The Person of the Holy Spirit

When I got saved I originally thought that was all there was to receive, that is until the Lord began to reveal Himself to me. Little by little and at various points in my walk I've received revelations of the Lord, from different pastors, teachers, the reading of His word, prayers, dreams, visions.....and looking back I realize how little of Him I had when I first got saved, how little I understood as a new born in Christ. Even now (years later) there is still so much I don't understand and so much that I lack. There is still so much of Him that I need in my life. God is bigger than our experience... much bigger than any experience we've had with Him. We limit the the Lord to our level, to what He has done in history, to what He has done through others. Our Lord is greater than this.

If you look at the church today (in general) you see something happening, a kind of separation. God is dividing the sheep from the goats. It's like He's calling a remnant out of pollution. You have one group that says "I don't want the gospel, I don't want the blood, I don't want to offend anybody." The minute you walk away from the blood of Jesus, the minute you walk away from the pure Word of God, because you're afraid to offend someone you begin a path to destruction. There are those that have gone into a mixture, accepting each other on the basis of God loves all. It's a gospel for everybody. No longer is His wrath preached...you see, God's love and His wrath are equal. He is holy. In holiness there is blessings and death. There is blessings and judgment. Like turning on the light in a dark room, when light enters in, darkness must go. Just as the light of the truth of His word judges the darkness of one's heart. Holiness judges sin...there is light in holiness, and there is darkness in sin. The two will not co-exist with one another, but when God's wrath is removed there is no longer any judgment. They remove His holiness. When we say that God is holy we declare His total being. When we say that He is Holy, we are saying that He is light, He is justice, mercy, grace, love, glory, wrath, judgment.....A God of war and a God of peace.



Exodus 34
5 And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
6 And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.....

When Moses asked God to reveal His glory, His justice was proclaimed among His other attributes. When one of these attributes is removed it isn't God anymore. An unholy gospel is preached...all of a sudden God loves all including sin. Get saved but don't worry about changing anything that you don't want to in your life, just go on sinning. Paul said if any preaches another gospel let that man be accursed. Even if an angel preaches another gospel....

Galatians 1
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

So as a result of this mixture I believe God is removing His people out of it. I don't know about everyone else out there, but I want the Word of God. I'm not settling for a milk and sugar gospel, I want the meat, the truth, the pure Word of God. I want to live for Jesus and to have the boldness and discernment to say no to sin. What fellowship hath light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14) We are called to love God with all our might, to love each other in Christ Jesus, and to reach out to the lost in His love. We are not called to compromise. We are to love, but not to the compromising of the truth. His truth and His love are equal...we are called to be salt and light, not sugar. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will guide into truth not error. I would submit that the true children of God will only accept His truth, and His truth is revealed by the Holy Spirit.

I would probably have died a lost soul eight years ago were it not for the Holy Ghost. I would not be where I am today were it not for Him. Walking and communing with Him daily will keep you from falling into heresy. It's a fellowship... as we stumble and will fall time and time again, He will pick us up and put us back on the road of truth again. As Christians how can we operate or minister with out Him? And I think that as a church, and as individuals we need to get acquainted, or perhaps reacquainted with the person of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Nothing happens to us or with us until the Holy Ghost comes. This is why we need to be acquainted with Him, why we need that blessed fellowship, because God will not use us until the Holy Ghost becomes active in our lives. We cannot limit the Holy Ghost to the early church, He belongs to the entire church. And only one can say my church. Only Jesus Christ can say my church... there are no denominations with him. ( Baptist + Catholic + Methodist + Lutheran + Orthodox + Pentecostal + Charismatic + Presbyterian, etc. = My Church.) His people are all over the world, and He promised His church power, but only after the Holy Spirit comes. Would you notice that His name is Holy? He is the Holy Spirit, and He is the only one with that name. Now the word of God says that He is a person....You may have never heard this before, or perhaps you have? But if you have heard it before sometimes it's good to hear it all over again ^_^

We cannot afford to live without Him. I want to be reacquainted with Him, I want to rekindle the fires of His love in my life, I want to start addressing Him as he should be addressed. I fear Him too much... I reverence Him too much to play games. I dare not use anything in connection with Him in a mocking way. Because when you insult Him He'll walk away, and in some cases, He'll never come back. He is the only one in the trinity that gets deeply wounded by the things we say, and the things we do. The word of God says that He is a person.....this was a real revelation to me as I had never heard this taught before. And I have to constantly remind myself that I am dealing with a person. Not power, not influence, but a real, blessed person. The scriptures say that he has intellect. (Romans 8:26,27) He thinks for Himself....He is not controlled by God the Father, or God the Son, but he has his own personality.

Romans 8
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 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.

