LESSON 20 – THE HOLY SPIRIT – PNEUMATOLOGY
Holy Spirit Ministry.
John 14:15-17
Genesis 1:2
Genesis 6:3
2 Samuel 23:1-5
Psalm 51:1-12 Holy Spirit - Deity
Holy Spirit - Old Testament
Symbols of Holy Spirit
John 14:15 17 – In this passage the Lord Jesus Christ calls the Holy Spirit “another comforter”. Here John uses the Greek word "allos" meaning another of the same kind, in contrast to "heteros", which means another of a different kind. The Lord is saying that the Spirit will be the same presence as He has been.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD
The deity of the Spirit is the same as the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and that of the Father. The word comforter is the Greek word "parakletos", which means the one who comes alongside. It means more than comfort, it means the person who communicates, helps, counsels, the one who lifts, the glory and the lifter of my head, as the Song of Songs says, "he is the glory and the lifter of my head".
MINISTRIES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Ever since the day of Pentecost; the Holy Spirit has been sent to abide in every Born Again Christian on a permanent basis. Abide means to stay with you until the end. This is unique to this age as it is only within the believers in the church age that the Holy Spirit indwells forever. This was a big change that was not understood until after Pentecost when it became a reality. Prior to this the Holy Spirit was with believers and could be removed. The Holy Spirit dwells within you when you are saved, but this is not the same thing as being baptized into the Holy Spirit.
At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was no longer alongside but inside the believer. He came permanently to live within the believer. This should not be confused with Christians asking for the Holy Spirit to fall on them anew, or fill them up; because they are really asking for more dunamis power to do his will more fully. Jesus said ‘keep on knocking’ ‘keep on asking’ and I will give it. Jesus himself felt the dunamis power go out from him when he was touched by the Woman who had the issue of blood. So we should be praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit as much as possible.
Asking to be filled with the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit is totally different to being indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation. Romans 8:9-11. The dunamis power of the Holy Spirit allows us to do things beyond what is normal and possible in our own strength.
In John 14 the Lord Jesus Christ introduces the disciples to this world changing event in verse 17 where He says that the Spirit is with you and shall be [future tense] in you. David could pray; “Lord take not thy Holy Spirit from me”, Psalm 51:11 but we should not pray these words, as the Holy Spirit lives within us.
Rather we should be asking to be filled with dunamis power from the Holy Spirit every day. The fruitage of the Holy Spirit will then be manifest in our lives.
In John 16:7 17 He expands on it. After the Ascension we have the Session of Christ after which He sends the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has a ministry for unbelievers just as he has a ministry amongst us. He is going to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. The sin that the Holy Spirit convicts people of is unbelief.
EVANGLISM
When you are evangelizing remember that ‘the sin’ that is going to put the unbeliever in to Gehenna the Lake of Fire is unbelief and refusing to accept Jesus Christ. Jesus explains in John 16:8-11, that as he will no longer be on the earth, the Holy Spirit will convict the unbeliever of unrighteousness and the need of a Saviour.
The Holy Spirit also convicts of Judgment and giving them the fear of judgment that if they stood before almighty God they would be condemned. When you witness to others claim these verses that they will be convicted of sin, righteousness and judgment. This is the Holy Spirit's job and such a prayer will be honoured.
The Holy Spirit is called the spirit of truth. He is the teacher and revealer of truth. He is the teacher of things that the Lord has said. The Lord said that there were many things that He wanted to tell them that the Holy Spirit would reveal to them. His job is to draw the attention of man to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and not to Himself. He does this through then Word of which He is the author as well as illuminating the Word.
In Church history it will be seen that it was not until the 4th century at the Council of Nicaea that the character of the Holy Spirit was discussed fully and explained. In the early Church they did not stress the Holy Spirit at all. It is important however that you understand His person and His work. The Spirit is what we would call humble and is standing back and ministering to and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
HOLY SPIRIT AND PRAYER
In the ancient world the prayers always started, "Heavenly Father I have sinned"; but since Jesus Christ came and paid the price of sin so we now have him as our only Mediator; therefore we can now ask for anything in HIS name John 14:14. To have a fully functioning relationship with anyone we need to talk to them on a regular basis. Therefore we can talk to the Holy Spirit as we would any ‘comforter’ or ‘helper’ and ask him to support us for that day. We also need to petition and supplicate the Lord Jesus Christ and ask him to send the Holy Spirit to minister to us.
