Join Bible teacher David Hawking as he unravels deep spiritual queries relating to the essence and influence of the Holy Spirit. Dive deep into biblical passages as David addresses common misconceptions about the Holy Spirit’s identity and personhood, revealing insights from the Ananias and Sapphira narrative that clarify the Holy Spirit’s divine role in the Trinity. Explore how the real essence of spiritual anointing is understood through biblical scriptures.
00:00:03 Introduction to the Holy Spirit Questions
00:01:22 Biblical Argument for the Holy Spirit as God
Is the Holy Spirit God? And where does it say that in the Bible? What does the Word of God say about anointing sick people with oil? The power of the Holy Spirit. What is it? What does it mean? When that one friend you know, you know the one, comes to you and says they’re being led by the Spirit to share something with you, how can you respond biblically? This is Hope for Today with Bible teacher and author David Hawking. Today as we go back into our vast archive of question and answer programs, we’re going to hear David’s response to questions related to the Holy Spirit. Well, go ahead and send a quick text to a friend and invite them to listen along with you to today’s program. And just before today’s question and answer session, we want to remind you quickly that the Media Center at DavidHawking.org is a great place to go for additional study on today’s topics and a whole lot more. You’ll find a wide range of Bible teaching resources there designed to help you dig deeper into the scriptures to strengthen your understanding of God’s word and to keep growing in your walk with the Lord. Again, see what’s in store for you in the media center at davidhawking.org. And here’s David.
SPEAKER 01 :
And we’ve come to another question and answer program. This one, we’re going to try to pick up all your questions about the Holy Spirit. And with me is Jim Durbin.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hi, Jim. You know, it just never fails to amaze me how gracious folks are at getting in touch with us. And David, the first question, I know that you believe that the Holy Spirit is a person and one of the three people in the Godhead. How can you argue that when the Bible does not call the Holy Spirit God? Well,
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I appreciate this question. It’s come in many different ways, Jim. One of the interesting things is that that particular listener also sent me a copy of the religious newsletter they listen to, which comes out of the apostolic Pentecostal movement and kind of the Jesus-only group, and they refer to the Holy Spirit as an it or an influence or a power rather than a person. And this person is questioning, as several do, the Holy Spirit, they say, is not called God in the Bible. Wait a minute. Acts chapter 5, we have the story of Ananias and Sapphira, and they kept back a portion of the land that they sold, and they actually lied about the amount. Verse 3 of chapter 5 of Acts, Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whilst it remained, verse 4 continues, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men. Here it is, Jim, but unto God. In other words, verse 3 says lie to the Holy Ghost, and in verse 4 when he repeats that, he says you’ve lied unto God. So yes, God is called the Holy Spirit as well as the Father, and as a matter of fact, our Lord Yeshua is also called God. But what we have in terms of him being a person here, We’ve had a lot of questions about that. We’ve got one a little bit later here in our question-answer program if we have time. But yes, we do believe at Hope for Today the Holy Spirit is a real person and that He is one of the members of the triunity of God. There’s only one God. There are not three gods. But God can manifest Himself as Spirit, as Son, and as Father. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
David, next question here says, I’ve heard several Christian TV preachers refer to the anointing of the Holy Spirit. What exactly are they talking about?
SPEAKER 01 :
We had a lot of questions about this, Jim, and I understand it, because if you’ve watched any Christian television at all, you know that it’s just a constant statement. In fact, sometimes when I go to preach at a church, people will say, well, we’ll have a little prayer group, and they’ll pray that the anointing will be upon my preaching. I know people mean well by that, but I, again, am a Bible person. 1 John 2, verse 20, but ye have an unction—that’s the word for anointing—from the Holy One. We also read in 1 John 2, verse 27. But the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” Jim, I believe the Bible is clear that the anointing is the Holy Spirit. Now, in defense of a lot of people who pray about the anointing falling on them, I don’t think that’s really correct. If they are believers, they already have the anointing. You might pray that they apply it. But this idea of a speaker in a stadium throwing the anointing on a section of the stadium while they fall over backwards is utter nonsense, and it is not biblical. Now, we also, in reference to the anointing, have a lot of, let’s say, symbolic presentations of that, like when a person is really seriously ill. In fact, I think we have a question on it. Jim, why don’t we just go to that question?
