The Spirit of God first appears on the pages of Scripture during the creation. He moved over the surface of the waters, creating all that we see.
He has been moving among the created and God’s created people ever since that day. He strengthened Joseph who Scripture describes as a “man on whom is the Spirit of God.”
He empowered Israel’s judges. Time after time when they faced a challenge a judge would step forward. The Spirit would fill them with power, enabling them to deliver the people.
The pattern continued in the life of Israel’s first king. The Spirit of God came upon Saul enabling him to be victorious. Unfortunately, Saul chose not to follow God, causing the Spirit to leave Him. The Spirit fell upon David enabling him to be a mighty king.
God promised His people that in the new covenant we can be filled with the Spirit. The Spirit longs to be active in our lives.
Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
We get a new heart, energized by the Spirit living in us. He turns our heart of stone into a heart of flesh, making us tender and responsive to will of God. We are assured of God’s presence and His power. We are dead in trespasses in sin, but God sets us free, filling us with Himself.
The Spirit Longs to Work Today
The Spirit longs to work in the world today. He wants to show Himself and His power. He longs to work through His people.
We must not be dissuaded from focusing on the Spirit by the excesses in the world. Bizarre doctrines and behavior have become so commonplace within the Charismatic Movement that they hardly make headlines anymore. Unbiblical practices—like speaking gibberish, falling backward to the floor, laughing uncontrollably, or writhing on the ground—are seen as necessary evidence that the Spirit is moving. YouTube has a seemingly endless collection of charismatic nonsense that is blatantly blasphemous—whole congregations doing the “Holy Ghost Hokey Pokey,” people “tokin’ the Ghost” (pretending to inhale the Holy Spirit and get high, as if He were an invisible reefer), and women writhing on the floor, miming the process of childbirth. Old-fashioned snake handlers look tame by comparison.
How does He work? Examining Scripture there are four powerful symbols or emblems for the Spirit that enable us to understand His work.
First, let us define those two words. An symbol is a sign, shape, or object that is used to represent something else. An emblem is similar. It is a picture of an object that is to represent a particular person, group, or idea.
Emblems are powerful things. A simple image of a black swoosh on a white background immediately brings Nike to mind. Likewise, a picture of an apple with a bite out of it immediately makes you think of apple. It also immediately signals an outflow of money. Companies spend millions of dollars and years working on their emblems.
Jesus used metaphors to explain His person and ministry. He equated Himself to the shepherd of the sheep (John 10:11), to the door of the sheepfold (10:9), and to light (8:12). He saw Himself as the vine and His disciples as the branches (15:5).
Scripture gives us four symbols or emblems of the Holy Spirit. Each is a powerful picture of His work with us. These pictures help us understand His desire for His people. You will determine if these are true in your life or not.
The Holy Spirit is Water
Jesus said:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37–38).
John then gave the following explanation:
“But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (7:39).
Water is necessary for life. The background of this promise is significant. Jesus spoke these words during the Feast of Tabernacles. The feast remembered the time when the Israelites lived in tents or tabernacles as they wandered through the wilderness for forty years.
During the second day of the celebration, included a priest-led procession to the Pool of Siloam, where they filled many pitchers with water. They then went back to the temple court where they poured out the water. This action symbolized the time when the Israelites drank water that came out of the rock.
In the context of the water Jesus offered believers the refreshing of the Holy Spirit. John left no doubt about how we receive the refreshing water by telling us that Jesus was referencing the Holy Spirit.
Water does not good until we take the intentional action of drinking it. We can possess spiritual water but remain unsatisfied. Possessing and drinking are two vastly different things. [1]
Drink deeply from the Spirit. Allow Him to fill you. You are as full of Him right now as you want to be. We do not need stale water; we need the refreshing flow of the Spirit.
The Wind as an Emblem of the Spirit
Winds can be either destructive or refreshing. Jesus compared the Spirit’s work to the win in John 3:8
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So, it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
In this passage Jesus uses two fascinating word plays to speak of the Holy Spirit. He speaks of the wind using the word Pneuma. Pneuma is used elsewhere in Scripture to speak of the Holy Spirit. In addition, the word for sound can also be translated voice.
The result is Jesus’ teaching about the work of the Spirit. You do not know where He comes from or where He is going. You can hear His voice and follow Him. The choice is yours.
Acts 2:2 “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.”
On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit moved in a powerful way. His voices spoke in the early church.
Wind is invisible. You cannot see it, but you can feel it and see its effects, such as the moving of leaves or the bending of branches. Wind is unpredictable. It can swirl, change directions, start, and stop quickly. The Spirit works the same way.
Humans cannot program the activity of the Holy Spirit. We cannot know in advance whom the Spirit will work. We cannot restrict the sovereign work of the Spirit to our programs.
The Spirit is our oxygen. Listen to His voice. Follow His direction.
The Spirit as Fire
In the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah predicts the cleansing of God through a spirit of fire.
Isaiah 4:4 “The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.”
When the Holy Spirit fell upon people at Pentecost He appeared as tongues of fire. The fire signified the Spirit of God.
Acts 2:3 “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.”
When fire comes it purifies, consumes, tests, illuminates, and energizes. Allow the fire of God’s Spirit to burn in you. Allow His power to flow through you.
The Spirit as Clothing
The Holy Spirit clothed God’s servants in the Old Testament. Gideon is one example.
Judges 6:34 “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.”
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would clothe us as well.
Luke 24:49 “I am going to send you what my father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
The Word of God is specific. We are to put on the Holy Spirit. The word means to put on, to be clothed. The Holy Spirit is our power, our protection, our clothing.
You cannot do anything without the Spirit’s power. Choose to put Him on in the same way you chose to dress this morning. Paul used this command in referencing the armor of God, which we are also supposed to put on.
We can do nothing without the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. We must have His covering to move. Just as Jesus commanded the disciples not to move without the Spirit. Neither must we move.
RESPONDING TO THE SPIRIT
- Allow the Spirit to refresh your soul like the water.
- Ask Him to blow fresh wind over you.
- Request that He light you on fire again.
- Determine that you will do NOTHING until you are clothed with fire.
[1] Evans, Tony, The Power of the Holy Spirit’s Names, (Eugene, Oregon: Harvesthouse Books), 9.
