. Appreciate that. I appreciate this. All right, so if we I'm going oh, yeah. We'll try this.

3:35 Might this is a learning curve with this thing here. Okay. But you get the well, there is an erase button on this too. This will satisfy what we're wanting to do, you want to keep those three things in mind. If I said, I ask you the question, which person of the Godhead, which member of the Trinity do you know the most about?

4:13 What would you say? We're going to take a little, we're going to poll our audience right here today, okay? So if you know the most about God the Father raise your hand for that. If you know the most about God the Son raise your hand for that. If you know the most about God the Holy Spirit then raise your hand for that, okay?

4:29 Raise your hand for God the Father. You feel like you know the most about God the Father. This is not a trick question, okay? Alright. So how about you feel like you know the most in your own study, in your own experience, you know the most about God the Son, Jesus.

4:45 Alright? You put your hands down. How about God the Holy Spirit? Feel like you know the most about about that. Alright.

4:52 So we didn't take account but it looks like the most of us said Jesus, right? We know the Lord Jesus Christ we know the most about. And that's natural, that's normal. We have in scripture we can see teaching about all three members of the Godhead and we're not going to get into the fact that they are one God. I mean, and that's where I thought somebody might think it was a trick question to say, you know, well they're all one, I got to know the same about them all.

5:26 But we know more about God, God the Father, God the Son than we do the Holy Spirit in most situations, right? And so another reason to study about God the Holy Spirit. Bob, the bottom button is not working. Oh, there it is. Okay.

6:25 So that would be a category, right? Then you have the Holy Spirit's work at the point of salvation. When an individual makes a decision to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as savior, that decision point, that time right there, there's a work that the Holy Spirit does as it involved in. Then the third area would be, once I'm a once I'm a Christian, once I'm a believer, now there's the work of the Holy Spirit in the life or in the walk of the believer. So those three categories, alright?

7:00 You got those in your head, those three? So before salvation, during salvation, and then after salvation is another way we could say that. Today our concentration is at this first part, at the very beginning. We're going to say not as much about the work of the Holy Spirit before salvation. The work of the Holy Spirit before salvation would be the Holy Spirit's purpose would be to to draw all men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ, to convince and convict men and women of sin, to help them identify their need for a savior.

7:43 That's the Holy Spirit's work before salvation. The Holy Spirit's doing that work, you and I have an individual responsibility to respond to the spirit and agree or we can deny the spirit or reject the spirit, reject what's being offered there. So then we get to this decision point. When we get to a decision point, we say, okay, I want to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior. So we get into that second category.

8:48 We're going see from scripture, things that occur at the point of salvation. Now if you know you're here today and you've already... You know that you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, then this this occurred... This took place for you and you'll identify with it. If we're going to look at several different things that occur at this particular point.

9:11 Titus three:five, it says, Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy, this is referring to God, according to His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. So this first, we see two R words right there, don't we, in this in this verse. Anybody want to call them out to me? What what the two R words are? Samuel?

9:42 Regeneration. Regeneration is the first one. It's kind of a big word. How about the next R word? Right?

9:51 Now those two words are very similar, right? They're very similar and they have a similar meaning. And so we we see that the Holy Spirit is involved here by the washing of regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost. There's a third R word I want to give you and it's over in John chapter three. John chapter three:three, and I should say it's the actual word, a form of this word is there, but the R word is a concept we're going to put on this.

10:26 John chapter three:three. Jesus said, verily... Or Jesus answered and said unto him, verily verily I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And so the Lord Jesus is talking to Nicodemus here and he goes through this whole concept of the need for being born again, a rebirth, right? So at the very at the very initial time and let's let's continue reading, okay?

11:05 Does the spirit have a part here? Look at look as we continue reading in verse four. Nicodemus said unto him, how can how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit.

11:27 We just talked about a regeneration, right, and renewing. And so you see the connection here as the spirits work, except a man be born of the water and in the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again. And so we're going to the first one, and don't let this throw us off, I'm going to we're going to use three R words to remember this, right?

