Hebrew ruach = spirit, wind, breath
Greek pneuma = spirit, from the root ‘pneuma’
we get words like ‘pneumonia,’ ‘pneumatic’ etc.
| John 4: | 24: “God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.” |
We humans are composed of bones, flesh and blood. God is composed of ‘spirit,’ a substance of which we know little. But even though we cannot properly define what the substance called ‘spirit’ is, we know that the universe could not function for even a moment without the Holy Spirit of the Most High. He is to all spiritual life what air, water and light are to the physical creation. Let us therefore prayerfully consider this awesome subject about the Holy Spirit of the Most High.
| John 3: | 8: “...The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” |
| Genesis 41: | 38: “And Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?”
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| Numbers 24: | 2: “And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; And the Spirit of God came upon him.”
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| Numbers 27: | 18: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thine hand upon him.”
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| Judges 6: | 34: “But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon...” |
Other Old Testament texts: Deuteronomy 34: 9, Judges 11: 29 and 14: 6-19, 1 Samuel 11: 6, 2 Chronicles 15: 1, Psalm 51: 11, Daniel 4: 9 and 5: 11-14. All these texts show that the Holy Spirit was very active in and about men and women of olden times.
| Luke 1: | 15: “... And he (John the Baptist) will be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.”
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| Luke 4: | 18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor...” |
| Romans 8: | 9: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
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| Verse | 14: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” |
| Isaiah 11: | 2: “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” |
| John 16: | 13: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” |
| Acts 10: | 38: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him...” |
| Acts 5: | 32: “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.” |
| Matthew 7: | 6: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 7: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9: Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?”
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| Luke 11: | 11: “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12: Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13: If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” |
PLEASE NOTE:
These verses imply that unconverted people (figuratively referred to as ‘dogs’)
will not be given the Holy Spirit prior to conversion; though in varying degrees all mankind are motivated
by Him. The first step, therefore, is to respond to the promptings of Yahweh's Holy Spirit by accepting
Him, put your Faith in Him. Then, by His grace and power obey His commandments and
produce spiritual fruit. Finally one may ask for spiritual gifts. The Most High has promised
to meet such requests. Do not, however, confuse the Holy Spirit with His fruit, His gifts
or His Baptism. Each is a different thing.
| Galatians 5: | 22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23: Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law ...” |
| 1 Corinthians 12: | 28: “And God hath set some in the church
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| 1 Corinthians 12: | 29: “Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? 30: Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?” |
The implied answer in this passage is ‘not every believer will have the gift of prophecy, teaching or tongues.’ Some will have these gifts, but not all. Currently the Christian church is being swamped by people supposedly ‘speaking in tongues.’ Millions are confused, yea frightened by this phenomenon. Is it of God or is it of Satan? For our answer see the following two articles: Baptism of the Holy Spirit. and The Gift of Tongues.
