Unit One: A Few Covenant Essentials 

Lesson Four: The Holy Spirit

Want to know a secret? It wasn’t supposed to be a secret, but most Christians have no idea about it. This secret thing just gets lost in the busyness and the chaos of life and church and stuff. Know what it is? Or should I say “who?”

When Jesus had been around for a while, doing all sorts of cool things, he promised his disciples that someone else would come along and take his place. Kind of under cover, maybe. But this new kid would do the same cool stuff.

We call him the Holy Spirit. It’s a description. Not just a name. Spirit, because he operates like the wind, blowing into a life, swooshing around in places we can’t see, moving wherever and whenever he wants. And holy, because he is.

He does what God sends him to do. And a lot of what we should be doing as Christians is practically impossible without him. In fact, before the disciples could get the whole church thing happening, they had to wait for the Spirit to show up.

But let’s step back and look at what the Spirit was supposed to do. And to do that, we’ll just look in our Bibles and find out what it says.

Here is an interesting thing from the first of the Corinthian books. 

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 

First Corinthians 6:19-20    (NIV)

A temple is a place that God lives. Simple. And the Bible says that you are a temple. Basic. Therefore, the Holy Spirit lives in you if you are a Christian, or to put it another way, the Holy Spirit lives in you if you let him.

It seems to be true for everyone who is a Christian, no matter how old they are or how tall or how smart. We have the Holy Spirit living in us. So what happens in us or to us when the Spirit comes?

First, a little historical trivia. In the old days, before anyone had plastic stick-on labels, people used wax seals to mark items. If a package had the king’s seal, it was authentic. And everyone knew that it belonged to the king.

So in the book of Ephesians, the Bible talks about a special seal. Let me give you the verse:

Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's prossession—to the praise of his glory. 

Ephesians 1:13b-14    (NIV)

Just looking at this verse, what is the seal that apparently marks every Christian? Go with the easy answer.

I think that God uses this seal in the same way that the old-time wax seals were used. If that is true, what mark proves that a person belongs to God?

And what mark would prove that a person is an authentic Christian?

If you’ve been paying attention, then the last three answers would be the same, and they would all be: the Holy Spirit.

Let’s add in a little teeny tiny verse from Thessalonians:

...you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 

First Thessalonians 1:6b    

I know this is simple, but what does the Spirit give? We’re going to see this same word again later, but it’s easy to spot here. Three letters, begins with a “j.”

Early Christians taught that a smile was proof of being a real Christian. They figured that the Spirit brought fun, and so anyone who had the Holy Spirit working in their life was going to be smiling, at least now and then. 

Let’s push that idea a little further. If you look up Galatians 5:22-23 in your Bible, you will find a pretty cool list of things the Holy Spirit will do in your life. All of the words are fairly ordinary, and they all describe a change in our character.

I’ll give you the list here. Write a quick definition for each. Nothing fancy. I’ll give you one, just as an example.

love:

joy:

peace:

patience:

kindness:

goodness:

faithfulness:  always being there, dependable, someone who can be trusted.

gentleness:

self-control:

Let’s add something different. In the very old days, the very new church faced a huge challenge. There was a big world around them, filled with people who didn’t know about all the things that Jesus had taught.

So how would a handful of disciples share the gospel? Many of the disciples weren’t educated. They were normal people, average at best. They were worried, fearful, and wimpy. Not a very impressive group.

But the work had to be done, and Jesus made it clear that it was their job. They just didn’t have to do it alone. Back in the time of the gospels, Jesus had promised to send another helper that would come alongside the disciples and get things done. 

In the book of Acts, Jesus told the disciples that the helper would arrive at any moment. We call that helper the Holy Spirit.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

Acts 1:8    (NIV)

Let’s define some words. A witness is simply someone who tells the truth. They have seen something, and they share it with those around them. Just like in a courtroom. A witness tells what they know.

In Acts, the witnesses would share their story with people in Jerusalem (the city in which they lived) and outward to Judea (the state or country) and on to Samaria (the state or country next door) and even to the ends of the earth (everything else).

Who were these witnesses going to talk about? Whose story would they tell? Remember, they have been following Jesus, learning from Jesus, watching Jesus, and listening to Jesus. So who do they tell the rest of the world about?

[ the answer is: Jesus ]

But they can’t do the job alone. They are supposed to wait until they receive something. What is it? What do they get to help them with the job?

[ the answer starts with a “P” ]

So here are these wimpy people who believe in Jesus, and they suddenly get pumped up, and they do great things. But not until the Holy Spirit comes and changes them from the inside out.

Let’s add it up.

-> The Holy Spirit lives in you, if you are a Christian.

-> The Holy Spirit is like a wax seal, showing that Christians belong to God.

-> The Holy Spirit gives joy. He makes life more fun.

-> The Holy Spirit gives a lot more stuff, like love and patience and kindness. 

-> The Holy Spirit gives power to accomplish some very difficult work.

So the question is, if the Holy Spirit will do all that, why would a Christian try to do anything without him?

[.]