Holy Spirit – Salisbury Baptist Church

God With us

14th June 2026

God's purpose is to gather a people for Himself, and so through Christ in us, to dwell with them. That is both corporately and also for each person an opportunity through faith in His presence and power, to be "Christ in you the hope of glory". This means that the present spiritual indwelling of Christ portends of the future time when we shall physically be with Christ in glory. That is, we have a present experience and a further future hope, both of which are more than just now socially being around the church, its worship, its influence and comradeship. It is a personal, spiritual reality actually experienced as we love the Lord Jesus as each our personal Lord and Saviour. Every individual must first personally have received the Lord Jesus as their own Lord and Saviour, and so being born of God, thus knowing individually and corporately the reality of His Spirit within. The great hope talked about in the Book of Revelation begins in the now of our spiritual conversion to Christ as God makes His home with those who truly belong to Him. One day this will be accompanied by a physical living in the presence of our Lord for ever.

Joseph’s Quiet Obedience

14th December 2025

The Father's generosity is not limited to earthly good things but extends to the giving to us of the Holy Spirit Himself. There is no second blessing, for the Spirit's coming is part of the one great blessing heralded by the gospel given to all who trust in Christ. Luke's wording reminds us that the Spirit is both the gift and the means through which the Father answers prayer. Obedience, as seen in Joseph's silent faithfulness, proves more valuable than words or status, for God's purposes unfold through Joseph's immediate and humble trust evidenced in simple obedience.

Christmas and the Holy Spirit

14th December 2025

Christmas is more than a cultural celebration of gifts and gatherings: a Christmas tree and gifts waiting to be opened under it. It is the reminder of when God Himself came in the Person of His Son to take on humanity and be one with us in a brand new way. The act of the Spirit of God to bring about the conception of Jesus as He overshadowed the womb of Mary gave a humanity to the Christ who already was eternally and totally divine, but now was also "one with us" a member of the human race. Yet the message does not end there. The Father now offers that same Holy Spirit to all who ask Him, not just for spiritual power as experienced in the Old Testament (Saul and Samson etc) but the indwelling of the Spirit within the New Testament believer bringing Christ's indwelling permanently into our very persons. To grasp the true meaning of Christmas is to receive not only the knowledge that God came to earth, but the Spirit is now given to each person who is born again through Christ bringing His presence and salvation into their hearts.

The Rise and Fall of King Saul

23rd November 2025

King Saul's story marks a solemn reminder of what it means to grieve the Spirit of God. Once anointed and filled with the Spirit, Saul's disobedience led to rejection and the removal of God's favour, even as he continued outward religious acts. In contrast, believers under the New Covenant are promised the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, never to be withdrawn. The account of Saul, set alongside David's plea in Psalm 51 and Christ's teaching to Nicodemus, confronts listeners with the need to be truly born again and to keep obedience and repentance at the heart of spiritual life.

Success and Failure before God

16th November 2025

God's measure of success is not worldly achievement but humble obedience and openness to His working. From Moses' mixed record of faith and failure, through Ananias and Sapphira's tragic deceit, to Paul's call to walk by the Spirit, the message urges believers to live under the New Covenant with sincerity and surrender. Where hearts are quick to repent and yield to the Spirit, divine grace brings renewal both personally and corporately, what Scripture calls revival.

The Word and the Spirit

2nd November 2025

The Holy Spirit speaks through the Word of God, guiding believers in decisions, convicting of sin, and bringing renewal to those who listen. The Old Testament reveals many lessons about the Spirit's work, how His light directs our steps, how Scripture exposes disobedience, and how obedience unlocks the Lord's response. The Word of God, living and active, never returns empty but brings real change to those who honour and trust it. True spiritual life and power grow quietly yet surely where God's Word is read, believed, and obeyed.

When God Takes Control

26th October 2025

Being filled with the Spirit requires not just a matter of emotion or human effort, but of surrender, allowing the Holy Spirit to take control so that what flows from us reflects His will rather than just our skill. In Acts 6 and 7 we see how ordinary believers, chosen for practical service, became instruments for extraordinary purposes when they were full of faith, wisdom, and the Holy Spirit. When we trust God's leading and obey even in small tasks, He often expands His work through us far beyond what we plan, providing what is needed and directing events for His glory.

The Fullness of the Trinity in Christ

26th October 2025

There is one God who exists eternally in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, working together in all that God does. Creation, redemption, and indwelling power are not separate tasks for separate Persons, but shared expressions of the one divine nature. The fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ, and through the Spirit He lives within believers. To have Christ is to have the Father and the Spirit also, and from that assurance springs the deep peace of heart that can say with certainty, "It is well with my soul."

Servants of the New Covenant

19th October 2025

Ministry does not begin with human decision or church appointment, but with the call of Christ Himself, who chooses and empowers His servants through the Holy Spirit. The first ministry was entrusted to the apostles as witnesses of the risen Lord, and every act of true service flows from that same divine commissioning. Our sufficiency is not just in ability or training, but more deeply in the Spirit who gives life and power to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. True ministry is therefore far more than a role or profession, it is participation in the continuing work of the risen Jesus.

Chosen, Redeemed and Sealed with the Spirit

7th September 2025

All who believe in Christ are chosen, redeemed, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. This is because before the foundation of the world, God lovingly purposed that we should be adopted as His children through Jesus Christ and made holy and blameless in Him. Through His blood we have redemption and forgiveness, and our inheritance is assured by the Spirit's seal. Life with Christ continually transforms us, moving us from striving in our own strength to resting in His grace, peace, and faithful guidance and power!