The Person and Work, of the Holy Spirit lesson 30

All right. Well, hopefully you have a Lesson 30. If not, I'll go through the questions. And what we're doing is we're going through a review. I talked with Mike a little while ago. He thought, you know, we get so detailed and so focused on our little sections of the Holy Spirit. I thought it would be good to go back and just do a quick review of the chapters that we've been through. Because I don't know about you, but when we get so focused, What did we talk about like six months ago or you know everything about what we've learned so far? about the person work of the Holy Spirit, so Coming up with reviews for the previous chapters so Again, this is the class for the person work of the Holy Spirit. This is lesson 30 for those who listen on tape and the the first question I had is is the Holy Spirit a person and We got this right off in the beginning of the class. Is the Holy Spirit just an all-pervading divine influence? Is that what it is? Is this kind of like Star Wars, the force be with you? Is that the Holy Spirit? Is that how we view the Holy Spirit? Or is the Holy Spirit a person? deafening silence again. Hopefully, a person.

The person and work of the Holy Spirit, yes. I think it's very important to think about that as a person. When we first started the class, when we started going through this, I really think most people think it is just a force. You call on the force in times of need. You call the Holy Spirit and it's just this force that will answer or not answer or whatever. But it's a person.

The Holy Spirit is a person. It said it's not just a guiding force, and when you really think about it, what is the Holy Spirit? He is part of the Godhead, the triune Godhead. So we think of God, Jesus as a person, but then we suddenly have the Holy Spirit over here, part of the triune Godhead, but He is kind of this floating little, and I think it's maybe because of what we think of Spirit. Spirit's just this thing that's out there, but it's a person. And we can kind of look at it, and I guess it's just hard to grasp the Holy Spirit as a divine person of the Godhead, but then that person dwells inside of you.

Maybe that's the hard part that you think of. It's like, okay, this force is in me, but it's a person in you. Is that kind of weird? that you think that there is a divine person, a holy person inside of you and dwelling in you. Is that hard to grasp? Is it easier to think of a force in you than a person? I think the telltale revealer of whether you think the Holy Spirit is a person or not is the pronoun you refer to him as. So many believers refer to him as it.

Yeah. Rather than him. Well, I think it's also just Holy Spirit. I think it's not a person, like the person and work of the Holy Spirit. It's a spirit. And I think the connotation that most people have is this nebulous spirit that indwells you. And I, you know, I think that's really hard, you know, as I was putting this together, it's more as like, it is kind of weird to think that a holy divine person is indwelling you. I think that's just harder to accept than a spirit, a thing inside of me. So I think it's just, it's hard to understand that, I think, in trying to put that together. I think what's cool, though, is that as you recognize the Holy Spirit as a person, Not a lot of problem understanding that the Lord Jesus is a person and the Father is a person.

How personal all three of them are engaged in our whole life. And that person's. And I guess that's kind of where I was going too. One of the last things is, which we'll get into the attributes in the next question, but can you have a relationship with the Spirit? Well, some people think they do. Or is it I from that that aspect of it.

I think it's easier that it's a person that a relationship with the Holy Spirit is a person right rather than a spiritual force So I think you know there's kind of two different aspects. I have a I have a much better concept of the Holy Spirit is a person when I try and relate to that. But I think most people think the indwelling is just a force.

So, any other comments out there before we move on in Zoom land? One sort of related comment. I know I grew up in circles that were a little bit more charismatic. I had one friend who after a Music service he he was complaining that you know They cut that song off right right as the Holy Spirit was beginning to move And they should have played that course through a few more times And I'm like is it a spigot that you just know they're playing the song a little bit more you can turn on the Holy Spirit And get him flowing or you know we have a little red light up here when we get to a certain point the red light goes on and the spirit is you know in force at that Now, there is a lot of that, too. And I think Mike says it, too. You go to the gas station and get three gallons of the Holy Spirit to pump you up.

