9.18.16~”Fundamentals of the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit”
The Holy Spirit is God, He is one of the three Persons of the Godhead, existing as one God, and yet a Trinity, made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit as God... He is also called the “Spirit of the Sovereign
LORD” (Isaiah 61:1), the “Spirit of God” (1Corinthians 2:11), the “Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9), and the “Spirit of Truth” (John 14:17).
The traits attributed to Him are the same ones attributed to God: Omniscient = all-knowledge (see Isaiah 40:13-14)
Omnipotent = all-power (see Romans 1:4; 1Peter 3:18) Omnipresent = all-present (see Psalm 139:7-8)
Eternal = no beginning or end (see Hebrews 9:14)
Some statements on the deity of the Holy Spirit: 2Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit.”
See Isaiah 6:8-10; Acts 28:25-27.
In Acts 5, when Ananias and Sapphira sold some property and brought what was thought to be all the money from the sale to the Apostles. In verses 3-4, Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
Both Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead that day, because lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God.
The Holy Spirit as a Person... He is characterized as a male (as are all of the members of the Godhead).
See John 14:17, personal pronouns “He” and “Him” are used 4-5 times, depending on the translation you have. As a person, there are certain attributes and characteristics clearly expressed by the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at a few:
Intellect... The Holy Spirit is able to reason, for He has intelligence and understanding, and He makes judgements based on sovereign wisdom.
John 14:26, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
Romans 8:27 tells us the Spirit has a mind, and He “intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.”
In 1Corinthians 2:9-16, we are told that the Spirit makes known to us the mind of God, “as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ -- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words
taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”
Emotion... The Holy Spirit both experiences and enables emotions. Ephesians 4:30 tells us He can experience grief. And Galatians 5:22 tells us the effect of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
Free Will/Volition... The Holy Spirit deliberately and intentionally determines and or acts accordingly.
1Corinthians 12: 7, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” 11, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one, just as He determines.”
Remember in Acts 13, the church in Antioch had several prophets and teachers, and in verses 2-3 it says, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”
The Holy Spirit as the Agent of Creation...
Remember Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
Check this out! Psalm 104:1-29 reminds us of all the marvelous things God has created — the heavens and all that is in them, the seas and all that is in them, the earth and all that is upon it — and then, speaking of all that was created, verse 30 says, “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.”
The Holy Spirit as the Agent of Prophecy - both the spoken and the written Word of God.
2Peter 1:20-21, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit as the Witnessing Agent of Christ.
John 15:26, Jesus said, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth [Holy Spirit] who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me.”
Again in John 16:8-9, “When He [Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in Me.”
And again in John 16:14, “He [Holy Spirit] will bring glory to Me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.”
The Holy Spirit as the Agent of Birth into the Family of God and God’s Kingdom.
In John 1:12-13, we are told that “to all who received Him [God’s Son], to those who believed in His name [Jesus-Savior], He gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”
In John 3:1-8, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, telling him that no one will enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again, and that he must be born of the Spirit of God. must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit [born of God, born from above].”
Romans 8:9 declares that the Holy Spirit lives in all those who belong to God, because you see, the Holy Spirit guarantees our salvation by marking [sealing] us as God’s possession, filling us with Himself, and placing us in the Body of Christ, the Church, which is the living and eternal family of God.
Ephesians 1:13-14, “You were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.” 1Corinthians 12:13, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” Colossians 1:18, “And He [Christ] is the head of the body, the church.”
Ephesians 5:23, “Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.”
In closing today, I want to try and help you grasp and understand the eternal and intimate relationship within the Godhead, in reference to the salvation and eternal exaltation we have freely received, because of God’s loving mercy and grace.
Think of it this way — God the Father initiated the plan to save us; God the Son fulfilled the requirements for our salvation, and God the Holy Spirit effectually and eternally transformed us from those who were dead to God in sin to those who are alive to God in Christ.
Titus 3:4-7, “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
Pastor Mike <‘(((><