A SEVENFOLD VIEW OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

John 16:13

Morning Meditation 2/18/2014

"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."

There is a sense in which the Holy Spirit has always been in the world. For instance the Holy Spirit was in and worked in the lives of the saints in the Old Testament. David said in Psalms 51:11, "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me." According to the way David prayed here, the Holy Spirit would come and go at will. He did not permanently indwell those who were permanently saved. So David prays, "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me."

There when Jesus came and at the point where His public ministry began, He received the Holy Spirit without measure. John 3:34 says, "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." Matthew 3:16 says, "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:"

I want us to get a sevenfold view of the Holy Spirit in this meditation.

THE SPIRIT OF LIFE

Romans 8:2 says, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." And we are told what this means practically and eternally. We are made free from the law of sin and death. This is in Christ Jesus. Are you in Christ? I'm not talking about, are you in a Church? As important as church is in its proper place, the church cannot set one free from the law of sin and death. Only Jesus can do that. And the way He does that is first of all settle the penalty that was justly passed against us, i.e., death. This is the reason He came and died. He came and paid our sin debt in full. Next he sets us free from the law of sin and death by meeting the just demands of the law. The law no longer has a claim on us. Jesus has paid the penalty for us and the JUDGE has agreed that the payment He made for us satisfies His judgment against us. So, I am a sinner set free by grace as a gift to faith that will reach out and receive it as a gift.

THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP

Romans 8:15, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

The words "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage. . ." translate "lambano" and means, "to take with the hand, lay hold of, any person or thing in order to use it." It is an aorist tense verb which means a once-for-all act. Paul is saying that the gift of the Spirit was received at a time and place. The active voice means that a decision had to be made on their part. God forces salvation on no one. It is offered, and those receive salvation as a gift based on God's promise, come immediately into possession of eternal life. Eternal life is the present possession of the believer.

When one is saved, he is indwelt from that time forward by the Holy Spirit which is the earnest of our salvation. The idea of the Spirit being the earnest of our salvation is for the purpose of assurance. How do I know I am saved? Because I already have the earnest of salvation and this earnest will never be taken away. Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 1:22, "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." The earnest is the down payment on and our guarantee of the completion of the transaction. The Holy Spirit is just a part of the whole that will be finished at the coming of our Lord. By this we know that God will finish what He set out to do. He will glorify us and take us as His bride and establish us in His eternal kingdom. He wants us to live on this earth after we are saved believing this. So He gives us the firm guarantee of the finished work. Salvation is God's work and you can be sure He will finish it.

THE SPIRIT OF PROMISE

Ephesians 1:13 says, "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," The steps are clearly set out in this verse. Paul says, "In whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth." There are two important steps spelled out here. First, one must hear the word of truth. It is not just any truth that one must believe to be saved. Second, he defines what word of truth He is speaking of. He spells it out, "the gospel of your salvation." The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. This gospel is defined in 1 Cor. 15:1-3. Then it must be believed without mixture or error. It is not the death and resurrection plus something else like baptism or the Lord's Supper. These are great ordinances but they have no saving power. It is faith that what Jesus did on the cross completely satisfied the wrath of God against sin.

I believe that and so does every saved person alive on this earth. If you are a church member and do not believe this, please go no further in your hypocrisy. It is not the brand that saves but the blood of the sinless Son of God that saves.

The Spirit is the Spirit of promise. He is able to make a promise and keep it. This is what He did that sets us free. We have received the Holy Spirit of promise.

THE SPIRIT OF POWER

2 Timothy 1:7, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." We have not been given the spirit of fear. The word "fear" translates "deilia" and means, "timidity, fearfulness, cowardice." The words "sound mind" translates "sophronismos" and means, "an admonishing or calling to soundness of mind, to moderation and self-control." Many believe Timothy was a timid person. And Paul used this to exhort him to boldness in preaching the gospel. The word of God is, our authority. And when one teaches the Scripture he is not to do it apologetically. It is the word of God and once we are convinced of what it says, we are to preach with boldness.

So Paul tells Timothy that God has not given us the Spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Next Paul tells Timothy that the Spirit we received from God is,

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

The Holy Spirit has nothing to do with wrong theology or wrong methods. Truth is the essence of the Holy Spirit's revelation. Thank the Lord we have His infallible illumination and his unfaltering guidance into all truth.

Jesus deals with this in John 16:13, "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."

THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM

The Holy Spirit of wisdom is the Holy Spirit in essence. It is impossible for the Holy Spirit not to be wise. He has all the attributes of God because He is God. And God is Wisdom personified. There are many things said about the Spirit of wisdom in the Bible. Exodus 28:3 says, "And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office." God has given certain men the Spirit of wisdom to make the garments for the priest's office.

James 1:5 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom and He is available continually. He indwells the believer supplying his every need.

Wisdom is not knowledge. Wisdom is knowing how to apply knowledge. Believers are pilgrims in a world that cares nothing for God. And we need the wisdom that God gives to make it in this world. There are the visas that missionaries have to get to enter the country of their calling. We definitely need the wisdom of God to give the right answers, to make the right statements, to be silent when we need to be silent, if we are going to obtain the legal status we need to enter the land. God alone can give the wisdom that we need. There are probably missionaries who will read this who could give testimony that they obtained a visa when it was said that it could not be done. But God . . ."

I am sure that many have missed it because they did not find James 1:5 in time. God is so infinitely wise that He can give what is needed at the right time so that the people with whom we deal are surprised at themselves when they realize what they have done in granting certain things to the people of God. Only by God wisdom could it have been done. Then finally,

THE SPIRIT OF GLORY

1 Peter 4:14, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified."

As we are hated and reproached because of our identification with Christ and our love for Him, Peter says, "happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you."

And this likeness of Christ in suffering is a Divine enablement. God gives that special anointing so that the glow of God is upon the suffering saint, and the grace of God is manifest so that the observer sees that the reproached and suffering saint is getting power from another world. Many have been saved just by observing the suffering of the saints. How could this be? Because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon them. It is unexplainable but also undeniable.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White