The Person of the Holy Spirit

THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present this series of addresses on the Holy Spirit; The Work and Operation of The Holy Spirit, Baptism of The Holy Spirit, The Gift of The Holy Spirit, The Sin Against The Holy Spirit, Miracles and Healings By The Power of the Holy Spirit, and The Indwelling of The Spirit.

Perhaps there is no subject in the Bible so grossly misunderstood as that of the Holy Spirit. Ignorance of the Bible teaching on this most important theme has caused true Christianity to be exchanged for "saw-dust trail," "get religion," and "get the Holy Ghost" feeling religion. My friends, I can tell you that not one time in the Bible was anyone ever told to "get" religion, or "get" the Holy Ghost! Yes, we are told to practice religion, but not "get it." Many honest and sincere people have been misinformed.

Holy Spirit, A Person The Holy Spirit is a person, a comforter, who guided the apostles in God's revelation, through Christ, to men of earth. The term, "Holy," very fitly expresses the character of that Spirit which is the source of all holiness and purity. The Holy Spirit is a Divine being, an intelligent speaking personality, one of the Godhead three. He is not a ghost , clouded in mysticism, making mysterious descents from

Heaven, striking the souls of men, causing them to fall out prostrate on the ground, or at an altar, losing their physi-cal and mental balance. Such superstition might be asso-

9ciated with ghost tales, but not rightfully with the Holy Spirit and His work. Many honest souls, under the spell of emotionalism, have even lost consciousness and have been made to believe that they were saved by the direct operation of the Holy Spirit.

Personality, Not Materiality The Holy Spirit is not recognized in a bodily sense. Al-thought He is a person, He is unheard, unfelt, unseen, un-tasted, and unsmelled! "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" (Luke 24:39), declared the Master. We are not to become confused about personal identity of the Spirit.

There is a difference in personality and materiality. Actually personality does not pertain to materiality. Bodies which are purely material have no personality. They are dead bodies! "The body without the spirit is dead." Only the spirit gives evidence of personality. That which is spiritual is not material. Personality becomes distinct and pure to the degree it is uncontrolled and unhampered by that which is material. Personality is the revelation and function of spirituality.

The Holy Spirit has no material manifestations or demonstrations. The Holy Spirit, however, is a distinct personality; a distinct personal being. When men claim to be witnesses of material manifestations and revelations of the Holy Spirit, they are false witnesses. The Holy Spirit cannot be identified as materiality. When men claim that they saw the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Spirit appeared to them in identity form, they are mistaken. The Holy Spirit does not and has not appeared unto man in such material manifestations.

The Holy Spirit is divine and as much a person as God himself. The Spirit was with the Father and Son in the chambers of the high court of Heaven, even before the worlds began. In fact, Jesus declared that "God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth." This is an affirmation that the reign of the Godhead is through the Spirit, by the truth of God.

Person of The Holy Spirit The personality of the Holy Spirit is evidenced by the work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is said to do things only a person can do:

1. The Holy Spirit teaches. Jesus said, "And He shall teach you all things" (John 14:26).

2. The Holy Spirit reproves. When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the apostles He said, "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteous-ness, and of judgment" (John 16:8).

2. 1. The Holy Spirit is a guide. In giving this promise Jesus told the apostles, "he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).

2. 2. The Holy Spirit, characteristic of a person, speaks. Continuing His promise of sending the Holy Spirit, Christ declared, "For he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak" (John 16:13). Paul declared, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly . . ." (1 Timothy 4:1). The Holy Spirit, therefore, is a person who hears and speaks!

2. 2. 1. The Holy Spirit is one who is affected as a person. He may be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). He may be vexed (Isaiah 63:10). The Holy Spirit may be lied to (Acts 5:3). The Holy Spirit may be resisted or rejected (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

2. 2. 2. The Holy Spirit, as a person, appointed and directed God's chosen men. In Acts 13:2 it is revealed, "the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them."

7. The Holy Spirit makes intercessions for the saints of God. Hear the apostle, Romans 8:26, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

Holy Spirit In Creation The Holy Spirit is a person, one of the three of the God-head. When God, the Father, and the Son had performed their first works in creation and the "earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep" the Holy Spirit came to fill his mission in creation. His first organizational work was to create light, with its separation from darkness, calling the light "day" and the darkness "night." The six days of creation were six days of organizational work under the ministry of the Holy Spirit, as an accomplishment of the Godhead.