SPEAKER 02 :
When a sick person is anointed with oil, like James 5 teaches, is the oil referring to a medicine? Is that a massage?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, that’s what it says, Jim. I know it sounds strange, but actually, I’ll show you in a moment why that’s important.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, the third option they had here was the Holy Spirit. And forgive me, folks, for pausing there, but maybe I
SPEAKER 01 :
read that wrong. Yeah, no, you read the letter right. Okay. And actually, Spiro Zodiatis, a great Greek scholar and has a wonderful two-volume set on the complete word study New Testament and dictionary. It’s one of the finest ever done. And he’s a Greek himself. But he mentions in James 5, where we read in verse 14, is any sick among you? By the way, the word sick is is referring to a word that means totally without strength, no medical help. It’s a serious illness. It’s not a cold or a flu or a sore on your finger. It says the sick person, let him call, the sick person call for the elders of the church. Notice it’s plural, elders. So one man doesn’t get the glory. We don’t honor faith healers here in our ministry. We believe in healing that’s caused by God alone. But it says, let him call for the elders of the church. Let them, notice plural, pray over him, anointing him with oil. in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith,” the Greek text says, the faith, meaning the sum total of what God’s revealed in His Word, “…shall save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he’s committed sins, it shall be forgiven him,” and then he tells us, confess your faults one to another, pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. So, folks, let’s try to tie these two things together. Lots of letters asking us about the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and then this person connecting it with James chapter 5, where the word anointing there is with oil. Here’s the problem in James 5 and why I enjoyed you hesitating and getting a little second look at what they said. Is it medicine? Is it massage? Or is it the Holy Spirit? Actually, the word, Jim, does mean to rub with oil and did refer to massages that were used in a therapeutic process in ancient times to make a person feel better. So some say, well, maybe that’s what’s… meaning here? I don’t think so. When it says anointing with oil in the name of the Lord, you could massage without doing it in the name of the Lord. But anointing with oil, oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. So I believe we’re talking about God’s power here and praying for God’s power to bring the healing. Some say it’s medicinal. There’s no proof that olive oil put on a person’s body is medicinal, that is, has healing properties other than making you feel good, like a massage. But I do believe it’s symbolizing the power of the Holy Spirit. We do know that the word anointing is used by our Lord in reference to the apostles whom he sent out and gave them the power to anoint the sick with oil. So it wasn’t unusual what James said. It was very common practice, and the fact that the elders are there, plural, not just one, and praying— And anointing with oil shows their trust is in the power of the Spirit to bring that healing, if that be the will of God, because it’s a prayer according to the faith. The faith is not an individual’s faith, but the faith that was once and for all delivered unto the saints, as Jude teaches. The fact is that some people in these healing ministries, if a person is not healed, they blame the person who is sick and say, ìYou didn’t have enough faith.î Well, folks, our Lord healed people who didn’t even put any faith in them. And some did, some didn’t. He said to his disciples about a man born blind. Well, they said to him, well, who sinned, this man or his parents? I mean, there must be some reason. And Jesus said, neither, but that the works of God might be manifest in him. Again, pointing out to God’s power working in the healing of people. You know, when people talk about healing, you would think that the Bible is filled with people doing it, and actually that’s not so. Our Lord, of course, was remarkable, healing all who came to him with all these diseases and demon-possessed people, and that’s a remarkable story. But also in terms of the apostles or who else might have done it, it’s very few. What we did here at Hope for Today is we put a little booklet together about what the Bible says about healing. It’s just a small booklet. People can get it from our ministry. And in there, we list all of the usages of healing in the Bible. So it gives people kind of a broader understanding, a wider application of this situation, and helps to correct a lot of what’s going on. One of the interesting things in that little booklet, Jim, is at the end of it, We have a biblical theology of healing point by point listed, and that is really helpful. It’s a great study. It answers a lot of questions.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, David, the next question here says, what do you mean by the term the power of the Holy Spirit, and to what does it refer if we have it?
