Welcome back to Him We Proclaim. Today's message is a powerful continuation in our series on how the five solas of the Reformation aren't just historical ideas, they're living truths that take root in the hearts of believers. In today's message, Pastor John Fonville poses a vital question. How do the solas move from the dusty pages of the 16th century into the beating heart of our everyday lives? The answer?
The Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life. You'll hear how the Spirit doesn't merely point us to Christ. He creates faith by speaking through Scriptures, through the gospel, and by illuminating our minds and hearts. As Romans 10 says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.
So stay with us as we explore how the Holy Spirit makes the solas not only understandable, but effective and transformative, bringing us from death to life through the Word of God. Here's John.
Well, this weekend we have taken a deep dive into the five souls, haven't we? What a rich weekend we have had. But As we come together for this last time together, I have a vital question that I want to ask today. It demands our great attention. And this is the question: How do these five solas move?
From the historical pages of the 16th century, into the heart of our daily lives. How did they shift from just being five concepts? Truly becoming effective and transformative in our life, how do they come to life? The answer is the Holy Spirit. Who is not just a part of God because God doesn't have parts?
He is God. As the Nineteenth Creed states, He is the Lord, God, and he is the giver of life. Literally, he's the life maker. He's the one who makes alive. And to say that the Holy Spirit is the giver of life.
is a way to say that he is God. Doing only what God can do, which is what? Give life. Create. This is what the Creator does.
He gives life, He creates. And so throughout the scriptures, we see that the works of the Holy Spirit are both comprehensive and essential. From his rolling creation. to the inspiration of scriptures. To his miraculous work in forming Jesus.
In the virgin's womb. to regeneration. Sanctification. Equipping us with spiritual gifts to edify the body of Christ. empowering us to Live godly lives.
The Holy Spirit is working and creating. And so he's not optional, he is indispensable for every aspect of the Christian life. And so today I want you to see with me just briefly how the Holy Spirit takes the five solos and creates them. makes them effective. transformative, brings them to life.
Here's the first, Alaska Torah. The Holy Spirit is the voice of Scripture. The sum and substance of the scriptures consist of two parts: the law and the gospel. The Holy Spirit speaks through both parts of Scripture to us, but. differently.
For example, the Holy Spirit speaks through his law to reveal our sin. our misery to give us the knowledge of sin. Our guilt before God. But the Holy Spirit speaks through this gospel to create. to create faith, to assure that faith, to strengthen and comfort that faith.
But here's the point, and I'll come back to that, but here's the point. I want you to understand that the Holy Spirit speaks through Scripture. He is the voice of scripture. This is what we confess in Nicene Creed. Which says this: We believe in the Holy Spirit who has spoken.
Thuru the prophets. Where does that come from? Listen to David, 2 Samuel 23, verse 2. The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me. His word is on my tongue.
Listen to the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David. Acts chapter 28, verse 25. Paul quotes Isaiah chapter 6, verse 9. And he says, the Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophets to your fathers.
The author of Hebrews in chapter 3, verse 7, quotes Psalm 95, which was our scripture lesson today. The Holy Spirit, as the reader, Michael, was reading Psalm 95, that wasn't Michael's voice. That was the Holy Spirit. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 7. He quotes Psalm 95, 7.
As the Holy Spirit says. This is why, in our tradition, today you say this. After scripture was Bread? What did we say? The reader says The word of the Lord.
And what did we say? Thanks be to God. Why? Thanks be to God that he's not silent. But he has spoken not just his law that reveals my sin.
He has spoken a word of promise that brings me life, the salvation and forgiveness of my sins. Could you imagine that if he just left us under the curse? and remained silent and he could have. As you heard, there wasn't no necessity in God. could have been silent, left us in guilt.
Left us in our sin. But the scriptures say he has spoken to us in these last days. But I have son. And what does his son say to us? He says to all of us who are weary and heavy laden as sinners, he says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will get.
Give you rest. The Holy Spirit is the voice of Scripture. The Holy Spirit is the illuminator of Scripture. The Holy Spirit makes us understand Scripture. I want you to understand this here today.
This is not natural what we're doing. This is a supernatural work. And the fact that we can grasp Scripture's meaning. See Christ as the Son and substance. of scripture.
