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It’s to Your Advantage That I Go 

I want to talk about things that matter. And what matters to me is healing. My journey to healing has come through courage and hope that leads to peace. Sorrow had completely taken possession of the disciples hearts when Jesus told them He was leaving. But He said, “It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you.” The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ promise of comfort. 

Tell Your Story 

 We need to tell our stories. We will not have the same stories or the same outcomes. But My story matters. And Your story matters. And when we tell our stories, when we have the courage to tell our story, the grip of suffering is lessened. We come to realize that we are not alone. The lie satan has been telling you that you are the only one who is dealing with this is – is a bold faced lie.  

Don’t Believe Lies 

Growing up it sounded like my mom was saying bald faced. Like lies that didn’t have facial hair were worse than lies with beards. But she was probably saying bold faced. It’s bold but it’s still a lie. And maybe the worst kind of lie.  

Have you noticed how believable the lies are that are said with so much confidence? Satan, the evil genius prince, is bold and deceptive like that.  

When are we most vulnerable to believe lies? Isn’t it when we are sick, already down, or feeling troubled? He piles on the guilt when we are most vulnerable. When the truth is God says, in Christ, we are free of condemnation.   

Peace Through Reconciliation  

John 15 we learn that The Holy Spirit convicts us when we sin to convince us that sin will hurt our relationship with God and it is His kind intention to be in close fellowship with us. The purpose of conviction is always restoration. Restoring a right relationship, a right standing with God. Satan has already been condemned. He was brought to trial and sentenced when Jesus Christ conquered death with His resurrection. God is allowing satan to rule for a time, but that will end when Christ returns. Satan knows this. He wants to keep the world under his blind control so they come to a faulty conclusion about who Christ is and what His sacrificed accomplished – which is perfect peace through reconciliation with a Holy God.  

Is the Comforter Better Than Jesus? 

And if that were not enough, Jesus promised to send His Spirit when He left this earth. They had been living with Jesus for 3 years thinking a military coup was on the horizon. How could the Comforter coming be better than Jesus living with them every day?  

Let’s think about that for a minute.  

Jesus is God incarnate. He’s the Son of Man. As a man, He could only be in one place at a time. The Holy Spirit comes to indwell every believer at the point of their salvation. The disciples could have anticipated this because the prophets spoke about it in the Old Testament. 

A New Heart and a New Spirit 

In Ezekiel we see visions from God that he recorded. In chapters 36 and 37, he prophesies the coming of the Holy Spirit. It’s not like the Holy Spirit hasn’t been around. He was involved at creation and He came upon Old Testament believers for particular purposes. But this coming of the Holy Spirit Ezekiel is prophesying about here is that He will come and indwell the believer and stay there. It was going to be something new, part of the New Covenant.  

God will do a washing that will include a new heart and a new spirit. He will remove our stubborn, self-willed heart and replace it with a pliable and responsive heart that can receive His Spirit – Who will make it possible to walk according to God’s Way as He breathes life in us. Until then we are nothing but dead dry bones in need of resuscitation. When the Holy Breath of God is breathed into our spirit by His Holy Word we come ALIVE! The Breath is the Spirit. They are the same Hebrew word – Ruakh. My pastor said you have to use the back of your throat. He breathes/ ruakhs on the dead and brings them back to life to never die again.  

Prophecy Fulfilled 

This prophecy Ezekiel spoke of was about to be fulfilled. That’s why Jesus had to leave them. Before the Spirit could come to indwell them, Jesus had to pay the debt for all sin. When He said, “It is finished,” what He was saying was all that the Father sent His suffering Servant to do had been accomplished. He bowed His head and gave up His last breath as a man. 

Then when He conquered death with His resurrection, His Spirit would come and breathe on them the breath of life.  

The life giving Spirit still speaks Truth to our spirit to testify to us who Jesus is and what He did. And we still struggle to believe it. 

Get It Right 

Why can’t we get the Holy Spirit right?  

It seems we either elevate Him to a position of authority the Father never intended or we devalue His role as not that significant.  

I don’t really care for denominations. There are not going to be denominations in heaven because we will all have perfect understanding and will be able to agree and get along. But I have been going to a Baptist church all of my life. And if any group of believers undervalues the role of the Holy Spirit, it’s the Baptists. I’m one of you. And I am telling you I don’t want to live like that anymore.  

I want to better understand the role and function of the Holy Spirit. I want to sense His presence in the powerful way Ezekiel prophesied about thousands of years ago.  

Do you know who is happy when we undervalue the role of the Holy Spirit? When we don’t believe the Truth, when we don’t speak that Truth in Love to a dying world?  

Satan knows the Truth but he sure doesn’t want the world to know it. He is going down and he wants to take everyone down with him. And if he can make even Christians who have the Spirit of Christ living inside of them – if he can make them doubt God is Who He says He is, then he considers that a victory. Because then he knows we will be an ineffective witness for Christ. That our testimony will be unreliable.  

