The Holy Spirit

Throughout history, man has sought to better understand his world. Copernicus studied the movement of the stars in the 15th Century and later that century, Columbus sought to discover a new path to India. In the 20th Century, the US sent men to the moon, and in the 21st, a joint group of nations launched the CERN Hadron Collider to better understand antimatter and atomic energies. Each year, the US spends over $1Billion dollars in Oceanic Research and NASA's budget was just under $24Billion in 2022. The search of the unknown is nothing new. Mankind has a hunger for knowledge and truth. I believe God placed that hunger inside of us.

God wants to be discovered by us. (Jeremiah 29:13) Just as there are discoveries about the seen, physical world yet to be made, there are spiritual discoveries that we should be diligently exploring. The Bible says that this world is passing away, but that the next one is eternal. (1 John 2:17) Friends, we should be exploring the spiritual world with the same fervor and diligence that we are peering into deep space and exploring the ocean depths. What an amazing blessing we would receive if our country had a budget line of $24 Billion to seek God and all that He has for us!

Most Christian denominations agree that the Holy Spirit is part of the triune God. The Holy Spirit is mentioned in the "Apostles Creed", which was written around the 5th Century and is nearly universally adopted as foundation of doctrine established by Christian Churches to this day. Yet, there seems to be so much controversy regarding who the Holy Spirit is and what His role is in our lives. There are some that believe that miracles have ceased (Cessationists) and there are some that believe to have the Holy Spirit, you must speak in tongues to receive Him. There are some that believe that you receive all that God has for you when you get saved and there are some that believe in a second baptism. My prayer is that during this lesson, you would keep an open mind. My goal is to help you understand who the Holy Spirit is, His role in your life and my prayer for you is that you would desire to receive more of Him.

At the Last Supper, Jesus gave implicit instructions to the Disciples about what to do after His death. He told them to go to Jerusalem and wait. John 14:16-17 says, "And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the whole world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." Further in the chapter, Jesus says, "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." (NIV, emphasis added)

Jesus said the Holy Spirit will:

• Be our Helper
• Abide with us Forever
• Is the Spirit of Truth
• Will Dwell with You
• Will Dwell in You
• Will Teach You All Things
• Bring to Your Remembrance the Words of Jesus

The Holy Spirit wasn't just for the early apostles, He has a role in every Christian's life. His role is to be your helper, your teacher, your truth guide and will dwell with you and in you forever. The word, "Holy Spirit" in the original Greek was "Pneuma". Though some have translated the word pneuma as "wind", Pneuma isn't just wind, it is more literally translated as the "breath of life" and is required for something to live. Just as God breathed life into Adam, He is breathing His "Life" into every newborn Christian by giving each of us His Breath, His Life--His Holy Spirit. God gives His Holy Spirit to every new Christian.

God gives us the Holy Spirit so that we can have the help we need, the life we are called to and the guide for our journey. Man's internal desire for truth is simply another way for God to draw all men to Him. God gave us His Word and the Holy Spirit to equip us for the life that God has for us. We cannot live our best life without the Holy Spirit. If you're still in bondage, you need more of the Holy Spirit, not less of Him.

A Tale of Two Peters

The apostle Peter, lived with Jesus--the Word (John 1:1) for three years. Peter knew Jesus; therefore, He knew The Word, yet Peter was vastly different before the day of Pentecost than he was afterwards.

Pretend for a moment that you are the apostle Peter who lived with Jesus for three years during His ministry. Think about the things you saw while with Jesus. You saw blind men and lepers get healed. You saw the lame walk. You saw Jesus speak to the wind and the waves and they became calm. You took a step of faith out of the boat and walked on water and when your eyes moved from Jesus you began to sink, but He saved you. You saw Him feed 5,000 men with just a few loaves of bread and fish. You saw Him raise Lazarus from the dead.

