Introduction to The Godhead: The Character of The Holy Spirit | Steve Benson

started a new series on sound doctrine

and looking at

variety and various things in the word

of God.

We're going to start out in the book of

Matthew this morning, chapter one.

This is the person of the Holy Spirit

message and

we've talked about the word of God, its

importance and its purpose to instruct

us. And we need God's word to know who

God is.

That's where God reveals himself.

And we do know that we have a trinity.

God the father, God the son, and God the

holy spirit.

We've looked at the father. We've looked

at the son. And we're certainly going to

go back and

um look at both of those members of the

trinity in a much deeper dive as well.

But this is meant to get us familiar

with the Godhead.

And we want to talk about the Holy

Spirit today, his personality, his

character.

He's throughout the word of God.

Um,

we're familiar with a lot of the New

Testament has to say. In fact, we've

mentioned quite a bit in the New

Testament.

We're going to see a lot in the Old

Testament

as well as we go through maybe not today

some of those verses, but in the future,

we'll take a deep dive into the Old

Testament to see the person of

the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit is equal in every

way as the Father and the Son.

And it seems like, I don't know about

you, but it seems like I'm more familiar

with the Father and the Son than I am

with the Holy Spirit.

So, that's my fault. But, we do have

everything in the New Testament that's

said about him.

We um remember what Jesus said about him

as well. Remember,

the Holy Spirit started the church. Acts

Acts 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 and two.

We're going to look at that in the

future.

But the Holy Spirit started the church

and Jesus predicted those things back in

the upper room. We're going to see some

of those verses this morning.

But we are simply going to rely on the

Bible. simply rely on the word of God

and understand uh who the Holy Spirit

is. And that's what it is. It's just

simply a revelation

of the word of God. It's it's uh nothing

mysterious. God wants us to know him.

So if we come with the right attitude

and we come uh seeking, then that's what

the Lord will do.

But the New Testament starts out with

the Holy Spirit.

And the Old Testament starts out with

the Holy Spirit as well. Genesis 1:E 2,

the spirit of God moved upon the water.

So,

a lot in the word of God here from cover

to cover to say about the Holy Spirit.

And he's uh throughout this book all the

way then into the book of Revelation.

So uh he's mentioned

I think in every New Testament book but

three of the small ones. So he plays an

important role in the word of God in the

Godhead and in our life. So it's

important for us to to know these things

and the Holy Spirit

we owe our we owe everything to him. I

mean, we were not here on the earth.

Jesus is not still here training his

disciples.

No, he said, "I go away, and if I go

away, I prepare a place for you. I will

come again, but I'm going to send a

comforter."

So, if you know Jesus, you know Jesus

because of the third member of the

Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

So, here we see the birth of Jesus in

the book of Matthew. Just so we can see

that the New Testament starts out uh

with the mention of the Holy Spirit here

in Matthew 1:18. Now the birth of Jesus

Matthew 1:18

Christ was in this way when his mother

Mary wasn't bounced to Joseph.

Uh before they came together, she was

found a child of the Holy Spirit. So the

Holy Spirit was there at the moment

of the inception of this holy child

Jesus. And uh hopefully in the future

we're going to look at this and just see

what a miracle

uh this is or this was.

Uh then Joseph verse 19 her husband

being a just man not willing to make her

public example he was mindful to put her

away privately but when she thought on

these things behold the angel of the

Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying

Joseph thou son of David fear not

to take unto thee Mary thy wife for that

which is with thee is conceived in her

is of the Holy Spirit. So there he is

again. So a great miracle happened right

right out of the gate uh in the New

Testament and in the gospels. The Holy

Spirit

uh member of the Trinity was heavily

involved deeply involved

in Jesus coming to earth and Jesus

becoming a man. And then down in verse

25 he knew her not until she had brought

forth the firstborn son and called his

name Jesus. So that's uh what we see as

this begins in the New Testament. Now

turn over to chapter 3 and verse 16.

It's a really good example for us here

to see. You know, some people, as I

mentioned, believe that God the Father

became God the Son and God the Son

became God the Holy Spirit and now, you

know, everybody's uh God the Holy Spirit

now. Well, that's not true. That's a

that's a wrong understanding of this.

And there are many many many wrong

understandings of the trinity and the

holy spirit. This is where a lot of

people uh are in error. They don't rely

on what the word says.

