Unit 3

We find Him at creation

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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." (Genesis_1:1).

Just as God moved creatively over the earth bringing order and beauty to creation, so God also moves over the lives of those who invite Him into their experience, with the same kind of loving, creative work.

We find Him in new birth

"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, "You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (John_3:5-8)

Just as we were born physically, we need to be born of the Spirit - that is to be re-born at the very core of our being by the Spirit of God. In this passage from John, water represents forgiveness - the washing away of our sin. Our baptism is a sign of this.

Jesus uses the analogy of the wind in the above passage (John_3:5-8). Consider a field of wheat: as the wind blows across the wheat we can see the stalks moving in unison - indicating the presence of a powerful yet invisible force. In the same way, the evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit may be observed and recognised. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would have a marked and recognisable effect on our lives:

"Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit..." (John_7:37-39).

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the father and he will give you another counsellor to be with you for ever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." (John_14:15).

As we see these promises work out in our lives and in the life of the body - such as is evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians_5:22), we can recognise that the Spirit is at work like observing the wind blowing over a field of wheat.

From here on in this course, we will overview some of the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. In our personal study section, His attributes will be further considered.

Now that He is ascended, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the truth about Himself, the truth about our own lives and to equip us for ministry.

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you." (John_16:13-14).

"When the counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me." (John_15:26).

The Greek word used for the Holy Spirit is `Parakletos' and is translated "counsellor". Literally this means `someone called to one's side', and sometimes this is translated `advocate', `comforter', `intercessor', or `consoler'.

The Holy Spirit is our means of communication with God. He can speak to us in a way we can recognise. For example:

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (John_10:27).

"While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabus and Saul for the work to which I have called them..." (Acts_13:2).

We need to develop new listening skills, to put aside the noise of the world, and hear the Holy Spirit. If He is received with grace and humility, with a teachable spirit (openness on our part), then we can receive God's blessing - His support, protection, strength, guidance and companionship. Our daily prayer is one way to listen to the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, if the Holy Spirit encounters hardness of heart, insensitivity, indifference, resistance or rebelliousness, we are in difficulty. The Bible warns us about this explicitly:

	Do not grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians_4:30);
	Do not resist the Holy Spirit (Acts_7:51); and
	Do not quench the Holy Spirit (1_Thessalonians_5:19).

And the ultimate sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is not just a swear word or a stray loose word uttered in ignorance - but a deliberate, wilful and knowledgeable insult against the Holy Spirit, attributing the works of the Holy Spirit as evil. It is a settled rejection of Him (Matthew_12:22-32_and Luke_12:10).

One of the roles of the Holy Spirit in our Christian life is to empower us for mission and ministry. Every Christian needs the fullness of the Spirit in their life if they are to be joyful and effective in their life and witness. We should seek and pray that the Holy Spirit be in every part of our being. The New Testament exhorts us to "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians_5:18). In the original Greek this is in the present continuous tense. Hence the full meaning is "Go on being filled with the Spirit". As Christians we are sometimes like a leaky bucket which has holes to be plugged, so that we need to be constantly filled with the living water that comes from Christ. Jesus encourages us to seek the Holy Spirit from God:

"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke_11:13).

In the early Church we have recorded a number of occasions when the disciples were filled with the Spirit, such as Acts_4:31:

"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly".

Sometimes in Acts water baptism preceded Spirit baptism, and on other occasions it was the other way around. From this we see that we can't put God in a box, or reduce His activities to neat equations in life! We will be studying this further in a later Unit.

