God the Holy Spirit

Today we would like to address the questions

1. Who is the Holy Spirit?
2. What is His role in our life?
3. The Holy Spirit is a Person of God.

The Holy Spirit is a person and not a mere force.  He is one of the three persons of God.  There is only one God but there are three persons of God.

It is easier to understand this if we think of our own beings.  I am only one person, yet I am made up of three parts as well.  There is a scripture in which the apostle Paul references this.

1 Thessalonians 5:23

…And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• We have a physical body, which is made up of flesh and blood
• We have a spirit which is the place where God dwells, it is through the Spirit in which we pray to God and it is through the Spirit by which we hear His voice.
• We have a soul which consist of our emotions and our personality.With our soul we think, reason, consider, remember, and wonder. We experience emotions like happiness, love, sorrow, anger, relief, and compassion. And we’re able to resolve, choose, and make decisions.

Having this example, can help us to better understand the three persons of God. Just to name those three persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit

From these next few verses, we have several indicators that He is indeed a person. 

John 14:15-17 & 18-20, 25-26 ESV

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

First, we find that the Christian relationship is based on a love for Christ.  This love does not originate with us, itoriginates with God.

1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

To show that we love Christ we keep His commandments.  But we are incapable of keeping His commandments on our own strength.  That is why Jesus said I will give you another helper and that He will be with you forever. 

Here are some of the ways that Jesus describes the Holy Spirit:

• Another Helper(much like Jesus was a helper to them)
• Will be with you
• Spirit of truth
• Whom the world cannot receive
• Neither sees Him nor knows Him
• You know Him
• He dwells with you
• Will be in you

It is clear through these verses that Jesus is talking about a person, when referring to the Holy Spirit. 

We also learn that not everyone has the Holy Spirit living within them.  Look at verse 17 again

¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Those who are worldly do not have the Spirit of God because they do not see, nor do they know God.  Those of us who know the Lord, see His goodness, because our eyes have been opened and the blinders have fallen off of our eyes.  We know that He is with us and that He lives in us.

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 

Jesus says this to His disciples to affirm them of His closeness even when it may not seem to be the case. Because Jesus knowsthe hour is drawing near in which He would be betrayed and crucified.  They have spent three years doing ministry together, but the day was coming when Jesus would be suddenly taken from them and crucified.  It may have brought about feelings of abandonment, had not Jesus forewarned them that it would happen.  He says it will only be for a little while that the world will not see Him.  For it was only three days that Jesus was dead before He had risen.

But He gives them the promise that He will come to them.  He assures them that they will know that Jesus has gone to His Father, they will also know that Jesus is in them.   That is the promise of the Holy Spirit. 

That brings us to our next part,

1. The Holy Spirit Has Many Roles in Our Lives

There are so many things that the Holy Spirit does in our lives; We will cover a few of them today.

1. The Holy Spirit Works to Bring About Our Salvation

One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is that He is the one who draws us to salvation.

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

This drawing that takes places happens in our spirit man, the place where God speaks to man.  It is the spirit of God(Holy Spirit) who draws a person to repentance.  No one can be saved without the work of the Holy Spirit.  For those of us who are saved, remember that day when the Holy Spirit drew us towards repentance and turned us from our old sinful ways.

Not only are we saved by the Holy Spirit, but our salvation is also affirmed through His Spirit as well.  He lets us know that we belong to God and that God lives in us. 

Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

This is vital to our Christian walk, because we need to know where we stand.  We need to know whether or not we are accepted or rejected by God.  We need to know that we belong to the family of God.  We need the absolute assurancethat heaven will be our home. 

The Holy Spirit assures us that we are His.  He gives us peace regarding this issue of our lives.  We can live life confidently knowing that heaven will be our home.  We will not be shocked to make it in as we are given assurance by the Holy Spirit that heaven will be our home.

Furthermore, we find a few other roles of the Holy Spirit back in our main passage in John 14.

1. The Holy Spirit is Our Helper

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, 

Again, the Holy Spirit is referred to as our helper.  He helps us in our everyday life.  He helps us to live Godly, He helps us in both our physical and spiritual work. 

He helps to live Godly by convicting us of sin.

John 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

It is the role of the Holy Spirit to make you feel so uncomfortable when you sin, so that you repent and turn back to the Lord.  When He convicts us of sin, He lets us know that we belong to God and it is His way of turning us away from sin. It is a dangerous place to be if you do not feel conviction for your sin.  But how wonderful it is to experience the conviction of the Holy Spirit as it means that God is committed to working in us despite our imperfections.

Besides helping us to live Godly, The Holy Spirit helps us in our everyday lives.

There have been countless times when I asked the Holy Spirit to lead me as I begin a new project or take on some challenging tasks or when I’m trying something new.  Because ultimately, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God Himself who is omniscient (all knowing).  He has all knowledge regarding all things so why not ask the creator of the universe for some insight in our daily work.

I can also say that there have been countless times when I did not ask for His help that I found myself struggling to achieve the task at hand.

You will benefit greatly if you choose to be led by the Holy Spirit when you find yourself in moments of intense fellowship. 

Besides helping us with our everyday lives the Holy Spirit also helps us in our spiritual work. 

Luke 12:11

¹¹ do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Holy Spirit will give you the words to say when you do not know what to say.  When you pray for someone, allow the Holy Spirit to lead you and you will be surprised by what comes out of your mouth.

1. The Holy Spirit is Our Teacher

^26b he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 

The Holy Spirit will teach you and help you to understand what the scriptures are saying.  Just as a school teacher will help a student to know and understand the material being taught, the Holy Spirit is committed to our spiritual well-being and will not withhold any spiritual truth which we are so desiring to know.

The person of the Holy Spirit teaches us in person.  He can teach a large crowd and He can teach one on one.  He can teach at an individual level while simultaneously teaching at a corporate level.

When He teaches, we also know he speaks truth as He is referred to as “Spirit of truth.” His words can be trusted.  Also, when He teaches, He does so in accordance with what Jesus has spoken.  That’s why I would say, bible college is beneficial to some degree, but there is no greater teacher than the Holy Spirit.  That is why it is imperative that we learn to recognize His voice.

If you meditate on His Word and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you regarding His Word, then He will teach you that which you need at that time.

1. The Holy Spirit is Our Comforter

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 

Jesus said that He is leaving peace with us.  Which means, if He has ascended to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, in doing so He said that He will send the helper (comforter) to us then that means the Holy Spirit is our Peace who is with us.

The peace He gives is not as the world gives.  Any peace that is not found in Christ is not a lasting peace.  Nor is it a true genuine peace.  People will try yoga and mysticism apart from Christ to try to find their inner peace. 

Though they may experience a moment of “peace” it is not lasting.  The only peace that last is found in the peace which Christ has provided by giving us the Holy Spirit.

Christ gives us peace through the Holy Spirit so that our hearts will not be troubled or afraid.   We don’t have to succumb to feelings of anxiety or fear, if we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us.  He lives within us to bring us true peace.

The reason we can go through various storms in life and still have peace is because the peace that is given to us through the Holy Spirit is a peace that surpasses all understanding. 

Philippians 4:7

⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

With this peace, you can have peace even when it does not make sense to have peace.  Therefore, we have no reason for our hearts to remain troubled if we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us.  He will guard your heart and your mindfrom anything that threatens your peace.

He is your comforter!

Recap:

The Holy Spirit is a person of God

The Holy Spirit has many roles in our lives

• The Holy Spirit Works to Bring About Our Salvation
• The Holy Spirit is Our Helper
• The Holy Spirit is Our Teacher
• The Holy Spirit is Our Comforter