All these things you saw, yet when they came to arrest Him, you ran. You were afraid for your own life. You had just spent three years with a man you were certain was more than a man and you couldn't stand with Him at his darkest hour. You abandoned Him. You denied him when a little girl asked you if you were with Him.

Fast forward past the crucifixion and death on the cross. Past Him being raised from the dead and the certainty that this man was/IS the Son of God. That His message was one of Truth and Hope and Assurance that God loves you and everyone so much, that the One you were with was sent on a mission to redeem you. The mission was death on a cross. From the first steps He took as a babe in Nazareth to the last ones He took on the Via Dolorosa while carrying His cross to Golgotha, He knew he was born to die the brutal tortuous Roman death of a martyr, cursed on a tree.

The comfort He knew of the Holy Spirit, the God that was with Him throughout His whole life left Him alone in the winepress of Gethsemane. The sin of the world was piled upon Him. Every sin. Every vile deed that man had ever done or would ever do, was piled upon Him while he carried that cross. Every disease. Every sickness. Every iniquity. He bore. The pain so intense that He sweat blood and cried out, "My God, why have You forsaken me?". (Matthew 27:46 NIV)

As His disciple, you didn't see his mother's tears flowing down her cheeks. You didn't see the Roman soldier's shake the dice in their hands as they gambled over his clothes. You didn't see them, you had to hear about his last words because you ran and hid, you saw the sun darken and felt the earth tremble under your feet. You heard about the veil in the Temple being torn and wondered what it all meant? Was He the Messiah? You had been taught all your life that the Messiah would come from the lineage of David and would establish His throne forever. Bewildered, lost, and broken, you went back to doing what you knew best--fishing. Half-hearted, half in a daze over all that had happened, you couldn't help but feel abandoned, disillusioned, and empty. Hope was gone. Death had conquered and perhaps, He was really just a man. In your heart, you had to wonder, where was this eternal Kingdom?

Then there He was on the beach. He was alive! He was who He said He was! He was the Messiah and everything that He had ever taught you was true. Not only that, but there were also so many other signs and symbols that were fulfilled that you never noticed before now.

Peter's restoration happened in an instant. Jesus broke the curses Peter spoke over himself when he denied Christ three times, by three times, asking Peter if he loved Him. When that was finished, Jesus spoke over Peter and said, "On this rock I will build my Church." (Matthew 16:18).

But Peter needed a helper. He had already seen Jesus perform so many miracles and yet he still ran when Jesus was arrested. Full of doubt and fear, Peter was ineffective at leading even the ten other disciples at that moment until the Helper came.

We call the day that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, the day of Pentecost. Pentecost just means 50. It was 50 days after the Passover. Peter and the rest of the disciples waited for the promised gift and on the fiftieth day, this happened:

Acts 2:1-5 (NIV emphasis added)

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Peter made a speech to the crowd, convincing them that Jesus was the Messiah, whom they crucified. Over 3,000 of them were convinced, received the Gospel and were baptized. In Acts 2:17, Peter quoted the book of Joel, "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams." Later in verses 38 and 39, "Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." (NIV, emphasis added) With this statement, Peter verified that the gift of the Holy Spirit is for everyone.

The same Peter that ran now stood boldly and preached the Gospel to the very same men that called for and sanctioned the crucifixion of Jesus. The only difference between the first Peter and the second Peter is the Holy Spirit. This power that came upon him, the eloquence and understanding of the scripture and all that had been fulfilled, was what the Holy Spirit imparted to Peter during those days. Remember that Peter didn't even want Jesus to go to the cross. Jesus admonished Peter, saying he had his mind on things of this world and not on things from the Father. (Matthew 16:23) But after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit taught Peter and gave him the words to say throughout his ministry. Let's reread what Peter said in verse 39, "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off…" The promise that Peter spoke of is the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to His disciples. The very same promise that God gave to Peter and the Disciples, God freely gives to you and me. The Holy Spirit will give you understanding and boldness.