That's, again, the permanency of the indwelling, which we'll get into a little bit later, too, is it's permanent. And it's working all the time. And that, I think, is another kind of problem. We'll touch on these later, too. But just the thought of continually indwelling. Do we understand that?

Like, when you're driving down the highway or when you're working or whatever, the indwelling spirit is still there working with you. It isn't the light that turns on or when we really get pumped up and we really feel the spirit, that's when the spirit's working. Spirit's 24-7. You know, there's not an instant when he's not working. And that's, yeah, I mean, that's a great example, Miles, that, you know, when you feel the Holy Spirit, that's when he's working. Now, he's working 24-7, all the time.

Every instant of every day, he is working with you and inside you. And that is, we get at some of the attributes you'll see. I mean, he's not just sort of acquainted with you. He knows everything about you. and is working to get God's will through you.

We do ourselves. What's that? More than we do. He knows us better than we do. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. He knows us better than we do. And, you know, that's, I think, you know, that's a good point. I think, you know, a lot of times when we ask for something that we think is really, you know, that we need, He knows better. And a lot of times that's when the no answers come, but He knows what's best for us. And I think that's an important thing that we realize, that He knows us better and He knows what the will of the Father is. And we'll get into, you know, a little bit into Romans 8 where He intercedes for us.

And again, what I love about that passage is God the Father, the one who searches the hearts, searches the mind of the Holy Spirit. That's really kind of mind-blowing to me, that the Father is going to search the mind of the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit in me when we pray. Man, I don't know if I can really process that.

Russ, did you have something? Well, I was going to say that when you I think that the Holy Spirit that dwells in every believer is also involved in putting the Milky Way in place in every planet, every star. The infinitely powerful God and that person, the Holy Spirit, lives inside Christians. It's pretty wild. You know, I was thinking the thing, and I think Gay Day already knows whatever the song is.

It's the one that's the same power. When you think about it, you know, we look at all these things that, you know, in the Old Testament where there's miraculous things or when the apostles are doing things with the power of the Holy Spirit, you know, and you think, oh, that's incredible. Is the Holy Spirit any less powerful today, indwelling in us? No. You know, that's just, you know, I think we think all those Old Testament guys are the apostles when everything, all these signs and wonders and things, you know, that were going on. But the same power indwells us today.

That blows me away to rest. You know, it's the same thought that the one that's whole and I go I think it's Colossians 1 where he holds the macro and the micro together He holds all the stars planets and everything else, but he also holds every cell in your body together Same one the same power So yeah, there's a lot where we start thinking about who the the person of the Holy Spirit is and it indwells you So I'm saying it it. You know, I gotta tell you, he indwells you, thank you.

That is correct, and see how bad it is? How ingrained that is? We gotta tell you one thing, which is just, we were at the hockey game down at the camp at Colorado College, and they are, pronoun, gender, whatever the woke thing is right now, it's terrible down there. When you go to the bathroom, It's males are identifying as males. That's on the bathroom. I didn't know what I was feeling that day, but it's so weird. Anyway, so yes, pronouns are important. He, she, yeah.

One thing I would say is that The Holy Spirit is the one who generates the power, but he is always in the background. He does not want to be focused on, because his job is to focus us on the Lord Jesus Christ. And the problem is that if we are aware of the work of the Spirit in our lives, we kind of want to turn to him. rather than to the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is the center of our life and the Spirit is the one who enables that. to happen.

So, I think it's important to understand that aspect. Yeah, I think that's the same point as if you look at the gift rather than the giver. Right. You know, when you look at a gift that he gives you, and you're looking, oh, and your focus is on the gift, not on the giver. Right. Same on the Holy Spirit, I think. Right. If you're focusing on the Holy Spirit and, you know, what's going on, I think, yeah, his job is to point us to Christ. Right. So, good point.

