Who is the Holy Spirit?

Well, go ahead and take your Bible turn with me to John chapter 14. John chapter 14, you should have that place well-worn in your Bible by now. We've gotten a good foothold in the chapter, and now we're going to see a transition in the chapter. Now the next verses in our study in John should be verses 15 on down to about verse 26, depending upon where you divide the verses. But before we can accurately learn what Jesus is teaching here, there are some vitally important truths that we must come to understand. Now the truths that I'm speaking of are both theological and practical. Theologically, these truths will keep us from false doctrine.

They will keep us from heresy. Practically, these truths will help us in dealing with people when they're coming to Christ. Now we use different language when we talk about people coming to Christ. I like to use the word conversion because that's what happens when someone is born again, they are converted. And then also these verses will help us in our personal, practical walk with God. Yes, by now you probably know that we are deviating from our verse by verse study in John. It's because we need to get better acquainted with the person of the Holy Spirit. Now a question. Why should we take the time to study the person of the Holy Spirit?

Well here in chapter 14 and chapter 15 and chapter 16, we have some of the most expressive verses on the function of the Holy Spirit as well as very clear teaching on the doctrine of the Trinity. We need to understand who the Holy Spirit is and we need to understand what the Holy Spirit does before we wade off, waist deep, even neck deep into these verses and what Jesus teaches on the Holy Spirit. Now I said earlier that Jesus starts his teaching on the Holy Spirit in chapter 14. If you would, look with me at one particular verse, verse 16. John chapter 14 verse 16.

Jesus says, "And I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper that He may be with you forever." Now if you have the King James version, it says the word comforter. Now in the original language, this word literally means one called to come alongside. It has many meanings. It means helper, comforter, counselor. That's just the name of you. And we know that Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit here because of what He says later on in verse 26. Look with me at verse 26.

Verse 26, "But the helper," that's the same word earlier in verse 16, "but the helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things." So what we see here is the Holy Spirit of God. And as we continue through John, we will see that Jesus teaches on the Holy Spirit in chapter 14, 15, and chapter 16. Now I mentioned this word helper earlier. In verse 14, it is found in no other gospels, and it is only found in the gospel of John and in 1 John chapter 2 verse 1. Now I wanted to read those two verses because they introduced us to the Holy Spirit.

In our message this morning, we're going to examine quite a few scriptures. Now I'll go ahead and give you some instructions here. Please do not try to write a turn to all of these scriptures. If you do, you will spend most of your time turning through the Bible rather than listening. And I want to encourage you to write these verses down, be disciplined to take some time in your own study, read over these verses, maybe read them as you go back over your message notes, and be familiar with these verses and learn them, and it will help you see what the Lord is wanting to teach us this morning.

Now the title of the message this morning is very simple. It's in the form of a question. Who is the Holy Spirit? Who is the Holy Spirit? We will examine two major truths this morning. First, the personhood of the Holy Spirit, and then the deity of the Holy Spirit. I will cover quite a bit of information with these major truths. If you do have difficulty with taking notes, don't fret. We can get you the message notes. I'll be glad to share those with you. I'll do that from time to time, and I'm glad to do that to help you in your spiritual growth. So the question is, who is the Holy Spirit?

And our first major truth is the personhood of the Holy Spirit. The personhood of the Holy Spirit. Now this first truth probably strikes some of you funny. The personhood of the Holy Spirit, is that correct? The Scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit possesses the attributes of a person. Some of you might not know what attributes are, but attributes are features, or qualities, or characteristics. I'll give you an example that will help you see this. We know that God is holy. That means that He is totally separate from man. He is unique from man. Whereas man is sinful, God is not sinful. He is holy. And holiness is an attribute of God.

So the Holy Spirit, He possesses certain attributes, and one of them is personhood. Now I want to give you quite a few scripture references that will help you see this truth. These are very important for you to learn. And then next week, when we get into the work of the Holy Spirit, we will revisit this information, which will help tie all of this together. So first, I want us to see that the Holy Spirit is intelligent. The Holy Spirit is intelligent. We see this in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 11.

Paul writes, "For who knows a person's thoughts except the Spirit of that person which is in him." So also, no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. There in the last portion of the verse, it says, "The Spirit of God." That's the Holy Spirit of God, and the Holy Spirit of God has intelligence, and He understands and knows the very thoughts of God. So He is intelligent. Second, we see that He has a mind. He has a mind.

In Romans chapter 8 verse 27, Paul gives us this verse, "And he who searches hearts knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." So here we see that the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, understands and knows the will of God, and even intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. So we see that the Holy Spirit has a mind. Then third, we see that He has emotion. The Holy Spirit has emotion.

