FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
INTRODUCTION
DR. JIM DIXON
GALATIANS 5:22-26
OCTOBER 18, 1992
The word sphinx is a Greek word which originally referred to an imaginary evil monster, but the ancient Greeks used the word sphinx to describe some of the large stone images that they saw when they visited ancient Egypt images that portrayed a lion’s body with a human head. Now, of course, the most famous sphinx is the giant sphinx at Giza near the great pyramids in Egypt. That sphinx is 240 feet long and sixty-six feet high. It was built more than 4,500 years ago. For millennia people have asked, “Why did the ancient Egyptians build this massive creature and place it in front of the pyramids?”
In recent years, archeologists have pondered that same question and many theories, many explanations, have been given. The prevailing view is that the great giant sphinx was built as a kind of guardian of the pyramids to protect the pharaoh to ward off evil spirits. It is true that the ancient Egyptians believed that sphinxes could ward off evil spirits. They built and erected these stone images along avenues leading to Egyptian temples such as the temple at Karnak.
Incredibly, in the middle ages, Christians also thought they could ward off evil spirits through designing stone images of man-monsters. They placed these images on churches and cathedrals. They were called gargoyles. Some of them served a practical purpose of being waterspouts. Christians also believed that they would ward off evil spirits and how strange that concept is. Hopefully today, as believers in Jesus Christ, we know that we cannot ward off evil spirits by structures carved in stone. Hope-fully today, as believers in Jesus Christ, we know that we cannot scare away evil spirits by placing hideous faces in their presence. Hopefully today, as Christians, we understand that we have a spirit as believers in Jesus Christ that we have been given a spirit greater than an evil spirit—greater than all evil spirits. We have been given a spirit in Christ that is more powerful than the devil or more powerful than Satan. We have been given a spirit the Bible calls the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is God.
I think it is hard for many Christians to conceptualize the person of the Holy Spirit. When we think of God the Father, we think perhaps of a loving father who welcomes the prodigal home. When we think of God the Father, perhaps we think of the ancient of days enthroned in glory. When we think of God the Son, we think perhaps of the good shepherd who goes after the lost sheep. But when we think of the Holy Spirit, we do not know what to conceptualize. The Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit as wind or fire of many images but they do not seem particularly personal. And yet the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit is a person, and the Holy Spirit is God. This morning I would like us to examine, that we might understand the Holy Spirit better, the ministries, the functions, of the Holy Spirit.
Now I know our time is brief but believe it or not we are going to discuss ten functions of the Holy Spirit and we are going to try to do that in a very brief time. If we do not get through them, we do not get through them, but these are very important ministries of the Holy Spirit that, as Christians, we need to be aware of.
First of all, the Holy Spirit convicts people of sin. This is the first ministry of the Holy Spirit: To convict people of sin. Indeed, in John, chapter 16, verse eight, our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that He will send the spirit and the spirit will convict the world of sin. The spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, convicts the world of sin.
Now in the 1730’s in colonial America, there occurred what historians have called The Great Awakening. The great awakening took place as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield preached throughout colonial America. Thousands of men and women throughout the colonies became aware of their sin. They confessed their sin. They repented and revival just spread throughout the American colonies. But it was not really the work of Jonathan Edwards or the work of George Whitefield. It was truly the work of the Holy Spirit. It was the work of the spirit of God because the spirit of God convicts the world of sin.
Throughout the ages in many cultures around the world there have been great awakenings. There have been revivals when men and women have become conscious of their own sin. I think most of you would agree with me that today our nation is in great need of revival again, great need of an awakening, a movement of the Holy Spirit that will convict our nation and our people of the reality of sin. Barb and I were talking just this past week how strange it seems that Judeo-Christian values have eroded so rapidly in the United States of America. It seems like just over the period of a few decades Judeo-Christian values have just slipped drastically.
Barb and I always thought that we were kind of mainstream America in our morals and our ethics and that perhaps Hollywood was liberal. Maybe the media was liberal. But we thought we were mainstream. But it has become painfully clear in recent times that we are no longer mainstream in America. Those who hold biblical values, those who truly believe in Judeo-Christian values are no longer mainstream in the United States of America because there is a growing apostasy, a growing licentiousness, a growth of evil in our nation. If ever we needed revival, it is today, and we need to pray that the spirit of God might indeed convict the world of sin. We need to be praying as well that each and every one of us individually would be, by the Spirit of God, convicted of sin because we are all sinners in need of grace.
