What Does It Mean to Be Inspired by the Holy Spirit?

We're going to three different passages this morning in the Bible. The first one is from John. They're all—two of them are from John and one from the book of Acts. First of all, just one verse from John chapter 14, verse 6, and it's Jesus speaking. He's talking to Thomas. The disciples are within earshot. They're hearing what's going on, and Jesus says to him in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." And then we move on to verse 16 in the same chapter, John 14.

And I, that is Jesus, will ask the Father and He'll give you another helper 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. And from here, turn to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 2, beginning at verse 1. Acts 2 from verse 1. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

And divided tongues as of a fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. May the Lord add His blessing to the readings this morning. Pentecost is about the Holy Spirit and it is about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and we've just heard our scripture reading this morning. John 14:6 is one of those verses where we start talking to someone else, bringing the gospel where it all starts, when Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth." We will look at the work of Jesus this morning and try to understand how the Holy Spirit really works.

The Holy Spirit works through people. We know that. We know that through reading the Word of God that we were promised the Holy Spirit. And today, we celebrate the fact that the Holy Spirit was poured out over us, to work in us and through us and amongst us and around us. But it was given by God for a specific reason, and that is our mission is to teach the world, through the Holy Spirit, the good news about our Lord Jesus Christ. So if we bombard the Word of God into people, into the lives of people, we might discourage them. We might help them to lose inspiration. We might even neutralise people if we use the Word of God in the wrong way.

So when we open the Word of God, when we think about the word of God, when we listen to the voice of God, we have to be very careful to come to an understanding of how God wants us to share the gospel with others, not by bombarding them with whatever we have in the Word of God. We know the Father's heart. We know John 3:16 and 17 by heart. We need to understand what it means that we are inspired by the Holy Spirit to do His work. Now, this morning, I want to show you a little video. It is just more than one minute long, and I have thought long and hard about this, but this is a good way for us to understand how the Holy Spirit works and how the plan of God for the world worked.

We see the seed being planted. We see the plant growing, and then in the end, we see this beautiful sunflower. And when we look at that, I want to ask you, just think about it: how does it grow? Where does it come from? What is the potential in the seed? How can a seed, in the end, become this beautiful sunflower?

How is that possible? Who makes that possible? So if we look into the biology of this beautiful flower, who makes that possible? In asking the question, "How does the Holy Spirit work?" I, today, want to say it works like with the seed.

The potential of the seed is what God has put into the seed. Yes, we can water it, and we can take care of the plant. We can plant it, but in the beginning, we had the seed. God gave us the seed. The seed grew only because of what God has placed in the seed. There is potential in that seed.

We can only water. We can do nothing about it. It is all God's work. And when we think about how we work for God in His kingdom through the Holy Spirit, it works in the same way, and I will explain it as we go on through this sermon. We are reminded by the Holy Spirit of everything good that our Lord Jesus said and done on this world. His words are the seeds that the Holy Spirit plants in us. The words, the work of Jesus Christ, and what He told us, His ministry, what He revealed to us from the Father and what is in the Father's heart in heaven, those are the seeds. His words that are planted and through the Holy Spirit start growing.

And when we live a life under the Holy Spirit, when we are open to the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit has inspired us, we simply plant those seeds, the words of Jesus Christ, into the life of others, while praying to the Holy Spirit that He will let the seed grow. So, to understand the Holy Spirit, to live a life under the Holy Spirit, asks of us to understand and believe that our God is the creator God, that our God created everything, that our God has a plan in His hands for the world. Planting the words of Jesus Christ in the lives of others is what we are commanded to do, and we will see that as this message unfolds and as we dive deeper into what actually happened at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In John 14:26, it says the following words: "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." Everything I have done, my Father will send the Holy Spirit who will confirm everything I have done.

So the text we took, John 14:6, we know who Jesus really is. Then we have the promise in John 14:16-17 that the Spirit of truth will be given to us, and then in John 14:26, we have this promise, and the promise is fulfilled by God in Acts 2, and all of the events that happened there. But Jesus reminds us that when the Holy Spirit will be poured out, It will teach us and help us to understand His work and His life and His ministry and then God's commission to us. In Acts 2:1-4, we see people who were gathered, who did not deserve the Holy Spirit. We think about what has happened on the cross.

We think about how people crucified Jesus because they didn't know Him, and I want to come back to this in my sermon. They crucified Him because they didn't know Him. They didn't know that He was the Son of God and the Son of man. And we see when the Holy Spirit is poured out, that it is poured out with tongues of fire. This is a purifying flame, but it is different. This purifying flame is for everyone to be purified by the mercy of God.

