The Holy Spirit Series 15

The Personality of the Holy Spirit

To begin this topic I must emphasize one point that we must not forget and that is to remember that the presence of the Holy Spirit at a personal level is a prophecy and promise being fulfilled. The 1st Prophecy was made by God in Joel 2:28-3:1, since the prophet Joel served during 835-796 B.C. Isaiah would be the second prophet to prophecy regarding the Holy Spirit in Is 32:14-18 and 44:3-5; while Ezekiel would the 3rd to prophecy regarding Him in Ezk 36:26, 37:13-14 and 39:28-29. These prophecies became a promise to the children of Israel and was revealed to be so by Luke in Acts 2:33. What this means is that He is literally the representation of God, the Lord Jesus and Himself all at the same time. He would therefore, always exalt the Father and Christ in all His works. When we read portions in the Bible where the Holy Spirit expresses Himself, we must not forget that He would be displaying the characteristics of the Father and Christ as well. However, there are some exclusive attributes that are solely His and these are what I would like to dwell upon.

A.   He is grieved: The Bible admonishes us not to grieve the Holy Spirit in Eph 4:30. How do we grieve Him? If we read the verse above and those following we can see that the Holy Spirit is grieved when the spirit of our mind is not renewed (Eph 4:23-24), causing us to be unchanged in our attitudes, behaviours and actions. This will happen when we resist Him and His work in our lives. Stephen the Martyr accused his accusers of resisting the Holy Spirit and persecuting and killing those sent by God with His message. When the Light comes it  reveals what the darkness hides in each of us. When this happens the correct response must be to acknowledge our sins and confess them. However, not everyone does so as the Bible states

 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” Jn 3: 19-21 

The resistance comes when we love sin more than God. This grieving process of the Holy Spirit does end. It ends with the Holy Spirit being quenched 1 Thes 5:19. Why does it say quenched? This is because the Holy Spirit arrival was first signified by tongues of fire which rested on the faithful in the upper room in Acts 2. I will talk more about this Fire later. As believers we are all being moulded into the image of Christ and the process continues till Jesus returns. However, as we transform our ministry is also revealed. Unless this transformation progresses; the lives that we are to bless may be lost or given to others to bless (like what was told to Esther). We may end up as paupers and standing against the Will of God, even after receiving the Holy Spirit, Shocking as it may seem, this warning was given to the Church and not to the world. 

B.    Blasphemy: This is the most serious sin as warned by Christ (Mat 12:31–32), one that has no forgiveness. Why is this so and why did Christ say even if people blaspheme Him they will be forgiven but not the Holy Spirit? The very fact that Jesus left His glory and took up human form is the reason for this. When we talk about Jesus we cannot exclude His humanity which made Him of a lower standing. However, He is later glorified by God (through His Death and Resurrection) and exalted (through His Ascension) to His current state and position. This current state and position is at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come Eph 1:21. I believe at the time that Jesus spoke this verse He implied that He being in human form would be undergoing many things, as it was ordained by God however, the Holy Spirit being in His original form with God was not to be blasphemed  in any manner as is God the Father. We must remember that Jesus was crucified under the pretext of blasphemy against God! The punishment for Blasphemy was death Lev 24:13-16

         Blasphemy comes from the Greek word blasphemia which means to “speaking ill, impious speech, slander.” In today’s context it is to speak with irreverence of that which is considered Holy. Basically at its core it means to slander with a false accusation, much like what the scribes accused Jesus of casting out demons using demons. They implied that the power Jesus used was demonic! Whenever we falsely accuse God we are in danger of blasphemy. God told Job to pray for his three friends because they had spoken wrong regarding Him and their forgiveness would be upon Job’s prayer Job 42:7-9. The Holy Spirit is here to be all that we need Him to be in our lives to help and mould us into Christlikeness. He will never leave us nor forsake us, however we can circumvent His work in our lives by disobedience.  

C.   He can be Insulted: We are insulted when the good we do or the image we have is questioned or abused. Likewise people can insult the Holy Spirit when they turn away from Christ and embrace false doctrines and religions, thereby becoming an apostate. The Bible says this action of sinning wilfully by trampling the blood of Christ underfoot insults the Spirit of Grace Heb 10:29. I have always wondered who in their right mind would reject Christ after having experienced God and His goodness. The answer that I have so far received is:

“Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father has placed His seal of approval on Him.” Jn 6:26-27

The people flocked to Christ but Jesus openly admonished their misplaced priorities. Many come to Christ to get what they want. It could be for healing, deliverance, financial breakthroughs, solution to family problems so on and so forth. When they do receive it, their love and attention begins to wane. I have seen this happen first hand over the years. Some even leave the faith because they do not get what they wanted in the way they liked and when they like. God does not conform to our whims and fancies although He does entertain it at times but we must not forget that He is God. The Holy Spirit is to dwell in all those who accept Jesus. How much of our nonsense does He put up with on a daily basis ranging from our faithlessness, to all our filthy habits and traits? He continues His persistent presence in our lives regardless of how we live and imagine the insult when one departs from the faith. It is like slapping God in the face or spitting upon it, like the Roman soldiers only they did not receive anything from God. We must not take the Holy Spirit for granted. There will always be that spiritual struggle in our lives and yes we do sin wilfully on many things knowing that it is wrong to do so. Many men of God have fallen into adultery, and all sorts of sins but are they beyond forgiveness. No! not unless they have completely turned away from Him. Therefore ,we must value His grace and mercy and always seek His face while He is near us. Never ever turn away from God because of your guilt on the contrary go boldly before Him accepting your sin Heb 4:15-16. Heaven rejoices when we are saved now imagine the sadness when one turns away. It is saddening to even think about it.

D.   He expresses His Will: Yes the Holy Spirit expresses His Will though He does the Will of God the Father. The expression of His Will is always in line with the Will of God the Father. This expression is seen in 1 Cor 12:11, where the gifts are distributed to each believer as per the will of the Holy Spirit. This would seem strange but let’s consider the fact that since the Holy Spirit dwells in us He is the most knowledgeable person regarding our individuality and how uniquely God has made us. He with this knowledge I believe grants the gifts that are best expressed through us based on our call and what God has ordained for us to do. As per the verse I believe God has granted Him freedom to grant gifts as He sees fit.

We will next be looking at the person of the Holy Spirit as signified by different symbols in the Bible. This is wonderful portion of this study and I am looking forward to sharing it with you. Till next time. God bless.