FOUR
The Holy Ghost
‘Spirit’ and ‘ghost’ – and, what a large witness the Bible offers for something that can’t even
be seen. The recorded witnesses could not see ‘spirit’, yet we are instructed that truth may be verified
in the mouth of two or three witnesses.
Here’s a list:
‘Gave up’ (three times) and, ‘yielded up the Ghost’ (once) can be found in Genesis.
‘Given up the ghost’ is found in Jeremiah.
‘Gave up the ghost’ is found in Lamentations.
‘Give’, ‘given’, ‘giveth’, & ‘giving up the Ghost’ all occur (collectively, five times) in the book of Job.
‘Gave up the ghost’ is mentioned about two times in the book of Mark, one time in the book of Luke, and one time in the book of John. ‘Yielded up the ghost’ is mentioned one time in the book of Matthew.
These statistics are not intended as a complete and thorough count but are presented only to point out that two or three has been greatly surpassed. The Holy Ghost is mentioned four times in the book of Mark, four times in the book of John, seven times in the book of Matthew, and 11 times in the book of Luke. The Holy Ghost is written of in Jude, Romans, Hebrews, 1 Thessalonians, and 1 and 2 Corinthians.
The Holy Ghost is mentioned in the book of Acts more than thirty-eight times. Yet, of witnesses, it is not this great cloud that teaches us any one thing spiritual, but what the witnesses, themselves, knew of the invisible. In Acts, the writer speaks of being “baptized with the Holy Ghost” (as, perhaps, in
immersion - the Spirit being compared to water, or something fluid in nature); he also speaks of one
being “full of the Holy Ghost” (as in a cup immersed and coming up filled: again the comparison to
water: to a fluid nature).
This study asks, what exactly is ‘spiritual?’ How do beings steeped in the corporeal ever hope to understand - to grasp, if you will, things which are not solid? How may one prove an invisibility?
Some will say, no doubt, that we can’t see the air we breathe, yet it exists. I say, in some cities, you
can see the air you breathe. We cannot compare apples to oranges and get a true picture?
1 Corinthians 2:13 clearly states, “the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” Furthermore, we are shown the difficulty of coming to an understanding of spiritual matters in 1 Corinthians 2:14: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Anyone that has a burning desire to know what ‘spiritual’ is all about, really has his work cut out for him. He must look into the ‘mirror’. He must seek an understanding of the water by the cup that holds it. No person will undertake a study of the spirit unless he is compelled. That person must first be convinced that the spirit has a bearing on the corporeal.
That person must be convinced, as Romans 15:13 puts it, of the “power of the Holy Ghost.” These latter sections are a preparation for the final book of this study, which appropriately will be named: “What exactly is Spiritual?” God is a spirit, Jesus claimed, whose name is Holy. The Holy Ghost is a spirit named Holy. Make the connection. Many things are written of the Holy Ghost; let us review just a few of them.
1 Peter 1:12 tells us that the Holy Ghost was “sent down from heaven”: a higher realm; a spiritual
realm.
1 Corinthians 6:19 explains that our body is the “temple of the Holy Ghost,” a communicated spiritual quality, and 2 Timothy 1:14 corroborates that the Holy Ghost “dwelleth in us.”
1 Corinthians 3:16 explains just how Holy the Holy Ghost is when it asks, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
Ingestion is indicated when Hebrews 6:4 uses the expression: “partakers of the Holy Ghost” - also when 2 Corinthians 13:14 uses the expression: “communion of the Holy Ghost.”
Furthermore, we are instructed that this ingestion, this possession of a communicated spiritual quality, imparts the divine nature.
Romans 15:16 puts it this way: “sanctified by the Holy Ghost.”
Ephesians 1:13 tells us that we are “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.”
Titus 3:5 lays these surprising words before us: “the washing of regeneration (re-creation), and renewing (recommencement) of the Holy Ghost.”
And while we are given to the opinion that the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God inside of common man, is a New Testament thing, by such passages as John 7:39, “(But this spake He of the Spirit, which
they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”, the Holy Ghost was actually a concept understood by men of old: Psalms 51:11, “take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.”
In the beginning, concepts of spirituality were concepts of separate entities. These entities were considered autonomous and distant. God was not originally considered to be a part of the human condition. That consideration would come much later. It was enough that man could acknowledge a spiritual presence.
