The Holy Spirit

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever [john 14:16]

At this time, Jesus was with the disciples all the time. They went places together. They worked together. They ate together. They hung out together all the time. He had also given them power to cast out demons, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead. The disciples were already living a supernatural life. But all this happened because Jesus was with them. If they had a problem they would come to Him. He was their solution provider. Their bread giver. Their protector. He was their teacher. Their Master. Their life was pretty much around Him. They would get up in the morning and their day was dictated by what the Master was doing and where He was going. Where ever the Master would rest for the night, they would rest there with Him. They were captivated by His words. Once Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” ‘Jesus’ pretty much summed up their life.

The term used for ‘another comforter’ in the greek is ‘allos paraclaytos’. There are two words in the greek that means ‘Another’. Allos and heteros. ‘Allos’ means another of the same kind, while heteros means another of a different kind. When the bible says “Allos”  here it means Jesus to say that someone just like Himself, of the same class, group and Order would come. SO even though Jesus would go away, He would send the Holy Spirit to each one us just as Jesus was to the disciples when He was here. The disciples would have the same kind of life  even though Jesus was gone. Then all of them had one Jesus. But when the Holy Spirit came, each one had a living individual relationship with the Holy Spirit at the same time no matter where they were. Jesus expected nothing to change when the Holy Spirit came. It would be the same like it was in the days of Jesus. They would go where the Holy Spirit would go. They would call unto Him in times of despair and He would come to their rescue. He would be their teacher. Their bread provider. Their friend and confidant. He would be everything their life was about. They would wake up with Him and rest where He would stop for the day. Their day would begin and end with Him.

The Strong’s Concordance for paraclaytos gives us the following meaning :

• Counsellor : and an extraordinay strategist – The Holy Spirit counselled Joshua on how to take down the wall of Jericho (Joshua 5:13-15).
• Helper – He helps us in our times of weakness to pray the right prayer. He knows what is needed and what’s coming, when we don’t even know what to pray.
• Intercessor – The Holy Spirit intercedes for us through other people in prayer.
• Advocate – He fights on our behalf. Miriam`s leprosy (Num 12) was the cause of God intervening for Moses to establish him even from among his own brother and sister.
• Strengthener – physical strength – Samson killed a thousand men with the jaw bone of as ass(Judges 15:15); gideon – moral and military strength- (Joshua 6:11-17,7,8)
• standby – as a generator when all your power is drained – Samson`s end.

Many people don’t have a relationship with the Holy Spirit and don’t know Him. The Holy Spirit is not a dove or smoke or anything else that we see Him many times represented as. But the Holy Spirit, the third person of the God-head[Father, Son, Holy Spirit] is God. He is a person and has a personality. He has feelings and emotions. He can be grieved and quenched. He is gentle and never forces His will on us. When He comes in our midst, miracles are bound to happen. Sicknesses cannot stay in His presence. Bondages have to break in His presence. It is His presence in our midst that makes our life dynamic and full of power. This is why Jesus said, It is better for Him to go, so that He could send the Holy Spirit to each one of us. When Jesus lived on the earth, Jesus had the totality of the Holy Spirit. Though Jesus was God, He stripped away His divinity and chose to be born a human. But it was the Holy Spirit in Him that made Him supernatural.

Jesus demonstrated what any man who is empowered by the Holy Spirit is capable of doing. After that the Holy Spirit came up on Jesus at His baptism, Jesus turned water into vine. Healed the sick. Cast out demons from people. Walked on water. Raised the dead. Healed the lepers. Multiplied bread. Calmed the storm with a word. And finally raised Himself from the dead. That is why Jesus said, greater works than He did we could do. It is the Holy Spirit in a person that makes him like Jesus.

But we need to develop an intimacy with the Holy Spirit if we want to do mighty deeds of faith. Power must always be a by product of our intimacy with Him. Because He is always seeking to heal someone hurting or to set someone free. He is compassionate to our needs. But the Holy Spirit is not an entertainer. He never does anything to entertain us.

