The Holy Spirit
Many today would have you believe that the Holy Spirit is some impersonal force like the wind or electricity. That is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity and is God, just as the Father and Jesus are.
We see the Holy spirit actively engaged in the work of creation, along with the Father and the Son. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came upon men to empower for service; but when they were disobedient, He departed from them. That is why when David sinned against the Lord, he prayed, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me." Psalm 51:11.
But in the New Testament, after Pentecost, we see that the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, never to leave him, filling him and empowering him for service. It is extremely important that the new believer understands that the Holy Spirit is God, equal to the Father and the Son.
1. According to John 14:16-17, 26, why was the Holy Spirit sent to us?
2. We have said that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy trinity. Expound on the following verses that describe his personhood, that He is real and not just a force.
A. EPHESIANS 4:30
B. ACTS 7:51
C. HEBREWS 10:29
D. I THESSALONIANS 5:19
E. ACTS 5:3
F. MATTHEW 12:31-32
3. Being the third person of the Holy Trinity, what do the following verses tell us of His deity?
A. JOB 33:4
B. PSALM 139:7-10
C. LUKE 1:35
D. I CORINTHIANS 2:10-11
E. HEBREWS 9:14
F. ACTS 5:3-4
4. Look up the following verses and expound on the work of the Holy Spirit in a believers life.
A. ROMANS 8:16
B. JOHN 16:13
C. ROMANS 8:26
D. JOHN 14:26
E. JOHN 4:24 and PHILIPPIANS 3:3
F. EPHESIANS 6:18
G. GALATIANS 5:22-23
5. What are some of the results of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the life of a believer? See II Timothy 1:7.
6. If we are to live that victorious spirit filled life, what must we do? See Ephesians 5:18 and Galatians 5:16.
Jesus, in speaking of the Holy Spirit, said in John 14:16-17, "And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but youknow Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
The Holy Spirit dwells "with" unbelievers drawing them to Christ. When they accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior then the Holy Spirit comes "in" you. That speaks of your salvation through Christ and the Holy Spirit will never leave you.
Then in Acts 1:8 we read, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Jesus is telling us here that the Holy Spirit will come "upon" us or empower us for service to be his witnesses. If you are lacking that power in your life, just ask the Father to empower you with His Spirit to be a witness of Him to a world that is dying in their sins!