Holy Spirit, Organizer From the beginning, the Old Testament presents the Godhead as three: God, the originator and supreme ruler of all beings Christ, the Son, later called the Word, who was the co-creator of all things; and the Holy Spirit, the life-giver and organizer, who gave all matter the law through which he would guide all things in its course for which it was created. God, the Father, and His Son, in the beginning created all things. In Genesis 1:1, it is declared: "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth." In John 1:1-3 it is revealed: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . All things were made (created) by him; and without him was not anything made that was made." After the work of creation was finished by the Father and Son, the work was given over to the ministry of the Holy Spirit for organization and operation of the created. The six days of creation were actually six days of organization by the Holy Spirit. There is no way to determine the time element between the time of "In the beginning" (Genesis 1:1), and that of the advent of the Holy Spirit with the beginning of his ministry revealed in Genesis 1:2.

During the six days of his ministry, the _Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, organized matter, gave it form, order and procreative power, setting forth creation upon its mission in the universe. In Genesis 2:1 it is recorded, "the heavens and earth were finished, and all the host of them." Again, it was said: "By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent." Job 26:13. The Holy Spirit placed the bodies and planets in their proper position in space with laws to guide and govern them in ever revolving cycles of space and never ending cycles of eternity.

David, the sweet singer of Israel, declared, concerning the spirit, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." (Psalms 139:7-10).

There can be no doubt that the Holy Spirit is every-where, guiding and directing all processes and operations in God's universe.

Holy Spirit And Law of Life The Holy Spirit miraculously put into order the first creatures of Almighty God. The original man and woman were formed by this miraculous power without the means and laws of procreation and development. No man exists except through law made and arranged by the Holy Spirit. It is the same Spirit, but different manifestations. Law , itself, has no power or force, but is that through which power operates. It requires just as much power, or manifestation of God's Spirit, to form a man by the law of procreation as it did for the same Spirit to form Adam and Eve from the dust of the earth by direct power without the law of procreation. This life, or germ, that God , through his Spirit, gives to a grain of corn which produces "first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear," is as much the manifestation of divine power as the creation of the first plant with its full grown matured grain in the ear.

Not only did the Holy Spirit give the law which guides matter in is workings, but he took up his abode in that law, and is ever present, guiding in the path of life and light. Many times when man looks upon things accomplished through the medium of law, he loses sight of the power which makes that law work. In other words, we often times attribute the power behind law to the power of law itself. It must be remembered, however, there is no power in law itself. Law alone has no power. Law is only a rule of action. It is the medium through which power operates.

Holy Spirit Is Revelator

Both Old and New Testament scriptures were revealed by the Holy Spirit. This affirmation is made in 2 Peter 1:21 : "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." The New Testament reveals the God-head as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son; the Son gave his life and his blood to redeem man from his sins; the Holy Spirit was sent as a comforter to abide with God's children and lead them and guide them, by truth, in paths that lead to God. They are divine, distinct persons; yet one in design, one in purpose and one in manifestations.

Holy Spirit and Apostles The Holy Spirit, as a divine agency, has spoken from Al-mighty God through the prophets, through Christ and His apostles. The apostles were the last ones on earth to receive such divine revelations. Christ declared to them: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19).

The Holy Spirit was first given to the Apostles in a lim-ited measure before Christ left them. "And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Re-ceive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22). The apostles re-ceived the fullness of the Spirit to guide them into all truth after Jesus was glorified. "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)" (John 7:37-39). The full baptismal measure came upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost after the Lord's death , burial, resurrection and glorification.

Our Lord admonished the apostles, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; 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" (John 14:16-17). The full baptismal measure came upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost , after the Lords resurrection and glorification.

Guide Into All Truth In John 16:12-15, Jesus further assured the apostles of their divine guidance by the Holy Spirit. Hear him! "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 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 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."

