Ghost Hunters:
Knowing Him better
The
Holy Spirit is the most neglected and blasphemed person of the Holy Trinity.
Neglected because some ignore his call and blasphemed because some claim the
glory of heaven and yet live like hell. We know little about him and what we do
know is often wrong.
Scripture
says he conforms us to the image of God.
“We all, with unveiled
faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being
transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who
is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
Jesus
said, “He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it
doesn’t see Him or know Him.”
The
Church…. well… The Church doesn’t really know what to make of him. There are so
many out there who turn the Holy Spirit into a joke and the church, I should
say some churches, point to him as the reason for ridiculous behavior. How many
of us have been to a church where people start behaving erratically, fall down,
speak babbling nonsense, or other things that are just plain silly? Now I know
I’m going to have some people who not only disagree with me but who may even be
angry with what I’m saying but the truth is there are no scriptural references
for these things.
Nowhere
in scripture do you find “tongues” meaning “babbling nonsense that only you
understand”. Some might point to Acts 2:4 as proof of their “special prayer
language” so lets look at the text. “Then they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them
ability for speech.” If you notice the scripture says “other languages” not
“uniquely special languages that are completely different from everyone else”.
IN FACT, if you continue reading on to Acts 2:5,6 it says, “There were Jews
living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. When this sound
occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them
speaking in his own language.” The context is clearly that they heard them
speaking in the language that was from their nation.
Further on the tongues
issue the gift of tongues (other languages),
much like any other gift God gives, aren't for the speaker’s benefit. They are
for the benefit of preaching the gospel to people and building up the church
that speak other languages. In addition… well here I’ll let Paul finish my
argument: "Even inanimate things that produce sounds — whether flute or
harp — if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played
on the flute or harp be recognized? In fact, if the trumpet makes an unclear
sound, who will prepare for battle? In the same way, unless you use your tongue
for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be
speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in
the world, and all have meaning. Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the
language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a
foreigner to me. So also you since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to
excel in building up the church.” 1 Corinthians 14:7-12
As far
as the other things go, again, there is just no scriptural evidence to back up
their validity.
It’s
also incredible how we just neglect the Holy Spirit. He constantly prompts us
to do good. To do the will of God and yet we tell him “No”. We’re too tired to
serve or poor to give or some other excuse we use. Brothers and Sisters this
should not be. The Holy Spirit is our comforter and helper. When he prompts us
we must say, “Yes my Lord and my God”.
I
also say He is blasphemed. The reason for that is because we, Christians, take
on the name “Christian” and yet still sin. We claim he is in us and still
commit horrible atrocity and live lives as though he were weak and cannot
change us? That’s blasphemy if I’ve ever heard it. “Now this is the message we
have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely
no darkness in Him. If we say, ‘We have fellowship with Him,’ yet we walk in
darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.” 1 John 1:5-6
So…
why the blog? Am I just ranting or trying to show off my hermeneutical
abilities? No, the Holy Spirit is God. Just as the Father is God. Just as our
precious Lord Jesus is God. He feels pain when we feel pain. He feels sadness
when we feel sadness. He mourns when we mourn. God knows every part of our
lives and loves us enough to join in them. Why oh why do we not treat the Holy
Spirit like he’s there? It is my prayer that you would read this and draw
closer to him. He is so worthy and lovely.
“In the same way the Spirit also joins
to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should,
but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groaning. And He who
searches the hearts knows the Spirit’s mind-set, because He intercedes for the
saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27
