The Names and Titles of The Holy Spirit

Good evening, everybody. I just want to start off by saying it's an honor to be here and I feel truly blessed to be able to be in your company and to serve our living God and to hopefully impart some teaching here that hopefully will glorify Christ. So thank you for that opportunity.

We're studying pneumatology as we all know, and we are in lesson number three of ten lessons on this very important topic. Two weeks ago we talked about the person of the Holy Spirit. Last week we examined the deity of the Holy Spirit, and tonight we're going to talk about the names of the Holy Spirit. Scripture presents the Holy Spirit as God. That's your first fill-in right there: God. And what God are we talking about? We're talking about the God in Genesis 33:20, where Jacob erects an altar with a new name, El Elohe Israel — and if I mispronounce that, I'm sorry — what that really translates into is the God, the God of Israel. And why this is important: it identifies the specific activities of Israel's God. That's the God we worship. This differentiates the God of Israel from the other so-called gods at the time, or even in our time, other gods. There's only one God, and the Holy Spirit is one and the same as El Elohe Israel, or the God of Israel.

The Holy Spirit is the third person — that's your next fill-in: person — of the Trinity. Person is defined in 1 Corinthians 12:11: "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." So notice the "He" in what I just read. Notice that in this verse the Holy Spirit is referred to with the masculine "He." This indicates personhood. Again, we learned a few weeks ago the Holy Spirit is not an "it," it's not a force, it's not an inanimate object — it is a full person of the Trinity.

The Spirit is therefore addressed with divine — that's your next fill-in word: divine — titles. Divine comes from the Greek adjective theos, meaning God or of God. And the divinity is part of the Godhead. So therefore He is addressed with divine titles.

He is called — we have four names that we're going to go over that He's called. The first is Lord. In 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 it reads, "Now the Lord is the Spirit." See right there, the Holy Spirit is referred to as Lord. "And where the Spirit of the Lord is," again referring to the Holy Spirit, "there is liberty. But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit." How many times was "Lord" just mentioned there? Many times, and we're talking about the Holy Spirit.

So the Lord of the Spirit — Yahweh of the Old Testament — is the same Lord who is saving people in the new covenant through the agency of the Holy Spirit. The title Lord signifies divine sovereignty and authority and is attributed to the Holy Spirit throughout both the Old and the New Testament. And we're going to dive into that a little bit more with some of the Scripture verses we're looking at, where we see His work in the Old and as well as in the New Testament.

The Holy Spirit is also referred to as God. I think we're familiar with the passage in Acts 5:3-4, where Luke gives us the account of Ananias lying to the Holy Spirit. The verse reads, "You have not lied to men but to God." This indicates that the Holy Spirit is God.

Here in the New Testament, it associates the divine attributes and actions, equating the Holy Spirit with God. Let's compare that to Psalms and Hebrews. In Psalms we see the importance of obedience and faith in response to God's voice. And in Hebrews it goes on to warn its readers about the dangers of hardening their hearts against the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is also referred to as Yahweh. And we're going to see some comparison here between the Old and New Testament. In Jeremiah, Yahweh declares, "He will put His law with them and on their heart." That's the work of the Holy Spirit. In Hebrews: "And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,' says the Lord, 'I will put My laws upon their heart.'" See the comparison there? We just read in Jeremiah: "And on their mind I will write them. He then says, 'And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.'" I love that verse. That's one of my favorite verses right there.

The Holy Spirit is also referred to as the Lord of Hosts. Again, we're going to do a comparison here between the Old and New Testament. Isaiah says, "My eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts." In Acts, during Paul's missionary trip to Rome, Paul says, "The Holy Spirit rightly spoke to Isaiah the prophet of your fathers." The term Lord of Hosts signifies God's supreme authority and power over all creation. He is the third person of the Trinity. He is co-equal, co-eternal with the Father and the Son. That's very important, folks. So many people think of the Holy Spirit as a secondary or supporting character in the Trinity, and that is far from the truth. He is equal with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit shares the exact same divine attributes and authority ascribed to God, including the title Lord of Hosts.