The focal point of scripture to understand propitiation. I'll come back to that in a minute. That's a miracle of grace. This work of the Spirit that illuminates our spirits to grasp Scripture. surpasses natural knowledge.
This is what Theodore Mesa says. He says, what we call the gospel. Is a doctrine which is not at all in us by nature. But it is revealed from heaven. and totally surpasses Natural knowledge.
The law is from nature. But the gospel is divinely revealed to us. The gospel cannot be known by your intellectual capabilities. Scientific Inquiry The Gospels, not this set of ethics. Principles that can be deduced through reason.
The gospel transcends this. The gospel is not like one plus one equals two. I get propitiation. You can't figure this out by yourself. The gospel requires divine revelation.
Matthew 16:17, Jesus. Concerning his identity as the Son of Man, the Christ, the Messiah. He says to Peter, Peter, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. The gospel is of supernatural. Origin.
This is what Paul says to the Galatians in Galatians, the first chapter, verses 11 and 12. He says, I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preach to you is not of human origin. I did not receive it or learn it from any human source. Listen, I received it by a revelation. of Jesus Christ.
Listen to this. The gospel is not hard to believe. The gospel is impossible to believe. apart from the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Holy Spirit, the gospel, well, Paul says.
is considered foolishness. But the Spirit comes and transforms what is considered foolishness and powerlessness. Into the power and wisdom of God. This is what he says. He says, We preach Christ crucified to Jews, a stumbling block.
Why? Because the Jews were thinking Daniel 7. The great Son of Man, the Messiah, the Christ, he's going to come on conquering clouds of heaven and he's going to overthrow Rome and set up Solomon's glory and the temple in David and it's all coming back. And it's the Mosaic covenant. Cursed is the one who is hanged on a tree.
Jesus is cursed by God. He's not the Son of Man conquering from heaven, Daniel 7. He's not the Messiah. And it was a stumbling block. To the Gentiles is just foolishness.
Acts 17 and Mars Hill, what does this seed pecker have to say? This derogatory term towards these Greek philosophers who said that this tent is this prison that we have to escape so that we can have true salvation. He's just preaching foolishness about this physical resurrection. Everybody knows this physical reality is bad. But those who are called, how?
By the Holy Spirit? Who affectionately calls us through his gospel, to those who were called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the Messiah, the Son of Man. He is the power of God, and he is the wisdom of God. This work of illumination is grace. It is a work of grace.
It is sola gratia. Ow. 2 Corinthians 30, verse 8, Paul calls the gospel. Listen, listen to this phrase, get this phrase. He calls the gospel the ministry of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, the giver of life, makes the gospel the seed of regeneration. Peter says, 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 23 and 25, you have been born again. Brought to life. Not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living. Wise and living because of the Holy Spirit, an enduring word of God.
What word of God did this?
Now, this is the word which by the gospel. was preached to you. That word. That word is the power of God. Unto salvation.
Because the Holy Spirit takes that word and he creates this. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6. He quotes Genesis 1, verse 3, and he says, where God said, let there be light. What was there? to that command.
What happened? White. And he compares ex-nihalo creation to the work of the Spirit through the gospel. Where God said, let there be light. There was light.
And so God has shone into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. In the faith of Christ. He creates ex nihilo creation through this spoken word. And just as he hovered over creation and God said, Let there be light, the Holy Spirit takes the word of God and he creates. As he hovered over the womb of the Virgin Mary and he He Cause Jesus to come forth in her womb.
He hovers over his church today. And through a gospel herald he creates. But to understand this, we must have the Holy Spirit. Look at Ephesians. Just very, very quickly, I have way more to show you from Ephesians than I have time.
But just look at the first chapter. Paul teaches throughout this letter of the necessity of the Holy Spirit's work elimination. He begins in verses 3 to 14 with one sentence in the Greek. Because he's so carried away. With God's plan of salvation, of redemption.
And so he begins verse 3. He says, Blessed be the God and Father. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this God and Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And he begins to enlist them like fireworks at 4th of July.
They're just going off, going off, going off. It's just one sentence. He's so carried away, he's just writing and writing and writing. And he praises the Father for his eternal plan of redemption. Accomplished, he says, through the Son, sealed by the Holy Spirit.
