The Holy Who? | Max Lucado | Help Is Here | Oak Hills Church

53:34 We all have questions we cannot answer and problems we cannot solve. We have mistakes we cannot forget. Somewhere along the line, we had assumed that life would be easier, invigorating, maybe a high country adventure. We never expected to have weariness as an ever-present companion, and that we would get so tired so often. so soon. Yet what if there's help? what if there's someone to walk with you, to guide you, to teach you, to shoulder the load?

54:28 And what if this help was heaven sent? Not another person who gets tired just like you get tired. Not another person who is prone to blisters and leg cramps like you are, but a person who is ever strong and never absent, always near, and unshackled by what shackles you. Interested? Well, if your answer is yes, then you're in the right place because today we launch a series of messages that explore our friend from heaven, the Holy Spirit.

55:21 The holy who? we're going to talk about him I invite you to pray with me and we'll get started gracious father mercy now upon our hearts that we might receive your word forgiveness for our speaker his sins are many grant that we can see Jesus and blessed spirit that we can understand you through Christ we pray amen The word that Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit is such a precious one. And wouldn't you think that if we want to understand the Spirit, we would begin with what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit. Here's the word that Jesus used. It's a Greek word, paraclete, paraclete. The word only appears five times in the whole Bible.

56:20 For those times, it is used by Jesus in every instance on the night before his crucifixion and in every instance used to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. the words of Jesus on the night before the crucifixion comprise John 14 and 15 and 16. And that's where you find this word four times. Now, in just a moment, I want us to talk about what paraclete means. But before we do so, let's read a sampling of those three chapters, not the three chapters entirely, but a sampling.

57:14 And every time you see that word, paraclete, would you please say it out loud with me? John chapter 14. Jesus is speaking, and he says, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper, paraclete, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. The helper, Paraclete, who the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. When the helper, Paraclete, comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

58:12 It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper, the paraclete, will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. when the spirit of truth comes 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 declare to you the things that are to come and he will glorify me for he will take what is mine and declare it to you there's so much in these passages that deserves our attention look at the unity of the trinity the son will ask the Father. The Father will send the Spirit. God bless you. There's such a happy cooperation that's at work here. As if to say the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, all three expressions of the same Godhead, are cooperating to be a helper, to come alongside, to be the paraclete. Did you take note of the pronoun, he will lead you. He will teach you. He will guide you. He will convict you.

59:33 Jesus does not want us to think of the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force, a thing, an it. He wants us to understand that the Holy Spirit is a person. According to one study, only one out of four believers understood that the Holy Spirit is a person three out of four said I don't know I'm sorry two out of four said I don't know and one out of four said no it's a force I find that unfortunate because how do you have a friendship with a force with a power surge with electricity can can you join me in a pledge raise your right hand please repeat after me I hereby resolve never to call the Holy Spirit an it. The Holy Spirit is a person.

1:00:32 No, you don't have to repeat that part. Feelings, emotions, volition, will, everything Jesus has, the spirit of the living God has. And Jesus calls him paraclete. It's a beautiful word. Now translators render it differently. Paraclete in one translation is comforter. Another counselor. another advocate, another intercessor. There's a translation of the Bible called the Phillips translation, and he chose to render it someone else to stand by you. Paraclete, the word literally means to come alongside. So the Holy Spirit is the one who comes alongside. We no longer need to think of the Holy Spirit as the holy who.

1:01:27 we can now call him our heaven sent helper our counselor, our advocate our intercessor, he is your best friend he is your best friend he's your champion He's your advocate. He's your ally. He is convincing proof that God is not against you. Else why would he deposit his precious spirit within you? he is the executor of God's will on earth today, here to infuse us with power and strength, supernatural strength. This was the promise of Jesus. He would not let his followers begin their ministry unless they knew the Holy Spirit.

1:02:23 Here's what Jesus said to them after his resurrection, yet before his ascension. He said, do not begin telling others yet. Stay here in the city of Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven. By this point, the disciples had been with Jesus for about three years. How many meals had they eaten together? How many miles had they walked together? They had witnessed him banish disease. They had witnessed him resurrect the dead. They had heard all of his sermons. They had seen the empty tomb. They had touched the resurrected body, and they had just spent 40 days listening to the resurrected Christ teach about the kingdom.

