Characteristics of the Holy Spirit

Well, good afternoon again, brethren. Hope you're enjoying this beautiful summer that God has given us this last week. The weather was absolutely incredible and inspiring. Of course, we know that Pentecost is a little over a week away, and in preparation for the Holy Day, I thought it would be beneficial to talk about the Holy Spirit.

We are a privileged few who have been given the Holy Spirit of God. If you study the Old Testament, you will see that just a handful of people were ever given the Holy Spirit of God. Some kings, some priests, prophets, but the overwhelming majority of people who lived during those times were not given the tremendous blessing of receiving the Holy Spirit.

And those of you who are not yet baptized and converted, of course, you're being led by the Spirit of God. And what a tremendous blessing that is as well. Brethren, we understand from Scripture that the Holy Spirit is not a trinity, it's not part of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is an energizing power. It's a force that comes from both Jesus Christ and God the Father. And it's an energizing force, a conduit, that comes from them and makes that connection between our world and the divine world.

Today I'd like to review some of the qualities and characteristics of God's Holy Spirit to better understand what it can do with us and what the Holy Spirit can do for us if only we will allow it to. If we tap into the richness of that gift that God has given us. Let's begin by going to the book of Psalms, chapter 143. Psalm 143. I could have started in Psalm 51. We're familiar with that. That's actually the first place in Scripture that the phrase, Holy Spirit, is written during David's Psalm of repentance. I'm sure you remember the story. He committed adultery. He not only did that, he had an innocent man murdered.

He lied. He committed a number of sins and he let it go on and on. Until he was confronted by the prophet Nathan, he just allowed those sins to continue. He tried to hide it rather than seeing himself as he really was. In Psalm 51, he said, Please, Lord, don't take your Holy Spirit from me. By the time we get to Psalm 143, what we see here is that David has developed a very deep relationship with God. He did not allow his sins to permanently separate him from God.

As a matter of fact, he learned from his problems. Here's what he says beginning in Psalm again, chapter 143, beginning in verse 1. He says, Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications. In your faithfulness answer me, and in your righteousness. Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no one living is righteous. Verse 3, For the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me to dwell in darkness like those who have long been dead. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me, and my heart within me is distressed. So we see that David, whatever trial he's going through here, it is crushing him.

Have you ever felt crushed the weight of the world on your shoulders? He was so discouraged or despondent or confused about events or situations that you just literally feel. As he says here, my heart within me is distressed. Verse 5, he says, I remember the days of old. I meditate in all your works. I muse on the works of your hands.

I spread out my hands to you. My soul longs for you like a thirsty land, Selah, which means, Selah just means pause and think about that statement for a minute. My soul longs for you like a thirsty land. Verse 7, answer me speedily, O Lord, my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me lest I be like those who go down into the pit, those who die. Verse 8, cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning. For in you do I trust. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk.

For I lift my soul to you. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies. And in you I take shelter. Teach me to do your will. For you are my God. Your spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.

Revive me, O Lord, for your name sake, for your righteousness sake. Bring my soul out of trouble. In your mercy cut off my enemies and destroy all those who afflict my soul. For I am your servant. So here we went from Psalm 51, a heartfelt repentance, finally acknowledging who and what he was. By the time we get to this psalm, he has a deep and abiding relationship with God.

He feels crushed with the pressures of life. And he's crying out to God for intervention. Brethren, the Holy Spirit is a powerful tool that is offered by God as a gift to us. I want you to notice all the tools David is using in his relationship with God. He's using many tools. He's using prayer in verse 1. He says, Hear my prayer, give ear to my supplications. Also in verse 1, he talks about faithfulness. He's demonstrating faith and faith that God will keep his promises to David. He talks about humility in verse 2. He says, No one is righteous.

That's the attitude of a humble person. He talks about meditation in verse 5. He says, I meditate on all your works. In verse 8, he talks about grace. He talks to God about his loving kindness in the morning. God's favor, God's forgiveness, his unmerited pardon towards David. He talks about the Holy Spirit. Again, in verse 10, he says, Your spirit is good. He talks about how the Spirit teaches him, how the Spirit leads him, how the Spirit can revive him during difficult times in his life.