In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30, Paul says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Paul is writing to Christians there, and he is saying, "By your sin and rebellion, you can grieve the Spirit of God living within you." And that tells us that the Spirit has emotion. Then fourth, we see that He has a will. The Holy Spirit has a will. We see this in 1 Corinthians 12, 11. 1 Corinthians 12, 11, Paul is writing here about spiritual gifts and the giving of spiritual gifts, and all of these are empowered by one and the same Spirit who apportions to each one individually as He wills.

So we see here that the Spirit of God gives spiritual gifts to individuals as He wills, and we know that is according to God's will. So the Holy Spirit has a will. Then fifth, we see that He can be lied to. The Holy Spirit can be lied to. In Acts chapter 5 verse 3, the Scripture says, "But Peter said to Ananias, 'Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proofseeds of the land?'" There was a man there who said he gave a certain amount there in the early church when actually he did not.

"And Peter said, 'Ananias, you have lied to the Holy Spirit of God.'" And then sixth, He can be blasphemed. The Holy Spirit can be blasphemed. Matthew chapter 12 verse 31, Jesus says, "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven of people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." In other words, Jesus is saying, "Any sin can be forgiven, but the rejection of the Spirit of God cannot be forgiven, so He can be blasphemed." Then seventh, we see that He can be insulted. The Spirit, the Holy Spirit can be insulted. Hebrews 10, 29.

How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified and has outraged the Spirit of God? So the Spirit of God can be outraged, can be insulted by men's sin. And then eighth, which is last, He is always referred to in using masculine pronouns. He is always referred to using masculine pronouns. I go back to our passage in John, verse 26, chapter 14. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He," see that masculine pronoun? "He will teach you all things." So in summary, what do we see here?

The Holy Spirit possesses the attributes of personhood. He is not an "it." He is not an influence. He is not an impersonal force for good. He is a person, but not a person like you or me. And we will see that as we continue. Now how does this apply for you and to me? We must understand that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God is not an "it." It is not a thing. It is not a positive influence. Now I'll make application a little more specifically in two ways. I'll speak first to us who are Christians. When we are born again of God, the Spirit of God comes to live within us.

And when we have the Spirit of God living within us, it is not an influence. It's not a thing. It's not just an "it." It's not even a positive influence for God. The Holy Spirit of God is a person that comes to live within us. For those of you who are lost and without Christ, there are some of you here that the Spirit of God is dealing with you about your position and condition before God. That is opening up your eyes to the fact that you are lost and without Christ. That is not an influence. That is not a thing. That is not something that just makes you feel guilty. That is the Spirit of God. That is the personhood of God dealing with you.

Now I will use an earthly example that might help you see this. There are many of us here who are married. I'm thankful to be married. My wife and I have been married a little over 20 years. It's gone by rather fast. My wife is in the nursery now, so she can't be here to defend herself. But you know, when I speak of my wife, I don't speak of my wife as an "it" or a "thing" or an influence. She's a person. Now you understand that. Some of us men, if we begin to speak of our wife in an impersonal way, that will come back to get us. Isn't that the truth? We know who our wives are. We know their names. They're a person.

And what am I trying to show you? We relate to the Holy Spirit as a person. But just like I said earlier, He's not a person like you and me. He's not a person like man. So first, I wanted us to see the person of the Holy Spirit. Let's move on to our second major truth. The deity of the Holy Spirit. Now to understand the Holy Spirit is deity, we must understand that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. Now this is what Bible commentators and scholars call the doctrine of the Trinity. Now I want to go ahead and ease your mind and help you out here in your own personal Bible study. The word Trinity is not found in the Bible.

So don't go search for it. You will not find it. This word simply speaks of the teaching in the Scriptures that God is in three persons, yet He is God and He is one. And this term, Trinity, is very useful. I ran across a definition this week of the Trinity. Most Bible dictionaries have a definition of the Trinity. Good systematic theological works have definitions. And this is one by a theologian named Wayne Grudem. And I like his definition. It's very easy to get your mind around. Listen to his definition. God eternally exists as three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And each person is fully God and there is one God.

Let me repeat that. God exists eternally as three persons, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God and there is one God. Well, you might think, "I thought we were going to study the deity of the Holy Spirit." Well, we are. To teach the deity of the Holy Spirit, one must teach the Spirit's place within the Godhead. If that is done properly, then the deity of the Holy Spirit will be taught within its proper context and that is very important. Now, whether you know it or not, we believe in what is called progressive revelation. Progressive revelation.