The word of God says to me that He has His own mind. We must understand something about the Trinity. It is a mystery... God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are separate from each other, yet one. And they are different from each other, yet one. The Holy Spirit has His own mind, and the scriptures say in (1 Corinthians 2:10,11)

1 Corinthians 2
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

He knows God better than any person any place. In fact, the Holy Spirit knows the very depth of God. And the scriptures say that He not only knows the depth of God, but it is his joy to reveal that to you. Only if you are clean enough to receive it... Jesus said He (the Holy Ghost) reveals the Father to whomever He (the Holy Ghost) wills.

11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God.

In other words, who knows you better than your spirit? Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. What this is saying is nobody knows what lies in the deep parts of your heart... the deep part of you that is your spirit, except your own spirit. So nobody knows God as the Holy Spirit knows Him.

12 Now we have received , not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given t us of God.

He knows....He has knowledge. We read in (Romans 8:26,27) that He has a mind. In (1 Corinthians 2:10:11) it says He has knowledge. He knows, he searches the very depth of God, He has intellect, and not only that but a will of His own. We must never, never forget that the Holy Spirit has a will of His own. The Holy Spirit is so different from the Father that He has His own will. He was so faithful to Jesus... He surrendered to the Holy Ghost before He became a man, knowing that only the Holy Ghost could keep Him, empower Him, and raise Him from the dead. When Jesus left heaven He had no way back without the Holy Ghost. When He left heaven He knew that if the Holy Ghost would not empower Him He'd fail, because He was made as much man as though He was not God. He became so much man, so human, that He was completely dependent on the Holy Ghost. In other words, if the Holy Spirit had not anointed Him, He would not have made it. Had the Holy Ghost not raised Him from the dead, He'd still be dead today. The Holy Ghost has His own will... He is his own person totally separate from the Father and the Son. It amazed me as a young christian to see how much Jesus trusted Him. The bible even says that when Jesus offered Himself to the Father, He offered Himself through the Holy Ghost. In other words, when the Father said, "Will you go?" Jesus said, "I'll go on one condition....if the Holy Ghost will sustain me, empower me, and bring me back home." And the Holy Ghost said, "I'll do it." Then Jesus completely surrendered to the Holy Ghost and gave Himself through the Holy Ghost Hebrews says. He was on schedule in the river Jordan. When Jesus came out of the waters of baptism, the Holy Ghost had kept His promise and showed up anointing Him for ministry. And He was in full control of His life, even driving Him into the wilderness to be tempted... bringing Him back with power, anointing Him, and performing miracles through Him. Those miracles were performed by the power of the Holy Ghost. Even demons would not have come out had the Holy Ghost not been there. Jesus would have said, "Come out." and nothing would have happened had the Holy Ghost not been there. Jesus himself said in (Matthew 12:28)

Matthew 12
28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God.....

So whose power was it? It was the power of the Holy Ghost. And if Jesus so needed the Holy Ghost, what about us? If Jesus was so dependent on him, how about us? If Jesus trusted Him, why don't we trust Him? He is faithful.....He did not once fail Jesus. And Jesus knew the Holy Ghost so well to surrender to Him as he did. Yet again, the bible says He has His own will separate from the Father and the Son.

1 Corinthians 12
11 But all these worketh that one and selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

It is the Holy Ghost who decides what gifts the body of Christ receives. God has given Him total responsibility for the church. It like this, God the Father said to His Son, will you go....For God so loved the world that he gave his Son. Jesus came and did the Father's will. But it is the Spirit of God that reveals the blessed work of Christ Jesus to the hearts of man. It is His power that brings this work into reality. The Father said it, Jesus did it, but the Holy Ghost is the one who reveals it. Without Him we'd never know what happened. Christianity would not have survived a second after Jesus died. The Holy Ghost is the great revealer. Christianity is not a religion, it is a revelation. It is a revelation of Christ Jesus as revealed by the Holy Ghost. We would not know Jesus without Him. We would not have known the word of God... there would be no bible had He not spoken to the prophets.

The Holy Spirit has his own emotions.

Ephesians 4
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the 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.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth... and grieve not the Holy Ghost. He is grieved by the things people say. He is the only member of the Godhead that gets deeply grieved and wounded. He is extremely sensitive. He is a person with intellect, will, emotions...The word of God says in (Romans 15:30)

Romans 15
30 Now I beseech you, bretheren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit...

The love of the Lord Jesus' sake and the love of the Spirit. You may have heard it said many times that Jesus loves you. But you may have never heard it said that the Holy Ghost loves you. Well, He does. The apostle Paul prayed an amazing prayer that we might know his fellowship daily.

2 Corinthians 14
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Jesus walked in that fellowship. The apostles walked in that fellowship as well as all of the saints. We need the love of God every day, as well as His grace. But we should never forget His fellowship. We need that daily as well. That blessed communion with the Spirit is what keeps us alive. It means fellowship... comradeship. To participate with Him, work with Him, walk with Him... Jesus explains this in (John 14) Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Liberty exist only where He is. If you want freedom from sin, demons, sickness... seek Him. Because wherever He is, it will be a place of liberation.

