More Than a Feeling, More Than a Force: Discovering the Person of the Holy Spirit
Do you ever wonder about the Holy Spirit? Sometimes He might seem like a mystery, or maybe you don’t know what He will do next. When some people hear “Holy Ghost,” they might think of strange things that could even feel a little scary. I know some people think the Holy Spirit is like a power, not a person. They might want to use this power like a strong cup of coffee to help them get through the day. They try to “plug into” this power to be a stronger Christian. If you've ever thought about these things, you're not the only one.
The truth is, lots of people don’t really understand the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we think our own feelings are the Holy Spirit. I heard a story about a singer. She was trying to record a song but kept stopping. She said, "He's not here," talking about the Holy Spirit. Her friends prayed with her. Then she started singing again and felt like the Holy Spirit was there. But the sound guy knew a secret! He had just turned up a knob that made her voice echo. He thought, "Uh oh, ma'am. That wasn't the Spirit… that was just the reverb!"
This funny story shows a common mistake: thinking the Holy Spirit is just a feeling or a certain way He shows up. But what if we need to change how we think about the Spirit? What if He is a “He,” not an "it" to figure out or a power to use? What if He is a real Person from God, and you can have a friendship with Him that’s just as real as your friendship with God the Father and God the Son?
This week, I want us to look at just that: the Holy Spirit is a Person who wants to be friends with you.
The "Forgotten Person" or the Misunderstood Person?
People used to say the Holy Spirit was “the forgotten Person of God.” A smart writer named Sinclair Ferguson said that this was a common saying, especially when people were really focused on the Spirit's gifts. But, he pointed out something important: "they were usually talking about the Spirit's gifts (like speaking in tongues or prophesying), not about the Spirit as a Person."
This difference is super important. If we only think about the Spirit's gifts or His power, we might miss out on getting to know the Spirit Himself. Mr. Ferguson reminds us that having cool spiritual gifts doesn’t always mean you have a close friendship with the Spirit or that He is changing you to be more like Jesus. Jesus Himself said that some people would do amazing things in His name but not really know Him. The Apostle Paul also said that love is much better than even the most amazing gifts.
When we care more about the gifts than the Giver, or more about His power than His friendship, we miss the main point. Mr. Ferguson shared a good comparison: "What if a husband said he loved his wife because ‘She’s a great cook, and I love to eat’? Or what if a wife said she loved her husband because ‘He’s rich, good-looking, and makes me look good…’? Wouldn’t it be better to hear them say, ‘I trust her because of who she is,’ or ‘I love him because we have an amazing friendship’?"
Do we sometimes think about the Holy Spirit by asking, "What can He do for me?" instead of wanting to know Him for who He is? Another writer, Richard Lovelace, said that many Christians might know what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit, but "they haven’t really tried to get to know him as a person... People often call the Spirit ‘it.’ This shows that they think of him as a power from God, not as a personal Guide and Friend they know all the time."
An old church prayer shows the right way to hope:
Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And You, Holy Spirit, with Them as One.
Through all of time, let this be our song:
Praise to You always, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit isn’t less important than God the Father or God the Son. He is God, just as important, and He has always been God.
The Holy Spirit as a Person in the Bible
The Holy Spirit being a Person isn’t just a New Testament idea. From the very beginning of the world, He was there and doing things. The Bible says, "The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). He’s not just some power; He’s someone from God doing things. Later, a prophet named Isaiah said the Spirit can feel sad when people sin (Isaiah 63:10). Only a person can feel sad like that. A power can’t feel sad.
In the Old Testament, the Spirit helped people like Joseph. He led God's people and gave power to leaders and prophets. He was the "spirit of prophecy," helping people speak for God.
Then, in the Gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the Holy Spirit’s work as a Person is very closely tied to Jesus Christ. Jesus began in His mother Mary by the Spirit’s power. The Spirit came upon Him when He was baptized, and the Spirit gave Him power for His work.
The main idea is this, as Mr. Ferguson said: "Jesus was filled with the Spirit and worked with the Spirit his whole life so that He could give the Spirit to his people." The Spirit who came to Jesus’ followers at Pentecost was "this same Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus himself — not a different or extra Spirit."
The Spirit and You: A Friendship for You!
This leads to an amazing idea: the same Holy Spirit who was there at creation, who helped the prophets, and gave power to Jesus, now wants to live in you and have a friendship with you if you trust in Christ!
Living with the Spirit inside you isn't some hard-to-understand idea just for special, super-holy people. It’s for every believer. Paul, a Bible writer, said, "By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (the church)…and we were all given the one Spirit to drink" (1 Corinthians 12:13).