There is equality in the Godhead, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 13:14. He is the one who puts His arm around you and carries you through. He is the ever present contact with the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit which draws us near. Matthew 28:18 gives us the great commission and is again a Tri-unity text.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON
This shows He is therefore a person and not a force. Even believers talk about God the Holy Spirit as an influence and do not recognize Him as a person. Rejection of the Holy Spirit as a person often is replaced with the concept that He is the personification of the power for good whilst Satan is the personification of evil. This denial has occurred throughout Church History. It is false and a dangerous error which Satan is using today with the rebirth of paganism in many places
It is important to realise that He is a person and worthy to receive love and honour and that you are not robbing the Holy Spirit of your love and adoration. He is a person who is infinitely divine, holy, loving and wishes to get hold of us so that He can use us.
Empowering to Minister Life
Jesus said in John 7:38-39, "He who believes in ME, as the Scripture has said, "out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."
God wants to give us an inner power that flows out of us and impacts those around us. This power is described as a river of living water. Those that we witness to do not need religious rituals; but release from bondage and darkness. They need the refreshing power and cleansing from the ‘river of life’. The falling upon us of the Holy Spirit fills us with his power. By being filled with the Holy Spirit we allow the ‘river of life’ to flow out of us and bless others.
When we understand Him as a person we will treat Him as a person? We will get to know the communion and fellowship of the Holy Spirit just as the disciples knew the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ whilst on earth?
We should have a minute by minute walk with the Holy Spirit just as the disciples had a minute by minute walk with the Lord. He came that we might have fellowship with Him. This is the answer to the many problems believers have with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The issue is not seeking after dramatic signs and wonders; the issue is whether you are experiencing a moment by moment communion with the Holy Spirit.
Many extreme Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches focus totally on the ‘outpouring’ and very little else. They have moments of grandeur in which they may be spiritual but the Bible tells us that we are called to be light and therefore have a moment by moment fellowship with the Lord through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ is of great importance in the Church. It is going to set the tone of our daily worship of Him. It is a very important doctrine. Many conservative churches have suffered because of a lack of teaching in this area and many have then gone to Pentecostal/Charismatic churches where they all too often focus totally on the Holy Spirit.
Thus many people in these churches feel empty, because they have spoken in tongues, seen miracles and healing and yet are hungry for the Word of God to be spoken into their lives. They are seeking bible teaching churches where the truth of walking in the Spirit is fully taught along with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. The prophet Hosea said that Gods people perish, because of a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6)
In the Greek the spirit is in the neuter but by being in the neuter it does not mean that the object is an "it". Whenever the Holy Spirit is talked about there is a personal pronoun used. It is of interest that the word for child brephos is also in the neuter but is obviously not a thing. The other words for a young child, teknon and paidion are also in the neuter.
DOCTRINES
HOLY SPIRIT: DEITY
1. The Holy Spirit is directly from God, the third member of the Tri-unity.
2. The Holy Spirit is the expression of intellect and power from the Father and the Son. (Isaiah 6:8, 9, Acts 28:25, Jeremiah 31:31-35, Hebrews 10:15).
3. He has the characteristics of God:
a) Sovereignty 1 Corinthians 12:11
b) All knowing (1 Corinthians 2:10, 11)
c) All powerful (Genesis 1:2)
d) Everywhere, Omnipresent (Psalm 139:7)
HOLY SPIRIT: MINISTRY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
1. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not indwell all believers, since Christ was not yet glorified (John 7:39). Instead, He only came upon some Old Testament saints to perform special functions.
a) JOSEPH, a believer who was a prime minister. (Genesis 41:38)
b) Believers who were artisans occupied in the construction of the Tabernacle. (Exodus 28:3, 31:3)
c) Believers involved in administration. (Numbers 11:17, 25)
d) A believer who was both a political and military leader - JOSHUA (Numbers 27:18)
e) Certain Judges: OTHNIEL (Judges 3:9, 10) GIDEON (Judges 6:34) JEPHTHAH (Judges 11:29) SAMSON (Judges 13:24, 25, 14:5-6, 15:14)
f) Kings of Israel (1 Samuel 10:9, 10, 16:13)
g) DANIEL (Daniel 4:8, 5:11, 6:3)
h) Post exilic rulers (Zechariah 4:3, 12-14)
2. Believers in Israel could be disciplined by the removal of the Spirit:
a) SAUL (1 Samuel 16:14)
b) DAVID (Psalm 51:11)
3. A believer could obtain the Holy Spirit by request, but not as an indwelling presence. (2 Kings 2:9, 10, Luke 11:13)
4. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit without request to the disciples just before the ascension. Purpose: To sustain them for the ten day interim before the Church Age would begin. (John 20:22)
HOLY SPIRIT: SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There are a number of symbols for the Holy Spirit in the Bible.
1. Dove. (Matthew 3:16)
2. Oil. (Exodus 35:28)
3. Water. (John 7:38-39)
4. Wind. (Acts 2:2)
5. Fire. (Acts 2:3)
6. Seal. (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30)
7. Pledge. (Ephesians 1:14)
Holy Spirit Ministry.