But here in chapter 3 16 Jesus when he

was baptized went straight up out of the

water and lo the heavens were open. He

saw the spirit of God descending on him

like a like a dove and lighting upon him

and lo the voice from heaven saying this

is my beloved son in whom I am well

pleased. So right here we have all three

members of the trinity at Jesus baptism.

So you can see that they are obviously

three separate persons

uh yet one God

and uh we can't explain that but that's

what we believe and you know God God

never goes against his revelation you

know what he says

you know whether we understand it

whether we believe it or not it's for

our good look over in Matthew chapter 13

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

and this sort of sets up uh one of the

harder doctrines

in the word of God on the Holy Spirit

and who the Holy Spirit is and what what

he does. But

he's the one who reveals

God to us.

And Paul says in Romans chapter 8, if

Romans 8 · chapter mention

you don't have the Holy Spirit, you're

none of his. So we better get this

right. him.

Make sure that we have the Holy Spirit

and we receive the Holy Spirit the way

the Bible says to.

And here he says uh in verse 11 because

it is given you to know the mysteries of

the kingdom but to them is not given. So

there are some people who are going to

understand. There's some people who are

going to get this. There's some people

who are going to know what the Bible

says and there going to be some who

don't. And then he says, "For whosoever

hath, to him shall be given, and he

shall have more abundance, but to

whosoever has not, from him it shall be

taken away, even as he has." So God is

in charge of us knowing him and

understanding this revelation about um

the Holy Spirit. Turn to Proverbs 25.

Proverbs

25.

And you know, we you know, as we saw in

our song this morning, you know, God

wants us to come to him for instruction.

I mean, that's what the Psalms say. You

know, teach me your ways, oh Lord, that

I might follow your path.

And you know, that's our attitude here,

you know.

that we need to be taught of God. You

know, we're not going to know God unless

we're taught of God.

We're not going to know the things of

God unless we're taught by God. And

that's what the Bible says. We're taught

by God. These aren't things that are

just, you know, human achievements or,

you know, the guy with the with the most

brainhorse powers, the guy that knows

the most about God. That's that's not

the way this works at all.

You know, God is on the other other side

and he wants to see us humble. He wants

to see us coming to him

and saying, "God, show us who you are."

And that's what, you know, these men

have done, women have done in the word

of God. Look at Proverbs chapter 25 and

Proverbs 25 · chapter mention

verse two. It says, "It is the glory of

God to conceal a thing."

So God, some things God conceals, some

things God doesn't show people. You

know, the the a really good example of

that's in John chapter nine with the

with the blind man and the Pharisees.

You know, you know, he God Jesus hid

himself from the Pharisees but made

himself known to the to the blind man.

So we are dependent on God. We're

depending on God's word to know these

things and for God to help us. And you

know, the the Holy Spirit appears just

in in numerous books throughout the New

Testament, numerous books throughout the

Old Testament.

And you know, he's here. He's in the

word of God and he's in the scriptures

and he's a member of the Godhead. God

wants us to know him. And that part of

him as well is the Holy Spirit.

And you know, we need to see that he has

a love for us.

You know, God, we see the love of the

father. We see the love of God the Son.

And we need to see the love of God the

Holy Spirit for us. And you know, he

he's a real person. He really does

exist.

But a spirit's invisible. And you know,

we

can't use our 3D glasses to see him. You

know, we have to know he's here. We have

to know where he's at. you know, we have

to uh do things the way he he wants them

done. Turn over to First Corinthians

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

And if you're saved, you're born again,

you know who Jesus is, you owe that to

God, the Holy Spirit. If you know the

word of God

um and you know who Christ is, you know

these things that are written of of us,

these great and precious promises, God,

the Holy Spirit has made these things

known to us because there's no other way

uh to get this.

So, you know, here we go in 1

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 2

in verse 10.

Well, how much does God the Father know?

He's infinite. How much does God the Son

know? He's infinite, right? God the Holy

Spirit. Same thing, infinite in

knowledge. And here we see in this

verse, God has revealed him to us by his

spirit.

So that's what Paul says to the

Corinthians. You guys are saved and you

know who God is because of God the Holy

Spirit.

and Paul as well. He Paul had no, you

know, there's no human being that

deserves this. This is this is the God's

grace and God's gift to us

is salvation and the Holy Spirit's a

gift. And he says here, he searches all

things,

you know, the

the deep things of God. So there's

nothing the Holy Spirit doesn't know

about himself and about God

that he can help us with and help us

understand. So we have an we have a

great teacher who knows everything.