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, Jim, that’s another term, sort of like anointing that people throw around a little bit. First of all, we believe that every believer has the Holy Spirit or he’s not a believer, Romans 8 and 9. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you don’t belong to the Lord. So if every believer has it, then what are we talking about in terms of power? The power of the Holy Spirit becomes a real big issue when the end of Luke, Jesus told the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they be endued or clothed with power from on high. Then in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, Jesus said to his disciples before he ascended into heaven, he said, you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. and you will be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Then when you turn over a few chapters of chapter 4 and look at verses 31 to 33, it says, With great power the apostles gave witness of the resurrection of our Lord. I think to make it clear, without getting into ramifications of individual people’s belief about how you get it, I think the power is referring to the Holy Spirit’s power in the life of an individual, making them more effective than they would be without it. And the primary issue is witness. It is evangelism and how we need the power of the Holy Spirit and not trusting our own wisdom. So I hope that helps people. I also see from Paul’s remarks in 2 Corinthians 12, that somebody who is seriously ill—and this is an interesting application in 2 Corinthians 12, 7-10. Paul, understanding that God wasn’t going to take away the thorn in the flesh that he had left in his life, some sort of physical malady, he besought the Lord three times, ìPlease, Lord, take this away.î The Lord said, My grace is sufficient for you, and my strength, my power is made perfect in your weakness. So Paul said, Most gladly, therefore, will I rejoice in my infirmities, and listen to this, folks, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. So even in illness, and physical infirmities, the power of the Holy Spirit can be seen in a person’s life that you wouldn’t expect it to come due to the physical problems they have. And boy, Jim, I tell you, I’ve been preaching over 50 years, but I’ve seen it over and over and over again. not only in my own life, but I’ve seen it in the lives of others. So just because you’re physically weak does not mean that you don’t have the power of the Holy Spirit. Too many times when people talk about the power, I think they’re talking about human ability and ingenuity and so forth. I don’t think they’re talking about the power of the Holy Spirit. I hope that’s helpful.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. Well, David, our next question, are the words baptism of the Holy Spirit the same as filling of the Holy Spirit? And if not, what is the difference between the two?
SPEAKER 01 :
There are plenty of groups who believe the baptism and the filling are one and the same. They’re just interchangeable words. And I can see that. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to 1 Corinthians 12, 13 says, That’s by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles. But we also know that the baptism of the Holy Spirit that Jesus does on you is described as being the Holy Spirit upon you rather than in you. I know this is a little difficult for people, but I like to put it down where folks can get it. As a believer, you have the Holy Spirit. But it doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit has you. It’s a matter of control. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is mentioned seven times in the New Testament. And it’s interesting that in six of those seven, it’s immediately contrasted in the context with the baptism of John the Baptist in water. It said John baptized unto repentance. I baptize you in water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days from now. Well, that, of course, happened on the day of Pentecost. And you might ask, well, were they filled with the Spirit then? Well, of course, if it just happened, I’m sure it was a good thing. And that’s why in Acts 2.4 it says they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Is there a distinction? Probably, because of the different words, baptizo and and plerao, which are two different words. There’s probably a distinction there. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. The filling of the Holy Spirit deals with His control of us. We know in Ephesians 5.18, we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit. It’s not a creative alternative or an unusual option for a few super saints. It’s the normal Christian life to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. I hope that helps someone.
