I want to preach a message this morning entitled "Symbols of the Holy Spirit". Mark 1:9-11 says, "It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up from the water he saw the heavens parting and the spirit descending upon him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, "you are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased".
Father, we thank you this morning for your word which brings life and instruction. Lord, this morning as we study this wonderful Holy Spirit, this great gift you have given to us, I pray Lord that you would increase and we would decrease and that you would have your way in this church. In Jesus name, amen.
This is the first time in scripture where we get to see all of the Godhead in one place at one time. When you begin to talk about the trinity and you see that we serve one God who is God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, this is that place in scripture where you see all three of them come together at one time. We see God in heaven looking at his son, Jesus, as pleased as he can be at his obedience and the Holy Spirit coming and descending upon him as a dove. In the Bible we read about the Father and about his great love. We read about Jesus and how he gave his life for us and walked among us. He knew everything that we've experienced and gave his all for us. Then we get to read about the wonderful person of the Holy Spirit.
Talking about the Holy Spirit is one of my most favorite subjects in the Bible because he walks with us, talks with us and lives in us every single day of our life. He is that one that comes to empower us and comfort us. He is that helper that God has sent along side every one of us. The Holy Spirit came to glorify Jesus and to help us understand Jesus more. He is with us to help us respond to Christ in obedience every day of our life. When he begins to speak he empowers us to do what is required in the word and what God would ask us to do on a daily basis.
It is the Holy Spirit that helps us to have a deeper relationship with Christ. It is that same Holy Spirit that helps us to accomplish his will that he has for us to live. The work of the Holy Spirit may be invisible but it is clearly measurable and it is seen in the life of every believer.
When the Bible begins to reveal the work and the personality of the Holy Spirit he uses symbols to describe everything that the Holy Spirit does in us and through us. The symbols of the Holy Spirit are essential to our understanding of what he is like, so that we can analyze the truth of who he is, so we can recognize the way that he works in our life and the way that the invisibleness of the Spirit begins to affect us in a tangible way in the natural every single day. Jack Hayford gave a good example of this when he said, "When we talk about the Holy Spirit as rain, the purpose of understanding the Holy Spirit as rain is so we would all get wet and allow the Lord to fill us and saturate us with his presence".
There are seven ways that the Lord desires to make the Holy Spirit more real in our life. They are seven symbols that he gives to help us to know that person of the Holy Spirit, how that invisible God affects us in a visible way and how that work of the Spirit in our life flows to others. The first symbol of the Holy Spirit that I want to talk about is that of rain. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is like rain. Those who have a garden or a lush lawn understand the importance of what rain does. It doesn't just coat with moisture, it actually penetrates to the inside so that life is able to live. It is necessary because without water we do not live and without the rain of the Holy Spirit we are not spiritually alive. It is that rain that doesn't just put a wetness on us but it produces the life itself. Rain has two purposes: first it brings a refreshing when there has been a barrenness and a dryness in life. Secondly it brings a restoring when there have been things that have been lost in life.
Joel 2:23-29 says, "Be glad then you children of Zion and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the former rain faithfully and he will cause the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floor shall be full of wheat and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil so I will restore to you the years that the swarming locusts have eaten, the crawling locusts, the consuming locusts and the chewing locusts. My great army which I sent among you, you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God who has dealt wonderously with you and my people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel; I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame and it shall come to pass afterward that I shall pour out my spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions and also on my menservant and my maidservant I will pour out my spirit in those days".
In Acts chapter 2, Peter declares that what happened on the day of Pentecost was a fulfillment of this scripture that was found in Joel. The Holy Spirit brings life to our spiritual walk. That Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to us is meant that we live in the fulness of all that God would ever have. We will never have to be dry or barren. Our walk with God, our walk in life never has to feel useless and meaningless. It's the Holy Spirit that gives us that ability to walk out what God gave us in his word. He said we will never, ever be put to shame. Everything we have ever needed God has given us through the person of the Holy Spirit. Needing to be refreshed doesn't mean we have sinned or we are backslidden. Just like a lawn that needs rain and just like flowers that need water, you and I through our spiritual walk and our daily living always need a refreshing from God. Life will take it's toll. There are times when you will be on fire for God and then the things of life just seem to bear down on you and then there's the Holy Spirit that keeps that relationship with God fresh. We need a refreshing just because of what we go through everyday.