This means that throughout history, God has been progressively revealing himself to man. I'll help you by going back through the Scripture a little. Simply, the Apostle Paul knew more about God than Abraham did. I'll give you an example. In Genesis 13, verse 16, God promised Abraham that his descendants would be like the dust of the earth and that they could not be counted. Now, Abraham did not fully understand the meaning of that verse, but he did receive it by faith. And Paul had a fuller understanding of that verse. He knew that that verse spoke of the Gentiles that he was reaching with the gospel. That is progressive revelation.

Now, we in our day, we have a greater revelation of God than Paul because we have the entire canon of God's Word. We live on this side of the full revelation of God. That is progressive revelation. I'll give you a very simplistic illustration. It's as if throughout human history, God has been slowly opening up the door. And now, because we live on this side of the full revelation of God in his Word, the door is wide open and God lets us see all that he wants us to see. Abraham did not have that in his day. Well, the person of the Holy Spirit can be progressively seen from the Old Testament on into the New Testament.

Now, I want to explain this because this will help you see and help us see the Trinity and the deity of the Holy Spirit. First, we see a partial revelation of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. We see a partial revelation of the Holy Spirit within the Old Testament. We see this in several places in the Old Testament, but the first mention of the Holy Spirit is in the first book of the Bible. Genesis chapter 1, verse 26. I'll read that portion. "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image after our likeness.'" Now, in the original language and in our English translations, this is pluralistic language.

Now, there is no number or listing of the three persons of the Godhead, but clearly we see the plurality of God is listed here. And the Holy Spirit most definitely is here by implication. And I will explain that implication as we get going a little farther. We also see this language in Isaiah's prophecy. In Isaiah 63, verse 10, it reads, "But they," that's the Israelites, "they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned to be their enemy and himself fought against them." This text clearly states that God is distinctive from the Holy Spirit, and also this text says that the Holy Spirit can be grieved.

We also see this language used in the Psalms, one written by David, Psalm 110, verse 1 reads, "And the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool." Here we again see this pluralistic language associated with God. And if we go to the Gospels in Matthew 21 starting in verse 41, Jesus interprets this passage. Jesus simply says, and this is Jesus' paraphrase here, "God the Father said to God the Son, sit at my right hand." Now the Holy Spirit is not mentioned here, but we do see two persons of the Godhead here. Now this is a partial revelation of the Holy Spirit of God in the Old Testament.

But what is seen here is the plurality of the Godhead which speaks to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Now a skeptic might say, "The Spirit of the Holy Spirit is not named." That is the case. But we can see the Holy Spirit in these passages as we look at them through the lens of the New Testament and that's where our implication comes from. Second, I want us to see the fuller revelation of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. The fuller revelation of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. We see the Holy Spirit openly named at the beginning and the end of Jesus' earthly ministry. We see all three persons of the Godhead at Jesus' baptism.

Chapter 3 of Matthew, verse 16. Let me read these verses. "And when Jesus was baptized," there's the Son, "immediately He went up from the water, and behold the heavens were open to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him. And behold a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'" So here we have the Son being baptized. The Spirit coming down on the Son like a dove, and the voice of the Father from heaven approving of the Son. We also see all three persons of the Godhead from Paul's apostolic writings.

In 2 Corinthians 13, verse 14, Paul says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." Here Paul is praying that God would work in the lives of the Corinthian believers, and he names all three persons of the Godhead. And we also see the three persons of the Godhead in John 14, verse 16, the verse that we read earlier. And I'll read it again. "And I will ask the Father," there's God the Father, "and He will give you another helper," there's the Spirit, "to be with you.

Jesus names Himself," because He's writing, He's speaking, "then He names the Father, then He names the Spirit." And in this verse we see three distinct individuals of the Godhead. Now this is a fuller revelation of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. We plainly see all three persons of the Godhead listed, whereas in the Old Testament we see a partial revelation. In the New Testament we see a full revelation, and there's no implication needed here. And then third, we see a full revelation of the Holy Spirit as God.

Now here I will give you a list of passages like I did earlier, but they will show us and communicate to us the deity of the Holy Spirit of God. First, He is the Spirit of God at Jesus' baptism. He is the Spirit of God at Jesus' baptism. Matthew 3, 16, "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were open to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him." So Matthew says that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. And second, we see that He is the Spirit of Jesus. I'll read you one verse, but mention two or three others.

Acts 16, verse 7, "And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them." So here in Acts, Luke shows us that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. We see this same language in Galatians 4, 6, Philippians 1, 19, and 1 Peter 1, 11. And then third, "He possesses the attributes of God." The Holy Spirit possesses the attributes of God. He is eternal. God is eternal. And the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is eternal. We see that in Hebrews 9, 14. He is all-knowing. God is all-knowing. The Spirit, the Holy Spirit is all-knowing. We see that in 1 Corinthians 2, verses 10 and 11.