Reproving the world

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. [John 16:8-10]

John 16:8 gives us another function of the Holy Spirit as He convicts the world. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgement

1. 1. Of sin because they believe not on me. This is not saying that the only sin is not believing in Jesus now and every other sin is no more a sin. Jesus is saying that because belief in Jesus is the only way to forgiveness of sins, and if anyone does not believe in Jesus, their sins are just the way it was. They were sinners in need of forgiveness and the Holy Spirit out of His love for the people, would convict the world of its sins, prodding them to accept the gift of life from the Father.

2. Of Righteousness. Before Jesus came, there was no one who was righteous.

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: [Rom 3:10]

Jesus came at a time, when the Jews lived in spiritual blindness and thought themselves righteous through the keeping of the law given through Moses. They lived in the letter of the Law but did not comprehend the spirit of it. They believed keeping the Law was all God was interested in, and counted themselves righteous for every law they kept. Jesus saw their spiritual state and did not mince words when He said :

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. [Mat 23:27-28]

Righteousness is not an outwardly attribute but an inward one. We can only appear righteous. But God that judges the heart of man knows the righteousness of men and He judged them all unrighteous.

Here were the supposed teachers and leaders of the Jewish community, but among them walked another from among them, that provoked them and taught them righteousness. Every act of the Master, provoked them to jealousy. Jesus threatened their status quo. Because every time, Jesus spoke, they knew He was redefining everything they so painfully established to suit their own evil ways. Jesus always convicted them of their lack of righteousness. Now that Jesus was going, the Holy Spirit would do this very thing. The Holy Spirit would convict the people of the world of their righteousness.
What is righteousness?

There is this supernatural divine attribute of righteousness which when we consider, we get to understand a whole new realm. Righteousness is :
A.The rightness of God. That God is always right. If God would call the moon, Sun, it would be so.
B.That before Him, everything would become right. A. The sick would become healed. The cursed would become blessed. There is this story of the Ark from the Old Testament in 1Chronicles 13. After Uzza was killed by not keeping the proper order that was demanded of God for the transportation of the Ark, David suddenly was afraid to continue carrying the Ark back to Jerusalem and he left the Ark with Obed-Edom. He was a nobody. But when the Ark of the Lord came into his house, suddenly he became blessed. The bible says he had eight sons and all the eight were blessed. This was after the Ark remained in his house for three months.

The rightness of God is healing, prosperity, holiness etc. Everywhere you have been wronged the rightness of God can change the wrong to right. Righteousness is the rightness of God in your Spirit, soul and body and in all our affairs.

The righteousness of Jesus revealed in the fig tree account.
The account of the fig tree is mentioned in Luke 13:6-9. Many people don’t understand why such a loving Jesus would, without rhyme or reason curse a tree for not producing fruit outside its season. The bible tells us that the season was not yet for figs. Yet Jesus expected the tree to bear fruit because He wanted it. But the fig tree did not respond to the righteousness of the Son of God. When Jesus wanted money to pay tax, the righteousness of the Son of God forced all nature to respond to His need. A fish somewhere in the deep sea, received this request and it probably went and swallowed a gold coin that was on the seabed and came searching for that hook that Peter had put out and took the bait to serve the Master. This is what the righteousness of  God can truly do.

So now when the Holy Spirit has come, He has set the standards of righteousness and He is calling each one to that standard. The Kingdom of God is here and the kingdom is beckoning the people to follow a standard of righteousness that it has set, which no one can meet on their own merit. Jesus is that standard. And without Him, everyone would be seen coming short. Today the Holy Spirit convicts everyone everywhere that without Jesus there is no righteousness.

3. Of Judgement : John 16:11 The worlds ruler, satan is already judged and the punishment already pronounced. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of the impending judgement. Have you heard of heaven and hell visits of people who are taken when alive or dead. The Spirit is reminding the world of judgement and is fulfilling this ministry.

john 16: 13- 14 Holy Spirit is the expression of Jesus. He does not speak of Himself. He reveals the future to us.

John 14:26 He will teach you all things
1John 2:27 the Anointing teaches all things. Its not saying no need of any teachers. The office of teacher is given by Jesus. The disciples and apostles all taught. What is said is the Holy Spirit would help you know a right teaching from a wrong one. No one is able to fool you if you will use His help.