Now the second ministry of the Holy Spirit is to draw people to Jesus Christ. In John 15:26, our Lord Jesus Christ said, “When the Holy Spirit comes, He will bear witness to Me.” This is one of the great purposes of the Holy Spirit: To bear witness to Jesus Christ, to draw people to the Savior. If you have read the Gospels, you know how, on an occasion, as He was by the Sea of Galilee, He called some of the disciples to Him saying, “Follow Me.” The Bible tells us those disciples left their nets and they followed Him and why. I mean, why? Why did they just quit their jobs, why did they just leave their careers, their means of livelihood, and follow a carpenter-teacher? Certainly, part of the explanation is the person of the Holy Spirit who drew them to the Savior Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit draws men and women to Jesus Christ.
As Billy Graham preaches around the world today, as he has conducted crusades in so many nations around the world, the Holy Spirit has drawn men and women to Jesus Christ. You know how Billy Graham, at the conclusion of his crusade, in virtually every case stands and says, “I want you to come, I want you to come, thousands of you. I want you to stand up. I want you to get out of your seat. I want you to come down to the center of the field and I want you to give your life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There will be counselors here waiting to talk to you and I want you come.” And they come… I mean it is a marvel how thousands and hundreds of thousands—through the years millions—of people have come forward at Billy Graham crusades to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They have done this because they have been drawn to the Savior by the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you can look back and you know how you felt the tug of the Holy Spirit in your life as He drew you to personal faith in Christ. You felt that call and you responded.
Missionary teams return from Aceh with the Acehnese people on the island of Sumatra, the northern part of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The Acehnese people are not Christian. It is an unreached people group with respect to the gospel There’s not a single, not one Christian, among the Acehnese people. Indeed, the Bible has not even been translated in the Acehnese language, but the Acehnese people can also speak Indonesian and the Bible has been translated in Indonesian. As our people went there and shared with some of the Acehnese people it is a stronghold of the Islamic religion. But as they shared, you could see the Holy Spirit begin to work. The Holy Spirit is beginning to work already among the Acehnese people. Some people with tears in their eyes asked for Bibles. Some of them want to know more about Jesus Christ and you can see the Holy Spirit working. I tell you. It is only a matter of time and men and women there are going to give their lives and hearts to Jesus Christ because the Spirit of God is at work and the Spirit of God draws men and women to the Savior.
The third ministry of the Holy Spirit is to indwell the believer. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, draws us to the Savior. When we come to Jesus Christ and when we invite Jesus Christ to be our Lord and we invite Him to come and be our Savior from sin, in that moment, the Holy Spirit of God indwells the believer. Our Lord Jesus Christ said to the disciples, “The Holy Spirit is with you and will be in you.” So the Holy Spirit indwelt the believing community at Pentecost. We are told in 1 Corinthians, chapter 6, that, “Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ has become a temple of the Holy Spirit within.” The Holy Spirit indwells the believer when we come to faith in Jesus Christ.
The concept of dwelling in the Hebrew was the concept of the “shekinah.” The word “shekinah” literally means the “dwelling of God’s presence.” The shekinah was peculiarly expressed in the temple and the tabernacle as the presence of God dwelt in some special sense in the holy of holies, in the tabernacle and in the temple, and the tabernacle was called the “mishauken” which is related to the same word “shekinah ” That word “mishauken,” the word for the tabernacle, literally means “the place of dwelling.” Of course, the tabernacle and the temple are no more but there is a sense, you see, in which all who believe in Jesus Christ now become temples. If you believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in you, to indwell you. So that is the third ministry of the Holy Spirit, to indwell the believer, to take up residence, to dwell permanently within the believer.
The fourth ministry of the Holy Spirit is to seal the believer for salvation. This ministry is mentioned in Ephesians chapter 1 and in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 What an exciting, beautiful ministry of the Holy Spirit this is—that the Spirit of God seals the believer. Now the Greek word here for seal is the word “spragizo.” This word had a particular usage. You know in the biblical world, when somebody wanted to send a letter, they could not just get an envelope and then a nice piece of paper and write their letter and put it in that envelope and seal the envelope and give it to the postal service and have it delivered. It was not that simple. They did not have such means. So in the biblical world when somebody wanted to send a letter, they would write on a parchment or a scroll When the letter was written, the scroll would be rolled up and then the scroll would be held in place by string and then it would be given to a courier to be delivered.
