Person of the Holy Spirit

men would consider, would conspire to put out this thought of the trinity of three distinct persons and all being of the same essence and all being co -equal and co -eternal and those things and I just think it's outside the scope of man because we really think of ourselves as what?

As unique, as one, as made up of different parts but nevertheless.

So anyway, as we talk about the Holy Spirit this morning, I want to make, I want to say it this way, the

Holy Spirit, the person of the Holy Spirit, the deity of the Holy Spirit, the fact that he's part of the trinity, has not been subjected to the same, if you will, critique, erroneous doctrines concerning the personal work of Christ.

In other words, what I'm saying is the deity of the Holy Spirit has pretty much been accepted from even the very beginning and if you think about it, that wasn't so with Christ.

You know what, they had all those opening councils where they were arguing over whether Jesus was

God, whether Jesus was part of the trinity, there was even arguments about whether he actually came into flesh and all those things but the

Holy Spirit kind of has always been accepted as part of the trinity, although I would still say that there are and have been many that have thought the

Spirit of God is nothing more than a force, an emanation, a power, and what

I really want to look at and we're going to spend some time just looking at scriptures this morning, but I really want us to think about as we go through it this morning is that almost exclusively whenever there is something said of the

Spirit, it's always said with the thought of he and he denotes what?

I mean when you say something, use a pronoun like this, it kind of brings out what?

Masculinity certainly. A person? Yeah, a person. So in other words, what the scriptures lay out is that the

Holy Spirit is a distinct person and again that whole thought of him being a distinct person and the

Father being a distinct person and the Lord Jesus Christ being a distinct person, thus we have three distinct persons within the

Trinity and again all of the same essence and co -eternal and co -equal.

So if you think about it, the

Spirit has been involved and the Spirit can be found in the whole

Bible and certainly from Genesis, could we find a spirit in Genesis?

What does it say in the very beginning? Spirit of God moved over the firmament.

Yeah, so certainly you could find it right there and then as you go through the scriptures, the accounts and the different prophets and subjects that are brought up, you could find the

Spirit of God where? In Revelation. Do you remember what it says in Revelation at the end in chapter 22?

It says, and the Spirit and the bride say come.

So what I guess what I'm trying to say is that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the reality of him being distinct and a person, you could find it from Genesis to Revelation and everywhere in between and I think that's something that we need to keep in mind.

Also, he's personal, right? It's not a it, it's not a force.

You know, in new ages we'll say the Spirit or whatever and they'll talk about it being a force.

Yeah, I mean it's that whole Star Wars thing, right? And that the force be with you and almost as if there's a good force and an evil force.

Well, if you really wanted to think about it, I could say well there's the Holy Spirit then there's evil spirits.

So you could draw that distinction, but yeah, and that's still around today, but just not as much.

But anyway, what I want to do is just start going through the scriptures and have some discussion about it.

So let's start in Acts chapter 5 because to me this is one of the places where, particularly in the

New Testament, it is absolutely clear that the

Holy Spirit is in fact a distinct person and yet he is

God. So we know the story, right? Ananias and Sapphira and they buy, they sell something and they keep back part of the profits and the whole thing.

And Peter in chapter 5 says to Ananias, why have Satan filled your heart?

In verse 3, why Satan filled your heart to lie to the

Holy Spirit and kept back part of the price of the land for yourself?

While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your own control?

And why have you conceived this in your heart? And now it says, you have not lied to men, but to who?

To God. So again, to me, this is an absolute clear passage that says in verse 3 that he lied to the

Holy Spirit and then in verse 4 it says you lied to God. So if someone denies the deity of the

Holy Spirit, then I would certainly be able to take them to this and establish it not exclusively from this, but I think this is one of the clearest of them all that we could see that the

Holy Spirit is spoken of as a distinct person and also as God.

All right, so we're in Acts, just go back to the first chapter for a minute. In Acts chapter 1, and again,

I only pulled out a couple of scriptures out of the abundance of them. So remember they're in the upper room and they're waiting for the promise of the

Holy Spirit. And in verse 12 of Acts 1, and then the disciples, they return to Jerusalem from the mount called

Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day journey. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room and they were staying.

