The Holy Spirit - Session 1 - Ron Matsen

[Music] lord as we approach this uh topic of the holy spirit tonight lord we recognize that that we can learn nothing in the spiritual realm that is of any real value to us unless you reveal it to us and the messenger that you use is the holy spirit lord father we pray that you would grant us insight lord give us ears to hear and and hearts to receive that which you would reveal to us tonight before we ask this name of the sent your son jesus christ amen we're going to be starting a four-part series on the holy spirit in tonight's study we're going to be looking at the character of the holy spirit in session two next week we'll be looking at the work of the holy spirit session three will look at the gifts of the holy spirit and session for the fruit of the holy spirit and so many of you may have gone through various teachings on aspects of the spirit and we're going to hopefully be zeroed in on these four categories tonight looking at the character of the holy spirit first we need to discuss just our perception of god some people when they begin to discuss the biblical revelation of the holy spirit there can be some confusion if you don't have a right understanding especially concerning the person of god if you have an individual who believes in many gods polytheism it's referred to that really is a religion that comes out of ancient paganism egyptian babylonian greek and roman mythology is where we see that still hanging around today but there are those like the mormons the jehovah's witnesses that believe that there is a duplicity or multiplicity of gods that exist and and we want to make sure that you understand that as we speak of the holy spirit as god we are not speaking of polytheism we're speaking of monotheism the idea of one god and we'll establish that first as the first verse in the hebrew shema deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4 tells us hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one one of many verses which speaks of the fact that the hebrew worship of god was based on the belief in one god but within christianity there is this understanding of monotheism which is referred to as trinitarian monotheism now that sounds like a contradiction until you get into it and we're not going to fully develop the whole defense of the trinity in this study there are other studies and briefing packages that do that much better but we do need to lay that down as a foundation you see the bible refers to god as the father and in that sense he is the unseen authority even when jesus was in his earthly ministry referring to the father he made reference to the fact that his actions were in submission to the will of the father and so the father is the unseen authority in fact john 1 18 tells us no one has seen god at any time the only begotten of the son who is in the bosom of the father he has declared him and so one of many verses that deals with the father he is the unseen authority the son of god is the revealed person of god if there's a personage who is god revealed to man it is the person jesus christ and in fact paul's letter the colossians colossians 2 9 tells us for in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily and so he's the physical representation of god when either the prophet isaiah or others have visions of the throne room of god and they see a person that person is jesus christ he is the revealed person of god when john has his revelation he sees on the throne of god a lamb as it were slain before the foundation of the world he's making reference to jesus christ god the spirit is the presence of god in the world today and to be quite honest it's the most difficult person in the godhead to understand and therefore the most misunderstood and the most misrepresented and hopefully in a small way as we go through our four sessions we'll be able to remove some of that confusion concerning the holy spirit now when we deal with this issue of god the spirit we recognize that this is not something that is an ignorance that perhaps just our generation are suffering with during the time post the ministry and resurrection of jesus christ the early church had trouble with this doctrine in acts chapter 19 we read in verse 1 and it happened while apollos was at corinth that paul having passed through the upper regions came to ephesus and finding some disciples he said to them did you receive the holy spirit when you believed and so they said to him we've not so much as heard whether there is a holy spirit now if you're familiar with that passage in 19 you'll recognize that the apostle paul was speaking to some former disciples of john the baptist and john the baptist was referred to by jesus as the greatest of all the prophets and yet his disciples did not understand about the holy spirit so this is not a a a knowledge that was somehow clearly and easily grasped in the new testament era and then lost throughout the ages it's always been difficult to understand so as we approach this uh i please appreciate that we're dealing with something that even in the new testament era when they had access to people who physically saw god the son sat under the teachings and influences of the first century apostles there was still confusion with regards to the person of the holy spirit now there are a number of terms two of which we will focus on one from the old testament is the hebrew word ruach and it means breath or spirit in the new testament is pneuma which means wind or spirit in both instances it's something that creates effect it's a cause that provides effects but you cannot see it and so in as types and shadows the idea of the spirit being breath or spirit uh or in the new testament that of wind or spirit it means that it's something that you can't visualize and that's what makes it difficult when you're dealing in the area of the person of the holy spirit there have been many who have tried to define the holy spirit in pictorial terms especially when they are dealing with the issue of the trinity you know they try to say uh it's like the three states of of of of matter or water for example there's the solid state there's the liquid state and there's the gaseous state problem with that there's a fourth state called plasma so that doesn't work and on and on and on there have been various and asundry ways in which people have tried to give a sense to the three-in-one but there is a danger when you