I had to step away from the Revelation to respond to a challenge about the Holy Spirit.

If you were to give a talk about the Holy Spirit, where would you begin?

The disciples had just spent three years walking with the Son of God. That might seem like a frightening thing, but they saw the character of God in action, and He was nothing like they imagined. He lived a life filled with mercy and grace, and now He was leaving them once again. It was hard enough when He was brutalized and put on the cross, but He returned, and we sat on the shoreline and ate fish with Him.

Do ghosts sit down and eat fish with you?

No, but real, living people do, so what they were experiencing was challenging to understand. But, at least for the moment, He was here, and though it was strange, they still rejoiced. It only seemed like a few days, and now He is telling them that He is leaving again.

John 16:7 AMP “However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].”

I used the Amplified because it contains the alternate words that convey the Holy Spirit’s roles in our lives and for us. But, wow, isn’t that interesting that Jesus also stands in intercession for us.

Romans 8:26 NASB “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;.”

Paul’s letter to the Romans continues to argue for a duplication of efforts by talking about how Jesus makes intercession for us. I wanted to break up the monotony by using a passage from the letter to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 7:24-25 NASB “but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. (25) Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

While this might not explain that the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus, is God, it is meant to end all arguments. John 1:1 speaks of Jesus and the Father as He created the worlds; the problem, if there is one, is that John uses the term “the Word.” 

A concordance will tell you that the Greek word used here is logos and means a thing uttered or spoken. So the application is that God/the logos spoke the creation into existence. But watch how quickly they become integrated into each other.

John 1:1-4 NASB “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (4) In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”

• In the beginning, was the Word.

• One might assume that this was God, alone and lonely. But immediately, we saw that this was not the case.

• and the Word was with God

• So, He is not alone, and there is nothing about the phrase that indicates, as yet, that the Holy Spirit is here with Jesus and the Father, and yet, you know He is.

• The Word was God, (and), He was in the beginning with God.

• There was no introduction, they always were, but even more incomprehensible is the idea that they were all one and the same, only different in appearance – The Father, it would seem, may be like nuclear energy and the natural, human body a destructive light; Jesus, the express image of the Father, walked on water and loved on little children; while the Holy Spirit is ethereal, undefinable and has demonstrated Himself by appearing like a dove and a tongue of fire. Welcome to the image of God.

• All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being

• Whether we understand this as God or Jesus with God, it is clear that Jesus was also the Word, and nothing came into being without Him.

• The Bible translators used the word fear to explain how we should approach Him, but fear is such a negative word; respect, on the other hand, carries many meanings, including our giving Him honor the due merely because of who He is. I have found that I am more prone to give Him honor because He poured His love upon me.

Alright, since you have absorbed all this, let’s mix it up a bit more. 

Genesis 1:1 NASB In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

So I should now easily be able to say, in the beginning, the Word/the Father/the Logos/Jesus. And the Holy Spirit created the heavens and earth. If you can’t find it in you to acknowledge that, then go back and rehearse John 1 again. 

Up to this point, we haven’t seen the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, but He has been there all along. 

Genesis 1:2 NASB The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Spirit is the Hebrew word rûach

. It means breath, mind, and spirit. 

You can’t separate the spirit from the body unless by physical death; but, you cannot kill the spirit, for it is made in the image of the eternal God. Fortunately, God is not subject to death, although this is what Satan erroneously thought.

Before there ever was a Paul the Apostle to teach about the Holy Spirit, we have the activity and life of God, in the form of the Holy Spirit moving upon the earth. The Holy Spirit of God is as intangible as a breath, a breeze, or the spirit of a human. I could just as quickly say that the Holy Spirit is not a freakish invention of the New Testament as some believe. The Holy Spirit of God is found all over the Old testament. 

With that in mind, I want to show you something rather alarming from Genesis, where God is about to destroy all humankind with a flood.

Genesis 6:17 NASB “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

Here the breath is rûach, the same Spirit that moved upon the face of the deep, and we find that rûach in all humanity – even the evil ones.

With a twisted comprehension, some will read Genesis 6:17 and think that God is only going to destroy those in which His life resides, and that is not the case. 

He says all flesh, and though the number saved is minimal, He does not destroy all flesh. So the point being is that here in Genesis, we have the Spirit of God inside of every person, and yet they are not dominated by that Spirit, just as we are not controlled by the Spirit, it is a choice. 

So the Spirit is not a new thing.

We have the spirit of God, in existence from the beginning, a part of creation, and, He is an aspect and reflection of God, just as the Son is. And yet, the Holy Spirit is only an irresistible and dominant force in the lives of those who acknowledge and accept His presence.

