The Holy Spirit

Today I'm going to talk about ten benefits of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. When you speak of the Holy Spirit as a topic, most people turn to the Book of Acts, because they think that's where it began. Actually, the Holy Spirit shows up in Genesis 1:1, and He shows up in Genesis 1:26 when the Bible records, "Let us make man in our image". Obviously, "Us" is more than one. The Holy Spirit is never to be referred to as "It". The Holy Spirit is God. There is God, the Father: Jesus, the son: God, the Holy Spirit, co-equal in purpose and power, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit in creation. I believe that Genesis 1:1 probably could contain the most truth of any singular verse in all of the Bible. And let me explain why. It says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth".

That sounds very simple until you consider every word. "In the beginning" was before creation. Time did not begin until the sun and the moon were created so that time could be calibrated. The dateless past, "In the beginning". Time started afterwards. The Holy Spirit shows up in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning (in the dateless past), God", the word there is "Elohim", it is the plural form of "El," which in Hebrew is "God". Plurality of persons means there's more than one. Therefore, it would be, "In the beginning (the dateless past), God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit", and now we come to the word "Created," which means bara, which means to be made from nothing.

Scientists and atheists can tell you what happened after the world got here or what they think happened. But they cannot tell you how it got here. Genesis 1:1 very clearly says "God made from nothing and created this magnificent universe in which we live. He is the author and the finisher of all things". The gap between verse 1 and 2: could be millions of years. If your son comes home from college and says, "The professor says they've carbon dated a rock that's 50,000 years old". The professor's probably right, because there is no time clock running between Genesis 1:1-2, as the earth is in a state of void. Verse 2, the Holy Spirit appears again, and he hovers over the earth. And when he's hovering over the earth, supernatural power is released in the creative work of the Holy Spirit.

And that's where we're going to begin with purpose number one. The Holy Spirit is a hovering force that brings supernatural power to you and to everything you touch. Read with me Acts 1:8. Ready? "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 ends of the earth".

Father, thank you today for the power of the Holy Spirit, which is still very much intended to be a part of the New Testament church. In Jesus' name, we pray and ask it. And all of God's children said, amen.

Consider the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus. John the Baptist, who came specifically to introduce Jesus, presented Him as the baptizer in the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3:11, John speaking, "I (John the Baptist) baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come One who is more powerful than I Whose sandals I am not fit to carry". He's talking about Jesus. "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire". Two things, "Holy Spirit" and "With fire". These are two experiences on the day of Pentecost in the upper room. There were 120 followers of Jesus Christ in the upper room. Back to the Bible math: why were there 120? Because there were 12 tribes. Because in Israel, you could not have a legitimate prayer meeting without ten people being present. Ten times twelve is 120. This was a national prayer service. Every tribe was there ready for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And "Suddenly there came from Heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting".

I'm quoting out of the Book of Acts. "There then appeared cloven tongues of fire that set upon each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit of God gave them utterance," Acts 2:4. According to Acts 2, there were 16 languages that were spoken by different groups of people that had converged on Jerusalem at this time of the year for celebrations. This was an evangelism explosion par excellence, beyond anything that you can possibly imagine. There was no Gutenberg Press. There was no television. There was no radio way to reach all of these nations. But because they were all here, there was a supernatural anointing on these people. And they left the upper room, and they went out in the streets, and they began to preach the gospel in the language that God was giving to them, in the language of the people that were in front of them. That's how 3,000 people got saved in one day, because of that evangelism explosion.