LESSONS: HOLY SPIRIT

Why Study the Holy Spirit?
Whenever you begin any study, it is a good to know why you are actually doing it. We have singled out the doctrine of the Holy Spirit that we briefly looked at in our Basic Doctrine II class as one that could use more attention. We do not have a course on Jesus or on the Father, so why have an entire course on the Holy Spirit?
There are twelve reasons why we need to study the doctrine of the Holy Spirit more deeply. We are studying the Holy Spirit…

  1. Because the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is a major doctrine of the Bible (II Tim. 3:14- 17).
    But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them
  2. and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
  3. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
  4. that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. II Timothy 3:14-17
    a. As such it is part of the Scripture that makes us wise for salvation.
    b. As such it is part of the Scripture that is profitable for instruction in righteousness.
    c. As such it is part of the Scripture that helps us to be complete and thoroughly furnished for every good work.
  5. The Holy Spirit has perhaps been the most neglected member of the Godhead in terms of our personal understanding and awareness. There is a good reason for this.
  6. The main reason is that the Holy Spirit always points away from Himself and to the Son and to the Father. If we are going to get to know the Spirit, we will have to search the Scriptures to find out about Him.
  7. Because the Holy Spirit is God (I John 5:7-8)
  8. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. I John 5:7-8
    a. The Holy Spirit is the very first person of the Godhead to be named and identified in the Bible (Gen. 1:2).
    The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
    b. The Holy Spirit is referred to as the finger of God (Compare Luke 11:20 and Matthew 12:28).
    The Holy Spirit © Bill Scheidler 3 Teacher’s Manual

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” 16 Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: \”Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Luke 11:14-20
But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Matthew 12:28
c. The Holy Spirit has all of the attributes of God. He is eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. He knows all things and searches all things. He does the works of God.

  1. Because the Holy Spirit is a person who can be known in an intimate way.
    The Holy Spirit is not just an influence. The Holy Spirit is a person who can be known as a person. We can know Him as a teacher, a guide, a friend and a comforter. Unfortunately, many believers are much like the Ephesian disciples whom Paul encountered in Acts 19. They did not even know that there was such a person as the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-2).
    And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
  2. Because apart from the work of the Holy Spirit no one can be saved (I Cor. 2:11-14; 12:3).
    For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man\’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
    I Corinthians 2:11-14
    Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
    I Corinthians 12:3
    We learned in Basic Doctrine that man has absolutely no inclination towards God. If man is not wooed or drawn by the Holy Spirit, man has no chance of finding God. We did not

find God, God found us. Some have referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Hound of Heaven” who tracked us down brought us to Christ.

  1. Because all believers are to be born of, baptized in and filled with the Holy Spirit if they are to fulfill their God-given destiny (John 3:5-6; Acts 1:4-5, 8; Eph. 5:18).
    a. Jesus indicated that it is necessary to be born of the Holy Spirit if one is to see and enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:3-6; Rom. 8:9).
    Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother\’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:3-6
    But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. Romans 8:9
    b. Jesus told the disciples not to embark on their ministry until they were baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5, 8). And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now”… 8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
    c. Paul encouraged all believers to live in a state of continual filling when it came to the Holy Spirit in their lives (Eph. 5:18).
    And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit…
  2. Because the Holy Spirit wants to manifest Himself through every believer by means of the gifts of the Spirit (I Cor. 12:7-11).
    But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
    These gifts or manifestations of the Holy Spirit are not reserved for the super-spiritual individual. They are not meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence in the life of the believer. They are to be common expressions in the life of every believer no matter how long they have known the Lord.
    The Holy Spirit © Bill Scheidler 5 Teacher’s Manual
  3. Because the believer is to be led by the Holy Spirit and is to walk in the Spirit (Rom. 8:1, 14; Gal. 5:16).
    There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1
    For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:14
    I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16
    As you read the entire chapter of Romans 8, it is apparent that the believer is to live a life “in the Holy Spirit.” The believer’s relationship to the Holy Spirit should pervade every area of his or her life.
  4. Because the believer is to cultivate the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives (Gal. 5:16-25).
    As the believer yields to the influence and power of the Holy Spirit in his or her life, the Holy Spirit within his or her spirit bears fruit. Like begets like. Flesh begets flesh. Spirit begets Spirit.
    I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ\’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
  5. Because a dispensation of time has been especially allotted to the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 5:17; 16:5-15).
    Redemptive history can be seen in three primary dispensations reflecting the work of the Father, the work of the Son and the work of the Holy Spirit.
    But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” John 5:17
    a. The work of the Father (The God of Abraham).
    The first dispensation is the Age of the Father extending from the father of all who are alive (Adam) naturally through the father of all who believe (Abraham) or those who are alive spiritually.
    b. The work of the Son (The God of Isaac).

The second dispensation is the Age of the Son extending from the typical sacrifice of the only-begotten son of the Old Testament (Isaac) to the sacrifice of the only- begotten Son in the New Testament (Jesus).
c. The work of the Holy Spirit (The God of Jacob).
The third and final dispensation is a the Age of the Holy Spirit extending from the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (the early rain) to the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (the latter rain).

  1. Because we are living in the end of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit when a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit has been promised (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-18; Jam. 5:7-8).
    And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls. Joel 2:28-32
    Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. James 5:7
    While there scriptures were fulfilled in a measure on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 (Acts 2:16-21), the primary fulfillment will be in conjunction with the last days and the return of the Lord.
  2. Because the Holy Spirit is the last witness of the Godhead before the culmination of the ages (Mt. 12:31-32).
    Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
    We are living in the Age of the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that brings us to Christ and back in right relationship to the Father. If we reject the overtures of the Holy Spirit there is no hope for us to be saved (Note: We will look at the subject of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in Lesson 9 of this study).
  3. Because there is a great deal of wrong teaching about the Holy Spirit in the church world today.

The way to be able to identify the false is to handle the true. The way to be able to identify error is to absorb oneself in the truth.