I believe God the Father is a person, much more than just spirit. Don't limit him to just spirit. He said to Mosses I'll show you my back. He said no man can see my face and live. He has a face. He doesn't have a physical body, He has form, He has shape. It's a difficult thing to grasp with our minds as they are now. Jesus even said none of you have seen His shape. He sits on a throne. Stephen said He saw the glory of God and Jesus at His right hand. Daniel the prophet saw God on a throne of flame. Mosses took the seventy and they saw God the bible says. God wrote the Law with His finger. He has eyes... The scriptures say that His feet look like flame. God the Father is a person, and one day we're going to behold Him in His majesty.

Jesus Christ is a person. He has a glorified body, risen from the dead. Today He is seated at God's right hand. You can still see the nail prints in His hands, and the hole in His side. His eyes are like fire, His hair is white and like wool. His countenance shines brighter than the sun shining at the peak of the day. He has a voice... John said that when he heard his voice he fell like a dead man. One day, we'll see him...

The Holy Ghost is a person to. So what does he look like? The word of God tells us very little about that. But we do know this. That John the apostle saw Him as a flame of fire before the throne of God. John the baptist saw Him in a form like a dove. These are symbols of His personality and blessedness. We have emblems of the Holy Ghost through out the scriptures... water, fire, oil, wind. But we do know this, He is not shapeless, He is a person. He is infinite, and He is the power of the Godhead. Without him God the Father will not speak nor act. He is the power of God the Father, and the power of God the Son. He is almighty. We tend to think of Him as weaker or less than Father and Son because He is third... no, no, no, He is third because of His work. He is the one who reveals and manifests. We should always remember that He is the power of the trinity. God almighty spoke the Word. God the Son became the Word. God the Holy Ghost reveals the Word. God the Father said let us make man, and it was Jesus that formed man from the dust of the earth....but it was the power of the Holy Ghost that turned that dust into flesh. When Mary asked, "how shall this thing be?" The angel said, "the power of the highest shall come upon thee." The Holy Spirit is the power of the highest. He is the one that took God and made him a man. Matthew calls Jesus the child of the Holy Ghost. Many think Jesus alone did that. Friends, it is not by might. It's not by power. But by my Spirit saith the Lord... He is perfect. He does not cause fanaticism or any manifestation of the flesh. Fanaticism is the result of His absence, not His presence. The flesh is the result of His absence not presence. When He left Samson, Samson tried to shake himself... Friends, when the Holy Ghost is no longer doing the shaking, that shaking is ugly. Samson got into the flesh and hadn't even realized that the Spirit left him.

I believe that the Holy Ghost is the omnipresence of Jesus. We will be filled with Him forever. When I ask people sometimes who is in your heart... they say Jesus, and I say that they are right in that they call Him Jesus. But the one in your heart is the Spirit of Jesus. And the Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. We call him Jesus, of coarse.... he is the Spirit of Jesus. He proceeds from Jesus. And they say how can He be different and separate? Friends, it's a mystery that we will never understand as long as we are in these bodies. I like to describe it like the sun... it's a trinity. If you look into the sky you can see the shape of the sun, that's the Heavenly Father. Jesus is the light of the sun and the Holy Ghost is the heat, yet it is one sun. I look up and cannot see the Father, but I can see the light that is Jesus, and the warmth is what I feel...the Holy Ghost.

John 14
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

The Holy Ghost will teach us all things. That is why there can be no heresy when he is there. If the Holy Ghost is ever absent, that's when heresy and error move in. That's when people walk away from the gospel, because the Holy Ghost is absent. Everything that we know today, we know by the Spirit. Jesus said that the Spirit will also bring things to our remembrance. Everything that Jesus said in the word the Holy Ghost will remind us of when we need it. How many times have we faced situations in our lives and have needed to be reminded of God's word and encouraged. That is one of the reasons it is so important that we study the scriptures We can't be reminded of what we don't know in the first place. Sometimes you may catch yourself suddenly singing a gospel or Christian song to yourself and not even really thinking about it....Sometimes that kind of song will just come out of somewhere in the back of your mind and play over and over until you notice it. That was him speaking to you. As we go through struggles he gives us the right song to praise the Lord with and to encourage ourselves in him. It can happen all of a sudden, and out of nowhere.....you may find yourself possibly singing a song about the Lord (It may not even be a song that you personally like) and asking yourself "why on earth am I singing this song? Or why is this song stuck in my head? It's the Holy Ghost speaking to you. He talks to us all the time. Through music and songs, and through scriptures...reminding us of them when we need the words of Jesus.

Romans 8
8 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.