And three times he says something down, Gloria, to the glory of God alone. All the solos are right here in the first. chapter of Ephesians. But here's his point. He goes through this whole plan of redemption from eternity past to the present to eternity future.
And he understands that it is so comprehensive, it is so beyond human ability to grasp what he just said. Look at verses 17 and 18. He prays that the Ephesian believers would be granted by the Father. Listen to this. A spirit of wisdom.
Listen. End of revelation. That is, that the eyes of your hearts might be enlightened. Paul prays that he says, I understand this gospel is so great. It is so fantastic.
I know you're having a hard time believing it. And he says, so father. Give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him. Help these. Leavers.
Understand and comprehend. And of course, this occurs by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to know Paul says the hope of the Father's calling. There's a great hope. Has we heard the statistics? Young people have no hope today.
And if we get this narrative, if we say, Holy Spirit, teach me this narrative, teach me this gospel, we can take that story and we can tell them, oh, the Father has called you to a great hope. Let me tell you about that today. Let me tell you about this. Paul says, Father, let them know the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. That's you.
You are his glorious inheritance. Father. Let them understand the surpassing greatness of his power toward believers. He exhausted the Greek language for words, for power, to try to say how powerful this gospel is. And he says, What kind of power?
He says it is the same Listen to this. The same power that the Father exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. That same power that raised Christ and ascended Christ to the right hand of the Father with all authority and power, he says in the Great Commission, that power through the gospel is working in you by the Spirit. That is so incredibly amazing that you will never understand that nor believe it apart from the work of the Spirit. Chapter 3, verses 16 and 19, just very quickly, he says, he prays again.
And he prays, I'll just summarize for time. He says, he prays for the Holy Spirit to. Empower believers with faith so that they can understand, listen, the greatness of Christ's love for them. We've heard it this whole weekend. What do people want?
They want to be loved. And to face rejection of any kind cuts to the core of who we are. And the pain. of being abandoned by those we thought who loved us, who leave us. crushes us.
And Paul says, there's a greater love. There's a greater relationship. I pray the Holy Spirit give you the gift of faith so you can understand the greatness of Christ's love for you. And he says, when you began to grasp the greatness of his love for you, listen to what his love for you does to you. fills you up.
to the fullness. of God. That's what love Does. And so, when we engage with the Bible, it is the Holy Spirit that opens up, who speaks to us. And it enables us to understand this gospel, this word of God.
Second, Soulless Christians, the Holy Spirit isn't witness of Christ. He isn't uniter to Christ. John chapter 15 verse 26 in his farewell discourse to his anxious disciples. Jesus says to them, when the advocate comes, the paraclete, whom I will send to you from the Father. That is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father.
He will witness, He will testify about me. The Holy Spirit is our advocate. And he testifies of Jesus. who has ascended to heaven To the right hand of the Father who intercedes for us as listen our paraclete our advocate 1 John chapter 2 as you'll hear in the comfort comfortable words If a demon's sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins. And the Holy Spirit is the focal point of the Spirit's witness.
J.I. Packer has a great book, Keep in Step with the Spirit. And he has a great illustration about the work of the Spirit. He says that the Holy Spirit's work is a floodlight ministry. On Christ.
What does a floodlight do? It highlights the building. You don't walk up to a building and go, oh, wow, look at all those floodlights. Yeah. You don't hire people to come to your house and yard, to make your yard and your bushes and your house, right?
You to say, make sure when people pull up to the driveway, they can see all the floodlights. No, they hide them perfectly. Why? So that it can highlight the structure, the building, the bushes. Not drawing attention to itself.
And the work of the Spirit is not to direct our focus upon Him, but to point us to solos Christus, as we heard, Christ alone. Listen carefully to this.
Okay. The Holy Spirit takes scripture and speaks to us about the glory of Christ so that we can see him clearly as he is presented to us. And he enables us to understand Christ for him, for who he really is. Luther writes this about who Christ is. Christ is no Moses.
He's no tyrant. He's no lawgiver. But he is the giver of grace. He is the savior full of mercy. In short, he's no less than infinite mercy, ineffable goodness, bountifully giving himself, and here it is, for us.
Visualize Christ in these true colors. For Christ is joy. He is sweetness to a broken heart. He is a lover of poor sinners. And he's such a lover.