John 14:15-17
Genesis 1:2
Genesis 6:3
2 Samuel 23:1-5
Psalm 51:1-12 Holy Spirit - Deity
Holy Spirit - Old Testament
Symbols of Holy Spirit
John 14:15 17 – In this passage the Lord Jesus Christ calls the Holy Spirit “another comforter”. Here John uses the Greek word "allos" meaning another of the same kind, in contrast to "heteros", which means another of a different kind. The Lord is saying that the Spirit will be the same presence as He has been.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD
The deity of the Spirit is the same as the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and that of the Father. The word comforter is the Greek word "parakletos", which means the one who comes alongside. It means more than comfort, it means the person who communicates, helps, counsels, the one who lifts, the glory and the lifter of my head, as the Song of Songs says, "he is the glory and the lifter of my head".
MINISTRIES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Ever since the day of Pentecost; the Holy Spirit has been sent to abide in every Born Again Christian on a permanent basis. Abide means to stay with you until the end. This is unique to this age as it is only within the believers in the church age that the Holy Spirit indwells forever. This was a big change that was not understood until after Pentecost when it became a reality. Prior to this the Holy Spirit was with believers and could be removed. The Holy Spirit dwells within you when you are saved, but this is not the same thing as being baptized into the Holy Spirit.
At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was no longer alongside but inside the believer. He came permanently to live within the believer. This should not be confused with Christians asking for the Holy Spirit to fall on them anew, or fill them up; because they are really asking for more dunamis power to do his will more fully. Jesus said ‘keep on knocking’ ‘keep on asking’ and I will give it. Jesus himself felt the dunamis power go out from him when he was touched by the Woman who had the issue of blood. So we should be praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit as much as possible.
Asking to be filled with the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit is totally different to being indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation. Romans 8:9-11. The dunamis power of the Holy Spirit allows us to do things beyond what is normal and possible in our own strength.
In John 14 the Lord Jesus Christ introduces the disciples to this world changing event in verse 17 where He says that the Spirit is with you and shall be [future tense] in you. David could pray; “Lord take not thy Holy Spirit from me”, Psalm 51:11 but we should not pray these words, as the Holy Spirit lives within us.
Rather we should be asking to be filled with dunamis power from the Holy Spirit every day. The fruitage of the Holy Spirit will then be manifest in our lives.
In John 16:7 17 He expands on it. After the Ascension we have the Session of Christ after which He sends the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has a ministry for unbelievers just as he has a ministry amongst us. He is going to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. The sin that the Holy Spirit convicts people of is unbelief.
EVANGLISM
When you are evangelizing remember that ‘the sin’ that is going to put the unbeliever in to Gehenna the Lake of Fire is unbelief and refusing to accept Jesus Christ. Jesus explains in John 16:8-11, that as he will no longer be on the earth, the Holy Spirit will convict the unbeliever of unrighteousness and the need of a Saviour.
The Holy Spirit also convicts of Judgment and giving them the fear of judgment that if they stood before almighty God they would be condemned. When you witness to others claim these verses that they will be convicted of sin, righteousness and judgment. This is the Holy Spirit's job and such a prayer will be honoured.
The Holy Spirit is called the spirit of truth. He is the teacher and revealer of truth. He is the teacher of things that the Lord has said. The Lord said that there were many things that He wanted to tell them that the Holy Spirit would reveal to them. His job is to draw the attention of man to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and not to Himself. He does this through then Word of which He is the author as well as illuminating the Word.
In Church history it will be seen that it was not until the 4th century at the Council of Nicaea that the character of the Holy Spirit was discussed fully and explained. In the early Church they did not stress the Holy Spirit at all. It is important however that you understand His person and His work. The Spirit is what we would call humble and is standing back and ministering to and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
HOLY SPIRIT AND PRAYER
In the ancient world the prayers always started, "Heavenly Father I have sinned"; but since Jesus Christ came and paid the price of sin so we now have him as our only Mediator; therefore we can now ask for anything in HIS name John 14:14. To have a fully functioning relationship with anyone we need to talk to them on a regular basis. Therefore we can talk to the Holy Spirit as we would any ‘comforter’ or ‘helper’ and ask him to support us for that day. We also need to petition and supplicate the Lord Jesus Christ and ask him to send the Holy Spirit to minister to us.