It's amazing that he is the one that actually comes into our hearts and makes Jesus real to us. The bible says that if we don't have the Spirit of God we are none of his. It's the Holy Ghost. You see, when the Heavenly Father finished his work in the Old Testament he left. Hasn't been back since. And when God the Father left, he sent the Son. When the Son came to earth and did his work, he left. Hasn't been back since, though he is coming back one day. But when he left, the Holy Ghost came and gave birth to the church of Jesus Christ. He revealed Jesus to the church. He's still here finishing his work. One day his work will be over and he will leave. And when he leaves, we're going with him. When the Holy Spirit leaves with us, that is when the Anti-Christ will appear. That's when the false messiah will show up, and then judgment will come upon the earth. The church is still here on earth and all we've known all our lives is the Holy Ghost. We haven't seen Jesus, we haven't seen the Father. We have not even heard the voice of the Father or the Son....we've heard the voice of the Spirit. Jesus hasn't spoken to us one time. The one that we've been hearing is the Holy Ghost, and we call him Jesus! And we're right, he is the Spirit of Jesus.

The bible goes on to tell us in (John 15:26)

John 15
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.

He testifies of Jesus and only Jesus. The Holy Spirit will never glorify himself. He is so faithful to Jesus that if you begin to focus on him, praising and thanking him....he'll leave. It's Jesus, only Jesus. When you begin to praise and focus on Jesus, the Holy Ghost shows up. In fact, one of the signs that a person is filled with the Holy Ghost is that they'll talk your ears off about Jesus! You would think that's all they ever talk about. People that are not filled with the Spirit rarely talk about Jesus if they ever mention Him at all. It's usually more about themselves or their accomplishments. The day is coming when the power of the Holy Ghost is going to convict the whole world.

John 16
7 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:

He convicts the hearts of men and women everywhere....the day is coming when he is going to convict the entire planet, and they don't even realize it's coming. Conviction so great.....and Jesus said of judgment to. The world will know that they'll be judged for the rejection of the messiah.

Revelation 1
7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also that pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

When the nations of the earth see him, they will come under such conviction that they will wail and cry out in sorrow. The Holy Ghost is going to show the world that only God's Son is righteous. And they will know that they will be judged for their rejection of the messiah. The power of the Holy Ghost is what will change us in the twinkling of an eye.

He is omnipotent (Luke 1:35) omniscient (Isaiah 40:13-17) and omnipresent (Psalm 139:7).

2 Corinthians 3
17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Proverbs 1
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

The Lord says come to me, and I will pour my spirit (the Holy Spirit) unto you, and I will make my words known to you. We can never know his word by ourselves, through study alone. We'll only know it when the Holy Spirit makes it known. We are so dependent on him, we need him so much....and yet we are too stubborn, proud, unbelieving, and stone-hearted to submit to him. So the Spirit strives with us for a time, that we would just trust him.

Isaiah 63
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

Israel is an example for us. Even though God loved them, carried them out of Egypt, bore them in the wilderness, brought them to the land promised to their fathers they rebelled. And because they rebelled and vexed his precious Spirit, God became their enemy. God destroyed them out of the land because they vexed someone that he so dearly loves. I don't want God to fight against me...don't touch his Spirit or he will. This sheds light on the fact that the blood of Jesus will wash away every sin but one...blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness. Blaspheme the Father and he'll forgive you. Blaspheme the Son and he will forgive you. Blaspheme his Holy Spirit and there will be no forgiveness in this life or the next. Friends, that puts fear in my soul. We must understand that God the Father, and God the Son have made a decision that they will never change. The man or the woman that insults the Holy Ghost, vexes(torments) his Holy Spirit, blasphemes the Spirit will never find forgiveness. That causes me to tremble...and I'm sure you all feel the same. However, I don't believe that any true believer would do something like that, even accidentally. No true Christian would do something like that, yet I have been shocked by some of the things some so called "Christians" say. Shocked by comments that they make, to the point where I would question their salvation. Now only God knows the heart and it is not for us to judge. But when I hear some of the things that people say...I step away. No true believer would ever say such things. The Holy Spirit can be grieved, resisted (Acts:7), quenched, even quieted. And this blessed Holy Spirit is so gentle that when these things happen, he just walks away. Very different from the judgment of God that fell upon generations for sinning in his presence. When they spoke against Jesus He rebuked them sharply. I don't see the Holy Spirit doing those things in scripture. I don't see him killing anyone, and I don't see him rebuking anyone. He does something a lot worse. He leaves, and their exists the chance that He may never come back. I would rather God rebuke me or kill me than take his Spirit from me. He is my helper, and my comforter. I can't walk life's road alone, I tried and fell flat on my face. Neither can I reach God my own way...I tried that to and it only led to a dead end. Only by submitting to the Holy Spirit have I made it this far, and it's a daily struggle...but it is one that I will never have to face alone again.

May the Spirit of the Lord be with you.