This particular psalm mentions many tools that David used in order to help him to have a very close relationship with his God and with his Creator. One of which was God's Holy Spirit. Again, in David's time, it was unique for someone to possess literally the Spirit of God. Now, let's go to John 14, verse 15, and see some words of Christ on the eve of his death that we read every year during the Passover. But they are tremendously applicable during this time of the year as we ponder the day of Pentecost. Again, John 14, verse 15. Jesus said, If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

At this time, the day of Pentecost hadn't arrived, and God's Spirit was dwelling among the disciples, but it literally was not inside of the disciples. That occurred through the tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost. He says, I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you.

So we see here that Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit, that He refers to as the Spirit of truth. The Spirit is a helper. The Greek term is parakletos, for the Holy Spirit, and a particular word is used only by John in his writings. It can be translated a comforter, an advocate, signifying one who is called alongside to help. As a matter of fact, if you break the word down, para means alongside, and kletos means called to give advice or help.

And that's exactly the term that John uses to refer to Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit. The general Greek term for Holy Spirit is hagios pneuma, which means a sacred breath or wind. It is a power. It is a force that comes from God like a wind, like literally the breath of God, in order to affect events in this world. Jesus continued in that discussion a little while longer, And the world will see me no more, but you will see me, because I live you will live also.

At that day you will know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judah is not a scary. It said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? And Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves me and keeps my word, my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him.

And that's how we receive the Holy Spirit. Literally, God the Father and Jesus Christ making their homes inside of us, connecting that conduit, connecting the spiritual world with our carnal minds and making their homes inside of us. Verse 24, He who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. Now, we just read a few verses here in the book of John.

How many times does Jesus say that if we love him, we'll keep his commandments? Did you count? And a few verses we've just read, it states that phrase three times, that if you love Jesus Christ, if you love God, you will keep his commandments. It's in verses 15, verses 21, and verses 23. So do you think since it's said three times, it might be something that's important to God? It's very important to God, and I'll highlight why obedience is so important to God in a minute, as we take a look at another scripture.

The phrase, our home, refers to both the Father and the Son being present in us through the conduit, again, of the Holy Spirit. Now, let's go to Acts 5, verse 24. Acts 5, verse 24. Let's turn there.

You will recall this story. The church was founded. The disciples had done some tremendous miracles at the temple, Solomon's porch, and they ended up being arrested because they were preaching about Jesus Christ. Here in Acts, chapter 5, verse 24, they were placed in jail. It says, Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priest heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. Verse 25. So one came to them and told them, saying, Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned.

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and a high priest asked them, saying, Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you will fill Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood on us. Verse 29. Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. And of course, God's command is to preach the gospel.

Verse 30. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things. And so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those whom obey Him.

Now we read earlier in John's verses Jesus Christ saying three times that loving God is keeping his commandments or words. And here we see that Peter states that the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey Him. Why is obedience so important to God? Well, it isn't because obedience gives us salvation, because only the shed blood of Christ gives us salvation.

So why is obedience so important to God in this matter? Well, first of all, sin separates us from God. That is a universal truth. Whether it began with Adam and Eve, their sin separated them from God. It separated mankind from God. And that's a universal truth that exists today. Sin separates us from God. That's why David said in a 51st chapter of Psalm when he was repenting about his adultery, he said, Lord, please don't take your Holy Spirit from me, because he knew that sin ultimately separates us from God. So that's the first thing we need to understand. Secondly, God will not give something as powerful and majestic as his Holy Spirit to a rebellious mind.

Again, I've mentioned David's Psalm, the 51st chapter, when David asked God not to take his Holy Spirit from him because of his sins. David knew that sin separates man from God. So God will not give something as majestic and powerful and wonderful as his Holy Spirit to a rebellious mind that will abuse and squander that gift that God is willing to give. Now God will give it to a weak and carnal human mind that's striving to become more Christ-like, as flawed as it is, and as struggling as it is with sin.

