John 16:5-15          God Speaks by the Holy Spirit              Sept 16

The great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird's cage and set it free with a message.  Weeks later, Amundsen's wife, back in Norway, looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above.  The pigeon landed, she received the message, and her neighbors heard her cry, "He's alive! My husband is still alive!"

 We are continuing our series on listening for the voice of God and today I want to see how God speaks to us through His Holy Spirit.  In the New Testament and in Christian symbolism, the Holy Spirit is often portrayed in the form of a dove.  Our front stained glass window shows the coming of the spirit.  And like that bird sent out by Amundsen from the North Pole, the Holy Spirit brings us a message that Christ is alive.  He is with us today.  And he wishes to speak to us to guide us in living.  Today I want us to see how the Holy Spirit guides us and to see what are the barriers to receiving that guidance.

  Who is the Holy Spirit?  Notice I did not say what is the Holy Spirit?  The Spirit is not a what, a thing, a force, a power.  The Holy Spirit is the personal living Spirit of God.  The Holy Spirit is that face of God who comes to live within all who follow Jesus Christ.  The Spirit guides us to maturity that we will become perfected and complete in Jesus Christ. 

    You know, new Christians are like new born babies.  Now babies have eyes, ears, mouths, and legs when they are born.  Yet they cannot yet walk or talk.  They see visual images, yet they cannot yet understand them.  They hear sounds, but do not interpret them.  But soon babies learn to recognize the sound of their parents voice.  Later they will understand what the words mean.  It takes time.  In the same way, new believers must learn to hear the voice of God.  Even more time will be required to understand what God is saying to them.  All this growth happens by the Holy Spirit living within us.  The Holy Spirit brings understanding.

  The great Saint Augustine in the late fourth century expressed confusion and frustration in seeking to understand the scriptures.  The Bible made no sense to him.  Only when he sought the Holy Spirit, humbled himself before God, were the words opened to him.  In the Gospel of Luke, two travelors on the road to Emmaeus were confused by all that had happened in their life that weekend.  Even when Jesus walked with them, they were blind and could not see.  Only by the Holy Spirit did they finally understand. 

  You know, we live in an age of great misunderstanding.  We are surrounded by information and data concerning a million subjects.   But we fail in understanding how to live life.  How many telemarketers phoned your house this past week?  They begin the conversation saying, “This is not a sales call.”  Or “You have won…”   But in the end, it is always a lie.  The world is full of voices wanting you to do this or that.  Sincere people have always asked, “How should we then live?”   The Holy Spirit is the answer.  Jesus promised us in John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.”  The Holy Spirit can guide us into true paths where God is leading.

   So why is it so hard to hear His voice?  There are barriers which must be taken down. Listen.  Many people spend time in prayer, begging God to act, to speak, to guide.  We pray as if God is unwilling and we must beg Him.  Yet Jesus said, “Who among you when your child asks for bread will give him a stone?  If you know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good things to you.”    You see, God is always willing to give.  We are not prepared to receive.   We put up blockades and barriers.  You and I suppress, silence, and stop the voice of God.  How?

  We grieve the Holy Spirit.  Paul writes in Ephesians 4:30, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.”  You see, the Holy Spirit of God is not a force like gravity moving around the universe.  The Holy Spirit is personal and can be saddened by our behavior.  What brings grief to the Spirit of God?  Sin.  Just prior to this verse, in Ephesians 4:25-29, Paul urges Christians to avoid lying, stealing, acting in anger, holding unwholesome conversations.  I spoke to a woman a few weeks ago.  She has two sons and she fears that one will kill the other.  You see, there have been too many lies, an adulterous affair, and much violence.  And now she is afraid of what her children will do.  God is grieved by how His children treat one another.  And in our sin, we cannot hear the voice of God. 

   We grieve the Spirit and we also quench the Spirit.  Paul writes in I Thess 5:19, “Do not quench the Spirit.”  Pour enough water on a fire and you will quench out the flames.  The Holy Spirit is often described as a fire but we pour on the water by our lack of commitment to God.  I went to a Clemson football game last Saturday and watched 70,000 people broil in the hot sun of the stands.  We will travel hours to the beach or lake for the weekend.  We will stay up too late to watch our favorite program.  We will put up with all manner of discomfort to do what we want to do.  But when it comes to the things of God, we lack commitment.  At the first sign of inconvenience, we pour on the water and quench the flames of the Spirit in our lives.  We complain about the church about what somebody ought to do, but we refuse to become committed.  And soon the fire goes out.  Listen, God does not speak to the casually interested and curious by-stander.  God speaks to the committed who are prepared to take up their cross, to suffer, and follow Christ.

  We grieve the Spirit by our sin.  We quench the Spirit by our lack of commitment.  Finally, we can blaspheme the Spirit of God.  Jesus said, “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”   This is a frightening verse.  What is this unforgivable sin?   In this passage, Jesus had just healed a man and the crowd saw that Jesus was sent from God.  The Holy Spirit moved in their hearts and they accepted who Jesus was.  However, the Pharisees shouted, “This man Jesus is not from God.  He is of the devil and that is where he gets his power.”  The Pharisees were rejecting Jesus Christ.  And that was their unforgivable sin.  All other sins will be forgiven, but when we reject the Father, reject Jesus Christ, reject the Holy Spirit, then what can be done.  When we have no desire for the spiritual life of God then we are left on our own.  Worse, we are left in the hands of the devil.  How about you?  Have you rejected God?  Are you far from the life of God?  You can come to God, know Him and hear His voice, and God will receive you.  This sin is only unforgivable as long as we reject God.  If we will come to Him, then like  the father of the prodigal son, God will receive us back.

 If we can remove these barriers, what can the Holy Spirit of God do in us?  Paul writes in Gal 5 that the Spirit produces fruit in our lives.  The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and more.  God did not make our lives to be bare and unfilled and useless.  God sends His Spirit to produce fruit in us. 

 In the ancient book, The Odyssey, The poet Homer writes, “There is nothing worse for humans than a lost life of wandering.”  He was  right.  Maybe you sometimes feel like Odysseus who was lost from home for over 20 years.  God wants to guide you home.  By His Holy Spirit, God is speaking to you.  Let me ask you—What is blocking you from hearing?   This week, pray on these things:  In what ways is the Holy Spirit working in you?  Is the Spirit convicting you of changes to make in your life?  Are you resisting the Spirit?  What sins are grieving the Spirit?  What attitudes and behaviors are quenching the Spirit?  What fruit do you want to see in your life?