try to refer to the the holy spirit as simply the force or the influence of god this is how the hebrews understood the references in their scriptures to the spirit of god it was as though it was simply the outworking of the will of the father or the will of god in that sense or to refer to the holy spirit as the essence of god's presence in the same way in which we might make reference to the spirit of an individual after they have left the influence of that individual still might remain within an organization and so we could say well the spirit of that person lives on here in that sense be careful about using those types of parallels or ways of describing the person of the holy spirit the holy spirit is more than just a force of god he is a person now in doing that i need to underscore a caution which is a way in which the spirit has been referred to a number of times especially among those who feel very comfortable in the move of the spirit and that is that they will refer to the spirit as an it i went to this place and i brought back it you know this experience was happening and i brought back it to this church referring to the holy spirit uh in an impersonal way as in it the holy spirit is not an it when we study the character of the s spirit we're going to be looking at his deity and his attributes we're going to see that he is a person and that as with any other character of the of of the trinity he has the defense of his deity and also the revelation of his attributes again let's go back to this fundamental set of verses uh called the hebrew shema in deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 4 and 5. and let's take a little closer look at that we read again hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength now let's look again at that passage and take a look at it as if we were reading this in hebrew recognizing many of those words are supplied by the translators the crux of that verse is made up of three hebrew words the lord when it's capitalized this in the version that i'm using lord as capital letters it's referring to the hebrew tetragrammaton the four hebrew consonants which represent the proper name of god it's important to know that our god has a name and and and we don't just refer to him as god in general he is a person with an identity the second word is the term god and that is the hebrew word elohim el is the word used for god singular elohim is a plural so that the lord our elohim is a representation of plurality and the last word is akhad which means one unified or beginning now another way to look at that is to see that this does not exclude the trinity in fact it defines it for the authority of god is expressed in the plurality of god diversity and is one unity so you have the representation of the authority of god in the diversity of the trinity and yet they are at one with one another unity so it's not a verse which should exclude the doctrine of uh or be a problem for the doctrine of the trinity it is uh a document and an a and a passage which actually supports the doctrine of the trinity there are a number of places in scripture and we won't spend too much time on that tonight but suffice it to say that there are a number of places in scripture where we see the spirit acting as a part of the godhead in genesis chapter 1 verse 1 and 2 we read in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth 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 notice that the spirit of god he was involved in the creation of the universe as we now know it there are a number of other uh passages which deal with the unity of plurality expressed as god in genesis chapter 1 verse 26 as there's this discussion in heaven concerning the creation of man the passage says let us make man in our own image in both incidences these are referring to the plurality of a single god in genesis chapter 3 after the fall of man behold the man has become as one of us he's not referring to the angels he's referring to the unity within the trinity and of course when the the man uh begins to build the tower of babel in genesis chapter 11 verse 7 uh we get the response of god which says go to let us let us go down and there confound their language and so there's a there's a a unity within um their expression and their decision making and these three passages in genesis begin to give us some highlight or some insight into that in that sense we see that there are many instances is in the new testament where the holy spirit is identified as separate yet equal with god at the baptism of jesus christ matthew chapter 3 verse 16 when he was baptized jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the heavens were opened to him and he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove and a lighting upon him and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased you see you have this event that takes place at the beginning of the public ministry of jesus christ where all three sovereign separate individual people individuals of the godhead are present there at the baptism the father speaks from heaven the spirit is descending as it were in the form of a dove and then jesus christ himself obviously the one who was being baptized in the great commission matthew chapter 28 go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit there you see an equality that's being expressed by the commandment of jesus christ himself as he's sending them out now to go and and preach the gospel to the whole world they're baptizing them that is is bringing them into the body of christ in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit before the church in jerusalem acts chapter 5 peter said ananias why is satan filled your heart to lie to the holy spirit and keep back part of the price of a land for yourself while it remained was it not your own and after it was sold was it not in your control why have you conceived this thing in your heart you have not lied to men but to god you see he says to ananias you've lied to the holy spirit you've lied to god yet again another reference to the holy spirit being god in peter's greeting in 1 peter chapter 1 peter an apostle of jesus christ to the pilgrims of the dispersion in pontius galatia cappadocia asia and bithynia elect according to the foreknowledge of god the father in sanctification of the spirit for the obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of jesus christ grace be multiplied to you and you