Who is The Holy Spirit?
Part 1 of a 4 part teaching series on The Holy Spirit & His Gifts
The Holy Spirit was introduced in the very first sentence in the Bible!
Genesis Chapter 1 says the Holy Spirit hovered, moved or brooded over the face of the deep. Job 33:4 says The Holy Spirit made man! There are many descriptions & mentions of The Holy Spirit in The Bible. In order to have the clearest understanding of The Holy Spirit you need to understand that 1st & foremost: The Holy Spirit is a person. There is The Father, The Son & The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit Has a Mind (Rom 8:27), The Holy Spirit has a personality (Psa 143:10), The Holy Spirit has a Voice (Rev 2:7), The Holy Spirit feels & Can be grieved (Eph 4:30), (Gen 1:1) The Holy Spirit moves around.
The Bible says The Holy Spirit is: (Jo 14:16) The Comforter, The Teacher, The Helper, (Rom 1:4) The Spirit of Holiness, (Heb 10:29) The Spirit of Grace,(Eph 1:17) The Spirit of wisdom & Revelation, (1 Jo 4:6) The Spirit of Truth, (2 Tim 1:7) The Spirit of Power, Love & A sound Mind, (1 Jo4:4) Is the Greater One, (Acts 2:33) A promise from God (Luke 11:13) Given as a good Gift by God, (Jo 7:38) Rivers of living water, (Jo 4:14) A water well Springing up, (Mark 2:22) New Wine, (Acts1:5) is a Baptism, (Jo 20:22) to be received by believers, (Acts5:3) To be respected, not lied to.
The Bible says The Holy Spirit: (Matt 3:16) Descended (1Sam 10:10) Came upon, (Eze 39:29) was poured out, (Jo 15:26) was Sent, (Acts 11:15) fell upon, Came as a wind, as fire, a cloud & was wine, (Rom 8:16) Bore Witness, (1 Cor 2:10) Revealed, Searched, (1 Jo 4:2) Confessed Jesus,(Jo 16:14) (Gal 5:22) Has Fruits, Has Gifts, Receives from Jesus, (1 Cor 6:19) Lives in Temples(Jo 14:17) Dwells with & in believers, Gave people utterance, Edifies Believers, (Acts 2:4) Fills, (Rom 8:14) leads Gods Sons, (Jo 16:13) guides to truth, (Jo15:26) Testifies of Jesus, (Jo 14:26) brings things to remembrance, (Luke24:49) endues people with power, (Acts 1:8) Helps people to witness, (Luke 24:52,53) Gives people Joy.
The Bible says The Holy Spirit Can be: Received, Grieved or Rejected
The Bible says The Holy Spirit can not: (Jo 14:17) Be received by the world, (Acts 8:20) Be purchased.
The Holy Spirit in the New Birth experience
(John 20:21-22) Immediately after the resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples & said: Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this he breathed on them & said to them, Receive ye The Holy Spirit.
(John 3:5-8) Jesus Answered, verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born of water (Natural Birth) & of The Spirit, he can not enter into The Kingdom of Heaven. That which is born of the flesh is flesh & that which is born of The Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I say unto you that you must be Born Again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, & thou hearest the sound of it, but can not tell where it comes from or where it is going. So is everyone who is born of The Spirit. (Rom 8:16) The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our Spirit, that we are the Children of God. *Even though the Holy Spirit is present in the regeneration of a born again believers life, it is not the same as the subsequent infilling or Baptism in The Holy Spirit that was promised to believers in (acts 1:8)
The Indwelling Presence of The Holy Spirit
What we want to look at in this study section is the fact that there is a Subsequent experience (Baptism/ Immersion) whereby after a believer has received Jesus & has been born again He or She can receive The indwelling Person, Presence & Power of The Holy Spirit.
The Outpouring of The Holy Spirit
On the Jewish day of Pentecost thousands of years ago in Acts 2:1 the bible states that there Suddenly came a sound from Heaven as of a mighty rushing wind that filled the house where the disciples were gathered. This occurred as a result of (Acts 2:33) which says: Jesus having received of The Father the promise of The Holy Ghost, hath shed this forth which ye now see & hear. This powerful second & subsequent experience came after the disciples had already been born again in (John 20:22)
(Acts Ch 2) God sent The Holy Spirit to the Church in Power, Signs & Wonders as a witness to the resurrection & lordship of Jesus. Everyone in the City was aware that something extremely powerful had taken place & many people were cut to their spiritual core as a result of being so strongly convicted from what they both heard & saw.
