FoF Lesson 7

The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Audio message: Be Filled with the Spirit
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[Lesson 7: Session 12] [Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]

Notes on Session 12, Sunday, December 13th:

  1. Session on Lesson 7
  2. Welcome to new members of the class
  3. Personal highlights from MacArthur’s message?
  4. Challenges in filling in Answers in Lesson 7?
  5. Questions to be addressed?
  6. Objectives for Lesson 7:
    1. To emphasize that the Holy Spirit is a person
    2. To understand the essential deity of the Holy Spirit
    3. To explain the Trinity
    4. To give an overview of the role of the Spirit in the Christian’s life.
  7.  References:
    1. John MacArthur – The Ministry of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
    2. John MacArthur – Whatever Happened to the Holy Spirit?
    3. John MacArthur, The Essential Ministry of the Holy Spirit, Part 3 (Gal. 5:16-25).

Common Questions for Lesson 7:

  • How can three distinct persons be one God?
  • What is the difference between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit?
  • What role does the Holy Spirit play in my life?

Class Plan for Lesson 7:

  1. The Personhood of the Holy Spirit
  2. The Deity of the Holy Spirit
  3. The Doctrine of the Trinity
  4. The Work of the Holy Spirit
  5. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in Salvation
  6. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Believer’s Life
  7. Application of What We Have Learned

1. The Personhood of the Holy Spirit [Section I of Lesson 7]

  • Referred to as the Spirit of God in Matt. 3:16, And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
  • An independent person, separate from the Father and the Son:
    • Three separate persons in John 14:26, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
    • Another helper in John 14:16-17, And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
  • Possesses attributes of a person:
    • Has a mind, Rom. 8:27, And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
    • Experiences emotion, Eph. 4:30, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
    • Has ability to act, 1 Cor. 12:7, 11, To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. … All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
  • Can be responded to:
    • Obeyed, Acts 10:19-21, And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?”
    • Resisted, Acts 7:51, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.”
    • Insulted, Heb. 10:29, How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
    • Blasphemed, Mark 3:28-29, “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—
  • Demonstrates the actions of a person:
    • Speaks, Acts 13:2, While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
    • Convicts the world of sin, John 16:8, And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
    • Testifies, John 15:26, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”
    • Searches, 1 Cor. 2:10, these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
    • Guides and directs, Acts 16:6-7, And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

Question:

  • What is the significance that the Holy Spirit is referred to as He/Him and not as It?

2. The Holy Spirit is God [See Section II]

  • Attributes of deity:
    • Omniscient, Is. 40:13-14, Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
    • Omnipresent, Ps. 139:7, Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
    • Eternal, Heb. 9:14, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
    • Truth, 1 John 5:6, This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
    • Compare attributes to those of God [Lesson 3, page 2]
    • Compare attributes to those of Jesus [Lesson 4, page 2]
  • Statements of deity:
    • Lying to the Holy Spirit, Acts 5:3-4, But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? … You have not lied to man but to God.”
  • Divine titles:
    • Referenced with titles reserved for God
    • Spirit of truth, 1 John 5:6
    • Spirit of life, Rom. 8:2, For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
    • Living water, John 7:38-39, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 6:51, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. … John 6:57, As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
    • Spirit of glory, 1 Pet. 4:14, If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
    • Holy Spirit, Matt. 1:18, Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

3. The Trinity

  • Doctrine clearly taught in the Bible
  • Some key verses:
    • Only one God, Is. 43:10, “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
    • God refers to Himself as us/our, Gen. 1:26; 3:22, Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. … Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”
    • The Father is God, John 6:27, Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
    • Christ is God, Tit. 2:13, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
    • The Holy Spirit is God, Acts 5:3-4, But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? … You have not lied to man but to God.”
    • Trinitarian statements:
      • 2 Cor. 3:17, Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
      • 1 Pet. 1:2, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
      • Matt. 28:19, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
  • Different functions within the Trinity:
    • God the Father – source of all revelation, foreknew our salvation, demonstrated His love by giving us His only Son
    • God the Son – incarnated, gave Himself as a sacrifice for sin, now intercedes and mediates between the Father and man
    • God the Spirit – Indwells the believer, works to sanctify the believer through the illumination of the Word of God

4. The Work of the Holy Spirit [See Section III]

  • Active in Creation, Gen. 1:1-2, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Ps. 104:29-30, When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die
    and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
  • Active in the virgin birth, Luke 1:35, And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
  • Active in prophecy, the inspiration of the Scriptures, 2 Pet. 1:20-21, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

5. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in Salvation [See Section IV]

  • The involvement of the Holy Spirit in salvation:
    • Conviction of sin, John 16:7-8, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
    • Acknowledgement of Christ as Lord, 1 Cor. 12:3, Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
    • Regeneration, Tit. 3:5-6, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
    • Indwells the believer, Rom. 8:9, You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
    • Baptism of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 12:13, For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
    • Sealing of the Holy Spirit, Eph. 1:13-14, In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
    • Sanctification, 1 Pet. 1:2, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
  • The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
    • Happens at time of conversion, Eph. 4:4-6, There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
    • Places believer into the body of Christ, 1 Cor. 12:13, For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
    • Receives Holy Spirit as a seal and a promise, Eph. 1:13-14
    • NOTE: There are no  commands to be indwelt by, to be sealed by, or to be baptized by the Holy Spirit
  • The Sealing of the Holy Spirit
    • Giving of the Holy Spirit at time of salvation
    • A seal is engraved with the owner’s name
    • A seal demonstrates ownership
    • A seal attests a document’s authenticity
    • Indwelling is evidence of belonging to God

6. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Believer’s Life [See Section V]

  • We are to walk by the Spirit, Gal. 5:16, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
  • The fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
  • The Spirit teaches us the things of God, 1 Cor. 2:12-13, Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
  • The Filling of the Spirit
    • We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit, Eph. 5:18, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
    • We  are to submit to the Spirit’s control
  • How is one filled with the Spirit?
    • Confession of sin
    • Saturated with the Word of God
    • His thoughts will be our thoughts
    • His standards our standards
    • His work our work
    • His will our will

Questions:

  • Is it possible to be a Christian and not be indwelt by the Holy Spirit?
  • Compare Eph. 5:18-22 and Col. 3:16-18. What is equivalent here?
  • What is the difference between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit?

7. Application [Section VI]

  • Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 6:19-20, Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
  • Do you see the fruits of the Spirit in your life? [Gal. 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;]

Questions:

  • What is the significance of the fact that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you?
  • What do you need to do to glorify God in your body?
Video Clips:

[Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]

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