See Genesis 31:3, “the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.” That spiritual presence was often interpreted as fortuitous. See Genesis 39:2, “the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man . . . in the house of his master the Egyptian.”
In the evolution of concepts, the ‘presence’ of God soon was understood to impart general aspects to life in general, generally speaking, and these aspects became predictable enough that men could take them up as a practice that affected the quality of their behavior.
See Psalms 143:10, “Teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God: Thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.”
Generalization set in. A connection appeared between corporeal man and spiritual God. The inner man was acknowledged. See Proverbs 15:4, “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.” It was seen that an improvement in the nature of corporeal man had its roots in the spirit. Recall my illustration of the tree, its branches and its roots being on opposite sides of the interface.
But, spirit was still a catch-all phrase that had many and varied subtleties of interpretation.
For spirit as strength and vigor see Judges 15:19, “But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.”
A more homogeneous view of spirit had developed by New Testament times, but it still placed spirit apart from man as an affecting agent only.
See Acts 23:9, “And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.”
Even before New Testament times, homogenous spirituality began to take on the form of detectable purpose and recognizable character. See the free spirit of salvation in Psalms 51:12, “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit.”
But man was and still is, easily spooked. Along with mankind’s most profound advances in the understanding of the spirit, there gamboled myth, superstition, and ignorant fear.
See Luke 24:37 & 39, “But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.” See also Matthew 14:26, “And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.”
What one should note in these verses is that spirit took on many manifestations in the mind of man. That is to say: what man did not understand received a stock interpretation. Spirits, angels, or ghosts were all pretty much the same to them. Man feared them because he had no control over them. Man’s very nature had subdued the world, but over things spiritual, man could not exert his will. It may be assumed, therefore, that what really frightened man was the call for submission.
Man’s constant complaint has been, “why must I suffer evil?” Yet, Christ, our example, submitted to the suffering of evil - was, in fact, turned over to the devil by the Spirit of God. Rather than exert His will, rather than bemoan His fate, He submitted to the Spirit. Why do bad things happen to good people?
See for yourself in Matthew 4:1, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”
Submission is a hard topic for mankind, but it is, I think, part of the process of reverse engineering. The Holy Ghost will lead a man; the Holy Ghost will make a man ‘lead-able’.
See Luke 4:1, “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”
There are, however, many more spirits abounding than just those of man’s imagination. It behooves the seeker to be aware of all of them.
See other spirits in Luke 4:33, “And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice.”
We see man, then, in various states of possession. That is to say: we see man in states of mentality which are not wholly his own. The unclean spirit may impart unclean thinking and behavior, just as the Holy Ghost may impart Holy thinking and behavior. And it is never solely about the imposition of the host. There is to be remembered that the spirit obtains some advantage through the intrusion. What does the spirit get from its connection to the flesh?
Jesus explained part of it in Luke 11:24, “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.”
Temples within temples. Or, even a house may be a temple. We get the sense that it is the spirit’s business to indwell something and that it is our place in the order of things to be possessed by some kind of spirit, or mentality. The verse above, in showing that an unclean spirit derives a benefit from indwelling corporeality, by extension of the argument, indicates that the Spirit of God also derives benefit from indwelling.
That we are a battleground: it may be said that a war of numbers is waged for corporeal real estate. Two superpowers vie for our pound of flesh, and yet, that is, as they say, just the tip of the iceberg. Another way to look at it may be the ‘Ponderosa approach’. There is one owner, and he will leave his spread to his sons only. He rides the range, therefore, deposing arrogant squatters.
See Mark 7:25, “For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him, and came and fell at His feet.”
Uncleanness had been imparted to the woman’s daughter. It was a matter of communication of the nature of the unclean devil that imparted the same to the host. Our cognitive abilities are spiritual, spiritual and communication go hand in hand, there is no action without communication.
The nature of the possessed is the communicated nature of the possessor.
The writer of the next verse called the possessor a “foul spirit.” The afflicted person was in such a visible state as to offend the beholder, which contention is borne out in the fact that the “running together” of the people was a most definite indication that the affliction was considered so severe that the people wondered if this might be the one that the miracle worker could not handle.
What can you deduce of the spirit in Mark 9:25? “When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.”
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