Hi, and welcome to this special series on the glorious person and work of Jesus Christ. In these messages, we journey through the scriptures from the astonishment of the temple to the road to Emmaus, from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the assurance of the Good Shepherd. Each sermon reveals how Christ meets us, renews us, and transforms us by His Word, by His Spirit, and by His finished work on the cross. Whether you're exploring Christ's comfort and obedience, the triumph of his cross, or the reckless love revealed in his resurrection, this series invites you to see Jesus more clearly and respond in faith. Because the Scripture reminds us faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.
We pray these messages strengthen your faith and deepen your confidence in the gospel of grace. The message today is called The Holy Spirit, Our Guide and Comforter, and here's Pastor John Fonville. Turn to Acts chapter 2. We're going to be looking at Pentecost, taking this gospel to the people. We see that the Holy Spirit is poured out.
And Peter says this outpouring of the Holy Spirit brings about. Personal. First, he said it brings about launches the last days. People often think, well gosh, when's the last days? When are the end times?
Now. Ryden L. been in God's timetable, it's now. And the Holy Spirit pours forth at Pentecost. And this is what Peter says in Acts chapter 2, verse 17.
He quotes Joel 2:28. He says, In the last days, that's now. And God says, I will pour out my spirit. Arnold. All flesh.
The Holy Spirit. Comes forth from Christ, the ascended Christ. And he brings the kingdom of God that breaks in to this present evil age. And he brings the kingdom of God. And so we can call these last days.
Yeah. The year. Age of the spirit. And by his Holy Spirit, God is working to extend his kingdom. And how does this kingdom come?
It comes as Jesus exercises his kingly power through the scepter of his preached gospel. Second, we saw this. That the Holy Spirit is an outpouring. Where does it come from? It comes from Christ's victorious ascension.
Peter in Acts chapter 2 verse 33 says, Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He, Jesus, has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. Christ anointed with the Holy Spirit. He ascends as king and he pours out the gift of the Holy Spirit upon his people. And Jesus' victory is Pentecost power. And then third, we saw this, that the Holy Spirit is poured out.
Why? To assure us of our redemption. 2 Corinthians, Paul says this, the first chapter, he says, God has put his seal On us. What is his seal? The Holy Spirit.
He has given us His Spirit in our hearts. as a pledge, a guarantee. Ephesians, the first chapter, verses 13 and 14, Paul says, as you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise. who has been given to us as a pledge of inheritance. A guarantee of our inheritance.
And so the Holy Spirit is this down payment that assures us that God will complete his work of salvation. And that brings us to today. We see that the Holy Spirit's outpouring transforms us. The Holy Spirit's outpouring transforms us.
Now the Holy Spirit has always been active, right? Why? Because he's the eternal God. He's always been present. But Back in the Old Testament, He just came upon cert people for certain tasks, like King David, for example, after he sinned, Psalm 15.1.
We don't pray this prayer that David prayed. What didn't David pray? He says, take... Not what? Your Holy Spirit from me.
What was he talking about? Salvation? No. He's talking about the Holy Spirit came upon him. anointing him for the task to be king of Israel.
That's what he was talking about. But the Holy Spirit left David. He lost that anointing of the Spirit. Because of his sin. And David in repentance is praying, give me the Holy Spirit back so I can carry out this task as king.
But we don't pray that prayer because we're not King David. Right? The Holy Spirit doesn't leave us, but the Holy Spirit came upon people. Back in the Old Testament for certain tasks. Prophets Right?
Kings. The builders of the temple. It says the Holy Spirit equipped the builders of the temple to make utensils in the temple. Particular tasks. But now, with the finished work of Christ, who has fulfilled.
The old covenant. Who has instituted the new covenant? The Holy Spirit outpouring brings this permanent permanent residence. internal transformation of the Holy Spirit. What?
All people All God's people. Prophesy. Prophesying of the new covenant. This is what the prophet Ezekiel says. He says, I will put my spirit within you, within you.
And listen, and cause you to walk in my statutes. And be careful to obey my commandments. Commandments. Ezekiel says that God will change his people, transform his people from within. This gift of the Holy Spirit.
And he says the presence of the Holy Spirit comes into all. All God's people. Not just certain people for certain tasks. And the holy Saberid one. produces in his people what we're incapable of producing, causing us To obey his commandments, causing us to do that.
A gracious act. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, Paul says, if anyone is in Christ, he is what? A new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.
Through faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit transforms us and he replaces our old Adam, our old self in Adam, selfishness. Then. Pride, anger, jealousy, strife. All these old ways of thinking and being and feeling. This has passed away, being old but new.
has come. It's not just like a fresh start. It's a complete transformation. It's like God when he spoke into darkness at creation. and said, let there be light.