Let’s go back to John 16 for a moment. 

John 16:7 AMP However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the (Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

A phrase in this verse keeps grabbing my attention, “the strengthener will not come to you unless.” This word come seems so simple, and yet the implications are vast. The primary way of looking at this is “to come,” the Greek word erchomai also means to enter, accompany, or grow. 

So I can look at the activity of the Holy Spirit as Him entering, accompanying me, or being the one that is causing me to grow in knowledge and relationship with the Father and others. None of this would have happened if unless Christ did not go away as He said. 

Since He did go away, then any and all of the aspects of these titles have come. 

I could consider the Holy Spirit in this manner; I could see Him as a gift. 

Romans 11:29 NASB “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

A little evidence.

Acts 2:38 NASB Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 11:17 CEV  God gave those Gentiles the same gift that he gave us when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So how could I have gone against God?

The word for calling is klēsis and also means an invitation. So I could perceive the giving of the Holy Spirit to be an irrevocable invitation.

What does this do to your idea that the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth with the church’s rapture?

It’s a rhetorical question, and you don’t have to answer it, but I hope it begins to shake your theology, especially if it is based upon tradition or what some false teacher has said.

Where do we get the idea that the Holy Spirit will be gone with the church? 

2 Thessalonians 2:6 NASB (6) And you know what restrains him now so that in his time he will be revealed.

Restrains is the Greek word katechō and means to hold (fast), possess, retain, and seize.

Merely because we, as the church, apply some pressure, that most likely looks like the Christian community voting, raising our voices, and saying something that occasionally motivates the rest of a sleeping world to wake up and join in our protest. I can tell you that the Christians, in the majority, are doing nothing to restrain the antichrist and whatever else is coming. Sadly, most are simply complying with the propaganda.

The assumption by many is that when the church is gone, the Holy Spirit goes with them. However, I had already pointed out how the Holy Spirit has been here long before the church entered the scene and how the gifts of God are irrevocable. So, I cannot see your logic working here.

If I haven’t done so, let me do it now. 

Peter, on the day of Pentecost, declared that this prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing. 

What prophecy? 

Joel 2:28-29 NASB “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. (29) “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

• “I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind.”

• This is not a select religious few. He is going to pour out His Spirit on anyone who wants it.

• All of this happens in association with something else.

Joel 2:1-2 NASB Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD, is coming; Surely it is near, (2) A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations.

• So what are we talking about? The time of wrath.

• Why then did Peter announce that the time of the pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit had come? 

• The answer lies in Jesus returning to the Father, which happened. If Jesus returned to the Father, and the Holy Spirit came, and this prophecy is integrated into a prophecy about the time of wrath – a time that comes after the church is gone; then how is it possible that the Holy Spirit would be gone? 

• “And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.”

1 Corinthians 12:7 NASB (7) But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

• Every believer receives the gift of the manifestation of the Spirit. If you have been paying attention, you know that the Holy Spirit is a gift, and it is given freely to all who receive it. It seems evident that there is a context to 1Cor 12:7, and it might have something to do with 1 Corinthians 12:2-3.

1 Corinthians 12:2-3 NASB (2) “You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. (3) Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”

• I think it is safe to say that we were all pagans before Christ came into our lives, and we were being led astray. However, since Christ came in, we are led, if we will listen, by the Holy Spirit. 

• With the Holy Spirit integrated into our lives, no one should ever hear words like Jesus is accursed coming out of our mouths; our conversations should, in the majority, be speaking of the love we have for Jesus.

Practically hiding in the upper room, at the direction of Jesus, were they willing recipients of the Holy Spirit? 

At any point in time, they had the opportunity to quit and walk away. When we think of the disciples, most of us picture the twelve minus Judas, of course; but by this point, we have indications that at least 120 followers gathered in that room. 

Acts 1:12-15 NASB “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. (13) When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James. (14) These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. (15) At this time, Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together) and said,”

There has to be an assumed willingness for that many people to gather in the upper room.

Did they all manifest the Holy Spirit? 

We are not told the answer to that beyond the Holy Spirit came upon every one of them. What we do know, from things like Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, is that some characteristics of the Holy Spirit: (Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) could be seen in the lives of all those who followed Jesus.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 NASB (7) But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (8) For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, (10) and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. (11) But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

Since the Holy Spirit is a free gift, and it manifests itself through words of wisdom; words of knowledge; faith; gifts of healing; effecting of miracles; prophecy; the discerning of spirits, and various kinds of tongues, then this highly varied group of people that Joel speaks of are clearly operating in the power and motivation of the Holy Spirit but without the religious constraints.