We have to understand, with the Holy Spirit being poured out for us, we have a sovereign God, we have an almighty God who could do anything at any time. But He decided to be merciful. He decided to serve, to save the world. He decided to ask His Son to roll out His plan for the world in all mercy. So this flame reminds us that God is pure and that the Holy Spirit will purify our lives according to the way that Jesus has taught us to live our lives.

And through the Easter sermons, we were reminded of what Jesus did until the very end, and we saw the grace and the love of God in Him being crucified, His body being broken, and His blood poured out for our forgiveness. When we sat around the Lord's table last Sunday, this is the true meaning for us: God's grace over us. The powerful God, the almighty God, deciding to go with mercy and grace. And then we see a very interesting thing that happens in Acts 2, and people sometimes make misinterpretations. When it says there, and when you read in Acts 2:5-8, you see that these tongues that were spoken are different from the tongues and the tongues that people spoke in 1 Corinthians 12.

So I just want to read from verses 5 to 8, so that you, with me, can hear what these tongues, these languages are all about. "Now they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven, and at this sound, the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because everything that was happening. But listen to this: because they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language, they were amazed and astonished, saying, 'Are not all these men speaking Galileans? How is it possible that they can speak in my mother tongue?' And how is it that we hear, each of us, in his own native language."

It just shows the power of the Holy Spirit, but it also shows the intention of God to spread His word to every nation and to everyone listening to His word. God's great love for this world is what we see in the death of Jesus on the cross. And then, just earlier, Tony said, "But after forty days, we celebrated his ascension into heaven." We also believe, not only that God has a plan for the world, but that our Lord Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, from where He shall come to judge the living and the dead. This mighty wind that we see in Acts chapter 2 shows God's majesty. It shows God's power. And we see that the wind blows over everyone, and that this powerful message is there for everyone.

But it filled people with fear, with the fear of God, with respecting God, with knowing that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is a divine act of our God, Father God in heaven. Now, in the time where we live, between the ascension and his second coming, this is the time of the Holy Spirit. This is the time when God wants us to understand the Holy Spirit and be excited about living with the Holy Spirit, with the Holy Spirit living in us, the Holy Spirit working through us, and the Holy Spirit working amongst us. People who cannot accept the Holy Spirit, and this is where I wanted to come back to what I was saying earlier, are people who do not know Jesus. You will only be able to accept the Holy Spirit if you know who Jesus really is.

He is the way, the truth and the life. And it's said in our scripture reading this morning, the Spirit is the Spirit of truth and He teaches us the truth about Jesus Christ. But people who do not know Jesus won't believe. And this is where our mission comes in: to let people know the good work of Jesus Christ, to let people know why the Father sent His Son, not to condemn this world, but to save this world. If you don't know someone, you are most likely not going to trust that person.

Isn't that right? I've got a little example this morning. In year 8 and 9, we had to take all subjects. Then in year 10, you had to make a decision which subjects are you going to carry through to year 12. Something similar happens in all schools. But I remember, I chose one subject because I loved the subject: technical drawings. And then I chose another subject because I liked the teacher.

I had a teacher called Hans Arendt, which means eagle. His surname means eagle. But He could open up biology. He taught me from a very early age what the percentage was for me getting the colour of my eyes. I found it so interesting. He knew so much about the human body. He knows so much about the creation of God. I decided to take biology because I knew the teacher. I knew more of this was coming.

And that is what it means to live a life under the Holy Spirit, because we know Jesus Christ. We know what is coming. We know what our God is capable of. We know our Father's heart for us. And this is Pentecost: is trusting God by allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us and amongst us. He is the almighty God, and all people from all those nations could hear it in their own language that the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ is also for them.

And that's God's mercy for you and me as well. We are included. Through the work of Jesus Christ, we have come into a new relationship with our Father. And now, in the time between the ascension and our Lord's second coming, we can live a life under God's mercy because we can live a life knowing that there is life after death. And even in the despair of what might be going on in our lives or what we see around us in the world, and even people talking about the dangers of a third world war.

We should not lose hope. We should not get depressed. We should not get into a position where we ask more questions. We should put our hand in the hand of God and trust in Him because we know God. We know God's heart for this world. God sent His Son so that the world will not be condemned, but saved through His Son, Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit will keep reminding us of that fact, so that we should not be sinning by our disbelief. Like that plant growing, when the Holy Spirit plants the seed in my life, it starts to grow. When the Holy Spirit waters the seed in my life, it starts to grow into a plant.

There is potential in you and in me. And when God let us grow in and through the Holy Spirit, there's that beautiful sunflower coming out, giving God the glory and the grace and this is how we live. This is how the teacher of truth, the Holy Spirit, teaches us. This is what our life will look like because He teaches us the truth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. If we don't have the insight of what it means to live a life under the Holy Spirit, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we will miss the excitement of what it means to live close to God. We know that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and prays for us in a way where our prayers fall short.