you see that what you have is a sense of referencing the holy spirit paul's salutation to the corinthians 2 corinthians chapter 13 the grace of the lord jesus christ and the love of god and the communion of the holy spirit be with you all amen you'll see throughout scripture and i don't want to spend too much more time on this but just simply to make it clear that time and time again when there is a greeting or a salutation where the father and the son are mentioned oftentimes the spirit will be mentioned in like fashion as a one in co authority with the father and the son we find also an interesting clarification that takes place we've often said that the the new testament is in the old testament concealed and the old testament is in the new testament revealed and so there is a revelation that takes place because of the new testament for things said in the old testament and i'll show you a few of them here there are quotations by the spirit in the in the old testament now i'm not speaking of inspiration here i'm talking about that the scriptures will tell us that the person speaking is the holy spirit i'll show you an example isaiah chapter 6 verse 8 also i heard the voice of the lord saying whom shall i send and who will go for us then i said here i am send me notice the voice of the lord saying and he said go and tell this people keep on hearing and do not understand keep on seeing but do not perceive now when we come to the new testament acts chapter 28 verse 25 we read so when they did not agree among themselves they departed after paul had sent one word the holy spirit spoke rightly through isaiah to the the prophet to your fathers saying go to this people and say hearing you will hear and shall not understand and seeing you will see and not perceive you see the new testament reveals the person that isaiah simply refers to as the lord said and in the new testament we are it is revealed the one who was making that statement is the holy spirit is the one who was making that statement and isaiah is writing it down so he recognizes the voice of the holy spirit as being the voice of god we then see in jeremiah chapter 31 to verse 31-33 behold the days are coming says the lord when i will make a new covenant with the house of israel and with the house of judah not according to the covenant that i made with their fathers in the day that i took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of egypt my covenant which they broke though i was a husband to them says the lord but this is the covenant that i will make with the house of israel after those days says the lord i will put my law in their minds and i will write it on their hearts and i will be their god and they shall be my people now as you read these three verses it's very clear who's speaking in fact uh jeremiah is using the proper name of god the the tetragrammaton here you see the the the lord is making reference to the proper name of god all right but notice here what the book of hebrews tells us but the holy spirit also witnesses to us for after he said before this is the covenant that i will make with them after those days says the lord i will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds i will write them and and he adds their sins and their lawless deeds i will remember no more you see the writer of the hebrews is quoting from jeremiah and adding an important piece of information that the lord that is speaking at that point through jeremiah is the holy spirit and it's accredited to the holy spirit we find in psalm 95 beginning in verse 7 for he is our god and we are the people of his pasture in the sheep of his hand today if you will hear his voice do not harden your heart as in the rebellion as the day of trial in the wilderness when your fathers tested me they tried me though they saw my work for forty years i was grieved with that generation and said it is a people who go astray in their hearts and they do not know my ways so i sworn my wrath they shall not enter my rest we go to hebrews chapter 3 therefore the holy spirit says today if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion in the day of the trial in the wilderness where your fathers tested me tried me and saw my works forty years therefore i was angry with that generation and said they always go astray in their hearts and they have not known my ways what's important to see here is that in isolation if all we had was the old testament when you argue for the doctrine of the trinity people will love to take you to the old testament and try to find isolated incidences where who is the where's the spirit it's the father who's speaking because it says the lord said the lord said the lord said well fortunately for us we have the new testament writers under the inspiration of the holy spirit who are telling us which of those statements are being are being brought forth by the holy spirit and so he's an individual who has a capacity to communicate as an individual he is not simply the essence of the father or the force and will of the father we'll look now at his attributes when we consider the attributes of the the holy spirit we need to recognize that he is a person a person has a mind knowledge a will expressions feelings and responsibility that's one of the ways you could define a person there they're not just a lump of clay somewhere or they're not just simply a voice in a box they have to have the whole package well he has a mind we're told in romans chapter 8 verse 27 now he who searches the heart knows what the mind of the spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of god so we have a representation and and a reference to the mind of the spirit the spirit knows the mind of the father therefore he knows the will of god he has knowledge 1 corinthians chapter 2 tells us but god has revealed them to us through his spirit for the spirit searches all things yes the deep things of god for what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of a man which is in him even so no one knows the things of god except the spirit of god now we have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit who is from god that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by god paul makes it quite clear there that the spirit has understanding has knowledge you see when we deal with the holy spirit as a person and this is why it's difficult for people to understand if they don't first understand that you're dealing with a