God will give it to a weak human mind that is striving to become more Christ-like. But he will not give it to a rebellious mind that has no desire or intention to use God's Spirit constructively. Let's now go to Acts 2 and verse 37. Something else we need to understand about the Holy Spirit. Peter is speaking here. He says, And let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, for the removal of all of your sins.

And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and your children and all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and on that day about three thousand souls were added to them. I want you to notice what it says here. It's a promise. It says, For the promise is to you and your children and to those who are far off.

You know, my father-in-law was called in the 1960s. And because of his faith, because he repented, and he was baptized, and the legacy that he left, he has nineteen descendants in the Church of God who keep the Sabbath and keep God's laws. So you see this promise, it says, The promise is to you and your children. This promise was to his children. It opened up the opportunity for his children, those who would accept their calling, to be able also to repent and be baptized and receive the gift of God's Holy Spirit.

God is the greatest giver of wonderful spiritual gifts. Have you ever thought about that? Jesus Christ personally bought certain gifts and paid for them with his own life. And he turns around and he gives those gifts to us, even though we don't deserve them. God offers us salvation as a gift. It is a gift from God. He gives us grace as a gift. Grace is God's favor. It's his pardon. That's not something we earn. It's not something we deserve. It's not something we can work toward. The grace of God is a gift that he gives us.

We see here that he offers his Holy Spirit as a gift. We can't earn it. We don't get merit points. And then, someday, suddenly the Spirit comes to us because we were good enough or righteous enough. He gives us his Holy Spirit as a gift. And it wasn't only a gift for Israel. Let's go now to Acts 10 and take a look at verse 44 and see that it is a gift for everyone.

People of all races and tongues and ethnicities around the world. Acts 10 and verse 44. We're very familiar with this event when Peter was called to the home of Cornelius, a Gentile. And it says in chapter 10 and verse 44, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished. Those who were circumcised couldn't believe it that God would give his Holy Spirit to a bunch of Gentiles, a bunch of uncircumcised Gentiles.

They were dumbfounded, but they saw it with their own eyes that the Holy Spirit literally fell on them. It was even outside of God's order, because in most cases you find someone is baptized and then they receive the Holy Spirit. And you see that example over and over and over again in Scripture. God, in this exception to make a point, gave his Holy Spirit first as a sign and then they were all baptized.

So it says, and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished. As many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out unto Gentiles also, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, Can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit, just as we have?

They aren't lesser human beings. They didn't get less of the Holy Spirit or a different Holy Spirit than we got, Peter says. They got exactly what we've gotten. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord and they asked him to stay a few nights. So you see, brethren, God's gift of the Holy Spirit is for everyone who responds to God's calling from around the world.

And it doesn't matter what our backgrounds are or what our skin color is or what part of the world we come from. Let's now go to 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9. Again, 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9. See another quality characteristic of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote here to the Corinthian congregation.

For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of man which is in him? Let's stop right there. How do you and I know physical things? Because we have a carnal mind. In our carnal mind, we have a spirit that gives us cognizance, it gives us awareness that we exist, that we live. And because of that, we understand physical things. That's what gives us the things of a man. The beauty of a flower, the color of a wall, the textures of the things that we touch.

Those are the things of a man and it's the spirit in man that we have. Again, that cognizance, that awareness of human life that we have that gives us the ability to understand the physical world around us. Now, let's continue. 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. So to understand spiritual things, and that's a whole different dimension that's isolated from this physical world. To understand spiritual things, you need that spiritual conduit. You need that Holy Spirit that connects us with the power and the energy and literally connects us to the presence of God.

Verse 14, 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. If you talk to a person who isn't religious and say, do you have the Holy Spirit, they'll look at you like you're goofy. So what does that mean? Holy Spirit, what's the Holy Spirit? Or worse than that, they'll be thinking of the original King James Version, the Holy Ghost.

I don't think, what is that? What does that have to do with anything in real life? A Holy Ghost or a Holy Spirit? They don't understand because it takes spiritual discernment. God gives the Spirit of God so that we have spiritual discernment. It takes our thinking to another dimension, a spiritual dimension.