The following guide may help us search out some of the ways the Holy Spirit operates in the Church:

	The signs of the Holy Spirit His presence brings joy (Acts_13:52); a sense of God's presence; a love of Christ and of others; a desire to worship; a desire to read the Bible; a desire for fellowship; a love of the truth; and strength to handle testing and faith stretching situations.
	The fruit of the Holy Spirit These are listed in Galatians_5:16-26. Note that Jesus said: "By their fruit you will recognise them." (Matthew_7:16). This means that the reality of a person's walk with Christ should be tested by the fruit of the person's life, not by power or gifting etc. It is vital to recognise this distinction. Compare the positive fruits of the Spirit and the negative acts of sinful nature (see the table in the Personal Study section).
	The gifts of the Holy Spirit As we have already noted the sign of the Spirit's presence in our life is the fruits of the Spirit - "love, joy, peace ...". But gifts may also accompany the filling and empowering of the Holy Spirit in your life. There is a wide variety of gifts as we have seen. One of the gifts is "speaking in tongues" (1_Corinthians_12:10). This is not the sign of the Spirit's presence, but a sign. Some Christians experience this gift, others do not. It is definitely not the test of whether you are a Christian. The gifts are specific outworkings of the Spirit. They are 'equipment for service'. Some of these are listed in 1_Corinthians_12 and Romans_12:6-8. Take time to review these summaries and make a list by combining these scriptures. There are several things we may say about the gifts at this point: They are vital if the church is to be equipped and empowered; They are to be sought (1_Corinthians_12:31); They are given for the common good, not just to bless the individual (1_Corinthians_12:7); They are the work of the Spirit, given as He determines (1_Corinthians_12:11); and they are intended to be used as a part of team work - not one person having all the gifts, (1_Corinthians_12:29); They are not an indicator of a Christian's maturity; They are not to be a cause of division in the Church (1_Corinthians_12:25), but always to be exercised in love for the building up of the Body. The principal tests for the use of the gifts are: Do they glorify Christ, and Are they being used in love? They are to be encouraged, matured and developed through use and testing.

 

The greatest gift of all More important than any ability or achievement, is love. In 1 Corinthians we have Chapters 12 and 14 about the gifts, and sandwiched in between is chapter 13 on love.   There are four words for love in the classical Greek language, which include the following ideas: Phileo Tender affection, family and close relationships; Prosphileo Pleasing, agreeable, a warm feeling, liking to do something pleasant; Eros Sexual and emotional attraction; and Agape Unlimited and unconditional compassion and goodwill. This is a love that seeks the others highest good for others. Agape is one of the least common words in classical Greek, where it expresses the highest and noblest form of love. A love which recognises something infinitely precious, a love which is unconditional, and seeks another's highest good. In the New Testament, Agape is almost always used to express love from God to us, from us to God, and between people, as in Jesus' command to "love one another" (John_13:34). This highest form of love is supremely the work of the Holy Spirit. It is imparted to those who seek after God. However, like joy, it is not something we obtain directly. It is more a result of our drawing closer to God, receiving the Holy Spirit into our lives, and allowing Him to have more of us. The gift comes as a fruit of His presence in our lives. The more He is allowed to be free with us, the more His love will be evident within us and through us. We must never take credit for this to ourselves, but rather seek to be a channel through which His love may flow. At your leisure, take time to carefully consider 1_Corinthians 13. The supreme act of love was Christ's sacrifice of His own life, to obtain our deliverance from sin. In this Jesus fully lived out His own words (John_13:1 and John_15:12-14) for us: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." We can know this love of Christ in His acceptance of us now, just as we are, unconditionally. He reaches out to embrace us, and draw us to Himself. This is love. And in return He commands us to love one another (John_13:34): "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this will all men know you are my disciples, if you love one another." In other words, we should lay down our lives to live for our friends! It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to love like this - as we decide to move with him, in His way.

The book of Acts could be entitled - the book of the acts of the Holy Spirit. We can't go into this now, but in your own time study Acts - to discover all you can about how the Holy Spirit worked in the life of the early church.

We can see from this brief study, that the Holy Spirit is a wonderful, creative, kind, gentle, powerful and loving person who reveals Jesus to us - and links us and our prayers to the Father. Coming to know the Holy Spirit is a lifetime experience, which is ever growing, ever surprising and ever enjoying His mystery and delight. Let us then seek more of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. This subject continues in a later Unit.

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke_11:13).

Let's conclude this study by spending a few minutes silently asking God's forgiveness, so that there may be no unrepented sin - and then ask Jesus to fill us with the Holy Spirit, or top us up, as may be appropriate (taking the above verse at face value - doing it!).