Lesson #4: Investigating

 

Lesson #4

Investigating The HOLY SPIRIT

Let's look at Scripture about Who The HOLY SPIRIT Is:

Acts 5:3-4 NLT

Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”

• As this passage reveals, you can't lie to HIM, after all HE IS GOD and thus The HEART-KNOWER.

Romans 15:5-6 NLT

May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• HE orchestrates unity in believers, and those believers who follow HIS Direction are in fact united.

I Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

• The HOLY SPIRIT lives inside believers.

The “Temple” Our body is the temple, and we need to honor it as such.

“You are Not Your Own” The HOLY SPIRIT wants to take over our bodies.

We are a place where The HOLY SPIRIT lives, we need to honor HIM by using it with pure motives.

I Corinthians 12:3 NLT

So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

• The HOLY SPIRIT leads us to JESUS & to The FATHER, and does not lead us to anyone else.

Exodus 34:29-35 NIV

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.

When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD'S presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

The Old Law came with glory. What does it bring?

Condemnation

When Moses was given the Ten Commandments by GOD HIMSELF, how did Moses's appearance and demeanor change?

Moses's face glowed so brightly that no other person could stand to look at it.

He had to wear a veil.

Can that still happen?

Yes! Believers who live in the SPIRIT do shine. They have a GOD-Glow face.

But What Has Changed?: An Analogy

II Corinthians 3:14-16 NLT

But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. 15 Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

What Has Become Faded?

The Old Covenant

How could this happen?

True Freedom arrived in the Form of JESUS CHRIST

Freedom to Know GOD

II Corinthians 3:7-18 NLT

The old way,[*a] with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!

Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

The Ministry of The HOLY SPIRIT is even more glorious than the old law.

What does it bring?

Righteousness

What are we to do that is similar to what Moses had to do?

Confess The CHRIST

How do we experience freedom?

Indwelling of The HOLY SPIRIT

In the Old Testament, who could be in The Presence of The LORD?

First Moses & then the High Priest of Israel could be in the PRESENCE once a year.

Now who can enter The Presence of The LORD?

All Who Believe

Who can radiate from The LORD as Moses did?

All Who Believe

How?

The Transforming Power of The HOLY SPIRIT

What are we transformed into?

More Perfectly into The Image of JESUS CHRIST

Will the radiance we shine fade?

Only if/when we choose/decide to exit The Presence of The HOLY SPIRIT

II Corinthians 13:14 NLT

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.[*b]

• The HOLY SPIRIT wants to be in fellowship us those who believe in The SAVIOR, JESUS The CHRIST.

Ephesians 2:18-22 NLT

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. A Temple for the Lord So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

I John 5:13 NLT

I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

I John 3:23-24 NLT

And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.

I John 4:1-3 NLT

Discerning False Prophets Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet[*c] acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

I Thessalonians 5:19-21 NLT

Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.

[*a] Or ministry
[*b] Some English translations include verse 13 as part of verse 12, and then verse 14 becomes verse 13.
[*c] Greek If a spirit; similarly in 4:3.