Christ declared to the apostles that the Holy Spirit "shall guide you into all truth"! Then, there is no divine truth today not revealed in the New Testament. If the Holy Spirit guided the apostles into ALL truth, then the claims of divine revelations by men and women today are the claims of fakes and imposters. The Holy Spirit did guide the apostles into "ALL truth"! If "all truth," then there is none from that day hence to be revealed to any man.

Heaven itself authenticated the calling of the apostles and their inspired proclamation of truth by confirming the gospel proclaimed by them with signs, wonders and great miracles (Mark 16:20; Hebrews 2:3). No man, since the apostles, has received such divine revelations, there being no promise nor necessity for such revelations. Miracles and wonders have not been performed since those of New Testament times because when the word of God was confirmed it was eternally confirmed. There is no such thing as re-confirmation of God's word!

Christ Sends Holy Spirit With Message The office and person of Christ and the office and person of the Holy Spirit are so distinct that Christ and the Holy Spirit were not on earth at the same time in their distinct personalities. It is recorded in John 7:39 : "But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should re-ceive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." According to John 16:7, Jesus declared to his disciples, ". . . It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will sent him unto you." Just before Jesus went back to the Father in Heaven, He commanded the apostles, in Luke 24:49, ". . . but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

The mission and advent of the Holy Spirit into this world, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, was to guide the apostles, the chosen Ambassadors of Christ, into all the truth and to bring to their remembrance the things he had taught them.

The Holy Spirit began his work revealing the message of the Son to lost humanity after the Son returned to the Father in Heaven.

The Spirit was subject to the Son and the Son was subject to the Father. The message of the Spirit was the message of Christ. The message of Christ was the message of the Father. It -was the Son who declared, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." (John 4:34). Furthermore, He admonished, "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 forever; 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" (John 14:15-17).

Caused To Remember The Holy Spirit came to bear testimony of the Son and to bring to the remembrance of the apostles the teachings of the Christ. "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning" (John 15:26-27).

Although the apostles had been with Christ from the be-ginning, God would not trust so sacred a thing as his word to their memory without a guide, the Holy Spirit. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance, whatsoever I save said unto you" (John 14:26).

Apostles, Christ's Ambassadors Before Christ finished his mission on earth he chose the apostles to be his ambassadors. Hear the apostle!

"To wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:19-20).

Holy Spirit Revealed All Things

Just as the Father and Son were perfect, the Holy Spirit did his work perfectly. He was perfect in setting in order the operations and development of the material world. The sun, the moon, and the stars have not yet had an accident, nor shall they ever do so. Not one beat of a split second of time was miscalculated. The Holy Spirit organized and gave law and order to the material creation, taking up his abode in those laws to guide their operations for all time to come. In like-manner, the Holy Spirit, as the Lord's agent, took up his abode in the law of Christ in the spiritual realm, guiding its operations, through the chosen ambassa-dors of the Son, the apostles, revealing all truth completely and perfectly.

Ladies and gentlemen, hear me! Are you listening? When men today claim to receive revelations from the Holy Spirit they deny the God of Heaven, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One may as well claim that he can change the orbit of the sun and bring the moon and the stars to this earth and use them for street lights, as to claim direct revelations from the Holy Spirit. These are false claims. Many are honestly mistaken and some are imposters.

Yes, the Son promised to his apostles, who had been with him from the beginning, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). Did you hear it, my friends? "He shall guide you into All truth," the Son declared! "ALL TRUTH" is not part of the truth. The Holy Spirit guided them into all truth! These men and women who claim to receive revelations of the Holy Spirit, who claim to be guided by the Holy Spirit , even to the extent of performing great miracles, are not guided by the Holy Spirit. They have no more received di-rect messages from the Holy Spirit than they have received messages from a Russian spy on the moon! Many honest people have been deceived by their false claims. Such false claims are mockery of God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! But, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked." They will have their reward!

The Holy Spirit did his work perfectly and completely when he guided the apostles into "ALL TRUTH" (John 16:13-16).

QUESTIONS FOR MEDITATION

1. Is the Holy Spirit a person

2. What characteristics of person ascribed to Holy Spirit?

3. What was work of Holy Spirit in creation?

4. What was the mission of the Holy Spirit in revelation?

5. Was revelation by Holy Spirit complete?