04/15/2018
One of the questions that I am asked all of the time is about the Holy Spirit. Every day Christian believers ask me this because they desire to know about who He is, and what He means to them and their faith, and many Pastors ask to determine what side of the fence I am on. Like Jesus He fascinates and enthralls us, brings us to a place where we feel the coolness of the inhale, and the warmth of the exhale as God Himself breathes, and yes, He scares us, and that fear often separates us from one another.
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
John 14:16-17 ESV
Jesus was a man, and the world He lived in saw Him. As a matter of fact, we see evidence of Him even today; you can visit where He was born, the hillside where he taught the beatitudes, the mount on which He was crucified, you can visit his tomb, and stand atop the place where we believe he ascended into heaven. It was easy for those of His time to physically believe in Jesus because there He was walking, and teaching among them! Yet once He ascended into heaven then believing that we know Jesus retreated almost completely back into our Faith... excepting for some often contested evidence of His existence on earth. We read the words of Jesus, and see that He knew this would happen, it was no surprise, so He asked that a helper be sent to dwell in us...
“even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
John 14:17 ESV
When we choose to believe, our faith transitions us from a fallen man who stands alone, into a complex being of body and enormous spiritual consequence. We are no longer comprised solely of our own selves (body, spirit, and soul), but within us now dwells the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit (or Ghost if referring to Him in this way is your preference). Jesus tells us this, and it scares many people today, just as He frightened those around Him when He physically lived, walked, and taught among us. So, as we have just read, the Holy Spirit was sent, and has entered us, and in the scripture below Jesus also tells us that He is joining the Father, and the Son, within us, and we in Him.
“Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”
John 14:19-20 ESV
Considering our life in this way is rather complex, and challenges our understanding, but it is actually quite natural, as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can live within us quiet seamlessly... so much so that we can continue on in our faith, and the Word, while still feeling the need to ask questions such as... “Who is the Holy Spirit, and do I have Him within me?” Listen to Andrew Murray as he attempts to reassure us of the presence of the Holy Spirit within...
“The indwelling of the Spirit is to be recognized by faith. Even when I cannot see the least evidence of His working. I am quietly and expectantly to believe that He dwells in me. In faith, I am to restfully count upon His working and to wait for it. And in faith I must very decidedly deny my own wisdom and strength and in childlike self-abnegation depend upon Him to work everything in me.” - Andrew Murray
These are not new thoughts, nor should they be divisive. We can discuss speaking in tongues as evidence, and the gifts of the Spirit until we are blue in the face, and we can use them to divide ourselves into as many denominations, orders, or churches as we like, but the Spirit was given to teach us, and give us recollection of the teaching of Jesus, and this was meant to join us together in our faith in God, and our understanding of Jesus... not separate us.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 14:26 ESV
So, don’t get hung up in the arguments regarding the Holy Spirit...
He is a person... no He isn’t
The Spirit is a second baptism... no it isn’t
You must speak in tongues... no you don’t
The Spirit forms a trinity... no He doesn’t
All of these arguments, and more, are but tools of the ruler of the world to distract us from the truth and the focus of Christ’s promise that the Father would provide us a helper. Jesus says that Satan had no claim on Him, and indeed he has no claim on us either. We do not stand alone, and God has claimed us by His very inhabitation of us. We are inhabited by God, Jesus, and, yes, the Holy Spirit; the flag of God’s kingdom flies over us, and when we go, we go with Jesus. We read of this as we continue on into the subsequent verses in John 14...
“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.”
John 14:30-31 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the Holy Spirit that has joined you and Jesus within me. I thank you for the remembrance of those things that Your Son taught, and the comfort the Spirit brings. I ask you Father to stand against the dark one as he attempts to use arguments regarding our understanding of your Word to divide us. I pray that you bring your Church together in a unity that casts out the darkness, and defeats the pride and arrogance of man. Help us to hold onto you, and find common ground within your Word. I have heard men say that they lost their faith because they saw imperfection within some segment of your Church; they said that if men behaved this way then they want no part in it, well Holy Father I pray that all men hear clearly that we all are sinners, those within, and those outside the Church, and I pray that they are told to place their faith, and trust in you, your Word, your Son Jesus, and the instruction of the Holy Spirit, as they seek out their own salvation in fear and trembling. Help me, help us, and help your Church, to deliver this message, and help us to remove ourselves as impediments that cause souls to be lost to you. Let no word I speak, or action on my part, be misunderstood, or unnecessarily cause the loss of a single one of your children. Help me Merciful Father to find bedrock truth, and not search in vanity and arrogance for some “hidden” interpretation of your Word that I feel will set me apart from, or above others. Cast one net over us Gracious Father, and draw us all into your boat. I pray that your Holy Spirit leads us in understanding, and unites us together as one people, and one Church... even in our understanding of His presence. Great are you Holy Father, and greatly to be praised! You redeemed us from sin and death through your Son Jesus Christ, and then you sent us your Holy Spirit to help us further. Your grace knows no bounds, and your claim on us is unending. Holy, Holy, Holy, art thou, our God!
Rich Forbes