Keep In Mind: Biblical Truth About the Holy Spirit - part 1

 Keep In Mind: Biblical Truth About the Holy Spirit

 In my experience, many folks are not quite sure what to make of the third person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit.  This goes for church-going people as well as those who rarely “darken the door.”  We will be doing a lot of learning and reflecting on the Holy Spirit as we begin a new sermon series at Harderwyk for the summer because we will be working through the Book of Acts and the Holy Spirit is a BIG character in that story.

With this in mind, I hope to add some resources on an occasional basis through this series, that “stake-out” the boundaries of biblical teaching on the Holy Spirit.  They grow out of years of study, personal reflection and conversations with people that I shepherd.  So with thanks to all those people who have been part of my journey, let’s get started.

I. The Holy Spirit Is There From the Beginning! – Genesis 1:2 to be exact!  There we read,

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  Don’t let yourself think that the Spirit somehow appeared for the first time on God’s stage at Pentecost.  The Spirit is as eternal as God, since the Spirit is God.  Co-equal and co-eternal are two of the “summary terms” for that Bible’s teaching on this.

II. Spiritual Gifts?  Part of the Whole Story As Well! – Growing up, I had the mistaken impression that “gifts of the Spirit” became part of God’s story at the first Pentecost recorded in Acts 2.  Reading the Bible showed me how wrong I was.

Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³ and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—⁴ to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze. - Exodus 31:1–4

That is a great description of the spiritual gift of craftsmanship, which by the way, one might expect from a God Who is Himself a Creative Creator!  So don’t think spiritual gifts – more on those in the future – were not happening among God’s people until Pentecost.  David had the gift of leadership.  Isaiah the gift of prophecy.  I could go on, and will later in the series.

For now: Think of the continuity of the person and work of the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament to the New Testament as we start the Book of Acts.

III. The Holy Spirit Is A Person, Not Simply Some Impersonal "Force" or "Influence" - Let me say it again: The Holy Spirit is a "person," not an impersonal force.  The Spirit is a spiritual person, but a person all the same.  Throughout the Scripture, the Spirit has all the characteristics of personality - will, relationship, quenchable, etc.

Still my favorite presentation of this is the first chapter of "The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit" by 19th century evangelist R.A. Torrey called "The Personality of the Spirit."  It is clear, succinct and full of biblical references for further study.  Here's a taste:

It is also of the highest importance from the practical standpoint that we decide whether the Holy Spirit is merely some mysterious and wonderful power that we in our weakness and ignorance are somehow to get hold of and use, or whether the Holy Spirit is a real Person, infinitely holy, infinitely wise, infinitely mighty and infinitely tender who is to get hold of and use us. (p. 3)

By the way, you can have access to this book and MANY other classics for no or little cost .  Simple download the FREE Kindle app for your computer, tablet, iPad or phone and pull them in from the Kindle option on their Amazon.com listing.  CLICK HERE for this book by Torrey, currently at 99 cents.  CLICK HERE for my favorite Andrew Murray book for free.