Pneuma: The Forgotten Friend - James Murray

Hey guys, Pastor James Murray here, and I want to welcome you to the Abide Sydney podcast. This whole podcast is designed to help you on the journey of discipleship, and our mission is to make disciples of the people of Sydney, but maybe you're not from Sydney, we hope this blesses you, so sit back, relax, and enjoy this podcast. We are beginning a new series today, a five-week series, so all through the month of November, we're doing a new series called 'Numa', everyone say 'numa', 'numa', it's actually spelt 'pnuma', but that is a silent P in Greek, and it's actually pronounced 'numa', 'numa'. Now this word actually is a word that is used in the New Testament for the person of the Holy Spirit, and so we're going to package this beautiful, beautiful third member of the Trinity here over the next five weeks, and so on top of that we also want to allow space where we can pray for people, and we can allow for us not to get so caught up in just the religious routines that we can create, and I'll talk about this today, we've become so busy that we don't often allow for ourselves to be really in tune and aware of the Holy Spirit. So we're going to start today, my job today is huge, and so this is going to be like drinking out of a fire hydrant, it's going to be like oh there's so much to take in, but you love it don't you? The front row loves it, okay so no, I know you love it, but we're going to jump into Scripture and we are going to begin part one of this Numa series, let's come around the word of God starting in John 16 and verse 7, Jesus now speaking, he says this, "But very truly, I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away, unless I go away, the advocate, everyone say the advocate, yeah the advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you, when he comes he will prove the world to be wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment, about sin because people do not believe in me, about righteousness because I am going to the Father where you can see me no longer and about judgment because the Prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than I can, and more than you can now bear, I feel like that today, but when he, the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, everyone say all truth, yeah, he will not speak on his own, he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come, he will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you, all that belongs to the Father is mine, and that is why I said the spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you. Alright, this is God's word, we're going to this morning, part one, we're going to jump into this topic in this title, but I do want to, I want to first and foremost just ask a question, like how many people here, you come from a Baptist background, give me a little wave, come from a Baptist background, you see you're very slow to lift your hand, don't be shy, I'm not used to interaction are you, okay, Baptist, love you Baptist, love the Baptist, thank you that you're here with us, if that's your background, how many people here came from the Anglican background, who can, Anglican, alright, so now I love you, I love that you're here, I got a lot of beautiful Anglican friends, how many people here came from a Catholic background, wow, a lot of Catholic background people, beautiful, how many people here came from a Pentecostal church background, you see the difference, you see the difference, and our keyboard player clearly comes from, whoa, oh my gosh, okay, geez, that is, I did a sweat rag for this stuff, that's about to, alright, here's what I want to do, okay, regardless of the church background you came from, I don't want you to ignore the beautiful rich history of your church tradition at all, in fact we have many people from different walks of life, I'll ask one last question actually, how many people here you do not have any other church background except for this church right here, put your hand up, if this is the church you came to Christ in, a couple of people, okay, so interesting, interesting, so we are going to together embark upon a journey as a bide to go, well what does that look like in our church context, not ignoring your previous, but how do we collaboratively take what we know, but also come around what Scripture says, and go, well God, what do you say, what does your word say about the person and the power of the Holy Spirit, and so I have a goal of this series, and the goal of the series is this, ready, the goal is to move people from awareness to relationship, from knowing about the Spirit to living by the Spirit, we want our church community to walk away with a deeper intimacy with the Holy Spirit and that renewed dependence on His power in daily life, holiness and ministry, so that's what the next five weeks, that is the overall goal, and the big statement there, to go from awareness to relationship, that's what we want for you, and so we're going to speak today, part one, I want to speak from the topic, the title, the forgotten friend, the forgotten friend, and so let's pray, and really the big kind of thesis today is this, the Holy Spirit is the best, most powerful and most transformative friend you'll ever have, yet His friendship is the one we tend to neglect the most, can I say that one more time, there's a big point for today, the Holy Spirit is the best, most powerful and most transformative friend you will ever have, yet His friendship is the one we tend to neglect the most, alright, so you're ready to unpack this beautiful scripture today, let's pray, Lord we thank You for everything You're doing in the life of our church, and as we come around the person of the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, would You be so evident in this space today, we know You are inescapable