12:01 Regeneration, renewal and rebirth. Those are synonymous type terms, very closely linked together. We're going to put those all in one category. That's happening. When I recognize my need for a savior, Nicodemus has been salvation has been explained here to Nicodemus.

12:20 He's and he recognizes, hey, the only way that I can pay for my sin debt is to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior, then regeneration happens, renewal happens, and the rebirth is taking place at that point. Right? Any questions about that? Make sense? Okay.

12:40 Let me read this to you, a little quotation that David Gooding writes. He says, The washing of regeneration is an initial experience of salvation which holds two ideas. First, it is a washing, a cleansing away of evil and polluted things. In the second place it is regeneration, the positive implanting of new life and the order of living. So that's the first thing that we see that takes place at salvation.

13:42 How do you know? Alright? How do you know? This is one of those areas that's a little confusing. There's multiple teachings out there about this.

13:51 We're going to... You got a question? Well sure. Yeah, go ahead. Alright, there you go.

13:59 What's your name? Rachel. Rachel. Hi Rachel. So Rachel says if she's saved she's baptized by the spirit.

14:05 Is that what you're saying? Yeah. Alright. So first Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 13 is going to give us a basis for this. Alright, we're going to see what the scripture says.

14:22 First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13, for by one spirit we are all baptized into one body. Whether we are Jew or Greek, whether we are bond or free, we have all been made to drink into the one into one spirit. Verse 14 says, for the body is not one member but many. And then we go into this analogy, notice that he uses an analogy here of a body, of a physical body. If the foot shall say, because I am not of the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?

15:03 If the ear shall say, because I'm not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? So it And so he's asking these questions and saying like, okay, yeah, the ear can't say, I'm just going be split off on my own. So baptism by the spirit is clear in this verse. By the way, there are multiple other verses we could be looking at for some of these things, but just for the sake of time, we're going to look at a few. You can expand on these things on your own.

15:35 But baptized into the body, right? So what's taking place here? There's another analogy given in scripture. This one is the body. Also in this in the book of Corinthians and the book of Ephesians, we have an analogy of a building, don't we?

15:55 Alright. So and when we accept Christ as our Savior, are placed into a building. We're referred to as stones, as lively stones, building blocks, right? And so this is where the Duplos would come in. Nancy sold Zach's Duplos, alright?

16:18 Everybody So knows what a Duplo is, The little Duplo block? Like Legos, but the Legos for little kids are like giant size? Some people know, some people don't. I should have brought them. Do we have any in the nursery?

16:31 Oh, okay. I forgot to get them. Alright. So, just envision with your mind's eye, we've got a Duplo building, right? We are building.

16:40 If we had, this is a brick building on the exterior, so you could imagine that as well. You've got a block being laid laid in there. If we we could even we could even do this with our... Gabe, you want to give me a hand? Stand up here.

16:59 Hold hold... Oh, you have to put your bible down. Hold one of these books in either hand, but make them even. Make them level. Right?

17:06 Alright. Stand right up here, sir, if I can see you. Alright. I want you do it like this, like you're carrying something flat. Can you put your hand like that?

17:15 Yeah. Alright. There you go. Alright. So, hold him just like that.

17:19 Alright. So, now, I I'm a building block, right? So, I'm I can when I accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior, the foundation has been laid and so another believer, you got it? Another believer is coming in, he's been laid right there, right? He's been baptized into the body.

17:41 Now, if Gabe wanted, would you like an extra ear? You want another ear? No? Alright. Same same concept if we use the body analogy.

17:52 Like say, that we've been made part of the body. I have a gifting and so my gifting is is seeing or hearing or exercise or you know functioning. I'm a finger, I'm a toe, although we're going to fit in somewhere into that body. If we're built into the body, we're baptized into the body. All right, thank you Gabe.

18:13 Appreciate that. So baptism, we have multiple concepts in scripture about baptism, don't we? There's believers baptism, there's the baptism of John, the Bible talks about Moses, it talks about Noah, and all these concepts about baptism. Then we have this baptism into the body and so we know that we've got a little difference here, that this is talking about the concept of being placed into something like for believers baptism. If we had our baptismal full, we would be placed into the water and be drawn out to identify with the Lord Jesus Christ.

