The Holy Spirit Loves You

The Holy Spirit Loves You

Opening question: Who or what is the Holy Spirit? How do you understand the Holy Spirit?

In our last lesson, we looked at the love that Jesus has for us.

First, we looked at who Jesus is. We discussed how Jesus is God and looked at verses like John 10:30, when Jesus said, “I and My Father are one.”

(meaning that He has all the qualities that God has. If we are wondering what God is like, what characteristics does it have, then we look at Jesus and when we saw the qualities Jesus have, we understand that God has those qualities as well, like love, kindness, mercy, compassion, and so on.

Second, we discussed how Jesus is the Only way to the Father. Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is “the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The third thig we discussed was that Jesus, like God, also Loves You. As in the case of the Father, Jesus has shown you His love through His actions. As we read in Romans 5:8: ... while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Today, we are going to look at the third person of God, the Holy Spirit.

1.         The first thing to understand about the Holy Spirit, is that like God and Jesus, the Holy Spirit is also God. Perhaps this is confusing, since we have already said that Jesus is God and now the Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit has the qualities of God.

The Bible is clear that there is one God, 1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. We are not saying that there are three Gods.

Q: What are some of the qualities that we have discussed about God and Jesus?

John 14:15-17: “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 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.

Q2: How is the Holy Spirit referred to as he, she or it?

Q:3: What else does Jesus say about the Holy Spirit?

Abide in you forever – dwells with the apostles – will be in them.

Q4: Some people believe that Jesus was talking about Mohammed as the helper that was to come, and they use the words of Jesus to suggest that.  Jesus is speaking in John 14:15-17 – what does he say about the Helper – can the Helper be a human – why or why not?

No – dwells with the apostles and will be “in” the apostles.  A) a human cannot dwell in another human and definitely not in many humans such as the 12 apostles.  B) Mohammed was not born until about 600 years later and yet Jesus says the Helper will dwell with and be in the apostles.

In Acts 5:3-4, we read: 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

Q4: Who was Ananias lying too (see vs 3 and 5)?

Holy Spirit/God.

2.         The second thing to know about the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit will be with you and help you.

Jesus already described the Holy Spirit as a Helper, when He promised that the apostles would receive him. But this promise was not made only to the apostles. In Acts 2:37-39, we read the words that Peter spoke to the Jews: 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Q5: What is Peter telling this people to do?

Q6: What are they to received?

Q6: Who was this promise for?

Everyone who is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ will receive the remission of sins and the Holy Spirit to help them.

  

3.        The third thing to know about the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit loves you.

As we’ve been mentioning in our lessons, love in the Bible is displayed through actions. What actions has the Holy Spirit done or continues to do to show us His love? There are many and we can spent many hours discussing them, but tonight we are going to look at three things:

A.    The Holy Spirit is our motivation to Godly living - 1 Cor 6:19-20: 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body [g]and in your spirit, which are God’s.

B.    The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that God has given us that we will have our inheritance. Eph 1:13-14: 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, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

C.    The Holy Spirit give us comfort. The word translated “helper” also means “comforter” as we read in John 14:16. In Acts 9:31, we read that: 31 Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

Conclusion: The Holy Spirit is God; He lives in us and helps us, and the Holy Spirit loves us by comforting us, by being a guarantee of the promise of God for eternal life and helps increase our motivation to life a godly life.