1:03:17 You talk about an advanced tutorial, but they still were not ready. they needed more. So during that same time, he said, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit is essential, and the Holy Spirit comes, and he comes with power, power, power to make good choices. power to make good decisions, power to keep promises, power to silence those terrible voices of fear and shame and anxiety and failure, power to get out of bed, power to get a new job, power to get on with life, to get about the right things in the right way, power, Power to face those unexpected, unrequested, unwanted passages of time.

1:04:32 It's what Jesus promised then. It's what Jesus promises still. And so I'd like to ask, how's your power level? now perhaps you have all the power you need perhaps you're ever enthusiastic perhaps there's a perpetual spring to your step and a song on your lips perhaps you never see a gray day even on a gray day perhaps you've never considered giving up perhaps if somebody could bottle joy they would just bottle you perhaps you have all the power that you need if that's you i've got this great book on honesty i think it would be good for you to read if it doesn't describe you i would really urge you to consider this life-giving invigorating relationship with the living presence of God on earth in this age.

1:05:45 The Holy Spirit. Did you know your Bible makes over a hundred references to him? Jesus says more about the Spirit than he does about the church, about marriage, about finances, about the future. Why? Why make such a big deal about the Holy Spirit? Well, at least part of the answer is that Jesus just doesn't want a bunch of stressed out, worn out, done in and washed up children representing him on earth.

1:06:18 He wants a population, a quorum of people who have been infused with an unseen yet undeniable strength. And he wants you to be fresher day by day, hour by hour. He wants you to really believe that your best days are ahead. the Holy Spirit is central to the life of the Christian. Absolutely central. Everything that happens from the beginning of the book of Acts to the end of the book of Revelation is a result of the working of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came alongside the disciples, and the Spirit was the force and is the midwife that delivers the church into the world today. And the Holy Spirit was the push behind Peter's sermon, behind Philip's service, behind Paul's epistles.

1:07:25 The push. Could you use a push? Many years ago, when my age was younger, my legs were stronger, my ego was bigger.

1:07:47 I let my friend Pat convince me to participate in a bicycle race. Pat currently serves as the chairman of our elder boards, so I have to tell this story with great respect. but he lured me into that contest oh you can do it he said it's 51 miles pat i said you can do it i said it's out there near vanderpool who's been to vanderpool you know the hills out there i said have you seen those hills he said you can do it the race included one climb up a hill that a strong rider needed 10 minutes. It was a gradient of 12%.

1:08:45 I could barely get my car up the hill. It was tough. It was climb out of the saddle, set your thighs on fire, and prepare to suck air for 10 minutes. The race itself was called the killer dealer. but I signed up because Pat convinced me I could make it. Now, it was easy for him. It is easy for him. Fifteen years my junior. He's been riding in bike races since elementary school, long before most of us had ever heard the word peloton. He was in pelotons. Believe me, he said, you'll make it. boy almost did not so the race began and those who belonged in the race took off and left the rest of us far behind we were the barrel bellied slowpokes and as we pedaled we began making jokes about how hard this race was going to be but we didn't joke for long because you have to have breath to tell a joke.

1:10:04 and we needed all we could, and we huffed and we puffed, and then the climb began. By this point, my thighs were on fire, and yeah, I was having less than pleasant thoughts about my friend, Patrick. that's when I felt the push. A hand was pressing against the lower part of my back, pushing me up the hill. I turned and I looked and it was Pat. Yeah, he had already finished the whole race. And feeling responsible for me, he just kept pedaling until he caught up with the slowpokes. And then he dismounted and started running up the hill until he caught up with me.

1:11:13 What does that tell you about how slowly I was pedaling? that he could catch up with me on foot. And he started pushing me. And he yelled in my ear, you're going to make it, Max. I'm going to push you to the top. And I'm going to make sure you cross the finish line.

1:11:40 The Holy Spirit has his hand on your back. some of you think you can't make it some of you are desperate you really didn't think you could get this tired you really wonder if you can weather this season and the Holy Spirit is pushing you and he is going to make sure you get across the finish line. That's his job.

