TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY GHOST [Part One]

1. The expression, HOLY GHOST, appear between ninety and ninety-nine times in the Bible, depending on your Bible Translation and HOLY SPIRIT, seven times. Whereas, there was no mention of HOLY GHOST in the Old Testament, HOLY SPIRIT occur three times in Old Testament and four times in New Testament. Arguments arising from this choice of words need not be, “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD” [Mark 12:29] God is ONE, He is I AM THAT I AM, the ALMIGHTY [Exodus 3:14] It will help our UNDERSTANDING to remember how God revealed Himself in the beginning. First, in the FATHER, “In the BEGINNING GOD CREATED the HEAVEN and the EARTH” [Genesis 1:1] When it pleased Him, He showed up in SPIRIT, “... And the SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED upon the face of the waters” [Genesis 1:2] God brought Heaven and Earth out of Himself, spread His SPIRIT over Creation and for the perfection of His Work was manifest in the WORD, the SON, “And GOD SAID, Let there be LIGHT: and there was light” [Genesis 1:3] Be not deceived, it is not THREE equals ONE but the fulness of the GODHEAD revealed in the FATHER, SPIRIT and SON/Jesus Christ, as occasion demand “For IN HIM DWELLETH all the FULNESS OF THE GODHEAD bodily” [Colossians 2:9]
2. HOLY SPIRIT which seemingly was absent in Old Testament times, mentioned thrice, was ever present; “BROODING”, as in Genesis 1:2, over the PROMISE to make Man in God’s LIKENESS, “And God said, Let us make MAN IN OUR IMAGE, after OUR LIKENESS: and let them have DOMINION... God CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE, in the image of God created he him; And God BLESSED them, ...”  [Genesis 1:26-28] God, foreknowing that corruption would come through SIN, created Man in His IMAGE and left His LIKENESS for a PROMISE. The HOLY SPIRIT watched over the PROMISE, as the EYES of the Lord over the earth, to FIND and HOLD the LINE [Luke 3:23-38] till Jesus Christ should come, “For the EYES OF THE LORD RUN TO and FRO throughout the whole EARTH, to SHEW HIMSELF STRONG in the behalf of them whose HEART IS PERFECT toward him, ...” [2 Chronicles, 16:9] HOLY SPIRIT, the very PRESENCE of God was WITH the Fathers but not in permanent residence because SIN was not yet overcome, “And he said, MY PRESENCE shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest” [Exodus33:14] All the Fathers of old, from Adam to Abraham and David down to John, the Baptist, had their squabbles with the HOLY SPIRIT because the yoke of SIN was not yet broken, “... Among them that are born of women there hath not risen A GREATER THAN JOHN the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is LEAST IN THE KINGDOM of heaven is GREATER THAN HE” [Matthew 11:11]
3. At the appointed time and in fulfilment of His PROMISE, God was made flesh in the SON, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners SPAKE in time past unto the FATHERS by the PROPHETS, Hath in these LAST DAYS SPOKEN unto us BY HIS SON, ... Who being the BRIGHTNESS OF HIS GLORY, and the EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON ...” [Hebrews 1:1-3] Listen carefully, the SON is not superior or subordinate to the FATHER or HOLY SPIRIT and they are not CO-EQUALS as some imagine but the GODHEAD manifest in diverse ways according to Divine Agenda, “For the INVISIBLE THINGS OF HIM from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being UNDERSTOOD by the things that are made, even his ETERNAL POWER and GODHEAD; so that they are without excuse” [Romans 1:20] The SON, made like you and I, came to destroy SIN and bring to birth the NEW MAN, compatible for permanent residence of the HOLY SPIRIT; God became like us that we might be made in His LIKENESS, “And without controversy great is the MYSTERY of godliness: GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH ...” [1 Timothy 3:16] The SON, Jesus Christ, received the HOLY SPIRIT on our behalf, the FIRSTBORN among many Brethren [John 1:32] By His death on the Cross, Jesus paid off our DEBT of SIN to make us conformable to Himself and compatible to the HOLY SPIRIT, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the IMAGE OF HIS SON, that he might be the FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN“ [Romans 8:29]
4. HOLY GHOST is the initial DEPOSIT of the PROMISE of the HOLY SPIRIT; it is impracticable to receive the fulness of the SPIRIT of God in this body, “... after that ye believed, ye were SEALED with that HOLY SPIRIT of PROMISE, Which is the EARNEST of our INHERITANCE until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” [Ephesians 1:13-14] What we have is this body is the dimension of the HOLY SPIRIT tempered by Christ’s earthly sojourn, agreeable to our earthly body, enabled with POWER to continue and accomplish the Purpose of REDEMPTION, “But ye shall RECEIVE POWER, after that the HOLY GHOST IS COME upon you: and ye shall be WITNESSES UNTO ME both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” [Acts 1:8] HOLY GHOST is also called the SPIRIT OF CHRIST because it is enriched with intricacies of Jesus’s experience on this side of eternity and in us is the irresistible POWER of God to TESTIFY of the GOSPEL preached in the name of Jesus Christ. Brethren, the evidence of God’s Presence in us is not our bank statement but the TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY GHOST, “For I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST: for it is the POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” [Romans 1:16] Make sure to read the conclusion in TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY GHOST Part Two