There is so much in Joel that we could talk about the latter rain for weeks. We could talk about how the locusts come to eat up and steal away. The enemy has tried to take away everything that God has set up for his people. Here comes the Holy Spirit, coming to bring life, conviction and healing. That's what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit helps restore all the years the enemy destroyed and makes our life fruitful and productive. How many remember what your life used to be and you're thankful for what your life is today? How many remember where you came from and now know where you're going? It is that refreshing of the Holy Spirit that comes to do a work in us. Just because you're a believer does not mean that you're not going to go through hard times in life. Just because you're a believer doesn't mean that sometimes it's going to feel like the enemy is getting the other end of the victory stick. How many understand that the Holy Spirit begins to restore everything that the enemy would ever try to take from you? That's his purpose and we need that refreshing of the Lord.
When we bought our home a few months ago, the lawn was absolutely a mess. I didn't have the money to replace the lawn so I began to pray over my lawn. You know what God said? He said to water it, so I did. Right now I've got the greenest lawn, some of it is grass and some of it weeds but that doesn't matter to me, it's all green. What I'm telling you is this, the Lord begins to restore life with just a little bit and I'm thankful for his Holy Spirit because no matter what life does, when I begin to get thirsty and I begin to get tired, I just call on him and it's amazing how quickly just a little bit of his refreshing begins to restore everything.
The rain is for both men and women, for the young and for the old. The Bible says that when his spirit is poured out, old men shall see visions and young men shall dream dreams. It means this, that old men who gave up on dreams because they thought life had passed them by, began to dream again and know that God isn't done with them. Young men who have visions but no real maturity behind it are given not only a dream to live but the ability to fulfill it with the great care and the wisdom of God behind it. The power of the Holy Spirit is a marvelous thing.
Another symbol of the Holy Spirit is that of a river. John 7:37-39 says, "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water". How many are thankful for that Holy Spirit who lives in you? The truth is that what comes out of me apart from the Holy Spirit is no good. But what begins to flow out of the life of a believer who has the Holy Spirit living inside of him, who has been filled with the life of God, begins to flow out from them and touch other people.
Rivers are simply channels or conduits that carry the refreshing of the rain and water to where it is needed and they are central to life. The Holy Spirit is manifested in us in order that we might carry his blessing and the fulness of God to others. Do you realize that God uses you and me to be that channel of his life into others? Not only through his word that we place in different places but that witness of what we are to others. I pray this prayer every day, "Lord, I pray that there would be rivers of living water that flow out of me today. God, I pray that what would come in would not only refresh me and cleanse me but that somehow my life would be a refreshing to others. Lord, may you flow in me and flow through me". Anything that flows into one place and just stays there becomes a lake or a pond. If it doesn't have an outlet where something is coming in and coming out it becomes very stagnant. The Bible says that his spirit is a river of living water. He comes in and fills us then he flows out as we go to touch the world. It not only keeps us refreshed and clean but it begins to pour his life into others.
Water is necessary. Those rivers literally bring that refreshing that is needed for life. If you can harness it, it brings power. The Holy Spirit is the power of God and it empowers us to work and to do his work and his will in the lives of others. It also causes things to grow. I remember the song we used to sing as kids and when I was a children's pastor, "I've got a river of life flowing out of me that makes the lame to walk and the blind to see. It opens prison doors and sets the captives free. I've got a river of life flowing out of me".