18:59 That's believers baptism, water baptism. But being baptized into the body by the spirit, spirit baptism if you will, then that's being placed into something too, into the body, into the body of Christ, into the body of Christ. And so we have we have that concept here. Any questions on on our second point too? This this happens when we are at the point of salvation.

19:30 We are placed into the body of Christ by the spirit. Remember, feel free to write down a question if you got it. We can we can maybe have those at the next session. Okay. The third thing we're going to see here in first Corinthians.

19:46 Go back to the first of the book to chapter three. First Corinthians chapter three. First Corinthians chapter three and here we want to read verse 16. Know you not that you are a temple of God? See the analogy still holds a building, but notice this, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you.

20:22 So not only are we being placed into a body, the body of Christ by the spirit, now this is telling us that the spirit is going to indwell us, occupy us, right? The spirit is going to reside in us. And so when we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior, the Spirit takes up residence. We are indwelt by the Spirit. We see that here, we'll see that other places in Scripture where we are dwelt by the Holy Spirit.

21:10 Ephesians chapter one and verse 13. Ephesians one thirteen. In whom you also trusted that after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. We also see that word sealed in chapter four as well in reference to the spirit. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

22:07 So what do you think of when you think of something being sealed? An envelope. Who said that? Josh? Or Will.

22:19 Okay. An envelope. Anything else that come to mind when you think about something being sealed? Okay. The king's mark.

22:28 Yep. Yep. Good. Good. We see that in scripture.

22:32 We see it in Esther and Daniel. Yep. What were you saying, Don? Driveway. Oh, seal the driveway.

22:41 We could probably work with that. We could work with that. So scripture says that we've been sealed by the spirit. Sealed until the day of redemption. You know, as we think about this, we could sometimes I think like, okay, in our in our context, I mean, I appreciate Bob's example, that's a lot of times my mind gravitates toward that like this wax seal that the king may have used to send a document or make a decree or we know that Christ's tomb was sealed, right?

23:16 It was it was sealed in a similar fashion to make it secure. And that's a great thought right there that if you seal something you are making it secure, right? In fact some envelopes are called security envelopes. Right? And not to say that God's power to seal is much stronger than an envelope.

23:41 Right? But we the concept is there, that we would be sealed. And you think about protection, safety, security, that God knows us, right? God knows He made us. He knows us.

23:55 I'm going have a tendency to be very unsecure. God says, going to seal you with my spirit, right? Second thing that we could think about in in the aspect of of being sealed would be that sometimes a seal, a place in a seal would be a mark of ownership, right, a mark of ownership. This probably like a maybe similar to a branding, a seal, a person's seal, the person's insignant, a branding and God would say you're being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. It's an earnest of your salvation, a down payment, until the day of redemption.

24:43 God wants us to be identified as his, and He's putting His mark on us. Right? He's seal... He's sealing us with the spirit. We'll we'll see how the spirit manifests itself a little bit later, but God's spirit is being given.

24:57 And and so think about, start thinking about some of these things that He's given us a rebirth, He's regenerated us, He has given us a renewal, that new start, right? A life in Christ, the spirit is there regenerating us. There's the aspect of being placed into a body, a living organism, right? A living organism, We there's another analogy and I didn't refer to it. We have the we have the body, the physical body, we have the building and what's the next one?

25:33 It starts with a B, the bride, the bride of Christ, right? The bride of Christ and so we've been placed into this bride and and the spirit's doing this. And then in connection with the with God the father, in connection with God the son, they all have their role to play, but we're understanding, we're kind of looking at what the spirit's niche is in these things, what the spirit is doing. And so the renewal, the regeneration, the rebirth, the baptism into the body, then the indwelling, the spirit residing in us. God saying I'm going to take up residence right there.

26:11 Now we go back and we remember, remember the disciples in that upper room and the Lord Jesus is talking to them before he's going to go to the cross and he says, I will not leave you comfortless. If I go away I will send you another. The Lord Jesus was going to depart, but he was going to send the Holy Spirit to stay right there with him. That dwelling, that dwelling. And you know what?