Peter and Gezani names them all. And these all continued in verse 14 with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women in Mary, mother of Jesus and with his brothers.

And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and all together, our names were about 120.

And then he says this in verse 16, men and brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the

Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested

Jesus. So what do we have here? But that the Holy Spirit is what?

He's the author of the Bible. And that's one that I think at times we lose sight of.

In other words, and we're going to see this again. Actually, maybe it would be good to go now.

Go to second Peter for a minute. I want to show you something. And this is what

I'm trying to establish is not only is he a distinct person in the

Trinity, and not only is he a personal being, which we're going to look at, but I want to follow up with this thought about who wrote the scriptures.

And in second Peter, and again, this is one of those scriptures that we go to for a number of different reasons, certainly to prove the validity of God's word and different things.

But in second Peter chapter one, and he's been talking about the prophetic word in verse 19.

We also have the prophetic word made more sure what you do well to heed as a light that shines in the darkness until the day dawns in the morning star rises in your hearts.

Then he says this, knowing this first, that no prophecy of scriptures of any private interpretation, and we could spend a lot of time talking about that, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by who?

Holy Spirit. So who is the author of the scriptures? Holy Spirit. Could we find in the

Old Testament where it says, thus sayeth the Lord? Absolutely. Could we find in the

New Testament, certainly Jesus saying that he has the words of life? Absolutely. But yet it's also applied to the

Holy Spirit, which I think is something that sometimes people kind of don't bring it to the place that it ought to be.

I want to show you something else. I want you to go, if you will, go to Psalm 139, because again, now we're starting to get into the, not only the person of the

Holy Spirit, but of the character and the being of the

Holy Spirit. And again, some people make too little of it, and some people make too much of it and give it a undue consideration.

But I want you to see this in Psalm 139. So this is the one where we're talking about how

God knows everything. He says, O Lord, in Psalm 139, you have searched me and known me.

You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thoughts are far off.

You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

There's not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

You have hedged me behind and before and laid your hand on me. And such knowledge is too wonderful to me.

It's high. I cannot attain it. And certainly we consider the omnipresence of God, that God is not only always present in absoluteness, but God knows everything.

And so we can consider it from the fact that God is omniscient, and he knows, even as it says in other places, that God knows the thoughts that come into our mind, every one of them.

So that should give us a great kind of a fair awe of God.

You think? You can't hide, you know, you can hide your thoughts from people and men and all that, but you cannot hide your thoughts and wrong thinking from God.

No, and we really, I think we're pretty good at hiding thoughts.

You know how sometimes someone will say something to you, look one way, your mind is racing a hundred miles in another direction.

So yeah, but now look what it says in verse seven.

Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

So he just talked about the Lord's omnipresence and the Lord's omniscience.

And then he says this, where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you're there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the outermost parts of the sea, even there, your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light around me.

Indeed, and I always love this verse. Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from you, but the night shines as the day, the darkness and the light of both alike to you.

Which again is pretty expansive and explosive. If you think about what's really being said, that there is no place to hide.

Maybe Jonah never read this song before he decided to try to go to Tarsus.

But again, under the topic that we're talking about, it's describing the

Holy Spirit not only as a person distinct from the Father, distinct from the

Son, but that he has the same attributes and the same character and the same being and the same, he's co -equal in every way with the

Father and the Son. And I think it is interesting that this argument concerning the

Lord Jesus Christ and whether he was God or whether he was man, and maybe it's because he came as a man and that throws things in people's minds sideways, but the

Holy Spirit has pretty much always been accepted as God co -equal and co -eternal and of the same character, if you will, as the

Father. You don't have to turn to this one, but in Job chapter 33, it says, the

Spirit of the Almighty has made me. So who gives life?

And yet, we would have, we would certainly be right to say,

God has given us life. And in a sense, it's the same thing of Christ, because in him, all things consist, whether they be thrones or principalities or powers.

And so when you think about it, when we're talking about the

Holy Spirit, there really is no true argument to be held against the person and the work of the

Holy Spirit. And yet, we cannot lose sight of the fact that we ought to keep them as one and yet distinct.