Those who have the Holy Spirit inside of them and have the fulness of God living in them, they are that river into other's lives. If you are serving Jesus, the blind eyes should be opened. Those who are about to commit suicide should have the refreshing of God when they meet you and begin to talk to you. That force of the Holy Ghost begins to bring life where there is only death. Where people are discouraged and all they can see is the negative then all of a sudden the Holy Spirit is there because they are talking with you, and life and hope begins to flow into them. People begin to live again, that's the purpose of that river.
With a river there is always a constant supply and those that are refreshed are always able to be refreshing. If you will let the Holy Spirit work in you and through you, you will never do without. As a matter of fact, I have found out that the more that I pour out into the lives of others, the more Jesus is poured into me by his spirit and there is never a shortage. I never come up on the short end of the stick and the more I begin to pour into others lives, the more fulfilled and exciting my life becomes and the more I get to see the work of God being done in others. That's a powerful truth of that river of God.
With rivers you have a choice: you can fight the current or you can go with the flow. When we were up in Tennessee on vacation, I love the mountain streams. I don't like to just climb on the rocks and sit on the side, I like to be in the middle of things. The thing that I've noticed is this, it's easier to walk downstream than it is upstream because you're just fighting the current. What I found is when I walk with Jesus and I let the Spirit of God work in my life it is much easier to go with what he's doing than to fight what he's doing. You also have a choice when it comes to a river. You can just wade in up to your ankles, you can get in a little bit farther up to your knees or you can just jump in wholeheartedly and get all wet and go with the ride. I like to get right in the middle. It's fun to splash around for a little while but I'd much rather be in the excitement. We took a Harley ride through the back of the mountains and we came across one of the streams and saw about 50 people in their rafts riding the whitewater. I wanted to park the bike and get on the whitewater. That's how I feel about serving God.
When you're walking with the Holy Spirit you need to go where he's going and that river may not only shape the landscape around it but it will give you the ride of your life. That Holy Spirit flowing inside of you will begin to shape you and mold you. I've noticed that some of the hardest rocks had to give way to the force of that river. When I was walking through there I got to this place where I saw the water just pouring into this one place and I heard a roar of water. You could see in that rock where it had to give in. In some places there were channels being cut through the rock and the rest was being worn away. How many are thankful for the Holy Spirit who can cut through a hardened heart and a life that just needs the touch of God? That Spirit of God will mold a life like no one else can.
Another symbol of the Holy Spirit is that it comes as a wind. On the day of Pentecost the sound that everyone heard before the tongues of fire settled on their heads and before they began to speak with other tongues, they heard the wind of the Holy Ghost in the room. In Acts chapter 2 it says, "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind and it filled the house where they were sitting". Like a tornado or a hurricane, that force of the Holy Spirit is undeniable and it is unstoppable. The spirit of wind depicts his power and his guidance. It is the Spirit of God that literally gives the breath of life into men spiritually. He begins to breathe into us the life of God. Just like God blew in on the day of Pentecost, he began to light the church on fire and began to breathe new life into the people of God.
In the beginning God breathed the same way into Adam and he physically came to life. It is that wind of the Holy Spirit that brings us spiritual life. John 3:5, "Jesus answered, most assuredly I say unto you unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God". When the spirit of God works, it does what it wants when it wants. Its coming and its going can't be seen but the effects are felt and the results are absolutely real. How many have ever had the Holy Ghost work in your life and you wondered where in the world did that ever come from? But it was powerful and undeniable, he spoke to you and in a moment your life was changed. John 3:8 says, "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes, so is everyone who is born of the spirit". When that Spirit of God lives inside of you, your life is never the same again. You will find yourself going places you never dreamed you'd go and doing things you never thought you'd do. Sometimes the Spirit of God will say something into your life and cause you to do and say things that you never thought were possible. You will know that it wasn't even yourself and you'll sit back and scratch your head and wonder where in the world did that come from but you'll know that it was the spirit of God working inside of you.