And that dimension transcends the carnal approach to life. The carnal approach to life is, it's all about me, and it's about my feelings and my wants. That's the carnal approach to life. But the Holy Spirit takes us to another dimension where it's all about God. It's all about His will. It's all about the plan that He has in this earth. It's about the plan that He has for my life. So it transforms us into an entirely different dimension.

It gives us a knowledge of the deep things of God. Knowledge like the fact that God is creating a family. Knowledge like He has a plan for mankind that's revealed in His annual Holy Days. Brethren, you see, that is spiritual discernment, but to an average person, it's nonsense. It means nothing to them until God opens their mind. It means absolutely gibberish to them.

What Holy Days? Why would three, four thousand year old Holy Days that the Jews did have any meaning or relevance in my life? To understand that they revealed the entire plan of God takes spiritual discernment that's possible through the Holy Spirit. Verse 10, I'd like to read from the New Century version.

It says, but God has shown us these things through the Spirit. The Spirit searches out all things, even the deep secrets of God. And those secrets include a knowledge of who and what this human life is all about and why we were called. And why we have to go through trials. And why we struggle with temptations.

And why we deal with the things in life that we do. Let's now go to Acts chapter 1 and verse 4. Acts chapter 1 and verse 4. See another characteristic of the Spirit of God. Acts chapter 1, beginning in verse 4. Jesus speaking before He's about to be ascended to heaven 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, for John truly baptized with water, and you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Looking forward, of course, to the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D.

Verse 6. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? What were they looking for, being human beings? They were looking for the shortcut. Well, God, thanks for all this knowledge. Now, is Your kingdom going to come today or next week? They're looking for the shortcut. And Jesus says, He says to them, It's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive the power, 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.

Now, when He had spoken these things while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. You see, brethren, the Holy Spirit is a force of great power. He said, Don't obsess about days and times. What was it? Two weeks ago, the world was supposed to end. Was it May 21st that a particular gentleman said the world was going to end?

And the disciples basically asked a similar question. Jesus said, You know what? Don't worry about it. You've got a job to do. Get out and do your job, and you're going to receive a helper. You're going to receive something to help you. That is My Holy Spirit. You're going to receive power when you get that Holy Spirit, and I want you to be a witness to Me throughout the whole world. That is a tremendous task. How powerful is the Holy Spirit? Well, it was the same Spirit in Genesis 1 that hovered over the waters, and that the very word and the command of Jesus Christ through that Spirit, everything that we know and understand was created.

Each other, the earth, its carpeting, everything that physically exists in this universe, all matter that exists in this universe was through the power of God's Holy Spirit. What Christ is promising to His disciples is a force of supernatural power to preach the Gospel to a world in spite of overwhelming obstacles. And you know, the promise is still true today if we're willing to claim it as God's Church. This promise is just as true for us today as it was for them in 31 A.D.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 4. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 4. Let's see another quality or attribute of God's Holy Spirit that He gives His Church. This is a very positive one. We sometimes fail to appreciate that we have natural gifts, we have natural talents that are a result of our DNA. That is the result of just being born with certain abilities, and some people are born with the ability to sing. Some people are born with the ability to mathematically analyze things. It's wired in their DNA. Some people are very good at their hands. They're born with the ability to work with wood or to work with things with their hands. And they're just naturally gifted at it and talented at it.