anyway, so we just ask would You help us to become aware of Your thereness, God the people who maybe are yet to know You intimately, know the person of the Holy Spirit intimately today, that journey would begin to change, through Your work God reveal, and not only reveal but help us not just to be heroes but to step into a space where we can experience the fullness of Your Word, so we ask right now would You come Holy Spirit, do what only You can do, in Jesus mighty name we ask, amen, amen, turn the person next to you, you look like a nice friend, you do, you do, you can grab your seats, so a couple of weeks ago I was, in fact it probably was just a little under a month ago, I was preaching in the United States, I was at a friend's church, anyone from America? Okay, a couple of Americans, how come on Americans, that's awesome, and we were, I was preaching in a friend of mine's church in New York and then another friend of mine's church in Virginia Beach, and so during my journey I actually had the opportunity to stop by and see a friend that I hadn't seen in a long time, in fact I had been doing this ministry, like full time church ministry, I had been doing for nearly 22 years full time, so it's a long time doing this, I love what I get to do and very privileged, but you meet beautiful people along the way and so I had met this friend of mine when we were youth pastors together, in fact it was a youth pastor in Melbourne and we crossed paths because we were both youth pastors, we became really, really close friends, in fact we became such close friends that, like I would say he's one of my best friends, I have a very few best friends, have you noticed that as you get older, like yeah I don't think I have as many friends as I think, have you noticed that? You have more acquaintances but then there's friends, there's brothers or there's people who just bear in the thick of it, he is one of those friends for me and we have been doing this friendship journey for some time but he then moved to South Carolina and this is a little over 10 years ago, he moved to South Carolina to actually become a part of a church over there as a teaching team member and so he moved, I hadn't seen him for a long time but we actually speak on the phone at least once or twice a week, like it is, is that too much? Some people are kind of like oh that's a bit obsessive buddy, but once or twice a week we will call each other and we would just chat and most of the time it's not really about anything, it's just us talking about life or funny random things, in fact my wife Alana sometimes will be privy to the conversation and she's like you guys are like two old ladies, like all you do is just yap on about random things that make no sense but I love his friendship but again being in the United States recently I had two or three days where there was nothing planned in my schedule and he said why don't you come to South Carolina and spend some time with me and so I detoured my trip and I went to South Carolina which you've ever been to the South, it's South and a lot of barbecue and beautiful people and as we went there to hang I sat at his house with him and his wife and his kids and we just sat around in the pool area and we just chatted and man it was so refreshing for the soul and I realized as we sat around the pool area, I said to his names Dan, I said Dan you know we haven't seen each other in person for eight years, eight years, even though we speak every week we haven't seen each other in person for eight years and I came away from that trip and what I walked away with was like man yes I love the long distance connection that we have, I'm grateful for it but nothing beats just being there in person, there's something that happens when we are in the same space together and I realized in that moment there was something so you know just really beautiful about us in this friendship not being distant but being close and then I started to think more, just in regards to the person, the power of the Holy Spirit is that I think sometimes in a similar way our lives get so busy and even with church activities we get so busy that we easily neglect the closeness that we should have with the person of the Holy Spirit, the closeness, like question is anyone here you would say your life is reasonably busy, so you're so tired you can't put your hand up right, like that is, yeah like it's that time of year and we live in a busy city, in fact sometimes we can live in a busy church, there's so much happening in our social calendars, our church calendars, our kids calendars, you name it like we live in this hyperspeed lifestyle and it's not just detrimental to like just our physical needs, like we often so tired but it affects our relational dynamics because we're so busy to spend time with people, I know this when people move to our city I tell them like we want to get involved in the life of that church but I tell them in advance hey just so you know Sydney is really busy so don't think that people don't like you if they don't want to hang out with you but if they do want to hang out with you the chances are they'll say cool are you free in three weeks because it's just so busy but my concern is the relationship we could potentially neglect the most in our busyness is the Holy Spirit, it's just so busy, hey I love to spend time with you this morning Holy Spirit but I gotta get to work, I gotta prepare for this meeting, I mean I gotta get the kids ready and out the door like they're real problems are they not, that's real life but then I came across this quote this week and it's when I study for this just so you know I preach to myself first and I'm like oh shoot like oh wow Lord do a work in me and then get them right so love you okay so I came across this quote this week and it scared me, it scared me and it was why a guy called