The Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity. The Bible declares the Holy Spirit to be a divine person with a mind, emotions, and will. As God, the Holy Spirit possesses the divine attributes of omnipresence and omniscience. Acts 5 equates lying to the Holy Spirit as lying to God. The Holy Spirit intercedes for believers and makes decisions according to His will. As the promised Advocate, the Holy Spirit teaches believers and reminds them of Jesus' teachings.

1. The Holy Spirit – 27th
April 2016
“Anyonewho speaksa word againstthe Son of Manwill be forgiven,butanyone whospeaks against
the Holy Spirit will notbe forgiven,either in thisage or in the age to come”(Matthew 12:32).
There are many misconceptionsaboutthe identityof the HolySpirit.Some view the HolySpiritasa
mystical force.Othersunderstandthe HolySpiritasthe impersonalpowerthatGodmakesavailable to
followersof Christ.Whatdoesthe Bible sayaboutthe identityof the HolySpirit?Simplyput,the Bible
declaresthatthe HolySpiritisGod. The Bible alsotellsusthatthe HolySpiritisa divine person,abeing
witha mind,emotions,andawill. We can learnin Ephesians4:30, “Anddo not grieve the Holy Spiritof
God,with whomyou were sealedfor the day of redemption”.
The fact that the HolySpiritisGod isclearlyseeninmanyScriptures. We can readinActs 5 where Peter
confrontsAnaniasasto whyhe liedtothe HolySpiritandtellshimthathe had“not liedtomenbut to
God.” It isa cleardeclarationthatlyingtothe HolySpiritislyingto God as statedin Acts 5:3-4, Then
Peter said,“Ananias,howisit that Satanhas so filledyourheart that youhave lied to the Holy Spirit
and havekept for yourselfsome ofthe moneyyou received for the land? 4
Didn’tit belongto you
before it was sold?Andafter it wassold,wasn’t the money at your disposal?Whatmadeyouthink of
doingsuch a thing? Youhave not liedjust to humanbeingsbut to God.”
We can alsoknowthat the HolySpiritisGod because He possessesthe characteristicsof God.For
example,Hisomnipresence isseeninPsalm139:7-8, “Wherecan I go fromyour Spirit?Where can I flee
from your presence? 8
IfI goup to the heavens,you are there; if I make my bed in the depths,you are
there” . We see the characteristicof omniscience inthe HolySpirit through1Corinthians2:10-11, “But
Godhas revealed it to us by hisSpirit.The Spiritsearches all things,even the deep thingsof God.For
who amongmen knowsthe thoughtsofa man except the man’sspiritwithinhim? Inthe same way no
one knows the thoughtsof Godexcept the Spirit ofGod.”
We can knowthat the HolySpiritisindeedadivine personbecauseHe possessesamind,emotions,and
a will.The HolySpiritthinksandknows. We can alsolearnthat the HolySpiritcan be grieved asstatedin
Ephesians4:30, “Anddo not grieve the HolySpirit ofGod,with whom youwere sealed for the day of
redemption”.We can alsolearnthat the Holy Spiritintercedesforus as we can learnfrom Romans8:26-
27, “Inthe same way,the Spirithelpsus in our weakness.We do not know what we oughtto prayfor,
but the Spirit himselfintercedesfor us throughwordless groans. 27
Andhe who searches our hearts
knows the mindof the Spirit,because the Spirit intercedes for God’speoplein accordancewith the will
of God”.
We can alsolearnthat the HolySpirit makesdecisionsaccordingtoHiswill aswe can learnfrom 1
Corinthians12:7-11, “Nowto each one the manifestationofthe Spiritis given for the commongood.
8
To one there is giventhroughthe Spirita message ofwisdom,to another a message ofknowledge by
means ofthe sameSpirit, 9
to anotherfaithby the same Spirit,to another giftsof healingbythat one

2. Spirit,10
to another miraculouspowers,to anotherprophecy, to another distinguishingbetween
spirits,to another speakingindifferent kindsof tongues,[a]
andto still another the interpretationof
tongues.11
All these are the work ofone and the same Spirit,and he distributesthem to each one, just
as he determines”.
As Christianswe canknowthat the HolySpiritisGod, the third Personof the Trinity.AsGod, the Holy
Spiritcan trulyfunctionasthe ComforterandCounselorthatJesuspromised. We canlearnthisfrom
John14:16, “
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you anotheradvocate to help youand be with
you forever” We can read againin John14: 26, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,whom the Father
will send in my name,will teach you all thingsand will remindyou of everythingI have saidto you.”
We can learnagain in John15:26, “Whenthe Advocate comes,whom I will send to you fromthe
Father—theSpirit oftruth who goes out from the Father—hewill testify aboutme”.
“And do not grieve the Holy Spiritof God,withwhom you were
sealed forthe day ofredemption”. (Ephesians4:30),