The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit

  1. Read the Book of Acts!
  2. The Spirit’s divine nature
    1. Called God — Mk. 1:10-11; Acts 5:3-4
    2. With the Father and Son in the baptismal formula — Mt. 28:19
    3. Same characteristics of God
      1. Eternal — Heb. 9:14
      2. Everywhere present (omnipresent) — Ps. 139:7-10
      3. All-knowing (omniscient) — 1 Cor. 2:9-11
      4. Has great power (omnipotent) — Acts 1:8; Rom. 15:19
      5. Raised Christ from the dead — 1 Pet. 3:18
      6. Performs miracles — Mt. 12:28; Rom. 15:19
      7. Involved in creation — Gen. 1:2
      8. Gives spiritual life to us — Jn. 3:3-8
  3. The Spirit’s personality
    1. He teaches — Jn. 14:26
    2. He hears and speaks — Jn. 16:13
    3. He testifies about Christ — Jn. 15:26
    4. He encourages — Acts 9:31
    5. He counsels — Jn. 14:16
    6. He convicts people of sin — Jn. 16:8
    7. He prays for us — Rom. 8:27
    8. He sends people out — Acts 13:4
    9. He experiences grief — Eph. 4:30
    10. He can be resisted — Acts 7:51
    11. He can be tested — Acts 5:9
  4. The Work of The Holy Spirit
    1. In the Old Testament
      1. Involved in creation — Gen. 1:2
      2. Guided God’s people — Isa. 63:11-13
      3. Instructed God’s people — Neh. 9:20
      4. Led God’s people in the right way — Ps. 143:10
      5. Inspired God’s people to do right — Ps. 51:10-12
      6. Admonished God’s people — Neh. 9:30
      7. Reacted to human evil — Gen. 6:3
      8. Gave artistic ability to individuals — Ex. 31:2-3
      9. Gave his power to Israel’s leaders — Jdg. 6:34; 1 Sam. 16:13; Zech. 4:6
      10. Lived among God’s people — Hag. 2:5
      11. Inspired the prophets — Num. 11:29; Micah 3:8; Zech. 7:12; 2 Pet. 1:21
      12. Spoke through the psalmists — 2 Sam. 23:2; Acts 1:16, 20; Heb. 3:7-11
      13. Old Testament prophecies on the Spirit — Isa. 11:1-3; 32:15; 42:1; 44:3; 61:1-3; Ezek. 36:26-27; Joel 2:28-32
    2. In the life of Jesus Christ
      1. Jesus was conceived by the Spirit — Lk. 1:34-35
      2. He received the Spirit at his baptism — Lk. 3:21-22
      3. He was filled with the Spirit — Lk. 4:1
      4. He ministered in the power of the Spirit — Mt. 12:15-21; Lk. 4:18-21
      5. He cast out demons by the Spirit — Mt. 12:28
      6. He offered himself to God through the Spirit — Heb. 9:14
      7. He was raised by the Spirit — Rom. 8:11; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 3:18
      8. He promised to send the Spirit — Jn. 15:26
      9. He sent the Spirit on Pentecost — Acts 2:33
      10. The Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus — Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6
    3. In the church
      1. The Spirit came at Pentecost — Acts 2:1-4
      2. He dwells in the church — 1 Cor. 3:16-17; Eph. 2:22
      3. He appoints officers for the church — Acts 20:28
      4. He directs decisions of the church — Acts 15:28
      5. He chooses missionaries — Acts 13:2
      6. He sends out missionaries — Acts 13:4
      7. He directs the mission enterprise — Acts 8:29, 39; 16:6-7
    4. In individuals
      1. The Spirit dwells in us — Jn. 14:16-17; Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 6:19
      2. He convicts us of sin — Jn. 16:7-11
      3. He gives us new life — Jn. 3:5-6; Titus 3:5
      4. He makes us realize God’s love — Rom. 5:5
      5. He gives us power to witness — Acts 1:8; 6:9-10
      6. He teaches us what to say — Lk. 12:12
      7. He reveals God’s secrets to us — 1 Cor. 2:10-16
      8. He brings Christ’s presence to us — Jn. 14:16-18
      9. He keeps us in touch with God — Rom. 8:26; Jude 20
      10. He teaches us about Christ — Jn. 14:26; 15:26
      11. He enables us to find the truth — 1 Jn. 4:1-6
      12. He encourages us — Acts 9:31
      13. He controls us — Rom. 8:9
      14. He gives us joy and peace — Rom. 14:17
      15. He draws us into fellowship — 2 Cor. 13:14; Phil. 2:1
      16. He enables us to live the Christian life — Rom. 8:5-9
      17. He works his fruit in us — Gal. 5:16-25