A.W. Tozer and that's what he said, if the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today 95% of what we do would go on and no one would even know the difference, if the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church 95% of what they did would stop and everyone would know the difference, it's not like that's sit for a moment, take that in, like could we get so accustomed to religious motion without meaning that we neglect the person and the power of the Holy Spirit, could we get so used to this okay 10 o'clock Sunday I come we do some Christian karaoke and then we hear a word and then we like could we get so accustomed to things that this becomes overly ritualistic that we like no we came to remind ourselves together corporately of our desperately yes for Christ but also for the gift that is the person of the Holy Spirit like we need him now before I get going on this I do need to lay the groundwork because when I start talking about the person the Holy Spirit there's a couple of different mixed responses in the room there's some people in the room are like yes I love this stuff I've been waiting for this series like anyone yeah you go you put your hand up straight away and then there's people who are like oh I'm skeptical about this type of stuff in church and so I wanted to really lay a groundwork first and foremost for our church as a buy it because I know this that and this is there's more than this so I'm trying to make a gross you know over exaggeration here but there is typically two camps in the westernized church right now there is what you would call like the reformed camp and then you would call that the Pentecostal camp or the charismatic camp and this is the most common perception about the two again I'm saying it's always the case they made that really clear but this is the common perception reform churches are deep but potentially dry charismatic churches are wide but potentially superficial would anyone agree with that again it's a perception I'm not saying all the time but this is it so some of you have come into this church and you're like so what type of church are you guys like what are you are you like because I see you preach scripture like you try to adhere to that and preach that quite thoroughly as a teaching team it seems like you're almost reformed in your approach to scripture like but yet I see the way you worship and I see like you guys are very demonstrative with your worship and you're very excited about God and His presence so what are you if you've come to a church and ask that question like what are you guys like I think you're Pentecostal I think think you're charismatic but are you like what are you and so I wanted to really lay the groundwork for that before we get going you ready what type of churches abide well we are not a church that only focuses on the truth of God's word and neglect neglects God's power nor are we a church that only seeks an encounter with the presence of God while overlooking the importance of growing in knowledge and of obedience to God's word we want both we want to dive into the depths of God's word and draw out all the liberating truth that it holds but we also want to experience the fullness of God's presence and take hold of all the power promised through the Holy Spirit in other words we want to be a spirit and truth church so if you're wondering what is abide well we are a spirit and truth church and Jesus said this there's a day coming with true worship is worship what in spirit and in truth so we need God's word but we need God's presence and we don't want to neglect either of them we do not want to become a dry church nor do we want to become a superficial church we want a church that is deep and wide and so that being said let's start talking about the Holy Spirit here is Jesus he is now this is what they would call the upper room discourse so this portion of John Jesus is upstairs having this meal with his disciples you know that have you heard that one the last supper and this is where this teaching comes from or where this narrative comes from is this particular situation and he's telling his disciples hey guys I'm about to leave you in other words he's alluding to his crucifixion his death and he's saying but I'm going to leave and something else is going to happen could you imagine being a disciple at the last supper and you're going somewhere like I've been with you for three years now Jesus closely following you I gave up everything to follow me follow you and you're leaving and then Jesus makes these radical statements which we're going to package today but the first things first we need to address this question who is the Holy Spirit he says very truly I tell you in verse 7 is good for you that I'm going away unless I go the advocate the advocate so who is the Holy Spirit is he is he an energy is he a mist is he a force is he a baron I'm joking okay like is he a feeling like who is the Holy Spirit like let's let's really get to know this person in fact when most people think of the Holy Spirit they typically only think of of the moment in Acts most of the time that's all they think they think about that up room encounter where the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples waiting in the upper room the hundred and twenty waiting there I found this picture this week this is actually a beautiful picture it's actually by a guy called Titian in Venice and this is painted in 1545 and it's actually probably one of the best pictures I've seen painted of the upper room and as you can see in this picture there's like flames falling upon people's heads and then what do you see in the middle it's dove and again you can see the the picture imagery and why the painter would have painted this because we know that when Jesus was baptized it says that the Holy Spirit came upon him like a