Any others? Otherwise, we'll move on here to question two. What are some of the Holy Spirit's attributes? So, I'll go through them, since, you know, unless, well, actually, anybody want to, what are some of the attributes of the Holy Spirit? Same as the Lord Jesus, same as the Father. Cheap answer. And what would that be?

He's all-powerful, he's omniscient, he's He's ever-existent. He's omnipotent. He's almighty. He's omnipresent. He's... He's everything else. Yeah. You going to say something, Russ? No, I think Mike covered it. Yeah, that was a cheap answer. That's everything to that. That is true, but the attributes. And we can find that out.

There are actual scriptures that that point that out rather than just cuz he's part of the the Godhead He is omnipresent. You can see that in Psalm 139 7 and 8 He's eternal and you can look at that in Hebrews 9 14 he's omniscient in 1st Corinthians 2 10 and 12 and is Omnipotent and you see that in Job 33 4 so that's just few of the attributes for where it specifically calls out the spirit with those attributes that are part of the Godhead so now the other is so we know he's Like God like Christ the same characteristics those attributes, but what about the personal side? That we see what what? Scripture or what can you think of that says he's a person?

You have any that that would come to mind as far as he's a person You can grieve the Holy Spirit. There you go. That's in Ephesians 430. Yeah So if you know again going back to the force, can you grieve a force? Maybe might be grieving is more personal What about other ones? Acts 5, 3 and 4 went on a nice slide to the Holy Sphere. There you go. Acts 5, 3 and 4 speaks of lying.

I guess the question I have, can you lie to a force? Is that possible? Can you lie to just a... Well, if you can believe the sign in the men's bathroom as close as possible. Yeah, that is very disturbing, let me tell you. So, any others? There are a bunch that kind of demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is a person. Is there any others? I can give a couple. I think of Him as the Comforter, and that's a very personal thing. You know, force isn't comforting, but... Yeah, advocate and comforter. Yep.

There's another one. You're praying in the Holy Spirit, says Jude 20. And then the one that I do like, which I think really does kind of put the personal aspect on it, is in the Romans 8, 27, where God searches the mind of the Holy Spirit. A person has a mind. The force doesn't have a mind. And so I think this, you know, again, he searches the mind of the Holy Spirit. So, again, the question is, do all these characteristics sound like a force or a characteristic of a person? I think the answer, you can't lie to it, you can't quench, you can't grieve, you can't do all those different things to a force or just a nebulous spirit.

I think it's really demonstrative of the fact that it's a person. He is a person. Well, I think there are other scriptures that use the pronoun he and him a lot. You know, they never use the pronoun it. Yeah. It's always the personal pronoun. Yeah, he. Yeah.

And there were a whole bunch of these, just ones I picked out, that were, you know, kind of demonstrating personal aspects. Like you said, lying. You can't lie to a spirit, I don't think. I guess you could, but what does that mean? So, any other thoughts? Alright, third question.

Does the Holy Spirit's work differ between Old Testament and New Testament times? So, how did the Old Testament work, or how did the Spirit work in Old Testament times? Is it the same? Different? He came and went. Good. come and dwell in a person to accomplish something, but then when it was done, he was gone. Major point. Major point. There was not the permanency of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit like what we have as believers. So, you can see that in several different cases of the Old Testament. There's one, Ryder calls that in Exodus 31, where Beziel was filled with the Spirit. So he was filled, but then he went away. I'm saying it all the time. I'm brainwashed. Yeah, he went away, and that's it. He comes, and then he does his work, and then he disappears from that person.

So in Numbers 24, an enemy of God, Balaam, was filled with the Holy Spirit and was used by God against King Balak. So again, even using an enemy, goes, indwells for a portion of time to be used of God for His purposes. But once that purpose is done, the Holy Spirit comes out of that person and moves on. So a key difference between Old Testament times and New Testament times is the temporal aspect of the Holy Spirit's work in the Old Testament times. Is there any example in the Old Testament times of having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit prominent? You know, it's interesting with David. when he was busted, so to speak, he went to God and he asked God not to take his spirit away from him.