      18. He sanctifies us — Rom. 15:16; 2 Thess. 2:13
      19. He gives us gifts — 1 Cor. 12:4-11

      20. He gives us his sword to fight Satan — Eph. 6:17
      21. He prays for us in times of crisis — Rom. 8:26
      22. He will raise us from the dead — Rom. 8:11
  5. The Spirit in our life
    1. How to receive the Spirit
      1. We must repent of our sins — Acts 2:37-38
      2. We must believe in Jesus — Acts 11:15-17; Rom. 8:9; Gal. 3:2-3, 14; Eph. 1:13
      3. We must be baptized in Jesus’ name — Acts 2:38; 19:1-6
      4. We must pray to receive him — Lk. 11:13; Acts 8:15
    2. Being filled with the Holy Spirit
      1. His filling is a gift for all believers
        1. Old Testament promise — Joel 2:28-29
        2. New Testament fulfillment — Acts 2:17-18
        3. New Testament promise to us — Acts 2:38; Rom. 8:9
      2. Persons filled with the Holy Spirit
        1. Bezalel — Ex. 31:2-5
        2. Samson — Jdg. 14:19
        3. Saul — 1 Sam. 10:10
        4. John the Baptist — Lk. 1:15
        5. Elizabeth — Lk. 1:47
        6. Zechariah — Lk. 1:67
        7. The disciples on Pentecost — Acts 2:4
        8. Peter before the Jewish Council — Acts 4:8
        9. The early Christians at prayer — Acts 4:31
        10. Paul in his preaching — Acts 13:9
        11. New Christians — Acts 13:52
      3. Persons Full of the Holy Spirit
        1. Jesus — Lk. 4:1
        2. The first deacons — Acts 6:3
        3. Stephen — Acts 6:5
        4. Barnabas — Acts 11:24
      4. The command to be filled with the Spirit
        1. To Paul at his conversion — Acts 9:17
        2. To all Christians — Eph. 5:18

    3. Being sealed with the Spirit — 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14


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Matthew 28:19 Notes:

Mt. 28:19 Note

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Mt. 28:19 (KJV) –Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Mt. 28:19 Note 1: Those who believed were to be baptized in water, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This associates the believer with the person of Jesus and with the Triune God. The One God we serve is three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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Mark 1:10-11 Notes:

Mk. 1:10-11 Notes

Persons of the Trinity

Mark 1:10-11 (NET) –And just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. [11] And a voice came from heaven: “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight.”

Mark 1:10-11 Note 1: All three persons of the Godhead are in manifestation at once: (1) the voice of the Father, (2) the Son in His physical body, and (3) the Holy Spirit in the gentleness of a dove. This shows that the three Persons of the Trinity are distinct from each other, yet Scripture reveals that They are one (1 John 5:7). The Greek word for “one” in 1 John 5:7 is “HEIS,” and it signifies “a single (one), to the exclusion of others” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary), as well as united in purpose. This same Greek word is used in 1 Timothy 2:5, in which case it clearly means more than sameness of purpose.

Mark 1:10-11 Note 2: The Trinity is first suggested in Genesis 1:26 by God saying, “Let us…” One God spoke in the plural. Scripture has abundant references to the Father as God (ex. 1 Corinthians 8:6). Jesus is called God (Isa. 9:6; Jn. 1:1; 20:28; 1 Tim. 3:16; and Heb. 1:8). The Holy Ghost is called God (see note at Acts 5:3-4). Yet one of the great statements of the Old Testament from Deuteronomy 6:4 says that “the LORD our God is one LORD.” We do not have three Gods but one God clearly identifiable as three Persons. This is a great mystery that we do not have any adequate explanation for. Scriptures reveal the truth of the Trinity but make no attempt to explain it. We simply accept this revelation as it is, until we know all things, even as we are known (1 Cor. 13:12).

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Acts 1:8 Notes:

Acts 1:8 Notes

The Holy Spirit Loves to Testify of Jesus

Acts 1:8 (NKJV) “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

There is no true witnessing without the work of the Holy Spirit. We must have the Holy Spirit’s help as we testify. However, the good news is that Jesus said, “He [the Holy Spirit] shall testify of me.”

You see, the Holy Spirit loves to testify of Jesus. As a result of His deep love, adoration, and affection for Jesus, He loves to talk on and on about Him. So when you partner with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to work through you, testifying becomes natural and simple instead of forced and difficult. It becomes an overflow of your relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice He said that the disciples would be witnesses “after” the Holy Spirit came upon them. To witness and testify powerfully about the resurrected Christ, supernatural power is required. Hence, without the Holy Spirit’s assistance, it is almost impossible to testify with confidence about Jesus Christ.

Before the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were similar to many Christians today. Rather than advancing upon the lost world with the message of Christ, they were hiding behind closed doors (see John 20:19). Unlike the great spiritual army they were supposed to be, they were simply “holding out” in a room, hiding for fear of the Jews.

Yet Jesus said the Holy Spirit would “testify” of Him, not make us fear-filled cowards! That word translated “testify” comes from the Greek word martureo, which means to witness or to give a good report. It’s where we get the word martyr, referring to someone who obtains a righteous testimony as a result of his willingness to accept suffering or death rather than renounce his faith in Jesus. That kind of courage comes only from the supernatural ability of the Holy Spirit, empowering the believer to testify of Jesus, regardless of any pressure or opposition, no matter how severe.

