Archaeology of the deepest sort

Archaeology: Digging up the Holy Spirit.  

I'm fascinated by archaeology, unearthing.  Archaeology involves excavation and analysis. Unearthing a workable understanding of the person of the Holy Spirit, based on the truth of God's Word is challenging and exacting and rather tedious at points.

 

So in studying and writing on this topic, I have listened to, read a lot of Scripture, read books and watched a lot of teaching on this critical topic.  One of the most fascinating pieces I ran across was called "The Holy Spirit: How can we Know Him?" by A.W. Tozer.1

Tozer brilliantly explained that the Holy Spirit is not enthusiasm,

                                                courage

                                                    or energy or the  

                                                       personification of all good qualities.

The Holy Spirit has all the qualities of a person,

           has substance but not material substance.

He has individuality; he is one being and not another.

He has will,

   intelligence,

      feeling,

          and knowledge

            and sympathy

              and ability to love

                 and see

                    and think

                       and hear

                          and speak

                             and desire

                                and grieve

                                   and rejoice.

Spirit is another mode of being, rather than matter; the difference is that matter possesses dimension and form.  The Holy Spirit is not material, is not defined by dimension or physical substance.

He has memory and can communicate with you. And would it surprise you to know that you can wound the Holy Spirit?

 

Who is the Holy Spirit?  The Holy Spirit is a person, the Holy Spirit is God.  JOHN 14.17

The Holy Spirit is an unseen presence, a knowing, feeling personality- though we cannot see him.

Jesus said, "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.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."2

 

Further, Jesus said,  I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me;  of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;  of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."3

 

The Holy Spirit resembles Jesus.  The Holy Spirit is cultured, gracious, loving, kind - just like Jesus himself. Jesus was winsome, loving, kindly, the tenderest, the most beautiful character that lived in all the world-and he was demonstrating the Spirit! 

 

The Holy Spirit is friendly. Because he is friendly, as stated earlier, he can also be grieved - when we refuse to obey him, ignore him or turn our backs on him, by sinning against him.  The Holy Spirit can only be grieved because he loves.  Think of a parent who loves her teen-aged son or daughter deeply . . . for that is the heart of the Holy Spirit, who is of God, and is God.

 

It is possible to run a church without the Holy Spirit, but any church lacking the Holy Spirit's power really has nothing at all.  For God said, "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit. . ." Let's bring the Holy Spirit of God back to the church by confession, by seeking him, by desiring him and giving him his rightful place, and that in our own lives. 

Archaeology . . . digging up the Holy Spirit . . . ah, it doesn't get much better!

 

 

1 - A. W. Tozer clip -   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va_BrSislsE

2 - John 14.16-18, NKJV

3 - John 16.7-15 NKJV