The Holy Spirit Introduction
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
Theme: The Godhead
Hope: To take these lessons and draw closer to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.
This year, here on Sunday mornings, we have been studying the Godhead.
We have looked at how God is truth, love, faithful, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, etc…
Today, however, we are going to turn our attention not to the Father or the Son but the Holy Spirit.
The reality is we, as God’s people, have heard and been taught a lot about the Father and the Son and their relationship with each other.
5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Wherein the Holy Spirit is concerned we find a steep drop off in knowledge and wisdom.
Part of the reason for this is that the Holy Spirit, historically speaking, has not had near the attention given to him as the Father and the Son.
In the 18th century there was a great interest in the actuality of God and his attributes.
In the 19th century there was a focus on the person and work of Jesus specifically.
It wasn’t until the 20th century that we start seeing a focus on God the Spirit.
But even this is mostly “first” work studies that needed verification and scrutiny by other which has begun in this 21st century.
So, naturally there is a limitation on the information about the Holy Spirit and unfortunately what we are find here in the 21st century is that a lot of the study on the Spirit is faulty at best and down right sinfully thought out in many cases.
So, with that in mind what is…
The Challenge
The Challenge
There Are Limitations.
There Are Limitations.
In the area of interpretation.
Even if we ignore the lack of human study or competent study on the subject we are still left with many limitations even in the “area of interpretation.”
What I mean is that a study on the Holy Spirit is difficult from time to time because we must determine if something is literal or figurative where he is concerned.
We see this not just in academics but even among our most faithful brethren.
Take Paul’s words in Romans 8:9.
Romans 8:9 (ESV)
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
Mighty in the brotherhood, brilliant, faithful and sound brethren have disagreed on the interpretation of this whether it is literal or figurative.
Guy N. Woods taught it was figurative i.e., the Spirit figuratively lives in us through the word of God.
Thomas B. Warren taught it was literal i.e, the Spirit literally lives in us.
Does the Holy Spirit inhabit the child of God or only in through representation from the word.
And because we read that both the Father and Son dwell in us as well (Ephesians 2:22; Ephesians 3:17) are we to then assume they dwell in the same way as the Holy Spirit or differently or are all three dwelling in a different way?
We also find a challenge in studying the Holy Spirit when it comes to actions by God wherein God the Father or Son is said to have done something but in others it is said that the Holy Spirit is the one that did it.
Sanctification is one of those areas.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Is this a contradiction, of course not but what is the solution?
Do both do a work in sanctification?
Does God do his work of sanctification through the Holy Spirit?
Or is God in 1 Thessalonians the Holy Spirit and he is the only one that sanctifies?
We have the same conundrum with intercession.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
To be clear “right now” I am not trying solve this but simply pointing out that a study on the Holy Spirit has its challenges.
Another area wherein this study is challenging is…
In the area of subject vs objective reasoning.
Unfortunately, people have gone to extremes in their study of the Holy Spirit when it comes to reasoning.
Most in the denominational world tailored their study of the Spirit to their subjective experiences and feelings by attributing everything from rolling on the ground to speaking in tongues today as being influence by the Holy Spirit and thus authorized by him.
This has left many believing the Holy Spirit is the God of today practically loosing sight of the Father and the Son.
The Father’s dispensation was from creation to the Jesus’ baptism.
The Son’s dispensation was during his personal ministry to Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit’s dispensation was from Pentecost to the coming of Christ.
There is too much evidence of the work of all three for this to be true and yet how many will say “the Holy Spirit” spoke to me on such and such issue.
The fact is the Holy Spirit was sent to the world to glorify the Son.
14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
To bear witness of the Son.
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
To take the Son’s message, not his, to the world.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
The Spirit did not come to glorify himself but the Son and when people allow the Holy Spirit to be exalted above the Son their attention is moved from the Messiah to the Spirit.
Because of this extreme many in the brotherhood have swung to the opposite extreme by denying that the Holy Spirit is actively working in anyone’s lives.
They seem to think God has given us a book and left us up to learning and doing his will with no assistance in any form from God. To work out our own salvation with any help from above.
I hope in these sermons we can find balance and avoid both extremes.
Summary
Summary
Yes, there are great difficulties and challenges in doing a study or sermons on the Holy Spirit.
But, those challenges are not an excuse not to study one of the personalities in the Godhead simply because it is difficult, rather it simply means we must be cautious, thorough, and studious in our endeavors.
Because of these challenges and therefore a lack of proper study it has led many both in the church and outside the church to believe the Holy Spirit is not talked about a lot, especially in the Old Testament but even in the New.
So let’s now consider…
The Spirit By Name
The Spirit By Name
In The Old Testament.
In The Old Testament.
It is typically agreed that in the Old Testament we find ninety references to the Holy Spirit and more than a dozen titles or names used.
Spirit of God.
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Spirit of the LORD.
10 The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.
Holy Spirit.
11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Good Spirit.
20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.
Willing Spirit.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Spirit of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, & Knowledge.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Spirit of Grace.
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
As you can see the Holy Spirit is not without mention or action in the Old Testament.
However, it’s in the New Testament where we read a great deal more.
In The New Testament.
In The New Testament.
It is said that there are roughly 263 passages where the Holy Spirit is given some forty titles or names.
Many are so similar yet slightly different that these names have been divided into five categories typically speaking.
Names that express his relationship with the Father.
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
Names that express his relationship to the Son.
11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
Names that express his own deity.
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Names that express his essential character.
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
Names that express his relationship with God’s people.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Summary
Summary
As anyone can see it is not fair to say the Holy Spirit is not mentioned much in the Old Testament nor is it fair to say he has some sort of limited role in the New.
God the Spirit is just as active from creation through today has the Father and Son.
One of the areas he is most active in is…
The Book Of The Spirit
The Book Of The Spirit
This Is The Bible.
This Is The Bible.
The Bible is the book of the Spirit; it is the message from deity, revealed by the Holy Spirit.
It was the Holy Spirit that enabled the prophets to foretell the suffering of Christ.
11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
It was the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of David, who said the people and their rulers would be gathered together against the Lord.
25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
To speak in the Spirit is to speak by inspiration.
25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
Hence what Peter wrote, by inspiration, in 2 Peter 1:20-21.
20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Summary
Summary
We would not have the bible, God’s word, if it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit inspiring men to write it.
The apostle Paul could not make this anymore clear than in 1 Corinthians 2:10-13.
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
Thanks be to the Holy Spirit for his giving us “pitiful mankind” God’s saving message.
Conclusion
Conclusion
God the Spirit has not only been active in the lives of us “he loves” has been from the beginning.
The Holy Spirit desires as much of our respect, time, and glorification as the Father and the Son.
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.