Sunday
Morning Bible Study
June 20, 2004
Introduction
An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher
greeted her at the door. “Where would you like to sit?” he asked politely. “The
front row, please,” she answered. “You really don’t want to do that,” the usher
said. “The pastor is really boring.” “Do you happen to know who I am?” the
woman inquired. “No,” he said. “I’m the pastor’s mother,” she replied
indignantly. “Do you know who I am?” he asked. “No,” she said. “Good,” he
answered.
Sometimes it’s good to not be recognized.
But sometimes there are people in your life that you really ought to
recognize and get to know.
(Acts 18:24-28 KJV) And
a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent
man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. {25} This man was
instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake
and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
Just what does this mean that he “only knew the baptism of John”? There are
a couple of possibilities, but the main point is that he didn’t have the whole
story – almost like playing without a full deck …
{26} And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila
and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the
way of God more perfectly.
Aquila and Priscilla saw
how God was using this young fellow, but he needed some help with his doctrine.
{27} And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren
wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped
them much which had believed through grace: {28} For he mightily convinced the
Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.
Achaia is southern Greece,
where the city of Corinth was. This
was when Apollos became one of the favorite preachers
in Corinth. Paul had just been at Corinth,
and he was on his way to Ephesus,
where Apollos had been.
(Acts 19:1-7 KJV) And it
came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed
through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, {2} He said unto them, Have
ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
Paul finds people called “disciples”.
They have come to believe. I
think it’s very likely that they had been influenced by Apollos
– before he met Aquila and
Priscilla.
I’ve always wondered how Paul knew to ask them this question. Some people
have this idea that this must have simply been a question that Paul asked any
believer he met. But this is the only time we have recorded that he’s asked
this question.
Perhaps it was a matter of spiritual discernment. Perhaps there’s just a
difference between a person who has been filled with the Holy Spirit and one
that hasn’t.
And they said unto him, We
have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. {3} And he said
unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
{4} Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying
unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him,
that is, on Christ Jesus. {5} When they heard this, they were baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus. {6} And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy
Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. {7} And all
the men were about twelve.
Here’s an interesting thing – a group of folks called “disciples”, yet they
had never even heard of a thing called a “Holy Ghost”. These folks are re-baptized,
then Paul laid hands on them and something incredible happens – they are filled
with the Holy Spirit, they speak with tongues, and they prophesy.
I have a concern that there might be some folks who go to our church who
would be in the category of these fellows who said, “what’s a Holy Spirit”?
We have the most incredible relationship in the world at our fingertips and
yet I’m afraid that some of us might not recognize who the Holy Spirit is.
As we start this series of studies on the Holy Spirit, it’s important that
we think about what we’re going to base our beliefs on. In reality, I believe that most Christians
base their ideas on the Holy Spirit upon experience.
Some folks experience the work of the Spirit in quite an emotional way, and
much of what they believe about the Holy Spirit is based on these emotional
encounters.
Others have seen churches split over things related to the Holy Spirit,
such as the gift of tongues, and they too base their beliefs upon experience,
wanting to run from anything slightly spiritual because it’s too dangerous.
Some have never experienced the power of the Holy Spirit and their lack of
experience will make it easy for them to think that the Holy Spirit doesn’t
work today like he did in the book of Acts.
We’re going to try our best to make sure that we base our beliefs upon
God’s Word.
A. The Person of the Holy Spirit
1. He, not “it”.
The Holy Spirit is not an “it”, the Holy Spirit is a “He”
I think that in many ways, the Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood person
of the Trinity. I think there are more misconceptions about the Holy Spirit
than there are about the Father or the Son.
One misconception about the Holy Spirit is that He is not a person, but
just a “force”.
We can see this idea in many different places, including the “force” of
Star Wars (“use the force Luke, use the force”)
The eastern world has this non-personal idea in their view of the world. There’s
a Japanese children’s cartoon where the characters battle each other using something
called a “spirit bomb”. They show the character grunting and groaning and drawing
power from every living thing around him as little twinkly
things start forming into a giant ball of energy in his hand, which he throws at
his enemy.
There was an early Church scholar named Arias, who caused division with his
declaration that God the Father was the only true God, that Jesus was a created
being, and the Holy Spirit was only an essence. This doctrine is known as the
Arian heresy. The Jehovah’s Witnesses follow the Arian heresy and also see the
Holy Spirit as some kind of impersonal “force”.
In a way, it’s not hard to see where these ideas can come from, because the
Holy Spirit is an interesting person in that we don’t really have a “name” for
Him, we just call Him by a description of what He is.
The Holy Spirit is the most “behind-the-scenes” person of the Trinity in
that He always likes to do things in a way that does not draw attention to
Himself.
(John 16:13-14 KJV) Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to
come. {14} He shall glorify me: for
he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.
The Holy Spirit is constantly drawing people’s attention to Jesus rather
than to Himself.
2. He has the characteristics of a person
a. Personal pronouns (masculine, not neuter) are used to refer to Him.
