Tune in to the Holy Spirit – Part 1

John 14:15-31 “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. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

This last Sunday, Pastor Obie continued in our sermon series through the gospel of John. He stated that if you are a Believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ, accepting Him as your personal Savor from sin and Lord of your life, then there is a voice speaking to you right now. If you are not tuned in to the “right” frequency” and have the volume up, then you are going to miss what this voice is saying to you. The voice is from the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus’ “Upper Room Discourse”, He is saying that He is not leaving us the Holy Spirit, and today as Believers, we need to understand the implications of what the Lord is saying. Pastor Obie answers three questions in this message: (1) What is the Holy Spirit? (2) What does the Holy Spirit do? (3) Wow do we hear and experience the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The first question should be rephrased to “Who is the Holy Spirit?”, because the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity – coequal in attributes of Deity. The Holy Spirit is God; not an it, not a thing, not a force, but one person in the Godhead. As Christians, we believe in one triune God that exists in three persons, coequal in beauty, substance, power and glory. 1X1X1=1 - One essence in three persons. We might not be able to wrap our minds around and wholly comprehend the Holy Trinity side of Heaven because our infinite God, who created and sustains all time, space, matter and life, is only comprehensible by what He reveals from Heaven to finite mankind. Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” We cannot fully explain the supernatural infinite Trinity, yet God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit exist in the Godhead. The things that God reveals and we understand by faith produces honor and reverence for the Lord.

The Holy Spirit is God and has always been. The Spirit was in creation (Genesis 1:2), breathed into created man as the Spirit of Life, spoke through the Judges and Prophets, empowered Joseph’s interpretation of dreams, inspired King David’s Psalms, conceived the incarnate Jesus in Mary’s womb and descended upon Him at His Baptism. What changed her in the Upper Room Discourse by Jesus is how the Holy Spirit relates to us. The Holy Spirit regenerates our spirit that died and disconnect from God, and gives Believers a new spiritually discerning heart through a metamorphosis rebirth as a “flesh and blood temple of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit was our (Paraklētos), our Helper/Comforter that comes along side us as an intercessor and consoler. May we tune in to the Holy Spirit and worship God in spirit and in truth!

Let's continue Pastor Obie's message on the Holy Spirit in the next post.

In Christ, Brian