dove just time out for a second he said like a dove he didn't say it was a dove there's a lot of imagery in scripture that the writer say it's like this and it's like that why because it's the closest thing I can get to putting an image to what I saw but it wasn't that so he says it's like a dove and most people think well this this this is where the Holy Spirit steps into the scene like this is it like yeah book of Acts like Holy Spirit comes and let's go but I want to very quickly is this all right give you a very quick overview of the history of the Holy Spirit you want to go there so here's the history let's go back to the beginning and a word that was used in the Old Testament and there's the word a Hebrew word Ruach can you say that okay you gotta get at the end everyone say Ruach beautiful Hebrew 101 so here is this word Ruach and what it meant and this is the Old Testament and it's used often in the New Testament of this the Spirit right and what it meant by definition meant invisible dynamic life-giving force invisible dynamic life-giving force so if you were to ask a Hebrew person back then like what is Ruach they'd probably describe Ruach like that like this is what Ruach is in fact if you go to Old Testament scripture you will see the word Ruach littered throughout Old Testament scripture so I've got a couple examples of this let's go there first things first Ruach as a creative power bringing life and order this is Genesis 1 what does it say that it was darkness covering over the earth and it says the Ruach hovered over the waters hovered over the chaos and then this creative force went to work to create what we now know as the world it was the Ruach again we see Ruach again as the empowering presence in other words it enables leaders and judges and kings and this is where you get to judges in the Bible and you got certain characters in the Bible like the Spirit coming upon Gideon the Spirit coming upon Samson what is that word it is Ruach coming upon Samson upon Gideon or you'll see Samuel with this again this anointing to prophesy and appoint kings again that is Ruach another Ruach is what is a prophetic voice so he inspires and speaks God's word so this is where you see Ruach again in Isaiah you see Ruach the Spirit compelling Isaiah to prophesy Jesus 700 years before Jesus showed up so the Ruach came upon Isaiah this prophet and he's like hey guess what this is one coming and he prophesized Jesus 700 years before and there's a lot of beautiful prophecies in Isaiah Ezekiel I love this one the Ruach in Ezekiel have you ever heard this story it's in Ezekiel gets this vision of a valley of dry bones see he says can these dry bones live and it says then the Ruach of God came upon and all these bones came together and everything this came to life what was that it was the Ruach again we go to Micah again in the Old Testament Micah prophesied by the Spirit the coming of Jesus and then we get Ruach in the Old Testament as a prophecy of renew or a promise of renewal which is pointing to the new covenant so again in Ezekiel the dry bones Joel he talks about in Joel the pouring out of his spirit so can you see already like the Holy Spirit is all throughout the Old Testament so it's one about that really really clear that the Old Testament was like hey sorry you haven't tapped me in yet I'm waiting for the upper room no he was there from the very beginning the very beginning like this this energy this force this dynamic thing the life-giving thing happening all throughout the Old Testament but then you get to the New Testament and then this other word comes in and it's Numa now Old Testament being Hebrew written in Hebrew largely actually is in Hebrew then you get to the New Testament and it's written in Greek predominantly and here you get this word Numa and the word Numa is the same word for Ruach but it's different it's it alludes to this personal active presence of God working in and through people working in and through people which asked the we got asked the question what happened between Ruach and Numa is that a good question to ask like why all of a sudden the spirit that seems like it's pouring out in a limited way in the Old Testament why is it now something that every believer now has access to like why why is it like there's heroes in the Old Testament scripture would you agree but why is it now like that there's no really this yeah we have heroes in the New Testament I guess that we admire and aspire to but but really it's like no this the spirit that came upon some in the Old is now accessible for all in the new so what happened yeah you guessed it let's talk about the cross the cross why because he is a holy spirit holy holiness is not it's something that cannot be tainted holiness is set apart different or perfect and so here is this holy spirit unable to reside permanently upon human beings why because of our sin stated condition and there comes this beautiful atoning work of the cross where now because of Jesus guess what you and I stand righteous before God like you because of Jesus guess what you are pleasing presentable and without shame before God in other words you are the perfect vessel now to hold to hold and to house the person the Holy Spirit in fact let's go there a little bit longer if you go to the Old Testament what do you see in the Garden of Eden you see God's presence don't you God's presence what is it doing walking in the garden the cool of the day with Adam and this is beautiful dynamic but then sin enters the world and God says but I still want to be with my people so he says hey Moses can you build me a tabernacle give me a place to dwell I need to be with my people but again if they get engaged with me in that sin stated kind of position this is going to destroy them but I still really want to be with them and so you see tabernacle and then you