The Church: Its Meaning - The Protege of the Spirit of God, Part 1

On this second month of this new year, we want to continue our journey and our study of the church, its meaning, mission, and ministry.

We left off on the last Sunday of November. In Christmas, for the month of December, we studied about the coming Messiah. And then in January, we looked at there's nothing better than a good name, a new year's message for all of us. But we want to go back and pick up where we left off, looking at the church. And the church is not a place you attend. The church is all about a person you adore. It's the assembly of the redeemed, called out to worship and honor their King. And so we began a journey last June, looking at the church.

What is the meaning of the church? What is the mission and ministry of the church? And so on the screen behind me, we've covered nine points. We told you that the church is the plan of the Son of God. In Matthew 16, Christ said, I'm going to build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But not only is the church the plan of the Son of God, the church really is the possession of the living God. We have been redeemed. He bought us. He owns us. First Peter 2.9 says that we are his own possession.

And therefore, it makes the church a very special group of people possessed by the true and living God. So the church, the plan of the Son of God and the possession of the living God truly is the pillar of the truth of God. And we looked at that. 1 Timothy 3 tells us that the church is the pillar and foundation of the living God. We are the group of people that uphold the truth, not compromising the truth, because the world needs to know the God of truth. So the church is the pillar of the truth of God.

And then we told you, number four, that the church is the picture of the love of God. The Bible tells us in the book of Ephesians that Christ loves the church. And the most composite picture of God's love is seen in the assembly of the redeemed, for he truly loves us. And the picture of that love is seen not only in his redeeming of us, but how it is we interact one with another and demonstrate our love to one another because we love him, because he first loved us, and therefore we love one another.

And so the church is the picture of the love of Christ. And then we told you that the church is the product of the grace of God. The church is the product of the grace of God. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 1, 7, and 8 that that grace was lavish down upon us in unique and special ways. And the reason we're a part of the church of God is simply because of his marvelous grace. He has chosen to favor us, to grace us, to save us. And therefore, the church is the product of the grace of God. And then we told you that the church is the priority of the people of God.

If you understand the love of God, if you understand the grace of God, if you realize that you're possessed by God, well, the church is the priority of the people of God. We don't wanna forsake the assembly of ourselves together. We wanna gather together to understand that love and to experience the beauty of that oneness that we have in Christ. And so the church is the priority of the people of God. And then we told you that the church is the place of the worship of God. The assembly of the redeemed is that place where God is worshiped.

We are the ones who worship him in spirit and in truth. Philippians 3 tells us that we are the ones that have been marked out to worship him in spirit, to glory in Christ Jesus, to have no confidence in our flesh but we are the gathering of people that come together to worship and honor the name of our God. And then we told you, number eight, that the church is the protector and proclaimer of the gospel of God. In other words, as we proclaim the trueness of the gospel, we in essence are protecting that gospel and showing people the way to how they can be a part of the assembly of the redeemed.

And then we left off in November by telling you that the church is the pathway of the knowledge of God. In other words, as we gather together and realize that Paul in Acts 20 told the Ephesian elders that I commend you to God in the word of his grace which is able to build you up. And all of his letters were written to the church to show them how God has given gifted men to the church to equip the saints for the work of ministry. And therefore the church is the pathway to the knowledge of God. If you wanna know more about those, you can download the sermons from our website, listen to them, come to understand more of them if you haven't been with us or you just wanna review them.

But today we come to point number 10. And that is this, that the church is the protege of the spirit of God. The church is the protege of the spirit of God. The question is, what is a protege? That is an individual or a group of people that are guided, instructed, those who are influenced and moved in a direction by someone who is more mature and more experienced than they are. And the one that's more experienced and more mature than we are is the spirit of God. We are being led by the spirit of the living God.

So the assembly of the redeemed is the protege of the spirit of God. In other words, we are being moved and guided and directed by the one who is God himself because the spirit is God. Problem is we look at the spirit as, you know, third man on the totem pole.