The 50 Things the Holy Spirit Does

1.      The Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8).

2.      The Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13).

3.      The Spirit regenerates us (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5).

4.      The Spirit glorifies and testifies of Christ (John 15:26; 16:14).

5.      The Spirit reveals Christ to us and in us (John 16:14-15).

6.      The Spirit leads us (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18; Matt. 4:1; Luke 4:1).

7.      The Spirit sanctifies us (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 5:16).

8.      The Spirit empowers us (Luke 4:14; 24:49; Rom. 15:19; Acts 1:8).

9.      The Spirit fills us (Eph. 5:18; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17).

10.    The Spirit teaches us to pray (Rom. 8:26-27; Jude 1:20).

11.    The Spirit bears witness in us that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16).

12.    The Spirit produces in us the fruit or evidence of His work and presence (Gal. 5:22-23).

13.    The Spirit distributes spiritual gifts and manifestations (the outshining) of His presence to and through the body (1 Cor.     12:4, 8-10; Heb. 2:4).

14.    The Spirit anoints us for ministry (Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38).

15.    The Spirit  washes and renews us (Titus 3:5).

16.    The Spirit brings unity and oneness to the body (Eph. 4:3; 2:14-18). Here the Holy Spirit plays the same role that He plays in the Godhead. The Spirit is the life that unites Father and Son. The Spirit plays the same role in the church. When the Holy Spirit is operating in a group of people, He unites them in love. Therefore, a sure evidence of the Holy Spirit working in a group is Love and Unity. Not signs and wonders (those are seasonal and can be counterfeited).

17.    The Spirit is our guarantee and deposit of the future resurrection (2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5).

18.    The Spirit seals us unto the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13; 4:30).

19.    The Spirit sets us free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).

20.    The Spirit quickens our mortal bodies (Rom. 8:11).

21.    The Spirit reveals the deep things of God to us (1 Cor. 2:10).

22.    The Spirit reveals what has been given to us from God (1 Cor. 2:12).

23.    The Spirit dwells in us (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14; John 14:17).

24.    The Spirit speaks to, in, and through us (1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 2:11; Heb 3:7; Matt. 10:20; Acts 2:4; 8:29; 10:19; 11:12, 28; 13:2; 16:6,7; 21:4,11).

25.    The Spirit is the agent by which we are baptized into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).

26.    The Spirit brings liberty (2 Cor. 3:17).

27.    The Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).

28.    The Spirit cries in our hearts, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6).

29.    The Spirit enables us to wait (Gal. 5:5).

30.    The Spirit supplies us with Christ (Phil. 1:19, KJV).

31.    The Spirit grants everlasting life (Gal. 6:8).

32.    The Spirit gives us access to God the Father (Eph. 2:18).

33.    The Spirit makes us (corporately) God’s habitation (Eph. 2:22).

34.    The Spirit reveals the mystery of God to us (Eph. 3:5).

35.    The Spirit strengthens our spirits (Eph. 3:16).

36.    The Spirit enables us to obey the truth (1 Pet. 1:22).

37.    The Spirit enables us to know that Jesus abides in us (1 John 3:24; 4:13).

38.    The Spirit confesses that Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:2).

39.    The Spirit says “Come, Lord Jesus” along with the bride (Rev. 22:17).

40.    The Spirit dispenses God’s love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5).

41.    The Spirit bears witness to the truth in our conscience (Rom. 9:1).

42.    The Spirit teaches us (1 Cor. 2:13; John 14:26).

43.    The Spirit gives us joy (1 Thess. 1:6).

44.    The Spirit enables some to preach the gospel (1 Pet. 1:12).

45.    The Spirit moves us (2 Pet. 1:21).

46.    The Spirit knows the things of God (1 Cor. 2:11).

47.    The Spirit casts out demons (Matt. 12:28).

48.    The Spirit brings things to our remembrance (John 14:26).

49.    The Spirit comforts us (Acts 9:31).

50.    The Spirit makes some overseers in the church and sends some out to the work of church planting [through the body] (Acts 20:28; 13:2).

The manifestation of the Holy Spirit

There are three different and distinct manifestations of the same Spirit With, in, upon

John 14:17 Spirit of Truth, lives with you and will be IN you.(IN Manifestation)

Acts 1:8 UPON you.

John 4:14 IN him a well of water. The water in the well the verse says leads to eternal life. A well is for personal use.