(John 16:7-8 KJV) Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient
for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto
you; but if I depart, I will send him unto
you. {8} And when he is come, he
will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Why is this significant? The Greek word for “spirit” (pneuma) is neuter, and sometimes
the pronouns used for the Spirit are neuter, only because they need to agree
the noun. But here in John 16, Jesus uses masculine pronouns (literally, “Him”,
auton, and
“that one”, ekeinos)
to describe the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said,
(John 14:18 NASB)
"I will not leave you as orphans…
Yet some Christians live their lives as if Jesus died for them, gave them
the Scriptures, and then sent them on their way to figure it all out on their
own. The truth is, He hasn’t left you alone.
There is another.
Who is “WE”?
There’s a story about a famous organist giving a recital in an eastern
church. The instrument was not supplied air electrically; it had to be pumped
by hand. A young boy was engaged to do this for the occasion. Everything was
going along fine until the lad put his head around the side of the organ and
whispered, “We are doing pretty good, aren’t we?” “What do you mean by ‘we’?”
objected the organist. A few minutes later, in the midst of a beautiful strain,
the organ suddenly stopped giving out any music. Desperately the organist tried
all the stops. No use. Then again he saw the head of the boy bob around the
corner, a broad smile on his face. He said, “Now do you know who I mean by
‘we’?”
What if the one pumping the organ wasn’t just a boy …
b. He strives (Gen. 6:3)
c. He teaches (John 14:26)
d. He guides and speaks (John 16:13)
e. He forbids (Acts 16:6)
f. He prays (Rom. 8:26)
g. He loves (Rom. 15:30)
h. He has a mind
(Rom 8:27 KJV) And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth
what is the mind of the Spirit,
because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
i. He has opinions about things
(Acts 15:28 KJV) For it
seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden
than these necessary things;
3. We can do things to the Holy Spirit that require Him being a person
a. We can lie to Him.
Ananias and his wife wanted to be known as “big
givers” in the early church. When they
sold a piece of property they brought the proceeds of the sale to the church
and claimed that they were giving everything they had to the church. But they were only trying to impress
people. They didn’t give as much as they
said they had.
(Acts 5:3 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?
There can be times when we aren’t being honest with God. We say what we think are the right things to
impress God, but we don’t really mean what we say. It’s sad when people feel
they can get through life by simply saying what people want to hear. It’s even sadder when they feel they can do
it with God.
b. We can grieve the Spirit
(Eph 4:29-32 KJV) Let no corrupt communication proceed out of
your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hearers. {30} And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye
are sealed unto the day of redemption. {31} Let all bitterness, and wrath, and
anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from
you, with all malice: {32} And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
When we are doing things contrary to God’s heart, we cause sorrow to the
Holy Spirit – He’s grieving, with distress and heaviness, over us.
c. We can insult Him
(Heb 10:29
NASB) How much severer punishment do you
think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has
regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and
has insulted the Spirit of grace?
When a person rejects the gift of eternal life that comes through trusting
in Jesus, they have insulted the Holy Spirit.
B. The Deity of the Holy Spirit
1. He is equated with Yahweh in the Old Testament
In Isaiah 6:8-10, Yahweh speaks to
Isaiah the prophet.
Yet Paul tells us that it was the Holy
Spirit speaking (Acts 28:25-27)
In Jer
31:31-33 Yahweh promises to make a New Covenant with His people.
In Hebrews 10:15-17 it says the Holy
Spirit made the covenant.
2. He is considered equal to the Father
and the Son
He is listed as the same type of authority as the Father and the Son
(Mat 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:
(2 Cor 13:14 KJV) The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be
with you all. Amen.
3. He has the attributes of God
There are some things that are unique to God. These things are what set God
apart from man. These things are all
attributes of the Holy Spirit.
He is Creator (Job. 33:4; Ps. 104:30)
He is eternal (Heb. 9:14)
He is omniscient (all knowing) (1Cor. 2:10-11)
He is omnipotent (all powerful) (Luke 1:35; Mat. 12:28; Rom. 15:19)
He is omnipresent (present everywhere)
(Ps. 139:7)
4. He is called God
Acts 5:1-11 tells the story of Ananias and Sapphira who “lied to
the Holy Ghost.”
(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.
Peter equated the Holy Spirit with God.
C. Why is this important?
The Bible teaches that when you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes
to dwell inside of you.
(Rom 8:9 KJV) But ye are not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
I can’t be a Christian if the Spirit isn’t in me.
But He’s not just some “tool” like a pocket knife that you pull out of your
pocket. He’s a person. He’s God.
A tool is something that you
choose when and how to use.
The Holy Spirit has a mind of His own.
He wants to use you as His tool.
If the Holy Spirit is a person, and He’s living in me, He thinks, He has a
will, He guides, He speaks, and He loves me, then perhaps I ought to think
about paying attention to what He wants to do in my life. Perhaps I ought to
pay attention to what He might be saying.
Communion
After Jesus’ death, the disciples were devastated. They had a hard time understanding how this
man they thought would be their king had died. A few days after Jesus’ burial,
a couple of disciples were walking together on the road to Emmaus when they met
a stranger. This stranger talked with
them and shared the Scriptures with them showing them why it was necessary for
the Messiah to be crucified. Yet even as Jesus talked, the fellows still didn’t
realize who He was. They convinced this
stranger to have dinner with them …
(Luke 24:30-32 KJV) And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with
them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. {31} And
their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
{32} And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he
talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
Their eyes were opened at the breaking of bread.`