He is omnipresent, which means He is in eternity, both past, present, and future. We see that in Psalms 139, verse 7. He is omnipotent, which means He is all-powerful. And we see that in Genesis chapter 1, verse 2. He is truthful. We see that in 1 John chapter 5, verse 6. He is the Spirit of life, and we see that in Romans chapter 8, verse 2. So in summary, what do we see here? The Holy Spirit is the eternal Holy Spirit of God, and He is God. In the progressive revelation of the Word of God, we gradually see a fuller picture of who He is. And in the end, we have a full, a full picture, and what we see is the Holy Spirit is God.

Now what does that mean to us? We have learned that the Holy Spirit is God, and we have learned this within its proper context. That is within the Trinity. I go back to Wayne Grudem's definition. Let's listen to it after what we've learned. God eternally exists as three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God. Now in more application, I want to say to you that this is mysterious. We cannot fully explain it, nor fully understand it, but we need to see the Holy Spirit within the context of the Godhead of the Trinity, and that He is God.

Now remember earlier when I said that the Holy Spirit is not an it, or a thing, or an influence? The Holy Spirit that lives within us as born-again Christians, that is God. Those of you who are lost, God's dealing with you, and He's convicting you of sin, you have trouble sleeping at night, the sermons really hit home with you, and you know more about who you really are and who you really are in light of who God is, that is God. Now I want to move on to the conclusion of the message. I mentioned these two words earlier in the message. It's important for us to see that this is theological in its nature, but we also see that this is practical.

If I'm going to give you something theological, I'm going to help you see how it applies to our lives and how practical it is. Now theologically I want to speak just for a moment, and then I will come to a practical application and then we're going to close. Now theologically, we need to see that if we have a faulty understanding of the Trinity, then we have flawed, if not a heretical view of the Godhead. I'll give you an example, and this will show you how it gets close to home. There is a theological position that's called modalism. Many of you probably don't know what that is. You can describe it as oneness Pentecostalism.

You might say, "I don't know what that is." What you don't know is you know many Pentecostals. There's a lot of Pentecostals around in our day, but they're our friends and they're our neighbors. Maybe we work with them. But what we must see is that they have adopted a faulty view of the Trinity. They emphasize that there is one God, only one God, and they teach that there is only one God, but he has revealed himself at different times in different modes throughout history. So those individuals, when they look in the Old Testament, they think that is God revealing himself in that mode.

And then when they look at Jesus, they think that that's God revealing himself in that mode. And then when they look at the Holy Spirit, they think that that's God revealing himself in that mode, and that is wrong. The idea of the Holy Spirit and the Son interceding for us is lost with that theological position. And listen to how dangerous this is. Ultimately, the doctrine of the Atonement is lost because it was God the Father who sent God the Son to die in our place and to suffer the wrath of God. And listen, this teaching destroys the substitutionary Atonement. That's why theology is important.

Now how do we react to our Pentecostal friends? We shouldn't be rude, nugly, and arrogant. No. If we have an opportunity, we should try to teach them the ways of God and the truths in the Scripture. So I've spoken just for a moment, theologically. Now I want to speak to you practically. Let me help you in your attempts to try to explain the Trinity. Here's how I'm going to help you. Don't do it. Don't. Listen, don't try to use illustrations. I ran across some in my study. I've heard of these through the years. Some will try to use an illustration like water and steam and ice or a three leaf clump. Just don't do it. This is how you explain it.

Number one, God is three persons. Number two, each person is fully God. And number three, there is one God. It's that simple. But as soon as you go through those three, there's somebody that will say, "Well, but." You cannot explain it any further than that. It is mysterious. It seems paradoxical to us, but we are finite. We cannot explain fully the things of God. In any person or individual who will tell you they can explain it past these three things is wrong. God is three persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God, and there is one God.

And just stop right here, believe it by faith, don't try to explain it anymore. Now what's the title of the message? Who is the Holy Spirit? Now this is very much an informational message, but next week we are going to look at what the Holy Spirit does. And when we look at what the Holy Spirit does, we will see why it is very important to see who the Holy Spirit is to understand theologically who He is. We will take what we've learned this morning, and we'll take it over into next week when we look at what the Holy Spirit does.

And then we're going to see how this fleshes out more and more in our church and what we do, why we do it, and why we don't do certain things. For some of you it will answer questions about why we do things here at Nola Baptist Church. So who is the Holy Spirit? This has been my effort and one message to explain that to you. Let's pray.