John 7:38 OUT of his belly shall flow rivers. River is not for personal use. The rivers flow out and show the baptism.

# FRUITS AND GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
The indwelling of the Spirit for fruit bearing. Gal 5:22-23
Outpouring of the Spirit for service. 1Cor 12:7-11

# 1Cor 12 : Intro to the letter. Spiritual conditions of Corinthians, Paul writes to impart knowledge on how and whys of the gifts in operation with respect to the church. Any believer can have any gift but they have a place inside the church. They have an order. And there is a hierarchy that God has placed inside the church.

# The functions of the God head.
1Cor 12:4 – diversities of gifts through Holy Spirit
12:5 different offices through Jesus
12:6
Different ways the power of God is directed to bring to fulfilment the plans and purposes of God.

Paul starts by explaining the working of the Holy Spirit
# 1Cor 12:7 The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all
12:8 “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;”
For to – to is missing in greek. Truly is present in the greek
Another is allos(same group)
For One (manifestation), truly is given by the (Holy) Spirit – the word of wisdom, another (manifestation ), word of knowledge is brought forth by the same Spirit.

12:9 “To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;”
Greek : To missing; first another is hetros meaning different kind; second another is allos.

A different type (of manifestation), faith, is brought forth by the same (Holy) Spirit; another (manifestation) of the same kind, the free gift of healing, is brought forth by the same (Holy) Spirit;

12:10 “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:”
And another (manifestation) of the same kind, the working of miracles; And another (manifestation) of the same kind, prophecy; And another (manifestation) of the same kind, discerning of spirits; to another (manifestation) of a different kind, speaking in tongues; and another manifestation of the same kind, the interpretation of tongues:
12:11 “But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

But all these(manifestations) are the works of that one and selfsame Spirit, distributing to each man His(God’s) own, as He wills.

So everyone is given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Its not like you have a gift or something. What you have is a manifestation of THE GIFT, the Holy Spirit. And these manifestations are expressed by the Holy Spirit as and when needed(as He wills). The level and authority you move in any of the manifestation depends on your calling and how much you put a demand on those gifts. A prophet will walk in higher levels of authority and scope than an ordinary believer(1Cor 12:4-6)

12:12-26
12:27-31 The office gifts are explained. All are not apostles or prophets or teachers or hold special office. But do all have the gifts? They may not but they CAN. He says covet the best gifts. Elsewhere he says seek prophecy – 1Cor 14:1. So the gifts can be achieved.

Born again experience vs Holy Spirit baptism.

john 20:19-23 disciples believe and is born again, new authority
John 20:28 Thomas saw and believed
John 20:31 believing you might have life

# Holy Spirit Baptism
Acts 1:8 You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come up on you.
Acts 1:5 John baptised with water, but you shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost

2 different experiences
john 14:17 Holy Spirit with you and shall be in you
Holy Spirit in you don’t have immediate evidence we can show. Except for character change. These changes are within you. One of the first changes is a new interest for the things of God and His word. The sin nature would be gone though we may occasionally sin. The dominion of the sin nature is broken over us. Rom 6:14,18;
These changes are the proof of the new birth. We are not saved by these. But if we are saved we have these.

The gifts are the proof that the power came.

Tongues as evidence; UPON:
Acts 2:4
Acts 10:45-46
Acts 11:15
Acts 19:6
Acts 8 ; believers were baptized but not received the Spirit. though no mention of tongues is given, the apostles were clearly looking for some evidence of the Holy Spirit upon them. It was not just I receive the Holy Spirit. Amen. They were looking for the evidence.

UPON :
Acts 19:1-6 believers baptised did not receive the Holy Spirit(upon) . Paul had to lay hands and impart.
Acts 8:16 upon. they had to pray.
Acts 9:17 Ananias lays hands on Paul. By this time paul believed.

# REFILLING
A filling always comes with a baptism, but a baptism does not always come with a filling. At Pentecost they were both filled and baptized (Acts 1:4-8,2:4), and many fillings kept coming to them to replenish the Spirit and power they had received (Acts 4:8,31,13:52). One must continue to live and walk in the Spirit and be filled with all the fullness of God in order to maintain that baptismal fullness (Eph 3:16-2,5:18; Gal 5:16-26).