We know that the Holy Spirit is our helper. We know that the Holy Spirit is a sympathetic teacher who comes to us where we are, who comforts us, and who gives us the power to bring the powerful word of Jesus Christ into the world. But it is a word of mercy and a word of truth. And yes, on judgment day, those who do not know Jesus Christ will experience the judgment. But for those who know Jesus, they will be saved.

And that is a promise of God. God's grace is there for everyone. The Holy Spirit was poured over everyone and all of those nations. Even in their own languages, they heard the good news that our God is a merciful God, and that the Spirit will work in us so that the grace of God can be seen in this world. It is not so easy to live a life as a Christian. It is not so easy to always know what God's will is in our lives, but we have to pray that the Holy Spirit will intercede for us and will help us to understand.

The Holy Spirit is called the teacher in Acts 2, and I want to lift that one up. The Holy Spirit is... I have used many words. Tony has used many words. And they are all true. But in our text this morning, the Holy Spirit is referred to as a teacher. What does a teacher do? A good biology teacher? He teaches his students to have a love for the subject.

The Holy Spirit is a good teacher who teaches us what the love of Jesus Christ means, and we need to take that love into the world. The love of Jesus. And we need to work carefully with His words because our work is to plant the seeds, the words of Jesus, so that the Holy Spirit will make it grow to the glory of God. That is the truth. That is what the Spirit of truth will do. It will help us in the exam hall of the school of life. When we do life, we have choices to make.

May all of our choices be to the glory of God. May we know that the Holy Spirit is the teacher that we can ask and we can know so that we know from His love what is the right thing to do. How do we bring the gospel to the world? With the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. With the testimony saying, "If it wasn't for His grace and His mercy in my life, I wouldn't have been saved."

It is all God's work. All we need to do is to plant the seeds and to trust that the words of our Lord Jesus Christ will change the lives of people. And it is the work of the Holy Spirit to do that. It is not my work. It is not your work. But if we live, and with this I want to close, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the kingdom ideas, the ideas of Jesus Christ, not our own ideas, people will be reminded of His words and His deeds and what He has done and what He has said.

So when we talk to people, when we take the gospel, the good news, the love of God into the lives of people, we need to do it in the same way as Jesus Christ. We have to be Christlike. His words are the seeds. The Holy Spirit planted in us those seeds and we have been asked to take those seeds and plant it in the lives of others. And the Holy Spirit will work in them because the Holy Spirit was also poured out for them, so that they can grow in Christ, so that they can get to know Christ, so that at the end of this world, when that day come and He returns for His children, that everyone who knows God has a plan for the world sees that day not as judgment day, but as the day that the Lord has come, like He has promised, so that we can be with Him in heaven forever and ever.

Our God has a plan for the world. Our God is graceful. Our God is faithful. He gave us the Holy Spirit to remind us of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done. May we go away from this place and plant the seeds in all faith because we know Jesus Christ.

Let us share His gospel. The good news that we are saved from our sins and from a certain death and that we will live eternally. That is His plan for each and every one of us. Let us pray together. Father God, thank you so much that in this morning when we close our eyes, we know that it is all Your plan.

When we think back to Easter Sunday, and we remember how important in our faith it is to believe in Your resurrection. Lord Jesus, we want to ask You this morning: please help us never to forget that. Help us to understand what it really means when You were powerfully resurrected from death. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you took the time to appear to people who knew You, and who could testify about You before You ascended to heaven. Thank you, Father God, that You were true to Your word and that we knew that when the Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, You did send our helper, our counselor, our teacher, the Holy Spirit.

Help us to live so close to You, oh Spirit of God. Help us to understand the excitement of what it means to live a life inspired by Your Spirit and Your word, Your Holy Spirit and Your Holy word. Make us holy, Lord, in the way that we plant the seeds, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Help us in these coming weeks when we go out and when we speak to people and when we testify that we will only testify Your words, that we will speak to people from Your word that has got all the truth and all the wisdom. We want to pray as we go forward in our church here now that we will live our lives according to Your will, that in Your Spirit, we will receive grace and we will be blessed so that we can be a blessing to others.

Not for ourselves, not only because You chose us to serve You, but because in serving You, we want to bring the glory to You, the honor to You, the respect to You. We want to worship You with all of our lives, with everything that is in us, all of our minds, all of our hearts, everything we can do, everything we can think, everything we can say, and we can only do that through the powerful working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So Lord Jesus, please hear our prayers this morning. You understand each and every one of us. You know us by name.

Thank you that we can every day grow like a plant because You have planted potential in each and every one of us. Help us to know You, help us to honour You, and help us to sow the seeds of truth, Your words, not ours, and to see God work in and around us wherever You've placed us. In Jesus' name. Amen.