What or who is the Holy Spirit and where does the Holy Spirit reside?
When Jesus was about to go to heaven to be with God the
Father, He told His disciples in John 14:14-15, “Most assuredly, I
say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and
greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And
whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” “If you love Me, keep My commandments. Jesus is preparing the disciples to do the
work of the Father. This very important
in ministry. When we pray, we start off
with “Father God, in Jesus Name.” Jesus
is the spiritual link to God Almighty who gives us power and authority. Jesus
did not say to pray to Him which I see people doing quite a bit. But you, when you pray, go into your room,
and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret
place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly, Matthew 6:6. Jesus tells us how to pray: In this
manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name Matthew
9:9. Why do we pray in this
order? The answer is in 1 Corinthians
11:3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of
woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
It is God’s authoritative command that must be followed
John 14:16 is where Jesus tells us about the Helper, “And
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide
with you forever,” John 14:16. Jesus was the first Helper and God is
sending another in place of Jesus. Ten
verses later in verse 26 identifies who the Helper is, “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 things that I said
to you.” The Holy Spirit took the
place of Jesus here on earth when Jesus went to be with Father God. The Holy Spirit resides here on earth for us.
The Holy Spirit reside in us believers.
The function of the Holy Spirit is to help us as Jesus’ helped
those in His ministry. The Holy Spirit
is for us here on earth as we battle against the forces of evil, Put on the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, Ephesians
6:11-12. We cannot do this without
accessing the Holy Spirit to help us in the spiritual battle.
The Holy Spirit has one other important role and that is to
give believers spiritual wisdom by which we can understand God. But God has
revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yes, the deep things of God. 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, 1 Corinthians
2:10–11. Since we have been given this amazing gift of God’s Spirit inside
ourselves, we can comprehend the thoughts of God, as revealed in the Scriptures.
The Spirit helps us understand. This is wisdom from God, rather than wisdom
from man. No amount of human knowledge can ever replace the Holy Spirit’s
teaching and direction, 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. (1 Corinthians
2:12–13).
The Holy
Spirit in The Church
Unfortunately, the Holy Spirit in the church is lacking in
that the Holy Spirit is not given the rightful place in God’s church here on
earth and in the body of Jesus Christ.
Very few times do the worship teams or the pastors call on the Holy
Spirit. Calling on the Holy spirit and
praying must be the opening of every church function, and Christian gathering
(ministry, missions, Bible studies, fellowshipping, conferences). We are quenching the Holy Spirit when we fail
to call or rely on the Holy Spirit,
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench (extinguish)
the Spirit. Not calling on or
ignoring the Holy Spirit is quenching the Holy Spirit and all the power of the
Holy Spirt.
Ephesians 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed,
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise
Galatians 5:16–18 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you
shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
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. But if you are led by the
Spirit, you are not under the law. The
Spirit is contrary to the flesh, our sinful ways.
The
Triune God
The triune definition consists of three entities in one with
reference to the Trinity or the triune Godhead.
This is the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in
one Godhead. The Holy Spirit resides in heaven on earth. Why is this important? I will explain. There are three heavens and is referenced in
2 Corinthians 12:2, 4 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in
the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God
knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven, verse 4 how
he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not
lawful for a man to utter. There is
only one paradise currently and that is where Jesus and God reside in the third
heaven.
The second heaven is where the spiritual battle is taking
place with Gabriel and Michael against the prince of Persia. Daniel 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom
of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief
princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of
Persia. The prince of Persia is a
demonic power in Satan’s army. Daniel
10:20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return
to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the
prince of Greece will come. The
fight with Persia will include the fight with the demonic prince of Greece.
The first heaven was created by God for mankind when He
created earth. God created Adam and Eve there
as well. The Bible says God walked in
the garden, And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden
in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence
of the Lord God among the trees of the garden, Genesis 3:8. Ultimately, those
who are going to heaven will reside in heaven here on earth. The same as where Adam and Eve first resided. It was a beautiful paradise until they
sinned.
Getting back to the Holy Spirit. As we discussed earlier God sent a Helper and
the Helper is the Holy Spirit. It is the
most powerful entity here on Earth. God
commands us to call on the Holy Spirit. I like the following scriptures when I
pray. Five from the Old Testament and
one from the New Testament.
Psalm 50:15 Call upon
Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
Psalm 86:7 In the day
of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me
Psalm 91:15 He shall
call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will
deliver him and honor him.
Jeremiah 33:3 Call to
Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do
not know.
Isiah 58:9 Then you
shall call, and the LORD will answer;
How do we
use the Holy Spirit?
·
We call on the Holy Spirit to be present prior
and during any Godly gathering or function.
·
We call on the Holy Spirit as we are praying for
those in church
·
We call on the Holy Spirit to show us how to
pray
·
We call on the Holy Spirit for every import
decision we make
·
We call on the Holy Spirit to lead us
·
We call to the Holy Spirit to develop an ongoing
conversation with the Holy Spirit throughout the day
·
We call on the Holy Spirt to know how to pray
for those who are sick and diseased
·
We call on the Holy Spirit to reside in us.
·
We call on the Holy Spirit when we and others
are in trouble
·
We call on the Holy Spirit for our individual
prayer
·
We call on the Holy Spirit for wisdom,
understanding, and knowledge
We call or ask for the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit
will answer us according to scripture, Jeremiah
33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer you. Luke 11:13 So if you sinful people know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”
I call on the Holy
Spirit for any important decision I need to make. The Holy Spirit is never wrong. Mankind makes the wrong decisions all the
time. Why would I trust myself or anyone else?
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the
Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
Why has the body of
Jesus Christ minimized the Holy Spirit?
There are several reasons, but the main reasons are because we have not
taught ourselves by reading the Bible. We
are not being taught by the church and leadership at all levels. We are not
being taught by fellow Christians. We
minimize the power of the Holy Spirit by not calling on the Holy Spirit.
It is very difficult for me to understand why we continue to
ignore the Holy Spirit. How can we fight
Satan and his evil demon spirits without the Holy Spirit? The battle with Satan is a spiritual battle, 2
Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to
the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal
but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing
every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We cannot fight a spiritual battle in the
physical. Showing up to church for one hour a week is just your physical
presence if you do not pray and fight together.
We must come to church ready to fight a spiritual battle with
prayer. It is imperative for the leadership
and the congregation pray out loud in unison each service.
We have authority in Jesus Name and help from the Holy
Spirit.
Luke 9:1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and
gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to
trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and
nothing shall by any means hurt you.
This teaching sets the stage for the battle at hand and we
cannot win the war without the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and God Almighty, Matthew
12:30, He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me
scatters abroad. Going forward, who are
you with?
Acts 1:8 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.” When the Holy Spirit resides in you.
Amen and Amen! Tony Sanchez 8-22-2024
