Introducing the Person of The Holy Spirit To You

INTRODUCING THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO YOU

HYMN 210-holy spirit Lord of Light….

Preamble:

Dear friends please repeat these words after me;
Stay with me Lord Jesus, as I give you my mind, may your word never depart from me.
Stay with me Lord Jesus, as I give you my ears, help me listen and obey your voice.
Stay with me Lord Jesus, as I give you my heart, help me welcome you always.
Holy Spirit, rekindle in me the fire of your love. Amen.

Haven journeyed for 9days we climax our prayers with the celebration of the Mass of Pentecost in which we pray as a church to know him better, to speak to us of God’s love. Beloved in Christ, we celebrate today the third person of the Holy Spirit and within this celebration we are asking the father once more to reintroduce us to the Holy Spirit. For he as the third person of the Most Blessed Trinity is someone you have heard about, but have somehow in some way ignored, not truly acknowledged as we ought, never talked about as much as we talk about other personalities of the Blessed Trinity such as God the father and God the Son whose appearances and works are known to us in both the Old Testament and New Testament. We do not talk about him as we discuss other subject matters, he is someone of immense greatness-a personality so real yet so powerful, present and always ready to walk with us whenever we invite him and seek his assistance.

It was he Jesus spoke of in John 16: 7-8 before his arrest “but I am telling you the truth: it is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go, the helper will not come to you. But if I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove to the people of the world that they are wrong about sin and about what is right and about God’s judgment.”

In verse 12-15 Jesus says “I have much more to tell you, but now it would be too much for you to bear. When, however, the spirit comes, who reveals the truth about God, he will lead you into all the truth.”

Friends it is that truth I would like the person of the Holy Spirit to reveal to us in the name of Jesus. The truth about who you are, the truth about what God has in stock for you, the truth about his mission and purpose for you, the truth about Jesus who loves you and calls you to come to him but you have not.

Jesus continues when he says further in verse 13 -15 “he will not speak on his authority, but he will speak of what he hears, and will tell you of things to come. He will give me glory, because he will take what I say and tell it to you. All that my father has is mine; that is why I said that the spirit will take what I give him and tell it to you.”

Friends that is what I want you to rediscover this day and if you open yourself to him, you will feel his presence and will want to share the testimony of what he has begun to do in your life. He is no other person than the third person of the Blessed Trinity- Holy Spirit.

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HOW CAN I HAVE HIM IN MY LIFE TODAY?
Friends, if you at this time have asked yourself who is the Holy Spirit and how may I know him, can I have him in my life? How may I experience true peace as I ought to? Can he be my friend and assist me out of my struggles in living a good Christian life? Can my life today be transformed and better than what it was in the past? I received the Holy Spirit at my baptism as the waters of baptism and the words of the Blessed Trinity were pronounced upon me, that same Spirit which was confirmed upon me through the sacrament of confirmation as the Bishop pronounced those solemn but yet profound words while calling my name- “John-receive the Holy Spirit.”

At Pentecost I may have asked and prayed with the Church for the same power of the Holy Spirit in my life but to be frank with myself in my heart I have not allowed him take full possession maybe because I find myself struggling. Why? Do I actually know Jesus Christ or have I encountered him personally? Who can reveal him to me?
Friends, you are on the right track and asking the right set of questions.

You need not worry about anything as Phil. 4:6-7 tells us, “…but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart and God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your heart and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.”

Friends if at this time you feel awkward, fearful, resentful, timid, insecure, confused over your past, present life situation and actions know therefore it is as a result of something you are not doing right or have not done right, it could be the presence of sin that is causing it and you must know that the wages of sin is death. Sin casts darkness upon the soul and creates fear and panic in the minds of those who dwell in it…it’s like walking in the dark and struggling to find a path in a dense cloud of darkness. Fear, uncertainty, confusion, doubt, anger, frustrations, anxiety, bitterness will be all around you for at that time the battle will be to get out of such situation but you would find yourself struggling.

Friends, the number one target of your enemy is in the arena of your mind. He knows that if he can manipulate and control how you think then he will be able to control and manipulate your entire life. Friends I want you to know that our thoughts determine our actions, our attitude and our self image. Our thoughts determine our destiny that is why the bible warns us to guard our minds. If you dwell your mind on immoral things you will ruin your life Prov. 34:3. If you dwell on depressing thoughts you will live a depressed life. If you continually move and swim in negative thoughts you will move and swim towards negative people, activities and life styles. Your life will always follow your thoughts. Almost like a magnet, we draw in what we constantly think about. If you are always thinking positive, joyful, happy thoughts, then you are going to be a joyful, happy person, and you will attract other positive, happy, joyful people.