And then he then he compares the Holy

Spirit to the spirit that's in man. For

what man knows the things of man except

the spirit of man is in him. So there's

a difference between the Holy Spirit and

the and the man and the man's spirit. A

man's spirit. That's what this verse

says. You know, we know human things.

You know, we know what pain is. You

know, I know if I, you know, start up a

mountain that by the time I get to the

top, I'm going to be out of breath and

sweating. You know, those are the things

of man. I know the things of man. But

that doesn't help me one iota when it

comes to God.

In fact, pride can get in the way, can

it?

So, we are dependent on God. And that's

what this verse says. Even so, the

things of God knows no man. Not even

Paul, not Einstein, not you know,

whoever we think the, you know, the most

brilliant guy is right now. I guess

that's uh the the Tesla guy. What's his

name?

you know, he he doesn't his brain

horsepower will help him in no way with

God.

Now, I'm not saying that brilliant men

don't get saved and bring that

brilliance to the scripture. Oh my,

there there are men like that. Dr.

Whitam was one,

you know, that guy was, you know, he was

a he was an indepth

uh Bible guy, wasn't he?

And he used that horsepower that God

gave him, you know, to to write a lot of

good books about God and about the word

of God. But in no way can our brain

horsepower help us know God. We're

totally dependent not on man's spirit

here, but the spirit of God as he says,

he says the things that we have

received. So you see, they're received,

they're given. There's not nothing ever

earned here. There's no merit here. God

didn't God didn't say, "Well, you're a

pretty smart guy. I'm going to give you

more than I give everybody else." That's

that's God is no respector of persons.

I don't care how many initials you have

before your name or how many initials

you have after your name. That doesn't

impress God.

I'm not running down education. I'm not

running down, you know, uh, brilliance

and the intellect. God gave it to us.

You know, that's where it come from. But

it, you know, you can leave it at the

gate when it comes to knowing God and

understanding God. He reveals himself to

us. And that's what this verse says.

Now, we have received not the spirit of

the world. So, the world has a spirit.

Our flesh has a spirit. But the things

uh that we know about God, God has

freely given to us of God. So, it's

freely here. There's no merit.

Just like our salvation.

you know, it's free. It's it's just

unmmerited grace. And that's what the

Bible says about Jesus. He he came in

spirit and in truth.

So, you know, the two go together. And

we need God's truth. And then he goes on

to talk about, you know, wisdom, man's

wisdom, and all those things. And then

he says down here just to to further

curse our old man, he says, "An natural

man receives not the things of the

spirit of God. They just it our flesh

and the spirit just go in opposite

directions.

They were foolishness unto him. Neither

can he know them." He's spiritually

disqualified.

But he that is spiritual judges all

things. He himself is judged of no man.

who has known the mind of the Lord that

he may instruct him. So our instructor

knows everything,

everything about God, everything about

the word of God,

everything in this book. And to top it

off, one of the gifts that God gives us

now, we have the mind of Christ.

Well, that really helps. So those are

the things that I need to depend on if

I'm going to know God. mind he gave me

in Christ the spirit he gave me here who

knows everything can search the deep

things and that spirit

uh look over here

it's given to

every person the moment they get saved

the the nancond in fact the the Holy

Spirit is the one who comes and brings

us faith that's what that's what first

Corinthians says how can any man call uh

Jesus Lord Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.

So, the spirit comes then when when the

new birth happens. We'll talk about some

of those things as we go through the

series.

But you know how sinful and terrible

these Corinthians were and what Paul

say? Well, you guys all you guys all

lost your the Holy Spirit. You need to

ask God for the Holy Spirit again. You

you guys done ran him off. That's not

what Paul says at all. He says over here

in verse 16,

"Know you not that you are the temple of

God and the spirit of God dwells in

you?"

So that's something we need to know

right out of the gate about God, the

Holy Spirit. He is the one who's in us

and dwells in us.

And he's the one that makes Christ known

to us and makes the deep things of God

known to us. Certainly when it comes to

salvation.

Verse 17, if any man defile the temple

of God, him shall God destroy. For you

are the temple of God. And and God is

holy, which temple you are. So here's

this Holy Spirit

that he is speaking of.