And then there are spiritual gifts. There are gifts that we can be given. We need to pray for them if we desire those gifts. But there are gifts that we can be given through the power of God's Holy Spirit, and it may not even be natively in our DNA. Let's take a look here. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 4. Paul says there are diversities of gifts but the same spirits. There are differences of ministries but the same Lord. There are diversities of activities but it's the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of this Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. So if you're given one of the gifts of the Spirit, and we'll read a few of them in a minute, it's not for our own benefit. It's not so people can come up to us and say, my, aren't you talented? My, aren't you gifted or wonderful? It's to benefit the entire Church of God. It's not for selfish gain or selfish glory or personal reasons. Verse 8. For one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and that's the ability to discern good knowledge from bad knowledge, and to apply that the right knowledge in a good way. To another is the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, someone who can read the word of God and discern the word of knowledge. And that's a gift. One of the diversities of gifts given by the Spirit. To another faith. Some people just have incredible faith. They can walk through the valley of the shadow of death and come out on the other side with a smile on their face, knowing that God is in charge of their lives and they are not going to be rattled or offended no matter what happens. Some people just have that gift. To another, the gift of healings by the same Spirit. Some people have the ability, because of what God has given them, to pray for other people, and those people are healed. To another, the working of miracles. And again, that is usually typically through prayer or being able to intervene and help someone. To another, prophecy. Some people can be very positive. I've had people come up to me the last few months and say, Mr. Thomas, I just know that everything is going to be alright. I just know that God's church is going to be blessed. And I know that we are through the darkest part of the storm and we have bright and wonderful days ahead of us. You see, that's a prophecy. They were using that gift. To another, the discerning of spirits. Some people just have the ability quickly to analyze a good spirit from a negative spirit and to pick out negative spirits very quickly and to avoid them. To another, different kinds of tongues. To another, interpretations of tongues. The ability to translate. The ability to take literature in one language and translate it into another. But one and the same spirit works in all these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills, as the Holy Spirit wants us to. The Cambridge Study Bible notes says this. It says, the varieties of gifts and services are the result of the spirit's work in the lives of members of the community and serve the purpose of building the church. That's why we are given those gifts. This is for the common good, continuing, rather than to draw attention to the individual through whom the spirit is active.

My tongue got wrapped around my eye tooth. I couldn't see what I was saying.

Let me read the New Century version beginning in verse 10. Read this translation from the New Century version. The spirit gives to another person the power to do miracles and to another the ability to prophesy and gives to another the ability to know the difference between good and evil spirits.

The spirit gives one person the ability to speak in different kinds of languages and to another the ability to interpret those languages. One spirit, the same spirit, does all these things. And the spirit decides what to give each person. Now I have a question, and the question is, as we prepare for the Day of Pentecost this year, it may be good to ask ourselves, which of these gifts are we demonstrating for the common good of building the church? And if you say to yourself, well, I can't think of any that I have, then the good question may be, have we asked? Have we asked God to give us a spiritual gift? Again, not for our own glory, not for our own benefit, but a spiritual gift to help benefit the church.

At the conference a few weeks ago, I had a gal come up to me who has been recently hired to translate our literature into French. She said, I want you to know that your sermon back in January, 12 Corrupt Men, that they had me translate that into French. And I thought, what an incredible gift a human being has to read something in one language and to have the mind of translating it into a foreign language so that it makes sense and has meaning. You see, that is what that young gal has is a spiritual gift. And we can have spiritual gifts. Every one of us can have a different and unique spiritual gift. But it's important that we ask God to give us that gift. And if we feel like we don't have that gift, or we're not using the gifts that God has given us in an effective or profound way, then we need to get on our knees and we need to ask God to have His Holy Spirit give us a spiritual gift for the benefit of the Church of God. Let's now go to Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 14 and take a look at another quality of the Holy Spirit. And that quality, as we touched upon a little earlier with David's prayer, is to give us supernatural inner strength during times of extreme trials or testing. Again, Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 14. Paul writing here, he says, This is for this reason I bow my knees to the Father and Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, the innermost part of our being, that we be strengthened. That's what he's praying for. Verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith, and that you be rooted and grounded in love, because that's the only sure foundation, rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints that which is the width and length and depth and height, that is of God's love, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, and that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. One of the encouraging things about the gift of the Holy Spirit is that it can give us extraordinary strength for endurance and even achievement, when we're going through difficult periods in our life. You know, when Paul stated in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 13, remember when he said that I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me? He wasn't talking about his own limited ability. Paul wasn't talking about the ego problem that he had when he said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That wasn't Paul's point. He had learned that through the power of the Holy Spirit, again, that same power that it command of God created all matter and created the physical universe that we know of with the power of God's Spirit that he literally could achieve anything. He understood that. He realized that. He'd also learned to be content and to be strong in every situation in life, whether he was rich, whether he was poor, whether things were going well, or whether he was going through a trial, he had learned to be content and strong in every situation in his life. That's what God wants us to do, wants us to understand. Let's go to Luke 4 and pick it up in verse 1. Luke 4, beginning in verse 1. A statement made about Jesus Christ. Luke 4, verse 1, it says, Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted forty days by the devil, and in those days he ate nothing afterward when they had ended. He was hungry. I want you to notice here, verse 1, it says that he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Full measure, complete, abundant, and what's one of the keys of understanding that he was filled with the Holy Spirit? It says he was led by the Spirit. That's how he was full of the Spirit. He was led by it. You know, brethren, we go in our lives through different stages of spiritual maturity. Have you ever considered that? There are three stages of spiritual maturity. The stage we usually start out with is independence. God calls us. We're living our life. We're doing our thing in the world. And God calls us and he opens our minds and our hearts. And usually when we start out into faith, we're still independent. Oh, yes, we believe in humility and repentance. We do those things. But we still are independent. We do still tend to want things our own way. That's usually how our spiritual maturity begins its process. Independence. Then you go through the school of hard knocks. You go through life. And you mature to the point of interdependence. Well, I'm going to do my thing, but when times are tough, then I'm going to cry out to God. I'm going to ask God to intervene and help me when things get difficult. And it's interdependence. We still have our own will. We're still trying to do our own thing. And then when we're in a really tough spot, we cry out to God and we ask him to intervene in our behalf. Then there's the third level. And that's the tough one because it's so contrary to the way we are. That is dependence.