We have an application here. "O come, let us worship" — that's your fill-in word: worship — "and bow down." Worship comes from a Greek verb, proskuneo, and it's an act of homage or reverence.

Let's go ahead and flip to the back side and we'll look at Psalms 95:1-5. "O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation." I want you to underline "Rock of our salvation." We're going to return to it there in just a moment.

"Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with Psalms, for the Lord is the great God and the great King above all gods." Underline "great King above all gods." "In His hand are the deep places of the earth." Underline "deep places of the earth." "The heights of the hills are His also; the sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land." So this Psalm references the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel.

Let's go back and define some of the terms here I had you underline. "Rock of salvation" — the Rock of salvation is a metaphor, obviously, and it's a metaphor for God. It refers to water that came from the rock.

"Look now at great King above all gods," which you underlined. This is a poetic way of denying the existence of other gods. And then we underlined "deep places of the earth." This shows God as creator and ruler of the whole earth. Let's flip back and we're at Bible point number two.

"Just as Jesus is Christ's proper name" — that's what you're writing in there: name — "and Yahweh is God's proper name, the Spirit is the proper name of the third person of the Trinity." Spirit means wind — you're writing in the word wind — or breath — write in the word breath — "and is associated with life."

Let's go ahead and define those words that we just wrote in quickly here. Name — that's a noun from the Greek onoma, and it's obviously that by which a person is called. Wind — and this is interesting — wind comes from the Greek word pneuma. I didn't know that until I studied here, and that's where we get pneumatology, right, the study of the Holy Spirit. And wind is translated in the Greek as referring to the Holy Spirit, and that's in John 3:8. We're going to read that in just a moment.

Breath also can be defined from the same Greek word pneuma. In Revelation 11:11, we see the breath of life from God came unto them. In 2 Thessalonians 2:8, "Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth." And then in 2 Timothy 3:16 — in the King James, "all Scripture is..." — I knew people would know that. Yeah, God-breathed. I learned that when I was younger in the old King James. Yeah, God-breathed.

Life — when it says it is associated with life, what are we talking about? Here we're referring to eternal life, our life in Christ. John 6:63, "It is the Spirit" — Spirit is what you're writing in — "who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." This verse emphasizes the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual nature of Jesus's words, contrasting them with the limitations of our physical body.

The application: "Have you been born" — that's what you're writing in: born — "of the Spirit?" So what does it mean to be born, or begotten, in a biblical sense? This signifies a profound spiritual transformation. Notice I said spiritual transformation. A new birth in Christ — and it is the work of whom? The Holy Spirit. Very good.

Let's go ahead and flip over to the back side and let's read John 3:5-8. "Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit'" — I want you to underline "born of water and the Spirit" — "'he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes'" — I want you to underline that phrase, "The wind blows where it wishes" — "'and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'"

This verse emphasizes the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual nature of Jesus's words, contrasting them with the limitations of the physical body. And I just read that, so excuse me for that — I'll move on here. Jesus referred here not to literal water, but to the need for cleansing. This work is accomplished by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God at the moment of salvation. And we see that in baptism, don't we?

"The wind blows where it wishes." You know, that got me thinking about those of us who live here in Florida with hurricane winds. Do we see the wind? We see what it does, absolutely. We see what it does. Now, we can do things to prevent the wind — put up walls and things — but can we stop the wind from blowing? No, the wind blows where it's going to blow. We can't corral the wind. And Jesus's point here was that just as the wind cannot be controlled or understood by man, however, its effects can be witnessed — as we well know here in Florida — also, the Holy Spirit cannot be controlled, but the proof of His work is apparent. Let's go ahead and flip over to the back side.