You know, he he's not a he's not a

flashlight for the dark.

You know, the God's like, "Man, you guys

are in the dark. here, let me give you a

flashlight. That's not what the Holy

Spirit is at all. He's a member of the

Trinity. He's a member of the Godhead.

He's the one who knows these deep things

of God. He's the one who can come and

take the mind of Christ and make the

deep things known to us. And here Paul

says he's dwelling in us. We don't need

to ask for him. He's already there. He

he if we if we're believers, if we've

been born again,

he knows everything and he dwells in us.

Boy, that's a pretty good setup

from God to do that for us.

And uh

he's he's uh the one the Bible says in

him is no darkness at all. So when we're

talking about the Holy Spirit,

in him is no darkness at all. Just like

God the Father and God the Son, God the

Holy Spirit in him is no darkness at

all. Now, we mentioned that verse in

Romans. Go over to Romans 8.

And it's critical for us to get this

right.

The Holy Spirit like salvation is a

gift.

You know, it's not something that

happens later on,

you know, okay, now I'm saved and boy,

if I if I'm a good boy long enough,

God will give me the Holy Spirit. That's

not what this book says. This book says

the moment the nancond we were saved,

the Holy Spirit was a gift just like

salvation.

And here in Romans 8

and 27,

and he that searchth the heart knows

that in the mind of the spirit

because he makes intercession for the

saints according

to the will of God. So the Holy Spirit

knows everything.

He even knows everything about us.

So I got somebody dwelling within me

that knows everything about me.

every thought before I take it.

So there's this intimacy now that we

have with God that he's given to us

through his son.

Um look over in verse 9. There's a verse

I mentioned before

where he says uh that we're not in the

flesh but in the spirit. Now, we still

have the flesh,

but if we walk in the spirit, the

spirit's going to take over and the

flesh is going to move to the side. Oh,

he'll come back. He'll come back. He'll

come back repeated times.

But God has given us the Holy Spirit to

overcome our flesh and overcome our sin

and overcome these things and walk in

him. That's what this verse says. Now,

you're not in the flesh, but in the

spirit, the Holy Spirit. If so be that

you, the spirit of God dwells in you.

Now, here's a warning. If any man have

not the spirit of Christ, he is none of

his. So,

if you're not born again, you don't have

the spirit. That's, you know, that's

that causes a lot of problems for a lot

of people. they're not even saved

and maybe they're asking for God the

Holy Spirit or, you know, they're

confused on this. But our salvation

comes first

when when we get when when we get Christ

and we get all these other things with

him

and we we become children of God and the

spirit searches the knows us uh over

there in verse 27 uh pretty much in

depth.

And here's why. Verse 7 says the the

carnal mind is at immity with God.

It is not subject to the law of God.

Neither indeed can be. So

what happens, you know, when we got

saved, that's why we're not under law.

We're not under the law because of the

Holy Spirit that's in us. We have we

have God in us.

So,

um, the law was a school master to get

us to Christ and to get us to where God

could put his spirit in us, you know, as

we, uh, as we believed the gospel and we

became his and we walk by faith.

Remember Romans chapter 15

Romans 15 · chapter mention

and verse 30.

Romans 15:30.

Romans 15:30

Paul says, "Here," now I beseech you,

brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's

sake and for the love of the Spirit. Did

you know the Holy Spirit loved you?

Do I know the Holy Spirit loves me? I

know God the Father does.

I know God the Son does. He died for me,

but God the Holy Spirit loves us as

well.

That you strive together with me in your

prayers to God for me. You know, so Paul

mentions that here. We need to know that

the the spirit loves us with the love of

the spirit. And we have the love of the

father. We have the love of the son. We

have the love of the spirit.

And we pray to God the father. We pray

to God the son. How often do we pray to

God the Holy Spirit? That's not a wrong

thing. That's a right thing. The Holy

Spirit's as much member of the Godheads

as God the Father and God the Son and no

less a member of the Godhead. Turn to

John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

Seems like we can't talk about anything

without going to John 14 at least once

during a message.

There's just so much here. this, you

know, this is what's, you know,

different, what's the difference between

the synoptic gospels and the gospel of

John?

Well, they're both the word of God. But

the thing John does for us, he comes

along later on. He tells us about the

upper room.

He tells us what Jesus in depth said

about God the Holy Spirit. So,

here we have God, God the Son, teaching

us about God the Holy Spirit.

