Memorization:
1. Who is the Holy Spirit?
He is the third person of the blessed Trinity, one in essence with the Father and the Son. (Acts 5:3, 4)
2. How have you received the Holy Spirit?
He has been given to me by God the Father, for Christ’s sake, to regenerate me, lead me into the truth, comfort me, and abide with me forever. (John 16:13, 14)
3. How do you receive these benefits of the Holy Spirit?
Only as a living member of the church which Christ himself gathers, defends, and preserves in the true faith. (1 Thessalonians 1:4, 5)
Things to Look Up:
Explain what Jesus said to Nicodemus about the Holy Spirit.
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. … “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5, 8)
How was the Holy Spirit active in Jesus’ life?
- The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)
- After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove [and] lighting on Him, (Matthew 3:16)
- Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:1)
How does the Holy Spirit work in the lives of God’s people?
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. … The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, … In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; (Romans 8:14, 16, 26)
What promise did Jesus give to his disciples?
When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, [that is] the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. (John 15:26-27)
How does the Holy Spirit work true conversion in us?
Article 11: Moreover, when God carries out this good pleasure in his chosen ones, or works true conversion in them, he not only sees to it that the gospel is proclaimed to them outwardly, and enlightens their minds powerfully by the Holy Spirit so that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God, but, by the effective operation of the same regenerating Spirit, he also penetrates into the inmost being of man, opens the closed heart, softens the hard heart, and circumcises the heart that is uncircumcised. He infuses new qualities into the will, making the dead will alive, the evil one good, the unwilling one willing, and the stubborn one compliant; he activates and strengthens the will so that, like a good tree, it may be enabled to produce the fruits of good deeds. Canons of Dort, 3/4, art 11.