Yeah. Which it doesn't appear like he did. Yeah, I wonder, you know, but is there a permanency of that? Yeah, not like us. Yeah, not like us. I don't think it's the same. I think, you know, because they demonstrated where he was Filled not filled with the spirit, but used and you're in that but I don't know if there's anything that says of any permanency in any of those situations I mean like David a man after God's own heart, but Then he goes out and the one guy the one guy.

Oh Is John the Baptist is he an Old Testament saint? Because I think from the womb he was dwelt by the spirit and never backed away Yeah He was prior to Pentecost, so I don't know if... No, he was dead. Yeah, no, but I mean... By then. Pentecost is when the indwelling, the permanency of the indwelling started, and the church started. So, I don't think that he would be permanently indwelled. I think he's used all the time. And, you know, the power of the Holy Spirit was working through him in a mighty way. Sure.

And we don't know, you know, between his birth when he's with Elizabeth and them, and the jumping in the womb, you know, and all that. Yeah, there was from prior to birth even. But we don't know from that day forth to when he's baptizing and doing all that. Was he indwelt in?

You know, the big difference, I think, is the fact that the Spirit of God is the one who places us in Christ through the cross. So you can't ever say that, we wouldn't ever say that the Spirit of God had ever left Christ. No. So as long as we're in Him, we're permanently indwelled. Well, the Old Testament saints weren't in Christ. Right. And so, based on what God's purposes were, some cases like craftsmen and people like that were indwelled for a while. Yeah.

But you take a guy like, who was the guy, Elijah? Elijah. Who went off the planet? Who was Elijah? Elijah. Enoch. Enoch. Yeah, I mean, Enoch found favor with God all of his life, it says, and then he wasn't there. Yeah. Translated, but yeah. So, you know, did Enoch sin? Yeah, sure he did. Did he lose his spirit when he did that?

Well, we still sin when we have the indwelling. So I guess it's just, I don't think there's a scripture that points out that the permanency of the indwelling after kind of cost. There's all sorts of things versus the state, the permanency of the eternal nature of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But I don't think of anything. Do you want to hit a mic? I was just going to say, one of the things I forgot to talk about here is that the Old Testament saints were not in nature. They were not indwelled by the Spirit. They were not made from the Spirits of the Lord.

Right. Having been, you know, the recipients of salvation. Right. But that linked with him in glory differentiates the church from the choir. Yeah, it's like Abraham, all those are, they have life, but not life in Christ. Right. And we have, we are in an unbelievable position, different than Old Testament ones. And, and, you know, there, there's, that's kind of a weird thought when you think, when we step into eternity, With Israel, theirs are earthly-based, and we've talked about that before, versus us, which are in Christ, never to leave, in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, permanently. That's what we have.

The Old Testament saints didn't have that. They didn't have that opportunity at that time, because Christ didn't pay, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is when that starts. But that's a good point. They had life, but a different one that we experienced, life in Christ.

Could we say that there's a difference between the Holy Spirit coming upon someone and the Holy Spirit dwelling in someone? Because I think often in the Old Testament we see that the Holy Spirit came upon so-and-so. Clearly David thought that there was a real possibility of the Holy Spirit being taken from him. it was or not, but did it ever indwell David, or was he with him or upon him?

Yeah, and I think I may get a little bit into that. Yeah, the upon and in. I think what indwelling means, you know, that's the indwelling But there's a permanency of indwelling and a temporal of indwelling. And coming upon is probably the best differentiation between that. Upon is something like you know, comes upon, not in. It's temporary, right? It's temporary. Yeah. The upon is something can be removed or lifted where the in is in. So, or, you know, kind of, yeah, a part of you rather than upon you. So, um, we'll get, you know, just, uh, going back on the, uh, between the old and the new, this is from right out.