That He gave Himself for us. How do I know that? The Holy Spirit shines like a floodlight upon that and says, Here's Christ to you. This is him.
Solos Christus. He unites us to Christ. As you heard this weekend, John Calvin says: as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we're separated from him, all that he has suffered. And done for the salvation of the human race, the Historius and Ludus, right? Remains useless and of no value for us.
Calvin says, therefore, we must climb higher. And we must examine into the secret energy of the spirit. By which we come to enjoy Christ in all His benefits. The Holy Spirit is the bond that unites us to Christ. He ensures that our salvation is founded upon Christ alone.
He ensures that we understand Christ is not a tyrant towards sinners, but he calls out to us and says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I'm a friend. of sinners. I'm not going to condemn you. I'm going to save you.
Not just now. but forever, because the author of Hebrews says he ever lives to make intercession.
So the Holy Spirit takes what is Christ and he makes it ours. And he gives to us Christ. and all his saving benefits. Through the means of grace, word and sacrament. I never have to come to church wondering.
Was it Jesus in there? I come to a place as Dr. Horton has taught me. This is where you get All the goods. It's Christmas Day.
And his gifts are here. And he's here to serve you.
Something I brought to you: the Holy Spirit is the applier of grace alone. The application of grace logically flows from being united with Christ. Why? Because grace is a person. Titus chapter 2, verse 11.
For the grace of God has appeared. Substances don't appear. Flesh and blood appears. The incarnate eternal Son of God. Created by the Holy Spirit, has appeared doing what?
Bringing salvation to all men. That's grace. God's, listen to this: God's grace comes to us by the Holy Spirit, who comes directly upon us. By hearing the gospel. Faith comes from What?
What? Hearing. Du Does that not sound foolish? You just sit there and get acted upon and do nothing, but you just passively receiving, hearing through the organ of your ears, and you get faith. That's great.
Only God through Christ and the Holy Spirit can orchestrate such a holy union. Man is incapable of such a miraculous feat of uniting me to Christ who is not here. For now. But he is by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit graciously regenerates me.
He gives me new life. He gives me new desires. He gives me the ability to repent and turn from sin. And that is a gift. That is grace.
That's grace alone. Grace is not something that we earn. It's freely given from the Father. in the Son, by the Spirit's work, ensuring that our salvation is by grace alone. Saint Le Fide, the Holy Spirit, is the creator and assurer of faith.
Christian 65 in the Hudelberg Catechism. Since then we're made partakers, united to Christ, right? By partakers of Christ and all his benefits, not some. By faith alone. Where does this faith come from?
How do you get it?
Well, we heard in catechism class this morning, you know, the QA, it's not I read dedication. Yeah. How do you get faith? It's not ours to conjure up. Being saved by grace through faith is a gift that comes from the Holy Spirit.
Here's the answer: Where does faith come from? The Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, God. Creates faith. In our hearts. By the preaching of the gospel, by this word that you hear, creates.
And he confirms our faith, he strengthens it, he assures it. By the use of the holy sacraments, this gospel sounds so too good to be true that I have to come to this table for Christ to serve me. And he can say, just as you can smell the wine or the grape juice. Just as you can eat this great bread and smell it, ingest it, touch it, feel it, taste it, that is how real your sins today are forgiven. You're adopted and received as my beloved Son.
Taste and see. That the Lord is good. Paul says, by grace you have been saved through faith. The theology is always in the prepositions. By grace, through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Not as a result of work, so that no one may boast. The gracious work of the Holy Spirit frees me from the folly of trying to have God's approval by what I do. Isn't that exhausting? Trying the folly of trying to climb to heaven. To say, God, please be impressed with me.
He frees you as Ashley teaches us from performance identity. The Holy Spirit shifts my focus from what I do for God to what Christ has done for me and what the Holy Spirit is doing in me. This gift of faith is not just intellectual ascend. It's a deep and rooted assurance created in me by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes water where you come right into church.
It is a neon sign flashing good news, good news if you have faith in Christ. If it's not, it's like this picture up here: water of judgment. You're drowning, you need Jesus today. He takes these visible signs, these seemingly weak-looking signs of bread and wine. And through these signs, visible gospels, objective revelation, preaching to me Christ and all of his saving benefits, he takes them.