Would you agree that some people make too much of the Spirit and some people make too little of the Spirit? So I wanted to say something about that, because when we were being brought up in the, well, not being brought up, but when we first got saved, we got, we went to Assemblies of God Church, right, for eight years and we got them.

And that's what all, that was the main focus of that, right, was being slung in the Spirit, being laughing in the

Spirit, being whatever kind of this, all kinds of stuff in the Spirit, right? And that's what they focused on.

Yeah. And even how the certain teachings promote a second work, if you will, of the

Holy Spirit, as if you get not only additional fillings, but you get an additional endowment, if you will.

And when you begin to think about that, what it really does to me, in my mind, it does injustice to the fact of the triune

God in that we are, we can say honestly that God the

Father made us, God the Son made us, and God the Holy Spirit made us.

Remember, even in the beginning, and some people will use it, some people will discount it, but remember what it said in Genesis, let us make man in our own image and after our own likeness, right?

And certainly, and we're going to see it in, I'm just going to hold off a little bit, but in reality, the

Spirit of God is the one who is active.

And again, I struggle with that thought, I would think that many people struggle with it, but it still remains that he is not only a distinct person and he's in the

Trinity, but that he has a personality and a being attached to it.

Let's just think about this, look in Ephesians chapter 4, and maybe not one that you might run to right away, but just to highlight the fact that he is not only

God, but he has a distinct being and personality, because in Ephesians chapter 4, we're told not to do something in chapter 4, and I believe it's verse 30, it should be.

Yeah, in verse 29, it says, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good and necessary for edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers, and do not grieve the

Holy Spirit of God. Now, how could you grieve a force?

And even there's other places where it says, don't quench the Spirit. So how could you grieve someone who's not, or something that is not a person?

If you think about it from that standpoint, when we grieve, we're offending, we're hurting, we're causing discomfort to someone else, not just something else, like I said.

And they're receiving it, and they're also receiving it. Right, right, and so we can't grieve the clouds in the sky, we can't grieve a force, but we certainly, and we do, we're pretty good at it, right?

We could grieve a person, or people, or that, but there's a personality attached to it.

There's a being, there are characteristics that follow it.

So again, these scriptures, to me, are proof texts, if you will, that the

Spirit of God is a distinct person, and yet part of the, if you will, what we have termed the

Trinity, and it's, of course, it's interesting, right, because you can't find the word Trinity in the

Bible. Is it revealed? Absolutely. And that's another thing, if you think about it from a progressive revelation standpoint, and we've drawn this, that line, you know, from when

God began in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and God has unfolded.

One of the things that he has unfolded straight through is the fact of,

I would say, the fact of the Trinity. Again, from Genesis, let us make man in our image.

If you wanted to read something concerning that, you could go into Isaiah, where God says, who's equal to me, basically, and then he almost tempts the false teaching, and he says, let them come together and confound us.

There's a section in Isaiah where it talks about us and we, and again, in the realm of personality and being.

Okay. Now, I want to look at some of the, if you will, the clear, important, probably familiar proof texts that will talk about the

Trinity and the personality of the Holy Spirit. Let's go here for a minute.

Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 13. 2

Corinthians chapter 13, and this one, more than anything else, demonstrates the fact that when we worship, we worship a triune

God, and not just emanations, and that's what the modalists will say, right?

Modalists will say that all we see really is different manifestations of God, different outworkings of one

God, but when you look at something like this, it's talking about three specific, distinct persons, all of the same essence and being.

So, 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 11, and Paul's closing out his letter to the church, and he says, finally, brethren, farewell, become complete, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the

God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss, and all the saints greet you, and then he says this, the grace of our

Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the

Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Is that not a proof text for the

Trinity? I submit to you, it is. Not only is it a proof text for the fact that there is a

Trinity, but it's a proof text that there is within the Trinity the Father, who's a distinct person, the

Son, who's a distinct person, and the Holy Spirit, who's a distinct person. How you understand that, because one of the things that people might say,

God is spirit. Isn't that what Jesus said? God is spirit, and those that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.

Okay, so what's the difference between God being a spirit and the

Holy Spirit? The Spirit is a distinct person, but yet God is a spirit.

