Let’s Get Clear on the Holy Spirit
Part 1
5/4/25
“The Abuse of the Holy Spirit”

Acts 1:6-8 “Therefore, when they (the Apostles) had come together, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
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Jesus here is giving the Apostles their final marching orders before ascending back to the Father.
He tells them NOT to be fixated on dates and times, but rather to be focused on winning souls and building His church.
And He also states one of the primary purposes for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”
Power for what?
“You will be my witnesses!”
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We see Jesus’s words fulfilled immediately after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
Acts 2 tells of Peter standing up and preaching a powerful salvation message to the Pentecost crowd.
And look at the result: “When they heard this (his message) they were cut to the heart” (with conviction from the Holy Spirit) and “that day about 3 thousand souls were added to them” (2:37,41).
So the Holy Spirit was given to the church to empower us to share the gospel with others.
Jesus said in John 16:8 that the Holy Spirit would work in tandem with the preaching of the gospel to bring people to Christ:
“And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.”
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And the Holy Spirit was also given to empower us to overcome the sins of the flesh:
Romans 8:13 “But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.”
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And the Holy Spirit was also given to us for GUIDANCE.
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.”
The Holy Spirit will guide you to Jesus, to His word, and to only and exclusively those things that are true according to His word.
The Holy Spirit will never guide you into a falsehood!
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And the Holy Spirit living within us is the evidence of our salvation.
In Ephesians 1:13, it says,
“And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.”
Likewise, 2 Corinthians 1:22 (NIV) says God “set his seal of ownership on us.”
Once we are saved, the Holy Spirit assures us of our salvation in Christ and lets us know with certainty that we have been adopted into the family of God as His children.
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And further, Jesus said “He will glorify Me.”
The Holy Spirit will never glorify a person, but will always point to Jesus, lift up Jesus, glorify Jesus, and magnify His name.
If it’s the Holy Spirit, He’s going to make it about Jesus!
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So Who is the Holy Spirit exactly?
The Holy Spirit is God the Spirit.
He is the third member of the triune Godhead.
He is not an “it” or some kind of random “force.”
Scripture reveals that He was active at the beginning of time, when God began His awesome work of creating the world and universe.
Gen 1:2 “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”
He was actively and integrally involved in the creation of all things, working in perfect unity with God the Father and God the Son.
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But sadly, not everyone in today’s church understands these things about the Holy Spirit!
In fact, the Holy Spirit is easily the most misunderstood member of the Godhead.
And worse, He is sometimes grossly misrepresented.
Author Jared Wilson writes, “We don’t have to venture too far into the world of religious resources today to find writers and leaders, songwriters and singers, even pastors and preachers treating the power—that ostensibly comes from God—like it’s some kind of impersonal force, some kind of biblical fairy dust that we can “use,” dispense, or otherwise manipulate.”
Folks, again, the Holy Spirit is the third divine Person of the Triune God, co-equally and co-eternally God along with the Father and the Son.
He is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent (everywhere at once).
As God, the Holy Spirit has always existed, and he always will.
Mr. Wilson writes further, “We see (a false concept of the Holy Spirit) in any Christian talk that refers to our supposed ability to “unleash” or “activate” the Spirit.”
No one “unleashes” or “activates” the Holy Spirit like He’s some kind of dog on a leash or a pent up force in a box awaiting our command!
How silly! How false!
The Holy Spirit of God cannot be pumped or activated, commanded or ordered.
He can’t be slung around, controlled, or dispensed.
He’s not pixie dust we play in.
The Holy Spirit is not a drug for you to get high on.
He’s the very presence of the personal God himself—with us, in us, and around us.
So we can never, in any sense whatsoever, control or order the Holy Spirit around.
You may as well try controlling ten thousand hurricanes at once.
Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
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With these truths in mind, it’s unfortunate that in some circles He is indeed treated more like a drug to get high on…
or is presented as something totally outside the teaching of Scripture.
Several well known ‘ministers’ that litter the landscape of social media can be found talking about:
“toking the Holy Ghost”
and “mainlining the blood of Jesus,”
or “bellying up to the Holy Ghost bar for a drink…”
They link the sacred Holy Spirit to illicit drug use or the equivalent of an alcoholic drink.
This is really, really wrong on every level.
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In yet other gatherings (claiming to be Christian) the Holy Spirit of God is degraded and dumbed down.
While speaking to a large group of bible college students, the daughter of one very well known minister said this about the Holy Spirit:
“The Holy Spirit to me is like the genie from Aladdin, and he’s blue, and he’s funny – and he’s sneaky […]”
She was greeted with raucous laughter and hand claps.
How awful!
Another minister said this:
“I see the Holy Spirit like the uncle who drives the Harley, a ZZ Top kind of guy with the big beard…I like the Holy Spirit.”
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So let’s get clear on the Holy Spirit:
The Spirit of God is not a toy, He’s not a drug, He’s not some random force like out of a Star Wars movie.
He is God the Spirit.
He has a personality because He’s a Person.
He can be grieved, or rejoice, or express righteous anger.
He has a will, distributing His gifts to the body of Christ “as He wills” (1 Cor. 12:11).
He is the sacred, precious gift of God to the church purchased by the blood of His Son and He is HOLY.
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Like I said last week, the church needs to recover the awareness of the awesomeness of God,
of the sheer majesty of His awesome Presence.
When He, the Holy Spirit, comes to live inside every born again believer in Jesus Christ,
He comes to mark us as God’s own adopted child,
to empower us to testify,
to guide us into truth,
to glorify Jesus in our lives,
to bring victory over sin,
to comfort and strengthen us in our trials!
And we reverence His Presence!
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