The Holy Spirit - Part 1
1. The Person Of The Holy Spirit
a. Basic Scriptures
John 14:16,17 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Luke 12:10-12 And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. 11 Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. (NKJV unless stated otherwise)
John 14:26 But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
Acts 1:16 Men and brethren, this 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;
Acts 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?
b. Strong’s Concordance
Strong defines the Holy Spirit in this way, The third person of the triune God is the Holy Spirit, who is coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Son. He is sometimes referred to in a way which emphasises:
* His personality and character (the Holy Spirit);
* His work and power (the Spirit of Truth).
* He is never referred to as a depersonalised force ... never It.
* Scripture is very clear when it refers to the person of the Holy Spirit or His power
2. Seven Things About The Holy Spirit
* Jesus is the Baptiser in the Holy Spirit.
* The Holy Spirit couldn’t come while Jesus was on the Earth.
* The Holy Spirit is our help and advocate now Jesus is not physically on the Earth.
* The Holy Spirit is our teacher, revealing Jesus to us.
* He is our source of power to fulfil the Great Commission.
* He is the giver of precious gifts
* When Jesus ascended He sent the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
a. Jesus is the Baptiser in the Holy Spirit
John 1:33 Before this I didn’t know who he was. But the one who sent me to baptise with water had told me, You will see the Spirit come down and stay on someone. Then you will know that he is the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.?
b. The Holy Spirit couldn’t come while Jesus was on the Earth
We had, and could only have, temporary glimpses of the Holy Spirit during the Old testament times, and through the lives of the Disciples to this point.
John 7:39 Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone who had faith in him. The Spirit had not yet been given to anyone, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
c. The Holy Spirit is our Help, Advocate & Comforter, now that Jesus is not physically on the Earth
John 14:16,17 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
d. The Holy Spirit is our teacher, revealing Jesus to us
John 14:26 But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.
John 16:4 I am saying this to you now, so that when the time comes, you will remember what I have said. I was with you at the first, and so I didn’t tell you these things.
e. He is our source of power to fulfil the Great Commission
Acts 1:4,8 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He said, you have heard from Me; 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
f. When Jesus ascended He sent the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Acts 1:4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. (NIV).
Eph 4:8 Therefore He says: When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.
3. When does the Holy Spirit come in power?
Jesus cautioned the Disciples to wait for power they were already born-again see John 20:22 Then he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. He specifically commended them to wait for the power to be His witnesses.
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
This is a old ground for arguing. This event is called being baptised in the Holy Spirit, so does this baptism happen only at salvation or following salvation?
There are those who argue one way, and equally sincere people who argue in the opposite direction. Which way is right? Turning to Scripture, we see that both are God’s way.
a. After salvation
Philip had seen a revival start in Samaria:
Acts 8:12,14-17 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
A group of Disciples were saved, but had not heard the full Gospel. They had received John’s baptism of repentance, but Paul baptised them first in water, then prayed and the Holy Spirit came.
Acts 19:1-7 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3 So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John’s baptism," they replied. 4 Paul said, "John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
b. At salvation
Acts 10:42-48 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 47 Can anyone keep these people from being baptised with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. 48 So he ordered that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
c. Conclusion
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit comes as the Holy Spirit, Himself, determines, not as mankind wants.
1 Cor 12:11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
We will look at the purpose, as well as the Gifts and the fruit, of the Spirit in the next teachings in this series.