see Solomon what does he build a temple yeah it wasn't a trick question so there is Solomon he builds a temple and God's presence dwells in that temple and then from there all the way into Christ people like man that's where God's presence is and that's it and so this beautiful dynamic and then this moment happens watch this what made the difference Matthew 27 verse 37 a little excited but he says this is Jesus on the cross he says with a loud cry Jesus breathed his last what is no more this breath this life and now Jesus breathes as if to say I'm breathing my last so now you can experience this for the first time he breathed his last and the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom and then Paul comes along and says hey guess what you because of Christ work on the cross you are now a temple of the Holy Spirit a place where God's presence and spirit can now dwell can you can you just fathom that for a moment God the creator the star breather the one who speaks and things began who desperately wants to be in proximity and relationship with you and he does his best in the instant like the moment that man stuffs it up and man is this tragic story over and over again of just distorting and destroying God's perfect plan to be one with his creation but then Jesus comes along and God's like finally I can be one with them and what does Jesus pray I pray father that they would be one as you and I are one like to have this presence dwelling inside of you and here's what we see the difference the Old Testament versus the New Testament Ruach and this is the beautiful sign ready in the Old Testament there's there's Ruach which gives physical life but in the New Testament that it's new creation life which gives spiritual life you are born again through the spirit and the Old Testament Ruach it's like God coming upon leaders predominantly but now the baptism in the spirit empowers all believers for ministry and there's from a revelation perspective he inspires the prophets but now God speaks now openly empowers his word and then we have the indwelling which was temporary in select people to what the infilling which is the permanent position in all believers and then we have renewal in the Old Testament the promise it was a promise of inner renewal and then sanctification comes and it's not a promise it's a reality which now we know as the fruit of the spirit or the sanctifying work of the spirit and then we have in the Old Testament access which was limited and now the New Testament we have access which is unlimited like how many people are grateful for the person of the Holy Spirit and the finished work of the cross NT Wright says it like this the spirit who moved over the chaos of Genesis now moves into the chaos of human hearts to bring life order and holiness I'll read that one more time I wish I wrote it this this quote from James Murray the spirit now I'm joking the spirit who moved over the chaos of Genesis that Genesis one right that Ruach now it's this Numa and it moves into the chaos of the human heart to bring life order and holiness and Jesus makes this profound statement going back to the text very truly I tell you it is for your good that I'm going away unless I go the advocate will not come to you but if I go I will send him to you this is some Pharaoh is the Greek word for your good which basically means to combine in a way that brings profit like this is so profitable to you now imagine this I'm still on point one but imagine this imagine Jesus like in flesh like God has put on flesh he's dwelt among us right now and he's like let's hang out every single day walk with me watch me I'll talk to you I'll sit with you like we'll hang out we'll eat meals together how many people will love that and Jesus is this you know what that's not as good as the Holy Spirit that isn't that crazy because I know about you but when I read that I'm like yeah I wouldn't mind meeting with you at six for a coffee every morning like that would be really helpful for my life and marriage and it would be really good to have you and Jesus know it's your benefit that I go why because yes it was God in flesh but it was God in flesh restricted limited in that moment intentionally right so that one day now he can be the atoning work that allows for you not just to have the Spirit come on and off you but for the Spirit to dwell within you so I want to encourage you here today because he says this it's actually the paraclete is the word for advocate or paracletos which means what to come alongside a helper or an aid so I hope to change your dynamic here this morning first and foremost sorry your paranoia is that the Holy Spirit is a friend who is just like Jesus who will come alongside you help you and empower you for everyday life to live just like Jesus that is the person of the Holy Spirit that presence is now accessible for everyone who has said yes to Jesus and received his atoning work now guess what you are a temple of the Holy Spirit number two what's the role of the Holy Spirit in the world where it says this when he comes he will he's now speaking not to the believers but to outside but people who are not believers he will prove the world to be in wrong about sin and righteousness judgment about sin because it doesn't believe him and he goes down this whole discourse from verses eight to twelve and about this whole idea of he will prove in fact the word that he uses here is the word convict he will convict the world now watch this word convict it means this to convince with solid compelling evidence especially to expose you said that word convince so that's what the Holy Spirit is doing in the world right now right now he's doing that to people in your world right now this profound this is amazing he's convincing now convincing is the interesting word so my youngest son he he got twenty dollars for