We have God the Father, then God the Son, and then somewhere down here we got God the spirit. But they're all three in one, they're all equal and God has given to us his spirit. In other words, your body according to 1 Corinthians 6 is the temple of the spirit of God. The spirit of God dwells within us. We are baptized by one spirit. We are immersed by one spirit into the body of Christ. And it's Christ himself who does the baptizing and he puts us into the body of Christ. He immerses us with his spirit so we can be led by that spirit.

Romans 8 tells us that if you don't have the spirit, you're not one of his. So therefore we realize that the spirit of God is so crucial to the church of God. In fact, the spirit of God is not an it, nor is it an influence. It truly is a person, a person who can be grieved. In fact, the Bible tells us in the book of Ephesians, the fourth chapter, these words. It says, do not, verse number 30, grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. In other words, the spirit of God can be grieved.

It can be saddened. Why? Well, in the context of Ephesians 4, it talks about words that we use, that no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good, that which is used for edification, that it might minister grace to those who hear you. And if you don't use wholesome words, but instead unwholesome words, you bring grievance to the Holy Spirit of God. And therefore there must be forgiveness, no bitterness, no anger, no malice. Why? Because all those things grieve the spirit of God.

But not only that, not only does the spirit of God or can be grieved, but if you go over to the book of 1 Thessalonians, the spirit of God can be quenched. It can be dampened. To quench something is to throw water upon it. And the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse number 19, do not quench the spirit.

Do not despise prophetic utterances. When you despise the words of prophecy, the words of truth, you then quench the spirit of God. Whenever there's sin active in your life, it dampens the work of the spirit of God in your life. So this person of God, this spirit of God, can be grieved and can be quenched and can be lusted against. Galatians chapter five tells us, Galatians chapter five, verse number 16, but I say, walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire or lusts against the spirit.

And the spirit against the flesh. For these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. In other words, you can lust against the spirit of God. And that's when you seek to fulfill fleshly desires in your life and thus end up quenching and grieving the spirit of God. Also, you need to know that the spirit of God can be rejected. Tells us in 1 Thessalonians chapter four, as he gives us that exhortation about living a pure life, that this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality.

Because he wants you to live a pure life. He says these words in verse number eight. So he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives his Holy Spirit to you. In other words, when you reject the fact that you wanna live a pure and holy life to honor the Lord, you are rejecting the spirit's work in your life. That's why we understand the spirit of God truly is a person. Having said all that, I wanna talk to you about the spirit of God. This is not a lesson in pneumatology, but it's gonna be an eye-opener for you to understand the work of the spirit of God in your life.

So crucial for us to understand. And I wanna do it by taking you to a chapter in the gospel of Luke to help you understand the benefit that you and I have because we have the spirit of God in our lives. So turn with me to your Bible to Luke's gospel, the 11th chapter.

In Luke chapter 11, verse number one, the disciples come to Jesus and they ask him, Lord, teach us how to pray, as John's disciples asked him and he taught them how to pray.

Now I want you to notice something. That the disciples never asked the Lord to teach them how to preach. They never asked the Lord to teach them how to perform a miracle. They never asked the Lord to teach them how to lead their families. They never asked the Lord to teach them how to be better husbands. You would think that that would be something that the disciples would ask Jesus, but they only asked him to teach them one thing and that is how to pray. And the reason for that is because they always saw the Lord praying.

So if deity is communing with deity, there's gotta be something unique about that. They were always watching the Lord pray. Let me ask you this.

What is it your children ask you to teach them? They're gonna ask you to teach them what they always see you doing. What is most important to you is what you're always gonna do and it's gonna cause them to rise up, take note and say, teach me how to do that because that's what you're always doing. So it must be important. So the disciples watching Jesus all the time going off into the mountain to pray, they're saying, Lord, teach us how to pray because they knew that prayer was the power behind the ministry of our Lord.

