Holy Spirit Explaining His Name

I want to talk to you this morning about the meaning of the Name ‘Holy Spirit’.

Firstly, let me remind you that the Bible teaches us about the Divine Trinity of God the Father; the Lord Jesus Christ His Son; & the Holy Spirit.

The very name of the third member of the Divine Trinity, namely, the Holy Spirit, is a message from God to us. God didn’t name Him …. Moses or Mary or David or William or Harry or any other human name…. for a reason. The primary reason is that the Holy Spirit never became a human being, as JESUS did.

Each name of the members of the Divine Trinity conveys a message to believers and readers of the Bible.

The name of God, the Father tells us that God is the Source of our very being. There would not be; and there could not be a human race, nor any other thing in all creation without God. “in the Beginning, GOD…”

FATHER willed it; SON spoke it; H/S did it. We also learn from this Name that God cares for us and treats us as the PERFECT Father would care for and treat His children.

The Name of JESUS was the name given by the Angel Gabriel to both Mary who carried Him in her womb and gave birth to Him in Bethlehem; and to Joseph, who raised Him in Nazareth. This name means “The Lord SAVES” … and it was given to JESUS, because He (& He alone) saves people from their sins. (Matt. 1:21)

JESUS saves us from the punishment of our sin; from the guilt & shame of our sin; and from the power of sin and bad habits that lead to sinful behaviour.

William Barclay: Meaning of “Salvation”

(1) Conclusion from the Old Testament

“Salvation” describes the saving, preserving, providential power of God in the crises of history and the crises of the individual life. It speaks of a care which does not stop in this life and a care which makes the person, who is wrapped around by it, sing with joy.

(2) Conclusion from the New Testament

“Salvation” is that which saves a person from all that would seek to ruin his soul and body both in this age and in the age to come.

N.T. “salvation” is a TOTAL SALVATION, because it means saving a person’s soul, in the eternal, spiritual realm AND saving a person’s body and mind, through the ministry of healing.

As I said, I want to focus this morning on the Name of the third member of the Divine Trinity, namely, the Holy Spirit. God wanted to tell us certain things by our consideration of this Divine Name.

The Word ‘Holy’ tells us 4 main things: Firstly, it tells us that God is pure; clean; and perfect like Jesus, the ONLY Person Who has NEVER SINNED. He was tempted in every way that we are; yet He did not commit sin. ONLY He ‘fit’ 4 Heaven.. we enter IN HIS NAME.

This part of the Name also tells us that HOLINESS is V.I.P. to GOD. The Bible says we are all sinners; we all need JESUS to be our Saviour.

The Bible teaches that GOD’s love for us is un-conditional; but it is also un-compromising.

The Word ‘Holy’ tells us that God expects, in fact demands, that His followers, His children live a lifestyle that avoids and rejects sin & evil.

JOKE: Pastor in a hurry; parked illegally in the city and left a note for the traffic warden “please don’t book me – remember the Lord’s prayer says deliver us from evil”. When the pastor returned to his car, he found a notice of a fine having been issued with the comment – “the Lord’s prayer also says: lead us not into temptation”.

Secondly,the word ‘Holy’ in the Divine Name “The Holy Spirit” means Devoted to God. (Joshua 6:18,19 = ‘devoted’ & ‘sacred’)

This refers to God’s passionate desire for us to choose to be, and prioritise our lives so we actually are, in close, personal ‘devoted’ relationship with God.

Thirdly, the concept of being HOLY, meaning ‘devoted’ to the Lord, refers to the irrevocable giving over of persons or things to the Lord. (NIV Study Bible pg. 342)

To be truly ‘saved’; to become a truly ‘born-again Christian’; to live a truly ‘Holy’ lifestyle means a person must give his/her whole life, for the rest of their earthly life, over to the Lord. Fully & permanently surrendered, submitted, consecrated to God.

We cannot ask JESUS to be our Saviour, without submitting to His Lordship in our lives. No-one can treat God as if He were a fool, or our servant. When a person becomes a Christian they must put a sign over their life, saying UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. God is not merely our Hell-fire Insurance agent; Nor is He some kind of heavenly waiter, Who comes rushing to answer our prayers, and to shower us with good things, whenever we snap our little fingers… but Whom we are free to ignore while we have a good time on His Earth;