The
Personality of the Spirit
“Another
Comforter”! What could the Master mean?
Could anyone take the Master’s place?
Could there be “another” who would
be to the disciples all that the Master had
been? Yet, in that upper room meeting Jesus
told them of Someone to follow Him who was to
fill the place in their lives that He had
filed, Someone empowered to act in His stead.
A patient became
apprehensive when he learned that his doctor
would be away for six months. “But you
will be in good hands,” the doctor said
with assurance. “My brother and I went
to medical college together, we have
practiced together for twenty years, and we
have often counseled together about your
case. He knows as much about you as I do. You
need not worry. My brother will be to you as
my second self.”
In sending this,
other Comforter Jesus in reality sent His
“second self.” Of this Comforter
Jesus said, “He dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you.” John 14:17. The
disciples had only dimly understood how Jesus
as Emmanuel had been God with them, but now
He spoke of “another” that was to
dwell in them. This was too difficult for
them to grasp as yet. Indeed, they would have
to experience it in order to understand.
In these words, Jesus
prepared the way for His successor. He wanted
His disciples to receive the Comforter as
they would receive Him. And who was this
Person of whom he spoke? None other than the
Third Person of the Godhead! Only another
member of the Godhead could ever be to them
all that He had been to them.
Many had been
deceived into equating the Spirit of God with
an abstraction. They speak of the Holy Spirit
as merely an influence. However, while the
Spirit has influence, He is much more than an
influence-He is a Person, a divine Person. To
be sure, the Holy Spirit has power, “the
power of the Highest.” (Luke 1:35), yet
the Spirit is not power in any abstract sense
like gravity or electricity.
In announcing His
personal representative and successor, Jesus
did not mean to withdraw His affections from
His disciples. Jesus would be closer to them
by His Spirit that if He had remained with
them limited by their flesh. The love of God
would still be shed abroad in their hearts.
Indeed, the Spirit would be to them as
Christ’s personal presence. Having His
Spirit within them, His disciples would feel
as He felt, see things as He saw them, love
sinners as He loved them, and become more
like Him that would have been possible if
Jesus had remained with them. In dwelt by the
Spirit of Christ, they would be privileged to
know the real Christ. They would have in them
the same Spirit that had indwelt their
Master. Thus they would know the
“inside” Christ because the inside
Christ can be known only as the Hoy Spirit
reveals Him. (1 Corinthians 12:3.)
The baptismal formula
given by Jesus makes plain the deity of the
Holy Spirit. “Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost.” Matthew 28:19. The apostolic
benediction states this truth somewhat
differently” “The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.
Amen.” 2 Corinthians 13:14.
The Three Persons of
the Godhead are one in essence, one in
purpose, and one in motive. The
interrelationships of the Holy Three can
never be grasped by finite minds. But we do
know Jesus, and He said, “He that hath
seen me hath seen the Father.” John
14:9. So, to the extent that we are
acquainted with the Son we are also
acquainted with the Father. Moreover, to the
same extent we will be acquainted with the
Holy Spirit.
The members of the
Godhead resemble a chain of three links. The
two outer links represent the Father and the
Son. The center link, the one that binds the
two outer links together, represents the Holy
Spirit. In one Scripture, reference Paul
called the Third Person of the Godhead
“the Spirit of Christ” and
“the Spirit of God.” (Romans 8:9.)
In other words, the Spirit belongs to the Son
as much as He does to the Father. He is the
middle link.
The Holy Spirit as a
divine Person exercises all the prerogatives
of Deity. He had an important part in
man’s creation, and His role in the work
of recreation or regeneration is just as
prominent. (Titus 3:5.) He is present
everywhere (psalm 139:7-10) and is not
subject to death, for He is called the
“eternal Spirit.” (Hebrews 9:14).
Since the Holy Spirit
distributes spiritual gifts ‘to every
man severally as he will” (1 Corinthians
12:11), He must possess personality, for the
“will” is an essential attribute of
personality. The Scriptures speak of
“the mind of the Spirit.” (Romans
8:27.) And they declare that He knows what
God knows: “The things of God
knoweth… the Spirit of God.” 1
Corinthians 2:11. Moreover, bible
writers describe the Spirit as a teacher (1
Corinthians 2:13), a witness (Romans 8:26), a
guide (John 16:13), an administrator (Acts
20:28), and one with whom we are to enjoy
fellowship (Philippians 2:1). These functions
indicate personality.
Emotions also are
associated with personality. An impersonal
influence cannot impart love. But “the
love of God is shed abroad (implanted) in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 5:5.)
Can anyone carry on a conversation with vapor
or mist? Can he lie to the darkness? These do
not have personality. But Ananias and
Sapphira died because they lied to the Holy
Spirit. They had “not lied unto men, but
unto God.” (Acts 5:3,4.)
In those precious
last moments that He had with His disciples,
Jesus explained as much to His followers
could possibly understand about the One who
was to take His place. In spite of the fact
that the word spirit in the Greek is neuter
and takes the pronoun “it,” Christ
used the masculine pronoun “He” or
“Him” twenty-four times when
referring to the Holy Spirit during this talk
with them. (John 14-16.) The Master wanted
His disciples to see the Spirit not as
something mystic, ethereal, or nebulous, but
as a real person. Those today that understand
this will be led by impressions, phobias,
quirks, hunches, imaginings, and such.
Impressions may be, and very often are, of
our fallen nature. Satan can give
impressions. However, the honest-hearted will
know the leadings of the Holy Spirit because
He never leads anyone contrary to a
“Thus saith the Lord.”
Memory Verse:
Psalm 139: 7-10.
“Whether shall I go from thy spirit? Or
whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I
ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I
make my bed in hell, behold thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand
shall hold me.