Do you want me to try to explain it? Come back in about 10 ,000 years and maybe

I could try to explain it, because I don't understand it. I mean, again, that's why I say this whole thought of the

Trinity is mind -boggling, that maybe perhaps it's easier to understand it from the

Son, from the fact of the Son of God, because there was a manifestation, and God was manifested in the flesh, and we beheld his glory.

But this whole thing about God as a spirit and the distinct person of the Holy Spirit, that gets, again, and people have tried to make analogies, and they all fall short, by the way.

People have tried to describe the Trinity as steam and ice and vapor and all those other things, and man, that just comes up short, because I just think this is way beyond us.

It doesn't mean we can't understand it to a certain extent, but it's really above us, and that's why God is the

Great Other, because he is like none other, and there's none other that could be compared to him, and that's even, like I said in the section in Isaiah, where God says, who are you going to compare me to?

Let's try this first Corinthians chapter 12, because here now, we're starting to get into the particulars of not only the person of the

Holy Spirit, but of his activity. So, first Corinthians chapter 12, and this one is a little longer, but I think it's worth our time.

I'm going to read from verse 1 to verse 11.

First Corinthians chapter 12. Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren,

I don't want you to be ignorant. You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.

Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus a curse, and no one can say that Jesus is

Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. Now, there are diversities of gifts, but the same

Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord, and there are diversities of activities, but it's the same

God who works all in all, and there again is another indication of the Trinity, right?

Because it actually distinctly lays out the work of the same Spirit, the same

Lord, and the same God. So, okay, but let's go on. But the manifestation of the

Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. And you'll notice in your

Bibles, depending on what Bible you have and what translation you have, that when they put the

Spirit in capital letters, it denotes the Holy Spirit, versus the

Spirit in lowercase letters. So, that's something that the translators have done, and I think it's helpful, but it could also be misunderstood.

So, verse 7, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all, for to one is given the word of wisdom through the

Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same

Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit. And I just got to make this, you notice it does not say the gift of healing.

It says gifts of healings. So it's not something where someone can say that they are a healer, because it was never given out that way.

It was always given in the sense of a plurality. There were gifts of healings, not just the gift of being a faith healer, although many people have tried to confiscate that as if it's a gift.

To another, verse 10, the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, and there you can see it, the

Spirit is in lowercase letters, to another different kinds of tongues, to another interpretations of tongues.

The verse is really verse 11, but one in the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills.

Not as it wills, not as the force blows, it's as he, in his person, in his character, in his being, grants these gifts.

And if you think about it, you remember what Paul talked about in Romans chapter 12? I'll turn here, but Paul talked about how

God gave everyone a measure of faith, and then that's another section that deals with gifts, and it says to one,

God has given the gift of prophecy, another the gift of mercy, and all those things, and exhortation.

So there is, it's attributed to God in Romans chapter 12, and it's attributed to the

Spirit in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And again, I can show you in Ephesians where it says that it's attributed to Christ, because he led captivity captive, and you know what it says right after that?

It says, and gave gifts to men. So again, when you, you need to really look at the scriptures in their totality, and as they unfold, to be able to understand, to a certain extent, not only the fact that there is a

Trinity, but that there is, within the Trinity, a distinction.

And I've always said this, and maybe you would agree with me. As you look at the

Old Testament, the main speaker, if you will, and I'm not saying exclusively, but the main speaker seems to be

Jehovah. Then you come to the Gospels, and who's the main speaker?

It's Jesus. He's the one. And then you go into the epistles, and all of a sudden, the preeminence of the

Spirit, if you will, is demonstrated. In 1

Timothy chapter 4, I think it says, it says the Spirit himself says expressly, in the latter days, men shall depart from the faith.

Right? So he becomes, if you will, the speaker in a great way.

So there is that distinction that could be drawn. And again, all these things, when you put them all together, it's irresistible.

Let's, we got a few minutes, I want to try to get through these. Go to Romans chapter 8. And there's so much good writing out there concerning the

Trinity, and the person, the work of the Holy Spirit. And my goodness, there are volumes, after volumes, after volumes that have been written about the person of the

Holy Spirit. And there's also a lot of false teaching, too. So I want you to look at, in Romans chapter 8, in verse 9, it says, but you are not in the flesh, but in the

Spirit. And again, if you notice, in, it's in capital letters, it's an uppercase

Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, now, if anyone does not have the

Spirit of Christ, he's none of his. So there we have the

Spirit of God. And now we have the Spirit of Christ. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead, but the

Spirit is life. Well, Jesus also said that he gives life.