And guess what happened? That was a light.
Now We still face struggles, don't we? All types of struggles. Spiritual struggles, physical struggles, emotional struggles, mental struggles. all kinds of difficulties. But we live with the hope of eternity.
Why? Because the Holy Spirit is working within us. as a gift given to us. He is transforming us step by step. Day by day.
And so this new creation that we that we become in Christ. This is what it does. It sets the stage for hope. We have to have hope. Because our struggles are constant.
What happens in the midst of struggles? Your hope can fade. Can it? You get tired. You grow weary.
You look at yourself and go, where is the transformation? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Why don't I change? Why do I not seem to be getting better? I'm working at this, and it's not working.
And so this is what happens even in the midst of these struggles. Jesus has poured out upon us the gift of the Holy Spirit. works to transform us, but listen, to sustain us. To sustain us as we look forward to the fulfillment. of hope.
Look at, for example, Galatians chapter 5, verse 5. Galatians chapter 5 verse 5. This is such a burst of good news. This is what Paul says. He says, for through the Spirit.
By faith We ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. Listen to that. For through the Spirit... By faith. We ourselves eagerly hope.
Eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. Paul's words here are a lifeline of encouragement. Why? Because he tells us in the context that we don't have to strive to get God's approval through keeping rules. The performance treadmill of trying to get God's favor.
He says that legalism has no hold on us. He's talking about a life of freedom. And hope. He says we can trust By faith in the Holy Spirit who sustains us, and we can look forward with eager confidence. That's hope.
A certain expectation to that final day When God looks at us and says, this whole time you have struggled throughout your whole Christian life, guess what? You have been righteous before me. That final declaration. It's not God going, well, Howard. I watched your performance after you trust in Christ and it was pretty good.
So I'll guess, okay, you're righteous. That's not how it works. You don't get in by grace and perfect yourself by works. You get it by faith justified. Chapter 2, verse 16.
Paul says, we are justified by faith in Christ, not by works of the law, not by our performance, not by our lawkeeping. And because of this act of justification. that we have is not vague, it's not uncertain. It's a promise, you see, because justification, what is it, it's eschatology. It's God pronouncing his final verdict at the end time in the present now to you because of your faith in Christ.
Do you see that? The end times has come in Christ. Because of Christ, because of your faith in Christ, you have been justified. God has forever declared you righteous before him. You have passed the final judgment.
Then Paul says, because of that, Galatians chapter 5, verse 5. This promise that God has declared you just. righteous before him forever. That promise is anchored in the Holy Spirit's power. That's what he's saying here.
He describes the Holy Spirit as that pledge. This divine guarantee that what God has started in us, He will complete, He will finish. And so Paul says, listen. He asked more through the Spirit. That's the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit.
Through the Spirit, He's carrying us. He's empowering us. He's equipping us. He's taking us through this journey. By faith.
Just as we trust Christ by faith to justify us, we trust the Holy Spirit by faith to carry us successfully through. Paul says it's not by your rule keeping, Galatians, it's not because you're getting circumcised that you are completing yourself before God. You say. It's by faith, the Holy Spirit's power, who is carrying you, who is transforming you, who is sustaining you. He says that you can eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
What is the hope of righteousness? is simply this, God's full public declaration of who you are in Christ now. That's our hope. You see, we're not striving to get that. We have it by faith in Christ now.
But what happens is this, is we go through life struggling. We have these struggles. We have this conflict. God knows that, and He knows that sometimes it's almost impossible to believe, man, I'm going to make it. I am righteous before God.
Some days I'm thinking, whoa. I'm not sure. And this is what Paul says, and listen carefully. The Holy Spirit's outpouring to us. Frees us from the burden of having to prove ourselves to God.
Why? Because we're rooted in grace. We're being changed by the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, which is grace. And Paul invites us to live with this confidence, this certainty, this hope. of knowing that our standing with God now and forever is secure.
This gives us freedom from this constant. her temptation to think that We have to approve ourselves before God. Look at chapter 5, verses 16 through 24 of Galatians. And this is good news against the struggle with the flesh. Again, this question of what happened to my transformation, right?
What happened? Why am I struggling? Paul in this passage assures us that we're not left to this struggle by ourselves. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to win. He says, when you have this struggle with the flesh.
You can Walk by the Spirit. You can do that. And he says, look at verse 16, if we do this, we'll not fulfill desires of the flesh. The Holy Spirit overpowers our flesh. He frees us from the law's condemnation.
Look what Paul says. Look at chapter 5. This is very helpful. Look at verse 24. He says, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
You have to believe that by faith. And you're thinking, when? When did I crucify my passions and desires? When did that happen? At Calvary, 2,000 years ago, that's when it happened.