The Holy Spirit is a good Gift
Lets look at Luke 11:9-13. This scripture talks about asking God for good gifts. It also refers to The Holy Spirit as being a much greater gift than earthly fathers give & that The Holy Spirit is given by God to those who are Gods sons & that ask him for this gift.
(Acts 10 45-46) And they of the Circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out The Gift of The Holy Ghost, For they Heard them Speak with Tongues & Magnify God.
The Holy Spirit is a Promise from God
(Acts 2:39) For the Promise is unto you, and to your Children, And to them that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
(Joel 2:28-29) And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour at my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.
Benefits of Receiving The Holy Spirit
(John 14:16-17) 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. (Acts 1:8) But you shall receive power, after that The Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me… (Jude 20:20) But you beloved, building (charging) yourselves up on your most holy faith, Praying in the Holy Ghost.
Have you received The Holy Spirit since you believed?
This is a very powerful statement in (Acts 19:2-7)
Paul (not one of the original twelve) is speaking to some disciples who had previously Repented of their sins & had been water baptized. Paul ask them: Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve.
*Notice that Paul called them disciples. They were believers & had been baptized. TheHoly Spirit came on them after Paul laid his hands on them & that they Spoke in Tongues & Prophesied. The New Testament Norm is to Speak in Tongues & Prophecy.
Requirements for recieving The gift of The Holy Spirit:
# 1 You must be a born again believer! # 2 You must ask for Him! # 3 You must receive Him by Faith! #4 You must begin to speak as The Holy Spirit gives you the utterance.
Asking God for The Gift of The Holy Spirit
The bible states that The Holy Spirit is a Gift, Signifying that He has to be received. Salvation is received by Faith & The Holy Spirit is received by Faith.
There is something that we need to see. The Holy Spirit has been given to The Church by God as evidenced through Sign’s & Wonder’s on the day of Pentecost. He has not left, He is still here. That places us believers in the position of asking to receive Him.
Receiving The Gift of The Holy Spirit
The Bible evidence (or sign) that someone has received the Infilling of The Holy Spirit is that they speak in a New Tongue (a heavenly language that they do not know ). Think about it, Have you ever wondered what language they speak in Heaven. Did you realize that while men were building the tower of Babel in Genesis that God gave them all a bunch of new languages so that they did not know what each other was saying or how about God allowing a Donkey to speak a new language to Balaam & warn him about an Angel that was about to whack him with a sword. If a Donkey can speak a new language so can you. God has many languages & He will give you one so that your mind will not get in the way & your Spirit can pray perfect & effective prayers to him.
There are several ways to begin praying in The Holy Spirit! The most popular way is to have others who have been Baptized in The Holy Spirit lay hands on you and begin to pray in The Spirit with you. This creates an atmosphere of faith, enables there to be a transference of The Holy Spirits power to you and makes it easier to begin praying. The Bible Speaks of Peter, Paul & many others including Gentile disciples who had previously received The Holy Spirit as placing their hands on believers in order to help them to receive The Holy Spirit by the act of transference of The Holy Spirits presence.
The second most popular way is to get still, get in an attitude of prayer, ask for The Holy Spirit, lift your hands and begin worshiping. When you are ready – just begin to pray in The Spirit as The Holy Spirit enables you.
Note* Many people are caught up with the initial experience of receiving The Holy Spirit but then allow prayerlessness to rob them of His daily Presence in their lives. By continuing to pray or sing in The Spirit as you go throughout your day you will become more & more aware of His presence & power. Your life will change forever!
The Holy Spirit in the New Testament
(Select readings – Acts Ch 2) The Outpouring (Acts 2:1-4), Amazed & perplexed (Acts 2:12), Joel’s Last days Prophecy (Acts 2:17), Proclaiming the Gospel (Acts 2:14 & 29), Conviction of The Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37), Repentance from Sin (Acts 2:38-41), The Fear of God (Acts2:43), Unity & Favor (Acts 2:44-47)
(Select readings – Acts Ch 3) Miracles in Jesus name (Acts Ch 3:6-9), Holy boldness (Acts Ch 3:13), Corporate Worship (Acts Ch 3:24), Signs & Wonders (Acts Ch 3:29&30), All of one heart (Acts Ch 3:32), Power displayed (Acts Ch 3:33)
(Select readings Tested the Spirit (Acts 5:1-11), Wisdom & Spirit (Acts Ch 6:8-10), Saw Visions (Acts Ch 7:55), Preached Christ (Acts Ch 8:5-8)
Brad Hocutt
Seated-The Prophetic/Teaching Ministry of Brad Hocutt 