26:40 Now that we're building on that, we're thinking about the fact that the Holy Spirit seals us until the day of redemption. We go back to the Old Testament, what did David pray in Psalm 51? Lord, take not thy spirit from me. Is that a New Testament prayer? No.

26:57 David was not sealed by the spirit and and we see those differences. Now in in the New Testament, once the Lord Jesus Christ has died on the cross, he's departed into heaven, the spirit has come, we are dwelt, we are sealed, right? We are sealed and so there's security. We don't have to ask and beg, God don't take your spirit from me. If we confess with our mouth, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

27:27 The spirit working, the spirit there, the spirit sealing. Now let's be honest here for a minute. Has anyone ever taken an envelope and held it up to the light and tried to read what was inside it without opening it? Yes, yes, I have. Yeah, it works sometimes.

27:50 You know, but another thing about an envelope being sealed, an analogy, is that that the contents are being hidden, right? When I mail something, if I wanted to send a card to Donna, the mailman doesn't know what's inside there, right? He's going to take my parcel and he's going to send it to her. Now when she gets it, she's going to open it. It's going be a lovely card.

28:15 It's going to have some butterflies on it. You know, and it's going to it's going to have a nice note in it but that all that was hidden from from North Carolina up to up to Ohio. That was all hidden. Think about you and I. The Holy Spirit seals us until the day of redemption.

28:32 He's doing a work. There's some things about me that are hidden, that are going to be revealed later on. And there's some things that God's doing in me that you're going to say, hey, when you see me in heaven you're going to say, hey, he turned out all right. I had my doubts about him. But God has redeemed him, he has sealed him and we're going to there's things still you're learning about yourself that God's doing in you.

29:03 There's things you're learning about God that you didn't realize and hopefully this is an example of that God's going to seal us into that day of redemption. So we have the ceiling that reminds us of some things about security, about ownership and about things being hidden or the mystery of God's working in us. Well let's go to the fifth one. Being filled by the spirit. To be filled by the spirit.

29:33 And if you would turn to Ephesians, you're in Ephesians, aren't you? Hey, that's good. You don't have you don't have far to go. Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter five.

30:29 You know, cause it talks about alcohol, you know, it talks about wine, it talks about being drunk, and so we're like, what are we going to do with that? You know what? And I, it is a, it is, I give that. I mean, when you think about that, it's kind of a strange analogy, but it's a really good one. Right?

30:47 It's a really good... The thought here is that God is saying that He wants us to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. We've heard that concept, right, in our in our Christian walk? To be controlled, to be spirit controlled. Well, here he says to be filled and we're making a connection here.

31:09 To be filled is to be under the control, right? And so, god says, I'm going to give you an analogy. You've don't be well, let's not think of it in a negative sense, but just think about whenever we take on excess of wine or excess of alcohol that we would be our actions are altered, correct? And in this situation we have a negative connotation because we're losing control of our own actions. But God says, don't be we know being controlled by a physical substance of any kind is wrong, But he would like us to be controlled in a similar way by the spirit.

31:59 Let's see if we can give an example of that. Does anybody have their wallet on them? I just it so happens I don't have my wallet on me, you know. Don, thank you. All right.

32:10 Do you mind if I borrow this for a minute? All right. All right. So Joey, I'm going to I need you to help me, right? I need you to help me up here.

32:24 We should use a red chair, the black chair. Nice chairs by the way. I've got some new chairs. Where's the blue ones? All right, so here we go.

32:39 There is a wallet. That's your granddad's wallet. Okay. If our human nature would be that we would want to, we would desire that wallet, right? I mean does it have any money in it?

32:59 Maybe, maybe. All right. That right? I mean we're I my heart, my human tendency would like to have that. In fact, if nobody was looking, nobody was looking, you know, maybe I would feel fine about taking it, right?

33:22 If and so Joey would have maybe he's a young guy, his sin nature is not fully developed. But he he would want to steal that, right? So that's his flesh. In the control of the spirit, my flesh wants to do it, right? But the spirit would say no stealing is wrong.

