I believe that in our world today there is a lot of confusion when it comes to the Holy Spirit. I read a recent study that said that many Christians today don’t know much about the Holy Spirit, who he is, and how he works in our lives and the world.

I’m sure we are all familiar with Star Wars. What were the Jedi’s taught to do: “Use the force.” Sometimes this is how people view the Holy Spirit, like a power God gives us to fight against evil. We see the Holy Spirit as merely power coming from God. 

Who is this mysterious third person of the Trinity? Should we say “he” or should we say it? Many aren’t sure. Why does he seem to be described less in the bible than the father and son? Or, in some circles, why is the Holy Spirit talked about so much, so that he overshadows Jesus and God the Father.

Also, we often the Holy Spirit associate things out of the ordinary. Many see Spirit as just someone who shows up on special occasions, who comes and goes like the wind. But, what about His presence and work in the ordinary and everyday aspects of our life?

I really believe that when we have a right understanding of the Holy Spirit, it truly transforms our lives.We realize how near God is to us, how much he cares about us knowing and loving him more, how much he truly has gifted and empowered us to share the hope we have in Christ with the world around us.

The Holy Spirit is an eternal and divine person who was sent by the Father and Son to empower and lead God’s people.

What must we know about the Holy Spirit himself?

He is not a ghost. He is not a floating power, or a spooky being like you might see on Halloween. 

• The Holy Spirit is a person, not a “force” or an “energy”.

To see this in the Bible, We need to look at Jesus’ very words about the Holy Spirit. John 14:16-17 tell us: 

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.

John 14:25-26 adds: I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

Jesus wants His disciples to know that even though he will leave them physically, they will actually have a closer relationship with God than ever before. Twice in these verses Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as a counselor, another counselor. There is no doubt here that Jesus refers to the Spirit as a person. Another counselor means that the one who comes after him is continuing the ministry Jesus began.

We also see that the Spirit can be known. We can’t know an impersonal force. Jesus says in verse 17 that you do know him and he will be with you. You can’t have a relationship with a force.

He also does what only a person can do.The Holy Spirit is not described as merely the voice of God, but a teacher in His own right.  

John 15:26- The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

There is more. Just in John chapters 14-16, Jesus tells us so much about the Holy Spirit's personality. 

• He will teach and remind us (14:26)
• He will testify about Jesus (15:26)
• He will convict the world of their sin (v. 8)
• He will guide us toward the truth (v. 13)
• He will speak (v. 13- 2 times)
• He will hear (v. 13)
• He will glorify Jesus (v. 14)
• He will take what is Jesus’s and declare it (vv.14-15).

Gathered from (Peterson, Robert. Salvation in the Spirit, Union with Christ, Wheaton: Crossway, 2015, 297.)

Later in the New Testament we see more about the Holy Spirit's personality. 

1 Corinthians 2:11-12:

¹¹ For who knows a person’s thoughts except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.

The Holy Spirit thinks. He searches the deep things of God. Forces cannot think, but persons can. As we also saw in John 14, He also communicates with us, helping us understand who God is and how he works in our lives. Only persons can relate the deep things of God to our lives.

Romans 8:26-27 echoes truth. Here we see more on how the Holy Spirit communicates.

²⁶ In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings.

This glorious truth about the Holy Spirit changes our lives. The Holy Spirit who indwells us has a personal relationship with us. The holy Spirit is not a feeling or just power from God. But a personal being who calls out to God for us, prays for us, encourages us, empowers us. Without the Holy Spirit working in us and through us, we would never know Christ. We would never have salvation.

• The Holy Spirit is fully God in every way.

When you add the second truth about the Holy Spirit, the first becomes even more precious. The Holy Spirit is God. The person who indwells and leads and purifies is no one less than God, the Holy Spirit. The simple evidence for this is the frequent title the "Spirit of God." The Spirit is "of God" not because God created him, but because he shares God's nature and comes forth eternally from God.

No one can know and comprehend the thoughts and intentions of God unless they have the same nature as God.

Then any attribute that we attribute to God, we can proclaim about the Holy Spirit.We see David do this in Psalm 139. He says: “Where can I go from your Spirit, where can I flee from your presence.” The Spirit is present everywhere, just like we would say about the nature of God.

• The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son to empower and lead God’s people.

Underneath this truth lies a key question that we must also answer to understand the Holy Spirit and how he works: How does He relate to the Jesus and the Father?

They each eternally exists. They always have and always will in perfect harmony as one God in three persons. All three have the same nature and essence; they share all of the same attributes. They are each all-knowing, all-powerful, sovereign, all loving, full of mercy, the list goes on. 

While they share the same nature, they also have specific things that define them and distinguish them from each other. For the Holy Spirit, what distinguishes him is that eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. This describes his relationship to the Father and the son.

Eternally proceeds, what does that mean? It means that the Spirit has always been and always will rely on the Father and the Son for his personhood and to take direction for His action. Again, this defines their relationship; it does not mean that the Spirit is created or that he is a lesser form of God.

This truth is essential to understand because it clarifies for us how the Spirit works in our lives and the world. Because the Spirit proceeds from the Father and Jesus, his role is not to promote himself, but rather to magnify Christ and the work of the gospel. Maybe this is why we the Bible doesn’t tell us as much about the Spirit than the Father or the Son.

The Spirit doesn’t make much of himself, but points us to Christ. He reveals Christ to us, opens our heart to see the truth. He supernaturally empowered the writers of the bible. He’s always working, but never in a way that takes glory away from Christ and his work on the cross.

How does this truth impact our lives?

Let me give you two key ways. When we realize who the Holy Spirit is, we must:

• Revere the Holy Spirit just as you do Jesus and the Father.

The Holy Spirit is not second class, second rate, or an afterthought. He is the engine that drives our spiritual lives. He enlightens us, he opens our hearts to understand the what the Bible says. He grows us in our faith. He is worthy of our praise. While he shines the spotlight away from himself, he is no less valuable and essential to our lives. The Holy Spirit deserves our highest honor and recognition.

• Be confident in the miracle that God is nearer to us than we ever thought possible.

When Jesus established the church after he rose from the dead, he didn’t leave us to fend for ourselves, just the opposite, God drew nearer to his people than when Jesus was walking the earth. Don’t forget this. The same Spirit Jesus sent two thousand years ago, fully God in every way, lives within each person who is saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. The Spirit is with us the whole way. He prepares our hearts to hear God’s Word, he opens our eyes to the beauty of Christ and what he did for us through his death and resurrection. He secures our salvation, he supplies the power that carries us throughout our lives, from the day we receive Christ until the Lord takes us home. Praise God for his grace and mercy in our lives, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

See you Sunday! 

Pastor Sam