The Ministry Of The Holy Spirit Series

The highway department hired a new painter to paint the lines on the road. The first day on the job he painted lines on a five mile stretch of road and he was the talk of the department. The next day he did well again, but this time only two and a half miles. Still, it was very good.

On the third day he painted one and a quarter mile of road. His results were not nearly as impressive. On the fourth day it was three quarters of a mile of road painted. By now there was concern at his drop in performance, so his boss called him in to find out why the decline in output.

When he was asked about why he only painted half as much each day as before he openly told them the reason. He said, as I keep painting, I go further and further away from the bucket of paint. He somehow did not know he could move the paint bucket along the way as he painted.

That would be ludicrous, but we want to be sure we don’t do something like that with our spiritual resources, thinking that we go to church to get filled or we attend some dynamic meeting. We want to understand that the ministry of the Holy Spirit should be an ongoing experience. The Holy Spirit is our spiritual resource for our Christian life and ministry.

‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6)

We want to look at the Holy Spirit in context to our overall Biblical study of God. We keep in mind that Holy, creator God is One. We also keep in mind that there is one God in three-person, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For context the other studies can be accessed here.

The God We Worship

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/2-the-god-we-worship-brad-beaman-sermon-on-god-269787

The Fatherhood of God

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/3-the-fatherhood-of-god-brad-beaman-sermon-on-fatherhood-269715

The Authority of Jesus Christ

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/4-the-authority-of-jesus-christ-brad-beaman-sermon-on-authority-269651

From a practical standpoint the Holy Spirit is the most important of our studies on God. Just as the illustration of the painter highlights, we do not need to think the Holy Spirit is our Spiritual resource we go back to at an event. He is our daily moment by moment resource for supernatural living. That is why this may be the most important study of our studies on God. We must have the divine empowering of the Holy Spirit to be relevant as believers.

The Nature of the Holy Spirit

The Bible establishes that the Holy Spirit is God. He Holy Spirit is interchanged with references to God. These passages then speak of the Holy Spirit as God. When Ananias and Sapphira had sold a piece of property they lied about it. Keeping back a portion for themselves they represented it as the whole they received.

Then 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? 4 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 just to human beings but to God.” (Acts 5:3-4)

Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead. Lying to the Holy Spirit and lying to God were interchangeable expressions. Paul interchanges God and Holy Spirit when he talks about the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in you so God dwells in you.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

When we look at the attributes of God, the qualities of God we see that the Holy Spirit possesses all of the attributes of God. God is all knowing. The Theological term for all knowing is Omniscience.

When the Holy Spirit has revealed truth to us, then God has revealed truth to us. These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10-11)

Another attribute of God, and therefor attribute of the Holy Spirit is all powerful. The theological term is omnipotent. The Holy Spirit is all powerful as in the work of the virgin birth of Christ.

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)