Holy is often used in connection with the Spirit in Scripture. As holiness is the fundamental attribute of God, it is used in the Spirit's name. It describes His infinitely perfect purity — purity is the word you're writing in — and His transcendent otherness — otherness is the word you're writing in. Holy Spirit is therefore His most common — common is your word — designation. And it's used over fifty times in the New Testament.

Purity — it's a Greek adjective, hagnos — and it means pure from defilement, not contaminated. Otherness refers to the Holy Spirit being fundamentally set apart and infinitely beyond our human comprehension, while also being intimately present within creation.

Matthew 1:18 indicates Mary's — and I'll go ahead and read it here — Matthew 1:18: "Now the birth of Christ was as follows. After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit." Underline "child of the Holy Spirit."

I'm going to refer to that in just a moment. So here in Matthew 1:18, we're seeing that Mary's pregnancy was not through natural means, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now we can flip over to the second page, and we are at Isaiah 6:3-5. This is going to sound familiar. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts." Finish it for me, folks.

Very good, very good. You've been paying attention.

"And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of Him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said, 'Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.'" Underline "the Lord of Hosts."

So what we have here is Isaiah recognizing his own sinfulness and unworthiness. His experience highlights the transformative power of God's presence, which is also a characteristic of the Holy Spirit's work in the lives of all believers.

Let's move on to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit" — underline "temple of the Holy Spirit" — "who is in you, whom you have from God? And you are not your own, for you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit" — underline "your spirit" — "which are God's."

The temple of the Holy Spirit. Who is the temple of the Holy Spirit? We are. Our bodies are a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. This concept elevates our physical body to a holy status. We are to treat it with respect. We are to avoid defilement through sin. The responsibility and accountability given to us is that our bodies belong — not to ourselves, but to whom? To the Lord, absolutely.

I had you underline "your spirit." So we're to glorify God in our spirit. What does that look like? What does it mean to glorify God in our spirit? We are to honor and praise God through our thoughts, through our attitudes, and through our spiritual practices. This includes seeking a deeper relationship with God, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us, and focusing on His glory above our own desires.

Let's flip back to the front page. Application for point number three: "Be holy" — there's your word: holy — "in all your conduct." What does it mean to be holy?

Set apart? Separate? Great. Yep, all good answers. We could go on and on. Yeah, to be set apart, separate, to be holy — we're not like the world. We don't look like the world, right? We have been set apart. We have been bought. 1 Peter 1:15-16 says, "But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior, because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'"

Bible point number four. So I just talked about the four divine titles of the Holy Spirit. Now we're going to pivot a little bit and talk about the many titles the Holy Spirit has in Scripture and how they relate to the Trinity.

He's referred to as the Spirit of God. We see in Genesis 41:38, "Then Pharaoh said to his servants, 'Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?'" 1 Corinthians 3:16, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"

He's also referred to as the Spirit of Yahweh. We see in Judges 14:6, "The Spirit of the Lord" — or Yahweh — "came upon him," referring to Samson.

He's also referred to as the Spirit of Adonai Yahweh in Isaiah 61:1: "The Spirit of the Lord God" — or Adonai Yahweh — "is upon me."

He's referred to as the Spirit of the Living God. In 2 Corinthians 3:3-6: "Being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God."

He's referred to in Scripture as the Spirit of Christ. We see this in Romans 8:9, "But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." Obviously, we're referring to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Jesus is another one of His titles, Acts 16:7. Speaking of Paul and Timothy: after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go to Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. Who did not permit them? The Holy Spirit — also known as the Spirit of Jesus here.

We see Him also referred to as the Spirit of Jesus Christ, Philippians 1:19: "For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and your provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." Referring again to the Holy Spirit.

He's referred to as the Spirit of His Son in Galatians 4:6-7: "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts."

We have an application here. "Rejoice in your union" — union is your fill-in word — "with Christ," Galatians 4:6-7. And Galatians 4:6-7 reads, "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts." Union describes the spiritual reality where believers are joined to Christ through the Holy Spirit and faith.

And here — here's Galatians 4:6-7: "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba, Father.' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God."