1:12:22 After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and chose to enter every person who says yes to him. And he right now is the presence of God on the earth. Perhaps you say on occasion, oh, I wish I could have been there with the first followers, the apostles. What would that have been like to follow Jesus through Galilee and Jerusalem? Dear friend, you can. The presence of Jesus is here, only not restricted by a physical body of a carpenter from Nazareth. He is everywhere simultaneously. Where can you flee from his spirit? Nowhere. and he is around you and most of all he is within you my bicycle story had a wonderful ending i actually got to finish downhill across the finish line i was nearly dead last but i've crossed the finish line but suppose i had refused patrick's help suppose perish the thought but suppose I had just said well this is just the figment of my imagination that's not really Pat did you know that there are vast swaths of the Christian faith that have denied the presence of the Holy Spirit Thank you.

1:14:00 that believe the Holy Spirit did a great job of launching the church, but then retreated and has left it all up to us. Hogwash heresy. The living presence of the Holy Spirit is every bit as present right now as he was on the day of Pentecost. don't be among those who say, oh, he's not really here. Or don't be among those who say, well, my problems are just too great. My challenges are too difficult. The wind is too stiff. The hill is too steep. Or the person who says, well, I can just do everything on my own. Thank you very much. to react in such a way folks it would be foolish the new testament has words for that words like quenching the spirit resisting the spirit grieving the spirit Jesus even talked about those who blaspheme the spirit friends the Spirit is everything.

1:15:17 The Spirit is everything. My assignment and your assignment every day is to seek, sense, and respond to the promptings and leadings of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we're just following some religion that got baked and cooked and delivered in the first century. but what Christ left us is his living prayer. That's what he told his followers. Unless I go away, the spirit cannot come. and so the Holy Spirit was released upon the earth, and God's presence upon the earth is seen, yes, as the Father, yes, as the Son, and yes, yes, yes, as the Holy Spirit. How many of you would buy a two-legged tripod?

1:16:13 How many of you would ever want a two-sided prism? How many of you would try to pedal a two-wheeled tricycle? then why would we neglect the valuable third expression of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

1:16:38 So as we go into these messages over the next few weeks, I would encourage you to do what the Apostle Paul urged us to do, and that is simply this, just walk by the Spirit. Walk by the Spirit. that's a promise. And the promise that Jesus gave to the disciples is a promise he gives to you and to me. You will receive power. Not you may, or some do, and you won't, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Friends, avail yourself of all the Trinity has to offer. Where do we start? Well, three ideas very quickly. First of all, just welcome him into your world. Welcome him into your world. Max, I'm not even sure I have the Holy Spirit. Well, have you said yes to Jesus?

1:17:32 If you've said yes to Jesus, then the Holy Spirit lives within you. This is the promise of the Apostle Paul. Look what he said. When you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit. so in just a few moments when we offer a prayer of salvation and those who say yes to Christ that they stand an invisible yet unmistakable miracle will occur the Holy Spirit will enter that person when they say yes to Christ when you say yes to Christ Christ says yes to you and he comes and he takes up residence within you so welcome him into your world and tomorrow morning when you wake up let this be your opening thought welcome Holy Spirit I will welcome you into my day. And then walk with him as he leads. The apostle said, live by following the Spirit.

1:18:32 That's it. I say, Max, I don't know how to do that. He will teach you. He will teach you. 45 years ago yesterday i asked dean luna lakedo to marry me it's a miracle she said yes i still believe in miracles she said yes you know when you get engaged with somebody the whole purpose of that engagement is to learn to respond to each other to hear one another's heart and voice and then when you come together in marriage that's a covenant that's made the same is true as we follow the spirit it's a great adventure he is a mystery as is the core of next week's message and no one understands everything about him and that's the blessing we need someone who's supernatural who's greater than we are who's in we cannot comprehend because our problems are so big.

1:19:39 So just walk with him. And then lastly, just worship him. Worship him for he is worthy. Over the next few weeks, we're going to ponder the wonderful benefits that come to the weary soul as we begin to walk in the spirit. I hope you'll be here for this entire series. Gracious Lord, now open our hearts. Thank you for your word. And today, may every one of us leave encouraged, invigorated, as we remember the fact that we're not alone. Through Christ we pray. And all God's people said, Amen. Amen. We're going to offer a prayer because we want to give every person the opportunity to say yes to Christ. At the end of the prayer, if today's your day, you're saying yes to Christ, or you're coming back to Christ after being away for a while, would you stand up?

1:20:37 Not so we would embarrass you, but so we can encourage you and we can applaud you. So let's pray together. Follow me, please, word for word. Jesus, I'm not perfect, for I have sinned, but I believe in you. Save me, change me, forgive me. I give you my life. In Jesus' name.