That is when we say, God, I have to leave everything in your hands because my life is worthless. Because I know that you control my destiny and I know ultimately that your will shall be done. So why struggle against it? Why fight against your will? Why try to do things my way? I just give my life to you and I'm totally dependent on you for everything.

And, brethren, we truly are. The next breath that we breathe is a gift that's not promised to anybody in this room. For the next meal we have. So you go through those stages in life. Independence, the most immature spiritual stage. Interdependence, where you think, yeah, it's me and God. It's primarily me. And then when I get in trouble, I'll call on God. And then the highest level of spiritual maturity is dependence on God. Where you say, God, I am putty in your hands. You are the master potter. You are in control of my life and my destiny. I am your follower, your disciple. Teach me. Open my heart and mind to understand your love and how wonderful you are and use my life to your glory and to your benefit.

So, brethren, those are the three stages of spiritual maturity. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. We saw this here in Luke 4 and verse 1. Now, there are three stages in which the Holy Spirit can possibly exist with a person. Either you don't have the Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit guides you. And that's usually the case before we are converted and are baptized and receive God's Spirit. And then God's Holy Spirit is in us. So you either don't have God's Spirit, you are led or guided by the Spirit, or the Holy Spirit literally resides within you.

But what about those who have the Holy Spirit? Are there degrees to which we possess the Holy Spirit?

Some who possess the Spirit are weak in the Spirit. And, rather frankly, some who possess the Holy Spirit are strong or filled with the Holy Spirit. And how do you know what is the gauge? Well, Paul tells us the gauge in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22, the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22.

He says, and this is how we know that only you can make this judgment. I can't make this judgment. Your neighbor can't make this judgment. I have never met a human being that has the gift of reading another human being's mind, that has the gift of reading their hearts.

I've just not seen that. Jesus Christ had that gift. He was the Son of God, that I've never known a man who literally had the ability to judge another human being by looking into their heart and mind and knowing exactly what was there. Verse 22, But the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such. There is no law. And brethren, though we may all have God's Spirit, who have been baptized and repented of their sins, there are different degrees of the Spirit. We can either be strong in the Spirit or we can be weak in the Spirit.

And what tells us, if we're strong in the Spirit or weak in the Spirit, are how many fruits we are demonstrating from God's Holy Spirit being within us. I can't make that judgment for you. You can't make that judgment for me. We need to make that judgment, that analysis ourselves, in how much of God's Spirit that we literally have.

To turn with me to James 4, verse 1, I would like to take a look at some strong words from the Apostle James, who every indication that I know of is talking to members of the Church. But they were people who obviously were very weak in the Holy Spirit. We're going to go to James 4, verse 1.