And by faith, you have to believe. I am dead. My sinful desires have been crucified. Those passions, those desires, they have been crucified with Christ. That is faith.
And then by faith you trust. Verse sixteen. Let the Holy Spirit, when I walk by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, his desires overwhelm and replace these sinful desires. It's it's like this. You go out to the beach.
Right, the sun comes up. Look out at the sun and it's so bright. That what can what can you say? Nothing but The sun. Because it's so bright, it just complete engulfs you.
You can't see anything else around you. And that's what Paul says as the Holy Spirit does, working through the gospel. He just can replace it. All these desires and passions with this central focus. Walking by the Spirit.
He equips us to press on. Galatians chapter 3, verse 3. What the Spirit starts, the Spirit perfects. Chapter 5. It's an appalling.
Words. is a promise that through faith you can overcome, you can reach the end with confidence. How many times Have people talking to you, oh, what was me, right? Just what was me? No.
We have to understand that as Christians, we're not defeated. Our passions and desires had been crucified. We had been granted the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is working to transform us step by step, to equip us to press on, to be grounded in Christ's victory. To be transformed. That's what he does.
And so, where does this transformation come from? It comes from the Spirit. Listen, Paul says, by faith.
Okay. Through the spirit. By faith. We trust Christ for the salvation, the forgiveness. of the guilt of our sin, right?
But how many of us have been taught to trust Christ through the work of the Spirit to save us from the presence of our sin. It's the same thing. We trust Christ to justify us. We trust Christ to sanctify us by His Spirit. It's by faith.
It's by faith. And so the Holy Spirit equips us to press. On to continue moving forward. The Christian faith. And so the Holy Spirit, when he's poured out to us, What does he do?
He launches last days. He comes to us through the ascended Christ. He assures us of our Redemption. And finally, he transforms us. to the hope of righteousness.
Now here is the question. How do we respond to this? What does this mean for us? Go back to the book of Acts, chapter 2. Look at verse 37.
And it says, Now, when they heard this, that is Peter's proclamation. of Christ, the gospel. On the day of Pentecost. When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart. And said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, brethren, what shall we do?
What is the response to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? What shall we do? How do we respond? Look what Peter calls them to do. He calls them to trust Jesus for salvation, to be baptized, and to commit to Christ's church.
Look at verses 37 to 42. It says, Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter, to the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? Peter said to them, repent. Yeah. That's the friend turn Change your mind.
Turn, come to Christ, and look, repent, and each one of you be baptized. In the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then he quotes the Abrahamic covenant, Genesis 17, 7. Which is why we baptize our children.
He says more of the promise is for you and for your children. And he says, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself. And then it says, and with many other words, he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, be saved from this perverse generation.
So then and here it is look at this then those who had received his word were baptized They received the gospel. They trusted Christ. What was in response? Baptism. And what happens?
In that day, there were added about 3,000 souls. What were they added to? The church. 3,000 in one day.
Now that would be a great day at church. And then Well, look. They repented.
Well first they heard the gospel Because of that, that repented, received Christ, got baptized, added to the church. Once they're added to the church, what happens? Look, they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching. Scripture. And to fellowship.
To the breaking um red. Who are supper? Into prayer. What is this? This passage is the Great Commission.
In action. Right here, Acts chapter 2, verses 37 to 42. What does the Great Commission look like? Right there. That's it.
Right there. That is exactly what Jesus Commission the church to do. That's the great commission. And so, what is the response to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as he sends his church mission? The Great Commission.
It's very, very simple. First, heed the call of the gospel. Repent and trust in Christ. Then, if you've done that, be baptized. Be added to the church.
Commit to the church. Devote yourself to the church's apostolic teaching, to its fellowship, to the breaking of bread. Receive the sacraments. Come and pray. That's the response.
Here is the second response. Trust the Holy Spirit's pledge and power. Trust that. By faith, trust that. When life shakes you.
When your flesh seems to have the upper hand. When weaknesses beset you, Right? When hardships come come when challenges Face you face you. Trust the Holy Spirit's pledge. and power.
Jesus' obedience, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, he doesn't just represent us. He does represent us, thank goodness for that. But he doesn't just do that. He unites us to himself. How?
by the power of the Holy Spirit. He calls us out of spiritual death. He brings us into this new life through the gospel. He grants to us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and by the Spirit's power, Christ applies these transforming effects of his sacrifice and his risen life. Don't forget that.
Not just his sacrifice, but his resurrected life. He applies that Life to us. shaping us day by day. That's comfort. And so when you are in the midst of the struggle.