They lived a life in dependence upon his father who was in heaven and they wanted to know how to pray as he prayed. So what does he do? He teaches them the disciples prayer. In Luke's version is an abbreviated version of what is taught in Galilee in Matthew chapter six. So in Matthew chapter six, Christ teaches the disciples prayer in Galilee. In Luke 11, they're in Judea and they asked the Lord to teach them how to pray. He gives them an abbreviated version. He says his words, when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation.

And then he anticipates what they were going to ask next. And so before they can ask the question, he gives them a parable. So there is first of all, the prayer, then the parable about prayer.

If God is sovereign and he is a king and he has a kingdom and he is in charge and has a will and that will is accomplished and he provides for us, he forgives us, then is there really a need for me to pray? So he preempts that by giving them a parable. In verse number five, he says to them, suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, friend, lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to set before him. And from inside he answers and says, do not bother me.

The door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything. Now think about this. We don't understand this necessarily because if we want something in the middle of the night, there's always a 7-Eleven that's open. There's always some convenience store that's open. So if a visitor comes to my house in the middle of the night, pray tell, I don't know what they're showing up at midnight for, but they come in the middle of the night and I have to get them something to eat.

I can always run down to the local convenience store and pick up something and give them something to eat. Now note, this is not an emergency. Nobody's dying. Nobody's bleeding out. This is not an emergency. This guy has a friend who comes to him in the middle of the night. So he goes to his neighbor. He knocks on the door. It says, wake up. I need some bread. Now remember, they made bread every day. It wasn't able to carry over to the next day. And evidently this guy made his at night so he'd have it for the next morning and then he would make it at night.

I have no idea why he would do that, but evidently he did. So his neighbor friend comes to him and says, I have a visitor that's come to see me and I need some bread. I need you to get up out of bed and give me some bread. Now remember, this is not like your house where you have an upstairs and a downstairs and there are four bedrooms upstairs and the guys on the downstairs knocking on the door and your children can stay upstairs and stay asleep in bed. No, this is a one room house. And all the children are sleeping in the same room as their mom and dad.

And so not only is dad up, but the kids are up, mom's up, everybody's up because the guy keeps banging on the door. Give me some bread to eat. This is annoying. This is a problem. The guy says, my kids are in bed. It's the middle of the night. Can't you wait till the morning? I don't need to give you anything to eat right now.

I mean, your friend can wait. No, my friend cannot wait. He's hungry. And I need you to give me some bread. Now, verse eight, I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs. He's not gonna give him anything because they're friends. He's gonna give him something just so that he goes away. He's persistent. He's shameless. He's bold. He's aggressive. He is not going to quit. He's not going to stop bugging the guy.

And so in order to get him away from his house, he has to give him some bread to eat. So you come to verse number nine. So I say to you. He doesn't say, I don't want you to be like the neighbor. He doesn't say that. Instead, he gives three present imperatives. So I say to you, this is the divine authority speaking. I'm gonna tell you what you need to do when you pray the disciple's prayer. When you pray the way I've asked you to pray, I want you to ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find.

Knock and it will be open to you. In other words, present imperative, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. In other words, I want you to be persistent. Ever wonder why you pray and there's presumably no answer? A delay is not a denial. Sometimes God delays because he wants you to know how persistent you're going to be. How serious you really are. Because he says, you keep asking, you keep seeking, you keep knocking. He says, for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

So he tells them just the opposite. You keep asking, you keep seeking, you be persistent, you be brash, you be shameless. That's why the writer of Hebrews says, let us come boldly before the throne of grace. Let us come unashamedly before the throne of grace. Why? Because that's what God has told us to do. And then when you come to verse number 11, he says something really, really unique. He says this, now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish. He will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

Or if he asks for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? He moves from the level of friendship to the level of family, specifically about a father. A father, when asked by his son for something to eat, doesn't give him something that will harm him. When a son is hungry, the father's not going to mock his son, no, he will take care of him. And so he says, if you then as a father being evil, wicked, which you are, you're depraved in your soul, right? Know how to give good gifts to your children, and you do, because you're their father and you love them, so you're going to give them good gifts, right?