These were individuals who were weak in the Spirit. And he tries to get a point across to them that I think is very important for us. James 4, beginning in verse 1. This is preserved in the New Testament. So I have to assume that he's talking to Church members here, some of whom were obviously very weak in the Spirit because they were still at that stage, number 1 that I mentioned, of spiritual maturity.

They were independent. They didn't get it yet. They were new in the faith. And they were still struggling with coming out of this world. He says in chapter 4, verse 1, Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure, that war in your members?

One side of us wants to keep God's way. Another side of us wants to be pleasurable, wants to continue to please our desires. And what does that result in? It results in war in our members. You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You do not receive because you ask amiss. So even your prayers, he says, are misdirected, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Verse 4, adulterers and adulterers. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? He says you've got to understand that you can't have your foot straddled on both sides of the fence. You can't be in the world and you can't be in the faith at the same time. Because being in the world is enmity against God. Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously? We'll get back to that in a minute. Verse 6, but he gives more grace. Therefore, he says, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned the morning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up.

So whoever James is talking about here, we're obviously weak in the spirit. The very Bible notes says this about verse 5. It says, the thought may be expressed as thus, Do you imagine there is no meaning to the scripture that says, The Spirit that dwells in us longs jealously over us? The Spirit does not want us to have a divided allegiance? So when it says, the Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously, brethren, it means that the Holy Spirit intensely desires our loyalty and our love and our faithfulness. The Holy Spirit wants us all to itself, does not want to share us with our pleasures and our own desires and our own carnal attitudes and things that we struggle with. It's been said that we do not need more of the Spirit, but it needs more of our lives. And I think in many cases that may be true. God's Spirit needs more of our time and more of us yielding to it, more of a commitment to allow it to counsel and help us in the journey of faith. But how often does that Spirit try to warn us and we ignore it? Give us a feeling of guilt about doing something and we override that feeling. Give us a thought in our mind that you should not be comfortable about that. And we just push it aside and we go ahead and do what we want to do anyway. You see, God's Spirit will speak audibly in our heads to warn us, to encourage us, to do the things that God wants us to do that are good and right. Are we heeding to that advice? Are we heeding to the counsel of God's Holy Spirit? Or are we squelching it? Are we putting it down? Are we submerging it in our spiritual lives? I think that's a fair question. Let's go to 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 14. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 14. What are some of the things that we can do to receive the fullness of God's Holy Spirit? If we say to ourselves, I would like more of God's Holy Spirit, I would like it to be said about me what was said about Jesus Christ, and that is, to being filled with the Holy Spirit. He was filled with God's Spirit. I'd like to read the Scripture in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 14. And inside of this, and I'll just mention them quickly, inside of this are seven things that Paul demonstrates that can help us to have more of God's Holy Spirit. First, let's read the Scripture, and then I'll quickly go through the seven points. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 14. He says, Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all, see that no one renders evil for evil to any one, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. He says, Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not clench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things, hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul and body, be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful and also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. So quickly, I would just like to give you seven things that Paul mentions in these verses that can help us to have the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The first thing he mentions in verse 17, he says, Pray without ceasing. Develop, brethren, a meaningful relationship with God aside from formal prayer time. Communicate with him throughout the day. You see, God wants an ongoing dialogue from us. That's what he prefers. He prefers that far more than I'm going to pray now from 645 to 715 a.m.

Now this evening I'm going to pray from 1030 to 1055, then I'm going to go to sleep. God wants us talking to him all day long. He's our Father. Jesus Christ is our elder brother. Pray without ceasing, Paul says. He doesn't mean to sit in a corner and chant a mantra over and over again. What he's basically saying is what I'm encouraging you to do, and that is to have an ongoing dialogue with God all day long. When you face a problem, a temptation, a struggle, or an obstacle immediately within your mind, Father, please help me.

When you experience joy and something good happens, thank you, Father, for the blessing that you have just given me. Have an ongoing dialogue with him. That's number one. Number two, humbly give thanks for everything. That's mentioned in verse 18. It says, everything gives thanks. Brethren, I have seen in my almost 40 years in the Church, more people destroyed because they took everything for granted. They got into an entitlement attitude where somebody or some organization owed them something.