Healings and Dancing, Oh My 

I know some of you are thinking, “yeah but if we start emphasizing the role of the Holy Spirit, you know what that will lead to? There could be singing and shouting and playing loud instruments and healings! …and maybe even some dancing!  Sh sh sh. Don’t say that too loud.  

I will grant you God gave some gifts of the Spirit to start His Church that may have ceased as it became evident the Gospel was the Message of God. And as that message spread, it was written down under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  

But we don’t need to act like all of the gifts of the Spirit have ceased. Miracles still happen. Healing still happens. And if the Spirit is moving and leading me to raise my hands in worship, well, that’s between me and God. Because my worship is for an audience of one. The price Jesus paid was my debt.  The wrath of God poured out on Him as He was nailed to a cross was because of me. And I don’t ever want to get over it.  

I don’t ever want to get over it. He conquered death so that we could live. Isn’t that worth a shout of Hallelujah! Or at least a dignified Baptist Amen!  

Approaching a Holy God 

Why do we feel comfortable shouting at the ball field, but not in the presence of God?  

I understand holy reverence. If you are a child of God, then your body is His temple.  

As I read through the Old Testament, there was much consideration given to every detail of the temple and especially the Holy of Holies. The High Priest could only enter once a year, after much sacrifice. And He better be prayed up because if he entered the presence of God in an unworthy manner, he would drop dead and be pulled out by a rope tied to his ankle.  

So how are we now able to approach God’s Throne of Amazing Grace with confidence?  One word. Jesus. We are back to what Jesus accomplished on the cross. His perfect sacrifice that atoned for all sin ended the need to go to the temple to offer sacrifices that would not last.  When He sent His Spirit to indwell us, our bodies became His temple. We are in His presence all of the time. That should make us stop and think about what we are shouting.  

Holy Hallelujah 

I am really just preaching to myself here. I’m just glad you are willing to come alongside me for the ride.  

I started this section by asking why we feel comfortable shouting at sporting events but not in church.  

I am not always a good fan and I probably put too much emphasis on sports. I grew up in Ohio. Go Bucks! So if I can hoop and holler and give high fives on Saturday, why is it not acceptable on Sunday? If the Holy Spirit is indeed indwelling me, living inside of me, He’s there on Saturday and Sunday and every day that ends in Y. Can I get an Amen? Or even better, How about a Holy Hallelujah! 

Jesus Loves Naughty Girls Too 

Okay I am going to think about wrapping this up. Sometimes when I say that -it’s like me saying, “Hey Babe I’m going to bed”… and then I have about 15 more things to do before I actually get there so Eric beats me and is all hunkered in, hogging the covers before I can get there. Which at this stage of my life is actually okay.  

But this time I just have one more little nugget to tease out for today.  

Jesus in His resurrected body appeared to Mary Magdalene first. Don’t you just love that?  

Before Mary Magdalene starting following Jesus, she was a considered a naughty girl. That gives hope to all of us naughty girls.  

Remember how satan wants us to believe the lie that we are condemned, as if the sacrifice of Jesus was not enough?  

Well, our girl Mary Magdalene was not having any part of that. Her sin with its condemnation was left in the past where it belonged when she started following Jesus. She was sold out before the Holy Spirit even came to permanently indwell believers. She spared no expense in her worship of her Lord. I think that is why Jesus appeared to her first. And she got to be the one to tell the disciples, who were now her brothers, that Jesus would be ascending to our Father.  

Peace Be With You 

They didn’t all believe she really saw Jesus. He had to go through locked doors (and don’t you wonder if Thomas was thinking, “Hey… how did He get in here. I thought we locked the doors -as if the King of kings can’t get through locked doors.)   

Then Jesus said, “Peace be with you.” But some were still not sure. So He showed them the evidence of His nailed scared hands and side. And then…they were filled with joy and delight. So He said again, “Peace be with you.”  

This peace Jesus is giving…is not the absence of conflict. It’s better. It is a tranquility of mind arising from reconciliation with God. A sense of divine favor and every kind of good. The kind of blessing we have in Christ alone.  

And He said, “As the Father has sent me, even so, I am sending you.” Then He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Breath of Life, the Holy Spirit.” 

My ESV Study Bible says this is just a foretaste of what was about to come. Jesus is going to hang out with them in His resurrected body for 40 days and appear to about 500 people. Then He will ascend to heaven, and they will go back to the upper room to pray while they wait for the Holy Spirit. They don’t know the Holy Spirit is about to rain down like tongues of fire!  

But alas, we will save that for another day. Thanks for joining me. I pray you take courage for your journey until next time as we continue to learn how to lean into the Holy Spirit and listen to His voice. He whispers and sometimes shouts the Words of Life.