HOLY SPIRIT---FIRE OF GOD

HOLY SPIRIT---FIRE OF GOD

In our second series of teachings we focused on Jesus and experiencing and understanding His characteristics and inheritance and how His characteristics can be manifested through us as love, compassion, patience, kindness, and the list goes on. 

Our inheritance in Christ is the authority that we were given by Christ because of His death and resurrection.  As He stated in the Scripture that not only would we do what He could do, such as healing the sick and raising the dead but also we would do even more things because He was going to the Father.  Now He does His work in and through each one of us if we are willing to have a relationship with Him and receive and act on the authority He has given each believer.

Today we will be focusing on the person of the Holy Spirit---His attributes, power and gifts.  The Holy Spirit was given to us on Pentecost when He appeared as tongues of fire when the apostle, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, received the infilling or the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and on that day, the apostles were no longer afraid to preach the Gospel and because of Peter’s bold proclamation to those who gathered in the city, 3,000 were converted that very day.  The Holy Spirit always points to Jesus.  He is the one who convicts us of our sin and draws us to Jesus to be converted and saved by Him.

Prayer:

As we begin, let us pray:  Thank You God the Father, for Your love and compassion. Thank You Jesus, for Your love and compassion and sacrificing Your life in atonement for our sins and by whose resurrection we are assured of salvation.  Thank You Holy Spirit, for Your guidance, power and manifestations that are an important part of our spiritual walk and growth in our lives.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is a real person who came to reside within Jesus Christ’s true followers after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven.  He is the third person of the Holy Trinity.  He is a person, not a thing.  He is fully God and eternal, omniscient, omni-present, and has a will and speaks through people.  He is alive and He always bears witness to Jesus.

Without the Holy Spirit, there would be no Church or Body of Christ because He operates in the believer.  He is the giver of gifts that helps the Body of Christ on its mission to evangelize and minister to the needs of all people.  He manifests Himself in the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we will talk about later in this presentation. 

The Holy Spirit, Who is the third person of the Trinity, existed with God and Jesus from the beginning of time.  He was with all the patriarchs of old and all the prophets who declared the Word of God.  Jesus said in His Word in John 14:17, “The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him.  But you know and recognize Him for He lives with you (continually) and will be in you.” 

The Holy Spirit works in concert with God to manifest God’s love for everyone through the workings of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin and draws people to Jesus for the salvation of their souls.  He is the tangible presence of God within us.  The Body of Christ would be dead without the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit teaches and guides us.  He speaks the truth and He has an intellect.  He is omnipotent and omnipresent which means that He has unlimited power and He is everywhere.  He intercedes for us and gives counsel and comfort. 

We can receive the fruit of the Spirit which are love, joy, peace, kindness, longsuffering, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as we seek Him.  We will talk more about the fruit of the Spirit and why they are important for our growth in our walk with Christ.

Without the fruit of the Spirit operating in our lives, we really cannot represent Christ living in us.  We need to stand out and be a “walking representation” of the living God.  Jesus is the incarnate God.  Someone once said that, “Jesus became one of us so that we can become like Him.”  Jesus also said in John 14:7, “If you had known Me (had learned to recognize Me), you would also have known My Father.  From now on, you know Him and have seen Him.”

Jesus came to show us how to live.  He brought the Kingdom of God with Him.  We are to bring the Kingdom of God to all people because this is what the will of God is.  His will is that all should come to the saving power of God in their lives and His desire is for all to be saved by the power of the Holy Spirit through the shedding of blood on the cross by Jesus Christ.  

The Holy Spirit is very important in our lives.  He is the breath of life.  The Holy Spirit is the fire of God that we will talk about in another presentation.  We will also talk about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and how to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.