Remember these words of St. Paul in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians 3:17 “for where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is liberty (liberty here means freedom).” It is the Holy Spirit who brings this liberty. The Holy Spirit is our closest, most personal, most intimate, most beloved friend, he’s more real than anything in this world and grants liberty wherever he is present.

Friends, I want you to know that God has a way of dealing with us individually and if you believe this and have prepared yourself for this solemnity well enough as you should, you will feel his presence at this time; for he is ready to cast his light upon the darkness that hovers around you. Friends the Holy Spirit will offer you what your personal friends can’t offer you if you surrender to his power.

The Holy Spirit has a very exciting personality. Now before I do so, I will like you to lift up your hands and ask the Holy Spirit….O Holy Spirit, please I need you in my life today, please give me that knowledge, help me understand who you are as your priest in his imperfect way will tell me about you even as he talks to me about you please fill me with your glory…we make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Now the Holy Spirit his nature is different from that of the Father and the Son. Whenever we see God the Father in the scripture, we see him as the great decision maker, the commander in chief of all the ideas in glory. Salvation, forgiveness, liberation, blessing, healing, deliverance, restoration, creation were all his ideas expressed clearly when he said “let us…” it was God the father that was always making the decisions in heaven and God the son to this day is the administrator of all that God decides to do. If God is so holy and that which is unholy cannot come to him yet we are humans and are prone to mistakes why then do we need an intercessor forever? Why? I think God is so Holy that Jesus has to intercede for me to keep me forever in the kingdom of God-Jesus has to intercede for you to keep you in heaven. Again the question is why do I need him to intercede for me when I am there already? One day we will know why fully.

But God the father is so Holy and so perfect it will take the eternal intercession of Jesus to keep me safe in God’s kingdom. Jesus could have said I am done and I am not going to intercede for them anymore but scripture tells us that he is the faithful high priest who intercedes for us that we may finish well. That is the main duty of Jesus to intercede for us eternally.

The Holy Spirit is different from Jesus. God created you and I to respond to Love, to worship him, to know and to serve and to be happy with him in the next. But the simple truth is that God cannot force a man to love him such a man must choose to love God or choose not to. This day you are to make a decision whom you will love and serve-God or the world and its pleasures. My dear if you are interested in moving to higher grounds in the realm of the spirit please wave your hand and say Jesus is Lord…

Dear friends God longs to be longed for, to be loved, to be wanted and so he created man gave him a soul so he can make his own decisions, feel love and affection and literally come to God on his own to love God without been forced into it, long for God, identify with him, make his own choices, have affection and literally come to God, to love God and not to be literally forced into it that is what God so desires.

But man failed and God said since man failed I will become a man and through that I will draw man to myself. God made a covenant with man and man broke it and God said I have an idea since man broke my covenant, I will make it with myself, by myself and so he disrobes himself of his heavenly form, takes on the form of flesh and makes a covenant with himself and declares by myself have I sworn said the Lord. And now he says anyone who joins himself or herself to Jesus, joins himself to me. Jesus is the extension of God’s longing, the very desire of God to humanity and he reaches his hand through Jesus and says come to me all you who labour and I will give you rest. But that is not enough because the Holy Spirit comes into the picture.

God longs but nobody knows, Jesus has a longing but nobody is listening but it is the Holy Spirit who goes into the hearts of men and reveals to them the longings of God and draws them to Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit nobody can be drawn to the longings of God. God longs for you, Jesus calls you and the Holy Spirit draws you. Friends I say this aloud that God longs for you, Jesus calls out for you and the Holy Spirit is the one who’s gonna draw you to the longings of God. Without the Holy Spirit, nobody can be drawn to the father. It is Holy Spirit that awakens that desire within us to respond to the call of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit who goes to the hearts of prostitutes, drunkards, smokers, robbers, swindlers, malice keepers, rumour mongers, licentious talkers, tale bearers, higher killers, the gossips, the adulterers, fornicators, talkative, lose talkers and says stop what you are doing for Jesus is calling you.

