The Person of the Holy Spirit
Commonly known as the third person of the triune God (Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit), we also know Him as the dove that remained on our Lord Jesus during His baptism.
Luke 3:21-22 NIV
21When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
This reveals that the Holy Spirit can take a bodily form as He also did when He was born of Mary. We read in 2 Cor 3:17 that the Lord is the Spirit. This means that the Lord Jesus and His Spirit are one. So God the Father sent Jesus and His Spirit together as one. This is a picture of a born-again believer who is sanctified by water and spirit. – John 3:5 (5Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.) The Lord sent His disciples in pairs (two by two). God the Father sent both the Son and the Spirit and endorsed them to work together (You are my Son, whom I love refers to the Son and with you I am well pleased refers to the Holy Spirit.) We will see how the work of the Holy Spirit is pleasing to God. So we understand that our ministry too must include the Word and the Spirit working together (as a pair).
John’s Ministry
John the Baptist came as a voice calling in the wilderness and baptizing with water. He was sent to reveal the Lamb of God to Israel. – Luke 1:29-31
32Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
We recall how Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit when baby John leaped inside her on hearing Mary’s greeting. The Holy Spirit was present with John, but he could not baptize with the Spirit. He could baptize with the water of the Word. Only our Lord Jesus could baptize with the Spirit because He alone was entitled to enable the Holy Spirit to descend from heaven (come down) and remain on people through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This, however, does not mean that the Holy Spirit will always remain on a believer regardless of what they do. He will be taken away when people become wilfully disobedient as we see in the case of Samson and Saul. The Lord’s Spirit left Samson and departed from Saul. The reason was that they refused to do His will. They became self-serving instead of God-serving. Unfortunately, dear friends, we are going to witness a taking away of the Holy Spirit in the end times from those who are wilfully disobedient.
2 Thess 2:6-7
6And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
Why will the Holy Spirit be taken away?
Because people in the last days will become wilfully disobedient. The final condition of a believer who turns away after tasting the goodness of the Lord is worse than that at the beginning. – 2 Peter 2:20-22 Moreover, the sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is unpardonable. – Mat 12:31 The Holy Spirit only lives in those who keep God’s commands. – 1 John 3:24
2 Peter 2:20-22
20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
Mat 12:31-32
31And so I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy. But blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
1 John 3:24
24Those who keep his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Being Born of Water and Spirit
Before God can give us a new heart (of flesh) and put a new spirit in us, He must first remove our heart of stone. A heart of flesh symbolizes that thenceforth, one must live for God alone. This is an absolute necessity for a child of God. God’s Spirit is provided to us for our deliverance (from hard issues of the heart). – Phil 1:19
We were received or adopted to sonship through the Spirit and the result of sonship is that we cry, “Abba, Father.” – Rom 8:15 We are given an intense longing for the tender, merciful love of our heavenly Father. Our spirits long to be intertwined with our loving Father as we cry out to Him with intense desire to BELONG to the absolute connoisseur of our souls. Amen. The Holy Spirit confirms with our spirit that we are God’s children. – Rom 8:16
The children of God are led by the Spirit of God. – Rom 8:14. God’s love is poured into our hearts through God’s Spirit. – Rom 5:5 The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness when we don’t know how to pray and so on. – Rom 8:26 The Spirit of God gives us power, love and self-discipline. – 2 Tim 1:7
The Holy Spirit knows the thoughts of God – 1 Cor 2:11 and reveals His things, even the deep things of God. – 1 Cor 2:10. We must therefore keep in step with the Spirit and tune our inner ear to always listen to the Lord’s Spirit. – Gal 5:25
The Holy Spirit is eager to do God’s will (God is pleased with Him). He loves to reveal God’s glory by manifesting miracles, signs and wonders. – Acts 2:1-2, Gal 3:5 The Holy Spirit gives us mighty power when we jointly take a stand against the kingdom of darkness. Standing firm in truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the revealed Word and prayer will ensure you are always victorious and serving God fearlessly. – Eph 6:10-18
The Holy Spirit moves us to follow His decrees and laws. His anointing breaks the yoke and causes us to proclaim the good news to the poor, bind up the broken-hearted, proclaim freedom to the captives, release prisoners from darkness and recover sight for the blind. – Is 6:1, Luke 4:18
The Holy Spirit gives immortality as He did when He raised Jesus from the dead. He will give life to our mortal bodies so that we will live for eternity. Read also Gal 6:8.