As a father loves his children, so he bestows upon them good gifts because that's what fathers do. If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give, listen carefully, the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? Now, this is really important. How much more, if you think that an earthly father loves his son, and even though he's evil, is still going to provide for his son good things, I want you to compare this to your heavenly father, because I've asked you to pray, father, hallowed be thy name, right?

So you're praying to your father in heaven, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to him who asks? Now, does that mean that we are to ask for the Holy Spirit? Okay, so well, that's what it says. Well, in Matthew chapter seven, verse number 11, the same phraseology is used, except there it says, how much more will your father give to you that which is good to those who ask him? That's important, because the heavenly father who is a good God only gives that which is good. And the spirit of God is God, therefore the spirit of God is good, and the goodness that God gives is his spirit.

Now, remember Matthew chapter six, the Lord says that the father knows what you need before you even ask him. Now, as a father, I don't know what my children need before they ask me. Sometimes I can guess, but God doesn't guess, God knows. So God knows what I need before I even go to ask him. And because he knows what I need, he has already given me the source for all of my needs. This is how good God is, this is how great God is. Now, he knows that in the Jewish mindset, the Jews were looking for the spirit of God.

They knew that from Genesis chapter one, Isaiah chapter 40, Job 33, the spirit of God was involved in creation. The Jews knew that, they understood that. They also knew that in the Old Testament, that the spirit of God would come upon prophets, kings, priests, judges, individuals at different times to do great and mighty things. That's why David, when he sinned, said, "'Lord, take not your Holy Spirit from me.'" Because he had been granted this gift of the spirit of God as king over Israel to do the things that God wanted him to do.

And he knew that his sin was going to harm his relationship with God. And the last thing he wanted was for the spirit of God to be removed from him. But in the New Testament, there was a promise that was given in the Old Testament that would allow the Jews to realize that the spirit of God would be given to them. Ezekiel chapter 36, Ezekiel chapter 36, verse number 26. "'Moreover, I will give you a new heart "'and put a new spirit within you. "'And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh "'and give you a heart of flesh.

"'And I will put my spirit within you "'and cause you to walk in my statutes "'and you will be careful to observe my ordinances.'" This is a promise of the new covenant. The spirit of God is going to actually be in the people of God. And now they'll be able to keep the ordinances and statutes and commandments of God. Remember Isaiah chapter 40, Isaiah chapter 44. Verse number three, the Lord says, "'I will pour out water on the thirsty land "'and streams on the dry ground.

"'I will pour out my spirit on your offspring "'and my blessing on your descendants. "'And they will spring up among the grass "'like poplars by streams of water. "'This one will say, I am the Lord's "'and that one will call on the name of Jacob "'and another will write on his hand, "'belonging to the Lord "'and will name Israel's name with honor. "'Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel "'and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. "'I am the first and I am the last "'and there's no God besides me.'" That's why in John's gospel, in the seventh chapter, Jesus on that great day of the feast said these words.

John chapter seven, verse number 37. "'Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, "'Jesus stood and cried out saying, "'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. "'He who believes in me, as the scripture said, "'from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. "'But this he spoke of the spirit "'whom those who believed in him were to receive "'for the spirit was not yet given "'because Jesus was not yet glorified.'" He's taking from Isaiah 58, verse number 11, Isaiah 44, verse number three and Isaiah chapter 12, verse number seven.

So Jesus is giving them the promise of the fulfillment that there will be gushes of water, living water flowing from you because of the spirit of God that will be in you the promise of new covenant blessing. So Jesus knows this when he tells the disciples, when you pray, pray this way. But let me tell you, make sure that you're persistent in your prayers.

You keep asking, you keep seeking, you keep knocking because you know what? My father knows what you need before you even ask him so much so that to those that ask him, he will give to them that which is absolutely the best possible scenario. He gives you his spirit. This is amazing. That's why the church is the protege of the spirit of God. The church leads us. I mean, the spirit of God leads the church, you and me. He guides us, he directs us, he moves us. He is the mature one who takes us in the right direction.

