The Holy Spirit 1

August 18th

Part 1.

God is One and God is Three. This is a mystery, but still important to understand. We have all some kind of imaginations about The Holy Spirit. These are not always true. I will not insist on having the whole truth about Him, but will share that which has been revealed to me.

The Holy Spirit was there from the very beginning, just as God and Jesus. He is already mentioned in the second verse of the Bible. “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” He is present in the beginning of Creation and in the end of the Bible. We can read in the Book of Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”

The Holy Spirit is there in the beginning and in the end and in everything in-between.

God created man in His image and we also consist of three parts: spirit, soul and body. Every part is special and has its own function, but we cannot separate them. You are not a human being if you do not have a body. We could not have contact with God if we did not have a spirit and we could not choose, think and feel without a soul. It is therefore not so strange that God consists of three parts with three different functions.

I will lead you through the Bible and show you how the Holy Spirit is mentioned all the time.

We start with Ex.31:3.There we read about Bezalel, the son of Uri. God had filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship. So often we think that the Spirit is only interested in spiritual things, but that is not so. The Bible mentions many kinds of art and handicraft. They should also receive the ability to make all these different things. I have many times asked the Holy Spirit for help when I could’nt do certain things or when I lacked knowledge. I do not know too much about cars, but I am a good driver. One day the Spirit says: “Check the oil!” I was obedient and that was good since the oil-tank was almost empty. The Spirit can give you supernatural knowledge that is very practical.

In Ex.35:31 we read a repetition of Ex.31:3. God is here adding the fact that He had given Aholiab the ability to teach. I have heard many Christian teachers say that the Spirit has given them knowledge and wisdom to teach. I have also heard many Christian artists explaining how the Holy Spirit has inspired them and shown them what to make and how to make it. I have no contempt for natural knowledge, but I have listened to many testimonies about the Holy Spirit. He has helped people when they had a test. They have read the material, but the Spirit reminds them and shows them how to use it. This is Biblical. You can read John 14:26.. Jesus said to the disciples that the Holy Spirit was their Helper and He would remind them of all the things Jesus has spoken to them. When I am writing about the Holy Spirit, He reminds me of stories I have heard and of verses in the Bible. I really could not write without the help of the Holy Spirit.

You can now read Num.11. Moses should take seventy men from the elders of Israel to the tabernacle and God would take the same Spirit that was upon Moses and put on them. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they never did it again. In the Old Covenant we read that the Spirit rested upon them. They were not born again nor did they have the experience of Pentecost. These things came after the Cross.

I will mention some people from the Old Covenant who experienced that the Holy Spirit came upon them. The first one is Balaam. We read in Num.24 that the Spirit of God came upon him and he had visions. He shared these with Barak even if they were very unpopular, but when the Spirit came upon him, he got the power to do so.

Another one, less known, is Othniel, Calebs younger brother. You can read about him i Judges 3. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he became a judge in Israel. He became an answer to the prayers offered by the children of Israel. They had cried out to the Lord and Othniel became their savior. He fought for them and gave them the king of Mesopotamia. That led to the fact that they had peace for forty years.

Gideon is more known to us. We can read about him in the Book of Judges. In chapter 6:34 it says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. He became a leader and he took with him 300 men and they won over the Midianites. They would not have been able to do so without the help of the Holy Spirit. It was a miracle. We can move forward to the 13th chapter in the same book. Samson is born. It says in verse 25 that the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him. Samson had a meeting with a young lion who came roaring towards him and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and gave him power to tear that lion to pieces. He would have been dead if the Spirit had’nt been upon him. We read that the next time when the Spirit came upon him, he killed 30 men. The Holy Spirit gives supernatural strength. Samson was taken prison and he was bound with strong ropes. When he was at Lehi, bound with those strong ropes, the Phillistines came shouting against him. They were his enemies. It looked like his last hour was near. Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and the bonds broke loose from his hands. (Judg.15:14) It continues to say that Samson took a fresh jawbone of a donkey and killed 1000 men with it. You do not need a special intelligence to understand that it was not the jawbone, but the Holy Spirit that did the job.

We move to 1.Sam.10 and read about the prophet Samuel who prophesies over Saul. He says that the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon him and he will prophesy and he will change and become a different person. I will come back to how the Holy Spirit can change us human beings.

It was the same Samuel that anointed David. In 1.Sam.16:13 we read that Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord came upon David, but departed from Saul. He was suffering from an evil spirit. David was called to play for Saul. In 2.Sam.23:2 it says: ” The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me and His word was on my tongue.” We know that David wrote many, many psalms so we can really say that God’s words were on his tongue. These psalms have been used to encourage and console many people through history.

The Spirit of the Lord came upon them when they should prophesy or in times of crisis. We read in 2.Chr.20 that everybody from Judah gathered in the presence of God. They feared a great army from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel and he said: “Listen all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of the great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” God says the same to us to-day. “Fear not, for the battle belongs to Me.”

The Spirit does not always prophesy nice and sweet things. We see in 2.Chr.24:20 that the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah and he said to the people: “Because you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.” The truth will set us free even when the truth is not so pleasant.

WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS FREEDOM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mother Else