Wind can be as gentle as a breeze and it's refreshing. Wind can stop blowing and stop moving. I've been in places where the Spirit of God has stopped and it's not a fun place to be, where the Spirit of God had once had its way and people resisted him. This is what I pray for in our churches and in Jupiter. When the Spirit of God begins to move it begins to move in a powerful way and its work is like a hurricane. It's overwhelming except the difference with a natural hurricane is that it brings destruction but the wind of the spirit brings life and change and it brings hope. The Holy Spirit as sovereign God is dynamic and irresistable and unstoppable. When the wind of the Spirit starts to blow and it begins to do a work in a church and a town, it will never be the same again. Just like when a hurricane blows through and nothing looks the same again, the landscape is different, the way people live is different, the rhythm is different. That's what happens when the Spirit of God begins to blow in the life of a believer and begins to blow in the life of a city. That's what we're praying for, that's the Holy Spirit we serve and that's the work we desire in this city and in this church. It's the power of the Holy Spirit.
Another symbol of the Holy Spirit is that of oil. The anointing is what that oil represents, the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It is the empowerment in the power of the Holy Spirit in and through the life of a person. It is not an intangible, magical power; it is the anointing that begins to touch a person with the power of God that changes them and then allows them to change others. The anointing is this: it is the burden removing, yoke destroying power of God. That Holy Spirit anointing makes us sensitive. All of us have experienced times of knowing something that was either right or wrong but we wound up having an understanding from God of what we needed to do and how we needed to minister.
1st John 2:20 says, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things". How many have found that the Holy Spirit can teach you in the spur of a moment to allow you to touch others lives? He gives us the wisdom that we need to touch people and the power to implement that wisdom on a daily basis. The anointing that the Holy Spirit gives us is for ministry. Every Christian has a ministry. The Bible says that we are all Kings and Priests. Every one of us is to reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not every one of us is a pastor but every one of us is a minister. Because of that, every one of us needs the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In my ministry as a pastor, I could never do it without the Holy Spirit and I wouldn't want to. There were times I have tried to do it on my own and I messed it up every time.
There's a ministry that God has called you to and he anoints us as priests. When a priest was called into office in the old testament, anointing oil was poured over him. They didn't do what we do by putting a little dab on the finger and touch them on the head. They poured a whole jug of oil over the person and that oil got into everything, in their ears, their eyes, their mouth. They could taste it and smell it. It got on their clothes and everybody they touched got oil all over them. They tried to wash the oil off of them but water and oil just don't mix and the oil is always going to come out on top. How many know that we are water and we need the oil? The truth is with that anointing, wherever you go and whatever you do you are a priest of God and anointed by God and it will get all over everything. You might try to wash it off a little bit but when you go to minister, the Holy Spirit will touch people and we need that anointing. I realize how much I need it.
We sing a song, "This is the air I breathe, your Holy presence living in me". Each time I get up in the morning and go to prayer with the Lord, I begin to relate with this song. While we were on vacation, even though we weren't doing ministry and we weren't really out preaching the gospel, we were just trying to bless some waitresses and waiters in the restaurants and bless people on the trail as we were hiking, what I knew when we got up in the morning there was still a hunger for the Holy Spirit. You and I should never get to a place where we can live without that living presence of the Holy Spirit inside of us to touch other people's lives. That oil is always made fresh and if we are continually being filled with the Spirit then that vessel is being filled just like the river that is flowing in. That oil will always be fresh in us and never stale and the life that we bring to other people will always have its right effect.
That anointing is also for those who have been overcome by the hardships of life. He says he will give us the oil of joy for our mourning. There is nothing in the world that can replace what the Holy Spirit can do in the life of people who have been hurt. You can say words but they will always fall flat without the anointing. You can be as comforting and as understanding as you want to be and that will feel nice but there is something about when that oil of joy begins to come in and that oil of healing begins to come in and its only the work that the Holy Spirit can do.