person they don't have a problem dealing with the fact of jesus christ being a person because he was tangible he was touchable we also in another sense don't have a problem with seeing the father as a person jesus communed with the father you can't commune with nothing but we need to appreciate the holy spirit also is a person he has a will he has now he has a mind he has knowledge and he has a will the holy spirit can have a desire 1 corinthians chapter 12 but the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the prophet of all for to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit to another the word of knowledge through the same spirit to another faith by the same spirit to another gifts of healing by the same spirit to another the working of miracles to another prophecy to another discerning of spirits to another different kinds of tongues to another the interpretation of tongues but one in the same spirit works all things distributing to each one individually as he wills he has a will he makes decisions he is a person we need to recognize that he is not some uh hall porter that we can just order to carry our bags or do whatever we want and oftentimes we see people acting as though the holy spirit is there just simply to carry out our will he has a will and he performs his will and no amount of cajoling or or intimidation if uh try to try that on your part nothing will be able to dissuade the spirit from accomplishing his will in the same way in which no one was able to dissuade or persuade the son against his will he has expressions romans chapter 15 verse 30 now i beg you brethren through the lord jesus christ that through the love of the spirit notice that the love of the spirit that you strive together with me in prayers to god for me he refers to the spirit having the capacity to love 2 corinthians chapter 13 verse 14 for the grace of our lord jesus christ and the love of god and the communion of the holy spirit be with you all amen he's someone that we can commune with philippians chapter 2 verse 1 therefore if there there's any consolation in christ any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit if any affection and mercy and paul goes on the point of the matter is is to see that he can express himself in fellowship again it's easy for us in one sense to consider the fact that we can be in fellowship with jesus christ but the scriptures say that we can also experience fellowship with and in the holy spirit acts chapter 13 verse 2 and as they ministered to the lord and fasted the holy spirit said now separate to me barnabas and saul for the work to which i have called them who's making that statement the holy spirit is the holy spirit is identifying the fact that in antioch there were these two workers and teachers within the church barnabas a prophet saul a teacher who were identified by the holy spirit he identifies them that he has a work which by his will he is calling them to he's doing that which paul refers to in his co in his colossian or his corinthian epistle that he does things according to his will we also need to recognize that he has feelings you know when you review the life and history of jesus christ you recognize that there were times where he was offended at the beginning of his ministry he came into jerusalem and he saw the money changers there and he walked into the temple and he turned over the tables and he says my my house my father's house is a place of prayer not merchandise he then did at the end of his ministry he went back in and cleared the temple doing the same things again there were times when he was angry well we need to recognize that the holy spirit has feelings matthew chapter 12 31 jesus says this concerning the holy spirit i say to you every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven men now we're not going to attempt during this bible study to go into what that is i encourage you to go do your own study look at some of the materials we have that cover matthew chapter 12 but the point of the matter is the holy spirit has feelings and as such we are told in 1 thessalonians chapter 5 verse 19 do not quench the spirit now in its context the quenching of the spirit is to not test all things and hold fast to that which is true a lot of times people will refer to don't quench the spirit meaning you should not question spiritual things that are happening within the context of 1 thessalonians chapter 5 encourage you to go do your own homework on this be good bereans check it out for yourself but what it's encouraging them to do is to test all things hold fast to that which is true if you are not doing that you are quenching the spirit because the spirit is here to bring us that which is truth and is true so if there is something that is a counterfeit we should be identifying that and exposing it so to quench the spirit is to not do the work of discerning within the body of christ it is not a an admonition for us to just let any and every uh thing that takes place in the name of the spirit take place and if you question oh you're quenching the spirit no in fact the opposite is true the spirit invites being tested and and being testing because it it allows him then to perform that which authenticates what's real recognizing that there are false christs there are false spirits and and we need to be awake and aware of those things within the world today we also read in ephesians chapter 4 verse 30 he says do not grieve the holy spirit of god by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption we can grieve them not only can we quench the spirit we can grieve the spirit what an amazing thing to think that we who are finite who god has drawn unto himself could still have the capacity to live a life that brings grief to god those of you that have children it's amazing so long as they're your children they will always have the capacity to bring grief into your life now that's not the way you want to think of your own children but they do and generally that grief comes as a parent when you see your children doing that which is in replacement for that which would be good and helpful in their life when they're wasting their time when they're when they're injuring themselves when they're they're not fulfilling that which you as parents have hopefully raised them up and trained them up and that grieves you you think my goodness you were raised better than that where did that come from well we can