The Holy Spirit is Your Guide

Jesus told His Disciples that He couldn't teach them everything at that time because they couldn't handle it, but that the Holy Spirit would teach them what they needed to know. John 16:12-14 says, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you." (NIV, emphasis added)

The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. How will you know what is true? You must discern His voice and verify everything that you hear and learn with the Word. We learned last week that God's Word is even greater than His Name! His Word never fails, nor changes. When we hear from the Holy Spirit, make sure that what He tells you lines up with God's Word. If it doesn't, then what you hear isn't from God, but more probably from the pizza you ate last night! There are Truths that are yet to be revealed and confirmed through Scripture. Just like the intrepid European explorers that discovered new lands as they set sail, the Holy Pneuma of God wants to fill your sails and take you on a journey of discovery.

The Holy Spirit Convicts

Jesus names three areas in which the Holy Spirit will "convict" the world: sin, righteousness, and judgment. What does it mean to convict? To our modern ears, the word "convict" makes us think of a trial or prosecution. However, Jesus is speaking more of the word in the sense of persuasion or the word we use for "convince". The Holy Spirit will convince the world of God's truths concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. (So, let's let the Holy Spirit do His job and let's not do it for Him. ) Here's what Jesus says about conviction, sin, judgment, and righteousness in John 16:8-11:

"When He comes, He will prove the world to be in the 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.

It's not too subtle here, that Jesus is saying that not believing in Him is sin. It is missing the mark. Jesus knew that He was the standard bearer of righteousness, but that He would no longer be here to be the example for his disciples and for us. Furthermore, the judgement that the Holy Spirit levies is on the prince of this world--Satan, not on us. John 3:17 says, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

The role of the Holy Spirit is to convince us that we are in sin and that we should change direction. Judgement comes after we die; conviction happens to chasten us, to help us and to bring us into right relationship with Him. Since "sin" means to "miss the mark" we could make this statement: The role of the Holy Spirit is to convince us that we're not heading in the right direction. If our goal was to drive to Seattle from Atlanta and we start seeing road signs for Orlando, we need to make a turn or we're not going to get to the land of smoked salmon! The same is true for us, spiritually. Whether we realize it or not, when we are in sin, we are not heading in the right direction. Depending on the sin, we could be taking a detour, or we could be on a collision course with destruction.

The Holy Spirit's role in your life is to give you boldness, power, knowledge, lead you into truth, guide you, and convict you of your sin so that you can live the best life that God has designed for you. His ability to gently convict us of our sin and lead us to a thriving life is unmatched. You can't get free of the bondage we've discussed over the last three weeks on your own. You must have the Holy Spirit to help you get free! Sincerely ask Him for help and He will help you!

The Holy Spirit is a Person

Soul

How do we know the Holy Spirit is a person? A tree is alive, but it is hardly a person. A person is a being with a soul. (Mind, will, and emotions). Hebrews 10:38 says, "Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." The Word of God says that the Holy Spirit has a Soul.

Mind

There are dozens of scriptures about the mind of God… Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways", says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." The Word of God says that God has a mind. Does the Word say that the Holy Spirit specifically has a mind? Romans 8:27 says, "Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God." There it is. The Holy Spirit has a mind. (And He prays for you!)

Will

The Holy Spirit has a will. His general will is unchanging and can be verified by what's in the Word. Remember the verse in John 16? "I will have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." (NIV, emphasis added) If He didn't have a will, He wouldn't have His own authority, but rather only the authority of the Father. The Holy Spirit has His own will.

Emotions

Most of the fruits of the Spirit are emotions. Can a tree love or be patient? Can a tree show kindness? (A pox upon all of you who quote "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein! ) A tree can't love. It might be alive, but it can't experience joy. Ephesians 4:30 says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." The Holy Spirit can be grieved; therefore, He has emotions. The Holy Spirit has emotions.