This is this is just such a valuable

section of scripture on these um

subjects

and and here's another thing that you

know we see the love the spirit loves

us.

Uh here we see the the spirit wants to

come and be our comforter.

You know that's what the word means.

Comforter. The Holy Spirit. That's one

of his names. The comforter. Jesus

called him that. So we can too. You

know, thank you comforter for coming to

me. That's the Holy Spirit. He said I

won't leave you comfortless.

Look in verse 16.

I will pray the father and he shall give

you another comforter and he will abide

with you how long?

Forever.

You know, I I believe this and maybe you

don't, maybe you never even thought

about it, but I think you know in Jude

it says there talked about the devil

after the the body of Moses and those

things that went on the spiritual realm.

Well, the spirit of God's in us. Romans

8 says that's who's going to bring us

out of the grave, you know. So, no

matter how long you've been dead, no

matter, you know, how how long ago it

was you're buried, no matter how many

pieces you might be in, you might have

even got blown into Bolivian, wherever

that's at.

But God, the Holy Spirit is going to put

it all back together.

We're going to come out of our grave

with a body just like Jesus did.

And Jesus, he's he connects the spirit

and the truth together here. Well,

that's him. Christ is the truth. The

spirit is the truth. The world can't

receive.

So, the world doesn't get the Holy

Spirit. Unsaved people don't get the

Holy Spirit.

Only Jesus disciples

who believe in him, who come by faith

and and know that he is the way, the

truth, and the life. And every one of us

are saved.

Every one of us that are saved,

Spurgeon used to call God the hound of

heaven.

If he gets on your trail, you're not

getting away.

That happened to me. God got on my trail

for three years and he finally run me

down.

So the love of God

is seen in God coming and bringing us to

himself through God the Holy Spirit.

That's what he Jesus said in verse one.

We've read it a million times. Let not

your heart be troubled. You believe in

God, believe in me. So we have the

Trinity. We have God the Father. We have

God the Son. We have God, the Holy

Spirit involved in our salvation and

bringing us um to Christ.

So it doesn't mean we can separate it

into three parts now. Okay, God the

Father did this part and God the Son did

this part and God the Holy Spirit did

that part. No, we don't want to do that.

The Trinity is united. You know, the

Bible says uh in in fact

who raised Jesus from the dead.

Bible says God the Father raised Jesus

from the dead. The Bible says God the

Son raised Jesus from the dead. The

Bible says God the Holy Spirit raised

Jesus from the dead. So you see the

harmony and the unity and the Godhead

and working these things out. But Jesus

said, "If I go, it's expedient for you

that I go away."

You know, well, if Jesus said that, and

we better listen. That's like saying,

"Well, you've got everything. There's

not one more thing that I can do for

you, but

I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit.

He's going to guide you into the truth.

You're going to have my peace. You're

going to have my comfort. You're going

to have these things." So um and and

that's what they were doing. They were

getting they were sorrowful over this.

The thought of Jesus

leaving.

He's going back to his father

not defeated

but to be glorified.

And that's where he's at now. He's, you

know, as we pray, he's moving the church

forward. He's at the right hand of the

father. So when we're praying for

someone or something, Jesus is there to

help us. The clock move forward. John

morning.

So the father and the son and the holy

spirit are all pretty involved in in

these things. And you know Jesus says

when he comes he's going to be your

teacher, your instructor,

and he's going to convict the world of

sin. This is what this is what happened

to me. I put off

trusting God for 23 years.

Oh, the first 20 were pretty easy cuz I

I never even knew who he was. I could

just

blank him out.

But somebody came and gave me the gospel

out of the book here

about God's love for me, the son's love

for me, and what they did for me and

God's grace.

And then, you know, I got convicted of

my sin and believe the gospel. Well,

how'd that happen? Well, G because Jesus

prayed the Father to send a comforter.

He's not only a comforter, he's a

convvictor

as well. He just can't look the other

way when we sin.

You know, he uses the word of God on us

to tell us that we're unbelievers. And

for me, I I was headed to hell and I

needed to be saved. And here in verse 7,

Jesus says this of the spirit. He says,

"I tell you the truth, it's expedient

for you that I go away."

When Jesus says expedient,

he's saying, "Well, you already have

everything, but I'm going to give you

something else.

And if I go not away, the comforter will

not come unto you. But if I depart, I

will send him to you." So, here we see

the fact that Jesus went to heaven.