It was not until Acts 2 that the disciples understood the greatness of the Holy Spirit’s ability to empower believers to testify. The witness of Jesus Christ literally blasted out of their mouths as they hit the streets of Jerusalem, fully yielded to the Holy Spirit. In addition to supernaturally declaring “the wonderful works of God” in other languages (see Acts 2:11), they proclaimed the Word of God intelligently in their own language to a people they had been afraid of the day before!

A good example is seen in the story of the apostle Peter. After he received the infilling of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, he was transformed! Standing before an enraptured crowd, Peter boldly proclaimed, “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you…ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified…whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death…therefore being by the right hand of God exalted” (Acts 2:22-23, 33). This was supernatural witnessing! This was supernatural proclamation!

Certainly there is nothing wrong with pre-planned evangelism, door-to-door visitation, or evangelism programs that teach you the basics of witnessing. But when those programs are carried out without the power of the Holy Spirit, they are often dry, dead, and unsatisfying. Real witnessing or testifying of Jesus Christ can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Why lean on your own understanding when it comes to witnessing? Why reduce this powerful moment to a mere program? The Holy Spirit was sent to testify of Jesus! No one knows how to testify better than He does.

If you are afraid to witness, as I was when I was younger, I urge you to open your heart to the Holy Spirit and let Him release His power through you to become a witness for Christ. As you surrender your heart and mind to the Holy Spirit’s control, witnessing will turn from stressful drudgery into a joyful, rewarding, and exciting adventure!

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Acts 5:3-4 Notes:

Acts 5:3-4 Notes

Proof That The Holy Ghost Is God

Acts 5:3-4 (KJV) But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back [part] of the price of the land? [4] Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

Acts 5:3 Note 1: This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (pleroo) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” This verb translated “filled” is the same used in the command to “Be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18).

Acts 5:4 Note 1: Ananias and Sapphira’s sin was not that they kept back part of the money from the sale of their land. The sharing of their substance among the believers was totally voluntary (see note 5 at Acts 2:44). That is what Peter was saying here. Their sin was that they agreed together to lie about the sale price so that they could appear to have given all when they hadn’t. We can only speculate about their reasons for doing this.

Acts 5:4 Note 2: This is one of the clearest scriptures about the Holy Ghost being God. In Acts 5:3, Peter said that Ananias had lied unto the Holy Ghost; then in this verse, he said Ananias had not lied unto men but unto God, thereby using the names God and Holy Ghost interchangeably (see note at Mk. 1:10-11).

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1 Corinthians 2:9-11 Notes:

1 Cor. 2:9-11 Notes

The All-Knowing Spirit

1 Cor. 2:9-11 (NKJV) But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” [10] But God has revealed [them] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. [11] For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

1 Cor. 2:9 Note 1: This verse is often quoted to excuse ignorance about the things of God. However, Paul quoted Isaiah 64:4 here to relate the restrictions normally placed on our minds. But, praise God, Paul didn’t stop with verse 9 as many of his readers do today. In the next verse he told us that part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to remove those restrictions so we can see what we normally could not see on our own. He says, “But God hath revealed them [hidden things] unto us by His Spirit….”

1 Cor. 2:10 Note 1: The word “revealed” is the Greek word apokalupsis. The root word is kalupsis, which describes something that is veiled or hidden to the human eye and mind. It is there, but it isn’t seeable or knowable. It’s like my wife’s beautiful redbud tree outside our window, when the curtains inside the house are closed, a guest is unaware of the beauty that is right outside for them to see.

Here, the word apo is added to the front of the word kalupsis, and that little addition of apo means the curtain that once hid the redbud tree from our view has been removed. Suddenly what was unseen becomes visible, and what was hidden becomes revealed. This is the reason apokalupsis is translated as something revealed or as a revelation. And Paul stated that this was a strategic part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry—to take hidden things that we cannot know on our own and reveal them to us.

“O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jer. 10:23). The Lord did not give His wisdom to man. Instead, man was made to depend upon God to impart His supernatural wisdom as needed.

1 Cor. 2:11 Note 1: Paul was saying that in the same way that no one really knows the deep thoughts of others except those individuals themselves, likewise, no one really knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Therefore, people must be dependent upon the Holy Spirit to receive the wisdom of God in their lives.

1 Cor. 2:11 Note 2: Christians who have not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (see Note 1 at Acts 19:1) can have some revelation knowledge (see note 1 at Luke 2:26 and note 9 at John 6:45), but it will be limited. One of the greatest benefits to having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the tremendous amount of God’s wisdom that becomes available (see note 2 at Acts 2:16).

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Hebrews 9:14 Notes:

Heb. 9:14 Note

The Eternal Spirit

Hebrews 9:14 (KJV) –How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Heb. 9:14 Note 1: The writer is comparing the earthly sanctuary (Old Testament temperal sacrifices) with the heavenly sanctuary, the new and better covenant, the eternal sacrifice of Jesus.

Heb. 9:14 Note 2: It was through the power of the eternal Spirit that Jesus was enabled to live His life in a way that made Him without spot. And it was through the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was enabled to go through with the sacrifice of Himself. If Jesus was dependent on the Holy Spirit to accomplish all that He did, who do we think we are that we can be less dependent on the Holy Spirit?

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