Notice the verse says, "God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son." What is the Spirit of His Son? It is the Holy Spirit's work to confirm to believers our adoption as God's children — the assurance of salvation that I hope everybody here has. And how do we have that? It's not through our own mental gymnastics or anything that we can do to assure ourselves that we are truly His. That is the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. It does not come from any human source at all.

Bible point number five. So we've gone over the names of the Spirit, the divine titles. I've just read through examples in Scripture of how the names of the Spirit relate to His part in the Trinity. Now we're going to pivot a little bit and talk about the names of the Holy Spirit in Scripture in relation to us as believers.

In those regards, I have eleven names here that show His relationship to us. The first one being the Spirit of burning. Burning describes cleansing or purging. We see in Isaiah where the Lord purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst. We see in Malachi, which refers to the Spirit as the coming of Christ as refiner's fire.

He's also referred to as the Spirit of judgment. This describes the convicting and refining work. In Isaiah, once again, the Lord washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion. We also see the convicting and refining work of the Holy Spirit in Malachi: "He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver."

He's referred to as the Spirit of holiness. This describes His work in us to make us holy, and that process is called sanctification. In Romans, "Who has declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness?" In Hebrews, "So that we may share in His holiness."

He's also known — the Holy Spirit is also known — as the Holy Spirit of promise. This describes the guarantee that we have for our own inheritance in Him. Ephesians says, "Having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise."

The Holy Spirit is known as the Spirit of truth. This describes His perfect testimony and guidance. We have several verses here in John, where they were looking forward to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. John 14:17, "That is the Spirit of truth." John 15:26, "The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father." And we see it yet again in John 16:13, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth." Talking about the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is also known as the Spirit of grace. This describes the state of all believers under the new covenant. In Hebrews, the writer talks about those who insult the Spirit of grace. Who are those folks who insult the Spirit of grace? These are unbelievers who will face a much more severe punishment — who blatantly trample underfoot the Son of God. This is an interesting verse. I think this really shows that there will be degrees of punishment in hell, because it says right here that those folks will have an even more severe punishment who blatantly trample underfoot the Son of God. Blasphemy, for example.

The Holy Spirit is also known as the Spirit of glory. This describes believers sharing in the glory of Christ. In 1 Peter, we see "The Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." In Romans, "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God."

He's known as the Spirit of life. This describes believers sharing in the life of Christ. Paul says in Romans, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." 2 Timothy: "For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him" — the Spirit of life.

He's also known as the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. This describes the Holy Spirit as rational — you may want to write that in here. Rational is the attribute we're looking for here. Let me go ahead and exemplify that with a few verses. In Isaiah, "The Spirit of wisdom and understanding." In 1 Kings, "An understanding heart to judge Your people, to discern between good and evil." Discerning is so important, is it not? And how do we do that outside of the Holy Spirit? We don't, because the Holy Spirit is truth. The Holy Spirit allows us to discern, to see right and wrong. Ephesians says, "God may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation." Just another great attribute of the Holy Spirit when we refer to Him as the Spirit of wisdom and understanding.

The Holy Spirit is also known as the Spirit of counsel and might. This describes the Holy Spirit as resolute — and you may want to write in that word next to it: resolute. Isaiah again refers to "The Spirit of counsel and strength." Proverbs 1:6 says, "To understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and a riddle." Proverbs 8:14, "Counsel is mine and sound wisdom. I am understanding; power is mine." Proverbs 20:18, "Prepare plans by consultation, and make war by wise guidance." Those were all examples of the Spirit's work and the Spirit showing the attribute of being resolute as the Spirit of counsel and might.

Lastly, the Spirit is also known as the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. This describes the Holy Spirit as relational — and you may want to write that word in: relational. Isaiah refers to "The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." Proverbs: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" — or knowledge. You're right. I knew that you folks would know that. "Fools despise wisdom and instruction."