But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus, who would be who? The Father.

Right? If the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised

Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his

Spirit who dwells in you. These things are, they're beyond controversy.

I'm not saying people won't make a controversy about it. Just so we have enough time,

I want you to go to this John chapter 16, because this is probably one of the most essential, important considerations we can have concerning the work of the

Holy Spirit, personality of the Holy Spirit, and the activity of it as we see it unfold.

Remember that was, that was what Jesus said, right? If he says, it's your advantage that I go away, because if I go away, who will come?

Another helper, another comforter. Not that Jesus wasn't a comforter, another one would come.

And so in John chapter 16 in verse 5, he says this, Now I go away to him who sent me, and none of you ask me, where are you going?

But because I said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth.

It's to your advantage that I go away, for I don't go away, the helper who will not come to you.

But if I, if I depart, I will send, who? Him. Not it, him, to you.

And when he has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, of sin, because they believe not in me, of righteousness, because I go to my father, and you see me no more, of judgment, because the rule of this world is judged.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them. However, when he, again, person, distinct, when he, the spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak of his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will tell you things to come.

Then Jesus says this, he will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine, and declare it to you.

That's also the same thing that Jesus said, when he said to the father in John 17, that he has fulfilled

God's will, and he has glorified God on the earth, and yet now we're told in verse 14, the spirit of God, he will glorify me,

Jesus, but he will take what is mine, and declare it to you, and he got it from the father.

And again, that's all the outworking of the economy of salvation, right? And the economy of what the eternal counsel of God has set forth.

But nevertheless, the truth is still there. And then verse 15, all things that the father has are mine, and therefore

I said to you, he will take of mine, and declare it to you, a little while you'll not see me, and a little while, and you will see me, because I go to the father.

Again, you cannot, unless you really want to twist, and manipulate, and destroy the integrity of the scriptures, you can't get around this.

You cannot escape what's being said here. And in just what we hear in John 14, verse 26, in verse 23,

Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.

Well, who's that talking about? Spirit of God, right? Talking about the one who is to come in the son's place, as the son sends him to fulfill the desire of the son, and the father, and it's all to be found in the person of Mark and the

Holy Spirit. I think that's pretty clear, don't you? I think it would be difficult for us to twist this, and yet people found ways to do it.

People have found ways to either, again, what you were talking about before, a second work of grace, and, you know, even in the area of gifts, people have kind of said, well, there's a first filling, and then there's additional fillings, and I agree, there's additional fillings, but how will we be brought into the kingdom of God?

By being born again, and who gives that life? Who quickens that dead heart?

What was the promise of the new covenant? I will take out the heart of flesh, and I will put a new heart in you, and it's by the work of the

Spirit of God. You can read that in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36, it's the

Spirit. Matter of fact, if you remember what it talks about in Ezekiel 37, it talks about the dry bones, and who blows upon those dry bones?

The breath of God. The same way the Spirit of God moved over the face of the firmament in the beginning, it's all by the

Spirit of God. In John, and brother Keith just brought this up, in John chapter 6, remember in verse 63 it says, it's the

Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. So, all these scriptures, and like I said,

I could have really spent, well, volumes and volumes have been written about it, and we could have spent days upon days just looking at the movement of the

Spirit of God from the very beginning all the way through to, like I said, to the end, and that I just think one of the harder things to distinguish is that God is a

Spirit, and then there is the Holy Spirit, and I can't really get my mind wrapped around that.

Can you? George, can you do that? Can you explain that? It's just an amazing thing, and all these scriptures, and we could look at more, but all these scriptures are just so revealing and so encouraging to me.

Okay, so now we'll start to take some different outworkings of the

Spirit of God in particulars as we go forward, and then ultimately the next section will be the man himself, and then after that, and I think it's rather logical, is the church and different subjects, and then it breaks off into a bunch of different subjects about governments, and I don't know about you, but that's an interesting topic too.