Thus the Holy Spirit was engaged during this time in telling the people their sins and then pointing forward to the glory of Christ's kingdom. Of course, I need hardly say the prophets knew nothing of the Church, the mystery hidden in the bosom of God, but only of the kingdom whose establishment still waits. But they didn't even know about the church or anything like this, the mystery that was revealed. They had the righteousness that were imparted to them, or they had the Holy Spirit coming upon them, but they didn't know anything about what we experience as believers and part of the church. That was the mystery that was revealed.

I also had which which I I think I always go back to which this is for the the law based people Galatians 3 24 and 25 therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we may make so that we may be justified by faith and And all the law-based people stop right there, because, oh yeah, the law, it points us to Christ. That's everything about the law. We're under law, and the law is a great thing. They forget the second one, which is 25, verse 25. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. The tutor was the law. We are no longer under the law.

But what I'm saying is, all the Old Testament was pointing to Christ. But they didn't know anything about the church. But they knew that it pointed to the Messiah. But, so it's a little bit different in the Old Testament. So now what about the New Testament? How does the New, in the New Testament, how does the Spirit work? The same?

We've touched on it. He dwells never to leave. Perfect the Holy Spirit permanently and eternally in dwells each believer So there's never a time when he's lifted or they he comes upon or this or you know Kind of what miles was saying that I think we're just getting up to the point where we're filled with the spirit and you know speaking and or singing or whatever it's a hundred percent in you from the minute you believe and And it's eternal. That's another thing that we need to think about. This is an eternal relationship. That's kind of another thought. When we step into eternity, we have this indwelling of the Holy Spirit. How does that work? Will we see the Holy Spirit? I don't know. I don't think so, but I don't know. In the triune God.

That was one of the things when I was putting this together. It's a person. It's a person. He is a person. Not will we see him in eternity. On to that one. That was just one of those don't know. Anybody has a reasonable answer? Well, we see the Father. The Lord Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Right. And so because they're of the same character, I suppose the Spirit fits in that. mold also. I think it's a profitable study for believers to, for lack of a better way to put it, to understand the job description of each member of the Godhead. And they don't interfere with each other, they blend together. And the Spirit is, it's like the Lord Jesus, as the Lord Jesus Paul talked about, the Spirit's like the wind that blows.

You can see the effect of His there, but you never see Him. See, that's what, in eternity, will we see Him? I don't know. JD, you guessed that. This is one of those, huh, I didn't have an answer. Will we see the Holy Spirit in eternity? I was thinking about that. It's kind of like what Mike said. It's like the wind. You see the effect. You see all the effects of it, but can you see the wind? You see it moves trees and limbs and all this, and you see the effect, but do you see the wind? Is that the same as the Holy Spirit? He is a person, but will we see him? I mean, this is maybe the unanswerable question. I don't know. I was thinking of something along the lines of this. that's walking with the Lord.

Individually, the Holy Spirit reveals himself through you by producing the life of Christ in you. So, when you look at a believer and you say, there's something very different about their motivation and what they're doing and how they're behaving and how they're thinking, that's not like John or Tom or whatever. When I think about what the, because often times we think of like the Godhead in this Alfred's the wisdom in the cave and then Christ is Batman and the Holy Spirit is Robin, you know and Robin gets all the glory and but the truth of the matter is is that they're all equal and the purpose like like Mike was saying is that the job description of the Spirit is to produce the life of Christ in you that means what he looks like to us and our vision in our eyes is a believer walking with the Lord Jesus, and that's how we see the effects of the Holy Spirit. He's not physical in that way, but he produces physical results through us. Yeah, but again, it's just... It's mind-boggling. The twist in mind is, when we step into it, we'll see Christ face-to-face.

I don't know. All believers of all time, that's the result of the Holy Spirit. Results. But this is, like I said, the triune God. This is unanswerable, but I just didn't know if there was a scripture or a thought or something. It's like, we see the effects of the Holy Spirit right now. You're different. Like the wind. But is he a person? He's a person we've established. Just not physical. But physical. That's unanswerable. Sorry. A little rabbit trail. Thank you for letting me rant a little bit. I didn't know how to answer it either. So I was just in my pontificating upon all this. I was wondering about how...