So the application of what I just went over here regarding the names of the Spirit in relation to believers is: "Do you lack" — lack is the word you're writing in — "anything from the Holy Spirit?" And what does it mean to lack? It means to be not complete, inadequate, without. So let me ask you that question again: do you lack anything in the Holy Spirit? Absolutely not.

Bible point number six. The Holy Spirit is called the oil of gladness. Oil is what you're writing in. This is in reference to the exaltation of Christ following His resurrection. And we're going to go back and talk about that in just a moment — what the oil of gladness means.

Oil of gladness was emblematic of the divine blessing — write in the word blessing — and abundance — write in the word abundance — given to David in Psalms 45:1-9. And it is applied to David's Son in Hebrews 1:8-9. Christ's glory with the Father is restored and displayed in His reign over the universe. He shares — write in the word shares — His glory and reign with all who are united in Christ.

So let's talk about some of the words that we just wrote in there. The Holy Spirit is called the oil of gladness. So oil, or oil of gladness — what does that mean? This is obviously a metaphor. It represents the Holy Spirit's presence and the joy associated with life lived in accordance with God's will. It is often linked to Jesus Christ's anointing with the Holy Spirit and the blessings that flow from that anointing.

Blessing — we talked about the oil of gladness being emblematic of His divine blessing and abundance. Blessing, in a biblical context, we're referring to a divine gift or a favor that is bestowed upon us by God.

Abundance — in this reference, we're talking about a state of plentifulness or overflowing supply. So He doesn't just give us the bare minimum — that wouldn't be an abundance — right? — of grace, of strength. We have an abundance. We are all consumed with the strength and with the grace and with the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit.

He shares His glory and reign with all united in Christ. Shares — so biblically, that refers to the concept of fellowship or joint participation.

Let's go ahead and flip to the back side. We're going to illustrate this with several verses here. Hebrews 1:8-9 talks about the oil of gladness. Let me go ahead and read that for us. "But to the Son He says, 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.'" And we just talked about what the oil of gladness is.

Philippians 2:9-11: "Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

That verse doesn't just say that all believers will acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior, does it? Every man who has ever existed, now exists, or will exist in the future will at some point acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior. Makes me think there was a hymn — "and every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" — it just came to me. I love that hymn. It comes right from Scripture, too. Those are the best hymns, aren't they, when they come right from Scripture, the Word of God?

So this verse — let's tie this back into the Holy Spirit. This verse doesn't mention the Holy Spirit directly, but it does speak to the exaltation of Jesus Christ as a result of His humility and obedience to God. This verse is often interpreted in light of the Holy Spirit's work, however, in empowering believers to live a life of humility and obedience.

John 17:1-5 — if we can continue on this page. "Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, 'Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You. As You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.'" And those are the words of Jesus speaking right there. Again, the Holy Spirit is not specifically mentioned in these passages. However, we do see the groundwork for understanding the Spirit's role here in glorifying Christ and making that glory available to all believers.

Romans 5:17: "For if by one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ." The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in this process, as He is the one who pours God's love into believers' hearts and empowers them to live a righteous life.

He's also at work in salvation, as we know. I mean, it's totally the work of the Holy Spirit. You know, I've shared this multiple times in some of my other teachings I've done outside of tonight. But I have to remind myself of this, and I don't know if anybody in here has experienced this — you're talking with somebody, you're sharing the gospel, you're emphatic, you want to share the good news with that person. And you think, "Boy, I am hitting every point of the gospel message perfectly," and the person is not responding at all. Why is that? Is it because you didn't explain it properly? Is it because you weren't prepared? No — the Holy Spirit's not at work. And I tell a lot of folks this who are a little apprehensive about sharing the gospel. Usually it's out of fear.

They feel they don't know the Bible well enough, or they're going to somehow mess up the gospel, and they don't want to bring shame on Christ. So they just retreat out of fear and don't even try to share the gospel, because they don't think they can do it properly or as well as somebody else can. I encourage folks — and hopefully if there's anybody here who may feel that way, I want to encourage you as well. Like I just said, you can share the gospel perfectly, nail every point, and it's going to fall on deaf ears, and that person is going to walk away.