He's not down here preaching anymore.

He's not down here starring in any

movies.

He's about this book that was written of

him. And uh we see here that the Holy

Spirit's the one who brings conviction

and instruction. He's now our teacher.

And he will reprove the world of sin, of

righteousness, of judgment,

of sin because they believe not on me,

of righteousness because I go to my

father.

And you'll see me no more. a judgment

because a prince of this world is

judged. The Holy Spirit is here as a

restrainer.

Um, that's what Paul tells the

Thessalonians. We're not going to turn

there,

but that's another thing the Holy

Spirit's doing to prove to us he's God.

He's restraining the world. We'll try

that without being God.

So, we have God in us. And the Bible

says when we go back to heaven, when the

rapture happens, then he's going to take

us back uh to be with him.

So, we can count on him. He's the one

that, you know, when we when the Bible

says, "Love the Lord your God with all

your heart, with all your soul, with all

your mind, and all your strength," and

we're like, "I can't do that. I didn't

do that." Well, that's our conscience.

And then the spirit comes along and

says, "You're a lawb breaker. You need

the grace of God. You need the promise

of God." Jesus said, "He died for

sinners to save sinners." And Paul said,

"Of whom I am the chief."

So when the Holy Spirit comes, he he's

going to save uh look over in chapter

17. you know, this we have looked at

and and um there's a lot of verses in

here we could look at again, but just

look at verse two.

God gave Jesus power over all flesh.

That means everybody's going to answer

to him that was ever born or ever will

be born.

So that's who Jesus is. He's a member of

the Trinity. He's the He's in the

Godhead along with God the Father and

God the Holy Spirit.

So we have the we have the son here

praying to his father and he says I'm

going to give as eternal life to as many

as you have given me. So the Bible says

that that's who the elect are those who

God the father gave to God the son.

And this is eternal life that they may

know thee the only true God Jesus Christ

whom you have sent. How do we know God?

Only through the Holy Spirit.

He's the one. It's not our intellect.

It's not our understanding. It's it's

not the spirit of man in us. It's not

the spirit of the world around us. It's

the spirit of God in us.

And this spirit, he's a person.

He's not a thing.

He's not a force.

He's a He's a person.

He's a holy person. He's a righteous

person. He knows my thoughts before I

have them.

And yeah, he's here

to convict us, but he's here to comfort

us as well. He does both. So, our

convicting comes from him. Our comfort

comes from him. And he's got his own

unique personality.

He's not the father. He's not the son.

He's God the Holy Spirit.

So he is divine. He's full of joy. We

saw the verses. He's full of love.

We saw those verses. So we have a divine

being within us that's filled with joy.

That's why David, we're going to see

this in a future messages and the psalm

says, you know, talks about oil and joy.

Oil and joy. Making that connection.

Well, that's the Holy Spirit is joy.

How can sinners have joy?

Only by the spirit of God. How can

sinners have comfort?

Only by the spirit of God. And they're

united. God the Father, Son, Holy

Spirit. They're united in this for us.

Turn over to Galatians

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5.

Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

You know, everybody thinks, you know,

oh, we need more.

What do you need more than the than God

the spirit in you?

You don't need anymore.

We have a divine nature. We have the

word of God. There's, you know, we when

we die and get to heaven, you know,

we're not going to say, "Well, God, I

would have done better had you done this

or had you done that." No, it's all on

us.

So knowing who God is and having the

word of God and having the convictions

that come and having the comfort that

comes uh to us through his word. That's

why we study God's word in depth.

You know, God, the Holy Spirit works

and make himself known to us

that we might walk in the spirit.

We got a member of the Trinity. And

that's what Paul tells the Galatians.

They they want to go back under the law.

That's that's the another thing people

think. Okay, now I'm saved. I'm back

under the law. No.

No. We're not under the law. We're under

grace.

And the reason we're not under the law,

our flesh is done. It's been crucified.

It's going to be done away with. Flesh

and blood will not inherit the kingdom.

So through what Jesus did, the penalty

for our sins and our old flesh is going

to stay in the grave. Death is going to

do us a huge favor

and we're going to have a glorified body

like Christ's body.

And these poor Galatians, they messed it

all up.

You know, they thought their fle they

can make themselves better in their

flesh. Okay, now I'm saved. I need to

get I need to get in this particular

book. I need to get circumcised.

