THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALED

Speaker: Pastor Henry Tobin-West

Text: Matthew 29:19

 

The Holy Spirit is the power of God head. The Holy Spirit is God, He is the absolute of God (Hebrew 9:14) (1corinthians 2:10, Luke 1:35, Acts 8, Psalm 139:7, Genesis 1:1-8; Job 3:13, Genesis 2:7). The Spirit of God is the one that gave mankind life.

The Holy Spirit was the one that helped the Jesus in his early ministry (Luke 3:21-22). The Holy Spirit is our comforter; He is the joy of the father. The Holy Spirit is the best friend we ever wish to have. (John14:15-16).The Holy Spirit is God at work: creating, speaking, transforming us, living within us, and working in us. Although the Holy Spirit can do this work without our knowledge, it is helpful for us to know more.

The Holy Spirit has the attributes of God, is co-equal with God and does work that only God does. Like God, the Spirit is holy; so holy that insulting the Spirit is just as sinful as trampling the Son of God under foot (Hebrews 10:29). Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin (Matthew 12:32), this indicates that the Spirit is holy by nature rather than having an assigned holiness such as the temple had. Like God, the Holy Spirit is eternal (Hebrews 9:14). Like God, the Holy Spirit is present everywhere (Psalm 139:7-9). Like God, the Holy Spirit knows everything (1 Corinthians 2:10-11; John 14:26). The Holy Spirit creates (Job 33:4; Psalm 104:30) and empowers miracles (Matthew 12:28; Romans 15:18-19), doing the work or ministry of God.

The Holy Bible refers to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as equally divine. In a discussion of spiritual gifts, Paul puts the Spirit, the Lord, and God in parallel constructions (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). He closes a letter with a three-part prayer (2 Corinthians 13:14). Peter begins a letter with a different three-part formula (1 Peter 1:2). These are not proof of unity, but they support it. The baptismal formula has a stronger indication of unity:“in the name [singular] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). The three have one name, suggesting one essence and being. When the Holy Spirit does something, God is doing it. When the Holy Spirit speaks, God is speaking. When Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, he lied to God (Acts 5:3-4). As Peter said, Ananias did not lie to God’s representative, but to God himself. People do not “lie” to an impersonal power. In one passage, Paul says that Christians are God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16); in another he says that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). A temple is for the worship of a divine being, not an impersonal power. When Paul writes “temple of the Holy Spirit,” he implies that the Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit and God are also equated in Acts 13:2: “The Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’Here, the Holy Spirit speaks with personal pronouns, speaking as God. Similarly, the Holy Spirit says that the Israelites “tested and tried me”; the Holy Spirit says that “I was angry... They shall never enter my rest” (Hebrews 3:7-11). But the Holy Spirit is not just another name for God. The Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son, as shown in Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3:16-17). The three are distinct, but one. The Holy Spirit does the work of God in our lives. We are born of God (John 1:12), which is the same as being born of the Spirit (John 3:5). The Holy Spirit is the means by which God lives in us (Ephesians 2:22; 1 John 3:24; 4:13). The Holy Spirit lives in us (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16)—and because the Spirit lives in us, we can say that God lives in us.