It might take a life time for a man to respond to the call of the Holy Ghost but the Holy Ghost will win because he is there to convict the sinner of sin and he brings that soul to Jesus and cleanses that soul with his blood that he might present him to his father and the father can say I longed for you my child, I have been waiting for you, come into my arms, into my bosom for you are mine forever.

The Holy Spirit will draw you if you are ready. One thing you must know is that the Holy Spirit is easily wounded that is why we have to cry out every day, every time don’t leave me, I will never hurt you. We have never read grief not the father nor the son but we read grief not the Holy Spirit whereby you are sealed unto the day of your redemption. He is easily driven away but today lift up your hands and say I love you with all my heart. Without you in my life, my Christianity will wither and die… everyone stand…..begin to surrender to the Holy Spirit, ask him to take away that doubt, fear off your life, ask him to led you to Christ, to hasten God’s salvation to your poor soul, to bring you pardon of your sins but you must first confess them….

I want you to know this day as 1 Cor. 2:12 says-“we have received, not the Spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” Friends Zec. 4:6 says “not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.” Rom. 8:14-15 says “as many as are led by the spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father…”

He is the creator- his action brought about the cause of creation
The finger of God’s right hand-
The power of the most high
He is the advocate
He is the counselor, the spirit of truth, he is the purifier, he is the healer of our wounds, the restorer, the one who renews our strength, the initiator of all good deeds in man, he is the solace in the midst of trouble, he is the blessed light divine, he takes away our dryness and brings about the conversion and the forgiveness of man.

The Holy Spirit was the one who gave Stephen the power to endure the suffering.
He was the one who gave Moses the power to be the deliverer of the children of Israel.
He was the power in the life of Joshua.
He was the force behind the wind that divided the Red Sea.
He was the mighty power that smashed the walls of Jericho.
He was the energy behind David’s rock when Goliath fell.

The Holy spirit was the force in the life of Samuel, in Elijah-and in Christ the Lord.
Scripture is clear that the Holy Spirit assisted Jesus I his Minsitry and that is why he declared in Luke 4:18 “the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because he has anointed Me to preach the Gospel.”

Shortly after the ascension of Jesus, the apostles remained in the upper room in Jerusalem waiting for the promise of the father. When the Holy spirit actually came they fellowshipped, spoke in various tongues and began to say that the Holy Spirit and us are witnesses of his resurrection. The Holy Spirit became a part of their life as they proclaimed the resurrection of the Lord. He was present with them in the times of their persecution, healing the sick and before the Sanhedrin. The Holy Spirit is ready to be with you today and may you receive his presence in the name of Jesus.

Symbols of the Holy Spirit
Fire: for he descended as tongues of fire on the apostles on the day of Pentecost.
Water: the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters,
Wind: (acts 2:2 “….suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.”)
Oil: (anointing) the Holy Spirit is considered as the oil which anointed Jesus after his baptism. Mark 3:22 “…and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in bodily form like a dove….” It descended for the sole purpose of consecrating Jesus for his public ministry.

He is present at beginnings-at creation…Gen. 1-2
At the beginning of the earthly life of Jesus-at the annunciation
At his baptism which was the beginning of his public ministry.
At the beginning of the new life of Jesus’ resurrection, when he was appearing to his disciples Romans 8:11 telling us that it is the Holy spirit that made that to happen.
At the beginning of the life of the church (pentecost) the holy spirit was present.
That is to say that no Christian would never begin any endeavour without any reference to the Holy Spirit. And the church whenever there are meetings, gathering of priests, ecumenical councils, synods, election of pope, he is invoked.
The actions of the Holy spirit

The Holy spirit is known principally by two actions namely:

Charismatic action of the Holy spirit: 1 cor. 12: 1-31 is external such as preaching, teaching, performing miracles, healing, speaking in tongues, singing they are external and giving to individuals not for their own sake but for the up building of the church-spiritual edification, upliftment, elevation, of the people of God.

Sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit: It is for the individual by sanctifying him, making him holy and been able to enter into heaven by infusing in the individual his love and this love is the bane of the charismatic gift such that without love (1 cor. 13:1-13) you would be an empty barrel or a clanging cymbal. It is possible for you to have the gift of preaching and be a terrible sinner but the sanctyfing office of the Holy spirit makes the individual Holy such that he bears fruits such as love, peace and patience cf. Gal. 5:22.