grieve the holy spirit hebrews chapter 29 of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the son of god underfoot counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the spirit of grace amazing isn't it that you could insult the holy spirit in the whole work of redemption concerning man christ was the one who suffered but as we will see it is the holy spirit that reveals that truth to you and when you reject the call of god to you you're not offending christ you're offending the holy spirit for the holy spirit is the one who is drawing you to the father because of the completed work of the son and so you're insulting him by ignoring him by casting away or calling common that which he is revealing to you and you're ignoring it and so you're insulting the spirit of grace god's undeserved grace in our life we don't deserve the grace of god his mercy his love and the spirit is the one who brings that to us and we need to respond to that the holy spirit has responsibility and herein we see in john chapter 15 uh in the in the beginning we'll see two of these capabilities two of the things that he does what is he here for in the world well in john chapter 15 jesus tells his disciples on the night in which he was betrayed after the the passover meal he says if you love me keep my commandments and i will pray the father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you the the two relationships that we have there is that he will dwell with them and in them and the third is revealed in acts chapter 1 verse 8 but you shall receive the power when the holy spirit has come upon you and so three relationships that we have with the holy spirit that he dwells with you he dwells with everyone you can't escape that fact everyone in the world today is dwelling with the holy spirit in their midst god is not distant he shares the attributes of god in that he is omnipresent he does not is not restricted by locality and so he is with them jesus in john chapter 15. this after his teaching ministry just before his crucifixion and resurrection says in future tense and he will be in you which says though they were the disciples of christ they part took in the ministry of christ they were even anointed by the spirit to perform signs and wonders they did not yet experience the indwelling presence of the holy spirit which would come as a result of the cross and the resurrection and what it was to be born again that takes place after the resurrection of jesus christ where we are told when jesus reveals himself to them before the day of pentecost it says and he breathed on them and they received the holy spirit that's not the baptism that's the point at which they were born again and they received the holy spirit now we've dealt with the gift of salvation the the gift of reconciliation in our briefing on the gospel and we deal with that in more detail but the point of the matter is the gift of the holy spirit in that sense to a believer is the indwelling presence of the holy spirit so jesus tells his disciples on the night in which he's going to be betrayed tried crucified laid in a tomb the next day he tells them the holy spirit's with you now but he's going to be in you and then in acts chapter 1 verse 8 he says but you will receive power when he has come upon you and we will deal with this uh in our um third session where we deal with or in our second session when we deal with the work of the holy spirit uh and the the the uh the outworkings of the work and the spirit and the subsequent sessions we read that the holy spirit has actions and authority in john chapter 15 verse 26 when the helper comes whom i'll send to you from the father the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father he will testify of me that is his primary responsibility in the world today both to the unbelieving world and within the church the primary function of the holy spirit is to testify of jesus christ and we need to appreciate that as we move on through these series of studies to understand that there are many today who are making the seeking of the spirit an end in itself let's go seek the spirit let's have a spiritual experience that is not what jesus told his disciples that is not what the spirit was sent to do the spirit was sent to take that which was his and deliver it to us so that we could go into all the world and preach the gospel the spirit is here to testify of jesus christ and one of the ways in which you can discern whether or not there is a manifestation of the spirit that is the holy spirit and not a counterfeit is to see whether that manifestation is leading you to christ or if not if it's leading you into yet more types of spiritual experiences that certainly in many instances aren't even biblical and so the purpose of the holy spirit is to testify of jesus christ that's what he's in the world to do now we've looked at the character of the holy spirit in our next session we'll be looking at the work of the spirit and in the work of the spirit we'll see how he works in the world and how he works in the church and so we'll look at those in quite a bit of detail during our next session so let's bow our hearts in prayer lord it is difficult to fully grasp all that pertains to this third person of the trinity that your word so clearly makes reference to we're so grateful lord that in scripture he really is exemplified as the unnamed servant lord that we have to refer to him in a general category he doesn't have a name there's no image that we can [Music] offer ourselves to better describe his work as a member of the the godhead and yet we're grateful lord for the work of the spirit in our own life who drew us unto you lord the spirit that excites our mind and opens our eyes lord to see into the spiritual realm lord and and uh and and granting us insight into your word something that our carnal minds could not perceive and we thank you for that we're grateful lord that as we continue to um examine this topic lord we're grateful that we can depend on the work of the holy spirit giving us insight into that which is according to your word as revealed by your spirit to the glory of jesus christ for it's in his name we pray amen [Music] you

Channel: Koinonia House

Views: 23,985

Rating: 4.8941798 out of 5

Keywords: jesus, christ, chuck, missler, koinonia, house, khouse, institute

Id: 6SLSu5rsaRg

Length: 43min 39sec (2619 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 12 2020