If we yell more, or repeat ourselves, or take it from a different angle — okay, that's not going to work if the Holy Spirit's not there, because those are all human efforts, right? However, I tell folks, maybe you're not quite perfect in the way you communicate it, maybe you're stumbling over your words a little bit, you're not as articulate as you want to be. But if the Holy Spirit's at work, even what you may think is not the most effective communication style, the Lord's going to use that. And if the Holy Spirit's at work, that person will be drawn and will be saved, even though you're not perfect. And I really want to encourage folks on that, because I can tell you, I used to feel that way. I just didn't want to bring shame to Christ, and I thought I was not qualified to share the gospel. And obviously, that's not Scripture at all, because as we learn from Matthew, we're all commanded — it's not a suggestion, it's a commandment, as we all know, and the cornerstone verse of this church — to go out and make disciples. That's sharing the gospel. And that's not optional, folks, that is mandatory, that we do that. But I just want to offer those words as encouragement, and just realize: when you go out there, it's not you. It's the Holy Spirit working through you, so you don't have to think that you're out there all by yourself — and you're not.

That's why it's so important, first of all, to pray before you're out there sharing the gospel with folks. And then when you share the gospel, you're going to be — and I know I'm probably preaching to the choir for many people here — but you're surprised: "Wait, where is this coming from?" Because it's not me. I don't talk this way. I'm not this empowered. And you just see the Holy Spirit will truly work. So it's not you. You're not doing this in your own flesh. Just kind of want to share that as encouragement for some folks out there who may be a little apprehensive.

Revelation 1:4-6 — and we're still on the flip side, by the way.

So what we're seeing here is the seven spirits. This is a symbolic reference to the Holy Spirit, representing His fullness, His perfection, and His active presence in our church and also before God's throne.

Let's go ahead and flip back to the first page here, and we'll go to the application for point number six. We've got two fill-ins here. The first word is "enjoy." "Enjoy Him and everything." The second word is "live" — "and live for His glory."

Enjoy — we know what that word means, but what does it mean here in a biblical context? Biblically, when we talk about enjoying, we're talking about taking pleasure and satisfaction in the gifts of God. And in living for His glory, we're talking about living a life of obedience, a life of faith, a life of spiritual vitality rooted in our relationship with God.

Bible point number seven. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter — Comforter is your word — meaning one called alongside to help. This can be translated as our standby, our advocate, our helper — there's your next word: helper — defender, counselor, pardoner, and mediator. "He forever dwells inside us" — there's your last fill-in: inside us.

Let's go back and talk about those three words that you just wrote in. Comforter comes from the Greek word parakletos. It means one who is called to the side of another to help. In Scripture, this implies that the Holy Spirit's role is in providing assistance, encouragement, and empowerment — to everybody? No. Only to those who follow Jesus.

Helper — we know the Holy Spirit is a helper as well, don't we? It's important to note here that He is not a passive observer. He's not just sitting on the sideline watching us. He is actively present at all times to those of us who are believers and assists us in numerous, countless ways.

Dwells — He dwells inside us. What does it mean to dwell inside of us? This signifies a deep and very intimate presence of God within believers.

We see here in John 15:26, "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, He will testify of Me." One of the most important roles of the Holy Spirit is it not to testify of Jesus Christ, to point us towards Jesus Christ, to direct our worship towards the Lord.

Let's go ahead and flip back to the other side of the page here. We're at John 14:16-18. "And I will pray the Father" — underline "I will pray the Father" — "and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever. The Spirit of truth" — underline "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" — we're going to talk about that; underline "orphans" — "I will come to you."

Let's talk about a few key phrases here that I had you underline. "I will pray the Father" — what does that mean? That's referring to the priestly, or intercessory, work that Christ began with the request that the Father send the Holy Spirit to indwell the people of faith.