33:47 That's contrary to my spirit's activity. Even Joe if you were to reach out and get the wallet, know it's a gentle time, go ahead and try to reach and get the wallet. So he's doing that and the spirit is saying, you know what, if you are being controlled by the spirit, you're saying, I shouldn't do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to walk away, right?

34:08 So being under the same control of the spirit to deny the flesh, being filled with the spirit. Don, you do get your wallet back, know, and it's full too. So there we have that analogy given and so we have that instruction to be controlled by the spirit in a similar fashion that you would not act according to your normal inclinations of the flesh, but rather you would be filled with the spirit in a way that the spirit would override the natural inclinations of the flesh. Right? Let's think about we're going to pause and take a break here in just a minute but I would like to mention a few more things about the filling of the spirit before we do that.

35:02 You know what? The filling of the spirit brings about look up, look at Luke chapter one and verse forty forty one. Luke chapter one and verse 41. Here's an example of a person that was filled with the spirit. We have Luke one forty one, And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.

35:50 Now scan down to verse 67 of the same chapter. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied saying, and he goes on into this prophecy. Turn over right quick to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13 and verse 52. Now, we know just from, you know, Christmas is not too far away, so that may maybe still fresh in our mind.

36:33 When the birth announcement comes, when Elizabeth and Mary are interacting and that was a very happy time, right? A joyful time. Zacharias was was overdue for a son and now he's promised his son. It was a joyful time for he and and Elizabeth. In Acts chapter 13 and verse 52, it says the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost.

36:58 There's a connection, there's a connotation to the fact of being filled with the spirit and being full of joy or joyful, right? And so God has given His spirit and when we're controlled with the Holy Spirit, joy is a natural result, being filled with the spirit. You know something else that we see is that being filled with the spirit, go to Luke, back to Luke chapter four. Luke chapter four. Notice here the Lord Jesus Christ gives us this example of we see a distinction among the members of the Trinity here.

37:45 God the Son is here, God the Spirit is here, and we're in chapter four and verse one, And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit up to the wilderness. Now we could track this through and you'll see the spirit, notice in chapter or in verse 14, and Jesus returned in the power of the spirit. We know that God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ is preparing for a service, right? So being filled being filled with the spirit, we can look at the guys in Acts, Acts chapter six. They said look out among you of of of six men of of good report and who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

38:35 They had a service for them, right? So there's joy as a result of being filled with the spirit and then there's the the ability to serve that is an equipping, an ability to serve. And then also with that being filled, maybe we'll look at this in the other sessions, we'll look at the references here, but we see a holy boldness, like an empowerment. You see this with Peter, you see this with Paul, and these were men that were... It was said of them that they were full of the Holy Ghost.

39:10 Stephen was full of the Holy Ghost, a boldness to speak before the Sanhedrin and that speech that he would give before he was stoned to death. He was empowered by the spirit, filled with the spirit. So, let's review then. Who... What's the three R's?

39:35 Alright. The next one, number two. Rebirth. Okay, you got you got those. Now the the second the second thing we call those, that's number one.

39:46 We call that happens at at at the time we accept Christ as our savior. The second thing? Baptism. Baptism into the body. In fact, I just started saying that, you know.

39:58 The spirit baptism, baptism into the body, right? And so now number three, dwelt, right? Number four? Number five? Filled.

40:25 And so what does everybody need as an indicator? I'll tell you what, just take a little stretch break. If you need to use the bathroom, a good time. Get a little water. That's fine.

40:35 You know? Stay close and we'll just reconvene here in just a few minutes, alright? I'm going to pray before we leave out. Heavenly Father, we give thanks. We want to lay this foundation for some of the things that we're discussing here today.

40:50 Father, we pray for a good understanding. We pray that the Holy Spirit, we would gain new appreciation for this person of the Godhead. Father, just refresh our hearts as we look at God and how awesome, how incredible, how complex, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And Father, we want to commit our time to thee. We pray now in Jesus Christ's name.

41:22 Amen.