Notes of Faith June 4, 2026
Pastor’s Pen Pulpit Series: The Holy Spirit in Today’s World
August 17, 2003
WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT Part I
I know of no Biblical teaching that is more needed in the Christian church today than is the teaching regarding the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. Many called the 20th century the century of the Holy Spirit. Three facts give rise to this label:
1. The awareness for the need for world evangelism through the church and para-church organizations. With this awareness comes the recognition of the need for the Holy Spirit’s power to accomplish this task.
2. The rise and prominence of the local church concept and the great stress upon the various spiritual gifts and ministries that are needed to accomplish this work.
3. The phenomenal rise and spread of Pentecostalism with its unique emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit.
While this great attention on the work of the Holy Spirit has been a good thing for the most part, it has not always been Scripturally guided. First of all -
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON
The trend in history has been for the cults and liberals to deny the personality of the Holy Spirit (Monarchanism, Arianism, Socianism, and today the liberals and the cults). He becomes to them a mere representative of good or of power in the world.
• In John 16:5-15 Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as a person – “He, Him, Helper,” etc.
• The Holy Spirit relates to people in the same ministering capacity that Jesus did. I will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may bide with you forever – even the Spirit of Truth . . . John 14:16, 17a. “The Helper” – one who gives help or aid to another – a person!
• In Acts 15:28 The Spirit relates to the apostles in a way that reveals personality ,“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirt and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.”
• The Spirit is a person among and equal to the other personalities of the Trinity. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19.
• The Holy Spirit is a person as Jesus is a person. In John 14:16 the word “another” means “another of the same kind.”
Another mark of personality is having responsibility. Animals are not held responsible for their actions – a person is!
• The Holy Spirit has the responsibility to testify. For testimony to be valid, there must be the possession of facts and the ability to impress the truth of those facts upon the hearts and minds of others in order to produce a settled conviction. The Holy Spirit testifies to the unsaved that they are not the children of God (John 16:11) and to the saved that they are the children of God (Romans 8:15,16).
• The Holy Spirit has the responsibility to teach and teaching necessitates the ability to categorize information to effectively communicate it. The Holy Spirit possesses an intrinsic capacity to communicate from the level of infinitude to the level of finitude. Man can communicate on his own level – from man to man. The Spirit of God has adapted Himself to man’s method of communication to communicate divine truth to a human level.
Another personality trait is having intelligent reaction. The Holy Spirit is a person who indwells each one of God’s people. He reacts to sin in our lives in two ways:
1. He is hurt (Isaiah 63:10; Ephesians 4:30). The word “grieve” means to cause sorrow. The Holy Spirit is put to shame when believers lie to each other or are engaged in foul talk or other sin.
2. He is hindered (I Thessalonians 5:19). “Quench” means to put out a fire. You can throw water on the work of the Holy Spirit.
And how about us? Do we hurt or hinder the work of the Holy Spirit? Or do we let Him empower us to live a victorious life that glories God and leads others to Him. God bless.
Love to you all,
Pastor Charles Covington
Acts 1:8
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
1 Cor 6:19
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?
Rom 8:11
if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Rom 15:13
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The gift of the Holy Spirit to live within the believer and follower of Jesus brings us into the eternal divine God-head. We are invited into the eternal relationship and community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to live in intimacy with God through the gift of the Holy Spirit living within us.
May you recognize more and more each day the love of God for you and His desire to commune with you both now and forevermore!
Pastor Dale