his birthday that's all we gave him I'm joking no no but we he got twenty dollars from someone and and he's and we went to this this is local tab and we go to have dinner with a family sometimes and there's a games room and there's one of those claw machines yeah you know the claw machines and that is like I should have got into that business I'm telling you right now it's a license to print money the claw machine why because the claw machine has the grip strength of a hundred and twenty year old woman like it's just like it doesn't have any grip strength whatsoever and and and he is convinced he can do it and he's like dad can I use my money to do it I'm like son don't do it don't do it it is a waste of money don't do it and he pumps it into that machine and he walks away so disappointed like dad what did you tell me I'm like I told you that this thing was a scam right don't do it right so this is this is actually what the Holy Spirit is doing in the world he's coming to people this is again this is baffles me the love of God is so profound that for those who yet to know him and love him he's pursuing he's going after them and he's trying to convince them or convict them and he says the word convicting you've actually says to convict them of sin he's trying to convict the world of sin so just before you get into that when he says convict the world of sin most people think oh he's convicting me of that way of life or those habits or all those other things and I believe that could happen very much but guess what he says he's ultimately trying to do he's trying to convince the world convict the world of sin why because he is actually trying to convict them about their belief in me do you know what the greatest sin is anyone want to answer no I'm joking the greatest sin you see we live in a world that says our man like crime is wrong which is wrong isn't it crimes wrong there's so many people responded to that maybe we need to do a series on that crime is what man wronging man but Jesus says I'm not going to convict the world of crime I'm going to convict the world of sin which is what man wronging God and so that is the greatest sin in my opinion and I can see this in scripture is actually um disbelief in Jesus it's the greatest sin you just people just don't believe in Jesus and that is the thing that will ultimately determine how this all ends for someone did you believe in serenity of life to Christ or not did you believe that and he said the Holy Spirit is convicting people of that believe in Jesus and some people in this room or many people in this room in fact you came to a point in your life where the Holy Spirit said man Jesus is the way he's the truth he's the life no one's getting to the Father except through him and what happened the Holy Spirit convicted you that that is the greatest belief and you need to come under that the next thing is going to convict the world of is actually of righteousness and again he's not talking about our righteousness in this particular portion of scripture he's talking about Jesus' righteousness that he is worthy to be praised he is worthy to be called God like he is worthy the world needs to know that the next thing he convicts the world of judgment interesting enough he's not talking about judgment for humanity he says this and judgment will come because the prince of this world now stands condemned and the Holy Spirit comes and he tries to convince the world hey guess what don't live the lie that the enemy has sold you he is already condemned in that interesting he didn't say humanity is condemned at this point he says no no the devil the Satan he is condemned it's already done for him but there's still time he has received his final judgment but humanity hasn't and so he's trying to convince the world don't live the lie the devil has solved this world which is what you can do all of this without God you can be your own God you can be your own saviour and he's saying that is coming from the father of lies and he has already been condemned he's trying to drag as many people down with him so catch this Jesus is saying the Holy Spirit's role in the world has convinced them that Jesus is what they have been looking for that he is what is the way to be made right with God and that the devil is a lie who says you don't need God to receive these things you can do it without him that's what the Holy Spirit is doing how many people are grateful for that number three last but not least the Holy Spirit is a person who does glorious things in us and through us verse 13 to 15 but when he everyone say he the Holy Spirit or the spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth and he goes on in verse 14 he will glorify me and he uses this beautiful language but again when we come around the person of the Holy Spirit what do you think I think some people think of the Holy Spirit has anyone seen Star Wars yeah of course you have it's not a support group has anyone seen Star Wars yeah yeah like Star Wars I think some people think of the Holy Spirit like that like the force you know like this weird like what interesting enough and here's the thing if you think of the Holy Spirit like a force it's very hard to get personal with that it's just a force this energy no it's not it in fact the Holy Spirit is a it says he he he's a person and says that he guides you into truth and I love this this idea of guiding now I don't know if you've ever been guided by someone years ago I was in Tasmania and I was flying a plane that's a long story and I'm obviously not a pilot but I was in the plane with someone who was and they said would you like to fly this and I said absolutely and had a kind of this joystick what have you is it a joystick anymore I don't know what is this okay had this thing wheel on his side on my side and I started to steer this thing and I didn't