THE HOLY SPIRIT'S WORK

Some years ago right after church, I chanced to hear one of our people tell a visitor that they had never had so much experience with the Holy Spirit until they became part of this congregation. I was gladdened that the experience was common, yet in this day and age one can't help but get nervous when you hear that the Holy Spirit is at work in any particular congregation, because of all the crazy things that are done in the Name of the third person in the Trinity.

Yes, what we have known together should be more common and maybe in some time and place there can be a church by the name: Holy Spirit (PCA)! But, let's get realistic, how many of you would even visit such a named congregation? Somehow it doesn't just seem Reformed or Presbyterian to dwell on the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit. At Seminary, one of the professors suggested that the Holy Spirit was to the Good Shepherd what a sheep dog was to a real live shepherd! I suppose that is how some people understand the Hound of Heaven image which is God's perseverance in bringing all of His elect to Himself. However friendly any common sheep dog might be, there is still something not quite kosher about the image. Perhaps I have had too many experiences with people who believed that they had taken over the Holy Spirit's role much in the manner of the porcine character in the recent popular movie Babe, where a mere piglet moves into the Border Collie's rightful position! With that said, let us leave such an image behind us and look closer at the Reformed perspective on the real work of the Holy Spirit! And relax, we are not about to embark on any charismatic extravaganza.

We will let Moses' experience with his close encounter with the Lord God Almighty be our guide. Remember when Moses asked to see the Lord and the Lord would only let Moses see Himself after He had passed by and not face to face? That concept I believe is where we should focus our attention. And just as I have been telling you for many years, we are much more likely to see behind us just when and where the Holy Spirit was present in leading us on to knowing Christ more nearly and more dearly as the old poem goes. Now, in the strictest sense of the Near Eastern Shepherds we can get the image straight. You see in the Near East, the sheep would more likely follow the Shepherd than be driven in front of Him. Thus, in the proper understanding of our catechism today, it is truly the Holy Spirit that leads us on to the redemption that is in Christ and even effectually applies His regeneration to each of us.

A.A. Hodge specifies that "the doctrine taught in the Confession and held by the great body of the Reformed Churches is, that God, moved by a special personal love, elected certain men out of the mass of the fallen race to salvation, and in order to accomplish that purpose he determined to send Christ to die for them and the Holy Ghost to renew and sanctify them." Of course even so essential and simple a doctrine is little understood and less desired than God's elect can imagine. Mankind has always desired a religion, any religion that gives himself more credit than is truthfully deserved.

Calvin well asks "what religion have we, what knowledge of God, what rule for right conduct, what hope of eternal life, if we do not believe that a man is renewed by the Spirit of God? But this reformed orthodoxy is nothing more than the Scriptures reveal. To see this let us turn to the most beloved passage in the New Testament - John, chapter three. In the first few verses Nicodemus wonders outloud about the necessity for the second spiritual birth.

Then in verse five, where our text for today begins, Jesus emphasizes that "no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." Let us be careful not to make too much of water baptism here as some do. The water image here interpreted by Calvin is more spiritual metaphor than sacrament. For example, when the word fire is used with Spirit the implication focuses on the power of the Spirit rather than any literal understanding.

Then in verses six and seven Jesus makes it clear that it is perfectly natural to accept the fact that the second birth which comes from the Spirit is a spiritual rebirth. And then in the next verse He points out the unpredictability of the new birth. This birth is completely the work of the Holy Spirit - "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Like many throughout the history of Christ's Church, Nicodemus is confused, left to himself - he hasn't a clue! Like all the wise men who ever existed, he wanted to understand. Mortimer Adler of the University of Chicago spent his life defining and explaining philosophy and seeking the knowledge of truth. Late in life he finally experienced the new birth when he realized that the God of heaven and earth was beyond finding out. In humility, like Nicodemus, he had to accept the fact that God elects and quickens by the power of the Spirit. Those who are proud and profound in their thinking will never ever discover what God in His infinite wisdom must establish.

Nicodemus receives a philosophical dressing down. How much do the worldly wise need to hear this reproof. Every man and woman ever born comes into the kingdom in exactly the same way. You must be born again we are told. Now those who need it usually cannot see it, but those who have experienced the spiritual quickening can look back in their life and see where the Spirit's influence have led them. It really isn't that hard, it doesn't involve a teary walk down an aisle at some great or little revival. Those events can be pressured and manipulated. Certainly some do come into the faith by that means, but more likely there is a growing craving for knowledge of spiritual food that leads us on.

Taste and see is the next step for many. Reading of the Scriptures, or involvement in a Bible Study or becoming regular in worship and attendance is a good indication that something spiritual is going on. The best indication is that suddenly, everything that didn't make sense before suddenly hangs together and you now understand what you read and hear! The soul suddenly realizes its need for Jesus Christ.

In verse fourteen we see Jesus pointing on toward His own crucifixion when He will be lifted up for all the world to see. In looking at Him, many come to faith in Him and are empowered by the Spirit to see Him as Lord and Christ. This spiritual empowerment by the Spirit is a saving experience. Look at the proper focus of verse sixteen that would point us toward eternal life. The focus of the last two verses for today is on the fact that those who are empowered to believe are saved while those who remain as they comfortably are will be condemned.