He is our Helper (Paraclete): Jesus promised to send "another Helper" (John 14:16). The word for Helper here is Paraclete. In old times, a paraclete was like a lawyer who defended you, or someone who stood by you in tough times. The word "Comforter," used in older Bibles, means someone who comes “with strength.” So, the Holy Spirit is the One who comes next to us with strength when we’re in a battle. He doesn’t just make us feel better afterward; He is our personal friend and encourager right when we need Him.
He Gives Us New Life and Joins Us to Jesus: John Owen, a pastor from a long time ago, explained very well how the Spirit gives us new spiritual life. He said that people without God's Spirit "do not accept the things of the Spirit of God, because they are foolish to them; and they cannot understand them, because they are understood with the Spirit's help" (1 Corinthians 2:14). If we are left on our own, we are spiritually blind and can’t come to God. Pastor Owen taught that if we say we can think good thoughts or obey God before the Spirit makes us new inside, we are going against what the Bible teaches. It's the Holy Spirit who does this very important job of making us spiritually alive. It's not just about convincing us; it's a big change. He said our "will (our wanting part)...is first made new by the Spirit, and then it wants to choose God." This doesn’t go against what we want; it makes our “wanter” new so we freely want God. Leaders in the church long ago, like Luther and Calvin, rediscovered this big truth: we are saved not by our own efforts or special church actions, but by the Spirit opening our eyes to Jesus and joining us to Him through faith.
He Invites Us to Be Friends: The good news about Jesus (the gospel) is an invitation to friendship with God. Knowing God is close is connected to understanding who He is and the great things He has done, as shown in the Bible. When Moses was with God on Mount Sinai, God passed by him and said, "The Lord, the Lord, the God who is kind and loving, slow to get angry, full of love and truth..." (Exodus 34:6-7). Feeling God close and believing in His great saving actions went together. Today, we still get to know the Spirit as a Person when we spend time with Him:
Through the Gospel and the Bible: When we read the Bible, the Spirit helps us understand Jesus and makes God's truths feel real in our hearts.
Through Prayer: Praying "in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18) means praying in a way that agrees with what God wants, in close friendship with Him. The Spirit even "helps us when we are weak... He speaks to God for us" (Romans 8:26-27).
Through the Church: As part of Jesus' family (the church), we see the Spirit work through each other when we share time together and help each other feel strong.
Don’t Be Afraid, Be Friends!
So why do some people feel scared or worried about the Holy Spirit? Often, it’s because they don’t understand Him. Maybe they focus too much on really unusual experiences, or they're afraid of not being in control. Satan, our enemy, would love it if we were nervous about the very Person who gives us power. His plan is often to get us to avoid the Holy Spirit by arguing about His gifts and how He shows Himself.
But the Spirit's main job is not to scare us but to bring us into God's family. He is the "Spirit who makes us God’s children, and by Him we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" (Romans 8:15). He shows our spirit that we are God's children. He brings peace, not upset feelings; He helps us know things for sure, not worry. He is the One who shows how great Jesus is (John 16:14) and leads us into all truth.
Richard Lovelace described a good friendship with the Spirit like this: "A normal friendship with the Holy Spirit should be like what the Bible says in Psalm 139: knowing deeply that we are always face to face with God; that as we go through life, His Spirit’s presence is the most real and strong part of our day..." He challenges us: "We should try, at the start of every day, to remember the Holy Spirit as a person, to be aware of His presence in our minds, and to open our minds and share all our thoughts and plans as we look by faith to God."
An Invitation for You
The Holy Spirit is not a riddle to figure out, a power to control and use, or a scary ghost to stay away from. He is the third Person of the Trinity (God in three Persons). He is from God, He is a Person, and He is very closely part of your life if you belong to Jesus. He is the one who has a history with God’s plans and a history with God’s Son so that he might have a history with us.
There is only one Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ who lives in me also lives in every believer I will ever meet. This one Spirit joins us to Jesus and to each other.
The invitation today is to stop misunderstanding or being afraid, and to try to build a friendship with Him. He doesn’t want you to just do things for Him as much as He wants to spend time with you.
Let the words of A.W. Tozer be your prayer: "O God, I have tasted your good things, and it has made me happy and made me want more... O God, the Three-in-One God, I want to want You; I really want to be filled with wanting You; I am thirsty to be made even more thirsty for You. Show me Your greatness, I pray, so I can truly know You."
Think, really think, about the Spirit who lives in you. And then, live in the joy and friendship of knowing Him as a Person.
-Pastor Tim