SPEAKER 02 :
Indeed. David, our next listener question. The listener writes, I have friends who speak all the time about being led by the Holy Spirit. It seems they are trying to impress the rest of us as to the correctness of what they are doing or believing. Does this make sense to you? And please help me to understand this.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’ll give you an example. It happened to me recently, a gentleman who said the Holy Spirit led him to buy a piece of property in a foreign country. Well, I just want to shorten up the story and not give enough particulars to identify the person or humiliate them or embarrass them, but he went broke over it. Now, did the Holy Spirit lead him as he said? You know, we have a lot of people doing this among the Christian friends. Hey, I know I’m right. I was led of the Holy Spirit. Well, whether you were or not is a question. How does the Holy Spirit lead you? And the Bible’s pretty clear about that. One is through the Word of God. He’s the true author of the Bible. Why wouldn’t you believe that the Holy Spirit led you? And we have a right to ask when somebody says that, well, what verse or verses did God use to show you that? Amen. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Now, we also know that God uses circumstances to lead us. We need to be careful here because maybe our circumstances were not right, and we’re trying to justify something that’s wrong. But we do have in Acts 16 this particular case. The issue is that Paul’s coming to Derbe and Lystra and And there was a certain disciple there named Timothy, the son of a certain woman who was Jewish, but his father was a Gentile. So they went to the various cities and delivered the message that the apostles and elders in Jerusalem wanted them to deliver. And in verse 6, it says, they went to Outpharsia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia. Now, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Pithenia, but the Spirit suffered them not. And then they go to Troas, and they get a vision of a man in Macedonia saying, could you come over and help us? And Paul said, after he had seen the vision— Immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. So what we have here is somehow, through circumstances, maybe it was a heavy rainstorm or muddy roads or rocks fell in the road. I don’t know. But through some circumstances, they were not allowed to go into some provincial areas in ancient Turkey that they wanted to go into. And the Bible calls it the Holy Spirit forbidding them. God does open and shut doors. We have that message clearly delivered in the Bible, too. Paul spoke about an open door in a given city where he had freedom to preach the gospel. But we also have closed doors as well in the Bible. So we need to be careful here, what we’re saying. But I believe you’re led of the Holy Spirit through His Word, and that’s where you start. Make sure you’re not violating known principles of God’s Word. And it may be that not everything is clear, but as long as you’re not violating it, if you delight yourself in the Lord, He’ll give you the desires of your heart. But then it says, “…commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.” I do believe we can be led by the Spirit through circumstances that are beyond our control. They just happened. So I would be strong on the first one, of course, but a little weaker on the second one, not concluding too much. Time will tell.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, that’s David Hawking wrapping up this month’s question and answer session on the subject of the Holy Spirit here on Hope for Today. By the way, if you’d like a copy of today’s broadcast, just reach out to us at 875-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And Bible is 24253, and you can make the purchase. You’ll also find a lot more teaching by David on this subject at davidhawking.org. And just before we close out today’s program, David’s son Matt’s here, Matt Hawking, and we have a great teaching bundle, Matt, that’s going to take the study time of our listeners to the next level. Let’s talk about it. Our special this month is sermon notes for all of the New Testament. Literally everything. All 27 of your dad’s teaching series in the New Testament, sermon notes and outlines that he used to deliver each of those series. All the questions you have about the New Testament, any question you have, my dad probably has covered it. So the sermon notes for a given message start with an introduction, often some history of the passage, a theme statement, and then we get into a point outline roadmap that your dad provides for each message in a given series that walks you through the book. Leaving no stone unturned. turned, you know, adverbially. So you can use these study notes by David here on Hope for Today, or you could take these sermon notes and develop your own Bible study, or maybe even teach a Bible study. Amen. Right. Because he really did his homework. These are the sermon notes and outlines that your dad used to originally preach these messages. Yeah, he used them himself on the pulpit.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
It covers all 27 teaching series by your dad in the New Testament.
SPEAKER 1 :
$75.
SPEAKER 02 :
$75. And it’s amazing because the way he put them in an outline was the way he preached. It’s all very, very well laid out. I mean, it’s pretty amazing, actually, the way he did that. That sermon notes bundle, $75. To get your copy of this powerful teaching resource, call us at 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And Bible is 2424. You can also make the purchase on our website at davidhawking.org. That’s davidhawking.org. And you know, as the month is coming to an end, wow, just a day or so left in this month, and we’re asking for your help. We’re asking for your donation. It’s simple. When you give, you help keep the truth of God’s Word going out to people who need it. You help encourage believers, strengthen families, and reach those who may never walk into a church but will hear the Word of God over the air. If this ministry is strengthening your life, would you prayerfully consider helping us finish this month strong? It’ll make a big difference. A one-time gift helps right now, and monthly support helps us keep going with stability in the months ahead. To give, visit davidhawking.org or call 800-75-BIBLE. Again, that’s in the U.S. In Canada, 888-75-BIBLE. Bible is 24253. You can also give by mail if you prefer that. And in the United States, write to Hope for Today, Box 3927. Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. Well, next time on Hope for Today, David begins a message called The Righteousness of God. In a world that has lost its moral compass, well, we see that, don’t we? A world that blurs the line between right and wrong and calls evil good. Well, David’s going to take us to the Bible to show us the perfect righteousness of the living God. God is never crooked. He is never compromised, never unjust, and never, ever wrong. Wow. Well, do be sure to join us tomorrow right here for Hope for Today.
