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The Holy Spirit - Part I SIB Metro Bible Class
– Lesson 11, every Thursday Night at 8. Brother Ronny Cham began the series on THE HOLY
SPIRT. 26th June 2008 Last few weeks, we have studied the
meaning of the word “spirit” and the mystery of the concept of
“the spirit of man”. One
thing for sure, God has His own personal Spirit and there is also “the
Spirit of God” which is, as if, a separate entity to God Himself. In the same way, there is “the
man’s spirit” and also “the spirit of man”. In 1 Corinthian 2:11, the scripture
says: “For what man knows the
things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one
knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” (NKJV) What this
means is that there is a “spirit of man” in a man. It is this “spirit of man”
born again, a new spiritual being within a man is born again. This born again process is in the
spirit, not according to the will of man but the will of God (John 1:13), a new
being as described in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things
have become new.” (NKJV) Yet
this does not mean that we are changed physically into something
different. Therefore the physical man remains
and so does the man’s own spirit.
When we talk about whoever has no rule or control over his own spirit,
it is like a city broken down without walls (Prov
25:28), we are talking about the born again spirit of man, the new spiritual
being within the man, controlling and ruling over the man’s spirit. With that understanding, we now know
what 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 is all about:
“For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down
arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,
bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being
ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” (NKJV)
When we do not have the born again spirit of man, the new spiritual being
within a man, inside of a man, there is “no one” within the man to
bring the man’s spirit, which is his thought, into captivity to the
obedience of Christ. Now, we move on to understand who
the Spirit of God is, whom we call “the Holy Spirit”. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus said to His
disciples: “Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (NKJV) The deity (divine state) of
the Holy Spirit is most clearly stated in this scripture. The scripture provides full evidence
of the deity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is spoken of as God. The
attributes of God are assigned to Him, He is engaged in the work of God, and He
receives honour due only to God. Further, He was recognised as God by the
early church both in the baptismal formula as seated above and in the apostolic
benediction as in 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (NKJV) The words
of the Holy Spirit are recognised as being the Words of God. Let us now look at some scriptures
to better know the Holy Spirit:- 1. In the beginning, the Spirit of
God moved upon waters to re‑create heavens and earth. Genesis 1:2,
“The earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering
over the face of the waters.” (NKJV) 2. The Holy Spirit speaks by men. In 2 Samuel 23:2, we read that "The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His
word was on my tongue.” (NKJV) Further, in 1 Timothy 4:1, we read
that, “Now the Spirit expressly
says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to
deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (NKJV). 3. The Holy Spirit can carry men as
in 1 Kings 18:12, “And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from
you, that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place I do not know...”
(NKJV) and also in 2 Kings 2:16, “Then they said to him, "Look now, there are fifty strong men with
your servants. Please let them
go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken
him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley." (NKJV) In particular, in the Book of Ezekiel,
he was constantly being taken or lifted up by the Holy Spirit of God (see Ezekiel
3:12; Ezekiel
8:3; Ezekiel 11:1; Ezekiel 37:1 where Ezekiel said, “The hand of the LORD
came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in
the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.” (NKJV) and in Ezekiel
43:5, he said, “The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner
court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.” (NKJV) In the New Testament, in the Book of
Acts 8:39 Philip having baptised the Ethiopian eunuch, the Spirit of the Lord
caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way
rejoicing. 4. The Holy Spirit reveals things to
men. In 1 Chronicle 28:18, David
gave his son Solomon the plans which the Holy Spirit had revealed to him of the
courts of the House of God. In Acts
11:28, the Holy Spirit showed that there was going to be a great famine throughout
all the world, which also happened in the days of
Claudius Caesar. In Acts 21:4 the
disciples told Paul not to go to Jerusalem through the Holy Spirit. The Word of
God in 1 Corinthians 2:10 clearly tells us that God
reveals to us through His Holy Spirit the things which God has prepared for
those who love Him. 5. The Spirit can come into midst of
people. This was what happened in 2
Chronicles 20:14, “Then the Spirit
of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah,
the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel,
the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.” (NKJV) The Holy Spirit came into the midst of
the assembly. 6. The Spirit can instruct men. In Nehemiah 9:20, we read, “You also gave Your
good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,
and gave them water for their thirst.” (NKJV) 7. The Spirit can testify. In Nehemiah 9:30, it is the Holy Spirit
in the prophets that testified against the people of God who sinned against
God. Of course our Lord Himself in
John 15:26 said, “But when the
Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who
proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” (NKJV) The Apostle John in 1 John 5:6 said that
it is the Holy Spirit who bears witness in heaven because the Spirit is truth.
In Acts 20:22-23, Paul said that, “And
see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that
will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city,
saying that chains and tribulations await me.” (NKJV) End of Part I Ronny Cham |
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