The Person of the Holy Spirit

The Word is clear, the Holy Spirit is a Person and not an inanimate object. He's not a ghost that haunts you or a wind that merely blows. The Holy Spirit is a person with a mind, will and emotions that loves, can be grieved, and should be sought for guidance, for truth, for help, for conviction, for power, authority, and boldness like the boldness of Peter. The Holy Spirit is a person, and therefore He can be our friend. He is the Emmanuel--our God with us! Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would never depart from us.

Fruit and Gifts

We deepen our relationships when we invest time in them. When we spend time with people, it's inevitable that part of them will rub off on us. We'll pick up their habits, their nuances, their vernacular, and parts of their personality. We come to resemble those whom we admire. When we admire and spend time with the Holy Spirit, we become more like Him. Paul wrote a letter to the Galatian Church, enumerating what that looks like. These are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, in other words, this is what we become when we hang out with Him:

Fruit of the Spirit

• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Patience
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Faithfulness
• Gentleness
• Self-Control

We can all use more love, more joy, more peace, more patience, more kindness, more goodness, more faithfulness, more gentleness, and more self-control. I love the line in verse 23 that says, "against such things, there is no law." Mankind has never adjudicated against any of God's personality traits! Every facet of Him is good.

Power

Galatians 5: 16 says, "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." If you are white knuckling your sin, then you aren't walking by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives you strength to overcome all things. Romans 8:11 says, "The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you." Jesus didn't raise Himself from the dead, the Spirit raised Him. That Spirit lives inside of you. You have power, you have authority, you have a guide, you have everything you need to overcome, to defeat the enemy and live a victorious life! Acts 1:8 says, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." You can use your own strength to walk 500 miles, or you can get into a car and drive there with almost no effort. As Christians, we have access to power in the Holy Spirit. We don't have a car; we have a rocket ship!

Love

Romans 5:5 says the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to walk in godly love toward others, "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (NIV, emphasis added) We receive supernatural love for those around us that God is calling us to help. Even the wicked love their families and those that are kind to them, but we are called to love our enemies? We receive that kind of love from the Holy Spirit; that kind of love doesn't come naturally for us. Charles Finney described his encounter with the Holy Spirit in this way:

"The Holy Spirit… seemed to go through me, body and soul… I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves of liquid love, for I could not express it in any other way."--Charles Finney

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

We all have the Holy Spirit who can say that Jesus is Lord. So, everyone that is saved has a deposit of the Holy Spirit. However, there are degrees and amounts of the Holy Spirit just as there are those that have $1,000 in their checking account and those that have $100 million in their checking account. Both have money, but one has more than the other. One has enough to live on for a few weeks, the other has power to buy businesses, buildings, and change the world around him. How much of the Holy Spirit do you have? Do you have enough to live on for a few weeks or do you have enough to change the world around you?

The enemy has made the Baptism of the Holy Spirit into something weird, but it wasn't weird for the apostles or those in the early Church. What about the Baptism? What is it and how does it happen?

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a beautiful gift that God wants you to have. You don't have to be baptized in the Holy Spirit if you're a Christian, but as Chris Hodges says, "I don't have to kiss my wife to be married, either but it sure is fun." God wants you to have this gift. I believe He gave us the example of two baptisms in the Old Testament when the Israelites crossed over the Red Sea, symbolic of the blood of Jesus and then later, crossed over the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. We are saved from the sure death of the Egyptian army by the red sea of Christ's blood, but we can't take the Promised Land unless we receive the second baptism of the Holy Spirit, as symbolized by Israelites crossing the Jordan River. We need power to fight the giants in the land. We need the Holy Spirit. I believe many Christians are stuck in the first baptism of water, the baptism of repentance, and wander around in the wilderness their entire Christian life. They aren't taking ground for the Kingdom because they lack the power, the boldness, the directive, the learning, and the vision. Many Christians are in just as much bondage as the rest of the world because they haven't received the second baptism that God wants you to receive. The early Christians baptized with water, then the elders laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. The early church was our rubric. Everything they did was very well documented.

Read what Paul did for the very effective evangelist, Apollos in Acts 19:1-9

Acts 19:1-9 (NIV, emphasis added)

1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?"