Come back and just pause and say. I trust. And you, Holy Spirit, your pledge. And your power now to new from me what I cannot do right now. That was the colic that we prayed today.
We confess that apart from you, we don't have any power to help ourselves. What a great prayer to pray in church. And so we pray, where does the power come from? From the gift of the Spirit. Who was poured out upon his people because of Christ's victory as he ascended.
And so trust the Holy Spirit's pledge and power that step by step, the Spirit of the risen Christ. Is turning once covenant breakers. into faithful covenant servants. Why? We can reflect His glory.
You have to trust that by faith. That's the second response. Trust the Holy Spirit's pledge. and trust his power. Here's the third.
Live as transformed people. No, that's an imperative. But listen to where the imperative comes from. If any man be in Christ, Finish it. Say it, come on, say it.
He's a new creation. Say, I am a new creation. Say it. Say it again.
Now, live as a new creation. You see how that works? Indicative first, imperative second. But if I just stood up here and said, live as new creations, live as new creations, live as new creations this week, live as new creations this week, none of you are going to do that. Because That imperative has no power to produce the reality.
It just tells you to do it. But if you're in Christ Jesus and you are a new creation, guess what I'm saying to you this week? Be Who you are? R. You see the difference?
Be who you are. And you're like, but it's hard. Yeah, I know. Babies don't. Start off running marathons.
They they wobble. They fall. They're like this, and you catch them.
Sometimes they roll off the couch in the den by accident. Oops. Didn't mean for that to happen. One time Olivia fell from the top to the bottom of our stairs.
Okay. Cut that out. It was 25 years ago, so we're okay. But that's my point. Listen, if you didn't realize you're new creation, the gospel declares that.
Over you. You're a new creation in Christ. If any man is in Christ, he's a new creation for through the Spirit by faith. We eagerly wait for the hope, the confident expectation of God's declaration: you're righteous. Not because of my performance, not because I was circumcised, not because I became a Jew, a Judaizer, Galatians, right?
Not because I did certain things, but by faith. In Christ, Galatians chapter 3, Paul says, I have been justified, made a child of Abraham. And with that declaration, Paul says in chapter 3, comes the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so, by the Spirit's power, Christ applies the transforming effects of his sacrifice to us, and he shapes us, and we can live as transformed people because we have been transformed. Does everybody see that?
And then forth, as we're seeking to live this out. Trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish it. This is what we do. I'm walking by the Spirit. Isn't this one-time act?
Right. It's a constant daily act of giving ourselves to the Holy Spirit through prayer.
So what do we do? We constantly pray to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit that He, the Holy Spirit, might day after day Moment after moment, second after second. Transform me into the image of Christ. Until after this life, I reached the goal of perfection, which is the hope of righteousness. That's what I do.
So when I woke up this morning And I was splashing water up my face because the sun doesn't come up at markers of that time change, and I don't like that. I like it when it's sunny at 6.15 in the morning because I can wake up. I cannot wake up at 7 o'clock in the morning and it's still dark. But it was splashing water on my face and I just said a simple prayer. I said, Holy Spirit, help me today to walk by the Spirit.
I want to walk by the Spirit help me do that today. It's just a simple prayer, and you just pray that every day constantly. When you're tempted to get into your flesh, just pause. Holy Spirit. The colic for today, I don't have any power at this moment to change my gross desires and passions.
You see it. You change it. And help me by faith. to live as a new creation in Christ. Does that make sense?
That's how we do it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, take these truths and apply it to our hearts. and help us by the power of your Holy Spirit to walk by the Spirit. And we have this great promise that as we do this, will not fulfill the desires and passions of our flesh.
And we thank you that we have the Spirit's pledge. and his power. And we thank you that we have the hope. The certainty. of righteousness.
Give us that certainty and hope today. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Yeah. John Fawnville sends his thanks for listening today.
And before we wrap up, can I tell you about an encouraging book you might want to get soon? It's called Hope and Holiness: How the Gospel Enables and Empowers Sexual Purity. You're not alone if you've tried to conquer sexual temptations and tried all the methods available, only to find yourself feeling defeated again. This book may be just what you're looking for. With his shepherding heart, John shows that the gospel, not practical steps or more self-discipline, is God's provision for the power to live a life of sexual purity.
and it's available to every Christian. What I like is the book is available in three convenient ways, paperback, audiobook, or Kindle. The links are in our podcast descriptions or just search for Hope and Holiness by John Fonville on Amazon to get a copy for you, and it's a wonderful book to go through with a small group. Him we proclaim is a ministry of Paramount Church in Jacksonville, Florida. You can find us at paramountchurch.com.
We'll talk again soon.
