Sermon
delivered on February 18th, 2018
Sunday Morning Service
By: Pastor Greg Hocson
Introduction
When we open the Bible, the very first verse we read
introduces us to Elohim, the Strong One who is a
faithful Creator and strong Rock. Then in next verse we are introduced to the
Spirit of God. The Bible starts off like this ...
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth. 2: And the earth was without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep.
This is the condition of the earth on the first day it
was unformed and unpopulated. But then as we read on we are told that ...
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of
the waters
That is the way it begins. The Spirit of God moved upon the
face of the deep and brought light and life and beauty out of the unformed and
uninhabited earth.
Now the question is who is this Spirit of God that moved
upon the face of the deep? Is this Spirit of God just an impersonal force or
energy or is this Spirit of God a personal being?
The Bible is clear that there is only one true and living
God.
Exodus 20:1 And God spake
all these words, saying, 2: I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3: Thou shalt
have no other gods before me. 4: Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth: 5: Thou shalt not bow down
thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate me; 6: And shewing
mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 4:35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know
that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.
Deuteronomy 4:39 Know therefore this day, and
consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God
in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our
God is one LORD:
Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none
else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
6: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there
is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
1 Timothy 2:3 For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Saviour; 4: Who will have all
men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5: For there is
one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6: Who
gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
From Genesis to Revelation the clear teaching is that there
is only one God. God is one; eternally, everlastingly one. He is one in
essence. He is one in power. He is one in being. He is one in
glory. He is one in attribute.
But the same Bible that teaches that there is only one true
and living God also teaches that this true and living God is a Trinity - One
God in three divine Persons. This one God is revealed in three divine persons.
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are
one.
There are three distinct, coexistent, co-eternal persons in
one God, namely God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
In our past sermons, we looked at the clear evidence that
the Holy Spirit is a person. He is not an impersonal force or energy but a
conscious, intelligent, personal Being. And having shown from the word of God
that the Spirit is a Person, we now ask, what kind of being is He?
This morning, I want to show from the Scripture the nature
and dignity of His Person. I will attempt to show from the Scripture that the
Holy Spirit is not just another person. He is the third Person of the
Trinity, meaning that He is divine; that He is God; that He is equal to God the
Father and God the Son.
The unbelieving world will not believe this great Biblical
truth because it cannot.
John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
The natural men, the unsaved can neither receive the Spirit
nor the things of the Spirit. They can neither receive things of the Spirit
into their understandings, nor into their affections; and indeed, because they
cannot understand them, therefore they do not love them, but despise and hate
them.
Then Jesus said, but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. The disciples and
every a born again Christian, knows the Spirit; as a Spirit of illumination,
regeneration, and conversion.
Jesus promised His disciples another Comforter to be with
them forever. Another divine person was being sent to continue the work of the
Kingdom of God. Jesus was not sending just a thing or a force or an influence,
He is sending another divine person, a member of the Godhead.
So this morning consider with me the proofs from the
Scripture, the Deity of the Holy Spirit.
I The Divine Names
1. The Spirit is called GOD
The Holy Spirit is explicitly and clearly called God.
Lied to God
Acts 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias,
with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2: And
kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a
certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3: But Peter said, Ananias,
why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy
Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4: Whiles it remained,
was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it
not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this
thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men,
but unto God.
A certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of their property and they brought
the part of the price and laid it at the feet of the apostles. But Ananias and Sapphira "agreed together" to deceive and to try
to give the impression that they gave the sum of the whole price. By the way,
they did not have to give the all the proceeds of the land.
But Peter was aware of what was going on and he said, "Why hath Satan filled thine
heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?"
and then in the very next verse, he affirms "thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God".
Peter told Ananias that he lied not to humans, but to the
Holy Spirit. The sin of Ananias and Sapphira against
the Holy Spirit is said to be a sin against God. Lying to the Holy Spirit is
lying to God. This is a clear implication that the Holy Spirit is God.
Temple of God
1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are
the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you?
Here the Christians are called "the temple of
God," and that the Spirit of God lives in them.