So you go and you ask the Lord for comfort because you're suffering greatly. And instead of the Lord giving you comfort, he's already given you the comforter, John 14. I will give you another comforter, another of the same kind, one like me. Why? Because I'm going to send it to my father, but I'm gonna give you another comforter. You're gonna need guidance. Yes. So you ask the Lord for direction. And so he gives you the Holy Spirit as the guide. You ask for power, right? Why? Because you need energy.

You need strength to accomplish day-to-day tasks. And the Bible says in Acts chapter one, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you shall receive power, right?

Power. Now think about this. Think about the disciples in the Gospels and the disciples in the book of Acts. You're talking night and day. You're talking guys who are afraid, who are locked in the upper room, now able to speak before the religious establishment and say whatever they need to say to make sure God is glorified because they now have the spirit of power. You ask for discipline. Lord, I need to be disciplined. I'm engaged in this sin or I'm engaged in that sin. Lord, I need discipline to overcome this.

Second Timothy 1.7. God's given us a spirit of discipline, spirit of self-control. You say, Lord, I need to know how to love my neighbor. I need better yet, I need to know how to love my wife. Ah, the fruit of the Spirit is what? Love. Fruit of the Spirit is joy. For those who have no joy, what do you mean, you have no joy? Where's the Spirit of God in your life? The Spirit's there. You see, you're asking for an effect and God's already given you the cause. See, you're asking for the fruit. He's already given you the root.

I've given you my spirit. You're looking for joy. I've given you the spirit that produces joy. You're asking for self-control. I'm giving you the spirit that produces self-control. You're asking for gentleness. I've given you a spirit that produces gentleness. You need to walk in the Spirit so you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. You need to depend upon the Spirit. Live in light of the Spirit of God. This is what makes God just so unbelievably amazing. Because you see, he knows what you need before you even ask him.

But he's already equipped you with the resources you need to accomplish everything you need in this life. That's how great our God is. The Lord has given you his spirit. There are more resources in the Holy Spirit than you can even begin to imagine. And so we could entitle this sermon Whatever Happened to the Holy Spirit? Because that's a question we need to ask. Because the Spirit of God that he has placed within us, because it says over in John's Gospel, in the 14th chapter, these words, he says, John chapter 14, verse number 16, I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever.

That is the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him. But you know him because he abides or remains with you and will be in you. Can you imagine that? But the Lord had to die and he had to ascend into glory. And upon his ascension into glory, he told the disciples, tarry in Jerusalem until the Spirit of God arrives. Of course, you know the story of Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit of God arriving in miraculous ways to demonstrate to them that everything that God had said to them is now going to happen.

So now you have Peter who denied the Lord, no longer denying the Lord, standing strong for the Lord, right? You have all these disciples willing to die for the Lord because they all forsook him and fled in Mark's Gospel at the crucifixion. But now they're all willing to stand and die. Why? The Spirit of God is within them. See, that's what's important about God's Holy Spirit. And we've just touched the tip of the iceberg. And next week, I will show you what happens in the ministry of the Spirit of God in the life of the church, as we work our way through the text of Scripture to understand the blessings that God gives.

Our God is so good. He is so gracious and so kind. He never leaves you without the resources to accomplish his purposes. He doesn't. You can say all you want, I can't do that. I can't speak for God. Yes, you can. Because he gave you a spirit of power. So I can't discipline my life. I can't stop this. Yes, you can. He's given you a spirit of discipline. Spirit of discipline. Spirit of self-control. I have no control over my anger. Yes, you do. You can control your anger. He gave you a spirit of self-control.

You just have to be led by the Spirit. You have to depend upon the Spirit. You have to be controlled by the Spirit of God. That's all. He's given you the resource. Everything you need, he's equipped you with. Our God is so good. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today, a chance to spend this brief moment in the Word of the Lord. I ask that you continue to instruct us and teach us in the way that we should go for the glory of your name. Thank you that you've put the Spirit of God within us, that unites us all together as one body, with one spirit, for the glory of your name.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.