Paul said no.

And people other people add works to

salvation. You know, well, it's enough

that Jesus died for me, but and then you

start naming things. Oh, I got to get

water baptized. I got to join a church.

You know, I got to I got to obey the

commandments. You know, I can't sin

again. I mean, all these things that the

Bible says nothing about,

but people talk about because they just

don't know what this book says about

these things. This is the mystery of

God,

that we're not under the law. We're

under grace. Not so that we can go out

and sin,

but God's grace is going to do much more

for us than than the law ever could.

That's what Paul told these Galatians

and he said back there where it's right

across the page. Turn back to chapter 3

then I'll jump back to chapter 5. But

Paul asked him this question in chapter

3 verse 1. Oh foolish Galatian.

People who don't know this,

who don't believe this,

Paul says you're a fool.

Who tricked you?

You knew the truth. I brought it to you.

They heard the gospel from Paul.

Probably not a better preacher

when it comes to these things. Paul

says, "I preached the gospel and you got

saved and now you think you can add to

that."

Somebody's somebody's tricking you. You

didn't obey the truth. So that's

when Romans 8 says that if we don't have

the spirit of God, we're none of his.

Well, we get the spirit of God by

obeying the truth. And the truth is the

gospel. By faith are you saved.

And he says here before whose eyes Jesus

Christ has been openly set forth

crucified among you.

If you can do something for God in your

flesh, why in the world did Jesus come

down here?

Oh, asked him a good question, didn't

he?

this only what I learned in you. How'd

you get the spirit? The Holy Spirit

that's in you?

How'd you get him? By the law or by by

the hearing of faith? They know the

answer to that. Are you so foolish?

Having begun in the spirit, you're now

made perfect by your flesh. That's what

the spirit does.

God doesn't like our flesh. God doesn't

like sin. God doesn't like his children

to be wrapped up and deceived in these

things. He wants us out of that bondage.

And God has done a great thing that he

comes and indwells every one of us who

have been born again.

He therefore that ministers to you the

spirit work miracles among you. Did he

do it by the works of the law or by the

hearing of faith? God works through

faith

and and and

Salvation's a free gift. The Holy Spirit

comes right with that gift. They don't

get there separately. They don't get

there apart. The minute you got

redeemed, the minute you got saved, you

had the Holy Spirit. He come to indwell

us.

And we can't clean things up for him to

come. We're insulting God when we do

things like that. And then Paul says,

"Why are you serving the law?" In verse

19,

don't go that way. Go this way.

What way? Well, he tells us in chapter

There's I'm jumping over a lot. Uh you

know the book though. Jump back to verse

13 of chapter 5 where we were.

So the solution

for our old sinful flesh. Oh, God took

all that into consideration.

And he says in Romans 8, he that has

given you his son.

It's not going to

What else have you cost God?

We cost God his son. So believe me, he

gave us everything in him. We don't need

anything else. Now there, you know,

there church membership, water baptism,

you know, obeying the word of God, you

know, there's things like that that we

must do and those things we will do as

Paul said in Acts 15 and we'll get to

that. But our obedience does not save

us. Our faith saves us.

And Paul says here in verse 13,

"Brethren, you have been called to

liberty."

But say, "Well, don't tell people that.

They're going to they're going to go

sin. I'm sorry. I'm going to teach what

the Bible says.

He says, "You've been called unto

liberty." And then he says, "Only use

not your liberty for the occasion of the

flesh." So there Paul says, "We're under

grace, but don't go live in sin and be

in misery and woe in God's judgment for

you." You know, because God will. His

children, God judges his children if we

go get in sin. He's not going to let us

go away. He'll bring us back. Jesus said

he left the 99 to go after the one.

He says here, "But by love, serve one

another." That's what's more important

than keeping the commandments.

And Jesus said, "When we do this, we are

keeping the commandments." This is the

goal of the commandment. Paul told

Timothy that we love one another. For

the love is fulfilled in one word, even

this. Thou shalt love the neighbor as

yourself. But that's here's what they

were doing. They were biting and

devouring one another. Take heed that

you be not consumed one of another.

They're cannibals. Spiritual cannibals.

This I say,

walk in the spirit.

Who? What?

The Holy Spirit that's in you. Paul had

to correct their misunderstanding.

That's what people need. They need, you

know, people are easily deceived because

they don't know anything.