And instead of being thankful for the things they were given, it was like, Oh me, I'm entitled, I'm superior. And that will destroy a human being more often than any other carnal traits. It is to think that we are above and beyond everyone else and to forget to humbly give thanks for everything that we have. Because ultimately, if we have that attitude, God will take it away from us. So that's number two, humbly give thanks for everything.

Number three is to radiate joy in your life. Verse 16, rejoice always. If they took a co-worker, somebody that we work with or know, and they said to them, Okay, just between you and I, is Greg a joyful person? Now, what do you think they would say about you? Yeah, man, you know, the old Joe or your suit or whatever, always a smile on her face, a song in her heart, always just a positive attitude. And what a great example is that what they would say about us? Because Paul says, rejoice always. Radiate joy in your life. Remember one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit we read in Galatians?

Joy? That's one of those fruits. So that's number three. Number four is to listen to the counsel of the Spirit. Verse 19 says, do not quench the Spirit. The translation of God's word for today says, Do not put out the Spirit's fire.

Brother, the Spirit is trying to tell us something. Are we listening or are we spiritually tone deaf? Listen to the counsel of the Spirit and allow yourself to be led by it. That's how Jesus had a fullness of the Spirit. It says he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Are we being led by the Spirit or are we holding on to the reign?

Whoa! No! Don't go too far there. I might become spiritual. Whoa! How are we reacting to God trying to do a tremendous work in our lives and helping us to grow to become more like God? Number five, study the Word of God.

Verse 20 says, do not despise prophecies. Prophecies are an important part of God's Word. Even things that are unsettling, that are uncomfortable about the future, we need to know about them. We can't say, well, I only like Christian living and in all prophecy. We need to know the Word of God, the complete and total Word of God.

So number five is study the Word of God, even those things that are unsettling. Number six is put on new information. Put it to the test and judge it through the filtering of the fruits of the Spirit. Verse 21, he says in verse 21, test all things, hold fast what is good. Somebody writes something, somebody says something. The way that you judge it is that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are the works of the flesh.

It's either one or the other. That's how you can test all things and decide what is good and what is a pile of trash that needs to be just thrown out of your mind and thrown out of your thoughts. That's the filtering system. Fruits of the Spirit works as a flesh. So again, that's number six, put new information to the test and judge it by the fruits of the Spirit. Number seven, abstain from things the Spirit tells you to avoid. Verse 22 said abstain from every form of evil.

If you feel uncomfortable doing something, there probably is a good reason for it. If you feel uncomfortable saying something, there may be a real good reason for it. Avoid things that make you feel guilty. Analyze it. Why do I feel this way? Now, I understand that there are rare situations where we'll feel guilty for a reason that is not valid.

We might feel guilty because we're locked into a cultural mindset that goes back 40 years ago and we hear something and we're uncomfortable about it. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about moral issues here. If the Spirit, if you just get an overwhelming feeling in your value system that something isn't right, I shouldn't do it, I shouldn't write it, I shouldn't say it, I shouldn't think it, it's probably God's Spirit trying to tell you something.

So again, that was number seven. Let's take a look at our final Scripture today as we close the sermon Ephesians chapter one through eleven. Ephesians chapter one through eleven.

To me, this is the most encouraging aspect of the qualities of God's Holy Spirit.

Ephesians chapter one verse eleven. Speaking of Christ, 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. We have been sealed, departed the family of God, because we have received the promise of the Holy Spirit.

We have received God's Holy Spirit, and it is a guarantee that we are in the inheritors of the things of God. We have been sealed with the Spirit that is God's promise, that yes, you will be in my family, in spite of your flaws and weaknesses, just stay on the right path.

You will be in my kingdom. You will be with me for all eternity.

And, brethren, that is just so encouraging. And I think one of the most wonderful aspects of God's Spirit is that it is seals us with the promise of God.

Brethren, have a wonderful Sabbath. Hope to see you afterward, and hope to see you next week as well at the picnic.