The closest thing I see is when I see the life of Christ in another believer, I'm like, okay, this is what it looks like. for the Holy Spirit to produce the life of Christ in someone. And we can see it. So are you telling me the Holy Spirit looks like Mike? Yeah, at times. That's a limitation, right? We're putting a limitation on the person of the Holy Spirit to what we can see and touch and feel, right? So that's not spiritual by definition. But that's the closest thing we get to seeing the life of Christ in believers.

That's what his job description is, right? Well, it's really Christ. Christ is what he is manifesting and looking like, I think. I think that's the ultimate. He'll appear like Christ, I think is the key. I think that's the best I can come up with. But in eternity, is he a reflection of Christ? I think so. I think that's the best I can come up with. If his job is to reveal Christ to us and conform us to his image, then I think that Henry is going to be engaged in all theatres. I don't know, because we're human beings, but at the record level, he acts right. It's obviously a realm of existence that's spiritual that we don't know about. Right. I mean, we don't even know what we're going to look like. I mean, what are we going to look like in there?

So, anyway. I did like that connection that you made though, that he was gorgeous in the image. The image is a visual thing. Visual, right. Right. And so, that triune what they're doing and walking with the leader has a visual outcome. Right. But more importantly, it's a trail, right? Yeah. Yeah, it's, you know, again, just one of the rabbit trails as I was putting this together. When you think of a person, then I thought, well, he's 70 or 30, what is it? So yeah, anyway, a little bit of a rabbit trail. So let me try and finish this question.

How does the spirit work in New Testament times? He permanently, and I think Russ answered it, the Holy Spirit permanently and internally indwells each believer. Rideout summarizes it this way, there are just two lines of truth here that I wish to dwell upon tonight. Believing them to give largely what is the specific and special work of the Spirit at the present time. They are the baptism and the indwelling of the Spirit. So, that's what Rideout puts is the baptism and baptism placing us in, and then the indwelling.

So, the quick question I had was, which we all should know, are John's baptism and baptism by the Holy Spirit the same? No. No. And if you say no, you have to give an answer. Why? John did not impart the Holy Spirit You have to define what baptism is. The baptism of John was for repentance, which is a change of mind for all those Jews talking about in a return to the original Jewish, where the baptism of the Spirit really is placing us in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. I think the issue is that people believe baptism for salvation, and that's not anything what the Scripture says.

Right Out puts it this way, I said they're different obviously. How are they different? Right Out puts it this way, when John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord, was preaching repentance and making disciples, baptizing them in water as a badge of discipleship and a sign of the death that they deserved, he said to the expectant multitude, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that come after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I'm not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and with fire.

That's Matthew 3.11. The Lord Jesus is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. That's right out.

We've got a few more and I think we're... We're out here. We'll finish this question next week and hopefully take a look at the review questions. So you can take a look. We're gonna go through all four chapters. So take a look at those. And there are two pages of questions. So take a look at that and we will finish up whatever question this is. Three, we'll finish up three next week. All right, let's close.

Heavenly Father, we thank you. Thank you again for this time. Thank you just as we ponder the person and work of the Holy Spirit. And again, just caught many times saying it. It is not. It is He. He, the Holy Spirit. So we thank you for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the permanency of that.

And again, what it means to each and every believer and the power of the Holy Spirit. And again, we'll see all the functions of the Holy Spirit indwelling in the believer and what the Holy Spirit's work is. And we thank you for that, that it's a work that goes on minute by minute, second by second, instant by instant. There's never a time when the Holy Spirit is not working in each and every one of us, and we thank you for that. And again, we just thank you for your word that details the person and work of the Holy Spirit. We just thank you now and just pray for the next meeting, just that the word will be brought accurately and just prepare our hearts to receive it. We thank you again for this time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.