Scared of the Ghost 1/4
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Do you believe in Ghosts?
I used to be terrified of ghosts as a kid, like the movie paranormal activity. Telling ghost stories with friends around a campfire or at a sleep-over is a fun memory.
So do you believe in ghosts? Ghosts as we think of them, as dead people who remain on the earth as another being, do not exist. The Bible is very clear that when we die, we either go to Heaven or to Hell immediately. And that depends on if we believed on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for salvation.
So ghosts in that sense do not exist. But the Bible does talk about another sort of Ghost, the Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity. The trinity is our english word to describe God as existing as one being, but in three persons- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. So we believe in one God, existing in three persons. It’s hard to wrap our minds around that truth, and we probably wont understand it completely until we’re in Heaven with God.
Regardless, the Holy Spirit is the most neglected and most misunderstood person of the Trinity. Most of the time we focus on God the Father or Jesus and sort of forget about the Holy Spirit.
Does anyone know the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Scripture?
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Each person of the trinity was involved in creation. Listen to this verse
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Notice the “our”
The way that the Holy Spirit interacts with God’s people in the Old Testament is different than how He interacts with them in the New Testament. In the New Testament, which we are living in right now, we get to interact with the Holy Spirit everyday because He indwells us.
In the Old Testament, He only temporarily interacted with a select few of Gods people, and He didn’t indwell them. The Bible states that His power would temporarily come over them, like Samson for example.
So when you got saved, the Holy Spirit came into your heart and soul and cleansed you of your sin, and now He permanently indwells you. He resides in you. So in a way, you are kind of possessed by a Ghost.
So let’s look at the first time Jesus mentioned the Holy Ghost:
If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Here in our story Jesus is speaking to His disciples the night before His crucifixion. They do not know that He would be killed the next day, but He is trying to give them His parting words and last bits of encouragement and wisdom.
1. The Ghost is our Comforter (v. 16)
1. The Ghost is our Comforter (v. 16)
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
The Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, gives us comfort.
Let’s dive into this truth a little deeper. The word “Comforter” here comes from the greek word “paraklete”.
Paraclete, like many Greek words, is hard to translate into English because there is no perfect English equivalent. Basically, a paraclete is “one who is called alongside”; the implication is that a paraclete gives support or help of some kind. Used only by the apostle John in his gospel and first epistle, the word paraclete refers to the Holy Spirit and, in one instance, for Jesus (1 John 2:1). In each case, the word can be translated as “Helper,” “Counselor,” “Comforter,” or “Advocate.” Translating the word as “Helper,” provides a more encompassing term for the different aspects of the Holy Spirit’s ministries. He does more than comfort, after all; He also guides, seals, baptizes, regenerates, sanctifies, and convicts.
Jesus stated He would send “another” paraclete (John 14:16), meaning that He Himself had served as a paraclete during His earthly ministry. He had been the One guiding the disciples, but now He would send the Holy Spirit as their Guide and Counselor and Comforter. In context, Jesus is comforting the eleven faithful disciples during the Last Supper, telling them not to be afraid and promising that their sorrow would turn to joy (John 14:1; 16:21). He would be leaving them, but another Helper or Comforter would be on the way—God would send the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 24:49).
That word “paraklete” or comforter, also means “to come alongside”. The Holy Spirit comes along side of us so that we can lean on Him and depend on Him when we need help.
**Elliott has a backpack that he stuffs with all sorts of stuff, toys, stuffed cow, goldfish, sometimes he steals toys from the nursery and we’ll find it in his backpack, even decorations like little pumpkins, so he will stuff that thing full of stuff almost to the point where it weighs as much as him.
And he tries to carry it for as long as he can but he gets pretty tired pretty quickly. At some point he’ll look at me and say “help me dad” and I’ll come over and carry his backpack for him. To me, that bag weighs nothing, it’s not a big deal for me to carry it at all.
And it’s the same way with us and the Holy Spirit when we need comfort. He comforts us by coming along side of us and taking those burdens we’re trying to carry on our own. It’s heavy to us, but its nothing to Him because of his infinite omnipotence and never-ending strength, all you have to do is ask.
God comforts His children. He is the “God of all comfort,” and we can know His peace even in the midst of trials: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:3–5).
God comforts us in many ways: through the wonderful promises of His Word, through fellow believers, and of course through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. The Spirit is our Comforter, and He is so much more: our Counselor, Encourager, and Helper. He is always present to bring comfort to the children of God.
2. The Ghost is the Spirit of Truth (v. 17)
2. The Ghost is the Spirit of Truth (v. 17)
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
In contrast to the work of the Holy Spirit is the work of the devil, a being who does not hold “to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
First of all, we know that Jesus is the truth. He just said this a few verses earlier in verse 6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
So we know that Jesus is the truth, and the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth, in essence, this is the Spirit of Jesus. The spirit of God. And because He is the truth, He is going to guide us into more truth.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
He guides us to truth.
He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Who is the truth? It’s Jesus.
The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus.
3. The Ghost is our Teacher (v. 26)
3. The Ghost is our Teacher (v. 26)
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Jesus was speaking to His disciples in the upper room, giving them last instructions before His death. This special group of men was to be responsible for spreading the good news of Jesus Christ to the whole world. They had spent three and a half years with Him, watching His miracles and hearing His teachings. They would relay those things to the rest of the world, and would need God’s special help remembering those things accurately. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would teach them and remind them of what had been said, so they could give it to others.
For us today as Christians, the Holy Spirit teaches us through the Word of God. He helps us understand the Bible. This doctrine is called “illumination”. He turns the light on so that we can see the truth.
What is the Holy Spirit’s illuminating work in believers? Ephesians 1:17-18 tells us that the Spirit gives wisdom and revelation concerning Jesus Christ, and opens the eyes of understanding so we can know God’s purposes in our lives.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
In 1 Corinthians 2:10-13, God has revealed His plans for us by His Spirit, who teaches us spiritual things.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
The context here points to the Word of God as that which has been revealed. The Spirit of God will always point us to the Word of God for our instruction. As Jesus told His disciples in John 16:12-15, the Spirit simply repeats what the Father and the Son have already said. This repetition helps us remember and fully hear what God has already told us. Sometimes we have to hear things several times before we actually hear them. That’s where the Spirit comes in.
** I used to be a teacher, did y’all know that? It is a tough job being a teacher, having to deal with you kids all day. Every teacher looks forward to that last bell of the day where they get a break from dealing with students, whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, that used to be the best part of my day, it was like music to my ears, because it’s a lot of work being a teacher.
Your spiritual teacher, the Holy Ghost, never gets tired of you and never gets mad at you. No matter how many times you disobey Him, no matter how many times you forget about Him, no matter how many times you have a bad attitude toward Him or don’t answer Him or don’t listen to Him, He never grows impatient and He never grows angry. He loves you and cares for you and wants the best for you, and He does that by teaching you. So listen to your teacher, the Holy Ghost.
So in closing:
The Holy Ghost offers us Comfort and help when we need it.
The Holy Ghost guides us to truth.
The Holy Ghost teaches us by illuminating the Word of God for us so that we can understand it.