1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of
God, and ye are not your own? 20: For ye are bought with a price: therefore
glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Christians are not only temples of God; they are also
temples of the Holy Spirit. When Paul writes "temple
of the Holy Spirit," he implies that the Holy Spirit is God.
From these two identifications, an inescapable conclusion
is reached of the deity of the Holy Spirit.
II The Divine Nature
Divine characters are attributed to the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit is ascribed with attributes and characteristics that God alone
possesses.
1. He is eternal
Hebrews 9:11 But Christ being come an high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not
made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12: Neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13: For if the blood of bulls
and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14: How much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living
God?
The Holy Spirit, our Comforter, Helper and Advocate, will
be with us "forever".
John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
2. He is omniscient
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10: But God hath
revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11: For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God
and knows the thoughts of God.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you.
John 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto
you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13: Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is
come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew
you things to come. 14: He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and
shall shew it unto you.
The Spirit therefore knows all things, and is able to teach
all things.
3. He is omnipotent
The works that God does, such as creation, are also
ascribed to the Holy Spirit.
Job 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and
the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Psalm 104:30 Thou sendest
forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest
the face of the earth.
Romans 15:18 For I will not dare to speak of
any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles
obedient, by word and deed, 19: Through mighty signs and wonders, by the
power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto
Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
In Paul's ministry, the work that Christ has accomplished
was done through the power of the Spirit.
4. He is omnipresent
Psalms 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy
spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8: If I ascend up into
heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9: If
I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10: Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your
presence? I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your
presence! For the Spirit of God is everywhere.
Thomas Oden observes that "such statements are grounded in the premises of omnipresence
and eternality attributes ascribed properly only to God" (Life in the Spirit,
page 18).
5. He is holy
Holiness is a basic characteristic of the Spirit.
Ephesians1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also
after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how
to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Note that whenever the Bible uses the lower case "h" in "holy" Spirit, it is referring to His
character when it uses an upper case "H", it is referring to His title as
the Holy Spirit.
We must never forget that the One who is present with us
all the times is holy.
6. He is sovereign
1 Corinthians 12:4 Now there are diversities
of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5: And there are differences of administrations,
but the same Lord. 6: And there are diversities of operations, but it is the
same God which worketh all in all. 7: But the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8: For to
one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge
by the same Spirit; 9: To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the
gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10: To another the working of miracles; to
another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of
tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every
man severally as he will.
No one can demand a certain spiritual gift. Although each
Christian does have a spiritual gift given to him by the Spirit, it is
important to note that the Spirit determines what the gift will be.
7. He is Good
Nehemiah 9:20 Thou gavest
also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest
not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water
for their thirst.
Here the Spirit is called good Spirit. He is good,
supremely good.
The Bible says,
Mark 10:17 And when he was gone forth into
the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good
Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18: And Jesus said
unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none
good but one, that is, God.
Eternality, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence,
holiness, sovereignty, and goodness are attributes of God's essence, that is,
characteristic of the nature of divine existence. The Holy Spirit has the basic
attributes of God.
Closing Thoughts
Brethren, this morning we are reminded that the Comforter
who Jesu prayed to the Father to come and to abide
with us forever is the third person of the Trinity.
R. A. Torrey observed, "If
we once grasp the thought that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person of infinite
majesty, glory and holiness and power, who in marvelous condescension has come
into our hearts to make His abode there and take possession of our lives and
make use of them, it will put us in the dust and keep us in the dust. I can
think of no thought more humbling or more overwhelming than the thought that a
person of Divine majesty and glory dwells in my heart and is ready to use even
me."
Oh, what a wonderful gift the Holy Spirit is! He is Divine.
Christians, may we honor and adore Him. May we never sin against Him by either
grieving Him or ignoring Him.
To those who are still outside of Jesus Christ, let me tell
you the most beautiful invitation and it is found in the last Book of the Bible
...
Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride
say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And
let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of
life freely.
Come. Come. The
Spirit of God is pleading, "Come to Jesus, come."
AMEN!