(NOTE: This series is based on the book Living in the Spirit by Dr. George Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God).
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John 16:12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Introduction
The actions and gifts of the Holy Spirit have been in the news a lot lately. I don’t mean the latest Christian TV advertisement or program but the actual news.
Megan Fox, most famous for her role in the blockbuster movie The Transformers, recently talked about her Pentecostal upbringing. She told Esquire Magazine how she often speaks in tongues. She told them about being raised Pentecostal and how speaking in tongues were a normal part of life. Fox told the magazine of how she was baptized in the Holy Spirit at the age of 8.
There was also a recent interview with pop music phenomenon Katy Perry. She was asked by Katie Curic about her Pentecostal upbringing and whether she ever spoke in tongues. Perry answered in the affirmative and talked about it being a way that God speaks through ordinary people.
Neither of these young ladies are role models for whom I would want my children to get their theology. Their public life is not demonstrative of a life that is being led by the Holy Spirit.
Nevertheless, we can see from the buzz these interviews caused that people are interested in gifts of the Holy Spirit. I think these interviews stir up a deep need in individuals to connect to something greater than the stars who are talking.
Unfortunately, when most people hear about the Holy Spirit it is usually in the context of speaking in tongues. This is unfortunate because it takes away from the fact that the Holy Spirit is a person. God is One: God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
(TRANSITION) The Holy Spirit is a person who guides us, teaches us, empowers us, convicts us of sin, and most importantly, continually points us toward becoming more like Jesus Christ. Sure, when we are baptized we will speak with new tongues, but that is only one aspect of the bigger picture of the person of the Holy Spirit. So, before we get to the actions of the Holy Spirit let’s get to know the PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
1. The Holy Spirit Is Not A Force (Impersonal)
To better understand the Holy Spirit as a person we must come to the understanding of what He is not.
When we speak of the Holy Spirit we must remember that we are not speaking about a force like gravity. Gravity is impersonal. It is a law of nature that works to keep things and people fixed to the ground. Gravity is that force that makes some of us angry at the bathroom scales – but it is an impersonal force (whether you believe that or not).
In the interview with Megan Fox she spoke of the act of speaking in tongues as “magical” and “intense.” She even compared the intensity to that of a voodoo ceremony. In actuality she is describing a “force” not a person. It seems her understanding of the Holy Spirit has more to do with the externals of the Spirit.
In Pentecostal circles we often talk about the “move” or “unction” of the Holy Spirit. That is fine to use those words. But we must realize that behind the move is a person – not an impersonal power that we are trying to harness.
ILLUSTRATION: I remember a day when people danced before the Lord. When it was Spirit led it was a beautiful thing. But I also remember how some people would just go nuts and wriggle and squirm and jerk like they were having convulsions.
After one of those kinds of services I was really distraught. I thought surely the move of the Holy Spirit would be something decent and edifying. Not something scary!
As I prayed about this I began to understand that because we often see the Holy Spirit as just a force we just want Him to “get a hold of us.” Like electricity, we wanted the zap and energy but weren’t always familiar with the personal source.
As we get to know the Holy Spirit personally we will recognize that He does want to get a hold of us. But not just to demonstrate His power – but to work through us and help us to do the will of God. A force may push us into something but a person will guide us into truth.
2. The Holy Spirit Is A Person: How Do We Know
Some of you were in the Adult Bible Class this morning and heard Dr. Wood teaching on the person of the Holy Spirit. At the risk of sounding a little redundant I want to emphasize some of the points He made in his teaching.
A person is a person because they possess 3 characteristics: intelligence, feeling and will (or determination). The Scriptures clearly teach us that the Holy Spirit has all three of these qualities.
• Intelligence
1 Corinthians 2:11 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.
According to Paul no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. This indicates to us that the Holy Spirit has intellect – He has a mind. He knows and searches the deep things of God. AS well the Spirit not only knows the deep things of God but he know the deep things in our hearts. Look at Romans 8:27
“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
The Holy Spirit communicates with the Father and with us. He knows the will and plan God has for your life because it comes from the Father and the Spirit then guides us into that plan.
• Feeling
Ephesians 4:30 tells us, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Only a person can be grieved. Now I want you to get a hold of something here. Notice Paul does not tells us that we ANGER the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not mad at us!
The word grieve speaks to the idea that we have wounded the Holy Spirit through our willful disobedience to God’s plan. He is grieved (sad) when He is trying to empower us to be the best God wants us to be and we do not respond positively. Instead, we do our own thing despite the convicting and guiding and teaching of the Holy Spirit.
Only a person can be grieved!
• Will (Determination)
Paul told the church at Corinth, “It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have” (1 Corinthians 12:11 NLT).
The Holy Spirit “decides which gift each person should have…” We do not determine the gifts and callings God has for our life. No! The Holy Spirit decides what spiritual and natural gifts we are to be given. He is doing what is best for the body and is acting in accordance to the will of the Father as He distributes gifts to the body.
To be led of the Spirit is to understand what gifts you have been given and then work in them. Grow into the gifts. Reach for excellence in pursuing you calling. But always remember your gift(s) have been specifically given for the glorification of God and to bring you joy in fulfilling His intended purpose.
Only a person can make decision – exercise His will.
3. As A Person the Holy Spirit Acts
There is a common thread throughout everything I have been talking about this morning. That is, the Holy Spirit, because He is a person with intelligence, feeling and will, acts. In other words, the Holy Spirit works from God through us.
The Scriptures point to the reality that the Holy Spirit: worked in creation, works in bringing people to salvation, leading us and guiding us into truth, and much, much more.
It is by the actions of the Holy Spirit through us that others see Christ. The Holy Spirit always points to Christ in all of His actions.
Only a person with intellect, feeling and will can ACT.
CONCLUSION
I could spend a lot of time talking about the various symbols and metaphors used in Scripture to describe the Holy Spirit. If you want to know more about that I would urge you to attend the Adult Sunday School class.
Let me make this point. We can get a lot of head knowledge about the Holy Spirit. We can spend hours poring through the Scriptures (and we should) in order to learn about the Holy Spirit. But the end result of that is not just head knowledge – we want to know Him.
We can learn a lot about a person just reading about them. A lot can be learned from studying the actions and personality of an individual. But we need to MEET THE PERSON to truly get to know them intimately.
He wants to come into your life and make you more like Christ. He wants to speak to you and through you. He wants to talk to you about the gifts He wants to give. He wants to be your friend and confidant.
ALTAR RESPONSE
Here is how I believe we should respond this morning. I believe we should simply come to the altar with one petition – HOLY SPIRIT HELP ME TO KNOW YOU.
• Help me to surrender to your guidance.
• Help me have a heart of obedience that listens for your prompting.
• Help me to hear your voice and act on it.
• Help me to recognize the gifts you want to give me.
HOLY SPIRIT HELP ME TO KNOW YOU PERSONALLY THIS MORNING.
