LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT (Part 1)

When we surrender our lives to the Lord, God gives us one of
the greatest blessings we can ever receive as a new believer.
He gives us the Holy Spirit to help us live our ‘new life’ and
put away our ‘old life’.

We need to invite the Holy Spirit to become an active part
of our lives on a daily basis. Why? Because God gave us the
Holy Spirit to help us as we strive to become more like Jesus.

He convicts us when we sin against God.
He reminds us that we need to repent.
He guides us and encourages us.
He helps us develop new attitudes.
He prays our prayers for us when we have
problems explaining to God what is on our heart.

When we pray, more than likely we thank God and Jesus,
but how many of us thank the Holy Spirit in our prayers?
He is the third part of the trinity and is an important part
of the life of every believer.

The Holy Spirit can help us in the areas where we are weak.
He can help us in developing better self-control, and in
developing other Christ like characteristics in our lives.
He can encourage us to be more obedient to God and less
susceptible to the attacks from Satan to tempt us.

Today, we will begin a series of lessons that will hopefully
help us better understand the Holy Spirit, including the
importance of His presence in the world, and the value of
His presence in our own individual lives.

HOLY SPIRIT (Part 1)

Man has two great spiritual needs: forgiveness and goodness.
– (Romans 5:15-16; 1 Peter 1:18-21)
  God answered the first cry
  of man (forgiveness) with His gift at Calvary.

– (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)
  He also answered the second cry from man (goodness).
  Question:
  Why would He do that?
      He does not want us to come to Christ by faith and then
      live a life of defeat, discouragement, and dissension
      (disagreement). He gives us the power to be truly ‘good’.

If we want to live victoriously, we need:
    1. The work of the Son of God ‘for us’.
    2. The work of the Spirit of God ‘in us’.

If we believe in Jesus Christ, we have a power available to us
that can change our lives (including very intimate areas of our
lives such as marriage, family relationships, and other relationships).
Note:
    Due to our lack of understanding, we might be preventing
    the power of the Holy Spirit from working in our lives.
    Question:
    What do we mean by ignorance?
        – It is an unawareness of this power
          God has given to us when He gave us salvation.

THE HOLY SPIRIT PROMISED
The scriptures promise the Holy Spirit in these verses.
– (John 16:5-7) As Jesus prepared the disciples for His departure.
                           Note: Jesus never made an unfilled promise.
– (John 14:15-17)
– (Acts 1:1-8)
– (Luke 11:13)
   Note: The word “ask” is used, prior to Pentecost.

THE PROMISE FULFILLED
The promise of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled in these verses.
– (Acts 2:1-4)
   Approximately 50 days after Jesus appeared
   to the disciples following His ascension.
   (Acts 2:14-21; Acts 2:33) – Peter explains

– (Acts 2:38)
   Prior to Pentecost, Luke said ‘ask’ God for the Holy Spirit,
   but at this time he says ‘repent’ and receive the Holy Spirit.

– (Acts 2:39)
  The Holy Spirit was not just a ‘gift’ for the people
  during that time, but a ‘gift’ for all people of all time.

The Holy Spirit is a ‘person’;
He is not an ‘it’, or a ‘cosmic force’.
– (John 14:16-17, 15:26, 16:7-11, 12-14)
– (Revelation 2:7, Acts 13:2) The Holy Spirit speaks
– (Romans 8:26) The Holy Spirit intercedes when we pray
– (Romans 8:27) He has a mind
– (John 15:26) The Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus
– (Acts 8:29, Romans 8:13-14) The Holy Spirit leads
– (Acts 16:6-7) The Holy Spirit commands us where we should go
– (John 16:13) The Holy Spirit guides and gives us heavenly messages
– (Acts 20:28) The Holy Spirit appoints us to specific tasks
– (Acts 5:3-4) The Holy Spirit can be lied to
– (Hebrews 10:29) The Holy Spirit can be insulted
– (Matthew 12:31-32) The Holy Spirit can be blasphemed (cursed)
– (Ephesians 4:30) The Holy Spirit can be grieved

The Holy Spirit is a divine person (He is God).
– Look at the attributes given to Him (the attributes of God Himself).
      – (Hebrews 9:14) He is eternal
      – (Luke 1:35) He is all-powerful (omnipotent)
      – (Psalm 139:7-10) He is omnipresent (everywhere)
      – (1 Corinthians 2:10-11) He is omniscient (all knowing)

– (Acts 5:3-4, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
   The Holy Spirit is called God and Lord

– (Genesis 1:2)
   He is the Creator (this is the 1st reference to the Holy Spirit)

The Trinity
– We pray to the Father, through the Son,
   in the power of the Holy Spirit.

– (Genesis 1:1)
   The Hebrew word used for God here is “Elohim”,
   which indicates plurality (more than two).

– (Genesis 1:26)
   “let us make” “in our image” “according to our likeness”

– (Genesis 3:22) “like one of us”

– (Genesis 11:6-7) “let us go down”

– (Isaiah 6:8) “go for us”

– (Matthew 28:18-20) Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
   Note: Hebrews 13:5 should be an encouragement for us all.

– (2 Corinthians 13:14) Jesus Christ, God, Holy Spirit

– In summary, God the Father is fully God,
God the Son is fully God,
and God the Holy Spirit is fully God.
The Bible presents this as truth,
even though it may seem confusing.

– The Father is the source of all blessing,
the Son is the channel of all blessing,
but it is through the Holy Spirit at work in us
that all truth becomes living and a part of our lives.

– To better understand the Trinity, we need to remember
it was not God the Father, or God the Holy Spirit who
died at Calvary; it was God the Son.

– The work of ‘God the Father’
is emphasized mostly in the Old Testament.

– The work of ‘God the Son’ is emphasized in the Gospels.

– From the day of Pentecost until the present,
the emphasis is on the work of ‘God the Holy Spirit’.

Note:
The Bible also tells us that God the Holy Spirit has been
at work throughout history (from the creation of the world).