realize like like I was so excited and I started to dip and he was patient for a little bit and then he grabbed his thing and he pulled us back up and he's like well yeah and he was very calm and gentle there was two people in the back they were freaking out but I made sure they were Jesus followers before and it's alright you'll get there quicker I'm playing that's horrible but he got a hold of it and he says I need to focus on something James said what's that he said see that horizon line that's it I'm like that's very difficult to see so well I've also got this instrument that helps you understand what that is and that's what you gotta fly towards and what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit is that he will guide you and guess what he says he says he will guide you into truth and this Greek word truth means most truth or reality so what the Holy Spirit is trying to do is guide us into it but the reality that we now have in God isn't that amazing he's saying no let me show you the real truth and he largely does that by pointing us to his truth which is the word of God the next thing he does it says he will glorify and who is he glorifying he will glorify me or Jesus and this word glorified it means what to ascribe weight or to magnify and this is one of the prime kind of roles of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life is what glorified Jesus some people think oh it's to make me feel something it's to make me get those warm and fuzzies during worship like I'm not against those things by the way but it's actually not he's saying you know what he's trying to do he's trying to glorify Jesus and I'll show you a picture here is a picture of a starry night is that beautiful it's nice isn't it and you look at it and you can go wow and I've often done it I've looked up at the stars at night and just gone wow that is amazing however there's this thing called the Hubble telescope and if you were to get that Hubble telescope and you were to let it magnify that you'll actually see things that are even more amazing in fact here's one of them I have to write this down because it's beautiful it's actually called the butterfly butterfly nebula is what they called it I heard most people in this room they're like wow it is amazing to think that the stars out there there's that stuff there but you can only see it when it's magnified and this is what the Holy Spirit's doing in believers and what is he doing he's magnifying Jesus and the more you follow him the more it's not like wow I think I know all the mysteries of God you can't it's like knowing the mysteries of space but what you will have is constant moments of wow and this is huge reason wise because there is a war for your all there is a war for it wow like wow and we do we get caught up in all these wow moments in life that aren't God I'm like wow and I look at this house on realestate.com wow that's cool I like that then I up up the Audi catalog I'm like wow probably don't need it bro get it wow right and there's this war for your all but really the thing that deserves out all the most is Christ when we go wow and the only way we can get to that point is not like just well man I was going to read scripture more yes that's a good idea but to allow the Holy Spirit through that to magnify Jesus to the point where you're like wow wow I'm finished with this story and then we're going to pray for some people I came across this guy and I'll put his quote up in a moment he's a guy called Blaise Pascal and he lived in the 16th century and he was a famous famous French scientist and he actually died in 1662 and his servant found a small piece of parchment sewn into his coat sewn into his coat and when they took out this little note it was actually a piece of paper and on the top of it had a cross driven drawn on it and at the bottom of the words written was another cross and then there was this statement by Blaise Pascal and here's the statement he said this in the year of the of the Lord 1654 Monday November 23rd from about half past 10 in the evening until half past 12 God of Abraham God of Isaac let's say of God of Jacob not a philosophers nor of the philosophers certitude certitude feeling joy peace God of Jesus Christ my God and thy God thy God shall be my God forgetfulness of the world and of everything except God he is to be found only by the ways taught in the gospel greatness of the soul of man righteous father the world hath not known thee but I have known thee joy joy joy tears of joy the story goes that Blaise Pascal actually had that sewn into his jacket why because of this one encounter that he had with the person of the Holy Spirit he says I never want to forget this and he sewed it over his heart on his jacket joy joy joy tears of joy you see my prayer our prayer for this series as you would have an encounter just like this and yes that encounter can live it can move us to feelings clearly clearly but it's what's propelled that as the person of the Holy Spirit and I come back to this big point that I made at the beginning the Holy Spirit is the best most powerful friend you'll ever have yet his friendship is the one we tend to neglect the most can we admit that today for the Jesus followers in the room like that maybe we have neglected this friendship and what I've tried to do is lay a groundwork for the next five weeks to go hey this is the person we're talking about this Numa not a mist not an energy all those things like he's actually a person that wants to dwell well we hope this podcast has inspired you on your journey of discipleship to Jesus if you want to know more about our church just go to abide dot Sydney we'd love to get to know you if not you're from another place hey why don't you share this with someone else and hopefully it helps them as they continue to follow Jesus have a great week you