But the problem was as that scroll was being delivered, it was possible for anybody who wanted to read it and there was no way to tell who had read the scroll along the way because it was as simple as taking the string off, opening the scroll and reading it and then putting the string back on. There was no way to know your letter, your personal letter, was kept personal. But you see, the royalty and the rich began to develop a means of sealing the scroll. They would put wax on the scroll to seal it, a spot of wax, and they would take their signet, which is the word “spragizo,” and they would stamp the wax with their imprint, showing ownership of the letter. That would promise, that would seal, that the letter would reach its destination without being violated, because if the scroll had been opened, the seal would be broken and it would be obvious to all
There’s some sense in which, as Christians, we are to understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit guarantees that we will reach our destination, that having convicted us of sin and having led us to the Savior and having indwelt us, the Holy Spirit has sealed us to reach our destination. We are bound for heaven. We are destined for eternal life. In the Holy Spirit we are owned by Christ and the Holy Spirit is our seal, our guarantee, that we will indeed reach our heavenly destination. What a beautiful concept. And thought that is that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion on that day.
A fifth ministry of the Holy Spirit is to in gift the believer. The Holy Spirit in gifts every believer with spiritual endowments, with spiritual gifts, with the “charismata.” Now today is October 18 and October 18 today is my wife, Barbara’s, birthday. Now Barbara is 45 years old today. I can say that. Barb’s mother called her yesterday and said, “I can’t believe you’re 46 years old!” Barbara explained she was not 46 years old, which I suppose is kind of embarrassing for us as parents when we get our kids’ birthdays wrong. Barb was born 45 years ago today. We speak of today as her birthday but, of course, this is not really her birthday. This is just the anniversary of her birthday. A person only has one birthday and Barb’s birthday was 45 years ago on October 18. Now, we do not tend to give gifts on a person’s birthday. We tend to give gifts on the anniversaries of their birthday.
But, you see, there is another kind of birth. There is another kind of birth the Bible calls spiritual birth. In fact the Bible says, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Unless you experience spiritual birth, you’ll never get eternal life, you’ll never make it to heaven. You must be born spiritually. You must be born from above. You must be born anew.” Now spiritual birth, the Bible tells us, takes place on that day when you invite Jesus Christ to be Lord of your life, on that day when you invite Jesus Christ to be your Savior from sin. Spiritually that is your birthday, and, on that day, you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and you are sealed by the Holy Spirit. On that day, you are in some sense, in some measure in gifted by the Holy Spirit who has come into you. Now this is not to say the Holy Spirit cannot subsequently give you further gifts, but it is simply to say the Holy Spirit in gifts the believer, gives you ritual gifts for the sake of ministry. These gifts are great, and they vary. There is preaching and there is teaching and there is exhortation. There is prophecy and there is tongues and there is administrations. There is mercy and helps and contributions. We need more people with that gift in this church. But the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to believers.
The sixth ministry of the Holy Spirit is to empower the believer. In the book of Acts, the Bible says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” It is the Holy Spirit who gives the believer power for ministry. Throughout my life and throughout my ministry, I have been so often aware of my lack of power. I have, at times, so often felt powerless and I think it is hard for pastors because so often you do feel powerless, and you see the needs of people and you wish you had power to make right what is wrong, and you do not have the power.
I think of the Remington’s as Bob prayed this morning for Barry and Bridgett Remington. I did their wedding a few years back. They are just wonderful people and when their little daughter was born, Samantha, there was such a tragic deformity of the heart and the prognosis medically was so dim and given such a short time to live. I would have just loved to have been able to go over there and just touch that baby and make that child whole. I would have just loved to have been able to do that, but I do not have the power. I do not have any power. I am reminded of that time and time again. But in ministry, whatever power there is from the Holy Spirit. Every once in a while, we have had the incredible blessing of seeing the Holy Spirit’s power released. It is such a wonderful thing to just even feel like you are a vessel in any measure for the Holy Spirit’s power to be used. You just seek as faithfully as you can to minister and you ask the Lord to release His power and sometimes, He does. But the power, whatever power is there, is from the person of the Holy Spirit. “You shall receive power when the Spirit comes upon you.” We should be cognizant of the fact that the power of the Holy Spirit is released primarily for evangelism. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses.”
We spoke earlier about how one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to call people, to draw people, to the Savior, to Jesus Christ. God wants us to know as believers in Christ that as we go forth into this world and we minister in His name and we share our love for Christ with other people, the Holy Spirit’s power is released through us and draws people to the Savior through us as His power works through our lives. The sixth ministry of the Holy Spirit, empowering the believer.
The seventh ministry of the Holy Spirit is to guide the believer. The Bible tells us in many passages of scripture how we are to be led of the Spirit because the Holy Spirit is the Christian’s guide. Now, last Monday was Columbus Day because on October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus is said to have discovered America. I do not think anyone has become more controversial than Christopher Columbus in recent times. He has, of course, been both deified and vilified. He has been honored and dishonored. History is being rewritten. It is not being rewritten for the last time, because historians tend to interpret the past through the lens of their current culture and the mores of that culture. Of course there is no way that Christopher Columbus could have realized that he would bring vast continents and cultures to conflict.
