Have you ever sat peacefully at church and suddenly see someone fall on the ground and utter things that you do not understand? While you hear those utterances, do you ever wonder why it doesn’t happen to you? Like, does that make you think less of your path with God? I have been told by many people that when this uncontrollable episode happens, it is the Holy Ghost that takes control of the body. How does the Holy Spirit do this? Is that biblical?
Before we continue with the subject, let’s first clarify who the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit is not a force; He is part of the Godhead, He is not an object, He is God.
That the Holy Spirit is God is clearly seen in many Scriptures, including Acts 5:3-4. In this verse Peter confronts Ananias as to why he lied to the Holy Spirit and tells him that he had “not lied to men but to God.” It is a clear declaration that lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God. (If you read further, you will see that Ananias and his wife died for sinning against the Holy Spirit)We can also know that the Holy Spirit is God because He possesses the characteristics of God. For example, His omnipresence is seen in Psalm 139:7-8, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”
Then in 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, we see the characteristic of omniscience in the Holy Spirit. “But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” www.gotquestions.org
Now that we have established that, We can also prove personification of the Holy Spirit.
“We can know that the Holy Spirit is indeed a divine person because He possesses a mind, emotions, and a will. The Holy Spirit thinks and knows (1 Corinthians 2:10). The Holy Spirit can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30) (Isaiah 63:10). The Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26-27). He makes decisions according to His will (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). The Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Trinity. As God, the Holy Spirit can truly function as the Comforter and Counselor that Jesus promised He would be (John 14:16, 26, 15:26).” www.gotquestions.org. We also see in Matthew 12: 31-32 (“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or the age to come.”) that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a serious offense, so thread lightly on how you speak of the Holy Spirit.
How has the Holy Spirit manifest himself? How does He interact?
In many accounts, the Bible say that the Holy Spirit comes upon a certain person, but in no account has it ever mention disorder.
1 Chronicles 12:18-22 talks about how Amassai did good in the sight of the Lord and helped David day by day, the Holy Spirit had an effect on his character.
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· In Acts 2:1-15, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and they spoke different tongues (languages) and they all understood each other. Everyone was in one accord. Mind you in verse 15, Peter who was also received the Holy Spirit was able to control himself, he had sense to explain to the outsiders what was happening.
· In Judges 3:10-14, the Holy Spirit came upon Othniel, who judged Israel and with the help of the Lord, the king of Mesopotamia was delivered into his hand.
· In Acts 2: 17-22, the Bible tells us that in these last days that the Holy Spirit will be poured upon us and we will prophesy, dream and have visions…
On no biblical account, does it ever say that the Holy Spirit will cause us to speak things that we do not understand or others to understand. On the contrary, the Holy Spirit is there to teach us and help us spread the gospel of Jesus Christ by giving us the gift of prophecy. Talking about gifts, let’s examine the characters of one who has the Holy Spirit.
How is it like to have the Holy Spirit?
I cannot say that I have the Holy Spirit because I know that I do not possess all of the characters listed below.
In Galatians 5:22-26, the bible says “the FRUIT of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” As you can see, it says the FRUIT, not the fruits. I want to stress that out because it is a single fruit; that means if you do not have all of these characters, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in you.
In 1 Corinthians 12:1-10, 1. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 4Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.6And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:”
Now I know that many people tend to mistake the meaning of verse 10 by saying that the spirit allow them to speak in tongues. The instance that the bible is implying tongue is to say idiom, language, speech.
Where does the idea of empty talk come from? Is it biblical?
I would like for us to dig as deep in the bible as possible to show an instance in the bible where the Holy Spirit came upon someone and that person started uttering gibberish or empty talk. In the latter chapters of first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, he talks more about speaking in tongues but specifically in 1Corinthians 14: 21, it says “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people, And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me.” We can clearly see an indication that the tongue being spoken about here is the one of idiom.
I would love for us that love the Lord to not be confused of the Holy Spirit because He is of order and Paul understood that. If we look in the latter verses of chapter 14, we will understand that there should be order in the house of the Lord and we will also see the meaning of the tongue that the bible talks about.
Do not be deceived brothers and sisters, examine the word of God and commune with the Holy Spirit so we do not lose our souls.
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