The Person of the Holy Spirit
Discover what it means for you that the Holy Spirit is a person, not just an impersonal force.
Transcript
Before we start, I want to tell you about a new spiritual exercise we’re introducing today: Listening to the Holy Spirit. The sermon will be a little shorter, and afterward, we’re going to have an open mic time for you to share what you heard from the Holy Spirit today.
To help guide you, I’ll ask you 4 questions:
Summarize the sermon in 1-2 words.
What did the Holy Spirit say to you during the sermon?
What are you going to do in response to what the Holy Spirit said to you?
What can we do to help?
So, think about these questions as I teach, and see what the Holy Spirit says to you today.
Why are we doing this?
Listening to Holy Spirit is a critical skill for the believer.
Sharing publicly with your church family encourages others.
Quite frankly, I shouldn’t have the last word here at church. That’s God’s place, not mine.
Do you think of the Holy Spirit more as a “he” or an “it”? How would you even know? Here are 5 signs you might think of the Spirit as an “it”.
The obvious—if you’ve ever referred to the Spirit as an “it”. I even catch myself doing this sometimes.
You think of the Spirit as a little less than God the Father or Jesus.
You picture the Spirit more as a force, a feeling, or an expression of God.
You don’t pray to the Holy Spirit.
Lastly, you just don’t think much about the Holy Spirit.
Any of these could indicate that you might see the Holy Spirit as more of an impersonal force than a personal God.
It’s also very understandable if you do.
We all get the idea of a father or a son (dads and boys), but a spirit, let alone a holy ghost. That’s the stuff of Halloween and ghostbusters movies, not faith.
The Bible isn’t as clear about the Holy Spirit as it is the Father or Son. In fact, in all but a few passages, the Spirit is often in the background of the story not the foreground.
As we saw with the Athanasian Creed, even the early church took a few hundred years to figure out a biblical theology of the Holy Spirit.
All of this raises another question: Does it really matter? Could the Holy Spirit be an “it”?
The Bible clearly describes the Spirit as empowering, leading, and dwelling in people. All of that could be done with a force. Heck, in the Star Wars universe, all of that is done with the Force. So, why is it so important that the Holy Spirit is a person? You can’t have a relationship with an “it”.
Don’t believe me?
How many of you have named your car? Busted. If the stats are true, more than half of you have.
Why do your kids name their stuffed animals?
Why do Pang Foua and I have a giant box of clothes for our dogs?
It’s because we can’t have a relationship with an it. So, we humanize, we anthropomorphize things that we do have a deep relationship with—cars, stuffies, and pets. I bet some of you guys have even named your fishing poles. “This one’s Master Catcher, this is Rodrick, and this here is Captain Hook.”
Why do we do all this? Because we can’t have a relationship with an “it”.
So, if you think of the Holy Spirit as an “it”, you’re not going to be able to have a relationship with Him. And this is critical because Christianity is fundamentally a relationship. It’s not good enough simply to believe in God. Plenty of people do that. True Christian faith is about being in relationship with the Father, with the Son, and with the Holy Spirit.
So, my goal today is to help you believe and relate to the Holy Spirit as a person, not just an impersonal force. And when you do, he can make your faith stronger, your wisdom deep, and your works more powerful.
If I’m gonna talk about the Holy Spirit as a person, I have to start by defining what a person is. You might think it’s: arms, legs, heart, and mind. But that’s not really what the Bible means when it talks about God as three persons.
Theologian Millard Erickson argues that the core characteristics of a person are intellect, will, and emotion. Throughout the Bible, we see the Holy Spirit demonstrate all three of these.
Intellect
Let’s start with intellect. 1 Corinthians 2:7-11 says this about the Holy Spirit’s intellect. “7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
The Holy Spirit has intellect. He knows God’s thought, his mysterious wisdom by searching all things. And the Spirit can reveal them to you, allowing you to experience a fuller spirituality and life with God.
Will
Next, the Spirit has a will. John 14:26 tells us that the Spirit teaches. “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.”
Acts 13:2 tells us that the Spirit speaks. “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.”
Romans 8:26 tells us that the Spirit helps us and prays for us. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Throughout Scripture, the Holy Spirit is seen teaching, guiding, regenerating, searching, speaking, leading, commanding, testifying, illuminating, and revealing. These are actions and ministries that can only be performed by a person. Even the Force can’t do that.
Emotion
There’s one more element of personhood—emotion. Did you know that you can make the Holy Spirit sad? Listen to Ephesians 4:29-30 says: “29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
When you hurt other people with your words, you hurt the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit can be quenched, resisted, blasphemed, and even lied to. None of that exists with a force. But that happens with a person. Those are all things that happen in relationships, not physics or metaphysics.
The Holy Spirit has intellect, will, and emotion. He speaks, thinks, acts, and feels. And he wants a relationship with you. You can’t have a relationship with an “it”. But you can with the person of the Holy Spirit.
And if you don’t, some disastrous things can happen.
You miss out on the power of God. You end up living a powerless life.
You miss out on the wisdom of God. You end up making foolish decisions.
You miss out on the freedom of God. You end up living in bondage to sin and brokenness.
So, how do we condition ourselves to think of the Holy Spirit as a person and not miss out on all that? I’m gonna give you 3 things you can do this week: think, talk, and pray.
Think about the Holy Spirit. Google “Holy Spirit verses” and read what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. Read the book of Acts. The Spirit is the most important character in that book.
Talk about the Holy Spirit. Ask someone what they think about the Holy Spirit. Share with someone your experiences with the Holy Spirit. In just a couple of minutes, share what the Spirit said to you today.
Pray to the Holy Spirit. Did you know you can address the Holy Spirit directly when you pray? If you believe in Jesus, God’s Spirit lives in you, and you can talk to him.
What do you need to do this week in your relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit?