There is no way that Christopher Columbus could have realized that he would bring disease across oceans. There is no way Christopher Columbus could have been expected to have been immune from the prejudices and the perspectives of his generation. I think sometimes he is judged unfairly in that sense. Christopher Columbus had a number of positive qualities. In balance, I think that has to be said. One quality that Christopher Columbus had was he really had a sense of being led, of the Holy Spirit of God. In the year 1502, he wrote to King Ferdinand and to Queen Isabella. In that letter he wrote to them, which we have, these words are said. Christopher Columbus said, “In carrying out this voyage to the Indies” (and of course North America he referred to as the Indies), “neither reason nor mathematics nor maps were of any use to me. I was led by the Holy Spirit of God.”
Now I hope you know and understand the Holy Spirit of God leads people. The Holy Spirit of God guides people. I have no doubt the Holy Spirit guided me to Barbara. I mean I cannot tell you what a zero I was in dating. It was the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit that led me to Barbara. It was the Holy Spirit that led Barb and I from California to Denver, who called us here to minister at Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora. Then 10 years ago it was the Holy Spirit who led Bob and Ally and Bo and Gary and Barb and I to come and be part of this ministry and to help start this church, Cherry Hills Community Church. We felt led of the Holy Spirit to a new vision and a new facility. It is the Holy Spirit who leads, the Holy Spirit who guides.
You know, just last night Barb and I had dinner with Mark and Carolyn Brewer. Mark Brewer is the pastor at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church, one of our sister churches. Mark is leaving Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church. Mark and Carolyn will be starting a new ministry at Ward Presbyterian Church in Lavonia, Michigan. It is kind of hard for Barb and me because we have been really close to Mark and Carolyn Brewer. They have been just great friends. I met Mark 19 years ago when first we came to Colorado. He was in the college group and helped Barb and I move into our first home. We have been really close to Mark and Carolyn for years. For years, every Monday on our day off, the four of us have gotten together and spent about 3 hours just kind of laughing and just trying to find a little sanity in the midst of the insanity. Now they are leaving. For Barb and me, selfishly, we would not want them to go but, you see, God the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit is leading them. The Holy Spirit is leading them, and you cannot stand against the Holy Spirit. Woe unto you if you stand against the Holy Spirit. So the Spirit of God leads, and the Spirit of God wants to lead you, and the Spirit of God wants to lead me.
I know our time is drawing to an end, but the eighth ministry of the Holy Spirit is to teach the believer. Certainly as you go to the Bible, as you listen to proclamation, as you talk with Christian friends, it is the Holy Spirit who brings understanding, discernment, and teaching. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth.
The ninth ministry of the Holy Spirit is to comfort believers. In the course of the years of ministry that I have had, so many times I have seen men and women in grief. I think that is one of the hard things in Christian ministry is to see a husband who is lost his wife or a wife who is lost a husband or parents who have lost a child or children who have lost a parent or just a person who is lost a great friend. Grief. So oftentimes there’s not adequate words to say. I mean I always feel like I do not have words to give comfort. I do not have words, but the Holy Spirit is the comforter. It is so neat to see the Holy Spirit work in situations like that. I have seen men and women in the midst of incredible grief find supernatural peace through the personal ministry of the Holy Spirit in a time of trial.
The tenth ministry, finally, of the Holy Spirit is to transform the believer, to transform the believer into the likeness of Jesus Christ. I must say, after a person has been indwelt of the Holy Spirit, born anew and indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit, from that point on I think the greatest ministry of the Holy Spirit is transformation to mold us and give us the very character of Jesus Christ. Because you see, no matter what gifts we have, we will abuse them. No matter how much power we have, we will abuse power. No matter what knowledge we have, we will abuse knowledge. We will abuse everything unless we have the character of Christ. That is why this ministry of the Holy Spirit is so important. That is what we are going to be focusing on for the next nine weeks is Christlike character and the Holy Spirit’s power to transform the believer.
This is what the fruit of the Spirit is all about. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. This is the character of Christ. This is what the Holy Spirit wants to impart to each and every one of us. The Bible says, “We all, with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord are being changed, transformed from one degree of glory to another” and all of this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. The Holy Spirit transforms us. I trust that you will pray with me as we approach these next nine weeks that we might, each of us myself included, be transformed just a little bit more into the likeness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us close with a word of prayer.