Another symbol of the Holy Spirit is that of wine. Ephesians 5:18 says, "Do not be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit". You can find out how much a person is living for Jesus by how much they need the stimulants of the world. Not only does the Holy Spirit keep us from sin but he is the antidote that keeps us from the stress of this life and the grief of this world. If you've got the Holy Spirit living inside of you you don't need another drink to get through anything, all you need is Him. Alcohol may help you forget for just a little while and may help you feel good for a little while but you're always going to wake up with a hangover. If you've got the Holy Spirit living inside of you, you get the help of God, the joy of God, the truth of God, the work of God and when you wake up in the morning you feel better than when you went to sleep. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. He is that stimulation that heals us and the stimulant that controls us. In Matthew and Mark, the Spirit of God is called new wine. He is the only one that can bring us that joy.
Another symbol of the Holy Spirit is that of fire. At Pentecost, the Bible says that tongues of fire settled over the heads of those who were filled with the Holy Spirit. I don't think this should surprise anyone of us at all because in Proverbs 20:27 it says, "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord". Fire, when it is harnessed is used for great purposes and when it is out of control it is destructive. When the fire of the Holy Spirit comes into the life of a person their life becomes more under control than out of control. The life without the Spirit does whatever the flesh wants and it is never satisfied. It burns this up and uses that up, it does everything that it can do and when it walks away everything is in ashes. When the Holy Spirit gets a hold of a person it begins to not only consume them but like the burning bush it never destroys them. It is used to shape us instead of the world shaping us. The fire of the Holy Spirit burns out the impurities and helps us to become more valuable. It refines our life and tempers us and tempers our personalities. Only the Holy Spirit can temper a personality without destroying the person that God made them to be. The truth is if you try to change someone on your own you'll be really disappointed. Only God can shape a person.
In our spirit the fire keeps a passion and an urgency alive for God's work and only the Holy Spirit can make that fire burn and never go out. That fire also burns the ropes off of a life that has been in bondage. When you become a Christian, I don't care what you are addicted to or what held you bound in the past or what pain you have suffered, if you try to break the rope yourself it begins to irritate and if you keep trying to get out it begins to cut and wound. Not only does it leave scars but it keeps cutting deeper until you are permanently maimed. But when the fire begins to burn the rope it goes right through without leaving a scar, without harm. He whom the son sets free is free indeed. Christian, I don't know what hurts or pain has gone on in your life but as believers we're still going to go through pain and difficult things but with the Holy Spirit in our life, the ropes that once held us bound in the past, the pain that hurt us for a long time begin to fall right off and we are set free. Only the Holy Spirit can do that, he sets the captives free.
The last and most familiar symbol of the Holy Spirit is that of the dove. The dove is a symbol of peace. He is gentle and kind and he brings rest. When that dove settled on Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Prince of Peace. It is that peace that the Holy Spirit brings to the life of a believer. He said that we should walk in peace and that we can live in peace. People ask, "Are you at peace with God?" Absolutely, because his Holy Spirit lives inside of me. It doesn't matter what I go through in life, I have the promise of peace because his peace is with us. There are people who are full of the Holy Spirit who can walk into any situation and that peace goes with them. They can walk in the middle of a husband and wife having the greatest turmoil and they begin to walk where angels fear to tread. All of a sudden the Prince of Peace begins to bring healing in the relationship. Only the peace of the Holy Spirit can cause a man who is about to take his own life to stop what he's doing. This Holy Spirit that we have is the greatest gift that God has ever given to man. It is the gift of the Son to every one of us.
Why do I want to talk about the symbols of the Holy Spirit this morning? Because we're supposed to be a spirit filled people and these symbols represent what the spirit does in our life and through our life. It is that promised gift of what God has for you and me. We live in a time where a lot of people want to do away with that work of the Holy Spirit in people's lives because its become too radical. It's not quite so popular and understandable but in this day and age where Jesus is coming back at any moment for his church, we need the Holy Spirit now more today than ever before in our life. As believers we need to be filled with the spirit more today than any time in our life and we can expect to see him work through us and in us. Trying to describe the Holy Spirit without symbols would be near impossible. That's why God put them there so that we could know his work, so we could know him as a person and so we could see him do the ministry of Jesus through our lives to touch this world.