"No," they answered, "we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

3"Into what, then, were you baptized?" Paul asked.

"The baptism of John," they replied.

4Paul explained: "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus."

5On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.

Paul, the author of about two-thirds of the New Testament taught that there was a second baptism, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is supplemental to the deposit of the Holy Spirit that you received when you became saved. Why would Paul ask them if they had the Holy Spirit if all that they needed was received upon salvation? Paul asked because they needed to receive something more that didn't automatically happen upon salvation.

How do we receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? It's a gift that is received. We must want the gift and we should ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Remember however, that the Holy Spirit is a person that can be grieved. Don't grieve Him by rejecting Him before you get to know Him in His fullness. The enemy of your soul wants you to think He is weird or something you don't want. If I was your enemy, I'd do my best to keep you from picking up your weapons! I might let keep the pocketknife you have, but I'd keep you away from the fighter jets!

The Holy Spirit is your personal Friend. Your Teacher. Your Helper. Your Guide. Your Source of Strength. He is the Power that will help you take the Promised Land of your life. He's a Gift to you, from God. Just as there was a difference between the two Peter's, there will be a difference between you before you received the Holy Spirit, and after.

It's not weird to want to spend time with your friend--especially when He says that's all He wants. It's not weird to ask a good friend for something in which He has an abundance of, right? If you had a thousand-acre apple orchard, it would be silly for your best friend to go hungry. But if he thinks your apples are weird and doesn't want them, you wouldn't force them on him. But if he asks, you'd say "Take all you want." with gladness! Why? Because when we have an abundance, we naturally want to share it.

God has an abundance. If you want to hear His voice better, ask Him for clarity. If your daughter needs healing, ask Him. If you need to quit smoking or over-eating, and you need more strength, ask Him! He will give you the strength. He will give you MORE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you want more courage to be able to witness to a friend that's lost, ask Him. Our God gives good gifts. If you need more wisdom to be able to discuss a difficult situation with your son, ask Him! He's your ever-present help in a time of need.

Tongues

I'm not a scholar. I don't have a Biblical Studies degree. I never attended seminary, nor do I read a ton of religious books. My foundation is the Word. I read it and study it and everything that I take in, I verify with the Word of God before receiving it. There is no statement made in the Bible that says EVERYONE will speak in tongues. There's also no statement that says anyone shouldn't. Let's not get bogged down in this dilemma. The early Christians certainly spoke in tongues, and I know that tongues still exist because God has blessed me with the gift of a prayer language. God is the giver of good gifts. Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7, NIV) If you want more power to overcome, if you want more teaching, more wisdom, more love, more boldness… Then you should ask, seek, and knock on the door. The Word is THE Word. There is nothing that supersedes it. Not church doctrine or edicts nailed to the church door. Not a brilliant three-point sermon… Nothing on earth is greater than His Word. The Word says what it says about the Holy Spirit and tongues. Seek the answer for yourself and close any predispositions. Ask God if it is good for you and He will answer you.

Tongues isn't something that's weird; it is a way to communicate directly with God that bypasses our soul (mind, will and emotions). God uses the gift of tongues to edify our spirits. 1 Corinthians 14:4 says, "Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but the one who prophesies edifies the church."

Definition: Edify--Instruct, improve morally or intellectually.

Every one of us needs edification. We all need more instruction. Is it better to prophesy? I believe that is what Paul is saying, but that doesn't negate that there is a need to be edified.

The Holy Spirit edifies, convicts, cleanses, teaches, guides, corrects, loves, gives love, imparts power, and will help you take your Promised Land. I don't know if you'll speak in tongues when you get baptized in the Holy Spirit. But if we follow the example of Paul in Acts 19 and we lay hands on those that ask for and want the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Our Friend is a good Friend. He will give freely, out of His abundance.

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic* Church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

*Catholic here means, universal church--and not what is known as the Roman Catholic Church.