TEEN TREE 
OF LIFE
THE HOLY SPIRIT
Part 3
June 3, 2018
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of The Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JOH1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31)
As we continue our in-depth study of The Holy Spirit, we’re going to look at The Holy Spirit’s Ministry in the Old Testament. There are approximately 100 references to the Spirit of God in the Old Testament which give evidence of His working during that period, too.
The Holy Spirit worked in the lives of the prophets and writers of the Old Testament Scripture, just as He did for the New Testament writers. In 2SAM 23:1-2 in the Old Testament we read: Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, The man who was raised on high declares, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.” In the New Testament, in 2PET 1:21 reads: …for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by The Holy Spirit spoke from God.
The Holy Spirit’s Ministry to people in Old Testament times was not the same as it has been since the Day of Pentecost (the day The Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples of Jesus). In Old Testament times, The Spirit did not permanently indwell every believer as He does in the Church-Age. He worked in a few select people primarily to further God’s overall Will and Plan. Look at DEUT 34:9: Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
In theology, the Work of The Spirit in Old Testament saints is called enduement. Enduement is taught in JUDGES 6:34: So the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. Enduement means clothed and is like the indwelling of the Spirit in the New Testament, but it was not a guaranteed permanency, as it is to all Church-Age believers. In other words, they could lose the indwelling ministry either because God’s Plan was complete or due to perpetual carnality. David wrote: Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. (PSA 51:11) So, The Holy Spirit was highly active in the Old Testament times, enabling some in their ministries, while also caring for the people, and later Israel as a whole.
Now let’s look at The Holy Spirit’s Ministry in the New Testament and the Church-Age. In the New Testament, we see a much different Ministry of The Holy Spirit as He permanently indwells every believer for the function and execution of the unique spiritual life of the Church-Age. A number of passages clearly teach that The Spirit is given to all believers rather than selectively to some. Look at ACTS 11:16-17: And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” This is also taught in ROM 5:5: and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. This fabulous statement appears in 1COR 2:12: Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God…
Jesus’ final words to the disciples before His crucifixion included the promise of sending The Holy Spirit to enable and empower the Church-Age believer. We read in JOH 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 said to you.” And we read: “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14“He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
Now we are going to look at The Baptism of The Holy Spirit. The Baptism of The Holy Spirit is a unique factor to the Church-Age and speaks of the permanent Indwelling Ministry He has with each believer. It also provides us with the Sealing of The Holy Spirit which promises our Eternal Security, and assurance of our Salvation. Look at EPH 1:13-14: In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with The Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
The Baptism of the Spirit enters us into The Body of Christ which is the Temple of God, according to 1COR 6:19-20: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of The Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body. As a temple of God, we are to walk in God’s Holiness. As we walk in God’s Holiness, we have fellowship with The Holy Spirit according to 2COR 13:14: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of The Holy Spirit, be with you all. The only way to walk in God’s Holiness is to be filled with The Spirit by naming and citing your sins to God in His Son’s Name (rebound).
Three New Testament passages speak of the “Sealing Ministry of The Spirit.” 2COR 1:22 states: …who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. EPH 4:30 warns us: Do not grieve The Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
At the moment of our Salvation, The Holy Spirit also gives us a “spiritual gift.” This is taught in HEB 2:4: God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of The Holy Spirit according to His own will. 1COR 7:7 also teaches this: Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that. The Greek word for spiritual gifts (CHARISMA) is related to the word for Grace and means something that is a result of the Grace of God. A spiritual gift is a God-given ability for service to others or to God and it is The Holy Spirit’s job to give us our gift and enable/empower it during our walk here on earth. Look at ROM 12:6: Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly…
1COR 12:1-18 teaches all about Spiritual Gifts and will help you to understand them even more: Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
The Holy Spirit has a Teaching Ministry, designed to help the Church-Age believer understand Bible Doctrine. Jesus Christ, in JOH 16:12-15, states: “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore, I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” 1COR 2:13 also says it beautifully: …which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
{to be continued}