"The Spirit of truth" — we've talked about that earlier this evening. But it's worth noting that apart from the Holy Spirit, people cannot know God's truth, can they? So we shouldn't be surprised or frustrated or scratching our heads when people don't understand God. They don't understand the gospel. It doesn't make sense to them. They mock us. We should actually expect that reaction, and we shouldn't be surprised when we get that reaction from unbelievers, because they don't have the Holy Spirit. So how can they know the truth outside of the Holy Spirit? They can't.

Orphans. What does that mean here? Let me go back and reread that. "I will not leave you orphans." What's being referred to here — this is a veiled reference to Jesus' coming death. He promises not to leave them alone. And again, why? What was about to happen at Pentecost? The coming of the Holy Spirit. So we're not left — even when Jesus ascended back into heaven, we still have His presence through the Holy Spirit.

John 16:7-15: "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away." — Big correction there on my part. — "It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you." Underline "will not come."

"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" — underline that; we're going to talk about what righteousness means there — "and of judgment. Of sin, because they do not believe in Me. Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and you will 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." We learned that one of the names of the Spirit earlier, right — the Spirit of 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."

I had you underline a few things there. "Will not come" — so if He doesn't go away, the Helper will not come. The coming of the Holy Spirit — He said this as a comfort for His disciples, as an encouragement.

Righteousness — in this context, He says He will convict the world of sin, but He's also going to convict the world of righteousness. What does that mean — convicting the world of righteousness? The Holy Spirit's purpose here is to shatter the pretensions of self-righteousness, or hypocrisy, exposing the darkness of the heart.

Romans 8:26-27, which is the last verse here on this page. "Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weakness. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." We're going to talk about that — underline "groanings which cannot be uttered." "Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

"Groanings which cannot be uttered." Has anyone experienced this — maybe you're going through a trial, maybe you've got a deep prayer request, maybe you feel defeated, you're confused, you're carrying an awful burden, and you go to the Lord in prayer, and you want to go to the Lord in prayer. But you struggle — words almost seem inadequate. It just seems like mumbo jumbo. I mean, the words don't even scratch the surface of what I'm trying to communicate to the Lord. I think all of us have been in places like that. It's hard to even articulate a prayer. And our heart and our spirit is just groaning in that regard, is it not?

Here's some encouragement when we're at that place. These divine articulations within the Trinity that cannot be expressed in words carry profound appeals for the welfare of every believer. So there's value in that. Don't let the fact that you're having trouble putting together a cohesive prayer keep you from going to the Lord. Just in our groanings and our spirit, the Holy Spirit prays for us through that, and prays through us during those times when we just can't get the words together ourselves and pray. And that's just such an encouraging passage right there.

Let's go ahead and flip to the back and we'll wrap it up here.

We have an application here. "You are of God, little children" — and I'm reading right now from 1 John 4:4 — "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is" — I like it when you guys beat me to it, that's great — "greater than he who is in the world." Write in the word greater.

He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Who's in the world? We don't need to fear the devil, do we?

The pastor is teaching us about spiritual warfare through Ephesians, and we need to be aware of who the devil is and who our adversary is, obviously. We don't want to just pretend there's no battle out there and just say, "The Lord is my strength." We've got to be aware of who our enemy is and how to fight our enemy, for sure. So we don't want to be blasé about what spiritual warfare is. We need to, in fact, be the opposite — be very acute about it. But it's not something we fear. It's something we have to be aware of so we can properly defend against Satan. Now, if we don't have the full armor on and we go out and try to do battle with Satan, yeah, we should be a little fearful of that. Because it's like when a man goes to battle and tries to fight and has no weapons, no armor, and all of a sudden the darts and the arrows come at him — that would be a fearful position to be in. But when we have the armor of God on, as we're learning on Sunday morning through Ephesians, we have the superiority of His power and the authority and the influence. And that's what we rest on, and that's why we're not afraid.