There is equality in the Godhead, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 13:14. He is the one who puts His arm around you and carries you through. He is the ever present contact with the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit which draws us near. Matthew 28:18 gives us the great commission and is again a Tri-unity text.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON
This shows He is therefore a person and not a force. Even believers talk about God the Holy Spirit as an influence and do not recognize Him as a person. Rejection of the Holy Spirit as a person often is replaced with the concept that He is the personification of the power for good whilst Satan is the personification of evil. This denial has occurred throughout Church History. It is false and a dangerous error which Satan is using today with the rebirth of paganism in many places
It is important to realise that He is a person and worthy to receive love and honour and that you are not robbing the Holy Spirit of your love and adoration. He is a person who is infinitely divine, holy, loving and wishes to get hold of us so that He can use us.
Empowering to Minister Life
Jesus said in John 7:38-39, "He who believes in ME, as the Scripture has said, "out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."
God wants to give us an inner power that flows out of us and impacts those around us. This power is described as a river of living water. Those that we witness to do not need religious rituals; but release from bondage and darkness. They need the refreshing power and cleansing from the ‘river of life’. The falling upon us of the Holy Spirit fills us with his power. By being filled with the Holy Spirit we allow the ‘river of life’ to flow out of us and bless others.
When we understand Him as a person we will treat Him as a person? We will get to know the communion and fellowship of the Holy Spirit just as the disciples knew the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ whilst on earth?
We should have a minute by minute walk with the Holy Spirit just as the disciples had a minute by minute walk with the Lord. He came that we might have fellowship with Him. This is the answer to the many problems believers have with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The issue is not seeking after dramatic signs and wonders; the issue is whether you are experiencing a moment by moment communion with the Holy Spirit.
Many extreme Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches focus totally on the ‘outpouring’ and very little else. They have moments of grandeur in which they may be spiritual but the Bible tells us that we are called to be light and therefore have a moment by moment fellowship with the Lord through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ is of great importance in the Church. It is going to set the tone of our daily worship of Him. It is a very important doctrine. Many conservative churches have suffered because of a lack of teaching in this area and many have then gone to Pentecostal/Charismatic churches where they all too often focus totally on the Holy Spirit.
Thus many people in these churches feel empty, because they have spoken in tongues, seen miracles and healing and yet are hungry for the Word of God to be spoken into their lives. They are seeking bible teaching churches where the truth of walking in the Spirit is fully taught along with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. The prophet Hosea said that Gods people perish, because of a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6)
In the Greek the spirit is in the neuter but by being in the neuter it does not mean that the object is an "it". Whenever the Holy Spirit is talked about there is a personal pronoun used. It is of interest that the word for child brephos is also in the neuter but is obviously not a thing. The other words for a young child, teknon and paidion are also in the neuter.
DOCTRINES
HOLY SPIRIT: DEITY
1. The Holy Spirit is directly from God, the third member of the Tri-unity.
2. The Holy Spirit is the expression of intellect and power from the Father and the Son. (Isaiah 6:8, 9, Acts 28:25, Jeremiah 31:31-35, Hebrews 10:15).
3. He has the characteristics of God:
a) Sovereignty 1 Corinthians 12:11
b) All knowing (1 Corinthians 2:10, 11)
c) All powerful (Genesis 1:2)
d) Everywhere, Omnipresent (Psalm 139:7)
HOLY SPIRIT: MINISTRY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
1. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not indwell all believers, since Christ was not yet glorified (John 7:39). Instead, He only came upon some Old Testament saints to perform special functions.
a) JOSEPH, a believer who was a prime minister. (Genesis 41:38)
b) Believers who were artisans occupied in the construction of the Tabernacle. (Exodus 28:3, 31:3)
c) Believers involved in administration. (Numbers 11:17, 25)
d) A believer who was both a political and military leader - JOSHUA (Numbers 27:18)
e) Certain Judges: OTHNIEL (Judges 3:9, 10) GIDEON (Judges 6:34) JEPHTHAH (Judges 11:29) SAMSON (Judges 13:24, 25, 14:5-6, 15:14)
f) Kings of Israel (1 Samuel 10:9, 10, 16:13)
g) DANIEL (Daniel 4:8, 5:11, 6:3)
h) Post exilic rulers (Zechariah 4:3, 12-14)
2. Believers in Israel could be disciplined by the removal of the Spirit:
a) SAUL (1 Samuel 16:14)
b) DAVID (Psalm 51:11)
3. A believer could obtain the Holy Spirit by request, but not as an indwelling presence. (2 Kings 2:9, 10, Luke 11:13)
4. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit without request to the disciples just before the ascension. Purpose: To sustain them for the ten day interim before the Church Age would begin. (John 20:22)
HOLY SPIRIT: SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There are a number of symbols for the Holy Spirit in the Bible.
1. Dove. (Matthew 3:16)
2. Oil. (Exodus 35:28)
3. Water. (John 7:38-39)
4. Wind. (Acts 2:2)
5. Fire. (Acts 2:3)
6. Seal. (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30)
7. Pledge. (Ephesians 1:14)
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