It's not "The Force" Luke

(Sorry, but not sorry, I pushed pause on the Psalms just for the moment) 

Just recently a survey was conducted in Canada by Ligoner Ministries and Lifeway Research polling how people view key doctrines of the Christian faith. They asked Evangelicals whether the agreed or disagreed with different statements.

One of the key statements said - The Holy Spirit is a force, but is not a personal being. 

To my amazement 66% were in agreement with this statement. 

                   🤦‍♂️ (oh! ... Canada)

This has propelled me to Deep Dive into this subject because I believe it is very important for our growth and relationship with GOD.

If we believe that the Holy Spirit is just an impersonal force we deceive ourselves into thinking that we can somehow learn to control this "Force" and use it how we see fit. The Holy Spirit is a distinct person, who operates in perfect harmony with GOD the father and Jesus. It is in this relationship that he desires a relationship with us and to help us to accomplish GOD's perfect will and purpose, not our own will be done.

Some Comparisons

GOD's word is not a force it's Jesus Christ, both pre-incarnat and during the incarnation.

John 1:1 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

GOD's spirit is not a force either, he speaks, he dwells with us, teaches us. He was with GOD in the beginning, hovering over the face of the waters. (See Gen 1:2)

Jesus never referred to the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force.

John 14:17 — even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

After the fall, the rebellion in Eden that broke our relationship with GOD, the Holy Spirit remained with us for a time, but the consequence of sin is death, or to define it a different way death is separation from GOD, all of GOD, the breath of life, the light of the world.

There was a period of time when the Spirit abided in man because that's how it was originally intended from the beginning.

After the fall in Genesis 6:3 — Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”

The Spirit speaks

Revelation 2:17 — He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

2 Samuel 23:2 — “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.

Acts 8:29 — And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

Acts 10:19 — And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

Ezekiel 2:2 — And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

The demons mimic (entering in/ possessing) what GOD can do, but GOD does it for our good whereas the demons in all biblical examples torment thier hosts.

Mark 9:22 — And it (the unclean spirit) has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

The SPIRIT teaches

Psalm 143:10 — Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

Ezekiel 36:27 — And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

1 Corinthians 2:10 — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

1 Corinthians 2:13 — And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

The SPIRIT rests on or in dwells

Both men and women will receive the SPIRIT.

Joel 2:28 — “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

Joel 2:29 — Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

Some men need to get over themselves. If our first father had of done his job and protected his own flesh and blood (Woman) we wouldn't be reading this, ...right?

We will address the Holy Spirit is just a force and not a being idea by examining how the other spirits operate, specifically the unclean spirits, aka the demons.

Luke 11:24 — “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’

Mark 5:7— And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”

Mark 1:24 — “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”

The unclean spirit(s) are not a force, they speak, they think/ reason, they recognized who Jesus is, they trembled, they pleaded, they controlled and manipulated thier hosts. The spirits are not impersonal forces anymore than The Holy Spirit is an impersonal force. This is not (waving my hand in gesture) the "force" you were looking for. 😆

The Holy Spirit strengthens

The Spirit of the LORD imparts strength - 

Judges 14:6 — Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

In Ezekiel 1:28 the LORD appears to Ezekiel and he passes out and falls flat on his face. Immediately the SPIRIT entered him and stands him back on his feet.

Ezekiel 2:1-2 — And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

The demonic equivalent- Mark chapter 5:3-4: He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 

Mark 5:9 — And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”

Acts 19:13-16

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered allfn of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

The Spirit gives wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, and all craftsmanship

Exodus 31:3 — and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship,

The SPIRIT gives wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and reverence for 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 the fear of the LORD.

The Spirit gives life.

The Spirit gives life - John 6:63 — It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Romans 8:2 — For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:11 — If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

The Spirit helps you pray

 Need help with your prayer life? Just ask him, stop struggling he's there. 

Romans 8:2 — Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

The Holy Spirit guides and declares "all" truth and prophesy.

John 16:13 — When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Acts 11:28 — And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).

Acts 21:11 — And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”

The Holy Spirit has the power to reverse the curse of Babel.

 Acts 2:4 — And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The SPIRIT that gives visions and dreams.

 Acts 2:17 — “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

GOD's love is poured into to us by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:5 — and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

The Spirit enables a confession of faith in Jesus 

1 Corinthians 12:3 — Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual gifts are apportioned as he wills

1 Corinthians 12:11 — All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

The Spirit has Resurrection power.

Revelation 11:11 — But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

Romans 8:11 — If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

The Spirit is better than a Transporter, a Stargate, or a Tardis.

Ezekiel 8:3 — He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

Ezekiel 11:1 — The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the LORD, which faces east. And behold, at the entrance of the gateway there were twenty-five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

Ezekiel 11:24 — And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me.

Acts 8:39 — And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

Paul realized that wherever the Spirit was that lived in him, there he was too. Not by anything we do, but by our connection to the Spirit. 

 1 Corinthians 5:4 — When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,

1 Corinthians 6:17 — But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Revelation 4:1-2 — After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.

Revelation 17:3 — And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.

Incidents not specifically mentioned as the Spirit, but I wonder -

Genesis 5:24 — Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Moses was shown the pattern of things in Heaven. 

Exodus 24:18 — Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Exodus 25:9 — Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

Isaiah's vision/visit to the throne room.

Isaiah 6:1 — In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Micaiah was the proverbial "fly on the wall" to watch a planning meeting in Heaven.

1 Kings 22:19 — And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left;

The Apostle Paul's, "I know a man..."

2 Corinthians 12:2 — I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.

The two witnesses.

Revelation 11::11-12 — But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.

To wrap this up I hope you see that the Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force, but a person. GOD the Father, GOD the Son (Jesus), GOD the Holy Spirit, one essence, perfect, and sharing in a loving relationship.

My prayer, Father GOD thank you for sending Jesus to saves us, thank you that your Holy Spirit lives in us. Thank you Jesus for the cross, thank you Holy Spirit for sealing us, teaching, guiding, correcting, and equipping us with whatever gifts you deem necessary and helpful for the kingdom work you've prepared in advance for us. In Jesus name we pray and thank you, amen.