And he assures me that my sin is forgiven, that righteousness is credited to me through faith alone.
So that it is as if, listen to this, here's the good part. It is as if I have been Perfectly obedient my whole life, and I am sinless before God because of everything that Christ alone has accomplished for me. That's good news. Let me come to the fifth sutla, salah de o gloria. Yeah.
The Holy Spirit is the glorifier of God. All the previous actions of the Holy Spirit. In accordance with the first four solas, point toward this ultimate goal to bring glory to God. Ephesians chapter One, go back to it very quickly and look at look at verse 6. Just prior, verse 5, he predestined us to adoption and sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention.
He's kind. God the Father is kind. The kind intention of his will. Why? To the praise and the glory of his grace.
Look at verse 12. He says To the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory, to the praise of His glory. That's the dative, it's to Him. In him, look at verse 14. You've been given the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory.
Three times he says it. The Holy Spirit initiates, He maintains, and He completes the entire process of salvation, ensuring that from speaking to us in Scripture, illuminating Scripture, uniting us to Christ, applying grace, Jesus. Listen, the assurance and the creation of faith, all of that work that He does for us. It's to the glory of God. And as we saw it yesterday from Andreas, our lives are meant to glorify God.
And it's the Holy Spirit who makes this possible. The Holy Spirit is not limited to regeneration. How I grew up as a Southern Baptist. Come down here and get saved. And I did it and I stood there for 20 years.
And I was like, what now? The Holy Spirit is constantly working within us. He's constantly assuring us of eternal life. He's constantly empowering us to resist sin. We're not antinomian.
He's constantly transforming us through the gospel into the likeness of Christ. As Paul says, as we look at the glory of God in the face of Christ, we are changed from one degree of glory to the next. And what we will eventually be will be so great, it's going to blow all of our minds. He enables us to serve others with our gifts. to bear the fruit of the Spirit.
He ensures that every act of faith, every good deed, every moment of obedience, every second of repentance of my life glorifies God. Because Peter says that we offer up acceptable sacrifices, good works, the things that we do. Listen, we offer up acceptable sacrifices. Through Jesus Christ, as Calvin says, not just ourselves, but our good works are justified. How can God accept my half-hearted bad work today preaching to you?
Because Calvin says whatever impurity is left in this preacher as he preaches is buried forever in the purity of Christ. That brings glory to God. And that brings humility to us, but gratitude and prayer, as we heard yesterday. And so we've seen today how the Holy Spirit creates these five souls in our lives and makes them effective. Just listen carefully.
The Holy Spirit is the voice of Scripture. The Holy Spirit is an illuminator of Scripture. The Holy Spirit is the witness of Christ. The Holy Spirit is a uniter to Christ. The Holy Spirit is the applier of grace.
He is the creator of faith. He is the assurer of faith. And he is the glorifier of God alone. What's our response? I think the Heidelberg Catechism, question 110, when it says about, well, why does God have all this heavy law preached to me now?
Yeah. What's the response? Let us pray. As Aunt Andreas taught us, let us pray. How?
The Holy Spirit's. Continue guidance to root these solars. more deeply into our hearts. Asking the Holy Spirit to knew us according to God's image. To liberate us with the gospel's power.
So that after this life we can come into perfection. And we say Together as a church, to God alone be. For glory. Amen. Father in heaven, we are so grateful.
So humble. That you would Condescend. Come to us. And your son. by the Holy Spirit.
And give us life.
So we together as a church today say thank you. And we say, may the Father and Son and Holy Spirit Be praised. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for joining us for this final episode in our Reformation Conference series on the five solas of the Reformation.
We pray that Pastor John Fawnville's message, The Spirit Gives Life, has helped you to see how the glorious truths of Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and to God alone be the glory, are not just theological cornerstones, but living realities applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. If this series has blessed you, we encourage you to learn more. at paramountchurch.com. And check out the Wittenberg Center for Reformation Studies at wittenbergcenter.de, where Reformation truth is being rediscovered and proclaimed today.
Next time on Him We Proclaim, we'll return to our regular teaching series with Pastor John Fonville. Stay tuned as we continue proclaiming Christ from all of Scripture for all of life. Until then, keep looking to Christ and keep proclaiming Him.
