God the Holy Spirit (his job):
First, let us tackle the issue of the terminology of the Holy Spirit versus the Holy Ghost. They are the same, and sometimes used together in the same verse. That was easy.
Next, I have found it easier, when trying to discover the Holy Spirit, to find out what His job is. What does he do? One of his main jobs is the distribution of divine gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
4. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9. To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10. To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11. But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
Paul writes this list for the New Testament church in Corinth explaining to them what the promised Holy Spirit can do and will do for the members of the body of Christ. Jesus, who was full of the Spirit, promised that he would send the Holy Spirit to man after he leaves.
John 14:26
But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you
John 15:26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
John 16:7
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
In the Old Testament, we also have the Holy Spirit working through men.
About Joseph we read,
Genesis 41:38
And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find [such a one] as this [is], a man in whom the Spirit of God [is]?
In Exodus we have the recently freed Israelite slaves from Egypt.
Exodus 28:3
And thou shalt speak unto all [that are] wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
Exodus 31:3
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
In Numbers and Isaiah, we read about how Moses and his immediate helpers were recipients of the Holy Spirit of God.
Numbers 11:17
And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which [is] upon thee, and will put [it] upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear [it] not thyself alone.
Numbers 11:25
And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that [was] upon him, and gave [it] unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, [that], when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
Isaiah 63:11
Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: "Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them?
When we read about the judges in the book of Judges, we see time and again how the Spirit of the Lord came upon them. We also see it in the kings. God would send to the prophets, who were in most cases ordinary men, his Spirit, and call them to be extraordinary.
Elihu puts it all in a very bottom line sort of way.
Job 32:8
But [there is] a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
So we see that one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to give man divine understanding or insight into the ways of God. These insights or gifts are from God and are used for the edification of the church and ourselves. They empower us through knowledge and understanding and a lot of times in ways we do not have a clue, or at least I don't, we just know that they are there and they are working in us and in others.
Excellent. I like a post like this that causes me to check out for myself what Scripture says about this subject. I took some of the passages and read them in their greater context to get a bigger picture of what was going on and it has really helped me understand more.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I love about God's word. We read it a hundred times and then at reading 101 we see something, not something "new," but something that's been there the whole time, staring us in the face. God, in His Sovereign will just sees fit to reveal things in His own timing, rather than ours. It is the Spirit who helps us understand.