Jesus told His disciples that it was better for Him to go away so that the Advocate could come. An advocate is someone who supports your cause and defends you in a court of law. He speaks for you and helps you stand up for your rights. Jesus was limited in His ability to train us in the policies of heaven. So He revealed that the Spirit would do a much better job of defending our rights and standing up to the purposes of God. God will give His Holy Spirit to all who ask Him! – Luke 11:13
John 16:7
7But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Testing the Spirit
Apostle John warned against false prophets and antichrists who are already in the world. In this context, he advised against believing every spirit. He advocated that we test the spirits to see if they are from God. – 1 John 4:1-3
How do we recognize if a spirit is of God or not?
A person who has the Holy Spirit knows the Lord Jesus Christ intimately. He or she impersonates Christ in their life which means they have had a living encounter with the risen Christ and walk in resurrection power. Christ thus lives in them.
They manifest the manifold wisdom of God made available through His seven spirits (Isaiah 11:2) and produce the fruits of the Spirit. – Gal 5:22-23
We know from Acts 5:32 that the Holy Spirit is a witness. He intercedes for us – Rom 8:27 and vindicates the guilty. – 1 Tim 3:16
The Holy Spirit is everywhere. – Psalm 139:7-8 He speaks through us – Mark 13:11 and prophets speak from God as they are carried along by the Holy Spirit. – 2 Peter 1:21 The Holy Spirit dwells in us. We live in Him and He in us through His Spirit. So we are not to do our own thing but honor God by not defiling or corrupting our bodies (through abominable thoughts). – 1 Cor 6:19-20, 1 John 4:13 The Holy Spirit enables us to speak in other tongues – Acts 2:3-4. He transforms us into God’s image with ever-increasing glory as we contemplate the Lord’s glory with unveiled faces. – 2 Cor 3:18 Verses 15-16 speak about ‘unveiled’ as meaning that the blindfold of not ever measuring up to God’s standards is removed. Christ becomes one’s only saving grace and such a person is transformed.
The Lord will not leave us as orphans
The Lord was speaking to His disciples in John 14:18 that He would return to them as Spirit. However this verse also applies in the context of the Holy Spirit being taken away after the rapture of the saints. This will happen because people will become stiff-necked, refusing to do the Lord’s will. Yet the Holy Spirit will return at the end of the age for the ripening of the final harvest. Amen.
Joel 1:3-4
3 Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.
4 What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.
Joel 2:25-27
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
Joel 2:28-32
The Day of the LORD
28 “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
32 And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
ACTION POINTS FOR NOW
| Unity in the Spirit | Being Set Apart to Work | |
| The Holy Spirit unifies us through the bond of peace. Life and peace are the result of being led by the Spirit of God. – Rom 8:6 and 1 Cor 12:13 Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM. – 2 Cor 3:17 The Spirit gives birth to spirit meaning that the spirit of one affects the other. Being connected to each other in one spirit will result in the ONE MAN emerging. Read also Eph 4:4. | The Holy Spirit calls us to work, for which we must be set apart. – Acts 13:2 We must be zealous and full of spiritual fervor for serving the Lord. – Rom 12:11 The Holy Spirit gives us power to overflow with hope. – Rom 15:13 He strengthens us with power in our inner being. This is how Christ dwells in our hearts through faith. This helps us to be rooted and established in love. – Eph 3:16-17 |