It's easy to to deceive people who don't

know anything. They fall right in line.

We need the word of God. We need to come

to God and say, "God, help me. I'm

humbled before you. You're holy. You're

just. You're in me. You want me to walk

in the spirit and not fulfill the lust

of the flesh? In verse 16

and and there's a war going on.

Yeah. Bugs Bunny used to have the devil

and the and the angel was a dappy duck.

You know, the devil tell him to do bad

things and the angel telling him to do

good things. You know, that's uh we

don't have angels in us. We have our old

sinful nature in us. We have our flesh

and now we have the Holy Spirit, not an

angel. Been great if God would have, you

know, some people get all wrapped up in

that. Oh, God put his angels over me to

protect me. Well, that's a great thing.

But God did something greater. He's in

us.

And he says, "These are contrary one to

another. You cannot do the things that

you would. You're going to struggle.

But if you be led by the spirit,

you're not under the law. So God says,

if we walk in this Holy Spirit, who he

gave us, we're not under the law.

And he he mentions the works of the

flesh, they manifest themselves.

Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,

lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery,

hatred,

strife, jealousy, wrath,

factions, seditions, heresies,

envys, murders, drunkenness, reviling,

and the like of which I tell you before

and I have told you in the past that

they who do such things will not inherit

the kingdom of God. God doesn't like

sin.

But the fruit of the spirit, this is us

now.

So we have the Holy Spirit in us and

he's he's love. The spirit's love. We

saw the verse, remember? We saw the

verse. He's joy. So the Holy Spirit is

love. The Holy Spirit is joy. The Holy

Spirit is peace. The Holy Spirit is

long-suffering.

He's gentle. He's good. He's uh

faithful.

And then we should be meek um and under

self-control. And there's just no law

for this. They that are Christ have

crucified the flesh with us affections

and lust. If we live in the spirit, let

us walk in the spirit. Let us not be

desires of vain glory provoking and

envying one another. So here you can see

uh that God wants us to walk

in his spirit. And then look and the the

word of God is a big part of this. Look

down at verse six. Let him that is

taught in the word share with him that

teacheth in all good things and be not

deceived. God is not mocked. So we need

the word of God to go along with God the

Holy Spirit. Second Corinthians chapter

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

3.

Second Corinthians chapter 3.

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

And here's another uh great section on

on God the Holy Spirit. You know, Paul

never hesitated

to point out God the Father.

God never hesit Paul never hesitated to

point out God the Son. In fact, he said,

"I preach Christ and Christ crucified."

But Paul never failed to point out uh

God the Holy Spirit's work in our life

as well. And here's a great section on

this about you know the the letter kills

and the spirit

gives life. You see that in verse six

but the spirit gives life.

You know how many things in this

universe can give life?

Many can give death. Our sins give

death. Our flesh gives death. We give

death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death

is everywhere for us.

But the spirit gives the life.

And the spirit of God is the one who has

caused us to be born again to be

regenerated. Uh we saw that in Titus

Titus 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 when we went through the book

of Titus, being regenerated by the

spirit of God. Uh Jesus said that about

the Holy Spirit when he was in uh in the

upper room with the disciples. He said,

you know, people are going to be born

again like I told Nicodemus. Well, how's

that going to happen? Well, the spirit's

going to come

and the Holy Spirit started the church.

Remember Jesus said, "I'm going up here,

but I'll send him." So, the Holy Spirit

came down in Acts chapter 1. He started

Acts 1 · chapter mention

the church. So, I'm out of time, but

next week we'll get together again and

we'll talk more about God, the Holy

Spirit. Uh, he's a he's a real being.

Um,

he has a holy character.

He's full of love. He's full of joy,

peace, all the things that we need, all

those fruits of the spirit, that's where

they come from. They come from him.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you this

morning. Lord Jesus, we thank you this

morning. Um God, the Holy Spirit, we

thank you this morning for your great

love for us.

We were in darkness. Uh we were bound up

by sin in this world and we had nothing

to bring us back to you, but you came

after us. We thank you uh for doing that

very thing. Thank you, Father. Thank

you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit,

for indwelling us. Help us to know you

guys better. What an incredible Godhead

we have in you. And we thank you in

Jesus name. Amen.

Lord, as we go from this place,

loving you more,

trusting you more.

May the power of your love and the light

of your word shine to a sin darkened

world as we go from this place.