The Holy Spirit
ENLIGHTENS – The Scriptures To Us.
“…What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may {know} understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”-{1 Cor 2:12-16}
EQUIPS – Us To Serve.
“Brothers and sisters, I want you to know about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You know that at one time you were unbelievers. You were somehow drawn away to worship statues of gods that couldn’t even speak. So I want you to know that no one who is speaking with the help of God’s Spirit says, “May Jesus be cursed.” And without the help of the Holy Spirit no one can say, “Jesus is Lord.”
There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.
The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages. All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as He decides.“– {1 Cor 12:1-11}
“Clarke defines spiritual gifts as “Gracious endowments, leading to miraculous results… these all came by the extraordinary influences of the Holy Spirit.” Theses Spirit endowed gifts are for the benefit of others…other believers! And as each person exercises his gift/ gifts other believers are built up in their faith.
“…If the Spirit distributes to each one individually as He wills, why would He choose to give a particular gift at a particular moment? The larger reasons may not be apparent,
but the goal of the Holy Spirit’s work is always to glorify Jesus and to build His nature and character in us.
The Spirit’s goal is never to amaze or confuse, but to build the fruit of the Spirit, and He will use or not use any gift He thinks right towards that end.”{ Enduring Word commentaries}. The Spirit gifts each believer with various types of spiritual gifts as He Sovereignly determines, independent of all but Himself and they are given with the purpose of building up the believers.
Spiritual gifts for spiritual goals!
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”-{1 Peter 4:10-12}.
Note “Each of you…” Every believer has been Sovereingly gifted by the Holy Spirit at least one gift if not several. So there are no Christians who do not have received a Spiritual gift for the purpose of strengthening others. As you exercise your gift other believers are built up in their faith! Failing to exercise your gift is a failure to think and act in love towards others. You have “received”- “The aorist tense, indicative mood speaks of a definitive historical event, a specific time in the past when each one received their spiritual gift.” Each believer, and all believers having been gifted, a supernatural empowered gift, a gift of grace, empowered by the Holy Spirit to EQUIP His People to glorify Jesus Christ and to be used to serve, strengthen other believers!
Some passages with lists of Spiritual gifts can be found in “…Romans 12:6–8; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11; and 1 Corinthians 12:28. We could also include Ephesians 4:11, but that is a list of offices within the church, not spiritual gifts, per se. The spiritual gifts identified in Romans 12 “{got questions com}.
ENCOURAGES – The Believers… The Church.
“Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged {comforted} by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. “-{Acts 9:31}.
Comfort (“encouragement” NLT, CSB) (3874)(paraklesis from parakaléo = beseech <> pará = side of + kaléo = call) refers to calling to one’s side or one’s aid which can be for the purpose of providing solace, comfort, consolation, exhortation, encouragement.
Comfort is from Latin com = with + fortis = strong, and means to invigorate, to enliven, to cheer, to strengthen one’s mind when depressed, to give new vigor to one’s spirits, to give strength or hope to another, to ease their grief or trouble.
Encouragement is from en = in + corage from Latin cor = heart. It describes the act of inspiring one with confidence and/or hope, filling with strength, and suggests that the raising of one’s confidence is accomplished especially through an external agency.
MacArthur – Paraklēsis (encouragement) has the root meaning of coming alongside someone to give assistance by offering comfort, counsel, or exhortation. It is precisely the kind of assistance exemplified by the Good Samaritan, who, after doing everything he could for the robbed and beaten stranger, “took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you’ ,
EXALTS – Jesus Christ.
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you. ” -{John 16:13-14}.
The Spirit of God’s chief goal is to glorify, make much of the Lord Jesus. He is the Spirit of Truth, He does not lie, has no part in lying, but Truth. He guides us into the truth. “Guides” suggest it is progressive. And since the subject is the “unfathomable riches of Christ,” it is endless and glorious pursuit. -{Read Eph 3;8} . He does this through The Word of God. taking as it were you through room to room and reveal Jesus Christ to us, something new, sometimes reminding us of what we had forgot, or sometimes we have read a verse, passage and maybe years later we see something we had not seen before, He has illuminated the Word to us and we “see” clearly. Other times we read and are reminded of other verses on the subject and it helps us connect and gives us insight, wisdom to apply in a matter or something of the character of God and it gives us a new appreciation, understanding, insight into the character of God and the ways of God and relationship with God. He is guiding us progressively into the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and His glorious Person, work, will. The Holy Spirit’s message and ministry is truth. We are never on our own when we come to His Word but we have Him to guide us and explain to us what we are reading and looking at as a Guide in castle or mansion house or gallery may take and explain to those who are entering into the location and need guidance into what they are looking at be it pictures or to know the history of the building and events associated with it. So the Holy Spirit is our Divine Guide, and He guides us in Divine Truth {The Word of God.}, and in doing so to the end that the Name, FAME, Glory of Jesus Christ is the goal and the end!
So we read our Bible, meditating upon His Word {Psalm 1:2} and asking Him to guide us more and more into the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus and His unfathomable riches! -{Eph 3:8} We Read to DO His Word and in doing so expressing love to Him who first loved us -{Read John 14:21}
The Holy Spirit’s Ministry is, Truth centered, Christ centered, Christ’s Glory, His chief end!
And He works these attitudes, actions into us that we too be…
Truth Centered,
Christ Centered,
Christ’s Glory our goal and end in living
“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”- {1 Peter 4:14}.